AN for everyone in Colorado along the Front Range: Try to keep your heads above water...literally. Sending energy for you guys.

The weekend had been filled with so many new experiences. Laney had taken the wheel of her car, much smaller and smoother than Gwaine's vehicle, however, somehow the large and loud thing seemed to suit the knight. She drove the three of them to a place called Castle Rock. A large flat-topped mountain rose on the horizon, and from a distance it almost did resemble a castle. A very intriguing market called an outlet mall, had shops set up like an outdoor market place.

The two women took her from shop to shop, trying on clothing that fit without being tailored. They drank and ate things she never imagined...such as chocolate ice cream. Gwen couldn't wait to let her son try it...She felt a bit melancholy that Arthur wasn't able to experience these things with her. Gwen questioned the rectangular cards that Martha pulled out of her small bag, to exchange for the items. Martha did her best to try and explain the credit cards, but Gwen appeared even more lost about it.

"Hell, I grew up with them...and now I don't even know what the frack they are...after that explanation!" Laney said, with a laugh.

They found baby clothing in another store, along with items that made Gwen squeal in delight, when she found out what they were. A stroller was among the things that made her giddy. The comfortable seat and the wheels...which meant she wouldn't have to carry her son everywhere...it was one of the most miraculous things she could have dreamt of.

Everything was so new and different, but in the company of her new friends, who didn't seem to care that she was once a servant or a queen, it was a wonderful experience. Another store had Gwen blushing like she never had before in her life...undergarments that consisted of nothing but strings and lace were blatantly put on display in a large window.

The best part, Gwen decided, was the pampering. She couldn't stop looking at her feet, softer than they had ever been, with bright pink painted on the toes. Her hands felt amazing and sported a matching color on the nails. Most of all, she was enjoying her hair. Reluctant at first, because she was unsure of what Arthur would say, when he sees her looking so different. Gwen finally agreed to have it cut to a length just below her shoulders. As she ran her decorated fingertips through it, she marvelled at the way it bounced and moved; almost like a very expensive silk from exotic lands. It still curled naturally around her face, and she loved it.

Merlin, it seemed, was perfectly fine with Aurie, while they were away. The girls returned back late in the evening, to find the toddler crawling around the floor and chasing small bubbles of rainbow-colored lights; giggling profusely, when he would catch one and pop it. The warlock came out of the kitchen...and stopped short at the sight of Gwen. She wore a peasant style blouse and faded, form-fitting jeans that showed off shapely legs and ended at sparkling, silver, strappy sandals.

"Arthur's going to think he really had died and gone to Avalon, when he gets a look at you."

The following day was spent relaxing. Merlin and Gwen took advantage of the couple of horses owned by the family, and enjoyed a quiet ride around the forty acre ranch.

Gwen fidgeted in her saddle and picked absentmindedly at the horse's mane. "I don't know what I'm going to say to him." She confided to Merlin.

"He probably won't be able to really comprehend what's happened, according to Martha; at least for a couple of days, while he's being given painkillers and sedatives."

"Laney told me, she was going to take some time off work to watch Aurie for me...so I don't have to worry about him while Arthur is in surgery."

Merlin smiled, "I think that's probably a good idea. Remember, Arthur doesn't even know about him yet. He doesn't know about any of this." He waved his hands, indicating the larger picture. "His last moments...he watched me kill his sister, and then..."

They rode on in silence, breathing in the warm dry air.

"I have to say," Merlin said, "you are handling the change much better than Percival. Certainly better than I feared."

"What choice do I have, Merlin? I can wallow in self-pity, or allow myself to be overwhelmed, but it won't change a thing. If this is the world my son will grow up in, I have to adjust." She sighed, "I know I shouldn't think this way, or say such things...I don't want to appear apathetic about what befell Camelot, but I rather like not being responsible for a kingdom. Is that callous of me? I mean, what would Arthur say?"

The countryside was beautiful. Rolling hills of dry grassland laid spread out before them. To the west, they could see the blue and white mountains in the distance, like a picture painted against the sky. They stood majestically...a bit surreal.

"I don't know what he's going to say...about anything. It has me a bit worried. Honestly, you would be a better judge of his mindset than I would, with the time weirdness and such. Is he going to yell and throw a tantrum; accusing me of letting Camelot fall and not saving him? Is he even going to remember I have magic? Will he accept it all and be happy, just to be alive?"

Gwen patted the neck of the dappled roan mare beneath her, and allowed Merlin to vent his worries.

"I don't know, Gwen. I really don't know how to proceed right now. There were no signs that we would all be gathered here...that Lancelot had become an Ascended being, watching over us. I was told Arthur would return someday, and for a long while, I kept preparing for it. I kept looking for signs, but after a time...I couldn't anymore."

