Thank you so much for everyone who read, reviewed, favourited and followed. A big shout out to Caldera32 for being my beta.

I would have posted this sooner, but I've been having a few problems with fanfic; receiving alerts a couple of hours late and then it would not let me publish - I could not get onto manage stories!

I hope you enjoy the concluding part of this little story. Feed back as always, is very welcome.

In Deep and Out of Control Part 2: Solving a Puzzle

When Arthur awoke, it was not to the unfamiliar and unknown afterlife. He was in the royal chambers and before him was the court physician. Granted, he would have preferred his first view to be that of his beautiful wife and not a wizened old man, but he was alive and that was reward enough.

"Merlin?" He croaked.

"Is as well as can be expected," Gaius reassured.

Arthur struggled to get up, but was prevented by a firm hand to his chest. "Sire, I insist you remain in bed."

"There's nothing wrong with me," the royal tried to manoeuvre past the old man but the wily physician was used to such tricks and had some of his own.

"I beg to differ. In my professional opinion you have been through an ordeal and need rest. I do not wish to resort to a sleeping draft."

The king flopped back onto his pillows, "Tell me about Merlin."

The physician nodded, "He is lucky to have only broken his leg."

"Lucky?" The royal screeched.

Gaius gave a stern look and raised an eyebrow, putting an end to further interruption, "If I may be permitted to continue?" Arthur nodded, chastised. "Merlin has sprained his ankle, fortunately, he only fractured the smaller of the two long bones of the lower leg. The fibula is not load bearing so should heal without incident or deformity. Of course, that will take at least six weeks and he won't be able to put any weight on it in that time. An open fracture or if both bones had broken would have been grave indeed; undoubtedly there would have been permanent damage and shortening of the leg. The recovery period would be much longer and that's if infection or malunion ..."

The king held up a hand in defeat, "Gaius, please." The physician stopped. A small smile played at his lips, unseen by the king – the monarch too lost in thought. The physician prepared himself to leave. Arthur was not sure how to broach the subject, so he spoke softly, "Gaius can I ask you a question?"

"Sire?"

Arthur licked his lip, and let out a sigh. "Does Merlin ever talk about his childhood?"

Gaius looked startled for a moment, but then composed himself. "No, Sire, I can't say that he does. Has he said something to you?" The old man inquired gently.

Arthur shook his head, "No – nothing. It doesn't matter, I was just curious." Merlin had not wanted to disclose the trauma that he'd been forced to endure as a child, and the knight would honour his secret and trust by keeping both that incident and what had just occurred to himself.

Gaius paused at the doorway, looking contemplative, "Hunith was and is a good mother; she showed her affection and instilled good values in her child." He paused, "I can't imagine it would have been easy for Merlin, growing up in a small village without a father. Children can be cruel."

Arthur nearly gagged and had to bite his tongue at that statement.

"And with that loose mouth of his, he does have a habit of finding trouble." The physician looked slightly exasperated. Gaius had surmised there was more to Merlin's injury, given the state the pair had been found in, but now was not the time to pry. His ward had been out of sorts at first, but had calmed when he realised he was home and the king was safe. Merlin was frustrated at being unable to perform his duty of protecting the king but the old man did not see the need to inform the royal of the warlock's distress over being bedridden.

On observing the king's concern for his surrogate son and struggle to express it, Gaius offered, "He has a good constitution and will fully recover in time. Merlin is stronger than he seems."

"Yes, he is." The royal said absently. For Merlin to have survived an experience like that with his mind intact and hold no grudge was beyond the royal - it showed a fortitude any knight or king would be proud of. Arthur was drawn from his thoughts.

"If that will be all, Sire?"

"Yes, thank you, Gaius."

The physician nodded and left the room.

Arthur thought back to when he'd first met Merlin – the way he'd been bullying that servant (because that's what it was - he saw that now) then this fearless, runt of a stranger challenged him... the royal cringed and felt ashamed but was saved from wallowing in self-pity by a knock at the door.

"Enter."

A curly-haired knight let himself into the room. "It is good to see you awake, Sire."

"Sir Leon, I believe I have you to thank for finding us?"

The bearded man gave a respectful nod, "It was no trouble, Your Highness."

Arthur frowned, "How did you dig us out?"

"Dig you out?" Leon looked quizzical.

"Yes, how did you get us out of the well – last I remember the walls caved in?"

The knight hesitated, "Sire, you and Merlin were found in the woods just outside Camelot a day ago. The horses only returned this morning. We were hoping you could explain exactly what had happened."

Arthur stilled and his throat was dry, he looked at his second-in-command. "Have you spoken to Merlin?"

"Yes Sire, he said it was all your fault. You angered a wild boar that chased both of you for miles before he tripped, injuring his leg. He said you helped him. That's all he can recall."

"How is he?"

"Merlin?" Leon shrugged, "The same as ever, cheerful – not a worry in the world. I think he will enjoy the time off his feet. Gwaine's already gone down there with a jug of mead but Merlin was asleep so he had to drink it all himself."

"Sounds about right," Arthur mused, still distracted. Cheerful? That was the mask Merlin showed to everyone - what else had he successfully kept hidden? What other burdens might he carry? This was pointless, surely no one would be unfortunate enough to have more than one experience like that, especially someone like Merlin. Arthur tore himself away from such depressing speculation.

