The Golden Age Universe
At Deaths Door – Chapter 6
~Fran Gipani

Disclaimer- So I obviously don't own Merlin no matter how much I'd love to :'( but I do own my OC Brooke

Note from the Author- Thank you all my lovely readers you guys are awesome and I am glad you are enjoying the story :) Review at will and I hope you enjoy!
~Fran xx

It was the afternoon after the Council Meeting and Gaius and Brooke had been trying to find a way to get Brooke safely to the other side while Arthur had been taking care of some of his more kingly duties. Gaius turned to the next page in the old thick book he was reading, "Brooke I've found something!" He called out to Brooke who seemed to have slumped into the book she had been reading.

"Should I get Arthur?" She asked quickly, looking up from the book with her hair over her eyes. She the waves of blonde back as she stood up and turned to Gaius.

"That would probably be best, but send the guard. We need to fix up the room to make it work." Gaius said and Brooke instantly went to ask the guard to send for the King. Gaius turned to the extra patient's bed and began to drag it over to sit next to Merlin's, soon enough with Brookes help the bed was situated comfortably next to the Warlock's.

Minutes later Arthur entered the room, "The guard said you'd found something!" He asked quickly, with a frantic and anxious smile on his face.

"Yes I have," Gaius replied before turning to his potion bottle shelf and pulled down two bottles. One filled with a clear liquid, the other with a clear blue liquid. "Arthur you will be familiar with this potion."

"Will I?" Arthur said, eyeing the small bottles with trepidation.

"When your father was enchanted by the troll and we needed a way to break the spell and tears of true sadness were the only thing that could do it. I gave you a potion that brought you to Death's door and all we had to do was give you the antidote and you would wake."

"Oh." Arthur winced, remembering the foul taste of the potion and the fact that he'd nearly had a troll for a stepmother.

"Your father was enchanted by a troll?" Brooke asked Arthur incredulously before faltering under the look her friend gave her.

"Don't go there," Arthur replied simply, "stranger things have happened. When will we do this?" He asked hesitantly.

"No time like the present." Brooke replied, she turned hesitantly to Gaius as if ask if there was anything she should know.

"Brooke, just reminding you that for the spell to get Merlin back needs you both to be in contact with something of his, that you have both touched in the real world. Also, be careful, you only have half an hour so get out as quickly as possible. Good luck m'dear." He said with a sad smile.

"Ok then." Arthur said before turning to Gaius, "This better work."

Brooke hesitantly took the little bottle of clear liquid from Gaius and looked from him to Arthur and back again before pulling the stopper from the top of the bottle. "To Merlin." She said before drinking the potion in one go.

"Oh and Brooke, thank you." Arthur said just before the young blonde passed out and collapsed into his arms. Arthur lifted her onto the bed and checked her for any signs of life. "She's stopped breathing?" He asked feeling slightly panicked.

"Don't worry, that's meant to happen. If you feel for her heart, it will still be beating, albeit faintly. She is still alive but only just. She has half an hour before we need to give her the antidote."

"Let's pray to the gods this works." Arthur said staring down at the lifeless bodies of his two friends, whose arms fallen to the same side of their separate beds, with their fingers touching and almost entwined together. Please let them both be alright, he thought, because if one looses the other then the one still alive would surely break.

As Arthur began to pace and Gaius sat down to read the book he had found the solution in, both occasionally glanced over at the two people in the patients beds. Despite this though, neither noticed as a jolt went through Merlin's body and a bruise appeared on the side of his head.

~O~O~O~

Merlin walked slowly from the clearing, he had not seen Morgana leave the as well so he had no idea of the imminent danger he was in if she found her way to him. He thought about going back to Camelot but thought against it, to find her way to the Divide Brooke would need some sort of connection with me, she would be brought right here. I need some air. He walked in the direction of The Great Stones of Nemeton. The giant stone structures that stood in the middle of Camelot lands and was a direct channel for Magic. He could feel his power there, it gave him a warm feeling that he would never be able to shake off. Merlin sat on the ground in the center of the cluster of giant boulders and leaning against a particularly smooth one, soon enough he was asleep. The gaps between when he needed to travel closer towards Death's door were getting shorter. He didn't have much longer and he knew it.

