Tried to capture a more mature version of Merlin that was at his core the same person with this.
Captain Jack Harkness was not a close-minded man; travelling through space and time, becoming immortal, and then making a living fighting aliens did that, but he knew certain things were impossible. There were simply some things that couldn't ever happen or exist. He had come to accept this in his unnaturally long life.
So to say he was shocked when he saw a scrawny boy in his early twenties standing over the now unconscious Weevil he'd been chasing, was an understatement. Weevils were strong; and this boy hardly looked up to the task of fighting off an old lady. The boy was staring at the Weevil, as if trying to make some kind of decision about it. Jack moved up behind him and raised his gun. This boy had seen an alien so Jack had to get him to take some retcon, which usually meant force-feeding it in these cases.
"Hands up." Jack said; using his most authoritative voice. The boy raised his hands.
"Turn around." The boy did so. Jack was surprised that the boy looked familiar, though he couldn't quite place why. The boy's blue eyes landed on the gun; he looked almost bored, then they landed on the man's face, the boy barely concealed his surprise. He had met this man once.
Over one hundred years ago.
His face changed into an expression of mild interest.
"Do you recognize me?" The boy asked Jack. He was fairly certain this wasn't just an uncannily similar looking descendant, but it was always best to make sure before he blundered and revealed a few suspicious facts about himself. Jack lowered his gun a fraction of an inch.
"Yes." He answered after a very long time. He lowered his gun slightly more when he noticed the very out of place, nearly ancient looking neckerchief tied around the boy's neck. That was the trigger; he remembered where he'd met this man before, in a tavern, only a few weeks before he'd started working for Torchwood. He had tried flirting with him, only to have the boy very politely (especially so, considering the time period) tell him he wasn't interested in men. Jack had persisted with subtle hints until his chair had unexpectedly collapsed beneath him.
They continued to stare at one another, unspeaking; Jack didn't lower his gun until he heard a strong Welsh accent coming from the device in his ear.
"Jack, have you-"
"Yeah, I found it, bringing her in now."
The boy glanced back at the Weevil, then back to Jack, then to the watch on his wrist.
"You have about one hour before it wakes up." He supplied. He turned to leave. Jack raised his gun again.
"You're coming too." He said, this wasn't about retcon anymore; he had a few questions he wanted answered, and the opportunity to talk to another person much older than they appeared.
Jack heard a few muttered words and the gun grew very hot in his hand, he dropped it before it burned his hand too severely.
"I'll come with you if you insist, but I wouldn't attempt to force me if I were you." The boy said. He really would have gone if Jack had just asked anyway.
Jack carried the Weevil to the SUV and put it in the back. Before getting in the driver's seat, Jack turned to the boy.
"What's your name?" He asked.
"Merlin." The boy answered, Jack snorted in disbelief. Merlin said nothing as he slid into the passenger's seat. The ride was silent. Jack pulled up to the front entrance of the tourist information office.
"Wait here." He said; trying to sound authoritative again. Jack took the unconscious body of the Weevil in for Ianto to take to the Hub. He returned to the car to find Merlin fiddling idly with the strap on his seatbelt. It took only a few minutes for Jack to park the SUV near the secondary entrance. They stopped just short of the lift.
"You haven't asked me my name yet." Jack stated.
"You've told me before," Merlin reminded him, "I have a very good memory." Merlin and Jack stepped onto the concrete slab.
Merlin took in the Hub as they descended; two women were at separate computers, typing away busily. As he followed Jack to where ever he was leading him he noticed two men in what looked like an operating room of sorts; one wearing a lab coat, who was examining the Weevil that had just been brought in, the other seemed to only be observing. They all looked up as Jack and Merlin crossed the main room, Merlin was admittedly impressed; they definitely had technology way beyond anything he'd ever seen, and he'd seen quite a lot. They reached Jack's office and sat down. Ianto came in before they started talking.
"Anything I can get you, sirs?" He asked; he still played the role of the tea-boy from time to time, even though he was in the field more and more lately.
"No thanks." Jack said.
"Just tea, thank you." Merlin said politely; even after all these years it still felt awkward to be the one being served.
"Now, what did you want to talk about?" Merlin asked.
"First things first; how did you knock out that Weevil?"
"Oh, is that what it's called?" Merlin asked, Jack nodded, "I cast a simple sleep spell...which will be wearing off in the near future." Ianto reentered the room with Merlin's tea.
"A spell? Right, well, you'll have to forgive me if I don't believe you. There's no such thing as magic."
