Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

April 14, 2016

The news was always playing in their flat in the evenings.

At this point, it was on and playing out of habit rather than anyone actually watching it. Arthur always claimed that he ‘needed to keep up with what the media was saying. I am Deputy Prime Minister, after all’, but very rarely watched any part of it. The long-standing argument of Merlin wanting to turn the news off if no one was watching it versus Arthur wanting to leave it on for his own reasons was never resolved and seemed to recur every week.

Except this past week, when Uther Pendragon, Prime Minister of Albion, was assassinated in cold blood while walking to a car destined for a charity event in downtown Camelot.

This past week, arguments over the television and their normal playful banter were traded out for words of empathy, long stretches of silence and tears shed in the dark.

A week after Uther’s assassination, the news was on like usual, with the couple sitting on the couch and watching it. Or at least, pretending they were as Merlin held Arthur close to him with an arm around his shoulders while he watched it blankly.

“…And in national news today, rumours that Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Pendragon, son of Prime Minister Uther Pendragon, will become the new Prime Minister may not be rumours after all. According to an inside source in Parliament, Arthur was informed today that he will be the new Prime Minister, and it is expected that he will accept the position, which will make him the youngest Prime Minister in Albion’s history at just 26 years old.”

In response, Arthur tensed. Instantly, Merlin rubbed his shoulder and kissed his temple in an attempt to soothe his fiancé. They both knew Arthur was extremely nervous over his new title, especially since he was taking over a role Uther had held for years, but not accepting the role wasn’t an option. He’d been raised and trained since birth to be Prime Minister someday and choosing not to be PM and throw away everything he’d known and worked for, in Arthur’s eyes, wasn’t going to happen.

“Along with those rumors, there’s one burning question on everyone’s mind: even after his father was assassinated so coldly by magic, will Mr. Pendragon repeal some of the oppressive regulation laws around it that were passed almost two decades ago?The rights group Equality for Magic Users —”

“Right, let me just repeal them just like that,” Arthur answered the television sarcastically, snapping his fingers once. He then shook his head a little. “No laws are being repealed, especially the ones regulating magic.”

“No one’s expecting you to repeal the laws as soon as you take office, Arthur. They know it’s going to take time to undo years of discrimination against magic and that’s ok. It’s going to get done, though, and that’s what’s important,” Merlin said, ignoring the sickening sense of dread he felt in his stomach as he rubbed the other’s shoulder.

“ ‘They’ can wait all they want. I’m not repealing any laws,” Arthur said firmly, turning his head to look at Merlin, his face neutral with an emotion in his eyes Merlin couldn’t name. 

He looked at Arthur then, really looking at him while frowning deeply while processing Arthur’s words. “You don’t mean that —”

“I do. As long as I’m PM, no laws about magic are changing,” Arthur confirmed, voice still firm. Merlin stood up suddenly and took a couple of steps away from the couch, his face twisting into anger and his hands balling into fists.

“What the fuck, Arthur?! You told me you’d change them! You promised me you’d give magic users equal rights!” Merlin shouted, glaring at the blond still seated on the couch, anger and betrayal coursing through him. This only fueled the fire of fury in Arthur’s chest and he returned Merlin’s glare.

“That was before magic killed my father! He was murdered in cold blood by it for no reason at all!” Arthur snapped, causing Merlin to laugh harshly. 

“No reason?! Right, because his open hatred for magic and the laws he passed discriminating against magic users were completely reasonable and no one ever hated him for them!” Merlin threw out sharply and rolled his eyes, causing Arthur to stand and face Merlin. 

“He didn’t deserve to be murdered, Merlin! Not for doing what he thought was right!” Arthur shouted and Merlin laughed again.

“Right for who?! For him and those who hate magic? Sure! Let’s go with that and ignore the fact that he hated magic without knowing anything about it! Let’s ignore that because of his laws, businesses are allowed to refuse service to someone simply because they have magic! Let’s ignore that his laws basically allow magic users to be discriminated against just for having it! It’s like magic was never legal at all decades ago!” Merlin ranted, waving a hand and he shook his head in disbelief. “You know magic isn’t evil, Arthur. I showed you that it can be good as well.”

“You showed me parlor tricks and made me believe that magic could be good and that it was just a tool, which were falsehoods. You blinded me from what it really is: evil and corrupting,” Arthur shot at Merlin. A mixture of hurt and pain crossed Merlin’s face for a moment before the anger returned.

“Corrupt? Evil? Seriously?” Merlin asked and scoffed, shaking his head before leveling his fiery glare at Arthur. “After all those years, after everything we’ve been through? You think of magic as evil?”

Arthur met Merlin’s glare with his own cold one. “It killed my father. It corrupted the man who killed him and it has corrupted others. It doesn’t belong anywhere in Albion,” He answered forcefully, crossing his arms. The two seemed to glare at each other for what felt like hours, the television droning on in the background. 

Merlin was the first one to make a move, looking down while taking something off of his hand. “Then I don’t belong with you,” he replied, then looked back up at Arthur, his glare still fiery and firm. “Magic users aren’t going anywhere, Arthur. We won’t hide or run away. We belong, and we’re going to fight to stay and be equal.”

With that, Merlin turned around and walked towards the front door, placing something on the kitchen table he passed. The front door was then heard opening, then slamming closed. 

After a few heartbeats, Arthur went to the table to see what Merlin left there, his pulse pounding and thoughts racing.

The agony he felt in his chest upon seeing the gold engagement ring lying there was crippling, but it was when he discovered Merlin’s things weren’t in the flat the following evening when he came home from work and it looked like Merlin had never been there at all that he felt a part of him die: it felt like someone had stabbed him in the chest. All of those years together, all of the memories they made and the love poured into their flat was just gone. Like their relationship never happened.

Combined with Uther’s sudden passing, Arthur felt like his entire world was on fire. His father was dead. Merlin had left.

And in one way or another, it was all because of magic. 

Arthur made a promise to himself immediately after Uther’s funeral while standing in front of his grave: magic would never have a place in Albion as long as he was Prime Minister.

Chapter Text

Seven years later

 May 4th, 2023

 12:30 PM

“ Two people are now in hospital after a peaceful protest turned violent yesterday afternoon when police arrived on scene to disperse the protesters. The protest was taking place on Trolls Place in Tregor in front of Enchanting Jewelry in response to the owner of the business, Catrina Jonas, announcing a week ago that she was banning all magic users from the business due to increased thefts in the store she claims were done by those with magic. It is unknown at this time how the violence started. A spokesperson for the Tregor Police Department declined to comment on an active investigation, and have not yet released the names of the victims. 

“This is just another case of people being harmed during a peaceful protest in a series of incidents that have been happening since talks of passing a bill to give magic users equal rights fell apart nearly two months ago. Prime Minister Arthur Pendragon has not spoken or made any signs that talks will open again. When asked when talks will reopen, long-time activist and leader of the rights group Equality for Magic Users, Emrys, only said quote, “The fight for equality has only just begun and there will not be peace until everyone is equal” end quote.

“Experts on magic and even experts on political reform have come out criticizing Prime Minister Pendragon’s lack of response to the increasing number of injuries during protests, saying that the longer the Prime Minister takes to handle this issue, the more — “

Click.

Bloody press. Vultures, the lot of them.

Tossing the remote of the wall-mounted television onto his oak desk, Arthur stood up and walked over to one of the large windows in his office that overlooked the bustling city of Camelot, capital of the country Albion. It was a rare view to get in Pendragon Place, the official location of the Prime Minister, his office, and his cabinet, and also the same place where Arthur lived. Then again, the view was one of the very few good things about being in this building so much. He certainly deserved it.

He could feel his headache turning into a migraine already, and it was only just after lunch. It came early this time. He groaned lightly in frustration and, while rubbing his forehead, tried to remember where his usual over the counter medication was. He was only torn from racking his brain on where it was when he heard a knock at his office door. “Come in,” Arthur called, looking at the door as it opened.

Gwen Siemens, his private personal secretary and long time friend, walked in, looking gorgeous as ever in a lavender knee length dress, paired with a white sweater to combat the forever chilly temperature of his office. She tucked a piece of loose hair behind her ear with one hand while holding paperwork in the other. “Good afternoon, Arthur,” she greeted, smiling at him as she walked towards his desk, her heels muffled on the blue carpeted floors. “Paperwork for you.”

“My favorite,” he deadpanned. “Thank you, Gwen,” he added, then rubbed his forehead once more in response to his head pounding. Oh, right. He had to deal with the headache-migraine combo. Eventually. “Can you tell me my schedule for the rest of the day?”

Gwen nodded, setting the paperwork on his desk before taking out her phone and pulling up a calendar. Arthur’s calendar, to be exact. She was far more aware of his schedule than he was most of the time. “Absolutely. You have a meeting with Leon in a half an hour, that will last until 2pm. Then you have a phone call with Olaf regarding a few tax issues he wanted to go over before the cabinet meeting in 2 weeks, that’s at 2:15 and lasts an hour. The rest of the day is blocked off for paperwork that you have to try to finish,” she concluded, her smile coming with a slightly raised eyebrow. Arthur gave her a wry smile in response. 

Uther loved doing paperwork. Arthur did not and would try to put it off as long as he could. Gwen, however, would hound him and do her best to get the young Prime Minister to do the, oftentimes, overdue paperwork. He only did it so she’d stop bugging him, if he was being honest.

“I’ll do my best. Thank you, Guinevere, that’s all,” he said, turning away to look back out the window at the city in front of him.

“You’re welcome. Your medication is in the bottom left drawer, by the way. Towards the back,” she added and Arthur turned his head just in time to see her walk out of his office and close the door. 

He couldn’t help the small chuckle that escaped him as he went to his desk and found the bottle of migraine medicine right where she said it would be. He wondered sometimes where he would be without her and her memory of where he put things. Probably with a messy office and a constant migraine.

Taking a few tablets and chasing them down with water from the glass at the corner of his desk, Arthur started on the small stack of paperwork Gwen left him. He might as well try to get some of it done while waiting for Leon, at least. It’d kill more time than watching the fucking news.

May 4th, 2023

1:50 PM

Meetings with Leon Gauness, his defense secretary, were easy and relaxing, especially given their history. Leon had been his closest friend since they met in university ages ago, each pursuing degrees in politics. Leon had become very accomplished in his career after graduating, especially with regards to security and defenses in Albion. When Arthur became Prime Minister, he not only appointed Leon his defense secretary, but also his deputy Prime Minister as well. If anything were to happen to Arthur, he was the only person Arthur knew would make a great temporary Prime Minister.

So while their meeting today consisted of the usual mundane things, such as reviewing their defenses overseas, reflecting on their relationships with defense leaders of other countries and discussing any updates regarding policy changes, there was also friendly chatter between them, such as talking about the latest football game and even discussing making plans with their friends on the weekend. Honestly, it was one of the better parts of Arthur’s day so far, especially given his headache-migraine combination that was finally starting to go away.

They were still discussing their plans for the weekend when the door suddenly opened and Arthur suppressed a groan as a familiar dark haired woman burst in, looking annoyed and determined. “Arthur, what is your plan regarding people being seriously hurt during protests?” she asked instead of greeting him properly, walking into the middle of his office and standing there.

Well, so much for his headache-migraine going away. 

Gwen hurried in after Morgana and frowned deeply, looking worried. “Prime Minister, I’m so sorry, but she ran past me before I could stop her. I can call security if you’d like — ”

Arthur held up a hand to stop Gwen from continuing, remaining sitting at his desk while looking at Morgana. “Why is that of concern to you? And do we have to discuss this now?” he asked, trying to remain polite to his sister in front of his friends and employees. Even if the two knew that the siblings were far from polite to each other normally, Arthur was still the Prime Minister at the end of the day and had to be polite, if only for appearances at work. Not that his tone conveyed that, but that was another matter.

“It concerns me because it’s a pressing issue and you have to deal with it. And if I don’t motivate you into doing something now, it will never happen,” Morgana explained, her stance confident and showing that, as usual, she wouldn’t go away easily. Especially not this time. When she wanted answers, she would stop at nothing to get them.

Letting out a deep breath, Arthur looked at Leon, who had stood up from one of the black leather chairs in front of Arthur’s desk. “Leon, let’s end the meeting for today. If you have any other concerns, please let Gwen know and we can reconvene later this week,” he said and then looked at Gwen. “Guinevere, there’s no need to call security. I’ll handle this.”

Both Gwen and Leon looked very reluctant to leave the room, but with another nod from their Prime Minister assuring them that he’d be ok handling his harpy of a sister alone, they relented. The reluctance didn’t leave their faces, though.

“Have a good day, Prime Minister, Miss Pendragon,” Leon bade them and, after bowing his head, walked out of the office, Gwen following him out and closing the door.

Once Arthur saw the door close, he looked back at Morgana, who was still watching him with a scowl on her face and frustration in her green eyes, and her foot tapping impatiently at him, muffled thanks to the carpet. She raised a brow after a moment of them staring at each other, silently demanding him to answer her earlier question, and Arthur sighed after a second or two. Relentless.

“Mr. Gauness and I are handling the protests to the best of our ability. He assured me that no police department in Albion will interfere with the peaceful protests unless necessary, either because of laws being broken or lives needing to be saved, and are only present at the protests to maintain the peace. At this time, that’s all we can do,” Arthur explained, reciting the answer he’d written a week ago, and he prayed silently that the explanation was good enough and he could finish paperwork in peace.

Judging by Morgana’s huff of annoyance, his prayer wasn’t answered. So much for peace.

“That doesn’t answer my question to start with, but besides that, you must realize that everything will come to a head very soon and then you’ll have to actually handle the main issue you seem to be avoiding,” Morgana pointed out. “The rest of the cabinet will ask the same question sooner or later, I’m just the only one doing it now. For the sake of everyone in Albion, it would be much better if you reopened talks with E.M.U.”

Arthur felt something in him change at the mention of the rights group, like a wall inside him rose up to shut out the idea and any further conversation about peace talks. He looked down at the paperwork on his desk, avoiding Morgana’s eyes. “I’ll handle it.”

After a heartbeat or two, she spoke again, her voice gentler this time, more careful, “Arthur, are you ok? I’m worried about you. You’ve been distant since the peace talks ended. Do you need to talk?” 

“Morgana, I have paperwork to finish before the end of the work day. I can’t be distracted right now,” Arthur deflected immediately with a firm voice, looking up at Morgana for a moment before looking back at the paperwork. “Have a good day, Miss Pendragon.”

He heard Morgana let out a frustrated groan, followed by the sound of her storming out of his office and slamming the door behind her at her departure. While the slamming door didn’t help his headache in the least, the silence that followed it was very much worth it.

He knew that Morgana could be stubborn. She demonstrated as much in cabinet meetings, challenging laws and keeping other members on edge with how she spoke and advocated for the public. Arthur knew that she was just trying to prove herself to the other members and show that she belonged there, especially after Uther, once supportive of her political endeavors, suddenly refused to let her be involved with anything political, despite her having the same degree and education Arthur did. While she didn’t have the experience in the political world like Arthur did, she did have vast knowledge of policies due to her time as a policy analyst. That was one of the reasons Arthur had her on the cabinet.

That didn’t make her fighting and arguing less annoying. Especially when she had a point.

As Arthur turned his head to look out the window yet again and watch the clouds and birds go by, he knew that Morgana was right. Something had to be done sooner or later, before something terrible happened and either threw the whole country into turmoil or worse, a civil war. 

He just wasn’t sure what exactly that something was. And honestly, he had no idea on where to even start to find it.

Chapter Text

May 5th, 2023

In a better world, they would have a building downtown.

In a better world, the building would be large enough so every single magic user in the group would be able to attend meetings.

Hell, in a better world, they wouldn’t need a rights group at all because magic users would be equal to non magic users.

But it wasn’t a better world. Not even close.

So here was Merlin Wyvern, better known as Emrys, sitting around a large round table in the attic of his home, converted into a meeting place for the leaders of the  ‘Equality for Magic Users’ rights group, with the other leaders of the group as they talked about the violence at their latest peaceful protest and possible solutions to prevent it.

“Isn’t there a way for magic users to make a—a barrier or a shield around the protesters to stop anyone from harming them in the first place?” Gwaine Mackennen, Merlin’s longtime friend, asked, looking around the table that held a mix of both magic users and non, all leaders on the Equality for Magic Users board. “There has to be.”

“There is indeed,” Gaius Blaise, Merlin’s uncle, confirmed. “But it requires a substantial amount of energy to keep up for any amount of time and isn’t a practical long term solution.”

“Especially not with those special bullets that can supposedly go straight through any barrier created by magic users that were recently created,” Lance Du Lac, a former soldier turned civil rights lawyer, chimed in, then sighed. “There has to be a way to prevent anyone else from being harmed during protests. We need to try to persuade the Prime Minister to open up negotiations about magic legalization again.”

“I agree,” Merlin spoke calmly. “But honestly, I don’t know what else I can offer or do for him to accept my negotiations. He rejected all of my compromises during our last talks and I won’t bend any more than I already have, especially when the government isn’t budging on what they want either.”

“So we’re back at square one. Awesome,” Gwaine said sarcastically, letting out a frustrated sigh. “We’re not gonna get anywhere if people keep getting hurt during protests.”

“Not if we go down this path,” Morgause Gorlois commented, looking around the table. “Maybe it’s time for us to really fight.”

Merlin tried to fight the feeling of concern that started to bubble in his stomach as he looked at the blonde woman next to him. This couldn’t be good “What do you mean?”

“Emrys, we’ve been at a stalemate for two months now and our people are being injured while nothing is being done except these peaceful protests. It’s high time we change tactics,” Morgause began. “We need to fight back. We need to not only show the government that they can’t push us around, but also show them and everyone else that we mean business.” She looked around the table for a moment, then smirked. “We fight back. If they try to harm us in any way, we show no mercy. We take the lives of those that try to hurt us. Furthermore, I think we need to show the government and that fucking PM we’re not things to be cast aside. We storm Parliament during their next full session and take power over Albion,” she concluded with a gleam in her eye. Merlin felt his stomach officially drop at the end of her ‘idea’, if it could be called that, and he shook his head firmly.

