Chapter Six:
It took the better part of the week, and a few hours worth of international calls, to get everything set up. Martha had to go back to New York for a couple of days, not only to sort things from her end, but also to make sure she wouldn't be called away in the middle of her wedding.
Gwaine and Laney spent a good deal of time, once Gwaine finally agreed to some painkillers, to hash out a plan between them concerning their grandfather. Boyd reluctantly agreed to consider leasing out his land, cutting back the herd, and moving with Laney and the boys down to Colorado. Gwaine was becoming adamant about eventually returning to work once he got back on his feet after the wedding.
"...Start looking for something out east a bit, even if it's a few leagues away..." He was stopped by his sister's snicker. "What?"
"Leagues? Seriously?"
Gwaine sighed. He wondered how long it had taken him to adapt to the vocabulary, when he had first found himself in the area outside Camelot. 'Surely not that long,' he thought to himself, with a roll of his eyes and a toss of his hair. "Fine, a few kilometers...miles...clicks...whatever! You know what I mean."
His sister was glad to see the change in his attitude, and quietly thanked the young UNIT Colonel for the turnaround. Laney didn't hold back, however, when expressing her jealousy of her brother heading to England. She hadn't visited her childhood home since their mother had died. If it hadn't been for Boyd and her sons, she would have threatened to stow away in Gwaine's luggage.
Percival was adapting, better than Gwaine had anticipated. Each day he visited with stories, told in an excited voice, about his new experiences. "There was this one maiden, who offered to give me her 'digits'...but I don't know why I would have needed her assistance. I was not counting anything at the time."
Finally, everything was in place. Gwaine's travel papers were updated and in order, as were Percival's, along with the knight's new identity. Gwaine was excited to finally be out of the hospital gown and sweatpants, although he couldn't deny the cozy comfort of soft fleece against his skin. He was happy to put on some real trousers for a change.
The first challenge came when they drove up to the local airport. Percival's blue eyes were as wide as they had been during his first car ride. His palms were sweating as he watched the white metal beasts, larger than the dragon he remembered Leon once speaking of, soaring loudly overhead.
After using his magic to repair the car, just before turning in the keys, Merlin was becoming frustrated. Gwaine was hysterical with laughter, calling his friend a grumpy old man, and poor Percival looked like a frantic horse, ready to bolt.
Merlin finally gave his friend three choices. He could get on the plane, and just deal with it. He could stay here in Colorado, and they would make arrangements for him to stay with Gwaine's friend Cameron...at least until the fuzzy haired man was called away for work. Mitchell had begged and pleaded with Gwaine over the phone, earlier. His last hope of reuniting the team he wanted, had fallen through.
Another call went to Dr. Lam. She even made an offer to help assist Percival in acclimating to the time period, if he wished to stay. The offer brought a shy smile to the large man's face. The third option: Merlin could transport the three of them using his magic.
"You can do that?" Gwaine had asked skeptically. Although he had always been the shortest of Arthur's knights, as he looked up to Merlin and Percival from the wheelchair he was in, he felt almost miniscule.
Merlin rolled his eyes. "Of course I can. I'm a sorcerer...remember?"
After some deliberation, and the realization that they had missed their flight, Percival acquiesced to the magical means of travel. Even though he had been taught in Camelot that it was evil, he consoled himself with the thought that this was Merlin...and magic was much more familiar than the gigantic metal birds, whose wings didn't flap. Nor did he relish being left behind, alone.
"The devil you know!" Gwaine quipped, garnering a smirk from Merlin as the warlock began dialing his phone.
"Mickey Smith," The thick accent of a young man came through the speaker of the phone.
"Mickey, it's Merlin. Where are you?"
"What? No proper 'Hello, how are you'...and all that? Just 'Where are you?'...as if I'm your personal serving boy. No, sorry, 'manservant.' Hey, what was that word you said you used to call your king? Oh yeah. Prat!" Mickey continued to utter various complaints.
