Chapter Six: When the world comes crumbling down (I've got you to piece it back together again)
The buzz of voices in the pub sounded dull to Merlin's ears. The countless hours of sleep he'd skipped to balance pub accounts and ensure that his cousin's former business was still running properly and potentially pulling out of debt was starting to take a toll on him.
He went to wipe at a dirty spot on the counter, but his hand slipped sideways and he ended up bending his wrist in a way that it naturally wouldn't go. He managed a pained fist before Freya was hovering near him.
"Are you alright?" she asked timidly.
"I'm fine. Fucking fantastic," Merlin snapped, the pain in his wrist suddenly flaring to unbearable levels. He pushed at his burning eyes with the palm of his other hand and sighed. "Sorry. It's been a rough couple of days."
"I know," she put a hand to his shoulder and wrapped a thin arm around his waist. "You've been working too hard."
Merlin shook his head. "No harder than Gawain worked every day."
"He didn't go to university full time too. I'm sure Will, Lance, and Gwen would be willing to put in a few extra hours with me so that you can get some rest and plan things out," Freya said, resting her head against his shoulder.
Merlin sagged under the added weight. "I still haven't organized the funeral. Gawain has a huge list of friends to invite. I'll need to call them. And then the casket is out of my budget. This is just such a mess Freya."
"I know, I know it is. We'll do anything to help," Freya soothed, tenderly rubbing her fingers across his cheek.
"Merlin," Will shouted from the other end of the bar, "phone's for you." He waved the receiver in the air.
Freya gave him a peck on the cheek, "want me to take it?"
Merlin shook his head and made the short walk to the phone. "This is Merlin."
"Merlin Emrys? We have an impounded vehicle. Thought you might like to pick it up," rattled out a nasally male voice.
"No, keep it," Merlin said, determined not to see the death machine again, but butterflies suddenly exploded in his stomach. "Actually... I can come have a look at it this evening if that’s alright."
"Of course, it's yours to do as you please."
***********
Night had already descended by the time he arrived at the junk yard. The rusting cars and motorcycles were stacked above the sharp metal fences with barbed wire stretched across the top. A single dog barked when he rattled the bell at the entrance way.
"Comin'," a gruff voice shouted over the increased dramatic wail of the dog.
Merlin waited all of two minutes before letting himself in. An old man was tethering a dog to an especially large, broken vehicle.
"Excuse me," Merlin huffed, growing impatient, "I'm here for my vehicle."
"Ah yes," he said, standing up slowly as if in pain. When he turned to greet Merlin his eyes gave a quick up and down look over him. "Strapping young lad aren't ya?"
"The car, please," Merlin said, unimpressed, and was grateful that the old man immediately waved him to follow along behind his limping figure.
"Your cousin did a number to it. I reckon he lost control o' the car when the engine cut out..." he prattled on as they approached the ruined car illuminated by a single blinking light.
"Somethin' funny happened to a belt in there which short circuited the entire vehicle. That'll happen when a cars not properly cared for. Though she must o' been a beauty when she was intact-"
Merlin stopped listening, not wanting to hear the gruesome details of what killed his only remaining family. He swallowed, struggling against the sudden dryness in his throat, and laid his hand against the remains of the car.
The instant his flesh touched the cold metal surface a shock ran up his fingers, all the way to his toes. He shivered and pulled his hand away as though it had burnt him.
"Somethin' the matter lad?" Merlin felt himself shake his head, but only distantly, and eyeballed the car, heart skipping a beat when he realized that what he’d felt sparked like magic. Why would his car have magic?
He startled from his thoughts when the old man shook his shoulder.
"I um... I don't have any way to get it home. Can I come back to pick it up?"
"I thought you'd wanted me ta thrash it?"
"No, I think I'll try to... restore her or something," Merlin said.
"There's a lad," the man said, patting Merlin's shoulder. "It'll be here whenever ya can manage to pick it up."
***********
His rental car seemed to sputter on the way home, as though it knew that his own vehicle wouldn’t be parking next to it any time soon. Merlin managed to make it back to the lot right before it finally coughed to a stop. Sighing, he kicked the door open and went inside the pub. Will looked up from the counter and gave him a reassuring smile. Merlin shook his head.
“How are you going to get it then?” Will asked a bit later that evening after Merlin had confessed what the car had emitted into his body.
“I don’t know,” Merlin said.
“Why don’t you call Arthur, he’d probably do anything for you,” Will said as though it were the most obvious solution.
Merlin crossed his arms stubbornly, “I don’t want his help Will.”
“He did offer it though,” Will responded, rolling his eyes. “You’d be a sodding idiot if you didn’t at least have him pick the damn thing up for you.”
“Alright, fine. He’s only going to say no,” Merlin pulled his phone out and dialed the number, waited a few rings and then nearly jumped out of his seat when Arthur actually picked up.
“This is Arthur Pendragon,” came the familiar voice.
“So professional,” Merlin snapped, feeling irrationally irritated. “Look, I need a favour. You said you’d help me out.”
“Yeah…” Arthur’s voice said over the line.
“I need to pick up my car from a junk yard. Tonight,” Merlin said quickly, just to see if Arthur would actually go out of his way on such short notice.
“Tonight?”
“Never mind,” Merlin bit out, “I can do it on my own.” He poked the phone off, effectively ending the conversation.
