Scrubbing his hands over his face Merlin arrived back at Scotland Yard. Bending his steps towards Cenred's holding cell he sent Gaius a quick text:
They've murdered Gwen's dad. I'm the next target in their cycle. We need to talk.
Pocketing his mobile he approached the guard. 'How is he?'
In return he got a wide eyed stare. The woman didn't seem to know how to answer and when she did, Merlin felt his heart tighten with a band of horror. 'In a coma.'
'Shit,' he breathed, every part of him feeling far too light and airy.
'He had a brain haemorrhage,' she continued.
The panic flashed white and and hot. 'From what?'
'Stroke,' she said.
'You know-'
'Don't worry,' she carried on and offered him a small smile. 'DCS Agravaine told me what happened.'
Merlin frowned. 'He did?'
'Oh, he actually wanted to have a word with you. Knew you'd come here, you see.'
'Right,' Merlin murmured. Returning to his desk he slowly sat down and covered his face with his hands. After a few minutes of shooing away all thoughts he leaned forward onto the table with defeat. Head resting on folded arms, Merlin concentrated on his breathing while staring at the wall. He tired to distinguish brush strokes from when it had been painted with the painfully boring white.
Hardly anyone was there, most people celebrating at home. Merlin thought of his mother, how she'd be having Christmas Dinner with her friends right now. The cards hung up around the fireplace, the large tree erected and lavishly decorated with ridiculous colours. The intoxicating smell of cinnamon.
'Ah, DC Emrys,' a man said, and sitting up straight to face him, Merlin stared into beady eyes. Middle-aged, slightly on the chubby side, and with black hair gelled down making it appear slick, slightly greasy. A refined kind of repulsive. Merlin was in a bad mood. 'I'm your new Detective Chief Superintendent.'
'It's a pleasure to meet you,' Merlin said flatly, still pulling out of his reverie.
'It's terrible business, what happened to Cenred. Wouldn't you agree?'
'Yeah. It is,' he muttered, watching Agravaine carefully. He'd felt unsettled the moment the guard had spoke of the DCS, and now facing him his warmth recoiled.
'Now, I understand you're rather new to this murder investigation team?' DCS Agravaine inquired, and Merlin swore he heard something patronising in his arrogantly superior tone. Repulsive and pompous. Great.
He did his best to hide the look of derision. 'I am.'
'Hm, well you've made quite the splash. Although I do remember requesting you take the next few days off,' Agravaine reminded him.
'I'm fine,' Merlin insisted.
'I can arrange for you to see therapist?' he suggested, eyebrows arching and then lip corners turning down with fake concern. 'You've been through several traumatic events, after all.'
'I'm really fine,' he repeated, the lie feeling heavy and yet unnaturally easy to say.
'Yes, well, it's not entirely optional,' the DCS added, any and all concern washing from his features. 'I thought I'd let you gain your feet before I informed you, but if you insist on working, I'll tell you now.'
Merlin regarded him skeptically. 'Tell me what?'
'Starting in January it will be mandatory for you to have a weekly session with an assigned psychotherapist. Your superior, DS Arthur Pendragon, will need to see a grief counsellor alongside his sister and PC Gwen Castell.'
'It's really not necessary,' Merlin persisted.
'But it is mandatory,' Agravaine said coldly. 'Now, back to the matter of Cenred; I'd like to clear some things up as to what happened in your time spent with him proceeding his stroke.'
'Anything specific?' Merlin asked through gritted teeth.
'What did you discuss with him?'
'I wanted to see if he knew anything more about Old Religion,' he said honestly.
Agravaine chuckled. Whether he was amused by the fact or incredulity of it was unclear. 'A conversation during which you hit the man?'
'Yes.'
'Well, don't fear; the punch wasn't the cause of his stroke. Aside from that of course, medics found no other explanation,' Agravaine commented, and his smothering stare shifted into one of nonchalance. The ease of the transition between the two left Merlin even more suspicious. 'It's a complete stumper, put simply. Was he acting odd at all?'
'Not as far as I could tell.'
'Hm. Well, do yourself a favour? Go home, DC Emrys,' Agravaine said with that fake concern creasing the worn skin between his eyebrows. 'Impromptu and violent interrogations of criminals on Christmas Day usually mean the stress is getting to you.'
Merlin pressed his lips together in a forced smile. 'Couldn't agree more.'
'Off you go,' Agravaine urged, giving him an awkward pat on the shoulder before stalking away. Merlin rose sullenly from the chair, eyes following the DCS until he turned out of sight. He felt the urge to have a scalding shower and burn the goo of that man's conversation from his skin.
