Just so you know, we are in the current time stream of Merlin when Arthur and Gwen are married, Merlin's secret is still safe and Morgana is no longer a threat. For now.

Rory opened his eyes.

Two thoughts instantly sprang to his head. Thought number one: he was in a forest. Thought number two: the angel had gone.

He wasn't entirely sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. On one hand, it wasn't there to harm him. On the other hand, he had no idea where or when he was, he was alone and he had no idea how to get back. He could only stay here and hope Amy had contacted the Doctor and they could somehow rescue him. Providing the angel hadn't got her too...

He pushed the thought out of his mind. But he still felt panic setting in. Before it could get a hold of him, he took a deep breath and tried to get his thoughts under control. He was a nurse. He was trained to deal with stressful situations. However, this was a situation unlike any other. Blood, guts and life-threatening injuries he could deal with. But having his honeymoon ruined by a sadistic stone statue that had abandoned him in an unfamiliar forest not even in his own time stream?

For some reason, his university professors hadn't seen fit to train him for this kind of problem.

He started wandering through the forest, hoping to come across some form of civilization where he could find food and shelter. He considered calling for help, but decided against it until he found out more about where he was.

Just as he was starting to panic again, he heard shouting and what sounded suspiciously like the clashing of swords ahead of him.

Putting his hand on his own sword (he was still in his centurion get-up) he hurried forward. He wondered if defending himself with a sword was any different from using a broom. He hoped he wouldn't have to find out.

He emerged into a small clearing that was the source of the noise. A bunch of men that were clearly bandits of some kind were waging war on a group of what looked like knights. He breathed a small sigh of relief as he realized that he was in a place where his outfit would be perfectly normal.

As he surveyed the scene, his eyes fell upon a woman trapped against a tree, trying to fend off a large thug who was clearly trying to finish her off. A man with messy blond hair was trying in vain to reach her, while a pale man with black hair, possibly a servant of some sort (he wasn't dressed in armour) was trying to calm a group of panicking horses that clearly didn't like all the noise.

As Rory watched, the black-haired man said something under his breath and Rory gasped as the man's eyes momentarily glowed yellow and the horses suddenly calmed down. He shook his head and assumed he'd imagined it, then turned his attention back to the battle.

The woman was still fighting for her life and the blond man was looking desperate. Making a spontaneous decision Rory drew his sword and, with what he hoped was a convincing war cry, ran to their rescue.

He realised almost too late that he wasn't quite willing to take the life of a human being, so rather than running the man through he slashed open the flesh on his arm, distracting the thug from the woman. They clashed swords for a while until Rory hit the man on the head with the flat of his blade hard enough to knock him out.

He fought this way for a while, hitting and wounding but not killing, and hoped the knights wouldn't question his choice of combat. Eventually, all the bandits where disabled and Rory sheathed his sword and turned to face the blond man, whom he had ended up fighting next to.

They regarded each other for a few moments until the man spoke.

"I am King Arthur of Camelot, and I thank you on behalf of my knights and Queen Guinevere for your imput in this fight. Who are you, and is there any way we can repay you?"

Rory tried his hardest to keep a straight face. King Arthur? THE King Arthur of Camelot? So that man who may or may not have used some form of sorcery could be...

Rory realised Arthur, Guinevere and the knights were looking at him expectantly. He should probably say something...

"Um...well my name's Rory. I come from...er...well you probably wouldn't believe me if I told you so lets just say I come from a long way away and...er...I'm sort of...lost so if you know of anywhere I could stay for a bit then...yeah..."

He trailed off, realising how pathetic he probably sounded. Arthur, however, burst into a grin.

"Well, my friend, you have certainly proved your worth today so you shall stay in my castle for the foreseeable future. Come, the hour is getting late so we must make hast..."

Arthur's face momentarily clouded over, and Rory got the impression something was troubling him. But then the king shook himself and smiled at Rory.

"You can ride with Merlin. He's so scrawny I'm sure his horse can carry you as well."

He slapped the black haired man on the back then mounted his own horse. Merlin muttered something under his breath then smiled at Rory who again was trying to keep a straight face. Merlin and Arthur? Together? Interesting...

As they rode, Merlin talked to Rory, telling him that he could probably stay in the room adjoining his, and talking about some guy called Gaius but all the time there was just one question on Rory's mind...

Eventually he could stand it no longer and turned to the man sitting behind him.

"Yeah that's great thanks but, um, can I ask you something?"

Merlin immediately looked suspicious and...was that worry in his eyes? But he nodded for Rory to continue.

"Well, earlier, when you were calming the horses...your eyes...can you...you know...do magic?"

He knew immediatly he'd hit upon a nerve.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."

"Its fine," Merlin said quickly. "Yes I can do magic. But...don't tell Arthur. Magic is outlawed in Camelot. Only you and Gaius know. It must stay that way. For now."

"Oh sure," said Rory, relieved. "Yeah, not a word. My lips are sealed."

He drew an imaginary zip across his lips then grinned at his new friend. Merlin grinned back.

"So," said Rory. "What's it like, working for the king?"

"Oh its awful," said Merlin solemnly. "I have to do everything and he's a real prat..."

They laughed and everthing seemed alright to Rory for the moment. Merlin introduced him to the knights and Rory relaxed in their company and found himself becoming good friends with Percival and Gwaine. He also spoke politely to Guinevere who instantly told him to call her Gwen.

But he sensed there was something troubling them all. He also knew the time wasn't quite right to ask about it. He'd have to find out soon, though, before he found himself explaining why a blue box had mysteriously materialized in the middle of 1400s Camelot...

Later, when Rory was enjoying some much needed rest, Merlin and Gaius spoke about him in hushed voices.

"So you saw fit to tell a complete stranger about your powers?" Gaius said sternly. "With no idea how he'd react? What if he'd told Arthur?"

"He'd already seen me use magic," Merlin protested. "Besides, I think we can trust him. There's something about him...I think he may be able to help us."

"Really?" said Gaius sceptically. "You think this stranger that we know nothing about is the answer to our problems?"

"Maybe not directly," Merlin replied. "But perhaps he knows someone...oh I don't know. Only time can tell..."

Sorry for the wait, but please leave a review. I shall write more if I get enough positive feedback :)