Thanks for the reviews and for reading/fav/following. Still dealing with the RL stuff, but at least I didn't have to catch a flight out of state like I had originally suspected.

Proofread by Nance...who is no longer a puffin. A magical alien device has now morphed her into a prairie dog :P. Flow read by IcarusLSU, who warned that tissues might be needed for the end of this chapter.

From 56:

AWandersHaven: I completely understand that it takes precedence. hehe if the ideas in your head are anything like mine...we're in trouble!

Emenemdj: THREE DAYS! You either have as little of a life as I do, or are a really dedicated reader! Either way: Thanks for the review!

FeedtheFlames: Uh...yep...along with "Trust me!" hehe thanks!

Nance: No clue who that is LOL Woolsey is one of the SG characters that always makes me laugh.

From 57:

FeedtheFlames: yes...but then where would my plot go? hehe

AWandersHaven: When isn't he? :D he was like the BEST villain ever (until Loki from Thor came along)

And with that...please enjoy and leave a review if you would be so kind!

The front door was ajar...which wasn't exactly odd, but his mother hadn't picked up the phone for the last two days. While climbing on some rocks, Toby's friend had slipped and broken his arm; effectively cutting the vacation short.

"Mom?" He called out, and received no response. Apprehension set in on his young shoulders. Her purse was on the table near the door, along with her keys. The car was in the drive...all the signs said she should have been home. Then, he saw something…left on the kitchen table. It looked like a fancy tablet computer. He picked it up and a man's voice, with a deep metallic ring to it, like it had been put through some weird voice changer, spoke to him.

He listened, and his hands began to shake. Carefully placing the tablet back on the table, Toby moved back to the front door. He put on a smile and waved at his friend's parents, who were still waiting in their car, signaling that it was okay for them to leave.

Their van headed out the driveway, and he moved back to the kitchen. It took a few minutes to decide what to do, but calling his Uncle Gwaine seemed to be the only logical choice in this situation.

"MOM TRBL! HLP!"

Gwaine read the text from his nephew twice, trying to decipher the meaning of it.

"Is something wrong, Major Dallon?" Woolsey asked. His clipped tones illustrated the impatience evident on his face. "…Or are we boring you, perhaps?"

"Sorry. Uh..." He was trying to wrap his head around what kind of trouble his sister could have landed herself in, and wasn't paying attention to the conversation. The past three days had been taken up with meetings of all sorts. Some were questioning him about Morgana; others on Arthur and the knights. An inquiry had been made about the sword, and the most pressing question...at least for the British Officials...where in the world was Colonel Emyrs?

There were representatives present from not only various Earth nations, but there was also an Asgard and even a Nox. The Tollan, the Tok'ra, the Free Jaffa, and other races had also made their presence known. The rumors of the re-emergence of King Arthur and Merlin were spreading like wildfire throughout the galaxy. The wanted to bring back the Great Alliance; renewed and refreshed for the new era.

Despite the protests of the Earth representatives, the others wanted to meet King Arthur, and based on the legends alone, wanted him to be the representative of not only the Tau'ri, but of the many other human civilizations spread throughout the Milky Way. Gwaine could envision Arthur going on a tirade about that detail, but he knew in the end, it was probably the perfect opportunity for the man to do what he was most familiar with, and bring peace between kingdoms.

"Can we take a break?" Gwaine asked, his mind clearly on the text he had received. He held up his phone and smiled weakly.

Across from him sat General O'Neill. Gwaine had known him as Colonel O'Neill from the beginning of the Stargate Program. The man was a legend. During his tenure as the leader of SG-1, he'd caused more trouble, created more problems, and also saved the lives of more people than anyone could count. He looked much older than Gwaine remembered, even though it had been over eight years since he had seen the man. O'Neill was now in charge of overseeing the various military aspects of what had become a massive program to ensure Earth's defenses against alien threats. This included not only the Stargate, but also the Atlantis Base, Area 51, and more; all were run from the central offices at the Pentagon.

For all his promotions and responsibilities, Gwaine noticed one thing...O'Neill hadn't changed a bit. Sure, he wasn't rushing through the Stargate on a weekly basis to save the world and insult alien intelligence, but when it came to listening to politicians dredging for any fault they could find, or tidbit of information to help secure the next election, he was downright bored.

At Gwaine's question, the General suddenly perked up. His dark brown eyes bordered on manic delight. "A break? Ya, sure. You betcha! I think this is perfect timing." Before anyone could question, the General was out of his seat and through the door. "I'm gonna grab some coffee? Anyone else want coffee?"

