A/N: Well, it's been a while, hasn't it? Sorry about that. I've lost a lot of motivation for writing after Merlin started airing earlier this month. (I know, so backwards isn't it?) But today I found a window of opportunity when my least favorite class of the day was cancelled (hurrah!) and I had plenty of coffee too keep me toasty whilst I did… something. Writing was the logical choice.

So, on with the update!

Thank God for the fact that Merlin had woken up late, which had made him late to wake up Arthur, which made Arthur late for training, which made Arthur angry, which made Arthur give Merlin extra chores, which kept Merlin holed up in Arthur's chambers trying very hard not to get hit with something, which made him leave the prince's rooms at very odd hour and in a very odd direction, which meant that it was he who was strolling down the hall past Older Merlin's room when it happened.

For surely, if anyone else had heard the man screaming, there would have been a dozen guards and very possibly an angry king breaking down his door. As it was, his only audience was himself. His very confused, very startled, very bewildered younger self.

"You alright in there?" Younger Merlin let himself in warily. Older Merlin was seated on his bed, sheets and quilt wrapped up around him like a messy cloak growing out of his bed, hair a mess, eyes dark and wild.

"No!" he screamed, slamming something down in his lap, "No, you can't end there!"

"Merlin?" Merlin called. Older Merlin's head shot up to him, noticing the boy for the first time.

"Merlin! Thank God!" He tried to get out of bed, but tripped on his sheet-cloak and tumbled out instead. "Where's Gaius? And Arthur? – Old Arthur, that is." He straightened up and cracked his neck.

"Well, uhm, in their rooms, at least, last I saw of them… and… have you been up all night?"

"Maybe," Merlin said, picking up a cup of tea that Merlin thought might have been cold. He downed it in one. There were at least five already used cups lying empty on the tea tray.

"Doing what?"

"Reading," Merlin coughed around a spittle of tea, "at least I was, until Eornan decided to end it there, sneaky bastard." He glared at the book lying innocently on his bed. "Though I can't really blame him. Time travel, dangerous stuff. Crossing temporal lines is dangerous enough in experimentation, but to leave a solid portal equation lying about for all to use would've been plain stupid – of course he would intelligent enough to choose a anchoring point and hide the rest, what with all the Morganas flitting about in his research-"

"What are you talking about?"

"Nothing," Merlin said, looking around himself distractedly. He picked up his jacket and put it on. "well, something. But that's not the point. We have a lead, I need a staff, and if you have any fears of the Valley of the Fallen Kings, you'd best be off them quickly. Where is Gaius?" He stormed toward the door. Young Merlin watched on in confusion as his counterpart buttoned his tunic and straightened his collar, but seemed oblivious to his horrible bed hair and walked from the chamber still in his night trousers, shoeless. Blinking dubiously, Merlin supposed his ought to follow his older self. As he jogged to catch up, he wondered how he would ever end up going so mental.

"Wait a minute," Arthur held out his hand to stay the flow of ramble from Merlin's mouth, "so you're saying you've figured out time travel?" He asked incredulously.

"Yes." Merlin answered easily, tapping his bare feet against the floor.

"That's it?"

"That's it." There was a pause. "Well, not entirely. But, yes."

Arthur and Gaius shared a look. Young Merlin looked almost embarrassed for himself. "What do you mean, 'not entirely'?" Arthur asked, crossing his arms.

"Well, I know the concept. I don't know the specifics, because Eornan – quite intelligently – hid them away. But I know how to get to them."

"How do you know that?" Gaius asked. Merlin fished around in the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a slip of paper.

"This was in the very back of his journal. The last pages have been torn out – probably because they contain the information necessary to create a portal through time. However, this note was left in their place, giving precise instructions of where to go, and what to do."

Arthur frowned. "Alright, then, what are we waiting for?"

"We need a key. See," Merlin unfolded the note and pointed. "to get in to the place where Eornan has hidden away his secrets, we need a key of sorts, a vessel holding immense magical energy, to demonstrate that we actually have the power to safely harness time-vortex energy in the first place. A wise safeguard, when you think about it, especially considering the problems Eornan ran into when he was experimenting."

Arthur glanced over the note, but was still frowning. "Merlin, when you say 'immense' magical energy, exactly how 'immense' are we talking?"

Merlin pursed his lips and shrugged non-committally. "Oh, I'd wager about enough to knock Camelot off the map. Maybe a touch more, if we can manage."

Arthur's brows shot up, and Merlin's eyes were bugging. Gaius mustered a look of surprise, but being Gaius, it was relatively mild in comparison. "Oh, is that all," Arthur scoffed. Merlin seemed unaffectedly cheery.

