Chapter Text
True to his word, Uther Pendragon turned up in the office on Saturday morning.
Arthur hadn’t expected him to bring Hunith and Gaius with him. And he certainly hadn’t expected Elyan and Will to turn up.
“Couldn’t get an answer on Merlin’s phone,” Will grumbled. “Been trying for two days. Gwaine told me what’s been going on and that you’re staging a rescue. So. I’m here for it. Thanks for letting me know!”
“Gwen told me what was happening,” Elyan said. “I don’t have anything else to do today so I thought I’d come over.”
Uther looked around the kitchen critically. Arthur wondered whether his father had ever been in there before. Normally all his meetings were conducted in boardrooms or his own office. But the third floor kitchen had simply become more practical.
Leon had pushed several tables together and had the plans spread out over them. He and Gwaine had been working on them with Mordred and had got a probable route worked out. Not that Mordred had been much help. From what they’d managed to piece together, he had spent most of his time either in a lab or in the cell with Morgana. But at least he’d been able to confirm that the room Lance had marked was indeed where they were being held. It gave everyone a bit more confidence.
Unless of course both Lance and Mordred were working for Du Bois and it was just an elaborate trap. It was impossible to tell.
Mordred still had Morgana’s picture. Arthur hadn’t had the heart to even try to take it from him. He wasn’t sure his father would be as complacent. So far he hadn’t noticed.
Mostly Uther was watching Will with deep suspicion. Will had turned up in scuffed trainers, jeans so worn they almost had holes and a ratty rugby shirt. Apparently he’d got on a train first thing and was still in yesterday’s clothes.
“Who is that?” he asked Arthur at the first opportunity.
“Merlin’s best friend, Will,” Arthur told him, then added; “Hunith said he was very kind to her after she lost her son.”
That seemed to pacify Uther a little. He attempted a smile at Will, who stared at him as if he’d grown two heads and carried on eating one of the bacon rolls that Gwaine had fetched from the Greggs down the street.
They could probably have sent one of the robots to fetch them but Arthur wasn’t going to risk it just in case it got tampered with on the way there or back. He hadn’t even allowed the cleaning model onto the floor that morning, just in case Du Bois had managed to override the programming somehow. And he kept Jacob well out of sight.
Arthur had moved Jacob to one of the meeting rooms. He felt bad about shutting the clone in there, but didn’t really know what else to do with him. Jacob stared at him mournfully. He was staying wherever Arthur asked him to, but Arthur hadn’t forgotten how easily Agravaine had been able to control him at the TV studio. Keeping Jacob well away from their plans was essential.
He had no idea what he would do with Jacob once they’d rescued Merlin and Morgana. Unlike Emily he had not shown any signs of sentience, so other than using him for the purpose he was made there were limits as to what could be done with him. Perhaps kind treatment would have to be enough? Arthur didn’t know. He left one of the Pendragon robots with him, then thought better of it in case Jacob programmed it to kill him or something. Instead Arthur took some books in and gave them to Jacob to read. When he looked in again Jacob was just sitting there, the books untouched.
“Poor boy,” Hunith said sadly, appearing at his side. “I suppose he’s sort of my son too, in a strange way. An unnatural brother for Merlin.”
She really was far too kind-hearted, Arthur thought. “We’ll worry about what he is or isn’t when this is over,” he told her. “But for now, keep away. He’s under Du Bois’ control and might not be safe.”
“I think I can look after myself, Arthur,” she told him with a smile.
“But Merlin would never, ever forgive me if a single hair on your head was harmed,” Arthur insisted. He loved that he was rewarded with a gentle, sympathetic hug.
“I know that if anyone can get our boy back, it’s you, Arthur.”
“The waiting around is absolutely killing me,” Arthur admitted to her as they walked back to the kitchen together. “Leon’s threatened to lock me in one of these rooms as well if I try to leave early. I know we’ve got to wait but I hate it. I just want them all safe.”
She patted his arm kindly. “I’ll make you all a cup of tea,” she offered.
Arthur thanked her, then went to sit with his father. There was something that he needed to tell him, and it wasn’t going to be easy. He wondered if they should go to his office where Arthur could shut and lock the door. Because Uther was going to find it just as difficult as Arthur to restrain himself once he discovered that Morgana was still alive.
There was no way to soft-soap it either.
“Arthur,” Uther said as soon as his son sat down. “Why is that odd young man, the one who can’t talk, carrying a picture of Morgana around with him? Isn’t that the one from your desk? I don’t think that’s very appropriate.”
“He knows her.” Arthur took a deep breath and then just went for it. “We think she’s alive. We believe she’s being held along with Merlin and some others.”
“What?”
“Mordred met her when he was at Du Bois. She was alive then, there’s every reason to hope she’s still alive.”
