He walked into work with a spring in his step. His pride had swelled that morning as he donned his uniform, with the new leaves gracing the corners of the collar. Gwaine made his way to Landry's office to receive his new orders. He rapped on the door and pushed it open, when he heard the general's voice.

The newly-made Marine Major felt as if this, more than anything else, was going to solidify his return to the twenty-first century. Merlin had remained at the house, which Gwaine felt a slight bit of guilt about, as it meant the ancient warlock was going to be subjected to Laney's questions all day. His sister had listened to a brief explanation the night before on Merlin's magic, and how he appeared to be immortal. After a while, they had all felt exhaustion creeping in, and called it a night.

"Ah, Major Dallon, come right in." Landry waved off a salute and motioned to the chair opposite his own. "How are you feeling?"

"Rearing to go, Sir."

"Good! Now, before we get too caught up in things, I should tell you that I have denied both your and Colonel Mitchell's request for placement with SG-1."

"Sir?" Gwaine questioned. His eyebrows drawn together in confusion.

"There're a few reasons behind it, which I don't really need to explain to you, because it's my place to give orders and your's to take them. However, I'm in a sharing mood, so I will.

"First off, traditionally SG-1 has been an Air Force team, not Marines...but I don't really give a hootin' nanny about that. The fact of the matter is, if I placed you in SG-1, it would be like throwing you into the deep end of the pool, with a bunch of wild sharks swimming around your ankles, and you not having a clue on how to do more than doggy paddle. You get my meaning?"

Gwaine nodded. He honestly felt he could hold his own if he was with the elite team under Mitchell's command, but he bit his tongue and kept listening.

"Another, is the issue of fraternization. It seems Lt. Col. Carter may be coming back to the SGC. I make it my place to know the people under my command, and I know the two of you dated in the past. "

"It was one date to a rock concert!" Gwaine protested. He rolled his eyes. "If I was on the same team with her, it wouldn't be an issue, Sir."

Landry shrugged, "Well, I'm assigning you to SG-18 for the time being. I believe you already know Lt. Colonel Reeves from your previous team?" The general continued without waiting for a response. "They're currently on a mission and should be back next week. That should give you time to catch up on their mission reports. Any which way, the slots on SG-1 are now filled. You'll just have to wait and prove to me that you deserve it, Major."

Landry looked around his desk, as if lost for a moment. He opened his mouth to yell out the secondary door to his office.

"Third down in the stack of folders to your right hand side, Sir!" Came the response from Walter, before the general could ask the question.

"Thank you, Walter!" Landry sifted through the clutter and pulled out the file he wanted. Tossing it in front of Gwaine, he said, "Now, I think this might hold a bit more interest for you than even your team placement."

His eyes initially skimmed the page absently, until he noticed the picture of a certain crest...a golden dragon on a red background. He felt his pulse speed up, and he took more care in reading the words on the pages. No other photographs accompanied the file, but he didn't need them.

"Well?" Landry prompted, after a decent amount of time had passed. "Are you interested in seeing more about this?"

He nodded, unable to immediately find his voice. Clearing his throat, he managed to ask, "These pods were found in Glastonbury?"

"Yep. There's a whole system of tunnels under the hill there. The room these were found in, was from an offshoot that ran out under a nearby lake. You think you might know them?"

Shaking his head, partially to answer his CO, but also in disbelief at what his mind was telling him. "I don't know, Sir."

"Let's go down to the quarantine room and take a look then, shall we?"

Gwaine followed silently. One thought playing through his mind: he needed to call Merlin. Unfortunately, that would have to wait until later, after he saw with his own eyes just who was being kept in stasis. From what he had learned from past Stargate missions, it was to never take the reports at face value. For all he knew, it could be some alien race, like the Alterans, posing as a people from Camelot to hide from their fellow Ascended beings. It could be holographic projections inside the pods, giving off the signatures of human life...so many possibilities.