"Thank you." Merlin said as Ianto left, seemingly ignoring Jack's statement, he'd heard it far too many times. He took one look at the tea before trying to play it safe.
"Buro pawb amhurdeb." He muttered lazily. His eyes flashed gold as he cleansed any potentially harmful substances from the tea.
"You were saying?"
Jack was speechless; what was one supposed to say when magic was used right in front of them, when they'd spent the better part of almost two hundred years believing it didn't exist. Merlin waited for Jack to find his voice.
"So…are you really Merlin, as in the Merlin?"
"Yes." Merlin said, taking a drink.
"Why aren't you…?"
"Old, bearded, and completely nonexistent?" Merlin supplied.
"Yeah, that."
"Most of the legends are wrong. I've looked like this since I was twenty-three." Merlin stated; Jack assumed he meant age wise, as Merlin was dressed modernly, with the exception of the neckerchief, and his hair could have been from any time after the invention of scissors.
"How old are you exactly?"
"A little over a thousand…I didn't really keep track of what year it was in the old days. How about you?" Merlin asked, trying to keep the conversation in more friendly waters.
"A little under two hundred." They were silent a while.
"So…how have you survived this long?" Merlin asked eventually.
"Define survived." Jack said; a glimmer of dark humor in his voice.
"Not died."
"Then I haven't survived this long. Every time I die I come back; I don't have a choice…been useful though." Jack said; his immortality had saved the Earth more than once. "Something happened, I became a fixed point in time and space. That's how the Doctor described it, anyway." Merlin's face darkened.
"You've met him?"
"Once; when I was…twenty one I think."
"Why am I not surprised? What'd he do?" Jack asked, laughing.
"Cured a disease even me and Gaius couldn't, got accused of being a sorcerer, let it slip to Arthur that I was a sorcerer after we helped him escape. It was not a good week."
"King Arthur?" jack interrupted
"He was just Prince at the time, but yes. The Doctor told me that the disease was 'from another world', I never knew what exactly he meant for a long time…"Merlin trailed off. Jack realized that Merlin hadn't been aware of the existence of aliens until they started being more active around Earth, probably around the time Torchwood was founded.
"You said you helped him escape; what from?"
"The dungeons. Magic was punishable by death when Uther was king. Me and Arthur broke him out the night before his execution."
"You were friends?"
"Yes…and I was his personal servant too, before he promoted me to his advisor…Uther didn't like that." Merlin said, he seemed almost lost in the memories, he had a more prominent smile at the moment. Jack pressed on, this was interesting, even to him.
"How'd Arthur take to you being a sorcerer?"
"He was furious…told me not to speak to him until he sent for me ,which ended up being a week later , at least he gave me the chance to explain before he decided what to do. He promoted me right after my 'trial.'"
"And Uther never found out about you having magic?"
"He did, eventually, but Arthur managed to talk him down, and it probably didn't hurt my case that I'd used magic to save Arthur for about the two-hundredth time." They fell into silence again; Jack didn't want to press too far into Merlin's memories.
"So how come you are immortal?"
" I'm guessing you want to know more of why instead of how? I think that's pretty obvious." Merlin confirmed; Jack nodded.
"I heard a prophecy; saying that Arthur would return one day, I wanted to make sure I was there to protect him when that eventually happened," Merlin started, before continuing, "My plan wasn't fool proof though, I put a curse on myself to lock my age, but I could still be killed."
"You should be careful who you tell that to." Jack said.
"I'm not worried, I'm pretty well protected from almost everything."
"I'm going to guess that magic could still get you?"
"You're right, but I can take care of myself."
Jack chose his words carefully before he spoke next.
"Do you ever regret it?" Jack asked.
"Sometimes, but Arthur needs me, so I'll wait as long as I have to. He'll be furious with me when he finds out I lied to him about aging…told him I'd start as soon as he died. Still, living this long does have benefits, I've gotten to see the world change so much." Merlin said nonchalantly, as if he knew the conversation was going to come to this at some point. It was Merlin that spoke next.
"I mastered life and death a very long time ago…if you really wanted me to, I could probably insure that you didn't come back next time you died." He offered, he knew the feeling of seemingly living forever.
"If you had told me that a few months ago I'd have taken you up on it, but now I know I have to keep coming back, for my team."
"I can respect that," Merlin said. Silence reined once more, until Jack spoke once again, trying to steer the conversation out of these more serious topics for now.
"So, what brings you to Cardiff?" Jack asked.
"I'd heard some rumors, things that sounded like magic…I wanted to know if they were true," Merlin said, "I've been in town less than a week." He sipped some more of his tea. Jack could tell part of him missed the days when magic was apparently all around.