"Thank you, Leon, that will be all."

"He was asking about you; when he wakes shall I tell him you are recovered?"

The king nodded, still a little shaken. The knight gave a bow and exited the room.

As he listened to the retreating foot steps echoing down the corridor the royal was left to wonder just how they had survived their ordeal. How they had lived through that rock fall with no additional injuries and had been found just outside Camelot when their hunting trip had lasted three days and was miles from the citadel.

Arthur sighed. Did he dream it - was it real, was he concussed? What exactly happened? Merlin usually came up with some sort of outlandish explanation under these circumstances but he knew that was not going to happen this time.

It was real; it did happen but Merlin either could not or did not want to remember. For the sake of his friend, he too would choose to forget. Maybe he'd find out eventually. Arthur yawned - he felt pretty tired suddenly. He would put it down to one of those miraculous mysteries that had peppered his life since meeting the dark-haired man. Next time he would just have to try and stay awake and pay more attention. Next time... he'd think about it more when he was well rested.

The following day Arthur made his way to the physician's quarters. Merlin was on the bed in the open area rather than in his room. The king presumed this was so the injured man did not have to negotiate stairs. Gaius left on the pretext of having some business to attend to, giving the two men some much-needed privacy. The servant looked much better than the last time Arthur had seen him, although he seemed a little tense.

Arthur walked purposely towards the bed and plopped himself down, then immediately shot up when he saw Merlin wince and procured a nearby stool instead.

"So, how's the leg?"

"Fine - unless some heavy-weight sits on it!"

"Are you calling me…" he trailed off, seeing the feigned innocence of his servant face. It was good he had his sense of humour back, even if it was at his king's expense.

Arthur was torn; he wanted to find out more about how they got out of the well, but he knew it would be difficult for Merlin.

"So, you don't remember much after the fracture?"

The warlock froze, tension creeping into his shoulders, amusement gone. After a long silence, Merlin spoke. "Arthur... if I did or said anything embarrassing…"

"No."

Merlin's head shot up and he gave the king a quizzical look.

"Everyone's scared of something, Merlin... I don't think any less of you."

The servant paled. "Arthur…"

"I mean, that boar was pretty big."

The king watched Merlin's shoulders drop as he let go of the breath he'd been holding and relief flooded into his features. "Yeah, it was."

"Only fools say they're not frightened." The knight had a faraway look, "it can motivate, give strength - that's what I tell the knights."

The servant nodded, was hesitant, then looked directly at the king. "Do you know how we got back to Camelot?"

"No. Normally when I come round I rely on you to tell me what happened." He said reasonably.

The dark-haired man lowered his gaze and picked at his cuticles.

"Gaius said he treated us for exposure and dehydration…" he wracked his brain trying for a plausible explanation - he couldn't think of one - he genuinely didn't know. Magic - his magic - was the obvious answer but he could hardly say that. "Perhaps someone helped us but did not want a fuss...so, left…"

The king was sceptical, "Who doesn't want recognition for a good deed, Merlin?"

The warlock shrugged and bit his fingers. A small cough caught his attention.

"I thought you might get bored, so I've brought you something."

Merlin's eyes brightened and his mouth fell open in expectation. "You brought me a present?" Arthur handed over a bundle and the servant feverishly unwrapped it.

His face fell, "Your dirty riding boots? I don't know what to say - really you shouldn't have," he began brushing the clumps of mud away that had been showered on the covers.

"You are my servant and you wanted something to do."

"Yes, but..." in utter frustration, he used his finger and thumb to fire a pellet of earth and watched it shoot through the air. Something heavy landed on the bed. It was a polished mahogany cube - Arthur's puzzle box. Merlin picked it up, staring in wonder, his hands sliding over the intricate carvings on the beautiful, pristine piece of wood.

"I got bored with the thing, so it's yours if you want it."

The servant paused for a moment before a huge lopsided grin broke out, lighting up Merlin's face. Arthur revelled in the sight of it - a deluge after a drought.

"Thank you." The joy was yet to fade from his features.

"Should keep you out of trouble for a while."

The warlock nodded, then his fingers deftly opened up the surface of the box.

Arthur walked towards the door, turning, "Good night, Merlin, I need those boots by tomorrow."

"Yes, Sire."

The servant was too engrossed to see the royal's smile. As the king closed the door he thought he did not much care for puzzles, but he was determined to solve the mystery that was Merlin.

The End

So, I hope you enjoyed that. Please tell me your thoughts.

Originally I was going to have Arthur stay awake when Merlin's magic intervenes and subconsciously teleports them to safety. Having discussed it with my mentor, I decided to go for a more ambiguous ending - having only just done a reveal fic.

In the first episode we saw a witch teleport, then Nimueh, Morgause, and Morgana all seemed to be able to do it. Merlin was supposed more powerful than any of them and yet this useful skill seemed to elude him. I thought the warlock just needed to find the right motivation!

I have an idea for an another Merlin centric Whumpy one-shot, it's something I thought of a while ago but is a bit different from what I'm used to writing. I also feel I owe the guy a BAMF story. In mid January I'm going to busy with work for a while, so I don't know when or if these things will happen. Thanks again for all the support and interest.