Uther started to get up, then sat back down again, staring at Arthur in shock. “Alive?”
“We can’t be sure. But there’s hope.”
“We should go now!”
Leon looked up. “I’m sorry Mr Pendragon, but no. I’ve already had to stop Arthur trying to leave, please don’t make me restrain you too. I’m quite prepared to lock the pair of you in his office.”
Leon looked far too pleased as he said that, Arthur thought. No doubt it was very belated payback for that summer holiday years ago where Leon had been dumped on the railway platform for taking Morgana on a date.
Uther just stared at him, then back at Arthur. “She’s alive?” he asked again.
Hunith appeared at his side with a cup of tea. “I know exactly how you feel,” she told him, putting the cup down on the table in front of him. “Finding out that my Merlin was still alive was the most shocking and wonderful thing. It’ll be the same for you with your daughter.”
“I’m coming with you!” Uther demanded.
“No,” Leon called over. “Sorry, but you’re just too recognisable.”
“You’re on TV every Friday night!” Uther pointed out. “If anyone’s too recognisable it’s not me!”
Hunith sat down next to him. “Quite right. But the boys have been working on this all night as far as I can tell. And we can’t all go. Somebody needs to stay as backup in case things go wrong.”
“That’s true,” Arthur agreed.
“Obviously Gaius, Gwen and I will be here,” Hunith continued, “but really we need someone who can go in if things go wrong. And that won’t be any of us.”
Arthur wasn’t sure he’d bet against Hunith or Gwen in that particular situation but he kept quiet.
“That is true I suppose,” Uther mused.
“That’s good. I feel much happier knowing you’ll be here with us,” Hunith told him. She smiled across at Arthur and gave a brief, almost imperceptible wink.
Arthur looked down to hide a smile.
---
Never had a day passed more slowly, but eventually the time came for them to leave.
Arthur had originally thought that it would just be himself and Leon. Leon was set up with a body camera and was always ready for a good story. Arthur wasn’t at all surprised that he was eager to take the risk. But Will and Gwaine also insisted on coming along.
“Try and stop me!” Gwaine growled.
At his side, Will nodded agreement. “Try and stop either of us!”
“And we’re sure we can trust this Lance bloke?” Elyan asked. “He could be a plant from Du Bois.”
“I believe him,” Arthur admitted. “And yes, I know I might be setting myself up for a fall. We might be too late and Merlin’s already dead. But I have to know that I did everything I could. None of you have to come with me.”
And then Elyan got up as well. “I’m in.”
“You barely know Merlin.”
“Untrue. I’ve been working here on all the days when he’s been in. We’ve had long chats in the break room, had a few lunches. I like him. So. I’m in.”
Leon looked at them all. “Lucky I’ve got a big car,” he commented. “Come on then, let’s go for it. Honestly, this is the largest group I’ve ever taken on an undercover story.”
“I don’t want to be on TV,” Will grumbled. “People are still taking the piss from last week.”
“You don’t have to come,” Arthur reminded him yet again.
Will just grunted something unintelligible and followed Leon down to the car park.
“We’ll need to be careful,” Arthur warned as they headed out. “Percival was attacked in this car park. Just be on your guard. They don’t know we’re coming, so we should be okay, but they might be waiting around in case you bring Mordred out.”
Du Bois were still sending out product recall notices. Leon had received two calls and five messages that day alone. There had been no question of taking Mordred with them.
The way to Leon’s car was blocked. It wasn’t anyone from Du Bois though. Instead, standing in front of Leon’s car in a little group were Alator and his followers.
There was no avoiding them.
“I’d hoped we’d seen the last of them,” Arthur commented quietly to Leon, who nodded agreement.
“Arthur Pendragon!” Alator called.
Arthur reluctantly raised a hand in greeting.
“Hi Alator!” Gwaine called, but the self-styled high priest ignored him. “Oh. No more prayer-sharing then?”
“The time that has been awaited is now upon us,” Alator droned. “Arthur Pendragon, you will lead the lost away from their damnation and clear a path to the light.”
“Oh no, not this again,” Arthur muttered. “We really haven’t got time for his rantings.”
“The sun is setting upon the final day,” Alator continued. “Excalibur has arisen.”
“Oh you have to be kidding me!” Arthur exclaimed.
One of Alator’s followers, a petite dark-haired girl, stepped forward. She was holding a sword out in front of her, the blade flat on the palms of her hands.
“Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government!” Leon quoted.
“She’s not lying in a pond,” Gwaine pointed out.
“Excalibur though,” Leon replied. “I mean, really!”
Alator ignored their comments. “Freya of the waters bears the sacred sword.”
“Waters… Pond!” Arthur heard Leon whisper to Gwaine. “See what I mean?”