"We have had a few problems that could have used your expertise now that I know magic probably caused them. Like the fairies…" Jack said.
"Horrible creatures, I thought I got rid of them ages ago, guess I missed a few. They aren't as powerful as they like to make you think." Merlin added.
"You know…your knowledge and power could be really helpful, if you want a job-" Jack began, Merlin interrupted him.
"Thanks for the offer, but aliens aren't really my forte, I've only met a few."
"Your knowledge of history would be useful too," Jack said before adding, "You could help save a lot of lives. Jack had him beat there and he knew it.
"Maybe…as a consultant, or an in-case-of-emergency." Merlin said finally. He finished his tea and yawned.
"Chytia a bapuro d ata." He said; conjuring a pen and paper. He wrote the number for his cell phone down, as well as the name of the Hotel he was staying at and the room number.
"I'll be here for now. I'll find a flat so I can stay local, as long as I'm on Earth I'm sure I'll find Arthur when the time comes." Merlin said; he wanted to wrap this up, it was getting late.
"Would you like to meet the team?" Jack asked him, Merlin shrugged, he might as well, and it would save awkward introductions later. They walked into the main room. Jack whistled.
"Everyone, get over here!" He shouted, startling most of them out of their work. As soon as everyone had gathered around, and looked at Merlin curiously, Jack pointed to each of them in turn.
"This is Gwen Cooper, our liaison with the police." He said; indicating Gwen. Merlin nodded in acknowledgement. Gwen waved.
"Toshiko Sato, our Tech Specialist." He continued, pointing at Toshiko in turn.
"Hello." Said Toshiko. Merlin nodded again.
"Dr. Owen Harper, our Medic." Said Jack, gesturing at Owen. Merlin nodded.
"And last but not least, Ianto Jones…Mission Support and Time Management." Jack stumbled a bit over Ianto's role, as he was just recently beginning to take a more active role in things. Ianto seemed to take no offense, and extended his hand for Merlin to shake, which he did. Jack seemed not to know how to overcome this next introduction.
"Everyone, this is Merlin," Jack stated; deciding to take the direct approach, "Our new…magical consultant."
Owen outright laughed, Toshiko's eyebrows shot into her bangs, Ianto attempted to keep his face a polite smile but his surprise shown through, and Gwen's reaction was a very shocked "What?"
Merlin barely stifled the laugh he was about to let go, it may not have been the warmest reception he'd ever received, but it was certainly an interesting one.
"Right, Ianto, find Merlin an apartment near the Hub."
"Yes sir." Ianto said, sitting down at one of the many computers and getting to work. This seemed to split the rest of the group up, Gwen was about to make conversation with Merlin (and find out if he was the real thing), when Jack addressed her.
"Gwen, give Merlin the grand tour. Merlin, I want a word before you leave." Merlin nodded to signify he understood. Gwen proceeded to show Merlin around the Hub. By the time she was done Ianto had already found and acquired a place for Merlin to live, and she was fairly certain that Merlin was indeed the genuine article, as he had performed a few tricks for her benefit when she'd asked about it.
"Here you are, sir. We can have moving crews move any personal effects for you as early as tomorrow." Said the ever-professional Ianto, handing Merlin a folder with all the details of his new residence.
"Thank you, but I won't need that, I can move it myself…actually, it's probably best I do move it myself." Merlin said, he had a few things that normal people really shouldn't be messing with, besides, it was far quicker for him to transport everything with magic.
"Alright then, Jack is waiting for you in his office." Ianto informed him. Merlin proceeded back to Jack's office. Jack looked up from some papers when he arrived.
"Gwen showed you the front door?" He asked.
"Yes."
"Good, you can use that entrance now. Come and go as you please." Jack said; he knew he had no power over Merlin, but was trusting in the boy's sense of loyalty.
"Yes, sir."
"I don't need to tell you not to tell anyone about us."
"You're right, you don't." Merlin said almost jokingly. Jack stood up.
"Will you be coming in tomorrow?" Jack asked, "Because we're paying for that apartment, I want you to at least be here some of the time."
"Don't worry, I'll be here." Merlin said; he walked out, for the first time in several years, he had a reason for his magic.
Timeline: Season two after the first episode but before Owen dies for Torchwood. Merlin, I don't know, sometime after season two, I haven't any of season 3 yet.
"SO what do you think? I intended this as a one shot, but I really want to right another chapter…I'll leave this as incomplete for now and see what you guys say.