Gwaine wandered towards the building. Uther had phoned him to send him over to the university to pick Arthur up. He had been in lectures and then tutorials all afternoon and wasn't answering his phone. As far as Uther knew he would be finished by four. He had spent a bit of time randomly berating his son for probably leaving his phone in the car, which he sometimes did. Gwaine wondered how Uther knew that, did Arthur confess to it or did Uther track Arthur's phone. Although he was not stupid enough to actually ask that out loud it wouldn't have surprised him if Uther did keep tabs on his son.

Uther was naturally furious. He was a man who went about shouting and bullying all day long. It got his job done and nobody argued with that fact. When he went quiet and calm, then they all worried. Which was why Gwaine was happy to be out here searching for Pendragon junior and not suffering Uther's wrath.

Gwaine headed in the direction of the building he needed when he paused, as Arthur's blue car caught his eye. From the angle Gwaine stood at, facing the back passenger wing straight on he could see that the door, the driver's door, lay at an angle. The door was open, Arthur was probably packing up. Gwaine checked his watch, it was half past five. Although he was running late Gwaine didn't think that was to strange. Conversations took longer than people thought and Arthur would sit through every tutorial, making sure he helped every student that came to him. He was like that, Arthur was almost perfect.

The feeling of jealousy rose up, Gwaine couldn't help it. He never had. Ever since he had met Uther he had spoken about his son as if he was some kind of saint. Gwaine had thought there was no possible way that Uther's ideal actually matched the reality, but somehow it did. Arthur was polite, kind, generous and intelligent. It always left Gwaine feeling a little intimidated, not that he would ever let Arthur know. He also got the hint that the feeling was slightly mutual. Gwaine was shrewd in his own way, and streetwise, he could do his job, and he did it well. Uther had recognised that, and Gwaine had soon learnt that he was somehow acting as substitute for Arthur, who had refused to follow his father's career. When they had met it occurred to Gwaine that Arthur knew his father's behaviour and psychology very well.

That had set Gwaine and Arthur at odds with each other from the first moment. It had never occurred to either of them, and probably never would, that they both had the potential to become close friends. But the teasing aside Gwaine did like Arthur and Arthur took Gwaine as no threat to his relationship with his father.

Despite that, Gwaine didn't fancy being the one to break the news to Arthur. At least he might be easier to handle than Uther when he did. Gwaine moved around to the driver's side, preparing what he would say. He planned to dispense with any sort of humorous greeting. The news he was about to impart did not require that. However, Gwaine paused and frowned as he looked at Arthur's empty car, and an open door.

He turned his head, looking around. It was quiet in the area now, and by sheer instinct Gwaine took the gloves he had in his pocket out and carefully put them on. Arthur was the son of a policeman, leaving his car door open like that was not something he would do by accident. Gwaine opened the driver's door fully and looked around, crouching down to view inside.

The first thing he noticed was the keys, in the ignition. Arthur's usual pile of papers, which he always seemed to have on him, were stacked carefully on the passenger seat. He had put them down there, tucking them against the backrest. It indicated that Arthur had been sat in the car. Gwaine slowly stood up and looked around again, backing up and viewing the car from an entirely different perspective. Then he turned at the sound of giggling. A trio of girls were walking down the pathway from the building that Arthur had been in.

"Excuse me ladies."

They paused. Two eyed him with interest, the other with distain. But they all straightened up, also looking at the car.

"Do you know if Dr Pendragon is still in the building?"

They frowned and looked at the car again. Gwaine delved into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out his ID and showed it to them.

"I need to speak to him on a very serious matter, is he still in there?"

"No," the brunette on the right announced. "I had the last tutorial with him."

Which, Gwaine thought, explained the low cut top and the make-up she was wearing.

"And he cut it short," she continued. "He left at half four. It was overrunning a little but he said he had to get back. He said he was on his way to the hospital."

"Okay, thank you," Gwaine said. "Would anyone have seen him in the car park at that time?"

"You could try asking Gerald, he's the parking attendant."

"Thank you."

