Merlin followed Daegal towards the trees wondering as he did why Daegal's sister was hiding. Then decided that perhaps Daegal hadn't trusted him to come alone, it was a hard life for sorcerers after all, as Merlin went round the largest tree instead of a young girl he saw a masked man directly in front of him with what looked like a gun. Turning to run he found two more armed masked men behind him. He realised he was in trouble and had been betrayed, but before he could do anything else, the man with the gun fired. Something hit Merlin in the back, as it hit an agonising pain shot though him. Merlin reached for his magic to protect himself but it wasn't responsive, the pain got worse he screamed and fell, just before darkness descended he saw one of the man pat Daegal on the back, as if to thank him.

"You did a good job Daegal" the first man said to the young man as he looked down at Merlin's now still form. "Go and keep an eye out for us as we get him out of here" The first man handed Daegal an envelope "You might get a bonus for this one, keep in touch"

Daegal smiled as he felt the envelope, this was easy work, his innocent looking face made it easy to dupe sorcerers into going with him and he had no problem taking money for them. After all everyone knew they were trouble. Walking back the way he came and leant against a tree and did as he was asked. This time of the morning there were very few people about, even the early starters were few and far between. Give it half an hour and the place would have been full of joggers and the shop workers making their way to work. By Merlin's side the three man set to work and got Merlin to his feet and into a box on wheels that they then wheeled away through the park. It looked just like the crates that some of the Lorries used to deliver supplies to the various cafes in the park so was ignored by the few people in the park. One of the men looked at the one who shot Merlin and smiled.

"The boss will be pleased with his one by how he reacted to the shot, he clearly has plenty of power" The men were well aware that all but the weakest sorcerers found the ammunition they used painful, the more magic the more pain they experienced.

The first man who was clearly in charge snarled "Just as well, we don't need any more mistakes, let's get this garbage to the processing centre and get a coffee" with that the men pushed the crate to the main path leading through the park.

Over the time they had been taking sorcerers they had taken several 'innocent' non magical people in error and this always caused problems and also they didn't get paid. A lorry was parked at the entrance and the men loaded up before driving off. It was a good hour and a half drive before they reached their destination. Going through some electronic gates that were guarded by dog handlers they drove to a warehouse and drove in. The operation had been successful once again. The men had been making similar lick ups for two years now and had the whole task down pat. It was a well planned and executed operation that paid extremely well, and none of the teams had ever been caught or even seen.

As they got out of sight of any public view the van pulled up and they got the trolley out of the van and wheeled it into a lift in the corner. Going down into an area under the ground they took the trolley down a long corridor before stopping and getting Merlin out. Merlin by now was beginning to come round, but he was still very wobbly on his feet they place Merlin on a trolley and strapped him down. Going through a door they were greeted by two another men one dressed in a white gown and the other in a sharp black business suit.

"Your message said you had a powerful one, I hope your right Valiant." The man in the suit said as he looked down at Merlin. He was a middle aged man with black sleeked down hair and an almost permanent sneer on his face. "He doesn't look much"

"He certainly reacted like it Mr De Bois" Valiant was deferential. He hated it but the head of the facility was known for his short temper and the money was too good to risk losing the job.

The suited man turned to the other man "Test him Edwin and then report to me." Turning to Valiant "You will get paid once we get the results. Do you have any more targets?"

"A couple more low grades Sir" Valiant replied

"Bring them in as soon as you can" with that Agravaine De Bois walked away.

Once he was out of ear shot Valiant turned to Edwin "How do you deal with him all the time?"

"Carefully" Came the reply from the scared man "But like you the money is worth it."

"It must be to betray your own kind" Valiant sneered he knew that the doctor had some magic yet still worked in the facility.

"I do it for the same reason you do…money unlike you though I also do it to stop being used here. You have no reason to look down on me, we both like the money it brings and like you I will know when to get out" he smiled, his scars pulling one side of his face down "But we have time yet"

Edwin motioned for another man who was standing nearby "Take him to the testing bay and prepare him"

Arthur and the police continued to search for Merlin. This was the closest Leon and his team had got to a disappearance and they hoped to be able to get results this time. Not only that but they all like Merlin and considered him like a younger brother. The interviewed everyone they could trace to the park within an hour of Merlin disappearing. It included Valliant's team and Daegal but Leon's team drew a blank. Valiant and his men had a genuine reason as they had been delivering to a café. And Daegal was a worker who used the park as a short cut. There was nothing to link the two and Gaius hadn't known who Merlin was supposed to be meeting.

Morgana was distraught and both she and Arthur were very worried. Arthur spent hours with Morgana trying to discover anything in her vision that might help then find any clues. As the days past with no trace they all become more worried that they might not find Merlin.