“Excalibur was forged in the breath of a dragon, forged for a king. Only the reborn king may wield Excalibur, and only when the need of Albion is great.”
“Pity we don’t have any kings here,” Will muttered. “Look, mate,” he said to Alator. “No offence but we’re in a hurry, can you lot just move out of the way?”
The girl, Freya, stopped right in front of Arthur, still holding the sword out like an offering.
“Take Excalibur!” Alator boomed. “It will aid you in your quest.”
“I don’t think you can just carry something like that around,” Arthur told him.
“Take it!” Alator ordered. “You will not succeed without Excalibur, Arthur.”
“Just take it,” Leon advised. “We need to leave.”
Carefully, because there wasn’t even a sheath to cover what looked like a pretty sharp blade, Arthur took the sword from Freya.
“Thank you.”
She bowed to him, smiled, then backed away, merging with the rest of her group.
“Fare ye well,” Alator told Arthur, also bowing to him. All his followers did likewise, then to Arthur’s enormous relief they all moved away from Leon’s car.
“Finally,” Leon grumbled, unlocking the car and getting into the driver’s seat. “Come on you lot, get in.”
Arthur sat in the front, still holding the sword. It was too large to put on the floor so he attempted to place it down the side of the passenger door. He just hoped Leon didn’t make any emergency stops. The thing would probably cut through the floor. Or worse, cut through Arthur.
Will, Elyan and Gwaine climbed into the back seat. Leon glanced over his shoulder at them, and then back at Arthur.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Just go,” Arthur told him.
It might already be too late. But he wasn’t going to think about that.
As they pulled out of the parking space, he realised that Alator and his followers had already vanished.
Weirdos.
---
Du Bois Inc. processing plant was a massive construction.
Even in twilight that much was obvious. Equally obvious was the fact that visitors were not welcome. The place was surrounded by a security fence that had to be about four meters high. Anyone trying to scale that would hit the wires and spikes on the top, and if they weren’t deterrent enough there was a warning sign about the voltage running through it. And of course there were security cameras everywhere.
Nobody was going to get over that fence easily.
“Well this looks friendly!” Gwaine commented. “Welcome to Cloneville. Abandon hope all ye who enter.”
“I think that’s the point,” Arthur snapped. “Those people in there, Merlin and my sister, Emily and all the others, we are their only hope.”
Gwaine didn’t reply, and when Arthur glanced back at him in the mirror he could see the guilt written all over Gwaine’s face. Everyone dealt with stress differently. Quips didn’t mean that Gwaine wasn’t worried.
Arthur looked down at the sword on his lap. Alator was insane. Of course he was. The thing wouldn’t get past the first security camera.
And yet it felt right, as if it belonged to Arthur.
“Are we really just going to drive up to the front gate?” Will asked, peering out of the window at the imposing building. “Won’t they have guards with guns and things?”
“It’s what Lance told us to do,” Leon confirmed. “We can’t exactly climb over the fence. So, ready?”
“Here goes nothing,” Arthur sighed.
They drove up to the gate. Nobody seemed to be in the little guardhouse but then it was well after hours, and on a weekend. Most likely there would be security patrols going round. None were in sight.
There was what looked like an intercom on a post just ahead of the gate. Leon leaned out of the window and pressed the intercom button.
Nobody spoke, but the gate immediately started to open. There was a camera on top of the gate. It turned to follow their car as they drove through the gateway.
“You think that was Lance letting us in?” Gwaine asked.
Leon shook his head. “I don’t know. I hope so.”
“Why didn’t he speak?”
“He might be overheard? Just concentrate on those plans. Where do I park? Over to the left of the main entrance?”
“Yeah. There’s no lights there.”
That was probably the idea, Arthur thought as they swung into one of the many empty parking bays. They could creep along under cover of darkness, so if there were any patrols they might not see them. Security seemed fairly lax though. He presumed the fence would be a good enough deterrent for most would-be intruders. The only other vehicle there was a large van, but it looked to be empty. Arthur wondered if Lance had parked it there. They’d need more than just Leon’s car to get the prisoners away.
“Last chance to back out,” Leon warned them all. “Sometimes these things can get nasty. People don’t like it when you secretly film them. And when they see me they’ll probably guess I’ve got a bodycam.”
“Which is why the rest of us are also wearing them,” Arthur reminded him.
“Correct.” Leon tapped his earpiece. “Tristan, have you got sound and vision?” He nodded. “Okay. Will, you’ve got your jacket covering the lens, move the clip up a little. Yes, that’s it. Perfect.”
“We’re like James Bond,” Elyan grinned.
“Only sexier,” Gwaine told him. “Well, apart from Will.”
“Shut your face, Greene.”
“But it’s such a sexy face!”
“Quiet!” Leon hissed at them. “You two do realise how dangerous this is, don’t you? Shut up, or stay here.”
