Chapter 13: Getting Caught
Gilly's rescue was even easier than Robert's as, this time around, Merlin had no need to explain things and Morgana had gained far more control of her magic. So, the camera was looped, the gates and doors opened and the pair headed quietly downstairs in order to knock out both power systems at the same time. Then it was up to the laboratory to unlock the doors, before quickly and quietly rescuing the prisoner and moving her back into the main room.
Morgana felt instantly protective of the girl and wanting to check her over, but Merlin simply shook his head, not even bothering to talk to her silently. With a small smile he put his arm around Gilly and disappeared, leaving Morgana to lock the laboratory door and head back down to the generators to wait for his return.
Then they switched the power back on, locked the doors and gates behind them and returned the camera to its normal view. Once done, the pair took their time walking away, making sure any other cameras caught the image of a darkly clad pair of lovers apparently making their drunken way across town.
Two Weeks Later
It wasn't long before Eden started to fully appreciate the benefit of having two Silver Sorcerers on the inside in Camelot and, as Merlin had suspected, started to suggest other ideas, including the possibility of rescuing two prisoners at a time. Morgana gave Merlin a gleeful 'I told you so' smirk when he told her the news.
"It'll depend on a few things though," Merlin told her. "And I certainly can't transport more than two people at the same time."
"Oh." She had to admit that she hadn't considered that possibility. "What if we got someone else to go in with us then? Another skilled sorcerer?"
He looked briefly confused. "You mean another Silver sorcerer?"
"Yes." He just stared at her. "What?"
"Morgana, there are no other Silver sorcerers."
"What? I know you said we were rare but I thought perhaps... at Eden...?"
"At the moment it's just us two."
"At the moment?"
He shrugged. "Well there is a hint that there's another around somewhere, and there is this... prophecy, I suppose, which says..." He shook his head. "But no, there's currently no-one else who can use their magic undetected in this way. That's the main reason I'm here, in fact. No-one else in Eden would be able to get away with any of this."
"Oh..." She fell silent for a while, contemplating this. "But a Blue sorcerer then? One who could just come in with us and do nothing other than help with the transport."
"Perhaps, but I'm not sure how possible that would be either, not in an environment such as this."
"I suppose... I had this idea that a whole group could come and..." She waved a hand.
"What? Just blast Camelot to the ground and transport them all out, directly to Eden?"
She winced, only now understanding why Merlin had dismissed her idea out of hand the other week.
"I remember you saying now, that only you would be able to take them the mile to your house."
"Yes, our next strongest sorcerer could probably get them outside the walls but that would hardly be ideal, especially considering how weak some of them are." He sighed. "To be honest, Morgana, I'm not even sure if I could carry two people all the way to my house. We might have to look for somewhere closer."
"What about my flat?"
He looked up at her and blinked, contemplating. "That... just might be possible."
"I'm not sure how you could try it out though."
"Neither am I and, anyway, despite Eden's suggestion, we have to take into account that we can't keep on doing this indefinitely. Every time someone 'disappears', Uther's panic increases and more security is suggested. It's really not worth us getting caught and there may be the need to lie low for weeks, even months before we move the next one out."
"But we can't stop now."
He sighed. "I know. I agree that we need to get the others out if we can, it's just..."
"Yes?"
"You were right before, about Arthur."
"What do you mean?"
"I hate it, Morgana. I hate lying to him. Spying on him. Using every little bit of information I overhear him discussing to use against Camelot. That and... us. I'm not sure which of the two would be worse as far as he was concerned."
As it turned out, that question would very soon be answered.
Having known that Morgana's telephone excuse wouldn't last forever, the couple spent the following weekend at her flat, moving all the delicate items into the living room and the second bedroom which Morgana used as an office. These would now be the two non-magic rooms which were set up to look and feel perfectly normal to visitors.
The main bedroom had now been de-cluttered and, along with the bathroom, were subjected to a barrage of magic spells and shields. This meant that Morgana could let off steam at home if required and would also allow Merlin to stay the night if it were more convenient.
During all of this, the couple had made the mistake of not checking their phones and, after a morning of intense magic usage, it was fairly inevitable that their new shields got a thorough testing; starting in the bedroom and ending up very roughly against the sliding shower door.
They came out pink-faced and giggling, small towels barely covering the essential parts, only to be confronted by Arthur lounging on an armchair in the living room; arms folded and jaw clenched.
