Merlin breathed hard. He hoped it was all a dream and he would wake up. But he knew it wasn't. Clara had just been taken inside that, that ship, she had called it. None of it made any sense to him.

'Clara,' the Doctor yelled from behind him. He hadn't noticed that the Doctor had come up to his side. Full of anger and confusion, Merlin slammed his hand on the door where Clara had been taken moments ago. A burning pain spread across his hand, the door was red hot. He snatched his hand away.

'The door would have gone into defence,' the Doctor said, looking at him. He then took something out from his jacket, a small metal object. He pointed it at the door and it glowed green and made a strange noise.

'What's that?' Merlin asked.

'Sonic screwdriver,' the Doctor replied. Merlin nodded, as if a sonic screwdriver was an object he had seen every day.

'Merlin!' Arthur's angry voice called for him as the King came into where they were standing 'what do you think you were…' his voice trailed off when he saw the black ship in front of them 'What the hell is that?'

'Nothing you need to concern yourself with,' the Doctor said 'go back to Camelot and stay there.'

'No,' Merlin objected 'Clara's in there, she's in danger, isn't she?' The Doctor nodded at him. 'That's that then, I'm staying. Arthur, you can go back. I'm not.'

'Why?' Arthur and the Doctor asked simultaneously. He looked from one to the other, and sighed 'The Doctor needs help. Arthur, go do what you do best. Help the people, get them out of danger. I'm staying with him.' Arthur looked at him, his blue eyes searching his face, his expression a mixture of respect, anger and confusion. Arthur looked over Merlin's shoulder at the Doctor. He must have mouthed something at him, because Arthur shook his head, and grabbed him.

'Don't give me orders, Merlin,' he said and dragged him off. Merlin looked over his shoulder at the Doctor, and at the spaceship holding Clara prisoner.

I'm not leaving her. She needs me he thought I can feel it.

Once Arthur and Merlin were out of sight, the Doctor broke into a run, holding out the sonic, directing him to the TARDIS. He couldn't get into the Charlin ship, but he could use the TARDIS to get in there, he had to get Clara out and shut down the ship before it destroyed the planet. Simple. He ran faster, until he found his trusty ship, he had moved it closer to Camelot for convenience the previous day. He put the key in the lock and turned it, when he heard a voice behind him.

'What is that box? You had it further away when we met,' Merlin said.

'I told you to go,' the Doctor said.

'And I told you I was staying,' Merlin replied 'Clara's in danger and I won't leave her. The planet's in danger too, you said. I want to help.'

'You can't.' The door to the TARDIS opened slightly, and the Doctor pushed it open.

'I can!' Merlin protested, following the Doctor into the TARDIS 'I can do a lot more than people give me credit for, OK? People think I'm just idiotic Merlin, Arthur's servant, bit of a laugh, but that's all I can do! But I am not an idiot and I-'

Merlin's voice broke off. It was-it was a box, on the outside. It looked like it could fit two people. But inside, it was, it could fit a hundred, a thousand. His mouth hung open, he breathed hard. He tried to choke out a word. The Doctor laughed, looking up from some kind of desk, covered with lights and things he had no hope of understanding. In the centre of the desk was a huge column, connected to the ceiling. It had glowing bars inside. Finally, Merlin could construct a sentence.

'It's bigger….in here…..it's bigger…on the inside….how? What is this?' He ran to the Doctor.

'The TARDIS,' the Doctor smiled 'it's my, uh, ship, my-my home.' The TARDIS shuddered, and the Doctor ran to the doors. He left and Merlin, after a slight hesitation, followed him. They were in a dark room, with red light illuminating the floor.

'We've-we've moved,' he said, amazed. The Doctor grabbed his arm and dragged him along. They turned a corner and, in the centre of the room, was a light red beam. In the middle of the beam, hovering in mid-air was Clara, eyes closed. The two ran to her, the Doctor placed his hands on the beam, and then took them back sharply. He winced; Merlin knew he had been hurt.

'How do we get her out?' Merlin asked, desperate for an answer, and an understanding of this world he was dragged into. The Doctor took the sonic screwdriver out again and began inspecting something that looked like a desk.

'Ah ha,' he said 'I can hack the security systems, Charlin were clever, Time Lords? Cleverer! Now I can get into this and get her out before it kills her.'

'Kills her!'

'I'm working on it, hush,' the Doctor did something Merlin couldn't see nor comprehend, and then the beam of light holding Clara disappeared and she fell to the ground. Merlin ran to her and took her in his arms, filling him with a relief; he thought he'd never feel her in his arms again.

'Get her out of here,' the Doctor ordered.

'What about you?' Merlin asked. Clara was coming round, he out his arm around her as he helped her up.

'I've got to disarm this ship, or the entire population of the planet dies.' Merlin nodded at him and ran off with Clara.

'Merlin,' she protested 'we can't leave him.'

