IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ.

Okay, so for part of this chapter a used a YOUTUBE video to help with inspiration as to what Merlin, sort of, goes through. So I recommend going on YOUTUBE and searching "Doctor Who: The First Question - 50th Anniversary Trailer (HD)" it was made by 'LastWhovianTrailers', and even if you don't need it to read this, you should go check it out anyway. Even if 'LastWhovianTrailers' never reads this, thanks for the help.

Enjoy Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the BBC characters or programs…

Chapter 5

Merlin barely managed to stay upright the entire time he'd been guiding the time travellers to their quarters, and he couldn't stop coughing. When he'd been speaking to Leon, Elyan, Gwaine and Percival, he could tell they knew something was wrong. But when Gwaine had mentioned it, Merlin brushed off the question and said he had to go.

Merlin was having trouble thinking straight as well. It was like someone else's thoughts were pushing his aside, giving him a massive headache. He tried to hide it as much as possible but he was sweating and coughing, and his hand still felt like it was on fire. It was all he could do to stop himself from running from their room like a coward.

He took the familiar path back to his chambers whilst examining his hand, glancing around first to make sure no one was around. Merlin took a sharp intake of breath in horror of what he saw. His hands were shaking uncontrollably. At the exact point where the Doctor had touched his hand, there was a blood red burn. The skin surrounding the area turned black and protruding from the dead looking skin were dozens of black veins that stretched up past his wrist, disappearing beneath his jacket sleeve. He didn't know what type of magic it was that had caused this, but he really didn't like the look of it.

Twisting up the sleeve from the burn mark, he saw the darkness of the veins thicken as they encircled his arm, making protruding ridges along his forearm. As his hand hovered over his arm, he felt heat radiating from the ugly anomaly.

The veins were less frequent as they travelled along his arm, letting his skin show every once in a while. But Merlin could see that it was somehow growing, from the progress it had made already. Seeing it, he hated to think what would have happened if the Doctor hadn't only just brushed his hand by accident.

Finally he saw the ridges gradually fading as they reached his shoulder, soothing his fears only a little. His relief faded quickly at the sight of smaller, less visible veins extending from the larger ones, like tree branches stretching towards the heavens. The horrible thought that he was being encased by a giant cocoon came to mind, but he quickly squashed it like a bug. Still, the thought twitched at the back of his mind.

He pulled his sleeve down as he walked through the doors of his shared chambers. Glancing around he was relieved, in a way, to see that Gaius was still out. Carefully, he tried making his hand into a fist, crying out in a muffled gasp from the pain of it.

Merlin ran to his room and let the door swing shut behind him. He staggered over to his bed, trying to keep his pace steady, and knelt down to pull the wooden plank from its place. All the while, someone else's memories swirled through his mind, trying to override his own thoughts. The pain was making his eyes water. He pushed away the memories and kneaded his temple in efforts to herd in his chaotic thoughts. Despite the screaming voices in his head, Merlin tried to focus.

Before Merlin, sat his magic book, and within it he hoped to find a cure to this sickness. His eyes flashed a bright gold and the silent beauty of the book was tossed aside. Its pages started flapping wildly, just like they had once before, when Arthur was knocking on deaths door. The worn paper fell still for a moment and Merlin read through the page. He held up his left hand over the burn and he recited the incantation. He felt his eyes burn gold again, but nothing else happened, the pain didn't cease. The last time lord... A voice whispered in his head again.

He completed the process again and again with every healing spell in the book, but all led to no avail. His desperation for an ending to the pain was growing. He dropped the book to the ground and sat back on his haunches. He held his head in his hands in an effort to get rid of the voices. Silence will fall, they whispered. Merlin rocked back and forth, images flashing before his eyes. There was a man, the noble from the throne room. He was gazing at a middle age women, her most prominent feature being her curly, bushy hair. She was saying something, "I'll see you when the Pandorica opens…" Another voice whispered, and Merlin knew it was the women who'd spoken. The image changed. The Doctor, for Merlin now knew that was his real name, stood before him again. But this time, there were more people with him.

In a row stood eleven people, all with different faces, but all with the same persona. They were all the same person; they all had the same name. Again and again the visions changed.

The Doctor, he was running towards a blue box, "I've seen him," an adolescent boy's voice said, the words echoing. Merlin fell to the ground, landing on his side. "He's like fire and ice and rage," the words hung on Merlins' ears as the scene changed. Two people, a girl, Rose, the voices whispered, and the Doctor, before them was a scene of destruction. The boys' voice continued, "He's like the night and the storm and the heart of the sun," the boys voice became clearer and Merlin didn't know how, but so did the drumming of music.

There was a new voice now, the same as the woman's, but clearer now. "I've seen whole armies turn and run away..." Said River Song. "The Doctor and the TARDIS, next stop everywhere..." The scenes continued to change, this time the Doctor was running around the control panels of his home. He was younger though, in a different form to the current one.

"You're completely mad..." He heard Martha state. It was the Doctor turned to speak.

"All of time and space," he stood in the TARDIS, "everything that has ever happened or ever will," Merlin felt tears of pain roll across his face. "Where do you want to start?" His eyes snapped open, but Merlin saw nothing but the Doctors life. His eyes flashed gold but nothing happened. The visions continued.

The Doctor walked away from flames. Merlin heard the mans' voice again. "Didn't anyone ever tell you there's one thing you never put in a trap if you're smart?" He spoke in a fury, in both speed and rage. "If you have any plans on seeing tomorrow, there's one thing you never ever put in a trap," he was aiming at the ceiling with a strange weapon, the scene changed once again. The images came faster and faster, almost blurring.

The music in Merlins head became louder and he cried out as a new voice sounded. "The first question. The question that must never be answered. Hidden in plain sight," flashes of the Doctors future flashed before his eyes, but slowed down for a moment. The Time Lord looked back to listen to someone. "The question you've been running from all your life... Doctor Who? Doctor Who?" Dorium was yelling now, "DOC. TOR. WHO?!"

Everything stopped. In the blink of an eye, Merlin could see again, the screaming died down to just a whisper again. Whispers of the future, of an impossible girl. His head was pounding, but he managed to sit up. He was shaking severely and he was sweating buckets, but he was relieved to have at least his vision under control. But not for long, as soon as one last whisper echoed through his mind, he fell back again.

Silence will fall when the question is asked...

Everything went black...

Thanks for reading, reviews are greatly appreciated and I would like to just thank those who already have reviewed, and I know this chapter is shorter than the others I have written, but I wanted to go for a cliff-hanger, even if it isn't a very good one.

Cheers,

W-L