FIC: My Hero for delicirony

[fifty_fifty]

Title: My Hero
Pairing(s): Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Character(s): Merlin, Arthur Pendragon, Gaius
Rating: Mature
Word Count: 9405
Summary: A Superman AU of sorts.

Merlin Myddrin and Arthur Pendragon are best friends and roommates who work together at the Camelot Times. Merlin has been head over heels for Arthur since the moment they met. But all Arthur can talk about is the mysterious superhero who has recently started saving people across the city. Arthur is desperate to land an interview with the man and is under a lot of pressure from his father to get an interview or else lose his job.

Little does Arthur know that the mysterious hero Emrys is closer than he thinks...
Notes: delicirony, I really hope that this fulfills your prompt. I tried my best to write within the spirit of the prompts you gave, even though I didn't follow them exactly. I've always been a big Superman fan, so this is what really called to me in the end (although I did end up writing a 600+ word plot for a You've Got Mail AU, so who knows maybe that will eventually see the light of day if I get the time to write it). I tried to include as many of your likes as the boys would allow in the story. It turned out to be quite a lot longer than the 5000 word limit as this one got away from me, oops! I'm sure you'll all forgive me though, as it is Christmas. :)

Also a big thank you to my beta luxorien for the last minute beta. Very much appreciated!


Merlin closed the door to his wardrobe with a sigh. He muttered ‘Ic áhelle þis limwæde’ as his eyes flashed gold, ensuring that his costume was hidden away. He wiped his brow with the back of his hand. That was a close one. He almost didn’t get away in time, before the police, and all the plethora of publicity that came with them, arrived on the scene. He really needed to work on his teleporting. His “look over there!”, whilst he quickly legged it tactic was not going to continue to work for much longer.

Everyone was intrigued by the mysterious cloaked hero who had recently popped up in the city, doing impossible things to save people who were in peril. The first time it had been a pure accident. Just a case of being in the right place at the right time. A young boy had slipped his hand out of his mother’s grasp and dashed out into the road in front of a delivery lorry. Without even thinking about it, he had frozen the lorry in time, stopping it from barrelling down the street and then dashed out into the road to rescue the boy. When he had realised what he had done – only the lorry had been frozen, nothing else – he had paled and rushed off hopefully before anyone had had the chance to recognise him.

He had gone to Gaius in a panic, worried that he was going to end up kidnapped in the middle of the night and locked up in a secret government facility to be experimented on. As per usual, Gaius had brewed him a cup of Camomile tea and sat him down to calm him. He had reassured him as best as he could. Reminding him that this had been a one off thing, most people would have likely written it off as their eyes playing tricks on them and think nothing of it. The mother would surely just be glad that her child was safe. Then Gaius had said something that had set the whole superhero idea in motion. Perhaps the whole reason that he had grown up being able to perform such powerful magic was because he was meant to use it to help people. The whole idea of Emrys had spawned in Merlin’s mind that very night. With a little help from his mother and her sewing machine, they had then created a costume with a logo and everything. He had been trying to help people out as best he could with his magic ever since.

He had gone trawling through dusty volumes about magic and spells in old English and other dead languages (thank goodness for his BA in Ancient and Medieval History and MA in Medieval Studies), which had been extremely helpful in developing his magic. With some guidance from Gaius about where exactly to look for them and how best to utilise the spells, Merlin’s magic had just been growing stronger and more controlled. If only he could get to grips with that blasted teleportation spell.

With a sigh he opened the door to his room and went out to the living room of his flat which he shared with his best friend (and long-term crush) the Camelot Times up-and-coming reporter, Arthur Pendragon. He sat down heavily next to Arthur on the sofa.

Arthur glanced over at him, tearing his eyes from the local newscast on TV for a few seconds before turning his attention back to the screen. “Oh Merlin, I didn’t know you were in. I was sure the flat was empty when I came home.”

Merlin grinned with what he hoped was a harmless, dopey looking smile at him. “Nope. Been sleeping,” he said.

“Shh, shh!” hushed Arthur suddenly as he leaned forward and turned up the volume on the TV.

’...Once again we interrupt this newscast to bring you breaking news that the mysterious hero who has been saving the city of Camelot over recent weeks has been spotted once again, barely twenty minutes ago. This time, our dynamic and enigmatic hero was spotted stopping a bank robbery down on Tintagel Street. We bring you exclusive footage shot by one of our viewers on their phone...’

They cut to the footage and grainy images played of Merlin stopping the robbers by levitating the men into the air and holding them against the wall. The spell would leave them restrained against the wall until the police arrived. As soon as the first wails of police sirens could be heard he turned and ran from the scene.

Merlin swallowed and shrunk back into the sofa, nervously hoping that Arthur wouldn’t notice the similarities in the hero and his profiles.

“Amazing,” said Arthur, with a predatorial smile. “Absolutely incredible.” He paused the TV and squinted at the screen. Merlin held his breath and tried to not to move or do anything that might draw Arthur’s attention to him. “Looks like he might actually be pretty good-looking too, if I do say so myself. I just wish there were clearer pictures of the guy. I must meet him and find out who he is. Interview him for the paper. It would be great for the paper if I could.”

Merlin pushed his glasses up his nose with a finger and tuned out the rest of the newscast, pondering Arthur’s words. Arthur thought the hero was incredible and good-looking? Did that mean he thought that Merlin was too? If so, why had he never shown any interest in him?

***

“It’s not good enough, Arthur!” roared Uther, banging his fist down off the desk. “I need answers. WHO is this man? What does he want? WHY have you not brought me this information, Arthur? Call yourself a reporter! If you value your job and want to STAY a reporter for this newspaper YOU WILL GET AN INTERVIEW WITH THIS MAN BY THE END OF THE WEEK!”