"Erm, there's a phone there," the girl on the far side suddenly said, pointing the direction of the back wheel. Turning to look he saw the screen was lit up. Gwaine grimaced as he picked it up and saw the screen, complete with cartoon dragon and 'Dad' emblazoned across it. Gwaine pressed the button to answer the call.

"Arthur finally…"

"Actually, I'm Gwaine. I just picked up the phone from the floor by Arthur's back wheel. The door to his car was unlocked and the keys in the ignition, apparently he left the building at half four, so he has been missing for an hour."

There was a very long silence from the other end.

"Sir, I can check the building, he might have gone back in but… he wouldn't have left the door like this, or his phone on the floor. I have gloves on and have made minimal contact."

"I'll send a team down to you, when they arrive to need to try and check the comings and goings of the building and any CCTV you can find."

"Yes Sir."

"Stay there and see what they do, I want updates!"

"We don't know for certain that it's anything serious."

"Arthur would not leave his car like that. Keep me informed!"

Uther hung up and Gwaine looked at the car, the un-grown-up car that Arthur owned, open and vulnerable. Gwaine had nothing to do until the team turned up, but look at it. Arthur had got to his car, stacked his papers on the passenger seat, like he generally did, and his lunchbox was, Gwaine realised after further investigation, on the floor of that side.

He had put his papers down, probably dropped the bright pink plastic box. Gwaine reached in a hand and carefully took the handle, lifting it to shake it. Nothing happened, so it was empty. Arthur had eaten. Gwaine placed it back as best he could and sitting back on his haunches looked around. Everything that Arthur would have been carrying was set where he would have put it. Gwaine took a risk, they could easily eliminate him from any enquiry, and he put himself in the seat. Arthur had put his stuff down, put his key in the ignition. Gwaine felt for it, clicking it back and pulling it out, before putting it back in and turning it. It shifted back into the place where it had been left and a slight further turn caused the engine to start. Gwaine switched it back off, and did it again, slowly.

Arthur had been in the car, his stuff settled on the seat, and he had to have been in the process of turning it on.

"So, he was in the car, just about to drive off," Gwaine said slowly. He looked about, thinking carefully. "Then he opened the door. Arthur would have shut it to drive off, everything was in place, and so, he would have seen something and got out."

Gwaine did so, stepping out slowly. Then he stood, moving the car door and talking out loud to lead himself through what he was thinking.

"If he'd seen it behind him, in the mirror, the door would have been wide open, but Arthur had pushed it, presuming it was Arthur, closed, just slightly. That would indicate he was trying to get to someone in front of the car. And if you really want someone's attention, you arrive in their line of sight. But his phone was by the back wheel."

Gwaine stepped away, closing the car door into the position he found it and he faced the door and backed up, still thinking through what could have happened.

"Arthur would get out of the car to help someone, he'd have his phone to call..." Gwaine flipped through the phone to find the call logs. "His mother, about lunchtime, he hadn't made the call. But if he thought it was important it most certainly would have been 999."

"Right," Gwaine drawled, looking around. "That CCTV camera is the best shot and I need to find Gerald, the parking attendant. Arthur saw something, got out of the car, was getting out of the car, phone in hand and… hello…"

Gwaine crouched by the driver's door, peering at the scuff and indention on the door.

"They moved quickly enough to kick the door, hitting Arthur, which would have sent him down, maybe, and he would have dropped the phone. They came for him, deliberately, knowing he was here. Merlin's gone AWOL and so has Arthur. I think we can safely say that is not a coincidence."

Gwaine looked up, seeing the flashing lights of a patrol car as it entered the car park. He lifted his hand, waving at them to get their attention. They needed the CCTV and Gerald, the aforementioned parking attendant, perhaps forensics, and most of all, Gwaine had to call his boss.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Percival wished he could dig a hole and bury himself in it. DCS Pendragon was not a happy man. The fact that Arthur seemed to be on the missing list was not helping matters in the slightest.

"So? I'm waiting."

Percival sighed. He didn't really think he was going to extract himself from any blame here.

"Lancelot had been up there about ten minutes previously. I told him I was going up to collect Merlin and bring him down to watch television."

