Chapter Fifteen: Back to the Future

There was even less conversation required during Mordred's rescue. The pair now knew exactly what they were doing and were extra efficient as a result, even though this mission felt subtly different for some reason that Morgana was initially unable to grasp.

The journeys down to the basement and up to the laboratory took a little longer nowadays, as Merlin had to check for the presence of the spy cameras and work some small, individual spell for each he encountered. The idea of night time guards had quickly been dismissed by Uther, but they knew it was possible that they may not have been told all the details and so were extra cautious, just in case they encountered any unpleasant surprises.

The door to the lab clicked open quietly with hardly any dramatic movement on Merlin's part and he pulled at it to let Morgana through first, as she was now able to create her own flame on her hand to light their way. She started to head towards the secure door but Merlin held her back, scanning the nearby desks for any sign of spy cameras, even though he was fairly certain he knew of their location from Arthur.

Once he was convinced it was all clear the pair moved as one towards the secure door, huddled shoulder to shoulder so Morgana's light could help Merlin to see what he was doing.

Morgana found she was inexplicably impatient to see Mordred again and surprisingly nervous about this mission, considering how often they had pulled off this trick before. Merlin knew exactly where they boy's cell was, of course, as he'd been down here the previous day but, despite all of this, Morgana still couldn't shake her nerves and was beginning to experience some other bizarre emotions.

She was getting the strangest feeling of deja-vu.

Merlin briefly checked Mordred and his Gauntlet before whispering a quiet 'okay' and ushering the boy back out towards the passageway.

"Let's get out of here."

To her total surprise, Mordred ran straight to her, despite their lack of previous interaction, and she hugged him tightly as that strange sense of familiarity washed over her again.

However, it was only as the three of them made their way back up the corridor that Morgana finally remembered the dream she'd had years before. Somehow she'd managed to forget about it before today, but now she recalled hurrying up a dark corridor full of strange sounds and emotions with two male companions; one small child and a tall young man. The memory made her pause.

"Hurry, Morgana."

She almost reeled as she heard Merlin utter those familiar words. The dream had occurred ages before either of them had been employed at Camelot, before she had even met him, and Merlin had hinted that there may be something special about her nightmares – something magical. Despite it being mentioned casually in passing though, there had been so much to learn recently, so much to plan, that they never had got around to discussing it.

Her Gauntlet buzzed then, which she also remembered having happened in the dream. Of course, she should now have full control of her magic but the weird deja-vu was distracting her as she desperately tried to remember what had happened next.

"I think there's a problem," she managed to say. "There's danger..." Although she still didn't know what that was.

"Nearly there," Merlin replied.

They were back in the main laboratory before Morgana had fully realised it, but her sense of dread was mounting.

"You know the drill."

Of course, Morgana was to go over to the door to lock it whilst Merlin transported Mordred out, but tonight she felt surprisingly reluctant to let go of Mordred and move away. Why couldn't she remember what had happened next? Something other than the amazing rush of love she felt as she turned back to look at her two companions.

Then a figure stepped out from the shadows and it all came flooding back.

"Arthur!"

~o~0~o~

"Why?" her brother asked.

She froze and glanced over at Merlin who looked just as shocked as she felt. Even in this poor light she could see the fear etched across her lover's features and could sense it too – a strange mixture of emotions which seemed to hold more concern than simply his own discovery, or fear for the boy. She hesitated, wanting to go back to them but not knowing how Arthur would react to the move.

"I had my suspicions," her brother said then. "But I never wanted it to be true. Why are you doing this?"

Had he been here in the laboratory all along or had he followed them in? She and Merlin had been so preoccupied with the task at hand that it was highly likely that they had walked right past him on their way in.

"Arthur... I can explain..." Merlin said.

Morgana shook her head, suddenly understanding. That was why Arthur had been in such a strange mood yesterday. He really was very bad at keeping secrets and even worse at acting casually when he had something on his mind. But how much did he know? How much had he actually seen?

"I trusted you. Both of you," he continued. "And yet all the time you were plotting against Camelot?"

Morgana turned on him with a glare. "I begged you, Arthur and told you this wasn't right, but you were happy to let me keep wearing this..." She lifted her arm. "...prison around my wrist, despite the problems it caused me. You were happy for me to stay in pain."

"Happy?" He shook his head. "Never that."

"Merlin showed me another way," she continued. "A better way."