He didn't stick around to hear a response, or Woolsey's feeble attempt to point out the carafes sitting on the table. Straightening his tie, the Harvard-taught representative of the IOA tried to regain his composure. "I think fifteen minutes should suffice."

Snickering, Gwaine patted Woolsey's shoulder, as he stood and followed the path O'Neill had blazed toward the door. Once outside, he called his nephew. The rambling stream of incoherent sentences and panic was so unlike Toby, that Gwaine just listened, "Hey...slow down. What the hell are you talking about?"

"Mom's gone!"

"What do mean, 'she's gone'? Where the hell is she?"

"I got home early and she's not here…Car is here and her purse…House was open, and there are two coffees on the table, along with some weird computer thing."

Gwaine's lip twitched and he blinked rapidly. "Toby, are you absolutely sure she's not there?"

"YES!"

"Alright, let me make a call. I can't get there right now." His mind was whirling and he couldn't breathe, but he needed to be strong for his nephew. From sixteen hundred miles away, there wasn't much he could do on the spur of the moment. Quickly, he hung up and started to call Mitchell. He cursed when it was the voicemail that answered. He'd forgotten that SG-1 was heading out that morning to check on one of the planets Dr. Jackson had located through a book he remembered, from the library on the planet Camelot.

Just as he was about to call Carolyn, another text arrived from Toby. Gwaine could have killed the kid. "Found her. In barn. LOL"

"Is everything alright Major?"

Gwaine turned to see General O'Neill holding out a cup of coffee. He accepted it graciously. "Thank you, Sir. Yeah. Everything's fine now...although, there is a teenager who isn't going to be, once I get home."

O'Neill's eyes twinkled with mischief. "So...you need to get home ASAP to deal with...whatever it is?"

"Uh..."

Nodding quickly, O'Neill answered for him. "Yeah, ya do. Trust me..." His dark brown eyes turned toward the meeting room. They were crazed and wide when he looked back at Gwaine. "Trust me...we all need to get out of there."

A few hours later, Gwaine and Woolsey were touching down on the tarmac in Colorado Springs. It had been enough time for Gwaine to thoroughly plot how to make a certain teenager's life a living hell. After finally speaking with his sister, Gwaine had found out she was out past the barn, showing the land to the realtor, and letting him take some pictures for marketing.

They made their way first to the SGC, where Woolsey was taken aside and sent to play a part in a psychiatric evaluation of Vala Mal Doran. SG-1 was stuck on the planet that Dr. Jackson had discovered during the short time on the Camelot planet. Gwaine was grateful that he had missed out on it, as the name of the planet, 'Vagonbrei,' had somehow come from the Welsh variation of the legends of Sir Gawain.

As per usual, SG-1 was now quarantined, along with the specialized medical 'Red Team', which had been put together recently to deal with inoculating the populations of other worlds against the Prior virus. Carolyn was donning a hazmat suit, just as he entered the infirmary. He could see the sadness in her eyes, as they shared a quick hello, before she was running off to the planet with a full medical team to try and save the lives of SG-1. The members of Red Team had already fallen to whatever parasite had infected them.

There was never a dull day at the office in this place, Gwaine mused. He smirked to himself. He was counting down the days until he was officially free of the place. In just a few weeks, he would be able to hang up his uniform and grow his hair out again. He wondered if Merlin possibly had a spell to assist him with the latter.

"Hello?" She called out, carefully navigating her way through the forest. She had managed to make her way to the campsite where she had last seen her husband. "Hello?"

"Hey!" Mickey's smiling face appeared over the crest of a small hill, from a depression that was once a stream bed. He wrapped his friend in a warm embrace. "Did you...?" Before he had finished the question, she was holding out a bag, filled with food. "Oh, you are an angel!"

Martha laughed, as he dug through the bag to find a candy bar. "How's...how is Merlin?"

"Better! He doesn't know you're here, yet. Come on. I think it'd be good for him to see you…even if he doesn't agree." Mickey mumbled around a mouth full of chocolate.

The two chatted as Mickey led their way to the cave. Martha's face looked just as stunned as the others had been, when they first caught sight of the crystalline structures. They navigated the stairs to the rooms where the two men had taken up temporary residence.

