Maybe, one day I will make a comic out of it, but until then, here is my note, my idea about this AU.
So what if Balinor wasn't killed. What if, Arthur and Merlin were separated on their quest to find him: Merlin and Balinor found their way back to Camelot on their own, and Merlin wasn't scared and less careful to use magic, to defend the both of them.
(Meanwhile Arthur being worried sick and tracking both of them back to Camelot, being convinced that Balinor kidnapped Merlin).
Merlin sneaks Balinor in, who then banishes Kilgharrah, but before they both fly off, Balinor and Merlin share a heartfelt hug, bidding their goodbyes and a promise to visit each other occasionally.
Merlin gets back to the castle, having forgotten that Arthur is still one of his responsibilities , where, one day later, Arthur surprises him at the foot of Merlins bed.
Arthur, reliefed of seeing Camelot freed form the dragons wrath (and to see Merlin sound asleep) shows this by bitchily waking Merlin with a "rise and shine"
Merlin slowly blinks awake, before he realizes it's Arthur, and jumps up. "Where have you been?" Merlin musters Arthur, who quite literally dragged all the mud and dirt into Merlins room.
"Oh! I don't know! In the woods?! ALONE?! Where the hell have YOU been Merlin?!" They stare at each other.
"I showed Balinor the way... We lost you,,, and I thought you'd want him as fast as possible in Camelot." Arthur is speechless, but snaps back "so you left me alone?!"
Merlin smiles daringly "What should I have done? I thought I'm just a servant?" Arthur stammers, before storming off "I am starving! And fetch water for a bath!", but Merlin understands.
Months go by, even whole seasons. The winter has come again. Merlin has frequently sneaked out to visit his father, who has been traveling on Kilgharrahs back. Balinor even occasionally sneaked in to visit Merlin and Gaius. Balinor has reconnected with Hunith as well, but she remains in Ealdor.
It isn't until he tries to visit Merlin, who is on the verge of death from some stupid quest Arthur dragged him on, that Balinor is discovered sneaking in. He is arrested on the spot, and given a hearing the next day.
Heavy lidded, Arthur forces himself to mask his turmoil, and faces Balinor. "What is it that brings you here, Balinor, last dragonlord." Balinor, made to kneel before Arthur, remains quiet. The King taps his throne, growing impatiant. "You have freed Camelot of the Great Dragon, for wich I will forever be in your debt. You are free, to leave Camelot and are to never return. That is all the kindness I can offer you."
Balinor gaze stays fixed on the tiles. As Arthur waves him off, signaling to guards to take him away, he speaks up, his voice booming through the throne room. "I am here to visit a friend."
"Whom?" Balinor hesitates for a moment, "Gaius."
Gaius straightens up as Arthur looks at him "Is this true? Is he an old friend of yours?"
"Yes, we were close friends," Gaius confirms, and adds shortly after: "before the purge."
Arthur sits there for a moment, unrest rising in the throne room as he ponders what to do next. "What prompted your visit, Balinor?"
Again, Balinor waits a moment "I heard his ward is injured, I came to offer my help."
Arthur, now suddenly more awake, frowns. His eyes dart to his knights, Gwaine, Lancelot, Leon, who all are more alert now. "Surely you must know, as the court physician, Gaius is more than well equipped to deal with such a simple wound."
"And yet Merlin remains half-dead." Balinor offered an apologetic gaze towards Gaius, but then looked on. Finally, he faced Arthur."If only it were a simple wound. Magic has wounded him. It takes magic to heal him."
Arthur decidess; Balinor is permitted to use the arts of the old religion to save Merlin, but only under Arthurs surveillance. Stating clearly, that if he failed, he would face execution.
They trail behind Balinor and Gaius, who exchange hushed words as they walk down the corridors. Arthur decides to take Lancelot and Leon with him, to Gwaine's dismay.
In the chambers, Gaius and Balinor share a routine; they work together smoothly. Balinor pulls out weeds and flowers out of his pouch, Arthur follows them with his eyes, worried.
What if they are poisonous?