"Although I don't think he actually saw me using use magic," her boyfriend replied silently.

Arthur then turned his attention towards Merlin. "I don't understand. I thought you were the most loyal person I knew."

"I am loyal, Arthur and I never wanted to hurt you but, Morgana's correct, this is all wrong. Uther is wrong. I cannot sit ideally by whilst my people suffer."

"Your people?" Arthur asked, incredulously.

Merlin nodded and placed one gentle hand on the boy's shoulder whilst beckoning Morgana back towards him with the other. She moved quickly, pleased of the excuse to get back to the pair.

"He's just a child," she said as Mordred's small, warm hand found its way back into hers. "And yet he was imprisoned here without trial."

"He's an unregistered sorcerer," Arthur replied.

"A child," she repeated. "This place will be the death of him and the Gauntlet will kill him."

"Nonsense. We all wear them for our protection."

"That's not true, Arthur," Merlin disagreed. "They can kill people. Innocent people. I know that from personal experience. Please let us go. There's no reason for Uther to know that any of us were here tonight."

"Shouldn't we leave?" Morgana asked.

"In a minute. I'm just hoping..."

"What?"

"I have to tell Father some of what happened here," Arthur said eventually. "If you leave now you won't be allowed to return."

"Not yet," Merlin replied. "But, trust me, I will be back to keep an eye on you." She was sure she could sense his amusement. "You know you won't survive long without me."

Arthur continued to stare at them, his face full of disappointment and uncertainty until, to Morgana's surprise, he gave a firm nod and moved back into the shadows, silently giving his permission for them to leave.

Merlin took this as his cue, pulling them both closer to his body before the familiar feeling of magical warmth flowed through her and they transported out.

~o~0~o~

"Merlin!"

They had arrived back at her flat but, as Merlin had suspected, carrying two people out at the same time had been very much harder, even over this shorter distance, and he'd collapsed onto the floor the second they'd arrived.

"I'll be fine..." he gasped. "Give me a minute."

"How much time have we got?" she asked as she helped him stand up. "You know they'll come here first."

"Perhaps. That rather depends on how much Arthur tells Uther."

"But the power grid?"

"Yeah. That'll send an alert to the police station in another ten minutes anyway."

"So?"

"So, we'd better pack some bags."

"Do you need anything from your house?" she asked.

"Yes, we need to go there too but..." He shook his head as if trying to dislodge his dizziness. "I'll start by helping here before I attempt that jump. Quickly, gather up anything you can; clothes, blankets, food, water and money."

"What about Mordred's Gauntlet? Shouldn't you remove it now?"

The boy held his wrist up at the question.

Merlin sighed. "We really don't have the time."

"But look how pale he is. Surely...?"

"Morgana, if we're captured it won't matter anyway, and I adjusted it a little the other day and made it less dangerous. He can just sit down on the sofa and rest whilst we get the packing done."

"But..."

"Please, we don't have a lot of time." He smiled sadly at the boy and steered him towards the settee. "And another couple of bags if you have them. A rucksack, would be ideal."

"How are you feeling now?" Morgana asked Merlin as they moved quickly into the bedroom to continue packing.

"A little better but I really want to remove these shields if I've got the energy."

"Is that necessary?"

"Yes." He looked at the clock and shook his head. "I was going to hop over to my flat on my own, but I don't have the time or the energy for a two way trip and I'd really rather we didn't split up." He sighed. "At least the jump there is shorter than from Camelot to here."

"You can't transport us both again!" Morgana complained. "You've barely recovered from that last hop."

"Not much choice, as I said."

"But..."

"Come on. The police will have been alerted by now and, despite letting us go, there's no guarantee that Arthur won't change his mind when faced with Uther and tell him it was us. We really don't have the time to debate this."

And, before she could object further, Merlin had manoeuvred her towards Mordred her and transported all three of them to his house.

~o~0~o~

"You're an idiot!" Morgana declared as she helped Merlin up from the floor for a second time. "What chance do Mordred and I have without you?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine," he slurred stumbling to his feet and swaying as if he were drunk. "Just give me a moment."

"How many moments, though?"

"No idea. Depends if they come here or to your place first."

Morgana grabbed him by both shoulders, staring up at him and trying to judge what sort of state he was in. "You reckon Arthur didn't see you use magic?"

