Chapter 2

The first thing Merlin became aware of was a skull splitting headache. A low groan slipped from his parched lips. A fog seemed to settle on his brain, making it difficult for him to think. After a few seconds it registered that he was laying down on something soft. He opened his eyes instantly shutting them again. Everything hurt. He tried to think of what happened. He remembered being tied up by the demons. They had tortured him for a while then two left. Two men came with guns then nothing. He groaned again. The fog was lifting but something was still wrong. Steeling himself, Merlin forced himself into a sitting position instantly regretting it. The world swam around him. Squinting against the invading light he studied his surroundings. He was in a motel room. Across from him lay a giant of a man, probably around 30. behind him lay the door. Around the room there were 2 windows on either side of the door. He was dimly aware that he was making and escape plan. Out of habit he reached up to grip the neckerchief and became mildly worried. He never went anywhere without it. On instinct he began to search for it, wincing while doing it. He jumped slightly when a man stepped from the shadows and threw something on the bed next to him. He was around the same age as the man beside him with short blonde hair and vibrant green eyes. He seemed to have layered himself in plaid and Merlin would have laughed if he hadn't been so nervous. He was uncommonly tall and uncommonly handsome. The man took a step forward, moving even further away from the shadow he had been hiding in. Merlin, ignoring his body's protests, scooted back till he hit the corner, his eyes never leaving the man.

"How ya feeling, kid?" The man asked, his eyes showing both concern and suspicion. His voice was impossibly deep. He smirked slightly, obviously trying to defuse the tension filling the room.

Merlin said nothing, still not trusting the man. Something was still wrong, was still missing. He squinted his eyes, trying to wake his brain up enough to remember what's missing. Did they drug him? Is that why he feels like Gawain after a particularly rowdy night? He pulled himself out of his thoughts when he realized the guy had continued talking.

" My names Dean and that over there is my brother Sam." He stated, pointing at the giant. " what's your name?"

Merlin, ignoring the question, glanced down to see what Dean had thrown onto the bed. It was his neckerchief. His eyes immediately swung back up to Deans face, searching out any ill intention but found none. Dean, seeing the kids glance, jumped in to explain.

" Sam removed it to treat some of the neck injuries and we never got back to putting It on again." he took another step forward. Merlin burrowed deeper into the wall, Dean froze, not wanting to spook the kid any further. " It must mean a lot to you." Dean was grasping at straws. He was good at interrogating people not comforting them. This was Sam's department. The kid, who was deathly pale making dean wonder if he had ever been outside, was even less trusting than himself, which made sense. He had just been through a little piece of what escaped from hell. He was about to give up when the kid suddenly dropped his knees and grinned in the most goofy way.

Merlin, not seeing any immediate danger, decided to see what he could learn from is savior (or was it new captor? )Dean.

"Merlin. I'm just peachy, thanks for asking. Loving the hangover effect. What kind of drug you use?" He laced almost every word with as much sarcasm as possible. Dean looked taken aback for a second then masked it. Not drugged then. He reached out to grab the old cloth, only briefly taking his eyes away from the plaid mountain before him.

" We didn't drug you, Merlin." He seemed to stumble slightly at his name, as if not quite believing it, which, to Merlin, was hilarious. Dean was surprised by the quick change and even more surprised by the name. Who would name their kid Merlin? It was almost sad. He watched as Merlin grabbed the cloth square and skillfully tied it around his neck. Only when he saw the silver maniacal did he go berserk. His eyes grew wide and flooded with fear. He clawed at the restraint almost as if he were an animal caught in a trap. Dean lunged it trying to calm and restrain him so he wouldn't hurt himself further.

Merlin's eyes latched onto the silver and the fog disappeared. The bracelet was keeping him from dispelling his magic. Its touch missing from his soul. Memories flashed before his eyes. Arthur dying, the battlefield, dozens of innocent men dead. Will's sacrifice, Gwen's death, Gaius's grave, stabbing Morgana, Poisoning her, turning her into a monster. Uther's death. His mother's. Freya's. On and on they came, each time he had felt helpless or afraid. Each time blood had dirtied his hands all the way back to his first failure. Mythri. He could feel his body fighting against the magic. He could feel hands of men trying to hold him down. He could hear their voices but not their words. He felt his strength leaving, being pulled into the enchanted object. He didn't care. All he could see was Mythri. All he could feel was her loss. How he had killed her long before he had ever met Arthur. How he would never see her smiling face again. As unconsciousness consumed him he thought of just how much he wanted to see his twin again.

Dean held down his arms while Sam, who had woken during the struggle, wrestled with his legs. Tears began seeping out of Merlin's eyes and incoherent apologies tumbled out of his lips. After 5 minutes he seemed to calm down. The winchesters released their hold and sat back, sweat glistening on their foreheads. Both stared at Merlin's now still form with the exception of the slight twitch now and then.

"What happened?" Sam panted, breaking the silence.

"He woke up and I talked to him. He was doing fine till he saw the manacle. It seemed to trigger something." Dean panted back, turning to look at The brunet.

"Did he say anything to you?" Sam asked.

"His name is Merlin, or so he says." Dean replied.

"Why would he lie?" Sam questioned, finally meeting his brother's gaze.

"It was really strange. He was a clam then suddenly we were best friends joking with each other. It was obvious he's been through some sort of abuse or trauma other than with the demons 'cause the first thing the kid did was map out an escape route." Dean got up and headed to the mini fridge for a beer, still talking to Sam over his shoulder." I got the feeling he was interrogating me as I interrogated him. His glare alone was chilling, but the change in emotions," he whistled," was just freaky." Dean turned to face his brother again, leaning against the wall and took a huge swig from the bottle in his hand. " I'm telling you there's something off about him, Sam." Sam stood.

"so what do you want to do about it, Dean. We can't just kill him on a hunch. He's human."

"I'm not saying kill him. I'm just thinking that we should be careful around him. This ain't his first time in the rodeo. I do however think we should call Cas. Maybe he'll know why the demons want him so badly."

"You do that. I'm going to check his bandages while you talk to 'hot wings'." Sam smirked as he turned back to the raven. Things were definitely going to get interesting.