Disclaimer: IDOM

So, I don't have much to say today other than I have a huge headache and nothing seems to help, and things are very wobbly at home right now. :P So, I think that after I post this, I am going to go hibernate and watch some Star Trek. ;)

Enjoy!

Chapter 5: Until Then

They ordered in that night and had dinner delivered right to the office. Arthur, Gwaine, and Merlin were waiting out in the lobby for the delivery man since they themselves only just got back from their assignment. Leon, Percival, and Leon were already upstairs waiting for them.

"I'm bored," Gwaine groaned, sinking further into his faux leather seat.

Merlin smiled with amusement, feeling a bubble of warmth rise in his chest. He ran a hand through his ebony hair and tried to hold back a yawn from the tiredness sweeping through him. Gwaine, though, caught it and smirked softly at Arthur, who was on Merlin's other side.

"Someone's tired," Arthur grinned.

Merlin rubbed at his eyes, laughing. "It's been a long day."

Gwaine scoffed, cupping the back of his neck with one hand. "We haven't done anything today."

And then Merlin felt another bubble of warmth burst in his chest, thinking that maybe he wasn't as physically exhausted as he was emotionally exhausted. He'd been reunited with the friends he'd been waiting a thousand and some years for, so he thought that after a rather emotionally taxing day of shock and joy and trepidation, he had a right to be tired. But as much as he wanted to go back to his small cottage home beside the lake and curl up in his bed to sleep, he wanted to stay with his friends more. Much more.

So in response to Gwaine's comment, Merlin let his head roll on the back of his seat to face Gwaine and stuck out his tongue at the sergeant, who, in response, laughed and stuck his own tongue out.

"Very mature, guys," Arthur smirked, eyebrows drawn in amusement. He ran a hand through his golden hair and looked out the glass-walled window to see the pizza delivery man climbing out of his car. "Food's here."

Gwaine cheered. "Finally!" Several people in the room glanced at him, some them telling him to 'shush' through their narrowed eyes, while others only smiled with amusement.

Merlin bumped his arm and stood as Arthur paid for the pizzas and then divided the load between the three of them. After that, with Gwaine complaining about the two - "Geez, these are hot!" - pizzas in his arms all the while, they made their way to the lift and piled in before the box jerked and pulled them up.

"They're meant to be hot, Gwaine. That's the point of them," Arthur said, eyes flashing with amusement as he seemed to examine the lift.

Gwaine snorted. "Says the man carrying the cold drinks while he makes me and Colin carry the hot pizzas."

Merlin smirked at the steaming boxes in his own hands, feeling goosebumps crawl up his skin at the heat. Between himself and Gwaine, they had five pizzas: two meat lovers, one vegetarian, and two supremes. When he'd been waiting in the lobby, the question about why they needed so much pizza crossed his mind, and just when the question had risen to his lips, he had just about started laughing as his memories of so long ago flashed through his mind, reminding him of how big of an apatite the knights always had.

"Colin's not complaining," Arthur said, quirking an eyebrow challengingly.

Gwaine glanced at him, and Merlin raised an eyebrow questioningly beneath a fringe of dark hair, before Gwaine turned back to Arthur. "Colin's too nice for his own good."

Merlin snorted with laughter, and Gwaine's grin grew as Arthur's eyes danced and as his fair hair reflected the lights above. Suddenly, the bell dinged, and the lift stopped on the second floor before the wide silver door slid open. A bright, bell-like laugh sounded from within the large area, and Merlin's mind froze as his body tensed, blue eyes widening at the familiar sound.

Gwen.

"Colin?"

Merlin turned to Arthur to see both him and Gwaine staring at him with furrowed brows. So he quickly cooled his startled features and took a deep breath through the nose in an attempt to slow his racing heart rate. It didn't really work. "Hm? What's up?"

"You look like you've just seen a ghost," Gwaine frowned. "Again."

The warlock felt another fog of mixed emotions cloud his heart, and he took another breath, this time knowing the coloring was coming back into his face. He swallowed, feeling much the same as he had when he'd first been reunited with his friends, and followed their lead as they stepped out of the lift. But this time it was different. Before, he'd been rushed into the situation; even still, he felt like he was in shock, though throughout the course of the day, the surreality he felt had lessened as he'd begun to wrap his mind around the fact that it was all real and they were here. Now, however, it was back.