General Landry led the way through a door into an observation room above the quarantined area. A glass wall on one side was angled outward to give a bird's eye view of the medical team below.

Gwaine felt his knees begin to shake.

Two steel-colored, oblong pods laid side by side below. Vast amounts of machinery surrounded them. Square windows on the tops allowed him to see the contents.

Like glass coffins, the pods held three unmoving forms. In the first one, surrounded by a few technicians and Dr. Lam, were a woman and child. Long black curls fell regally around coffee-toned skin and highlighted the thin gold circlet on her brow. The child was young, and appeared contently asleep with his mother's arm cradling him against her red velvet gown, encrusted with gems and embroidered with golden thread.

He noticed her hands, or to be more precise, the discoloration of them. His eyes narrowed as he saw the child had similar blackening of the skin. He flipped open the file and re-read the part about the woman and child. Bubonic Plague. It confirmed what he already knew...what Merlin had described to him.

Gwaine took a breath and forced his eyes over to the second pod. His heart stopped. One glance, and he knew without a doubt, the identity of the man who laid inside.

He was trembling. The trembles turned into shaking, as his head began to spin with a wave of dizziness. Gwaine scrunched his face and forced his emotions aside. "With your permission, Sir, I'd like to call Colonel Emrys in on this."

"The guy from UNIT?"

Gwaine nodded, "He has..." he tried to think of how to explain it. "...information on their conditions before they were placed in stasis."

"So, I take it you do know these people. Dr. Lam was just about ready to begin extrication of the woman and child from the pod. How soon do you think he can get here?"

"About an hour, Sir. He's out at my place."

"I'll send a car." Landry moved to a nearby intercom. "Dr. Lam, hold off for a bit before you begin with the pod."

Lam looked up, realizing for the first time that there were people in the observation room. She nodded her acknowledgement. Her eyes glanced over to Major Dallon, her heart broke seeing the look on his face. Leaving her crew in the room, she made her way out the door and up the stairs to the observation room. Relief filled her mind; hopeful that she could kill two birds with one stone...finding out who these people were, and letting Major Dallon know she was going to do everything in her power to help them.

(*~*~*~*)

"Oh my god! Will you teach my brother?"

"Uh...no."

"Please?"

"No." Merlin chuckled and shook his head.

"I'll pay you!"

Merlin shook his head again.

Laney was not above begging and whining. "Why not?"

"He just doesn't have the necessary skill set or patience to learn it. Look, I've been doing this all my life. It's not really something I can teach to just anyone. I really have tried."

"Have you really ever tried to teach my brother?"

"I thought about it, but it just wasn't my place."

"Merlin, please...you've smelled those socks of his. If you could ever find a way...it would be like...magic!"

Merlin was nearly doubled over with laughter. "I admit I did try to teach him how to do laundry once, but...it just didn't take." He tried to put on a straight face as he picked up another bundle of clothes, and begin to fold them.

"What happened?"

"He found the only tub with blue dye in the room and put his red cloak in it. After that, I was done."

"He did that on purpose, you know, so he wouldn't have to do it again."

"It worked."

Merlin's cell phone rang. "Speak of the devil." He answered it with a hushed voice. "Help me...your sister is wanting me to teach you how to wash your socks!"

"That's nice." The voice on the other end deadpanned.

Immediately sobering from the laughter, Merlin asked, "What happened?"

He heard his friend draw a shaking breath and clear his throat. "General Landry is going to be sending a car for you."

"Gwaine?..." Merlin pressed. Laney had stopped matching socks and gave the warlock a worried look. "Why? What is it?"

"I can't really tell you over the phone...but it's happening...what we talked about. He's here, Merlin. All three of them are."

He folded the towel in his hand mechanically, and set it on the pile. His face filled with shadows of emotional upheaval. "Don't bother with the car. It will be quicker if I just teleport."