“Absolutely not,” Merlin denied after a moment. Not because he had to think about it, but because he had to really wrap his head around Morgause’s violent and extreme plan. He couldn’t understand what her plan would accomplish except causing more death and potential war.

Morgause looked at Merlin as if she expected his answer and shrugged. “There are people in the group that agree with me, Emrys,” she replied. “People are tired of taking the nonviolent approach when it obviously hasn’t gotten us anywhere.”

“It’s interesting that you say that, because I haven’t heard anyone complain about our protest methods before today,” Merlin commented, watching her. “There’s a huge difference between defending yourself against those trying to hurt magic users and actively attacking those not hurting magic users at all. One is understandable and the other is just inexcusable violence.”

“Oh, come on,” Morgause complained with an eye roll. “We have to do something to show the government that magic users aren’t going to take a lack of response lying down and that something has to change. We need to fight back!”  

“And if we go with your plan and not only fight back, but try to storm Parliament, we lose years of hard work convincing non-magic users that they don’t need to be scared of us or magic,” Merlin maintained, then shook his head. “Morgause, your proposal is beyond the pale. I’ve decided we’re not changing our methods. Period.”

Morgause frowned and looked at Merlin, anger in her eyes. “Why don’t we ask the rest of the leaders, huh? Instead of you making all the decisions,” she hissed and when Merlin calmly nodded, the blonde turned and looked at the group around the table. “All in favor of changing from peaceful protests to fighting back, raise your hand,” she said.

As he looked around the Round Table, Merlin not only saw no hands go up, but he noticed that the faces of the others showed that they certainly didn’t agree with her idea. Merlin looked back at Morgause and saw a flash of disappointment cross her face before it turned into pure rage. She immediately set her eyes on Merlin. “You manipulated them against my idea! You and these fucking…Normies!”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Gwaine make a fist on the table, clearly angry, and Merlin resisted rolling his eyes at the nickname. Most magic users didn’t mind that non magic users had joined E.M.U. Some even encouraged it. In Merlin’s eyes, the more that joined the group to help them in their mission for equal rights, the better.

However, some magic users, like Morgause, weren’t all that pleased that non magic users—Normies, as they were dubbed—had joined the group, even less that some were on the Board of Leaders for E.M.U. Those people were very outspoken about it, Morgause being the loudest.

“Morgause, I promise you, I didn’t. They just agree that remaining peaceful is a better option than fighting,” Merlin answered, focusing on the conversation at hand. He then frowned. “We’ve all decided, Morgause. We’re not changing anything.”

“That won’t stop me, Emrys.  Other people in the group will agree with me and we’ll rise against you,” Morgause threatened. “You’ll see. Your role will soon belong to me.”

“The hell it will,” Merlin snapped. “Morgause Gorlois, as of this moment, you’re no longer a leader or member of Equality for Magic Users. Due to your threats to myself and the group as a whole, we’re banning you.”

If looks could kill, Merlin would be dead three times over. Morgause stood up suddenly, fists at her side. “Once we prevail, we won’t show any mercy to those who don’t share our views. Not even you, Emrys,” she warned and Merlin knew exactly what she meant. 

“We won’t bow or give in to any sort of threats,” Merlin replied, giving her a firm, angry look. “Violence isn’t the answer and that will always be a core value of the group.”

“You’re weak, Merlin Wyvern. For all of your powerful magic, you’re weak and spineless,” she snapped and stormed out of the room. He felt his magic follow Morgause and make sure that she truly left the house before he let out a deep sigh and leaned back.

After a tense few moments, Gwaine spoke. “What the hell just happened?”

“We just made a new enemy,” Freya Lake, one of Merlin’s childhood friends, replied. “A pretty powerful one, really.”

Merlin shrugged. “An enemy, yes. Powerful… debatable. Regardless, we should keep an eye on her and listen to any rumors that an extremist splinter group is forming. We also need to put up wards and protection spells not only here, but on all of our homes. The last thing anyone wants is her or anyone else entering our homes and meeting places.” 

“Should we warn members of E.M.U?” Freya asked, concern in her voice.

“Only about Morgause leaving. I don’t want to cause a panic about an extremist cell if it doesn’t actually happen,” Merlin said. “The moment we get confirmation that such a group exists, we’ll make sure everyone knows. Lance, do you mind—“

“I can make the statement, no problem,” Lance interrupted with a nod. 

After discussing a few more mundane things, such as how the group would communicate securely and the type of protection spells that would be cast on their houses, the meeting ended, Merlin standing up as everyone else left.

“Merlin,” Gaius said, walking over to him and putting a hand on his shoulder. “I would advise you to warn Parliament about Morgause and her plans, just in case.”

Merlin frowned and shook his head. “I think it’s too soon to do that. What if they’re just threats? It wouldn’t be the first time Morgause was all talk and no follow through, Gaius,” he pointed out. 

It was Gaius’ turn to shake his head. “This time, I have to disagree. Remember, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard something about using violent tactics against innocents. If she’s connected to those rumors, she may actually have plans instead of idle threats,” the elderly man advised, raising a brow at him. “And we all need to be prepared. Especially you, Merlin. She knows how powerful you are and I worry she may try to harm you somehow.”

Well, some of that was true. Lately, there had been more rumors than usual about people making violent protests instead of peaceful ones. Usually, it was one or two rumors every once in a while. But the new rumors were much more frequent and persistent.

But the second half of Gaius’ warning didn’t seem likely. Morgause was powerful, sure, but would she actually try to harm him? It wasn’t exactly a secret that Merlin’s bloodline and magic had heavy ties to the Old Religion and was rumored to even have ties to the fabled Dragonlords, men who could talk to and tame Dragons. As a result of these ties, Merlin’s magic was extremely powerful.

But would Morgause try to fight him? Would she even succeed? Merlin doubted it. Highly unlikely she would, actually.

But then again, the rumors of violence he heard more and more lately seemed serious…

After a moment, Merlin sighed and nodded. “Alright. I’ll email them, at least,” he relented, looking at Gaius. “Just in case.”

Gaius squeezed Merlin’s shoulder and nodded at him. “I’ll be downstairs,” he said and turned, walking carefully out of the attic and down the stairs.

Using his free hand, Merlin rubbed his eyes as he grabbed his phone from his back pocket. While he was sure Morgause wouldn’t do anything, Gaius was right. If there was even a small chance she was behind the rumors, she could well have a plan, and everyone had to be prepared, especially himself.

Sitting back down, Merlin pulled up his email and soon found the email address for Leon Gauness, the Defense Secretary to the Prime Minister. He leaned back and started to type on his phone, rapid clicking sounds echoing in the empty room.

Chapter Text

May 23rd, 2023

Arthur was usually excellent at paying attention during cabinet meetings.

He had to be, after all. As the Prime Minister of Albion, he would, ultimately, be the one to decide which laws went into effect or what things needed to change and he had to know everything his cabinet said in order to make the best decisions for the country.

But, his thoughts made it hard to stay attentive some days, and today was one of those days.

As much as he wanted to, as often as he was taught to pay attention, he just couldn’t listen to Olaf go on and on about the same tax issues that the two of them went over last week. And the week before that. And the week before that.

Olaf was a good cabinet member. Arthur didn’t keep him around just because he’d been on the cabinet since Uther was elected: he was smart regarding what taxes needed to be raised and lowered where, and his spending reviews and reports were extremely thorough. He was money-wise, and that’s what Arthur needed in a Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

But one of Olaf’s downfalls was just how obsessive and worried he could be when tax issues came up. He would incessantly talk about it over and over and over so much that it would drive Arthur mad.

Today, there was a far more pressing issue on his mind: the violence at the supposedly peace protests had escalated and become lethal. There was a rising number of people dying during them, both magic users and non. That issue was on his mind right now, not paying attention to Olaf talking about taxes for the hundredth time.

As Arthur turned potential solutions to the issue in his head over and over, and certainly not thinking about Equality for Magic Users in any way, he felt a sudden pain on his foot, and it was only due to years of being taught to stay quiet during meetings that he didn’t swear as loud as he could.

Turning his head to his left, he was met with Morgana’s fiery gaze, looking at him in a way that told him to pay attention!

Arthur cleared his throat quietly as Olaf droned on and took a sip of water in an effort to shift his focus, then set it down on the long oval table where cabinet meetings happened.

“Mr. King, I apologize for interrupting,” Arthur began, “but as I’ve mentioned to you when we met last week, I believe that the solutions you’ve provided will be sufficient. I’ve also given you my feedback and I find it pointless to go over it again.”

Olaf looked at Arthur at that, nodding solemnly. “I just wanted to assure the cabinet and yourself that the solutions I’ve planned will—“

“I’m positive they will work and be just fine, Mr. King,” Arthur interrupted him before his last nerve officially snapped, then looked down at the agenda in front of him made for the meeting for the next topic. “Now, let’s move on to discuss—”

“Prime Minister, pardon my interruption, but we need to discuss the fact that people are dying. Not just during peaceful magic rights protests, either,” a voice said firmly, a voice that, for once, wasn’t Morgana’s.

Arthur looked up and saw that the voice belonged to Mordred Cerdan, his Environmental Secretary. The firm look he was giving Arthur confirmed it. He didn’t have to look to see that Morgana was probably — no, certainly — giving him an ‘I told you so’ look.

Arthur ignored the last part of Mordred’s statement for the moment and leveled his gaze at the 27 year old man. “The situation has already been discussed between myself and Mr. Gauness. His team is taking appropriate action to ensure that no more people die,” Arthur explained, reciting the statement that he and Leon had discussed and settled on, not just for the media, but for the cabinet as well, should they ask. They felt that going into more detail was needless and, honestly, could hurt their plans for seeking the source of the deaths without drawing attention.

However, Mordred let out a frustrated sigh and kept his firm gaze on Arthur. “That’s all you’re going to tell us? That you and Mr. Gauness are ‘handling it’ and we shouldn’t worry? Because that’s not good enough, Prime Minister,” Mordred snapped. “Forgive my rudeness, but whatever is being done, it’s not working. People are dying, sir, and more die each day. We need to take firm action to ensure they stop.”

“If you have any suggestions or ideas, Mr. Cerdan, I’m all ears,” Arthur replied sharply and after a few heartbeats of silence where no one spoke, Arthur’s eyes met Leon’s for a moment before they looked at Mordred again. “Due to security reasons, I cannot divulge details about the plans and measures that are being taken, but I can assure you that we are doing everything we can in an effort to make sure no one else dies at these protests. Now, if there are no more suggestions or concerns on the matter, we can move on.”

Arthur set his jaw and looked at Mordred, locked in a staredown for what felt like ages before the other simply nodded and his gaze flickered down to the dark brown table. With that, Arthur easily moved on to the next item on the agenda. 

The rest of the meeting went by smoothly, and rather boringly, if Arthur was honest. At least there weren't more questions about a situation that he didn’t have the answer to.

At the end of the meeting, as everyone left and Arthur stood up, Leon approached him and leaned in close to him, whispering in his ear, “I need to speak with you. Immediately.”

Arthur raised a brow at that. “Can it be discussed in my office?” he asked with concern in his quiet voice. Leon wasn’t the type to demand to speak to him immediately unless it was of great concern, so it couldn’t be good.

Leon shook his head. “I’m afraid it can’t, Prime Minister,” he said with some regret in his voice. “It’s regarding a potential new radical group—”

“A what?” Morgana asked, reminding Arthur that of course she was still here and heard that. She liked to follow him to his office and talk after cabinet meetings. Sometimes to vent, sometimes to bother him. So while Arthur wasn’t surprised she was still here, Leon didn’t know her habit, judging by the look on his face. “What group? I want to know.”

“Miss Pendragon, it’s sensitive information and can only be discussed with the Prime Minister. We can’t afford certain information getting into the wrong hands,” Leon explained, sounding slightly apologetic while being firm. He was a stickler about security and what information was released to who, so Arthur wasn’t one bit shocked about what he said to Morgana.

But Arthur knew that Morgana would give poor Leon a headache if she argued with him about it, and he didn’t want to put his close friend and Defense Secretary through that. As Morgana started to protest, Arthur spoke over her, addressing Leon.  “Anything you can tell me, Leon, you can say in front of her. I trust her completely.” 

After a moment of hesitation, Leon sighed resignedly and looked between the two siblings. “An email was sent to myself two weeks ago regarding a radical group that may be forming and planning something serious. My team and I found out through our intelligence that a radical group calling themselves ‘Phoenix’s Eyes’ has been formed and there are rumors that the deaths occurring during the protests were committed by them, as well as a few murders when no protest was happening,” he informed the pair.

Arthur felt his heart skip at the information. He knew about the deaths during the protests, but people really were dying outside of the protests? Mordred wasn’t exaggerating? This was much worse than he thought. Despite the panic that gripped his chest, he didn’t let it show, simply nodding instead. “Recently formed? What details do you have?” he asked, keeping his concern out of his voice.

“I don’t have a lot of other information at this time, but my team and I are working extremely hard to find out everything we can,” Leon assured him. “We do know that the group is being led by a woman named Morgause Gorlois and that while the group is small, they’re spread out all over Albion. There are various rumors regarding their ultimate goal and we’re pursuing them all. We’re also pursuing the accusations that this group is behind the unexplained deaths, as I mentioned previously, and so far, those rumors might be true.”

“Are there any rumors of any threats to the government or indication of how violent they’ll be?” Morgana asked, her face as neutral as a politician’s should be. Arthur, however, could see slight fear in her eyes.

“As of right now, no,” Leon said, shaking his head. “But I suspect that we’ll find that information out once we know their goals.”

Arthur nodded and crossed his arms, closing his eyes and taking a moment to gather his racing thoughts before he opened his eyes to Leon. “Keep a very close eye on the group, obviously. If they’re truly behind the deaths, they have bigger plans and we have to know them before anyone else is hurt,” Arthur informed him, though he knew Leon already knew that.

“Yes, sir,” Leon agreed, bowing his head.

“As soon as you know more, let me know immediately, especially any information that will save lives,” Arthur added and as soon as Leon agreed, he looked at the two and nodded once before turning and leaving the cabinet meeting room, his shoulders feeling heavier than when he first went in, and a sense of unease settling at the bottom of his stomach.

Chapter Text

May 25th, 2023

As a rule, Merlin didn’t read or watch the news. 

He used to be obsessed with it, back when he first became fully involved with Equality for Magic Users. He wanted to know if there were issues in the magical community that they weren’t aware of, or if things were happening that needed to be brought up to the group immediately.

It wasn’t just Gaius and the former group leader Iseldir that told him that watching the news as often as he did would make him lose sight of the real issues going on, but Arthur had also mentioned a few times that the media exaggerated events, unimportant ones seem bigger than they were and ignoring real and pressing issues.

Then again, Arthur also used to have the news on all the time in their flat, so the other was contradicting himself there.

Regardless, he lessened his exposure to the media over time, but finally stopped reading or watching any news programmes, gossip mags or anything like that once he officially joined the group’s board.

So when Merlin was scrolling through his email specifically made for E.M.U while he sat in his office, which was on the second floor of his house, he wasn’t thinking about reading the roundup email from The Camelot Square that he accidentally clicked ‘Open’ on. No, he had sworn silently and was ready to delete the email when the top of a picture caught his eye.

Golden blond hair.

Curious, Merlin scrolled down and felt something twist in his stomach when he saw that the hair belonged to the Prime Minister, Arthur Pendragon.

It was clear that the image was from a press conference of sorts, judging by the way Arthur was standing, smiling politely and looking neat and perfect in a black business suit with a blue tie with his hair styled to the side.

‘ He looks like a posh prat,’   Merlin thought without hesitation, then snorted at the knee jerk reaction. God, it felt like ages since he called Arthur that.

As he looked at the image, he allowed himself to get lost in the memory the comment drew him back to.

———

March 5th, 2015

“You look like a posh prat,” Merlin remarked, sitting on their bed cross legged as he watched Arthur fix his navy tie in the full-length mirror near their bed, also wearing a white shirt with navy trousers. His matching suit jacket hung up on a hook next to the mirror. “You look like someone who thinks you’re better than everyone.”

Arthur chuckled at that and his blue eyes met Merlin’s in the mirror. “I’m a politician, Mer lin. I have to look the part. I can’t exactly show up to Parliament in jeans and a t-shirt,” he explained, a playful smile on his lips while Merlin shrugged, glancing down at his own outfit of jeans and a t-shirt, which was far more casual than his fiancé’s.

“‘s not my fault my job is more fun than yours,” Merlin retorted with a smile. “I don’t have to get dressed in stuffy suits for the rest of my career.”

“Price to pay if I get to make a difference,” Arthur reasoned, then turned and looked at Merlin. “And I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss not wearing stuffy suits for the rest of your life. Once I’m Prime Minister, you’ll have to look nice when we go out to events and such, since you’ll be my husband,” he pointed out.

“Only on occasion,” Merlin fired back, watching Arthur as he sat down next to him. “I’ll still be able to wear what I want when I’m not out with you.”

“Or maybe I’ll add you to my cabinet as the Secretary of Magical Affairs just to force you to dress nice all the time, and we’ll both be posh,” Arthur commented, smirking to show he was only partially teasing. In response, Merlin playfully frowned.

“You wouldn’t dare. That’s too cruel,” Merlin pouted. The blond just smiled in return and cupped Merlin’s cheek, thumb running over his lower lip.

“Mm, I just might. You never know,” Arthur hinted, then sighed while smiling. “We have all the time in the world to figure that out, my startled stoat. For now, I’ll accept your t-shirts and jeans.”

