Thank you for reading. I hope that you have all had a great Christmas, or festive time. I am sorry that I did not up-date sooner. I did mean to a few weeks ago, but I had a problem with my computer and couldn't use it for a week. Then of course it has been Christmas. Also only one person has reviewed or commented on the last chapter, so I don't think anyone cares that much.

Guest. Thank you for reading, I am sorry that it may be taking a while to up-date. I have been over this a lot so I won't bore you with it all again. I am dyslexic so I expect there will be a few spelling mistakes, and I apologise for that. I'm writing mainly to get it better at it.

As I said in the notes at the end of the last chapter, this chapter will be a two header between Morgana and Merlin. I always like writing these two and it had been such a long time so I hope that you will like it.

With a sigh that was followed by her lips curling into a small satisfied smile, Morgana walked slowly over to the large table near the centre of the hovel. She was enjoying this, she wanted to saver the moment. Though in the end, as she knew all too well, all good things must come to a end. She glanced to Aithusa, who was curled up next to the fire pit in the centre of the hovel. The dragon looked up at her, clearly wondering what was going on. She recognised Merlin, of course she did, he was the one that had called her into existence and named her. Then he had abandoned her. Two years she had been imprisoned, in pain and forgotten and he had done nothing to help her. Not that that seemed to stop Aithusa from making what could only be described as a yell of pain when Morgana had strung Merlin up by his wrists in the hovel. She had had to kneel down by the dragon and reassure her that she was not going to hurt him, she simply wanted to make sure that he wasn't going to leave before she had a chance to talk with him. They had to be carful. Luckily Aithusa's trust for her outweighed her link to the last dragon lord.

Picking up the wooden bucket of water from near the fore pit, she could wait no longer. Merlin would wake up himself soon, and she would miss this chance to humiliate him, cause him some pain. Her grin spreading into a real smile she stood a little in-front of him and with as much force as she could muster, being still weaker than she had been and having filled the bucket to the point of over flowing she throw the ice cold water over the unconscious warlock. Letting out a small laugh as she did.

All of the muscles in his body tensed up as the ice cold water hit him full force. He went to scream out, but his throat seized up and all put a croak came out. His whole body started to shack uncontrollably. Taking in deep breaths his eyes began to be able to focus again. It was early morning, but the sun did not penetrate the hovel hidden almost fully under the earth, casting the single room in a dim light.

"Good morning." Her voice was as cold as the water she had thrown at him.

As he continued to taking in deep breaths he was able to make out Morgana standing in-front of him, a smug grin on her face. "Is it." He bit back with as much irritation and anger as he could manage.

"Oh, don't be like that." She took a step towards him. Reaching out she placed her hand under his chin and lifted it up so he was forced to look her in the eye. "Is that any way for two such good, old friends to talk to one another." With a flick of her wrist she let go of his head, causing it to tilt to the right. With a faint laugh she took a few steps back from him.

"You have a very odd definition of the meaning of friends."

Merlin now had enough control of his body to pull himself up to a standing position. He was also able to use his voice again and school his face into an expressionless stare as he locked his eyes on hers. It was a futile gesture on his part, but he could not let her think even for a second see weakness. He had to meet her head on if he was going to get any answerers to the many questions running around his head. She was lashing out as she often did with him. He had learned the best way to deal with was to not hit back directly. Nothing would come from that.

"And you do." She dismissively retorted.

It was a rhetorical question, she did not expect him to answer. He did not plan to answer. After blinking a few times, he was finally able to focus, see clearly. Though she stood up straight, a confident air about her, with an arrogant look on her face, she looked broken. Her skin evening the fait light was almost transiently pale. Her eyes seemed larger than normal. As he looked more closely at her, it was clear how thin she was, he could see her collarbone sticking out as she breathed in and out at a steady pace. She had clearly been through something in the intervening years since he last say her, just as Arthur had come to believe.

Talking a step towards him, she leaned in a little so she was almost whispering into his ear. "Is poisoning your friend part of your definition of the word."

