Chapter 2

A blur of shapes and colors filled his gaze, pounding with the ache in his head. He squinted his eyes against the obnoxious lights, attempting to sit. The pain in his head roared, a pulsating sea of blood against his eyesockets. He grabbed his head, closing his eyes, and waited for the pain to subside. The rush seeming to fill his mind calmed and he opened his eyes once more, gaze falling on a young girl sitting taught in a chair beside his bed.
"Elizabeth," he murmured. "What happened? Why does my head hurt like bloody hell?"

She leaned towards him, a glass of water and a couple of aspirin in her hands. "I was on my way home from the hospital and someone was carrying you, demanding help. We brought you back here."

Merlin took the water and medicine gratefully, swallowing them both down. The water cooled his aching temples and more details came to his mind. He looked over the stressed nurse, still in her purple scrubs, her mousy brown hair thrown up in a quick bun. Strands slipped down her face, framing hazel eyes.

"Thank you for staying but…who was the other person?" Merlin asked, setting the glass down on the bedside table and leaning back against his pillows.

She smiled. "I am a nurse. And you are my friend. I wasn't just going to leave you…besides…the man is sort of…strange. His clothes…and his manner…"

Merlin frowned. Who could she possibly be talking about? And what had happened? Did someone knock him out?

"These clothes are the royal wear of Camelot. They are not strange. And Merlin, behind that door there is some magic of an extreme kind…I don't know how you created it but it is quite interesting."

The warlock froze and looked up towards the voice. Elizabeth rolled her eyes at his comment. Merlin's heart thumped as the memory by the lake came back to him. Arthur….real….and him…fainting. Merlin shook his head, trying to blink away the image of the king before him. There was no possible way! Arthur just couldn't….he couldn't be back!

"Merlin, say something. You're starting to worry me."

Elizabeth sat, confused, and watched Merlin's face. It had gone white and she feared he would faint again. "Merlin, are you alright?"

He jumped at the sound of her quiet voice. "Do you see him? Or have I gone mad?"

She turned to the golden man standing in the middle of the room. "Yes I see him. Of course I do. Why do you ask?"

Merlin's heart leapt at those words. Arthur was really….real then. The warlock jumped out of bed before the nurse could stop him. He stood in front of Arthur hesitantly, reaching a hand out. His mind was a tornado of thoughts and emotions. Should he reach forward? Should he allow his mind to truly find out whether this figure that had haunted his sleep was back? Should he risk the pain of it not being so?

Before he could question himself further, he pushed forward and let his hand lie flat on the king's chest. Solid. Firm. Real. He took his other hand and gently touched Arthur's face, his shoulders, his arms. All strong and all very, very real.

"You're real," Merlin whispered, his mind finally, truly accepting Arthur's presence. His heart calmed and a long needed peace rushed through his blood. A lightness entered his mind and he shook, as if he were going to faint again.

Arthur gave him a weird look, realization dawning on him that all was not well.

"Merlin, what's going on?" Elizabeth asked softly from behind them, standing.

Merlin turned to her, half dazed that there was another presence in the room. Then his mind started again and he knew he had things to deal with. He had to control himself. "Elizabeth, thank you for staying with me. Can my friend and I have a bit of time to talk? I'll explain everything later."

She frowned but grabbed her bag and followed Merlin to the door. She turned back to him, worried. "Let me know if you need anything…."

Merlin smiled. "Thank you." She nodded once before leaving and Merlin closed the door behind her, collecting his thoughts before turning back to the man standing in his flat.

"Merlin, what's going on? What do you mean, saying I'm real?" Arthur demanded once more.

Merlin laughed and shook his head, walking back over and patting Arthur once more, for reassurance. He turned, an overwhelming joy radiating from him. "I just, I can't believe you're back! This is wonderful! And now, of all times! But today is the 29th, so I mean it makes sense. But you're back. You're really here."

Arthur stopped him. "Yes, for the thousandth time, I am here. Why wouldn't I be? And where is here? Where is everyone else? Why are you dressed like that? And what is all of this…stuff?"

Merlin froze at the look of confusion in the king's dark eyes. That's when the thought hit him. What if….what if Arthur didn't remember? He surely didn't know…oh great…this was not going to go well….

"Arthur…what do you remember?" Merlin asked slowly.

