Chapter Thirteen: When the world comes crumbling down (I've got you to piece it back together again)
“You see Merlin, I always get what I want,” she said, stood to shake Arthur’s hand and went to extend it to Merlin, but he turned his face away, hoping that she would get the message.
Morgana only smiled. She motioned for them to sit. Arthur smiled and plopped heavily onto the seat. Merlin gave him a glare and followed suite.
“Merlin,” Morgana said, once she had settled herself into the office desk. “Arthur has come to me with a proposal. I have agreed to it and you should consider doing it yourself.”
Merlin shook his head, “Arthur has no authority over my pub.”
“And yet he’s put together a lucrative plan,” Morgana gave Arthur a raised eyebrow. “Arthur, the paperwork please.”
Arthur pulled a folded-up chunk of papers from his back pocket after readjusting in his seat. “You only have to sign and date. It’s as we discussed.”
Morgana nodded and pulled out a pen from the desk drawer. She signed the line Arthur pointed at without reading the material and quickly passed it to Merlin.
Merlin glared at Arthur, but when he picked up the pen Arthur leaned over and said in his ear, “just sign it and trust me.”
“Act of faith,” Merlin whispered back and scribbled his signature and the date across the line.
Arthur snatched the paper and signed himself saying quickly, “I’m a witness.”
Morgana clicked on her fax machine and copied it. The dialing signaling a fax machine beeped a few times and then clicked in ending.
Morgana leaned back, satisfied, “I suppose it’s settled then. You see Merlin, I always get what I want.”
“It is,” Arthur said, smiling. “It’s settled that you’ll be leaving the pub in it’s current state while funding only during emergencies as a co-owner.”
Morgana’s jaw fell open with an audible gasp.
“That’s right,” Arthur said, shooting to a standing position. Merlin blinked at his back. “Dad taught you better than to sign something you haven’t read through five times.”
Morgana swiped at the papers on the desk. “How dare you!” she shrieked. “How dare you!”
Merlin sat further into his seat and looked to Arthur aghast. Arthur winked.
“How dare you!” Morgana shrieked at an entirely new level. Morgause suddenly entered the room, raising her hand as though she were going to do magic. Merlin swiveled in his chair, closed his eyes and whispered a quick incantation that pushed Morgause backwards.
Morgana shouted something behind them, but Merlin was already standing up to grab Arthur’s arm and drag him from the room. The building trembled as they bolted down the stairs. Merlin heard the walls cracking and nearly pushed Arthur down the last flight in his haste to exit the building.
They had barely made it a hundred feet before the entire thing collapsed on it’s foundation, crumbling so quickly that the ground shook beneath their feet and the particles from the wood and glass came flying without warning towards them in a massive cloud of white. It pushed them to the ground with it’s force, momentarily knocking the air from Merlin’s lungs.
“Merlin?” Arthur’s voice said once the rumbling had silenced. “Are you alright?”
Merlin coughed, and wiped dust from his face. He hadn’t had time to stop the oncoming cloud and so the backs of both of their arms were cut from tiny shards of glass, but Arthur was carefully leaning over with a ripped piece of shirt to wipe at the tiny flecks of blood spotting Merlin’s skin.
“What happened?” a voice called from across the parking area.
Arthur turned and shouted something that Merlin didn’t catch as he suddenly realized that Morgana and Morgause were in the rubble.
“They’re still in there,” Merlin nearly shouted, tugging at Arthur’s sleeve while standing. “They’re still in there! We have to help them!”
Arthur looked between Merlin, the collapsed building and the person shouting from the car park. It only took him a single moment to turn and rush towards the debris, Merlin close on his heels.
“I’ll call for help,” the person yelled, as they started digging in the pile with their bare hands, ignoring the cuts from glass and poking from metal. Merlin hissed as a piece of glass sliced into his hand and blood began dripping down his arm.
They had barely made it a few feet when the fire engines began showing up followed by several ambulance vehicles and police cars.