Uther nodded, glaring at Percival, who shrank down even more. Leon eyed him with sympathy but wasn't inclined to go any further than that. He didn't want to incur any of Uther's fury.

"When I got up there, the room was empty and Kilgharrah was on the window sill."

Uther's eyebrows raised in a mildly sarcastic gesture, not entirely understanding what Percival was getting at. Percival hunched even more, if that was possible.

"It seemed an odd place to leave him. Everyone's been really careful with him ever since his wing got damaged. He looked a bit precarious so I went to pick him up and put him somewhere safer. That's when I saw Merlin, out on the lawn, just there," Percival pointed out of the dining room window to the right place.

"Alone?"

"Yes, and no one walked him out there, no one would, and they certainly wouldn't have left him. I ran out but by the time I got downstairs and out of the fire door, he was gone. Lancelot and I covered the grounds, but all I found were traces of his hair snagged on the bush, and a tiny sliver of clothing."

"So he disappeared through the hedge?" Uther drawled.

"There are a few weak spots," Percival said. "I had searched them out and knew that one was there."

Uther's eyes were hardening dramatically. Percival cringed.

"But to be honest, I thought I was keeping an eye on them to stop people from sneaking in, not prevent the catatonic patient from sneaking out."

"That is rather a valid point," Gaius eventually said, trying to come to Percival's rescue.

"Merlin has been moving voluntarily," Uther snapped.

"Not to such an independent extent. True he has starting drawing, and he responds to certain stimuli, but the reactions have been so subtle you have to be incredibly aware of them. And it's fair to say, the only person he has really openly responded to is Arthur."

Uther ground his teeth. "Who left the university building at four thirty. When did Merlin do his disappearing act?"

Percival glanced at his watch. "I was going to bring him down to watch that cooking show on channel 4 so about ten to five."

"Which means he was there twenty minutes after Arthur was kidnapped," Leon said. "If we are assuming that is the case."

"We are, Arthur would not leave his car door open, drop his phone and disappear."

By the tone of Uther's voice, Arthur probably wouldn't damn well dare, Leon thought to himself, sharing a brief glance with Percival. They didn't hold the gaze for long, both of them turning their attention back to Uther. Thankfully he didn't seem aware of the silent communication.

"So far, from the evidence we have, Merlin is aware of things as they happen," Gaius said. "As with the murder he witnessed, and the fact he knew that boy had been taken."

"So you're thinking that Arthur was targeted?" Morgana said. "And Merlin has responded. We've assumed that Cenred has no way of communicating with the outside world, the prison has shut him off from any outside communication, but maybe it's been happening another way."

"You think Cenred is another one with ability?" Uther snapped. Morgana shrugged.

"Maybe, but not necessarily. He was needed for a purpose, one he enjoyed, but it's this other person that presumably wanted access to the boy's talents that seems to be somehow his main concern. Which could mean that perhaps they are linked to him in the same psychic way. Merlin is connected, that much is evident. If they wanted Merlin back, maybe they needed a way to draw him in."

"They're using Arthur as bait?" Percival mused. "Merlin seems to like him. It's a bit hard to work out but you kind of know things about Merlin, without him ever telling you."

"You get a sense of what he's thinking," Lancelot added. "Or at least feeling. Arthur seemed to be getting it most of all."

Uther clenched his jaw and pulled his phone out of his pocket, there was a hum as it vibrated again and he answered it.

"Gwaine?" The demand for an answer was curt.

Gwaine's voice was breathless, a slight sound of a breeze coming through the phone.

"Sir, the team has arrived, I've left them to it. I've got a copy of the CCTV of the car park and I've had a quick word with the parking attendant. There wasn't much he could tell me but you need to see the footage. I'm bringing it over now."

"I presume it tells us something useful?"

"Yes and no," Gwaine said, panting slightly as he walked across to his own car. Uther heard the beep in the background as Gwaine unlocked his car and the rustle as he sat down.

"We can safely say Arthur was kidnapped, but we can't identify by who. You'd just better view the tape Sir."

Uther snarled in frustration. "Get over here then, and quickly."

"Yes, Sir."

