Take 65

Only A Dream

Merlin passes out later and doesn't wake up until I've got camp set up and dinner cooking.

"Arthur." He says, breaking my silence.

"Merlin. Here, I made dinner." I smile, relieved that he woke up.

"So you can cook." He teases. "Who'd have known?"

"I'm not totally useless around the kitchen, Mer-lin." I scold. He chuckles and we eat, teasing and laughing like nothing's wrong.

Eventually he's laying in front of me, his head on my chest as I sit against a tree. "Arthur, we haven't really talked about us yet." He finally says after a long period of silence.

"What else needs to be said? I love you and you love me. Why must it be complicated?" I ask.

"You're the king and I'm a servant." He states the obvious.

"So? The people accepted Gwaine. It'll be no different." I assure him.

"When did you know?" He wonders. "When did you know you loved me?"

"The moment I laid eyes on you in the training field." I confess, my cheeks turning a rosy hue without my permission. "You?"

"When I saved you the first time. From the woman pretending to be the Lady Helen." He admits, blushing. I kiss his forehead and pull away hissing.

He's on fire. The infection and fever is really bad. I must get him to Gaius.

"Damn. It's infected, and from your fever, it's not good. You need to rest. You're going to be in a lot of pain tomorrow." I say. A silence with an obvious question lingers after.

"I can't heal myself. The spells aren't working. I can do any other kind of magic except for the kind that would save me. I can't teleport us or heal myself." He explains. "Someone knew exactly what they were doing. That spell was meant to kill. They knew I'd jump in front of you. The sorcerer's spell was meant to kill instantly. The only reason I'm alive still is because it's pulling my magic away to save me. Either way, one of us would die."

"You shouldn't have done that. I told you to run. You never do as your told. Regardless, you are NOT going to die. I will not let that happen." I refuse as I help Merlin over to the fire and blankets. "You need to sleep and try to sweat off the fever."

"What about you?" Merlin asks.

"Don't you worry, Merls. Just get better." I evade his question. He huffs and I lay blankets on top of him. I rub his head from my watch spot and make sure that he's okay.

"Arthur?" He whispers quietly, almost childlike. "Will you come lay with me? I'm scared."

"I'm right here. Don't be afraid." I try and soothe him but it doesn't work. "I'm right here, Merls."

He curls up and promptly falls asleep. I soon join him.

- Merlin (Dream) -
I'm back in the bandit fight and when the arrow fires, I'm unable to get in between Arthur and the arrow. It hits him in the chest with a thud.

"Merlin." He smiles as I pull Arthur up. "I love you."

"I love you too, you prat." I sniffle. Arthur's heart stops and he dies in my arms.

"NO!" I scream as I wake up. I turn over and Arthur lies beside me. "Aaarthurrr?"

- Arthur -
"Hey, hey, it's okay. It was only a dream, it can't hurt you. It wasn't real." I worry, Merlin shaking and sobbing.

"I couldn't stop him, the arrow hit you instead." He sobs.

"I'm alive." I reassure him, pulling his hand to my chest to feel my heartbeat. "See?"

"Yyyeah." He stutters.

"Come here." I say, pulling him close to my chest. "Go back to sleep, Merls."

"It was only a dream." He tried to convince himself.

"I love you, Merlin." I curl around him.

"I love you too, Arthur." He smiles, successfully calmed.

Sleep safe, my little warlock.