He tried not to, but he could not help but turn his head slightly away from her at her last comment. He could not look at her while being reminded of that. "What do you want Morgana." He spoke in a low voice.

"You are the one that followed me, what is it you want."

While this was the case, the only thing he wanted was for her to explain what was going on. why was she here, why had she disguised as someone else to return to Camelot, where had she been all this time. Most importantly what was she planning.

"Morgana." He groaned, with a clear frustration and threat underneath.

"Now, Is that any way to talk to an old friend."

"What are you planning." He pressed, while trying subtly to break free from the chains that held his arms above his head, Without her noticing.

She sighed again. Quickly glancing to make sure that Aithusa was still mostly hidden from Merlin's view by the fire pit. "It would seem we are truly trying to achieve the same thing."

"Nimueh." He stated.

He didn't have to say anymore, she knew that he understood. He watched as she seemed to shrink into herself at the mention of the name. He once again looker her over as closely as he could in the dim-light. He said her name in a surprising genuinely sympathetic way, as he took a single step towards her. It made her blood boil with anger that after all that he had done or not done to her, he would try and act like he cared now. Slowly without realising it she had lowered her eyes from him, now bursting with righteous anger her head lifted up again to look at him.

"Don't." She all but growled through gritted teeth. "Your sympathy is as fake as every word that leaves your lips."

Sensing the distress in her mistress voice Aithusa instinctively came to her, to offer comfort. Merlin watched the young dragon move to Morgana side. Her very presence here had left his mind as he awoke. He of course had some rather more pressing things to focus on. Aithusa, as she had been since he called her to life all those years ago had slipped his mind. It was only now looking at the poor creature that he realised how foolish and wrong that slip had been. She looked just as broken, damaged and misshapen as the witch she comforted.

Morgana had once again lowered her gaze from Merlin. This time to watch as Aithusa made her way to her side. Once she reached her the dragon rested her head against Morgana's leg, stocking it gently as she nodded her head. It took some effort for Morgana to release her hold on the table she used to steady herself His mock sympathy and the sight now of Aithusa, knowing he had seen her too now, caused her whole body to tremble with anger. Holding the table as tightly as she was, was about the only reason she expected that she had not lashed out at him. Her body was too ridged to more. All of this tension seemed to melt away as she placed her hand on Aithusa's head.

"Morgana." He said her name a little more urgently each time he said it. Though there was still the clear trace of sympathy in it. "What happened to you."

This was a question that she was used to hearing, form him more than anyone else. She had always been able to come up with a clever retort quickly. Now she could not find any words, no smart remark or snide dig at him that she had not said before. The words of the truth, tasted like ash in her mouth, but she had to say something.

"Nothing that is of any concern to you." speaking seemed to take all of her energy, as she sunk to her knees as she spoke. Wrapping her arms around Aithusa in a faint hug.

"No concern of mine."

His voice rose, while he moved forward trying to get closer to her. He was quickly and sharply pulled back in place by the chains around his wrists. He could break free of them with his magic, he had no fear of her seeing him use his magic. She already knew of it. That was one of the few positives that had come of the way things had turned out. He could do what he had to do when she was concerned without fear of her discovering his secret. He could not use force to get free now though. She was clearly not planning on harming him. He also didn't want to antagonise her more than she already was. Make her feel threated. If she thought he was a threat to either herself or the dragon she held in her arms, she would not hesitate to attack first. Her very nature was like a cat that had been backed into corner, with her back up all the time. Most importantly he did not want to scare Aithusa. Who looked like she was nervous around him.

"What happened to her, what did you do to her."

He was able to control his anger better now, but he had to know what had happened to the young dragon. What had happened to her to turn her for a pure, beautiful creature into this damaged creature in-front of him. Whatever it was that had happened, he was sure it had happened to Morgana as well. He had not meant to ask her his question in such an accusing tone. He just needed to know the answer to this question and was growing frustrated. He was also feeling guilty and needed to knew just how guilty he should feel. The other thing he was sure of was that what happened was partly his fault in some way. HE should have know where the last dragon was, what was happening to them. He knew Morgana well enough to know that if he pushed her enough in the right area, she would not be able to stop herself from lashing out at him, biting back and telling him what he wanted to know.

