This chapter coincides with, and contains spoilers for, Diamond of the Day parts 1 and 2 (5x12, 5x13) from the Merlin series.
Warning: some language
Chapter One:
He vaguely heard Percival yelling his name through the torment, as he flitted in and out of consciousness. He was trying to hold on, but he wasn't sure if he would be able to.
(*~*~*~*)
It was just before the battle of Camlann. Gwaine knew the myths, it was where Arthur would die, supposedly at the hands of his bastard child...but Mordred wasn't Arthur's son. Up until recently, the kid was a well-liked member of the knights. For the most part, the man from the future realized so much of what he knew, which was mostly from movies like 'Excalibur'...was garbage. He knew he shouldn't have been surprised by how wrong Hollywood was. Then Mordred turned on the king and the whole of Camelot began preparing to take the war to Camlann.
"Hey Gwaine," Merlin said, coming up to his friend in the stables, as Gwaine was giving his horse a good rub down.
"Merlin, what brings you out here?" He asked, noting the serious look on the younger man's face.
"I need your help with something," the black-haired man replied shyly.
Gwaine chuckled, "You know you don't need to hesitate. Anything I can do for you, I will."
Merlin shuffled his feet a bit and sighed. Whatever was on his mind must have been heavy for the serious demeanor that surrounded him, Gwaine thought. "I need to go to the Valley of the Fallen Kings," he said, almost too quietly for the knight to hear.
He stopped and put down the brush he'd been using on his horse, Gringolet. He turned to Merlin, giving the man his full attention. He thought about questioning why, but he was already fairly sure he knew the answer. He remembered the cave that was there...and the gate. Years before, he'd figured out that Merlin probably did have magic, though not like the movies. He guessed that there was something magical about the cave, or at least something beyond his own understanding of alien technology. Not to mention, there was the danger from the bandits who frequently used the valley as their hideout. For his friend to ask for help was rare, and he knew must be important in the grand scheme.
For the hundredth time, Gwaine thought about either pushing Merlin for answers, or even revealing his own secret. With the idea of going to war, and now finally finding someone to share his life and bed with, he decided that sometimes it was best to let sleeping dogs lie.
Merlin could see the thoughts as they played on Gwaine's face. "Nevermind, I know you're busy and probably want to spend some time with Eira..."
Gwaine put his hand on Merlin's shoulder and stopped him with a brotherly squeeze. "When do we go?"
"As early as possible, you should make it back to Camelot in time to march with Arthur."
(*~*~*~*)
Slipping down into the dark abyss, much like the wormholes it was cold. So very cold.
(*~*~*~*)
He gave Merlin his sword. "I hope you find what you're looking for," he said, as he watched the young man walk away from him, towards the cave he, himself, had come to this world through. Maybe Merlin was some sort of alien life form, and had a way to contact others through the gate inside the crystal cave...or perhaps, there was something more to the whole magic lark. Either way, it was hard watching his friend walk away.
Gwaine turned around a few times, his friendship with Merlin pulling him towards following the man. Yet, his ingrained sense of duty to 'king and country' from the time he joined the military, along with Merlin's insistence, pushed him back towards Camelot.
He knew he had to trust Merlin...and Merlin had asked him to look after Arthur. Gwaine reached the dead bandits. He thought about taking one of their weapons to use, until he was able to get another castle-forged blade. It was then, he noticed a familiar outcropping of rock. In the years since he arrived, he'd almost convinced himself this had always been his life, but the formation of stones brought his own reality back to him.
Gwaine went over to the rocks and began to move them aside; digging through the moss and soil which, over the years, had packed in around his hiding spot. Finally, he uncovered his treasure and looked it over. The firearms and ammo were ruined. Most of the cloth from his pack and clothing were destroyed by the elements as well. He found his dog tags and ran his fingers across the debossed characters.
A few months back, in Ismere, he'd lost the necklace he used to wear, when the Saxons had stripped him of everything of value. Without any real thought, he brushed the dirt off the tags and slipped them around his neck.