Gwaine mimed zipping his lips, and Will nodded agreement.
“Taking your sword?” Elyan asked Arthur.
It was tempting. But it was far too noticeable to carry around. And besides, a sword was such an old-fashioned weapon. No, it could stay in the car.
“It stands out a bit too much,” Arthur told him. “Better to leave it behind.”
“No kidding,” Elyan inclined his head towards the car. “That’s pretty shiny.”
The sword, still down the side of the car seat, was starting to glow. The inside of the car was lighting up like a beacon.
“Shit!” Arthur opened the door and grabbed the sword, intending to hide it in the boot. But as soon as he took hold of it the glowing stopped.
“Okay,” Elyan raised an eyebrow. “That’s impressive. What’s powering that then?”
“Nothing,” Arthur frowned, turning the sword over. It was hard to see in the dark, but there was no good reason why the sword should have glowed like that. He opened up the boot and laid the sword down inside. The moment that he let go it started glowing again, brighter than ever. When he closed the boot the light was visible through a few small gaps. It was still going to be noticeable.
“Think that’s coming with us, mate,” Gwaine told him.
Reluctantly Arthur opened the boot again and took out the sword. That was going to look very odd on the recordings from Elyan and Gwaine’s cameras.
“I can’t really hide it anywhere,” he commented. “It doesn’t even have a scabbard.”
Gwaine shrugged. “If we’re spotted we’ll have to make a run for it anyway. I don’t think carrying around some old sword is going to make any difference.”
And so Arthur walked with the others, carrying the sword at his side. The hilt did feel comfortable in his hand, although he had no idea how he was supposed to use a sword in battle.
In contrast to the dark of the parking bays, the reception area was brightly lit. The doors slid open at their approach.
True to his word, Lance was sitting in there, behind the desk, alone. He looked up at their approach and then his eyes widened in horror when he saw how many people Arthur had brought with him.
“Jesus, Arthur! I don’t know if I can sneak that many of you in!”
Gwaine nodded towards the monitor on the wall that displayed the reception area. “Don’t think that’s going to be a problem, mate.”
Arthur followed his gaze. The footage showed Lance in an empty reception area, looking up at the monitor in puzzlement.
“Is one of you a magic user?” Lance asked.
“I wish!” Elyan replied with feeling.
Arthur frowned at him, confused.
“You work with Gaius too! We’re never going to be better than him because he’s got magic and we haven’t!” Elyan grumbled.
That was a good point, Arthur thought. But it didn’t explain why none of them were appearing on the monitor.
Will frowned at the sword in Arthur’s hands. “You don’t think the nutter was telling the truth?”
Alator was deranged. But he’d said some things when Merlin had been kidnapped that indicated otherwise. Perhaps he was a seer, like Morgana.
“I don’t know,” Arthur confessed.
“Whatever, let’s go,” Leon instructed. He had the plans out. “Lance, are you staying here or coming with us?”
“I’ll have to stay here. It’ll be noticed if I go. Even with whatever you’ve done to the monitors. And you’ll need me to unlock the gate when you come back up. I’ve got a van ready that we can use to get people out of here. So, do you know the way?”
“Yes.”
“Good luck!” Lance told them.
“You too,” Arthur replied.
They took the stairs down. Lifts were too easy to get trapped in. All that anyone would need to do would be to press the emergency stop and they’d be sitting ducks.
Lance’s plans had said that the first basement level was mostly experimental labs. He’d not seen anyone held there. It was the sub-basement where Merlin and Morgana were trapped, so that was where they headed.
“What a way to spend a Saturday night,” Gwaine commented as they headed down the final flight of stairs.
“Shhh,” Elyan whispered back.
They stopped at the doorway to the sub-basement. So far they had seen nobody except Lance. They were all aware that luck couldn’t hold.
Leon and Arthur peeped quickly through the small glass window in the door, then ducked down again.
“The room we want is right down the other end of the corridor,” Leon explained. “I can see one guard down there. They’ll see us right away, and they’re certain to sound the alarm. But this is the only way out, so they’re trapped. We get down there, overpower the guard, and use the door code Lance wrote on the maps.”
“Have they got a gun?” Elyan asked. “Because this is a fairly narrow corridor. I don’t like our chances.”
“I’ll go first,” Arthur announced. “Follow me.”
And before they could argue, he opened the stairwell door and charged down the corridor, sword held aloft.
The guard had been dozing in his chair. The noise of the group’s feet as they ran down the corridor towards him startled him into wakefulness and he almost fell off his chair in shock. It took him a moment or two to recover his senses, and start to scrabble for his gun. By then Arthur was almost on him. The man barely had time to yell for help before Arthur had knocked him to the ground.
