Thanks for the reviews! This story gets updated VERY slowly as I'm working mostly on my main Merlinverse epically long saga with a few one-shots thrown in between as the rabid plot bunnies strike. But after the season finale of LG last night, I felt inspired to get a chapter out for all of you extremely patient readers! At over 4k it should hopefully keep you guys sated for a while. No smut in this one, but more character development and some of Merlin's history.

This chapter coincides with LG ep 2.9 Original Skin- where the criminal and bounty hunter take over the Dal and everyone swaps bodies.


Her teeth raked against the skin on his neck and Kenzi began suckling. She could feel the goose bumps and he twitched from a shiver that coursed down his back. She began nipping a little harder; he moaned and rolled back against her. Turning his face towards the dark haired vixen his lazy blue eyes opened.

He smiled and kissed her passionately. "Good morning to you too!" He said in a husky voice. He thought briefly about just staying in bed and taking advantage of her. The one room cabin in the woods offered a rather romantic setting in his mind. However he didn't bring her out here for the romance… well not entirely and he knew they should pull themselves out of bed to continue with the real purpose he drove her out to the middle of the forest. They only had a couple of hours this morning before he would need to get her back into the city.

(*~*)

Two days ago he decided they both could use a bit of a break from the chaos of the city and brought Kenzi out to a small cabin in the woods a few hours' drive away. It was extremely secluded and at first she was pissed off that her phone wouldn't work, then that the shower didn't get hot enough, then there was the bugs and the mud, and 'O. M. G.' she didn't think to pack an extra three pairs of shoes! Plus the idea of not waking up to normal coffee (ie: her mega-grande skinny quad double mocha latte with whipped cream from the chain down the street from the clubhouse) nearly sent her into shock. Add to that- there were no fast food joints, no pizza delivery, it was as if the world suddenly became wrong, so fae-king wrong. And all he did was laugh. Laugh at her pain. She was certain they were going to be stalked by some sort of weird-o woodsman serial stalker who had eluded the police for decades and become something closer to a beast than a man…

And still he chuckled as she rambled on with all the possibilities, including an asteroid plummeting to earth and striking the Dal, and her phone didn't work, so how was anyone supposed to call and tell her if Bingo night had been canceled!

Merlin had to lean against the car to keep from falling over he was laughing so hard at the melodramatic woman.

She stamped her foot in anger. A full on tantrum was just around the bend. "When you promised me a couple days of quiet alone time, for going a whole whopping month without a drink, I had pictured something with room service, dude! Or a bathtub for two at least! Not the cabin out of Evil Dead! What if some mutant zombie deer try to attack us or something?"

He was gasping for air, tears in his eyes when she growled her frustration and began stomping away, back down the road. "Kenzi wait!" He finally managed, but she kept walking. He cursed at himself for not warning her ahead of time and began chasing after the woman. He grabbed her arm and she spun around.

The palm of her hand connected with his face. Merlin stood there, stunned. "If you would let me explain!" He bit out harshly, "I thought this would be a good place to teach you some of the more complicated and volatile magic. I can't rightly do that in a posh hotel suite can I?" He felt mildly satisfied at the expression of contriteness that softened her face.

"Oh…" She pursed her lips and tried to smile an apology.

Merlin sighed and held out his hand to her. As much as he enjoyed nearly everything about her, there were times her moods became rather exhausting.

(*~*)

The rest of the weekend wasn't as much of an emotional roller coaster as that first day but by the last evening, exhaustion was certainly taking its toll on them both.

"Dude, I just can't do this, what is wrong with you!" She nearly screamed at him. Taking a step back she nearly lost her balance as the heel of her boot caught a root and snapped. Kenzi sunk down to the ground crying.

He knew he was pushing her, probably harder than he should. Sighing, he fought with himself over wanting to comfort her or to press onward. Merlin could sense her magic just below the surface itching to be called upon. So far all she had accomplished were simple parlor tricks; she was going to need to defend herself. "Try again Kenzi, you almost had it that time."

