The youthful looking man looked up as Uther stepped into the room. He had been restrained, and the room had been warded to contain magic. Uther had no response to any power influence. It was the reason he had been unsure of Arthur. He had a null reaction to magic which balanced against Igraine's talent. Perhaps it had been Merlin who had stimulated the power, and without that influence Arthur might not have shown any sign of magic. Uther would have to keep an eye on his son in the future, in case of any further developments. Not that he felt any concern, if Arthur had talent then he would be helped with it.

He took the chair opposite the man, a boy really, and Uther watched his eyes narrow.

"I didn't ask for a lawyer."

"You haven't got one," Uther said. "Although I have a law degree I am not here for that reason. At least not to represent you as an individual."

Uther opened his briefcase and started to look through the paperwork to find what he wanted. During that time the boy stared at him, eyes boring into him. Uther wasn't sure what the boy wanted to achieve but if it was anything to do with magic, it wouldn't hurt him. In fact, after a few seconds the boy gave up, clearly realising he wouldn't make an impression. Uther had the feeling that was what Merlin had liked about him, when he had talked to the silent, remote, little boy on those first tentative meetings.

"You're that Pendragon bloke that closed the home down."

"Uther Pendragon, COE of Pendragon Limited and the Camelot Foundation," he said as way of introduction. "And yes, I set up an investigation into the Blessed Care Home and it's activities, exposing what was quite basically child abuse, torture and possibly many other descriptions that defy belief."

Uther put his papers down on the table and opened them.

"And you Mordred, were one of the children there. You left at fifteen, approximately seven years ago."

"I didn't leave I broke out."

"There was no record of your disappearance, in fact sections of certain files had been removed, but not all traces. The police were certainly not informed of any disappearances."

Mordred snorted. "Like they ever bothered with that. Once they were done with you, they were done."

"They chose to cut their losses?" Uther asked.

"Something like that."

"And you've survived on the streets ever since. I cannot find any further record of you, certainly not under the name you used at the home."

"My real name. No one ever knew it, but them, and my family."

"You flagged up on the system because the names were released, so certain sectors have the information now."

"Like the police?"

"Naturally. I am still collecting evidence regarding the activities that went on. It will still take some effort to secure convictions on some of the employees, and governors, of the facility."

"Good luck with that."

"You have no desire to help?"

Mordred met his gaze steadily, looking as if he had never heard anything so pathetic in all his life.

"What will is solve? A few people can feel better about doing nothing, and letting their kids go to that place."

"Many were ignorant of what happened. On the surface the house, it's regime, and how it worked, seemed entirely above board."

"A little too perfectly," Mordred said with a laugh that held little humour.

"Yes, I noticed that. But your answers are not as simple as they seem. You've read the newspapers I presume?"

Mordred shrugged and looked away. He didn't answer. Uther guessed that although he probably hadn't gone out of his way to read or hear any reports some information had filtered through to him. Uther looked at the youth very steadily before returning his gaze to the paperwork in front of him.

"However, at the same time you escaped a young woman, known here as 'Kara' was confined to the secure area. Interestingly, that was five months before a child known as 'Merlin' appeared on their system. If you know anything from the newspaper reports, you certainly know about him."

Uther spoke casually but he saw the twitch of the boy's eyes and he very carefully didn't react as the table, the windows and the papers on the desk started to shake. His chair could have joined in but Uther relaxed into it and knew his null reaction would temper it. It made Mordred look increasingly confused as he got no reaction from Uther. Magic didn't scare him, he didn't scare easily at anything. When he had discovered the power Igraine had he had been more curious than prejudice. He was in love with her, and he saw no harm in the woman he wanted to marry. She had been exceptionally hard to convince of his intentions, but he had got there in the end.

Mordred frowned, his eyes boring into Uther. The timings were perfect, seven years ago Merlin appeared in the records, with no explanation of where he had come from. If this boy's reaction was genuine, then there was a possible explanation. Looking into the light coloured eyes, Uther felt as if his suspicion had already been confirmed.

Two guards burst into the room, looking at Mordred suspiciously. Uther, sitting calmly in the midst of the storm, raised his hands.

"It's fine, let him settle."

Both of them looked unconvinced. Uther turned his gaze back to Mordred.

"Enough Mordred, this is helping no one, least of all yourself. I have a null reaction to magic, and quite frankly you don't scare me," he said curtly, then he turned back to the guards. "It's fine, my wife used to do this all the time. I'm a very annoying individual it would appear."

The shaking stopped, Mordred had turned his gaze to the wall, his eyes focused on a spot just over Uther's shoulder, as if making it quite clear that he did not want to acknowledge him any further. With a wave of his hand, and another placating round of reassurances Uther persuaded the guards to leave the room.

"Kara was the one reported to have attempted an escape," Uther added. "That was why they moved her to the secure unit, for her own safety."

Mordred, this time, did not react. He continued to stare at the wall as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.

"They confined her using that reason, but it probably wasn't the real reason, and considering the fact that they apparently stated that any stay was voluntary, they could no doubt get away with that."