As he sifted through the rest of what was now mostly junk, he was surprised to find his radio in the center of it all, seeming to have weathered the burial intact. He flicked it on and was rewarded with the light signifying that it still worked. The battery display flashed with the lightning bolt across it, nearly out of juice. Turning it off again, he reburied everything else and stuffed the radio in his pack. He didn't know why, but perhaps it was simply the significance of having that final connection to the man he once was.
Retrieving his horse, he rode back to join Arthur and begin the final preparations for battle.
(*~*~*~*)
There was nothing left. She had betrayed him, and he in turn betrayed his king and his friends. He waited for the end to come.
(*~*~*~*)
The battle had been fierce. They all lost many friends that night at Camlann. Many others as well, over the next few days, as the wounded succumbed to their injuries. Gaius returned, without Arthur or Merlin, and the news he brought with him of treachery made Gwaine's heart sink.
In such a short time, he had finally allowed himself to truly begin to think he could settle in here. His new home. He had resigned himself to never seeing the twenty-first century again. In less than a week, the beautiful blond had wormed her way into his heart, and he into her bed.
He shook his head and bit back the emotions. Eira...he sighed for perhaps the hundredth time that day. After years of holding out hope of someday returning to his home, he'd finally met a woman whom he'd given his heart to, and resigned himself to a life in this ancient land. She reminded him somewhat of a woman he'd left behind. He couldn't even remember how many years it had been since he last saw her, or even consciously thought about her. When he met Eira though, he gave up his last hope of going home, and finally decided to move on in this new life.
Reaching into a crevice, hidden behind his bed, he pulled out the last remaining piece from his old life. It seemed so foreign to him now. The batteries were nearly gone. He debated with himself about turning it on, one last time. Just for old times sake.
He'd made up his mind earlier in the day. He watched the blond he had hoped to make a life with, as she dangled lifeless from the noose around her neck. He was done with waiting. Finished with the idea that perhaps someone might come for him. There was nothing left now but Merlin and Arthur. The first two friends he made in this ancient, mythological world he now called home. Neither of them knew his secret. No one here did. He would take it to his grave. He smirked a bit, realizing that might be closer than even he would admit. It still felt odd at times to see how history, completely different from the stories he grew up with, came to pass.
No, he decided, he wouldn't turn it on yet. There was no point.
He moved to stick it back into the secret hole, but then paused. If he was riding to his death, it wouldn't matter whether he left it or took it. There was a measure of comfort to be had from the old radio; a link to fast cars, good times with friends, and chasing tail. That was, until he'd met the girl of his dreams, and took her to a concert at Red Rocks. Blond, intelligent, and gorgeous...and she also outranked him; but being from a different team, he didn't care.
That was the last time he'd been privy to live Rock'N'Roll. Two weeks later, he found himself in absolute hell.
He tossed the item lightly in his hand and made up his mind. He'd take the radio with him. If anything, he could throw it at Morgana, and maybe confuse her enough to run her through with his sword...or something. Hell, he didn't know what he was going to do, but oh how he wished he had taken more care when hiding his firearms. What he wouldn't give to put a bullet in that bitch's head. He held up the radio as if it was his sidearm, and imagined pulling the trigger. The result would be more spectacular than with a crossbow.
Stuffing the radio down, deep into his saddlebags, he picked up the familiar sword that has now become his main weapon, and left the room.
(*~*~*~*)
Name, rank, serial number.
Morgana caught them.
Name, rank, serial number.
Separated them.
Name, rank, serial number.
He knew he was confusing the hell out of her, and smiled despite his situation.
Name, rank, serial number.
Then she pulled out the snake.
Name, rank...
He could remember his screams, as if he were outside of himself.
Blackness.
He came around to see Morgana going through his bags, unsure of what he told her.
She came across his radio and eyed it with suspicion.
