San Antonio, Texas

August, 2027 AD

"Yeah, so we were testin' the machine, and it was supposed to send Dal and I five days in the past to a city called Austin–" I cut myself off as a smile formed on my lips. "Hey! We could take you there one of these days!"

"Sure," Arthur responded with an amused grin.

I reached up to give him a quick kiss before continuing, "Anyway. I forked up the settings when I accidentally tripped over some cables, and that's how the stupid thing ended up sending me to medieval Britain..."

"Medieval?" my King echoed as he frowned.

"It's what we call the time period between the fifth and fifteenth centuries, approximately," I explained. He nodded in understanding, his eyes widening slightly in astonishment, and I gave him a sheepish look; then I went back to the story. "So we wandered 'round for almost a week, and then, by some crazy chance, we came across Ealdor, and that's how I met Merls... I don't think I would've survived without him..."

Darn, I miss him!

"I stayed with him and Hunith for some months, and then she sent us to Camelot, and I guess you kinda know what happened from there..."

Arthur nodded and he tightened his hold on my waist. "You made me fall in love with you."

"I didn't do anything," I responded with a scoff. "You did that all on your own, for some insane reason."

"Because you are incredible," he claimed and leaned down to kiss me, "and loyal," another kiss, "and brave," kiss, "and beautiful," kiss, "and caring..."

I closed my eyes and tangled my fingers in his hair when he kissed me once more, keeping him in place so that I could enjoy the affectionate gesture for a little longer. Then I pulled away and kissed his cheek before getting back on track.

"About a year passed, and Leo figured out how to get me back, so I came back, and six months went by..." I gulped as memories from that time flooded my mind. "And, well, I knew that I would miss Merls like crazy; but I didn't expect to miss you so much, too... And I really hated that I didn't get to say goodbye 'cause you were unconscious... And then crap happened, and I almost accidentally died... And I decided that I wanted– that I needed to go back to Camelot... So I made Leo send me back..."

"I remember you telling me that you almost died," Arthur commented, a small frown forming on his gorgeous face again.

"Yeah," I snorted, "it was so stupid."

"And that is why you returned to Camelot," he said.

"And then you kissed me," I recalled as a big smile formed on my lips.

"I did," he replied, mirroring my expression before kissing me again.

"And the rest is history," I finished with a sigh.

"No," he growled. "You still have to tell me about everything that you and Merlin did behind my back."

I puffed. I wish he'd wait until Merlin can join in on telling the story. But I know that it's unlikely that he'll be willing to wait until we can go back home.

I was about to speak again, when a nurse entered the room claiming that she needs to change Arthur's bandages.

"Later," I promised.

The next morning, Arthur was finally discharged and I was only too eager to finally get out of the darn hospital and go to the farm.

I can't wait to show him cars! And refrigerators! And ice-cream! And laptops! And, most importantly – to make him watch all of the 'Infinity Saga' movies!

I was putting on my dirty white sneakers when Arthur exited the bathroom, now wearing some of the clothes that Oliver got for him, and my jaw dropped. The outfit wasn't anything spectacular – a simple black v-neck t-shirt and light grey pants – but the sight of him in modern clothing made me wonder, once more, how the heck I managed to land such a man for a husband. He's so incredibly perfect!

"How do I look?" he asked, almost shyly.

"Like everything I ever dreamed of and more," I replied truthfully and let out an exaggerated dreamy sigh.

He snorted and I quickly finished tying my laces before springing to my feet (ignoring the pain in my ribs), walking up to him, and kissing him.

"You should not be standing," he noted in a whisper while leaning his forehead against mine and resting his hands on my waist.

"It's your fault," I accused. "You're like a magnet."

"All right, lovebirds!" We jumped apart when Oliver suddenly barged into the room. "Quit smoochin' and let's get this show on the road!"

My cousin was kind enough to ask for a day off work so that he could help us out (he left his band after he and his wife had a baby, and now he works at an Audi car agency), seeing as Arthur and I are both pretty much useless at the moment (Sage forced me to get an x-ray soon after my King woke up and, as it turns out, I have five broken ribs...) and he doesn't want to leave his mom alone with the task of babysitting us.

