Chapter Four:

For the first thirty minutes in the rented car, Percival sat in the backseat with a white-knuckled grip on the door handles. His face was a very pale shade of green. The young man had never known of anything to move so quickly. He felt mildly claustrophobic when he first sat down. His eyes were wide and breath was shaking. The large silver piece of box metal, although fascinating to look at, was rather akin to some demonic beast, with its glowing eyes and loud noises.

He wondered if Gwaine knew about these things. It was odd to think, that after knowing the man for five years, he would know so little about him. Then there was Merlin...another person whom Percival thought he knew, but obviously didn't. However, he realized that these were the same men with whom he'd fought alongside for years. He had never told them much about his past either, although it wasn't as elaborate or secretive as theirs. Personal history was just something a man didn't consider on the battlefield. Their lives were about living in the moment. Gwaine taught him that, were he to be honest with himself.

Percival couldn't find room in his heart to blame them for their secrets. Either one of them would have found himself swinging from the gallows, had he been revealed...or, at best case scenario, would have been simply banished by Arthur.

Reluctantly, the large knight had folded himself into the automobile, after an explanation by Merlin about how it was similar to the metal barding on a tax collection carriage...just minus the actual horses pulling it. Martha sat behind the steering wheel, navigating deftly through the stop-and-go of evening rush hour traffic. Merlin sat in the passenger seat, half-facing back, ready to help calm Percival with magic, if needed.

Merlin, at first, tried talking to Percival in an effort to distract him from the overwhelming sights, sounds and smells of the new world. He soon gave up, and settled for just hoping they would make it through the drive without any major incidents. After realizing how much strain modern society was putting on his old friend, Merlin had cancelled their reservations at the hotel. Instead of a decent room, close to the Base, he redirected his search for a vacation cabin, higher in the hills of the Rocky Mountains. He finally found one about an hour's drive outside of the Springs.

It was a cabin, a little way off the beaten path, and set in the middle of about four acres. It was a perfectly quiet place for the Dark Ages knight to have a breather and get his bearings. Once they pulled off the main highway and began their ascent into the mountains, Percival finally loosened his grip.

Merlin glanced at the armrests on the doors of the car. The inside door handles were marked with very large finger-sized holes. "Hey, Love, you did get that extra insurance, right?" He asked Martha, jokingly.

The large knight looked ashamed as he noticed the damage he had caused. "Merlin, I'm sorry..."

Merlin chuckled, "Don't worry about it. That is actually an easy fix. I'll get to it before we return the car."

Percival smiled his appreciation and drew a massive breath through his nose, and blew it out through his mouth, finally starting to relax. He looked out the windows at the world speeding by. "This is smoother than riding in a carriage."

"Much quicker, too." Merlin breathed a sigh of relief as his friend began to actually watch the world through the windows.

The colored lights were the most fascinating for the knight. They looked like sparks of fire on the cars ahead. Sometimes they were an orange color, and flashed in a steady beat that a man could march to. "They have torches inside there?" He asked.

It took Merlin a moment to understand what Percival was asking. He shook his head and laughed, "No, those are called 'tail lights' and well…they're a visual indicator, Percival."

Percival gave Merlin a blank stare. He could see that they were indicating something. By the manner in which the vehicles slowed, or turned, after the lights came on, it was easy to guess what that might be.

"They're like...you remember how wagon drivers would call out a warning when they're on the road and feeling polite?"

Percival's blue eyes shifted from Merlin to the reflective surface of the rearview mirror. He caught the glint of humor in Martha's eyes as she let Merlin ramble.

"Well, this is a signal to let you know that the car in front is slowing down and stopping, and that you should prepare to do the same. Unless you want to flatten them, but we call that road rage, and it's rather frowned upon."

"Which is why I am driving...and not you, darling," Martha said softly.

"Ha! I don't get road rage."

"Oh! So says the man who threatened to start cursing people with raining toads, or unexpected blow-outs, in that major traffic jam last year."

"But I didn't, did I?"

She laughed, "You started to! Yelling out in Old English, and such. How was I supposed to know if you were cursing at people, or actually cursing them?"

"Nothing happened to any one of them." Merlin stated defensively.

"Only because your cell rang, and distracted you."