“And my sweatpants too, cabbage head,” Merlin added and grinned at Arthur’s eye roll. “You love them.”

“I love you. The sweatpants, I tolerate,” Arthur corrected, no heat at all behind his words. Merlin hummed at that.

“Whatever you say, my lord ,” Merlin answered and with a grin on his lips to match Arthur’s loving smile, he took the other’s hand and leaned in, kissing his fiancé lovingly, the gold engagement ring on his finger reflecting off of the sunlight streaming in the bedroom.

———

A knock on the doorway snapped Merlin back to reality, immediately looking at it. He relaxed when he saw Lance.

The other smiled warmly at him and nodded in greeting. “Busy?” he asked, and at the shake of Merlin’s head, walked into his office and sat on one of the chairs in front of the desk. 

“I thought you’d be gone by now. Don’t you have a date with Gwen?” Merlin asked, minimizing the browser window before Lance could see the image. The last thing he wanted —or needed— were questions about why he was staring at a photo of Arthur.

Lance shrugged at that. “Gwen said she’d be late because of traffic, so we rescheduled for tomorrow,” he explained. “The protest happening on Main Street is drawing the attention of the motorists, so everyone’s ogling at that, according to her.”

Merlin hummed. “No surprise. Let’s hope this protest doesn’t end in anyone dying,” he commented. While E.M.U organized a lot of peaceful protests, they weren’t the only ones doing it. Smaller rights groups and even individual citizens set up and participated in their own protests. But, no matter who organized the protest, people were still dying. Merlin hated this growing concern, especially when Parliament was doing nothing to stop them.

Shaking his head.  Merlin focused back on Lance. “How’re you both handling everything?”

The brunet lawyer sighed. “Best as we can. I mean, we can’t really do anything else besides carry self defense items and hope for the best. That doesn’t mean I don’t worry about her, or her about me,” he answered, then shook his head. “God, she’s terrified I’ll end up dead at a protest one of these days.”

Merlin nodded, empathetic to Gwen’s situation, but also raised a brow at the mention of her worrying. “She knows you rarely attend protests since you’re working on civil rights cases in court, right?”

“Of course. I’ve told her a few times that I don’t plan to go to one for a while, if ever, but she still worries anyway,” Lance affirmed, then nodded at Merlin. “She worries about you most of all. How are you? Honestly,” Lance added at the end quickly.

After a long moment of contemplation, Merlin let out a deep sigh. “Honestly? I’m more stressed than ever. People dying, the government doing fuck all about it, and wondering what could happen if nothing is done. Not to mention I’m anxious about Morgause.”

“Morgause?” Lance asked, a brow raised.

“Yes. I mean, she seemed pretty hellbent on making the government pay, and her plans to storm Parliament are concerning, especially with talk about her ideals spreading more lately. That would mean a huge loss of life if that happened,” Merlin explained, ignoring the instinctual worry about Arthur. The Prime Minister had ample security, so if a siege happened in Parliament, he’d be well protected. He wouldn’t be in any danger.

Even knowing that, his anxiety didn’t lessen any.

Merlin lightly shook his head. “And it might cause long term problems on top of that. There’s a lot to worry about with Morgause around and potentially causing these unexplained deaths and planning more, especially now she has people willing to follow her and do what she says,” Merlin finished, then sat back.

Lance nodded slowly, as if he was processing what Merlin had said. “I get it,” Lance said after a moment or two. “I get why you’re worried about Morgause and whatever plans she has cooking up. But, you also know that Morgause just…talks like that to scare people into doing what she wants, and those rumors aren’t supported by actual proof. So, really, I wouldn’t panic just yet.”

Merlin hummed at that. Lance had a point. There wasn’t any sort of concrete evidence that Morgause was actually planning anything. But…

“What if she’s planning something and keeping it quiet? There’ve been times when she was still with E.M.U where she planned something and we had no clue until it actually happened,” he pointed out, remembering the few times Morgause did that.

Like the surprise protest in the middle of Montrose Avenue. That had been a nightmare.

Lance shrugged. “You’re right. She could be keeping it quiet until she’s ready, which is why there’s been no evidence besides rumors,” he agreed. “You can always email the government again, like you did before.”

And Merlin knew that he could. He could always warn the government again about Morgause. That would be a good idea. But he didn’t want to make accusations without evidence. “I could, but I also warned them a few weeks ago that she was going to start an extremist group and they haven’t done anything about it. What if it’s the same outcome this time?” he pondered, then shook his head, finally deciding. “No, I need evidence of her planning something before I say anything.”

With the way Lance sighed, Merlin knew that he had conceded the debate. Whether that was because he realized Merlin had a good point or if he just gave up against his stubbornness, he wasn’t sure. Either way, the lawyer stood up and looked out the window next to Merlin’s desk on the right. “It’s late and I'm not sure about you, but I’m starving,” he stated, then looked back at Merlin. “Wanna go to the Black Cauldron and get dinner and a pint?”

Merlin only needed to think about it for a moment before he decided. He could use a distraction from the events happening, the subsequent uncertainty and his stress, and going to his favorite magic friendly pub was probably what he needed. 

Maybe it would help chase away his intrusive thoughts about that prat of a Prime Minister.

“Sure. Sounds good to me,” Merlin agreed and as Lance headed for the door, maximized the browser window, giving Arthur’s picture one last look and allowed his heart to clench for a second or two before he closed the browser window and turned off his computer

Chapter Text

May 30th, 2023

Emergency meetings were rare. There was hardly anything so urgent that it needed to be discussed right away. Arthur wasn’t unfamiliar with them, of course, but he didn’t have them often. Or even every so often.

It was especially rare for an emergency meeting to be called by Leon of all people. He was not only experienced enough, but also cool and calm enough to navigate his way through extraordinary situations without needing much, if any, help from Arthur.

So when he got an email from Leon saying that he needed to meet with Arthur “immediately” and it was “regarding a sensitive matter”, Arthur was both confused and concerned. If Leon wanted an emergency meeting, that meant it was about something serious and he couldn’t handle it alone. But what could it be? Arthur hadn’t been informed of any developing problems in the past week, especially from the Phoenix’s Eyes, so his assumption was that everything was okay.

While different scenarios ran through his head, Arthur didn’t seriously consider the possibility that it was about the Phoenix’s Eyes until after Leon walked in with a serious and grim look on his face.

Arthur watched as he came in carrying a tablet and a folder. “Leon, what happened?” he asked, frowning. The look on his face, combined with the tablet and folder, meant that it was something incredibly important, just as he thought. 

“You’ll see, sir,” Leon simply replied and stood in front of Arthur’s desk, next to the leather chairs. He set the tablet down on the desk near the edge, then handed the folder to Arthur. “You’ll want to see the photos first.”

Arthur furrowed his brow, then opened the folder, heart falling into his stomach at what he saw.

The first photo was of Morgana sitting at a patio table with a slightly familiar blonde woman across from her. Morgause Gorlois, Arthur recognized, remembering the initial report about her Intelligence sent him just a few days ago. According to that report, she was a former member of Equality for Magic Users and was a powerful magic user with very radical ideas, her most well known one being her belief that magic users should take over Albion by any means necessary. Needless to say, she seemed to be a formidable person.

The two women appeared to be engaged in a conversation of some sort in this photo, with Morgause’s hand outstretched towards Morgana. The other photos in the folder showed them not only sitting at the table talking more, but also looking at a page of a notebook that Morgana looked very interested in. The last photo in the folder was of the two of them caught in mid handshake, smiles on their faces.

“There’s more, sir,” Leon said once Arthur set the folder down in front of him. Picking up the tablet, he tapped the screen once, then handed it to Arthur. 

Unease developed in his stomach as he took the tablet and immediately saw a stilled image of the women caught mid stride on a walkway. Pressing play, he watched as the video showed them talking as they walked, conversing until they got to the patio table outside of a cafe. Just as they sat down, the video ended and left Arthur’s head spinning.

“Is all of this real?” Arthur finally managed to ask after a long moment, the bitter feeling of betrayal churning in his stomach. Even though he knew it was —Leon would never show him a video like this if this was fake— he still stupidly, foolishly hoped it was.

As expected, Leon nodded solemnly. “Very real. The photos and video were taken two days ago. As soon as I got everything and confirmed its validity, I arranged a meeting with you,” he added, confirming Arthur’s suspicion — and fear — that everything had been taken very recently. He didn’t know how to feel. Betrayal was making him sick to his stomach, hurt was sinking his heart and confusion was making him dizzy. 

Yet, somewhere in him, the heat of anger was slowly surfacing, trying to make itself known and assert dominance.

Taking a deep breath, Arthur rubbed his eyes while gathering his thoughts, then looked up at Leon, who was watching him with concern. “Does anyone else know about this?” he asked, keeping his tone cool and neutral.

“Only myself and the four agents assigned to watch Morgause,” Leon replied. The agents that worked under Leon were sworn to secrecy through all of the strictest rules and laws already, Arthur knew that. The few that were assigned to watch Morgause and the Phoenix’s Eyes were then held to even stricter standards. Really, there was no way there would be a leak about this to the media.

That did very little to make Arthur feel better about this not getting out to the public. 

“I’ll handle this,” Arthur decided after a long moment. Leon looked a little surprised at that, like he’d been expecting a different response.

“Are you sure, Arthur?” he asked, the surprise in his voice matching his expression. “I can—”

“I’m sure,” Arthur snapped without thinking, then cleared his throat. “I appreciate your concern, and also for letting me know about this. Thank you, Leon.” He met the other’s eyes after a second. “No one can know about this.”

“No one will,” Leon promised him, nodding once. 

“Good. Thank you, Leon,” he repeated, sincere this time. Leon gave the young Prime Minister a small smile before he left Arthur’s office with the tablet, leaving the folder with the photos inside behind.

Once Leon left, Arthur opened the folder and looked at the first photo again, the one showing Morgause and Morgana talking. He stared at it, feeling the anger push its way further and further to the front, eclipsing the others.

He needed to talk to Morgana. Urgently.

June 1st, 2023

Because of Morgana’s schedule taking her out of the city to attend an event, Arthur wasn’t able to get a meeting with her until two days after he saw the evidence she’d been talking to Morgause. In a way, that bothered him quite a bit. Not only was this a huge threat to national security, but he wanted to confront her right away about the photos and video. He wanted her to look him in the eyes and explain what she was doing talking to the leader of an extremist group, especially in public where people could recognize her!

But a calmer, more rational part of him saw this as a good thing. The time before their meeting allowed him to plan what he was going to say to her, how he was going to say it, and what his next steps should be depending on her reaction. Plus, Leon assured him she was being watched extremely closely and he hadn’t reported anything to worry about, so that was good, right?

It gave him time to try and sort out his feelings, to try and organize them and work them out, so he could talk to Morgana rationally and reasonably.

That’s what he should’ve done. 

What Arthur did instead was throw himself into his work and only plan the questions he was going to ask her and nothing else. Whether he ignored his tumultuous emotions because of his mounting stress or because he was trying to ignore the reality of his own family betraying him, he wasn’t sure. Maybe both.

On the day of their meeting, Arthur was doing paperwork when he heard his office phone ring. He pressed the ‘speaker’ button on the phone without looking up from writing. “Hello, Guinevere.”

“Hello, Prime Minister. Morgana is here for your meeting,” Gwen said, her tone polite, but cheerful. Well, cheerful as it could be, given everything going on.

Arthur tried to ignore the adrenaline that shot through him when she announced Morgana’s presence. He had to be neutral and calm. He had to be calm.

“You can send her in. Thank you,” Arthur said before pressing the speaker button again, ending the call. He took a moment to take a couple of quick deep breaths, then looked up as the door opened to see Morgana walking in, looking professional in her black business dress, and yet somehow still looking as if she were walking down a fashion show runway.

Arthur’s eyes flickered down to his writing a second later as the door closed. “Hi, Morgana. Please, take a seat,” he offered, listening carefully as she walked closer to the desk, then stopped. He faintly heard her sitting down on one of the chairs and he finished writing a sentence before he set the pen down and picked up a photo lying face down. “Will you look at this for me?” he asked, placing it face up in front of her and revealing it was the photo of Morgause and her walking together.

Arthur watched Morgana as she carefully took the photo and looked at it, trying to gauge her reaction to the photo. For once, Morgana’s face showed actual emotion, showing not only confusion, but also fear. 

Fear . That was surprising, an emotion he hardly saw on her. Hell, he couldn’t remember the last time he saw her afraid of anything. Arthur didn’t know whether her being afraid was good or bad.

Finally, Morgana looked up at Arthur. “Where did you get this?” she asked, a hint of fear evident in her otherwise calm voice. 

“We’ve been closely monitoring Morgause Gorlois and the Phoenix’s Eyes in light of the events unfolding in Albion, especially in Camelot. This photo, along with others, were obtained while surveilling Morgause,” Arthur explained, barely keeping his voice calm. “What were you doing with her?”

“How is that any of your business?” Morgana asked, her tone a mixture of hesitation, fear and anger now. She kept her dark eyes on him, however, like she always did when she refused to back down.

“When a government official, especially a high ranking one who is also my sister, is seen with the leader of an extremist group that wouldn’t hesitate to kill said official, it becomes my business, both as Prime Minister and your brother,” Arthur explained, his grip on his anger starting to waver. “What were you doing with her, Morgana?”

Morgana gave an angry chuckle at that. “They won’t kill one of their own, especially the half sister of the leader of the group,” she snapped. “And for your information, I was talking to Morgause about the group and what she would do to help our people.”

The moment Arthur heard her say “one of their own,” the first thought that came to his mind was that she was a magic user. A sorceress, a witch, whatever they call themselves.

But no. She couldn’t be. Morgana didn’t have magic, he would’ve known. They’d grown up  together, studied together, he would’ve known.

…wouldn’t he?

With his mind turning in all sorts of directions and his stomach feeling hollow, Arthur stared at Morgana, trying to fake annoyance. “Morgana, this isn’t time for jokes. You’re not related to Morgause and you certainly don’t have magic.”

“I’m not joking, Arthur,” Morgana said, and held her hand out flat in front of her. After whispering a word Arthur couldn’t understand, a ball of white light appeared in her hand. It was small but bright and as Arthur watched it, it suddenly moved, circling Morgana and the chair before it went back into her hand. With another whisper of more strange words, the light disappeared, leaving Arthur stunned in its wake.

Morgana had magic.

Morgana had magic.

Fuck.

As Arthur tried to gather his racing thoughts at the revelation, Morgana spoke again. “Uther knew, did you know that? He discovered that I had magic and as soon as he did, he forced me to take that… stupid fucking role as a policy analyst and told me that there was no place in politics for a witch.” She snorted. “Calling me an outdated term. Bastard.”

Arthur instantly stood up, something in him forcing him to react to the name calling of his father. “When the hell were you going to tell me?” he asked, his voice angry and harsh. “Were you ever going to tell me?”

Morgana gave a mirthless laugh and stood up as well, fire in her eyes. “Of course I wasn't! You’ve convinced yourself that magic is evil so you wouldn’t have to face the fact that Uther was a zealous bigot! If I had told you, you would’ve taken me off of the Cabinet, reversed any rules and laws I helped with, and all the hard work I’ve done for Albion would’ve been for nothing!”

“I wouldn't have—“

“Don’t even give me the ‘I wouldn’t have done that’ shite, Arthur. You’ve already proven that your ‘magic is evil’ ideal is stronger than your concern and care for the people of Albion, whether they use magic or not, especially if you love them. Just like you did with Merlin.” And as soon as Merlin’s name came out of her mouth, Arthur felt a ball of regret settle in his stomach, churning alongside the anger.

“That’s a low blow, Morgana,” Arthur snarled, glowering at her.

“Is it? I beg to differ. It just proves my point. You don’t care that there are those like Merlin and myself who would never hurt anyone. No, you only care that we have evil, corrupt magic. You’re too fucking blind to see that it’s not magic that’s evil or corrupt, but the welder themselves,” she chastised, her voice icy and cold as shards of her words hitting Arthur.

After the two glared at each other for a long moment, Morgana gave a dry laugh and shook her head. “It’s seriously a wonder Merlin didn’t leave you sooner,” she spat and turned suddenly, storming out of Arthur’s office and leaving him there stunned, his brain flooded with emotions and eyes stinging with unshed tears.

Chapter Text

June 2nd, 2023

 6:45 PM

“…The two Essetir officers found dead yesterday after responding to a call about vandalism have been identified as Officer Robert Deira and Officer Darien Ebor. Both officers were found after Officer Deira made a distress call to dispatch about an attack. The cause of death for both officers has not been released yet and no suspects have been named at this time.

“These are yet another in a series of deaths happening around Albion in the past week and a half. Police and officials haven’t named any suspects or persons they believe responsible, but sources say that the extremist group the Phoenix’s Eyes are claiming responsibility for them and also warn that more are to come unless the government agrees to their demands. The group, formed by Morgause Gorlois, says that they’re fighting for all magic users to be treated equally by any means necessary. They’ve also been the center of rumors around the violence and murders increasing in frequency i—”

Arthur lowered the volume on the TV until it was a quiet drone, not wanting to hear repeated information, especially information he already knew and would certainly be exaggerated. 

He had Leon’s report in his hand saying the same things anyway. Arthur looked at the report from where he was lying on the couch in his living room on the fourth floor of Pendragon Place, eyes scanning the page. He knew it by heart, however, having read the information several times already.

All of Morgause’s information was there, including her education, family history, both her known and suspected magical abilities, and her affiliations. It also included information about the Phoenix’s Eyes, their known and suspected members, their mission, the evidence that supported the theory that they were the ones behind the increase in murders, and their possible meeting locations.

Arthur set the long report down on the coffee table after rereading the first paragraph about Morgause and let out a deep sigh, picking up a bottle of beer he’d opened earlier and taking a long sip, looking out the window of his living room to watch the sunset.