He hands them to Gaius, who promptly works them into a rather chunky mush. Balinor takes it back, sitting himself next to the candles on Gaius' workbench. For a moment everything stilled, even the fire did not dare crackle as Balinor concentrated. He whispered words, none of them could decipher, as he held his hand over the bowl. He stood up, promptly going to Merlins room. The knights hurried behind him.
It wasn't lost on Arthur dad Balinor knew exactly where to go.
Merlin lay sweating, Gwen by his side. She tried to cool him down with a rag drenched in water. She stood up, placing herself between Merlin and the raggedy stranger "Who are you?". Balinor went past her and sat down on the stool she had used just prior.
Everyone walked into Merlins room, Arthur noted that it was to small for all of them.
That needed to be changed.
Gaius took Gwen by the arm "He's a friend, here to help Merlin." and let her go. She goes out the door, turning around one last time and catches Lancelots gaze. He nods reasuringly and she closes the door.
Meawhile Balinor worked on taking off Merlins bandages, tossing them to the side, and embalming Merlins wound. It was a nasty wound. A slash across his chest, torn and suppurating. Thankfully, it didn't need stitches. Yet the gash has swollen quite a bit since the last time Arthur saw it, and he winced. Balinor worked the mush around the gash and lastly came to work it into the wound itself. Merlin huffed and winced.
Balinor leans back and Merlin calms, so does everyone else in the room. For a moment they stand there, the kights hands still on the stilts of their sword, anticipating Merlin to bolt back to life.
But he doesn't. "What have you done to him? Why isn't he waking up?" Arthur glares at the back of Balinors skull. "I have treated the wound," Balinor spoke calmly, "he has yet to recover."
The knights linger, it is starting to become uncomfortable, what are they going to do next? Stand there and wait for Merlin to recover? Yes. That is exactly what Arthur is planning on doing.
He walks out of Merlins room, into Gaius' work-chamber and drags back a chair. He places it on other side of Merlins bed, he has to be on the left, but also opposite to Balinor.
Ok, I don't really post here, but there's a Merlin AU idea that's been rattling around in my skull like it's a pinball machine and I need to get it out, so here we go:
Imagine an AU where Balinor doesn't die and banishes Kilgarrah before sneaking away so Uther doesn't catch him and can't put his newfound son in danger. Of course, both he and Merlin are heartbroken about having to be separated again after just finding each other, but they work out a way to keep in touch and occasionally meet in secret.
And this is all well and good, and everything in the show just kinda proceeds as normal up until about season 4, where we have the knights of the round table well-established in Camelot.
It'd make sense that after a few years of travelling around with Kilgarrah, Balinor would be pretty well-known and well-feared throughout all the five kingdoms as "that dragonlord who escaped the purge and now travels around on the back of a giant dragon", and people all over Albion are kinda terrified of the guy.
Rumors say that he never smiles, that he can kill a man in a split second without even utterring a spell, and can decimate kingdoms with the dragon under his total command. That makes for a formidable figure!
And then one day, Balinor is trying to sneak into Camelot to visit his son (he heard Merlin got hit by a dorocha and wants to make sure he's ok!), and the knights see him and freak out because holy shit that's one of the deadliest guys in Albion!
They're in a tense standoff, with Balinor threatening to call down the dragon on them if they don't let him through. The knights are all ready to give their lives to at least buy the people in the castle time to evacuate, when suddenly Merlin and Arthur make it to the standoff. Arthur immediately starts strategizing with his knights on how they're going to negociate with the sorcerer in an attempt to make sure that they aren't all slaughtered.
Meanwhile, Merlin just laughs and pushes through the rows of knights blocking Balinor's path to the castle. The knights, being very fond of Merlin and not wanting to see their kind little friend be brutally murdered by one of the most terrifying men in exsistence, are trying to grab Merlin and pull him back to safety or shouting at him to get back, but Merlin manages to avoid them as he walks up to Balinor.
For a horrifying moment, the knights and Arthur think that Merlin is about to sacrifice himself for them, but Merlin breaks into a huge grin, yells "Dad!", and runs right into Balinor's arms.
(Merlin and Balinor reason that now that Arthur's king, they might as well start easing him into some of Merlin's less shocking secrets)
And even more shockingly to the knights, Balinor hugs him back, asking Merlin all about how he's been doing, how are his studies under Gaius, etc etc.
