ihadabadday | A Righteous Return - AU - Locked to seaweed

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A Righteous Return - AU - Locked to seaweed_writes

Once Upon a Time in a kingdom far away and filled with magic and dragons, there was a King and his Wizard. Together they did great things, bringing peace to the world and to its people. They were the best of friends, as close as any two men could be. Until one day the King was gravely injured defending his Wizard...

He gasped as the arrow struck his shoulder. Just between the gap in his armor. Too low to be anything but fatal. He knew that. But he was the King of England. He wielded Excalibur. He would not go down with out a fight. Of course /he/ would call him foolish for this. For defending him in this way. He was a sorcerer, a wizard, after all.

His knees gave out as the blood loss started to affect him. He barely noticed as strong arms came around him.

"It's okay." He assured the man, "You'll be okay. If... I'll return." He coughed a bit, feeling the pain. But it was all okay. His friend. His Wizard was alive. He pressed Excalibur into the man's hands.

"Return this to the Lady of the Lake. Please. It needs to be safe." He knew what would happen if it was in the wrong hands.

He didn't have much time. He knew that. He reached up and touched his Wizard's face. "Find me again." He managed before he closed his eyes, arm falling limply to his side.

The King of the Brits, of England, was gone.

---

John shot up in bed, gasping for breath. He pressed a hand to his face and took a deep breath. Another nightmare. So many had piled up over the years. Loosing Arthur, the two Great Wars. Even recent events were enough to make him frightened. He got out of bed and walked over to the window. After opening the blinds, he stared out at the blinking lights. Albion had changed so much in recent time. Just the past hundred years alone. He let out a sigh.

There had been one time in all these years the had started to feel Arthur return. During the second Great War... The need for him was great then than it had been years earlier during the first. He pressed a fist to the window and sighed. "Arthur, we need you..." There was the unspoken, I need you. It was always unspoken. He had never dared tell the King. He couldn't, not when he had a Queen that adored him so and who he adored in return.

He let out a long held breath and looked back out to the night sky. He didn't need this flatshare, but it was convenient to be around people again.

---

He had been living with Sherlock Holmes for three months now. Just long enough to know he could stand the man, but not long enough to really know how he felt about the man. Other than... Okay.

John had left Sherlock lying on the couch when he went off to work. The A&E. He loved working in emergency medicine. He could help people and keep an eye out for Arthur and the Knights.

Of course, this was the day when a psych patient broke out and started to wave a scalpel at everyone. John stepped in front of a nurse only to get stabbed in the neck. He put his hand up to press against the wound, trembling. Oh, shock. He slowly sunk to the ground as he heard his coworkers starting to swarm.

And it was about fifteen minutes later that Sherlock's mobile started going off.

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John turned the desk and chair back into what they should be, trying not to let the strain start to get to him.

He swallowed and swayed a bit on his feet before righting himself and looking to Mycroft.

"Yes. Lancelot. Fhr King's greatest ally. He and Gallahad were always there for the King."

As soon as John started to sway, Sherlock was there, wrapping an arm around him and helping to keep him upright. Even when he stood straight and looked at Mycroft - Lancelot - he was still close in case John was too weak.

"Gallahad is... the Detective Inspector, correct?" Mycroft asked, getting situated back in his chair. He looked a bit pale, but he was almost totally back to looking like he always did, pulled together and calm. His voice wavered only very slightly, only people who knew him well would be able to tell.

"And... what are we supposed to do now, that you have shown us.... this?" He asked.

John smiled gratefully at Sherlock. He was glad the man was here. He steadied himself and looked at Mycroft.

"You wait." He answered, "because you will be called upon. I suggest either getting a weapon yourself or have someone get you one. And learn some hand to hand combat."

He put a hand on Sherlock's shoulder for support, taking a breath.

Mycroft scoffed slightly. "Do you think that I got to the position that I have without some physical training?" He asked. He might have been Awakened, but he was still Mycroft, after all.

"I can assure you that you both my assistant and I have been trained with weapons and in physical combat. You don't need to worry, Doctor Watson. We can take care of ourselves."