"I'm fine," he offered weakly. "Really."

Gwaine and Arthur still looked skeptical, but they brushed it off when Leon's curly head turned to greet them.

"Great, you're here!"

"I'm starving!" Percival smiled.

Elyan jumped forwards as Gwaine and Merlin both set their load down on the desk. "You're always hungry, Perce. Hm, that smells good."

Merlin hardly heard him. His beaming, calcite colored eyes were locked with a deep, pondering, chocolate brown. A smile pulled at his lips as he drank in her features. Her long, dark curly hair, her soft face and kind eyes; her full lips and her cocoa complexion. She had been the last to leave him all those years ago, and maybe that's why he saw a bright intelligence in her eyes. No, she didn't know who he was -Merlin knew by the way her expressive eyes lacked the full recognition he craved to see, but she was closer to the surface than the others.

"Oh, Colin," Elyan smirked, turning around from where he'd grabbed a slice of cheesy pizza from the box. He stopped though, when he found Merlin and Gwen already looking at each other before his brow furrowed with amusement and he continued. "This is my sister, Angel."

She smiled brightly at him, looking into his face as if there was no one in the world she'd be happier to see, and a faint blush rose in her cheeks as she took a step forward, hand extended. Merlin took it without hesitation and shook before he was, again, drawn into her soft, heartwarming voice as she spoke.

"Call me Gwen. All my friends do. Well, except Arthur," she added, glancing at the blonde. "He calls me Guinevere."

Merlin beamed, eyes twinkling. "Colin."

She looked at him a moment longer, confusion filling her eyes as though she were expecting another name, and Merlin felt laughter rise in his chest, but he contained it. She pulled her hand back, smile lessened fading but still prominent, and reached for her own slice of pizza. Elyan was kind enough to hand her one, and Gwaine passed one to him as they settled themselves around their conglomeration of desks.

They spoke about recent happenings till late that night -most of which Merlin knew nothing about, a joke Gwen made about shaving Gwaine's head and him being in love with himself, and the mysterious break-ins. About two pizzas through, an officer came over to inform Leon that he got permission to requisition the surveillance tapes from outside the museum building and that the videos would be there the next day.

"Now why didn't you think of that, Bradley?" Gwaine quipped, grinning.

Arthur's lips worked into something of a forced sneer. "Eoin."

"Guys."

Gwaine's eyes flashed with humor. "Stay outta this, Rupert."

Merlin couldn't help it anymore and let out a loud laugh, slapping his hand lightly over his mouth as his eyes ran over the now empty precinct. The others joined in his laughter, and when everything finally settled back down, Merlin's hitching breath settled as he asked, "So how'd you guys come up with the nicknames anyway?"

It was then that he realized that that question had been burning inside him since he heard the name 'Bradley,' and immediately,he found himself more sober and so eager to hear what they had to say that he caught himself leaning forward in anticipation for their answer. They didn't speak immediately, and seemed to be mulling it over in their minds.

Finally, Gwen's brow scrunched and she said, "I don't really know." Her lips worked in thought again, and she pursed them as she exchanged glances with the rest of the group. "It was kind of like when you accidentally confuse one person with another, I guess. 'Elyan' just slipped out of my mouth one day, and it stuck."

Merlin frowned even though a no small amount of joy ran through him. "But what about the rest of you? All accidents?"

Gwaine nodded. "Yep. Gwen named me in high school -"

"- and named me when we were kids," Elyan added.

Leon smirked. "And me."

"And then me a few weeks after we'd met," Percival said.

It was then that Merlin felt his lips pulled into a grin again. "So Gwen named everyone?"

Elyan shook his head through a mouthful of pizza, swallowed, then spoke. "Leon named Arthur when they were kids -"

"- Leon's known me the longest though -," Arthur added.

"- and then I nicknamed her," Elyan finished.

Arthur smirked, taking another bite of his pizza. "But Gwen did also name my sister."

Merlin nearly snorted into his drink, feeling dread and anger swell in him, but he took care to mask his emotions carefully behind guarded blue eyes. He'd been trying to keep her in the back of his mind, for today at least, so he could enjoy his reunion with his friends. But then again, Destiny didn't ever like to cooperate. He decided the best course of action would be to he feign ignorance, and Merlin asked, "You have a sister?"

