I hope you're all ready to learn a bit more about the Knights...

Thank you everyone for reading. Enjoy!

Demon Deals and Desperation

Merlin groaned quietly as another elbow jostled him in the ribs, and another deafening chorus of whatever song it was on the ancient radio station was belted out by the men surrounding him. He could feel small beads of sweat forming on his forehead, under his heavy, dark hair, yet it was far too cramped for any attempt to push it back from his face. He was trapped, boiling hot, with nothing to do except make his displeasure known with every jolt of the jeep.

He'd been forced into travelling with the men, the Knights he supposed he'd have to call them, on the way down to Kansas. The oldest one, Leon, had taken his place with the Pendragons, claiming they needed to talk 'business'. Gwen had stayed back with Gaius, claiming she wasn't prepared enough yet to go straight into demon-hunting, and Merlin had been practically man-handled into the back of the jeep, one guy either side and the radio blasting. They'd started off three hours ago, and it had only got more uncomfortable since then.

He was disturbed from his thoughts by a loud laugh, and Merlin looked up to catch Gwaine's mossy eyes in the car mirror, crinkled in amusement. 'You enjoying yourself, Merlin? Surrounded by four sweaty men, how could you not?'

The boy scowled, causing the giant of a man in the passenger seat beside Gwaine to laugh also, flicking off the radio as he did. 'Come on, Gwaine, leave him be. Don't think any of us are particularly impressed by your radio choice this past three hours. Where'd you think you are, 1974?'

'Percy's right, Gwaine. With your singing as well, surprised the boy hasn't gone all rugaru on us by now.' The guy sat to Merlin's right joked, then instantly froze as he seemed to realise what he'd said. 'Shit. I'm sorry, Percy, I wasn't thinking.'

'It's fine.'

'I am sorry.'

'Shut it, Ely, it's fine. I'll find that son-of-a-bitch one day, trust me, and I can't think of anything better than giving it Hell before I send it there.' He was looking forward at this point, his voice uncharacteristically cold. A quick glance in the mirror alerted him to Merlin's questioning gaze. 'What'd you want, boy?'

'Nothing, nothing. I just…'

'Rugaru, sounds made-up, it's not. Cannibal, I suppose, enjoys nothing more than a quick chomp down on human flesh,' the curly-haired boy sat on Merlin's left finally spoke, yet his eyes were resting fixed on Percy, a sympathetic glint to them. 'One got Percy's mom and brother. Left no remains.'

'It's how I got into hunting. I was reading folklore, making weapons, tracking down anything that could have been related to the bastard. I got myself arrested, testing flame-throwers in a nearby forest. Yes, I realise now how stupid that was, but I was desperate. Anyway, Gaius heard of the arrest, guessed what I was trying to do, got me out. And I joined these guys.' A half-smile passed across his lips as he mentioned his fellow Knights. 'One day, I'll find the damn thing that killed my kid brother. But, this time, I'll have back-up and I'll be prepared. It won't get away.'

There was a moment's silence after that, though whether out of respect for Percy's dead, or out of awkwardness from Percy's open honesty, it was difficult to tell. Merlin drummed his fingers against his thigh nervously, before asking quietly. 'What about the rest of you? Any reason you're hunters…?'

'By that, do you mean have any of the rest of us got a tragic, emotional story to tell that will have us all sobbing like in some desperate chick-flick?' Gwaine asked, his eyebrow raised. 'If so, then no, we don't.'

'There was a ghost at my workplace, some factory in Delaware. Uther and Arthur showed up, I somehow managed to help them out, they took me on-board.' Ely shrugged. 'God knows why I took it up, I'm stuck with these sons-of-bitches now.'

'You'd rather be in some toothpaste factory, Ely?' Gwaine joked, before sighing as he realised Merlin was staring at him still, waiting for his answer. 'You really want to know, boy? I sold my soul. I was drunk at some crappy, roadside bar. Some English bloke approached me, asked me if there was anything I wanted, I said a beer. He said he'd get me one for a kiss. I don't know why I did it, but I woke up the next day with Arthur stood over me, telling me I sold my soul for a crappy beer. That I had ten years left, and that my best bet was to go with him and his dad and try find the son-of-a-bitch who holds the contract. That was two years ago, we've found fuck all, meaning I have eight years left before some dick demon sends his dogs to come get me and drag my ass down to Hell.'

There was another pause. Yet this one was clearly of the awkward variety.

'You sold your soul to a gay demon in exchange for a beer?' Percival couldn't suppress a chuckle at the shock in the new boy's voice.

'Yes, I did,' Gwaine answered sullenly. 'And no, I can't work out which part of the story sounds stupidest either. Just that now I have eight frigging years left, and all I got out of it was a beer I don't even remember drinking.'

Merlin flicked his gaze to the only story he had not yet heard. At the feel of Merlin's eyes on his skin, Mordred shook his head frantically. 'No, I don't think…'

'How can you even be a hunter? You're so young; shouldn't you still be in school? College?'

'Funny, aren't you, Merlin? I'm only just younger than you, I bet. But fine, fine.' Mordred sighed, pushing the dark mess of curls off his sweaty forehead as he did so. 'I never wanted to be a hunter. I wasn't born into this, or anything. I got possessed by a demon a year ago. I had to live while this…thing took over my body, controlled everything I did, for two months. I could do nothing while it killed my step-dad, hurt my mom, ruined my whole life. I heard people scream and beg for their lives, and then I watched as my own hands ripped them apart. The Pendragons found me, trapped me. I watched as Arthur raised a gun to my head. And then Morgana stopped him. She reminded him that I was still alive, that body was still mine. And she exorcised me, and she saved me. I owe her my life, and I'll repay her one day.'

'And then you'll get married, and have little dark-haired brats, right?' Gwaine laughed and Merlin watched as Mordred's face flushed and he stammered some form of denial.

'Why didn't you just go home though, after you were exorcised? Why did you stay?'

'Were you not listening, Merlin? I can't go home. That demon, monster, thing, killed my step-dad, tortured my mom. How could I possibly go back? Just walk through the door and say "Hey mom, no need to worry, I've been exorcised now." How do you think she'd react to that? At the very least, I'd be locked up in some mental hospice. At the most, I'd be in jail now. What would you have done? Besides, I knew what was out there, I couldn't just go back to being normal again. It wouldn't work.'

'Look, I'm sorry…'

'I have the demon's name almost burnt into my brain. And I'll find it. And I'll torture it as it tortured me. Then I'll kill it, in the most painful way I can.'

Merlin went to question him again: how? When? What? But, he slowly closed his mouth again before he spoke. The men were all silent once more, their minds all focused on more important things than him, it seemed. And Gwaine flicked the radio back on.