A/N: I think other than this and possibly (if I decide to do another chapter) my Naruto fic, I'm pretty much caught up on everything. Woot! Ah...except for my Yugioh one that I've just about forgotten. T.T Anywho, it's the first time in a while that I've felt so accomplished and I'm hoping that this doesn't turn out as some filler chapter. . Actually, I'm kinda surprised that I got no...mentions about what the heck is going on between Merlin and Mordred. Meh. I would have gotten this done sooner, but we've been in the process of moving. Sorry.

Meri Ley: I haven't totally decided if they're going to actually end up together, but I'm definitely not going to have him with Freya. For now, it's a bodyguard/teacher kind of thing. Who knows?

Grey Aurora: Thanks! I'm trying for a totally different type of Merlin, and trying not to stray too far from the other characters. Hopefully, Morgana is pretty spot on with her demanding and entitled self...for now.

Last chapter: Merlin has his plate full with having to outwit Arthur, deal with Gaius, not to mention teach and bodyguard Morgana. Morgana demands to know information, which only serves to frustrate Merlin more. He may be her bodyguard and teacher, but he still takes orders from her sister.

-Warning: Hunith is very OOC in this chapter, in a protective mother bear kind of way-

Chapter 4: According to Plan?

Merlin used his telekinesis to sharpen several of his daggers absentmindedly as he made sure to keep his senses open enough so no one could approach his room without him knowing. Most of his mind was still stuck on the memory of meeting Gaius earlier, as he had unfortunately needed to do. He had decided to get it done before the physician could get a look at the bodies and ruin his stay in Camelot before even a week had passed. It had been nothing but bad luck since he'd arrived here so far, and was only getting worse it seemed as he snuck into the chambers just before dawn to find Gaius already examining the bodies. Merlin inwardly cursed and went to his next plan. It wasn't ideal by any means, but it would have to do. As he saw him finish, Merlin took a dagger from his cloak and was prepared to use it as a last resort. As he got a mere foot behind the man; he finally spoke and made him jump, forcing him to drop what he had in his hands. Merlin watched with a neutral look from under his hood, as he saw Gaius in full view for the first time. He gripped the dagger in his hands tightly and forced it to not move towards the old man's neck. However, he was unable to restrain himself from slightly growling at the man. How dare he?!

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't slice you like some carved...fowl or perhaps maybe a boar? I've heard rumors that the prince here is quite a fan of hunting." Merlin demanded as his hands started to shake in fury.

Gaius just looked at him confused, unable to remember ever angering someone to the point of being threatened like this. Even with his hood still up, he could tell it was a younger man. It was usually the older generation or much younger that got angry, when he had been forced to give bad news. In what felt like slow motion, he saw a pair of eyes that he wished he would have forgotten.

"By the look in your eyes, I can see that you remember me. That's good." Merlin said, having calmed down considerably. Morgause had always told him that when it came to those close to him, he let his emotions rule him. Usually he could remain calm and controlled while on the job, seemingly unaffected. Seeing Gaius had made memories and emotions resurface that he hadn't felt for several years, and the momentary loss of control made him both irritated and surprised. He narrowed his eyes at the thought, before bringing the dagger in front of him to play with casually as a distraction. Swinging it back and forth and then flipping it nonchalantly, he caught it and brought it inches from the man's head. "So I suppose that means you also remember my mother...and Mordred."

"Mordred? He's still alive?" Gaius asked in shock, trying in vain to ignore the dagger that was uncomfortably close to him.

"Acting like you care so suddenly? That's obviously not like you at all." If he saw him flinch at the accusation, he didn't say anything about it and merely continued. "If anything, I see the opposite is true. You knew what I was from the beginning and that my mother was overwhelmed. You knew about Mordred. Do you remember what you told her?" Merlin asked him, looking calmly as he walked towards one of the bodies. The only solution he could think of for them not to suspect magic was to make it look like a dagger had killed them all. But since all of them were already dead, the last one's blood had already stopped flowing. It was a mess, but he stabbed the man on the side so that it would appear like he had slowly bled out and poured a vial of blood around the area.

Gaius looked on and tried to stop him, but a knife made a sudden reappearance. He had to admit that it looked quite convincing to someone who wasn't in the medical field or had much experience. It was crude, but proved what he heard to be true: Merlin was indeed an assassin. He looked on in fear, wondering if he would be next for the obvious grudge that was quite well-deserved in all fairness. He sighed, trying to back up from the knife that followed him regardless. He never forgot that day, as much as he wanted to.