"Not if he was waiting in the laboratory as I suspect. You went in first and had a light on your hand though and he knows that it's possible that you have magic. However, I've always been believed to be Red and, as you have said before, I'm considered unremarkable enough by most people not to be taken that seriously anyway."

"So he thinks it was all me?" She looked deeper into his eyes and felt he was beginning to look a little more focused. "What is it you need from here?"

"A few things, but mostly I need to remove the shields here and other certain bits of evidence. Go into the front room and keep a look out, would you? Call me silently if you see anyone coming."

This time she took Mordred with her, hugging him close as she looked out of the window. Merlin was probably only gone for five minutes but it was easily the longest five minutes Morgana had ever experienced. Fortunately there was no sight or sound of sirens and no cars came close to their position. Finally Merlin turned up holding a piece of paper in one hand, a rucksack on his shoulder and dragging one very large padded pack behind him.

"Right, you two, we're leaving by the back door. I've a little car parked in the backyard which will do until we can swap it."

"Swap?"

He held up a piece of paper. "Got a few extra contacts listed on here in case of emergencies. It's time to see just how efficient the Eden Underground is here in the city."

"You don't have those numbers on your phone?"

"Just code names on there with other, seemingly unrelated, information in paper form. None of it will make sense unless you have both parts."

She shook her head. "I had no idea it was so complicated."

"Come on, let's go. I sent a message ahead. Eden knows we're in trouble so our various contacts will be notified which saves us worrying about it."

Merlin opened the back gate as the other two put their bags in the very small boot of the car whilst Morgana strapped Mordred into the back seat. Then Merlin put the large pack on the seat next to the boy and drove the car out past the gate to allow Morgana to close it behind them.

"So, where are we going?" she asked as they all set off.

"Just a couple of miles down the road to Percival's garage. I'm sure he'll grumble about being woken up at this time of night but he should have a more suitable car to give us."

"He's Eden?"

"Yes. We have a number of Red and Yellow contacts dotted around the country."

"Really? Who are they and why do they support us?"

"It's usually because they have family members who were taken away or who are now living in the Eden sanctuaries. It's not just sorcerers who suffer because of this Gauntlet system."

"I imagine not."

~o~0~o~

"What have you done now, Merlin?" A tall, muscular man was waiting to meet them outside the door of the service garage.

"Me?" Merlin replied in mock innocence. "Percival, I have no idea what you mean."

"Of course you don't," he said with a grin, handing over a set of keys. Then he looked more closely at the other two occupants of the car and gave Merlin a quizzical look. "Secret family?"

"What?"

"I just thought...?"

Merlin looked at Morgana with a frown obviously not understanding Percival's confusion.

"No, none of us are related," Morgana answered.

"Ah right... sorry for any offence but the boy could easily pass for your son."

Merlin turned to Mordred quizzically. "You think so?"

"It might be a useful disguise now you're on the run. Anyway, let's get your belongings moved over to the new car and then you should probably check in with Gwaine before you leave the city."

Merlin sighed. "I really was planning on heading west straight away, but I suppose you're right and that detour will be necessary."

"Probably a good idea to make sure we've got everything covered," Percival agreed. "Will they be looking for this car?"

"I'm not sure. Despite getting caught, it is possible that the authorities might not have been told everything."

"I'd better keep it hidden for a bit, just in case," Percival continued. "And you'd better give me your phones too. I've some new ones here with the usual contacts in."

"Why mine?" Morgana asked as Percival held out his hand to her.

"An organisation like Camelot could easily have them traced. All they need is your number. Best not to take any chances."

She handed it over with a pout, annoyed by the inconvenience and frustrated at being given a very basic model in return for her expensive, high-tech one. Would Arthur really tell their father who had been responsible? Surely, if he admitted to being there then he would also have to admit to letting them go. She briefly felt guilty for the hassle she'd put her brother through but the feeling was fairly short lived. Arthur had been right to turn a blind eye, but what he should have done was to have helped them. She knew he had reservations about the nature of the Camelot's prisoners and that he especially didn't approve of children being held captive. Perhaps, after tonight, he would take her comments more seriously. Perhaps he would now start to question their father about the system and how unfair it was.

Percival and Merlin exchanged a few other, urgent words before parting company with firm nods. The big man then squeezed himself into the small car and drove it towards the back of the building, presumably to put it firmly under lock and key until the fuss had died down. Merlin got into the driver seat of this new, larger estate and, after a quick check to make sure the pair were settled, drove them all off into the night.

~o~0~o~