She was madder than hell, and now her favorite shoes were ruined. Ok maybe not favorite, because that would be unfair to all the other shoes and boots she loved dearly. Yet at this moment nothing mattered while she mourned her footwear. He began walking towards her, still talking, and suddenly it was more than she could handle. "Go. Away!" She screamed and shot out a hand towards him.

He flew backwards in a way he had not done for centuries, luckily, or not, a nearby tree halted his flight and he hit the trunk. All his wind knocked out of him as he slid to the ground groaning. Blinking a few times, he pushed himself up to a sitting position just in time to see Kenzi running awkwardly towards him in a panic.

"Omygod omygod omygod, are you alright, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean, oooh I don't know what happened," she rambled on in a high pitched voice.

He rubbed his head and smiled goofily at her, chuckling softly, "I need to be careful what I wish for. Ow…"

She slugged his shoulder, which did nothing to help the throbbing in his head, "Totally not funny!"

"But it worked," his eyes were sparkling with pride and pain.

Her light grey blue eyes took on a look of steeled determination, "You owe me some new boots mista'!"

Pushing himself up a bit more, he reached out and put his hand on her neck pulling her to him in a heavy kiss. She half-fell into his lap and after a few moments of heat, they broke away from the kiss.

"So was that my reward for slamming you into a tree?" She teased.

He gave her a sly look, "Do it again- without the emotional tantrum and I'll buy you those boots you were looking at in the shop the other day." Merlin had been considering buying them as a gift for her anyway, but if he could turn it into a bribable commodity, he certainly wasn't above that.

Kenzi's face was an open book and she did nothing to hide her excitement. The high pitched squeal cutting into Merlin's ear drums. He mused briefly what Arthur would have thought if he ever brought such a girl home to the castle, but then he caught himself. He hadn't considered what Arthur would have thought for… actually, as he thought to himself- he couldn't remember the last time he had consciously thought about Arthur other than to explain very briefly to Kenzi about some historical aspects of his life. Merlin was thankful she was already up and moving away from him so he wouldn't have to explain the look that must have been on his face. He bit back a sigh and prepared himself as she turned around.

(*~*~*~*)

Merlin was chuckling as his eyes looked over the top rim of his sunglasses. Kenzi was strutting through the store showing off her soon to be new footwear. He did have to admit to himself that the added length the six inch heels gave to her legs was a gorgeous sight to behold, although how anyone could walk in those things was a mystery he would probably never be able to figure out, even with a few more centuries of contemplation.

Once they were done shopping and back in the car Kenzi's wave of excitement continued. "Wait 'til Bo sees these! Her feet are gonna be so jealous!" She spouted in her sing-song voice. "Ya know babe, I was thinking…"

"That's dangerous," he quipped as he started the Porsche.

Kenzi glared at him and he realized her mood had become a bit more serious. "I was thinking," She continued, "I don't know how I'm going to explain to Bo how I managed to get these. I think it's time…"

"No," the warlock stated firmly. "It would put us in too much danger."

"Whoa, ya know I'm getting really sick of this sneaking around bullshit. She's my best friend and I can't keep this from her forever."

"It won't be forever, Kenzi. Just not yet."

"When?" A sour look crossed her face.

Merlin sighed as he pulled out into traffic. "I don't know."

"Faeking hell man! You have told me about all this magical power you have and I think I've demonstrated that I can take care of myself now with it. I can't keep my bestie in the dark. She's my sister and it just is so totally wrong to lie to her anymore! Don't you have a clue what that's like?"

He sucked in a breath and bit the inside of his cheek, concentrating on the road.

"Oh so what, gonna give me the silent treatment now? Really mature dude."

Merlin snapped back, "I'm thinking."

"Yeah whatev! At this rate I'll be dead in the ground of old age before you decide," She knew it was a low cut the moment the words left her mouth. She heard his sharp intake of breath and could see the strain in his face.

