AN: It's Thursday somewhere, right? hehehe

The Stargate closed behind them with a sound that seemed to suck all the air away for an instant. The light that had emanated from the large circle ceased and left the room in a dim bluish glow.

Merlin hesitated for an instant, noting how similar the light from the crystals mimicked that of the lower levels of the tower where Aithusa had been kept.

Arthur patted his friend on the shoulder with a knowing smirk. "We're home."

Nodding, Merlin allowed a smile of his own to creep onto his tired face. "We're home."

"Let's get out of here and go say hello to our wives, shall we?" They were tired and worn, their appearance haggard and drawn, but the relief at breathing in the first breath of air from their home planet was palpable.

Mickey grinned as he shut down the control consoles and greeted them enthusiastically. "Expecting the SGC, were ya?"

He didn't give them a chance to respond before he jumped into describing how he'd been working with Jack on a solution to the problem of two Gates on the same planet.

Using Torchwood technology, they'd found a way to redirect the incoming wormhole and give the Gate in the Crystal Cave precedence when it was turned on, while keeping the place hidden. The SGC would be none the wiser about the activation of another Gate on Earth, and the power draw was redirected through the Rift in Cardiff.

It had been Martha's idea originally, and they had also found a way to utilize a redirected power transfer to reopen the Gate if needed. "If we had known where you were, we could have sent a message through to you lot."

Mickey had only paused long enough to question Gwaine's missing presence, while he helped them haul their gear outside to a nearby four-wheel-drive cart.

"He's fine." Leon had answered unenthusiastically, and the others nodded in agreement.

Mickey pulled him aside, just before the ancient knight climbed into the cart. "You need to come with me, actually."

Worried that something might have happened to his ship, Leon told the others he would see them later and followed Mickey to an SUV parked just outside the Valley of the Fallen Kings.

He sighed and leaned back against the headrest of the SUV. "Where are we going, Mickey?"

"You'll see."

The vehicle crept out of the forest and turned down a narrow road that wound its way through the countryside surrounding the estate. They passed through a small town without stopping. Leon had wondered if perhaps Laney had gotten so fed up with being unable to do her own chores, that she had taken the boys and moved into the quaint village.

As the country road opened up before them again, he shook his head in confusion. His ship had been parked and safely cloaked closer to the manor, and with the village falling behind them, he wasn't sure what to think. "Seriously, Mickey. I'm exhausted and..."

"We're almost there." The younger man said and turned off the main street onto a single lane, dirt road. Judging by the ruts, it had been well used recently, though Leon couldn't recall having seen the path before.

When the forest gave way to a clearing, he gaped in surprise.

It appeared to be a construction site, surrounding a once dilapidated two-story stone house. It looked completely different from the last time he had been there. There was now a new roof over the structure. Sparkling, clear windows still had their manufacturer's stickers plastered over the panes of glass. Pallets nearby held lumber and other various fixtures.

The area around the old well had been recently dug up, and a small shed seemed to serve as a pump-house for new water supply lines.

He snorted out a laugh at the revelation. "She's fixing up the place."

"Yeah. We've all been working on it. She and the boys came out here to start choosing paint colors or something today. At least, that was her excuse. The ladies have all been getting weird without you guys, and I think everyone being on top of each other...It was just getting on her nerves."

Leon pushed open the door and stepped out of the SUV. He stared up at the house until he heard familiar calls that sent a warm feeling through him. Randy was the first to appear, rushing as fast as he could out of the front door. The other two boys followed behind.

All three began chattering excitedly about the house. Leon was pleased to see that even Greg seemed to have turned a corner, and he made a mental note to talk to the boy about it later.

They told him about the different projects around the house in order to get it to a livable state, and how they had all taken part in it.

Laney smiled from the doorway, watching her boys. Leon looked up and winked at her. She knew they would have their own reunion later. For now, she was happy to let her kids have a bit of time with him. There still hadn't been any word from her ex-husband. Not that she had expected anything, but for the sake of her boys she still wished their real father would have taken a bit more of an interest.

She stopped herself. The boys had a dad...even if she wasn't ready to commit. In the few months since they had deepened their relationship, Leon had become more involved with her boys than Jason had ever been.

Finally, he broke away from the kids and long strides carried him quickly to her. She pushed out of the doorframe and into his arms.

Neither noticed when the dark-skinned man wrangled the boys and herded them to his SUV, until the boys yelled obnoxiously out the car windows while they drove off. Laney made a mental note to thank Mickey later.

After some laughs and more kisses...simple, sweet and gentle...Laney led him into the house to show off the progress that had been made.