"Show some respect, Oliver! You're talkin' to the King and queen of Camelot!" I scolded playfully, earning a laugh and an eye-roll.

I was coerced into sitting on a wheel-chair so that I wouldn't strain my ribs any further on the way to the car, and I scowled up at Oliver as he rolled the stupid thing along the hallway while he and Arthur walked towards the lifts.

My King froze when the doors opened. "What is this sorcery?!" he asked in an alarmed whisper.

I shared an amused look with my cousin before I responded, "It's just technology, Artie, it won't hurt you," and I gently nudged him inside by placing a hand on the small of his back. He stepped in hesitantly and then his eyes widened when the doors closed. I snorted and clicked on the button to the lobby, then Oliver and I laughed when my King jolted at the sudden movement of the container and his hand shot out to reach for mine. I grabbed it and intertwined our fingers.

Arthur was absolutely stunned when he found that we were now on the ground floor when we exited the lift, and I giggled as I pressed a kiss to the back of his hand. "Welcome to the twenty-first century, Peaches!"

"My head hurts," he grumbled.

"Yeah, that happens," I responded, offering a sympathetic look.

"He better not throw up in my car," Oliver muttered and I sent him a glare.

We exited the building and I was instantly swarmed by the awful Texas summer heat, which caused me to grit my teeth under the knowledge that I cannot take off my hoodie or roll up my sleeves to make my life a little easier.

"Why is it so hot?!" Arthur asked in bewilderment.

"Welcome to Texas, sunshine," I mumbled in reply.

As we walked through the parking lot, my King suddenly gasped in horror and he clutched my hand. "Astraea!"

I started, then I frowned and looked up at him, finding him intently watching something in the distance. I followed his line of sight and snorted when I spotted a girl, maybe around my age, crossing the street. I assume that the reason why Arthur was so alarmed is because she was wearing very short shorts and a crop tank top – a combination that left most of her skin exposed.

"Oh, yeah, girls tend to dress like that here," I explained and tugged on his arm to get him moving again.

"Don't stare, or you'll get cancelled for harassment," Oliver cautioned.

"What?" my King asked while scrunching up his pretty face in confusion, but he obeyed and kept walking.

"Just... don't stare," I said.

We got to my cousin's car – a black Audi Q8 – and Arthur examined it almost with distrust as he walked around it and peeked inside through the windows. Oliver chuckled beside me and he unlocked the vehicle before opening a door to the backseat.

"It's like a carriage," I explained to my King as I carefully got off the wheelchair and climbed inside, settling down on the middle seat. "Only, it works with gasoline rather than horses."

My cousin closed the door for me and then he opened the door to the co-pilot's seat for Arthur to get in. Arthur gave me a wary look as he eyed the interior of the car. "It's okay, Artie," I reassured him with a small grin. He gave a shaky sigh before entering the car and I shared another amused look with Oliver as he closed the door and went over to the driver's seat.

"Are you sure this is safe?" Arthur asked me in a whisper while he continued to examine his surroundings.

I shrugged. "It's not more dangerous than riding horses."

Then I remembered that seat-belts exist and quickly buckled mine before instructing my King on how to buckle his. He did so very slowly before turning to look at me with a spooked look. I gave him a little grin and leaned forwards to kiss his cheek, ignoring how my ribs protested the movement.

Oliver finally got inside and he eyed me for a second before scanning Arthur, then he finally turned on the car. I started when the radio started to blast some generic country music and he quickly turned the volume all the way down while shooting us a sheepish look.

"What was that?!" Arthur questioned in alarm.

"Sorry excuse for music," I responded while giving my cousin a teasing look. He reached over to flick my forehead and I narrowly avoided it by scooting over to the seat behind Arthur's.

"You mean like your gramophone?" my King asked.

"Sorta..." I answered, "but the gramophone was invented in the late nineteenth century. Music devices have evolved a lot since then."

Arthur seemed stunned at the revelation, and I'm sure he likely would've fixated on it had my cousin not started to drive the car out of the parking spot, which caused my King to gasp as his eyes shot to the front. "Why are we going backwards?!"