"Just making sure." John answered with a smile. He was pale, but he wasn't going to collapse in the presence of Mycroft. He really needed to work on his stamina when it came to magic.

"Be on the lookout for strange occurrences and forward them to me. And do make sure you know your history."

John looked to Sherlock. "Lets go, we have eight more knights to find." He told the man as he summoned the map back to him.

Mycroft looked like he was going to say something, then, in a very unusual bid for himself, closed his mouth again, and simply said. "Yes. We will be in touch."

Anthea silently walked them back out until they were back onto the pavement outside the front of MI5.

"Well." Sherlock said, with a little smirk. "That was... entertaining, to say the least." He chuckled, a low rumble.

"Where to next, O wise leader?"

"Glad you enjoyed the show." John smiled at Sherlock and leaned up to kiss him. He pulled back and touched his cheek briefly.

He then pulled away and retirved the map. "Scotland Yard."

Sherlock eagerly returned the kiss, aware that they were in public, but not really caring one whit about it anyways. The kiss was mostly chaste anyways, not anything you wouldn't see other couples do.

He studied the map for a moment. "It looks like we have a group of Knights there." He said, sighing. "I have an awful feeling that I know that what means." He really hoped he was wrong, but he knew that he wasn't.

They were going to have to learn to get along if they wanted to fight together in the coming conflict.

John laughed. "Yes, we will have to get along. Somehow." He grinned at Sherlock.

"Do you want to get some lunch before we go to the Yard, or do we want to go and then skip off home after the Yard?"

He wanted to make sure that Sherlock was comfortable and happy.

As usual, Sherlock was not really hungry, and going home after visiting the Yard sounded appealing. He could only take people for so long, and he was already getting low on his resources. Talking to the others in the Yard he was sure would take the rest out of him.

He was just not a social person like John.

"Let's just get the Yard over with." He said. "If Graham is available, he might cushion the blow for whomever else we are going to meet there."

"I know you can only take people for so long and thank you for sticking it out this far." He said as he took Sherlock's hand. John didn't care at the moment. He just wanted to be normal with his lover.

Hold hands, go to dinner, walk through the park, shag... All the things normal couples did.

"I hope Greg is there. I don't know how much patience I have for people arguing with me right now." And judging by how pale he was, he wasn't sure how much more magic he could expend. He really did need to work on that stamina.

"You look rather pale, John." He said, his face radiating concern. "Perhaps we should get some food, or we can go back to the flat and you can rest a bit. We can go back later this afternoon or tomorrow. We have rounded up 3 of the knights so far, that is a good start."

He looked down the street, trying to find a cab to take them back home.
"We can go home and I can order you something, and you can rest until it comes, then eat a bit. You need to stay strong. I need you for this. I am lost without you."

John swallowed and then nodded. "Alright, lets go home." He let himself lean a bit into Sherlock.

"It's been such a long time since I needed to expend so much magic..." He admitted, "I get tired more easily now." He was positive that Sherlock had seen that. How using too much magic tired him out.

But he tried to be strong for Sherlock. For his King.

Sherlock nodded. Of course he didn't really understand, because he knew absolutely nothing about magic, but it made sense to him that using it would drain the man of his energy.

He flagged down a cab, and they were off. The cab ride was mostly silent, Sherlock just held his hand and gave him a little squeeze once in a while.

When they got there, he helped John up the stairs and into bed, only stopping to help him remove his trousers and shirt, leaving him in a vest and pants.

'Seems like I'm putting you to bed a lot." He joked. "But rest now. You can eat when you wake back up." He gave his lover a tender kiss on the forehead, quite chaste.

John woke to the sounds of five voices shouting. Oh god. Too early, or late or whatever. He was exhausted still. Regardless, he still pulled himself out of bed and dressed in what Sherlock had stripped him out of.

He stepped out of their room and was greeted with DI Dimmock (what was his first name again?), Sally Donovan and Philip Anderson. Along with Greg Lestrade and Sherlock. He rubbed his forehead.

"Why is a chunk of New Scotland Yard in my sitting room?" he asked when there was a break in the shouting.

Four of the five fell silent.