Gwaine and Percival shared a glance. "He's right, you know," the shorter man snickered.
Merlin pinched the bridge of his nose and ignored Gwaine. "Mickey..." The warlock barely refrained from telling the other man to 'shut up'. "Hi, how goes it? Now, where are you?"
"Cardiff. At work. Jack says, to tell you 'hello.'"
Merlin flinched. Last year, Mickey and Martha met during a very interesting occurrence, in which the entire planet had been moved.[1] Merlin recalled how all the world agencies had been in a total panic. It was a real awakening for the general populace; that perhaps there was more going on among the stars than they could fathom.
Jack Harkness had offered both Mickey and Martha jobs with Torchwood, but only Mickey took him up on it. Martha declined, for the time being. She and Merlin had spoken about the possibility, and while the warlock never said definitively, he would rather his fiance steer clear of the promiscuous leader of Torchwood.
In all honesty, he wasn't worried about Martha falling for Jack's advances, so much. While Jack had no qualms about any sexuality, he did seem to prefer men, and he had told Merlin, in no uncertain terms, that the warlock was on his 'To Do' list.
"Tell him, I'm still not interested." Merlin said sharply, and cringed as he heard Jack laughing in the background.
Percival looked on blankly, while Gwaine raised an eyebrow, reading the implications in his friend's voice.
"Anyway," Merlin cleared his throat and continued, "I'm going to be arriving shortly, with a couple of friends, and I need a clear landing spot."
Over the years, Merlin had become rather proficient with magical travel, but he found it helpful to end up in a clear field or room he knew well. The added awkwardness of the wheelchair that Gwaine was currently confined to, was bound to make this teleportation even trickier.
"The boss man says I'm not allowed to help you during work hours...without some incentive."
"Oh, you have got to be sodding kidding me!" The warlock cursed. "I'll find someone else to help, then."
"No!" Jack's smooth American accent came through the line in clear sarcastic tones. "God, can't even take a joke, sheesh! We've got a clear spot at an abandoned landing strip, just up the road from the ruins of Caerleon. I'll have Mickey text you the coordinates. Any special requests we need to be made aware of?"
"I have a man in a wheelchair, and we'll be needing transport."
"Who's driving?" Mickey's voice asked suspiciously.
"Me. Why?" Merlin seemed a bit put off by the question.
"Um...that would be a negative." Mickey audibly gulped, "I've heard the stories from Martha. Based on those alone, I wouldn't give you the keys to a moped, let alone a real car."
The warlock protested, "I'm a very good driver!"
Gwaine snickered into his fist. "Okay, Rainman." At the same time, across the phone connection, Mickey uttered something very similar.
The look Merlin gave his friend could have frozen lava.
Percival's face betrayed his confusion, but he felt the need to be somehow included in the conversation with his friends and the two disembodied voices. "Martha says, he suffers from something called 'Road Rage.'"
"Ooh, who does that gorgeously deep, smooth voice belong to?" Jack asked seductively.
The large knight's eyes blinked in shock at the manner in which the man's voice addressed him. He folded his massive arms across his chest defensively, unconsciously taking a step back from the phone.
"This is going to get interesting," the warlock muttered. "How long until you'll be ready on your end?" Just simply appearing in an open area was fraught with complications when using magical means, or even alien technology. From the possibility of witnesses, and cameras...or witnesses with cameras... to landing on an uneven surface; so many things needed to be taken into account. Gone were the days when he could just appear in a field alone, and pass it off as a trick of the eye. It had taken Merlin nearly five years to synchronize his ability with the modern Global Positioning System. With satellite imagery it became easier to actually see where he wanted to end up.
He rarely performed the magic required for the teleportation, although it was simple for him. He enjoyed the idea of flying so much more, and it was less tiresome. He cast his gaze to Percival, who was still shaken from the airport parking lot, and sighed.
"Give us an hour and we'll be ready." Mickey stated.