It was a thought he had purposely pushed out of his mind since the night he met her. He knew he was taking a chance to finally find some real happiness among the centuries of darkness and solitude. That one sentence reminded him of his immortality and her limited life. It was unfair to ask her to keep this all from her friend, especially as he was becoming more entwined with her. "Kenzi, we're both tired after this weekend, how about we talk this over after a nice hot shower or something."

She scoffed at his cop out, "Just take me home, k?"

"Kenzi…"

"No, dude. I can tell when I'm getting the brush off. I just want to get home and get changed. Then you can take all the time you need to go figure out the answer to life, the universe, and everything…"

"Forty-two."

She gave him a snarled grimace, his joke falling flat. "Just," she sighed and turned to look out the window, tears stinging her eyes, "Just take me home."

(*~*~*~*)

Kenzi was so pissed off. The entire weekend had worn her down, emotionally and physically. She wanted nothing more than to confide in Bo about everything that had been going on. After cleaning herself up, she got dressed and put on her new boots. Hell if she was going to take them back, or refuse to wear them, the boots had done nothing to deserve her ire. After everything else was in place – bodice, hair, tights, and makeup – she laced them onto her feet and putting on a brave façade she strolled into Bo's room to show off her new feet. She wanted to go out tonight and get wasted. Over a month of sobriety was going to be purposely thrown out the window.

She tried to give Bo a story about the boots having been on layaway. Which if the succubus had been paying attention, she would have seen through the lie, knowing the shoes came from a store that didn't offer that type of purchase. Instead Bo had her nose planted in a book that on the exterior made Kenzi roll her eyes, although she had a brief thought about borrowing it to read herself later on.

By the time she finally dragged Bo, who relationship wise was visibly worse off than Kenzie in that department, into the Dal things as usual went down the toilet rather quickly. For starters – Bingo night was a complete bust. Finding herself stuck in Dyson's body was probably the weirdest thing that had ever happened to her, but she did have to admit, out loud, that those new boots did look fabulous. On a weird note, one that she might have to speak with Merlin about later… if they ever spoke to each other again was her magic. While the others in the room, save the doc, were all fae, the differences were clear. It seemed all of their super powers were tied to their bodies, for Kenzi though, she felt her magic travel with her into the wolf-man's form.

It was an internal struggle between the wolf and her magic at first, until she took a moment to focus as Merlin had been teaching her, and they soon calmed. He had tried to explain some of the differences, and why he hadn't fit in with the fae community, but until this moment, she hadn't quite understood. Actually Kenzi still didn't, but at least she felt a small step closer to it. She wasn't sure what to feel when Dyson left the Dal in her body, except that if he so much as put one scuff on the new boots, she was gonna kill him.

(*~*~*~*)

He watched her walk away. Kenzi hadn't so much as looked at him during the rest of the drive. He spent the rest of the afternoon staring into a glass of amber liquid. The ice he originally added was long since melted and he still had yet to take a sip of the scotch. He watched the colors change outside the wall of windows. He could hear in his mind the voice of a friend long gone calling him an idiot and a girl and whatever else he could think of for just sitting on the couch and letting probably the hottest woman he'd known in nearly his entire long life, slip through his fingers. Gods he was a fool. His was allowing his own selfish sense of preservation that had developed over the centuries of life to rule his actions.

Arthur was right, he was a coward. Draining the glass in a manner that would have made Gwaine proud Merlin stood up and grabbed his coat and keys.

(*~*~*~*)

The street and the lot were eerily empty of cars when he pulled up. He noted Kenzi's flatmate's yellow car and a couple of others were the only ones there. He was just getting out of his own when a plain looking sedan pulled up. He smiled in relief as he saw Kenzi step out.

"Hey," He said with a sheepish grin moving towards her.

"Hi," Kenzi responded without her usual dramatic flair.

