A/N: Told you I'd update quickly! Unfortunately, this is the last of the update spree, unless I find another burst of inspiration. Just wanted to say as well, thank y'all for reading! You guys are great with your reviews, and I am really happy to know you enjoy my story so far. The plot unveils bit by bit! See if you can pick up on some things that may be important in this chapter.

Needless to say, Gaius had been incredibly alarmed when his ward and Arthur informed him of Morgana's attempt on Merlin's life just earlier that evening.

"It looked like Morgana – like, Morgana as I know her, now." Merlin said when Arthur asked again. Gaius didn't look surprised when he found out that Morgana had led the attack against Camelot in the future, but was quite alarmed when Arthur made it sound like there might be more than one Morgana roaming about Camelot. Merlin was adamant that it was their own Morgana that he'd seen.

"But why would she want to kill you?" Arthur asked, and Merlin shared a look with Gaius. Arthur saw it. "I mean, I know that she… well, that she doesn't exactly love you about now, but why attack him?" Arthur pointed back to Older Merlin, asleep on his cot. "What good would that do her?"

"Because it's still me," Merlin said.

"Well, true. Still, it's astonishing that she's grasped onto this whole time travel thing so quickly, don't you think? Enemy or not, I thought she'd be a bit dumbfounded to try, at least for a while. Unless of course it was Morgana from my time."

"And you think she would do this?" Merlin asked, almost afraid. Arthur looked saddened.

"Without hesitation," He said.

"But if Merlin said it looked like our Morgana… She does look different in the future, doesn't she, Arthur?" Gaius turned a curious look to the king. Arthur almost laughed.

"Oh, very different."

"You think she could have used magic to change her appearance?" Gaius asked.

"If anyone can, she can," Merlin chimed in.

"And I definitely wouldn't put it past her," Arthur said. There was a silence as the three processed their thoughts privately.

"Right," Gaius said at length, and drew a shaky breath. "Well, let's just make sure all of my poisons are safely hidden away from now on, and hope we can wake Merlin before she tries something again. I've yet to figure out the rest of that potion, but… here's to hoping." Gaius moved around Merlin and Arthur to take the bottle of hemlock which still stood out on the table and put it safely away. "Merlin, it might be in our best interests if you go and lock the doors and windows, tonight." And although they all knew it would do no good against a sorceress, he obeyed anyway. Gaius turned to Arthur. "Did you find anything… interesting in your reading today?" He asked quietly. Arthur gave a half-nod, and glanced at Merlin, who he thought was doing too good a job at not eavesdropping.

"Yeah, I made a few notes…" He led Gaius over to the one book that had proved helpful, and turned to a half-sentence long reference he'd noted. "It's not much, but here it says something about "…energy tantamount to that required for a trans-time portal shift – see studies of Golcar c. 374…"

"Golcar?" Gaius asked, reading off the page that Arthur had indicated.

"What, is it a spell or something?"

"No. I… I've heard that somewhere before…"

"Well, I looked, the book doesn't say it anywhere else. I've not the foggiest idea what it means."

"Nor I," Gaius said, staring at the word. "It may be a name. I'm not sure who. But… I thought I might…" He sighed. "Oh, I'm such an old man. It may be nothing, but I'll see what I can find out about it in my studies. Keep looking when you have the time." He nodded to the stack of books that still remained, and Arthur nodded. "Not now, though. We all need sleep."

Before they turned in for the night, Merlin helped Arthur move his cot into Merlin's small bedroom. It was an close fit alongside one wall, but Gaius was quickly running out of space in his main chambers and until Merlin's older counterpart decided to wake up and they figured out some new sleeping arrangements, sacrifices would have to be made for the sake of expediency.

Arthur didn't find it too uncomfortable to share a room, even with such a strange roommate as his best friend sans a good decade and a half, but Merlin felt and looked incredibly uncomfortable as the two got ready for sleep.

As he watched the younger man out of the corner of his eye, Arthur was nursing a small itch of thought that had been pestering him all evening. Something had begun to bug him about what Merlin had said, after Arthur had come in after Morgana. Something… He hadn't known what it was until a few minutes ago, when he'd finally remembered something Merlin had said.

"She was the one who attacked Camelot, wasn't she?" he'd said.

But he couldn't have said that. He couldn't have known that. Unless…

"You were eavesdropping on us, weren't you?" Arthur asked rather suddenly, and Merlin froze.

"W-what?"

"Last night, when Gaius and I were speaking. You heard us." It would explain a lot, Arthur thought. The stares, the awkward handling around him, even when Merlin was trying far too hard to appear aloof as he and Gaius conversed over spell books. When Young Merlin stared at him wide-eyed but speechless, Arthur added: "You couldn't have known that there was a witch who attacked Camelot, otherwise," He said. "That only came up twice. Once, at the meeting with my father, and the second time in my conversation with Gaius. You were present for neither. Unless, of course, you were unseen." And although Arthur's voice was firm, he worked to keep his facial expression calm and unthreatening. He knew that what he was implying would lead them to a delicate topic.

