Chapter three

Reluctant Merlin pulled away from Arthur. He wiped away the tears from his face and smiled with a shaky sigh of emotions. It amused and awed him at once to see that Arthur too had not hidden away the depth of his relief in favour of his more stoic self. When Merlin looked up again his eyes caught sight of Gwaine. Wordless and full of gratitude to the Gods who gave him all he had ever longed for he walked over to his friend to pull him in for a tight one-armed hug. When Merlin stepped away he grinned. "What happened to your shirt?"

To his sadness the answering smile didn't reach Gwaine's eyes. The answering joke was only half hearted too. "Who needs a tunic in this lovely fresh weather, heh?"

"What's up? What is wrong, Gwaine?" Merlin stared determined into the soft brown eyes, which tried to avoid his in obvious discomfort.

"Morgana… I led her straight to you. She tore the truth out of me, but I should have resisted her powers. I was too weak to fight her. Forgive me Merlin… Sire."

The quiet admission and bowed head were so much unlike Gwaine that Merlin swallowed back a few more tears. This time though they were from sadness. He knew what Gwaine tried to tell him. Yet he also knew it wasn't Gwaine's fault at all. One day long ago he had asked Percival for the truth on Gwaine's death and after he had been told the whole tale he only blamed Morgana for the cruelty of her deeds. She had broken the knight and let the nathair kill him in the most painful way there was. The thought still angered Merlin after all these centuries.

"No!" Merlin said firmly. "It was never your fault. No one has ever blamed you, Gwaine. No one, you hear? So don't you dare blame yourself for something she did."

In the corner of his eyes Merlin saw Arthur come to stand beside him. His hand clapped Gwaine's shoulder, forcing the knight to meet their eyes. "You know what Merlin says is right. Forget it Gwaine… we must move on."

Had Jack felt confused before he was deeply interested now. The scene unfolding in front of him only made sense if these men were from the past, like he suspected. Quiet in an effort not to betray any further what he was up to he tapped away on the buttons of his wrist strap. If he read the results of the scan correct there was a trace of a far distant past which was stronger here than anywhere else. He nodded to Ianto and whispered in his ear. "I think we found our anomalies."

"Time travellers?" Ianto asked just as quiet as he had done. When Jack nodded Ianto smiled along with him. "Then I won the bet." Jack grinned at his lover even as he saw Gwen make a mock gesture with her fist that showed her defeat.

Out loud Jack coughed to interrupt the three men. "So when are you from?"

He wasn't surprised to see Arthur and Gwaine look confused by the question. They were clearly the ones far out of their depths here. What puzzled Jack though was the mysterious smile of the third man, Merlin. He watched while Merlin sought for Arthur's eyes for a moment to wait for an impatient nod. Another breath passed and at last Merlin answered the question. "I am from all times. These two however only just came back from a long sleep…"

The question in his eyes towards his two friends prompted a suddenly grinning Gwaine to finish his sentence. "Yesterday".

Jack saw the two dark haired men share a smile before they all looked towards a still confused Arthur. Seconds later though the clarity of what Merlin hinted at dawned open in his eyes. Jack grinned when Arthur nodded in solemn understanding before he asked with a slight hint of disbelief at even having to ask it, "How long was I… when are we now then?"

"Welcome to the 21st century", Jack couldn't resist answering.

Ianto had been quiet throughout the reunion. It was in his nature to observe, rather than be all too forward. He could be outspoken, but only when he wanted or needed to be. Right now the job was in safe hands with Jack. In his mind Ianto rolled his eyes at his lover. It was clear to see the two men from the past were out of time. Jack being flippant wasn't helping the blonde one cope with the strangeness at all.

Arthur, that was his name… Ianto corrected himself. He was somewhat in disbelief at the whole situation. If these men were the real Merlin and Arthur, shouldn't they be long since gone and buried? Being part of Torchwood he had seen and lived through some weird stuff. He also knew not to take everything at face value. Sometimes things seemed to be one thing, but were in fact another. Was this the case here as well?