Everyone on the newsfloor cringed as Uther bellowed at his son inside his glass office at the centre of the newsroom. Shortly after the shouting had ceased, Arthur exited Uther’s office, his face red and furious as he stormed straight toward the lifts. Merlin glanced up from his computer, his eyes following Arthur as he left the office. He slipped out of his chair and grabbed his jacket and then jogged over to the lift. He pushed his foot in between the lift doors to stopping them from closing as he slid in.

“You alright?” he asked Arthur, his eyes anxiously examining Arthur, trying to get a glimpse of his face.

Arthur didn’t look up, but merely grunted. “Go away, Merlin. You’re hardly helping any.”

“Kind of hard to leave when we’re in a lift,” pointed out Merlin. “Look, I heard your father and we’ll figure this out, okay? In fact, I think I might be able to help. You see, I have an uncle who’s a bit of a... hippy. He likes studying Paganism and the supernatural. Things like that. He enjoys studying things that can’t be explained. Maybe he can help us. I know he’s got a lot of connections and someone has to know who this hero is, right?”

Arthur looked up to him with a frown. “Paganism? Isn’t that witches and magic, that kind of bullshit? There are people who actually study that nonsense?”

Merlin shot him a glare and rolled his eyes. “Paganism is more than just magic, it’s a way of living and if you want Gaius’ help, you’d best not refer to his life’s work as bullshit. Look, do you want to try and get an interview with this… guy, or not?”

“I don’t have a choice, Merlin. Come on, I guess anything is worth a shot right now. Let’s go see this uncle of yours.”

***

Merlin and Arthur sat at the table in Gaius’ kitchen, each with a cup of herbal tea in hand. Merlin grinned as he looked around him. On the walls were all sorts of oddities and dried herbs, along with shelves full of strangle looking liquids, salves and lotions all labelled in his uncle’s scrawling handwriting. Merlin’s uncle made his living through selling alternative and herbal medications over the internet and from a small shopfront that they had passed through on their way into the house. He was a qualified doctor who had retired about 10 years ago now and used his knowledge of the conventional to combine with his knowledge of the unconventional for his special remedies (and if he also added magic to some of them, well who believes in magic these days?).

“So you need to know who this mysterious man is who’s been running around the city saving people? A hero, some might say..?” said Gaius, raising his ominous Eyebrow of Doom at Merlin.

Merlin had the good grace to blush and look away.

Arthur looked up from the cup of tea which he’d been examining with a look of disgust. He pushed it aside as he nodded at Gaius. “Yes, I need to interview him, find out what he’s about, why he’s here. Where has he come from? If he continues to run from the media, the world is just going to go crazy trying to hunt him down. I can help him get the privacy he seems to want if he meets with me and does an interview. Leaving him free to do what he does best. Do you think that you can help me to track him down?”

Merlin shifted uncomfortably and avoided Gaius’ piercing stare by choosing that moment to take a large gulp of his tea. “Oh well, hmm. Yes, I don’t think that will be a problem.”

Arthur raised his eyebrow at Gaius, curiously. “You know who he is!” he exclaimed, slamming a hand down on the table excitedly. “Don’t you?”

Gaius drew himself up straighter and met Arthur face on. “I have my suspicions...”

Merlin coughed. “Okay, well. Thanks, Gaius. You’ll get in touch then with the whole… hero… man… thing later then? It’s getting late. We really should be going,” he said, standing and pulling on his coat as he hastened to get Arthur out of Gaius’ house and out from under his uncle’s accusing stare.

***

The night around him was dark and the air was cold and crisp as it wrapped around him. It was nights like this that made Merlin regret the decision to go with spandex for his costume (“Well, if we go for spandex, they most definitely will not be looking at your face, that’s for sure!” “Oh my God, MOTHER!”). Surely there must be some kind of merit to making a superhero costume from thermals, he thought as he suppressed a shiver. Even if they would hamper his movements and weigh him down. Plus they didn’t look at all superhero-y. The longer that he lay in wait though, the more appealing they started to become. At least he had his cloak, which he drew closer around him to try and contain his body heat.

He was waiting crouched on the roof above the meeting point he had relayed to Arthur earlier in the day. He had told him that Emrys would meet him there. In turn, Arthur had informed his father of the meeting. Uther had tried to insist that Arthur bring a photographer with him for a snap of the elusive hero. But Arthur had managed to deter him, saying that the man had told him to come alone and surely they shouldn’t turn their nose up at this kind of exclusive by scaring him away with too much publicity. Arthur had left work early that day to run off to the gym to work off his excess excitement at knowing he was going to be meeting the mysterious superhero of Camelot that very night. That had suited Merlin perfectly as it had allowed him to prepare himself as best he could and make sure that he was there well in advance to spot Arthur when he arrived.

The door to the outdoor smoking space swung open and Merlin glanced down from his perch above to watch as Arthur made his way over to the railing to look over the city. With a deep breath he hopped down from the rooftop almost silently and walked over to Arthur, carefully positioning himself partly in the shadows. He cleared his throat and Arthur startled, his breath misting in the cold. Merlin’s own breath caught in his throat as Arthur stared at him, partly in fear that Arthur would recognise him and partly because of how beautiful he looked, the night’s light bathing him in silver.

“I… um… thank you,” said Arthur. “For meeting me. My, uh… my friend Merlin said your name is Emrys? Is that what the E stands for?” Arthur’s eyes traced the emblem on Emrys chest, before his gaze returned to the man’s face. His gaze was intense and searching as he examined him.

Merlin folded his arms over his chest and tried his best to look confident and calm. “Yes, it means immortal,” he said, making his voice deeper than usual to disguise it to Arthur.

Arthur’s eyebrows rose a little in surprise, his lips parted as he tried to compose his thoughts. “Really? So are you..?”

Emrys sighed and then shrugged a little. “Well, I’m not really sure. But there have been… instances where I think I should have died.”

“Such as?” Arthur prompted with a slight nod.

Emrys let out a low chuckle. “I fear that might be telling you a little too much, Mr Pendragon.”

