"I brought you some water," Merlin said standing in the tent doorway with a bucket of water held in front of him like a shield. "T-to wash," he stammered.

Arthur and Gaius had gone out for a while to give Bri some privacy.

"Thanks Merlin," she said pulling off the cloak and loosening the ties at the top of her shirt. His shirt. She turned and found him still standing there holding the bucket.

"It means a lot that you came all this way," he said staring into the bucket. His reflection wavered and morphed as the water sloshed about. His hands were not too steady.

"What else could I have done?"

He shrugged. "Send a soldier with a letter."

"With something like this?" Her eyebrows rose and she shook her head. "No. You are ... uh, I mean, this news was too important." She looked away, her hands fiddling with the edges of the cloak.

He nodded and looked down again into the bucket. "I'm glad you came," he said finally trying not to read anything into her words.

She looked at him with a hesitant smile on her lips.

He swallowed. "When we left, I wanted to..., uh, what I mean is, I should have...,and I didn't, and then I wished that I had..." He squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head.

Her face broke into a smile. "That was very eloquent, Merlin."

"Arthur's officially right. I'm an idiot."

She laughed, and he smiled back, his shoulders relaxing a little.

"You never seem to have any trouble speaking to me when you are Emrys," she observed.

He expelled a breath that was half sigh. "You're nicer to me when I'm Emrys," he said reproachfully. "It's when I'm Merlin that I have no idea what you're thinking."

"Do you normally read minds?" she teased.

He smiled, a big wide grin and rolled his eyes up at the ceiling. "No, definitely not, but most people are easy to read. Arthur for example. I can predict with certainty when he's going to call me an idiot."

She laughed.

"But you, with you I just can't tell. You're so, so inscrutable all the time." He paused, hugging the bucket to his chest. At least he's tried, he heard Arthur's words of the night before. He felt he was at the edge of a precipice, his heart beating fast, and the best idea was to just jump. "I-I don't know what you think of me," he said quietly. "I don't know if you even like me." Her eyes had widened, but she waited silently for him to finish. "That time you brought me food and said it was from Gaius, for example."

"I thought I was being too obvious," she said.

And then Arthur walked into the tent.

"The idea, Merlin," Arthur said, "is to leave the bucket and then get out. Unless you don't want any of us to sleep tonight." He paused and looked between them. "What?"

Bri tried to stifle a grin. Merlin put the bucket on the table and holding his hand over it he spoke a few words. Steam lifted off the surface of the now warm water. He looked up and met Bri's gaze.

"Wow," she said, dipping her fingers in to test it out. "That's handy. Thanks Merlin!"

"You better be careful with that," Arthur warned her. "He tried to boil me alive once."

Merlin grinned and turned to follow Arthur out. "Cabbage head!" he muttered.

"What for?" Arthur asked as they stood outside the tent.

"For awful timing."

Arthur stared at him for a while then his eyes widened.

"Ah! Sorry Merlin, but you were taking ages." He yawned and stretched. "And I'm exhausted."

...

Bri lay asleep on a mattress on the floor in Arthur's tent. They'd decided to keep her presence there a secret. Arthur and Merlin sat at the table, and Merlin wracked his brain for a solution to their new Morgana and spy problem. Gaius and the others had long gone to sleep.

"Any bright ideas, Merlin?"

"Nothing at the moment, no."

"Are the little wheels turning?"

Merlin's elbows rested on the table and his forehead was buried in his hands. "I think they're too tired to do anything of the sort."

"Well, you can turn yourself into Emrys, right?"

"Yes."

"Could you turn someone else into you? If you were seen together at the same time, Emrys and Merlin, that would convince Morgana's spy that they've got it all wrong."

Merlin's head snapped up. He looked at Arthur and found him watching Bri as she slept. Bri still wore Merlin's clothes.

"I don't know. I've never done it before."

"Well, if I were you I'd get practicing, Merlin," Arthur said standing up. "I'm going to bed."

Merlin watched Arthur move about the tent, his eyebrows halfway up his forehead and his mouth hanging open. Arthur took his boots off and his outer coat and slid under the covers.

