Author's Note: I didn't really like how "Love in the Time of Dragons" was done with Gaius' past relationship with Alice, so I expanded a bit. Think of it as fix-fic if you'd like.
I do not own Merlin or any of its affiliates.
A woman with skin, spotless as the purest crystal, strode with long graceful steps around the edge of a motionless lake. In the bright afternoon light – shaded only by hanging leaves – she spun small circles with the tips of her fingers at nothing in particular.
Hair blonde enough to be white reached all the way from her unclothed back down to her equally naked hips as she swung and craned her neck to the sky above, reaching towards the summery blue.
Watching from the side of a few stray creepers was a young man, no older than nineteen. Despite knowing voyeurism to be wrong in all respects, it failed to stop him gawking, slack-jawed, at the impossible beauty that seemed an afternoons gift, his alone to cherish.
Porcelain white shoulder blades caressed the statuesque curvature of her back that arched with unseen pleasure. Arms frozen to her sides and hands stretched outwards, the woman turned.
Eyes met, one pair blue, one pair hazel.
She smiled with a devilish glint, fluttering long eyelashes in her watcher's direction. He continued to kneel, not out of fear but a strong voice in the back of his head telling him to act natural – in this case, natural meant stone-like.
"Come." The dazzling woman beckoned in a voice lovely to hear as silk is to touch. "Dance with me."
His legs, knowing that his brain wasn't going to react anytime soon, extended on their own accord and pushed him forward. The scene was so picturesque it was mesmerizing; dragonflies skipped merrily over black water, dipping below to feel its iciness.
The man's brown hair was shoulder length but tied back in a ponytail and, held up to the mystery woman's, seemed course straw in comparison.
As the two grew closer, he could feel a warmth radiating outwards strong enough to draw beads of sweat. Nearer and nearer they came, filling the gap between bodies eager for each other's flesh.
Milliseconds before the man brought himself onto her, a sharp whistling sung through the air and, with a sharp thwick, ended abruptly. To the man's immediate horror, a crossbow bolt lodged itself deeply within his partner's temple.
An expression more similar to distaste than pain spread over the woman's face shortly before she sprouted great, leathery wings and evaporated into silver dust.
"Ah! Ah, ah!" The frightened man yelped, jumping back in surprised horror.
"Yes!" Shouted someone from a clearing. "Finally!"
Composing himself as best he could, the young physicians assistant corrected his bent posture. "H-hello. I should-" the remains of ash still floated on a breeze, making him cough.
A short minute later found them face-to-face on soggy ground. "Nice to meet you, and save you – I think!" The girl he now saw was not nearly as flawless as the one she had killed, but still very pretty in her own unique, sandy way.
"I'm Gaius. And you are?"
"Alice, certified Succubus-Hunter, first class. Not really, but it sounds neat, right?" Taken aback by Alice's confrontationally cheery demeanor, Gaius nodded.
"Yes, I would say it sounds, neat. Thank you for saving me."
"Oh, I didn't save you from anything. You two would've just had sex, no death involved." The man clenched his teeth. "Your welcome!" Alice beamed.
"Why'd you-"
"Kill it?" She finished his sentence. "I was the one who accidently set it loose. See, Succubae are usually dream-exclusive but this one manifested itself physically. Not on its own of course, I had…" Alice paused. "… Some involvement, so it was my responsibility to recapture it."
"But, you…" Gaius gave up, still a bit shaken by how fast everything was happening. "Would you like to walk back together?"
"I'd love to." Alice grinned, hands on her hips. Their day's evening was spent talking and laughing about all different kinds of topics, finding more things in common with each other than differences.
Botany divulged into a discussion on herbs, and herbs into healing, healing into magic, magic into true love. Not the subject of true love, actual true love. In months to come, visits to one another were frequent. Alice would tease him on how stuffy or serious he'd get on the administration of medicine, and Gaius would stomach it just to hear her speak to him.
The magical arts were always Alice's forte, never his. Still, he tried to learn and exceeded, if only to impress. The Old Religion coursed through their veins in each uttered word, simultaneous and brimming emotion.
In one particular night of academic passion, they lost themselves to carnal desire for one another. Every last detail in Gaius' life was ideal. His apprenticeship was bearing the fruit of experience, Alice was happy, and the newly anointed King Uther promised to bring about change.
So, when his life had reached the epitome of bliss, the universe balanced the cosmic scale via The Great Purge.
Warlocks and witches scrambled in the streets for safety from the new order; almost every single last one was burned alive or otherwise killed in the ensuing panic caused by Uther's tyranny. Innocence or guilt had no sway.
Alice, intelligent enough to know the risk of being an acclaimed witch and healer, was forced to escape Camelot not only to save her own life, but that of Gaius'.
"But you're not a witch," he'd sometimes say, "you, my love, are a Succubus-Hunter." And she'd laugh through her tears and hug him for trying to make the situation easier, to prolong the inevitable. She promised to return.
When desperation for each other gripped them, Gaius asked her to marry him – in the winter of their fourth year, Alice said yes. No more than a day later she had gone.
Twenty-seven years passed by, uneventful, empty for Gaius. He was awarded the position of court physician as passed down by his mentor, and life in Camelot was peaceful – the thin kind of peace that one needs not look hard at to criticize.
Hatred towards Uther faded as Gaius' once brown hair turned snowy white. He had already passed depression and acceptance. Fully content to live out the rest of his days a miserable old man devoid of love, the spark of hope, of optimism, of true love, was extinguished-
-till his fiftieth birthday, of course, which was when he received a present from some faraway place. A book whose internal inscription reawakened long forgotten feelings; a gift from Alice.
And now, twenty years or so later, they sit together again at last within the confines of a grey jail cell. She's sobbing lightly, her head on his chest. Gaius lifts a hand and strokes her hair gently, holding back his own tears. The last few days spent in her company were the best he's ever had, Gaius admits through a voice broken with pain.
In the end he'll save her, but knowing the woman's pride, he remains silent. They say their final goodbyes and she leaves under the cover of darkness, content once more to have been loved and lost in the time of dragons.
Hope you enjoyed. Feel free to review.