When Merlin woke he had no idea how long it had been since he had delved into the darkness of sleep but one thing he could gather was that it had been about a night. It was early morning now and something felt off about the whole atmosphere of the place. He stumbled up and gasped as he saw a dark figure in the distance walking towards him and not just The Great Stones of Nemeton but directly towards him. As if they could see him. Brooke? He thought and took a few steps forward, calling out to her hopefully but his face fell when he saw who it really was. Morgana was striding towards him, and she looked angry. Merlin was shocked, how could she have known I was here?

"Merlin. It's been too long." The witch said harshly as she reached him and almost at once the pair of Magic users circled the center boulder, each looking straight into the others eyes.

"Hello Morgana. I'd like to ask you how the hell you found me here but let's cut to the chase shall we. Both of us have a score to settle, let us settle them."

Morgana had hatred written all over her face, while Merlin's had pity as the witch began to speak again, "You Merlin have thwarted too many of my plans for me to put this off any longer. I will kill you. You are weakened here, we both are, but I have Magic and you're a mere meddlesome servant. I can squash you like an insect, just like that." She said with a flick of her wrist and Merlin went flying into one of the huge stones.

He hits the huge boulder hard, but somehow he managed to stand shakily to his feet, looking defiantly at Morgana, "True Morgana, but how could a mere servant have done all that? I must have had help."

"What do you mean?" She spat, glaring at the servant before her. The man who had once been her friend.

Merlin took in a deep breath, "I have Magic Morgana…and have so since I was born. I feel that it is my fault for the way you turned out, if I had helped you when I had the chance you would have learnt to use your power for good." Merlin began but Morgana cut across him.

"You've had Magic? All this time?" Morgana spat at him, "Where were you when I needed you…but it doesn't matter now. I have mastered my power to destroy and for once Merlin there will be not much you can do. No amount of power you could wield would come close to what I have." She twisted her fingers into a claw and Merlin began to choke in front of her.

As Merlin felt his windpipe closing he muttered a spell which would burn Morgana's hand and she released him with a pained whisper. Gasping for breath Merlin took two steps towards Morgana and using Magic to lift her from the ground he had his hand on the collar of her shirt, he hated to do this but he knew he needed to. "Morgana," he whispered smoothly in her ear, "I don't just have Magic…I am Magic. I am Emrys." He said before releasing her and taking a few steps back. Morgana stumbled to her feet and with a cry of anger she shot a curse at Merlin which he dodged easily. He then returned it with a ball of flame that Morgana tried to dodge but it hit her on the arm and she cried out in pain.

Within moments they both were firing spells and curses at each other. In retaliation to Merlin's fire ball, Morgana sent shards of glass at him and Merlin instantly held up a colourless shield which turned the glass to a fine powder. It still cut him though and a few larger pieces got through slicing harshly at his chest. Minutes later the ground between the Warlock and the Witch was hot and cracked from the use of the spells. Some had even hit the surrounding boulders and they had sent shards of rock in every direction. "Morgana I really don't want to have to kill you!" Merlin yelled angrily, "I pity you. I could help you turn back, I am sure there would be something…we could work it out."

For a moment there was something like hope on both their faces but then Morgana's turned back to a look of pure hatred. "I could never turn back." She replied harshly before sending a deadly curse at Merlin's chest. The bolt of bright light headed straight for the Warlock's chest and for a moment it looked to Merlin like all was lost, he hadn't reacted in time until...

Out of nowhere Brooke appeared and Merlin felt her shove him out of the way, Brooke barely missing the bolt of light herself. It hit the boulder behind and that exploded everywhere, one piece hitting Brook in the head and another Morgana. Merlin watched as just as the Witch became unfocused and dazed from the explosion caused by her own curse Brooke shot a spell at Morgana that would take her back to reality; the Witch zapped out of existence in that world leaving only Merlin and Brooke in the center of the circle of chipped and destroyed boulders.

Ignoring the pounding in her head Brooke crawled over to where Merlin sat staring at her with a shocked look on his face. She instantly pulled him into a tight hug, it had been so long and she had been far too worried for words. "Merlin…Merlin I…"

"I know Brooke, don't worry I know." Merlin smiled into Brookes shoulder before pulling back and viewing her at arm's length. She was just as beautiful as the first time he had met her, maybe even more so.

"I can bring you back; we just need to say this together with our hands bound by something, something we both have touched in the real world." Brooke then repeated what Kilgarrah and Gaius had told her before trying to think of something to use as a link to the real world.

Then Merlin pulled off his neckerchief before binding it around their hands, letting his hands linger on Brooke's for that little bit longer. "Shall we start then? He said with a smile before beginning to speak the words of the old religion in unison with Brooke. When they had finished their blue and brown irises had turned to molten gold. Suddenly the landscape around them began fading and the darkness began to overtake them, "I'll see you again soon!" Merlin said with a smile as Brookes face faded to black and he knew nothing more for a very long time.

