WOOHOO managing to get this out before Sunday! (ok maybe not for Australia)
* marks the transcript dialogue from SG-1 Episodes 919 "Crusade" and 920 "Camelot" borrowed (and twisted) for story development. (in other words not all of the dialogue of the SG-1 characters is mine)
I'm definitely challenging myself here, by sticking as close to canon as possible with these episodes, and the next four chapters. UGH! I thought about skipping through most of it, but for those that aren't familiar with the Stargate SG-1 show, I somehow felt it would be better to include the dialogue to give a bit more depth to the confusion I've been dealing with while writing this. (I have certainly realized I prefer an AU fandom writing style more than canon LOL)
Proofed by Nance, Flow beta'ed by IcarusLSU
FeedtheFlames: I know! Don't watch them too closely, part 5 will be even more twisted as it links into season 10
Guest: I hope that parts of this chapter will help answer your question
Aerist: Thanks and hmmm he's such an awesome bad guy, how could I leave him out of this!
Nance: I was laughing at the sushi and chopsticks visual as I was writing it.
GoldenFireFish: Thanks! Here it is!
And since I think I caused most of the Gwaine fangirls to possibly faint before they could review the previous Gwaine shower scene, I decided 'what the hell! I'll throw another one in'...this time in canon...with Cam too.
The steam in the locker room had more to do with the heated water from the showers and sinks, than anything more erotic. At least a dozen or so men...scantily clad in towels and underwear, and looking oh, so delicious, she added mentally...prepared for their day of work.
Solid, masculine bodies of varying shapes walked around, not paying her a second glance, as she bit her lip and ogled them over the rim of wire-framed glasses...except when she paused to make a barking sound at one of them. She sucked in a gasping breath, and hummed out her appreciation of the two men directly in front of her. Completely different, the taller one was a bit stockier, but still well-toned. The shorter was leaner, with the perfect triangle from shoulders to narrow hips.
Condensation from the air glistened off the languidly moving shoulder blades, and ran down their spines. She licked her lips, imagining what either...or both...might be like in a very, very large bed.
"You know one thing I really miss about being a knight?"
"The fact you didn't have to shave?"
"You got it...and my hair. Damn, I miss having longer hair."
Cameron snickered and rinsed his razor in the sink. "Well, not much can be done about that...unless you get a wig to wear off duty. I hear the good ones are actually rather affordable nowadays."
"Oh, yeah. So you can make fun of me? I don't think so."
"C'mon, man. You don't want to be known as Sir Gwaine, Knight of the Rug Table?"
Gwaine was about to retort when he paused, his sixth sense was tickling his mind. His hand stilled, the blade of his razor just millimeters from his chin. Raising his eyes from his own reflection, he saw a familiar face in the mirror. He blinked and shook his head to rid himself of the odd thought that had just passed through.
"Something wrong?" Mitchell asked.
"Naw...for a minute I just thought Dr. Jackson was looking at my ass." He muttered quietly.
A whistling catcall came from behind them. Cameron's eyebrows furrowed. He reached up to wipe the condensation from the mirror. Sure enough, there was Daniel Jackson standing a few feet behind them with a coy, very un-Daniel-like smirk, bouncing excitedly on the balls of his feet, and tilting his head to the side in a rather feminine manner. "Jackson? Is there something I should know?"*
Gwaine jumped and a let out with a girlish squeak, when Jackson grabbed his butt and gave it a pinch. After that, he moved behind Jackson and glared. He didn't quite understand what was going on, but from the sound of it, Mitchell did.
"Major Gwaine Dallon, meet Vala Mal Doran. Vala, this is Major Dallon...He's got a girlfriend."
Jackson's body, inhabited by the consciousness of Vala, pouted, and then added flirtatiously, "That's never really stopped me before..."
"Vala, behave." Cameron warned.
"I...uh...thought she was dead?" Gwaine whispered loudly to his friend.
