Collaborations

Collaborations is the twelfth part in the Loaded March series. It was published to Archive of Our Own on March 30, 2013. It consists of 94,821 words.
*shoves link at you* here. But it's still full of PAIN.
==Summary==
It's driving Arthur mad, not knowing where Merlin is and if he's even alive. Without his usual resources, Arthur has no other choice but to reach out to people he doesn't even know - never mind trust - to help him unknot the snarl of conspiracies and to find Merlin.
==Plot==
Arthur is sad. A lot. 
But Merlin is rescued, so Arthur gets happy again =D
But before that, there is a lot of angst and heartaches and crying and Merlin uses the mechadragon to break Arthur's and all the fangirl's hearts.
All of the other members of Excalibur turn out to be awesome. And gay. Mostly gay.
ooOOoo
This part begins where the last one left off: mere hours after Excalibur failed to rescue Merlin. Arthur is in a cemetery meeting with Balinor. Arthur tells him what has been going on, that the enemy has Merlin, that Kilgarrah has been up to his own agenda and that Arthur needs his help and Balinor will help him. Balinor is not best pleased—about any of the information he’s just learned.
Meanwhile, Merlin is being thoroughly confused by Mordred. Marlin just can’t fathom him out. Whose side is Mordred on? He’s healed Merlin and is now bashing the NWO and Aredian—the people and organizations he works for.
Morgana and Leon, back at the safe house, have a nice little chat about Arthur. Leon thinks he needs space to figure his stuff out. (Not very helpful, but Leon’s probably still a bit mad at Arthur for losing Morgana. Arthur thinks that, at least, and it probably is true). Leon and Morgana also talk about Uther . 
Then, Morgana and Arthur have a nice brother/sister chat. Arthur is drowning in guilt and is second guessing himself and doubting himself. He doesn’t resemble the confident Captain Prat much. Losing Merlin has sucked the life out of him. The team doesn’t help much. They keep a safe distance away and cast the odd look at him every now and then, waiting for him to break apart, but none go to comfort him. There is a barrier. Morgana helps provide some of the comfort he needs—to know that it is not his fault they lost Merlin, and that even if it was, Merlin would forgive him.
The boys are coming in and out or missions, checking in with Arthur. Arthur then has a chat with Kay to learn more about his captors. With the information gathered, Arthur sends some men out to check out Paris’s apothecaries and to see if they have the ingredients needed to make the healing tincture given to Kay and Merlin. 
Lucan and Galahad find the right occult/apothecary shop and order some healing tincture stuff for Kay. While there, one of Aredian’s men comes in. Lucan and Galahad follow him to the safe house Merlin had just left.
Mordred gives Merlin the keys to his car and they go out for a drive—the destination is Aredian’s place, but Mordred is giving Merlin a choice. Mordred admits to being a sort of stalker to Merlin and reveals a lot about Merlin’s past and about Excalibur. Mordred says that Merlin needs to trust him and Merlin learns about the original purpose of NWO , of Generation Zero and the Druids—how the balance of magic needs to be restored—and that Mordred is like a double double agent. Merlin decides to trust him for now and head to Aredian’s and resume his undercover role.
Excalibur makes it to the house Merlin was in and does some clueing. Arthur is a bit slower at putting things together than he usually is, but he figures out that the house has been set up—that whoever has Merlin is helping Excalibur find him. Arthur has one of the guys go out to the surrounding shops and look for the weird tea brand that is at the house. 
Owain and Geraint run the prints they picked up from the house through a database, and they soon discover that Mordred was helping them out—that Mordred had Merlin. 
Gwen then helps Arthur trace a mobile number and they find the house that Merlin might be in. Lamorack and Gareth go to scope it out.
Arthur receives a call from Balinor and finds out that Balinor is sending some men in—that they are ready to help. Arthur also receives an answer to the question ‘why did Kilgarrah choose our team’. Balinor says, “He said… He said it's not your team. That your team was a bonus." Balinor stopped, and Arthur started counting his heartbeats again when the silence dragged on too long. Nearly another minute. Balinor's voice dropping low, as if his shoulders were slumping in defeat, as if his words were causing him physical pain. "He said it's you. That you… That you and Merlin are two sides of the same coin." 