"Don't take all night," Arthur called as he punched his pillow into the right shape and consistency. "And don't make any noise."

"Still a prat," Merlin mumbled.

"Did you say something, Merlin?"

"I said, good night."

Merlin sat at the table frowning. He would have to do some reading. He pulled out the book of spells that Gaius had given him and started flipping through the pages. Two hours later, he found what he was looking for. He was tired and exhilarated. He looked at Bri. Now all he needed to do was to convince her to help him. Somehow he didn't think she would refuse, but the whole thing would be a little strange.

He put his book of spells away and looked around for a place to sleep. He looked at the layers of blankets on Arthur's bed, and then speaking a few words the topmost blanket slid itself out from beneath Arthur's arm, off the bed, and floated towards Merlin. He spoke the words again and one of Arthur's pillows floated towards him as well.

"I felt that," Arthur grumbled half asleep, as half his head support vanished.

"You're dreaming, Arthur, get back to sleep." Arthur mumbled something intelligible and did just that. Merlin grinned and arranged himself as comfortably as he could on the wooden bench.

...

"You want me to do what?" Bri said, her eyes the size of saucers.

Morning had come, chilly and bright, and the troops were packing up camp and getting ready to depart on their last stretch before Caerleon. Gwaine and Percival still stood guard outside the King's tent.

"It would be just for a few hours," Merlin said hopefully. Gaius and Arthur stood a way off in the tent, watching the exchange. Bri kept glancing at them wide eyed, as if unsure if this was a jest.

"And you can actually do that?" she asked Merlin. "You can make me look and sound like you?"

"I think I can."

"You think?"

Merlin looked a little discomfited. "I've never done it before, but I am fairly certain..."

"For how many hours, exactly?"

Merlin looked up at Arthur for help.

"Four, maybe five," Arthur said, "just until we reach Caerleon. Once we've reached the castle, I will send Merlin back to Camelot with a message to Guinevere."

"And how will you change me back to myself?"

Again, Merlin looked uncomfortable. "Well, there's a few ways to do it."

Bri nodded impatiently for him to continue.

"You could ride back to Camelot and brew yourself a potion that would turn you back. Gaius can give you the recipe."

Bri looked horrified. "That would be more than a couple hours in your body, Merlin! Have you actually thought this through?" she exclaimed. "H-how will I..." she stammered and her cheeks flushed bright red, "how will I go about regular bodily functions?"

Understanding dawned behind Merlin's eyes, and in turn, his own cheeks flamed.

"Right!" he muttered.

Behind him, Arthur chortled.

"Not funny, Arthur!"

"Hilarious, actually!" came the reply.

"I will turn you back to yourself before your return journey, then," Merlin told Bri. She looked at him skeptically.

"And you promise me that this is perfectly harmless, Merlin?" she asked looking at him anxiously. "No lingering side effects, like ... like hair on my chest for the rest of my life, or anything like that?"

Arthur laughed again. "Does Merlin actually have any?"

Merlin looked towards the tent ceiling and counted to ten.

"Alright, I'll do it," Bri said. She closed her eyes tightly and shook her hands as if to shake off nerves.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Merlin, I'm sure," she said, not opening her eyes.

"You have to hold on to my hand. And you have to look at me."

Bri's eyes opened and she reached out her hand and clasped his.

Looking into her eyes, Merlin lifted his free hand towards her face. "You have to keep looking at me, Bri, all the way through." Bri nodded, her eyes locked with his.

Before speaking the words, Merlin tucked a stand of her hair behind her ear. Then he cupped her cheek and spoke the words he'd learned the night before. At first nothing happened. Merlin spoke the words again, but this time they came out as a command. His eyes flashed golden and the air around Bri shimmered and sparkled. For a moment, no one could see her, and then the shimmering stopped and Arthur and Gaius stared at two identical Merlins face to face, their hands clasped together.

"Did it work?" Bri asked, and her voice was Merlin's. Her hand jumped to her throat and felt Merlin's Adam's apple. "Oh, great gods!" she gasped.