"Yep, only half-sister though," he admitted.

"Her name's Katie," Leon offered, "but everyone calls her Morgana."

Merlin felt a hand clench around his heart as reminders of Morgana's past were projected into the forefront of his mind. Her voice on John's phone had done the same thing but this felt different. Unlike before, when she was no more than a disembodied voice through a staticky line, when he might have been able to convince himself that it wasn't her, but just a strikingly familiar voice, this was concrete evidence that she too was back.

The warlock took in a long breath as the group continued to talk, and he reasoned that if the others didn't know about their pasts, then surely Morgana wouldn't either. Right? He felt his heartbeat slow as he made himself believe that. Maybe in this world, she really was just a normal person -without raging ambitions and a craving for revenge. But then, what about her magic?

He thought back, remembering what Gwaine had said earlier about knowing Arthur for seven years, and thinking that that was about how long Gwaine had known Arthur before... And just like the past, the timelines seemed to be playing out the same here. So, if Morgana did still have her magic -and Merlin feared that she did because even though it was a long time ago, she was still meant to be the darkness to his light, and the hatred to his love- she would have discovered it ages ago. Nearly ten years ago. And if she had, then things wouldn't be how they are now, Merlin knew, so did that mean...?

"See you."

Merlin was startled from his thoughts at the sound of rustling keys, so he pushed his thoughts of Morgana aside and brought his attention back to his friends in time to see Leon grab a long grey coat from the back of a chair and throw it across his broad shoulders.

Elyan pushed himself off the desk he'd been sitting on and grabbed his own coat from the back of his chair. "I should go too. I'm beat."

"And me," Percival added.

"Gwen, Arthur, Gwaine, coming?"

"In a bit," Arthur replied.

Guinevere nodded. "I've got some paperwork I need to file."

"I'll ride with them," Gwaine added.

Elyan nodded. "What about you, Colin?"

"Hm," Merlin smirked, thankful for the consideration. "I'll get a cab, thanks."

He nodded and gave Gwen a peck on the cheek. "Night, Angel."

Gwen smirked at her brother, brown eyes soft. "Goodnight, Elyan. Sleep well."

"And you."

After that, Elyan, Leon, and Percival left, and Gwen scooted off the desk she was sitting on and brushed her hands on her black slacks. "Well, I'm going to clean up my desk, then go home. Colin, can I call you a cab?"

Merlin grinned, ever reminded about her legendary generosity. "Sure, thank you."

She smiled at him and turned to walk down the aisle and disappeared behind a makeshift wall that was up to separate the secretary's desk from the rest of the precinct. Gwaine left to use the bathroom before they too, left, and Arthur made some excuse about needing to tell Gwen something, leaving Merlin alone to slouch in his chair. He busied himself with poking through the things on Arthur's messy desk.

He smiled fondly at the clutter, and unconsciously started to straighten it up: fixing a bundle of papers, placing a lost pencil or pen in it's holder by the computer, pushing a paper back into a file from where it was falling out. Then, he froze.

Merlin flung the file open, heart racing and eyes wide. But then his breathing slowed again as he saw ordinary documents. There was a picture of some man and what looked like a case report in the file. He felt a little disappointment ebb its way into his heart, and he looked, once again, at the sticky note he'd found poking out of the file. It was just a doodle, nothing spectacular, just a line drawing, but it was what it was of that had had the warlock's heart racing.

It was Excalibur. A true to detail drawing of Arthur's legendary sword sticking out from a rock, light in the form of slantwise pen marks streaking towards it. It might have been any sword, even any sword from the fantastical, twisted stories that made up Arthurian legends nowadays, but no, this was definitely the sword that truly was made from the combined efforts of man and magic. Merlin knew mainly because the details: the length of the pommel, the small dots on the handle that made up the texture, and the runes that had been engraved into the sword, all perfectly rendered into the small blue slip of paper.

So did that mean he remembered? A smile crawled onto his lips, and Merlin was sure that somewhere, somewhere in thick, prattish brain of his, Arthur knew. And then Merlin fixed it in his mind that the others must know too. They used their old names after all. He just had to wait and help them remember.