Merlin's gave out an incredibly high-pitched yelp, whilst Morgana simply folded her arms and glared.
"Arthur, what the hell are you doing in my flat?"
"You gave me a spare key." His voice was very quiet and far too calm.
"Ah, Morgana perhaps..."
She could hear the danger in the tone of her brother's voice just as well as Merlin, but she'd never been intimidated by Arthur before and certainly wasn't going to start now.
"That was for emergencies," she replied as Merlin moved very slightly behind her, as if seeking her protection. "Not for just waltzing in and out whenever you felt like it."
"Give me your wrist." Merlin's silent voice sounded urgent.
"Seeing that neither Gwen nor I could contact you we decided to continue the search on foot. " Arthur explained. " As I had a spare key, I thought I'd try here first."
She paused whilst trying to process Merlin's request as well as get her defence ready for the rest of this confrontation with Arthur. She was not a child, and whom she dated was none of her brother's concern. She moved her left hand to keep a firmer hold of her towel whilst moving her right one around her side towards Merlin. He grabbed it urgently and she swayed as her Gauntlet was abruptly snapped back on.
Her heart started to race as she belatedly understood Merlin's earlier panic. Hopefully Arthur had been far too shocked by the situation to note that neither of them had been wearing their supposedly immovable Gauntlets.
"So, you found us," she replied, trying to sound a lot calmer than she now felt.
"Merlin?"
"Ah... hello, Arthur."
"Care to tell me how long this has been going on for?"
Morgana answered instead. "I don't know, Arthur. How long have you been going out with your current girlfriend?" It was a gamble, but Arthur's expression seemed to confirm their suspicions. "Aha!"
"That's not the same thing at all."
"Really?"
"Considering what I was hearing just now? No."
"When you let yourself into my flat unannounced!"
"Morgana!"
"What?"
Arthur shook his head and stood up. "Look this is a hard enough conversation to have at the best of times, but seeing your two like... this... isn't making it any easier. Please go and get dressed and then check your phones so you know where you're supposed to be this afternoon.
~o~0~o~
If all that wasn't bad enough, Morgana came back out of the bedroom to find Uther had now arrived and was sitting on the sofa which Arthur had recently vacated. Gwen was also here, mouthing a 'sorry' to her friend, although Morgana couldn't imagine what more she could have done to prevent this – seeing how many panicked text messages she'd sent her during the last couple of hours.
"What did I tell you about remembering to check your phone?" Uther demanded as she re-entered the living room.
"Sorry."
"If you were here all along why didn't you answer your land-line at least. I thought you said it was working now?"
"Ah... yes."
"So..."
"I got ah... distracted."
Arthur scoffed loudly just as Merlin walked out of her bedroom. On seeing the company he froze like a startled rabbit and Morgana was convinced he was going to turn around and run straight back again. Fortunately he stood his ground.
"You?" Uther frowned, confused. "What are you doing here?" He looked over at Arthur.
"Looks like I found my missing PA too," his son replied with false brightness.
Merlin sidled over to Arthur and was rewarded by a clip around the ear. "Ow!"
"You deserve far worse. Castration if I had my way."
"Arthur!" Gwen scolded.
"What?" Slowly Uther was catching up. "Do you mean to say that... this is the reason you've been so hard to contact lately, Morgana? You and Arthur's PA?"
"Yes," she replied, lifting her chin defiantly.
"Well, I can't allow that, obviously."
"What!" she exclaimed. "Are you serious? You can't decide whom I see. What century do you think this is?"
"Well, we shall need to undertake more background checks, at least. Make sure he's suitable."
"Honestly, Father?" Arthur said. "As if he hasn't been subjected to our most intense security checks as it is. I mean, I'm shocked to find out about this relationship too but... Morgana's right, it really isn't anyone else's concern." He turned to look at her then. "Unless, of course, it directly affects her work in any way."
She nodded at that, understanding that he was correct in that case, as well as realising that they would have her brother's reluctant support if for no other reason than to deflect Uther's attention from his current relationship.
"And your Gauntlet issues?" Uther asked her.
"Solved now," she replied brightly. "Honestly I've not had it misbehave since Gaius last adjusted it." Which was true, even if that was due to Merlin rather than her boss.
Uther just stared at her, frowning for a moment giving a curt nod and turning towards the door. "Well, the meeting is long overdue," he said. "Come on, you two. Time to go."
Morgana looked over her shoulder at Merlin who shrugged. "In this case I'm not invited. Doubly so now. Just take care whilst you're there and try to keep calm."
