A/N: Written for The Holiday Exchange at The Heart of Camelot for Gwydre Andraste. (Basically a Secret Santa)

"Being in love with dark Merlin doesn't count as bad, does it?

I would love to see a series 5 Merlin being all dark and evil. I don't care about any specifics, just that it is clean and of a dark, evil Merlin. Thank you!"

Hear No Evil

Morgana glided through the door of the tower prison and was unable to prevent a small laugh from escaping her lips on seeing her captive chained by wrists and ankles to the curved wall, his head slumped down against his chest. The prisoner looked up as he heard the sound, revealing a deep cut drawn across a pale cheek that contrasted starkly against his dark hair. As she locked eyes with him, Morgana felt a strange sensation deep inside which she was not instantly able to identify. It made her feel more than a little uncomfortable, but she quickly put such concerns to one side, focusing instead on her well earned prize.

"Hello, Merlin," she purred. "I do hope you're comfortable?"

"This is getting tedious, Morgana," he retorted, his voice surprisingly strong considering the situation. "You should really try to find a new trick."

"Don't tempt me," she snarled and noted a spark of amusement flare in his eyes as she spoke, a sign that he was prepared to say anything to ensure some victory, however minor and short-lived it may be. Morgana took a deep breath to calm herself. Why did this pathetic little man always do this to her? How could he be in such a vulnerable position and yet make her feel as if he were the one in control?

It was quite ridiculous that this lowly servant seemed less concerned about his current plight than her noble born brother was. Either that or he was a better actor.

"I have Arthur, you know?" she announced.

Ah, now, that was better. There was the fear that she had longed to see on his face - not for himself - but for his master. Such pathetic, misplaced loyalty, but Morgana had learnt a long time ago that it was too late to turn this one to her side. No, she had much grander plans for this particular thorn in her side.

"What do you want, Morgana?" Merlin somehow managed to sound bored, unconcerned, that flicker of fear she was certain she'd seen a few moments ago, now nowhere in evidence.

"I want you to suffer," she answered. "You more than anyone else. Then I'm going to kill you, very, very slowly."

"If you say so," he replied lightly and, again, Morgana had to fight her feelings of frustration that he was not taking this situation seriously enough. Not fully understanding how much danger he was in. Perhaps he was goading her into such anger that she might give him a quick death despite her intentions, but that didn't seem to fit with what she knew of Merlin. Particularly not whilst she still held his precious Arthur alive.

"I've been working hard to discover and master the most painful spells that exist," she continued. "Studying to perfect them for just such a day as this."

"I'm flattered that you would go to such trouble for little old me," Merlin replied sarcastically. "Although I admit I'm curious to know why you felt the need to house me in what is obviously your most secure cell."

"What would you know about it, Merlin?"

He tipped his head to one side with an amused expression that briefly reminded Morgana of the boy she'd once known. "Top room of an isolated tower, magically enchanted chains, two virtual giants for guards. It just seems odd that you've placed me here rather than Arthur."

"I know you only too well, Merlin and I know you're not to be trusted."

He laughed then, as if what she had said was the funniest joke he'd ever heard but, even though his grin seemed open and amused, his eyes remained steely throughout, fixing her with such a heavy stare that Morgana again felt that strange sensation she had only experienced when facing one other person. She frowned as she tried to understand the irrational flicker of fear she had just felt.

"You know nothing, Morgana and you will never understand until you learn to listen."

"I see no reason why I should take anything you say seriously, Merlin. Now, enough talk. How about some of that pain I've worked so hard to learn?"

She moved forward purposefully, placing one hand flat on his chest - feeling for his heart beating strongly under her fingers, before pushing a relatively small amount of pain into him. There was no rush here, she decided, she fully intending to drag this out for as long as possible and savour his fear.

Merlin grunted slightly and his head dropped down to his chest but otherwise he didn't react especially strongly to her spell.

"Always so brave," she responded sarcastically.

"Be quiet, Morgana, can't you see I'm trying to concentrate here?"

"What?"

His response made no sense to her and she had stepped back in shock before fully understanding what she was doing. Shaking her head at her own folly, Morgana moved forward to push more magic into her captive, quite determined to double the pain level.

This time he reacted more obviously, giving a low cry before looking up at her again, eyes now blazing with anger rather than hurt. She grinned in triumph.

"Enough!" he suddenly shouted. "I've had enough, do you understand?"

"Fine. Perhaps I shall bring Arthur down and torture him in front of you. Will that hurt you more, do you think? Will that be enough of an incentive to shut you up?"

"You are stupid, blind and deaf," he said, his voice now quiet and surprisingly menacing. "You say I'm a threat to you and yet you have no idea why. Part of you fears me and yet you do not understand what you are sensing. Do you truly not recognise me? Do you really not see what you are dealing with here?"

"Enough talking, Merlin. You have no right to talk to me like that and you have no power here." She moved forwards again, hand outstretched to inflict an even higher dose of pain and perhaps finish him off completely. His head was still bowed, beads of sweat now forming on his forehead but his voice when he spoke showed none of the pain he was obviously feeling.

"Wrong, Morgana! I have all the power here."

She was stopped in her tracks, pushed backwards slightly by something which felt like magic but had to simply be shock at what this pathetic servant had said and how deep his voice had suddenly become. The chains in this particular cell happened to be enchanted to resist magic and this was only Merlin – a nobody – despite the empty threats he was giving her.