"What you did not." She once again spoke through gritted teeth, just able to get the words out. "I took care of her. I kept her safe…as much as I could. Kept her alive." Her voice broke a little as she went on. She still did not look at Merlin. Just held on to Aithusa a little tighter.

"And you seem to have done a very good job of that." He spat back.

It was the wrong thing to say, he knew that the second the words left his lips and he regretted it. He didn't want to hurt her, he just wanted to push her so that she revelled what had happened to them in the years since they last saw each other, but not like this. That had been too far, too cruel. She pulled herself to her feet, using the table to help her. With a strength that he had not seen her displace during the whole conversation, she moved forward till she stood just a little before him. Her eyes locked on his, wider than he had ever seen them. There was a manic quality that he had not seen before. Luckily Aithusa knew Morgana's mood's well and had moved away from her way the second she felt the chance in her temperament.

"And where were you. Where were you!" She screamed.

The burst of energy and the raising of her voice had clearly taken a toll on her. Her body began to shack a little and she seemed to be trying to catch her breath. What was the most painful to see was the pain and frustration in her eyes. It was there not just because of what had happened that she refused to tell him, but because of the effect that it was still having on her. She hated looking weak, especially in-front of him. She was just as angry with herself as she was with him. It had been her fault they had been caught, but he had not searched for Aithusa.

"What did Nimueh do to you."

His voice was low in contrast to her last outburst. It still held the same sympathy the similar question had held before. He hoped that his changing of the wording of the question may make her more likely to answer it. Morgana seemed to calm a little. Her breathing began to steady and her body relaxed a little. He hoped this would mean she might be willing to tell him more about what happened. He instinctively moved to reach out to her, but was stopped once again by the chains. Her head had lowered a little, causing her hair to fall forward, covering her face. This made her soft laugh under her breath all the more unnerving to him.

"Oh, poor sweet Merlin. You have no idea do you…of what it is to be completely alone. To be at the mercy of those who have none…to have no one look for you when you are lost."

Her tone had started off mocking, but had begun to break as she went on. Finally Merlin felt that he could break free from his chains, without her lashing out at him. With as little movement and noise as he could make he focused his magic on weakening the chains. Of course this did not go unnoticed by Morgana, as he had expected she did not try and stop him. Pulling herself to stand up straight she took a step back. Letting him have some room as he used surprisingly little force to break free of the chains. The crashing of the heavy chains on the stone floor loudly echoed around the small room. They they expected it, the with and dragon flinched at the loud noise.

"You would be surprised." He said once the echo stopped and he moved towards her. To do what he didn't now.

Having regained most of her composure Morgana simply scoffed at his words and took a large step backwards, away from him. She may need his comfort, any comfort, but she was not going to accept it from him. "No, you truly have no idea. You are alone because you choice to lie to everyone." To his surprise she wasn't trying to hurt him, she Genuinely seemed to feel some sympathy for him. "I asked you once, if there has ever been a moment since you were born when you had not lied through your teeth….you never answered." She asked, again she did not sound cruel or malicious, just curious. Maybe a little concerned.

It was now Merlin's turn to scoff a little as he tried to brush off the question. "I think I should be the one asking questions."

"Oh Merlin, you think you're in control here, that is so sweet." A faint, soft smile crossed her face.

"Yes."

Morgana's gave him a look of scepticism. Not quite sure what to make of what he said. "Yes."

"I have been honest with you."

There was an obvious retort on the tip of her tough, but she bite it back. "That is only because you have no choice in the matter. I can see right through you." Her voice turning teasing as she went on.

"I can see through you too don't forget."

"You think you can."

"I can see that you are broken, damaged. That what happened to Aithusa happened to you. That you blame yourself for it. Though I am sure you did what you could."