-Flashback-

Hunith had come to see him, dragging behind her a much younger Merlin and holding a very young and curious looking Mordred. She looked overwrought and exhausted, which was really no surprise. Having two magically inclined boys living with you that seemed to have accidental bursts of magic would have anyone on edge. No one except maybe her truly knew where Mordred came from or what his age was,* but she had more or less adopted him regardless. Gaius had helped her on several occasions, never acknowledging the "magic problem"; it seemed things had finally come to a head as she walked into his main room and let the boys rest upstairs after the long journey. After resting for a while, Merlin had gotten up and was about to go back downstairs when he heard his mother and Gaius talking in increasingly loud voices. How Mordred had remained sleeping through all of this remained a mystery to him. Shifting closer towards the door, Merlin heard them arguing and was surprised to find out it was about him and Mordred.

"How can you be friends with that...man?! You know what he's done and who he's killed since the birth of his son?" After he heard some mumuring that obviously came from Gaius, he heard a crash and restrained himself from checking out the source. "You cannot expect me to feel sorrow for that man! I came here and put all of us in danger due to your selfishness. He's using you to oust other people and their families, yet you do nothing."

"Hunith, I am his friend and physician. He is not using me to do anything."

"You are a blind fool if you think that he saved you just because you are friends! He'll soon ask you your opinion about magical incidents and its not because he's interested."

Gaius sighed, realizing this was a losing battle.

"I suppose we're at an impasse then. Did you come just to be in danger or for some medicine?" Gaius asked, dancing around the subject.

"I've started noticing more accidents happening with them." she told him, finally out of gas. Seeing him get a new bottle of sleeping medicine and some honey, she narrowed her eyes. "What is this? You want me drug them?"

Merlin put his hand over his mouth to try and silence his gasp, and checked to see that Mordred had thankfully heard none of that. His mother was sounding like Gaius had wanted to poison them, but drugging them so they wouldn't have accidental bouts of magic seemed almost as bad.

"It's more for your sake. It's either going to be you or them, as you obviously need sleep. They obviously don't need help sleeping, so a spoonful in their water with honey at breakfast should do."

"I want another option, Gaius. I refuse to drug my children just to make my life easier. I'll take it in small doses to sleep easier, so what else is there?" Hunith asked him, looking quite irritated with what he had suggested.

"The only other option would be the druids, but they likely will be hard to find now. Last I checked there was a camp not too far from Ealdor. Those are your only real options you know."

Merlin barely made it to the bed before he started to cry silently. Would she really do that to them? Why was Gaius so adamant about basically abandoning them or drugging them? And why was he here helping a king that chased after people like him and his brother, even Gaius himself? He wasn't stupid. He knew all too well what had happened to his father and hoped for the man on the other side of the door that he hadn't had anything to do with hunting him down and trying to kill him.

-Flashback end-

Gaius looked at the young man who he knew without a doubt was Merlin and had to wonder how things came to be this way. He had heard only rumors, of course, and only knew that Hunith had chosen to head for Iseldir's camp. He had been told that she was living there for a short time with the boys before the camp was invaded by knights, quite possibly under Uther's orders. If that was true, it meant that Hunith was truly dead and the boy had every right to hate him. It had been his idea after all and somehow he seemed to know that. He didn't know how Merlin escaped or even if Mordred did, but he was thankful regardless.

"Who rescued you? What about Mordred?"

"Why should I tell you, someone who turns in his own kind? All it took was for Uther saying he'd pardon you, and after that you were to be his "advisor". He knew exactly what you were and he pounced on it; and it seems you were more than happy to oblige, even if it meant sacrificing a close friend and her children." Merlin sneered as he put one of the daggers away and walked casually towards him. "My mother was killed at the camp when Uther had his knights invaded during the night and killed people in their sleep like cowards." Gaius paled as he thought of the woman he had once been close to being stabbed and bleeding out, caught unawares in her sleep next to her children. Merlin saw this and laughed mirthlessly. "What? You'd rather she drugged us as you'd requested that night? Yes, I know all about how you ignored her requests for help and the letters; how you simply warned her about the city as to ease your guilt."

"Are you going to kill me then?" Gaius asked, looking at the blade that was still floating midair, mere inches from him. It occurred to him that Merlin had said nothing about how they were rescued or Mordred's fate, but he figured it was too soon to ask and Merlin was angry enough as it was. Merlin smiled at him, making him feel all too nervous and grabbed the weapon out of the air. He knew Gaius wouldn't bother trying to run, as he had no idea if he was going to die on the spot for his failures.

"I imagine that looking at the face of one of the sons of your closest friends, and knowing that you caused her demise is punishment enough...for the time being. I trust you know that it wouldn't be all too wise to betray me, seeing as you remember what I was able to do as a child. As you might like to imagine, I have...practiced since then and I know of your weaknesses; so if I were you, I wouldn't do anything too reckless." he finished, as he put away his dagger. Merlin opened the door and made one of the empty bottles of poison shatter to emphasize his point as he left.