"Yeah. We did too."
They entered into the cafeteria and crossed to a table where Sam Carter was eating her breakfast.
Jackson-Vala smiled and put his hands on his hips. He casually tilted his head to the side.
With a motion towards the oddly-behaving archaeologist, Mitchell asked her. "How is this possible?"*
Sam grinned like a kid at Christmas around the food in her mouth. "Oh, my God. It worked! I mean, you know, it's working."* Shoving her tray aside, Sam jumped up and headed out the door towards the labs.
The other three sighed and followed after her, with little other choice available if they wanted to find out what the quantum physicist Colonel was so gleeful about.
What Gwaine heard after that, when they entered the lab, sparked a long, lost interest in him. He'd studied communication theory and engineering at university, and his tinkering had played into why his radio had still worked after years of neglect. Since his return, he hadn't had much of an opportunity to delve into some of the newest discoveries. Most of what he had learned was simply to try to catch up to the advances from the years of his absence.
As he listened to Colonel Carter explain, however, he felt more than a little out of touch. Mitchell seemed to follow the technical laden dialogue better than Gwaine expected.
"We didn't think we were ever going to make this work."* Carter exclaimed, as they entered her lab. Most of the surfaces were covered with computers, or alien devices she was currently researching, when she wasn't going through the Stargate.
Mitchell looked at her skeptically. "Make what work?"*
"Well, since you disintegrated the Alteran communication stones and the base terminal in the kawoosh..."*
"Kawoosh?" Gwaine asked, trying to get in on the conversation. That was a technical term he hadn't heard used. Obviously, neither had Mitchell.
"I'm sorry, the what?"* Mitchell's eyebrows rose in a mix of confusion for her use of the term, and admiration for her stepping away from the technical jargon.
"The unstable vortex of a forming wormhole. Kawoosh."*
Gwaine snickered and glanced at Jackson-Vala. He wasn't as familiar with the archaeologist as the others were, but even without the groping he'd received, he could tell the difference in mannerisms. Right now, he or she was not a happy camper.
Jackson-Vala broke through the rambling dialogue with an impatient sing-song voice. "Hello. Hi. My name is Vala, but I'm in Daniel Jackson right now."* ...As if trying to remind them of her predicament would get her a step closer to resolving the issue.
Carter turned towards Vala, before continuing, "Anyway, we've been working on a way of artificially emulating the Alteran technology. Doctor Lee was able to collect quite a bit of data from the time that you were unconscious and communicating with the people from the Ori galaxy. So, using that and this Tok'ra subspace communicator, we've been trying to mimic the frequencies sent and received by the stones. We just didn't think we were having any luck."*
Vala seemed to get really excited about that. "I'm really glad you are. I was desperately hoping, in fact..."*
"So, you're in the Ori galaxy."* Mitchell stated rhetorically, ignoring what Vala was trying to say.
Gwaine glanced at his watch, and realized that the car which had been sent to pick up Merlin and Arthur from the airport was to arrive soon. He felt sorry for this Vala, but didn't know exactly how to help her in this situation. He patted Mitchell on the shoulder, and tilted his head towards the door. Mitchell responded with a nod, before turning back to the conversation at hand.
"Are you able to communicate with Daniel?"* Carter was asking.
"No...just see and hear you."* Vala exclaimed impatiently.
"You see, we've been using the data from the stone that Daniel connected on this end, which is why you're connected to his body."*
Vala chuckled cynically. "It's funny, isn't it? Daniel always wanted to get in my pants, and now I'm in his."*
Gwaine choked on his laughter as he opened the door. He tried in vain to bite back the grin as he caught Vala's eyes. Something about her character, even in the archaeologist's body, gave him the feeling she would be a lot of fun...or trouble...at a party.