“Don’t kill me!” the guard begged. “God, who still carries swords? Don’t kill me!”
“We’re not going to kill you,” Elyan told him. “Just stay down. Okay?” He reached down to take the man’s gun.
Leon was at the cell door, methodically tapping in the code.
Nothing happened.
Leon tried it again. Again, the door didn’t open.
“It’s the wrong code,” he growled. “Damn!” He regarded the door. “There’s no way we can break this down.”
“What’s the correct code?” Elyan demanded from the guard.
“I don’t know!” the man gasped. “I just have to sit there, I don’t go in.”
Leon was trying the code a third time.
“It’s still not… oh shit!”
The third incorrect inputting of the door code had triggered an alarm. Sirens were blaring, and all down the corridor emergency lights were flashing. They had moments before any security guards in the building would be all over them.
“Now what do we do?” Will asked. “Come on, you’re Leon Knight off the telly! What do we do?”
Leon shook his head. “I don’t know! Get out?”
“Not without Merlin and Morgana!” Arthur snarled. In his hands, the sword was starting to glow again. He looked at it, then at the door, then back at the sword. “Worth a try,” he decided. “Stand back, Leon.”
“Arthur, you can’t possible think you’ll be able to cut through that door with a sword!” Leon exclaimed, but he stepped back anyway when his friend raised the sword above his head and then brought it down hard on the locking mechanism. “Holy shit!”
“Maybe that really is Excalibur?” Gwaine wondered, wide-eyed.
The sword had cut right through the lock, clean as anything. The door to the cell swung open.
“Oh my god, the smell!” Elyan put his hand over his mouth. At his feet, forgotten, the guard saw his opportunity, got up and ran back down the corridor. Nobody bothered to stop him.
The cell was dark and gloomy. Arthur peered inside, his eyes trying to adjust.
“Merlin?”
And then suddenly Merlin was there, rushing into his arms.
“Arthur! Oh, Arthur!”
There was only time for the briefest of kisses, although Merlin didn’t let go of him.
“I knew you’d come for us! Oh my god, you’re all here!”
“We are, and we have to get out of here!” Leon told him. He yelled into the cell, where pale faces were starting to move into the light from the doorway. “All of you need to come with us!”
“Leon set off the alarm,” Gwaine explained to Merlin. “Good to see you, mate.”
“You too,” Merlin still had one arm around Arthur. “And you, Will, Elyan.”
“I was bored,” Elyan told him. “Couldn’t have Arthur taking all the glory.”
“Come on!” Leon yelled again.
Arthur hardly dared ask the other question, the impossible one that he still could hardly believe was true. But the prisoners weren’t moving, and there was a real chance that they wouldn’t be able to save them all immediately.
“Morgana?” he called softly into the darkness. “Are you in there?”
A tall figure stepped forth from the shadows, pale and thin, her long dark hair hanging limply around her shoulders. Beside her was a woman who could have been her twin, except she looked slightly younger and less dishevelled, and far more nervous.
Merlin grinned at him, nodding. “Morgana’s alive.”
Arthur could hardly believe it. He let go of Merlin, taking a step towards his sister.
And then all hell broke loose.
At the far end of the corridor the door burst open and a group of black-clad security guards came rushing out. They were brandishing handguns, aiming them ready to fire.
“Shit!” Leon started to herd them into the cell. “Everyone in! Move!”
A gunshot rang out, then another. Arthur grabbed Merlin and shoved him back into the cell, following after. He saw Gwaine throw himself inside, saw Elyan duck inside to relative safety. Leon was trying to push the door shut.
“Will!” Merlin cried.
Arthur could see Will lying out in the corridor, unmoving, blood rapidly pooling beneath him. Bullets were still being fired and the guards were almost upon them. Any attempt to reach him would be suicidal. Still Merlin was struggling to get free of Arthur so that he could try.
“Will!”
“We can’t do anything!” Arthur hissed at him. “If you go out there they’ll just shoot you too.”
Merlin stilled in his arms. “I don’t care,” he said. “He’s been my friend my entire life.”
“You can’t do anything to help him,” Arthur repeated. “Just… wait.”
Beyond the guards Arthur could see Agravaine approaching, along with two women and a scar-faced blonde man. Just for once Agravaine wasn’t smiling.
“Arthur. Two evenings in a row. I’ll have to put out a restraining order on you or something!”
“Let us go, Uncle,” Arthur attempted. “That man needs to get to hospital.”
Agravaine looked down distastefully at Will’s body. “Oh, I think it’s going to be a little late for that. And I’d worry about yourself if I were you.”
“You really want to add murder to your list of crimes?” Arthur asked. “Seriously?”
“I think that ship’s well and truly sailed,” one of the guards, a tall, dark-haired man, laughed. “You think you’d be the first?” He looked back at Agravaine. “You want me to finish this, Sir?”
