Merlin groaned as he opened his eyes, he had a terrible headache and he just felt sick. But as his head became clearer he realised that he wasn't in his and Arthur's chambers... Instead he lay in his old chambers by Gaius. A soft frown spread over his face before he pushed himself on his elbows, how did he end op here?

The last thing he remembered was that he was training with his students, but further... It all was just blank.

His hands suddenly shot to his mouth, covering it as his eyes grew wide with shock. Was there something wrong with the baby? Had he done something wrong and... A tear ran over his cheeks. He couldn't have lost the baby?

It was then that the door was opened and his eyes shot up. Soon his blue eyes met Gaius' old ones and the older man looked rather relieved as he saw that the warlock was awake. 'Merlin, oh my boy, you definitely scared all of us.' He said with a reassuring smile.

Just as those words left Gaius' lips the sounds of falling chairs and running footsteps were heard. Arthur and Gwaine almost threw the physician out of the way as they made their way inside. 'Merlin!' Both yelled as they sat, almost fell, down at both his sides.

Merlin blinked at both of them before his shocked eyes finally rested on his husband. 'What happened?'

Arthur's eyes grew. 'What happened?... I rather want to ask you that question. You have been unconscious for almost a whole day and Gaius had no idea what was wrong with you!'

'Oh...' Was the warlock's only reaction as his mind tried to process what he had just heard.

Gaius pulled up a chair and set it next to Merlin's bed. 'Gilli told us that you fainted after using a big spell during training...' He waited for a moment before he added. 'Merlin, now you have to be fair to me. How do you feel after using magic?'

'Wh- why would you ask me that?' Merlin asked nervously, but he knew what Gaius was trying to say. He couldn't deny that he had been feeling rather tired after he used his spells and... and it scared him.

'You know what I mean Merlin, now tell me the truth.'

The raven gulped. 'I... I have been feeling tired after using magic...' He hung his head, not wanting to meet anyone's eyes as he knew that both Arthur and Gwaine would be angry that he hadn't said anything.

A deep sigh left Gaius' lips. 'I see... It was what I feared.'

Arthur's hand entangled itself with his own as the blond asked with a scared voice. 'What's wrong with him?'

'Nothing that we should be terribly worried about... I have done some research on the potion that has been used on you and according to what I found I may have an answer for what's happening to you... The potion only works on people with strong magical powers as the baby needs magic to grow.' All three of them blinked in confusion at the old man and Gaius sighed as he continued his explanation. 'A woman's body is build for caring children, but a man's body clearly isn't able to carry children. That's why your magic has to create the parts it misses in order for the child to be able to grow inside you and this process takes up a lot of your magical powers. That's why you have very little magic left that you're able to use yourself.'

Merlin looked down, his hand rubbing gently over his stomach. 'I see... so I won't be able to use magic during my pregnancy?'

'Only small spells, but I would suggest keeping those to an minimum. It will be best for both you and the baby that you give all your magic to the child, allowing it to grow without problems.'

'Are there more things we should know?' Arthur asked besides him and it was clear that the king was concerned.

Gaius shook his head. 'Not as far as I know, but I would suggest going to the druids for more information. This is definitely old magic and they would probably know more about it.' He turned to Merlin. 'In my opinion the best one to ask is Iseldir, I'm certain that he would be discreet about the whole situation and he has proven to be rather loyal to you in the past.'

'Why should we be silent about it?' Gwaine asked.

Gaius glared at the brunette. 'Because in Merlin's state he's definitely vulnerable to attacks on both him and the kingdom.'

Merlin stiffened slightly, he hadn't thought about that. He wouldn't be able to defend both Arthur and the kingdom if he couldn't use magic... and it scared him.

Arthur's lips tightened as he nodded. 'I see... Then we will keep it quiet for as long as possible.' He turned to Gwaine. 'Gwaine, can you gather both Percival and Elyan and fetch Iseldir without telling anyone about Merlin's... situation.'

Gwaine gave him a quick nod before he stood up and looked once more at Merlin with concern in his eyes. Merlin just rolled his eyes. 'Gwaine, just go. I promise you that I won't do anything stupid or faint while you're gone.' Both men smiled at each other before the knight left the room.