He and Morgana hadn’t spoken at all since their meeting yesterday. Not that he expected anything less, honestly. Given how he accused her of conspiring with Morgause and her throwing his actions at him in return, not speaking to each other and things being tense wasn't the least bit surprising. 

It didn’t hurt any less, though, especially when Morgana told him he wasn’t any better than his father in his view on magic. He supposed that he wasn’t, but magic was dangerous! It killed so many people, including Uther! It couldn’t be anything else.

But, Morgana had magic, and Merlin did too. They weren’t evil, they didn’t kill anyone. Merlin only used his magic to help people, Arthur knew that. And Morgana was evil, at least as a sister— half- sister, actually—but he was sure she wouldn’t kill anyone. Would she?

Would Merlin?

Shaking his head, Arthur set down the bottle and picked up his personal cell phone. After a moment of scrolling, he found the number he was looking for. It took him another few moments and a long swig from the bottle before he pressed the ‘call’ button.

After a few rings, a voice he hadn’t heard in long months answered the phone, polite and alert. “Hello?”

Arthur took a sharp breath and felt his heart stop when he heard Merlin’s voice. It was one thing to hear it on television, but another to actually hear it in person, especially after their last meeting ended so poorly.

“Hello?” Merlin repeated, confused. “Is anyone there?”

Arthur cleared his throat, Merlin speaking again snapping him out of his stunned state. “Hi, Merlin,” he greeted quietly, the name feeling strange yet so familiar on his tongue.

There was silence on the other end for a moment. “How did you get my number?” Merlin asked with shock and hesitation in his voice. 

“I have my ways,” Arthur replied, his tone trying to be teasing. Truthfully, Arthur never deleted Merlin’s number after they broke up, not his personal one anyway. Arthur always kept it in his personal phone. He wasn’t sure why, honestly. Or maybe he was and he was just pretending. He supposed it didn’t matter. He was talking to Merlin, that was what counted.

“And here I thought you'd never turn to the shady side of polis. Are you going to turn Albion into  a surveillance state?” Merlin retorted, returning the light teasing. “I thought it was beneath you.”

“No one’s turning Albion into anything like that. This is just a personal call to a friend. Nothing shady about that,” Arthur answered, letting a small smile cross his lips. This was familiar territory, the banter and jokes. This was what he knew, what he loved doing with Merlin. This is how they were supposed to be.

“We haven’t been friends since you started treating magic users as lesser beings,” Merlin said in a matter-of-fact tone that meant the teasing was over as quick as it began. Arthur missed it already. After a moment, he heard a sigh on the other end. “What do you want, Arthur?” Merlin asked, his tone annoyed and tired.

“Did you have anything to do with forming the Phoenix’s Eyes?” Arthur asked before he could think the question through or talk himself out of asking.

A second of silence passed, then Merlin spoke with confusion and disbelief in his voice. “What?”

“Did you have anything to do with forming the Phoenix’s Eyes? Did you help create it or — or provide them with intel on where people will be? Anything like that?” Arthur asked, his heart in his throat. He truly didn’t know what answer he wanted to hear. Either one wouldn’t be good, but for vastly different reasons.

Quickly, a dry laugh was heard. “Are you serious? Of course I don’t have anything to do with that awful group! I was the one to email your Defense Secretary about them! Why the fuck would I do that if I was behind the group?” Merlin asked in disbelief.

“It’s possible that you wanted to get ahead of any rumors that might come up once word of the group forming came out, so you emailed Leon to seem innocent,” Arthur reasoned, and at this point, he wasn’t sure if he was trying to convince Merlin that his line of thinking was plausible or if he was trying to convince himself.

“Oh my gods, Arthur, that’s ridiculous! That — that’s not even plausible! I’m sure Leon did an investigation on them. Did you hear my name ever come up in connection to them?” Merlin challenged and let out a deep, sharp sigh when Arthur remained silent. “I honestly can’t believe you’d think I had anything to do with them.”

“People change, Merlin. You never really know what someone is capable of,” Arthur pointed out, his resolve in this argument waning quickly. 

The silence he heard from the other end felt deafening, and when Merlin spoke, his tone was colder than ice. “Only one of us changed and you know it.” Merlin let out a frustrated groan. “Don’t ever call this number again,” he hissed, and then Arthur heard beeping, indicating that Merlin had hung up.

Well, that had gone well.

Arthur lowered his phone and looked at it for a long moment. Merlin was right. They both knew Merlin wasn’t capable of such hate, especially for the same people he fought for for so long. Maybe that was the case with Morgana too.

Maybe. Maybe it was nothing more than a tool.

Arthur shook his head and stood up, going over to a cabinet and taking out a glass bottle of dark amber liquid and a shot glass. He didn’t want to think about any of that, not now.

Going back to the couch, he sat down and poured some of the bourbon into the glass, then set the bottle down and picked up the glass. All he wanted to do now was forget. Forget about how he had been wrong about magic for over seven years, forget about impending trouble in Albion, and certainly forget about Merlin.

Without hesitation, Arthur downed the bourbon, desperate for relief for just one night

Chapter Text

June 2nd, 2023

7:10 PM

“That utter fucking prick! That stupid clotpole! That bloody pompous prat! He’s such a stupid donkey!” Merlin ranted as he paced around his living room, hands waving as he called the Prime Minister various names. Sitting on the old flower-patterned couch placed against the wall were Gwaine and Lance, who had originally come over to hang out. While Lance was watching Merlin with a light frown, Gwaine was typing on his phone.

“I swear, there is nothing between those ears of his! His brain clearly leaked out of his head the moment he became PM!” Merlin continued to rant, still pacing with his hands waving. 

Lance watched Merlin for another moment before he looked at Gwaine and frowned. “Gwaine, what are you doing?” he asked.

“Keeping track of the creative insults Merlin calls Arthur. He’s got some good ones,” Gwaine explained, then winced when Lance punched his arm. “Ow!”

Lance rolled his eyes, then looked at Merlin again. “Merlin, mate, take a breath,” he advised, trying his best to calm the group leader.

“He knows me, Lance! Or at least, he must have heard me on the news before! Why the hell would he think I have anything to do with Morgause’s group?!” Merlin asked, looking at Lance as he paced. “I’ve never changed my viewpoint on protesting peacefully! I never deemed everyone against us worthy of death!” He paused in front of them, looking between the two. “How can he think that of me?”

Lance sighed at that. “I honestly don’t know, Merlin. But I imagine given everything going on right now, Arthur doesn’t know what to think. He’s under a lot of pressure right now — ”

“You’re defending him?!” Merlin interrupted incredulously and he scoffed, pacing again. “He knows me! We were friends for so long, we were in love, we were engaged, and now he thinks I’m capable of hating the same people I’m fighting for?! And you’re saying that him thinking that is okay?!”

“Merlin, no — ” Lance started, but Gwaine interrupted him with a shake of his head and set his phone down, watching Merlin.

“Merlin, no one is trying to defend Arthur. He doesn’t need defending,” Gwaine said soothingly. “Lance is just saying that things are changing quickly and maybe Arthur thought that you changed too. I’m not saying it’s right,” he added quickly at Merlin’s glare, “or that’s it’s excusable in any way. Lance is just saying what’s probably going through Arthur’s mind right now.”

“Think of it this way,” Lance continued, “ever since he’s been PM, Arthur’s just had E.M.U to deal with, and we’ve been peaceful this entire time. Now all of a sudden, in the span of a month, people are being murdered because of Morgause’s group. He's got people breathing down his neck to solve the problem instantly and he doesn’t know what to do or who to trust.”

“We’re just trying to get you to see why he thinks—or thought, whatever—that you’re working with Morgause,” Gwaine finished. “That’s not an excuse for anything, more a look into his possible current state of mind.”

Merlin’s pacing had slowed as he listened to his two close friends and group leaders talk about Arthur’s current mindset. Honestly, he thought it was a load of shit. Arthur knew him! He knew Merlin would never kill anyone for believing differently than he did.

But he couldn’t deny that they had a point, even if he hated it. Arthur was probably under a lot of pressure right now and didn’t know who to trust. His behavior was a reflection of that.

Still, that didn’t mean it was right, or that Merlin had to like it.

After a moment, he stopped slowly pacing and looked at the other two. “We’re going to protest in front of the Parliament House,” he declared.

Both men looked at Merlin, then exchanged looks with each other before looking back at him. “Merlin–” Gwaine started to say, but Merlin interrupted him.

“I think the government needs to know that Equality for Magic Users is tired of watching people die and that we need them to take action not only against the Phoenix’s Eyes, but also finally give magic users equal rights,” the sorcerer explained and looked at Lance. “Technically, the area in front of Parliament House is public land, right?”

Lance nodded slowly. “Beyond a certain point, yes, but Merlin–”

“Great! Then I want to arrange a peaceful protest in front of the Parliament House the next time they meet,” Merlin explained. “We’re going to show them that we won’t stand by and watch anyone else die.”

“Is that a good idea?” Gwaine asked, watching Merlin. “Especially with Morgause’s people running around? We should take safety measures to make sure they don’t crash the protest.”

Merlin nodded at that. “Then we will,” he decided, then looked at the two. “The next meeting is in two weeks, right?” At their nods, he continued, “Great. So we’ll start making arrangements for a protest. Lance, do you mind getting the exact area where we’re allowed to protest and all the legal stuff?” he asked and at Lance’s nod, he looked at Gwaine. “Gwaine, can you email the rest of the leaders and set up a meeting in a few days? We’ll go over details of the protest then.”

As Merlin walked into his kitchen to get a drink after dolling out instructions, he knew what they thought: that he was doing this just as a reaction to Arthur’s accusation. And while that was true, it was only part of the reason.

He also realized that E.M.U, and he himself, needed to make an official stand, to show that they wouldn’t watch anyone else die from senseless violence. It was long overdue.

And if it proved to Arthur that he hadn’t changed his stance, then that was all the better, Merlin decided as he took out three bottles of water and shut the fridge door firmly.

Chapter Text

June 19th, 2023

12:55 PM

Arthur really didn’t want to spend his lunch recess from today’s Parliament session staring out the window at the protest happening. He’d rather be at lunch alone, reflecting on his opinion of magic, the price of changing it and such.

But here he was, standing in front of a tall, arched window on the third floor of the Parliament House, watching a massive crowd mere feet away from the massive white stone steps of the building as they held up signs that said various things about giving magic users equal rights and the government being unfair, all while shouting. Arthur couldn’t hear what the crowd was chanting, mostly because of the amount of people and the distance between the protesters and himself, but he was sure it wasn’t anything he hadn’t heard before.

Thank everything holy the Parliament Police were there, standing in front of the steps to ensure no one could get inside the government building. It also helped that, ever since the Phoenix’s Eyes started making themselves and their mission known, combined with a rumor that they were planning ‘something big’, Leon had tightened security around not only around Pendragon Place, but also around Parliament House to ensure the safety of everyone inside. So there was even more security than normal.

For that, Arthur was eternally grateful.

His attention was pulled back to the present when he heard a familiar voice speaking, voice loud and clear enough for even Arthur to hear what he was saying. It was easy to find where the voice was coming from, and that’s when Arthur spotted Merlin.

He was standing on a tall wooden box in front of the crowd, hands gesturing as he spoke about how this was Equality For Magic Users making a stand against the government’s blind eye to the pressing issue of people dying needlessly and how the government needed to act before even more lives were lost.

Even though he couldn’t see Merlin very well, he could see him well enough to at least notice that he still had his hair curling at his ears, and while he was thin as ever, Arthur saw he had gained a bit of muscle, making him fit better in his jeans and white t-shirt so it wasn’t hanging off of him anymore, but hugging him nicely instead.

Merlin looked different than the last time Arthur saw him in person three months ago, the last day of the peace talks. Was he this fit back then? Or was Arthur only focusing on arguing and not on how much Merlin had changed, on how much better he looked? 

Arthur realized, looking back on it, that Merlin had also become a lot more passionate about E.M.U, especially since he took over as the group leader when Iseldir stepped down. Speaking at press conferences, organizing protests, giving speeches, even protesting right alongside the group members themselves. The Merlin Arthur remembered wouldn’t have done those things. He’d be too nervous, too worried about not knowing what to say or possibly saying the wrong thing or even knowing where to start. This Merlin was different, and Arthur had to admit that he was a bit impressed.

Maybe their breakup had given the push Merlin needed to change and be the leader Arthur was seeing now. At least something good came from it.

BOOM!

Instinctively, Arthur shut his eyes and turned away from the shatterproof windows as they shook violently along with the white stone building. After a couple of seconds, his ears ringing loudly from the explosion, Arthur opened his eyes and turned towards the window, half hesitant. 

What the hell was that?

He quickly got his answer as the white-grey smoke cleared from the square below. The massive crowd was moving, some running away from the large crater in the square while others, along with the Parliament Police officers, appeared to be fighting. As quickly as the question of who they were fighting entered his mind, it quickly left when he saw that those fighting were facing the same enemy: people dressed in what looked like purple hooded sweatshirts. Flashes of light from spells being traded, along with the movement of people running and fighting, caused the scene below to resemble a battleground. Based on what he could hear through the ringing in his ears, the sound of guns being fired and people screaming added to the comparison.

Arthur couldn’t tell who the people dressed in purple were and while he knew they were the Phoenix’s Eyes, that wasn’t his main focus right now. He had to do something to help. He couldn’t stand there and watch! People were being hurt!

His ears still ringing some, Arthur quickly left his position at the window and headed for the stairs.

June 19th, 2023

1:03 PM

Merlin didn’t know what had happened. One moment, he was reciting the speech he had worked hard on to the massive crowd that showed up to the protest. The next, he was lying on the ground, ears ringing loudly and head spinning as he tried to get his bearings, thanking the gods that his magic saved him from getting too nasty a head wound.

After a long moment, Merlin’s head stopped spinning enough to allow him to stand up, stumbling once he was nearly fully upright. Of course, people rushing around and bumping into him just made the stumbling worse, but he finally got his footing after a long few moments.

Merlin couldn’t understand what was happening. Through the ringing in his ears and his spinning head, he heard screaming, shouting, and sounds of guns firing and spells being cast. He saw people running past him, flashes of light around him and oddly, someone in a purple hoodie attacking an officer. In fact, there seemed to be quite a few people wearing purple hoodies attacking other people.

He couldn’t tell what was going on down here, even as he was doing his best to focus. There was too much activity, too much noise, too many people. He needed to see everything going on, needed to make a plan and, more importantly, see how many purple hooded people there were.

Merlin had to get to higher ground. He needed a vantage point to formulate a plan. But where?

He quickly looked around, backing away from the chaos and crowd as more armed Parliament Police officers ran down the steps leading into the Parliament House, forcing others on the steps to return to the square.

With his heart pounding, ears ringing, and head still spinning a bit, Merlin glanced around once more, then studied Parliament House for a moment. Specifically, he looked at the white railings that ran across the windows on the second floor.

After quickly judging the distance between the railing and the ground, he made a decision and half stumbled, half ran through the crowd and chaos to get to the building.

He had an idea.

June 19th, 2023

1:09 PM

In normal circumstances, Arthur would be happy that there was so much security in Parliament House, especially in a situation where threats were present just mere yards away outside. In normal circumstances, Arthur would do what they said and follow them to the safe room under Parliament House. In normal circumstances, Arthur wouldn’t be trying to avoid them.

But this wasn’t a normal circumstance. Not in the least.

So as such, Arthur was both trying to avoid the officers that were running around the building and find a way outside to try and help or do something.

It wasn’t easy avoiding the officers that were everywhere, but Arthur was intimately familiar with Parliament House by now, given that his father brought Arthur with him whenever he came, so he knew where to hide, what halls would lead where, and how to avoid the cameras. But none of that helped much when every door that led outside was guarded by officers with anti-magic guns, including the side doors and even the lesser known one that would put him directly in between the base of both exterior staircases, right in the middle of the mess outside.

That lesser known door had been Arthur’s last hope of getting outside the normal way. He had quickly hidden himself in a corner next to a window on the second floor to avoid being seen and was trying to remember which windows opened and which didn’t when he saw movement out the window. Movement close to where he was.

Arthur snuck a glance out the window and his heart stuttered in his chest while a rush of adrenaline went through him when he saw the source of the movement. 

It was Merlin. His feet were braced on the base of the railing as he crouched against it, with his hands gripping the railing and his back to the window that was just three windows away from the one Arthur was looking out of. 

Merlin. He was ok, he was safe. 

For now, at least.

Without a second thought, Arthur stood to full height and pounded on the window with a fist, trying to get his attention. Merlin had to leave, he had to get to safety while he still could! It was chaos, he would get seriously hurt if he didn’t leave! Didn’t he realize that?!

Arthur couldn’t let anything happen to him.

He wouldn’t.

  June 9th, 2023

1:12 PM

As Merlin was scanning the scene below, determined and calculating, movement a few windows away on his right caught his attention out of the corner of his eye and he quickly turned his head, trying to see who or what it was.

His eyes met Arthur’s. The Prime Minister looked desperate, but determined as well.

Time seemed to stop for a moment as the two looked at each other. The battle and chaos below faded away, their sounds muted, as did each of their thoughts. They locked eyes for what seemed like hours, as if they had all the time in the world, as if there wasn’t a riot just below them.

Were it not for a spell that had hit the Parliament House and shook it, they might have stared at each other forever. 

But as soon as the building shook, time started again, causing Arthur to pound the window with a fist and yell at Merlin to run, to get to safety. He couldn’t be heard, but Merlin could read his lips. He knew what he was saying, what he was wanting Merlin to do.

He watched Arthur for a second before he shook his head and turned back to watch the scene below.  Arthur pounded on the window again as Merlin spoke, this time in an unfamiliar language, one Arthur knew he couldn’t understand even just by reading Merlin’s lips. As soon as Merlin finished speaking, a large, golden dragon that radiated magic and power appeared in front of him. As it appeared, it flew up in the sky and then curved to dive down directly into the battle. As it flew down, Merlin jumped off the railing, landing on top of it.