"Wow, really pissed at me. I get it, I probably deserve it," Merlin knew she was angry with him, but he didn't realize how mad until this moment. He stood in front of her, unintentionally blocking her from walking away. "Listen, I know things went a bit south earlier. I'm sorry for that, love. It's just been so long since I was in a position where I had anyone I could actually trust or hell, even care about. Or someone who cared about me…"

"Um, now's not a good time," she responded in a slightly deeper voice.

"But that's just the thing, time," He rambled on, "I've had so much of it, and most of it was spent alone. I reacted badly, for that I can only apologize..."

"No, really dude, this is seriously not a good time for you to do this," Dyson responded in Kenzi's voice. He glanced at the car; he had to get Lauren back into the Dal soon.

The man in front of Dyson laughed, "You are unbelievable. I know you're upset, and I'm not saying I don't deserve this whole passive-aggressive attitude, but just hear me out will you?"

"Look man, I cannot stress to you enough that I can't deal with you right now," Dyson was becoming seriously impatient with this kid. He figured it was someone Kenzi had dated as he didn't look too much older than the Russian girl. He would have to speak with her later about her human dates finding their way to the Dal. There was too much trouble that could come of it if they were found.

Merlin sighed, "Alright, just know that I'm sorry, and I'm willing to actually sit down and talk about it, ok?" He took a step forward and leaned down to kiss her. The millisecond his lips met hers he stopped and pulled back.

Dyson did his best to play along, but he noticed the shift and the awkward seeming young man disappeared. When he pulled back the blue eyes had become a tempest of dark emotion.

"Where's Kenzi?" His voice was deep and serious with an almost otherworldly tone.

The werewolf knew, even without his normal senses that the gig was up. Something about the man in front of him screamed of a power that was not to be trifled with and he wondered what type of fae this man was, "She's safe, and in my body. I need to get into the Dal now so it can all be sorted out."

"I'm coming with you then." It was not a question or a request, it was a demand.

"Not happening, my friend. Look I don't know who or what you are, but I'll be sure to pass along a message."

A groan from the backseat of the car alerted them both to Lauren beginning to awaken. Dyson pushed by the unknown man and opened the back door of the car. He struggled a bit in the weaker body to get the woman out. Merlin snorted but made no move to assist.

"You know if you really are her friend, maybe you could give me a hand getting this one inside. Since it's obvious you're not going to leave," Dyson commented, recognizing that Kenzi's body was almost too weak to do this alone.

Merlin rolled his eyes and smirked before moving to pull the waking form out of the car. He recognized her as the doctor who had tried to run away from Lachlan, but there was a dark aura about her. Following Dyson he led the woman into the Dal. His eyes met what he assumed was Kenzi's for a brief moment before she turned away with a pout, which was nearly laughable in the body of the tall blond man with the beard. The others were speaking to each other and he could immediately tell that whatever was happening in here had affected everyone but Trick.

Kenzi saw him come in and it was a fight within her to maintain her concentration. She felt Dyson's wolf briefly acknowledge that he was there, but it dismissed him quickly as if he wasn't a threat. She pouted at the conflict inside the foreign body. It was Merlin, and he was obviously here for a reason. Normally when he was a round she couldn't take her eyes off of him, but it was as if the fae eyes refused to see him. Then she remembered how mad she was at him and let the fae part win out in ignoring him.

Dyson noted the indifference with which everyone treated the man who was assisting him. He made a note to inquire more when he got back to his own body.

Trick was finally ready and began to lay out the circle around them all. Merlin stood back, half-hidden in the shadows and watched. At first nothing happened, and the warlock realized that the blood king had dropped the last syllable of the chant. Rolling his eyes, Merlin looked at the circle with glowing eyes and finished the magic. The person in Kenzi's body was looking right at him when it happened.

Dark shapes rose up and it didn't take long until the group in the circle was back into their normal bodies. The tall blond man rushed to one of the women lying on the floor. Kenzi noticed the light fading out of Merlin's eyes and wondered briefly why Dyson had been looking at him. He smiled sadly at her and she felt herself begin to respond. Then she recalled her argument with him earlier and scowled. While the others were busy with Ciara, she moved towards him.