Gwaine chuckled through his pain at her obvious confusion.
"What the hell is this?" She asked, shoving it in his face.
"See that knob on the top? Go ahead and turn it and you'll find out." His voice was hoarse and breathy.
Morgana eyed him warily.
"Or not," he huffed out, while attempting to shrug against his bound arms. "Doesn't work for shit anyway."
He was actually surprised when she did twist the knob, and was rewarded with seeing her start in surprise, when the beep and the light indicating its activation, came on. Then his face fell as he heard something he never imagined he would again. Static...and voices were cutting in and out. The tracking light, signaling the radio's communication to an active MALP*, came to life.
Morgana threw it at him. "What manner of magic is this? You hypocrite! My brother, turning to sorcery! While watching those like me burned and beheaded! You and Merlin with your hidden magic. How dare you!" She screeched at him.
His eyes were still on the fallen communication device, watching it in disbelief. His mind was unable to process the intermittent sounds. She grabbed his chin in her hands and turned him to face her.
"No matter, you will tell me where my brother is...so I can KILL HIM!"
He didn't know when the snake creature appeared back in her hands. He was vaguely aware when the radio went silent, as the final bit of power drained...and left the unit dead. Soon, his screams once again drowned out any conscious thought.
Blackness.
"He's over here, we've found him."
Blackness.
"Get away from him!"
Blackness.
Gunfire.
Percival screaming.
Blackness.
The filtered light of the trees above him as he was jostled about.
Blackness.
"We're losing him!"
Pain in his chest from compressions.
Blackness.
The nauseating, chilling, and yet welcoming feeling of the wormhole.
Blackness.
Soft beeping, the hushed sounds of machinery, the rise and fall of a ventilation device. Voices in the distance.
He finally forced his eyes open to a bright light, which blinded him. He slowly became aware of the soft bed and clean sheets beneath him; as well as the cold, gray concrete walls and the ceiling, with its intricate duct work. He breathed a silent sigh of relief. After seven years...he was home.
He allowed himself to fall into a restful sleep.
(*~*~*~*~*)
"Hey, Percival. You should probably try and get some rest," a young woman said, approaching the large man. She had a pleasant smile and a calming presence, that the knight greatly appreciated.
He looked over at her and glanced away quickly in modesty, when he saw her legs indecently exposed below clothing that was nearly as short as a tunic. A white robe, slightly shorter than the skirt, was the only piece of cloth that appeared designed to conceal her form. Even the tavern wenches his friend was so fond of covered more. Overall, the way the women here showed indecent amounts of skin, left the knight questioning his own integrity.
For two days, he had been at the mercy of these strange people in this weird dungeon. He wasn't being kept like a prisoner, but he got the distinct feeling they wouldn't let him leave this odd cave...with its strange bright torches and magical red candles, that would come to life randomly, emitting a sound that assaulted his eardrums. Everything about this place was noisy. Even the people of Camelot on market day were not as loud as this place.
A constant humming ran through every wall and odd tube. The infirmary, where he currently sat, was a constant cacophony of beeps, hisses, thrummings, ringings, and tickings. Many of the noises came from boxes surrounding the man laid out in a thin white tunic, attached to the boxes with small, clear, flexible tubes. He laid on a small metal bed near Percival, covered in sheets whiter than snow. Everything here was so unnatural.
Despite the multitude of attempts by the people here to explain the difference between magic and a thing they called technology, he still felt completely disturbed by his surroundings. Yet for all their explanations not a single one of them could find a reasonable excuse for why his friend still lay unconscious.
He, sort of, understood the idea of medicine, although this was far beyond anything Gaius performed. They used it to remove something called a bullet from his shoulder. It was good they had taken it out, he thought, since they were the ones who put it in him in the first place...with their odd magical bows.
He didn't know when he dozed off finally, or what exactly had awoken him, but Percival immediately became alert to the difference in the beeping from one of the boxes next to Gwaine. A groan from the bed and he was at his friend's side in an instant.
