Sorry for the delay, readers, I hope this chapter makes up for it. Enjoy.

Ties to the Past

The room was nearly silent, the only exception being the loud ticking of the ancient grandfather clock in a dusty corner. Morgana remained sat on the sofa, her face a clash between confusion and outright fear. Only Gwen sat beside her, clutching a glass of water tightly, as if she wished to comfort the raven-haired girl but resigned herself to holding the glass instead. The men were sat around the dining table instead; Gaius having drunk a further two glasses of whisky, Uther and Arthur exchanging nervous glances as the girl remained silent on the sofa. Merlin didn't look up from the scratched table surface, unable to shake the Angel's words from his mind.

It was only after a few moments that the silence was finally broken. 'But, it was five minutes. It could not have been longer than that.'

'Morgana, you were gone for hours. Nothing could waken you.' Gaius looked up from his glass, reaching for the bottle once more in an unconscious act. 'We tried everything. Nothing could stir you.'

'I collapsed in the woods. I woke here. But, I don't understand.'

'A Djinn?' Arthur asked his father. 'Some sort of sleep interference? Maybe a witch. Was there a hex bag?'

'Nothing hexed me,' Morgana exclaimed. 'This wasn't a Djinn, or a witch. I had a vision, I swear it.'

'Anything could make you dream, we've encountered monsters like that before. Gaius, you must have a text on it somewhere. Arthur, fetch my journal, we need to start hunting this thing before it moves.'

'This wasn't a monster.' Morgana stood, walking until she stood at the end of the table and slammed her palms down angrily. 'You need to listen to me. This was a vision. I saw someone die. I saw a house, and a baby. There was fire, a woman was killed and burnt. It was real, I saw it.'

'Morgana, you were dreaming. Your mother…'

'Yes, I know, she died in a house fire. But then, surely you should be investigating this? My mother died in a house fire when I was a baby, and now this vision of a woman burning with a baby? It must be related.'

'Morgana…'

'Uther.' Gaius looked over at him, eyebrow raised slightly higher than usual. 'She has a point. We at least owe an investigation. Freak electrical storms, crop failures; they can all show demonic presence. We could investigate.'

'We don't even know if there is a case here, never mind a demon.'

'To cause what killed Vivian, the monster would have to have been strong. Demons are one of the only creatures to have that amount of power. If we can prevent a death, then this is worth it, surely?'

Uther hesitated, sighing heavily as he thought. He knew Gaius was right, everything pointed in the direction of demonic presence when Vivian's death was concerned. Gorlois had thought so; he'd been desperate to track it down. He'd hunted that thing across the nation, travelling from state to state, in a desperate bid to kill the demon who'd murdered his wife. He met Uther on one of his hunts, they became friends, partners. He left his daughter to Uther in his death. Uther owed it to him to find this demon. And yet…

He glanced at the woman in front of him, dark curls framing her face, casting dark shadows over her pale skin. To acknowledge this case was to acknowledge Morgana's vision. Could he do that? He spent his life hunting monsters, were visions not the same thing? What if this was just the start?

'Gaius, we need to find the nearest library. Arthur, stay here with Merlin, look through Gaius' books, there must be something. Morgana, you need to stay here too. Rest, eat something, write down everything you think is relevant from this vision. Gwen will look after you.'

Daylight had crept into the room little over an hour ago, its rays slowly illuminating the darkest corners of the room. It hit the empty bottles scattered over the table, causing them to shine as if clean glassware. It warmed the air slightly, just enough for Arthur to shrug off his leather jacket and sit in only his dirty white t-shirt, clinging slightly to his toned arms…

Merlin looked back down hastily at the book in front of him. He did not need the blond man noticing his staring. The atmosphere was awkward enough, without any of those confusions as well. Just, the way the sunlight hit his hair, it almost looked like spun gold.

'Merlin, are you even paying attention to the reading? Don't you understand the importance of this?' Arthur barked, leaning forward slightly, as if to mirror his father's menacing look.

'Of course I do, Arthur, do I look a fool?'

