The bullet took him in the forehead, sending Sigan's head snapping back. The body fell backwards, crashing to the floor. No one moved for a few seconds, until Lancelot gingerly stepped forward, peering down at the body as it slowly started to crumble. Stretching out one foot he gave it a gentle nudge, which did nothing more than speed up the disintegration process until there was just a faint trace of grey powder swirling lightly in the air.

"That was a bit of an anti-climax," he commented. "And I think we can safely say that Arthur can also shoot."

Lancelot looked at Arthur, but he hadn't registered the compliment, he looked like he was trying not to be sick. The paleness of his face was emphasised by the ugly, red wound on his brow.

"Sophia said always keep one shot back just for emergencies, although most of the time she meant mini bottle of vodka tucked on her person," Arthur said, his voice remained oddly calm, but his face was flickering with a mix of emotions. The sound of the sirens reached the square, flashes of blue light intermingling with the sunshine streaming through the windows.

"We had better leave, hopefully the confusion will be enough of a cover," Uther said.

Lancelot looked around at the disaster that was now the main hall, tables and goods were scattered everywhere and lumps of stone were dispersed intermittently in the chaos.

"How the hell are they going to explain all this though?"

"Let's not have that as our problem," Uther said.

They all jumped at the clatter as Arthur dropped the gun. He was starting to shake uncontrollably, staring at the remains of the body, of someone who should have been long dead. Arthur blinked again, flinching as Uther took his arm. He took a firm grip, if Arthur resisted Uther didn't want to take no for the answer. Lancelot carefully retrieved the gun.

"We need to leave now."

"If we go down the back stairs, we can probably get out through a fire door, no one's using them," Gwaine said.

"I think we need to go now," Morgana said. She headed off, looking left and right and checking everywhere. The rest of them followed, a little rag tag band, Merlin and Gwaine went behind Morgana, Uther led Arthur along and Lancelot, Leon and Percival stayed on the rear. Arthur hardly reacted to his father's presence, which told Uther all he needed to know. He had at least learnt his son hated people being in close proximity to him, now he was hardly registering it. Uther didn't know if it was because of Arthur's actions, or what he had heard, or more likely, a horrific combination of both. Arthur swallowed heavily, gulping twice as Uther realised what was about to happen. He paused the convoy, and turned Arthur to allow him to vomit. Uther kept his hand on the back of Arthur's neck, rubbing lightly to reassure him. Arthur nearly doubled over and his body clenched as the sickness took him again. He spat up what he could and stayed bent over, gasping for breath.

"Come on, keep moving," Uther said. He eased Arthur upright and forced him to keep going. Arthur stomach continued to clench but it was nothing more than an aftershock. He kept going, stumbling on the steps, hardly looking where he was going. Arthur kept his eyes focused on Merlin's back, and on Uther guiding him. He couldn't even care about the mental disturbance that the touch was causing him. There were just too many other things happening to him.

"I'm going to be sick again," Arthur said, putting his hand over his mouth.

"Get out of that door."

Arthur felt himself pushed out into the fresh air and Uther then spun him round to face the wall, protecting him by the open door. Arthur heaved again, but nothing really came up. Saliva filled his mouth and Arthur spat it out, again and again.

"Lancelot, go and find Gaius and Gwen, take my keys, use my car. I'll go home with Arthur."

"Yes sir."

Lancelot wasn't going to complain about the orders, he could find Gwen and make sure she was safe. Lancelot could leave Arthur's safety to others, and he didn't doubt that he could assure Arthur's safety by doing so. He scurried off into the square to help Gaius and Gwen. The others, with Percival taking the lead, headed off through the town, Uther still keeping a firm grip of Arthur as he kept him moving. They tried to thread their way through as discreetly as possible, easing into the side-streets. But with two obviously injured people it was difficult to stay inconspicuous. What had happened at the town hall had obviously started to spread as gossip. People were on their way there too see the damage, to find relatives and friends. It made it difficult for the group to avoid attention. They tucked themselves into a small alcove barred by a metal gate. Arthur leant against it, gripping the bars and pressing his forehead against the cold metal.

"Me and Percival can go and fetch the cars and bring them round," Gwaine said.

"Do it," Uther ordered.

Arthur gulped in as much fresh air as he could.

"Arthur?" Merlin's voice asked tentatively. Arthur's senses were alert enough to realise that Merlin had moved closer to him, but he kept enough of a distance, staying out of Arthur's personal space.

"Merlin, just leave him," Uther advised.

"I'm all right Merlin, don't worry about me."