I snorted and placed a hand on his shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Relax, Artie, he's just pulling out."

As promised, a very entertained Oliver moved the gear shift to 'D' and my King let out a shaky sigh when the car finally moved forwards. I kept my hand on his muscular shoulder and massaged it softly as a way to hopefully keep him calm. I can only imagine how insane it must feel to ride in a car for the first time!

I'm not gonna lie and say I'm not thrilled to be watching him experience it, though.

Arthur seemed fairly dazed as we drove through the city, presumably overwhelmed by how different things are. I'm sure that the buildings look like ugly monstrosities to him, compared to the marvels we have back home. That's what they look like to me, anyway.

"It's got nothing on Camelot, huh?" I asked him with a small grin.

"It is very... strange," he responded in a mumble. Then he reached up to place his hand over mine, intertwining our fingers.

"There's a prettier part called 'riverwalk'," Oliver commented. "We'll take ya' there one of these days."

Twenty minutes later, we finally got to the farm and Arthur was quick to get out of the car while complaining that his head hurt. He squeezed his eyes shut and placed a hand on his forehead as he grimaced. My heart ached for him and I scrambled to get out as well so that I could make sure he was all right.

"I'm sorry, Artie. It was a necessary evil," I told him softly while rubbing his back. "I'll ask Kelly to make you some tea, yeah?"

He nodded and his face relaxed a little as he looked down at me. I gave him a little grin and reached up to kiss the side of his jaw as I grabbed his hand. Then I gave him a little tug towards the house. "C'mon, let's go inside and you can lie down."

The house looks exactly as I remembered it – your typical American farmhouse with white bevel-sided walls, triangular roofs, and a porch with a bench and a rocking chair.

Aunt Kelly greeted us at the door and she gave me a very cautious hug.

"I've prepared your room, and Arthur can stay in Oliver's old one," she told me.

"Auntie!" I whined, causing her to raise an eyebrow. "Art and I are married! We can share a room!"

Her cheeks reddened a little. "Oh, but I just thought... maybe you'd be more comfortable... because of your injuries." It was my turn to raise an eyebrow and she sighed. "Fine, he can stay in your room, but no funny business!" She pointed a menacing finger between us.

I felt my face get warm and I averted my gaze towards my King, finding that he looked equally flustered as he turned to me with widened eyes.

I huffed and addressed my Aunt again, "He just had heart surgery and I have a bunch of broken ribs – trust me, there'll be no funny business."

"Didn't we walk in on ya' makin' out the other day?" Oliver interjected with a smirk. I glared at him and punched his arm.

Kelly looked among the three of us for a moment, then she sighed and moved out of the way to let us inside, "All right, then, come in."

I instantly sighed in relief when I felt the heavenly cooling effects of air conditioning on my body and I looked up at Arthur again to see his reaction to the interior of the house. His beautiful eyes scanned the cosy living room in awe before moving towards the kitchen (I'm not entirely sure if he could tell that's what it is), and then he looked up at the steel pendant lights.

"What d'ya think? Ready to trade the castle life for this?" Oliver inquired while eyeing him in amusement.

Arthur's suddenly panicked gaze shot towards me and I sent a glare towards my cousin before reassuring him, "Don't worry, he's just teasing ya', we'll be goin' home as soon as you're fully healed."

"Good," he breathed out.

Kelly kept Arthur company as she made him his tea while Oliver gallantly helped me up the stairs and to my room.

I instantly kicked off my shoes and dropped backwards onto my bed, letting out a long exhale and closing my eyes for a second. Then I scanned my surroundings, taking note of everything. The baby blue wallpaper that I've had since I was, like, six, remains pretty much intact; my Macbook Pro is still on my desk, untouched; the few photos I have in frames are still placed atop a dark wooden drawer; and my movie posters are still stuck to the back of the bathroom door. I smiled, feeling extremely grateful that my Aunt has kept everything in place even after five-or-so years of me living out of time.

Oliver got Arthur to my room a minute later and my smile grew when I saw him.

"I'm leavin' the door open. No funny business," my cousin cautioned with a mocking look before going back downstairs.

I rolled my eyes.

