The Golden Age Universe
As Shadows Fall– Chapter 3
~Fran Gipani

Disclaimer- So I obviously don't own Merlin no matter how much I'd love to :'( but I do own my OC Brooke

Note from the Author- Thank you to my Beta SailorPetal for checking it over :)

Notes on the Setting- So basically the prologue to this universe was set in season one episode one and then this is set starting at the end of series four :)

Brooke had thought that the time she had spent alone in the forest was the worst time she had ever spent. Though she had never felt true love and care from the many masters that she had served as a servant, in that forest in the dark she had thought was by far the most alone she had felt. Brooke knew that she probably didn't deserve love and care anyway, she was nothing. She wasn't as beautiful as any of the women and girls she had been servant to; and she most definitely didn't have the money or power that they had. All she had was Merlin or so her vision had showed her. That was why she had run; she'd had a dream, a dream that had shown her all she needed to know. Brooke had spent her life being passed from master to master as a servant, being sold and bought like a loaf of bread. The visions and dreams that she kept experiencing were all that kept her from completely giving up hope. They all ended up being true, each time she had one of her visions a few days later it would happen and she would be passed on to a new master. Her last vision had showed her the image of a face. A man with a cheeky smile and raven black hair; it was his eyes though that she remembered the most, they were a piercing blue. A deep commanding voice had whispered his name in her ear, "His name is Merlin." And it wasn't that the voice had told her that she needed to find him, she wanted to find him. Brooke had run, run to someone whom she didn't know, that she didn't even know the whereabouts of. She had just run, run faster then she had ever done in her life.

It was however until Brooke was wherever she was now she felt more alone than ever, she had thought that her time in the forest she had felt that feeling the most, but now, now she knew she was wrong. The total darkness ate at her hope and her strength. She couldn't feel, see, taste, hear or smell anything; all she had were her memories and her thoughts, everything else had been eaten by the darkness. All that could keep her going was the thought that when she got out of there…if she got out of there she would finally meet Merlin. She tried to scream out to him but no sound came out. She tried to run but she couldn't move. As her fear began to overtake her thoughts any ounce of hope that she had left had begun to fade. She knew her time was running out.

Suddenly out of the nothing of senses came an explosion of feeling. The black became white, the pain ebbed through her every essence and then finally she could feel, feel the comfy bed around her. Then she heard a voice a, panicked voice that sounded very close. She wanted to open her eyes but she couldn't it was too bright; going from nothing to everything was the most confusing feeling she had ever felt. There was a lingering tingling feeling right where her heart was and then she knew. Merlin had brought her back to the land of the living. Merlin had magic, he was a warlock, and how else could he have saved her from that hell. A sudden pump of adrenalin ran through her body and the pain suddenly stopped; finally letting her eyes snap open.

~O~O~O~

Gwaine watched the lifeless figure of Merlin; he could see his eyes moving slightly behind his closed lids and then every so often a faint gold glow sneaked out from under his eyelids. Gwaine knew his friend had magic but it didn't stop him from watching the process in awe. He assumed that because Merlin and his powers had been cooped up inside him when he used a huge amount of power his body wasn't used to it and went into shutdown for a little while; he made a mental note to ask Merlin later. To be honest Gwaine thought it was great that his friend had magic and couldn't wait to see him use it more. He dipped the cloth into the warm water again and held it to Merlins forehead, it was at this point that Merlin took in a deep breath and sat up nearly making Gwaine, who was deeply absorbed in his thoughts, fall of his chair.

"Gwaine!" Merlin was as surprised to see Gwaine there as Gwaine was to see him sit up so quickly.

"Merlin! And that's Sir Gwaine to you!" He winked, letting the usually swagger enter back into his voice. Gwaine grinned at Merlin and said, "How are you feeling mate?"

"Great! I honestly feel like I could run a few laps around the castle walls!" Merlin grinned widely at the long aired man in front of him.

Gwaine raised an eyebrow, "Right…you remember what happened before you got…" he paused, not too sure what to fill the space with, "erm…knocked out?"

"Well I saved you all using magic then the last thing I remember was all the warmth that my magic leaves in me being drained then nothing." He frowned slightly, "Brooke…is Brooke ok?" He exclaimed jumping out of the bed and then running past Gwaine into the room beyond. The first thing he saw was Gaius sitting on a chair next to a bed, the bed had a figure in it that he then remembered he recognized; Brooke. "Hello Gaius!" He said cheerily moving closer to the bed, his eyes widened as he saw the state poor Brooke was in.

"Hello Merlin, I have done everything I can do to help her but she is fading and fading fast. She is nearly gone. I am so sorry." He looked over to the dark haired man sympathetically to see that Merlin bright blue eyes were glistening slightly with unshed tears.

"I was too late," Merlin whispered sadly momentarily forgetting about being a warlock.

"Merlin," Gwaine said, watching the scene with an expression on his face that showed he thought Merlin had missed something. "Your magic, can't you use it to heal her?"

At Gwaine's words he felt like all those times Arthur had called him an idiot had actually taken affect; Merlin nodded then put a hand over the deep wound in Brooke's side, just above her hip. He pulled his power from his heart and soul, closing his eyes he began to speak; Merlinlet his powers run from him through to Brooke's damaged and broken body. Merlin opened his eyes again as he finished the spell and his eyes flashed gold.

They all looked down to where Brooke was lying on the bed to see her eyes snap open reveling her dark brown irises. Brooke' s eyes moved from Merlin, then to Gwaine, to Gaius and then back to Merlin whose face her eyes didn't leave, like she was studying him.