"What are you doing here?" She asked coldly.

"Hoping to talk to you," he said softly.

Kenzi took a breath. She still felt the hollowness inside her that had been in Dyson and she really wasn't in the mood to 'talk' at the moment. Part of her wanted nothing more than to fall into his comforting arms, but she was finding the secret keeping leaving her almost as empty as the wolf felt. "Are you ready to let me introduce you to my friends?"

He cringed and glanced at the door, "I'm ready to talk about the possibility."

It was not the answer the gypsy was wanting. "Know what dude? It's been a long day, you know so whatev'. When you are ready to man up and come out of the shadows, give me a call. 'til then, go screw yourself."

She turned and walked over to the bar. Merlin mentally kicked himself. He had been ready to concede to her the moment he left his apartment. He nearly talked himself out of it a few times on the way over, but resolved to do it. Outside when he saw Kenzi, or who he thought had been Kenzi, he knew he made the right decision. Once he realized it wasn't her that he'd been talking to, that resolution began to fail. Inside the Dal with the magic of the fae so strong around him, it reminded him of why he chose to wear a pendant that hid him from these people. Fitzpatrick had been one of only a handful that had seen him for something other than a tool. Lachlan was another and the fact they were both here in the same city made the warlock curious, but also afraid of its significance.

He recalled the many decades of being hunted, by both the dark and light for the simple fact of what he was. In their eyes he was a trophy to be won and it had been the dark that had finally caught him. It was another few decades at their hands, with an underfae that could suppress his magic stuck in the same cell with him. The tortures they used were something that made the human witch hunts look like a walk in the park. It was not a part of his life he wished to recall.

It was near the end of the Great Fae War that Merlin managed to escape. He willingly allowed himself to be subjected to the worst pain he had ever encountered in order to 'die'. His body was thrown into a pit with other underfae that fed off the bodies of the dead. Away from the creature in the cell, his magic began to rekindle and he awoke just in time to use the small bit of strength he acquired to teleport out. He made his way back to the ruins of Camelot and hid in the vaults for a very long time, only emerging when the need was absolute. It was there, shrouded in spells of protection that he crafted the pendant and vowed to never make willing contact with the Fae again.

He cursed himself for nearly allowing the raven-haired girl to suck him back into it. Merlin turned and left without anyone being the wiser, or so he thought.

Dyson was having trouble concentrating on …something. He almost couldn't remember what it was, until he spied Kenzi sitting at the bar with a sad look on her face. Ciara was thanking Bo for saving her, so he moved towards the human girl, *"And you…"

"Yes?"

"You are weak, pathetic, and you need glasses."

She let out a small laugh of disbelief that held no humor in it. She had just watched the man who was probably the love of her life walk out. "Oh wow," she said blinking back the tears, "That's kind of mean."

"It's a miracle you've survived this long, Kenz. You just might be the strongest person I have ever met," he said with true sincerity before taking her into his arms.

"You know, I learned a few things about you, too," She pulled back from the embrace and looked up at him. "Being inside you felt very empty. You're missing something huge in here, aren't you?"*

He turned to glance at Bo, knowing exactly what Kenzi felt. He could see it in her eyes, almost as if she was feeling the same thing. Dyson glanced towards the door where the man had been. "Whoever he is, he cares for you."

She inhaled sharply, "Yeah but if he really cared he wouldn't choose to stay in the shadows, would he?"

Dyson gave her an understanding smile, "Sometimes we have no choice in our secrets." He held his finger to her lips and stepped backwards towards Ciara.

Kenzi cast her gaze at the door and bit her bottom lip wondering if she had been too hasty in dismissing the fact that Merlin at least wanted to talk about the situation. She figured it was best to let them both cool off and she'd call him tomorrow. Right now, she was ready for something majorly alcoholic that she could drown in.


Between the * is transcript from Original Skin (ep 2.9 of Lost Girl) Those words are not mine, just used and abused for my plot. Just like Lost Girl and Merlin.