Title – Little Merlin

Rating – PG (for now)

Characters – Arthur, Merlin, Morgana, Gwen, Uther, Gaius

Warnings – de-aging, angst (a little), OOC (maybe) (that's it for now)

Spoilers – Some for season 1

Disclaimer – Unfortunately Santa didn't bring me the rights (or the characters) to Merlin for Christmas, so they don't belong to me

Summary – Walking into Merlin's room, Arthur didn't expect to find a small boy who has an uncanny resemblance to his manservant

A/N – This was originally a prompt for merlin_muses. Unfortunately real life got very hectic and I wasn't able to finish it until now. I hope that the original prompter gets to read this

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Chapter 1

Little Manservant

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Arthur froze as he walked into Merlin's room, staring for a few seconds, before walking outside again.

No, he was most definitely in the right place; he hadn't walked into one of the other rooms by mistake.

So why was there a little boy standing in Merlin's room, looking around with big blue eyes, ears sticking out, his raven hair almost falling into his eyes, as he struggled to move in the too big clothes he had on.

"Can I help you?" he asked, confusion running through him, before the thought that Morgana had probably set this up crossed his mind.

"Um," the little boy said, shrugging, his face the picture of misery, as he looked around the room, before his eyes went back to Arthur, a glassy sheen appearing in them.

Arthur took a step further into the room, stopping when he saw the look of fear that crossed the boy's face. He wasn't good with children, had never been good with them, leaving them to Morgana and the other ladies in the court.

From his best guess, and Arthur knew that wasn't saying much, the boy couldn't be older then two or three, and he was … starting to cry.

"Oh, no," he said, walking further into the room, stopping when it seemed to make the boy cringe. "Don't cry. I can help you, I … where do you live?"

The little boy sniffled, a pout on his face, as he shook his head, shrugging, the shirt he was in slipping, the boy pulling it back up again.

"Okay," Arthur said, holding his hands out, hoping that it calmed the boy like it did with the flighty horses he sometimes had. "Can you tell me your name?"

The little boy sniffed again, wiping his nose on the overlarge t-shirt, Arthur trying not to cringe, before he looked back up at the Prince, the child's blue eyes pulling at some protective instinct in Arthur.

"Murin," the boy mumbled.

"Murin?" Arthur asked, barely holding back the grin when the little boy's wide eye stare turned into a glare.

"Merlin," the boy said again, this time with more force, pronouncing his name as if Arthur was stupid.

Arthur grinned, before what the child said clicked, something in him clenching.

Looking at the child, he wondered how he hadn't seen it before. The child was a dead ringer for Merlin, the big blue eyes, the dark, messy hair, the way he seemed to be ready to trip, even when he was standing still. The ears.

This child was Merlin's. That's why he was in Merlin's room. The mother must have left him here, or maybe, maybe Merlin knew he had a son and the child was visiting.

Arthur felt his heart clench, shocked when he felt the shot of jealousy run through him at the thought of Merlin being with someone in an intimate fashion. Merlin had a son, a son that he had never told Arthur existed. Looking away from the boy, Arthur wondered why a lump had appeared in his throat.

It wasn't like he and Merlin were anything more then master and servant after all. Why would Merlin tell him something as important as the fact that he was a father?

Arthur almost jumped when he felt something tug on his sleeve, looking down into the blue eyes that he knew so well, although not used to seeing them on a child, seeing the little boy shifting from foot to foot.

"Um," he said, hating the uncertainty that ran through him. "Yes?"

"Toyet?" the little boy, Merlin, Arthur reminded himself, asked, still jiggling.

"Oh, uh, yes, it's out this way," he said, showing the boy where the bathroom was, watching as the little boy walked inside, his clothes trailing after him.

Leaning against the wall, Arthur wondered why the kid was wearing clothes that were far too big for him, why the neckerchief that was wrapped around …

He stood up straight.

No.

No, no, no.

That's impossible.

His heart started to race as he remembered what had happened earlier that morning. He and Merlin had gone hunting, Arthur pleased when he had managed to find a deer easily, setting up his bow and arrow. He had been about to shoot, only to be attacked from behind.

The woman had hit him hard, but Arthur had managed to get up, pulling Merlin so he was behind him and drawing his sword.

The woman had laughed, told him that he had no idea what he was dealing with and then pulled out a vial, tossing the contents towards him, whispering something at the same time. Before, Arthur could even react, he felt himself pushed down, his head hitting the ground hard, black spots dancing in his vision.

When he finally was able to pull himself up, the woman was gone, Merlin standing there looking at him in worry, water dripping over him.

He'd asked what had happened and Merlin had said the woman had disappeared and that everything was fine.

Except … except maybe it wasn't.

The kid looked identical to Merlin, exactly what Arthur could've pictured his manservant looking at that age. The kid was wearing clothes much too large for him, along with the neckerchief that Arthur had noticed Merlin was wearing that morning. And the kid had said his name was Merlin.

His head snapped around when he heard a crash, his eyes falling to the little boy sprawled on the floor. Merlin looked up at him, tears forming in his eyes, his bottom lip trembling as he looked down at his grazed hands.

Standing there, Arthur wasn't sure what to do, feeling completely out of his depth and like he was drowning, trying to remember what his nannies had done for him when he had been younger.

"Mommy," Merlin whispered, his voice pulling at something in Arthur, the Prince on the floor by his side before he'd even realized it.

Taking the little boys hands, he wiped his hands over them, jumping a little when Merlin giggled.

"Odd at every age," he murmured to himself, watching Merlin's smile turn into a small frown, the boy looking at him with concentration, as if trying to work something out.

