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Turning the Tables

Merlin and Gwen sat silently in the car as they stared out of the front window, past the dying branches of the tree they had parked behind, towards the room that was written on the crumped paper in the girl's hand. They'd already been sat watching for an hour or so, enough to see the sun set behind them to be replaced by a low hanging moon. Bright neon lights lit up the cheap motel before them, providing more than enough light for the couple to watch the Pendragons enter a room, then Uther leave only fifteen minutes later. He still had not returned. There had been shouting after; loud enough to be heard in the car despite the distance, and Merlin had sworn he'd heard something smash. He'd been prepared to leap from the car to their defence, until he'd watched Morgana storm from the room to the sleazy bar next to the motel. She had not returned yet, either.

'I don't understand why we're sat here, Merlin. What are we waiting for?' Gwen asked, leaning back into the seat and sighing. 'Morgana gave us this address, why don't we just go in?'

'They've already refused us once, we can't risk that again,' Merlin answered, not shifting his gaze from the room. 'Besides, there's only Arthur in there. He definitely won't be impressed if we show up on his doorstep.'

'I'd much rather be with you than him, anyway,' Gwen said, before blushing as she realising what she said. 'I don't mean it like that. Just that you seem so much more…down to Earth. He was so arrogant. The way he was just leaning against that car, like some sort of model. You're so much more honest.'

Merlin turned slightly to look at her, a grin on his face. 'Do I sense a slight crush there, Gwen?'

'On you? No. No. What do you mean?

'I don't mean on me, Gwen.' He turned back to the room, smirking slightly, while she continued to blush. As he looked back at the motel, however, he felt his smile drop. 'Gwen. Gwen, we have a problem.'

Arthur sat on his motel bed, flicking through the TV channels furiously, swigging beer as he did so. He didn't know what time Morgana had left, nor did he care. How dare she question him? What was she, anyway? Some kid whose father had been a friend of Uther's. She shouldn't even be with them. How dare she think she was better than him? He'd had full control of the situation earlier, he didn't ask for her help. It hardly mattered anyway. She would come back later, begging for his forgiveness. When she realised how wrong she'd been. He smiled at that idea, then frowned as he realised his bottle was empty.

Sighing, he stood, flinging the remote on the bed as he walked to the table and grabbed another beer from the bag. Behind him, he heard the door and he smirked triumphantly as he opened the bottle.

'Well, Morgana, I knew you'd be back eventually. What do you have to say?'

A hand over his mouth, another grabbing his wrist, causing him to drop the bottle with a loud smash. A soft whisper into his ear. 'Not your little friend, pretty boy. Just someone here for a little payback.'

He bit down on the hand, hard enough to feel the blood in his mouth. He quickly spat it out and twisted his hand out of grip, taking advantage of the vampire's surprise. He recognised the vamp. He had been the head of the nest; Uther thought he'd been the father of the creatures, the one who'd turned them all. They'd all presumed him dead, killed in the earlier attack, though Arthur hadn't thought to make certain of that. He was regretting it now.

'Surprised how I found you, Pendragon? Once a vampire gets your scent, they have it for life.' He smiled cruelly as Arthur looked briefly around him for some sort of weapon. 'You really should have completed the job earlier. Though, you did a pretty thorough job really. Killing my whole family. Thought I should repay the favour, really.'

'Son of a bitch.'

'Tut tut, language.' He grabbed the front of Arthur's shirt and threw him onto the bed, before pouncing on top of him, straddling him. He kept slamming his fist into Arthur's face, dealing blow after blow until he stopped struggling beneath him. Blood streamed from his lip and nose, dazed eyes watching in horror as the vampire pulled a penknife from his pocket and cut into the blonde's exposed forearm. 'I should thank you for that bite earlier, boy. Makes this next part so much easier. See, I could just kill you. But this, this is so much more torture for both you and your daddy. Let's see if he can kill his own son, shall we?'

He was trying to fight, he really was. But his arms just wouldn't lift, and all he could do was stare as the vamp lowered his bloody palm, preparing to press it against the gash on Arthur's arm. He couldn't even speak to protest. Maybe he just needed to accept it. Maybe that would help.

Then a shower of blood. And a headless body fell on top of him, whilst its head bounced to the floor beside the bed. Arthur could hardly see, but he could swear the man holding the machete in front of him was the same one he had saved only earlier that day. Impossible. That was just impossible…

'And that was you? You killed him?'

Arthur awoke to bright lights, and buzzing noise. He tried to sit up, as if by base instinct, and felt a hand pushing him back down, a low voice whispering to him. He couldn't make it out, but he didn't recognise it. He closed his eyes, frowned hard, and opened them again. That wasn't Morgana beside his bed. Skin too dark, hair too short. It was the woman. Guinevere. Gwen. Why was she there? A flashback of blood, and a dark-haired man holding a ruby machete. Merlin? Was that who saved him?

At the sight of Arthur waking, Uther sat beside his bed in the motel room. 'Arthur? What happened?'

'A vamp. The head of the nest, I think. He got me. Beat me.' His voice was muffled to his ears, and he tasted blood in his mouth, His own, thankfully. 'Someone killed it.'

'Yes. It was Merlin.' Morgana was there, stood at the foot of the bed, arms folded , smirking. 'I told you both that we needed them.'

'Yes,' Uther said, face wrinkled slightly at admitting his own wrong. 'Though how did they know to be here, at all? That's what I want to know.'

'I gave them our motel address. I knew you were too stubborn to admit we might need them, so I took precautions.' Morgana rolled her eyes angrily. 'Lucky I did, really, or you'd be one son less.'

'Not now, Morgana.' He turned to Merlin, who was stood in the corner, looking at the floor, pretending it was not him being discussed by the hunters. 'Boy, why are you here? Why did you save Arthur?'

'Instinct.' Merlin shrugged. 'I told you earlier, I have nothing else now. That vamp may have turned my boyfriend, he deserved to be killed. And I had just as much right to do that as you did.'

Uther nodded, not so much approvingly as understanding. 'Well, Merlin, you saved my son's life. And while I question Morgana's actions, I cannot question that. And that means I stand in your debt. So I will give you a choice: you can leave, and I can guarantee we shall return should you require us, or you can stay and travel with us, and kill these creatures?'

'I'm not leaving.'

Arthur frowned, Morgana smiled, and Uther nodded once more. 'So be it, Merlin, but I hold no responsibility for anything that happens to you. You or Gwen.'

'Accepted.'