Arthur pounded on the window and tried to open it as Merlin and the dragon flew down into the battle, trying to get outside to help or stop Merlin or–or something, but two large hands gripped his shoulders and pulled him away from the window. Even as Arthur protested and struggled against the grip, Parliament Police’s Chief of Police Percy Lenore half walked, half dragged the Prime Minister further inside the building and down the stairs, taking him through an open door on the first floor before it shut behind them and the sound of it locking was heard.

Chapter Text

June 9th, 2023

7:30 PM

Arthur was exhausted.

No, not just exhausted. He was frazzled, drained, bone-weary, running on empty. He was done.

He’d spent hours underneath Parliament House, in a separate, secure room away from anyone else, giving orders and directions to Leon, Percy and other officials, running on adrenaline and anxiety. He was ready to drop dead after 6 hours of hiding, of being in charge for this long continuously, especially during a high stakes and high pressure event such as an attack.

At least being busy kept him from dwelling on the thought of Merlin out there fighting and the possibilities of what could be happening to him. But he wasn’t sure if that was really a good thing or not.

Arthur looked up from where he’d been fiddling with his phone while sitting on a chair in the secure room when he heard footsteps approaching, seeing Leon and Percy. Leon’s face was unreadable. Percy’s, meanwhile, looked almost as tired as Arthur was. But there was a sense of sadness around both men.

Arthur raised a brow as he watched the two, concerned, and just as he was about to speak, Leon stopped him. “Nothing is wrong, sir. The attack’s over.”

Arthur’s heart relaxed a little hearing that and he looked between them. “Are you certain?” he asked. In response, Percy nodded firmly.

“Yes, sir. We cleared the entire building and grounds of any persons not authorized to be there, including all radicals and protestors,” Percy assured him. It did little to soothe Arthur’s anxiety, however.

“There’s that, at least,” Arthur commented, then rubbed a hand over his face for a moment before looking at them again. “What do we know so far?”

Leon cleared his throat before speaking. “At this moment, we don’t have confirmation of who was behind the attack. We highly suspect the Phoenix’s Eyes, but until we have solid evidence proving it, we’re not announcing them as being behind it. What we do know, however, is that the attackers fought with not only Parliament Police, but also with members of Equality for Magic Users without hesitation. They did breach the building, but were dealt with as quickly as possible. We also cleared the building of any weapons or traps, both magical and non,” the redhead explained, then let out a deep sigh.

Arthur looked between Leon and the dark carpeted floor as the other spoke, eyes trained on the carpet at the end. All three of them knew it was the Phoenix’s Eyes. It couldn’t be any other group. Needing evidence to prove it was just for formality, even as annoying as it was. “How many…” He trailed off, looking at Leon, unsure of what he was exactly asking for. How many attackers were there? How many were injured? How many died?

“We don’t have exact numbers yet, but we suspect that there were around fifteen hundred protesters present, and anywhere between a hundred and two hundred fifty radicals,” Percy explained, then took out his phone from his pocket and tapped the screen for a moment or two. “We don’t have a final number on how many were injured, but as of this moment, thirty of our officers and fifty protesters are hospitalized. If any of the radicals were injured, they have yet to show up at any hospital, but that could, of course, change.”

Percy hesitated after speaking and Arthur immediately knew why. “How many are confirmed dead, Percy?” Arthur asked, gentle but firm. This wasn’t easy on any of them. He didn’t blame the Chief of Police for hesitating.

After another long moment, Leon answered. “As of this moment, we have four officers and six protestors confirmed dead,” he then sighed, “We haven’t found any confirmed radicals dead yet.”

Arthur wasn’t surprised by that. If any had died, the group would certainly take the bodies of their fallen members with them when the attack started to turn against them. It was a surefire way to prevent them from being traced back to the Phoenix’s Eyes.  “What about Morgause?” he asked. “Has she been seen or heard from anywhere?”

“Not at the moment. She hasn’t appeared anywhere, but we believe that if the Phoenix’s Eyes are behind the attack, she’s potentially regrouping in a separate location with her members,” Leon explained. “If she appears anywhere, we’ll know.”

Arthur nodded and looked at Percy, then held out his hand to the other. “Thank you for your hard work, Chief Lenore,” he said, shaking Percy’s hand. “Attend to your men.” He knew that Percy wanted to check on the men he commanded, to talk to them and mourn with them. Percy took his responsibility of overseeing them seriously. 

Plus, he needed to talk to Leon alone.

“Yes, sir. Thank you,” Percy replied with as much of a smile as he could muster before he left the safe room, leaving Arthur and Leon. Only when Arthur was sure that Percy was gone did he turn to look at Leon, turning serious again.

“Morgana. Where is she?” he asked, half demanding, half not wanting to hear the answer he got. But he needed the answer. He had to know.

“She’s in the safe room with the rest of Parliament, sir,” Leon answered, his voice measured. “I’ve had my agents keeping eyes on her the entire time. She doesn’t appear to have left the building or been involved in the attack as it happened. That’s just preliminary information, however, and is pending review of security footage and such.”

Arthur didn’t know what to say to that or even how to really feel. Mostly, he felt relieved that she wasn’t involved in the attack, as far as they could tell, but a part of him was skeptical that she hadn’t been. Maybe information would come out afterwards that revealed that she really was involved. His relief wouldn’t last, surely.

He wanted to trust that she wouldn’t do this. She wasn’t like the radicals, she had proven as much before! But he couldn’t shake the gnawing feeling of distrust in the back of his mind.

“Arthur,” a familiar voice cut through his inner debate and he immediately stood up when he saw Gwen. She looked like she’d been crying and there were still traces of tears on her face as she approached Arthur and hugged him tightly. “You’re ok,” she said, relieved. In response, Arthur nodded, wrapping his arms around her shoulders to return her hug.

“I’m okay. Are you?” he asked, pulling away but leaving his hands on her shoulders, if only to make sure she didn’t collapse on the spot. Gwen nodded quickly.

“I—I’m okay,” she confirmed, then swallowed. “Lance is okay too, he wasn’t outside, thank the Gods above,” she added in a relieved voice and Arthur felt a small part of him relax at hearing that. Lance was a good man and Arthur respected his work, even if they hadn’t seen eye to eye on rights for magic users once Arthur became PM. 

“Good. That’s good,” he said, nodding and giving her a half smile. Gwen tried to muster one too, but she failed, looking down for a moment. 

“It is. I’m just worried about…everyone involved,” she admitted, then sighed deeply as she looked at Arthur. “Lance told me there are so many people in the hospital. Gwaine’s there, though he’s not in serious condition. Not like Merlin is. But there’s only—”

“Merlin’s what?” Arthur asked sharply, his heart beating fast. Merlin? In serious condition? How was that possible, after the display of power Arthur had seen from him?

Gwen bit her lower lip at Arthur’s sudden concern. “Yeah. Um, Lance said Merlin’s in bad shape. He doesn’t know what’s wrong exactly, but—” 

“I need to see him,” Arthur interrupted her, looking between her and Leon. He had to see Merlin. He had to see him, to make sure he was alive. “I need to make sure he’s okay. If Morgause is still out there, he needs protection.”

Leon put a hand on Arthur’s shoulder, looking at him calmly. “Arthur, it’s not safe, not yet. You’re better off here until we make sure that the radicals don’t return,” he explained, then added, “I’ll make sure Merlin is safe. You have my word.”

Arthur closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to control his racing thoughts. He had more important things to worry about at the moment, a lot more important things actually. Merlin was getting the best care he could right now. He’d be fine and Arthur being at the hospital certainly wouldn’t help or do any good. 

Besides, he was sure that Merlin wouldn’t appreciate Arthur worrying about him.

Ultimately, though, Leon was right. If he said that it wasn’t safe to leave Parliament House yet, then it wasn’t safe. Arthur was better off here. And if Leon said he’d make sure Merlin was protected, he’d see to it that he was. Leon was true to his word. That much, Arthur was sure of.

He took another deep breath and opened his eyes finally, looking at Leon. “Make sure he is,” he confirmed with the man, then looked at Gwen and swallowed. “Let’s make sure the rest of Parliament is alright.”

Gwen nodded carefully after a moment and took her own deep breath before she walked with the two out of the safe room. Arthur didn’t miss how she balled her hands into fists to stop them from shaking.

Chapter Text

June 13, 2023

12:48 PM

Everything hurt.

That was the first thing Merlin knew when he first started to wake. Everything just hurt, even with the pain medicine they had been giving him since he arrived. Merlin knew it wasn’t the normal pain medication they gave non-magic users. The widespread yet false medical belief was that magic users didn’t feel pain as bad as non-magic users did because their magic helped with it. Most, if not all, who worked in medicine believed it, even though there was evidence and research that proved otherwise. So really, he wasn’t shocked that he was still hurting.

Granted, as Merlin became more aware of his body, he didn’t feel as much pain as he did when he first arrived, even with their shitty pain medication. So at least there was that, he supposed. Maybe the medical staff here was doing something right.

Or his magic was healing him quicker than he expected. That was more likely, actually.

As Merlin finally opened his eyes, he let out a soft groan at the bright light and immediately shut them. He also made a mental note to make sure Morgause was in as much pain as he was right now the next time he saw her. Her spell casting had gotten quicker than he remembered it being. He would be happy for her if the target of her spell hadn’t been him .

Though, in his defense, he had been fighting her with a severe concussion according to the doctors, so maybe that was the reason she was quicker than he remembered. Either way, it wasn’t a fair fight at all, when he thought about it.

“Merlin,” a familiar, soft voice said from next to him. Rubbing a hand over his eyes, Merlin opened them again and turned his head, seeing Gaius sitting by his bedside with a relieved look on his face and a warm smile on his lips. “How’re you feeling, my boy?”

“I mean… better than before, I suppose,” Merlin responded in a rough voice, shrugging the best he could given his bandaged state. He carefully pushed the button on the remote for his bed and raised the head of his bed until he was able to see Gaius a little better. He took the cup of water the older man offered him and took a long sip before speaking again, his voice clearer. “They finally decided to let me have visitors?”

“You were touch and go for a while, Merlin. You not only had a very serious concussion they were concerned about, but you were hit with spells that damaged your body, and you also managed to drain yourself of nearly all your magic,” Gaius reminded him in a voice that Merlin knew was a lecture in disguise, giving him the dreaded raised eyebrow to boot. “Quite frankly, I’m surprised they let you have visitors today . I don’t think you’re quite ready—”

“Gaius, I’ll be fine,” Merlin interrupted with a half smile. “I appreciate the worry, though.” He added quickly and only when Gaius finally relented did he relax. “Have they found Morgause?”

Gaius shook his head. “Not yet. They’re not even officially naming the Phoenix’s Eyes as the ones behind the attack,” he revealed.

Merlin frowned at that. “Why not?” he asked in annoyance, starting to sit up quickly. However, he hissed in pain after only moving a few inches. “Ow!”

Gaius stood up quickly and gently, but firmly, helped Merlin lie back down. “Lay down, Merlin. You’re still healing,” he chastised gently, then sat down again and shook his head. “You know as much as I do, Merlin. They’re keeping very tight lipped about anything regarding who was behind the event.”

“Of course they are. And let me guess, they won’t tell us who, even though we were the ones attacked,” Merlin said, then groaned in frustration at Gaius’ nod before he shut his eyes. Stupid, annoying, frustrating clotpole. 

Ok, it wasn’t his fault. It was for legal and investigative reasons, so of course they couldn’t tell anyone anything, especially the victims of the attack. That didn’t mean Merlin had to be happy about it. Or that he couldn’t blame Arthur anyway.

Taking a deep breath, Merlin had to change the topic to one he’d been dreading. He almost didn’t want to ask, but he had to know. For himself, and for the surviving members of EMU. If he didn’t ask now, he was never going to. “How many casualties?”

“Merlin —”

“Gaius,” Merlin pleaded, opening his eyes and looking at Gaius. He knew people died, he remembered seeing that much while fighting. He saw bodies; he watched a few people fall and not get up again. He just needed to know how many. He had to know. “Please.”

After a moment, Gaius spoke. “Twenty protestors and six officers died as a result of the attack as of a few hours ago.” Merlin saw Gaius’ hand ball into a fist on his lap and honestly, he understood how the older man felt. He was frustrated too, beyond frustrated. Twenty six people died in total. Far, far too many.

“Has there been any sort of statement from Parliament?” Merlin asked, already knowing that they probably passed a neutral statement. Or maybe they didn’t release one at all. That wouldn’t surprise him one bit.

“There has,” Gaius confirmed. “They condemned the attack and said that their primary goal right now is to ensure no one else is harmed by other attackers. They also said that they’re investigating who is behind the attack and anyone who is found to be involved in it would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” he went on to explain, and Merlin, honestly, couldn’t help the snort that escaped him. How painfully neutral of them. It was exactly as Merlin expected.

“I’ll believe their words when I see them actually trying to capture Morgause,” Merlin commented sourly, rolling his eyes and taking another long drink of water.

Gaius hummed at that and sighed gently. “Have hope, Merlin,” he said, standing up. “They just might do what they say.”

“And then I’ll sprout wings and fly,” Merlin answered bitterly and looked at Gaius, giving him a small smile. “Leaving so soon?”

“I’ve been here for a few hours already, waiting for you to wake. I wanted to make sure you were okay,” he explained. “I need to meet with Gwaine, Lance and Freya to check on them and the rest of the injured,” he added, then brushed at Merlin’s hair. “I’ll be back later, Merlin.”

Merlin nodded. “Thank you, Gaius,” he said gratefully. It was nice to have a familiar face to wake up to for once, instead of the nurses and doctors who just stared at him with no emotion. Gaius nodded in response and smiled.

“You’re very welcome, my boy. Get some rest,” he instructed Merlin in a gentle voice and with that, the silver-haired man walked out of the hospital room and quietly shut the door. 

Merlin let out a deep sigh and set the water cup down on the nightstand before shutting his eyes. Gods, he was exhausted . Maybe resting more, as Gaius said to, would help him stop feeling like he was hit by a hundred buses. Or get a little more energy for the next time the doctor made his rounds, at least.

It didn’t feel like time had passed at all when a knock at his door woke him from whatever form of rest he’d been in. Merlin groaned and shifted in bed. “Come in,” he said quietly, hoping whoever it was could hear him. His throat hurt again and the less talking he did, the better.

By the time he managed to open his eyes and turn his head to the door, he was met with familiar blue eyes and golden blond hair.

Arthur fucking Pendragon.

“Hello, Mr. Wyvern,” Arthur greeted and cleared his throat, looking around with his hands behind his back before looking once more at Merlin, who could instantly tell Arthur felt awkward being here. A part of Merlin was glad for that. “I’m glad to see you’re doing well.”

“Prime Minister,” Merlin replied in a rough voice, his tone cool as he lifted his head to watch Arthur. He really wasn’t in the mood for him right now. He was in pain, he was tired, and he had just learned twenty six people were dead. He was not in the mood for Arthur’s song and dance of governmental doubletalk. “I’m doing fine, considering I took a lot of damage from spells in the attack,” he answered, only slightly enjoying the way the politician winced. ‘Good. Let him be uncomfortable, ’ he thought bitterly. “I’m afraid I’m not in the mood for any publicity visits or interviews, so if you could kindly show yourself out—”

“I came here to talk. Just the two of us,” Arthur interrupted, hands raised in surrender, as if that would placate Merlin. “No publicity or anyone else involved.” Merlin scoffed and leaned his head back, closing his eyes. He seriously wasn’t in the mood for whatever scheme Arthur had planned. Merlin didn’t want to know what Arthur wanted and didn’t care about whatever it was anyway. He wanted to rest .

“For what reason would we need to talk? Especially after you accused me of working with Morgause?” Merlin asked harshly, not even bothering to open his eyes to see Arthur looking guilty. He was too fucking tired for it, even if he would get a little satisfaction out of it. “I don’t want to talk, Arthur—”

“I’m sorry,” Arthur said quickly. At that, Merlin opened his eyes and looked at him, confused. What did he say? 

“You’re what?” Merlin asked, raising his head again to watch Arthur. The blond sighed and came a bit closer to Merlin’s bedside, but didn’t sit in the empty chair, standing there just as awkward as he had been when he walked in instead. 

“I’m sorry,” Arthur repeated, then cleared his throat and relaxed slightly. “I’ve…learned a few things and have also been doing some reflecting. I was wrong to accuse you of working with Morgause without any evidence, especially given Friday’s events. It was rash of me and I should’ve thought my actions through a bit more.”

Merlin just watched Arthur for a moment or two while taking a long sip of water, trying to get his brain to catch up with what Arthur was saying. He was apologizing. Arthur never apologized. Sure, he apologized on TV, but that was a rare occasion and only when he absolutely had to. Apologizing to anyone outside of work was almost unheard of, especially actually saying the words ‘I’m sorry’. If he ever apologized directly, it was usually because someone—mostly Morgana—told him to. He usually made his apologies in a roundabout way, or would give the person he offended a gift and pretend it never happened. 

A habit he learned from Uther, no doubt.

“Morgana made you do this,” Merlin accused after another moment of studying Arthur’s face to make sure he was serious. Arthur frowned, confused.

“What? Morgana?” Arthur asked, watching Merlin. 

“Yeah, Morgana. She made you apologize to me, didn’t she? It wouldn’t be the first time she made you do that,” Merlin said, raising an eyebrow at Arthur. “She heard about what you said to me and made you apologize.”

Arthur frowned deeper at that and shook his head. “No. No, Morgana didn’t make me. She never does—”

“Bullshit. She always gets you to apologize when you’re in the wrong. This time isn’t different,” Merlin snapped, annoyed now. Why won’t Arthur just admit it so Merlin can kick him out and go back to sleep? He didn’t want Arthur’s false apologies. They were worthless to him.