"Merlin, this place is filled with people and equipment. What if you land on someone?...or something?" Gwaine wasn't sure exactly how his friend's skill worked.

"If you'll let me, I can tap into your mind and see the place where you are. I'll work my magic from there. Let me get a few things and then I'll let you know when I'm ready, alright?"

He could sense Gwaine nod on the other end, just before he disconnected.

"Is everything okay?" Laney asked. Her hands were wringing with worry.

"Gwaine's fine. What we hadn't told you yet, is something very few people know about...and the reason I believe he and I were brought back together." His voice was distant as he spoke, almost as if he was confirming it to himself, more than explaining it to Elaine. "I was once told that someday the Once and Future King would rise again. It was my duty to wait and prepare for that day. I've done the best I could..and when I thought that it was just for Albion...England...it was much easier. Now, with the world the way it is...I don't know...Gwaine thinks that Arthur is there."

Laney reached out and took Merlin's hand. "You'll figure it out, between the two of you."

He returned the gesture, grateful for her support. "I need to call Martha before I go."

With that, he excused himself from the room and rang his wife. If he remembered correctly, she should be getting off work in Berlin, where she had gone to consult on something for UNIT. He listened to the Dubstep ringback tone she had programed, and waited for her to answer.

"'Allo love, I was just thinking about you. How's Colorado?"

Merlin smiled despite the insecurity he currently felt. "I miss you." Although he had six other wives before her, other than Mithian, he couldn't recall having felt so strongly about any of them. He certainly hadn't shared as much about his life and his secrets, with someone in such a short time period, as he did with her. Perhaps it was the fact that she didn't even blink, when he confessed his true age. Or maybe, it was because she was already so used to the supernatural aspects of the world, that she took what he said at face value and never questioned his history. Whatever it was, something about her brought him a measure of calm that he desperately needed.

"I just wanted to hear your voice." He confessed to her.

Her keen perception of nearly every nuance in his voice still astounded him. "It's happening, isn't it?"

"I think so."

"Hey," he could practically hear the smile that lit up on her face. "It's exciting right? To finally be done waiting."

"Yeah..." He felt a full-blown grin forming. She didn't ask if he was alright, or try to mother him in anyway. Nor did she demand that he tell her every detail. He thought when the moment finally came, he would be an emotional wreck. He had anticipated this moment for so long, it was akin to a raw wound in his soul. With just a few words from his wife, he felt a weight had lifted off of his shoulders. "Yeah, I guess it is."

Martha asked, "What do you need me to do?"

"I would say be the best wife I could ever hope to find in the entire universe...but you already nailed that. So, I guess it would be to find out everything you can about some aliens called the Ori. Gwaine seems to think they're going to be a problem...and if Elvis really has returned..."

She giggled at the inside joke. "I'll get right on it.

Thank you so much for the reviews!

Nance: YW :D and thank you! Hmm actually hadn't thought about any of them having magic. Glad you now like Laney, I know you were a bit frustrated with her the first time around. Amazing how a person can change a bit once they have some help :)

Icarus: Yeah a person can only take so much...Thanks as always for the support! And no, no, no, no, no! To the other 'rock' thing that was mentioned yesterday.

TiP: LOL Ok minor coronary...I'll have to up my game next time ;) I'm sure there will be a lot of confusion coming and attitude adjustments all around hehe.

Aerist: Yes! To what we talked about, OMG I can't wait to see what you come up with! Gonna be GORGEOUS! I think Laney will be fine, it was just a bit of an overwhelming day for her, and the magic was icing on the cake.

Tholey: OMG I woke up and had a big smile as I read your review over some hot tea. I know the beginning of the chapter was similar to the previous one, but you and others seemed to need another Gwaine visual LOL.

As I said before, I'm a few chapters ahead in this...however I still haven't decided how I'm going to wake up sleeping beauty...erm Arthur. Going back and forth with a few ideas, so we'll see how it turns out hehe