"Oh, and we can bring a wheelchair. If you want to leave yours there." Jack added.
For once, Merlin was thankful to Jack for his quick thinking. "Aye, we'll do that. Thank you. See you lot in about an hour then." He touched the screen of the phone and cut off the call. "Percival, would you mind carrying Gwaine for a bit?"
"Of course." The large knight had no qualms about assisting his friend. They found a place to store the wheelchair and called Colonel Mitchell, asking if he could swing by at some point to pick it up. They spent the hour finding an out of the way place in the shade of a building. Merlin scanned the area with his eyes and found only one camera.
His shoulders relaxed slightly in relief. Only one camera was easy to fool. The trick would be to cast an illusion of them walking away, at the same time as Merlin basically folded reality around them, to move them to the coordinates Mickey had sent him. He spent the rest of the time in meditation. He had rarely ever crossed such a distance, and certainly not with two other people in tow.
At first Gwaine attempted to make small talk, and encouraged Merlin to explain it to him...until the warlock threatened to dump him accidentally into the Atlantic. The former knight of Camelot shut his mouth with a snap.
The call finally came in. Torchwood was ready. Percival picked up Gwaine and swallowed down a lump in his throat.
The words that flowed out of Merlin's mouth seemed ancient. His eyes glowed like a fire had been lit inside them, and Merlin first directed his hand towards the camera. "Alright, we don't have much time. Are you ready?"
At a tentative nod from the other men, he began uttering a string of syllables that would hopefully take them to the designated spot, just outside Cardiff.
(*~*~*~*)
The whirlwind of dust and magic subsided around them. Merlin collapsed the moment his feet materialized on solid ground. He blinked in exhaustion at the blurred hand reaching out to him. Merlin reached for it, thankful to find it belonged to Mickey. While he considered the spell itself to be rather simple, the added power needed for bringing his friends, as well as the distance crossed, caught him off balance. He was thankful, once again, that they had left the wheelchair behind.
Unfortunately for Percival, the large man wavered while holding Gwaine and trying to adjust from the unconventional travel.
"Easy there, big fella." Jack's voice stated as he reached forward to help steady the knight. Once he was certain Percival wasn't going to drop his companion, or fall himself, Jack smiled flirtatiously. His blue eyes indiscriminately roved over Percival. "Hi, Captain Jack Harkness."
"You can flirt later, boss." Mickey said, rolling his eyes.
Jack scoffed, "You know, you're as bad as the Doctor."
"Yeah, well, someone's got to keep you in line."
Percival's boyish face appeared frightened. Gwaine heard him gulp, while still sitting across his friend's large arms, with one arm slung around the massive shoulders to help his balance. He patted Percival on the back. "Relax, I don't think he means anything by it." Gwaine turned to Jack. "You might want to back off a bit, things are a bit...different, where we come from."
Jack raised a dark eyebrow. Blue eyes shined mischievously, and he flashed them a dashing smile that spoke of forbidden promises. "...And where might that be, handsome?"
Groaning and leaning against Mickey for support, Merlin answered, "Not too far from here, but the real question is when, not where."
"Care to elaborate?" Jack asked, now even more intrigued...if that was at all possible.
(*~*~*~*)
"So you are really THE Merlin, from all the tale and myths?"
A ceramic mug was placed in front of Merlin on the table, jarring the warlock from his thoughts. They were currently in a safe house owned by Torchwood. Gwaine had been given a fairly heavy dose of a painkilling sedative and was now sound asleep in an upstairs room. Percival sat in a chair close to a window in the sitting room. He stared outside at the traffic going by, his face unreadable. Even though the large knight had never been to Queen Annis' castle, he had seen it from a distance a couple of times, and it looked nothing like the ruins they passed on the way to the safe house.
Merlin began to worry about his friend's mental state. Having walked through time, living through history, it was difficult for Merlin to comprehend just how many changes had taken place. "Yes, I am." He finally answered Jack.