And all of the knights just bluescreen. Because the math isn't mathing on this one. Hunith + Balinor = MERLIN?! Does not compute.
They're all pondering how could someone as joyful, friendly, and kind as Merlin be the spawn of a terrifying man like Balinor?? They just cannot comprehend it. The manservant who they all know and love came from this sorcerer who's name is synonymous with the threat of death and destruction??
They're all jolted back to reality however when Balinor asks Merlin if he wants to come back to Balinor's newly-renovated stronghold in the mountains (that's only accessable by riding a dragon) to learn more about one day becoming a dragonlord. And suddenly, the knight understand why Balinor's here. He wants to kidnap Merlin from them and twist him into a terrifying sorcerer to carry on Balinor's legacy!
It all basically dissolves into a long game of high-stakes tug-of-war between Balinor and the knights + Arthur, and Merlin's just enjoying spending time with his father and his friends.
Balinor will just casually crash one of their quests while riding Kilgarrah and "kidnap" Merlin while the knights fight to keep Merlin with them.
Balinor eventually gives Merlin Aithusa so he can get practice raising dragons, and the knights see it as some evil scheme to make Merlin betray Camelot and attack it from within, but damn it Merlin's already adopted the damn thing so now they're stuck with a baby dragon.
IDK if I'd ever write a fic about it since I'm pretty busy writing another fic rn, but I thought that it was a funny idea to throw out there!
PS: if anyone wants to read my current project, where I'm giving Sir Leon more anxiety with each chapter after a kinda-botched magic reveal on Merlin's part (and Merlin may or may not be an eldritch god), feel free to check it out here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54027337/chapters/136771564
Thank you all for sticking with my incoherent rambling! :D I hope you have a great day/night!
Also, please let me know if you guys wants to hear more of the ideas that pinball around in my head!
What if... They needed to fight together, in order to win? What if they faced the prophecy together, like two sides of the same coin? An early magic reveal would've saved so many lives...
YES IT'S MORE OF A FIC THAN AN EDIT BUT I NEEDED TO FIX IT
This is my (late) entry for week 2 prompt for @excaliburserver, I LOVE YOU ALL
hello darling! in my mind you are the number one authority on merlin fic recs and therefore I come to you with my question!! I’m looking for protective!arthur merthur but less “aw merlin’s hurt I will look after him” arthur and more “you hurt him and I’m actually going to run you through with my sword and make you regret the day you set foot in my kingdom” arthur. does anything come to mind? this won’t leave my head and I can’t find anything to satisfy xx
love, you are literally unallowed to say this and stay anon. we must simply be best of friends. send me a follow-up ask/message so that I could follow you!
As for your wish, I surely have a few in mind. They’re all long fics, forgive me, but I can deep search in my bookmarks once you reveal yourself mwahahh
Protective!Arthur Fics
1. through storm and hellfire by @prattery (86K) (T)
2. Dower the Stars by RurouniHime (40K) (E)
3. You Before Me by @ironfamjam (11K) (T)
4. Next to You (It's the Rule) by LunaMyLove (62K) (T)
5. My breaths are run by your compass by yours truly (75K) (M)
Enjoy perfect Arthur Pendragon in these fics. I can’t even expand my thoughts on these fics from how much they live in my mind rent-free. Every author here has an excellent understanding of Arthur’s characterisation, especially when it comes to the protective streak in him. You will have a great time, trust me
A very short alternative version for the moment Uther grabbed Morgana by the throat bc I can't stand the scene
Uther turned around, his eyes full of fury. Arthur knew this look, he knew the rage in his fathers veines could burn hot enough to devour any kind of affection. His body reacted a second before his mind could, reaching for the hilt of his sword. He barely felt the cool metal so fixated was he on his father when he approached Morgana, tense as a snake before striking. When Uther’s hand aimed for his daughter's throat, the king felt felt the cold metal of the blade against his neck.
But instead of forgetting his fury, he grew only more angry. "How dare you?" He spat in Arthur's face as if he was the one holding the sword and not the other way around.