Merlin sputtered for a moment before saying rather unconvincingly, "Arthur told me," he said. Older Arthur smiled halfheartedly.

"He could have, I'm sure," He looked at Merlin with kind eyes. "But your hesitation just now tells me that he didn't." There was a pregnant pause. "I know you're good at fake-sleeping, Merlin. And I'm not too hurt that you listened in on us, if that's what you're thinking. Don't think I'd have resisted either, if I were you." He sat down on his bed and slapped his pillow to fluff it. Merlin remained standing and peered down at Arthur.

"So you know," was all he said. Arthur nodded and looked up at him. Merlin's lips were in a thin line.

"I do," he said gently.

Merlin swallowed. "…How long have you known, in your time?"

Arthur gave him an apologetic grin. "I don't think I should tell you."

"Oh." Merlin looked disappointed but unsurprised. He sat down on his bed, and in the dull candlelight that remained, Arthur could see he was frowning.

"It scares you," the king said. When Merlin didn't answer, he added: "Merlin, you've nothing to fear from me, you should know that."

Merlin looked up at him. "What? No. No, it's not that… that I'm afraid of you…" He twiddled his thumbs in a way that Arthur had seen before, somewhere between discomfort and thought. "It's just… all of it. No, I know I can trust you." He side-glanced the king. "Eventually, you'll be ready. But… It's weird… to say that, think it… but then, to see it… it's very different." Arthur smiled at that.

"True."

"Obviously you were ready to find out. But… I wonder if I'll be ready. I'm not afraid of you. Not really. I figured out that much. But it's… the idea scares me. Of people knowing. Of… of being exposed. I don't know." The sorcerer shrugged in discomfort, pulled back his blanket and rolled into bed with his back to Arthur. The king sighed and watched him for a moment before he blew out the candle and laid down in his own bed.

After several minutes of thought, he glanced over at Merlin's still form across the room. "Merlin," he said to the darkness, "I know it might not mean much, coming from me, and I know I'm from the future and all so it's even weirder than it would be otherwise…" and he wondered if he should have even started talking in the first place. He plowed on. "But I want you to know, that it all does end up alright. You've nothing to fear from the future." He said, and thought it sounded much lamer in the open air than it had in his head. "Least of all from me."

And although his tone was warm and his words heartfelt, Merlin didn't reply. Where he lie motionless but awake across the room, the warlock was frowning. Yes, he thought, nothing to fear – but at what cost?

Something was attempting to wake him. Arthur groaned quietly but did not move.

"Arthur, wake up," Someone said, shaking his shoulder.

In the past, he probably would have thrown a punch or two, but if marriage and fatherhood had taught him anything, it was how to tolerate rude awakenings without throwing fits.

"Please wake up," the voice repeated with another shake. Arthur frowned in his sleep as he realized how urgent the voice sounded. Something about it hit through Arthur's subconscious and appealed to his protective side, and he could only think of the times when his daughter had woken him because she'd had a nightmare.

"What is it?" He asked groggily, rolling over. He knew whomever it was that was waking him stood at his shoulder, but strangely, he couldn't see them, even after he opened his eyes. He realized after a confused moment that the room was still doused in darkness. It was the dead of night. The voice at his shoulder spoke again, and this time, Arthur realized it was Merlin's younger counterpart.

"He's waking up," he told Arthur, "I don't know what to do."

It took a moment for Arthur to understand.

Merlin. He was waking up.

Immediately, Arthur threw off his blanket and went to the door of Merlin's room, peering through the crack between the door and the wall. He could see where the Older Merlin was turning fitfully in his cot, muttering.

"When he start doing that?" Arthur asked.

"I don't know," Merlin replied, at Arthur's shoulder. "It woke me up a few minutes ago."

Arthur nodded. "Where's Gaius?"

"Asleep."

Arthur looked away from the Older Merlin and found Gaius' bed with his eye, where the heavily-sleeping physician was still snoring softly. "Stay here," Arthur told him. "If he does wake up, we don't want you to be the first thing he sees." He blinked and looked at Young Merlin. "No offense."

The boy brushed it off with a shrug, the frightened expression never leaving his moonlit face. Arthur nodded and quietly inched open the door. He closed it behind him and descended into the room, casting back a look at the door where he knew Young Merlin would be watching. He crossed over to his longtime friend, who to all eyes looked like he was having a nightmare.

"Merlin," He whispered, grabbing the warlock's shoulder. Usually a complacent waker, Merlin swatted at Arthur's hand and verbally protested. The king cast a glance at Gaius. Still asleep. "Merlin, you need to wake up." Arthur couldn't understand what the warlock was saying, but it seemed to be in response to Arthur's voice. He continued tossing and throwing his hands in Arthur's general direction. The king huffed. "Oh come on, you idiot, wake up." And when that didn't quite do the trick, Arthur decided he'd had enough and, disregarding any damage still lingering on Merlin's person, slapped him soundly across the face.

