Author's Note: This popped into my head a little bit ago. It has some crossovers with Torchwood, the first season, but no real details. Not gonna mark this as a crossover because we aren't gonna see them again, or at least not for a long time. Review if you have a problem with that and I'll change it. This is for my Fem Merlin Universe but is set in modern times. It's kind of a what if it had ended similarly to how the Merlin TV series ended. It would just be many years after Arthur legalized magic. I own nothing. Here goes.
A New Age
Story Begins… Again
Quiet singing echoed around the empty streets of Cardiff Wales as a lone figure made her way down the street. A long brown braid bounced in time to music blasting directly into her ears from a large pair of dark blue headphones. The street lights reflected off a set of metal framed glasses that sat in front of sapphire blue eyes. Looking at this woman one would guess that she was in university and spent her free time browsing pintrest and posting selfies on Facebook. No one would ever guess that those eyes had seen the rise and fall of empires, the birth of technology and the growth of industry. No one looking at this woman, dressed in her brown jeans, blue short sleeved shirt and red scarf, was thousands of years old and would live for thousands more. When she reached the Wales Millennium Centre She took a quick left and headed for a nondescript door set in a small shed. Still humming along to the pop song playing on her headphones she rang the bell on the counter. A tall man with perfectly styled hair and an impeccable suit peeked around the corner and smiled. The woman returned it and pulled off her headphones.
"Ianto Jones! I see Jack still can't survive without you." Ianto smiled wider and took the paperwork that the woman handed him.
"Everything went well? You haven't been in touch for a while." The woman nodded.
"Everything went well. Got a list of minds I had to wipe in there along with everything I broke that I couldn't fix before the armatures got there. Found a few things for my vault, nothing Extra Terrestrial though. Just terrestrial stuff. Jack in?" Ianto rolled his eyes, thumbing through the paperwork.
"When isn't he?" The woman nodded, her braid bouncing.
"Any staff changes I should know about?" Ianto nodded still looking down at the paperwork.
"Susie. Artifact got the better of her. Been replaced though. Woman named Gwen." The woman paused for a moment. Ianto looked up and shook his head.
"Probably not your Gwen. Worth a look I guess but from what you've said they don't really match up." The woman nodded walking towards the back wall.
"Buzz me in?" Ianto pushed a button and the wall opened revealing a door that led to a long underground hallway. As she walked the woman pulled out her cellphone and turned off her music. Soon she reached another door that opened as she stepped up to it. She stepped into the room beyond and was greeted to the screech of the pterodactyl that perpetually flew around in Torchwood's HQ. She smiled up at it, it reminded her of Athusia and she made a mental note to visit the dragon soon. The man at the lab computer looked up as she walked in and smiled wide.
"Hey, hey, hey! Look what the cat dragged in." The woman stuck her tongue out at him as the Asian woman at the CCTV station looked up and grinned, standing and waving at the woman who hugged her.
"It's been too long Tosh. Owen, glad to see you haven't changed." A woman with wavy brown hair, who looked quite a bit like Lady Helen, looked up from the map confused. But before she had time to ask any questions Jack Harkness rounded the corner.
"Merlin Emrys!" Merlin grinned wide as Jack scooped her up in a hug.
"You don't call, you don't write, you don't pop by! I was beginning to think the worst!" Merlin laughed as Jack set her back on her feet.
"Not me, never me." Jack nodded slightly and led her over to the unfamiliar woman.
"Gwen Cooper, this is Merlin Emrys. Technically she's a member of Torchwood, but only technically." Merlin shook the woman's hand.
"What do you mean technically?" Merlin pushed aa loose hair behind her ear as she began to explain.
"Technically I'm part of a different organization that deals with stuff similar to what you deal with. We're biased not too far from London though. I drop by sometimes to take a look at the cases that apply to my field." Gwen stared at Merlin.
"That was both very informative and frustratingly vague." Merlin laughed.
"You'll get that a lot around here." Gwen nodded and turned back to the map with a sigh.
"Yeah I'm getting used to it." Merlin smiled at her as Jack tapped her on the shoulder.
"Come to my office, we'll have a drink and you can look through the case files see if you can find anything that applies to your field." Merlin nodded and followed him to his office and sat on the edge of his desk. He knelt and unlocked a small liquor cabinet. He pulled out a slightly dusty bottle and turned to grab glasses from the cabinet across the room but Merlin cleared her throat holding up two glasses. Jack grinned and poured them both drinks.
"So it's your field now is it? And since when are you an organization." Merlin laughed.
"Magic has always been my field Jack. And sometimes a lie is better than the truth." Merlin peeked through the blinds at Gwen who was marking something down on the map.
"You seem nervous around her. Anything you wanna tell me Merlin?" Merlin grinned and took a drink coughing a little as it burned on its way down.
"I always forget how good this stuff is, one of these days you're gonna give me a bottle right?" Jack nodded and pulled a second bottle out of the cabinet.
"You'll only get this if you stop avoiding my questions. I know how good we immortals are at avoidance, you've been doing it for only you know how long." Merlin nodded and took another drink before answering.
"She looks like someone I knew. Back then. The first time around. Not someone I knew well, truthfully I never actually met her, just someone pretending to be her. But it was the first time I saved his life. It's how it all got started." Merlin peeked out through the blinds again at the woman who looked so much like the long dead lady. Jack nodded, setting the second bottle down on his desk. He stepped up to Merlin and poured her more out of the first bottle. Merlin smiled.
"Thanks Jack. This is the only stuff I've found that can get me even buzzed. You are a lifesaver." Jack smiled.
"It's nice to find someone with shared life experience." Merlin nodded. They sat in silence for a while as Merlin went through their case files. Long after everyone else had gone home Merlin stood from the desk slipping a few things into her bag. Jack handed her the bottle.
"So what do you think it means, seeing someone who looks so much like someone you knew back then?" Merlin shrugged.
"I don't know Jack. I honestly don't know. All I know is that it feels like something is gonna happen. Soon." Jack nodded.
"Don't be such a stranger anymore Merlin. We extraordinarily long lived have to stick together you know." Merlin nodded and hugged him.
"Next time I'll even stay the night." Merlin winked at him, Jack grinned.
"That better be a promise. No teasing me, cause last time was phenomenal." Merlin grinned.
"It's a promise. I will see you later." With that she spun on the spot and vanished, Jack just catching sight of her eyes gleaming gold as she disappeared. He grinned and shook his head at her.
Merlin reappeared in a back alley on the outskirts of London. The only things in this alley were a large pile of slightly molding boxes, mostly empty, and a large metal dumpster. Merlin crept out from behind the dumpster and walked out onto the well-lit street. She was a few blocks away from her flat and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. She had gotten hooked a few decades ago, back when everyone thought it was fashionable to smoke like a chimney. It didn't actually do any damage to her at all, her magic healed her even as she puffed on the cigarette but it was something to do to pass the time. Time was something she had an abundance of. She looked across the street and saw a truck speeding down the road. Then she spotted someone moving out into the street. It was clear that whoever it was didn't see the truck heading their way. Merlin had a split second to decide what to do and her instincts reacted before she could really think about it. Time slowed and she was across the street yanking the man out of harm's way as she went. There was the bang of gunfire and Merlin felt something whiz past her ear as she tackled the man to the sidewalk, time catching up with them.