Something Old, Something New

14

Merlin was astonished when, many hours later, they left the caverns with no questions asked. Merlin didn't believe for a moment that he could be so lucky that nobody noticed the discrepancies in the footprints in all of the caves but the first.

The sun had already set when everyone emerged into the forest. There was a great sigh of relief from everyone to be back in open air. The bodies of William Terell, Emma Johnson, and Jacob Johnson, were all carried out. Merlin did not envy the six people who had had to carry them up all of those stairs, but they had done so without complaint. To complain would be disrespectful to the victims. 

Freya drove Merlin home a little while later as, according to Smith, Merlin's car was still evidence. It would be taken to the garage at the precinct to be gone over the next morning. Freya dropped Merlin off at his apartment building. She looked thoughtful, and incredibly tired.

"Find anything odd in the caves?" Merlin asked, taking a chance. She looked at him, her gaze the most intense he had ever seen.

"Yes." He waited for her to elaborate, possibly accuse him of something horrible, but she didn't.

"Oh? What was it?" She went back to staring straight ahead.

"Goodnight Merlin. Don't forget you have tomorrow off, and you'll be on desk duty until all of this is resolved." It was a dismissal. Part of him wanted to stay; to question her until she told him something, anything; but he didn't. 

"Goodnight Freya." He got out of her car and made his way up to his flat. He collapsed on his bed without bothering with his clothes or shoes. He'd have to wash the sheets, but that was tomorrow's problem.

He had expected nightmares, but his dreams were pleasant, and he actually woke up laughing. He had dreamt about the time Arthur had been given donkey ears and gone around braying. A truly wonderful time that had been. He remained smiling for a few seconds, until he remembered everything that had happened. The smile melted away and he rubbed a hand over his face and sat up.

He longed to lay down and return to the land of dreams, but he knew that he could not. His comforter was now covered in dust. He stripped everything off the bed and threw it in the washing machine. He took a shower, falling back into his usual routine with surprising ease. He would have grabbed his badge and gun, but they weren't in their usual place. Smith had taken them. Merlin sighed and left, locking the door behind him.

He wasn't expected, or wanted, at work that day, so he went to the only other place he could think of: Iris' flat. He should check on her anyway, and he needed to do something today besides sit in his flat and wait for something to go wrong. As it was, he felt as if there was a giant storm cloud following him around.

Iris didn't live far, which was good, considering Merlin had momentarily forgotten that he no longer had a car. He started the walk to her house, stopping to grab two coffees and a croissant on the way. 

He pressed the buzzer for number 23. There was no response. He pressed it again. Nothing. She was probably still asleep. He pressed number 24. The response was immediate.

"Who is it?" The voice was harsh and angry.

"It's Merlin."

"Oh."

"Can you buzz me in? Iris is probably still asleep."

"Of course dear," her tone suddenly the perfect picture of nice old lady.

"Thank you Mrs. Bennett."

"You can repay me by coming to visit. I've already got a pot of tea on." Merlin smiled.

"If you insist." Merlin opened the door and walked up the stairs, then down the hallway, going past number 23 to Mrs. Bennett's flat.

Mrs. Bennett was a very old woman and quite possibly the rudest person Merlin had ever met, but only to people she didn't know. He supposed he sympathized. Like her, he had been alive a very long time, and worked hard to maintain his patience with most people he came across. She simply didn't work at all in that area. For the first year that Merlin and Iris had been friends, she had dutifully ignored him, sometimes snapping at him to get out of her way when he was standing in the hallway waiting for Iris to let him in.

"Hello, Merlin dear," the woman in question said, opening the door.

"Mrs. Bennett. How are you?"

"I'm well, but how many times have I told you? Call me Alice." Merlin would do no such thing. She was only being polite. He suspected that if he actually called her Alice she would smack him with the incredibly large and heavy purple purse she carried with her everywhere. 

"Whatever you say Mrs. Bennett." She smiled and stepped aside to let him in to her flat. The flat looked exactly what you would think a flat belonging to an old lady of roughly ninety-seven would look like. It was cluttered with knitting needles, crochet needles, sewing needles, and copious amounts of fabrics and yarn. The television was about fifty years old, and looked like it hadn't been turned out since it was purchased. The couch sagged down in the middle, but somehow managed to be the most comfortable thing Merlin had ever sat upon.

Merlin wasn't sure what Mrs. Bennett actually ate, because he had only ever seen her consuming tea. Merlin sat on the couch. He would offer to help with the tea, but Mrs. Bennett was very protective of her tea-making methods, and would show them to no one. Whatever her methods were, they worked, as Mrs. Bennett brewed the best cup of tea that Merlin had ever had, and that was truly saying something. Mrs. Bennett finished pouring two cups of said tea. She put a spoonful of sugar in Merlin's but left hers as it was. Bitter tea for a bitter old woman. 

"Now I expect you to tell me everything," she said, handing Merlin his tea and sitting on the other end of the couch. 

"Everything about what?" although Merlin suspected he knew.

"You've been all over the news. Did you really get taken by a serial killer?" If Mrs. Bennett had anyone to talk to, she would surely be a horrible gossip.

"I'm afraid so, but it's all over now." Mrs. Bennett, being the perceptive old woman that she was, decided to drop the subject. Merlin set down his tea for a brief moment in order to text Iris. When she woke up she would know where to find him. He and Mrs. Bennett spend the next hour or so before Iris woke up talking of everything and nothing, and when Iris came over to find Merlin, she ended up joining in. It was a wonderful breath of fresh air for the two of them, and Mrs. Bennett almost enjoyed having friends.

-----------------

When the mysterious man woke up in the hospital, he tried very hard to get out. It took six nurses and a security guard to hold him down long enough to put restraints on him. When the police came to ask him questions, he said that his name was Arthur Pendragon.

However, the officers decided to take this with a grain of salt, because the man was obviously high out of his mind. He was under the impression that he was King Arthur of Camelot.

They ran blood tests, but found nothing out of the ordinary in his system. So he wasn't on drugs, so mentally ill in some way. They kept him in the hospital for two nights and two and a half days, upon which time they released him into police custody. While he was in the hospital, he was looked at by a psychiatrist, who said "surely a type of psychosis." 

The police found that very unhelpful. By the time he was released, the man, who they had taken to calling Arthur, even if it likely wasn't his real name, had calmed down. He seemed to be waiting for something, perhaps a chance to escape. He looked at everything as if he were seeing it for the first time. The only thing he said while in police custody was "I must find Merlin." 

One of the officers, who was vaguely familiar with the Arthurian legends, rolled his eyes. Arthur said nothing else for the remainder of his time with them.

He was placed in a psychiatric facility a day after being released from the hospital. He remained there for one week. He did not find Merlin. Luckily, Merlin found him.

Kinda short. Largely filler, but important info on how our favorite clotpole is doing. Anyway, thank you guys so much for the 500 reads! It means a lot to me.

xoxo

-Sierra <3