When he looked over at Will, Will’s eyes were wide, eyebrows shot up under his hair.
“What?” Merlin snapped.
“Tonight? Doesn’t a junk yard usually lock up after a certain hour?” Will asked, eyebrows still hiding beneath his bangs.
Merlin ran his fingers through his hair, feeling an overwhelming sensation to just beat his head against a wall. “I don’t know why I just did that.”
Will put a hand to his shoulder, “I do.”
Eyeing him critically, Merlin felt his phone vibrate. Will’s gaze shot down to his pocket and back up again as if to say pick it up and Merlin did.
***********
“I had a feeling they’d be closed,” Arthur said, watching Merlin kick viciously at the gate. He motioned at the rental truck and trailer behind them, “we’ve got an entire three hours before this has to be back.”
“I want to get the car tonight,” Merlin said, suddenly feeling urgent about it and entirely determined.
Arthur sagged against the fence. “And how are we going to get it then?” A single eyebrow quirked up and a slight smile slanted his lips. “I hear a dog in there. It’s probably trained to bite off dicks.”
Merlin grimaced and squeezed his thighs together protectively.
“I’ll distract it,” he said after a moment of thought.
“How? Dangle some of the meat we didn’t bring,” Arthur hissed. “No, we can come back and get the car tomorrow.”
Merlin shook his head, “I knew there was a dog, I just forgot. So, I’ll distract it and you can get the car into the trailer. The wheels are still functional and I’m pretty sure it can be slipped into neutral.”
Arthur gave him a sidelong look, a smile on his lips, “I can be the decoy-”
“No!” Merlin’s hands shook with frustration, “I can’t touch it okay?”
There was a beat of silence and then Arthur shook his head, “Merlin, I’ll come back tomorrow, in the daylight when it’s legal to take the car alright? You‘re acting rashly because you‘re upset. I thought you‘d come to your senses before you resorted to theft.”
Merlin was just about to tell him to shove his chivalrous attitude up his arse when he heard someone in the distance. “Wait,” he hissed, putting a hand on Arthur’s shoulder and pushing him into a shadowed corner by the bars of the gate.
Arthur looked down at his hand. “Now is not exactly the time to-,” a voice came floating from the distance. “Who’s that?”
“Shhh,” Merlin said, squeezing Arthur’s shoulder and feeling his heart beat quicken.
“-they haven’t a clue,” came a soft voice. “I’ll destroy the car now.”
Arthur poked his head around the bar. “I don’t recognize her,” Arthur whispered.
Merlin pushed him further into the shadows and watched carefully. A blonde woman who appeared frail underneath a thick trench coat was making her way in the direction of the mangled car.
“We should go,” Merlin said breathlessly, a sudden chill running down his spine at the sight of her and then turned to leave.
“Did you know who that was?” Arthur asked as they made their way back to the truck, Arthur trailing behind Merlin who had picked up a near run.
“No,” he said firmly, “and I have no desire to find out.”
**********
It wasn’t as though Merlin couldn’t have easily broken his way into the junk yard to take the car, because he certainly could and probably would have if Arthur hadn’t been there to stop him. Clearly, his senses weren’t all there and he counted it as a brownie point for Arthur that he didn’t let Merlin sink to that level.
Arthur insisted on calling the police to report the person who had done exactly what Merlin previously wanted to and when he clicked off his bluetooth- of course the posh git would have a bluetooth- he didn’t say anything until they got back to the pub.
“I’ll walk you up.”
Merlin shook his head, “I’m a man. I can handle a flight of stairs sober.”
Arthur turned in the truck seat, “I know you can. But are you sure you want to do it alone?”
“Why do I get the feeling you mean more than climbing stairs?” Merlin asked him critically.
“Smarter than you look,” Arthur said and faced front again. “I’ll pick up your car first thing tomorrow morning.”
Merlin leaned over the seat instinctively and awkwardly patted Arthur’s arm, allowing his fingers to linger for a few minutes longer than he normally would. “Thanks.” He pulled back quickly and cleared his throat.
“I’ll call you,” Arthur said just before Merlin flung the door open and jumped out.
“Yeah,” Merlin said and shut the door with more force than was necessary.
*************
“Did that prat knock you to your senses?” Will asked the instant Merlin entered the flat.
“What are you doing here?”
“Not an answer mate.” Merlin shrugged and grabbed a coat.
Merlin sighed, “I’m going to the garden.” Will leaned forward as if to ask to join. Merlin motioned for him to stay and shrugged on his jacket, “I need some time alone.”
Will’s face showed his concern but Merlin didn’t really fell up to addressing it so he left and made his way to the rooftop garden. Two of the basil plants had died in the short time Merlin was busy with the pub, but he closed his eyes and whispered a few reviving spells and when he opened them again they were fully grown and vibrant again.
“What’s the point of having a garden if you don’t put in the actual labor keeping it alive?” Will’s voice asked from behind him.
“I thought I told you I wanted to be alone.” Merlin said. He could feel the exhaustion from the past few days suddenly overwhelm him.
“I just brought you extra blankets and a pillow actually,” Will said, “I have an inkling you’ll be sleeping up here tonight.”
Merlin felt his throat tighten, but he managed to push out a quick thank you, leave them by the door before he felt the first salty tear find its way down his cheek.