It wasn't until Jack told him these men were actually time travellers that he began to accept it as truth. Earlier today Ianto was laughed at for his passion about the legends of King Arthur and now here he stood facing the impossible fact that he was looking at none other than the legendary King himself.

Out of all the things though he hadn't expected Arthur to be of about the same age as he was. What also surprised him was the way Merlin and Gwaine behaved around Arthur. It was almost as if they treated their King as equals and yet there was an underlying current of respect that shone bright in their eyes.

"Are you the King Arthur?" Ianto suddenly blurted out in spite of himself. After every story which he had read in his life about the myths of King Arthur it would be so good to catch a glimpse of the real thing.

In the corner of his eyes Merlin spotted how Gwaine shivered from the cold. He took the backpack from his shoulder and zipped it open. After rummaging through it he pulled out a dark blue Abercrombie hoodie, and then threw it towards Gwaine. The alert knight caught it without effort. In his eyes shone a wonder at the strange bag Merlin carried, but all Gwaine said was "thanks" before he pulled the hoodie over his head.

The strange combination of very old and modern clothes somehow worked for Gwaine. Yet Merlin couldn't help but smile. To see his friend in anything other than chainmail and a red cape was almost inconceivable to him. All the same Merlin was simply glad to have Gwaine here. Not only had Arthur returned, but also his best friend. It was more than he could have ever hoped for. He wondered though if Kilgharrah had foreseen this too. Was Gwaine supposed to be here? Or was he the reason the three strangers were here?

It was such a strange situation they were all in. Merlin didn't know if he could trust the mysterious man and his two friends. He had no clue to their identities. Maybe it was about time he asked them for it. Then out of nowhere the younger welsh man blurted out his question. "Are you really King Arthur?" It offered the opening he needed to deflect the tension.

Merlin looked to Arthur and waited for his reaction. Pride shone in Arthur's eyes when he said, "Yes, I am. My name is Arthur Pendragon. These two here are Merlin and Sir Gwaine, a knight of Camelot…" At the end of his introductions his voice trailed off for a moment. Merlin understood without words that Arthur was wondering about the fate of his kingdom, but he doubted if now was the right time to answer the unspoken question. Luckily he was spared trying to explain away all the questions there were to ask. It seemed Arthur had other priorities for now too. "And you three are?"

"Torchwood…" The mysterious leader said. "My name is Captain Jack Harkness, the curious one is Ianto Jones and the lovely lady is Gwen Cooper."

Merlin smiled. "Gwen? That is a lovely name…" He saw Arthur nod at that before an intense sadness flashed briefly in his eyes. It was easy to see for them all that Arthur remembered a past long forgotten. Merlin knew it was time to find a way to retreat without the three following them, but how?

Understanding dawned on Jack's mind. In one of his accounts on the legends Ianto had told them about Guinevere. She was supposed to have been Arthur's wife. Guinevere… Gwen, it was easy to see the name resemblance.

Jack could imagine the loss the time travellers suffered all too well. He still remembered the loss of his own family back in the 51st century where he was from. They were killed in a full on attack of spaceships and war. Who knew what fate had befallen Arthur's wife all those centuries ago? In his experience only a small part of myths were true, where other tales had most likely become Chinese whispers. The truth was always bound to become twisted over the many years which had passed since the actual event.

"My team check out all that is strange in this world. Aliens, time travellers… you know, anything which feels out of place." Jack decided to explain to ease the minds of the three friends who looked forlorn in a way. "Sometimes we try to send them back, but I have a feeling we can't do that for you."

He saw the one called Merlin shake his head with an abrupt manner of a man who pulled up a wall to hide himself behind. "No, you can't… and even if you can, I won't let you. Arthur is supposed to be here. Destiny has brought him back to the world for a reason."

Jack frowned at the passionate and yet held back answer. There was something to Merlin he couldn't quite put his finger on. Was there some truth in the legend that Merlin was a sorcerer? Jack never believed in such things. He saw right through the act of illusionists and magicians. This young man though seemed to be in a different league. The aura of mystery hadn't wavered from his side for one moment.

It amused him when he saw the two friends of Merlin looked the same way he felt, utterly confused and none the wiser for the man's answers.