“Gentlemen,” a voice said, stopping them mid shove of a particularly large slab of dry wall. “How many people were in the building?”
“My sister,” Arthur said, voice straining. He coughed to clear it. “My sister and another woman.”
“I realize that you’re concerned for her well being,” the firefighter said, “but you should step back and allow us to use the proper tools to help her.”
Arthur nodded, face stricken with grief that Merlin hadn’t seen on him before. The firefighter waved at a group of paramedics. They stepped forward and gripped their shoulders, guiding them as though they might be broken to the ambulance vehicle. Arthur’s eye’s never left the rubble.
Hours later, seven recountings, two phone calls from Uther and entire bandages across various parts of the body, Arthur and Merlin were given the news that no bodies had been recovered in the rubble and that the searching would continue until everything was properly examined to find what had caused the sudden accident.
They got into Arthur’s car, Merlin had offered to drive without a single ounce of resistance from Arthur who handed over the keys without a word.
“My father’s company is ruined,” Arthur said. “Who would want a contractor that has office buildings crumble?”
“It wasn’t natural,” Merlin reassured for lack of anything else to say. “They’ll publicly announce that it was a magical cause of collapse and it’ll be easily redeemed.”
Arthur’s laugh was hollow, “you really think my father will be okay with having magic associations?”
“I suppose not,” Merlin shrugged, “given the fact that he drugged your sister for so many years.”
“He didn’t drug her, Gaius did,” Arthur bit out, “I understand why she would be so bitter.”
Merlin paused, allowing the car to slow down immensely, “you’re saying it’s acceptable that she did that to my family?”
“No,” Arthur said, “I’m saying I understand why she would.”
“Right,” Merlin bit out, “and you understand why she would kill my cousin in her attempt to hurt me even though neither of us had anything to do with it?”
Arthur sighed heavily, Merlin had to pull his eyes from the road to look at him. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just lost my sister alright?”
Merlin felt his anger suddenly deflate. “She’s not dead if that’s what you mean,” he said. “They didn’t find anything. They probably used magic to save themselves.”
“Right,” Arthur said, “I forgot that she has that.”
Merlin let his hand fall to Arthur’s knee. He squeezed it gently and waited for Arthur’s hand to cover his own.
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“I just realized something,” Merlin said when they finally arrived at the pub and parked Arthur’s car.
“That would be?” Arthur asked a bit distant.
“The pub isn’t in danger any longer, for the first time in decades we don’t have to worry about it shutting down.”
“We,” Arthur asked, turning to face Merlin in the cramped quarters.
“Well,” Merlin said, face going hot with embarrassment. “I figured you wouldn’t mind if I invite you to come along for the ride every so often.”
“What ride would that be?” Arthur’s grin warranted no answer, aside from Merlin’s lips against his own.
Merlin was just getting into it when Arthur pulled away only slightly.
“You know it’s illegal to have such sharp cheekbones,” Arthur said, lips running parallel to Merlin’s chin and tracing up to the jut of cheekbone.
“No it’s not, I study law, I would know.”
“Well it should be, because it’s too damn hot,” but Arthur pulled away entirely after only one last soft peck of a kiss.
“Can I call you?” Arthur asked.
“What? What do you mean?” a cold ball of nervousness welled in Merlin’s chest.
“I... I just can’t do this right now. What with everything happening and such,” Arthur replied, rubbing at his eyes in a way that Merlin had grown to realize meant he was stressed more than tired.
“Come up to the garden with me,” Merlin said in lieu of an answer.
“And do what?”
“You’ve been there, you know how it feels right?” Arthur hesitated to nod. “Then trust me.”
Merlin jumped from the car and raced to Arthur’s door. He opened it and reached delicately for Arthur, broken in much the same way he was, but ready to help as much as they both needed it. Together they went up to the garden, hand in hand. The magic prickled through their fingers and Merlin was pretty sure he saw a few tomatoes instantly ripen out of the corner of his eye.
The End
