The woods, outside of the castle – Camelot
The long walk back to the castle proved difficult. Merlin, unwilling to give the strangers the spells they needed, performed a simple healing task on Sam, who woke up with a jolt. Still drowsy and confused, Sam stumbled alongside Dean, wading through the deep woods while the shadow of the castle fell upon their tiny insignificant lives.
"So, where're you taking us?" The Doctor strolled next to Merlin, causing the young sorcerer to become quite uncomfortable.
"To the king. Or Arthur."
"So, is it like a royal intervention hall or something like that? Are there Knights of the Round Table?"
"Um… No."
"Oh. Oops. Said too much, didn't I? Well, anyways, how's your king?"
"…He's doing fine."
"Why'd he ban magic? It's fun, really."
"I don't know. Maybe you could ask Gaius."
"Gaius? Who's Gaius?"
"He's the court physician."
"Ah. Alright, then." The Doctor turned to his gathered quintet. "Does anyone have the time? I was rather hoping we'd be able to keep a tight schedule for once. Of course, who needs a schedule? Still, anyone?"
Nobody answered.
"…Hello?"
It was too dark to see properly, but the Doctor had his new sonic screwdriver at hand, and so he used it promptly.
"…Helllllllooooo? Anyone?" The buzzing from the strange device was making Merlin nervous. Also the fact that no one was behind them.
"Well, that's rude. If you wanted to go awry, you could've just said. No need to wander off without a word… Well, then, it's just us then. Shall we?"
Merlin's instinct was a loud, pounding NO.
"Ow!"
"Stop tugging me!"
"It's the branches, Sherlock, not me!"
"Dean, I think-"
"EVERYBODY SHUT UP!"
Dean stumbled out of the brush, Sam supported on his shoulder, followed by Castiel, then John and Sherlock.
"You could've waited," Dean spat at the Doctor.
"We were a meter apart, what do you want me to wait for?"
"We were at least a mile apart. You just disappeared suddenly with the wizard."
"Mile? That's not possible. Or maybe my conversion's incorrect… But we couldn't be a mile apart, you were just here six seconds... Oh."
"What?"
The Doctor scanned the area with his screwdriver. "Oh…"
"Oh what?!" Dean was irritated beyond expression at this point. His brother could be dying, he needed to save his universe, and this man with the striped suit was fiddling with a blue flashlight.
"…There's…a slight…time lag…" The Doctor banged his screwdriver on his hand, unable to get any readings. "The area we just went through…has a hole in its time conundrum…Don't know how it got a conundrum in the first place, but…"
"It has stronger gravitational attractions," Castiel said as he took in his surroundings.
"What? No… Time-space conundrums don't just happen due to gravitation…"
"He's right, Doctor. I think there's a need to point out that we're all facing the direction we just came from," Sherlock interjected, almost politely.
"No, no, no. No! That's not possible! No…"
Merlin cleared his throat. "…If I could interrupt, it's very dark outside and it isn't a good time to be arguing about what happened when we were walking or not walking."
The Doctor turned around to face Merlin, and paused a second before walking onwards. "Of course."
"Um, Doctor?"
"Yes, Merlin?"
"You're going the wrong way."
"…Ah. Alright, this way then."
The septet marched on through the dreary, darkened forest, the crunch of footsteps sounding in a harmonious echo behind them. Merlin kicked up some leaves once in a while when everyone was too silent for comfort.
By the time they arrived at the border of the castle, it was already beginning to lighten up. Merlin cursed himself for getting into this. Now he had to bring six weird people to Gaius' quarters, not to mention the fact that he still had to work with no sleep.
"You could still see the stars, even though the sun's coming up…" Sam mumbled.
"Yeah, big boy, you could enjoy the stars later," Dean replied, trying not to groan under the weight of his gigantic brother.
"You could barely see any stars in London, anymore. They're all…polluted. By other lights." But John still reminisced what those few stars looked like.
"…Other lights? What other lights?" Merlin, ever the confused by these peculiar people.
"Oh…" John felt himself struggle with an answer in the dark. "It…It's nothing."
"That's why it's better not to say anything, John," Sherlock teased.
"Hm. If any of you want to see any stars, you could always join me. I could take you to actual stars, not that that would be the main attraction. It's mostly the planets that are far more interesting than the star, not the other way around… Still, stars are fun. Big, fiery balls of gas, just floating out in space. Pretty exciting, eh?" The Doctor nudged Merlin, and the young sorcerer stared at the man with confusion etched on every particle of his face.
The Doctor didn't notice.
They got to a side "entrance", one with a very small, vent-like thing. Merlin tried to pry it open, but, of course – as luck would have it – it wouldn't budge. He contemplated for a second, before giving in.
"Agored."
The hatch opened without so much as a creak.
Merlin turned around to face the group. "Get in."
"What?!" Dean looked at the young one with disbelief. "Can't we just, you know… Go through the front door?"
"It's more fun like this, don't you think?" The Doctor slipped through the opening.
Dean sighed.
Merlin led them down the hallway to Gaius' room. He was still awake, poring over some books.
"Gaius!"
The old man looked up. "Merlin! Where have you been?! Arthur's been looking for you."
"…You didn't tell him I went to the tavern, did you?"
"Uh…"
"…You did, didn't you?"
Gaius gave an apologetic smile.
Merlin sighed.
"You didn't eat anything yet, did you?"
"No."
"I'll go get you something from the kitchen."
"The kitchen?"
"Yes. The kitchen. Before I go to sleep. I can't cook you dinner at this hour."
Merlin smiled. "Thanks, Gaius."
Gaius left the room, leaving Merlin alone – with six other people.
"Get into my room. Now! Before Gaius comes back!"
They scrambled into the cramped space, and Merlin shut the door.
"Just stay here for the night. We'll figure out everything tomorrow."
"But it is tomorrow," The Doctor whined.
"JUST. Sleep." Merlin went out the door.
He peeked back into the room. "Goodnight."