He had "training" to get to, which was going to be incredibly dull to be sure. He didn't like the idiot prince and he was quite sure that the man had at least commanded the forces that invaded the druid camp where his family had lived for only a few short months or so. He walked and arrived at the field, narrowing his eyes as he remembered that hair and armor at the camp. He gave Arthur a neutral expression, giving nothing away as his thoughts kept straying back to the night of the attack. It had only been sheer dumb luck that some of them had escaped at all.

"You ready for your first lesson, then?" Arthur asked, sounding just as arrogant as Merlin had expected.

Merlin had been forced to put on a version of a magic restrictor charm, which was thankfully something that only lasted as long as he wanted it to. It was his own invention, created in the heat of the moment during a nasty encounter with the infamous witch finder. He hadn't decided to share it with anyone as of yet, but that was more out of precaution than anything. He looked at Arthur, trying to measure his skills like Morgause had taught him. He seemed like a somewhat cautious man, who could be quite the tactician if he gave him too much time. Ironically, he also seemed like a brawler; as the heir apparent, he had been taught to control his impulses and emotions. Merlin had done as much investigating as he could in the limited timeframe he had, and had found that his weaknesses were Gwen and his family. His father's cold approach towards leading a kingdom and eliminating magic had had a definite impact on him, according to Morgana. His strengths didn't worry him too much, as he was quite proficient in weapons himself. As they circled each other, he could feel Arthur's eyes scanned him and was trying to find a weakness and decided to give him a false sense of security by attacking first. He inwardly smirked and berated himself at the same time for acting so reckless with an opponent he barely had any information on. Arthur merely laughed at him for being so stupid.

"This will be easier than I thought, huh? Did your master teach you nothing? Being reckless like that is an easy way to get yourself killed."

Merlin allowed himself to trip a little before hiding one of his daggers behind his shield and another up his sleeve. Smiling and rubbing the back of his head carelessly, he shifted both of the daggers into position. The prince looked at the man like he'd obviously lost his mind as Merlin smiled when Arthur shifted his guard a moment too late. He saw Leon's eyes widen comically out of the corner of his eyes as he ducked under a late swing of Arthur's; only to drop his shield enough to reveal one dagger, leaving the other at blocking Arthur's own shield. Arthur looked triumphant, dropping his guard to declare himself the winner when Leon cried out in alarm. As a general rule, one wasn't supposed to do so in a mere spar, but it was obvious that the man thought he was in actual danger. Raising his sword in reflex, he was just able to stop the second dagger from reaching his throat. Merlin backed off and picked up his shield, only to see his magic restricting band start to fade.

"I'm sorry, I suppose it was my training, sire. Once I get in that mode, I just keep going, but I promise you that I was never going to harm you. I only go after my targets, but my teacher was rather...intense with the sessions to the point I sometimes dropped from exhaustion." Merlin said, trying to sound unimpressive and yet apologetic at the same time. The last thing he needed was the prat telling his father that he'd almost been killed by the assassin they'd just hired. That would only make things more complicated. Arthur looked at him for a few minutes, probably going over the fight; it took all Merlin had in him not to fidget as he managed not to flinch outwardly.

"You were holding back, I can tell."

This time, Merlin couldn't contain his flinch, even if it was barely noticeable to anyone around him. Arthur, however, had noticed and jumped on it.* Leaning forward so no one would hear them, he whispered to him.

"Next time, we'll find somewhere private to train so I can see your true potential; something tells me you're more than capable at protecting Morgana. In return, I won't tell my father. I'll merely tell him that you're improving a lot faster than I ever expected. What do you say?"

Like I have a choice.

"Very well. We shall have to keep up the charade for your knights sake, as I do not trust anyone outside of your inner circle to not "accidentally" tell the king that we mysteriously vanished." Merlin told him cautiously, before stepping back.

"You have done better than I expected" Arthur stated in a normal voice, "however, you better do as I say or there will be repercussions." He could practically feel Leon's burning gaze, asking him several questions at once. He knew that the both of them would have to be careful, should Leon or one of the others decide to follow them. As he looked at the retreating figure of the assassin, he somehow doubted that being followed would be that big of a problem.

TBC…

*Yeah, I decided that the BBC did an absolutely cruddy job with Arthur's intelligence. Truly. Things that happened right in front of him were absolutely ignored that had me shaking my fist in aggravation several times.

So, the plot thickens methinks. Leon obviously doesn't trust Merlin (and for good reason), but will surely be duty bound to following orders...right? Morgana still needs to be taught, but now that Arthur has surprisingly caught onto the fact that Merlin is practically toying with him; when will Merlin manage to find the time to teach her? I know a lot of people like the mentor/father and son relationship Gaius and Merlin have, but I don't think there are any fics where he truly gets mad. Poor guy should be, considering all of the things the man did. Anyway, how's poor Merlin going to manage? Is Morgause going to contact him for help or send him help? Hmm...