Gaius watched as Gwaine left before turning to the raven. 'How are you feeling now?'

'Better, only a little bit sore, but furthermore fine.' Merlin answered and this time it was the truth. He felt fine.

'Good.' Gaius replied with a smile as he stood up. 'I want you to stay in bed for the rest of the day, get some more sleep and when you wake up we will get you some food.' The physician walked to the door before he stopped and lifted his eyebrow to Arthur. 'My lord, if you would come with me.'

'I will sta-.'

Gaius' glare deepened and Merlin could see Arthur flinch slightly. Arthur hadn't said it, but Merlin knew that he respected Gaius as much as an father. 'I need to talk with you.'

A slight sigh left the king's lips before he placed a gentle kiss on Merlin's lips. 'You get some sleep and I will be here when you wake up.' With that said he stood up and followed the physician out of the room.

Merlin watched them as they left and for a moment he thought of eavesdropping on them, but he eventually decided not to. He could feel sleep pull on his mind and he settled himself back on the bed. A small smile on his lips as his hands brushed over his stomach.

X

Arthur glanced once more at Merlin before he closed the door behind him. It worried him that Gaius wanted to talk to him without Merlin, but... He had to trust his friend.

Gaius didn't talk to him, he just poured both of them a cup of tea and gave on to Arthur before he settled himself down in one of the chairs, eyeing Arthur to take the other. The old man sipped at his tea as his eyes turned into ones with a lot of worry. 'There's something I need to discuss with you.'

'What's it?' He definitely didn't like Gaius starting a conversation like that.

He took a deep breath. 'The potion allowed Merlin to conceive and carry a child, but that isn't what worries me. What worries me is the question why. Why would these men who were clearly against you help Merlin conceive a child if it wasn't for their own goals.'

Arthur gave him a slight nod. He also had been thinking about that. 'You're saying that they wanted to... use Merlin.'

Gaius sighed but nodded in agreement. 'Yes, according to my research the potion takes at least one day to work... Merlin's the greatest warlock to ever life, his power is immense and it's reasonable to think that a child of him would also be incredible powerful, but that would of course only be if the child would have magic too and the chance of the child having magic would be greatly increased when both parents have magic themselves.'

The king felt anger rise in his heart. '...They wanted to impregnate Merlin so that they could have their own powerful magic user.' The thought alone made Arthur want to scream, kill anyone who dared to touch his lover. This was his Merlin and it was his child, his baby, his heir. He would protect both his lover and child.

The pain was also clearly visible in Gaius' face. 'That's what I believe... Luckily you and the knights were there to protect and save him.' The physician placed his hand on top of Arthur's. 'Merlin is like a son to me, please protect him.'

'I will always do that, I love him.' Arthur said determined as he jumped up, he would do anything to protect the people he loved.

'And there's one more thing.' Gaius added as Arthur had calmed down somewhat. 'I don't think it's wise to tell Merlin about it.'

'You want me to lie to him?'

'Yes, I don't want to scare him with this information.'

The blond nodded, he may not like lying to Merlin, but he could clearly understand why. 'I won't tell him for now, but after the baby is born I will tell him. We have to prevent this from happening again... Not that I not like being a father in the future, but...'

'You fear it will go wrong.' Gaius finished his words as he squeezed the king's hand reassuringly.

'Yes.' Arthur finally admitted. He always feared that something would happen to Merlin, his lover was way to clumsy, irresponsible and heroic. He eyed the door and again he promised himself that he would protect his lover no matter what.

X

This time I decided that give you all an ending note. So a bit of a short chapter this time, but you all shouldn't complain as most of the others had been rather long. I just wanted to end it were it now ends... and besides, you wouldn't have gotten this chapter if I would have madeit longer :P.

So what did you guys thing of the theory behind the whole pregnancy, was it clear or does it need further explanation? I also want to do something different from all the stories out there, I don't plan on going from month to month, so I may skip several months depending on what will happen during that time of the pregnancy.

So I hope you all enjoyed it and please tell me what you thought of it. Was it good, bad, please say. Oh and the voting is still open, so if you have suggestion then please tell me. I still am not sure about if I should do twins or not... oh and I need names, a lot of names (I'm terrible at coming up with names).