Agravaine did smile then. “Thank you Cenred, just a few moments. Nimueh,” he looked at the brunette woman beside him, “you’ll need to take some samples, I think.”
She shook her head. “That can be done afterwards. Kill them.”
Cenred raised his gun.
“We’ll be missed,” Leon pointed out, not bothering with any false modesty. “I’m quite well-known.”
“Indeed you are,” Agravaine agreed. “Your clone will be most fortunate. They all will. Well, up until the point that your robot driver taking you all back to the studio malfunctions and they all go up in a blaze of glory. Sadly there will be no way to ever tell whether or not the passengers were yourselves or clones. There’ll be no bullet holes in the clones, of course. Nothing to implicate Du Bois at all. Just that faulty Pendragon machine. Such a shame. I’ll be heartbroken, naturally. My dear nephew. Tragic.”
“Merlin,” Arthur heard Morgana whisper, “take my hand. Take Arthur’s hand too.”
Arthur couldn’t see what that was possibly going to achieve, but he just went with it. If he was going to die then at least it would be with the two people he loved most in the world right there at his side. To lose them both a second time would have been unbearable. He gave Merlin’s hand a gentle squeeze.
In his other hand, Excalibur was gently glowing once more.
“Hands,” he heard Morgana say. “Join together. Everyone.”
He could see Gwaine holding on to Emily’s hand, Elyan moving to take a place between two men standing behind her.
“What’s she doing?” Arthur asked Merlin. He shrugged.
“I don’t know, Arthur. She’s your sister, she’s going to be a bit bonkers, isn’t she? She’s great though. They all love her in here.”
The sword was glowing far brighter, lighting the entire room. Arthur could see just how many people were in there, trapped in that place. There were no proper beds, no sanitary facilities to speak of. It was inhuman.
“Arthur,” Morgana instructed. “Raise the sword.”
It suddenly seemed less ridiculous. The weapon was glowing too brightly to look at as he held it up. Faintly he thought he could hear gunshots, but there was no impact, no pain, just a vague sensation of something like fine sand being flung at him, leaving no trace.
“Arthur…” he heard Merlin say.
And then, suddenly it was over. The sword faded back to its natural silver sheen, the blinding light gone. Overhead the ceiling lights were all on, keeping the room lit. Arthur blinked, trying to clear the burn from his eyes, still dazzled by the sword.
“That was amazing!” Elyan exclaimed. “Arthur, what did you do?”
“Saved us, that’s what!” Gwaine crowed. He pushed the door back open properly to reveal the corridor beyond. All the guards were lying on the floor, out cold. Or Arthur hoped they were out cold. They weren’t moving.
“They shot you!” Leon told him. “The bullets seemed to shatter in the air. And then there was this sort of shock wave, it went out of us.”
“Out of all of us, it felt like,” Elyan added.
“Yes,” Leon agreed. “It came from all of us together, and it went out there. They all collapsed.”
“Merlin drew on all of our magic,” Morgana explained.
“I did?” Merlin asked. “Really?”
“Well, the sword did really. But if you weren’t such a strong magic user it wouldn’t have been possible.”
“But I’m not magic,” Elyan pointed out.
“It would have taken something. Courage, strength. Different sorts of magic.”
“Hah! Wait till I tell Gaius!”
Arthur wanted to smile at the delighted grin on Elyan’s face at that news. But he had to know one important thing. “Are they dead?”
Some of the guards seemed to be stirring very slightly. Agravaine was unconscious, though Arthur could see his chest rise and fall. Definitely alive then.
“I don’t think so,” Arthur confirmed. “I hope not.”
The two women were both down but starting to struggle up into a sitting position. Nimueh was recovering faster, already trying to get back on her feet.
“She’s the most powerful one,” Merlin warned.
“She’s a high priestess,” Morgana told them. “Arthur, that sword is the only way to kill her.”
“Kill her?” Arthur repeated incredulously. “I can’t do that!”
“She’ll kill all of us if you don’t,” Morgana warned.
But it was too late. Nimueh was already standing again, facing them, her face full of fury. “You dare strike down a high priestess of the old religion? Do you know who I am? My heritage? I come from a bloodline that can be traced back all the way to the dawn of the earth!”
“Um, technically so can everyone else,” Gwaine pointed out. “Not unique, love.”
“How dare you!” Nimueh raised her hand, her eyes glowing molten gold. The smile faded from Gwaine’s face and he started to choke, just a cough at first, then he started clawing at his throat. “You shall pay for your insolence! All of you will! And first…”
Arthur stared down at the sword. The hilt was still in his hands, but the blade, dripping with blood, was lodged in Nimueh’s abdomen. She was gazing back at him, the gold fading from her dying eyes.
“Arthur…” she gasped.