Arthur hummed to himself. “Yes, I guess I can see that. Can I still ask you some more questions? Of course, you can decline to answer any you deem too personal.”

Emrys stood firm, arms still folded and nodded his head.

“So, I guess I should start with asking where exactly are you from?” said Arthur, pulling out his phone to record the conversation.

“No,” said Emrys sharply, raising his hand. “No recording of any kind.”

Arthur sighed and tried his best not to roll his eyes. He felt inside his coat pocket to pull out an old battered notebook and pen. “Okay, sure. I understand. So, where were you born?”

“What do you mean?” asked Emrys with a frown. “You want my place of birth?”

“Well, I mean were you born here, or… on another planet.”

Merlin brought a hand up to his mouth to stifle a laugh, Arthur thought he was an alien? He shook with silent laughter as he struggled to straighten out his face and then he replied: “Oh, I was born on Earth. In the UK.”

“Oh,” said Arthur. He sounded disappointed. “So how is it that you can do all the… well, I don’t know exactly what to call it. But the things that you do, the levitation, being able to lift people without touching them, restraining them? When did you know you could do these things? How did you figure out that you could do these things?”

Emrys couldn’t help grinning at Arthur’s over enthusiasm. “I don’t know really. I’ve just… I’ve always been able to do them. I could move things around with my mind before I could even walk, without even thinking about it. I know that no one really believes in it now. But well, I’ve always just called it... magic?”

Arthur blew out a breath and looked at him sceptically. “Magic? That’s what you’re going with?”

“Spells sometimes help to shape the magic.” Emrys held out his hands and cupped them together in front of his face and then whispered “Léoht,” into them. His eyes flared with gold and a ball of bright, blue light formed in his hands. He let it float there between the two of them, lighting Arthur’s face with the glow.

Arthur hesitantly reached his hand out to touch it, his hand went right through it. “That’s… incredible,” he said as he examined the ball of light to look for anything that might be generating it above or below them and waved his hand through it a few more times. It was cool on his hand when he tried to touch it, when it looked like it should be warm. He looked up from the light into Emrys’ eyes. “You’ve always been able to do things like this?”

Emrys nodded and let the ball of light fade to a dim glow and then he left it floating above them.

“Why have you decided to use this… ‘magic’ to help people?”

“Well, I’ve always thought that there had to be a reason I was like this, a reason that I was different. I grew up thinking there was something wrong with me. Like I was some kind of monster for what I could do and the things that I could make happen. It seemed like too much for one person to be able to do. But then, a few months ago, I was able to use my magic to save someone, and then it all seemed to click,” Emrys face lit up with a smile so happy and joyful that it made Arthur’s heart skip a beat. “I suddenly knew that was the reason why I could do the things I can do.”

Arthur concentrated on scribbling down Emrys’ reply to his question. He smiled as he looked up from his notebook and noticed Emrys’ eyes as they looked him up and down, watching him closely. Emrys was definitely checking him out. With a smirk Arthur decided to give Emrys the once over too. He was as gorgeous in person as he’d been on the grainy TV footage. Better in fact because in the low light, beneath the hood of his cloak, Arthur could make out that Emrys’ eyes were blue and he had a thick head of dark hair that was peaking out from beneath the hood and over the top of the mask that concealed most of the upper part of his face. Then all of a sudden, he felt his gaze just slip away without his permission. He frowned and focused on Emrys’ face again. Determined to keep making observations about him. His jawline was chiselled and well-defined. But his lips… they were pink and plump and just asking for a kiss. A kiss Arthur desperately wanted to give him. Arthur’s gaze rested a moment longer on Emrys’ lips, waiting to see if his gaze would be pushed away again, before flicking back up to his eyes. What little of Emrys’ face that he could see had flushed a beautiful shade of red.

Arthur cleared his throat awkwardly. “So, what made you do this interview? You’ve been avoiding press and the authorities for weeks.”

Emrys shifted uneasily. “I.. uh, I don’t like attention. I don’t want any praise. I’m just doing what I can to help. But I know that people are curious about me. I had a friend ask me to do this interview as a favour to them, otherwise I’m not sure that I would ever have done an interview. But I owe him a few favours. So here I am. I hope that once people know a little more, know that I’m not a threat, that they will give me some more space to help.”

“Well, thank you then, for giving me that honour.”

“You’re welcome, Arthur.”

Damn. Merlin kicked himself for his slip up. He’d meant to stay aloof and impersonal referring to Arthur as Mr Pendragon. But Arthur had just slipped out due to habit. He glanced up at the roof, he should go. It would be a mistake to stay any longer. He’d already said more than he had planned to and Arthur had spent much more time looking at him than he’d intended. But when Arthur had caught him staring at him… there had just been this spark between them and he’d been enraptured by him, as if they were both caught in a spell. But then again, he’d always been hopelessly attracted to Arthur. Arthur who was so honestly good and earnest. So ridiculously noble and who desperately wanted to keep the job that he had more than earned through years of effort and hard work, trying to live up to his fathers never-ending and unrealistic expectations. He’d just had to answer Arthur’s questions as best he could.

“You have to go?” asked Arthur looking disappointed. He started tucking his notebook away in the pocket inside his coat.

Merlin nodded, not trusting himself to blurt out anything else that might reveal himself to Arthur.

Arthur grinned at him and took a step closer. “Okay. But before you go. I was wondering, off the record… are you… dating anyone?”

Beneath his mask that disguised his forehead, nose, prominent cheekbones and ears, Merlin felt himself flush again. Was Arthur flirting with him? “I… no. I’m not,” he managed to choke out. His voice sounded raspy and his throat was dry.

“Do you want to be?” asked Arthur, his eyes flickering down to Emrys’ lips and back to his eyes as he leaned toward him.

’Oh shit, I can’t be dealing with Arthur asking me out like this. Emrys. He thinks I’m Emrys. He’s asking out Emrys. I need to go, I have to go,’ thought Merlin and he hurriedly took a running leap, swinging himself up onto the roof with ease. He licked his lips and bit his lip. God, he was going to regret saying this. “Maybe,” he replied and then ran off.

