Merlin Headcanons

Elementary

A/N: Continuation of 5 Ways Merlin Found Arthur: Kindergarten, thus fulfilling the last prompt from the poll.

There was a reason Arthur was at such an elite school. Uther was a powerful man, and attempts to kidnap his son were to be expected.

It wasn't the school's security systems that stopped the men, though. It was Mr. Merlin Emrys, that nice, quiet man that made such good coffee and whose students adored him.

By the end of the incident, his students adored him more than ever, and the men were more than happy to go with the police. More than happy.

Uther was not impressed with the school, but he was very impressed with Mr. Emrys. He withdrew his son from the school and offered the man a position as Arthur's private tutor.

Merlin accepted.

The arrangement worked to all parties satisfaction. Better than Uther had hoped, really. Mr. Emrys had no problem taking on extra hours to look after the boy if the nanny had time off and Uther was away. He cheerfully took on more and more responsibility as the years passed and Arthur always seemed very happy in the brief times between Uther returning from a trip and heading out to his next one. Mr. Emrys was well paid, of course.

Subsequent kidnapping attempts were always quietly, neatly thwarted. Arthur reached fifth grade without much incident, and Uther began wondering if he'd need to hire a new tutor for the middle grades or if Mr. Emrys might be willing to earn another degree. It would save him the trouble of hiring a bodyguard.

And then it was Sunday, a very particular Sunday in June, and Uther smiled over the neat white card with the precise lettering and the crisp envelope carefully labeled "Father".

He stopped outside the breakfast room to adjust his tie.

"You can't - No. You can't give me this." Ah, Mr. Emrys. Good to see he was here early. Uther was firmly of the opinion that education should not stop for mere seasons or days of the week, and Mr. Emrys agreed readily.

"Why not?" Arthur demanded. Some homework that was too sloppily done, perhaps?

"Because I'm not your father!"

Uther froze. The card seemed suddenly rather limp in his hand.

Arthur muttered something unintelligible.

"Well, yes, I know, but - Look, it's not that I don't like it. It's fantastic, it's just, I'm not your father, Arthur."

No, he wasn't. And he wasn't going to be Arthur's teacher for much longer either.

"Don't look at me like that. You know it's true."

"What are you then?"

His tutor!

"Your friend."

"Oh." The word is surprised and bright, and Uther suddenly remembers a letter from Mr. Emrys requesting Arthur be allowed to socialize more. Uther had turned it down for security reasons. "That's alright then."

Uther walked in. "I'm glad to hear it," he said, voice frigid. He plucked the card out from the former tutor's hand. It was bright and colorful and hopeful, and his own seems hopelessly sterile in comparison. "Mr. Emrys, if you could meet me in my office tonight - "

"No!" Arthur jumped out of his chair. "No, you can't fire him, he's the best teacher I've ever had - "

"He's the only teacher you've ever had, Arthur, and you're too old for this kind of nonsense."

"And he's saved my life at least ten times, and he can do magic - "

"Magic."

"Please."

"Eight o'clock," he said coldly.

"Sir." The word was stiff and accusatory.

Uther walked out, locked in a frigid, guilty rage.

The tutor was angry, of course, but Uther didn't care.

"You know, if you actually paid attention to your son, this wouldn't have happened."

How dare he? He made sure Arthur had the best of everything.

Arthur refused to let it go. Uther was heartily sick of the whole mess. He hired a new tutor within a week. He expected Arthur to complain.

He did, furiously, until the tutor arrived. Afterwards, he seemed to warm up to the man, but he remained furious at his father.

Uther was sure it would blow over soon enough. In the meantime, Mr. Dragoon was doing an excellent job.