"He's been able to do a lot of his Zen stuff here. So, I think that's helped him." Mickey explained. Merlin wasn't in the outer room, but as they passed through the archway into the main room with the Gate and the controls, Martha stared in awe. Merlin stood with his back to them at one of the control panels. He looked so at home. Everything about him and the room, meshed together and appeared almost as natural as when she had seen the Doctor and the Tardis for the first time. "Food delivery!"

Merlin turned around, his smile faltered when he saw Martha.

Mickey glanced between them before excusing himself back to the previous room.

"You look better." Martha offered, breaking the silent tension. Her dark eyes sparkled with unshed tears.

Merlin nodded somberly, before turning back to what he was working on.

Hesitantly, she moved up next to him.

He was so quiet, as if his entire being was like the still water of a pristine lake, just waiting for someone to throw a pebble in and disrupt the peacefulness. But, there was a darkness under the calm waters and Martha wanted to be that stone. She wanted to be a whole landslide, crashing down to get the biggest reaction she possibly could. She wished for nothing more than to see the man who she had married, to come bouncing back out of his depression. Her longing for the passionate, old soul who not only persevered, but thrived on all that life had to offer, burned inside of her.

She had a feeling though, that after the last time she was rebuked by him, she needed to take it slow. Martha asked simply. "Can I help with anything?"

Merlin paused. He stared at his hands, and a single tear rolled down his cheek. "I don't know who I am, anymore."

Slipping her left hand on top of his, she threaded her fingers through his, their wedding bands resting on top of one another. After a moment, his fingers tightened around hers. He lifted their joined hands and pressed the back of her's against his lips. It was chaste and simple, but thinly veiled underneath was a sense of connection…of forgiveness and apology…and a hint of the man she had fallen in love with. "You are..." She began softly. "...Utterly insane, if you think just a few weeks of family history can completely wipe out the life you have built for yourself. So what? Things change. What I do know, is that beneath all this self-doubt and pain, is my husband. Somewhere in there…Don't suppose you've seen him?"

He finally turned his eyes to look at her. Smiling, he took a breath and prepared to say something...

"Now would be the perfect time to show us some of your poetry skills, I would imagine." Arthur's cocky voice rang through the cavernous room.

Merlin's mouth snapped closed. His eyes shifted immediately to the doorway. The fingers of his right hand pressed a button, and he watched with satisfaction as a metal door, hidden in the wall, slid by in front of his friend's face.

Clapping her hands over her mouth, Martha managed to stifle her sudden outburst of laughter. Her hands fell when Merlin suddenly wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer. His lips touched hers in a soft kiss. She hummed and smiled, pressing her forehead against his. They stood together for a while, just relishing the other's presence. It had been too long since she had felt his touch; his presence and mind actually with her, and not distracted by the rest of the world. "Ready to tell me what's been going on with you?" Martha asked, pulling away to look into his eyes.

"I don't know if I could begin to explain it. Most of what I have learned, barely even makes sense to me." He stepped back, but kept a hold of her hand, leading her over to a bench near a wall.

Arthur stared at the solid door in front of him, completely put off by having had it closed in his face. Mickey was snickering, while Leon and Percival were pretending not to notice.

"Of course, we go halfway across the galaxy to get a book that idiot left behind..."

"Arthur, it was hardly halfway," protested Leon.

"...The point is, we come back with it for him, and he slams the door on me!"

"…And how many doors have you shut in his face over the years?" Percival asked, attempting to smother his own amusement. He coughed and shifted uncomfortably under the sudden glare he received, "Sorry, Sire."

"No, you're not!" Mickey corrected. He turned to Arthur. "So, let's see this book. Maybe I can figure something out about it, or at least, get it scanned into the database while those two are finally trying to kiss and make up."

"I know I haven't made anything easier, by trying to continue working. I should have been there for you more." Martha said, after a few moments. "So, I've made a decision."

He watched her, waiting for her to elaborate.

"I'm quitting UNIT."

"Martha..."

"No. I'm done. I can't live in New York, and work there...or wherever they decide to fly me next...while you're all over here!"

Sighing heavily, he wasn't sure how to explain to Martha what he had heard from Gwaine. It was something he hadn't actually considered. Finally, he stood up and walked over to the main console. "UNIT wants me back. They would like me to head up a team out of Stargate Command."

She turned him to face her. "So...after all this, you'd be moving to Colorado?"

"No." He answered immediately. That was the last thing he wanted to do. Camelot, or the land that once was Camelot, was his home; the place he had always called home, even when he had lived in China. "No...and besides, I'm not a leader, Martha."

"What if Arthur wants to..."

