Intermission

Intermission is the sixth part of the Loaded March series. It was uploaded to Archive of Our Own on October 28, 2011. It consists of 53,760 words.
Read it here.
==Summary==
Help comes from a surprising source when the team waits to hear their fate at the mercy of the Directory's agenda, but Excalibur isn't entirely at loose ends. Arthur intends to deal with a particularly pesky problem, even if it means leaving Merlin in the dark.
But leaving Merlin in the dark has it's own rewards.
==Plot==
Gilli is a little shit and Arthur & Co. take him off base so they can beat the shit out of him to find out what he's up to. He's actually keeping tabs on Merlin because the Directory thinks he's suspicious because he's Pagan and his father is Balinor. 
A lot of reveals happen in Intermission, love and magic wise.
----------
The part begins with the team receiving gear from Morgana, such as body armor, knives, shields, crossbow bolts, and Merlin gets his UAV mechadragon.
The team then goes out and celebrates Gwaine's birthday. Gwaine gets piss drunk and kisses Merlin. Merlin is not amused and Arthur gets possessive. When the team heads to bed, Perceval helps Gwaine to their barracks. Gwaine laments about not being able to find 'the one'. Then Perceval snogs Gwaine, confessing that he has a thing for Gwaine and if Gwaine cleans up some, maybe Gwaine could be happy and have what Merlin and Arthur have.
Kay heads to the communications tent to get Merlin. On the way, he contemplates The Directory, magic, and Merlin's knowledge of magic. After Kay pries Merlin away from Gilli (the incompetent weasel), they go to the mess tent for some breakfast where Kay proceeds to talk to Merlin about magic and not trusting the Directory. Kay, after they've about finished, remembered why he was sent to get Merlin...
Three days later, Merlin calls Colonel Locher, the person in charge of the Cryptography program. Merlin asks him to look up Gilli and finds out that not only did Gilli not go through the cryptography program, he is in fact, a part of the Directory. Merlin then deduces that Gilli must be spying on Merlin himself.  
Major Kilgarrah calls Merlin to his tent and has him decrypt something by hand. This part is written in Kilgarrah's point of view, so we get a heavy hint that Kilgarrah is a dragon, that Balinor may be alive, and that Merlin is a dragonlord. We get a sense that Kilgarrah knows a lot more than anyone else, and he thinks about how Excalibur is almost completely forged.
Merlin rushes to tell Arthur about Gilli and how the Directory is going to get Excalibur under their division. Excalibur breaks up into four teams for four missions, which will help stall for time before they are seconded. Excalibur comes up with conditions for the Directory and Arthur comes up with a plan to get rid of Gilli. Merlin speaks with Gaius and knows that he has to tell Arthur about his magic (and the fact that he is a little bit in love with the prat).
Arthur, Merlin, Gwaine, Kay and Gilli head to a base near Kandahar with the crack box. On the way, Gilli is harassed much to Gwaine and Kay's amusement. At the base, Merlin and Gilli go to the communications tent with the box. Merlin helps them fix the Kandahar base's crackbox and Gilli is kicked out because he is an annoying little shit. Merlin ends up freezing time and switching the crackbox with an ordinary hand held game set.
Gilli stomps out of the tent and goes to the phones to call the Directory. Kay and Gwaine overhear, confront Gilli, and drag him to the tent that they are staying in. When Merlin arrives, Arthur interrogates Gilli about why he is spying on Merlin. The Directory thinks that Merlin is NWO and they think that he knows something about an object that Balinor Emrys brought home from a mission. Then there is some minor struggling when Gilli does some magic and Merlin takes Gilli's magical ring.
On the ride back to their own base (without Gilli), Merlin talks about his dad's disappearance and the people that searched their house regularly after Balinor went MIA. Then, to Merlin's surprise, the team ditches the car, the enemy bombs the car, thus destroying the 'crack box'. The team proceeds to camp out for the next few days and 'loses communication' with base.
Bayard comes and talks to Kilgarrah. Kilgarrah gives Bayard the terms that Excalibur put together (along with a few of his own added to the list). Bayard freaks out a bit when he finds out the team has lost communication.
Merlin finally tells Arthur about his magic and that he is in love with him. They kiss (mental fireworks and fangirl squealing).
All four teams are recalled to base where they find that they have officially been seconded to the Directory and all of their terms have been accepted (besides Gwaine's request that they front his bar bill for eternity). 
==Quotes==
"I know you're going to remember this in the morning, Gwaine," Perceval breathed in his ear, his voice hoarse. "So I'm only going to say it once. Clean yourself up. Give someone else a chance. Then maybe, maybe, you won't have to be alone, all right?" - Percy to Gwaine
"Never thought about it until now. I mean, I weren't even six. They didn't touch my toys. They didn't take the cash in the cookie jar. They just... They took everything that belonged to my father. Every book. Every scrap of paper. Every picture. Even that ratty old armchair that Mum hated because it were falling apart, but never had the heart to throw out just in case they were wrong and he wasn't dead and he'd come home wanting to sit down." - Merlin
Merlin took the MRE with a scowl. "You know, I feel sorry for the poor sap you end up spending the rest of your life with." What makes you think it won't be you? Arthur nearly said, and instead he raised a brow. - Merlin and Arthur, being adorable
"I don't want to hide from you, Arthur," Merlin whispered, his breaths brushing Arthur's cheek in short, hyperventilating puffs. "I can't. Not anymore." - Merlin to Arthur
"Arthur." Merlin hadn't spoken again until Arthur turned to look at him. "It's only ever been you." - Merlin to Arthur
"You two are absolutely, bloody sickening," Gwaine said. "Now, give over. Where's your mum's fantastic fudge?" - Gwaine about Merlin and Arthur
==Terms of Secondment==
# Excalibur will be handled by someone well aware of their techniques and approaches and who can organize the support they require as they require it. Suggestion: Kilgarrah.
# Excalibur is its own team and they answer to Arthur Pendragon and their Handler.
# Excalibur's service under secondments counts toward their active service with the army, so that once their time runs out, their time runs out and they are free to return to civilian life.
#* The Directory can only stop-loss (extend their service time) Excalibur if all the team members agree to it and their terms are met.
#* Excalibur's tours have all been extended to match the remaining time of the team member whose out-date is the latest (i.e. Merlin). This amounts to an eight-month extension on top of their remaining five.
# Excalibur will receive a salary increase.
# Excalibur will receive danger pay bonuses.
# The Directory will pay for all mission related costs.
# Excalibur will have full disclosure in all of their affairs.
# Excalibur will have access to the Directory's gadgets.
# Excalibur will receive training in dealing with sorcerers and magic users.
# The Directory will teach Excalibur everything they know about magic.
# Excalibur will have access to The Directory's libraries.
# As of Excalibur's secondment, the army rules and regulations that might keep them from doing their jobs no longer apply.
#* Excalibur is released from the British Army's rules of conduct. Excalibur is free and clear to act under the Directory's auspices and protection as undercover agents under the Crown with no risk whatsoever to their commissions.
==Series Timeline==
Preceded By:	Followed By:
Avalon 	First Contact
Category:Parts