"You know magic is probably just some unstudied form of alien genetics or technology, right?" The Torchwood Agent slumped down in the chair across from Merlin. "I mean, everything has some sort of explanation."
Merlin stared at the man. It was a similar conversation he and Martha had on a few occasions. He'd allowed his betrothed to take blood and tissue samples to study. As of yet, she hadn't found anything significant that could attribute to his magic, or his long life span. "When you find out what it is, be sure to let me know, right?"
"You boys are welcome to stay here, as long as you need to."
"I appreciate that, Jack." Merlin took a sip of the tea in front of him. "I think once Gwaine is rested, I'll probably be taking them to some land I own upriver from here. Then I need to head to London and get married."
Jack chuckled, "Martha is one lucky lady. By the way, where's my invitation?"
"Did Martha not send one out to you?" Merlin clucked his tongue against his teeth. "Shame, it must have gotten lost in the post or something."
"Yeah, like it magically disappeared..." Standing up, he smoothed out his trousers. "I need to get back to headquarters. I'll leave Mickey here, at your disposal, in case you need anything."
Merlin smiled and sat up straighter. He held his hand out in front of him and spoke in Old English. He didn't hide his smirk upon seeing Jack jump slightly, when Merlin's eyes glowed and an envelope appeared in his hand. Tossing the sealed letter to Jack, he smiled, "There's your invitation. Sorry about the mix up."
Harkness let out a smooth laugh as he caught it. "You sly dog!"
(*~*~*~*)
"Hey." Mickey said, taking a seat near Percival. "I would ask if you're doing alright, but from what Merlin was saying about you lot...I think it would be pointless."
The blond man's lips turned up slightly in gratitude. "I only saw Caerleon from a distance, a few times. If Camelot has suffered much the same disrepair, I am uncertain how I will react."
The dark-skinned man glanced towards the kitchen, where Merlin sat staring at his tea. "He didn't tell you then?"
Percival shook his head.
"Oh boy." Mickey breathed out and rubbed his hands together, nervously. He wasn't sure if he should be the one to explain to his new friend...how there was no Camelot. Until he met Merlin, even Mickey believed it was a myth. However, when the wizard had shown Mickey some of his magic, and began to spin the tales, the young man felt a stirring in his soul. He believed every word the blue-eyed man spoke...almost as if he had lived it.
"You know how it was a long time ago, right?" The knight nodded his understanding, so Mickey continued, "Well, most people, nowadays, just pass it off as fairy tales. Its not been proven that it ever existed. Although, now I know the prat over there," Mickey's eyes flicked to Merlin.
"I think he had something to do with it. I reckon, if it still exists, Merlin might have hidden it...or something...with his magic."
"I didn't hide it." Merlin called from the kitchen. Merlin stood and brought his tea with him into the sitting room. His voice was distant, as if he were reliving a memory. "By the time I was able to think of something like that...Camelot was already gone. The only part that was left, was immortalized in the Welsh fables. I came across a man by the name of Geoffrey of Monmouth in the twelfth century..."
"...but Geoffrey was at Camelot?" Percival asked, trying to understand.
"There was a Geoffrey there, too. However, the man I met simply had the same name, and penchant for recording history. Perhaps he was the same man, reborn. I don't know. Anyway, I began to tell him of my memories. Through him, and later through others, Camelot was rebirthed into legend. Much of it has been twisted and is completely inaccurate, but the idea of it...the fantasy of what it might have been, is strong in the hearts of many."
"...And the castle?"
"Long gone. I'm sorry to say."
Percival stared out the window. His thoughts were scattered as he tried to make sense of it all. "I want to see it." He said after a while.
"Tomorrow. We need to let Gwaine rest for a bit."
"Is he going to be alright?" The large man inquired.
Merlin shrugged, "That's up to him, I suppose. A lot of his pain, and his immobility, is in his head. He's getting better, but the psychological damage from everything you have both been through, is a heavy burden for him."