Merlin stood up, a lopsided, impish grin on his face as the swivel chair he was in squeaked, and he walked towards where Arthur and Gwen had went with every intention of asking him about the sketch. He felt the carpet give way beneath his feet and poked his head around the corner just in time to see Gwen and Arthur's lips separate. He gave a small yelp of surprise as he stumbled, and then so did Arthur and Gwen before, in five seconds flat, Arthur pulled away from Guinevere, grabbed Merlin's arm, and pulled him fully behind the wall where Gwen's desk was.

After they were all fully concealed behind the wall, Arthur released Merlin's arm, and the warlock adjusted his grey shirt as he curiously eyed Arthur and Gwen, and, even though his own eyes were dancing with laughter and mirth at having stumbled upon the two, Gwen and Arthur were most definitely not pleased. Guinevere glanced between Merlin and Arthur, biting her nail nervously, and Arthur paced the six foot length of Gwen's office space.

"Great," Arthur muttered. "Wonderful."

Colin's smile faltered minutely. "What?"

The blonde turned on him, arms splayed, and blue eyes giving away his concern and worry. "You!" he said, pointing to Merlin; then, gesturing between himself and Gwen, "Us!" He advanced on the warlock. "Colin, you can't tell anyone about this."

Gwen came up to him too. "Please, Colin. If anyone found out -"

Merlin's brow came together in confusion as memories of Camelot and the problems they had there arose. But here, in the modern world, Arthur wasn't a prince, or a king, and Gwen wasn't a mere serving girl. There should be nothing keeping them apart. They were already in love -if anything in the past had anything to show- so... "But, I don't understand, why can't you -"

Arthur understood and turned around, pacing once more as he ran a frantic hand through his golden locks. "There's a strict 'no fraternizing between co-workers' policy here. If we're caught, Gwen'll lose her job. My father -"

"Your father?" Merlin said, startled. "What's your father- he's the chief, isn't he? Your father's the chief, and that's why -"

"Yes, Colin, that's exactly why. You can't tell anyone."

Merlin felt a rush of frustration course through him; even now, Uther was keeping them apart from each other. He looked at Arthur's face -determined and almost pleading- and Gwen's face -marred with a worried frown as her chocolate eyes begged him. How could he possibly say no? He was the one that brought them together before in the first place, and so, with a calming breath, a lopsided grin on his full lips, and a spark of excited lightning in his stomach, he said, "Your secret is safe with me."

Gwen let out a relieved breath and came up to give him a quick hug, eyes flashing with gratefulness, and Merlin laughed and hugged her back, breathing in her all-too-familiar scent, which only made him smile more. Then she pulled back and Arthur clapped his shoulder.

"Thanks, Colin. Really."

Merlin's smile softened. There were only a few times in which Arthur had ever thanked him. The last time being...

But it also meant that Arthur trusted him. And that meant more to Merlin than anything 'thanks' ever would. "There's no need to thank me, really, I -"

"So this is where you all disappeared to!" Gwaine suddenly exclaimed.

Gwen jumped before laying a hand on her collarbone as she inhaled sharply, and Merlin and Arthur both jumped, eyes widening with surprise.

"So jumpy," Gwaine added with a laugh. "Come on. Everyone else's gone home."

Gwen nodded, gathering herself as she cleared her throat and scanned her desk. She grabbed her purse and deep lavender coat from her chair. "I'm ready. Um, Colin, your cab should be here by now."

He grinned, the comically awkward air palpable. "Thanks."

The three flowed out of Gwen's work area, and when they'd reached Arthur's desk, the Inspector grabbed his coat and red scarf, and if he glanced thankfully at Merlin when he noticed his cleaned desk, the warlock didn't say anything. He only grabbed his own black cashmere coat as the threesome began walking away, pulled the blue sticky note with the drawing of Excalibur out of his pocket, and pushed it against Arthur's computer screen.

Merlin smirked at the drawing once more before "Colin!" reached his ears. He turned towards his Once and Future King, smiling his old smile, and skipped over to where his grinning friends were holding the lift for him, looking forward to the day that they remembered.

Okay, so, there's your explanations for the nicknames!

Please review. :)