Warnings: Character dead, violence, blood, threatening.

Gwen was swivelling from right to left on her desk chair, and clicking her nails on the desk and chewing on a pen while simultaneously looking at the clock. It had been a calm evening so far except for one big trauma that would come in any moment at A&E, but she wasn't working there at the moment, so she was pretty bored.

She could've been with Lance now, but work always came first for her, even when the night was going as slow as it's going now.

Gwen looked up when she heard the door open and Doctor Emrys came out, dressed in his surgery scrubs. He had been called on for the trauma, but was still with a patient then and so he had to rush to be ready in time. Balinor walked up to her and she placed the pen from her mouth on the table.

"Any more details on the victims yet?" Balinor asked, straightening his blue scrub.

"Yes, the dispatcher has just called in to give more information on the three victims. One victim has lost a lot of blood through a stab wound in his abdomen and is also unconscious. The knife is still embedded in his abdomen and has been stabilized. The second victim has a stab wound in the leg and a head wound, and the third victim seemed to be drugged and being stabbed in his arm. He is drifting in and out of consciousness. Dispatcher told me that the ETA of the ambulances is about fifteen minutes and the victim with the head wound is brought in with a police escort. Sorry I don't know what the reason for it is."

Balinor nodded, his chin resting onto his fist and his other arm crossed over his chest. "Is Doctor Robinson already present?"

"Yes, he went down about two minutes before you came."

"Okay, thank you Gwen. Page me if you need me."

~oOoOo~

Arthur peeked around in the dimly lit room, he saw some coats on hangers but as far as he could see and hear the room was empty. Squinting his eyes he saw that the room was actually pretty big room, but he was still convinced he was the only one there. Now he was just doubting himself whether he went into the right room, but he didn't saw any other cloakrooms in the hallway, so this must've been the right room.

He looked once more into the room and saw at the far end of the room a few more coatracks and some had coats on them. Arthur thought that maybe Merlin was hiding behind some coats and waiting for the right moment to jump him. But Arthur wasn't so easily fooled and smirked. Two could play that game.

Arthur patted his pockets as he wanted to use his phone as an extra light source, but he then remember that he left his phone on the table when he stood up from his chair. He had placed the napkin and said phone on the table and then quickly walked away, wanting to get as fast as possible to Merlin.

"Oh Merlin?" Arthur whispered sing-songingly and he walked further into the room.

"Merlin, seriously are you here?" He asked a bit louder when he didn't got an answer back. He frowned when there was still no one answering him back and when he was almost at the point of turning back, he heard a noise. A whimper perhaps?

Arthur thought he imagined it, but his curiosity brought him further into the room. The TLC lighting was dimmed too low to see properly and he started to touch the wall in search for a light switch. After finally finding one he turned the round button around and the TLC started to illuminate the room in brighter light. The sight that met him when he looked around him was knocking the air from his lungs.

~oOoOo~

Uther had not yet been slamming the double doors of the room where the banquet was held open and ran to the table he sat on. There were some people paying attention to it, but didn't for long. Uther had his mobile still clutched in his hand and he frantically looked around the table, only to see two seats unattended. "Where are Merlin and Arthur… where is my son!"

A few more people in the room turned their head now to see what all that fuss was about. Uther turned on his phone and punched in some numbers and pressed the call button only to hear the ringtone of his son's phone ring on the other side of the table. He walked quickly to his son's empty seat and lifted the napkin up and saw the flashing screen of his son's mobile.

"No, no, no."

"Uther, what's wrong?" Leon asked, rising from his seat and looking confused.

Uther turned to him and the despair was written clearly across his face. "Gwaine has been released. Someone paid the bail." Uther explained in a rush while his eyes were still searching the room for any sign of his son or Merlin, but he couldn't find them. "Where are they?"

Lance already stood from his chair and motioned Percy to do the same. Leon stood stock-still, astounded "The bail… two million Pounds? Who the hell pays that kind of money!"

"I don't know and I don't care!" Uther yelled on the verge of desperation. "Where. is. Arthur!" In his mind he knew that Gwaine would be coming for Arthur, he had seen how Gwaine had looked to his son in the court room, the man was obsessed. He knew that he needed to find Arthur to make sure that Arthur wouldn't see the man ever again. He was just doing a little bit better, but if he would see Gwaine again, it would certainly mean that he would be back at the start again.

"We haven't seen them for the past ten to fifteen minutes." Lance said, already starting to feel guilty. "Arthur got a message from Merlin and we just thought they wanted some time alone." Lance now realizing that the couple could be in danger.