She smiled, trying not to laugh out loud at the ridiculous idea that Merlin might have used magic, when her prisoner raised his head slightly and pulled his lips back into something that vaguely resembled a smile.

She remembered Merlin's smiles from years ago and this was nothing like anything she'd ever seen on him before. His eyes were now gleaming with something akin to triumph, the grin on his face almost feral.

"You have eyes but you do not see," he intoned, his voice low and dangerous. "You have ears but you do not hear."

The brief exhaustion she had seen on his face had gone, the sweat on his brow had disappeared but there was something else missing and now, at last, she began to understand what he was talking about.

"Y-you had a cut on your cheek."

"Yes, I did. I wonder what happened to it?" he replied lightly. He was taunting her, teasing her and yet, she couldn't make sense of it, any of it. She was beginning to think she had fallen back into one of her old nightmares – at that moment in time it seemed to be the only thing that made any sense.

"Enough. Enough of this delaying and enough of you!" Morgana stepped forward once again, all patience gone, quite determined to inflict all the pain she could muster on her enemy but, this time, the force that pushed her back was so strong that she ended up on the floor on the other side of the cell. As she started to sit up, confused, she saw two tatty brown boots by her feet and looked up to see Merlin towering over her, now free of his chains and with his face so full of anger that she wondered how she could even recognised him.

"You – do – not – listen," he intoned.

"I... I don't understand," she said, staggering to her feet.

"How did I know the chains were enchanted, Morgana? How could I possibly know that?" He moved closer to her, hands clenching into fists and she found herself taking an instinctive step backwards, too shocked by what she was hearing to realise what she was doing.

"Y-you couldn't. Not unless you had... Not unless you had tried to..."

"You did not listen. You never listen. I told you, time and time again that you were not alone and that I understood what you were going through. I told you that you should trust Arthur to be the king that Uther was not. I told you that we would find another way but – you – did – not – listen."

"You can't have magic and even if you did, those chains..."

"... might prevent an average sorcerer from using magic, it's true, but don't believe for one moment that they were ever likely to stop me."

His voice was so quiet, so menacing and it sent shivers down her spine. She looked up into his bright blue eyes and felt a fear that she had only ever experienced when facing one other sorcerer; a tall, lean old man with long white hair, bright eyes that shone with suppressed power and...

"No!" How could she have missed that? Hadn't she herself used the same spell only recently? "Emrys?"

His reply was a scoff and so like the older version of himself that she found herself scuttling backwards as comprehension finally dawned. Merlin was her destiny and her doom. He always had been and one part of her had always known it.

"I'll be leaving with Arthur now, Morgana," Merlin informed her. "Don't imagine for one moment that you can stop me."

"No!" Part of her courage returned and she moved forwards to intervene but, just as quickly, felt his hand close around her neck and found her back pressed firmly against the rough prison wall. His face was close to hers now – too close. His fingers both caressed and pressed as they worked to find the most sensitive parts of her throat.

"I had so many chances to stop you – to kill you – over the years," he growled, "but I held back every time. The memory of the girl I used to know, that I once believed I loved, stopping me from truly fulfilling my destiny."

"You poisoned me!" she managed to choke out.

"And then I gave Morgause the knowledge to cure you. I saved your worthless life far more often than I ever endangered it but, no longer. Now it's time to end it once and for all."

"No," she said, lifting her chin despite the firm grip he still held her in. "It's not over between you and me, Merlin. The visions... I've seen us..."

"No!" He let her go abruptly, true anger now darkening his face, a flash of gold in those bight blue eyes creating a tremor that caused the tower to shake slightly. Morgana could not remember the last time she'd felt so afraid.

"We have a part to play still," she pushed.

"And yet you planned to kill me today, even knowing that?"

"I saw Emrys, not you – not as you are now! You must..."

"No! There is nothing that I must do. I've had enough, Morgana. Enough of following dreams and visions and cryptic clues about my destiny. I am leaving this tower with Arthur right now and if that means revealing my true self to him, so be it. If to save his life I need to bring this tower down around your ears then that is what I shall do. I once thought you could be saved – I once thought you could be redeemed but now I no longer care. I am fed up of sacrificing everything and everyone I care for. I am tired of standing meekly at the sidelines waiting for my destiny to come to me."

Belatedly, Morgana realised the true meaning of the Callieach 's warning. Merlin had not been the only one to move against her back in Camelot but, deep down, she had always considered the poisoning as the true reason for her change into the powerful sorceress. He had created her all those years ago just as she had created Emrys here in this very tower. She knew it to be true. Hadn't she just seen the sarcastic, brave and loyal servant change to this vengeful warlock right in front of her very eyes?

They were indeed each other's doom.

"What are you going to do?" she asked quietly.

His eyes were now as dark and stormy as the sea, showing no evidence of the kind boy that had stumbled into Camelot ten years ago.

"I shall take my destiny now! I shall grab it with both hands and shape it as I see fit." He smiled again and Morgana shuddered as she saw it, not only afraid for herself but now for the whole of Albion. "You were not the only one who did not listen, Morgana. What a fool I was not to realised what they have been telling me all these years."

"W-what?"

"That I am Emrys, the immortal, and there is no-one in in this whole world that has the power to stop me."

~o~0~o~