AN:

I've actually rubbed my wrist raw typing this story, guys. I hope you feel it's worth it as much as I do!

DISCLAIMER: Yes, I get it. Peasants aren't worthy of owning things. I'm a peasant. Get over it already…

2 Hours

It took 2 hours to smuggle Arthur out of the hospital and back to our flat, but with my powers and Morgana's combined it really hadn't been too difficult. Arthur hadn't wanted to talk before he ate, so I got the king out of the hospital gown and into my clothes before I ran out to get him breakfast while Morgana went back to the hospital in search of his armor and sword.

When I got back to the flat, Arthur was leaning forward with his elbows on his knees and his chin resting on his fists in Morgana's old recliner that didn't recline any more, watching Downton Abbey with an intense look on his face. As I moved past him toward the kitchen, his hand flashed out and grabbed my arm.

"Merlin," he started, his tone serious.

"Yes, Sire?"

"The paintings are moving."

"Yes, Sire, I know."

"They're talking."

"Indeed."

"Glowing, even."

"Yes, it would appear so."

"Is this your doing? Some trick of your sorcery?"

I laughed. "No, no, My Lord. Not sorcery. It's science!"

He nodded, like he always did when he was trying to look like he understood something when he really had no clue what I was on about. "Science. Hm… There are many things about this new world that are strange to me."

I patted him on the shoulder with sarcastic mockery that I knew he wouldn't pick up. "And I shall explain anything you would like to know, once you've eaten."

I strode over to the kitchen and pulled out one of Morgana's nice plates. Arthur followed and tentatively seated himself at our little 4-seater table. "A round table," he noted. "Is that a tradition these days?"

I laughed. "No, that is just a coincidence we picked up for free online."

"On what?"

I shook my head. "Much about the world has changed, Arthur." I could hear the hint of sorrow in my own voice. "It's good to have you back."

"It's good to be back," he smiled genuinely as I placed the plate in front of him. "Ah, finally, decent food. Have you any idea how horrible the meals were in that place you found me? The physicians were downright brainless, as well. Gaius would have been appalled by the herbs they were using. I couldn't pronounce any of their names." He glanced down at the food on his plate. "So, erm… How exactly do I eat this?"

"You pick it up. With your hands." I mimed the motion and earned myself another not-understanding nod. Watching Arthur fumble his way through the modern world was ceaselessly entertaining. He copied my motion.

His eyes widened and he grunted in approval as he chewed. "Oh, Merlin, this is fantastic. What on earth is this? I've never tasted anything like it in my life!"

I smirked and slipped the carry-out bag into the trash while he wasn't looking. "I believe they call it a cheeseburger, My Lord."

He smiled broadly. "A cheeseburger, then. We shall dine like this every evening!"

Morgana walked in at that moment. "Do you have any idea how hard it was to fit all this in the trunk of my car?" she muttered in disgust as she tossed a duffle bag on the floor of the main room. It landed with a heavy thud. "It's all there: the armor, that blasted sword, everything." She leaned on the counter next to me, looking so exhausted. I put my hand over hers.

"It's been a long night. Why don't you go to bed?"

She nodded. "Okay. Don't hesitate to wake me if you need to. You get some sleep soon, as well, alright?"

"I promise." We smiled softly at each other for a moment before she turned and went to her bedroom, shutting the door behind her.

When I looked back at Arthur he had his eyebrows raised and was smirking.

"Oh, shut up," I snapped.

He raised his hands defensively. "I didn't say anything."

"It's not like that," I insisted.

"I never said it was."

I shook my head and sank into the chair at the table across from the king's. "She's changed, Arthur, she really has. She's still Morgana, but she's good, good-hearted. She may still be bitter, but she isn't so filled with hate anymore."

He thought for a minute, tapping the table. "Merlin, I have no plans to make amends with her."

"Arthur, please!"

"I don't intent to quarrel with her, either. Her crimes are great, but I'm willing to put them aside in many ways if she is as well."

I shook my head. "Just give her a chance. She'll change your mind if you'd just let her."

He watched me, his gaze level. "That's what I'm worried about."

I didn't respond, and we sat in silence while Arthur finished eating. My mind hadn't fully wrapped itself around the concept that he was there, sitting with me over a meal like nothing had changed. It was like that when I'd found Morgana, too. It took several weeks for it to fully sink in, that she was real in every sense of the word and that she was there with me again. I expected Arthur's presence would hit me like a sack of flour one day when I came home from work, the way it had with my favorite sorceress.

When Arthur finished, I cleaned up his plate while he leaned back in his chair and sighed contentedly.

"Alright," I started. "You've eaten. Are you ready to talk now?"

He frowned. "The last thing I remember after… well, my death, is a woman's voice saying the path to my destiny has only just begun. After that, I woke up on the shore of the Lake Avalon and I couldn't remember anything, not even the voice. It all came back when I saw you and Morgana though, all of it." He paused for a moment, mulling over something. "Really, between… dying and when I woke up at the lake… It was like closing my eyes to sleep: I have absolutely no idea how long I was out. Merlin, how long as it been?"