Gwaine cut the connection to do exactly as he was told.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Both the police and the hospital staff gathered to watch the screen, with a semblance of confusion. Gwaine's assessment of events had been spot on. Arthur had been sat in the car, and the footage clearly caught him seeing something ahead of him, but out of range of the camera. He had started to get out of the car, holding his phone, getting ready to dial.

Then the scene became peculiar. Something shot into view, hit the door, which sent Arthur sprawling.

"What the hell is that?" Lancelot asked as Uther rewound the tape and played the scene again, focusing on Arthur's look of concern, which turned to shock as the attack happened. Uther paused the playback and everyone stared at the strange black blur on the screen.

"It can't be the camera," Morgana said. "Everything else is as clear as a bell."

"Lancelot, go to Arthur's office and get Merlin's file," Gaius suddenly ordered. Lancelot nodded and started to head out, and then he paused.

"What if the filing cabinet is locked?"

"You've managed to open the drugs locker with a safety pin, I'm sure you can think of something."

Lancelot grinned and headed out, Uther played the tape over again. Gwaine felt like pointing out that it wasn't going to change but judging by the set of Uther's jaw such a comment would be a seriously bad idea. Instead he watched the playback again. There wasn't much else to see beyond the attack, the screen became too blurred to really comprehend was happened after that.

"That has to be deliberate," Gwaine eventually said. Uther gave him a side-long glare. Gwaine straightened up a little.

"According to the parking attendant the only other vehicle of note was a jeep type thing. It had only been in the car park for a while, although it had moved a couple of times. He took the number plate," Gwaine said rummaging in his pocket. Morgana frowned as a tinny ring started in her pocket. She pulled out her phone and looked at the screen. Getting up she walked out of the room to answer it, her clipped tones coming from the corridor as she conversed with whoever it was. Uther took the paper from Gwaine, hardly glancing at it before passing it to Leon who took the hint, pulling out his phone to call through the number and find out who the jeep belonged to.

"If it had moved then presumably they were waiting. They knew Arthur was in lectures all afternoon. Did the car park have a time limit?" Uther asked.

Gwaine shook his head. "No, they don't use any sort of permit or ticket system either. I think the far side is used by a few commuters but nowhere close to where Arthur parked. It's too out of the way to be of much real use to anyone but people going to the campus. It's basically down to Gerald's discretion as to what he keeps an eye on. He knows the regular cars, and he knew Arthur's."

"But he wasn't about when this happened?"

"No, there is more than one building, and car park, he kind of rotates around them. So he had passed this one on his rota and moved over to the far side of the campus."

"This is so well planned that only Arthur could be the target," Uther said.

"Got it," Lancelot said, running back holding out the thick file to Gaius, who took it and flipped through Arthur's notes, the police information and the pictures that Merlin had drawn.

"I'm fairly certain that Arthur hadn't passed this one on to you, at least not yet," Gaius said. Uther took the picture, staring at it. It was most definitely Arthur in the centre of the drawing.

"Merlin drew this?"

Uther stared at the dark shadow that had been drawn around his son, a frown starting to form on his face.

"Look at the date," Gaius advised. "Arthur didn't make much of it because Merlin drew on that first day when Arthur went to see Cenred. Arthur just thought that Merlin somehow knew where he had gone, and just felt concerned about him."

"It says here that Merlin was quite agitated when he was drawing it," Uther said, reading his son's scrawling notes at the bottom of the page.

"I believe so," Gaius told him.

"He did another one at the same time," Percival said, recovering a little from the trauma of Uther's anger. He wandered over to help pick out the right drawing.

"I said it looked like a landscape or something, but we couldn't make much out."

"He's done a couple of those before," Uther said, studying the pictures.

"Merlin seems to be trying to tell us something," Gaius said. "The first few pictures were easy to work out. The stove relates to the farmhouse, he's still there in some capacity."

"In his mind?" Uther asked.

"Then he drew that landscape that we thought perhaps related to where he was, then came Kilgharrah, when Arthur told Merlin his mother was coming to visit him."

"That certainly gives us a sure sign that Merlin was paying attention," Lancelot said.