"Where did he go!" Uther yelled, but saw everyone holding up their shoulders while lowering their eyes and shaking their head.

Leon pointed first to Will and Lance. "If you two look at the men's room, Percy, Uther and myself will look in the lobby area. Elena and Morgana if you could just ask people if they've seen Merlin or Arthur that would be great. And everything try to reach Merlin on his phone."

When Leon had given instructions, everyone nodded and immediately went on with their task and not paying attention to the murmuring that started to travel through the room. They just wanted to find Arthur and Merlin.

~oOoOo~

"No." Arthur breathed. He tried to move backwards, but was just frozen on the spot after seeing Gwaine standing there. "You… you can't be here." He stared right in the eyes of his tormenter. Gwaine was lazily leaning against one of the coat racks and pushed himself off it to walk to Arthur. Arthur's eyes widened in fear and then something else caught his sight, something even more important. Merlin.

His boyfriend was lying on the floor, partially hidden behind one of the racks, but Arthur could clearly make out the outlines of Merlin's motionless body. He was so concentrated on Merlin that he forgot about his surroundings until it was too late and Gwaine was already gripping him tightly.

"No. NO! Let m-" Arthur started to scream, but Gwaine put one of his hands on Arthur's mouth, cutting him off. He brought his other hand around Arthur's back and started to drag him towards the back of the room.

"Shh, it's alright Arthur." Gwaine soothed. "We can finally be together now." Gwaine told him in such a sweet tone that it almost made Arthur sick.

Arthur struggled, but Gwaine was always the stronger one of the two of them and he could feel himself getting dragged further and further from the entrance and then behind one of the racks where he could see his boyfriend more clearly. His eyes started to tear up and he furiously shook his head and body, wanting to get out of the tight hold Gwaine had him in. He wanted to be free so he could run to his boyfriend, because Merlin was lying far too still for his liking.

"See, I told you I would take care of him. Properly this time. You're just in time to see the grand finale." Gwaine told Arthur and he shuffled closer to Merlin's body with Arthur in his arms. Arthur breathed fast in Gwaine's hand and the first tear trickled down his cheek. It was more out of relieve in seeing Merlin still breathing

"Now be a good boy and don't scream when I pull my hand away. If you won't I would even let you say goodbye to this piece of shit." Gwaine slowly took his hand from Arthur's mouth and Arthur didn't made a sound, he was too shocked to say or do anything.

"That's it." Gwaine cooed and ran an hand over Arthur's cheek and Arthur flinched at the touch. "Soon our life together will start."

In one swift movement, Gwaine had picked Merlin's limply body from the ground and held it in front of him. Arthur jumped forward with outstretched arms, as he wanted to take Merlin as far away from Gwaine as possible. He looked Gwaine in the eye and then back at Merlin and stepped forward.

"Nuh, ah, a-ah." Gwaine pulled a knife out of seemingly nowhere and put it on Merlin's throat. "One more step and I'll slice his throat. Arthur immediately stopped in his track and heard a soft whimper again. His eyes were trained on Merlin and he saw Merlin's eyes flutter before he slowly opened them.

"Merlin!" Arthur cried and stepped closer, momentarily forgetting Gwaine's threat. Gwaine hadn't and pressed the knife a little bit closer onto Merlin's throat. Merlin only now started to register more clearly what was happening and then his eyes fell onto Arthur and he knew he had to be strong for him.

"It'll be okay." Merlin said, trying to sound reassuring but his voice was weak and he gasped when Gwaine tightened his hold and pressed the knife even more down on his throat, a small trail of blood trickled out and down his neck.

"You don't get to speak." Gwaine spat, his words venomous and Arthur sobbed and pleaded Gwaine to stop.

"Let him go, please. It's me you want… not him" Arthur continued his sobbing. He needed Merlin to be safe, needed him to be okay, but he looked so pale and it was his fault. Arthur glanced his eyes over Merlin's body but he didn't found any injuries apart from the wound in his neck. But he knew that something must've happened to him as Merlin looked so lifeless and so weak, like he didn't have enough energy to keep himself up right.

"He is the cause that we aren't together Arthur. I can't let him live. Never!" Gwaine yelled and plunged the knife in Merlin's arm and it made Merlin scream in pain.

When Gwaine pulled the knife out, Merlin screamed again and Gwaine held the knife up, ready to plunge it in again. This time however, Arthur yelled and surged forward, tackling Gwaine to the ground and simultaneously pushing Merlin out the way.

