Chapter 14: Minor Crime
Thursday Morning
Fortunately Merlin and Morgana's positions within the company meant they were kept constantly informed about all new security measures including the exact locations of the new spy cameras Uther had ordered. It certainly made the next few escapes a little more complicated, but Morgana got the impression that Merlin actually enjoyed the challenge of having his skills tested in that way.
She had quickly come to realise that her boyfriend defied all the rules about sorcerers, but whether that was because he'd been able to use magic for so long or something else entirely, she wasn't certain. She may well be classed as a Silver sorcerer, but it hadn't taken her long to realise that she'd never gain the casual control which Merlin seemed to have over magic – as if it were a part of him somehow. Was he exceptional even for a Silver, or was it because he'd begun to hone his skills at such a young age? Although it was common knowledge that most abilities were easier to develop when you were a child, there was something about the feel of Merlin's magic which made Morgana think it was far more complicated than that.
A few more prisoners had arrived at Camelot during the last couple of weeks but most of these were preplanned - usually transfers from other facilities – which meant all Morgana had to do was to collect as many details as possible to pass onto Merlin, so that he didn't have to risk suspicion by attempting to find out for himself.
However, today was set to be very different. Gaius had received a phone call late morning which made him especially flustered and, after a series of urgent messages and Leon popping his head around the door several times, Morgana's curiosity was close to bursting point, especially as Merlin appeared to be putting her off just as much as her boss was.
"What's happening, Gaius?" she asked when she could bear the suspense no longer.
"We've a new guest coming in," her boss replied, still distracted by the information on his screen. "Very unexpected."
"Do you know what's going on, Merlin?"
"Yes, and I'm going to try to come down with Arthur," he replied. "No idea if Uther will allow it but I really need to be there."
"Why?"
There was a long pause before he answered. "You'll see."
Shortly afterwards, Uther and Arthur walked confidently through the laboratory door with Merlin one step behind. Whether he'd managed to convince the pair that he should tag along, or was using some type of subtle magic, Morgana didn't know, but he was certainly acting as if he wasn't there - arms behind his back and head bowed - keeping himself in the shadows.
Gaius definitely noticed though, raising a quizzical eyebrow when he saw the young man enter. However, when no-one else reacted or offered an explanation for his presence, her boss turned back to Uther, muttering something about 'final details' and 'unique situation'.
Morgana had been surprised on seeing how young Gilly was but that hadn't prepared her for the sight of the latest prisoner. The newest sorcerer was a child – a very young boy – and she gaped at Merlin in shock when she understood exactly why he had manoeuvred himself down here today. He nodded subtly and then tipped his head, a silent instruction for her either to pay attention, or perhaps to ignore his presence, as she still wasn't convinced that he hadn't put some sort of invisibility spell on himself, despite her and Gaius being able to see him.
The young boy was dark-haired and pale-skinned with the most piercing blue eyes that Morgana had ever seen. She couldn't help thinking that he looked like a miniature Merlin and the glare he gave his captors certainly reminded her of those rare times her boyfriend had allowed her to see a glimpse of his usually well-buried anger.
"Mordred is it?" Gaius asked the lad, kindly. "How old are you?"
The boy glared at the old man and refused to answer, folding his arms as if to emphasise his rebelliousness and revealing a Green Gauntlet in the process.
"You just need to sit down here." Gaius phrased it as a request, but Arthur had already started to manoeuvre Mordred towards the chair and the child certainly wasn't in a position to resist.
"What happened?" Morgana couldn't help but ask. "Why is he here?"
"A fight in his school playground got out of hand, I gather," Gaius said, looking at the email he'd received on the computer screen. "Nine years old, I see. Originally registered as Red but was wearing Yellow before the Knights increased it on site. Well, that's obviously not correct considering what happened this morning. What did they do to get you so cross?"
The boy shook his head and didn't answer, although Morgana did sense a strange buzz then which felt very much like telepathic communication. Morded gave a whimper then and glanced briefly briefly in Merlin's direction.
"He's very strong," he commented to her. "And is already trying to break through that Green Gauntlet." There was a short pause. "Don't fight it. You'll only hurt yourself and force them to give you a higher setting. Just go along with everyone for now."
Morgana blinked for a moment, confused, before realising that Merlin was actually communicating with the boy and not her.
"Can you hear me?" she asked, pushing her thought towards the lad. "I'm here to help you too."
Mordred looked up at her then, his expression now more curious than angry, and gave a very small nod.
"We can't do anything right now," Merlin continued, apparently answering a question she hadn't heard. "Not with this audience, but I promise I'll help you just as soon as I can."
