First Contact

First Contact is the seventh part of the Loaded March series. It was uploaded to Archive of Our Own on November 21, 2011. It consists of 65,795 words.
Read it here.
==Summary==
The Directory and The Dragon take charge of Excalibur to train them and shape them into a combat force that few others would dare go against.
Excalibur is ready for the NWO, but is the NWO ready for them?
==Plot==
In which Arthur and Merlin finally get their shit together and start fucking
thank god
(other shit happens like Morgana almost being captured and Excalibur finding out about Merlin's magic)
((priorities. hive has them - Carolin))
ooOOoo
Team Excalibur has been whisked away by the Directory to a training camp, teaching them all they need to know about magic and how to defeat sorcerers. Each team member is given files to memorize so that they will be able to properly play their roles or in Arthur and Merlin's case, reprise their roles (which Arthur would like to do, but would rather his relationship with Merlin to not include their mission...and now that they are sharing a room, Arthur is struggling to not touch Merlin. UST).
While Professor D's explanations are utterly fascinating, the team finds out that the Directory has been lagging behind the enemy and needs to come up with new tactics. Team Excalibur emphasizes this fact by obliterating the obstacle/magic course record.
The Directory also gives them information on the NWO and its different Generations. We find out that Bryn and Tristan are Generation Twos and that Freya is a Generation three. Merlin works out the math and figures that Generation Zero was in the late 1940s. Marja and Bayard begin to explain the NWO's recruiting process. Marja is peeved that Merlin has slipped right into the NWO while she was groomed to be a super secret agent and failed. Merlin finds out how the NWO has been corresponding with Freya for him. As in, they've ignored her since Algiers happend in The Jester and Freya is freaking out. Merlin calls Freya to calm her down while feeding her more of his cover story.
Bayard and Kilgarrah go over Merlin and Arthur's cover story and their approach to infiltrating the NWO. They also watch a video of Arthur and Merlin after the Algiers fiasco. Merlin is a bit shocked by it. Then he gets a bit pissed when he finds out about how Arthur added something to their contract with the Directory - a little stipulation that will allow Merlin and Arthur to have a relationship. Merlin storms off, angry that Arthur hadn't told him. Anger leads to some angry mutual handjobs. The team argues on who won the 'Arthur and Merlin finally have sex' poll.
When they leave the Directory's training facility, Team Excalibur is officially undercover. While waiting for the plane to take them to Paris, the team observes a suspicious looking rugby player and his girlfriend. Their suspicians are later confirmed when Gwaine finds out that they had a last minute booking to get onto the plane and they were probably NWO members. Arthur also gets a call informing him that he and a portion of his team were required on a mission back Paris, which will have them 'take out' Valiant (who could ruin their cover).
Afther landing, Arthur, Gwaine, Lance, Bohrs, and Perceval head off to take care of the mission. They meet up with a French team and, together, they proceed. Gwaine ends up killing Valiant at close range and is quite shaken up by it. While this is going on, Morganna has stolen Merlin away on a shopping trip, trying to get him the appropriate clothes for the gala they will be attending. They are attacked in the dressing rooms by the suspicous rugby player. Merlin discreetly uses his magic to help get himself and Morgana out of the situaiton. The guy gets away, and they continue shopping.
Arthur is not happy when he finds out about the attack and is quite worried, which leads to some fantastic sex back at their flat. That night, they attend the gala. Arthur is possessive. Merlin sulks and is approached by Aredian. Moranana is kidnapped by Morgause (rugby player's girlfriend). Chaos. To save the team, Merlin ends up using his magic.
He saves them only to have them turn their guns on him.
==Quotes==
"But you know something, Arthur? You can't hide behind your stupid shield anymore because you already threw it aside. You let Merlin in. And you're hurting him as much as you're hurting yourself when you push him away." Gwaine shrugged his shoulders. "Never mind the rest of us. It were entertaining at first, but it's really fucking boring now. Merlin's heart isn't a rubber band, and yours isn't either, and the sooner you quit being a wanker, the happier we'll all be." -Gwaine to Arthur
"You do that," Kilgarrah said. A long exhalation that was nothing but solid smoke filled the air between them, and Arthur restrained a cough. "While you're at it, perhaps you should review your inventory as well and determine if there are any artefacts that may be of use to the team." Kilgarrah to Bayard  
It didn't stop Merlin from blinking repeatedly as what Bayard had said sank in all the way and his mental processors fired up. Was Bayard really hinting at what Merlin thought he was hinting? Was he implying that Merlin and Arthur engage in... that very thing that Merlin wanted to engage in? Was he getting permission to jump Arthur and have his way with him? Repeatedly? Because, quite frankly, while having permission was nice, he didn't care about anyone else's opinion on the matter except for Arthur's, and he knew very well what Arthur's thoughts were: to wait until there weren't any further complications for them.
-- Merlin raised a shield again, this time as broad and as wide as he could manage, to protect Arthur, Morgana and Leon, Lance and Gwaine and Perceval and Kay and Bohrs, Geraint and Galahad --
It strained him, it pushed at the shield, and he braced, feeling the expensive shoes slip on the cobblestones, his magic absorbing the shockwave until it couldn't absorb any more, shattering from the impact --
And Merlin collapsed, falling to his hands and knees, gasping for breath, only distantly aware of the team moving past him to secure the scene, to make certain no one was left alive, because they couldn't be alive, not after that blast. Dazed, Merlin turned over, staggering to his feet, shaking his head to clear the double vision and when he could see straight again, it was to see his teammates, his friends, pointing their weapons at him.
Uncertain and afraid.         - Merlin and Team Excalibur
==Series Timeline==
Preceded By:	Followed By:
Intermission	Groundwork
Category:Parts