Arthur remained standing for a moment as he also scanned my room. Then he sighed shakily and sat down next to me on the bed. I quickly moved closer to him, hugging his waist as I leaned my head on his arm.

"Are you okay?" I asked softly. "I know it's a lot to take in."

He draped an arm over my shoulders and kissed the top of my head. "It is a lot," he agreed, "but I am glad that I finally get to see the place where you grew up."

I grinned and moved to press a quick kiss to his ridiculously inviting lips before carefully getting off the bed and moving towards the drawer as I said, "I dunno 'bout you, but I'm gonna change into some PJs and maybe we can take a nap?"

"Sounds perfect," he responded with a cute smile.

"Tell me about those dragons," Arthur demanded some minutes after we woke up from our nap only to remain cuddled in bed. It's not like we can do much else, y'know?

I sighed. "A lot of that story's kinda personal to Merls... I dunno if I should..."

"You promised," he grunted.

"I'll tell ya' what I can without overstepping boundaries, yeah?" I proposed.

"Fine."

I figured that I should probably skip over everything with Merlin's dad and Kilgharrah, and jump straight to the topic of the babies. I took a deep breath before speaking, "Well, remember that guy who stole a key to a death-trap building that had a dragon egg?"

"The one that collapsed and you and Merlin assured me that the egg was destroyed?" Arthur inquired.

"Yeah..."

He huffed and turned to me with a look of bewilderment as he gasped in realisation, "You saved it, did you not?!"

"Yeah..."

"So the two white dragons..."

"Yep."

"And then what?"

I gave him a quick kiss in an attempt to pacify him before explaining, "They went to live in a cave... with another dragon who raised them... and Merls n' I visited them as often as possible."

"Another dragon?!"

I nodded sheepishly. "That's Merls's story to tell, though."

Arthur narrowed his eyes at me, but he did not press me on that. "So all those trips to collect herbs for Gaius..." he said instead.

"Not all of 'em, but most..."

He seemed reasonably upset with that and he let out a long sigh as he moved to lie on his back, his eyes fixing on the ceiling. I dropped my head and started fiddling with the cords of my hoodie to keep my hands from reaching towards him, knowing that he needs a little space to make sense of things.

"How did you get them to be so... friendly?" he asked after a minute or two.

I shrugged. "We didn't really do anything... They were just naturally that way... I think." He raised an eyebrow. "Like most animals, y'know?" I continued. "If you treat 'em well, they never have a reason to be aggressive."

Arthur only nodded pensively and I bit down on my bottom lip. I really wish that he could see Aithusa and Phoenix the way I see them.

A smile formed on my lips as an idea crossed my mind and I snatched my phone from my nightstand before opening the camera roll so that I could show him all the videos and photographs I have taken of the twins since the time they were born.

Google was gracious enough to automatically create a folder for them as soon as my phone had an internet connection.

My King sat up a little to get a better look, a frown forming on his face as he scanned the first picture I showed him, where the two babies were sleeping on my lap only about a week after they were born. Then I swiped onto the next one, which was a selfie of the three of us. As was the next one, and the next one, and the next one... After about fifteen selfies, there was a picture of Aithusa standing on Merlin's chest as he lay on the ground while looking at him expectantly.

Arthur seemed to get the hang of operating the Samsung and he gently took it from me before starting to swipe at the pictures on his own. His expression gradually turned from hurt and annoyance to softness, and a small grin formed on his lips. I felt instantly relieved at the sight and kissed the side of his jaw before curling up beside him with my head on his shoulder. He was quick to round my waist with his free arm, his fingers gently tracing my sore ribs.

My eyes widened when he swiped onto a video of Gwaine playing fetch with the dragons and I cowered, knowing what was coming.

"Gwaine also knows?!" he asked in alarm not a second later.

"Yeah..."

My King scoffed. "Of course he does."

"That was an accident, too," I commented in a mumble.

"What happened?"

"He followed Merls and I out, and saw us playing with the dragons, and then he made us tell him everything," I explained.

"Who else knows?" Arthur interrogated.

I shrunk further into myself. "Mordred knows about Merls, but not about me... Pops, obviously... Lancelot also knew about Merls..."