Merlin fell down onto his knees with a small thud and he pushed his hand immediately down onto the stab wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding. His moves were a bit clumsy as his limbs still felt heavy due to the drug that Gwaine used to knock him out and the aftereffects were still quite heavily felt through his body, but pushed himself to stay awake.

Merlin tried to turn when he heard the two men wrestle behind him, but his wound was bleeding too fast and the drugs in his system were mostly keeping him in a daze. He tried again, putting all effort in his motions and he managed to turn his head just barely to see how Arthur and Gwaine wrestled on the ground, before his world went black.

Arthur and Gwaine struggled on the ground and Arthur managed to wrestle the knife out of Gwaine's hand and now both men were trying to reach the knife. Arthur could grasp the hilt and successfully managed to stab the man who tormented him for so long, in the leg. A wail of pain came out of Gwaine's mouth as Gwaine pulled the knife out of his leg and Arthur took the distraction to pull Gwaine up and push him against the wall.

Arthur breathed harshly in and out through his noise. He gripped Gwaine's collar tightly in his hands and turned him around to slam him into one of the coatracks. Gwaine's head slammed hard against the corner of one and he was slightly off balance. In an attempt to steady himself, Gwaine brought the hand that held the knife forward.

Arthur gasped. He loosened the grip he had on Gwaine and started to stumble backwards until his back hit the wall where he slid down to the ground. All he could feel was a sharp pain in his abdomen and when he looked down he could see that the knife was latched into his stomach. He started to panic, but every deep breath he took was hurting him more and more and Arthur started to breathe in quick but shallow breaths.

He lifted a shaking hand and tried to keep the blade steady and closed his eyes in concentration when he gripped it tight. His shirt was starting to get soaking wet and it continued to seep through his shirt. He felt himself getting more and more tired, but he didn't allow himself to sleep, because he needed to know if Merlin was okay.

A few feet away, Gwaine started to get up. He ignored the dizziness when he saw what he had done. Blinking away the dark spots that started to appear in front of his eyes, he made his way to Arthur and sunk down on his knees and started to apologizing over and over.

"No, no my love. I'm sorry… I'm so sorry." He grabbed Arthur's face in his both hands and tilted Arthur's head up. Arthur stared up to him through half lidded eyes and felt his eyelids become more and more heavier. "Stay awake." Gwaine fiddled in his pocket and pulled out his phone. "Hold on, I'm gonna call an ambulance."

Arthur couldn't make himself focus properly anymore. He was tired and cold and wasn't even noticing the sharp pain anymore. All he wanted to do now was to get to Merlin and when he was sure that Merlin was okay, he would take a short nap.

He tried to move forward, but he just didn't had the energy for it. Arthur heard Gwaine talking to him, or at least he guessed it was him, and then felt Gwaine's hand on his face. He didn't want that, but he just didn't had the energy anymore to fight him off.

And then the hand disappeared and it was being replaced by a different pair of hands. A voice that was familiar to him spoke to him and he mustered all his energy to open his eyes, and he managed to open them just a little bit, but it was so hard to keep them open for long.

"Arthur, oh god. Arthur!" Uther panicked when his son was looking up to him, but wasn't really looking. His son's eyes were glazed over and he was blinking sluggishly. Uther stared down at the hilt of the knife that was jutting out of his son's abdomen. Uther breathed in a shaky breath. "Arthur, stay awake. Just look at me, you're doing great." Uther started to stroke his son's cheeks with his thumbs.

"D-d-d-a-" Arthur tried to speak but he could form the words.

"Shh, shh. It's okay, I'm here." Uther looked briefly up to Leon who was bending over Merlin, with one hand pressed onto one side of his neck , while his other hand was holding his phone. He looked back to Arthur who's eyelids started to close.

"Arthur, don't go to sleep. Eyes on me!"

Uther turned to Leon. "How long for that ambulance!"

"They should be here any minute now!" Leon yelled back and looked down at Merlin.

When Uther turned back, Arthur's eyes were fully closed and his head was lolled a tiny bit forward.

"No, no, no." Uther muttered. "Arthur!" Uther slapped lightly on Arthur's cheek, but there was no reaction out of his son. Uther shifted in his place and was readying himself to pick Arthur up into his arms. He couldn't wait any longer for that ambulance. If anything, he would drive his son himself and meet them halfway.