Their fingers were entwined, as she pulled him from room to room. Plumbing had been roughed in. Many of the walls had interior framework installed that was filled with insulation and covered with drywall.

"The drywallers will be out here this next week to finish the taping and mudding, and then, the rest of the finishing work inside can begin. God, I hope you aren't pissed that we went ahead and started on this. I know we didn't get much time to talk about -"

Her words were cut off when he took her face in his calloused hands and kissed her passionately. "I love it." His hands glided down over her shoulders and fingers splayed across her back. He pulled her tightly against him. "I missed you."

"Uh huh." She whispered breathlessly between his kisses. While their relationship had evolved beyond the physical, she wasn't about to let an opportunity to be alone with him go to waste. She easily kicked off her sandals, while her hands made short work of his belt, pulling on the buckle until it came loose.

They laid facing each other on the new carpet, in what would be their bedroom once the house was completed. Their noses brushed against each other as they giggled and kissed in the afterglow of their lovemaking. "Mmm. Not sure which is better." She hummed.

"What's that?"

"Make up sex after a fight, or welcome home sex. God, both are so good."

Leon laugh and propped himself up on his elbow. "I think, I prefer the welcome home myself. The make up sex means we'd have to argue beforehand... Not really keen on that." He leaned down over her, opening his mouth against hers and probing the depths sensually with his tongue.

It still amazed him how she always seemed to respond to just what he wanted, giving him exactly what he needed. Sometimes their passion was soft and gentle, while other times were hard and desperate.

Stretching like a cat, she smiled at him. "Me, neither. But, the welcome home stuff means you'd have left again. I don't think I could stand it if you were gone again for so long." Laney shivered in his arms. "I had a dream while you were gone that you had died."

His hand followed the curve of her hips and around to the small of her back. He pulled her naked body tightly against his. "I'm here. I'm home." Leon assured her.

"We should probably head back to the manor." Laney sighed after a few minutes had passed. "I got a call from Carolyn not long after you guys left. She was pissed by whatever message Gwaine had left her. God, I hope I don't need to try and run damage control...What?"

"Elaine..."

Her eyes widened fearfully at the somber tone in his voice. Her pulse jumped with worry. "My brother had better still be alive or you are going to find yourself in a hell of a lot of trouble. Fracking hell, Leon! How could you just come in here and make love to me like that when Gwaine-"'

"Gwaine is fine. He didn't return with us, though. He decided to stay with Aithusa." He smiled and brushed a stray lock of hair off of her face.

"Oh. Like on the Nock world, or wherever it is you guys were going to be taking her?"

Chuckling softly, he corrected, "Nox...and...not exactly. They are still in the other galaxy. But, Elaine, he might not come back."

"What? Why?"

Leon sat up, and began reaching for their clothing while he told her briefly about what had transpired between Merlin and Aithusa. Out of his coat pocket, he pulled out his personal recorder. He'd left it on the Asgard ship with most of their gear, when they had beamed down to the planet before the final battle. "The first couple of messages are from me, but the last one is from your brother."

Leon excused himself once he was dressed to give Laney some privacy to listen to the messages.

Waiting until he was gone, Laney turned it on and cued the first recording. She smiled like a schoolgirl at the first couple of messages.

Leon's voice was telling her that he was thinking of her; hinting that he wished she would reconsider her answer, but never actually coming out and saying it. He wondered what the boys were up to and he also talked about how they needed to figure out something for the future. He spoke of how he was worried about telling the others what they had found out from Heimdall. There was too much other stuff going on and the issue with the Cup wasn't going anywhere.

"How's this thing work?" Her brother's voice asked.

"It's working now, Gwaine." Leon told him. She could hear the exasperation in his voice.

"But, how the hell do you turn it on?"

"It is on, Gwaine. How you have managed to survive..."

"Oh, for frack's sake! Would you mind giving me some room?"

Laney could hear some sort of grumbled curse of a response in the background.

"Hey, Sis. Well, at least this time I have a way to tell you where I'm getting stuck. You can kill me in our next life for leaving you twice in this one. How's that sound?

"Anyway. I suppose Leon has told ya about what's happened by the time you get this. If not...well, I'm taking Merlin's place. I don't know how they're doing it, or what's going to happen. But, ya know...if it gets him back home to Martha and their little one, it's a good thing.

"The deal is: no one else can do it, and even if they could...Well, Arthur has Gwen and his kids, and Leon needs to get home to you and the boys."

Even though he wasn't actually there with her, she felt a voice inside her wanting to yell at her baby brother for his logic, no matter how sound it was. As if reading her mind, the voice continued.