He inhaled deeply, and let the soft smell of sage, from the blooming rabbitbrush, calm him. "Mithian used to get so mad at me. At first, she helped with researching the books and ancient scrolls; searching for even the tiniest of clues. Then, when she gave birth to our first child...a daughter...it finally got through to me, that I couldn't live my life lamenting about what might, or might not come.

"The hardest day, I think, was when our youngest, a son we named Gawain...don't tell Gwaine I named a child after him, I'd never hear the end of it. He is already enjoying being his own namesake far too much, as it is." He said, as a side note. "...but Gawain was just named as a squire to Mithian's brother, when someone made a comment about how I hadn't changed...not even a gray hair on my head."

Gwen chewed her bottom lip in worry. "That's when you realized...?"

Merlin nodded, "I don't think it really set in until later. I came up behind Mithian, as she was looking into a mirror. We both knew, in that moment, that Arthur's prophesied return would not be in the course of a normal lifetime.I feared what it meant to be alone; just myself with no one else who knew him. Not a soul alive, but me, who would understand how great of a king he was, or could have been."

"...But now it has come, and you are not alone. You said Lancelot is watching over us?" She waited for him to nod, "and by an amazing twist of destiny, Gwaine and Percival are here...as am I. We were the closest to him. We know, like you, the type of man he was...and will be again."

"Yeah," he reluctantly agreed. He snorted, "Just wait until you meet Mickey Smith. Gwaine and Percival are both convinced he's your brother, reborn."

Gwen's eyes widened, a giggle bubbled up from inside her. "Does he have memories or anything then?"

"No, he doesn't even really look like him...I don't think...except for the darker skin, like you. It's more just some of the mannerisms and being gullible enough to fall for Gwaine's pranks, when he came over there for my and Martha's wedding."

(*~*~*~*)

Gwen hardly moved. Her eyes were glued to the scene below her. Many had attempted to persuade her out of being in the observation room, above the operating theater during the surgery, but she refused to budge. She was from a place and age that was much harsher than this. Martha tried to express that it was different when the patient was a loved one, but Gwen wouldn't hear of it.

Merlin stood just as still, leaning against a wall near the same windows. He was preparing for anything, and it had already been a long morning. Aurie was out at Gwaine's place with his sister, even though the former knight was still on an alien planet, searching for his friend. There was no word when he would return.

Merlin and Gwen had been in the room when the pod was opened; clinging tightly to one another in the background, while Martha worked with Dr. Lam and the others to release the king.

Lam counted down as a group gathered around the edges, ready to lift the lid. The hissing sound of the seal cracking was quickly followed by a flurry of action.

The lid was moved off to the side. Others stepped in and lifted the king out, placing him on a strategically placed gurney. Someone rushed forward, attaching monitors to the king's head. Another held bolt cutters at the ready.

Merlin sucked in a breath and released Gwen. He hastily made his way to the king. His magic might not work on the wound, but he could certainly do something about the restrictive chainmail, now that Arthur was out of the pod. Martha stepped back, giving him room, while the others looked confused.

A few soft words, with his hand on the king's chest, and his eyes glowed softly from under his lids. The armor disappeared off the body and reappeared on a table nearby. He shrugged off Dr. Lam's shocked look. "He'd kill me if anything happened to his armor."

"Works for me!" She replied, happily moving forward to cut off the rest of the clothing, as the operating team worked to stabilise Arthur's nearly non-existent vital signs. The heart monitor beeped out an extremely slow rhythm, but it was still there. Lam and the others took a moment to breathe.

The first part was over.

Gwen timidly moved to her husband's side, attempting to stay out of the way of all the people, as they recorded information and checked placements of their equipment. "May I have a moment with him, before you take him?" She asked, with a sudden surge of bravery, that her husband would have been proud of. Her head was held high, and all in the room could see the change from a young woman, outside of her own place and time, to the queen who dwelt inside.

Carolynne Lam looked over the readouts from the monitors. She seemed hesitant.

Martha spoke up. "I'll stay in here, and keep an eye on his vitals."

Nodding, Lam motioned the others out of the room. "Two minutes, no more."

Merlin and Gwen were left in peace next to the body of their king. Martha quietly wandered around, checking over the data given off by the machines.

Delicate fingers smoothed over the king's blond hair. Gwen was trembling, unable to will her body to be as strong as she wished. For the first time since the eve of the Battle of Camlann, she was touching her husband. Her emotions tumbled over the edge. She pressed her brow to his, cupping his face in her hands. Tears flowed freely.

The strain in Merlin's eyes was apparent, but he held himself back. His mind was reliving the last moments of his king's life.

Gwen kissed the cool lips of her beloved; stroking his cheek in a tender caress.

Eyelashes fluttered.

"Arthur...Oh my god...Arthur?" Gwen's voice was frantic, as she realized her husband was trying to wake up.