Arthur sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, a sign he was frustrated. ‘Maybe he’ll leave sooner,’ Merlin bitterly thought. “I can assure you, Mer lin, she didn’t force me to apologize.”

“I seriously don’t believe that. I know you and given your history —”

“People change, Merlin,” Arthur snapped, glaring at him now. Those exact words reminded Merlin of their conversation just eleven days ago and he nearly laughed out loud at the irony. “Is it really so hard to believe that I’m capable of change?”

“The last time you changed, it ended our relationship and made us enemies. So you can understand why I’m distrustful of this change,” Merlin pointed out, his voice still bitter, but a little less than before. He had to admit, it was hard to believe Arthur was suddenly capable of apologizing and admitting he was wrong without any sort of prompting or threat. It felt like a trick, like Arthur wanted something from him. Maybe he really was capable of change, though. Maybe Arthur was turning over a new leaf.

“You were never my enemy, Merlin,” Arthur said, his voice slightly calmer. “We just had different views on magic.”

“We became enemies the night you said magic had no place in Albion. When you told me you’d continue to deny my basic human rights,” Merlin countered, keeping his eyes locked with Arthur’s, challenging him to let it go and stop fighting. Merlin wasn’t going to give up, but he knew Arthur wouldn’t either.

After another long moment of watching—or glaring, depending on how you looked at it— each other, Arthur sighed deeply. “I give you my word, Merlin. No one made me apologize. My apology is sincere,” he stated, calm, with his hands spread in front of him. “I understand your distrust in me, but I really am sorry for falsely accusing you of working with Morgause.”

Merlin felt some of his anger start to dissipate when he heard the first sentence. Anyone who knew any Pendragon knew that their word was their bond. If they gave you their word on something, one knew that they would follow through with what they said, or that they were telling the truth. Merlin knew Arthur wouldn’t throw that around carelessly. If Uther taught him only one good thing, it was to always keep his word, because your word was your worth as a man.

“Ok, so…say I believe your apology is true…” Merlin started, keeping his eyes on Arthur. “You didn’t come all the way here just to apologize. You came here for another reason.” Maybe that would get Arthur to reveal why he was actually here.

After a flash of indecisiveness crossed Arthur’s face, the Prime Minister cleared his throat. “I came here to apologize and ask for your assistance.”

“I knew it,” Merlin declared, aggravated. He knew it. Arthur wasn’t here just to apologize or admit that he changed in any capacity. He just wanted help. He was right from the start. “Why would I want to help you?” he asked, not hiding his irritation. He wanted to at least hear Arthur’s reason for wanting his help before he kicked him out.

“I need your help with the Phoenix’s Eyes,” Arthur stated, looking Merlin in the eye. “Specifically, finding them and dismantling the group.”

Merlin expected Arthur to ask for his help in finding them. But what made him pause was when he stated that he wanted to dismantle the group as well. “Dismantle?” he asked, waving a hand at the chair for Arthur to sit in.

Arthur hesitated a moment before he went to the chair and sat down, putting his hands in his lap while nodding. “I want to make sure that the Phoenix’s Eyes, especially the leaders, can’t hurt anyone else. Too many people have died because of them.”

Merlin watched Arthur, sitting up the best he could in bed without hurting himself like before. “I mean, you should’ve done that quite a while ago,” he commented, raising a brow.

“I don’t disagree with you,” Arthur assured him. “If I had my way, they would already be in prison and we wouldn’t be here. Unfortunately, we can’t prove that they’re behind the unexplained murders that happened before the attack. We honestly had no idea that they were planning an attack, only that they were planning something ,” he revealed.

Merlin hummed in response. He wanted to be skeptical, he really wanted to. Magic could block most common technology, but Merlin knew from research and reading reports that the government had sophisticated technology that couldn’t be blocked by magic. But, he had a feeling that it was never perfected against dark magic. And since Morgause was using dark magic, they wouldn't have had a way to know what she was planning.

“Can I assume that whatever you were using to watch the Phoenix’s Eyes hasn’t been proven to work against dark magic?” Merlin asked. At Arthur’s shrug, he sighed lightly. “That explains it.”

“It works against dark magic, but not very well. It’s a work in progress to make technology more resistant against it. But that will take time, and it’s time we don’t have,” Arthur explained. “Morgause and her group need to be stopped before more people are killed. We… I need your help, Merlin.” 

Merlin watched Arthur, noticing how the other was trying his best to not fidget or look away from him. Asking for help had never been Arthur’s strong suit, but asking for help specifically for himself was something Merlin had rarely heard. The government needing help, sure. That wouldn’t be surprising at all for Arthur to ask. But admitting that he needed help? That was unexpected.

After a long moment of internally debating with himself, Merlin sighed and nodded. He might regret doing it, but he wanted to stop Morgause and her cronies too. “Alright. I’ll help. But in return…” he trailed off, only continuing when he was sure Arthur was paying attention, “you’ll start talks again about passing an equal rights bill and actually try to compromise with magic users.”

He wasn’t going to make this easy, not one bit. If Arthur wanted his help, he was going to have to work with Merlin on actually passing a bill instead of dancing around in circles during negotiations like before. It needed to be done, and if he had to get Arthur to pass the bill this way, he would. 

After a moment in which Merlin was sure that Arthur would deny his terms, the Prime Minister, to his surprise, nodded. “Okay,” he said and held out his hand. “You have a deal.”

Merlin looked at Arthur at that, studying the other to see if he was serious. Was he actually going to agree to his terms? This had to be a trick. Was he actually agreeing?

Arthur raised a brow at his stare. “Did you change your mind already, Mer lin?” he asked, a corner of his mouth twitching upwards in an attempt to suppress a smirk. 

“No!” Merlin said quickly, then cleared his throat. “No, I just…spaced out. Because of the pain I’m in,” he emphasized, raising a brow at Arthur in return, who only chuckled in response.

“I understand,” Arthur said patronizingly, earning a glare from Merlin.

“Prat,” was the only retort Merlin had before he reached out and shook Arthur’s hand, sealing the deal.

For better or worse, they were now officially working together to dismantle the Phoenix’s Eyes.

Chapter Text

July 5th, 2023

12:46 PM

Arthur thought that they would’ve found Morgause and the Phoenix’s Eyes by now. He thought that they’d be on their way to arranging a trial for the leaders of the group and that everything would’ve been handled, especially with ensuring they didn’t regroup again.

But, instead, they had been chasing the Phoenix’s Eyes leaders all over Albion for weeks and they were no closer to finding them than when he first brought Merlin on to help.

To be fair, Merlin was making it easier to try and find other members of the group. He was not only attempting to track the leaders themselves, but he was also helping gather evidence and give Leon’s team insight on the best ways to take down the group members of the Phoenix’s Eyes that were found in places where the leaders were rumored to be. 

But, frustratingly, the members they arrested wouldn’t give up the location of Morgause or the other leaders, no matter what they were offered. And without any sign of the leaders or any credible leads on their true location, their investigation was, essentially, stuck at square one.

Arthur also knew that they were still stuck because Merlin hadn’t been able to join them until he was out of the hospital per the doctors at the hospital and Gaius, who had just given both of them a look that left no room for argument otherwise. That had cost them nearly a week, time that could’ve been used to search for Morgause and her accomplices with Merlin’s help.

While he understood that Merlin really couldn’t help the fact that the injuries he’d gotten from Morgause had taken longer to heal, that didn’t mean Arthur wasn’t frustrated at having to wait until then, even if a part of him hated himself for being frustrated.

The impact of something soft hitting his forehead pulled him out of his thoughts. “Hey!” Arthur said instinctively, startled as he looked up from the map spread out on the long table.

A balled up piece of notebook paper was on the map, settling at the edge of the table while Merlin watched him with a look of amusement and annoyance. “Having fun spacing out?” he asked.

Arthur glared lightly at him, rubbing his forehead. “I wasn’t ‘spacing out’, I was thinking,” he protested. That wasn’t technically a lie. He really had been thinking, just not about the investigation.

“Uh huh. Thinking so hard that you ignored me saying your name four times?” Merlin replied skeptically, raising a brow. 

“You couldn't tap me on the arm or something? You had to throw a paper ball at me, the Prime Minister ?” Arthur asked, ignoring the fact that Merlin saw right through his half truth. Really, he should’ve known Merlin would’ve seen through it. Merlin always knew. But that didn’t mean that he wasn’t going to try lying anyway!

The activist rolled his eyes. “I didn’t hit you hard at all. You don’t even have a mark. Besides, it worked, didn’t it? You’re paying attention now,” he pointed out. Arthur frowned at Merlin’s dismissive response.

“You can’t throw things at the Prime Minister, Mer lin —”

“I just did and I’ll do it again if I have to,” Merlin interrupted, holding out his hand. His eyes turned gold for a second before the paper ball flew into his outstretched hand, Merlin’s fingers wrapping around it. 

Arthur sighed roughly and rubbed his eyes, exhausted. He shouldn’t be so accepting of this behavior, he really shouldn’t. And yet, for some reason, he was. Because it was just like Merlin to be this way around an authority figure. “You’re a menace.”

“And you’re a stuck up clotpole.”

“I am not stuck up!”

“You clearly haven’t met yourself. Or listened to anything that comes out of your big mouth.”

“Well that’s rude . I ought to —”

“Gentlemen!” A sweet but loud voice called, Gwen’s heels clicking across the wood floor of the conference room Arthur had designated as the main base for the operation of finding and arresting the leaders of the Phoenix’s Eyes. “You both should take a break. It’s nearly one and you both haven’t eaten.”

After taking a moment to gather himself and his thoughts, Arthur nodded and stood up. “That sounds like a good idea,” he answered as Merlin stood up also.

“Yeah, grand idea. I’ll be back in forty-five minutes,” Merlin said, nodding at Gwen. He didn’t meet Arthur’s eyes as he walked out of the conference room, taking out his phone.

Arthur watched Merlin walk out, then huffed and shook his head. “And he calls me stuck up,” he muttered to himself, grabbing his suit jacket. His words had no heat behind them, however. 

“Come on, Arthur,” Gwen urged gently, nudging him. If she heard what he said, she gave no indication of it as she walked out of the conference room, Arthur following behind her.

July 5th. 2023

1:05 PM

Merlin let out a rough sigh as he poked the plastic fork in the strawberry salad he’d gotten just down the street from Pendragon Palace, sitting on a bench in the inner courtyard of the Palace to eat. Reluctantly, he took a very small bite of the salad. It tasted delicious, it really did, but he couldn’t focus on eating it, not with so much on his mind. 

Where could Morgause be hiding? It wasn’t like she was covering her tracks at all because Merlin could figure out where she was—or had been, rather—very easily. If her past history of preferred hideouts didn’t give her away, the traces her magic left behind certainly did. And even with that, he was only finding her in places she had been or had just left. It seemed like he was two steps behind her and he was frustrated, to put it very mildly.

It definitely didn’t help that Arthur was as frustrated as he always had been, possibly more, and was taking it out on him.

Okay, so maybe Merlin was partly to blame for that. Arthur seemed like he was really trying to help or give ideas on what to do next, but Merlin would snap at him sometimes just because he already tried that or that idea just wouldn’t work the way the other thought it would. Arthur, of course, would snap back at him, because that’s how he was, and they’d start bickering as a result.

It wasn’t like their fighting was helping any, and Merlin wanted to try to work with Arthur without any of it. But it was hard when Arthur acted like an ass. Merlin should be used to it, given their long history. He should just let Arthur pick on him or snap at him and ignore it. It would be a lot easier that way

But, he was never one to let anyone bully him, especially Arthur Pratdragon. So he always fought back, even against his better judgment.

Now that he was thinking about it, their bickering wasn’t helping the process, of course, but it couldn’t be hindering anything. Could it? Could it be stopping them from thinking of other ways to try and find Morgause and her allies? Honestly, Merlin wasn’t sure. If it was, he should try and make an effort to argue less with Arthur. He really should.

For now, though, at least Merlin could take the opportunity to sit and just think for a second without anyone snapping at him.

He grabbed the iced tea he bought with the salad with his free hand, and sipped at it as he let his mind wonder about the next steps they should take, about what else they could possibly do or try that hadn’t been done already.

As Merlin tried his best to have his lunch while thinking, he wasn’t paying too much attention to his surroundings or the people around him. He was too distracted and, quite frankly, too tired to deal with anything else. Everything else could take a back seat as far as he was concerned.

Lucky for him, his magic was always on alert and looking for danger, especially when its master was distracted. So when Merlin felt his magic prickling the back of his neck to draw his attention, he forced himself out of his thoughts and looked up to finally pay attention to his surroundings.

A man not much younger than him—Mordred Cerdan, if Merlin remembered correctly from when he was introduced to the cabinet a couple of weeks ago—was headed his way with a troubled look on his face. His black hair looked messy, like he’d been running his hands through it constantly, and his suit was rumpled.

His magic on edge, Merlin sat up and watched Mordred as he got closer. “Mr. Cerdan, hello,” he greeted politely. “How are you?”

Mordred didn’t respond, walking to the bench Merlin was on and sitting next to him. He folded his hands in his lap and looked at the ground, face still troubled. After a moment of silence, just as Merlin was about to question him, Mordred finally spoke. “She promised us change. She promised things would be better for magic users, for us, if we fought for what we believed in.”

Merlin felt his blood chill instantly when he heard Mordred’s soft words. He didn’t need to ask who ‘she’ was. He already knew who Mordred meant.

Morgause .

Tentatively, Merlin slid slightly closer to Mordred, watching him the entire time. He didn’t speak, not yet. He wanted to see if Mordred would say anything else. Maybe he’d reveal where she was, even if he didn’t really think he would.

“She promised us we were together in this fight. She told us she’d stand right alongside us. She promised—” Mordred’s voice broke as he tried to stifle a sob. After a long moment, he took a shaky breath. “When the first group of members were arrested, we thought it was a one off. We thought that—that they had been sloppy in covering their tracks. As it kept happening and more got arrested, we got suspicious.”

Merlin watched, frowning as Mordred wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his suit jacket. “I thought the rumors accusing the leaders of abandoning us were false, that the others were panicking for no reason. There was no evidence they did and—and she said she wouldn’t abandon us, she swore.”

Mordred took a deep breath, then looked up, staring off into the distance. “I’ll talk. I’ll tell you where Morgause is. She didn’t tell us directly, but it wasn’t exactly a secret where she was hiding with the other leaders.”

“Why haven’t any of the other members said where she was when they were arrested?” Merlin asked, doubt immediately creeping into his mind. If it wasn’t a well kept secret, then why hadn't the other members of the Phoenix’s Eyes spoken up before? Why was Mordred the only one finally saying something?

“Either out of some stupid belief that she’d break them out or get the charges dismissed, or because they’re scared of her. She’s powerful, especially with her dark magic, and no one wants to cross her,” Mordred explained bitterly, then finally looked at Merlin. “I’m not scared or loyal to them, not anymore. That stopped the moment Kara got arrested. They’re throwing us to slaughter to save their own skins, and I’m not going to keep watching it happen.”

Merlin was stunned and excited at the same time. Could he actually have a lead on where Morgause was hiding? Were they about to finally capture her? Keeping his excitement in check, just to make sure he didn’t get his hopes up, he nodded and stood up. “I’ll come with you to see Prime Minister Pendragon,” Merlin offered, discarding his lunch with his magic with a wave of his hand. “I imagine you’d like some support when you talk to him.”

Mordred studied him for a long moment, as if trying to see if Merlin was tricking him, then finally stood up with a careful nod. “I’d like that. Thank you, Emrys,” he said gratefully and walked with him back inside Pendragon Palace.

July 6th, 2023

4:45 PM

Once Merlin had walked with Mordred to talk to Arthur, time had flown by and had been full of activity.

Between questioning Mordred and hearing his story, gathering where Morgause was, making sure the information was actually true, and ensuring that Leon’ highly trained officers in the Special Weapons Unit would be able to see and access the warehouse the leaders of the Phoenix’s Eyes were allegedly hiding in, Merlin was certain he and Arthur had barely slept in the past 24 hours. It was a wonder they were still awake, but that could be chalked up to adrenaline, he supposed.

Now, the two of them, along with Leon, Percival, and Elyan Siemens, Captain and head of the SWU, were standing in the conference room he and Arthur had been meeting in daily for the past two weeks, gathered behind the table as they watched the wide screened television mounted on the wall. Alynor—one of Leon’s skilled technicians, if Merlin remembered right—was sitting at the table, working on a laptop as he tried to get the feeds from the agents’ body camera connected to the television.

“We’re nearing the spot, captain,” the squad leader announced, his voice echoing through the room through the television speakers.

“Good. Once you’re at the rendezvous point, remain in position until I give the signal,” Elyan directed to the leader through his earpiece. After a short “Yes, Captain” was given, he looked at Merlin and nodded. “Are you sure they’ll be able to break the shield?”

“If they use the sphere as I told them to, they’ll be able to get in,” Merlin confirmed, then frowned deeply. “I still think it would’ve been better if I had gone with them.”

“Absolutely not,” Arthur retorted, looking at Merlin sternly. “Morgause is dangerous and those agents know exactly what they’re doing and how to do it safely.”

“Arthur, you don’t understand. Morgause is using dark magic. Your weapons won’t work as well against it,” Merlin protested, trying to get Arthur to realize how dangerous she really was, but before the other could respond, Alynor interrupted them.

“We’re online!” he announced and the men looked just in time to see a grid of nine body camera feeds on the television screen, each displaying a different angle of the inside of a truck.

“Perfect. Good job, Alynor,” Leon praised, then looked at the others. “It shouldn’t be too long now. Once they confirm they’re ready, we’ll start the raid.”

Arthur nodded firmly at Leon. “Excellent.”

“I seriously think I should be there ,” Merlin insisted, looking between Arthur and Leon in irritation. They needed to listen to him! “She’s dangerous!”