Gaius huffed and looked around, eventually settling on Lancelot.

"See if you can get hold of Nimueh, an extra brain on this might be useful."

Lancelot nodded and disappeared, ducking to avoid Morgana as she stormed back. Uther looked up at her, her face serious and her eyes flashing with anger. She jiggled her mobile in her hand and everyone's attention turned to her. Everything about her told them she had news.

"Morgana?" Uther asked.

"That was the prison. Earlier this afternoon Cenred had some kind of seizure, serious enough that they moved him to the hospital wing."

"Please tell me he's dead," Gwaine said, but even as he said that his tone gave away the fact that he didn't think that was what Morgana was about to say.

"Two of the medical staff were found dead, there is no sign of where Cenred escaped from. He's another one who seems to be capable of vanishing into thin air." Morgana's voice turned tight, the anger straining to get out. Uther had gone very still, staring at her, although Morgana was one person who never seemed to be intimidated by his anger. It was one reason that rumours ran around that she was sleeping with him. Gwaine watched them staring at each other.

"What time was he reported missing?" Uther said.

"Five forty-five, he was last seen in the ward about fifteen minutes prior to that," Morgana said.

"But within a similar time frame to Arthur and Merlin," Gwaine said.

"Cenred is being held somewhere that is over two hours away, there is no way that this person who took Arthur and Merlin can be involved in that, it's impossible," Leon said.

Percival shrugged. "Merlin's walking around on his own, I thought that was impossible, he also appears to have gone through a hedge and the area beyond that is open, I should have seen him. That's impossible as well."

"That CCTV is impossible, nothing blurs like that at such a convenient moment. It's like whoever it is can pixilate their aura," Gwaine added.

"This is all leading to this mysterious person who Cenred refused to name," Gaius said.

"Cenred said to Arthur that a big score was coming. We have three pieces of the puzzle missing," Uther said, his voice again turning deceptively calm. "We find them, we find the fourth."

XxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Arthur groaned as the pain of his headache descended like a tight band, pressing onto his temples. Automatically he started to get up, his muddled mind not really comprehending the situation. As he tried to sit up the spinning in his head became ten times worse and he slumped back down onto the cold stone floor. The palms of his hands felt damp as he tried to get up again but even as he lifted himself inches up the nausea rose in his throat and he dropped again.

He lay still for a few moments, letting the sensations die down and restricting his movement to slowly blinking his eyes to try and clear his vision. Arthur let his mind catch up to the situation instead of trying to move.

The last thing he remembered was the university car park. He couldn't bring to mind anything beyond that. Had he been in his car, he wondered. If he was in the car park then surely that made sense. A thought formed in his mind that he had clambered out of the car, but he couldn't for the life of him think why.

He moaned again as his head pounded, the band feeling like it was tightening further. Bringing up a hand he rubbed his forehead. Finally Arthur comprehended the fact that he was lying on the floor. It was cold and damp. Taking the risk he lifted his head and looked around. He blinked again in a slow, deliberate gesture. For a few moments his vision cleared.

There wasn't much to see.

Dark shapes made up the terrain that was most certainly not the familiar view of the university buildings. Unless it was now dark and he had been laying there for a while. Surely someone would have seen him. Arthur took another blink, keeping as still as he could so his body wouldn't distract him with the many aches and pains he seemed to have. Again, all he could see were dark blurs but something close by drew his attention. Arthur blinked again and slowly the pain in his head eased, and he blinked again bringing something into focus. Arthur's heart tensed with horror.

"Merlin?"

His voice sounded slurred, and his throat constricted again as he pushed himself up onto his hands and knees. His stomach tensed, liquid rushing up his throat and he spat it out, stomach heaving. He took as many slow calming breaths as he could, feeling the saliva gathering in his mouth. Concentrating on his reactions he swallowed gently trying to gather himself together. Slowly he lifted his head again, it felt too heavy for his neck, but he cleared his vision and found out his eyes hadn't deceived him.

"Merlin?" he asked again in a low tone.