I clenched my jaw. "A thousand years," I breathed.

His eyes widened. "A thousand… And you've been here all this time?"

I nodded, solemn.

"Oh, Merlin, what I would give to her hear of the things you've seen." He laughed, but I looked down, the weight of the ages washing over me. His smile vanished and he leaned forward. "What exactly have you seen?"

My face sank into my hands. "Destruction. Death. The cruelty of man. The world has become a dark place since the fall of Camelot, Arthur." I looked up to measure his reaction.

"The fall. So Camelot is no more." His eyes got a distant look to them for a few seconds. When he came back, they were filled with concern. "Guinevere. Did she…"

"The peace you left us with lasted throughout her reign, but not much longer."

His gaze drifted out the window, grief evident on his face, the grief of a man who had lost everything while he wasn't looking. We sat like that for a long while, lost in our memories of the old days, our regrets and remorse, the dreams and plans we had lost that day on the battlefield at Camlann. I had suffered the misery of watching everyone I had ever loved die, and Arthur hadn't had the pleasure.

Then I remembered that I hadn't lost everyone entirely. I had Morgana again, and now I had Arthur as well. Somehow, that seemed like enough to make all of it bearable.

"We should go to bed. We can deal with this whole thing tomorrow," I broke the silence after what could have been two hours or five minutes. Like closing our eyes to sleep. I glanced out the window at the low-hanging sun. "Or, today, I suppose."

Arthur stood and stretched. "So I'll be taking this room then," he stated matter-of-factly, nodding at the room opposite Morgana's.

"That's my room!" I retorted indignantly.

He waved his hand toward the living room furniture. "Well, your…"

"Sofa," I gave him the word he was looking for.

"Yes, your sofa looks very comfortable. I'm sure you'll sleep just fine out here."

He left for my room without another word. I gave up and retrieved a pillow and blanket from the linen cabinet and set up my bed on the sofa. I was laying there, staring at the ceiling, when I heard Arthur shout my name from the other room.

"Merlin! How do you put out this infernal candle?"

I chuckled to myself and got off the couch. If I was being honest, I'd missed being bossed around by this pushy, thick-headed child. I found Arthur standing in the middle of my room with his neck craned. "It's on the bloody ceiling." He pointed at it when I walked in.

"Yes, Sire, it's called a ceiling lamp."

"Well, how do you put it out?" he demanded.

"Like this." Watching the look of childish wonder mingled with fear on his face as I demonstrated the function of a light switch almost made up for the endless years of purgatory.

"Ah. More of your sorcery?"

"No, Sire."

"Scientific advancement, then?"

"Yes, Sire."

"I see." I turned to leave, but he stopped me. "Well, aren't you going to help me get dressed?"

I laughed as we fell so easily into our old patterns. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

When Arthur was finally dressed in my night clothes and tucked into bed, I backed out of the room.

"Anything else?" I asked, eager to get some sleep.

"No, I think that will be all." There was a pause. "Thank you, Merlin."

I felt as if someone had run me through with a sword. Thank you. There wasn't a night I lay in bed and didn't hear him saying those words as he slipped away from me.

"You're welcome, My Lord," I managed to choke out as I shut the door.

"Are you alright?" the sweetest voice spoke from my side. I gasped and turned to see Morgana standing in her delicate dressing robe at my side. With her dark hair cast around her and her pale skin glowing in the think streak of light finding its way through the drawn curtains, she looked more like the ghost I had always feared she was than the girl who had saved me in more ways than I could count.

"I thought you were asleep," I muttered quietly, careful not to disturb the king.

"I couldn't. And I heard you up, so…"

"Um, yeah, I was just going to bed." I gestured at place on the couch.

"What? He's making you sleep there?" She shook her head. "Come on, you can sleep my bed tonight."

I stepped forward, but then something in me balked. "No, I can't do that, Morgana. Don't worry about it."

"No, really, Merlin, I insist. Please." She sounded like she was just trying to do something nice for me, but I could read her eyes. Ethereal green. She was scared. She didn't want to be alone, not even in her room, not for one night.

So I let her lead me to her bed. One side of the black, silk sheets were tossed aside, but the other was untouched. I got in on the undisturbed side, thankful for the darkness of her black and silver décor that made the room feel like night. I felt the bed shift as Morgana crawled in next to me.

It was strange, being close to her like this, but it felt more comfortable that it had with anyone else as long as I could remember, which was a long way indeed. After a few minutes, she slid over so that our arms were touching.

"I'm just a little cold," she muttered as an excuse, but I knew what she really wanted to say. She needed to know I was there as much as I needed the same from her. Without thinking about it, I pulled her into my arms.

"Better?"

Morgana nodded against my chest. "Much," she answered, and I could hear a smile in her voice.

I stroked her beautiful raven's locks and drifted to sleep in the blissful wave of her heavenly scent.

I couldn't be sure if I was dreaming, but as I reached the edge of my consciousness I heard my favorite voice whisper to me, "Never let me go, Merlin."