***

Arthur grinned with an ever-so-slightly-though-he-would-deny-it-to-his-dying-day swoony smile as he flopped down on the sofa.

“Hey,” said Merlin softly as he shifted a little to give him more room. “You’re home late.”

“Mmm,” said Arthur, distractedly. “Yeah. Was meeting Emrys, remember?”

Merlin turned to face him and watched Arthur’s profile. “Yeah? How was it?”

Arthur couldn’t hide the smile that hinted at the corner of his mouth. “Fine. Okay, more than fine. I got some great information. At least enough of an exclusive to make Father happy. And well, he’s quite pleasant to look at.”

Merlin’s heart-rate quickened. “Really? I always thought he looked a bit pasty. Scrawny. On the TV.”

Arthur turned to look at Merlin and shook his head in disagreement.

“No, seriously Merlin. The guy is fit! He leapt and climbed up onto the roof of the Camelot Times building. I know he looks a bit of the skinny side. But he’s actually pretty muscular, that spandex doesn’t hide much, if you know what I mean...” And Arthur winked. He actually fucking winked. “He’s just a bit slighter than guys like me. And his hair...” Merlin touched his hair subconsciously. “Let’s just say, I might have a type and he might fit it.”

Merlin frowned. “Haven’t you mostly dated blondes? Vivian, Elena..?”

Arthur shrugged and had a far off look as he thought back through his exes. “Nope. There was Gwen remember, when I was at school. We dated for almost a year before Lancelot transferred from Chile, we all know what happened from there. Love at first sight for those two. And there was Gwaine – although we all know that was ill-advised. Plus Leon was the first guy I kissed and he’s ginger. Also a mistake. No, the next time I see Emrys. I’m going to ask him out properly. Do you think your Uncle’s source would be able to contact him again?”

Merlin gnawed on his bottom lip. “Maybe Emrys is straight, though? You know, into girls.” He made a motion that seemed to be miming breasts as he pulled a face to show his distaste at that.

Arthur threw an arm around Merlin’s shoulder and pulled him close. “Oh Merlin, my friend. If you had seen the way he looked at this...” he used his free hand to indicate up and down his body. “You wouldn’t even be questioning that. He’s definitely gay. And totally interested. I wonder what he’s like in bed?”

Merlin freed himself from Arthur’s arm. “Um. Beer?” he asked, not waiting for Arthur’s reply. Just needing to get away from him.

Jesus. Why on Earth wouldn’t Arthur shut up about stupid Emrys and how hot he was already? He went into the kitchen and pulled the beers out of the fridge, pressing one against his forehead. He swore he was going mad. Why the fuck was Arthur so gone on Emrys when he was standing right here? He had been right under Arthur’s nose ever since they’d gone to school together. Then they had gone on to college and even attended the same university. After Uni they had decided that they were so used to each others quirks as flatmates it would be silly to start over with a new flatmate, so why not continue to share a flat? Why had Arthur never noticed him? All he knew was that right now he couldn’t bear to hear another word of praise for Emrys from Arthur’s lips without wanting to throttle the pair of them. Even if one of them was himself. Dear God, this alter-ego thing was getting complicated.

He went back into the front room, his gut churning, he wasn’t sure he could keep doing this. He passed Arthur the beers and sat down on the coffee table. “Look, Arthur. There’s something I need to talk to you about...”

Arthur looked up from his laptop and grinned at him. “Hmm? Can it wait for a bit? I’m getting this all written down whilst it’s still fresh.”

“Oh, um,” Merlin wrung his hands. Perhaps this wasn’t such a good idea. Maybe it would be best to leave this for a bit. Let Arthur have his moment with this exclusive he was writing. “Sure. Yeah, no problem. Actually, I think I’m going to turn in, but uh, you should definitely have a drink, or two even.” He gestured to the beers Arthur had placed down next to him. “To celebrate.”

“Mmm. Yeah,” said Arthur distractedly, finishing typing a sentence before looking up again. “Oh, and thanks, Merlin. Without you, I’d still be trying to meet him. You’re a good mate.”

Merlin stood up and shoved his hands into the pockets of his hoodie as Arthur turned his attention back to his laptop. He pasted a smile on his face and tried his best to sound normal and cheerful as he felt his heart sinking into his boots. “Glad I could help!”

***

Merlin wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, breathing hard. He ducked behind the wall and took a moment to try and regroup himself. God this woman was tough and powerful.

“Oh Emrys, are you hiding now?” she taunted, flicking her long dark hair. “We’ve barely even begun and you’re already on the run. I will get that stone, Emrys. I swear it.”

He steeled himself and then pushed himself to standing, reaching out a hand in front of him with a spell on the tip of his tongue.

“Scildan!” he yelled as the woman screamed and flung her hand out at him.

“Forbærne! Ácwele!” she screeched, her eyes flaring gold.

But Merlin’s shield held firmly against the fireball as he pushed back against the flames and tried to advance on her.

“Ongebringan, Enchantress,” he shouted and his magic started to drag her near. Merlin hoped he could end this quickly, conscious that there were people out on the streets cowering from the fight. The Enchantress had been taking advantage of the fact that Emrys would do whatever it took to save them.

At that very moment she threw another fireball towards a group of people hiding behind a bus. Merlin flung out his other arm - “Scildan!” - and pulled up another shield to protect them.

“Fleoge seax forþ!” she screamed and an ornate dagger hurtled towards him, piercing through his shield like a knife though butter.

Merlin gasped and felt his knees give way beneath him as a sharp pain that blossomed in his shoulder. His shields failed and The Enchantress snatched the stone from his belt and then fled in a gust of wind.

He yanked the blade from his shoulder as he collapsed to the ground, trying to catch the breath that had been torn from him and hoped he wasn’t loosing too much blood. His head started to spin and he knew he needed to get away before it was too late. The first responders would be here any second.