Looking over the floor of his team's operations, Merlin smiled gently at the horrendous decorations Gwaine had strung up with Percy. He hadn't even noticed. The smile drooped and he turned his sights to the windows, through which London sprawled, twinkling and lit up like a tree in the darkness. He left to the nearest underground station with that image imprinted on his mind. The quiet of the empty offices still pressing against him despite being surrounded by rushing trains and chattering people.

Merlin hesitated at the door. He closed his eyes and traced the rivets in the wood; in return he could feel the world turning and the shifting tectonic plates beneath the Earth's crust. He could hear the voices of builders when they'd first constructed the building, the conversations that had passed the door and soaked into it as murmurs of the past.
Curling his fingers the sensations tore out of him and he knocked on the door. No one answered. Steadying his breath he spread his fingers apart and pushed his palm towards the lock of the door. He imagined it unlocking, and a hand of smoke reached out from his own and disappeared into the metal and wood, its grey form lifting each tumbler until the locking mechanism gave way.
Inside Merlin took in the wide and open space. The shadows made it seem endless but when he flicked on the lights they all fled. The clarity and brightness was even more comfort. The thing that made his nerves settle more than anything else was the knowledge that he was in Arthur's territory. It was Arthur's home and here Merlin was safe. After wandering around, remembering the short time he'd spent there before, he opened the only closed door.
Clothing laid haphazardly on the floor, but aside from that everything was white, clean and fresh. Merlin thought about how Arthur slept here, surrounded by such purity and then making a mess of it with his personality. It plucked a smile from his darkest sources of stress. Picking up a book on the nightstand he read: 'Profiling and Serial Crime: Theoretical and Practical Issues'. There was a worn bookmark sticking out with pride, peeling at the sides and corners, but it kept the information on pause for whenever Arthur would return to it next.
Placing it back he took in hand the black iPod and untangled the twisted confusion of the headphone's wires. Quickly toeing off his shoes and shedding his jacket, Merlin climbed tiredly into the bed and plugged in the headphones. The light was dim enough that it didn't bother him so, hugging the downy duvet closer, he turned the iPod on and let Arthur's music spill into his mind. Let it whisk him away from the day's events, away from it all.

Merlin stirred when he felt a hand brush across cheek. Groggily lifting his heavy lids he made out the blurry outline of blonde hair and broad shoulders.
'Arthur?'
'Who else, you dolt? You're in my bed, I hope you realise.'
'Yeah, sorry,' he mumbled, rolling onto his back, feeling his clothes wrapped awkwardly tightly around his limbs. Evidently it hadn't been the soundest of nights.
'Don't worry about it. I'm not going to ask how you got in without a key,' he said, perching on the edge of the mattress when his lips pursed with bother. 'When's the last time you ate something?'
Merlin pondered while he wriggled into a sitting position. 'I don't remember.'
'I'll go make breakfast for us then,' Arthur declared but before he could leave Merlin caught him by the hand, holding on for a second longer before pulling his arm back.
'How's Gwen?'
'Elyan's staying with her for now. She'll be okay,' he said, eyes becoming distant. 'You should know, I've spoken to DCS Agravaine about pulling you guys out of the equation.'
'You guys?'
'I'm going to stay on the case, but I can't afford to have my team put at this kind of risk any longer,' he explained with a natural undercurrent of heroism. Bravery. It was ridiculous even if admirable.
'What did they say to that?'
'I haven't told them yet. If they say no then I'll have them suspended and if that doesn't work I'll lock them up myself,' Arthur informed him with determination and when his eyes refocussed they locked all of his attention on Merlin. 'That includes you. No discussion.'
'What? No, I refuse!' Merlin rejected, not bothering to hide the hurt on his face at the audacity of what Arthur was suggesting. The rest of the team he could accept, although not enjoy. Not him, though.
'Did you hear any of what I just said?'
'You need me. We're in this together, remember? Two sides of the same bloody coin,' Merlin said, his own anxiety joining hands with the warmth, the magic, and beating against his heart relentlessly. Reminding him that the worst things kept taking place when one of them was alone. Never when together. Shadows flickered through his mind with those thoughts and their iciness made him shudder.
'I thought you of all people would be okay with this, given what almost happened with Mordred,' Arthur said, almost looking offended at Merlin's outright dismissal. There was a sliver of comprehension and understanding in his features however.
'You can't abandon me,' Merlin murmured, fuelling his words with accusation but primarily his own terror. What Arthur proposed threatened to burst this haven Merlin had found after everything, this zone of protection. Like hell was he going to let the fool drag a stupid idea into it and stain the sanctuary with doomed ideas.
'I'm not!'