Percival nodded, "His last words to me, before I thought he was dead were..."
"I failed."
They all turned to see Gwaine sitting midway down on the flight of steps leading from the upper floor room.
"Gwaine, you should be in bed, resting." Merlin stated. He was secretly pleased to see that his friend had made it as far as he had on his own. "How did you manage to make it to the stairs?"
Gwaine shrugged, "Mostly crawling, and leaning on things. Nature called. What do you mean it's in my head?" The glare he shot Merlin was filled with anger and betrayal.
Merlin sighed, "Let's get you the rest of the way down here, and I'll try to explain."
(*~*~*~*)
The sun shone down, reflecting off the still surface of the lake. A green island in the center of the body of water was shrouded in mist. A dark pillar stood at the highest point, its pinnacle rising just above the fog. The road behind them was thankfully devoid of traffic, as the four men stared out at the lake.
Mickey leaned against the guardrail, slightly away from the others. Gwaine and Merlin sat on a bench facing the water, while Percival stood next to them. The mood was heavy among them, after Merlin finished his tale of Arthur's final moments. Gwaine asked about Gwen, and Merlin told him the same thing he had told Percival. She and her son were brought to the lake as well...the same place he had lain Lancelot to rest, after he had returned from under Morgana's control.
"I once again, wish to thank you for freeing me from her thrall, my friend."
The three men looked up sharply. Before them, as large as life, stood a vision of Lancelot. Merlin's brows pinched as he stared at their long lost friend, exactly how the warlock remembered him.
"I never actually died, if that's what you're wondering." He explained to his stunned friends. "When I gave myself to the veil, I was greeted by a being so ethereal, I thought for certain I was in heaven. Instead, however, I was given a choice, to become a guardian of sorts. Through her magic, Morgana was able to tap into that realm and bring my body back for her sick plan. I was powerless against her will. When Merlin brought my body here, he was able to release me back into the Ascended existence I had chosen."
"So...how are you here now?" Merlin asked, before rambling on. "I mean...not that I mind, I've seen a lot of things, lived a lot of lives...but..."
Percival cocked his head to the side. "Yes, how are you here?"
Gwaine's eyes narrowed. During one of Cameron's visits, the Air Force Colonel was able to explain more about the Ancients who built the Stargates, and their subsequent Ascension to a form beyond the likeness of a human. Originally, they were human, or at least something close to it. As their society blossomed, they reached a point in their evolution that allowed them to transform their consciousness into an ethereal ghost-like form.
The battle over Antarctica, when Cameron was shot down, was due to a Goa'uld who had been gifted with the ability to Ascend, in hopes that he would be able to lead his people to a better path. Unfortunately, Anubis had 'suckered', as Cameron put it, the Ancients. He took the power granted to him with his new form to take over much of the galaxy in his quest for power.
Lancelot smiled at Gwaine. "You know, don't you?"
Flipping his hair back, Gwaine laughed, "Yeah...yeah, I do."
"Good, because I don't have much time. I'm already breaking the rules by appearing to you now."
"Rules?" Merlin asked, his head was spinning. "You've visited me before, over the years, haven't you?"
The Ascended being only smiled his reply.
"Does that mean...Arthur...and Gwen?" Merlin's throat was tight as he began to realize the possibilities.
"No, their fates are different than my own."
"You said 'are', not 'were'." The warlock immediately questioned the phrasing .
"Did I?" Lancelot feigned innocence. The ghostly knight suddenly looked over his shoulder. He turned back with a harried expression. "I must go. Just know when the time comes, you will be ready." He turned and began to walk away.
"Wait!" Percival called out to his friend. "Will we see you again?"
Lancelot shrugged and smiled. "I'll be keeping watch over you all. Goodbye, my friends." His form faded as he walked away, leaving the four men stunned.
"I'd love to say that was weird...but for my life, it really wasn't." Mickey said, startling the other three.