She had looked away from him as he began to talk, looking down at Aithusa who had once again come to her side to comfort her. Giving her, her agreement with Merlin's words. Morgana was shocked by them however and looked up to meet Merlin's eyes. He gave the slightest nod of his head as he quickly stepped towards her, pulling her in to a weak hug, knowing she would not accept anything else. To his great surprise and slight excitement, she let her head rest on his shoulder. Giving him the courage to hold her a little tighter. Morgana did not lift her arms to hug him back, she simply leaned on him, not seeming to notice or care that his jacket and shirt were still wet from the cold water she had woken his with. Aithusa feeling such joy at this development moved to rest at their feet, leaning on them.

"I have to know. If we are going to stop her, them I need to know what we are facing." Merlin asked after he didn't know how long. He spoke quietly, but formally.

She closed her eyes and sighed as she pulled back to fully face him. Merlin kept a light hand on her upper arms "She used Aithusa as bait."

For a second Merlin looked down at Aithusa. When he looked back up at her, Morgana had lifted her arms up between them. Palms facing upwards, pulling her sleeves back, just enough. At first he did not know what to do about her sudden silence. It was clear that she had more to say there had to be more, but no more words were forth coming. After a few seconds, he finally lowered his gaze just for a second. He had to look back, he did not believe that he had seen what he had. Her thin wrists, looked like they might break if he held them too tightly. He doubted they had the strength to lift a sword anymore. All the way around them like a grotesque bracelet was a deep red scar. It looked new, it could only be more than a month old, but he knew that that could not be true. They had to have been inflicted less recently than that. Which could only mean that they would be permanent.

"Two years."

Her voice was just above a whisper, but it still echoed around in his head. For a brief second, he wondered, hoped that she meant these scares had been left two years ago. He knew better. These scares had been made over a two year period. A very large part of the time that she had been gone, when no one heard or saw her. He did not want to think about the impact of those two words, two years. A part of him wanted to reach out and hold her again. It was a feeling that he had only truly felt towards her once before. Then he had held her, she fought him at first, but then had gave in. she had no choice then really, as the poison in her body began to take its toll. knowing she would not allow herself to he held again, his hands reached out slowly to touch her scares. His hands gently touched her wrists. It was the closest he could come to offering some psychical comfort, without her pulling away. At first Morgana was too shocked to move, know what to do. It had been so long since she had received any comforting psychical contact from another human. As his hands began to slowly slide along her wrist, panic took over and she quickly pulled her arms into her chest and stepped back from him. Being carful not to step over Aithusa as she did.

"Some scares are permanent." She whispered, as she tried to shrug of her revelation.

As before he did not need for her to say more. He understood, she was talking about other scares, not just the ones that he could see, touch. Everyone had scares himself included. Morgana he assumed had more than most. There was a lot he wanted to say, he still had a less strong urge now to hold her. It was a feeling he was not familiar with, but he was getting used to it.

"Two years." She affirmed again.

"Two years." He repeated.

"Chinned to a wall at the bottom of a pit."

At the end of her sentence, she glanced towards Aithusa. That was all he needed to know that she had not been alone in the psychical sense of the word in the pit. He took in a deep breath as he nodded, letting her know that he as before had understood what she was saying without words.

"Morgana-" He began, but was quickly cut off.

"She is not working alone, the Sarrum…she gave me over to him. He was the one..." She couldn't say it.

He placed a hand on her shoulder to let her know that she did not have to say anymore. Just as she had done before she pulled back, away from his contact. She had never been the most psychically affectionate person before, neither had he and their relationship even when they had been friends had never consisted of any real psychical contact. So it should not be surprising that she shied away from such contact now. What she had been through over the last few years had also clearly played a part in this as well. It still hurt Merlin a little. Having his genuine offers of comfort and friendship rebuffed. He must have caught her at the right moment before. He doubted she would let her guard down to him again.

"He is a malicious fool. She is the real threat."

"We have to tell Arthur-"

"I already told him to be prepared for her. The rest is up to you." Clearly she believed this was the end of the conversation, as she moved quickly past him to walk towards the door.