'If you cut me out of this case, you are,' Merlin snapped, instantly regretting the sharpness of his tone. Arthur was being stupid, but with good intentions after all. We'll come for you. You've lost your life line. Morgana kept scraping against his reality and tugging him into the icy reservoir he'd managed to escape. The one he thought he'd escaped.
'Not like it'll make a difference,' Merlin whispered sourly.
His fingers fidgeted in a pale pile on the duvet and when his eyes drop he heard Arthur pause. 'Pardon?'
'You need me,' Merlin said loudly, keeping those quiet words a secret.
'You know what? In some ways, I suppose I do. But this is my destiny, my job. Not yours,' he retorted, features set with hard resolve. Their eyes locked and Merlin saw the bright reflection of that armour in Arthur's blue eyes. He was being shut out.
'I know where they are,' Merlin admitted, eyebrows pulling down and mouth pursing.
'Where who are?'
Keeping his mouth shut he explored the consequences of continuing. Although weighty, they were a lot more desirable than Arthur gallivanting off on his own. 'Old Religion.'
Several emotions flashed across Arthur's face consecutively: shock, anger, betrayal. Stepping away from the door Arthur faced him with his whole body. 'Merlin, I explicitly told you not to go after them alone. You swore you wouldn't!'
'I went before you told me. If you really want to stop them you need me to find them in the first place,' Merlin argued and felt his body warm up with guilt and fear. Arthur had no choice but to keep him involved now, right? The duvet suddenly seemed too heavy, too smothering.
'You are such an idiot,' he puffed, resting his forearm on the doorframe and glaring at Merlin.
Biting his lip Merlin decided to give up one more secret. 'There's one more thing . . .'
'What?' Arthur asked, the defeat already thriving in his tone.
'I tried to tell you earlier, but-'
'Out with it, Merlin.'
'Morgana's a member of Old Religion,' he revealed and pushed the hot covers away from his body, shoving them down the mattress with his feet. Fresh air rolled across him and with no barrier he felt Arthur's tension vibrate through the room's air.
There was an interval of heavy silence. 'This isn't a time for jokes.'
'Do I look like I'm laughing?' Merlin inquired quietly, defensively. Something angry and frustrated laced his words without his permission.
'She's not,' he said harshly. 'Why would you say that?'
'I'm no liar, Arthur. Please,' Merlin paused and rubbed his weary eyes. 'Trust me?'
'I can handle you being a twat, I can deal with you throwing your life around like it's nothing, but accusing my sister?' his words cut off and Merlin could see Arthur clenching his jaw. He didn't say another word and left Merlin sitting alone in his bed. The doorway was now empty and unfriendly.
'Good job, Merlin,' he muttered to himself and let his head fall into his hands, feeling the taught air coil around him and inside him. After a second of contemplation he flopped back down onto the pillow and decided to leave Arthur be. Let him work things out and figure out whether he believed Merlin or wanted him out. Although he enticed sleep to come again he simply laid there and felt the knots spring up in his stomach, tightening as time passed.
When the morning light streamed in through the window and Merlin watched particles swirl and dance, bathing in it. H decided he'd emerge. He found Arthur in the kitchen, standing before the hob and stirring eggs with a wooden spoon.
'Arthur,' Merlin began, stepping onto the cold tiles in his socks. 'I saw Morgana with my own eyes. She was with Morgause. I didn't shoot her because I thought she was the killer-'
'She was going to kill me,' Arthur filled in, keeping his eyes on the eggs. 'I got a call. Kilgharrah explained the situation. Morgana's betrayed us all.'
Merlin stood just beyond the threshold, unsure of what to do. Arthur bent down to a cupboard and took out two ceramic plates, serving up the scrambled eggs silently. Adorning each dish with a fork he picked up both and walked up to Merlin, pushing one towards him. He took it, feeling its weight in his fingers, and pressed himself against the frame to let Arthur pass.
'Merlin, sorry about what I said. About dealing with you and your ridiculous tendency to almost die. It was a horrible thing to say.'
'Well, thank you for saving my life.'
'You'd do the same for me,' Arthur assumed, correctly. 'Let's eat and form some sort of plan.'
They both sat down at the table pressed up against the window and Merlin shovelled in the eggs. Arthur poked at his own but slowly started to eat, every now and then asking Merlin about his encounter with Old Religion. He kept his responses short and lackluster, preferring not to indulge the worrying thoughts which assaulted him if he delved into that memory. The threat of his death was also never brought up. Arthur had been battling with the hellish events and Merlin knew that fact would bring him to the brink of his sanity.
When they'd eaten breakfast Arthur offered Merlin a change of clothes which he accepted, alongside a shower, and then they began to pose theories as to how to deal with Old Religion.