"None of us can do that," Merlin's voice announced. There was a mild reprimand to it. A short number of days ago he had tried slitting his wrists. Arthur had to admit his heart hadn't been in the attempt. Not this time. Times before he had wanted it. The only person he had cared about was dead, so was there to really worry about him. This time it had been a notice to himself as well as everyone else around him, particularly his father, he just wanted to make himself matter. And he had, so the whole thing, in Arthur's opinion, had just been embarrassing.

He wasn't going to do it again. None of them were going to give him the chance, and there was something very reassuring about that. For now he just had to concentrate on getting past what he had just learnt, and work out how it fitted into the grand design of his fucked up life.

"I want to be sick again," Arthur said.

"It's fine, Arthur."

He pressed his head harder against the bars, looking up and seeing the beer garden beyond. They were tucked into the alleyway that led from the courtyard outside the pub.

"Nice to know I have your permission," he informed Uther. Uther gave a low chuckle in response, and Arthur got another, what he realised was affectionate, hand rubbing up and down his back. It didn't stop his body tensing, automatically; but his mind processed the reality. His stomach clenched, his mouth flooding with saliva as he tried to control the sensation. In the end he had to give up and he retched again, spitting out what had gathered in his mouth, and his body heaved, the muscles of his torso tensing painfully. Straightening up Arthur pressed himself against the bars again and took slow deep breaths.

They could still here the sounds coming from the town square. Sirens were wailing, and someone had got hold of a megaphone and appeared to be issuing instructions.

"I wonder what they will make of all the gargoyles…"

"Grotesques," Arthur corrected Merlin.

"… being in the building instead of on it?"

"They'll make up something Merlin. The fact that those things have been waiting for a century are what we need to concern ourselves with," Uther told him.

"But all those people were in danger," Merlin protested, while Arthur closed his eyes and listened to the conversation.

"Wherever people go, whatever they do, there will always be some level of danger."

"This is a danger I should be working to prevent," Merlin said.

They carried on talking. Uther's voice tense, but staying fairly reasonable, as if he was perfectly willing to tolerate Merlin's feelings on the subject, even if he didn't agree with it. Arthur just let it wash over him, holding onto the railings and using that grip to anchor himself. He winced as the cut pressed against the bars and he angled his head to relieve the pressure.

"Arthur?"

"I'm fine, Merlin."

"Hang on, let me," there was a pause and then Arthur's felt Merlin's fingertips brush against his skin. There was a warm rush, similar to the one he had felt when Merlin had treated the serket sting and the pain in his head started to ease a little.

"Thanks," Arthur said, not bothering to open his eyes.

"Do you need me to do the same?"

"Just ease the pain a little Merlin, Gaius is probably best to look at both wounds when we get back," Uther advised him.

"They're coming now," Morgana said. "Arthur if you get in the front with Percival, I can bandage you up as we drive."

"It's fine Morgana," Uther snapped.

"That arm needs strapping up," she said insistently. Arthur ended the argument by staggering over to do as Morgana asked. Merlin clambered in next to Gwaine while Leon got in the back seat looking unsure about the arrangement, which separated him from Arthur, until Morgana waved at him.

"We'll stay just in front of you," Gwaine said leaning over Merlin to talk out of the passenger window at Percival, who nodded.

"I think the main danger is over, we just need to get out of here," Percival said. "I hope Gwen still has my chutney."

Gwaine snorted and sat back. Merlin put the window up again and the convoy slowly moved off, skirting the outside of the town to keep out of the way of the disaster that had been created.

"Here," Morgana said to Arthur, handing him a dressing. "Apply pressure to it."

"Thanks," Arthur said, doing as he was told, putting his hand to his head. The wound was not bleeding badly now, Merlin had taken care of the worst of it, and the pain. It was the ache in Arthur's heart that he couldn't fix. Arthur closed his eyes, pressing the gauze down to cause a flare of pain. Better to think about that, he thought to himself. For the time being he didn't want to think about the facts he had to face.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Gwen was even relieved of cooking duty that night. Instead they phoned for a takeaway. She had phoned her father to say she was staying up at the house, much to his concern. There was a guest room she could crash in, but she didn't think any of them would sleep, not properly anyway. Arthur was too calm for anyone's liking and she had caught Uther's eye earlier, reading the silent request for her to stay. He'd never probably like her, or trust her, but Uther's first responsibility appeared to be Arthur, and for that reason he wanted her there. It caused a slight thawing of her feelings towards him, especially when it occurred to her it wasn't just Arthur he was worried about. Merlin was part of his concern as well.

Once the food had arrived, Arthur had quietly requested Chinese, so that what had been chosen, they sat in the large dining room, not really talking. Uther's arm had been bound up and Arthur had been given a local anaesthetic so Gaius could stitch the cut. That was now wearing off and his head was starting to throb again. The temporary pain relief Merlin had given him was clearly wearing off as well.

