AN: Hey guys! I've been idle for two years in my account, and since summer's been here for a month already and I can't do ANYTHING at all, I think I'll be updating my stories quite often from now on to appease my boredom. Enjoy, and please leave reviews!

Standing Resistance

Chapter Three

A tense silence passed, and the man who Merlin was conversing with asked in a disbelieving tone, "What?"

Upon reaching the floor of his destination, Merlin treaded across the velvet carpet and headed to the white painted door as a sigh escaped his lips.

"Why would you want me to look her up?" asked his friend cautiously.

Merlin retrieved his keys from his pocket and unlocked his front door, entering his home unceremoniously. The sound of his light footsteps bounced against the walls and echoed across the large room. How will he tell his friend his intentions? He knew this favour wouldn't be easy to ask, as because Morgana inflicted much pain on his dear friend.

"Merlin?" called the other man uncertainly when Merlin did not answer immediately.

He plopped down on his couch as he gazed out of the giant glass wall he calls a window. He looked down on the majestic city that was his home, a sea of lights starting to illuminate against the darkening skies.

Merlin watched as the horizon glowed a golden colour from where the sun was setting, licking the clouds with its luminescent light. The stars were starting to shine through the growing darkness that was gnawing at the gentle light of the setting sun, the silver clouds dancing against the play of colour of an endless dome.

Memories in his head began to once more poke at his conscience, remembering that there was once a sunset similar to the one before him that had transpired in his years as a boy in Camelot. It was the time when he stayed hopeful in his destiny, and that it would turn out for a happy ending for them all. It was the time when he and his friends were still quite innocent, still naïve and headstrong. A time when he had loved blindly and had always believed that there would be another way.

"Merlin? For god's sake, come on, answer me!"

The familiar voice of his dear friend snapped him from his reminiscence. "Sorry," he whispered in apology.

"Answer my question, Merlin. Why do you need to know anything about her?" his friend spat the last word like a poison.

"I…" he trailed off, momentarily unable to continue. Although not visible to his friend, he straightened his shoulders and with an unwavering determination visible in his voice, he continued, "I need to find her."

There was an obvious shock from the deafening silence of his friend. Merlin braced himself for what he knew would be quite an argument, and he was unsure of how to justify his cause of action to his friend.

"What?" the other man whispered, disbelieving, and was followed by a nervous laugh. "Stop joking, it's not funny. It isn't even April Fools' yet, you know."

Merlin sighed. "Please, Gwaine. I need to find her."

Gwaine. An old face that had shaken him, the first one had seen since Camelot's time, other than Morgana's. He had met him in a pub, typical, and he was the same as ever.

His friend still possessed his flirty personality, his love for alcohol, and that huge teasing grin he seemed to always have. It was refreshing against the cold loneliness that had built up inside him, but time had twisted Merlin's optimism and easy-going nature and had prevented him from fully appreciating the presence of his old friend, the bitterness towards destiny clinging to him like an incurable sickness.

Gwaine had been confused and distraught, Merlin's face conjuring up memories he never thought he had buried deep in his mind. That was a few years ago. In this lifetime, this drunkard was surprisingly an expert hacker: he could get into any program he wanted, anytime and anywhere. And now, he needed Gwaine's skills to get to Morgana. He knew that she hid well, but nothing can hide from Gwaine. He will find her, and he was determined to convince his friend to help him out. After all, he owed Merlin, and despite his protests to help him, Merlin knew that he would eventually relent.

"Are you mad?" growled his friend angrily. "You know that when she does see you, she'll kill you! That evil witch would stop for nothing to see our heads cut off from our shoulders. What the bloody hell are you thinking?"

With his encounter with the high priestess earlier, he was quite sure her motives weren't to kill him. But still, he did not find it in himself to tell Gwaine of it.

"Please, Gwaine," he pleaded. "I just need to." Merlin received silence from the other end of the call, and he knew Gwaine would be gritting his teeth, seething with anger, and trying hard not to lash out in rage.

"Do you even know what you're doing, Emrys?"

Merlin flinched upon hearing his old name, but made no mention of it. "Yes."

Gwaine shouted out in exasperation. "Fine! I just hope you do," he bit back, and then ended the call with a loud sound that made Merlin worry.

Merlin sighed and dropped on the white leather couch, rubbing his eyes with his shaking hands. It wasn't as long as an argument that he had expected, and he didn't expect for Gwaine to give in as easily as he did without much in formation, but he still felt worried.

He turned to lie on his left with his arm pillowing his head as he, an ever-present observer of the aging world, watched the dusk for what seemed like the millionth time.

The sun's rays were but a faint glow in the horizon, and the city lights sparkled and shimmered like an ocean of glimmering stars beneath him. Really, how times had changed. Magic was lost to the world, as only he and Morgana were evidence of its existence. The relics from a distant time with nothing but a cold sense of un-belonging to welcome them to the modern age.

Morgana. He knew that she knew he would try to find her after her little appearance. But if she thought he was letting her go as easy as he did before this time, then she'd be wrong. This time, it will be different. This time, he won't let her go.

Watching the dusk welcome the cloudless night into its embrace, he fell into slumber as he waited for Gwaine to find her.

Dreams of Morgana evaded his mind. He dreamt of the soft touches they shared in the dead of the night, the candlelight falling upon her rosy skin as they lay in satin sheets, their clothes strewn about on the cool floor as they gazed into each other's eyes, a satisfied feeling settling in between them. There was nothing else but them together in a hopeless romance. They had felt every inch of skin the other had, and had felt every miniscule movement, heard every sigh, kissed away each tremble. It was a forbidden relationship that they had between them, and they thought none of the consequences as they grabbed each opportunity they had in these fleeting moments to be together in ecstasy and a silent companionship. It was a time of Camelot and dreams, when hopefulness planted itself in their hearts to bring them into despair in the future.

In mere seconds, his subconscious mind turned to the darker moments he and Morgana had, memories of the glares and evil smirks he had received from Morgana in the dim corridors of where they happened to pass by each other. They stole kisses in hidden alcoves, clawing at each other's skin in frustration, bruising marks hidden underneath the fabrics of their clothes from their activities.

His dreams plunging in further into the darker nooks of his mind that he reserved just for Morgana, the loud beep of his phone woke him up in a gasp. Finding that his phone had fell from his hand and on to the light grey carpet, he snatched it up and fumbled with it to read the message he had just received and saw that it was from Gwaine.

She's in London. As of now, she's staying at the Parilston Hotel down at Chersley Road and works as a costume designer of all things. She's gone by the name Morrigan Penn for about a decade now, so if you want to find her, just look for her there, you bastard.

Merlin grinned. She stayed only a few blocks from where he's at. Despite the seemingly hostile feel of the message, he enthusiastically sent a message of thanks to Gwaine for finding her in such a short time, and that he knew it wasn't easy to.

He set his phone down beside him and thought, with a small smile playing on his lips, with thoughts of what his next course of action would be now that she was in his grasp.

AN: I feel like I'm going too slowly with the storyline, and I'm sorry for that.

And, I live nowhere near England and the UK, so I just made up that hotel and road up there. XD