Percival bit the insides of his cheeks to keep from bursting with laughter, when Merlin crossed his arms and began to pout. For all the changes, it was reassuring to see the same goofy posture and facial expressions on the dark haired man.

"But how do they light up?" The knight asked again after a few minutes, when he thought it was safe. "Are there fireflies in there, or is it magic?"

"Not magic, Percival. Things have...evolved since our time. When the driver hits the break, a signal is sent to the light to turn on in the back."

"There is a reason Arthur throws things at you." Percival muttered, not realizing until after he said the words that his mind had yet to accept that the king was gone.

Merlin didn't appear to have heard him, but the way Martha's expression changed, he knew that she had and was trying not to laugh.

"Oh bloody hell…how about I just find you a book on mechanics and electricity. It'll probably explain it a lot better than I will."

Martha patted her fiancé's knee. "It's alright, love. It is rather hard to explain it all, Percival, especially for those of us who live with it every day. You see, there are people who have been inventing all sorts of things for generations. What was once a torch, was turned into something called a lantern that uses liquid, like alcohol, to burn in a very small area covered with glass...like a protected candle...but then, someone else came up with another idea…

"Okay, so, you know when a blacksmith heats the metal and it begins to glow, yeah?" Martha said, while she drove.

"Yes." Percival nodded.

"Well, there was this one bloke who took a tiny piece of metal and used a different type of fuel to heat it up, so it would glow. Then he stuck it in a glass jar. He realized if he looped it around and around, then he could make the glow even brighter. There's a fuel used in the cars that sort of...heats up the metal through tiny tube-like things, called wires...and those wires take that heat to the metal in the glass jars...they now call light bulbs, because of their shape. When I push down on the pedal, like so..."

Percival was completely enthralled with her story telling. He leaned forward so he could look over the seat at the pedal she was indicating.

"It's kind of like the bellows on a forge. It causes the electricity, or heat, to move very quickly through the wires and makes the metal inside the bulb glow brighter. See?" She smiled and glanced back at the knight.

Percival's face was lit up with comprehension. He clapped Merlin roughly on the shoulder. "Why couldn't you have just said that in the first place?"

Merlin pursed his lips, and shook his head. "That's why I plan on marrying this woman. She's bloody brilliant."

The blond knight ran a hand over his short hair and began directing more questions towards Martha.

Merlin sat back and listened, just as fascinated by her explanations, as his friend was. He wondered how he would have handled going from the Dark Ages to modern day, if he hadn't lived through the changes. He knew, from his own experience, that the analogies she gave Percival were rather inaccurate, but they worked for the large man's comprehension...and right now, that was all that mattered.

The stopped off at a local grocery store on the way to their destination. While Percival was indeed fascinated by the idea of the indoor market concept, he chose to stay in the car with Martha, while his friend went inside to grab some supplies for their stay in the wilderness.

Once Merlin was gone, the large man turned to Martha. "Is he okay?"

"Yeah." She looked at him, slightly confused, "Why do you ask?"

"He just seems so different...from how he used to be," Percival stated softly.

"Well, a lot of time has passed for him."

"I suppose. I guess I don't really understand that part of it, yet." He stared at his hands for a moment, before looking out the window. "It really was less than a fortnight ago that I saw him, but he barely seems to remember anything about me, or Gwaine. How is that possible?"

Martha offered him a comforting smile. "Time is kind of like a string. Most of the time, it is laid out straight and our lives can be marked, going from one end to the other. Sometimes, though, the string loops around on itself, so two parts are overlapping." She thought for a moment, before hopping out of the car. "I'll be right back."

When she returned, she had with her a small sewing kit. Martha pulled out a few different colors of thread.

"How does string explain what happened to Gwaine, and myself?" Percival asked.

"Okay, so we'll use red for Gwaine's life, yellow for yours, and blue for Merlin's. So Gwaine started out here, and because of the Stargate, he was sent back in time, when he met you and Merlin." She demonstrated by laying the blue and yellow together on the passenger seat. Martha then took the red one and tied it to the blue and yellow. "The knot here is to represent when you guys met. Now, you travelled together for a while before everything happened."