"No….no." He repeated as he shook his head and stood his ground. "That isn't over. Why are you here, if you aren't going to help."

"I am not doing this for Arthur or anyone else. Stopping her, them is the right thing to do. Nimueh does not play well with others. As I'm sure you know." He looked away from her for a second. Seeing an opening she took it, not liking that he had seen her so weak and wanting to make them more on even footing. "You did such a good job of that didn't you. You couldn't kill her. If you had then…." She paused as something amusing came to her.. "It is rather funny, you thought you killed her, but you did not. You also killed me. Yet here I stand." She opened her arms, gesturing to the hovel they stood in. "Then you thought you killed my sister, again you failed. You seem not to be as powerful as you think you are."

"That is not exactly relevant right now." Merlin sighed.

"I think it is. Your ability to actually kill a High Priestess is of the utmost importance….that is why I am the one that is going to kill her."

"Morgana…."

"I want her dead. True I want many people dead, but right now. She is at the top of my list." She gave him a small smile. "You should be pleased. You have slipped a few spaces." She teased and he couldn't help but smile a little.

"I am most grateful…..now answer me, why are you here."

"I tore the veil open and closed it, so that a new word would be created. A word where your destiny would not interfere with mine. A word where I could kill her without having to give my life as well. With your destiny in place so strong I am destined to fail." Her eyes took on the slight manic look they had a few minutes before, but she was more in control now. "The ones that saved us from the pit…..they told me to return here, to help Arthur….which I have done, will do in my own way. When she attacked and she will with the Sarrum's army. I will fight with Camelot to stop them, and I will kill her. If I hear news of her planes, I will tell you. That is all. I will not return to Camelot. You can leave now."

It was only now that he realised that she had moved till she was standing in-front of the door and now moved to the side so he could walk through it. He took a few seconds to take in all that he had been told. It made sense to him, it seemed like something Morgana would do. Yet he still did not move.

"No."

"I'm sorry, did I start that sentence with, if it please you."

"You have to come back with me." He blurted out.

"Why." He could not think of an answer so he said nothing. "So I am safe. It is odd that you suddenly care about that now. Two years Merlin." As she spoke she moved towards him. "Where were you."

Again he could not answer her. He hoped she had forgotten about that. He felt her eyes burning into him. He had no answer. Things had been calm. He felt like, even a little he could relax for the first time in what felt like decades. If he had known he would have come for them, but he had not known, because he did not bother to really look for them. He had tried to reach out to Aithusa, but was unable. He had thought it was because she was so young. He could have tried harder, should have. There was no other way of pointing it, it was a fact.

"I'm sorry."

He looked her right in the eyes he said it so she knew that he genuinely meant it. She shook her head a little and scoffed under breath. Knowing that he meant it, but that it was too late. The damage was done and could not be undone. No matter what he said he could not take it back, he could take none of it back. While he may want to offer her some support and sympathy now, she had no wish to do the same for him.

"You will return, tell them what you like about Eleanor. I will not return as her or myself…not till I am needed." He didn't make any movement to leave or show that he heard and understood her words. "Leave now." She said in a harsher tone almost breaking as she went on. It seemed she had said as much as she could.

He gave a small nod and moved to leave. As he passed her he stopped and looked her right in the eyes again. It was very faint, but he gave her the smallest smile of reassurance. It was also far too late for this, but he had to do something, this was the best he could do, there were no words. Despite her words he was a little hopeful. He had forgotten about Eleanor. She had returned to Camelot, albeit in disguise, but she had still returned. A part of her, however small still cared. She was on their side in this fight. That counted for a lot. Felling brave, he reached out an took her hand.

"It is good to have you back, Morgana."

He squeezed her hand, before leaving.

Thank you for reading. I hope that you liked it and that I have been able to explain the twist at the end of the last chapter, and that it all makes sense. If you have any comments or feedback I would love to hear from you. It is the only way the story will get better and I will get better at writing.

Happy new year when it comes.