"Don't argue. Gah! I know you. Leon's good for ya! Hell, he's the only guy I've ever known you with who I actually approve of. Shit, 'Lane. Don't let him get away, huh? I've never seen you so happy. Neither have the kids from what it sounds like. He loves you and would do anything for you. All four of you.

"I don't want to know all that shit that goes through your mind, but I think you need to knock it off and just accept it. So what if he'll outlive ya? You know he's not going to complain about old age, and arthritis and shit. Fracking hell, Elaine. If you don't get over yourself and marry him, I will find someway to come back and kick your ass!"

Laney smiled and chuckled.

"And, no. Get that out of your head. Not marrying him is not a real way to get me home. I got a new girl to think of now. Maybe two. Aithusa needs me, and you know...it's pretty cool being able speak in the Dragon Lord language. Soon as the gene was activated - even before we got to the whole bonding thing - I could feel it and speak it.

"These people here, they're pretty cool. I know I'm going to be learning a lot from them. Aithusa and I both are. Real Furlings, and now I'm one of them.

"Anyway, I kinda met someone. She's... Well, her name is Sebryn. She's beautiful. A real honest-to-god princess, and I think I'm in love. I can feel you rolling your eyes and thinking how many times you've heard me say that before. Okay. Maybe not recently, but...Shit.

"Tell Carolyn I'm sorry. She was amazing and she helped me so much. But, I think I was just too broken when I needed her, that I would almost feel obligated to love her if I had stuck around...and well... You know that's not a good thing. Tell her not to take that job, if you talk to her. Thinking about it gives me the heebee jeebies.

"Give the boys hugs for me. I'll try to get back there and see you sometime. I promise. I love the bloody hell out of you, Elaine Dallon. You drive me nuts, but I'd never want anyone else to be my big sister, alright? Gonna miss ya, 'Lane. I'm glad I'm getting to say goodbye to you this time."

Leon sat outside the door, his back against the cool stone wall. He didn't know what Gwaine had said to his sister. In spite of his curiosity, he let her have her space while she listened to the message.

He looked back up at the old house. It was so different with the modern roof and windows.

It was a new beginning built on a strong foundation of the past; a bridge between who he had been and who he had become. It felt almost as if the centuries in between no longer existed.

The time when he was nothing more than his duty to protect Arthur's sword, was in the past. As he sat in the quiet solitude, he allowed his mind to wander. He almost didn't hear when Laney finally emerged from the house, tears in her eyes.

She sat down and tucked in next to him, wrapping her arms around his chest. He held her comfortingly. They didn't say anything for a while. He let it be, knowing she was still processing the situation of possibly never seeing her baby brother again.

He silently promised her that he would try and find a way.

For the first time, his soul was at peace, and he wasn't prepared when she pulled back and removed the ring from her right hand. She pressed it into his palm and he flinched.

"Elaine…"

"Shut up and listen."

He did, but his eyes were strained with worry about why she was giving the ring back to him. He wondered if he had done something wrong, or if the message from Gwaine had discouraged her from wanting to be with him.

"Take this back." She said, and he just sat staring at her, confused and heartbroken. "...For now."

Laney took a breath and continued, "Martha called a friend of hers and she took Toby with her on a bit of an adventure. She now has your DNA from before the whole Cup bullshit. We can take it to Heimdall and get that stuff sorted out. Once that's taken care of...then ask me."

He fingered the ring, staring at it for a moment as realization began dawning in his mind. He couldn't stop himself from reaching out and cupping her face. His thumb rubbed along her jaw and he looked deep into her eyes. "You better believe I will."

The Gator quad cart rumbled to a halt outside of the garage.

"You know the one thing I like the most about being here and now with all of you?" Arthur asked as climbed out onto the pavement.

"What's that?" Merlin asked, as a squeal of delight pierced the scene.

Arthur smirked and turned toward the woman smiling broadly from the other end of the driveway. "The complete lack of propriety. I don't have to worry about kissing my wife whenever I like."

He walked briskly toward his wife, who was holding their daughter Igrane in one arm and Aurie's hand in the other. Capturing her by the waist, he pulled her in and kissed her like he hadn't since he was still a prince.

Aurie wrapped his chubby arms around his father's knee and was rewarded by being scooped up into the warrior's arms.

Merlin smiled in amazement at how far they had all come since their days in Camelot. Looking down at the gear, he grimaced to himself. Maybe things hadn't changed that much. He desperately wanted to find his own wife, but the gear needed to be cleaned and put away.

As if reading his mind, Percival said, "Go find her. I'll take care of this."