And then she was gone. Vanished into thin air, just a handful of dust to show she was ever there.
Arthur looked around, confused. “Where did she go?”
The blonde woman was sitting up. She made no attempt to stand. “You killed her,” she stated. “She was nearly a thousand years old. High priestesses don’t shrivel and die like mortals. Only a sword forged in a dragon’s breath could have killed her. That sword,” she added.
Beside her, the scar-faced man was starting to awaken. He looked around, groaned, and then closed his eyes again. Will, still bleeding out, was starting to make a horrific gurgling noise each time he breathed in. He couldn’t have long left. Merlin rushed over to him, kneeling at his side.
“Will, hang on.”
“Morgause,” Morgana said to the blonde woman. “Do I need to ask my brother to destroy you too, or are you going to wait quietly for the authorities?”
Morgause shook her head. “I’m done. I was done a while back, really.
“Should have left, then,” Merlin glared back at Morgause, then pointed down at Will. “You could do just one good thing in your life. All those times you’ve used your magic to do harm. We’re not supposed to do harm. It’s a gift.”
“It’s a curse,” Arthur heard Morgana say under her breath.
She was alive, she had her life before her once more. But the terrors in the night that had driven her to an early grave would still occur. No matter how much her family loved her, that wasn’t going to change.
Morgause crawled over to Will, then knelt beside him.
“Give me your hand,” she instructed Merlin.
He didn’t move, still regarding her with hate in his eyes.
“I’m not as strong as you. Give me your hand if you want him saved.”
Stony-faced, Merlin did as he was bid.
It was incredible to watch. Arthur caught his breath as a soft yellow glow started to form around the two magic users joined hands. It grew, moving downwards towards Will’s body, continuing to expand until it covered him completely in a gentle cocoon of light. When it faded a few moments later Will was breathing normally. He still had a deathly pallor, but that was hardly surprising given the blood loss. Even as Arthur watched, Will’s colour began to improve slightly.
Merlin breathed a massive sigh of relief, smiling down at his friend, then back at Arthur.
“Happy?” Morgause snapped at him.
“Thank you,” Merlin replied. “That’s what healing magic should be used for. Not what you’ve been doing. You should be saving people.”
“Well it’s served you well,” she pointed out. “You wouldn’t be here now if we hadn’t brought you back!”
At the far end of the corridor Arthur could see that the police had arrived, including officers with the red uniforms of the magic division. And right in their midst, striding purposefully towards him, was his father.
The body cams must have been filming everything. Arthur felt a peculiar mix of fear and relief. Relief, because everything was out in the open. Merlin and Morgana were safe, as were their friends. Mithian could carry on with her bill, the law would change. Percival would have Emily back in his life, and perhaps she would be able to play a prominent part in helping to prove that clones could become sentient. But Arthur had killed Nimueh, even if he couldn’t remember doing so, even if she was trying to kill Gwaine at the time. There would still be a price to pay, most likely imprisonment. His father would probably disown him. The shame…
“Arthur!” Uther exclaimed as he reached him. “Thank god, for a while there I thought I might have lost you too!”
And to Arthur’s surprise, his father pulled him into a hug.
“I didn’t think you’d care,” Arthur muttered. “After what I did.”
“Of course I care! You’re my son! And what do you mean? You were so brave, facing down that woman. There’s an international search for her starting up, goodness knows where she’ll have gone, vanishing like that.”
“Vanishing…” Arthur repeated dazedly. “Everyone saw her vanish?”
“Yes, of course. Quite incredible. But Arthur,” Uther moved back, still holding him by the forearms, “your sister. Did you find her?”
Arthur frowned because surely Morgana would have shown up on the body cam footage? He looked back into the cell just to check he wasn’t imagining things. But no, there she was. He could see her standing behind him, watching them. Leon was at her side, smiling, but Morgana looked afraid. She was touching her face, her hair, her ragged clothes…
“Yes,” Arthur said. “Merlin found her.”
“Alive? It was true? She’s alive? Where…?” Uther turned to follow Arthur’s gaze. Arthur caught the exact moment when his father recognised the woman at Leon’s side. “Oh, my dearest, beautiful girl, is it really you?”
Morgana glanced nervously at Leon, who gestured for her to go to Uther. It had to be hard for her, Arthur realised. She’d been locked in there for so long with the cruellest of people commanding her fate. The pain that Merlin and Mordred had described… how many times had she been through that?
But for once their father was doing the right thing, the instinctive thing. He did love them both in his own strange way, Arthur realised, watching as Uther reached out for his daughter. It was unusually thoughtful and considerate of him. But then she did look terrified and perhaps Uther realised that if he’d just grabbed hold of her like he had Arthur moments before then it would traumatise her further. As it was, after a moment or two of hesitation, Morgana walked into his arms and began to cry.