“Emrys? Emrys? Are you okay?”

Merlin blinked in confusion and tried to push himself to sitting as a familiar face came into focus. “Arthur?” he asked.

Arthur pushed him back to the ground. “Yes, it’s me. Look, Emrys. Stay still, you’re injured. The paramedics will be here soon.”

“No!” said Merlin, pushing himself up and pulling Arthur by the sleeve of his shirt, his eyes roving and frantic. “I can’t be here. Arthur, please. Help me. Get me away from here.”

Arthur swallowed nervously and then nodded and pulled Emrys to his feet. “Yeah, come on. My car’s not far from here.”

***

Merlin shivered as he came too and looked around in confusion as he tried to get his bearings. He was home. How did he end up home? Did he run away after The Enchantress? He couldn’t remember. He shifted and immediately gasped as a bolt of pain shot down his shoulder and rankled through his body. Fuck. He remembered now. The knife. Shit. He just left it there, covered in his blood. If anyone decided to DNA test that he was fucked. But as he closed his eyes and gritted his teeth against the pain, he could only think that right now that was probably the least of his worries.

Slowly he tried to sit up. Only to feel a strong hand push him back down. He stayed there, in too much pain to fight back.

“Easy there. You passed out.”

Merlin shot up again when he recognised Arthur’s voice, regardless of the pain. Arthur had brought him home. Did he know? He immediately brought a hand to his face, his hood had fallen down, but his mask seemed to still be in place.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t peek,” called Arthur. “Besides, we just got in. Fortunately my roommate Merlin is out. Not that I think he would mind, given that he helped me find you. But still, better to have fewer questions asked. You fainted when we got to the car.”

Merlin frowned. He didn’t remember that happening at all. Then he noticed that something else felt weird and strange. Yes his shoulder was killing him, but he felt empty somehow, as if someone had scooped his heart right out of his chest. He pressed his fingers to his heart. It was still there, beating away. So what was it? Then it suddenly hit him. His magic. His magic was gone. That was the hollow feeling. He tried to reach for it, but there was nothing there. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, trying not to panic. As soon as he was finished here with Arthur he’d call Gaius. Surely Gaius could fix this.

Arthur came into the room then, with a clean towel, a bowl of water and the first aid kit tucked under his arm. He sat down on the coffee table and passed Emrys a glass of water and then deposited the rest of the items next to him. He popped out a few pills and pressed them into Emrys’ hand. “Sorry, paracetamol is the strongest thing we have.”

Then he pushed aside Emrys’ cloak and examined the gash on his shoulder. “This is pretty nasty. You should probably get it seen to. Professionally. But I can clean it and probably patch you up temporarily. You might need to lose this though,” he said pulling lightly at the spandex suit. “Sorry.”

Merlin complied without protest, wincing as he undid his cloak. He used his good arm undo the back of his suit and pushed it down to his waist to completely expose his shoulder and then he let himself be tended to by Arthur.

***

Arthur took Emrys’ shoulder in his hand and marvelled at the heat radiating from him and the feel of firm muscle beneath his fingers. He’d never been squeamish when it came to things like blood and injuries and he was thankful for it now as it allowed him to check out Emrys up close and personal whilst he cleaned his injury almost on autopilot.

He was totally right, Emrys was fit and muscled in all the right places. He’d not been able to make out too much of his body when they’d met before as his gaze had kept sliding off of him, like water off a ducks back. Plus he’d been wearing his cloak and had it gathered around him. But now, he seemed to be able to look to his hearts content. Emrys’ shoulders were broad and his arms well defined without being excessive. And his chest… well, he was lucky that Arthur was a master of self-control. Because a lesser man would be drooling over that chest. Arthur felt a bit guilty for ogling over an injured man, but when else would he get the chance? Besides, he knew that he would feel a hell of a lot more guilty later when he took himself in hand to thoughts of Emrys like this, spread out beneath him. But that was for later.

Emrys was quiet throughout the exchange, alternately gritting his teeth and biting his lip against the pain in a way that seemed so very familiar, but Arthur just couldn’t quite place it. His skin was pale almost white. Perhaps from the shock and blood loss. Arthur watched him closely with quiet concern. He longed to offer the man the sofa to sleep on, but he knew he would decline. His hand itched to run through Emrys’ inky black hair, to soothe him to sleep. Now that he could look at him properly, he felt like he already knew the man somehow, and he still longed to press a kiss to those lips. Arthur shook himself from his thoughts and cleared his throat.

“All done,” he pronounced, wiping his hands on the towel.

Emrys stood gingerly and struggled to pull up his suit and refasten his cloak, He pulled up his hood and held out his hand. “Thanks,” he said as he grasped Arthur’s hand and squeezed it gently. “I should be going.”

“Yes,” agreed Arthur. “I mean you’re always welcome to stay here… but...”

“No, no!” exclaimed Emrys. “Thank you though. I’ll see you around, Arthur.” He grinned but it a weak excuse for a smile. Then clutching his bad arm walked swiftly to the door of the flat and let himself out.

***

After a quick phone call to Gaius, begging him to come buy him some clothes and check his shoulder, Merlin made his way back to the flat and quietly let himself in. He was exhausted and there was still something seriously wrong with his magic. Gaius had examined his shoulder and used a small healing spell on it to heal the worst of the damage and reduce the pain. He’d told him that it should heal up perfectly if he rubbed it with one of his special salves enhanced with magic twice a day. But he’d been unable to explain the loss of Merlin’s magic. He told Merlin that he felt sure that he had likely simply exhausted his magic in his stand off with the Enchantress. Merlin wasn’t so sure. He’d been exhausted before and his magic had never been affected like this. He’d never felt so empty inside. Was this what other people felt like all the time? He shivered and huddled further into his new hoodie and quietly pushed the door closed.

