Arthur had left by the time the huge man arrived. He had gone in early to see Merlin, simply wanting to make sure he spent time with him, and although Arthur told him he would be away for the rest of the day he gave no hint as to where he was going. He didn't think mentioning Cenred to him was a good idea.
During the time before his father came to pick him up Arthur tried to get another picture out of Merlin. He didn't get much more than blurred shadows, and guessed that Merlin wasn't coping well after the events of the previous day and the feelings the nightmare had brought on. Despite avoiding headlines Arthur hadn't been able to miss some of the news stands with sensationalist wording.
Alice, merrily working on reception, re-organising some of the schedules so a male member of staff was on duty at all times, got rather a surprise as the tall, well-built man wandered over the threshold carrying a packed looking holdall and looking around in interest. She paused typing.
"Oh."
"Hello," said the man. Elena, who was passing along the landing, paused at the exclamation of surprise and peered down to look at the newcomer, who had wandered over to the desk.
"I was told to ask for Arthur, or Gaius," he announced.
Elena frowned and trotted down the stairs, the man turned, eyes widening a little and then he beamed at her. Elena smiled back, Alice, now having some backup recovered herself.
"Dr Pendragon isn't here, he went out an hour or so ago. I'm not certain when he'll be back, if at all today."
"Oh," the man said looking at his watch. "I didn't think of that."
"I can call Gaius, he's just in his office."
"Can I go through and see him?"
"No!" both women snapped at him sternly. He looked from one to the other in surprise but then shrugged and gave an amiable smile.
"Okay, I can wait here, it's very peaceful here isn't it?"
"That's the purpose," Alice told him primly, as she picked up the phone and pressed through to Gaius' extension.
"Ah, Gaius," she said warmly. "There is a young gentleman here to see you; he did say he was supposed to ask for you, or Dr Pendragon."
Alice listened for a moment and then looked up at him.
"And your name is?"
"Percival," he said. "DCS Pendragon should have phoned ahead."
Elena's eyebrows rose up, and she appraised Percival again. He watched her look him up and down without the slightest flicker of self-consciousness, as if being stared at was something he was entirely used to. Alice reiterated the information to Gaius who clearly responded and Alice put the phone down, looking up.
"He'll be here in a minute."
Percival nodded, and just looked around again, peering down the corridor to the dining room, but making no attempt to wander out of the reception area. Elena and Alice watched him for a moment, before looking at each other.
The door squeaked, as it always did, as Gaius came bustling through from the office area and headed down the steps. Percival smiled again.
"Hello, DCS Pendragon sent me."
"Yes," Gaius drawled. "I'm not entirely certain this step is necessary but I don't suppose it can do any harm. I'll show you where you're staying. I haven't informed all the staff yet about what's happening, but Elena's on duty today."
"What's going on?" Elena asked.
"Extra protection for Merlin, after the incident yesterday."
"Oh," Elena and Alice said in unison, appraising Percival again, as if he was a prize bull. Percival stood patiently while they did so, and Gaius watched both women give the young man a good once over.
"Come through to the resident's wing," Gaius said, shuffling towards the stairs. Percival picked his holdall up and ambled after him with Elena in tow. She shared a final look with Alice, both of them agreeing that Percival wasn't an entirely bad addition. Alice smirked and went back to the timetables. Elena skipped after Gaius and Percival, who held the door open for her to go through ahead of him.
"So you're a policeman then?" she asked.
"No, I was, now I just work in security. DCS Pendragon sometimes uses me when he officially can't use someone for budget reasons and stuff. That or he doesn't want to use anyone too… obvious." Percival took a while to find that word, which made both Gaius and Elena frown. Elena appraised him again and asked.
"If you're not a policeman what do you do, security wise?"
"Mainly work as a bouncer, I block doors really well."
Elena sniggered, Gaius rolled his eyes and said, "We don't really need an official treatment record for you, but I'll get Elena to set up a file, we just have to think of a condition for you."
"Just enough to justify why I'm here in case anyone checks the records," Percival said. "Can I have something interesting? I've always wanted to be interesting."
