SUMMARY: Merlin is a 19 year old youth, living in a village in the Netherland countryside near the end of World War 2. The village has been occupied by the Germans for some time. Arthur is an English Airman whose aircraft has been shot down over the forest neighbouring Merlin's village.

A/N: This story was inspired by the Dutch movie 'Winter in Wartime' and by the video of the David Guetta/Sia track, 'Titanium' ( you know, the one where the little buck toothed kid is running away from a group of soldiers with riffles after committing some sort of weird deed at his school). 'Winter in Wartime' was made in 2008 and is well worth watching. The part of the English airmen is, coincidently, played by the actor who plays King Arthur in 'Camelot'.
it is not a reincarnation fic.

I am not very learned regarding WW2 history, so please forgive errors. I am trying to entertain not educate so I hope you will excuse any gross stuff ups.

Disclaimer: IDOM. Also, I do not mean to offend any readers of German heritage by portraying the German's in the fic as rather nasty. Finally, I have no personal experience with epilepsy so please tell me if I'm sprouting garbage.

Merlin rubbed his gloved hands together briskly, trying to generate some heat into his throbbing, almost blue digits. The journey to the general store took only about 10 minutes of hard riding on his rusty old bicycle, but the freezing winter air rushing past his hands as he cycled along the exposed pathway on top of the dike, always ended in this discomfort; his nose reddening, his fingers painfully cold and his lungs wheezing for air.

As he queued in the store with his ration coupons in hand, Merlin regarded the miserable array of foodstuffs on offer. Together with his mother's coupons, he would be able to buy a little milk, a small loaf of bread and a few potatoes. The war had stretched on for far longer than anyone had initially anticipated, and the resulting loss of arable farmland as the German's spread themselves across more and more of Europe was making things tough.

Merlin silently blessed his mother for her ingenuity and foresight in turning the back yard into a vegetable garden and in getting chickens and a chicken coup, over 3 years ago. They were better off than a lot of folks, the hens provided more than enough eggs and the garden, especially in the warmer months, produced plenty of green and root vegetables.

Stowing his purchases safely in the panniers of his bike, Merlin spotted Will across the street and called out a greeting, before continuing home.

Will was a little younger than Merlin; not 18 for another six months. Like many of the other young men in his village, Merlin was sure he'd run away from the occupied Netherlands to join the fight against the Nazi's as soon as he could. It was either that or be 'coerced' into the German army and Will was too feisty for that.

Merlin himself was not wanted by the German's, his illness rendering him, at the least unreliable and at the worst, a liability. It was for the same reasons that he couldn't help the underground fight against the invaders. He'd never been approached, but the thought of his weakness putting lives at risk made him feel physically ill with self loathing.

At times Merlin thought the horrible fits that overtook his mind and body with very little, if any warning, reducing him to a convulsive, trembling mess, meant he was pretty much useless for anything. His mother did her best to treat him normally even though most of the villagers looked at him with a mixture of fear and disgust. She would not let him learn to drive a car though and no matter what she said or how much Merlin did to help around the house, he always felt like a burden and a freak.

It wasn't just the epilepsy either. It was the weird stuff that happened when he was fitting that really scared people away and led them to believe he was cursed. Once, at junior school, he'd had a seizure and woken to find that every single book in the place had fallen from its bookshelf. Another time he'd been at the general store with his mother, when he felt the dizzy, swirling sensation that preceded a fit, only to come around to find the place in chaos. The usually bare shelves were full to overflowing and the villagers were making the most of it. Just last week he'd been in the backyard, next to, thankfully not inside, the chook yard when his illness overtook him. The hens were still laying double yokers today. Hunith did all she could to convince he son that the occurrences could be explained with science or by coincidence, but Merlin knew deep down that it was him. He was a freak and there was no point pretending otherwise.

One of the few people who accepted Merlin and welcomed his company was his neighbour Will. He worked as a mechanic at the local garage and in recent times, much to his disgust, frequently found himself called upon to help repair the vehicles of the Nazi war machine. He'd let Merlin drive a German motor bike once; the two of them screaming along side by side along the rough road through the surrounding forests had been unforgettable. Never had he felt so free, like he could go anywhere and take on the world.

"I'm home mum," Merlin called, slamming the door behind him. "There wasn't much choice but I..." He stopped abruptly as he rounded the door into the kitchen and saw his mother crying softly as she read from a letter open on the table before her.

"Mum, what's happened? Mum?" he spoke softly, putting a hand on his mother's shoulder. Hunith reached around and grasped his hands in her own.

"Oh Merlin, when will it end. All this pointless killing what is it achieving?" her tear stained face looked up at him. Wiping her face with hanky clutched in her left hand, she continued. "It's your Uncle Gaius. He's missing."

"Oh." Merlin sat down heavily next to his mother. Gaius had lived with Hunith and Merlin before the war broke out. He'd been involved in World War 1 and could not bear to stand by and let his country be taken over again after all his generation had sacrificed. To Merlin and Hunith's horror, he had decided the best way he could fight back was by offering his skills to the resistance movement. Gaius was a trained physician and had spent the best part of a decade working for the diplomatic services, so felt he could make a real difference. Since war broke out he'd visited them several times but once the village was occupied he'd been unable to come as it was too dangerous.

"I don't know why he couldn't stay home and leave it to the younger generation. He did his duty in the last war." Hunith lamented.