“Merlin, I understand your worry, but Captain Siemens’ team is highly skilled at handling dangerous magic users,” Leon explained, trying to be polite. His voice, however, was firm, and showed that he wasn’t going to listen to reason. Merlin groaned in frustration and narrowed his eyes at the Defense Secretary. This was ridiculous. Their pigheadedness really knew no bounds.

“Your agents haven’t worked with magic users who use dark magic. It’s powerful and dangerous and I guarantee you, the weapons they’re using won’t do a damn thing against them!” Merlin tried to explain, trying to get him to see his point. Leon heaved out a sigh.

“Merlin—”

“You need to let me join them! I can help them!” 

“Merlin, it’s dangerous for you as well. You realize that, don’t you?” Elyan asked doubtfully, looking over at him with a raised brow.

Merlin scoffed in response. Of course he knew it was dangerous! But it was better if he, a magic user as strong as Morgause, fought her instead of non magic users who wouldn’t last two seconds against her! “I do, thanks. But they need help—” His rant was interrupted by a strong hand suddenly gripping his wrist.

Turning, Merlin was faced with Arthur’s icy glare. “We need to talk. Now,” Arthur announced and glanced at Leon and Elyan. “When the team is in position, send them in. I’ll be back in a moment.”

Elyan glanced at Leon with mixed emotions on his face. Leon, ever faithful, just nodded, as if the command was one Arthur made daily. “Yes, Prime Minister.”

Without another word, Arthur tightened his hold on Merlin’s wrist and dragged him out of the conference room, marching him down the hallway away from the room. The entire time, Merlin was struggling against Arthur’s grip. What the hell was he doing? Merlin wasn’t doing anything other than trying to convince them they needed his help!

“Arthur, let me go, you insufferable clotpole!” Merlin demanded, finally freeing his wrist from Arthur’s tight grip when the other turned to face him. “That hurt, you arse!”

“What the hell are you doing?!” Arthur asked, fury in his voice. Merlin frowned and returned his glare, rubbing his wrist to soothe it after Arthur’s death grip.

“What am I doing? I’m trying to prevent more people from dying!” he explained fiercely. Merlin didn’t understand why Arthur was asking such a stupid question. “They need my help!”

“You’re trying to get yourself killed!” the blond snapped. “Those agents are highly skilled and are trained to fight magic users—”

“Yeah, against magic users not using dark magic!” Merlin interrupted, glaring. “As I have said several times now, dark magic is different! Even you admitted that your weapons aren’t effective against it!” Merlin didn’t understand why this was a hard concept for Arthur to understand. Dark magic was dangerous, especially against weapons that didn’t affect it. Those agents would be killed if they faced off against Morgause.

“I said it didn’t work against dark magic very well. It still works against it and for this purpose, it will have to do. The last thing I want is you going in there and getting yourself killed!” Arthur shouted. Merlin couldn’t help the scoff that came out of his mouth and he crossed his arms. Even as angry as he felt, he still felt his heart twist a bit at the last sentence.

But Arthur didn’t mean it like that. He couldn’t mean it like that. He said it as a diversion, nothing more. “Since when did you start caring about me getting killed?” Merlin hissed, glaring at him. It was a trick. It had to be. Arthur was just saying that to stop Merlin from facing off against the leaders of the Phoenix’s Eyes. He was distracting him so Merlin’s blood wouldn’t be on his hands.

Arthur groaned in frustration and turned his head to take a deep breath in, then out before he looked back at Merlin. “I never stopped, ” he admitted, his voice low, still frustrated. “I always cared about you, Merlin. The whole time.”

Merlin gave a dry laugh and shook his head, running a hand through his hair as he looked up at the ceiling. This had to be a trick. It had to. Even as his traitorous heart skipped a beat and hope rose in his chest like an inflating balloon, he was certain it was a trick. Arthur didn’t care. He never cared before, why start now? “That’s a lie. You haven’t cared for years, and you want me to believe you actually did and just, what, hid it?” Merlin asked, giving him a skeptical look, daring him to keep up the lie.

Arthur looked down at the carpet and ran a hand through his hair, a sign he was frustrated. Merlin expected that, of course. He didn’t want to be called out on his, honestly, god awful lie, pretending he always cared. “Merlin, it’s complicated,” he admitted, then looked at him once more. “You’re not going to that warehouse. That’s final.”

Merlin let out a deep sigh and he shook his head, half in defeat and half in frustration. He didn’t want to believe that Arthur always cared. He didn’t even want to think that! But a part of him, a stupid, gullible part, believed Arthur, it really did. And it wanted to stay here, to do as Arthur demanded and just let the agents do their job. 

He nearly gave in.

Instead, before he could second guess himself, Merlin looked at Arthur and swallowed, looking into his eyes. “I’m sorry, Arthur. I have to help them,” he said, then muttered, “ Forþ fleoge.”

Arthur moved forward, opening his mouth to say something, but his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell to the ground in a heap, unconscious. The stun wouldn’t last long, but it would be enough time for Merlin to find a place to hide in the hallway so he could teleport to the warehouse.

Merlin went over to Arthur and bent down, making sure he hadn’t injured him accidentally. Once he was sure that Arthur was okay, he watched Arthur for a moment. After hesitating, Merlin lowered his head and kissed Arthur’s forehead before standing and taking out his phone to double check the coordinates to the warehouse they’d gotten from Mordred earlier.

Chapter Text

July 6th, 2023

 5:15 PM

In hindsight, Merlin shouldn’t have expected to be teleported inside the warehouse like he planned.

His last second plan of ‘teleport into the warehouse, find Morgause and kill her’ wasn't exactly well thought out, if he was being honest.

Instead of ending up inside the warehouse, Merlin had been transported outside of it—less than half a mile away, to be exact—thanks to the powerful shield that hid the warehouse from sight and prevented anyone from coming inside. And to make things worse, he had landed right in front of the large black van that the agents of SWU drove there.

If Merlin had been any slower, he would’ve been seen by the agents as they clamored out of the van. But he was able to just barely dodge them and hide behind an old shipping container, watching as they moved in formation from the van towards the area where the warehouse should be.

Merlin made sure to follow them discreetly, hiding behind shipping containers and concrete barriers as he did, until the agents stopped suddenly in front of a large dirt field and he saw the agent leading the formation nod with a glance behind him.

That’s when Merlin knew this was the supposed location of the hidden warehouse.

From where he was watching just 200 feet away, the leader of the group took out the blue sphere that Merlin had created for them earlier in the day. If it was used correctly, it should disarm the shield and allow the agents—and Merlin—into the area where the warehouse was and get inside.

Merlin hadn’t mentioned to them that he wasn’t exactly a hundred percent sure the sphere would work. But they didn’t need to know his lack of confidence. It would work!

It had to.

The leader held the sphere in his hand and raised it. After a moment of silence, where Merlin hoped he was saying what he was instructed to say, he tossed the sphere forward. Merlin watched it roll forward and as it slowed, nothing happened.

Just as Merlin was about to recite the incantation, feeling his heart race while dread crept into his stomach, the sphere suddenly shone a bright gold, followed by blue sparks flying from it. A bright light came from the sphere and grew brighter, causing Merlin to quickly turn his head and shield his eyes. After a second or two, when the glow faded, he opened his eyes.

It worked!

In front of them was a large, two story warehouse. It was made from old brown brick and looked like it had seen much better days, judging by the various spray painted words and damaged parts of the wall on the outside and how rusted the metal stairs looked. But it was there, the warehouse they’d been looking for. 

Merlin grinned, but didn’t speak or move as he faintly heard the leader mutter, probably to let Elyan know that the sphere had worked. 

As soon as he thought of Elyan, the image of Arthur lying unconscious in the hallway flooded his mind, filling him full of regret and guilt. However, he shoved the thought away as he felt his magic tug him towards the warehouse. Specifically, towards a side door that led into the warehouse. He felt awful about knocking Arthur out, sure, but he had to help the agents. He couldn’t let anyone else die because of Morgause, especially those who underestimated just how powerful she was. Arthur would just have to understand why he did it.

Merlin glanced at the agents and waited until they started to move further away from him before hurrying over to the side door, crouching low as he quietly ran. Reaching the side door, he frowned to find it was already unlocked and felt anxiety bubble in his stomach. That couldn’t be a good sign. Was Morgause expecting the agents? Or was she expecting him? Maybe both?

He tried not to dwell on it as he opened the door and snuck in, using his magic to close it quietly behind him. There was no use worrying about it. He would find out soon enough, anyway.

The warehouse was only lit by the sunshine coming in via the windows at the top of the walls. The warehouse floor was filled with old shipping containers, old furniture, and one or two pieces of old machinery, all covered in dust. To Merlin’s left, a set of rusted metal stairs were bolted to the wall that led to a door on the second floor. Merlin knew, especially judging by his magic tugging him towards the stairs, that that was where Morgause and her allies were hiding. 

His heart racing, Merlin headed for the stairs and ran up them as quietly as he could, especially given that he was walking on old metal stairs that creaked. Thankfully, a whispered ‘Gestillan’ made sure the creaking was silenced after his first step.. As he heard a door slam open and shouts of “Special Agents! Freeze!” echo throughout the area, he quickly opened the door and slipped through the door without hesitation.

As Merlin looked around the room lit only by a couple of windows along the left wall, it was obvious that it used to be a large office space. Various office desks and chairs were scattered around the room, along with discarded papers and office supplies, while a large printer stood against the left wall. The right wall was boarded up, but Merlin guessed that windows to look down into the warehouse used to be there.

As Merlin’s magic nudged him incessantly, the door behind him suddenly slammed closed and locked. Merlin glanced behind him in confusion, then immediately looked forward when he heard the loud sound of furniture moving. While the desks and chairs moved themselves against either wall, Merlin could see a figure on the other side of the large office space. He didn’t need light to see who it was, he already knew in his gut.

Morgause.

“ Léoht,” Merlin muttered with an outstretched hand. As soon as the ball of light was in his hand, he tossed it in the air and it floated from the ceiling, shedding more light into the room and revealing that the figure was, indeed, Morgause.

“Merlin. I was wondering when you’d finally find me,” Morgause spoke, a smirk on her lips. She was dressed in a dark purple knee length dress with a corset top, her blonde hair loose and noticeable red scars on the right side of her face. Merlin had a vague recollection of Morgause being hit by a few spells during the attack two weeks ago, but he didn’t remember any hitting her face. Then again, considering he was concussed, he wouldn’t remember a lot. “It’s about time. I was getting bored waiting.”

Merlin rolled his eyes, feigning annoyance even as his heart beat rapidly. “Do you have to be so dramatic, Morgause?” he asked, watching her carefully as she stepped forward a little more while he remained stationary.

The blonde laughed mockingly, her eyes trained on him with an icy glare. “Oh, I’m sorry. Am I not allowed to be a little dramatic when I’m being persecuted for just having magic?” she asked, tilting her head to the side slightly, blinking as if she were innocent.

Merlin glared at her. “You're not being persecuted. You’re a criminal and a murderer. That attack on Parliament cost twenty six people their lives! And we’re not even counting the people that your group killed beforehand,” he retorted. “You became a criminal the moment people lost their lives!”

“It’s for a good cause,” Morgause dismissed, waving a hand casually like she was calm, even though her face and body language showed that she was furious. “If it costs a few lives to further the cause of magic users getting rights, then so be it.”

“This is not how we get equal rights and you know that,” Merlin hissed, his eyes trained on her as adrenaline raced through him. She was so dismissive of the innocent lives she took, it was disgusting. He could feel his magic straining against his control to attack her, but he didn’t want to do that, not prematurely.

“Being obedient—oh, I’m sorry, I meant peaceful— wasn’t working. We tried your way for years and got nowhere!” Morgause snarled, then shook her head. “Enough talking. You die here,” she stated with finality, then lifted a hand and shouted “ Forbaerne! Ácwele!” As soon as the words left her lips, a ball of fire appeared in her hand and flew towards Merlin.

And just like that, the battle between Merlin and Morgause began. He knew that the time for talking, even a useless attempt to change her mind, was over. He now had the task of not only fighting for his life, but also the task of capturing Morgause so she could face justice.

No pressure.

Merlin threw up a shield instinctively and the fireball dissipated as soon as it hit the barrier. While Morgause was casting another fireball, Merlin held out his hand and shouted “ Ic þé wiþdrífe!’ Morgause flew towards the wall behind her and hit it with a loud thud.

With the sound of gunfire and shouting coming from the warehouse floor below then, Morgause got up after a second and glared at Merlin before raising her hand and repeating the spell, hurling another fireball at him. In response, Merlin threw up a shield and then sent Morgause flying and hitting yet another wall.

Thus began the cycle of Merlin doing anything but actually hurt Morgause, while she did her best to only hurt him. First, she started with fire, which only succeeded in setting the desks and chairs alight. She then changed tactics and started throwing the flaming desks and chairs, one by one, at Merlin. The entire time, Merlin would repeat the same spell that would throw her against the nearest wall and stun her for a few seconds. He didn’t want to hurt her, at least not enough to kill her. She needed to face justice for what she did to innocent people and Merlin was determined to bring her in alive.

As the fire spread throughout the upper floor, Morgause and Merlin stood on opposite sides of the room, both panting and glaring at each other, their clothes torn and dirty and each of them sporting injuries. It was clear that Morgause was as exhausted as he was, but the hate in her eyes was as strong as ever. “This ends right now, Emrys!” she shouted, raising her hands again and Merlin shook his head and swallowed.

“Morgause, it doesn’t have to be like this!” Merlin pleaded, watching her. “No one has to die! We can still work together!” He knew that she wouldn’t suddenly change her mind, but he had to at least try to reason with her. For some stupid reason, he just had to try.

Morgause laughed at that, cruel and cold. “We’re past the point of ever working together again, Merlin. You and I both know that,” she said in an angry, and somewhat sad, tone. Merlin couldn’t quite figure out why she was sad. Did she actually feel regret for what she did? Did she actually wish, deep down, that things had happened differently?

He didn’t have time to dwell on that thought because suddenly, Morgause was shouting, “ Akwele!” 

Merlin didn’t know what happened after that. All he remembered for certain was hearing screaming, loud screaming that echoed through the room. He remembered hearing various voices speak and shout, guns firing and the feel of heat scorching his body.

Then he remembered nothing.

Chapter Text

July 13th, 2023

Arthur was going to get better chairs for the hospitals.

It was going to be the first thing he did once everything settled down, mark his words. Doing it now wasn’t feasible of course, with everyone busy with arrests, trials, investigations and such. But once it was over, new chairs for the hospitals. So no one else had to be as sore as he was right now.

He opened the Notes app on his phone and typed it in a Note labeled ‘To Do’. Once that was saved, he closed the app and looked at the bed in front of him, staring at the still form of Merlin.

It had been a week since SWU agents found him in the warehouse occupied by former leaders of the Phoenix’s Eyes, surrounded by flames and clear evidence of a tough magical fight. His injuries had been severe, but the doctors were convinced he should’ve woken up by now, especially with the strong pain medicine they had been giving him out of his system since his injuries had healed enough. And yet, he hadn’t made a single move or any sign that he was awake or even still alive, aside from his shallow yet steady breathing.

Arthur looked down at his denim-covered knees and swallowed roughly, making a tight fist around his phone.  He knew he shouldn’t have felt devastated when he thought that Merlin might be dead. The two of them broke up seven years ago: he had lost any right he had to feel upset about the idea of Merlin, his ex-fiancé, dead. He lost that right the moment he chose politics and his flawed view on magic over the love of his life. He was supposed to have moved on from him!

And yet, he still cared about Merlin. Through everything they went through, that he himself went through, Arthur still cared about Merlin. He always had, even when he wanted to pretend he didn’t. He never wanted any harm to come to Merlin and never wished any ill will on him. So in a way, he supposed he was within his right to feel the way he did.

That didn’t mean he believed he should.

The sound of a quiet moan of pain pulled Arthur from his turbulent thoughts and he looked up to see Merlin’s head moving a little before immediately coughing. Quickly, Arthur took the styrofoam cup full of water the nurse left earlier and bent the straw that was in it, and brought it to Merlin’s lips. “Here, drink. It’s water,” he said, relaxing only a little when Merlin took a few long sips from the cup.

Once he was done, Arthur set the cup down on the table, making sure that it wouldn’t tip over before he turned his head, seeing Merlin’s blue-gold eyes looking at him, confused and tired. “‘thur?” he asked, speaking quietly, but clearly. Arthur was surprised that he could, but the water helped, he supposed.

Nodding, he moved the chair slightly closer to the bed, biting the inside of his lip. “It’s me, Merlin. It’s ok, you’re in the hospital,” he assured as he saw Merlin’s eyes dart around the room, trying to figure out where he was. He put his hands in his lap to resist the urge to hold Merlin’s hand, which was just lying there on the bedspread. He would’ve sat on his hands if he didn’t think that would draw Merlin’s attention.

Merlin shut his eyes again and rubbed a hand over them, groaning. “What happened?” he asked quietly, confused. After a moment, his eyes shot open as he tried to sit up. “Morgause! Ow!” he yelled, gripping his sides after only making it a few inches off the bed.

“Merlin, lay down—” Arthur scolded, instinctively moving to help Merlin lay back down, but the sound of hurried footsteps entering the hospital room caused Arthur to hesitate.

“It’s ok, Prime Minister, we can take it from here,” the first nurse, a brunette woman, assured Arthur with a kind smile, going to his side, while the second one, a blonde woman, went over to Merlin and started to speak to him in a soothing voice. Arthur heard her say that her name was Vivian.

“I’m not leaving him,” Arthur insisted, looking at the brunette—the ID card hanging around her neck revealed her name to be Sophia—as she quickly took his place at Merlin’s side, pushing him out of the way in a subtle and gentle way. They had to know that he wasn’t going to leave Merlin, not before he had a chance to speak to him, and they weren’t going to make him leave. Truthfully, he wasn’t planning to leave his side unless Merlin told him otherwise, anyway.