~O~O~O~

Arthur paced in front of the two beds, occasionally giving his two friends a glance, just to see whether they were waking up. His eyes moved to where Gaius was sitting, he was reading a thick book but seemed to keep glancing up at Arthur then Brooke and Merlin. Arthur's eyes flicked to Merlin as a few scrapes appeared on Merlin's body, then the material of Merlin's shirt tore to reveal deep gashes in his skin. "Gaius! What's happening to him?" Arthur asked as scrapes began to form on the back of Merlin's hands. The man kept flinching and then suddenly it all stopped and a deep gash appeared on the side of Brooke's forehead.

Gaius hurried over and gasped at the state of Merlin's once perfectly unmarred body, "I'm not sure…but I think it may be the transfer of what is happening to Merlin and Brooke in the divide that transfers as they come back into the real world."

Arthur turned to Gaius, "So something just sliced at Merlin's chest and banged Brooke over the head with something?" He looked slightly panicked, as if he thought that anything like that would tarnish the chances of his friends coming back to him. He jumped as he heard a familiar voice speak from down on the bed.

"It was Morgana actually." Merlin said with a slightly pained groan, despite this though there was a wide grin on his face as he looked up at his friend.

"Merlin!" Arthur's joyous cry left his lips and not caring that Merlin may have been in a little bit of pain, not caring that one thing he did not do was hug Merlin he pulled Merlin into a tight embrace. Merlin let out a shocked sounding 'umpff' that made Arthur smile. "It's good to have you back my friend." He said before lowering Merlin back to sit on the bed.

Gaius walked round to the unconscious Brooke; he tipped the antidote into her mouth and checked to see if she had drunk it before smiling and turning to hug Merlin. Merlin happily returned it until he took a glance at Brooke's prone figure on the bed and saw the gash on her forehead that was seeping blood and beginning to bruise around the edges. Releasing Gaius he sank back onto the bed and put a hand on Brooke's forehead, "She's ice cold!" Merlin turned to Gaius and Arthur looking slightly angry and worried. "What did you do to get her to me?"

"The same thing you used for me when we needed to break the curse put on my father by the troll." Arthur replied, and was about to speak again but quickly recoiled at the look on Merlin's face.

"You what!"

"It is perfectly safe Merlin, if you have the antidote in time." Merlin was about to protest but Gaius cut across him and said reassuringly, "Merlin we gave her the antidote with ten minutes to spare, so it is not that. I should look at the head wound though, because if she hasn't woken yet then it should be that that's keeping her under." Gaius then proceeded to examine the wound on Brookes head, a frown etched into his lined face.

"How did you say she got it?" Arthur asked curiously.

"Morgana, she must have found out what happened somehow because she turned up just before Brooke did and we fought. I don't know how she found out but she knows about my Magic now, so we better be ready for her to attack. She is bound to attack."

"So that's how you received all those gashes and scrapes?" He asked and was shocked at the calm look on Merlin's face.

"Yeah, but I can't really feel them yet. I am running on adrenaline. I'll crack soon enough and they'll hurt like hell." Merlin flinched as he turned back to Brooke but tried to cover it by shrugging his shoulders. Arthur was not fooled but decided to let Merlin hold on for a little longer. Just until they knew what was wrong with Brooke.

"She's fine Merlin, she is simply knocked out and will come round eventually but in the mean time I will dress the wound." Gaius, noticing how bad Merlin's chest looked, then said, "…and yours too apparently. Stay there Merlin I'll get the salve."

"Help Brooke first, I am fine." Merlin looked worriedly over at Brooke before turning back to Gaius who now had a little cup in his hand.

"Drink this, it's just water. I can tell you need it, your speech is croaky." He handed the little cup to Merlin who drank it in one swallow and pulled a face.

"Urrggh!" Merlin said sounding disgusted, "That wasn't water was it?" He frowned comically, "I thought I stopped falling for that years ago." With the last words his voice slurred and he fell sideways onto the bed.

Arthur smiled fondly before pulling Merlin's legs up onto the bed and tucking a blanket around him, "Apparently not." He said with a small smile before walking over to help Gaius.

Thank you. Thank you for bringing him back to me.

Note from the Author- Thank you for reading :) I will update as soon as possible! :)
~Fran