"Thank you." He breathed a sigh of relief and started toward the house.

The dark brown liquid splashed against the edges of the cup as it was poured from the decanter. Steam wafted up over the brim.

Caffeine was supposed to be avoided during pregnancy, and her training as a medical doctor supported the advice. She took a sip of the guilty pleasure and it tasted glorious on her tongue. The warmth cascaded down her throat and she realized how much she had missed having an actual cup of coffee.

Before they were married, and even afterwards for a while, she had taken for granted the times she and Merlin would simply sit in the kitchen and shared a cuppa...whether it was here at the estate, at Merlin's tiny flat that he'd rented near the Snowdon Base, or at her condo in New York.

Because of their lifestyles and jobs, sometimes the coffee dates had been at odd times via video calls. The last two months, with no word at all from her husband, had been hard.

She rubbed her growing belly and wondered if she would ever see her babies' father again. Martha had been trying to keep busy by volunteering her services at the local medical clinic. It wasn't nearly as exciting as her work with UNIT had been, but it kept her mind occupied.

Another task she had been trying to manage hadn't been nearly as rewarding. In fact, it had been more daunting than anything, and she had seriously begun to question the wisdom in her decision when she had asked the Doctor to make one more stop before bringing her and Toby back to their own timeline.

The older woman, sitting at the kitchen table preparing vegetables for dinner, looked out of place. Auburn hair, heavily streaked with gray, was pulled back into a bun underneath a headscarf. Her clothes were plain and simple. Although brand new, the woman somehow made them seem like they were from another time.

Martha bit back a snide comment when she heard the woman huff out a small breath. It hadn't mattered how many times Martha had tried to explain the situation, the woman refused to listen.

She couldn't blame the woman, though. The entire thing was a mess.

The kitchen door opened, and Martha didn't bother turning toward it, assuming it was Gwen or Harri coming inside.

She squealed and was barely able to set down her cup when pale arms, covered in a light dusting of dark hair wrapped around her from behind.

"Hope you saved me a cup." Her husband said softly against her ear.

Tears flowed from her eyes, and she cursed the way her hormones had turned her emotions into a roller coaster. Twisting in his arms, she met his face as he dipped down to kiss his wife. "Oh, my god! I missed you so much!"

"I missed you, too."

"How did it go? Are you alright? Did you manage to find her?" Martha's questions rolled off her tongue in rapid succession.

Merlin chuckled. It was sound that was freer and younger than anything she had ever heard from him. His face was lit up with a spark of life that she had only seen during her adventure with Toby in Old Camelot. "Yes, we found her and everything is going to be fine now. I'm yours now, Martha. For the rest of my life, I am yours."

"What does that mean?" She asked suspiciously.

"It means that it is part of a long story I will explain to you later. For now, just know that...Well, I'm probably still going to outlive you, but I will finally be growing older and I will no longer have the darkness hanging over me as we raise our children and... OW!"

She pinched his shoulder and glared at him accusingly. "You knew?!"

"Uh..." Merlin smiled sheepishly at his wife. "I suspected?"

"Oh, my god! I can't believe you knew I am carrying twins and you didn't even tell me!"

"Martha! Martha..." He cupped her face in his hands. The ability he'd gained to see the threads of fate had shown him two entwined lives before he had left. He hadn't been completely certain that they were actually together, or just really close to each other.

When he had wrapped his arms around her for the first time in months, he had known for sure that the two came together from her. "I wanted to be with you, and see your face when you found out. I'm sorry it took me so long to get home. I wanted it to be a surprise."

"Sorry, I just...ugh! These damn hormones are already driving me crazy!" She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and sniffled, "I have a surprise for you, too. Turn around."

He cocked his head to the side in curiosity. "What..." His words left him when he did as she had instructed.

Standing next to the table was a woman he had never imagined he would have ever seen again outside of Balinor's stored memories. "Mother?"

Tears streamed down Hunith's face as she opened her arms to the man she called her son. She'd had her misgivings about the modern world, and the strange woman who had practically kidnapped her from her home.

Gwen had welcomed her to the new world with open arms, but Hunith had been suspicious. The girl she had taken in, who later became queen, had died years earlier as far as Hunith had been concerned.

They had told her about Arthur, Gwaine, and Percival, but she still hadn't been able to wrap her mind around the idea they were alive in this strange place. All she had seen of her son were odd portraits of him in front of foreign objects, and in dress that she could have never imagined. They had promised her that he would be returning, though after a few weeks she hadn't believed them.