Merlin's eyes shot open, his mouth wide and open to let out some expression of pain. Arthur slapped a hand over it, and the warlock's eyes adjusted to the light and found Arthur's silhouette.

"Ahhhtmm?" even muffled behind his hand, Arthur could tell Merlin's voice was hoarse from his long sleep.

"Yes, it's me. Gaius is asleep," Arthur whispered, nodding his head toward the physician's bed. Merlin understood and nodded. He peeled Arthur's hand away from his mouth and winced.

"Oh," he moaned, grimacing and lifting a hand to his head. "My head… d'you have any water?" He asked. Arthur nodded and left, returning shortly with a glass which he handed to Merlin. The warlock worked himself into a sitting position and began to drink it greedily, but quickly recalled the lessons he'd learned from Gaius and began taking it in sips instead.

"What happened back there?" He asked between drinks.

Arthur sighed. "Well, that's a rather interesting story, actually."

"Morgana…" Merlin muttered, trying to piece together a memory. "Balin… Your shoulder…"

"Merlin, now hold on a second, I need to explain-"

"She found us. And then…"

"Yes, but really, I-"

"Some spell, or something…"

"Merlin, there's something you should know, before you go any farther…"

"Arthur," Merlin interrupted, not listening and looking about himself for the first time. "Where are we?" His eyes said they were in Gaius' chambers, but there was something… something else. Something wrong. There was a pause as Merlin took in his surroundings and eventually looked back to the king. "Arthur?"

Arthur stared. He knew he shouldn't tell him like this. He couldn't. Merlin was in too fragile a state as it was. But he couldn't help it. Arthur had always been blunt by nature. "We're in the past." He said.

Merlin stared. Incomprehension dotted his expression. "What?" He asked after a moment.

"That spell, that Morgana said." He blinked. "It sent us into the past."

Merlin's head slowly dipped toward the king, his eyes growing large. "The… past." He said. Arthur watched him, not knowing what to expect.

"Yes."

Merlin began to blink rapidly. "The past." He said again. "So that…" he looked over to where Gaius was sleeping. "That… that's…"

"Gaius. From fifteen years ago."

Merlin turned a gaping expression back to Arthur. "Fifteen…? Oh, lord." He put a hand to his stomach, and for a terrible moment Arthur thought he'd be lunching for the sick bucket, but Merlin was able to steady himself and swallowed hard. "Fifteen years in the past. Time travel. Spell. Morgana. Right. Arthur," He tilted his head back toward the king, "I think I'm going to fall back down, now."

Arthur wasn't sure he understood until Merlin's torso was tipping back and the king had to dart forward and catch him. He lowered him the rest of the way back down onto his cot. The sorcerer was breathing quickly, but didn't look to be in any danger of hyperventilation. "Sorry," He said between breaths, "my muscles… don't seem to be cooperating. How long was I asleep for?"

"Several days, now. Take it easy. I'm sorry to break it all to you now, but… I thought you ought to know before anything weird happens. If it's any consolation, you're taking this all worlds better than I did."

"Oh?" Merlin almost smiled at him.

"Yeah. Saw your younger self and went ballistic."

"M-my younger self?" Merlin tossed his head back up against the pillow. "Oh, hell."

"More or less my reaction."

"I suppose it makes sense. Where is he now? Where is your younger self?"

"He's… sleeping. They both are. Arthur is in the castle, obviously."

"And Merlin?" Merlin thought it was strange to use his own name in reference to someone else.

"…In his room." Arthur said, resisting the urge to look.

Merlin knew Arthur was hiding something, but he decided it was better to not call him on it. He took a few steadying breaths. The past. Time travel. Morgana had sent them here. But how? Why? And how in the name of Camelot were they supposed to get back? "Right," Merlin said at length. "Right. Well. This is a bit of a mess then, isn't it?"

Arthur snorted. "Something like."

"Not to mention my poor head. And my throat." He clawed at an immaterial itch. "Do you know where Gaius keeps his feverfew tinctures?"

"His… what?"

Merlin sighed. "Pain medication. He keeps them in small, dark square bottles over in that cabinet there." Merlin pointed, and Arthur could only just make out the shape of a cupboard through the darkness.

"Small, square. Right." The king stood and took a few careful steps, but blast it, he couldn't see a thing. "Uh… don't suppose you could help me out here, could you?"

"Oh, sorry," Merlin said. "Leot."

Nothing happened.

"Leot," He repeated, and again, and again. He stopped talking and was reduced to staring at his open palm with panic rising in his mind. Through the darkness, Arthur called back,

"Uh, Merlin?"

"We have a problem," the warlock said, his voice cracking slightly.

"What? What's wrong?"

Merlin gulped. "I can't use my magic."