Chapter Text
Colin was exhausted – had been for about six weeks now, ever since returning from France. The shooting schedule had picked up and he was now on set from 7am to 9 or 10pm, every day it seemed. Normally he would have coped, put up with it, but circumstances all seemed to be conspiring against him.
First, Bradley had come down with the flu, and due to the shooting schedule, hadn’t been given any time to recover, so it had lasted far longer than it should have, sapping his strength and energy. Consequently, Colin had to pick up all the promo work – all the appearances on TV and fan expo’s, all the magazine interviews and radio interviews – everything that ate into whatever down time he would normally have had. Even when Bradley had finally started getting better, he pleaded feeling weak to get out of the appearances, which Colin knew he disliked doing anyway. And because Colin had been obliging in picking up the slack, the producers and the J’s continued to expect him to carry on. And he was just so damn tired.
Secondly, as the show grew more popular, the requests for promo work increased ten-fold. The producers even approved a stupid wax figure of him for a new display at Warwick Castle – which meant more time being measured and posing for the figure, and then going the meet and greet for the opening of the exhibit. Bradley was supposed to have come for that with him, but pleaded off at the last minute, so he had had to endure the crowds and the madness alone. And he hated crowds – especially crowds that were all intent on seeing him.
Thirdly, the dynamics had changed on set this year too. Whereas before, all the adventures had been him and Bradley, or rather Merlin and Arthur, now Arthur had his knights. And while they were all really great people individually, as a group they were overwhelming in the ‘manly’ department. All of them were rugged and handsome and sporting, and because of who they were, Bradley was now spending most of his time filming and hanging out with them.
Normally, Colin would have talked all this over with Bradley. At first he didn’t because Bradley was genuinely sick, bundling up in a giant blue parka between takes to stop the shivering of his sick body. Then, when he began getting better, Bradley seemed to just prefer hanging out with the knights. They were more his style anyway – all into sports, all rough and tumble, ready at the drop of a hat to start up a football game or practice their sword fighting. And with Colin getting pulled away anytime he had a moment to himself, he found less and less opportunity to just hang with Bradley. The rare times he did happen to catch Bradley and comment on having to do the PR, Bradley had laughed, saying how much he appreciated not having to do ‘the dog and pony show’, and Colin was doing it all just fine without him. Which made Colin angry that Bradley didn’t appreciate, and apparently didn’t care, how much it was costing Colin to carry not only the show but all the promotion as well.
And so Colin began to withdraw into himself again, pulling on his internal reserves to get him through. But the cost was high. And his nerves and stamina were wearing thin.
The more Colin withdrew, the more Bradley preferred hanging with the knights, at least they were always up for a laugh or a game or just chatting about life. Colin was just so damn serious these days and more jittery then ever.
It had been a strange morning where Colin had kept tripping up on his lines, missed his mark repeatedly and was more burrowed in himself then usual. All things that never usually happened with him.
“What the hell is the matter with you these days, Morgan?” Bradley had asked.
“I’m tired, Bradley – OK? Just leave it.”
“Well maybe if you got a bit more sleep – try going to bed earlier.”
Colin had exploded all over him then, ranting about not getting to bed because he had to ‘go to fucking London to do your fucking guest appearance at the BFI’s’ and not getting back to his room until 2am when he had a 5am call time. “So leave me the fuck alone, Bradley!” and he had stormed off to his trailer – leaving Bradley and the knights, who happened to be nearby, open-mouthed with astonishment.
****
The shoot in Arthur’s chambers after lunch was tense. Colin was obviously in a foul mood, and Bradley kept scowling at him, still put out at being told to fuck off by Colin ‘can’t do anything wrong’ Morgan. To make matters worse, the scene was yet another one where an angry Arthur berated Merlin, then got him in a choke hold to ‘teach him a lesson’. The director called for take after take of the choke hold scene, and as the two actors got more and more frustrated with the retakes and each other, the hold got rougher and rougher.
“Cut – reset on Merlin please.”
Colin pushed out of Bradley’s hold with a few choice muttered swear words. No one heard them but Bradley.
“What the hell is your problem?” he demanded angrily, keeping his voice low so the crew wouldn’t overhear.
“Stop being so rough!” Colin hissed.
“I’m supposed to be rough – Arthur is teaching you a lesson, not giving you a bloody back rub!”
“You’re supposed to act rough – ACT! Why don’t you try acting instead of being such an ass.”
Bradley was livid. “Right, you want acting – I’ll give you fucking acting!”
“Places people – three, two, one – ACTION.”
The scene repeated itself, but now Arthur was raging at Merlin. When he grabbed him, he dug his fingers into Merlin’s shoulder and slammed him into a choke hold, cruelly wedging his arm into Merlin’s throat.
Colin struggled to breath, fingers clawing at Bradley’s arm to release him.
“Cut!”
Bradley threw Colin from him and Colin reared up in white hot anger.
“You fucking asshole!!” he roared before swinging a roundhouse punch at Bradley, catching him square on the jaw and sending him flying into the table. Bradley instantly retaliated, leaping at Colin and before an astonished crew could react, the two actors were on the ground, viciously throwing punches at each other.