"Yeah."

"Alright then, Merlin, where do you suppose we get this vessel?"

"He's going to help me," Merlin pointed a finger at his younger self. Young Merlin blanched.

"Me?" He asked incredulously.

"You do possess massive magical power, Melrin," Gaius said. Older Merlin turned a smile on the physician.

"Oh, nice of you to say so, Gaius, but that's not really what I meant. I am a massive magical vessel in my own right, but I can't really put a portal on myself, or I'd surely be incinerated, or worse, get stuck between times or something. No, I need an outside object, a focus, a place where I can put my magic, to hold it until I need it."

"You need your staff," Arthur said. All heads turned to him. Older Merlin nodded.

"Exactly."

"You two aren't talking about that quarterstaff, are you?" Young Merlin said. His older counterpart snorted. "Good riddance to that thing, no, I'm talking about a proper staff, a magic staff."

"I do still have that Sidhe staff," Merlin offered helpfully. His older self shook his head.

"It's a bit too crude for what we need – after the purge, Sidhe craftsmen went horribly down the drain into unitasking weapons. I need something more versatile. More… familiar." He was sending King Arthur a certain look. Arthur was looking back, figuring out the puzzle. Eventually, his eyes cleared and he rolled his head.

"You aren't."

"What, you think it's a bad idea?"

"Merlin, you know where that blasted tree is, you know how it was crawling with bandits back when my Father was king."

"And? We'll be fine."

"We?"

"Merlin and I."

"And me?"

"No. I need you to stay here with Gaius and make sure no one notices that we've left – especially Morgana."

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Oh, brilliant. So I've got two idiot sorcerers, one who can hardly muster enough magic for a light, the other who's still so willowy and unsure of himself a unicorn could bowl him over - no offense, Merlin – and you expect me to just sit at home and knit?"

"Keep watch, actually, totally different than knitting. Though I suppose if you're that enthusiastic, we could get you some-"

"Merlin-"

"What?"

"It's the Crystal bloody Cave!"

"And I know it's hard for you to grasp, Arthur, but I'm a grown up now and am fully capable of taking care of myself - and my other self - perfectly fine, without your motherish tendencies, and on the second hand-"

"Did he say the Crystal Cave?" Merlin cut into their argument, looking pale. The two time travelers looked in his direction. Merlin's expression softened.

"Yes, he did. Oh, don't look so glum. We're not going inside, if that's what you're worried about. To the top! A nice old elder tree up there, best one in a hundred leagues."

"Elder?" Gaius asked, as if this jogged something in his memory.

Merlin nodded at the older man. "And it's been sucking up magic from the cave since the day it's seed took root." he shook himself, beaming. "Oh, just the thought gets me all tingly. It's an amazing place, buzzing with magic. You'll love it," he told Merlin. Arthur sighed heavily rubbed at the bridge of his nose.

"And now you've gone "tingly". Merlin, is there a chance you didn't get much sleep last night?"

"Why?"

"Because your idiot is showing."

"Ass."

"King, actually."

"Well, there is that one time, you did have the ears of a-"

"Merlin,"

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

"Right, well," Gaius cut in, feeling the need to break the two up. "Whatever it is you're planning on doing, you'd best be on with it. If you leave now, you might be back before supper tonight. If you wait until late, Uther may grow suspicious."

"Of course," and suddenly anything 'tingly' about Older Merlin left, and he was solemn and serious once more. He glanced down at himself and did a double take. "Why haven't I any shoes on?" He asked the air. Arthur snorted. "No matter," He said, and looked at his younger self. "I'll borrow some of yours, if it's all the same to you. And some trousers. Should still fit." He headed up to Merlin's room without further questioning.

"And where should I tell Arthur you've run off to this time?" Gaius asked his ward.

"The tavern, probably," Arthur offered. Older Merlin let out a bark of laughter from the other room. The king smiled as though this was his reward, but turned to answer more seriously, "I'll take care on that front, Gaius. I've been meaning to speak with him anyway."

"You sure?" Gaius asked.

"I've been avoiding it too long. So yes."

"Yes, adventures with yourself. A good lot of confusion and fun, aren't they?" Merlin emerged, his well-tailored tunic standoffish from his muddy boots and threadbare trousers. "And on that note, Merlin, it's time we took ourself off to play carpenter once again."

Young Merlin frowned. "Again?" he asked.

"What, didn't I mention? This is how we get our staff the first time around."

Arthur watched them go. Confusion, definitely. Fun, however… he sighed. He might need a drink or two after this. "I'll be off to see to… to Arthur, Gaius, if it's all the same to you."