"I won't let you hurt her father." The prince's voice was steady, even though Morgana definitely spottet a tremble in his hand.
⚠️No actual mpreg, just bad humour, panic, and questionable bedside manners.
modern AU | humour | medical farce | hospital chase scene
Gwaine: — Merlin, hang in there a bit, I do need to carry out a proper examination.
Merlin: — Okay.
Arthur: — Should I step out? I don’t want to be in the way.
M: — No, please, don’t go! I’m so scared.
A: — Alright, sweetheart. I’m right here.
G: — You two might as well hold hands while you’re at it.
A: — We will if he wants to. Focus, doctor.
G: — Right. Merlin, does it hurt here?
M: — Yes.
G: — And here?
M: — Yes!
G: — What about here?
M: — Yes, damn it, it hurts everywhere!
A: — I think you’re torturing him at this point. Can’t you see how much pain he’s in? He looked better on the way here. Now he’s pale as a sheet—and his face and legs have swollen!
G: — And his chest too, not to mention the rounded belly. Frankly, the picture seems perfectly clear to me.
M: — …
A: — Are you going to tell us the diagnosis, for God’s sake?
G: — I’d say… about three weeks, dad-to-be.
M: — …
A: — …What?
G: — You should’ve used protection if you weren’t ready for this. Give it about eight months.
A: — …Have you lost your mind?
G: — Mate, you should see your face right now. Shame I left my phone in my locker.
A: — …Are you even a doctor? That’s it, I’m finding us another one. No—we’re going together!
M: — Ah—no, don’t lift me.
A: — I’m not leaving you alone with this lunatic.
G: — Merls, at least you take a picture.
M: — Oh God, Gwaine. Really? Now? I’m in pain.
A: — Merlin… you know him?
M: — Of course I do, Arthur. This is my best friend Gwaine. He’s a surgical intern here. Gwaine—this is my wonderful boyfriend Arthur.
A: — Right. I’m going to find us a real doctor. And if something serious happens to Merlin because of you and we lose precious time, I’ll sue this hospital into the ground—and you personally, you idiot!
G: — Hey, steady on. No need to go nuclear—it was just a stupid joke. Is he always this jumpy?
M: — He’s not jumpy. He’s caring. And you’re being an arse. So what’s wrong with me? Can it be treated?
G: — Yeah. We’re operating today. It’s just an inflamed appendix.
A: — Thank God.
G: — Maybe.
A: — …
G: — Or maybe it’s anaphylactic shock. Allergy to those new ultra-thin condoms you bought on Friday. You two did try them out already, didn’t you?
A: — …
G: — Or maybe it’s labour fever… Merls, your boyfriend’s doing that funny face again.
M: — Gwaine, I think it’s time for you to leave.
G: — Yeeeah, probably. I’ll send a nurse. I’ll check on you later!
A: — I’m going to kill that bastard! Stop running, you coward! And come here! Don’t you dare call security on me! People like you shouldn’t be allowed near patients—let alone trusted with a scalpel! Stop it, I said! Do you really think you can hide from me in that bloody elevator? I run every morning, you, moron!
Details: Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Hurt Merlin (Merlin), Established Relationship, Angry Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Protective Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Arthur Pendragon Knows About Merlin’s Magic (Merlin), Post-Episode: s04e08 Lamia (Merlin), Caring Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Apologies, The Knights Apologize To Merlin, Self-Worth Issues, Self-Esteem Issues, Caretaking, Hand Jobs, Smutty, Enthusiastic Consent, Implicit Consent, Bathing/Washing, Gwaine Being Gwaine (Merlin),
Summary: It was over. Arthur was here. The Lamia was slain. Gwen was alright. The knights would be back to normal. It was over.
Able to relax for the first time in days, he let his knees buckle and his back slide down the wall. He hit the ground, and his vision turned to mist.
Merlin didn't make it out of his encounter with the Lamia unscathed, or so Arthur thinks when he slays the beast and finds Merlin slumped against the wall and bleeding. When he learns the true source of Merlin's injuries he is furious. He does his best to push that anger away though, because being there for Merlin matters far more right now.
OR
The Lamia episode but make it Merthur, and the knights actually injured Merlin.