"Gwaine. Gwaine," he whispered hastily, glancing around to make sure they were alone.
The other knight slowly cracked open his eyes and gave Percival the oddest look of confusion.
(*~*~*~*)
Gwaine laid as still as he could manage, and just listened. The familiar sounds, a comfort compared to the nightmare that clung to his mind. The steady beeping of the pulse monitor allowed him to focus on the dream he figured would soon fly from his mind. Yet it didn't seem like a dream should be. It truly felt like memories. The last seven years, wandering around in the dark ages, as a knight of King Arthur and Camelot no less. He loved the stories while growing up, and he reasoned with himself that they must have been the driving force behind his unconscious fantasies.
But then, there were other things that he couldn't explain. It all seemed so real: Arthur, Percival, Leon, and most of all...Merlin. Why he would dream he was Merlin's friend, and that the powerful wizard of his childhood adulation would instead, be a servant and younger than himself, was beyond his grasp. His last memories, if they could be called that, were of shame...Eira's treachery, then the torture by Morgana that lead to his own betrayal of the king he had vowed to serve.
Then he felt it...subtle at first and he tried to ignore it. Yet, as he lay there the sensation grew and began to overpower him. He didn't want to lose the dream by acknowledging the feeling. Although the ending was painful beyond anything he could have consciously imagined, there were so many good times too. There was drinking in the pubs... the women, his friends, the battles together, and the way the earth felt so much more alive. Gwaine fought against the urge overtaking his body, and he distantly heard the pulse monitor increase with his discomfort. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. He had to do it, he was going to lose the dream, but it was inevitable.
He had an itch on his nose.
Satisfied, he laid his hand back down on the bed. His eyes were still closed for the moment and he found his recollections of the dream hadn't left him. Hearing the creaking of metal, as a chair shifted off to his left, he finally allowed himself to open his eyes. Just a tiny crack at first, so he wouldn't be blinded by the fluorescent lighting of the infirmary. Someone was standing above him, casting a large shadow across his face.
"Gwaine. Gwaine," he heard the voice whisper in conspiratorial and fearful tones. It was a voice he knew well.
Opening his eyes a bit more, he felt like Dorothy coming back from Oz, when she recognized the faces from her dreams in the people surrounding her. It took him a minute to realize he wasn't dreaming, as Percival stood over him nervously.
"Whoa," Gwaine gasped, "didn't mean to click my heels that hard."
*M.A.L.P Mobile Analytic Laboratory Probe, is a reconnaissance probe employed by Stargate Command and the Atlantis expedition to determine the conditions on the other side of an active wormhole before sending a team through, in order to make sure it's safe. (from stargate dot wikia)
AN: Thank you for the follows, favs, and the reviews on this story! I know I said it would be Monday, but I get impatient when it comes to posting. Plus I want to get this story out of my head so I can continue Lord of Beasts. For those reading that story: nope, not abandoning it, just hit a minor roadblock and suffering from my muses being kidnapped by this story for the time being. Actually, it's probably more of a muse vacation since I've been working on the Coin story arc almost non-stop since last October. There's not going to be much action in this story, and it should only end up at about 6-8 chapters...I hope, as my mind twists off in some new directions.
If anyone has seen the movie 'Jacob's Ladder' you may notice a similarity in the way this chapter was written in flashes. That was completely intentional.
Also, I know the radio still working is a stretch...but it was necessary technological plothole for the fic to move forward. :-)
Kind of awkward (and for some of the guys, gross) historical note: There is a reason it was more indecent for a woman to show the lower part of her body in those days. It had to do with lack of good feminine protection...'nuff said. If you want more info PM me and I'll send you a link to what I'm talking about.
Special thanks to IcarusLSU for helping to create the ideas for this story and to Nance for her amazing beta-reading.
Please leave a comment, or PM me, and let me know what you think of this story!
Thanks for reading!