There was, quite naturally, no response. Merlin continued to sit propped against a wall, his hands settled in his lap and his legs stretched out in front of him, looking like a discarded rag doll. His head was tilted at a slight angle to the left, his eyes staring into the distance but the angle of Merlin's head suggested to Arthur that he knew he was there. Arthur gave another cough and spat onto the floor. His mother would be furious if she knew. Arthur gave a snort of laughter at the thought and then brought himself back to the present.

Moving slowly, his body wouldn't allow anything else, he crawled forward, to get to Merlin. He had to make sure Merlin was all right, and then perhaps try to comprehend what the hell Merlin was doing there, wherever there was. That was probably the third thing to work out. Arthur shuffled forward only to be brought up short when his right hand jerked to a halt. He yanked twice, comprehension not dawning in his muddled mind, until he slowly looked down, the world shifting at a painful angle before he managed to realise that there was a band of metal circling his wrist. Arthur pulled again hearing the light clink of metal and he saw the glitter of the chain that was tethering him to a nearby radiator. He yanked his other arm and found that was brought up short by the same method. He almost toppled as that seemed to pull his other hand out from under him. Arthur turned to sit abruptly on his backside and he pitched over onto his side. Looking up again, his mind starting to clear a little, he assessed that he was, frustratingly, only two metres or so away from reaching Merlin's outstretched feet.

Arthur pulled on the chain again, finding that it dragged on his other hand. Arthur took both lengths of chain in one hand and slowly moved to follow it to the source, almost hitting his head on the radiator as he leant in closely to examine the situation. He swore under his breath as his forehead brushed against the radiator, feeling the warmth coming from it. The system was working. He hadn't got as far as working out if he was cold or hot, but at least Merlin would be all right, if there was some heat in the room. He had to think about Merlin.

Groping his way up the chain, and resting his head against the radiator Arthur eventually found where the chain had been looped around a metal pipe, and was caught on a joint, he pulled on it, lifting it over the thicker section, the low dull clanking echoing around the room. He dragged the chain up the pipe, realising he could only go so far as it turned up to run the hot water into the radiator. Arthur turned towards Merlin, the action less painful than before. Sitting still seemed to have done something for his head, the pain of his headache was lessening. He couldn't remember being hit, so he could only presume he was suffering the affects of some drug. He shifted his position again, stretching as far as the chain would allow him, only to find that he still stayed just out of reach of Merlin's foot.

Frustrated Arthur yanked on the chain again, putting as much effort into the venture as he could. As he started to feel a little breathless from the exertion, his head started to pound again and the dizzying sickness rose in his throat. Arthur went still again, trying to think, taking deep steady breaths to prevent him from vomiting. As the sensations calmed again he forced himself to stay relaxed. He turned his left wrist, looking for his watch, only to find that it was missing. Arthur guessed he had either lost it in the scuffle or whoever had kidnapped them did not want him knowing the time. However, it had to have been long enough for someone to notice that he was missing, if nothing else Merlin would be missing, and someone at the hospital would try to get hold of him to tell him. That would mean, he assured himself, that they knew he was nowhere to be found. Arthur could certainly trust his father to react to that. If Merlin was here then it had to have something to do with the case.

Arthur shifted his position again, resting back against the wall, next to the radiator. Until the drugs affects calmed he couldn't do much, his best option would be to at least assess the area and get an idea of what might happen next. He put himself in a position similar to Merlin's and looked around, checking Merlin over. His clothes seemed a little grubby, and he was without a coat, only wearing his blue shirt, with the contrasting red neckerchief and his jeans and trainers. Arthur hoped he wasn't cold, from what he could see Merlin didn't look to be shivering and Arthur realised there was a second radiator close to Merlin. Peering closer Arthur spotted the length of chain by Merlin's leg, running to a point behind him. He presumed Merlin was chained in the same way. It wouldn't make much of a difference to him. Merlin wasn't exactly going anywhere, but if the same person had kidnapped him then it would probably bring up bad memories for him. Merlin would know the nightmare wasn't over.

"It's all right Merlin," Arthur said, making an effort to keep his words clear and confident. "My father will know we're missing, he'll find us. We'll be all right, you'll be all right, I'll look after you."