"This room here is yours, Merlin is next door."
"Right," Percival said, wandering in, looking around. He dropped his bag onto the bed and peered out of the window, carefully surveying the scene.
"You don't think you're interesting?" Elena asked. Percival turned.
"Not really."
"But you're…" she waved a hand up and down. Percival glanced down at himself and shrugged.
"Being big doesn't make you interesting; in fact most people assume you're stupid."
Elena tugged on a lock of her head. "I know that feeling."
Percival grinned, and then looked around again. "Can I see Merlin's room?"
"Can it wait, Merlin's resting so I don't want to disturb him too much," Gaius said. Percival nodded.
"I just need to take a peek at the location really. I don't need to spend any time there. I had a look from the outside," Percival went to the window again and opening it, peered out, assessing the window next door.
"His is the end room then, with the windows on both sides?"
"Yes," Gaius said. "It has good light."
"Also makes it a little vulnerable," Percy mused. "At least the drainpipe isn't nearby, and there's no cover on the ground, approach would be difficult."
"I don't think we need to worry about that quite yet. This is just a precaution," Gaius said.
"Sorry," Percival said. "Habit. But I'm here next door, so I'm going to hear what goes on."
"So does Merlin," Gaius snapped.
"Should you introduce me?" Percival asked. "I know I can pretend to be a patient, but that is not my job. Does Merlin really know what's going on?"
"Assessments say yes," Gaius said. "I'm not particularly happy about this, you might as well know that from the start."
"Fair enough," Percival shrugged amiably. "But it would appear that DCS Pendragon is taking Merlin's safety seriously. I don't get told any more than I need to know, I turn up and get on with what I need to do."
"But…" Gaius prompted.
"If he's called me in, then it's for a very good reason. However, it's up to you what you think people should know."
"I think before we take that any further, we discuss it with Arthur."
"Fair enough, the only thing I'll ask while I'm waiting. I'd like to take a walk through the grounds."
"Shouldn't be a problem," Elena said. "What are we looking for?"
Percival shrugged. "Nothing, until we find something."
XxxxxxxxxxxxxX
The drive up had been something between tedious and irritating for Arthur. Uther had briefed him to within an inch of his life.
"We are conducting this investigation. You are just assisting as a psychiatrist," Uther said. "I don't want him to get any hint that you have been treating Merlin. I don't want to even tell him who you are."
"Okay," Arthur said, trying not to feel insulted by that. Morgana, who was driving, added to it.
"He'll use that to wind both of you up, if he knows you're Uther's son. Once he gets that, he won't let it go," she announced. "And don't rise if he makes obscene comments. It's one thing he uses as leverage, and he is bound to say something about Merlin, so don't react to it."
"Fine," Arthur said.
Then it carried on, he wasn't to speak to directly to Cenred. Uther would tell him that Arthur was only here to observe. Cenred would probably try to engage him in conversation, but Arthur was to ignore him. Arthur got the feeling he was only there on sufferance, unless of course he could come up with something insightful about the man they were about to face. Arthur just wanted to lay eyes on him, to see the person who had destroyed Merlin. There was more to what happened to Merlin than any of them could see, and Merlin was unable to tell anyone, at least in the conventional sense. That left Arthur with a lot of guesswork. He wanted to know more, and Cenred, at least, was able to talk.
The prison was a modern looking building, but it still managed to present a feel of ancient power. High concrete walls surrounded the building, which rose up from behind it's barrier, the barred windows standing out against the brickwork. It looked like it did exactly what it was meant to do, keep people in.
"Cenred is in the secure facility. That's within the main building, but the prisoners within it do not interact with the main population. I think in Cenred's case it's not just for his safety but for the rest of them as well," Morgana commented, as they reached the door and Uther got them through the main gates.
Arthur looked around carefully as one of the guards started to lead them across the courtyard into the building. There were a few of the prisoners moving around the yard to their left. As the small group passed by the prisoners all turned to stare. Most of them fixed their gaze on Morgana, starting to heckle her a little. Morgana looked bored, and paid no attention to them.