Cloudy blue eyes opened briefly against heavy lids. A hint of a smile...and then all hell broke loose.

His eyes rolled back in his head. The monitors began beeping loudly, alarms sounding from each and every one of them.

Martha sprung into action, pressing an emergency button on the wall and running to the ancient king. "He's crashing!" She yelled, as Lam and the others hurried back into the room.

"Let's get him intubated!" Lam called out.

Merlin startled, awakening from the memories that played through his mind. He grabbed Gwen's shoulders and pulled her out of the way. He held her upright, when her knees buckled, although he was having a difficult time keeping himself standing.

Three long hours later and they hadn't spoken a word. Neither knew what to say, as they watched the team of doctors and nurses work diligently to save Arthur.

Martha utilised a laser saw, a piece of technology she had borrowed from Torchwood, to create an incision in the king's chest; but it was only good for the soft tissue to keep bleeding at bay. Lam's team opened up the rib cage, and followed the lines of the internal wound.

Martha used the laser saw to cauterize as they went. Finally, in a flurry of hands and tools, Lam reached into the open chest cavity.

Merlin stood up straighter. Gwen held her breath and sat forward. This was the moment...they could both feel it.

From their vantage point, they couldn't see what happened when Lam turned away from them, and towards one of her assistants. Lam shared a look with Martha. The masked faces gave no hint of emotion, but when Martha looked up to the observation room, Merlin could see the affirmation in her eyes.

Gwen saw it as well, and let out a cry of relief. Merlin moved to his queen and wrapped his arms around her. They held each other tightly. The sword piece had been removed. Merlin sniffled, his eyes were red-rimmed and puffy. He cleared his throat. "I'm going to go see if my magic can help them."

Gwen nodded and smiled through her tears.

(*~*)

Merlin entered the operating theater, staying well out of the way of the activity. "Can I help?"

Dr. Lam glanced at him. She nodded, "Mask up and at least put on gloves. We don't need an infection to set in, while he's in such a delicate state."

An orderly moved over to Merlin and assisted in putting on a long green smock over Merlin's arms, then helped him with gloves and a face mask. Merlin chuckled silently over the precautions. He stepped up to the operating table and with confidence, he put his hands over the wounds, and cast his spell...

Nothing happened...at least from where he was standing.

"Dr. Lam!" One of the techs called out, and pointed to a screen that showed a magnified version of the area they were working on. The flesh around the heart started to mend, but then tore apart again, almost as fast.

"It looks like it's trying to heal, but something is having an adverse reaction within the damaged tissue.." As they watched the screen, the damage to the heart visibly began to increase. Lam urged Merlin to move away, using her elbow. "Sorry, Colonel Emrys, you need to back away. Dr. Jones, can you use your tool again? If we don't stop the reaction, we could lose him."

Merlin stepped back, stunned. His eyes were still glued to the screen, as Martha brought in the laser saw and began cauterizing the wound directly on the heart, while Lam held the pieces together.

"Someone go see if Colonel Carter is around...and bring in the Goa'uld hand device! I'm not going to lose this man now!" Lam called out in an authoritative voice.

He felt like he was in a thick fog. Unknown hands pulled him back towards the door, and out of the mad rush.

A blond woman ran hastily into the room, and pushed her way past the others. A circular device in the palm of her hand lit up. The beam of light coming off of it was focused on the wounded heart muscle.

Merlin held his breath. His eyes shifted between the magnified image on the screen and the king's body. Whatever the device was...it appeared to be working. A collective sigh of relief spread through the room.

The woman, Carter, wavered slightly. It was obvious that she had put a good amount of effort into that small burst, to repair the heart.

Merlin vaguely recognized her. Around the Base, she was often seen in the company of General Landry, or Gwaine's friend Cameron and his team. On one occasion, Merlin had come out of the nearby Gentlemen's facilities, to find the former knight smiling and flirting with her.

Colonel Carter stepped back from the operating table. Her eyes moved to the screen. "Can I have some of the tissue samples sent to my lab?" She asked, taking extra care not to touch anything in the room. Something in her voice, broke Merlin out of his daze. The way she asked the question, gave him pause to wonder if she recognized what had happened inside the body of the king.

Carter turned to leave. She offered him a smile of polite encouragement. "The worst is behind him. I'm sure he'll be able to pull through."

He nodded and allowed her to lead him out into the hallway. Out of sight of the king and all the surgeons, he tore off the surgical scrubs and tossed them in a nearby bin, designated for the soiled attire. He looked down at his hands and wondered why his magic didn't work on Arthur, once again.

A man in full combat gear came jogging through the hallway towards them. Taking off his helmet, Merlin recognized Gwaine and breathed a sigh.

"I just got called back," he huffed, attempting to catch his breath. "Is he alright?"