Mitchell sent both of them a glare. "Oh, that's not funny. He can't defend himself."*
Arthur's eyes glazed over, and he nodded noncommittally. He was really trying to listen and pay attention, but the man giving him the lesson in Gate Protocol was speaking in a dry monotone that could have put an angry bear to sleep. He tried to pay attention; he really did. The former king's mind drifted back to his days of listening to the council sessions on taxation and crops.
He recalled one lord who reminded him of the Staff Sergeant in front of him at the moment. Lord Dafyd, an ageing man from his father's Council, used to drone on all day long, and well into the night, discussing every seed that had ever been planted on his lands.
A stack of papers fell onto the table in front of him, jolting Arthur back to the present.
"You will need to sign the standard Non-Disclosure Forms, plus the liability forms LLR-1001, 012, and LD-4385..." The dull voice continued.
Arthur felt an itch on his arm, and scratched at it lightly. He crinkled his nose in confusion at the small, red bump that was there.
"Is everything okay, Mr. Pendragon?"
"Yes. Yes, it's fine. Just an insect bite." Arthur reached for the pen the man offered, and began signing the forms. He couldn't wait to be released from the tortures of paperwork.
Percival stared out the front windows of the cockpit. The stars outside were amazing. He had enjoyed chasing aliens with Torchwood, and spending time at New Camelot with Arthur and Merlin, but out here in space...he felt a thrill of exhilaration, unlike anything he had encountered before. The people he'd met, acquaintances and business associates of Leon, were fascinating. Some of them, very decidedly, were not human, but at least the majority were a lot more civilized than the ones who escaped through the Rift in Cardiff.
Like back in Camelot, Leon had taken Percival under his wing to teach him. This time, instead of the Code of Chivalry, it was the Smuggler's Code...a lifestyle of extortion and shady dealings. Percival had a much harder time accepting the way the elder knight, a man he had once admired for his honor and steadfast beliefs, seemed so at home in the dark of space. He supposed that much of it had to do with the fact Leon had lived so long.
The large knight had thought the changes in Merlin were a bit odd at first, but the warlock was still closer to the person he had been. In some ways, Mickey was more akin Elyan, than Leon was to his past self
Leon lived his life on the edge, and it appeared he had plenty of enemies, that made balancing along that edge very treacherous. Percival enjoyed his time spent with the ancient knight, even if he didn't agree with the values Leon now practiced.
The ship was parked on the dark side of the moon, high above the Earth. Hidden and nearly dark, as the only system running at full capacity was the cloaking shield. Everything else was just operating enough to keep life support going for him.
The broad-shouldered young man enjoyed these quiet times. The quiet hum of the generator in the background created white noise that lulled him into a meditative state.
Leon was down on the surface. Knowing that Gwaine was at the SGC, and judging by the time, the boys were probably at school. Percival guessed that he was visiting Laney before she had to head to work. Either that, or he was making a deal for something that he could sell for outrageous amounts out away from Earth.
"Tequila, from the agave plant...found only on Earth." Leon had informed Percival awhile back. "Considered common here; fetches a nice price elsewhere. Nasty as this stuff is, and with the worm...Well, I doubt if I'd be drinking it."
Percival had scoffed at that. There didn't seem to be much Leon hadn't tried to drink, nor did he believe it would really be worth the effort to sell. He had been proven wrong at the first planet they visited, when a bidding war started among at least three of Leon's buyers over the golden liquor.
Whatever Leon was up to this time, it left Percival with little to do but wait.
"Not getting bored, are you?" A friendly voice said, startling the large knight.
Percival spun around. His gun, a gift from his friends at Torchwood, was ripped out of its holster against his rib cage, and in his hand in an instant.
Lancelot held up his hands in mock surrender. "It's just me, friend."
"Lancelot!" The bear of a man shouldered his gun. Smiling, he stepped forward to give the dark-eyed man a hug.
"Wish I could...but, I'm not really here. Well, I am." He corrected himself. "...Just not in a physical form."
"I have been hoping to see you again, since that day on the lake shore."