The three strings laid together, and she added another knot in them a few inches from the first. Then she separated the blue string from the other two. "You and Gwaine were brought back through the Stargate to this time and place, while Merlin stayed in the sixth century." Martha picked up the blue thread, still attached to the spool and began looping it over different things around the car. She handed the spool to Percival and instructed him to wrap it around the headrests behind him, before handing it back to her.

He did as she asked, wondering where she was going with 'Merlin's thread'. Handing it back to her, he waited patiently; watching, as she finally brought it back and tied it with the other two colors. She held all the three strings together near the knot where Merlin's thread originally separated from his and Gwaine's. "Now, this is how Merlin's life has gone, compared to yours."

Martha witnessed the dawning realization that spread over the large man's face. While his thread, and Gwaine's were short and tied together. The blue one was so long. "How does he keep it from tangling?"

"He hasn't always, but he's doing the best he can," she shrugged. Even after a year of travelling through space and time, she felt her own life had tangled a bit along the way. "I think most would become complete nutters, if they had to live through so much." Her voice was soft and thoughtful, as her dark brown eyes followed the string. It was something she already knew about, but laying it out for Percival's comprehension, gave her a completely new appreciation for the man she was soon going to marry.

The car door opened, and Merlin dropped a few bags onto the car floor. "I swear these Yanks are going to drive me bonkers with their rudeness. Why the hell can't I just have a civil conversation with a checker about the roads ahead, without some bloody impatient prat trying to make a point of how his time is so much more valuable than mine? I nearly gave him a piece of my mind about 'time.'" He sat down in the car and he found himself caught up in a mess of string. "What the hell?"

Martha and Percival shared a glance and started to laugh.

(*~*~*~*)

"Try it," Merlin encouraged, handing his friend a can of beer. The sun had just set over the Rockies, and they sat on the front porch of the rented cabin, enjoying the peaceful evening.

It was much drier in this place than anywhere else Percival had been. The cicadas and crickets called out to the coming night; the air sharp with the smell of pine sap. He could still vaguely catch a hint of what Merlin called smog, but it was much fainter here in the forest. Martha was inside, preparing supper for the three of them, allowing the two men to have some quiet time on the porch.

"I don't drink much myself, but I've had more this week than I had all year...and that totals a whole three of them." Merlin admitted, after he popped open the tab on his can. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't have even thought much about drinking. It was the one true giveaway that he was stressed about the situation. "I figure, I had best start building up my tolerance with Gwaine around."

Percival snickered, "Tastes a bit better than Evoric's swill."

Merlin made a face before the name finally clicked. "The Rising Sun...right. I wouldn't even be able to tell you the difference, nowadays."

"I know. Martha explained it to me. You've got a very nice lady for yourself there."

The dark-haired man smiled, "Yeah, I do."

"We used to worry about you. I don't think I remember ever seeing you even take an interest in a girl back home...and there were a few interested in you."

Merlin laughed, "Well, I was always too busy slaving away for Arthur, if I remember." He inhaled sharply, remembering something. "There was one girl, though. My first love...blimey, I can't even remember her name now. She was killed. Wow, why can't I remember her name?"

"Because, it's been a very long time."

"Yes, it has." He took a drink out of his can and levelled his gaze on Percival. "What do you mean you used to worry about me?"

"Myself, Arthur...Gwaine especially. You never shut up, but never said anything at the same time. Never saw you with a girl, though now that I know your first love died, I suppose I can understand that. Why didn't you ever tell any of us about her?" The knight asked, unwilling to let the matter drop.

Merlin shrugged, "Probably, because she was cursed. I have seen her spirit, from time to time, since then. Just glimpses in still pools of water, things like that. Magic was involved and...well, we lived in Camelot."

"You had magic the whole time?"

Merlin's eyes met Percival's. "Yes, I did."

"That can't have been easy," the big man said. He still felt rather uncertain about the idea of magic. It had only been a few days since Morgana used hers on Gwaine. He took a serious look at Merlin and thought back over Gwaine's words. All the years, with Merlin at their side...it had to be true. He could never see Merlin as evil. "Did Arthur ever find out?"

"Only at the end."