The television in the nearby cabinet was on, the sound down, while the local news played through the events. Some of the moving gargoyles had been caught on camera, on mobile phones, so it was hard to dismiss the evidence.

"Bloody technology," Uther had muttered while eating chicken chow mien.

"At least we weren't caught doing anything," Gwaine said. "Except Gaius, who was doing something good."

"Thank you," Gaius drawled. He had been hailed as something of a hero for staying to help with the wounded. Lancelot had arrived just before any officials and reporters and he had kept Gwen clear of it. Gaius worked as a doctor, he had been in the town when the incident happened. It was logical for him to help.

"So, what do we do now?" Leon asked. "Sigan said he was a sentinel, we can presume he was doing that for someone. He activated when Arthur arrived."

"You said it seemed like they were staring," Merlin said tentatively to Arthur, who had not engaged in any conversation so far. He had been silent on the car journey and had said nothing since, except to pick out his food order, which he wasn't really eating anyway.

"Arthur?" Uther asked, his voice soft, but commanding.

"Don't ask me if I'm all right."

"I wasn't going to, since you are clearly not, and you will not be left alone for the moment."

"I'm not going to do that again!" Arthur snapped, picking up the implication of Uther's words.

"So you say, but that is not the reason that you shouldn't be alone. I don't care where you go in this house, you are not going anywhere alone. What I want to ask you was what made you think they were staring. Did you see anything?"

"Nothing moving, it was just a sense that something was looking at me."

"Which clearly seemed to be the case, everything's been quiet since we found Arthur, now it might get busy," Morgana said.

"It doesn't make any sense," Arthur said, stabbing an innocent piece of beef. He stabbed at it again for good measure and it stuck to the prongs of his fork, so he dumped that on his side plate.

"What doesn't?" Merlin asked.

"Do they need me alive or not? People have been not killing me, trying to kill me, apparently you and me together make this magic thing happen, they want chaos, they want order. What the fuck do they want from me? What the hell do you lot want from me?"

Arthur picked up his plate and hurled it across the room. There was a small pause, noodles and sauce sliding down the wall, before Gwen got up, picking up some napkins to try and clean up the mess.

"I'll get a bowl and some towels," Merlin offered, getting up. Then he turned. "Arthur this is not the way to do this."

Arthur put his head in his hands as Merlin spoke, and then he rushed off to get what they needed. Gwen attempted to clean up the mess, trying to scoop it up into napkins and dump it into a discarded container.

"It's just how I have to. I've always had to," Arthur said.

"Not any more," Morgana said.

"I can't do this," Arthur announced. He wasn't quite sure what he really meant by that, but he looked up as he sensed a shift in the atmosphere. Percival and Leon had moved, Lancelot hadn't but he looked ready. All three pairs of eyes shifted to Uther again, and so did Arthur's, staring at his father, who with a glance seemed to make them back off, which made Arthur think that he had started it in the first place.

"What?" Arthur said.

Merlin came running back, but he paused in the doorway, holding the towels and a bowl. Arthur pushed his chair back.

"Don't you dare."

"If I think you need it, it will be for your own good," Uther informed him. Arthur's expression darkened.

"I'm not going to do anything," Arthur snarled.

"I was certain of that before we found this out."

"Leave him alone," Merlin said. The tone of voice caused everyone to stare at him. Merlin stepped forward and his eyes flashed, gold swirling within the blue.

"I said leave him alone." Merlin repeated the words, forcefully, clearly not planning to take any argument on the subject. Gwen paused cleaning, slowly standing up and shifting so she was in position behind Arthur. Lancelot paused, looking somewhat uncomfortable as the dynamics shifted around the room.

"That is the last thing he needs, I stand by what I said, I don't want him left alone, even if it is not me that is with him."

Arthur frowned at his father's words.

"I can do it," Merlin said.

Arthur looked ready to argue, until Gwen said.

"It's fair enough, Arthur. You're not in a fit state to be left alone."

With a heavy sigh Arthur folded his arms on the table and put his head down on them. Over his head a few of them shared concerned glances.

"Stop that," Arthur's muffled voice announced. "I can practically hear you lot thinking."

"No offence Arthur," Gaius said, suddenly breaking the silence. "But you are not emotionally stable, I don't think you were even before this happened, and you've received a fair number of shocks over a short space of time. And whether you meant or didn't mean it, you have also attempted suicide. It is, quite naturally, going to make you a major concern for us all."

Arthur's head didn't rise. "Why? I've never been a concern for anyone before."

No one got a chance to answer, as Arthur burst into tears.