Our Memory Will Never Fade (merthur)

Chapter Two

It became a routine between them. They would chat and get to know each other in the morning, Michael would go undercover at night, then come back before dawn to tell a tale of his adventure with his host. One day, they decided to go shopping at the farmer's market in the village and purchased quite a number of goods for merlin to cook with. They laughed and joked as they wandered through the town and back home when there was an odd sound (like a gun being fired) and a scream.

Merlin and Michael shared a look before running in that direction. There was a crowd surrounding the stand that sold homemade remedies and an old woman was sobbing beside a body sprawled on the ground. Michael shoved his way through and looked down at the corpse. Merlin was suddenly there and began to inspect it as well. The warlock then turned to the sobbing woman (who he recognized as someone he sometimes shared tea with) and gave her a sympathetic pat.

"I'm sorry for you loss, Mrs. Bree," he said sincerely. "But I need to know if you saw who did this to your husband."

She shook her head and sniffed. "But I don't understand why anyone would do such a thing... Charles never did anything wrong. Well-" she cut herself off, her tears decreasing and her brows furrowed. "He was behaving a bit oddly this past week. Nervous and jumpy. He'd yelp in surprise whenever I entered a room. He looked as though he were expecting the devil himself to pop out from the fireplace."

As the woman said this, Merlin had picked up one of the remedies and tasted it, then gagging at the vile flavor. "This is supposed to be used for colds, correct?" he asked.

Mrs. Bree nodded slowly, obviously confused. "I'm sure that a cold remedy doesn't call for hallucinogens," he said before spitting to get rid of the taste. "Especially one so strong."

Merlin staggered slightly from the drug and Michael caught him. "How do you know?" the detective asked curiously, though obviously concerned for his friend's well being.

"When I was a child, my friend, Will, dared me to eat a patch of mushrooms we found in the forest," he replied, holding his head. "My mum got so mad that she threatened to send me to another kingdom."

Michael rose a brow at that last part but Merlin didn't seem to realize what he'd just said and snorted with laughter. "I caught the rabbits, Arthur..." he mumbled through his haze.

Mrs. Bree appeared to be utterly horrified. "My husband's put illegal drugs into the remedies?" she exclaimed, looking as though she were about to faint from shock. "But... why?"

"I believe that he may have been threatened, ma'am," Michael deduced. "By one of the drug dealers that I've been after. Apparently, Mr. Bree was unable to fulfill his duty to distribute the drugs among the common folk and was... exterminated."

Mrs Bree let out another wail. "Oh, Charles," she cried. "How could you?"

Michael pursed his lips, his expression grim as he laid Merlin (who was still hallucinating) on the ground. "I'll be sure to avenge him for you, ma'am. But I'm going to need your help with gathering some vital information."

~

Merlin slowly awoke and groaned in pain, his head hurt and the world seemed to spin as he tried to sit up. He squeezed his eyes shut and held a hand to his head, recalling the events that had happened previously. He remembered tasting the hallucinogen infected remedy before slipping into a haze of memories of his time in Camelot and with Arthur. The thought brought tears to his eyes and he covered his face with his hands. There was a knock and Michael entered the room and was holding a cup of tea.

"Hey," he greeted and set the tea on his nightstand. "Everything alright?"

Merlin nodded, wiping his tears. "Yes, I'm fine. Just a little nauseous," he replied, only half truthfully.