'We need to be careful. They're serial killers and they have . . .' Merlin's words stopped pouring out. He'd been tittering on about the risks and for a moment forgot who it was he was speaking to. Arthur didn't know about Merlin's newfound power and he didn't want to entertain the thought of what sort of reaction he might have if he found out. 'Weapons; bombs, guns, you name it. They're unpredictable.'
'Killing one person every six days isn't that unpredictable,' Arthur noted.
'That's just one fraction of what their organisation does. It's not the whole story,' he said, and he knew his trepidation kept flitting across his face.
'Why do I get the feeling you're holding something back from me?'
'You're paranoid?'
'Merlin.'
'I swear I'm not,' Merlin said. There it was again, the ease with which the lies formed. Delivery was flawless. Even his mind had to double check the truth in his words.
Arthur narrowed his eyes. 'Fine then. To limit what they can do, we should keep them contained. Get them all into one area. As many members as we can. You said they had several floors in the complex?'
'Thirty. Thirty floors,' he recounted, seeing the awe in Arthur he himself had experienced the day before.
After letting it sink in, he presented his solution: 'We'll need to cut off access in and out of the building then. Evacuate everyone else.'
'They might notice it when no one else shows up in the building.'
'Not if we're clever about it.'
'I'm sure Gwaine can figure it out,' Merlin said, not quite convinced but hopeful. A series of angry phone calls and threatening messages had persuaded Arthur that including the team was the most sensible course of action. 'That's his area, being so mischievous all the time.'
'When should we do it, though?'
The date shot from his mouth: 'Thirty first.'
'New Year's Eve?' Arthur said with raised eyebrows.
'It's their next six days marker. Gives us time to set everything up, and after will be too late. Another body,' he reasoned, feeling his heart thump at the mention of 'body'. If he didn't stop them, Arthur would find that body. Find him. At least they'd be intent on murdering Merlin before anyone else on the team which meant their survival rate was significantly increased, even if his own was lessened.
'Alright. It's not like any of us have had the best Christmas ever. What's New Years added to the list?' he agreed glumly and Merlin watched as his mind drifted. Arthur was lost in contemplation before returning with a bright spark in his blue eyes. 'I need to go buy some more food.'
'But you have-'
'Not enough food for two people. I'll be gone for an hour tops,' he rushed, leaping up from his seat. Grabbing a jacket and tugging on shoes he was out the front door before Merlin could even respond. The door banged closed and he sat bewildered. He was right of course. Arthur didn't have much of a selection at all. Eggs, orange juice, coffee. Not particularly substantial.
Moving to the sofa he pulled his knees up to his chest and turned on the TV to fend off the silence. Their plan played out in his thoughts like a movie. Every ending he came up was ultimately swung back into blood and destruction. Merlin hadn't been strong enough to fight Morgana, let alone an entire group of magic users.
Arthur's home phone began ringing and lured Merlin from his musings back to the present. Trudging over to the base he lifted it to his ear.
'Hello?'
'Merlin, I thought you might be there,' a familiar crackling voice remarked with relief.
'Gaius?'
'Kilgharrah and I have found a way you can bring Old Religion to their knees,' the man announced with that same odd commanding voice.
'Care to share it?'
'A spell.'
Merlin's bubble of laughter erupted before he could catch it. 'Sorry, but did you say spell? I'm still in denial about magic, Gaius, do you honestly think I can cast spells?'
'It's the only weapon you have that will have any effect on them, Merlin. You must at least try or you have no hope,' he said harshly, and Merlin looked down at his feet resignedly.
'No need to be melodramatic about it,' he mumbled. 'What will it do?'
'Take away their powers. Translated directly it will remove their magic and imprison it in time, restoring human virtue,' he lectured. 'You'll have to put your all into it. The spell isn't very specific about how many people it affects, but it's certainly plural and the stronger it is the farther it should reach. Presumably you won't experience it for yourself, but there isn't a lot of detail.'
'How did you two find a spell in the first place? Amazon? Don't tell me you found it on Wikipedia.'
'My family has long been a part of the mystical world,' Gaius silenced his ramblings with ancestral pride.
'You're a scientist,' Merlin reminded him. 'Wouldn't magic impeach upon the empirical and logical qualities prized by science?'
'In some ways science is a form of magic,' Gaius countered.
'Not really.'
'It'll do you good to keep your opinions to yourself. Grab a pen and write down what I say. Now, if you please,' Gaius instructed over the line, his patience wearing thin.
Merlin scurried around the flat, opening drawers and cupboards in his hunt. 'Okay, okay.'
'Ready?' Gaius checked once Merlin had stopped rifling around.
'Yup,' he said, the pen poised over the back of an old envelope. 'Read it to me.'