John just arched an eyebrow. "Well?"

"Philip, Sally and I are having weird... Visions." He told John, "We brought it up to Greg and he dragged us here."

Sherlock had certainly been surprised when Lestrade came barging in, with three of his Scotland Yarders. They had explained to him abut the visions, but he had been trying to tell them that they needed to wait until John was awake. He hadn't been feeling well, and need to rest for a bit.

As soon as John came out, looking slightly disheveled, but a bit more rested and less peaky, Sherlock turned angrily on the rest of them.

"And now you awoke him. I should throw the lot of you out bodily." He shouted, then sighed. "Fortunately for you idiotic lot, John needs to talk to you, or else you would have already been gone."

At least a couple of them had the courtesy to look a little sheepish.

"Alright, John? Or do you need a bit more time?" He asked a lot more softly to his lover.

"I could use another couple hours of sleep. But dealing with three at once will make our lives easier in the long run." He answered as he ran a hand through his mussed hair. John smiled at Sherlock and then walked over to the three yarders.

"Alright. Sit down." he ordered the three of them. There was no room for argument in his tone. He was exhausted, but could feel the magic bubbling under the skin. Three knights in one place. He would need to make a list.

Dimmock was the first to sit, pulling Sally and Anderson with him.

Sherlock frowned. He was going to have a talk with Greg when this was all over about the conduct of both him and his men. But for right now, he was just an observer.

He watched the four of them sit cross legged on the floor, equally confused looks on all of their faces. He had seen this three times already now, and he had to admit that he still couldn't quite believe it, it was still amazing to watch.

John looked at Sherlock and then let out a breath. "Gawain, Gallahad, Geraint, and Gaheris..." He moved his hand, letting the magic fall around each of them. He knew Greg already remembered who he was. But it was easier to do four than three.

He moved to sit in a chair, looking at the four. "You four are Knights of the Round Table, from the ancient Kingdom of Camelot, loyal to King Arthur. There is a threat to London, to all of England coming. You are awakening, being called upon by England herself."

Sherlock watched intently. He could feel the warm tingle of the magic in the room. Interestingly enough, it actually brought another, shorter and less intense bout of memories to his thoughts, which was something that he hadn't expected.

As for the other 4, Greg just smiled, it looked like he was given more memories as well. The other three looked skeptical, then surprised and amazed, and finally, content as the memories faded slightly and they came back to themselves.

Dimmock opened his eyes and then looked to Sally and Anderson before looking back at John. He stared for a moment. "Merlin."

John just smiled at them. "Please, discuss this with Greg elsewhere. I'm going to go back to bed." He rose, as pale as he had been when they left Mycroft's office earlier in the day.

Sherlock flashed them a look that meant GET OUT. NOW.

He then turned to John and ignored them as he put his arm around John and helped him into bed. This time, he got undressed and got into bed with John. He wrapped his arms around the man and kissed him softly.

"Rest, John. I'll be here with you this time. Sleep."

John got up and rubbed his face. He felt like he had slept for ages. He looked at his phone. It had been at least twelve hours. Huh. He sat at the kitchen table and spread out the map on the table. Next to the faded points of lights, he wrote the names of the Knights and their identities in this life.

He set the pen down and rubbed his forehead.

This was a pain. Trying to convince ordinary people of what they were. That he wasn't crazy. Good grief.

Sherlock had intended to just lay and go into his Mind Palace, but having John close to him, and everything that had happened that day was exhausting, and he fell asleep.

Something vaguely registered when the bed moved, but he quickly fell back asleep.

By the time he got back up, used the loo, and walked into the living room,. John was awake and looking at the maps. He looked like he had a headache, so he got some paracetamol and a glass of water and walked over to John, kissing his forehead.

"Alright, John?"

He looked up when he heard a noise and he smiled. There was such obvious love and caring on his face.

"I never wanted this for any of you." He told Sherlock, "I want everyone to be able to live happily and not worry about whatever is coming."

He took the paracetamol and chased it with some water before letting out a sigh.

"At least we have six knights found." he noted.

A Righteous Return - AU - Locked to seaweed_writes

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