"Hello Brooke," Merlin said calmly, "How are you feeling?" He smiled kindly at her as he waited for an answer, he watched her open her mouth as if trying to speak but no words came out. So when no answer came, he tried again, "Brooke, are you ok?" There was still no answer but Merlin watched as the young woman slowly swung her legs round off the bed for them to land on the hard wooden floor. Just as slowly as her last movement Brooke straightened her legs enabling her to stand, her eyes never leaving Merlins face as she did so. Almost straight after she let out a cry of pain and wobbled to fall into Merlin's waiting arms. As calmly as possible he lowered Brooke to sit back on the bed. "Is it your ankle?" He asked and when Brooke gave a slow nod he sat down on the chair that Gaius had just vacated. Carefully he pulled the leg that Brooke had indicated so that it rested on his knee and then began to examine her ankle. She winced slightly at the touch of Merlins cold fingers but didn't say anything; "It's not broken, "Merlin deduced, "Thank the heavens but it is twisted slightly and badly bruised. I will wrap it tightly and if you have something for the pain Gaius, she will be able to walk normally by tomorrow night if she does walk around a little."

"Yes of course, one minute Merlin." Gaius walked to the other side of the room and began to prepare a pain relief serum.

Merlin turned back to Brooke, "I'm Merlin," He grinned and then said pointing at each in turn, "That is Gaius and this here is Gwaine."

"Sir Gwaine" Gwaine cut in laughing quietly to himself, "Glad to meet you!" He held out his hand politely for Brooke to shake.

To Merlins surprise Brooke did, her wide smile lighting up her face making her once quite plain features shine out making her-in Merlin's opinion-look quite beautiful. He noticed as she shook Gwaine's hand her gaze moving from him to Gwaine's face, but almost instantly it went back to his face. Merlin smiled widely at her holding out his hand as well which she took with another smile, Brookes gaze never left his face and Merlins never left hers. Merlin didn't really want to ask the way he did but he needed to know so he could help her, "Gaius…do you have any idea why she can't or won't speak?" He looked over to Brooke who was still holding onto his hand like she would lose him as soon as she let go, but Merlin didn't mind and though he wouldn't admit it…he quite liked the feeling of her hands entwined with his.

"I don't think it's that Brooke can't speak not in the literal sense anyway. She has a tongue and there is nothing wrong with her voice as she can make a sound when she is in pain. I think she is I shock from her ordeal in the forest or maybe if she was a servant before she wasn't permitted to speak…so Brook's mind has maybe forgotten how. It is more likely that she is in shock though." Gaius brought over a small tube with a pale blue liquid in it and handed it to Brooke who took it in her free hand, "Drink this Brooke, it won't taste very nice," Gaius chuckled, "but it will help with the pain."

Brooke nodded at this and drank the pale blue all in one go, she grimaced as the liquid touched her tongue but she swallowed anyway. She handed the little tube back to Gaius who took it and then asked her, "Can you write? You know with a quill and ink?"

"Why?" Merlin began but then realized, "Oh…we need to be able to communicate with her." He grinned sheepishly and turned to Brooke waiting for an answer. Brooke nodded slowly at Gaius and then turned back to Merlin who asked, "Are you tired? It's getting quite late…we can organize someone to get some paper and quills for you tomorrow so we can talk properly until you find your voice." He smiled at her as she nodded in reply squeezing his hand lightly.

"You can have my bed, it will be more comfortable for you and you have more privacy in that room up there." Merlin watched as Brooke looked at him meaningfully, shaking her head, "I will be sleeping down here so you can come and get me if you need anything." Merlin reassured her squeezing her hand lightly in return, "Do you want to have a bath?" He asked her and when she nodded in reply he said, "Ok then I will get someone to fill you one and to bring you some cloths. I think you would be about Gwen's size and I know she will be happy to give you some." He grinned at her widely, "I will be back!" he moved to get up but Gwaine put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'll go Merlin, you my friend can clear your room a bit and change your sheets. They probably need it if Brooke is going to sleep there!" He laughed out loud, clapping Merlin on the shoulder as he left the room to get what Merlin required.

~O~O~O~

About an hour later Brooke had been bathed and dressed with the help of one of the Camelot servants. She was now lying in a comfy bed feeling better than she ever had in her whole life; she felt clean, comfortable, warm, and cared for all because Merlin had shown her kindness. The man sat next to her bed on a seat, Brooke wanted to say something to him but every time she went to open her mouth she didn't know what to say or how to say it. She knew her body had forgotten how to speak but she wanted to thank him but her body wouldn't let her, she had forgotten what her voice had sounded like. What is she said the wrong thing? Brooke slipped her hand into Merlin's which had been resting on the side of the bed. She explored her brain for the words she needed to use the right sentence for the situation, "Tha…" She faltered he voice sounding strange and loud in the silent room not having heard it in so long. She tried again and this time the words sounded right as they rolled of her tongue, "Thank you Merlin." She smiled as she said the words staring up into Merlins bright blue eyes.

Merlin smiled back, a warmth spreading through his body as he heard her speak, happy that she had felt comfortable enough around him to say something to him. "Good night Brooke." He replied squeezing her hand, Merlin stood up and blew out the candle on the little wooden table by the bed. He left the room closing the door quietly behind him.

Note from the Author-Thank you sooo much to KittyRin for reviewing and adding this story to her favourites list :) I know there wasn't much action in this chapter but it is very important for the development of Brooke's character and her relationship with Merlin. Please review :) they really make me smile! :)
~Fran xx