Arthur continues to count heartbeats, trying to calm down and to discover why he was important. Finally, imbetween his heartbeats, he hears another. Merlin’s. And Merlin feels Arthur through their bond.
Arthur sends Kay and Will to London. While there, they search for signs of Gauis. They call Alice , Gaius’s girlfriend and they also call Kathy , Kay’s foster sister. At one point, Kay and Will share a heated, show kiss.
Meanwhile at Aredian’s Merlin is trying to ‘crack’ the Pendragon hard drive. Merlin demands the use of his own computer and for them to acquire some parts for him. Merlin has 24 hours or so to decrypt the hard drive. Mordred comes back with more than enough supplies.
Gareth and Lamorack are staking out the house Merlin is in. The talk about Arthur and how he is a fraction more like himself since he had his ‘dream’ about Merlin. Gareth and Lam also talk about their feelings—for one another.
Arthur finds out that Kilgarrah knows fuck all. Kilgarrah has lost hold of the threads he was weaving—of the players he set in motion. Now all he can do is watch how things play out and hold his breath. Awesome. They talk about the inevitability of magic coming back. There is also talk about the Druids wanting a sacrifice. Hm.
Percy and Gwaine are at a little café place. They meet up with one of Balinor’s men and get visual confirmation that Merlin is where they thought he was. However, they do not share this with Arthur right away.
Merlin breaks into Aredian’s network and begins to download it while pretending to crack the Pendragon Hard drive. He is also working out a way to contact Excalibur. There is also a moment where something disturbing happens between Mordred and Aredian, but we don’t know.
Arthur throws a fit when he finds out the team brought Merlin’s mechadragon and wanted to use it to get into the house. Arthur lets it slip that Merlin and Arthur got married. He tries to back out of it, but Gwaine calls him on his shit. Arthur breaks down a bit. Then Arthur flips a shit when he finds out Gwaine and Perce had pics of Merlin. 
Merlin contacts them through the mechadragon .
Commence rescue mission. Collaborations ends with a beautiful kiss between a rescued Merlin and a relieved Arthur…and running away from the house and stuff.
==Quotes==
"No one blames you.  Not me, not Gwen. Not Leon, not Lance, not anyone. Especially not Hunith. I don't know Balinor, but he doesn't blame you, either. And Merlin. Merlin doesn't blame you. Merlin --"' [...]"Merlin loves you, Arthur. This was out of your control, out of your hands. And -- and... quit shoving at me, Arthur. Just listen. When you find him, when you get him out of wherever he is, I guarantee you that the first and only person he's going to want to see is you." - Morgana to Arthur
"It's Merlin," Arthur said. He couldn't believe it himself and it helped to say it out loud, to give it substance. To give it reality. "Merlin's alive. He's absolutely, one hundred percent alive." - Arthur to Will
Kay grabbed Will's coat and yanked him close He smashed a kiss on Will's lips and hoped to God that Will realized that this wasn't a come-on, that he would play along. - Kay and Will
"-- this morning. You. You cuddled me. What am I supposed to think?" [...] But if Gareth had noticed how Lamorak had pulled the pillow just enough out of the way so that he could curl up as close as possible…
Well, fuck. - Gareth to Lamorak
"Arthur! Oh, thank fuck," Merlin breathed.
"Oh, God. Merlin," Arthur whispered.
Arthur didn't know which of them moved first, and it didn't matter. Merlin threw his arms around Arthur's neck, Arthur wound his free arm around Merlin's waist.
He was so thin. Arthur could feel Merlin's ribs through his glove, the jut of Merlin's hip through the heavy equipment belt.
But it was Merlin. Safe and alive and once again in his arms.
Arthur didn't know how long they stood there, unmoving, barely breathing, sharing body heat that Merlin needed far more than Arthur. The heavy scruff of Merlin's cheek scratched against Arthur's ear.
Arthur tightened his hold to keep Merlin from pulling away, but Merlin only leaned back, his fingers touching Arthur's cheek through the scarf, tugging it down.
The kiss was pure bliss. - Arthur and Merlin
==Series Timeline==
Preceded By: 	Followed By:
Desperate Measures	Breakwater
Category:Parts