Arthur walked after them trying not to hunch his shoulders at the suggestions towards Morgana, towards himself. Morgana just strode on ignoring everything that was thrown her way. Arthur walked with her but felt like cringing just a little. Without even realising he was doing it he moved to her left side, in the hope of flanking her. It wasn't much, and it just turned some of their attention to him. Arthur kept his gaze fixed on Uther's back as he walked on ahead of them, but his gaze eventually moved to Morgana.
She was dressed at neatly as usual. Her pencil skirt tight fitting, the matching jacket nipping in at her waist before flaring out. She wore a silky camisole top underneath, and her hair was neatly drawn back in a plait. Everything about her screamed professionalism, but there was more to it. Even though her hair was always sensibly tidy, she always showed off it's length, trailing just past her waist, and the clothes covered, but revealed. It made her look everything she needed to be. Sometimes harmless and sympathetic, in contrast sexual, businesslike, steely, determined; like a chameleon she could use what she looked like to her advantage, making sure she could shift through to find what she needed.
It was how she had managed to get so far. Arthur didn't believe the rumours that she was sleeping with her father. Even if she was, it would not be to further her career. Morgana seemed to have no interest in relationships. It made Arthur wonder why, although he probably shouldn't. Although he did debate Gwaine's ability to woo her, could Morgana even been swayed, just in the slightest. Certainly not by the men heckling her, she was making them look foolish as she refused to rise and, by the simple movement of her body, refuse to be intimidated. It was Arthur that was doing that, he moved a little closer to her.
"It's not nice," Morgana said, agreeing with him without Arthur saying anything. She glanced up, understanding in her eyes. Morgana knew Arthur felt unsettled by it.
"I think they should find something better to do," Arthur growled.
"There isn't anything for them, they are trapped in here, which is no less than they deserve. It gets worse, in the secure unit. Less of them but they are the worst of the worst. Cenred is trapped in a tower, he doesn't even get to look at these guys. They'd try to kill him, he's probably win."
"Rehabilitation at it's best," Arthur said.
"No," Morgana said steadily as they paused to be let into the next section. "Rehabilitation works for those that want it. These do not, they are scum, they will stay it. I think you can rattle the bastard, but if you do, you will be the first."
Morgana said that and went through the door, Arthur ran after her to shouts of 'bitch' and 'pussy'. He did what Morgana did. They were nothing to do with what he was here to do. Arthur could pull out the retorts about their mother's but it really wasn't worth the effort.
"Hey, Blondie!" Was the last thing Arthur heard as he crossed over the gates into a solitary world. They moved deeper in, going through gate after gate, until they were taken in a room. A table was set out in the centre, one chair on the far side, two on the nearside.
It was some kind of visiting room, which was probably only given the furniture that was needed for each occasion. In the corner was another table and chair, which Arthur guessed was his. He sat down and pulled out a notepad and pencil. Uther and Morgana had sat at the table, Morgana elegantly crossing her legs, and opening a button on her jacket.
He stayed quiet as they brought Cenred out. Arthur had been placed behind his father and Morgana. He knew it was because Uther wanted him no where near this man. Arthur sketched as Cenred walked out. If he had followed in his father's footsteps Arthur knew he would be sat next to Uther. He could be acceptably put in danger.
Arthur moved his pencil to the top of the paper and wrote 'hypocrite' and 'contradictory' at the top of the sheet. It was his father all over. Sometimes he treated Arthur as if he knew nothing of the world, yet as a teenager he had been dragged through incident rooms, read the boards and took in the worst aspects of humanity. Maybe that was why he turned his attention to making people better. People like Merlin.
Without even thinking about what he was doing Arthur started to draw Kilgharrah's head. It brought him back to reality. He was doing this for Merlin. Arthur wasn't here for anything other than that. Understanding Merlin was his only goal and for that, he needed to get an understanding of the man who had destroyed him. Arthur looked up and assessed Cenred, who was gazing at Uther.
"Well, well, hello Detective Chief Superintendent," Cenred said.
"Sit down," Uther said.
"And if I don't want to?" Cenred asked with a smirk.