Percival finished off his beer, which he thought was much better than the coffee substance, and set the can down on the deck. "What happened to him...after Camlann?" At the Base, he and Gwaine had already told their side of the story to Merlin, but now the knight was ready to hear Merlin's.

The warlock thought briefly about waiting to tell them together, but he figured Gwaine might have already guessed the outcome, if he knew anything about the legends. "I...uh...wasn't able to save him." He swirled his can between his knees, his elbows resting on his legs. "I tried, but it wasn't meant to be..."

Merlin told his friend everything he could remember, surprising even himself, with how easily the memories flowed. He figured that his subconscious must have understood that the information was now relevant, and was allowing him to access the nearly forgotten past. He talked about Gwen, and the baby, although he couldn't recall the name of Arthur's son. "I've tried looking in every book I could find, and there are three or four names listed as Arthur's sons, but each one seems wrong."

"A few hours ago, I think I would have been upset to know you couldn't remember something like that."

"And now?"

"Now, I think you're lucky to not be completely insane with it all." Percival finally asked, "What happened to the queen, and her son?"

"Sickness…a plague swept through the land. Gaius was among the first to fall victim."

"I see." The knight understood, without Merlin actually saying, what had befallen Guinevere and the child. He sat in silence. Although he was the king, Arthur was a warrior, first and foremost. The wound he took at Camlann was almost expected, and Percival had already come to terms back in Camelot, that the king might never return. The unexpected loss of the queen, hit him hard. Had Merlin told him of a glorious life she'd led after Arthur's passing, reigning over the kingdom; he could have accepted it easier. "Everyone's gone, aren't they? The people from Camelot...except for you, me, and Gwaine."

Merlin nodded, "Yes, long ago."

"Do you think we can use that Stargate thing to go back?"

The warlock contemplated for a few minutes. "I don't think so. Martha could probably tell you why..." he chuckled, "...obviously much better than I ever could."

Percival smiled sadly.

"I wouldn't want to go back," Merlin finally admitted. Upon the questioning look from Percival, he continued, "I don't think I could live through all that again, without becoming seriously jaded. Plus, I would miss what I have here…like Martha, and now you and Gwaine."

"Lancelot knew, didn't he? ...About your magic."

Merlin nodded slowly. A vision of the black-haired knight came into his mind. "Hmm..." he said, more to himself, than to Percival. "I can actually remember him rather clearly." The warlock was surprised by this revelation...and it was obvious in his voice.

"I wonder why that is? Can you remember Arthur in the same way?"

Shaking his head, Merlin sighed, "Not as well. Huh...weird."

The front door opened and Martha appeared with a phone in her hand. "It's Gwaine, calling from the Base," she stated, passing Merlin the cell phone.

"What do you want?" Merlin said into the phone, with a cheeky grin. He stood, and walked to the opposite end of the long porch that ran the entire width of the front of the cabin.

Martha sat down in the seat he vacated and smiled at the knight. "How are you holding up?"

The large man shrugged, "Well enough, I suppose. Merlin doesn't think I'd ever be able to go back home."

"No...I mean, you could, theoretically, but you wouldn't be able to be a part of the life you used to live...or he would have remembered you. Merlin's lifetime seems to be an odd 'fixed point,' as a friend of mine...the one who taught me about time travel, would have said. I have another friend, Jack, who has similar issues. I've introduced them, but Merlin isn't too fond of him."

"So, I'm stuck here."

She reached over and patted his knee. "Yeah, I'm sorry."

Merlin came back to them and slumped down on the floor, his back against the porch rails. "Well, it seems, because he can now wiggle his toes, Dr. Lam wants to start the paperwork to transfer him to a local hospital, for rehab and a full psych eval. They're planning to move him tomorrow. So, we won't be able to see him again until the evening."

The large knight blinked in confusion. He looked immediately to Martha for an explanation.

"That's a good thing." She turned to Percival, after Merlin nodded. "That gives you most of the day tomorrow to just relax. Now, come along, both of you. Supper is almost ready."

(*~*~*~*)

Percival woke with a start. Sweat covered his brow. His muscles were tense, and his breathing ragged. He could still hear Gwaine's scream, ringing in his ears. It took a few moments for him to realize that he wasn't in the forest, tied by his wrists to the trees. He was in this new world, where the sights, sounds, and smells were overwhelming. Gwaine was in the mountain military base, being taken care of by the Lady Doctor…alive and safe from Morgana and her ilk.

