Work Text:
Merlin woke to the sound of soft crying and a pounding headache. Slowly he opens his eyes but can see nothing. He moves his head towards the sound of the crying and hears a sharp intake of breath.
“Unca! You’re awake!” He hears before a small form barrels into him, small hands clutching his tunic.
“Willow” he rasps, “what’s going on? Are you okay? Where are we?”
“I dunno where we are but the big meanie came up when we were picking flowers and he hit you when you tried to stop him from getting me… then you wouldn’t wake up… ”
‘Gods damn it.’
“Okay sweetheart, are you hurt anywhere?”
“No…” her voice wavered in reply. Sighing Merlin managed to sit up and wrap his arms around her quivering body. “It’ll be alright, your mom and dad are looking for us as we speak and they will find us, you know they will.”
Sniffing she nods her head against his chest.”I know.. but what will we do if the bad man comes back?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep us safe, he can’t sneak up on us in here now, can he? We can hear him if he comes and hide in the dark and see how he likes being snuck up on” Merlin says smiling.
“But it’s not… not dark in here Unca…” she says.
‘Not dark? Fuck fuck fuck.. he must have hit me pretty damn hard…okay merlin, think.. how he hell do you get a child to safety when you can’t see?’
“Unca… are you okay? what’s going on?”
“I’m fine sweetling, just a small headache. Can you describe where we are for me?”
As she does just that Merlin tries to use his magic to call out to anyone nearby if nothing else he knows willow MUST be safe. He thinks he could probably teleport her to safety but without being able to see it’s a risk he doesn’t want to take, here at least there would be a trail for someone to find them. He needs help, and soon.
After some time Willow falls asleep in his arms but Merlin stays alert, ears trained to his surroundings and magic spreading out in hopes to reach someone who can help.
Because of this, he is not surprised when the cell door opens, and their captor steps in.
Grunting the man reaches for the princess but merlin just grips her tighter, glaring where the footsteps had come from.
“You will not touch her!”
“And what will you do about it?” The man grunts out
“This” Merlin lashes out with his magic, a force in all directions to knock the man into something, to get him away. It takes more effort than usual but had the side effect of Merlin being able to sense his surroundings. At some point, willow had woken up and was gripping as hard as she could to Merlin's tunic.
“Sweetheart, I’m going to need your help, I need you to tell me if you see a way out okay? I’m going to hold on to you, but I need to concentrate on feeling if there is anyone around us, so I’m going to rely on your eyes.”
“I can do that Unca…”
Holding on to her small form Merlin slowly makes his way out of the cell and down a corridor. Still reaching out with his magic he follows her directions and they manage to make their way out of what seemed to be a small keep. He keeps moving forwards until they reach the forest. Once inside he puts Willow down but keeps ahold of her hand. His other hand he places against the nearest tree and focuses his magic again, this time trying to summon a deer to help lead them back to Camelot. It works, and the ‘deer’ comes up and nuzzles his hand.
“Oh, Unca! She’s beautiful!”
Mentally reaching out he asks the ‘deer’ if she can lead them back home, and if Willow can ride on it’s back. Feeling approval from the animal he gently places Willow on her back. Holding onto Willow he follows the animal. After some time they hear hoofbeats and clanking of armor. The ‘deer’ stops and Merlin readies his magic in defense, but relaxes as he hears “Willow! Merlin! You’re alright!”
“Daddy!!” Willow squeals and Merlin gently lifts her off her mount and lets her run towards Arthur.
“Willow, I’m so glad you’re okay” Merlin hears Arthurs muffled voice.
“Daddy..” Willow whispers into Arthurs's chest, “Unca is hurt, he didn’t want me to know so I wouldn’t be scared… he needs Grandpa Gaius…”
=====
Arthur looks up to where Merlin is still standing, leaning on what appeared to be a Unicorn, his face is turned towards him and Willow but his eyes are unfocused. Arthur lets go of Willow and starts heading towards Merlin, getting there just as Merlin’s legs gave way, catching him before he hit the ground.
“Merlin!” He exclaimed, gently lowering his warlock to the ground. “Where are you hurt?”
“My… head…” Merlin says weakly “got hit pretty hard, can’t see anything but had to get willow out..” with that Merlin finally allows himself to pass out, going limp in Arthur's arms.
=====
The next time Merlin wakes up, he can hear the sound of willow and her Brother Thomas reading quietly to each other, and he feels a gentle hand carding through his hair. “Gwen” he whispers, knowing without looking his queen is the one taking care of him. She lifts his head and places a cup of water, allowing him to take small sips. When he was finished she placed it back on the side table and reached for his hand.
“Oh merlin, you had us so worried… Gaius will be back in a moment to check on you, he wanted to get some potions for when you woke”
“Is willow okay?”
“She’s fine, worried about her best Unca ever, but unharmed. Thomas is very jealous she got to ride a unicorn you know”
Merlin chuckles “didn’t mean to summon one... I just needed something to help us get through the forest... I thought it was a horse or deer…”
“Only you Merlin would be such a girl you can summon a unicorn,” Arthur says as he comes into the room with gains right behind him.
“Oh hush Arthur, or I will show you exactly what a girl can do” Gwen reprimands him.
“Merlin my boy, how are you feeling? Are you in any pain?”
“My head still feels a bit fuzzy, but otherwise, I’m fine.”
“Good, I want you to open your eyes very slowly, we’ve dimmed the room as much as possible but I need to check if your sight is back”
With some trepidation merlin slowly blinks his eyes open, wincing at the light but grinning from ear to ear as he does so.
“I assume from the crazy look on your face you can see?” Arthur asks him.
“Still a bit blurry but that only makes it easier to look at your face”
Laughing Arthur reaches over and musses Merlin’s hair before leaning over and kissing his forehead.”I’m glad your okay, thank you for protecting willow and keeping her from panicking.” He whispers “You are a great dad.”