'You really don't want the answer to that.' His lip curled slightly, amused at his own wit, as he continued to read the book on the table before him. After a moment or so, however, he sighed and looked up once more. 'Have you found anything?'

'Nothing. I'm sorry, Arthur.'

Arthur rubbed his forehead, with an expression that seemed both tired and frustrated. Uther and Gaius had left for the library early morning, after a slight rest, with the reasoning that by the time they reached the building over, it might have hit opening time. Morgana was still upstairs, asleep on the bed in Gaius' spare bedroom, more exhausted than Arthur had ever seen her. More so than when they'd trekked through dense woodland in hunt of a wendingo a few years ago. With great hesitation, Arthur had left Guinevere to look over her. He couldn't shake his doubt over her, though she clung to Morgana more a maidservant than a friend sometimes. And so, it was just him and Merlin downstairs, pouring over books and parchments, whose leathery textures suggesting they were made of something more than mere paper.

'Fine. Keep reading, there must be something here. There needs to be. Anything. About prophecy, or demons, or visions. Just keep reading.'

Another silence as both men looked back to the texts before them. Merlin felt himself frown; the air seemed almost too awkward for concentration to be possible. Swallowing slightly, he tried to speak casually. 'Hasn't this happened before?'

'Do you really think we would be sat reading these if this had already happened? If we knew how to deal with this, do you really think we would have driven for hours and sat beside Morgana's bedside all night?' The blonde man scowled, barely able to keep himself from snapping furiously.

'I was just wondering, that's all. How long have you known her? Could she have had an episode like this before you met her?'

'I've known her since a child. Since my father became a hunter, and he met Gorlois, Morgana's father. They would hunt together, leaving me and Morgana with Gaius, or another hunter. As we grew older, we trained together. She was always strong, a gifted shot, better than me with a blade.' He suddenly stopped, eyes darting to the stairs anxiously. 'Don't tell her I said that. Then again, saying that, she was soft. We would hunt some son of a bitch monster, and then she'd let it go because she'd "reasoned" with it.'

'When do you begin hunting?' Merlin had forgotten the text before him, focused entirely on Arthur.

'What is this? Twenty damn questions?' But Arthur's sharp words were only in jest it seemed, for he was fully focused on the dark haired boy opposite him. 'We began training as children. For my ninth birthday, my father gave me a single barrelled shotgun. But we didn't officially join him hunting until Gorlois died. I think she was 11.'

'That's young.'

That caused a dark look to pass across Arthur's face. 'What about you then? Let me guess, brought up in some suburban dream with a swing and white picket fence? A mom that would bake you pie every day to come home to? Go to a baseball game every week with your dad?'

'Brought up in Texas, small neighbourhood. Everyone knew everyone. Just me and my mom. I hit 21 and my mom requested I move out. For my own safety, she said, she couldn't stand it if anyone found out about me.' He paused, waiting for Arthur to question the secrecy, but he was met with only silence. 'I moved out, got a dead end job, found a cramped apartment, and lived there til those vamps found me.'

The blonde man nodded, the idea of asking about this boyfriend of his crossing his mind suddenly. He stayed quiet though. 'What about Gwen? When did you meet her?'

'In all honesty? When those vampire dicks took us. She was already there, they'd been bleeding her dry. For some bizarre reason, that sort of experience really can unite two people.'

Arthur glanced momentarily to the ceiling above them, where Morgana was sleeping under the watch of Gwen. He'd been less nervous about that concept when he thought she was a close friend of this boy sat with him. Merlin must have seen his look, because he sighed, clearly irritated.

'Jerk.'

'What the Hell do you mean by that?' His blue eyes flicked back to meet Merlin's fierce gaze. 'You lied. You said you were friends.'

'And we are. She saved my life. Not everyone is trying to kill you, you know. Don't be such an arrogant ass.'

He was going to hit him. He couldn't fight this any longer. Swing a punch at those sharp cheekbones. Might knock some proportion into his thick skull. Or, at least, encourage him to shake the damn stick out of his ass…

It was the sight of Arthur clutching Merlin's shirt, pinning him to the wall, which Uther and Gaius walked in to see.