“Merlin!” exclaimed Arthur, shooting up from where he’d been laying on the sofa. “You’re so late. I was worried when you didn’t come home. Where’ve you been?”

Merlin hesitated like a deer caught in the headlights as he frantically tried to think of an excuse. “Oh yeah, sorry. Met Gwaine on my way home. Ended up going out for a drink and from there we ended up going out-out. You know how Gwaine is.”

Merlin made his way to the kitchen and poured himself a drink whilst he kept up a stream of chatter, trying not to draw attention to his injured arm. “Anyway, I think that I might grab a shower and turn in. I’m knackered. See you in the morning, yeah?” He pushed past a confused and concerned Arthur and went to his room to grab his towel before escaping to the shower to wash off the dirt, sweat, grime and blood from earlier in the evening.

***

Arthur sat in the front room, frowning at the way Merlin had just brushed him off with an obvious lie. He knew Merlin. They had been friends for so long that he knew the exact way his shoulders hunched and drew in together when he was lying, the way his expression would twist and he’d plaster on a fake smile to pretend everything was fine. He would bet on his mothers ring that the story of going out with Gwaine was false. But why would Merlin need to lie to him? It just didn’t make sense. Merlin’s door clicked open and Arthur quickly turned his focus to his laptop on the coffee table to read over his article and spot any big grammatical errors before he sent it off to the copy editors on night-shift. He listened as Merlin padded down the hall and the door to the bathroom was pulled closed.

Shortly afterwards when he was happy with his article about Emrys and The Enchantress’s fight and had sent it off for editing, he closed down his laptop and decided to head to bed. As he went towards his room the door to the bathroom opened and Merlin stepped out in a cloud of steam. His hair still wet and plastered to his forehead, dripping into his eyes and he was clutching a towel loosely around his waist. Arthur frowned with confusion as his eyes followed a droplet of water and it dripped from Merlin’s hair and down his lean, toned body. Fuck. This was what Merlin was hiding under his hoodies and oversized t-shirts? How on Earth was he so fucking fit? He had a lightly defined six pack and a gorgeous v where his hips met his body. He swallowed as his tongue suddenly felt too big for his mouth. What the actual fuck? How did he not know Merlin was this hot? He tried to remember the last time he’d seen Merlin with this little clothing on. Probably when they were back at secondary school together showering for PE. Arthur’s cock twitched in his jeans as he guiltily remembered wanking to the thought of him and Merlin in the school showers together back when he was a teen. He’d done his best to push those thoughts from his mind over the years. But he’d be lying if he said he never thought of Merlin like that any more because he did. But that didn’t mean he’d fancied Merlin did it? Everyone had the occasional thoughts like that about mates every now and again, right?

Finally, he tore his eyes away from where the towel was precariously draped over Merlin’s crotch and travelled back up Merlin’s well built chest, dusted with a nice helping of dark hair, to look him in the eyes. Merlin’s eyes were wide-open with shock and were a more startling shade of blue now that he was looking at Merlin without his usual black-rimmed glasses. His eyes flicked over Merlin’s chest again. He frowned to himself as something clicked into place. Emrys. Merlin’s chest looked exactly like Emrys’s. His eyes flicked up to Merlin’s shoulder and sure enough, there was stab wound there. It was well on it’s way to healing, looking days old rather than hours old, but surely it couldn’t be a coincidence that it was in the exact same place that Emrys had been stabbed that day?

“Sorry. ‘Cuse me,” murmured Merlin as he blushed and pushed past Arthur to disappear into his room.

***

Arthur flopped down on the sofa. Fuck. Fuck. He knew now why the way Emrys had bitten his lip had seemed so familiar. He had watched Merlin do the exact same thing hundreds of times when he was trying to focus on something. Merlin was Emrys. Merlin was Emrys. Geeky, gangly, good-natured, Merlin Myddrin whom he’d known since school was Emrys. And he was fucking hot! He buried his face in the sofa with a groan when he remembered what he’d said to Merlin about Emrys. About how Emrys was just his type. Shit. That meant Merlin was just his type. How had he not realised that Merlin was his type? Merlin had been sitting here right under his nose all this time.

Finally, Arthur decided to head off to bed, where he most definitely did not have the best wank of his life lusting over his best friend and Emrys seducing him together.

***

Over the course of the next week, Merlin and Arthur performed a bit of a dance around each other in order to avoid being alone together. Merlin spent long hours being miserable away from the flat at his Uncle’s house trying to figure out what had happened to his magic and Arthur rushed off to his room whenever Merlin was home, feeling guilty about both the inappropriate thoughts about his best friend and confused by the realisation that he was Emrys. He had also been simultaneously trying to observe him, hoping to catch Merlin doing something magical to confirm that he really was Emrys. He was beginning to doubt himself. Surely, surely he would have had to have caught Merlin doing something magical in all the years they’d been living together, wouldn’t he? Maybe he was wrong after all.

He decided to trail Merlin and find out what he was doing with all his time out of the flat. Emrys hadn’t made any kind of appearance in over a week. So if Merlin was actually Emrys, why wasn’t he actually saving people or stopping crimes anymore? He needed to find out if he was in some kind of trouble.

He followed Merlin to his Uncle’s house and quickly caught the door to the shop before it swung closed, knowing that Gaius had a buzzer in the back of his house to alert him to any customers who entered the shop. He snuck in through the hallway and tucked himself into a small alcove near the kitchen where he could hear Merlin and his uncle talking in low voices.

“Do you really think it will work, Gaius? I’ve been trawling through books all week and even called in sick yesterday and today as well so that I could try and decipher more of them.”

There was a rustle of papers and pages being turned. Arthur could imagine the old man crouched over some dusty old book, glasses perched on his nose. “I think it’s always worth a try, Merlin. This spell says it will break many curses and nothing else we’ve tried has worked yet. We will need to brew a potion and then perform a spell on it. Then you will need to add a lock of hair from your hearts true love and then you both need to drink the potion at... yes, midnight.”