"I know. Things are a bit...complicated...right now."
"This whole world, or time, is complicated. So much has changed; people, most of all."
"Perhaps, not as much as you believe. What's seen on the outside is a way of protecting what truly matters deep down. Losing oneself in becoming a different person can be a defense mechanism. I've watched over them, and did what I could over the years to help them. Sometimes, it's not enough."
Percival nodded thoughtfully. "I'm glad you are here, my friend."
"Me, too." Lancelot crossed to the cockpit windows and looked out. The corner of his mouth tilted upward. "I don't have much more time. So, listen closely..."
"What do you mean? We might not be going?"
Merlin rolled his eyes and watched as Arthur pranced around. Gwaine ran a hand over his short hair and shot Arthur a look of apology. The former king had obviously been excited at the prospect of going through the Stargate. The planet's address had been found in some of the data contained in the device that the SGC had begun calling Arthur's Mantle. It appeared to be a journal of sorts, that was only legible by a person who was out of synchronization with normal time-space...or phased, as it was commonly referred to.
Daniel had luckily been able to transcribe and translate some of the information before the power supply had been exhausted, which ultimately shut off the phase generation that was affecting the three members of SG-1. Moros, or Merlin, as the Ancient was more commonly known, had added that interesting side-effect in order to hide his work from the other Ascended beings. Among the data collected was a Gate address, and hints of a weapon to fight the Ori.
"Something rather unexpected has come up." Gwaine explained simply, not wanting to elaborate on the Jackson-Vala situation. "General Landry and the SG-1 team are dealing with it now, but the mission might be scrubbed, or pushed back, due to this...complication."
"I don't care what complications may have arisen. We were promised a trip to a planet called Camelot. Fix it, Gwaine!"
The Marine shrunk back slightly, slouching against the table in the conference room. "It's not something I have control over, Arthur."
"Merlin?" The blue eyes of the former king were as hard as steel, when he turned to the warlock.
"Don't look at me like that! We're guests here. Inviting us along was a courtesy they didn't need to extend."
Mitchell suddenly came bounding into the room from the General's Office. "Guess what, boys? We're still on for PX1-767. Although, there's been a slight change to the mission plan. This won't be the regular sightseeing tour. Merlin's Weapon, is supposed to be hidden there, and while we intended to look for it anyway, it has become our top priority."
Merlin rolled his eyes at the use of the name. He still wanted to know how he ended up with the same name as this Alteran, as even back then, before his time, it had never been a common name.
Gwaine breathed a sigh of relief. He motioned to one of the chairs and grinned at Arthur.
Rearing to get the show on the road, Arthur actually sat down between his two friends. They waited for the rest of SG-1 to come in to start the mission briefing.
PX1-767 was the classified code the Stargate Command used for the particular planet they were going to visit. When Colonel Carter finally entered the room, she handed out folders to everyone with the approved mission briefing notes. Arthur hid his knowing smirk, when Merlin's eyes flashed under hooded lids, as the warlock read the actual Gate address.
It was underhanded, but Arthur now knew Leon had the coordinates, and would meet them there with Percival. He would have much rather been straightforward with the people at the SGC, but it was thrilling to be a part of something grander once again, even if it involved a bit of deception at Merlin's insistence.
"It'll be just like old times, when your father reigned." Merlin had commented on the plane from the UK to New York. "Besides, what exactly are they, or you, going to do to stop me?"
"Any word, yet?" Leon asked, after teleporting onto the bridge. He broke open a crate that had beamed on board with him, and pulled out two brown, glass bottles. He passed one to Percival as he flopped casually into the seat next to the other knight.
"None." He said, accepting the beer. "Testing the merchandise?"
"Naw." He swung his feet up onto the control console. "This one is for personal consumption...especially, if we have to bring Gwaine aboard later."