He knows what's happened, Arthur thought to himself. He knows that's why we're here. Arthur looked at him, taking him every aspect of the man in front of him, he had to force himself under control to stop his hand from sketching what he could see.
Cenred's dark hair trailed over his face. But that didn't make it messy, it just made it very artfully arranged. His hands were cuffed in front of him and he was wearing jeans and a black shirt. The prison officers put him into his seat and he didn't fight despite his question. Instead he shifted to settle himself and look around the room. At that point Arthur kept his head down.
"You can't make me," Cenred said despite the fact the guards had. Arthur snorted, which brought Cenred's attention to him.
"Something to say pretty boy," he asked. Uther's shoulders tensed but Morgana's hand moved to touch his wrist. It was subtle, so Cenred wouldn't see it, but it stilled Uther and he said nothing to prevent Arthur from speaking. Morgana wanted him to. Whatever game she was playing, Arthur made the opening gambit.
"How old are you?" Arthur drawled. Cenred glanced at Uther and then nodded his head in Arthur's direction.
"Who is this?"
"A consultant."
"A shrink," Cenred concluded, looking Arthur up and down. "He looks like a shrink."
"I could be a male model for all you know," Arthur said.
"But what would be the point of that. I know what is going on in the world. Do you think we're cut off here?"
"Do you?" Arthur asked. Cenred screwed up his face, as if he had smelt something highly distasteful.
"He is such a shrink."
"Good for me," Arthur drawled.
"So, I can guess why I am popular all of a sudden."
"You're not that," Arthur said.
"Shut up!" Uther snapped at him, his arm moved to shrug Morgana off.
Arthur put his head back down and shrugged, scribbling a litte. From under lowered brows Arthur watched Cenred's reaction to that. He was watching carefully and Arthur started to make more notes. Uther had carefully kept away any mention of his name and Arthur had done the same. He had just made himself annoying, and of interest. No doubt Cenred would figure it out. Arthur had that on a ten minute window. If they made fifteen then they were doing well. He made a note of the time and wrote his bet in the margin.
"New little murder come up, it's all very interesting," Cenred said.
"Is it?" Morgana asked. Cenred glared at her and then nodded at Arthur.
"Have you been taking lessons from him?"
"No, I can be annoying without any outside help. He's just here to assess you."
"Why do I get the feeling that it isn't just me he's interested in? How is my little boy Merlin?"
Arthur marked a point up to Cenred. He wasn't going to comment, but it was an easy enough connection.
"He's not relevant here," Uther said.
"He's not?" Cenred said. "Well then, you might as well go home. The only reason you want to talk to me has to be because of a lead."
"We need to discuss with you certain elements of a murder that occurred yesterday. Scene of crime evidence, and residual DNA suggest that the cases may be linked. You claimed that you never actually killed the boys you had kidnapped. That would appear to be a good indication that someone else did," Uther said. "Someone who now appears to be working without you."
Cenred said nothing. He looked at Uther, then at Morgana. Arthur tensed as Cenred's gaze met his. He held it. He didn't want to do anything else, he wanted to see this man, really stare at him, and try and see exactly what Merlin saw.
Cenred was tall and broad shouldered, his hair and eyes dark, a scattering of stubble over his jaw and upper lip. He was attractive, in a rugged sort of way. He had never married, and as far as anyone knew, never had a long term relationship. Cenred had worked as some kind of online consultant, from what Arthur knew, using the internet and phone to deal with his clients. A job that kept him alone and separated, no one saw him and he could stay isolated, keeping himself hidden away in the countryside along with his captives. They only had six victims that they knew of, there could be, Arthur decided, far more, who remained unfound.
During the pause Uther opened up the file he was carrying and pulled out several pictures, laying them out in front of Cenred. He stared at them before looking back up.
"These are from the crime scene of this latest murder, another young boy, missing for a week. The attack was frenzied, but we don't know where he was kept, there were burns around his wrists and ankles that appear to indicate that he was restrained for a period of time. Have you ever seen this boy before?" Uther asked Cenred.