That said, he looked around the room they were trapped in. There was a damp, musty smell to the air; it had not been used for a long while. Arthur located the window just above the radiator he was chained to. The glass was cracked, spreading out like a spider web across the pane, paint peeled from the frame, the exposed wood severely rotted in places. There were boards over the window, hammered over the outside, running horizontally across the window. It had not been done evenly, so chinks of light crept though the gaps, an orange haze, something artificial.

Moving slowly Arthur shifted the chain so he was closer, kneeling up to peer out of the window, trying to see what was outside. He didn't dare push the sash window open, frightened of the glass falling, so he couldn't get a clear view of anything. There was just the gleaming light. It gave him a hint of hope, they were near somewhere with a street light, which meant they were perhaps not trapped somewhere remote. There was hope they could be found.

He gave up on looking at where they were. For the moment he couldn't get them out that way, and the slivers of light were starting to hurt his eyes. Blinking he turned and tried to readjust his eyes to the room, assessing the dark corners. He could hear the sound of scratching, rodents clearly occupied the building, and there were what looked like old boxes stacked at one end of the room, stuffed together in a random, cluttered pile.

It did not make for an inspiring set up. Arthur crawled back towards Merlin, having another go at trying to reach him. He strained against the chain, his head pounding again as he exerted himself.

"Merlin? How did you get here? No one could have got into the hospital. It will be all right Merlin, I'll think of something."

"Oh, how sweet," a voice announced in the darkness.

Arthur jumped turning round, falling heavily again, landing back against the radiator and striking his head. He hadn't even realised the door had opened, actually he couldn't even remember seeing it, never mind knowing it if was open or shut. He flinched as the light increased in the room, the figure reaching over to turn the light on. It wasn't particularly bright, the bulb overhead giving a dull glow, the shade around it covered by years of grime. Arthur stared at the woman, her blond hair falling around her shoulders. He blinked again. It was the same person, he realised, his memory falling into place. The woman who had looked to be in trouble, and he had automatically gone to help.

He jerked back as she moved into the room, almost at an unnatural speed. She stopped halfway into the room, taking two further, slow steps towards him. Arthur watched her warily, while she eyed him in amusement, a smirk quirking the corners of her lips as she looked down at him. Arthur shifted nervously, taking another slow deep breath to calm himself down.

"I wouldn't advise struggling too much, the drug reacts to any attempt to fight."

Arthur glared at her, tensing as she looked away from him and turned her attention to Merlin. She went towards him, crouching down and gently brushing Merlin's hair back off his forehead. Arthur snarled, lurching towards them, although both of them were out of his reach, and he suffered another wave of the dizzying sickness. The woman paused and turned to look at him. Arthur struggled to get up again, taking a deep breath and using a supreme surge of willpower to control his body.

"Leave him alone," Arthur managed to growl, his voice sounding raw.

The blonde smirked, but she stood up and moved back over to Arthur. He struggled to sit up again, resting back against the wall, and he tried not to flinch as she put a cool hand against his forehead. Either, Arthur thought, he was extremely hot or she was very cold. He gritted his teeth and stayed still while she played with the strands of hair that were lankly sticking to his forehead.

"What do you want?" Arthur managed to say.

"You know what I want," she announced calmly. Arthur glared at her.

"What do you want with Merlin?"

She gave a light laugh, which made Arthur shiver and he flinched his head away from her hand. It caused the band to tighten in his mind and he closed his eyes.

"It's not just Merlin I want," she told him.

"What have I got to do with anything?" Arthur asked.

She tilted her head, looking at him steadily for a few seconds before smiling again. It didn't fill Arthur with much confidence. There was something chilling about that expression.

"Oh, my dear sweet Dr Pendragon," she drawled in a sing-song voice, still plucking at strands of his hair. He felt an overwhelming urge to swat her off, but decided it was better her attention focused on him and not Merlin.

"How much you care about your patients."

"That is my job," Arthur informed her.

"How concerned and understanding, and empathic."

Arthur frowned as she emphasized the last word. He blinked and she smirked. Her hand moved lower to stroke his cheek. Arthur felt shivers as she touched him, but he stayed perfectly still.

