A Righteous Return - AU - Locked to seaweed_writes

[ihadabadday]

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.

Comments

[seaweed_writes]

Sherlock was in his chair, with his laptop in his lap. When the map in the kitchen lit up, he immediately noticed it. He got up wand watched the dots shrinking and moving slightly until they were 11 very specific points of light.

The entire able was emanating magic, and he was actually slightly surprised when he heard John almost stumble down the stairs. He rushed to the man, who looked like he had just ran a marathon.. twice.

"John!" He exclaimed, actually picking the man up in his arms. "Bed. Now." Sherlock carried him to bed, and went to the loo, gently wiping his sweaty skin with cool, damp flannels.

"Rest, John. We can talk in the morning."

[ihadabadday]

John didn't know how he managed to get down the stairs. Oh god. He was grateful that Sherlock was there.

Oh. That spell had taken more out of him than he thought. But he was glad that he was helped to bed.

He was out before his head hit the pillow, relaxing. The tension eased out of him and he just looked... Content.

[seaweed_writes]

Sherlock leaned down and kissed him gently on the forehead. This was the second night in a row that he had to put John to bed, though for completely different reasons.

He tucked John in and went back to the living room, stopping to look at the map on the kitchen table. It wasn't glowing any more, but the dots were still there, and he could still feel the residual magic dissipating in the air. He went back to his laptop to let John sleep, and do more research himself.

[ihadabadday]

In the morning, John got up. He was aching. He took himself to the loo to clean himself up and shower. He let the hot water beat against his muscles, oh that felt good.

John pressed his forehead against the cool tile, relaxing.

He needed to get stronger. Increase his stamina. He would need to so he could face Morgana.

So he used his magic to start breakfast for the two of them.

[seaweed_writes]

When John woke up, Sherlock heard him get into the shower. He thought about getting in there with him, but then he decided that maybe he needed a little time to himself, so he just continued his work on the computer.

That is, until the kitchen started to make food for itself.

He got up and watched as bread went into the toaster and eggs cracked into a pan right before the gas for the stove top turned on. While John was in the shower. He wasn't sure whether to laugh, or just stare and watch, or help the magic along.

So he watched as breakfast made itself- the only help being that he moved the map off the table just in time before the plates sat themselves down onto the table on top of it.

All he could do was shake his head and smile.

[ihadabadday]

John got out of the shower and dried off. He dressed and left the bedroom. There was a smile on his face as a cup of tea floated over. He took it and sipped.

He then looked at Sherlock. "What?"

[seaweed_writes]

"What... can you do with that magic of yours?" He asked, sitting at the table, munching on a bit of the eggs that the magic had made. "Though I had to admit that they made it just the way that I like it." He smiled at the man, got up, then gave him a soft kiss between his sips of tea.

"You are walking a bit oddly. A bit sore from yesterday, I see?" He asked with a smirk.

[ihadabadday]

"A lot." He said with a grin, "What are you thinking?"

He smiled at the kiss, returning it softly before relaxing back in the chair. He took a bite of his eggs and toast, looking better than he had mere hours earlier.

"Just a bit sore, but it was quite worth it."

[seaweed_writes]

Oh, he was thinking about a lot of things that could possibly be done with that magic. He didn't say anything, but the growing smirk on his face showed EXACTLY what he was thinking about.

"As much as I would love to test the theory that your magic can do.. 'a lot', I think we really do need to start working on getting the Knights together." He hated to ruin the moment, but they had already lost one day, and they had no idea how much time they had left.

[ihadabadday]

"The map should have exact locations now. We'll go and round them up." John said, "We don't have time to play around. Something is coming. And... It's not going to be easy on any of us."

[seaweed_writes]

All of a sudden, the eggs sat heavier in his stomach, and he really didn't feel like eating any more. He gently pushed his plate away from him.

"I will take a quick shower, and then we can start." He said, standing up and taking his plate to the sink, then heading for the loo. It was a quick shower. He got dressed and was back in the living room in less than 10 minutes, his hair still wet but perfectly coifed, as always.

"Where to first?" He asked, already grabbing his coat and scarf from the coat rack.

[ihadabadday]

John summoned the map to himself and folded it up. "Saint Bart's." He said as he pulled his coat on.

"There is a knight there." And the dragon... But he didn't let Sherlock know that yet.

He slid his phone into his pocket along with his wallet and keys.

[seaweed_writes]

"Molly." Sherlock said, a little horror in his voice. He understood that this was a war that was coming, and that people could die. As much as he always berated Molly, he did care for her as a friend, and would never want anything to happen to her.

"Is it Molly, John?" He had to ask, he had to know.

[ihadabadday]

"I'm sorry." He said quietly.

John didn't want it to be Molly. But... But it was the logical conclusion.

"I'll protect her. I know she's not a fighter."

[seaweed_writes]

Sherlock sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. There were going to be others that he knew and cared about that were going to be drawn into this, he knew it.

When he opened his eyes again, they were full of a steely determination. He looked over at Excalibur, which he had been polishing while John slept the night before. It was wrapped up in fabric again. He knew no one else could wield it, even if they wanted to, so he had no worries about leaving it out, but he wished that he could take it with him.