"I know Mum, but he's not like that is he?" Merlin held onto his mother, offering comfort. Trying to sound strong even though inside his stomach was churning with self disgust. Here he was, sitting in a warm house with his mother when everyone else between the age of 18 and 45 was off fighting or training or nursing or doing something to be a part of the war effort.

He hated his accursed illness.

Later that evening, under the cover of darkness Merlin went next door to Will's place. Will lived with his father and had an older brother in the Dutch army. His father had been gassed in World War 1 so had weak lungs and watery eyes. Will's mother had died some 12 years ago so he and his dad were, for the moment, alone.

Merlin rattled the back door, the same way he'd signalled his arrival since he was 9 and Will was 7.

"Door's open Merlin!" he heard shouted down the hall toward him.

"Hi Will, Mr Dempsie." Merlin greeted them. "Mum's sent over some eggs," he said placing four eggs on the kitchen bench.

"Lovely. She's a gem your ma Merlin." Mr Dempsie answered, seeming to perk up a little from his spot by the fireplace where he sat all day and most of the night.

"Yeah, thanks Merlin. Dad, we're going out for a bit, keep warm okay?" Will pulled on his coat and gestured for Merlin to follow him.

"God, it's cold. This Winter is going on forever," Will muttered under his breath, pulling his scarf tighter around his neck and closing and locking the door behind himself.

"We could go back inside?" Merlin replied, teeth beginning to chatter.

"No, I need to talk to you about something Merlin, and I don't need any little ears waggling." Will replied quietly, indicating back to the houses with a slight head movement.

"Right, I'll just go and get my hat and mittens them, if we're staying out." Merlin shouted to his friend as he raced over to his house. Returning a few minutes later, he pulled a dark blue and orange striped woollen hat low over his ears and stuffed his hands into the thick wool mittens his mum had knitted for him just last month. (She'd had to unpull an old jumper of Merlin's to provide the wool as there was none available in the shops.)Together, they set off into the forest where they could be assured of privacy.

After they'd walked perhaps a half kilometre, Will broke the stillness and silence that descended around them as they left the gentle lights emanating from the village.

"I heard about your Uncle," Will said, his voice producing puffs of white cloud in the freezing air as he spoke which floated for a few seconds before dissolving and vanishing.

"How? Where did you hear?" Merlin looked at his friend sharply. Hunith had only just got notification herself.

Will gazed around at the clear night time sky, hundreds and hundreds of stars glittering and sparkling above them, the moon almost full. They were walking along a narrow track, surrounded by snow covered fir trees in every direction.

Will peered intently at Merlin. "There's stuff going on. Stuff that I can't tell you about, but I hear things okay?"

Merlin had never heard Will say so outright but he knew Will was involved in the Resistance. Things had happened; bases being attacked, prisoners freed, stockpiles of German army food stolen and distributed to the villagers and goodness knows what else. Every time Will had been oddly missing for a day or so, when he showed up again he was always enigmatically non communicative.

Merlin had seen Will meeting people in secret too, people who were rumoured to be part of the Resistance. He'd never meant to spy on his friend or anything, but sometimes he seemed to be able to go unnoticed, mostly due to his status as the village weirdo, which enabled him to observe things he wasn't meant to. Once he'd seen Will receiving a note from the two men who ran the pub, Gwaine and Leon. A few days later Gwaine had been arrested for treason, and never heard of again.

Merlin understood the implications of Will being discovered and had no intention of making things worse for him but he needed to know about his Uncle.

"What have you heard Will? Is he...is he dead?"

"No, I mean, I don't know for sure but he lost contact somewhere in Paris. Please don't say anything to your mum Merlin. If it gets out whom you heard it from..."

"Okay." Merlin nodded solemnly.

"Just don't give up hope. He may have had to go into hiding or change identities or something. It doesn't have to mean he's dead Merlin."

The two boys were quiet in their own thoughts for a few minutes, only the sounds of the forest breaking the silence.

A low rumble in the distance grew louder and louder before the tank responsible for the noise came into view. It's bulky metal shape crushing any small trees and shrubs in its path. A couple of soldiers walked ahead of it, torches shining brightly to light the way, guns at the ready. The two boys instinctively jumped behind a thick copse of trees long before the tank and its accompaniment came into view. German voices shouting to each other enhanced the noise of the procession. One of the foot soldiers took a shot into the forest and Merlin heard the word 'Kaninchen', rabbit in German.

"Let's get out of here." Merlin wanted to run, the sheer power and size of the tank terrifying him. Not to mention the pot-shots the soldiers were taking.

"It's just a patrol Merlin, stay calm. They'll be gone in a minute." Will put a gloved hand onto Merlin's arm to steady him. He watched the parade closely, eager to absorb any little bit of information he could obtain that may be useful.

Half an hour later the boys made their way home again, chatting as they walked.

"I've got something on tomorrow afternoon Merlin, could you stop by and make sure my father gets some dinner?"

"Yeah, sure." Merlin answered, longing to ask what was going on but knowing the less he knew the better. "He'll be fine Will; I'll make him some scrambled eggs or something." Merlin smiled back, the trust being placed in him making him feel the warmest he'd felt for weeks.

"Thanks."

A\N; I know, where's Arthur? He'll turn up soon I promise!
Please review. I'd love to know if it was interesting and if I managed to convey the cold, bleakness that the people of Europe must have been experiencing at this time. Not to mention an alienated Merlin.