Just as he had with Gilly, Gaius took off Mordred's current Gauntlet and snapped on the testing bands before pressing a few buttons and stepping back to check the results.
"Well, that is most unexpected," he said eventually.
"What is it?" Uther asked.
"Looks like we have another 'M' sorcerer."
"A what?" Uther asked.
"Sorry, just thinking out loud. It looks like Mordred is one of these rare individuals whose magic can't be measured."
"Like me?" Arthur asked.
"Ah, actually more like Morgana."
"M sorcerer?" Uther asked again.
"Sorry, just my little joke. You know, Morgana and..." Gaius gaze flicked very briefly over to Merlin and back again. "... and now Mordred."
She too turned towards Merlin who rolled his eyes at Gaius' less than subtle slip. "He knows?" she asked him.
"He suspects. He knows of my sympathies and I know of his. Neither of us have admitted anything directly but... I did assume he'd worked it out."
"Worked what out?"
"That I also have this rare type of magic."
"And so now there are three of us?"
Despite being on opposite sides of the room, Morgana was certain she could sense Merlin's unease. "Apparently so."
"M sorcerers," she said, amused.
"I'm sure our names are just a coincidence."
"So, it's reading him as having no magic but you're saying he does?" Arthur was asking Gaius.
"The report here says that he blasted two boys halfway across the playground without laying a finger on them," the old man replied. "So yes, he obviously has some ability, even if this machine can't detect it."
"How is that possible?" Uther asked.
"It shouldn't be, certainly."
"How are the boys?" Arthur asked then.
"Alive but badly injured in hospital." Gaius looked to get Mordred's attention at that point but the lad just stared back at him with those startling blue eyes and it was impossible to tell if he felt guilty about his earlier outburst.
"Act meek and unhappy," Merlin cautioned him. "Don't show any signs of strength or rebelliousness. With any luck they'll think that Green setting is good enough for you."
This time Mordred turned his gaze directly at Merlin but Morgana couldn't hear what, if anything, he said.
"I'm serious, Mordred. Otherwise they'll slap Blue or Purple on you, despite your young age and that might cause you real harm."
In fact, that discussion was already going on with Uther enthusiastically advocating the higher setting.
"I cannot possible sanction that, sir," Gaius replied. "Not with someone so young."
"But with all these escapees?"
"They've all been Purple though, Father," Arthur said.
"Yes. What's your point?"
"Well, that just proves that putting them up to the higher setting doesn't prevent them from disappearing. In fact all those we've lost have been Green or higher and the few lower ones we hold are still here."
Uther looked over to Gaius who shrugged. "As I've said before, nothing about those escapes makes sense, but if the boy's been on Yellow before today then I can be fairly confident that Green will hold him for the time being."
"No, I won't risk that. He's far too alert. Put him up to Blue."
"But, Uther... I really don't..."
"Blue," her father repeated. "And check up on him every day to make sure he's not broken through that setting."
Mordred again turned towards Merlin and, although Morgana was not aware of any conversation between them, Merlin's expression did seem to say, 'I told you so'. Morgana winced as a new, blue Gauntlet was snapped on the child's tiny wrist and, as had happened to Gilly, his defiance instantly melted and he whimpered again.
"You'll get used to it and you will soon feel better," Merlin told the boy. "But do not make any attempt to use your magic. If they suspect for a minute that you can break through that Gauntlet they'll put you up to Purple and I have no idea what that will do to someone of your power."
Morgana still hadn't been able to hear the boy's silent voice, but she was fairly certain she sensed a question from him then.
"Yes, probably," Merlin replied. "But, that's the point. Uther mustn't know it's possible. I will be able to get you out of here soon, Mordred, but only if you follow my instructions. Do you understand?"
And then, finally, she did hear him.
"Yes, Emrys. I understand."
Thursday Afternoon
"What are you doing here, Merlin?" Gaius asked as he walked into the laboratory at the end of the day.
"Nothing," he replied with a bright grin. "Just waiting for Morgana."
Gaius looked up from his screen and raised an eyebrow. "You're a terrible liar, Merlin."
"No, it's true. We're going out to the pub tonight."
"On a week night?"
Morgana rolled her eyes. "Not you too, Gaius? As if we're not getting enough grief from Dad and Arthur over our relationship."
"And you're not waiting for her in the foyer because..?"
He smiled brightly. "I just couldn't wait that long to see her."
Morgana shook her head, barely stopping herself from groaning. "He's right, Merlin. That's an awful excuse, as well as being terribly corny."
Gaius sighed loudly. "I really don't want to know. Look, I have to work late tonight but I'm leaving now to take a break for..." He looked up at the clock. "... half an hour. I don't expect either of you to be here when I return and please, please don't give Uther any reason to suspect me. I don't want any... disappearances... on my watch."
