Chapter Text
I spent over three hours in the back of the containment team’s armored vehicle, alone, confused, and hungry. When everything came to a stop it took even more time before the back doors were swung open; the containment team from before ushered me out of the truck and through while halls until I was directed into a medical office; the lead man shut the door on the rest of his men before he turned to me.
“Hands,” he grumbled. I held out my hands as best I could. He began to untie my bindings. “Look, this is where I leave ya kid. I don’t know much about what happens after this point, I’m just the transport team;” he sighed as he finished removing the rope and began to loop it around the spool again. “But just try not to make things worse for yourself, okay kid?”
He finished with the spool and looked down at me with a shake of his head, but I could have sworn for a moment I saw sympathy in his hard brown eyes. I nod, but he’s already turning back to the door. I rub my wrists and stretch my muscles as I hear him lock the door and lead his troop back down the hallway. I stretch my hands above my head for a full body muscle spasm before I turn to look at the room I was in.
I didn’t have enough time to truly see anything though, because the second I turned around I heard quick footsteps and the door burst open behind me. I jump back as I swiveled to see a short, stout, gray-haired man walk briskly into the office. “Hmmm,” he started, without looking at me-his eyes were trained on a medical file in his hands. “On the table Mr. Emrys, no dilly-dallying.”
I was a little stunned, but seeing as he had on blue scrubs and a white lab coat I figured that he was probably a doctor of some sort; as he moved brusquely towards me without looking, I snapped into action so as to avoid being run down. I quickly hopped onto the medical exam table, my feet dangling just a few feet above the white tile below me. The old man grumbled, still his nose in the file, as he moved about the room; he stopped at the counter opposite the table, washed his hands in the sink, then snapped on a pair of latex gloves before he finally turned to face me.
“I am Doctor Gaius Hamlet, you may refer to me simply as Gaius.” He stepped back, grabbing a stethoscope and blood pressure cuff from the counter where they lay. “I will be giving you a full physical and mental examination to determine where you will be placed upon your intake into the Containment System.”
Gaius closed the distance between us as he situated the stethoscope half in his ears. I offered my arm before he could ask which must have surprised him; he took a moment to actually focus on me, my face, and my eyes. “You seem frightened, are you alright? You’re quite quiet; I’ve never met a boy as quiet as you.” It was my turn to be startled; I had thought his voice could be nothing but cold and calculated, instead it was suddenly warm and concerned.
“My mother was very ill when they came to collect me, I’m worried about her.” My voice is small, but firm.
Gaius makes another “hmm” sound as he fixes the cuff to his liking. His eyes, cool gray and yet alive with thought, focus on me once again. “May I call you Merlin?” I nod slowly. “Alright Merlin, you seem like a nice enough boy so I’ll let you in on a little secret; I’m going to be your physician while you’re here, so as long as things go smoothly we might be good friends. And if I can, I’ll keep you up to date on your mother, sound alright?”
I nodded quietly before he began to inflate the cuff and had to focus on the exam. It was a long and arduous procedure involving everything from blood draws, vaccines, and measurements to DNA swabs, probing of my genitalia, and sperm samples. When it was finished Gaius handed me a small stack of clothes, and explained that I wouldn’t be allowed to wear the ones I had arrived in-I didn’t bother asking why or where they had disappeared to. It felt ironic to be dressing in white scrubs and white shoes after all of the humiliating things that Gaius had done to me in the last hour. As I was smoothing down my shirt and tapping my shoes to situate them better my stomach let loose an audible rumble that caused Gaius to turn and stare before chuckling at me.
“You must be hungry, poor boy.” He finished filling out the last form in his file before shutting it. “Unfortunately, you must stay here until the test results return so that you can be properly placed; that will take nearly an hour more.” He collected the vials of blood and other various samples that he had collected into his arms and tottered over to the door. He turned around before opening the door; “I’ll be right back, just need to drop these samples off at the lab, then I’ll bring you something to eat. Try to relax a bit; feel free to lay back, no one will disturb you.”
I did lay back on the exam table, feeling awkward in my new clothes; I was too on edge to even doze off, but at least I was able to finally breathe and think without someone else hovering about him as if he was a thief. My thoughts flew in and out of focus, but mostly I wondered if my mother was awake and if someone had bothered to tell her what had happened to me.
Gaius returned a short time later with a metal tray covered in a plastic dome, as there wasn’t much to discuss yet-the results were still being processed-he simply left me to eat in peace. The food was bland and only vaguely hinted at flavors here and there; there was some sort of meat covered in gravy, a perfectly formed mound of mashed potatoes, and a copious amount of steamed vegetables that I only managed to eat half of before getting bored with chewing the tasteless stuff. When I was finished I took my tray over to the plastic trash bin to dump the remains into, then noticing the sink I decided to rinse off the tray and place it on the counter for whoever had to clean it up later.
Gaius entered again sometime after that with the file in his hands, looking quite a bit thick this time around. He didn’t bother looking inside it this time, probably having already read all the results beforehand; instead he put it down on the counter and leaned against the counter opposite of where I was sitting on the table. He looked me dead in the eye before taking a deep breath; “The tests all confirm the suspicion that you are indeed an Alpha, a very virile one at that. There’s a note in your collection form that says you’ve never been educated about the Alpha and Omega Situation, is that true Merlin?”
I nod quickly before adding “My mother taught me herself for the most part and she’s never mentioned it.”
Gaius sighed heavily before continuing. “Did she teach you about a growing boy’s body and how it transitions into an adult man?” I nod again but stay silent. “Well, you see, in the eyes of the government and most others you’re not considered human Merlin; they don’t exactly know why you’re different or what to call people who are like you, but they’re scared and that makes them dangerous. You won’t mature the way your mother taught you a boy would mature, it may have already started. The problem is that there’s always a few in a bunch that make a bad example, whether by choice or by accident, and now people are afraid of those like you.” Gaius shuffles a bit uncomfortably and straightens, turning his back to me. I see his head turn toward the sink a bit, noticing the tray I’ve rinsed. He turns back, his eyes firmly planted on me. “Your life is no longer your own Merlin, but no matter what happens while you’re here at this compound I’ll make sure you’re as healthy and well taken care of as possible. Unfortunately, this is where I must escort you up to the intake officers, but I will see you again soon.”
I nodded solemnly as I slid off the exam table. Gaius gave me a sad smile before he ushered me out of the door and back down another white hallways. I felt as if I was truly walking into the unknown; but Gaius had promised to keep me healthy, and even gave me hope of hearing news of my mother. I just needed to keep calm, the more problems I caused the harder this was likely to be.
Gaius brought me to the end of a winding white hall where steel double doors stood with a blinking security panel protruding from the wall next to them; he stopped me with a hand on my shoulder, and then approached the panel alone. After a second there was a harsh buzzing and the doors mechanically swung inward; Gaius waved me through, and I stopped on the other side to see him sadly nod before inputting another command forcing the doors to close.