She sighed. "I shall certainly do my best."
~o~0~o~
"Why have I been invited to this?" Morgana whispered to Gaius as she sat down at the conference table next to him.
"Well, I understand that it always was Uther's intention to let you into his inner circle," the old man replied. "But the issues with your Gauntlet have made him hesitate."
"And now it's under control...?"
Gaius nodded. "Now we just need to see if we can actually get you to use magic."
"Ah." She frowned, wondering whether it would be best to keep pretending she had no magic or suddenly appear to be able to use it. A question for Merlin later perhaps but, right now, she needed to focus on this meeting.
In addition to her family and Gaius, Uther had also brought in the head of security, Leon as well as his own PA, Geoffrey, who was mostly here to take notes.
"Yet another escape last night," Uther begun. "This is quite unacceptable. Prisoners disappearing into thin air despite our best attempts. We need some serious ideas of how to stop these abductions."
"Honestly, I'm at a loss to explain it," Leon said. "I understand that transporting is a very difficult skill, one which few sorcerers could accomplish."
"Although apparently there is now at least one who can hop in and out of the cells at will."
Leon shook his head. "I'm told that such a feat should be impossible because of the shields within that area."
"It's true," Gaius said. "I can assure you, it is impossible to use magic within the cells, both because of the shields and because it is below ground, which makes matters harder. In addition, we have special water pipes running within the walls. Something which is well known to dampen magic."
"And what about in the laboratory?" Uther pushed. "If the prisoners are escaping into there...?"
"Impossible," Gaius said firmly. "The door can only be opened from this side."
"So there must be a spy here?" Arthur pushed.
"The security required though..."
"But someone with magic could, yes?" Leon said. "We don't have the same shields in the laboratory?"
"Well, no. Otherwise I couldn't work there but, I assure you, transportation, even if it were possible, would instantly set off the magic alarms."
"And there's no sign of tampering?" Uther asked Leon.
"Ah... no..."
He pounced on the pause. "But?"
"Detailed scrutiny has revealed a minor discrepancy in the time logs. It wasn't something we'd looked for before but..."
"So the power did go out?" Uther asked.
"No, that just isn't possible," Gaius insisted. "The backup generator wouldn't allow it."
"Yes but... magic?" Arthur suggested.
Gaius shook his head. "That has all been taken into account. I tell you, it's just not possible. It's totally baffling."
"Any thoughts or suggestions?" Uther asked. "Any at all?"
"Extra cameras?" Arthur suggested. "Small, spy ones rather than big ones which work on the power grid."
"Yes, that's good," Leon said. "And perhaps we could employ some night guards to help keep an eye on things?"
"I'm not sure that second idea would be much use," Gaius said. "Not if you're dealing with powerful sorcerers."
"Is there anything else?" Uther pushed. "Any rumour, any hints that there could be sorcerers strong enough to bypass these measures?"
"Nothing serious," Gaius replied.
"What do you mean?"
"Just... old stories... folk lore." He winced. "Prophecy."
Uther scoffed at this, but Arthur seemed suddenly interested.
"Could there be any truth to such rumours?" he asked.
"I'm not sure how to verify it. Such texts are ancient and the accounts of 'all-powerful wizards' don't take into account our very advanced mechanical and computerised systems. The only thought I have is this issue of some people's magic not being accurately measured."
"Like mine?" Arthur asked.
"I was thinking more of Morgana."
"Me?" she asked, innocently. She now realised she had the answer to her earlier question. "But you've been trying to teach me for ages."
He shrugged.
"Gaius?" Uther asked.
"Either she has no magic and it really was just her Gauntlet misbehaving, or she does have it but cannot use it. If there was someone else like her who couldn't be measured and could control their magic...?"
"Is that possible?"
Gaius shrugged. "I can't see how we could prove it. Not if our equipment can't test for it."
There was a long silence whilst everyone contemplated that and Morgana took the opportunity to communicate with Merlin and let him know what had been discussed.
"We'll need to think about how we can work around that spy camera idea," he said. "Gaius is right though that the idea of night guards should be less of an issue but, still, it is a constant game of cat and mouse. It always has been."
She couldn't believe how calmly he was taking this although, to be honest, Merlin always appeared calm, even in the face of genuine problems. Well, hopefully he was right and these extra security measures wouldn't require them to change the upcoming missions they'd planned.
~o~0~o~