"You have no understanding of what you are, do you?"

"I am a good psychiatrist."

"Of course," she drawled softly, leaning into towards him. "Always knowing just how your patient is feeling, especially poor little lost Merlin."

The mention of his name caused Arthur to glance over at the other man. He hadn't looked to have moved, but there was something about the angle of his head that made it seem as if he had changed just a little, and he was watching the unfolding scene with intensity, and fear. The woman went down to stroking his neck. At that Arthur's hand shot up to grab her wrist, twisting painfully. She hardly seemed to react to it, instead her free hand latched on around his throat. The woman pressed down, putting her body weight behind the grip leaning closer to him.

"You can feel him, can't you? Like you can others."

Arthur glared at her. "And you can't?" he half asked and half concluded. Her face twisted with anger, but there was a light creak of the floorboards and a low voice asked.

"Starting without me Morgause?"

Arthur's body tensed at the familiar voice. He had heard it that very morning. Morgause turned from him, slackening the grip on his throat to look at Cenred. Very slowly she released Arthur and stood up. Cenred moved closer, looking down at Arthur with that dark, intense gaze, which made him want to curl up and hide himself as best he could.

"How the hell did you get out?" Arthur asked, his voice catching and he gave a cough to clear it, spitting the phlegm towards Cenred. Cenred just shrugged.

"Doors are really useful for that sort of thing," Cenred drawled. Morgause chuckled. Arthur tensed, especially as Cenred's gaze turned from him to Merlin. Arthur's panic started to peak, fear riding the wave of emotion. Arthur tried to lurch forward to stop him, the chain clanking sharply against the pipe as he pulled. Cenred watched him in amusement. He had positioned himself on the far side of Merlin, so Arthur could see both of them. Reaching out a hand Cenred turned his attention back to Merlin, stroking his hair and then gently brushing his ear before running his fingertips over Merlin's neck, pushing down the material of his scarf to rub the scarring. Arthur snarled, shivering as he almost felt the touch himself, and he realised, it wasn't his own panic and fear, although he certainly had enough of that, he could sense Merlin's. He knew Merlin didn't want this man anywhere near him. Arthur struggled, although it was futile, the exertion making him feel weak again.

"Get away from him," Arthur snarled. Cenred's hand moved lower over Merlin's, brushing down his torso. Arthur jerked forward again, trying to find a way to get to Merlin and protect him. He ended up falling again, crashing onto his side. Arthur forced himself to take several deep breaths again, encouraging his body to calm down, making his mind follow. Turning his head he looked at Cenred, who was regarding him in amusement, his hand now resting on Merlin's thigh, close to his groin. Again Arthur felt the stirring of panic, and he slowly got to his hands and knees and lifted his head.

"Get off him or I will fucking kill you," he growled, the menace in his voice carrying.

"I think he means that," Morgause said. Cenred chuckled. Arthur tried to get forward again, his co-ordination was starting to fail under the effect of whatever he had been given. His vision blurred as he tried to keep the scene in front of him in sight. The woman, Morgause, had stood up, moving to watch the action unfold. Arthur's mind stirred with the thought that she was the second person, the one that had been in partnership with Cenred.

She was the killer and she had got Merlin back.

Arthur turned and lashed out at her, but she was out of reach and he felt his heart start to pound, the headache increasing in pressure. Morgause stepped back.

"Enough now, Cenred leave him, I don't want our pretty little psychiatrist overexerting himself too soon."

"Hey, I've not had any fun for months."

"Get off him!" Arthur snapped, trying again to get to Merlin. The darkness was slowly moving at the edges of his vision, his mind shutting down, unable to fight whatever he had been given. Something, from what Morgause had said, that was designed to fight his body.

"Cenred!"

She snapped his name, the tone commanding and through blurred vision Arthur saw the man obey, getting up and stepping away. Arthur sprawled on the floor, losing the fight against the drug, he managed to turn his gaze on Merlin for a few seconds before the darkness overwhelmed him completely, hearing Morgause's voice on the edge of his mind.

"We'll have plenty of time."