Merlin had killed Morgana, with Arthur's sword. That was what his friend had told him the previous evening, when Percival asked about the king. It was over. The war with the witch...was over, and Arthur had barely lived to see that happen. Percival felt like he wanted to curl into a ball, and do nothing more than mourn the people who had been lost. It was as if he were reliving the deaths of his family, all over again, because those people...the knights and the king...they were his family.

Taking a deep breath, he decided: he wouldn't succumb to depression. He would grieve for them all, but Percival took heart in the idea that if Merlin could survive through it all…and more, then so would he.

Swinging his legs off the bed, he quietly padded up to the door. At the Base, they had acquainted him with many of the basics about living in this new century. Despite what Gwaine believed, Percival was actually rather impressed by the idea of indoor plumbing. The shower especially, was something the large man really enjoyed. He figured that the magically...'No, it wasn't magic,' he corrected himself. 'The mechanically-made hot water,' would do him good.

He opened the door and heard voices. He paused. There was only one actual bedroom in the cabin. His chivalrous nature tried to convince Martha to take the more private space for herself, but she wouldn't hear of it. Instead, Martha insisted that he take it. She and Merlin could sleep on the 'pull-out' bed that unfolded from the sofa. Percival was a little uneasy that the couple wasn't married yet, but the two didn't seem to recognize any issues with it, so he let it slide.

"You're so tense," he heard Martha comment.

"It's been a stressful day. A lot of old memories have been resurfacing for me lately, and now with Gwaine and Percival here...I'm concerned about what might be ahead of us."

"Things happen for a reason. Wouldn't you rather have them by your side if something does come about?"

"Mmm-hmm. My concern is, with the world the way it is now, has the definition of Albion changed? It was once just the island and the kingdoms upon it. Now, though, I wonder if the term was meant to be more philosophical, than literal."

"As in, if it had been just the world known to you at the time; but since you know the world to be so much greater now...then could it be more?"

"Yeah...'When Albion's need is greatest, Arthur will rise again,' is what Kilgharrah told me. Those words have been etched on my soul for far too long."

"What do you think it means then?" Martha asked. Even without seeing her face, Percival could hear the concern in her voice.

"I wish I knew. I have so many theories. Hell, all I have are theories and hypothesise, and not a sodden one of them makes me feel any better about it all. What if he does come back? What threat is going to be so huge that the one and only, great King Arthur is needed? Is he going to be brought back reborn? Has he already been born? Will he randomly appear on the shores of Avalon? Or now, I wonder…and this is a good one…if he actually had been abducted by aliens, moments after his death, and revived! King Arthur and 'The King', living together on the same stinking planet, far off in the galaxy."

"Stop it." Martha said sharply. Percival could imagine her giving Merlin an annoyed look. "You're doing no one any good by stressing about it. If it's all part of this destiny, then, as with your friends today, it'll just happen...and you'll be in the right place, at the right time."

"I know." Merlin changed tack. "So, are you ever going to tell me how you knew that Gwaine and Percival would be here?"

The knight knew it was wrong to continue to eavesdrop, but he was curious about how Martha knew to send Merlin to them, as well.

"When I was travelling with the Doctor, we ended up back there at one point: in Camelot. Oh, don't look at me like that, I figured you had probably already guessed at some point."

There was a softly muttered curse that Percival couldn't quite decipher.

"Well, the first time, we missed the mark...which, if you ever meet the Doctor, is actually quite common. We ended up in the forest, a few kilometers out. The Doctor did a scan and realized there was something wrong. Don't ask me how he knew these things, but he always did."

"Hey, don't start that now," Martha warned. Percival figured that Merlin must have made some facial expression to annoy her.

"I can't help it. I'm still a bit rankled over the fact you left me, after our third date, for a man six hundred years younger."

Suddenly, Merlin yelped.

"I came back to you, didn't I?" She snipped.

The knight snickered into his hand. A moment of silence passed before Merlin's voice came again.

"Oy, Percival! I know you're there. If you're going to eavesdrop, you may as well just get in here and join us."