The king frowned. "I remember…the pain…and the lake…and then waking up, soaked. You fainted on me."

"You don't recall anything else? How long did it feel in between those two events?"

Arthur shook his head. "Like nothing….like I had fallen asleep and waken up the next morning. I thought you did magic on me, made the wound go away."

Merlin bit his lip, worried. Arthur really had no idea….He didn't know what else to say and the words were out before he could think about them. "Arthur…you've been dead for 1,478 years."

Arthur's hand fell from where it rested on Merlin's shoulder. "What?"

Merlin sighed, rubbing his neck. "You were gone for so long…and I waited…and now you're back…"

Arthur shook his head, backing away. "No…I don't believe you. Merlin…whatever's going on, make it stop. This is not funny. Where is everyone? Where are we?" His voice slowly rose in pitch and he turned about, searching for Gwen, for Gaius, for any of his knights. But he was trapped in this room full of weird things, a half crazed sorcerer at his side.

"Arthur. Arthur! Stop! Look. Come here."

The king paused, his heart pounding, his mind trying to deny what he secretly knew was true. He turned to Merlin. "What?"

The warlock took the chainmail and shirt around Arthur's waist, lifting it slowly to see the scar he knew would be there. Arthur watched the shaking hands, staring at the shiny welt. He touched it with gentle fingers and the scene flashed before him. Mordred. Merlin. The fire. The lake. The arms. The cold. And then….Nothing. Just…nothing. He had…had he really died?

Merlin turned away, his own thoughts tumbling forward in a torrent of a millennium and a half's worth of pain and loneliness. He had waited…and waited…he had fought depression as each and every familiar face had come and gone and he had stayed. He had waited so long with only the hope that Arthur would someday come back. After 1,478 years, he didn't think it was possible. But it was.

"Does that mean…Gwen? The knights?" Arthur murmured quietly.

Merlin just nodded as he relived it all. The deaths. The pain. And while Arthur was just learning about it, Merlin had lived with it for longer than he cared to think about anymore.

Arthur touched his shoulder lightly, turning the warlock towards him. An emptiness had entered his mind. Everyone he had ever known…gone. Only Merlin had lasted. His heart fell at the loss of Gwen…of the love he hadn't had the time to express completely…he sorrowed at the loss of so many friends…so many memories and times….gone.

"Merlin…I can't…" He couldn't finish. The thought of it all weighed on him like wet cloth. He stumbled backwards, legs hitting the bed. Merlin pushed him down, knowing the pain that was flooding through him right now. Arthur put his face in his hands in attempt to hold himself together…to get rid of the emotions crashing over him.

"Arthur, listen to me. I know it hurts. I know it's unfathomable. But you must push through it. Let it all out. Do not let it consume you," Merlin said, kneeling by the king's side.

Arthur shook his head, looking up. Tears trailed down his face, his blue eyes bold and terrified. "Merlin, that's just it…I feel nothing. But it's a horrible nothingness…like it's ripping my insides apart. I just…they can't be gone. They can't."

The king was slowly becoming frantic, panic flooding his heart. He wanted to leave this place. He needed to be alone, away from here, from everything. He started to get up, to flee, to think, but Merlin pushed him down again. The warlock knew what was going through his mind. And he knew he had to stop Arthur from leaving. If he left, who knows where he'd go. The new world was not some place the king should be exploring on his own…especially like this. He went over to the counter, grabbing a glass of water and a bottle of medication – depressants he had taken and gotten for such circumstances. He handed the water and a pill to Arthur who stared at him, confused and slowly losing it, overwhelmed by it all.

"Swallow them," Merlin instructed. "They'll make you feel better."

Arthur swallowed them hesitantly. Some of the tension melted from Merlin's shoulders. The pills he had given him had a fast-acting sleeping agent in them as well. And while it was the middle of the day, right now Arthur needed to sleep and to calm down. Merlin didn't think he'd be able to handle the king on his own when they were both in such a state.

Arthur frowned and Merlin knew the drugs were taking affect. He pushed Arthur onto the bed and within minutes, he was out. The warlock sighed, his own anxiety eating at his stomach. He fixed Arthur up as best as he could before taking his own medication to calm his mind and heart and the shaking of his body. Then he sat and watched the sleeping king, trying to suppress the tornado of thoughts, of excitement, to think of what this all meant. And what the hell he was supposed to do.