Sitting there, Arthur was more sure then ever that little Merlin, was in fact, his completely incompetent man servant, big Merlin.

And when did he start calling people 'big' and 'little'?

"Merlin, are you in here?"

Freezing, Arthur felt his breathing stop, as he heard Gaius's voice floating through the door.

Oh. No.

The old man couldn't hear about this, if he did Arthur would never hear the end of it. Well, he would, but he'd be given the stare, and then The Eyebrow, and Arthur hated The Eyebrow.

The Eyebrow that said 'I know this is all your fault, Arthur', which would in turn make Arthur feel extremely guilty and then start stammering like he was a little boy.

He hated stammering like he was a little boy.

"Merlin," he said a little urgently, the little boy's blue eyes resting on his face. "We're going to … play … a little … game. It's called 'let's hide in the room until the scary old man is gone'."

Merlin's frowned deepened, before he nodded, a smile spreading across his face, Arthur unable to ignore the dimples, a small smile crossing his face unwillingly at the sight.

Gaius's footsteps snapped him out of his daze, quickly reaching and picking Merlin up, wrapping the extra large clothes around him, the little boy giggled as he moved into his room, opening the cupboard.

"Now remember, Merlin," Arthur whispered, looking over his shoulder, before turning back. "You have to be quiet and not come out until I tell you to, okay?"

The little boy giggled, putting a finger to his lips, his raven hair flopping all over the place, as he nodded, eyes wide.

Stopping himself from grinning again, Arthur quickly closed the cupboard door, leaning against it when he heard Gaius walking into the room.

"Your highness," Gaius said, confusion in his voice, as he looked around. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for my manservant, of course," Arthur replied, just stopping himself from flinching when he heard a small giggle.

Gaius frowned, giving him a long look, moments away from The Eyebrow, Arthur was sure, before he gave a small nod.

"Well, when you see Merlin, tell him that I have work for him to do," Gaius said, looking around the room once more, before turning and leaving.

Arthur almost cursed when he saw that Gaius had just moved to his work table, wondering how he was going to get Merlin out before this whole incident turned into his fault, instead of his bumbling manservant's.

Pacing, Arthur stopped when he saw the cupboard open, a raven haired head poking out, wide grin on Merlin's face as he giggled again.

Looking out the door nervously, Arthur made his way over to the cupboard, keeping one eye on Gaius the whole time. He couldn't stay in Merlin's room, if he did Gaius would get suspicious and come and investigate, so he had to get the little boy out somehow.

"Merlin," he whispered, kneeling down. "We have to leave, but … we can't let Gaius know, so we have to be really quiet, and squat down, so he can't see us, okay?"

Merlin stared at him for a few moments, before holding his arms up.

"Um," Arthur said, taking them and giving them a little wiggle, grimacing when Merlin giggled again, grabbing onto one of Arthur's hands.

Frowning, Arthur shook his hand, trying to dislodge Merlin's hand, glaring when the little boy just squeezed his hand.

"Fine," he whispered, "but only until we get outside."

Merlin just stared at him, grinning as he swung their hands back and forth.

"Okay," Arthur said, moving towards the door.

He watched Gaius for a few moments, waiting until the old man looked like he wouldn't turn around for awhile, before quickly moving across the room towards the door. Unfortunately, little Merlin's legs weren't as long as big Merlin's, and Arthur had only noticed big Merlin's long legs because it meant that he had to make sure that he strode a little faster when he walked with Merlin, not because he looked at Merlin's legs, or pants, or any further up at all, so the time Arthur thought he had wasn't long enough.

Cursing in his mind, he realized that Merlin may have been slower also because Merlin was still in his huge clothes, which were making it hard for him to walk. Whatever the reason, Gaius was turning around and Arthur was trying to think of all the excuses he could come up with that would stop the Eyebrow.

Swallowing hard, Arthur straightened, rolling his eyes when Merlin's little hand stayed in his, waiting for Gaius to see them.

Opening his mouth to say that this was all Merlin's fault, Arthur watched as Gaius's shirt pulled over his head, the old man spluttering. Thinking quickly, Arthur decided that he could wonder how that happened later, and so picked Merlin up, running out of the room and towards his room.

"Arthur?"

Ignoring Morgana's voice, Arthur continued to his room, not stopping until he was in the door, Merlin standing in front of him staring up at him, his eyes golden.

"Merlin?" he asked, not even realizing that they were still holding hands, his thoughts all focused on Merlin's eyes, which had been blue before, now swirling gold.

The little boy simply continued to stare up at him, the clothes which had been too big a moment before, now fitting him perfectly, right down to the neckerchief.

"How did you do that?" Arthur asked, his chest tightening, a thought crossing his mind, before Arthur pushed it away, refusing to believe that he'd been lied to this entire time, that there was nothing magical about-

He cut that thought off, glaring down at the little Merlin.

"Merlin, how did you do that?" he asked sharply, refusing to feel bad when the little boy slipped his hand out of Arthur's, staring up at him with glassy blue eyes.

Merlin looked away, his lower lip trembling.

Arthur felt his heart clench again, reminding himself that even if Merlin had lied to him this entire time, had allowed him time and time again to open up, the whole time smiling and acting like they were friends, something that Arthur hadn't wanted, but had slowly started to accept, it wasn't this little boy's fault.

Except … except it was all a lie, Merlin clearly didn't trust him, didn't consider him a friend at all.

Tightening his fists, he turned around opening the door.

"Stay here, Merlin," he said, his voice as cool as ice, before he strode out, slamming the door shut behind him, and slamming his hand into a wall.

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A/N – I hope that you enjoyed the first part. Let me know what you thought. Will be updating every Monday (unless coerced to update earlier ;)).