Bradley was the stronger and in better condition, his hits connecting with a powerful effectiveness, but Colin was wiry, and had learned his fighting skills from one too many times being picked on in school. He didn’t have the power of Bradley, but he fought dirty, the only advantage a skinny, weaker kid could take. He clawed at Bradley’s face, dug at his eyes and used his knees and elbows to jab painfully at ribs and groin. When Bradley leaned his arm across Colin’s throat, Colin turned his head and bit, causing Bradley to let go with a cry of alarm. Colin used the moment to rear up and flip Bradley off him, then came down on him full force, knee bent to deliver a hard bruise to Bradley’s thigh, and an elbow straight to his gut. Bradley lashed out with a cross-cut across Colin’s cheek, sending him flying. Now Bradley was on top and he flayed into Colin with repeated short jabs that sent blood flying. Colin jammed his knee straight up and into Bradley’s groin, stopping him in mid punch.
“STOP THEM!!” Johnny yelled as he raced out from behind the camera. Around the battling men, the crew hovered, trying to reach out and grab one of the combatants without getting hit themselves.
As Bradley paused after Colin kneed him, they jumped in and pulled him off Colin. It took three men to hold Bradley and stop him from returning to the fight, and another three men to pull Colin off the ground and stop him from launching at Bradley.
Restrained from physically fighting, they started screaming at each other.
“You bloody arrogant prick…”
“You giant pile of shit – I’m sick and tired of your lazy…”
“….think you’re so fucking entitled because you’re the star…”
“….fucking attitude – I’ve had it with…”
“….well fuck you! You can go straight to hell…”
“….you! I’m not doing this anymore… Get your”
“….if you think you can get away with this…”
“….fucking lazy ass out there and do you own god damn PR ….”
“….I’ve had it with you and your fucking lily-white halo!”
“…I’m not your fucking servant!”
“ENOUGH!” Johnny’s roar stopped them yelling, but they continued to glare at each other.
“Someone get the damn medics – now. And for Christ’s sake, separate them!”
Bradley’s group dragged him over to the bed and forced him to sit. Colin’s group pulled out a chair and forced him to sit at the table.
Two medics arrived, one going to each actor. Wet cloths were produced and the blood wiped away as much as possible. The medics assessed that the damages were mostly superficial. Bradley’s nose, while bleeding copiously, was not broken. Colin’s eye was definitely going to become a black eye. The bite Colin had given Bradley had not broken the skin. The welt on Colin’s neck was superficial. The scratches on Bradley’s face were not deep enough to scar. Colin’s split lip would not need stitches.
“Right – you two…my office – NOW! And don’t you even think of going near each other!!” Johnny assigned two of the bigger crew members to frog march Colin and Bradley into his office.
****
Julian was waiting in the office, just as furious as Johnny. Johnny pushed Colin and Bradley into chairs on opposite sides of the room.
“What the hell are you two playing at?? What the bloody hell do you think you were doing????”
Bradley stared mutely at the floor. Colin determinedly stared at the desk leg.
“You!” Johnny pointed at Bradley. “You’ve got at least 2 stone on him! You could have fucking killed him!”
Bradley looked up incredulous. They were taking Colin’s side? They were taking Colin -can’t do a single, fucking thing wrong - Morgan’s side? He dropped his head in disgust.
“And you!” Johnny rounded on Colin. “That was the single, most unprofessional act I have ever had the misfortune to witness!”
Colin just stared at the table leg, letting Johnny’s words rain down on him.
“And look at you! Both of you are a fucking mess! We can’t shoot around either of you for at least a week! That means we shut down main production – for at least a week!!”
Neither actor said anything.
“LOOK AT ME DAMMIT!!” Johnny bellowed and both men looked up startled. “Do you have any idea of the damage you’ve caused by this brawl? A week, gentlemen – we are shutting down at least one camera unit for a week or more. That means that over 150 people out there, working their asses off for this show, over 150 people will not be working. This show is not just the two of you – it’s all the men and women behind the scenes who do what they do to make you two idiots look good. And you’ve just put their livelihoods on hold. And for what??”
Bradley and Colin dropped their gazes back to the floor.
“Both of you are suspended for a week.” It was Julian who spoke up now. His voice quiet with anger. “One week, without pay. You will both be sent home, where you will not – and I repeat – NOT be seen by anyone, until evidence of your brawl is healed up. If I so much as see a single picture of either of you in the media, on blogs or anywhere on the internet, both of you will be fined an additional week’s pay. If this episode causes us to extend the shooting period further into October, each of you will be fined an additional week’s pay. Any media appearances will be taken over by Angel, Katie and the knights.
“Now get the hell off this set. Get out of your costume and get your things together. There will be two cars waiting for you. Each of you will be escorted back to London with a security guard – who will see you to your door. If you need any supplies while you are locked up in your flats – and you will stay locked up in your flats until the damage to your faces has cleared – if you need any supplies – tell the guard. They will purchase the supplies for you and deliver them to you. It will come out of your salaries. A car will be sent to pick you up next Wednesday. That is the only time you will emerge from your flat – do I make myself clear?”
Both men nodded sullenly.
“I don’t need to tell you how bitterly disappointed we are in both of you. This is completely unacceptable behaviour. When you return to set next Wednesday, you will both be expected to make a complete and abject apology to your cast mates and crew. And you will keep on apologizing until each and every person associated with this production has been reached. Am I clear?”
Again the two men nodded.
‘Now get out.”
The two actors rose and were escorted to costume where they changed in silence. Then each got into a car and were driven off the set.