He said nothing, instead Cenred glanced at the pictures again and then look up at Uther with wide eyes, a smirk playing around on his lips as if he was trying to control the urge to laugh. Arthur realised, Cenred felt like laughing at them. Uther sat patiently, prepared to wait it out.
The match went on for a minute or so. Arthur watched the three people sat at the table, they were going nowhere, so he decided, despite everything his father had told him, to ignore him. Morgana was of the opinion that Arthur could rattle Cenred. He wasn't quite sure if her faith was well placed, but he wasn't about to go on sitting here, getting nothing.
"How many more are there?" Arthur asked. His father tensed, but didn't look round. Morgana did, winking at him. Cenred glowered at him, his anger rising to the surface. He gave no expressive indication of it, but Arthur could see it smouldering behind his eyes, he could almost see it moving under Cenred's skin trying to push it's way out.
"What?" Cenred growled at him. Arthur waited a moment before saying.
"There was only six victims found that can be connected to you, do you expect us to be that naïve that they were the only ones. How many more were there?"
Cenred huffed and smirked, looking away from Arthur. Arthur dropped his head and added a few lines to his sketch of Kilgharrah, and let the silence fall again.
"Is that it?" Cenred asked his audience.
"Did you take Merlin?" Arthur asked, deciding to go with the one victim he could help. He looked up at Cenred, who had raised his eyebrows. "The information said he left the sandwich bar where he worked when his shift ended at four, and his mother was expecting him home by five. He had even sent her a text to say he had left. Did you kidnap him, or was it this alleged other person?"
Cenred smirked again. "Haven't you seen all the statements and court transcripts?"
Arthur hadn't. His father had only let him see what he needed to know. He wouldn't even be here now except he had found the connection to what was going on, via Merlin. Arthur had managed to get himself into the middle of the situation by accident, but he wasn't about to let Cenred know that.
"I don't care what any statements or transcripts say, I want to hear it from you."
Cenred's smile widened, he shifted in his seat a little, moving so he could focus on Arthur, gazing at him.
"Oh, yes, I took Merlin. I took them all."
Arthur didn't react, but he had an answer to more than one question, that statement told him everything. There was more than six. Probably a lot more. Six was enough, contemplating how many more there might be was something Arthur didn't want to contemplate.
"How?"
"I promised to show him some puppies," Cenred said, smirking as he did so.
"Really? I don't think anyone over the age of five would fall for that line," Arthur said. "Did you know he was twenty-three? That's significantly older than the other boys you showed an interest in. How much research did you do into them, or did you just pick out ones you liked the look of?"
Cenred eyed Arthur for a moment before speaking.
"Do you think age is significant?"
Arthur wrote notes without looking down. It was a method that made his work a little haphazard but it meant he could keep eye contact.
"Considering the way Merlin looks, I'd say you didn't know. He's also the one that lived, did you find out how old he was?"
"Do you think it made a difference?" Cenred said.
"You still treated him the same, he just managed to survive," Arthur said. "So, it didn't matter how old he was?"
"It's not what I usually go for, he looked right enough, and he might have been older, but he was far more innocent." Cenred rolled that word around his mouth, Arthur felt his stomach churn. "None of them, barring Jason, have ever been taken up the arse before but most of them knew enough. Merlin was as pure as the driven snow. Very sweet, I thought."
Arthur gritted his teeth. "You enjoyed that."
"He'd never really been out with anyone, being such a shy little boy. I fucked him on the first night, down in the cellar. It was the look in his eyes when I started to cut him out of his clothes. No one had touched him before in his entire life. Such flawless skin."
The same couldn't be said now, Arthur told himself. Merlin was covered in scars. Without really thinking about it Arthur started to sketch in Kilgharrah's neck, emphasizing the scales. Cenred shifted in his chair, exhaling lightly and Arthur felt his stomach churn as he realised that Cenred had an erection.
"When did you first see him?" Arthur asked. "What was your first impression when you saw him?" Cenred raised his eyebrows.
"I thought he was a pretty little thing. I saw him working in the shop, so I went in, he was waiting on the tables. The shop became quite a favourite of mine."
"No one else there noticed you."
"I guess not, whose going to notice another customer. Although I always left Merlin a very generous tip, I think the attention rather turned his head."