They all began laughing. "Come on, we have one more place to go, before we rush off to London so I can get married."
Gwaine stood and stretched with a cat-like grin, before he realized the pain he had been feeling was now nothing more than a dull ache from disuse. He took a wobbly step and nearly fell over.
Percival caught his friend and chuckled, "Merlin said it would still take some time."
"Yeah, but at least now there's a reason to hope."
(*~*~*~*)
An hour later they stopped and picked up a takeaway lunch from a shop, before piling back into the SUV. The four men had been talking non-stop about what Lancelot might have meant. Merlin brought up his concerns, and told them about the prophecy. Mickey and Gwaine seemed to be in agreement that the threat was probably alien, both having had experiences with the extraterrestrial.
"You mentioned, the other night with Martha, about two kings on an alien planet." Percival said.
Merlin bared his teeth in a grimace. "Um...I...uh..."
"Two kings?" Gwaine cocked his head to the side.
"Mickey, you want to turn down that dirt path, just up and to the right a bit."
"Merlin?" Gwaine prodded.
"It was a theory that Elvis and Arthur..."
"Were what? Singing 'hunk-a-hunk-a burnin' love' on some alien planet somewhere, while sipping on pina colada's?"
Mickey snorted out a laugh as he turned down the overgrown trail. An old rusted gate and a fallen tree barred the way. "Um...how do we get through here?"
"Like this..." Merlin held out his hand. His eyes flashed with inner fire as the tree disappeared and the gate swung open. Mickey drove through, Merlin twisted around in the seat and without a word, the roadblock was back in place.
"Now that I understand a bit more, that actually is rather hot." Percival said.
The other three cackled at the knight's attempt at modern vernacular. Gwaine put a hand on his large friend's shoulder. "You mean 'cool', I think. Saying it was 'hot', would be like when that Harkness character was flirting with you...because he thinks you're hot."
Percival's eyes widened in fear and embarrassment. "Yes, I meant 'cool'."
Gwaine sat back and looked out the window, as the vehicle crept along. The tree line thinned ahead of them and opened up into a lush green field. Across the way, they could see a manor house, set on top of a hill. "Where are we anyway?"
Merlin's eyes casually scanned the area. "Oh, you know, just some land I own." At Gwaine's questioning look, he continued, "Okay, it's more like a rather large estate I managed to acquire back around the eighteenth century."
"It looks sort of familiar." Percival stated.
"It should..." Merlin said softly, his voice filled with reverence. "It's Camelot."
"Camelot?" Gwaine spouted, his brown eyes wide.
"Camelot?" Percival also questioned.
Merlin was unfortunately taking a drink out of his paper coffee cup when Mickey muttered beside him. "It's only a model."
The coffee sprayed from Merlin's lips, across the inside of the windsheild. Gwaine was rolling with laughter in the backseat.
Percival blinked, "I don't get it."
[1]: Reference to Doctor Who episodes: 4x12, 13 "The Stolen Earth" and "Journey's End"
[2]: Virtual cookie for those that can guess this movie.
The prolifically proficient proofreading puffin of polishing (say that three times really fast...hell, just try to say it out loud once!) Otherwise known as my beta Nance... thank you as always! *tosses pickled herring at her*
Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed and followed this story!
Well...this is it actually. The final chapter of this mini-fic, as I had planned it. *gasp* I actually stuck to the outline as written!
No huge plot line, just a few crossovers and some character development mixed with some family drama. I debated on a 7th chapter...but in the end, I decided to leave this as is. I also want to do an epilogue, however, I am struggling on which way to take it. So many directions, and plot bunnies, and rabid plot squirrels, so little time! Let me know if you have any ideas. I may or may not draw inspiration off of them, but it would be fun to find out what you all think, at least.
Back to Lord of Beasts for me, for the time being I suppose, until I can either complete that piece, or get hijacked again!
Thank you for reading! *air kisses* Please leave a comment! Loves and hugs to you all!