He felt his face flush with guilt when he appeared around the door frame. "Sorry, I didn't mean to listen in."

Merlin was leaning back against Martha, who was reclining on the back of the expanded hide-a-bed. She had her arms wrapped around Merlin from behind, and smiled at Percival when he entered.

"What were you saying about you being in Camelot?" Merlin asked.

"The Doctor picked up on some odd technology that didn't belong. He found a radio signal linking to something from this time period, but it was faint. So he used his sonic screwdriver to boost the signal, so he could follow it. Apparently, the SG team arrived around the same time, and were able to follow the transmission to find Percival and Gwaine.

"I heard Gwaine scream. I wanted to go to him...to help, you know...but the Doctor held me back. We let the SG team take care of you two, and we headed back to the TARDIS."

"I don't understand how, but if you and this Doctor helped to save Gwaine. I am in your debt." Percival bowed his head towards Martha.

"But that doesn't explain how you knew about me," Merlin said. He refused to let her weasel out of the story so easily.

"Well, we got back to the TARDIS and we were planning on just a short hop over to Camelot. But he got the time wrong, and when we arrived, it was almost a week later. We watched from the back of the room as the queen was crowned. Oy! The human rights activists would have a field day, if they only knew that Camelot had a black queen."

Percival glanced at Martha, not understanding what she was talking about. "What do you mean, 'black'? She had a kind heart and a pure spirit."

"It's a reference to the tone of a person's skin...kind of like mine." Martha explained, simply.

"I knew something was wrong with all those pictures of Gwen, but I could never seem to figure out what it was." Merlin snickered, "Oh, she would be so mad at me, if she ever found out I forgot what she looked like."

"She would probably just give you a very stern look, and then have Arthur throw you in the stocks." The knight told Merlin.

"...which he would have...gladly."

(*~*~*~*)

Early the next morning, Gwaine was roused and prepped for his ride to one of the hospitals, on a nearby base. The noise and smells of the city outside was comforting and yet foreign. He felt a conflict inside himself...a complete loss of identity that he hadn't felt for years.

Arthur was gone. He knew that, without needing Merlin to tell him. Gwaine wasn't sure if he wanted to know the details. He felt that whatever the outcome, he was at least partially responsible for it.

The man driving the ambulance turned on the radio, and Gwaine listened as the music softly filled the interior. It had all felt like a surreal dream until that point. Hearing the voice of the singer, reality seemed to finally click in his mind. He realized he was no longer Sir Gwaine of Camelot, nor would he probably ever be again. However, with three of his best friends of any time period with him, he didn't mind as much as he thought he would. There was a long road ahead of him to merge the man he used to be, and the man he had become...

"Somebody help me get out of Louisiana

Just to help me get to Houston Town

There are people there who care a little about me

And they won't let the poor boy down

"Sure as she bore me, she bought me a silk suit

Put luggage in my hand

And I woke up high over Alburquerque

On a jet to the promised land."*

*Song: Promised Land by Elvis Presley.

"Elvis ain't dead, Slick. He just went home." K to J from Men in Black.

*ahem* So I won't go into a lot of details but there is an idea of Merlin being an Elvis impersonator floating around...at a contest in Vegas...at the Excalibur...with a reluctant judge named Arthur. It somehow involved crossdressing(?) and Merthur...

And that is just the TAME version of events that include a MiB crossover and somehow interweaving the plots to Ocean's 11 and/or 3000 Miles to Graceland... oh and Bruce Campbell remaking Bubba Hotep. ANYHOO, this has now set the bar on a new scale of measurement in the HoC chat known as the MEct scale (Merlin/Elvis crossover threshold) for weirdness in crackfic ideas...that yours truly can come up with. (the MEct scale name was created by Caldera32...who only named the train wreck but did nothing to stop it ;) )

Shout out to DreamZ (Dreamsweetmydear) for playing the role of Merlin for me in this part! Most of Merlin's..."light bulb" moment/explanation came from a chat at HoC with her. You rock!

And to IcarusLSU for pre-reading. And of course to Nance the polishing puffin of proofing...who is even trying to edit my rambled Author's Notes hehe

Thank you all so much for the reviews on this story! Next chapter is definitely more Gwaine centered.