"And the lot of you had no problem committing treason..." he stated in a mutter. "All these years..."

Tears formed in my eyes and my heart twisted painfully. I hate that he's so hurt by this! I mean, I knew he would be upset when he found out about everything, but it still sucks to see it and now I kinda hate myself for not having the guts to tell him before.

"I'm sorry, Artie," I whispered. "We never wanted to hurt you..."

He sighed and kissed the top of my head. "I know, my darling."

"We just didn't wanna put you in a difficult situation," I continued.

"That is what Merlin said," he observed.

I smiled a little. "Well, great minds think alike."

Arthur snorted and shook his head before adding, "He also said that he was born to serve me... that it has always been his destiny."

I puffed. "Yeah, well, K loves to talk about dumbass prophecies."

"K?"

"The big dragon," I responded, feeling a pang in my chest at the thought that he might not be alive anymore. I mean, obviously, he's not alive in 2027; but the thought that he might be gone back in our timeline... Camelot's timeline. Whatever. You get what I mean.

My King nodded in understanding.

"Were you also born to be by my side?" he asked, almost timidly.

"No..." I breathed out. "K says that I was never supposed to be in Camelot."

He slid a warm hand under my chin and gently lifted my head off his shoulder as he leaned down to brush his nose against mine. "I am eternally grateful that you found a way to be there anyway," he stated in a whisper.

"Me, too, Artie," I responded in the same manner.

He pressed his lips against mine and I smiled a little. I'm so lucky!

"Hey!" Oliver startled us and we jumped apart. I winced from a flash of pain in my ribcage. "No funny business!"

I grabbed a pillow and flung it at his head (which was a bad idea because the movement caused more pain, but whatever) as I defended, "We're just kissing!"

"That's how it always starts!" he shot back.

"Shut up," I grumbled.

Oliver rolled his eyes and chuckled before stepping into the room. I followed his movements with a narrowed gaze as I curled up against Arthur again.

"I brought you both your pain-killers," my cousin informed – his words mostly aimed at Arthur as he handed him two flasks. I glared at the items. I hate swallowing pills! "Make sure she takes it," he added while sending me a pointed look.

My King snorted. "All right."

"I'm not a child," I protested.

Oliver reached to ruffle my hair and I slapped his hand away.

"I'm goin' out for Italian," he then announced. "D'ya want anything?"

Arthur gave me a questioning look, appearing lost, and I patted his thigh before responding to my cousin, "Can you send a pic of the menu and I'll tell ya' then?"

"All right," Oliver agreed and promptly left.

"Pic?" my King asked.

"It's short for 'picture'," I explained, earning a nod of understanding.

I smiled. I still can't believe that I brought Arthur freaking Pendragon to freaking Texas! I moved to kiss him again – but he leaned away, making me pause and gulp as my face fell and I felt a pang in my chest. Has he decided that he hates me, after all?!

To my shock, he handed me the medicine flask that was labelled with my name. "Take this first, then we can do whatever you want," he promised.

I smirked as an idea formed in my head and I echoed, "Whatever?" Arthur nodded. "Oh, you're gonna regret that," I said and shot him a wink before grabbing my water bottle off my bedside table, and I promptly took one of the pills before passing the bottle onto my King so that he could take his own pill.

Y'know, five years ago, I would've been disgusted at the thought of letting someone else drink from my bottle.

Character development.

He set it aside once he was done and turned to me with a small smirk as he stated, "All right, I am all yours."

"Oh, goody!" I exclaimed and scrambled to detangle myself from my blankets as I hurried to get my laptop from my desk, ignoring the puzzled look on my husband's – cue internal giggle – face. I returned to the bed and cuddled up once more before opening the device and entering my password. "This is called a 'laptop'," I said. Then I clicked on Google Chrome. "This is called 'internet'." I entered 'Disney ' onto the search bar. "This is called a 'streaming service'," I continued to narrate. I clicked on my profile and rapidly searched for 'Captain America: The First Avenger'. "And this is called 'you shouldn't have married a fangirl'."

And that's the story of how, after all these years, I finally introduced Arthur to the Marvel Cinematic Universe properly!