"You know, he doesn't drink as much here, as he used to." Percival commented softly. In his mind, he used that one simple fact as a way to gauge the changes in them all over the past year. He snickered to himself. Lancelot was the most changed physically, and yet the most unchanged of them all.
Percival pondered telling Leon of the Ascended knight's recent visit, but decided to keep the information to himself for the time being. What had been said, was more for Merlin to hear anyway, and the time wasn't right...yet.
Leon shrugged.
"Did you see Laney while you were there?"
Shaking his head, Leon took another swig of his beer and tried to sound nonchalant. "I don't always go and see her, you know."
Thinking more about changes, Percival found himself curious about the recent ones he had begun noticing in Leon. When they had gone to New Camelot the last time, Leon had slipped away after Merlin for a while. Percival knew the two immortal men had spoken, and something in that conversation had triggered a new change in Leon. For one, he hadn't been to see Gwaine's sister since that day. Although, that might have also had to do with Gwaine catching the two in the act not too long before. It was hard to say.
An indicator light to Leon's right, began blinking. "Looks like Merlin has sent us the Gate address. Shall we be off?"
Carter's eyes scanned the outskirts of the small town. The gray, stone buildings looked like something out of a Renaissance Faire. Brightly colored flags and banners were strung between buildings, fluttering in the light breeze. People milled around, going about their daily business behind a large, stone wall. A gated entrance stood open to the road-weary travelers. "Well, it certainly looks like a place where Merlin might have lived."*
Mitchell's head bobbed in indecision. He was walking next to the blond Colonel at the head of the group of travelers. "Oh, I wouldn't get too excited just yet. There could be dozens more villages in the area just like this one. No way to know for sure this is the right one."*
"I don't know." A blond man, near the middle of the group, responded skeptically. "Merlin, would you have lived here?"
"Piss off, Arthur." Came the retort, in a thick British accent.
They had already passed through two villages, after coming through the Stargate, with even less success in the second one, than they had in the first. Boredom was beginning to take its toll.
Up until then, the Americans had referred to him as Colonel Emrys. It was only after Arthur's sarcastic use of Merlin's name, as if it were almost a curse word...something Merlin had decided he did NOT miss about his former monarch...that the jokes had started. Although, Merlin was thankful that Gwaine hadn't accompanied them...or it could have been so much worse.
The complication that had come up back at the SGC wasn't to be taken lightly. Vala Mal Doran had temporarily taken over Jackson's body to pass on a message of great importance. The Ori were in the process of trying to build another Supergate...and this time, they also had a fleet warships set to come through the Gate the moment it was operational.
Gwaine was redirected back to SG-3. They were Gate-hopping, going from planet to planet, along with every other available SG team, searching for clues as to where the Supergate was located. Teal'c, the large Jaffa warrior, was touching base with his own allies. If these ships were as powerful as Vala claimed, every asset was going to be needed to fight them. Merlin and Arthur, knowledgeable of the real Camelot, were brought along to help find the weapon that had been hinted at in the Ancient Merlin's alien journal.
Decidedly sick of the jokes between Mitchell and Arthur, Carter's confusing scientific explanations, and Jackson continuously asking him more questions of myth versus reality than he was comfortable answering...Merlin was nearly at his wits' end.
For the most part, he had kept his cool; instead, focusing on what the members of SG-1 had been speaking about earlier; mulling many of the possibilities over in his mind.
It was Colonel Mitchell who had brought up the question originally.
"Hey, has anyone stopped to think how this thing might possibly work? I mean, how do you kill something that's pure energy?"*
Daniel had adjusted his glasses and tried to explain, again. "Well, technically, Merlin's research didn't refer to killing. A better translation would be 'neutralizing' or 'cancelling out.'"*
"Well, it still begs a lot of questions. How do you aim at something you can't see?"*
"Clearly, it can't be a weapon in the conventional sense. See, Ascended Beings transcend ordinary space-time as we know it. This device would have to do the same thing."*
"So...it would have to do something similar to the device Carter and Dr. Lee created to negate the Prior's energy?" Gwaine had asked during the briefing, in an attempt to be helpful. The device had been modified, utilizing the radioactive signature of a sword piece that had been taken out of Arthur's chest. Unfortunately, the half-life was rather short, and it soon lost all its potency. The two scientists, along with other researchers, had yet to fully replicate the properties.