'Clara,' he told her, placing a hand on her cheek 'you're in no state to do anything. I'll get you back to Camelot, and then I'll go after him. OK?'

'Merlin,' her grip tightened on his arm 'that, what happened to me, I dreamed about it.' Merlin looked into those big brown eyes. If her dream came true, could his? He brushed the thought aside and kept taking her. When they were close, Arthur appeared, looking angry.

'Merlin! You have got some serious explaining to do!' he shouted.

'Yes, I'm sure I do,' Merlin said 'just, get her to safety and I'll explain.' He handed Clara over to Arthur.

'Merlin!' Arthur began.

'Look,' Clara said 'Please, Arthur, the Doctor's in danger. Merlin's helping him. Please.' Arthur nodded at his servant. Clara looked at Merlin for a moment. She leaned in and kissed him. Even when faced with danger, kissing Clara felt like all Merlin wanted to do. They broke apart, and he looked into her eyes, as Arthur looked on open mouthed.

Arthur had no clue what to say. What he had just seen, that that thing in the woods, Clara kissed Merlin? How long had that been going on?

'You have questions,' Clara observed.

'Um, a few!' Arthur said 'that-that thing in the woods, what is it?'

'It's,' Clara said 'it's a, uh, ship. From, far away.'

'Alright,' Arthur tried to understand, 'I will pretend to understand. Now, you and Merlin?' A blush crept across the young woman's cheek, and a small smile appeared on her lips.

'We, uh, well. You know we um, we are,' she mumbled.

'Yes, yes. But, Merlin? Why?' Arthur asked.

'Because, it's complicated!' Clara answered.

'Do you. You know, love him?' Arthur asked, regretting immediately.

'Yeah. I love him.'

Merlin raced back to where the Doctor and the ship were.

'Doctor?' he called into it.

'Merlin?' the voice of the strange man called 'I'm in here.' Merlin warily entered the ship. He found the Doctor looking at some kind of table, covered with lights. 'I told you to bring her back!' The Doctor didn't look up.

'Arthur's bringing her back,' Merlin explained 'I told her I'd help you? How are you doing?' The Doctor looked over at him.

'Not good. I need your help,' he admitted 'I can't disarm the ship. I need a Charlin symbol to unlock the security, the sonic-'

'Wait,' Merlin held up his hand, the one which had burnt on the door. It had a symbol burnt onto his skin, five overlapping circles with the word Charlant under it. The Doctor smiled.

'Yes,' the young man took Merlin's hand and placed it on the desk. The wall glowed light red, and the Doctor began doing something to the table.

'Got it!' he said triumphantly 'it's disarmed!'

'So the world, it won't, die?' Merlin asked.

'Yes, but, uh, the ship, will explode. Run!' The two men ran for it. Once they were out of the woods, the looked back to see a black shape flying into the sky.

'The ship,' the Doctor explained 'I programmed it to fly into the sky, just in case.' The ship exploded into a red and white cloud in the sky before disappearing completely. Merlin looked at the Doctor.

'Who are you?' he asked.

'Merlin I think what you should really focus on here is, you just saved the world'

'Hey,' Clara said, from behind Merlin. He was cleaning Arthur's room. She had rehearsed this conversation a thousand times in her head. He turned around, making her catch her breath and her heart flutter. Dear God, he is beautiful, she thought. She thought about what she had said to Arthur the other day. About how she loved him. And it was true. It was safe to say now, she loved him. It was confusing. What do you call the person you love, who you have kissed three times, who you dreamt about and you were pretty sure he loved you back? Could she call him her boyfriend? Did this century even have boyfriends, or did they do the whole meet, lunch, get married thing?

'Hey,' he replied in his beautiful voice.

'Um,' Clara felt awkward 'me and the Doctor, we were just leaving. And, well, we talked, me and him and, well. Do you, maybe, want to come? You see-'

'In the TARDIS?' Merlin asked 'I saw it, Clara.' Merlin came up to her; his magnificent eyes looked into hers. She remembered, his eyes were the first feature she noticed about him. 'Into space?'

'I know what you're thinking,' she began 'that you can't. That you belong here. That people would worry. But, we can travel in time, too.'

'Shut it,' he laughed.

'We can,' she told him.

'Serious,' he asked her. She nodded.

'You've seen the TARDIS and a Charlin ship, and you've seen it explode. Do you really have trouble with time travel?' A smile spread across Merlin's face. Clara held her breath. Would he choose her?

Merlin looked at Clara. And nodded. He believed her, about time travel. He wanted to see what the TARDIS was like, what travelling in it was like. More than anything, he wanted to be with Clara.

'Just,' he said, taking her hand 'let me sort something out. I'll ask Gaius. Well, I'll try.' He looked at Clara, and did what he wanted more than anything. Kissed her.

As the soft pressure of her lips returned his, in the back of Merlin's mind he could see it. A mad man, a box, new world and new times. And a girl. The girl. The girl he loved.