"And you used that to kidnap him?"
"No, for that I used chloroform. Like you said, as he left the shop, I followed him, I knew his route, there's just one quiet little spot by the park, nice and dark. He struggled a little but there's wasn't anything he could do. I got him into the van. It's so very simple," Cenred said.
"And you spent five months abusing him."
"You're a shrink, you probably know how it goes, he put up a fight at first," Cenred said leaning forward in the chair eyes fixed on Arthur. "Then he tried being compliant, so desperately trying to reason with me."
"Then he just stopped didn't he. He just gave up reacting, that was the safest way," Arthur concluded.
Cenred snorted.
"Or did it happen because of that head injury?" Arthur asked.
Cenred glowered.
"That wasn't entirely planned, was it?" Arthur asked. Cenred continued to glare but he didn't answer. Arthur saw his father's shoulders tense again, and Morgana's hand reached out to subtly restrain him again.
"Whoever this other person is, they don't have the same self control that you do. You didn't kill them, you terrorized them, starved them to a point, drugged them and raped them, but you stopped short of killing them. That shouldn't make them difficult to catch."
"And what would you know?" Cenred asked.
Arthur shrugged. "Was it after that injury? Did he stop reacting to you after that?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?"
"That's why I'm asking," Arthur said. "How flattering were you? When you were sizing him up?"
"Does that bother you?"
Arthur tensed his jaw. "Yes, it does, because that's what you were doing, when you saw the ones you chose. Did you watch them and imagine what you were going to do to them?"
"Sometimes," Cenred said.
"Did the reality live up to the fantasy?" Arthur said.
Cenred smirked at him, but said nothing.
"Enough," Uther snapped. "Do you recognise this boy?"
Cenred looked at the picture that Uther shifted into the centre. After a moment, Cenred looked up.
"No, I do not."
"That's all I want to know," Uther said.
Cenred shrugged. "I'm sure it is," he said as, at a signal from Uther, the guard moved forward to hoist him up from the seat. Cenred allowed himself to be pulled up, and then he turned his gaze back in Arthur's direction.
"Do give Merlin my love, Dr Pendragon."
When the door closed on Cenred and the guard Arthur gave a heavy sigh.
"Shit. He knew who I was the whole time. Tell me something," Arthur asked, looking up at the guard who was still in the room with them.
"Does he still have access to a computer?"
XxxxxxxxxxxxxX
When he got back to the hospital Arthur got out of the car, walking away from it as swiftly as possible. The journey back had been filled with tension, none of them saying anything about what had occurred.
Arthur felt absolutely filthy the whole way back, as if something from the prison had latched onto him, crawling over him. But he didn't think it could be soothed as easily as going for a long hot shower. Whatever he was feeling went deeper than that. As he got out of the car he checked his watch, the residents would just be finishing dinner. Arthur wanted to see Merlin.
Most definitely he wanted to get away from his father. Uther was seething, and Arthur got the feeling he was the cause.
"Arthur," his father followed him around the building to the staff area. The main reception was closed up, no one but the late shift staff and the residents were in the building at this time. Arthur paused, unsure if he wanted to open the door with Uther on his tail.
"You did well today."
Arthur blinked in surprise. "You told me not to talk to him."
"And I knew you'd ignore me. Morgana's right, you can rattle him."
"I don't think I did a very good job. I just…" Arthur paused, fiddling with the keys as he thought about it. "I just wanted to look in him the eye. I just wanted to see if I could try and imagine what Merlin saw."
"Did you?" Uther asked.
"Yes, I think so," Arthur said.
"Do you think he has any connection to this new murder?"
"Not directly, there was no way he could orchestrate anything, but he did all the other kidnappings, he kept the boys. Maybe that phrasing has more significance than you thought. He was keeping them, but keeping them for what?"
"You think that is where the other person comes into the equation?"
"I'm not sure," Arthur said.
"I hate to ask it, but the only person who might be able to identify this person for us is Merlin."
"I know," Arthur sighed, getting the feeling his father had played him almost as well as Cenred had today. "I know."