"I'm sure I don't know what you mean," Merlin replied with another too-bright smile.
Gaius glared at him and then walked out of the lab, mumbling to himself.
"So, why are you here if it's not to get Mordred out?" Morgana asked once they were alone.
"I couldn't do that now, even if I wanted to. It's far too busy."
"I know. So...?"
"I need to drop that setting down a bit and make sure he fully understands what's at stake here. Hopefully a few hours on Blue has knocked the edge off his rebelliousness a little."
"How are you going to get in?" she asked.
"Oh, it's easy in here during work hours as the door doesn't have full locks on whilst Gaius is around. He only puts up the whole security system when he leaves at the end of the day, so this will be easy, but I will have to be quick if he's going to be back in thirty minutes."
Morgana remembered how much longer this door always took Merlin to open during their midnight jaunts, even after all the recent practice but, this time, there was barely a hesitation as the young man put a hand up in front of the door and almost instantly unlocked it.
He shook his head as Morgana made to follow. "No, I need you on lookout, just in case someone else comes in."
"But..." She wasn't sure what it was but she felt a sudden, urgent need to see the boy which she couldn't quite explain. She had never considered herself particularly maternal. In fact, before today, she would have said she didn't really like children at all. However, this boy had been different. She'd felt a connection. Perhaps it was the magic making her feel that way or perhaps it was something else entirely.
"I promise I won't be long." And Merlin had gone, swallowed up by the darkness of the corridor.
~o~0~o~
"Well?" she asked as he returned and locked the door behind him.
"I made a few adjustments to his Gauntlet so that it remains high but absorbs his magic more effectively," Merlin said. "Then I told him he's gone to the top of our list and will be out of here very soon."
"Really? Don't you have to check with the others?"
"I will do but, in this case, I doubt anyone will be disagreeing with me. More to the point, the boy is volatile. Sooner or later he'll get frustrated and ignore my instructions and it's vital that no-one here understands just what us Silver Sorcerers are capable of, otherwise our cover will be blown."
"But he could just be an anomaly," she said.
Merlin shook his head. "No, we need him out of there and as far away from Camelot possible. And we have to do it soon."
He looked up at the clock and grabbed her hand, pulling her towards the main door. Gaius would be back in five minutes and so it was time they left.
Thursday Evening
Morgana came out of the shower to find Merlin waiting to go in and looking rather tense "Tonight?" she asked, guessing that he'd just come off the phone with Eden.
"No, that's too soon," he replied. "And it wouldn't be good to cancel on Arthur and Gwen anyway. Tomorrow though." He sighed. "There was some heated discussion about all of this but eventually Eden agree that we do need to get the boy out next."
"What discussion would there be? Surely no-one thought he should be left there?"
Merlin pulled a face. "It's complicated."
"What do you mean?"
He shrugged. "I'll tell you later."
"Ah right." They started to walk past each other and Morgana realised Merlin must really be distracted as he hardly seemed to notice her, despite the fact she was only wearing a towel. "Merlin?"
"Hmm?"
"Mordred called you by a different name earlier today."
"Emrys. Yes."
"Why?"
He shrugged. "Something to do with that prophecy I was telling you about."
"How would a child know about such a thing?"
Merlin sighed loudly as he continued on into the bathroom. "I have no idea."
~o~0~o~
"You're very quiet tonight, Arthur?" Morgana observed as the four friends sat at their usual table in the pub..
Her brother shrugged. "Yeah just... thinking."
"Well, that's no good," Merlin teased. "You know how bad that is for you."
Arthur smiled slightly, but his lack of response proved just how preoccupied he was.
"I think he may be upset about such a young child being help captive too," Morgana said to Merlin.
"I suppose that must be it, but he's been in an odd mood all day. There's definitely something he's not telling me."
Gwen had also noticed her boyfriend's distraction but later confided in Morgana that it probably had something to do with their relationship.
"Why do you say that?" Morgana asked. "It's obvious to anyone who's spent five minutes around you two that Arthur adores you."
"Really? Do you think so? It's just that he's always tried to hide his emotions and feelings but, since we started dating, he was beginning to open up a little and then, suddenly, over the last day or two, he's closed up again and... it seems like he's keeping secrets from me and... I think he's worried about Uther finding out and starting to regret our relationship and..." She noticed Morgana's amused look and smiled. "I'm being silly, aren't I?"
"I'm fairly certain it's to do with work," she replied. "Merlin hinted as much a little while ago. Seriously, try not to worry too much and I'll talk to him later, just to put your mind at rest."
"Thank you, Morgana."
~o~0~o
Next Time - Chapter 15: Back To The Future