There was a hesitance in her voice, and he cringed. The last thing he had ever wanted was for a rift to develop between his past with Arthur, and his future with her. Yet, it almost seemed to be the inevitable conclusion. What would he do, if Arthur wanted to take up UNIT and the IOA on their offer? It was a question he had been asking himself, since he received the phone call from Gwaine. Would he follow his king, or now that Martha was willing to give up her job for the sake of their relationship, would he choose to focus on that aspect of his life?

"I don't know." He whispered. Merlin watched as her shoulders fell. His throat tightened. It was never his intention to cause her pain, or to mislead her, but he felt as if he had unwittingly done just that. "There are things I need to take care of, Martha, before any decision about our future can be made."

"Like what? Did your first wife suddenly come back as well?" She knew her tone was sharper than she had originally intended it to be, and she squirmed under the coldness that appeared in his gaze. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I just...I wish I could somehow know more about your life back then. Maybe it would help me to understand the gap between us."

Merlin huffed through his nostrils and nodded his head. Her words resounded within him. There seemed to be only one way to try and remedy the situation. He placed his hand on the gel of the control panel. The holographic display came to life. It was an older man with long, dark hair and a salt-and-pepper beard. "Martha, meet your in-laws. This was my father, Balinor." Another image came to life of a young woman at first, and then the same woman, but much older. "That was Hunith...my mother. The first image was from my father's memories...the second one, from mine."

"I wish could have met them."

Merlin nodded, "Would you like to see Mithian?" He asked, unsure if he wanted to take that step. So, he left the decision up to her.

Biting her lip, Martha held her breath for a few seconds. He'd told her stories of his life with Mithian, and she had admitted her curiosity. But, faced with the actual possibility, it became a completely different scenario. He was opening up to her though, and she wasn't about to let the opportunity pass her by. "Yeah, I think I'd like that."

She could see the slight trembling of his fingers, as he pressed the control again. Martha gasped, when she saw the brunette princess, and the two young children from Merlin's memory.

He didn't bother to try and hide the emotions that had swelled up in him. There were days when his grief was immeasurable, but he had been able to push through it, and had moved on with his life. The remnants of his past in front of him now, brought his heartache back in a way he never imagined. He stared at Mithian's smiling face through the onslaught of tears, and then, he felt Martha's hand. Her fingers interlaced with his, asking him silently to come back to her.

She was crying too, sharing his grief. "They're beautiful."

He took his hand off the control, and turned to Martha. Merlin could almost hear Mithian's voice in his mind, urging him to move past the pain. She would have found the perfect words to help him. She always had. His mind drifted to Ning, and others he had loved through his years. Merlin didn't think he could handle seeing anymore faces from his past. With his thoughts drifting to his present with Martha, he reached out to caress her cheek with the backs of his curled fingers. Martha had her own gifts, as well...when he allowed himself to listen.

"I miss you, Merlin." She choked out, leaning into his palm.

Merlin had first allowed himself to become consumed with Arthur, and then, everything that had happened in space. He'd almost forgotten her; pushed her to the back of his mind and made excuses for his heart. Mithian would have been rolling in her grave, if she knew how he'd been behaving. "I miss you."

He pulled his hand away and reached for the control again, coming to a decision. The image that came up caused his breath to hitch. A white dragon appeared; small and bright. "That was Aithusa, when he was hatched." The image changed to show a larger dragon that seemed more like a nightmarish creature. Merlin squeezed Martha's hand; seeking strength and comfort.

"That was what he looked like the last time I saw him. I need to find him, Martha. He and I...are connected. He's in another galaxy. He's dying there...and I'm dying too. I failed him. I failed my people..." His sudden bark of sardonic laughter caught Martha off-guard. "I'm the last of my people..."

Martha stiffened, and her fingers clamped tighter around his. He looked at her quizzically.

She faltered for a moment, before she straightened her shoulders and met his eyes. "There is another reason I am quitting UNIT."

The statement seemed so out of the blue, that for an instant Merlin actually felt anger at her for changing the topic. Then, she moved his hand and placed it just below her belly button.

Merlin's eyes widened and he stared at her in disbelief, as he began to understand. A large lump formed in his throat when he felt it...the stirring of a new life from within her. His gaze drifted down, and he felt his knees give way; sinking onto the floor.

A child, on top of everything else he was facing...For a brief moment, it scared him more than all the rest of the issues combined. Then, he wrapped his arms around her hips, and felt her fingers as they threaded through his hair. Pressing his face into her abdomen, Merlin held his wife, and cried.