Merlin nodded and pointed at the woman. "She saved him...I couldn't." He turned and walked away. His head hung in self-doubt, as he climbed the stairs to the observation room.

Gwaine's eyebrows furrowed, "What happened?"

"I'm not certain. I was called in just a few moments ago to use the Goa'uld hand device. He's stable now...but not out of the woods, it seems. When your friend tried to use his abilities to heal him, there was a weird reaction. It almost appeared, as if whatever traces of the shrapnel were left, were having a very specific, adverse reaction against him directly. Like magnets with the same pole turned towards each other. It repelled the flesh instead of joining it."

Gwaine nodded his understanding. He licked his lips as a thought began to form in his mind. Lately, some of the nightmares had returned, although he didn't tell anyone about them. The white dragon, swooped down over them during the final battle. As he watched, the old man on the cliff was shouting foreign words to it, and it spun away...as if...

"Any word on Cameron?"

Her words broke him out of the daydream. He shook his head tiredly. "I was just rotated out, to shower and catch some sleep. We've covered about as much ground as we're going to be able to on foot, and nothing is showing up from the UAVs." The Unmanned Aerial Vehicles were the best thing to employ on short notice for an aerial search. Equipped with infrared sensors and cameras, among other things, it usually made short work of the search and recovery missions. However, even with the current technology, there was no sign of civilization on the planet's surface.

The man, a Sodan warrior, who was the patient in the priority surgery a few days prior, was recovering, but had yet to say anything of value to help the SGC locate their missing Colonel. For the time being, Mitchell was assumed to be a prisoner, though the Sodan claimed he was more than likely dead.

"I'm going to go make sure Merlin is alright."

(*~*~*~*)

After checking on his friends, Gwaine headed to the locker room. Merlin had been slumped against a far wall, off in his own world. Gwen's eyes darted back and forth between Merlin and Arthur's prone form in the room below.

Gwaine explained to her that, while the magic didn't seem to work, a piece of alien technology did. Arthur's heart was repaired, and the doctors were in the process of putting the rest of him back together, using more mundane means. They both knew, without Merlin's special abilities, it was going to be a long road to recovery for the king, but Gwen was more than grateful that the worst was over.

His gear was stowed away and he sat on a bench, between the rows of lockers. He held his head in his hands, fighting against a headache. He knew it was a combination of lack of sleep from the nightmares, and the heightened stress of having two of his friends facing different forms of danger. Arthur, it appeared, would recover. Cameron, however, was still missing. He stood and grabbed his cellphone.

Making his way to one of the upper levels, where he could get cell service, he then rang Percival.

A brief 'hello' was exchanged, before Gwaine filled his friend in on the situation.

"Do you remember that ugly little dragon-thing Morgana had at Camlann?" Gwaine asked.

"Barely. We were on that hidden path fighting. I saw it breath fire on the main battle, but then something seemed to scare it away." Percival said, curious about what Gwaine was getting at.

"Merlin was the old man on the ridge who ordered it away."

"He was the old man?...I'm going to kill him."

Gwaine chuckled, remembering his first reaction at finding out that Merlin was Dragoon. "Yeah, you and me both. Anyway...I had a dream the other night about it." He began to explain his half-baked theory.

"Have you spoken with Merlin about this?"

"Not yet, he's in a bit of a state right now. I think until Arthur wakes up, he's not going to be in much of a mood for talking. Also, each time that creature is brought up, he shies away from the conversation."

Percival made a sound of agreement. "I noticed that, as well."

"I don't know..." Gwaine started to feel a thread of doubt. "...maybe I'm just reaching for an explanation."

"I'll ask Jack this afternoon, when I go into work...See if he knows anything about it. He hasn't been around as long as Merlin...but maybe he has some sort of idea."

"What do you mean?"

"Um...well, it's a long story. I'll see if I can find out anything. Let me know if anything changes for Arthur."

"Will do, my friend. Will do."

AN: ...and...we're not there yet LOL getting REALLY close though!

Proofread by Nance (the now "Posh Puffin") and flow read by IcarusLSU

Flamie: Glad to be of service *bows* yes, go ahead and complain...I'm drawing it out again hehe

Aerist: Can't wait to see what you come up with...with what we discussed. Yep that was the episode.

IcarusLSU: Thanks as always.

Nance: Well, there's the mall for ya! ;D

Tholey: Thanks so much! Your comment helped inspire having a bit more Gwen in this latest chapter.

TiP: I had a few friends growing up, that were about Perc's size. The trucks could handle it...and they were the best for pushing the dang things out of the mud. :P

Thank you again, everyone! Your reviews just make my heart flutter with anticipation, and they spur me into making the most out of these stories. *air kisses and puppies* (I say puppies because I have 4 furry fosters from the local shelter at the moment...and they've gotten to the chewing stage.)