There was more rustling and the sound of Gaius shuffling around the room and shifting glass jars around. “The potion seems fairly straight forward,” called Gaius. “I’m just checking my inventory, but I appear to have all the ingredients. I’ll brew it for you and I think I should be able to perform the spell on it. But the lock of hair and drinking of the potions will be down to you, my boy.”

“My hearts true love? Who is that? And how am I supposed to get a lock of hair and then get them to drink a potion a midnight?” said Merlin. He sounded a bit desperate and exasperated. Arthur could just imagine him pushing up those stupid hipster glasses and tugging on his hair.

There as an uncomfortable pause.

“Oh no. Don’t you give me the Eyebrow, Gaius. It is not Arthur.”

“Come now, Merlin. Your Mother, myself and anyone else who possesses a pair of eyes can see it. Even if you and Arthur can’t. You’ve been dancing around this for years and years now.”

Merlin sighed. “I can’t Gaius. I just can’t. Besides, he can’t be my true love, he’s completely head over heels for Emrys. It’s all ‘Oh Emrys is SOOO handsome and fit, Merlin. He’s so brave and strong, Merlin,’ all the bloody time,” said Merlin in a mocking falsetto.

“Then I fear you might be without your magic for a long time.”

There was a thudding noise and then Merlin’s voice, muffled, said. “Fine, alright. I’ll try to get the hair and then see if I can get him to drink the potion. But I’m telling you, I’m not his true love. Emrys is. Or at least the idea of Emrys.”

Gaius chuckled. “My dear boy, I do believe this whole super hero business has addled your brain. Both you and Emrys are the same person. If Arthur likes Emrys, that means he also likes you.”

Arthur didn’t dare stay any longer, he’d heard enough. So not only had Merlin hidden this whole magic business from him, he’d also apparently been harbouring feelings for him. Oh when they both got home, he was going to love making him squirm.

***

Merlin returned home that evening to a dark flat illuminated only by the TV which lit up Arthur’s profile as he sat on the sofa watching the evening’s news. Apparently The Enchantress had been on yet another rampage.

’...And the people of Camelot are asking themselves; Just where IS Emrys?’

Arthur looked over at Merlin and turned down the TV. “Hey,” he said and then sniffed the air eagerly. “Is that a curry from the Taj?”

“Yup,” said Merlin, shucking off his shoes and coat and then putting the bag of food down on the coffee table. Arthur immediately started diving into his usual chicken jalfrezi and Merlin started on his aloo gobi. “So, watching the news?”

“Yup,” replied Arthur around a mouthful of curry. “They’re talking about Emrys. No one’s seen him in days. I have to admit, I’m a bit concerned. He was injured in that last fight with Enchantress. I wonder if he died?”

Merlin startled beside him. “What? No, I’m sure he’s fine.”

“It would be a shame if he did, or if he’d decided to hang up his cape. I probably shouldn’t tell you this, Merlin. But you are my best friend, I’m sure I can trust you. I feel like I can tell you anything at all. That’s just the kind of friendship you and I have.”

Arthur paused to have a mouthful of curry. “Anyway, you remember the other night when Emrys got injured? I helped to patch him up and I’ll tell you what. He is just as fit as last time, so solid. Between the two of us, I might have had a few dreams about him and I…” Arthur added a wink for extra effect. “He’s it Merlin. I’m sure of it. He’s The One.” He followed it up with a dreamy sigh. “Shame I couldn’t be sharing a flat with him rather than you, Merls. I wouldn’t mind waking up with Emrys every morning!”

Out of the corner of his eye he could see Merlin’s face go stormy and flush an angry red.

“Well, you know what Arthur!” said Merlin standing to tower over Arthur, his arms on his hips. “If you want it so badly why don’t I just move out and you can move him in, huh? After all, who would want to live with goofy, gangly, boring old Merlin? It’s not like I was there for you the first time a girl broke up with you, or when you first realised you might also like guys, or all the countless nights I made sure you got home safely after getting ridiculously drunk. If this is all the thanks I get for being your best friend then maybe I will move out and leave you and Emrys,” he injected the word Emrys with as much venom as he could, his face was bright red now, “to it!”

“Merlin...” began Arthur as he stood up and held Merlin by the forearms. “Calm down. It was just a joke. Besides,” said Arthur slyly, “it’s not like either you or Emrys would be moving your things very far would you?” He let go of Merlin’s arms and folded his own across his chest as he started to glare at him. “Or at all.”

Merlin spluttered. “What? I- I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he stuttered.

“Oh, I think you do,” Arthur said with raised eyebrow and a dangerous edge to his voice. He was going to get a confession out of Merlin if it was the last thing he did. “I think you know exactly what I’m talking about.”

Merlin took a step back and shook his head. “I- I really don’t, Arthur.”

“Merlin, please,” said Arthur, reaching a hand out to him. “Please don’t lie to me.”

Merlin sighed and looked at the floor, he could never keep the truth from Arthur when he looked at him like that. “Yes, alright. I- I don’t know how you know. But. Yes. I- I’m Emrys.”

Arthur had moved closer and lifted Merlin’s chin with his hand so that he was looking him in the eye.

“Thank you,” he murmured. He looked Merlin’s lips the very same lips that had taunted him on Emrys and back up to his eyes, before he leaned in and softly pressed his lips to Merlin’s.

Merlin froze and pulled back abruptly, looking shocked. “Arthur? What are you doing?”

Arthur frowned at him. “I’d have thought that would be obvious, Merlin. You have been kissed before haven’t you?”

Merlin spluttered indignantly and flailed his arms. “Of course I have! You know I have! But- but I mean, you love Emrys, not me.”

“Oh my God Merlin, you idiot. Don’t you get it? If I’m in love with Emrys, then I’m in love with you. Because you’re the same person. Just because I was so oblivious that I couldn’t see you right under my nose, doesn’t mean I don’t love you. Just that I never realised that I loved you.”