Martha had tried to explain that Ealdor had fallen under an evil warlord, and the strange man she had been with confirmed it. The only one she had any sort of trust in was Laney. She was the only one who seemed real to Hunith.

The outspoken woman was a mother herself and had seen the hardships of life, Hunith could tell. Laney hadn't treated Hunith with kid gloves like the other women. She had never tried to convince her of things that seemed to defy any logic Hunith was aware of.

The moment she saw her son, walking into the kitchen to wrap his arms around Martha, Hunith's heart had lifted.

He had changed in so many ways, and his eyes were so much older than she remembered. Deep inside, though, she knew it was him.

"Merlin." She whispered, as he swept her up in an embrace.

Tears of joy and relief streamed down his face. "She saved you. That's why I couldn't find you. Martha saved you."

The lights were dimmed, as they all settled in around the media room after supper.

Martha tucked herself in between her husband's legs on a large couch, while he rubbed her lower back soothingly. Over dinner, they had all told stories from their adventures, but the moment now belonged to Toby, who had set up his computer for a slideshow.

The first picture that came up was the castle that had once stood where the manor was now built. The towers glowed in the morning sunlight.

"Camelot...?" Arthur breathed out. The castle he had been born and raised in was an awe-inspiring sight to behold. Sadness fell upon him as he recalled Merlin's story of how the glorious kingdom had fallen after his death.

Aurie was on his father's lap and wiggled in discomfort at the sudden change of emotion. Arthur glanced down at his son. Aurelianus might never inherit a kingdom, but without the pressures of leadership, the former king could give his son so much more than his own father had been able to.

He had once told Gwen that he would run away with her and become a farmer just to be with her. It was still true, but he was thankful for the new life they had been granted together, where he wouldn't have to be.

There had been messages left from representatives of the IOA and the SGC concerning their alliances with other races throughout the galaxy. He and Merlin had decided to deal with them in the next few days. The people of the Milky Way needed to know what had transpired on Celestis, and how Adria might be even more of a threat than before. But, he thought to himself as he held his family close, it could wait one more night.

"For the love of Camelot." Leon, Percival, and Merlin all stated in voices filled with reverence and wonder.

"Hey! It's not a model!" Mickey pointed out happily. Cushions an pillows from around the room assailed the young man and told him that his sense of humor was not well-received.

Toby switched to the next picture in the sequence.

Arthur groaned, as laughter erupted. He saw himself as a young man. A disdainful sneer covered his face.

"Now, there's the prat I remember."

He was about to respond when the picture switched again and Arthur cackled with glee. "...And there're the ears I remember!"

"Fracking hell, Merlin. You could have flown away with those things!" Leon laughed.

"You're both clotpoles."

"Where on earth did you get these pictures?" Gwen asked, amazed when she saw herself chewing on the side of her thumb nervously. "I mean, I know you went back in time, but I didn't expect to see...this!"

Martha smiled and explained, "We arrived during some tournament, and managed to get a few shots off while we were looking for Leon. Toby managed to partake in a lesson of how to properly clean armor."

"Yeah, after I nearly got thrown in the stocks for calling the prince an asshole."

Arthur stared at the young man in confusion.

"Asshole...a hole." Merlin began chuckling in disbelief, "That was you?"

Toby beamed, "You remember!"

"Vaguely. I think." His face fell into deep concentration as he tried to recall a single day from centuries before.

"I recognize when this was!" Arthur stated proudly. "This was the tournament celebrating the wedding of a Scottish Princess to our very own Sir Leon."

Percival clapped Leon on the back. "I remember you telling me about it. Sorcerers were everywhere, you said. First, a squire nearly died when some horses broke free, and then they were watching the tourney and planning to disrupt everything with their magic. Somehow, every one of them managed to escape..."

"...In that blue box thing!" Arthur finished for him. "My father was furious! He almost called the whole thing off."

Leon groaned, as he finally recalled that day. "Yes. There was an oddly attired boy in your tent when I went to find Merlin." He shook his finger admonishing at Toby, who continued to grin as he flipped through more pictures.

Laney began fanning herself as the picture changed again and a video began to play of two knights racing toward each other with lances. At the closest end of the tournament field, the victor removed his helmet and smiled at the crowd. "Ooooh, myyyyy!"

"Mom!"

"What? You put up a video of Leon in full armor and don't expect me to comment? Hello. Have you met me?"

Toby's face turned red with embarrassment. His brothers chortled from their seats, not understanding the full humor the adults shared.

Leon laughed uproariously before leaning over and whispering something into his lover's ear. Soon, Laney's face was just as red as her son's.

AN: Epilogue to follow :D