They hoped to find something similar, or even better, here on this planet.
"It's possible, but it would have to be something where the energy was much more stable." Carter admitted.
Scoffing and rolling his eyes at his teammates, Mitchell hit the nail on the head. "In other words, you have no idea what it might be."*
"Yeah, pretty much, that's it."* Daniel agreed.
Merlin and Arthur shared a silent communication. Neither man was ready to let the SGC members know they had such an item. Currently, it was back in Leon's possession on board the knight's Tel'tak cargo ship; that should be on its way to their location. Depending on what was discovered here on this planet, they had discussed heading straight off into space, instead of back through the Stargate.
The biggest question that plagued his mind, was if the weapon and the sword were one and the same...how would a single sword be used to fight a massive army with spaceships?
Colonel Carter's voice broke through Merlin's thoughts.
"Well, this looks promising." She stated.
The group approached the town square, filled with merchants and horses. The mud on the road was thicker in some places. Merlin realized another thing he much preferred in the modern world, was the cleanliness of the streets. He saw the glimmer of longing in Arthur's eyes, perhaps not for the mud, but for the lifestyle that was still fairly fresh in the king's memories.
The townsfolk began whispering as they approached, and many began to gather together in groups, eyeing the newcomers with suspicion.
"Well, there's one thing this village has that the others were missing." Cameron said with a smile.
"Running water?" Merlin asked sarcastically.
Daniel gestured to the center of the square. "No, but...Well, there's…that."
A massive, square stone marked the center of the courtyard. The perfectly smooth, gray sides remained clean of any of the dirt and muck surrounding it. From the very center, protruded a gleaming, steel sword with a black hilt and cross-piece. The members of SG-1 recognized it as being identical to the one they had uncovered in the cavern system beneath the lake of Avalon, where they had found the stasis pods containing Arthur and his family.
Arthur and Merlin stood side by side. Their heads tilted simultaneously to the left, while nearly identical looks of mortification and humor crossed their faces. "Merlin, is that...?"
Merlin shook his head slowly. "Doesn't look anything like it, unless my memory has really begun to falter."
"No...I don't recall it looking like that either."
"What, you don't recognize the sword in a stone? Put there by the Lady of the Lake, a woman who was said to be either a priestess or a fae spirit of the water, for the One True Ruler." Daniel asked jokingly. He wasn't quite prepared for the completely raucous laughter that came from Arthur and Merlin.
Arthur's face was strained, as he tried to calm his amusement. "Lady of the Lake...water spirit...whoever heard of such nonsense."
The mirth was suddenly gone from Merlin. His eyes burned into Arthur.
The blond man choked on the last chuckles. "Are you seriously suggesting there was a Lady of the Lake?"
Merlin cringed inwardly. He shook his head of the memories that came. "Maybe another time, Arthur." While he had explained some of the history of Arthur's sword, Merlin had neglected to tell the former king about the first time he'd thrown it into the lake. Instead, he had skipped to the part of putting it in the stone, himself.
Daniel cleared his throat loudly, moving past the sudden awkwardness of the situation. "Anyway...I guess we should at least check it out. Maybe this time, Mitchell, you can try to NOT pull it, until we've figured out what it does?"
An elderly man came forward from a crowd of villagers, who had gathered to gape and stare at the newcomers. He was dressed in a fancy outfit, much richer than the others around him. He smiled at them, but was obviously nervous. Wringing his hands, he blinked and stuttered, "Travelers. I am Meurik, Governor of this village. Welcome to Camelot."*