“Well, you are a bit of an oblivious prat.”

“Oi!” Arthur protested.

Merlin pressed a finger to Arthur’s lips. “And you’re right, I am a bit of an idiot. But why don’t you kiss me again?”

Arthur grinned and stepped forward, letting his arms slide around Merlin’s waist to pull him close, he slid his hand under Merlin’s t-shirt to feel the warm soft skin beneath. “I think I could manage that.” Arthur pulled him close and kissed him again, licking along Merlin’s bottom lip. Merlin groaned and slid his hand into Arthur’s hair. Finally, finally Arthur wanted him, finally, finally he saw him for who he really was and finally, finally Arthur was kissing him.

A frantic beeping of the alarm on Merlin’s phone broke their kiss. “Shit!” exclaimed Merlin. He pulled out two small vials and yanked on Arthur’s hair, pulling a small chunk of it out.

“Ow!” yelled Arthur, clutching at his head. “What the fuck was that for!?”

Merlin ignored him as he poked the hair into one of the vials and then shook it. “Drink this,” said Merlin, pushing a vial into Arthur hands.

“Oh!” said Arthur. “The spell to get your magic back?”

Merlin coughed and choked on the potion. “How did you know about that?” he gasped.

“You’re not the only one who can sneak around Merlin. Once I had my suspicions I had to confirm them. I’m a reporter, remember? I followed you to Gaius’ house to find out what you’d been doing for the past week.”

“I can’t believe you followed me!”

“I can’t believe you’ve had magic all your life and have been running around like an idiot saving people from danger when you trip over your own feet half the time.”

Merlin huffed. “Alright, alright. Good point. Now are you going to drink that or not?”

Arthur smirked at him and glanced down with distaste at the foul-looking potion in the vial. “Depends. What’s in it for me, Merlin...” His lips curled up in a typical Arthur fashion when he was being an arse.

“Arthur! Come on, don’t be a prat,” said Merlin throwing his hands up into the air.

“No, no, I’m doing this for you. Why don’t you tell me what you, can do for me?” wheedled Arthur, raising an eyebrow suggestively.

“Arthur, seriously...” said Merlin.

“Oh, but I am being serious, Merlin,” teased Arthur with a grin as he pressed Merlin down onto the sofa and rubbed his nose along Merlin’s neck.

“Oh,” said Merlin softly, his eyes widening. “Y-yeah. I think we can come to an arrangement.”

Arthur smiled into the crook of Merlin’s neck. “In that case...” he downed the potion with a grimace. “Now, where were we?”

Beneath him, Merlin gasped and arched his back as his eyes glowed golden and his magic returned back to him. He clawed wildly at Arthur’s back. “Shit. Arthur, shit. I- God!”

He pulled Arthur’s face to him and kissed him. The excess magic pouring off of Merlin flooded through Arthur standing every hair on end, fizzing and zinging along his skin. He gasped and bucked against Merlin as he was brought to an instant hardness. “Fuck!”

Merlin grasped at Arthur’s arse and pulled him flush against him as he thrust himself up, desperately trying to get some friction against his own aching cock. Arthur moaned and bit his lip above him, he bracketed Merlin’s hips with his knees and pushed up Merlin’s t-shirt and started tugging at his zipper. “God, come on, come on,” he gasped. Merlin scrabbled to undo the button of Arthur’s jeans and tried to shove them down past his hips.

“Hang on, hang on,” said Arthur tugging down his jeans to release his cock. Merlin lifted his arse then used his magic to push down his own trousers and boxers to free his own achingly hard length. He wrapped a hand around it and gave it a few quick tugs to take the edge off. He pushed his magic to curl around Arthur and undo the buttons of his shirt, exposing his chest. “Mmm, better.”

“Very judicious use of magic, Merlin.”

“I promise you won’t be saying that later,” said Merlin, rubbing his magic up and down Arthur’s spine. Merlin hissed as he took them both in hand and fucked up into his fist. Arthur was warm, hard and yet silky soft against him. Arthur rested his hands either side of Merlin and slowly thrusted into Merlin’s fist. Merlin groaned and threw his head back against the arm of the sofa, exposing the length of his neck to Arthur. Arthur hummed happily and kissed along the tendon of Merlin’s neck, sucking and licking until he reached his ear. He took Merlin’s earlobe in his mouth and Merlin whined and writhed under him. “Ah, God. Fuck.”

Merlin sped up his hand on their cocks and as he felt his orgasm build used a trick he’d often used as a teen to push himself over the edge. As his balls drew up and heat pooled in his groin he pushed a surge of magic through their lengths ripping their orgasms from them. They both shuddered and gasped, breath stolen from them as they came together, spilling over Merlin’s shirt.

“Mmm,” said Arthur collapsing onto of Merlin, unconcerned by the mess between them. “Repaid in full.”

***

Arthur came out of the coffee shop carrying two cups, Merlin grinned and kissed him before taking a sip of his coffee.

“Cheers.”

Arthur grinned and slid an arm around Merlin to kiss him more deeply when a very familiar beep interrupted them.

“You’re needed?” asked Arthur.

“Mmm,” said Merlin, pulling out his mobile and checking his alerts. “Police radio reports of a robbery in progress near Canary Wharf. Sorry.” He passed Arthur his coffee and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. “Hold onto this for me?”

Arthur snatched another quick kiss. “Sure. Go get them, Emrys.”

He watched with a smile as Merlin hurried off around a corner and a rush of wind flustered his hair. Emrys may be rushing around saving the city, but Arthur knew the truth. Underneath the illusion of Emrys, he was his Merlin; loveable, clumsy, adorable, fit and most of all; all his.

---

Translation of spells:
Ic áhelle þis limwæde – I hide this/the clothing
Léoht – Light
Scildan – To shield
Forbærne! Ácwele! - Burn up! Destroy!
Ongebringan – Bring/Move Quickly
Fleoge seax forþ - Knife/Weapon/Sword, fly forth!