Sophia looked at Arthur and smiled at him gently. “Don’t worry, sir. We’re just making sure Mr. Wyvern didn’t hurt himself. You can stay,” she assured before she turned her full focus back to the other two, icing Arthur out, pretending like he wasn’t standing there watching the nurses poke and prod at Merlin.

Arthur waited impatiently a few steps away from the bed as the nurses, followed by a balding, gray haired doctor named Dr. Sindri checked on Merlin, especially making sure that there was no cognitive damage, judging by the questions Merlin was asked. They even told Merlin a few of his injuries: severe burns on his sides and chest, a broken ankle, a few broken ribs and stitches on the back of his head due to a bad laceration.

Once the medical staff finally left, Arthur was able to retake his place at Merlin’s bedside and sat down, hands in his lap again. He had to resist the temptation to hold his hand. Merlin wouldn’t want Arthur to do that, he was sure of it. “Don’t move again, you idiot,” he scolded, though there was no heat in his words. Merlin gave him a small smile and rolled his eyes.

“You have an awful bedside manner. Good thing you went into politics,” he retorted, the smile staying on his face for another moment before it fell and he shut his eyes, his shoulders slightly tensing. “What happened to Morgause? She—“

Throwing away the staunch principle to keep his hand away from Merlin’s, Arthur reached out and took Merlin’s hand in his, interrupting him. “It’s okay, Merlin. Breathe,” he assured him gently, looking him in the eyes to show his sincerity, waiting until he got a nod before he reluctantly pulled his hand away, returning it to his lap. “What was the last thing you remember?”

After a second of closing his eyes again, Merlin answered. “I…Morgause had thrown a spell at me, one that would kill me. There was fire and guns and…” He trailed off, swallowing roughly. A part of Arthur really, really didn’t want to get into everything that happened, not when Merlin was finally awake after a week, but the look that Arthur got from him, one that he knew meant the other wasn’t going to rest until he got an answer, pushed the uncertainty away.

After taking a second to gather his thoughts, he sighed and looked at Merlin. “From what we saw on the live feed combined with what the SWU agents later explained, Morgause did cast that spell. It was cast just as the agents entered the room and shot at her. They said that you let out this…loud, primal scream and the fire in the room suddenly spread. The spell seemed to…boomerang back and hit her instead. One of Morgause’s allies we identified as Helios Hunter ran into the room and fired at agents as Morgause fell,” he explained, trying to keep eye contact with Merlin as he relived the feed he’d seen, the stories he had heard from the agents, and information he gathered from the report. All of it put together painted a scene that sounded chaotic and extremely dangerous for the experienced agents themselves, never mind an unarmed Merlin.

After a long moment, Arthur cleared his throat and looked down for a second before he looked at Merlin, who still looked tired, but also guilty. Why was he guilty? If anyone should be guilty, it should be the surviving leader that was being held in the maximum security prison in Camelot. “Helios was killed by agents, as well as another one of Morgause’s allies, Nimueh Ryans. Cenred King, also one of her allies, was captured and arrested. Morgause… was confirmed dead at the scene,” he said gently, his heart twisting as Merlin looked down at the bed and fisted the blanket covering him. “Merlin, don’t.”

Merlin looked at Arthur at that, his eyes full of guilt and sorrow. “Don’t what?” he asked, confused, the emotion not quite reaching his eyes. 

Arthur leaned forward and looked at Merlin, trying to convey both gentleness and sternness at the same time. He wasn’t sure if he was successful. “Don’t blame yourself for this. Morgause made her own decisions. She chose to fight. Her death was her own fault,” he said. Merlin laughed humorlessly at that, shaking his head and looked down at the bed again. He looked so guilty, it broke Arthur’s heart.

“I just feel like this all could’ve been prevented. Morgause never really saw eye to eye with the rest of E.M.U’s leaders with how we protested and everything. But I feel like if I had tried harder to compromise with her in the beginning, she might not have gone this route.”

“Or that might not have changed anything,” Arthur countered, taking Merlin’s hand again and carefully squeezed it in support. “You could’ve listened to her and turned to violence and that might not have changed a thing. She still could have died somehow.” He moved his other hand to touch Merlin’s chin and gently turned his head so he was looking at Arthur, his eyes a storm of emotion. “You can’t blame yourself for her choices. She made them and it got her killed. You didn’t make them for her.”

After a moment of watching Arthur carefully, Merlin gave him a small watery smile and let out a deep breath, his eyes shining with unshed tears. “How did you get so good at comforting people? Has Gwen been teaching you?” he teased, causing Arthur to smile. Familiar territory again. He could do teasing, he knew that .

“Well, I know how you are, for one thing. You try your best to save everyone and will constantly beat yourself up if you don’t. Plus, I’ve had time to think about what to say to you, considering I’ve been by your side since they admitted you,” Arthur answered, feeling a slight sinking in his stomach when Merlin gave him a confused, doubtful look. He braced himself internally for the upcoming scolding, the yelling, the anger.

“You’ve been here the entire time I’ve been asleep?” Merlin asked doubtfully and when Arthur slowly nodded in confirmation, both of his eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Seriously? What about your duties as Prime Minister? What about work, what about…well, everything?” 

Arthur couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face as he shrugged at the questions.  At least Merlin wasn’t angry yet. That was a good sign. “I didn’t stay the entire time, to be fair. When they made me leave, I would go either get work done at the office or sleep, eat, and so on..”

“I figured that, you dollophead,” Merlin rolled his eyes again. “But you were here the entire time otherwise. What about your duties as Prime Minister? What about the case against the Phoenix’s Eyes members?” His voice was full of doubt with a hint of curiosity 

“Well, Leon is handling most of the decisions regarding that. I just gave him my opinion otherwise. Anything else that needs to be done can either be handled the next time I’m in, or if it cannot wait, Morgana can make the decision on my behalf,” Arthur clarified, biting the inside of his lip after he finished. He knew that Merlin may feel like he was being too clingy or protective over him, especially given their distance from each other before last month. He knew deep down that the decision to remain by Merlin’s side as long as he had could backfire. He was honestly surprised Merlin still hadn’t gotten angry or started yelling yet.

But honestly, after coming so close to losing Merlin, he was willing to take the risk, if only to have some comfort that the other was okay.

Merlin watched him for what felt like hours and it made Arthur want to squirm and look away, vaguely reminding him of how Uther would watch him the same way at times. Instead, he fought those urges and remained still, looking back at Merlin. Finally, just as he was about to ask what the hell he was staring at, the silence finally broke. “You’re serious. You actually stayed the entire time,” Merlin stated, amazed.

Arthur nodded. “I did,” he confirmed, then sat up straighter and let out a sigh. “I meant what I said. Before you knocked me out. I never stopped caring about you,” he started. This was it. He had to share everything he felt, especially after what happened last week. A part of him screaming at him to keep it to himself, to never share his feelings, Pendragons weren’t so weak that they felt emotions.

But a bigger part of him was scolding him, telling him that if he didn’t lay it all bare for now Merlin, he would never have the chance to again. Plus, Arthur felt that if he didn’t get everything out, it might very well eat him alive. So, he fought the tight feeling in his chest and the way his heart sped up and continued to speak.

“It was complicated to tell you before, mostly because of…my view on magic and… we seemed to always butt heads whenever we interacted, so I…I hid it whenever we talked. Because I…always assumed you wouldn’t believe me. I told you then partially to get you to stay in the building, but also because I…A part of me couldn’t keep pushing it down,” Arthur revealed, then took a moment to look down at the off-white tile floor and gather himself before looking up again and continuing. 

“I’ve had my view on magic…questioned about a month ago. I’ve been doing… a bit of reflecting on my opinion of magic and while I can’t promise an instant change, I understand now that my past views were…wrong, to say the least, and want to learn what magic really is, how it works, everything of the sort. With that said…” Arthur trailed off, then looked right into Merlin’s eyes, hating how they didn’t show how the other was feeling. “I know it’s not your duty or job to do this, but I…If you’d be willing to help me relearn things about magic while we work on the equal rights bill, I’d be… very grateful.”

Merlin watched him for a long moment, then closed his eyes and tilted his head back, chuckling a little. “You pick the most cliche times to finally pour your heart out,” he teased, opening his eyes and looking at him. As Arthur tried to sputter out a response as he felt his cheeks heat up, Merlin smiled. “It’s not my job or duty, no. But if anyone’s going to put up with your endless questions about magic, it might as well be me. Don’t want to drive anyone insane, after all. So, I’d be happy to help you, Arthur.”

Merlin’s tone was still lightheart and teasing, yet when he agreed to help Arthur, it was said in such a sincere way that Arthur felt the tightness in his chest disappear. He let out a breathy laugh and nodded. “Thank you, Merlin,” he whispered, a weight lifting off of his shoulders. This felt like the beginning of a new era. 

He hoped it was, at least.

Chapter Text

August 1st, 2024

Today was the day.

After a year of hard work, negotiations, hurdles, hiccups and edits, the bill making it law that magic users and non magic users had the same rights was about to be signed into law. After all that work, it was done. The end of decades of hate was here and Arthur was feeling a lot of things, but mostly he was thrilled.

He and Merlin had been working very hard over the past year on not only negotiating little details and making the wording of the bill clear, but also defending it against Parliament, undoing changes in the bill that were done without approval, and ironing out what old laws to abolish when the Equal Rights bill was passed.

As a result, the two of them had been spending a lot of time together over the past year. At first, it was awkward, like Arthur wasn’t supposed to impose on Merlin’s time or be around him that much. But as they spent more time together and as Merlin helped him relearn—and sometimes outright learn—things about magic, he started to feel less awkward and more comfortable being around Merlin once more, almost like he was when they first met so long ago.

Honestly, Arthur was just glad to have Merlin back in his life in any sort of way and certainly wasn’t about to push for anything beyond working on the bill together. So when Merlin invited Arthur to come with him for a late dinner one night three months after starting work on it, Arthur wasn’t sure he heard him right and, embarrassingly, had asked Merlin to repeat himself four times before he finally accepted an exasperated Merlin’s invitation.

Over time, the two started to rekindle the comfortable and familiar friendship they had ended so suddenly over eight years ago. Honestly, that alone made Arthur ecstatic. He never thought he’d be friends with Merlin again, not after what he’d done to him and other magic users since he’d become Prime Minister, so being friends with him again was more than enough.

As a result of Arthur becoming reacquainted with magic, his relationship with Morgana started to recover as well. Granted, she had been more than hesitant to believe Arthur was actually willing to admit he was wrong. But, after a few months, she seemed to be willing to work on their relationship, albeit slowly. That was good enough for Arthur. He never expected instant forgiveness and would do what he needed to do to fix things with his half sister.

“Arthur!” A voice close to him hissed and he felt a sharp jab to his side. Biting back a shout and curse, he looked next to him to see Merlin shooting him a glare as a voice over the speakers outside of Pendragon Palace announced his name. 

Oh, right. The press conference.

Letting out a quiet sigh, Arthur straightened his suit jacket and walked out on the platform outside of the Palace with not only Merlin on one side, but Morgana flanked to his other. Holding the speech he’d written and agonized over in his hand, he waved with his free one to the crowd that had gathered outside of the Palace as claps and cheers greeted him.

He walked up to the podium that was placed front and center on the platform and set his speech down on it, looking down to make sure it was on the right page before he looked up and smiled at the people around the platform, the fifty foot area immediately in front of him blocked off and guarded by Parliament Police and a special shield Merlin had cast. After letting the noise die down, Arthur started his speech.

“For decades, Albion has treated magic users like lesser beings and like they were less human than those without magic. For decades, magic users have had to endure being treated worse just because they have magic, whether they were born with it or learned it by choice. The misinformation and biases against magic and its users have been strong in Albion for decades. But today, that ends. Today, the hate and prejudice against magic users ends. As of this morning, I have signed The Bill of Equal Rights into law, effective immediately. This bill guarantees that magic users have the same rights as non magic users, and ensures that they are treated the same way and are given the same opportunities as non magic users. With this bill, I trust that the magic users of Albion will finally be treated just like non magic users, as they deserve, and that non magic users will learn that magic is no different than any other tool,” he recited, looking between his speech and the crowd the entire time. 

When he paused to take a breath and to let his initial words sink in, the crowd erupted into cheers and claps, soothing the anxiety that Arthur felt about how the population would react to his announcement. While the immediate reaction was very promising, it would only be time that told how the rest of Albion responded. But he knew that he’d handle whatever reaction there was. It would be worth it to ensure that everyone in Albion was treated the same, whether they had magic or not.

When the noise finally died down, Arthur continued his speech. “This bill also introduces a new sector of government that strictly deals with all magical issues and affairs, aptly named Magical Affairs and Issues. This new sector, I am pleased and thrilled to announce, will be headed by Morgana Pendragon, a magic user herself who was affected by the previous discriminatory laws as other magic users were. As the head of this sector, I know that she will do everything she can and more to advocate and work for magic users.

“I want to thank her immensely for accepting the position of head of this new sector. I also want to give a heartfelt thanks to Merlin Wyvern, also known as Emrys, leader of the rights group Equality for Magic Users. Without his insight, his expertise and his compassion, this bill could not have become what it is. His help and work with this bill and also his work with EMU have been invaluable for not just Camelot, but for all of Albion. My hope is that we can all start to heal and learn from these past decades of hate. It will not be easy. I know it will not and to say it will be would be a lie. But the people of Albion are strong and I know that we will heal and learn together as a country, united as one,” Arthur finished and stepped away from the podium, his heart thumping at a hundred miles an hour in his chest.

With a few waves and a smile, Arthur walked away from the podium, speech in hand, and stood off to the side. As he heard Merlin and Morgana give their own speeches to the crowd, he still felt his heart beating like a car engine in his chest and didn’t relax until they were back inside Pendragon Palace, away from prying eyes. He let out a long breath and loosened his tie a little as Morgana passed him. “Nice speech,” she complimented, giving him a half smile. “So eloquent. Did Merlin help you write it?”

“No,” Arthur denied, but this was said at the same time as Merlin, who had appeared next to him, said “Yes.” 

While Arthur let out a slightly frustrated sigh and shut his eyes for a second, Morgana just giggled and shook her head. “I’ll take that as a maybe,” she decided, then reached out and patted Arthur’s shoulder. “I’m proud of you, Arthur, whether you wrote your speech by yourself or not. You did the right thing,” she added, then nodded at the two before she walked down a hallway next to them, leaving the two alone.

Arthur watched her leave, feeling something like hope bloom in his chest. After a moment or two, he felt a hand on his shoulder, followed by a gentle squeeze. He turned his head and saw Merlin watching him and smiling. “What?” he asked in confusion.

In response, Merlin shrugged, still smiling. “I’m glad you reconciled with her. She’s good to have on the cabinet. She’ll keep you from doing stupid things,” he remarked. 

“Merlin, you were doing great until the last sentence,” Arthur said with a playfully defeated sigh, then turned to completely face him. “You would’ve been great on the cabinet too, you know,” he said, raising a brow. In response, Merlin shook his head.

“You know politics isn’t my thing. Never has been,” Merlin reminded him. “Besides, Morgana’s much better at it than me. She’ll be a great voice for magic users. My place is with E.M.U.”

Arthur nodded once. “Fair,” he relented, then put a hand in his trouser pocket. “What are your plans now that your main goal has been accomplished?” he asked, raising a brow.

“Albion giving magic users equal rights was just the first goal. There are still countries all over the world that still discriminate and even mistreat their own magic users. E.M.U’s work won’t rest until all magic users are given the same rights non magic users have,” Merlin explained, watching Arthur. 

Even though this wasn’t the first time Merlin mentioned E.M.U working in different countries since the two started working on the Equal Rights bill, it always caused Arthur’s heart to deflate in defeat and disappointment every single time. He knew that wishing for Merlin to stay in Albion was beyond selfish of him, especially since he had no right to ask him to stay just because Arthur didn’t want to watch him go, but he couldn’t help himself. It was a selfish wish he would never express to anyone. “You’ll do great no matter where you go. You’re persuasive and determined. You’ll win no matter what country you go to,” Arthur assured him with a smile.

At that, Merlin shrugged, but returned the smile. “Thanks, but…I won’t be going anywhere,” he admitted, then sighed at the surprised look Arthur gave him. “Someone has to stay in Albion and hold down the fort here. I don’t want to take my eye off of your cabinet, either. Or you,” he added, smirking.

Arthur laughed and shook his head. “What, you don’t trust me by now?” he asked, feigning hurt. “I won’t go back on my word. Morgana wouldn’t let me even if I wanted to.”

“I know you won’t. But that’s not what I meant,” Merlin admitted and after a second, he stepped forward and put a hand on Arthur’s shoulder. “I want to make sure no one keeps you for themselves,” he said, and before Arthur could ask what he meant, Merlin leaned in and pressed a kiss to his lips.

It only took a second before Arthur’s instincts kicked in and he pressed into the kiss, returning and setting a hand on Merlin’s waist. When they broke away after a long moment, Merlin’s caring and loving eyes were gazing into his. Arthur swallowed at the look and he felt his brain short circuit. “I—I don’t…I thought…”

“I know. I thought that we’d never be back together either. Yet…here we are,” Merlin replied, then gave a light sigh. “I want to take it slow, because diving immediately into a relationship and acting like nothing happened will be very overwhelming, especially when we’ve both changed after eight years. But…if you’re willing to try, so am I.”

Arthur watched Merlin for a long moment, trying to see if the other was showing any sign of this being a joke or a prank. But when he didn’t see any, hope grew in his heart and the familiar feel of butterflies appeared in his stomach as he nodded and grinned.

“I’ll take whatever you want to give me,” he agreed and captured Merlin’s lips in a kiss, sealing the deal.