Prompt fill from AO3:
"It wasn't Death - it was Time, who carried all away in its inexorable currents."
A/N: Is my AP exam in a little over 2 weeks? Yes. So am I writing a fanfic to forget about it? Absolutely not!
Sometimes they came back with the same names, sometimes not. Most of the time they came back with the same qualities, which was good because when they didn't Merlin almost cried.
All of the time, they came back with the same faces.
(Merlin was immortal.
He would have liked to have been told that before everyone started dying around him, damn it!)
He tried not to run into them, he really did, but it just tended to happen.
And when it did and they never remembered, well, he would just have to remember for them.
Percival, hosing down a house fire in his bright yellow firefighter's suit. Gwaine, drinking alcohol in a very different tavern, starting brawls with anyone trying to take advantage of someone else. Gwen, a red cross on her white hat, trying desperately to save as many soldiers as she could during the bloodiest war. Leon, laughing as his ship finishes another voyage.
And Arthur - oh, Arthur. He came back too, with his golden hair and pompous demeanour.
He came back, was always the same but different, was always different but the same.
Arthur, a general in a war, mapping out battle plans and the like. Arthur, a lawyer at a prestigious law firm, fighting for those who need it. Arthur, a child fighting against a school bully. Arthur, Arthur, Arthur.
Gaius, a hospital surgeon who tries his best to save lives, no matter the cost. Elyan, building guns and cannons for the war that might free him. Freya, a small coffee shop owner, the barista who smiles her little smile at anyone and everyone, no matter the day. Lancelot, swinging an arm around his friend so that they might stay together forever. Morgana, the main shareholder of a tech company, pushing society to the future.
Merlin swore he had even seen a Kilgharrah, once.
But when they came back, they left, too.
They left him.
It wasn't Death, no - it was Time, who carried all away in its inexorable currents.
It was Magic - who insisted that he stay on this plane when everyone else got to rest.
Percival, walking into a fire and not coming back out. Gwaine, stumbling into the street and getting hit by an automobile on one unlucky night. Gwen, a stray bullet hitting her in the chest - in the heart. Leon, sinking with his own ship when it hit one rock too many.
Gaius, collapsing due to the strain of his heart to never stand up again - not in this life, anyways. Elyan, getting lost in the fray of war and losing his life to the very weapons he crafted. Freya, a statistic, an unfortunate victim to a mugging. Lancelot, finally falling victim to the bombs falling all around them. Morgana, trying to negotiate with a shooter, saving her colleagues but losing her life in the process.
Arthur, a spray of bullets cutting him down along with the rest of his front line. Arthur, making too many enemies and offed by a client with a vengeance. Arthur, a missing persons case that will forever be unsolved.
And through it all, Merlin, as a witness.
There must be a reason for this, there has to be.
It was what he held onto, when times got rough.
"Arthur, my friend!" he greeted from where his king (always, even now) was walking into a pub. Said blonde turned around, brows furrowed, hands in his jean pockets.
"Do I know you?" he asked.
Merlin struggled to keep the smile on his face. "Yeah. I called you 'friend' for a reason."
"Uh-huh," he said, nodding and slowly backing away like Merlin was a crazy person. To be fair, he was a few thousand years old.
"We met," he blurted out, "at...at this place, a few weeks ago. I thought you'd remember me."
Arthur blinked.
"Well it's not like you were required to remember me, but I like to think I have that kind of face? Unlike you, that is?" Merlin immediately snapped his mouth shut.
"Uh...can you refresh my memory, then?" Arthur asked, hesitantly.
"Of course," Merlin said, hopefully not too enthusiastic. "The name's Merlin, like the birds. I'm pretty sure I told you that. We connected over our parents' unhealthy obsessions with the Arthurian legends." Which were not at all true or accurate, but they did give Merlin a laugh every once in a while.
"Huh," Arthur breathed out, obviously trying to remember something that didn't happen. Merlin liked to think he'd gotten better at lying over the years. "I must have been...completely wasted then."
"Yup," Merlin said. Two weeks ago, he had watched Arthur stumble out of this very pub, only to throw up on the sidewalk. He had not been stalking him - no, of course not! He had just been...watching out, like a concerned friend.
"I feel like I'd remember someone like you," Arthur continued.
"Oh?" Merlin asked, eyebrows raised.
He laughed. "Yeah, a mess like you."
"I'm not-" Merlin looked down at his clothes, wondered whether this was a new outfit or the one he had worn yesterday.
Arthur reached out to ruffle his hair a little. "Do you even own a comb?" he asked teasingly, like they were close, like they really knew one another.
In another life...
Merlin shrugged, a sheepish smile on his face. "I tend to go with the natural look."
"Yeah, well. It looks like a rat's nest."
A few moments of easy silence, listening to the people around them. "Let me buy you a drink, yeah?" he asked, trying not to sound desperate, trying not to sound pained, trying not to sound so lost.
Arthur paused. Considered. "I'd like that," he said.
Maybe this time things would be different.