The physician nodded. "Take all the time you need. Only, Arthur?"

"Hmm?"

"Will they be safe, going to the Crystal Cave? I thought it was in the Valley of the Fallen Kings."

"It is. But they're Merlin, and there's two of him. If the ghouls in those parts have learned anything about him by now, I'd think they'd just hightail and run at the first whiff of him." The king turned and left. Gaius was left alone in his chambers. He gave Arthur's last comment a thoughtful shrug, and went around to his work bench. Time travel, magic staffs, portals, two of every young person he cared about, and now his protégée – both of him – was heading off to do lords knew what in the most cursed strip of land within the five kingdoms. But Gaius, far too used to waiting on his young heroes to make it home in at least mostly one piece, could only do as he had done far, far too many times for his liking: wait.

Arthur waited outside the prince's chambers for what might have qualified as a cowardly amount of time. Eventually, he mustered up his kingly courage, determined to never tell anyone how much he felt like bolting in that moment, and knocked on the door. Hearing himself give permission to enter was another unnerving experience he decided not to dwell on, and he pushed the door open.

"It's about time you were here, and since when did you knock?" Prince Arthur asked from behind his dressing screen. King Arthur nodded to himself; of course, Arthur would have just returned from training.

"I'm not Merlin, if that's what you were thinking," King Arthur put in, and took a moment to notice how much deeper and steadier his own voice sounded next to Prince Arthur's. It was odd.

Movement from behind the screen stilled, until there was a rustle of fabric, and Prince Arthur stepped out, adjusting his fresh shirt. He stood and stared awkwardly for a moment before asking, "What are you doing here?"

"Come to tell you Merlin's not going to be up any time soon, actually."

"Why?" Arthur frowned at his older self.

"He's gone off to…" King Arthur bit his lip and twisted it in thought. He wanted to say he could trust his younger self with all this, and knew he wasn't stupid enough to take a garden of lies, but Arthur had to admit (with a great heap of humble pie) that he couldn't tell Prince Arthur what, exactly, Merlin was doing. "he's working on a solution to this whole… time travel thing." He offered at length.

Prince Arthur looked incredulous. "Merlin is?"

"Yes, both of him." As Arthur continued to stare, the King felt he needed to add, "I'm not sure if you've learned yet, he really is quite clever when he wants to be."

Prince Arthur shook himself and turned. "I'm not sure what your Merlin is like, but the one I'm stuck with is an idiot."

"That's what he wants you to think, anyway."

"Excuse me?" Arthur turned, and the King wondered if he'd said too much. He straightened.

"Merlin has always been a bit of a riddle, because he only shows a bit of himself at any given time. You, you've only seen him as a fool."

Prince Arthur looked nonplussed. "But he is. I mean, he's an idiot."

"But a brave one."

Arthur sputtered, but said nothing.

"It's strange," King Arthur said, "how the only difference between idiocy and bravery is a matter of success." He let that sink in. "Merlin has always liked taking his chances toeing that line. Give him some room, you might get a better man than you'd bargained for out of him." Prince Arthur was left staring, disturbed but silent, at his older counterpart.

The king raised his eyebrows in the awkward pause that followed. "Food for thought. Though I swear, that's not why I'm here."

"Yes, why are you here?" Prince Arthur crossed his arms. The king took a deep breath.

"I really did just come up here to say that Merlin will be gone until dinner."

"Dinner?" Arthur asked, incredulous once more. "That long?"

The king bit his lip. "Yes."

"Doing what?"

Arthur stared at him. "Researching," He said, not quite sure if it was a lie or not. He'd be damned if he understood what went into making magic staffs.

The Prince squinted at him. "There's something you're not telling me, what is it?"

Arthur raised his eyebrows. "There's nothing, it's just I don't completely understand, myself." Which wasn't quite a lie, if 'myself' were to mean younger Arthur himself. Still, the King felt guilty. The Prince frowned at him, but eventually shook his head.

"Whatever. Let me know when he's back, though."

"Of course."

The King moved toward the door. "Oh, and Arthur?"

"What?"

"What does Morgana usually do this time of day?"

The Prince frowned at the question. "Why?"

"Oh, you know, just trying to jog my memory about this time. You'll be surprised how quick the small memories fade." The King bluffed. The Prince looked at him oddly.

"She's usually in the library."

"Ah. Yes, I remember now. Thank you." And the king was off.

The prince watched his older self go with a feeling of irritation. There was something going on here that he was missing. But what? Scowling at his bedspread, Arthur wondered if anyone would ever bother to tell him. If they didn't, he might have to just figure it out himself.