He looked back to John. "We will both protect her." He said, wrapped his scarf around his neck, then head ed down the stairs.

[ihadabadday]

John glanced up at the sky as they stepped outside. Ered... Old Ones... Keep the knights safe. Keep those who were born innocent safe.

He focused back on Sherlock and touched his hand. His feelings for Sherlock weren't a hinderance, no. They were power. He felt powerful knowing he had admitted his feelings for the man. He could feel his magic coursing through him, bubbling and just under the skin. A sensation he had not felt since the first Arthur was alive.

John opened the door to the morgue and stepped inside. Molly...

[seaweed_writes]

"Oh! Hello there! Fancy seeing you two! I was just going over a few things with Molly." The smiling face of Mike Stamford greeted them both. He threw a little wink John's way.

"And Sherlock, always nice to see you. It's been a while. I knew John would make a good flatmate when I introduced you two!" He said in his thick accent. Of course him introducing the two had been no accident at all, the Old Ones had allowed him to make this one move to help them come together. Everything else, the relationship that came of it, had been of its own accord.

"I'll let you three chat." He turned to Molly. "I'll talk to ya later." He smiled again, mostly at John, and then was gone.

Molly smiled her mousey little smile at them. She was already taking off her rubber gloves. "Sherlock. John. Nice to see you again. What can I help you with? I don't have any spleens for you yet, Sherlock. I'm still waiting for a good one to come in."

[ihadabadday]

John returned the smile at Mike gave him. Well then. Alright. No doubt the dragon knew that this would be their first stop.

"Molly, we're not here about a spleen." John said as he stepped over to her. His fingers itched with magic, he knew... This was... This was...

Kay...

Arthur's foster brother.

He let out a breath. "Molly... I..." He didn't want to wake her, break the veil of innocence over her.

[seaweed_writes]

Molly's face changed to a look of confusion. Usually John was confident with his words and actions, it was very strange to see him like this. She looked over to Sherlock, who was, as he was often, wearing a hard to read expression. Then she looked back to John.

"John.. are you two.. alright? Has something happened?" She could feel something.. strange. in the air, but she couldn't place what it was. It was warm and tingly and inviting, but she was stiff and on her guard.

"Do you need a seat? Just take a deep breath, and explain. I will try to help however I can."

[ihadabadday]

He stepped forward and placed a hand on her face. "Molly, I'm sorry..." John told her, "I am so sorry for this."

John let out a breath and thought one word. Wake...

He wanted to wake the memories of Kay inside Molly, bring them to the surface, bring the faithful knight to the front,

[seaweed_writes]

The look of worry only increased on Molly's face. The words had started to form on her lips. "What are you sorry for?" But she didn't finish getting them out before everything went white.

She saw a time long, long ago, knights and kings and armour and war. And she was there. She was..

A guy.

And beside her... him.. was another man in armour even more brilliant than his.. Armour fit for. a king.

For his brother.

"Arthur." The word was whispered, and she had no idea if she had said it or thought of it.

She saw war and battle, blood and death, and the last thing she saw was a sword being run through the cracks in the armor, and everything faded back into reality.

She was panting and sweating, and she realized that she had been screaming just a moment before. Molly blinked, then looked to John, her eyes wide, her chest heaving, still unable to speak.

[ihadabadday]

John was holding her up, holding her, wishing he didn't have to do this. Molly was such a gentle soul and he didn't want to burden her with this. But he had no choice. They needed all the knights. All of them.

"It's alright Molly. It's alright." He kissed her head and then pulled back a bit. She was so pale. He stroked her cheek gently and smiled at her.

"It's alright. I'm here. We're both here." John assured her.

[seaweed_writes]

She blinked a few times, looking between the worried faces of Sherlock and John.

"A-a-arthur?" She looked at Sherlock. "M-m-erlin?" She asked when she looked at John. "Wh-what's going on?" She lowered herself into a chair, as she was obviously not strong enough to support herself right now.

"Why did I see knights? And why did I just call you Arthur and Merlin?"

[ihadabadday]

He helped her sit and then sat in a chair next to her.

"Because you are a reborn Knight of the Round Table. And Sherlock is the reborn King Arthur and I am Merlin." He told her.

John swallowed and stroked her hair. He looked to Sherlock, a worried look on his face. Why did they have to do this.

[seaweed_writes]

Sherlock piped up. "I know this sounds too fantastic to be real, Molly." He said, his deep voice etched with concern. "But it is true, every bit of it. John proved it to me, I've seen his magic, and I have wiedlded Excalibur." He had a bit of a sheepish grin. "I.. couldn't bring a giant sword with me, it's still in the flat.

That actually made Molly smile, and chuckle very lightly.

"And it gets a bit crazier. We are gathering all of the Knights of the Round Table. Something is coming and we need to join forces. We aren't sure of the threat yet, but it's like a gathering storm." He said.

"You are the second of my Knights. You won't believe it, but Graham is the first. "

"Graham?"

"You know, Gavin Lestrade?"

"Greg, Sherlock." Molly gently chided. Sherlock just waved his hands in a vague shooing gesture.

"Well, anyways, he is Galahad, interestingly enough. I guess I can start calling him Gallahad Lestrade."