"They also said you needed a parent or guardian to sign your release. Kara's parents wanted nothing to do with her," Mordred snapped, his eyes focussing again.

"And what about yours?"

Mordred snorted, his gaze fixed back on the wall behind Uther.

"Mordred," Uther said gently. He waited a moment but the boy, and he was no more than a boy really, refused to look at him. "I'm not here to accuse you of anything, I rather think that anything I could accuse you of was done, for the most part, in self-defence and to merely survive. I'm not a fool."

He watched the boy's gaze flicker towards him, the look in the blue eyes did not in anyway agree with that. Uther ignored the disdainful look and carried on.

"I know that what I know about the Blessed Care Home hardly scratches the surface. But I do know what it achieved came about through abuse, which I will not stand for, neither the abuse of children nor the abuse of magic. Although I do think I have those in the correct order of priority. The fact that so much has been hidden, and some facts may be irretrievable, will not stop me finding out what I think I need to know, and what other people also need to know."

"What do you care about magic?" Mordred finally deigned to look at him.

"My wife thought I would leave her when I found out she had powers," Uther said. Mordred stared at him. Uther continued. "This was before I married her, she had a tendency to unleash at the wrong moment when she was due to menstruate. She was making a dinner for us and in the heat of our three week romance, forgot her dates. She flambéed our crepes suzette without the aid of alcohol, or a pan, or a cooker. We didn't eat the results, and I married her anyway. Not despite of what she was, but because if you love someone enough to want to marry them and commit to spending your life with them you have to accept everything about them. You have to do that with your children, and your partner's decisions, when they make them," Uther said sadly. "There are only certain aspects you can control yourself."

He watched Mordred with increasing intensity as he talked, because Uther knew this boy understood what he was talking about. Mordred however stared at him, almost as if he was looking through him. Uther waited but he knew the boy was not, at this stage, going to say anything.

"I need your help," Uther added, which did, for at least a few seconds, bring the boy's eyes back to him. "The children didn't understand half of what happened to them, or blocked it from their memory; they were too young to understand. You were older."

"I wasn't at the beginning," Mordred said flatly.

"No, but you're in the position to do something about it now, with my help."

Uther watched the boy shrug, and glare at him. "It happened, what can I do about it now. You stopped it."

"Not all of it, and half of it is lost, the children are too traumatized to tell us anything clear."

Uther wasn't sure if it was the reason Merlin didn't talk. As far as they could tell there was nothing physically wrong with him, he had just never used his voice. Uther couldn't understand it, the boy understood the words, and could perhaps try to vocalise something, but Merlin hadn't even tried, as if it was a function he didn't comprehend. Had he only ever talked with his mind, as he did to Arthur? Uther wondered.

Mordred had looked away again, and Uther knew, just by the set of his jaw, and the fixed, glazed eyes that he was not going to say any more, at least for now.

"Think about it," Uther said as he gathered his papers and slowly stood up. "I'll do what I can for you."

Unconditionally, Uther thought to himself, and then wondered if the boy heard him as his eyes slithered towards him again. Uther didn't hesitate, he just left the room leaving Mordred in the care of the guards. There was only so much he could do. He paused outside, Bayard lingered in the corridor, he had made the arrest, and had informed Uther of what he knew. Their relationship was not always congenial, but they agreed on some matters. Bayard raised his eyebrows in an unspoken question.

"He's a very angry young man, in some ways he cannot be blamed for that."

"The person he threw against a wall is in a chemically induced coma," Bayard said. "He could make a full recovery, but chances are there will be some permanent damage. And he used magic, people saw him lift the guy as if he weighed nothing and slammed him against a wall. It doesn't matter what the weapon is, it upsets people. But people see magic worse than a gun or a knife, there are limits to those, to what you can do. No one can see the limits with this Uther, a child that size - and God knows, he is no more than a child really - can pick up a grown man and all but kill him."

"A gun or a knife could do that," Uther reasoned.

"We can work to prevent the sales of weapons, track down and hit the suppliers - as best we can. Do we stop magic users from breeding? Forcibly sterilize them?"

"Education is the way to deal with this," Uther said.

"That was what places like the Blessed Care Home were there for. For Christ's sake Uther, you helped set that place up."

"Then I had found they had perverted what it was meant to achieve."

"And that didn't help either. It just makes people wonder why it's necessary to do that. The care home separated them from the normal world, for what sometimes looks like good reason. I don't think you can save this kid, why don't you concentrate on the one you've got."

Bayard frowned as Uther jumped slightly at that comment. He composed himself swiftly and sighed.

"Could I ask for something a little unethical?"

As the only reaction was a slight deepening to the frown Uther thought he might be in with a chance.

"You took DNA from the boy, to try and link him to another couple of crimes."

"Or hopefully rule him out, but yes."

"Is it possible that I could get a copy of the profile?"

"Can I ask why?"

"I'd normally say you're welcome to ask but this one would be a time I'd ask you not to ask."

"A copy of the DNA profile?" Bayard asked. Uther nodded and Bayard walked away.

Within two hours, Uther had what he asked for.