He was about to pick his son up, when Leon shouted, "Uther, your shoulder!"

Uther screaming back, "It's fine!" He eyed the knife suspiciously, but he knew that taking the knife out was the worst thing you could do now. He cradled his son's head in the crook of his neck and placed his arms under his son's arms and knees. He drew in a deep breath and then stood up with his son hanging limply in his arms.

Gwaine protested in Percival's strong hold and Percy pushed him against the wall, face first. "Shut up!" Percy yelled, grabbing Gwaine's wrists and twist them behind his back and keeping them there.

Uther walked out of the room but didn't know where to go. The hallway was as good as empty, but he needed help. Arthur needed help. Then Morgana and Elena rounded the corner and ran towards him once they realized it was Uther carrying Arthur.

Uther lowered himself onto his knees but kept Arthur in his arms. The first tears fell onto his cheeks.

Elena started to call for medical help while Morgana stood in shock. She looked down at the motionless body and became worried when she didn't saw Merlin anywhere. She heard shouting coming from within the room further down the hall and knew that her brother must be there. She glanced to Arthur one last time, before she sprinted towards the room. There, she saw Merlin weakly struggling in Leon's hold and she ran up to them

"Merlin. Merlin stop." Morgana begged her brother, but Merlin paid no attention to her.

"Arthur, I have to go to Arthur… let me go- go." His arms fell down and his head lolled forward against Leon's chest.

"Merlin!" Morgana cried and Leon confirmed to her that he was unconscious. The next thing he told her was that they needed to stop the bleeding fast.

"Bleeding? What bleeding!"

Leon pointed to Merlin's arm that had started to drip drops of blood on to the floor. Morgana gasped and got on her knees. Her father and Merlin were the medical people in the family and she had almost no medical knowledge apart from stick a bandage on a scratch. But this was something far bigger than a scratch and she tried to gather some information from when Merlin was studying this particular chapter about bleedings and she had to quiz him.

"We need to keep pressure on the wound." Morgana said, her voice shaking. She remembered what Merlin had told her and put her shaking hands on top of the wound, but the blood immediately seeped between her fingers .

"It's not enough!" Morgana yelled and frantically looked around her, hoping that her surroundings would provide an answer for her, and strangely it did. She saw the tie around her brother's neck and yanked it off and put Merlin's arm through the loop. She pushed it up till above the wound and then pulling it tightly, before clamping her hands on the wound again, there was less blood seeping through this time and Morgana heaved a small sigh of relieve.

"I already called an ambulance and the police." Leon told her, and he tried to calm her down while at the same time keeping Merlin warm.

Gwaine was still very much growling and yelling for his release and Percy had to restrain himself from killing Gwaine right on the spot. Seconds later, paramedics and police officers arrived. Gwaine was being cuffed and taken by three officers while the paramedics gathered around Merlin and hooked him on various machines and placed an oxygen mask over his nose and mouth. He was then wrapped in some kind of foil before being transferred onto the stretcher.

Will had arrived seconds after Merlin was being led away and took a shaking Morgana into his arms. He himself could hardly get a grasp on the situation. Half an hour ago he was eating and laughing with his best friend and now he saw him being led away with speed by paramedics.

"I'll bring you to the hospital." Will softly said to Morgana when he could think a bit more rationally.

~oOoOo~

Gwen ran through the hospital corridors and down the stairs. She didn't had time to wait for the elevator to arrive and sprinted all the way the three stairs. She needed to get to Balinor fast!

She had just gone to the personnel room for her break when she checked her phone and saw she had a voicemail from Lance. When she listened to it, she paled and dropped the phone from of her hands. She had immediately turned and ran out of the room.

When she had finally arrived at the right floor, it didn't took her long to find Balinor. He and his team were already ready to intercept the paramedics once they would bring the victims in. She caught his arm and spun him around.

Panting heavily, she only managed to stammer out a few words. "Merlin…. Arthur…. Stabbed." She sucked in a deep breath when Balinor told her to calm down.

"Merlin and Arthur are the victims. They are the ones who are stabbed!" She blurted out once she had her breath a little more under control.

"What!" Balinor thundered. No this couldn't be, not his son, not after everything that already happened. It couldn't be Merlin, nor Arthur. Gwen must've been mistaken, that's the only logical explanation.

But before Gwen could properly explain what had happened, there were three stretchers being pushed through the doors. One person's face and body was being covered up by a white sheet.

"One of the victims died during transport." One of the paramedics said.