Arthur had never, ever seen Uther try to comfort anyone else. But he was trying with the fragile Morgana, telling her things would be all right, that she was safe and could come home. Perhaps there was hope for him after all.
He looked across at Merlin, who was still sitting with Will. Gwaine had joined them. Will was sitting up, looking around dazedly. He was still deathly pale, and his shirt was drenched in blood. But he was talking to Gwaine. He would be okay. Merlin, seeing Arthur look, got to his feet and walked over to him.
“He’s okay?” Arthur asked.
“He will be. What about you?” Merlin looked down at the sword. “Where on earth did you get that from?”
“Your fan club,” Arthur admitted. “No really, those people who kept hanging around outside the flat. The one who thought you were the second coming!”
Merlin frowned. “But it is a magic sword? May I?” he held out his hand and took the sword, turning it over. “This is amazing, Arthur. I can feel the power. Can’t you feel it?”
“Yes,” Arthur admitted. “It feels as if it were made for me.”
“But it’s incredibly old,” Merlin told him.
“I don’t know. It just felt right.”
Merlin regarded it for a moment or two longer, then handed it back. “Perhaps you have some latent magic ability too? Do you have to give it back? Is it yours now?”
Arthur shook his head. “I have no idea. I’m sure if it has to be returned then Alator will turn up chanting and praying and tell me that the stars have aligned since the dawn of time to insist that I return it at that precise moment. Or something!”
They laughed at that, heads bent close together. Arthur felt something heal inside him, something that had broken when Merlin had been taken from him. He leaned closer, stealing a quick kiss that turned into a deeper, loving one.
“I stink,” Merlin whispered against his lips. “I’m gross.”
“You’re perfect,” Arthur assured him. “I love you just how you are.”
He saw Merlin’s eyes widen in surprise, and then watched his face break into a huge, delighted smile.
“You love me.”
“Yes. Don’t get cocky about it.”
“Mmm…” Merlin didn’t seem to be able to stop smiling. “You love me.”
“Adore you. Shut up.”
“Nice. What a prat. All the time, when I was in here, all I could think about was you.”
“Even with the handsome guard you were slipping notes to?”
“Didn’t notice him.”
He wasn’t going to say it, Arthur realised. Well, it was early days. Plenty of time. Their whole lives.
Merlin nudged him with his shoulder, shy and playful. “Love you too, just so you know.”
Arthur smiled, and leaned in for another kiss.
He knew.
---
The arrests, the questions, the start of the police investigation… all of it took hours. It was almost midnight before people started being told that they were free to go.
Arthur, Merlin and Morgana were among the last. For Morgana it was just the very first interrogation that she would have to sit through. The charges against Du Bois were endless, and she was the star witness. Merlin would have to endure the same.
Uther had gone earlier, and sent along a car with one of the Pendragon robots to drive Arthur home. Completely safe, just like the company would be. There would be no merger with Aredian, Arthur was sure of that.
Morgana was to stay at Arthur’s that night. Gwen had gone over with a bag of essentials and a promise of a shopping trip. Morgana would probably like Gwen, Arthur thought. But that was all still to come. They’d worry about a permanent base for her much later. And look for proper help, magic users who could train her properly to use her skills. Things wouldn’t be the way they were before, not ever again.
“I never once saw the rest of this building,” Morgana commented as they walked up the stairs towards reception. “All that time and the only place I ever saw were a few labs and that dank cell. I used to sing to myself. Whenever they locked up alone, I’d sing. They hated it. So I did it more. Sometimes I thought that if I sang loudly enough I’d drive the guards to distraction and they’d throw me out. Or at least take me up here.”
“I heard a woman singing when I was here the first time,” Merlin told her. “Perhaps it was you? If only I’d known.”
“I knew,” she smiled as Arthur pushed open the door to reception. “I always knew you’d come one day. Both of you. If I hadn’t… well, I would have lost my mind.”
It was always going to be a danger with her, Arthur thought. He didn’t smile back. She would always be a concern. But he was always going to be there for her.
“You know,” Morgana said softly as they approached the exit door, “I haven’t seen the sun in two years. I almost feel afraid.”
“You’re not going to see it now,” Arthur told her. “It’s night-time.”
“Ah no, you’re wrong,” she replied, stepping through the door. “Look.”
Up in the heavens above them, spread out like a glittering carpet were so many stars. Du Bois were a little way out of the city, and the light pollution wasn’t too bad there.
“A million suns,” Morgana breathed. “They came out for us. So beautiful. I hope everyone saw them.”
For a few minutes Arthur and Merlin watched as she stood there, taking it in, breathing the fresh air, gazing at the night sky.
And then she walked with them away from the place that had held her for so long, and began to live her life again.
---
