What Was I Made For? - JetGirl1832, tomatopudding (2024)

Leaving the office always fills her with a sense of relief, finally allowing herself to shed the veneer of compliance she is forced to put on every day. She should have quit the moment she realized the person she was looking for wasn’t there, but there was certainly something to be said for having a high-paying job allowing Morgause to continue living in the manner she has become accustomed to. Things in National City are expensive, sue her. In any case, getting home to her big, comfortable apartment in her tall, modern apartment building brings her joy, and not just because it means she can put on sweatpants. There are many things Morgause misses about her days in Camelot, but the fabrics are certainly not one of them.

When she saw the Pendragon name come up all over the media, Morgause was certain she’d be able to track down her sister. After all, the world hasn’t changed that much and Uther is practically still a king over his new “Kingdom”. It quickly becomes clear Morgana has absolutely nothing to do with the company, which means Morgause is right back at square one.

Luckily, she has more than just conventional means at her disposal. For the majority of her time on this earth, Morgause has been a normal woman living a normal life in a normal small town in England. She was a school teacher of all things, writing novels on the side for her own enjoyment. Then something happened. Morgause has no idea what it was because nothing in her life has actually changed, but a couple of years ago she suddenly began to…remember.

Memories flooded back to her, memories previously gone. Memories of a time long, before where she is now. Then she rediscovered her powers. That is the most thrilling part because, in this boring world, magic is few and far between. Though, powers aren’t completely unheard of.

It was by chance she saw the name Pendragon, the British land development company that was making waves in America and was expanding their business by opening an office in National City. A branch that would be run by the CEO and founder of the organization, Uther Pendragon himself. Beyond that, there have been other returning memories. A cruel king with a vendetta against magic that only developed because of his own mistake. A handsome but insipid son surely destined to follow in his footsteps. Then…her. The daughter he refused to claim, the older, true heir to the Camelot throne, Morgause’s own sister. She tempers Morgana and she has to think. If the Pendragons are here, making their sickening mark on the world, why would her sister not be here as well?

So she makes her way to National City, ingratiates herself with the Pendragon Company, and works her way to a position of mild power still finding no trace of her sister’s presence. There seems to be no sign of a Morgana Pendragon anywhere in this world. And for some time, Morgause has despaired.

How could this be? If she and others have returned, why hasn’t her sister been granted the same second chance?

From above, she can hear her neighbor listening to music and Morgause rolls her eyes. She doesn’t know the woman upstairs, and frankly, she doesn’t care to. Though, it could potentially be distracting the spell she is about to attempt.

The fact of the matter is, Morgause is certain her sister is somewhere in National City or at least nearby. She can feel it in her bones and so she looks through her books of magic, collects from various museum collections and hidden caches kept secure by some strong magic power she doesn’t quite recognize, and finds the spell she wants. The spell is typically used to help people unearth repressed memories in times of trauma, but it can be used to bring forth memories that need to be remembered. Morgause hopes it will help her sister regain what she has lost and they can join forces once more.

Morgause walks over to the window and looks out at her view of the city. Morgana has to be out there somewhere and she’s going to find her.

Morgause momentarily closes her eyes and starts chanting the words to the spell.

She reaches out with her magic, sending it into the city, picturing Morgana’s face in her mind. She may not know exactly where her sister is, but Morgause will find her. One way or another, she will find her. Morgause finishes chanting the spell, feeling the warmth run through her as the magic works as it should.

—————

Across town at the L-Corp offices, Lena Luthor pauses as a piercing headache washes over her. For several long moments, all she can do is breathe, then as quick as it appeared the headache stopped.

“Miss Luthor?” Her assistant aska from the doorway of her office, looking concerned. “Are you alright?”

“Fine.” Lena replies. “I think I may have been staring at my computer for too long today. What is it you need?”

“Nothing work-related, Miss Luthor.” The other woman assures with a smile. “You told me to let you know when it was 6:30. You don’t want to be late to your dinner with Miss Danvers.”

“Of course.” Said Lena, warmth running through her at the thought of seeing Kara, who has been away on Supergirl business for the past few days. “Thank you, Gwen.”

Lena is hit with a sudden sense of familiarity, like she has been here before. But of course she has, Gwen has been her assistant since she took Luthor Corp back and started her Foundation. It is silly, but for some reason, Lena feels like Gwen should be curtsying to her. Geez. She needs to get out of this office quickly.

—————

It is a quiet day in National City, Kara casually soars high in the sky maintaining a lookout. She already has her most recent article prepped and ready to go, with her new position at CatCo she has quite a bit more freedom.

Below her is the green space of a park, that’s when she hears it. A little girl is crying so she immediately investigates.

If there is one thing she can’t ignore, it is someone in distress, especially a child. Now more than ever, considering she is an aunt these days. Kara changes course, swooping down to land smoothly next to the girl. She can’t be more than eleven or twelve, her blonde hair in pigtails and her face screwed up with her sobs.

“Hey.” Kara gently says, kneeling next to the girl. “What’s wrong?”

The girl looks at her, tears interrupted by shock. “S-Supergirl?” The girl sniffles. “What’re you doing here?”

“Helping you, of course!” Kara says, a bright smile on her face.

“R-Really?” The girl breathed out.

“Really.” Kara assures.

The little girl sniffs and points at a nearby tree. “Pickles, he’s stuck in a tree.”

Kara turns her head to hear a cat meowing from high up in the branches. She shakes her head and laughs, reminded of her own childhood cat, Streaky.

“Well, don’t worry, we’ll get him down and back where he belongs.” Kara beams brilliantly.

It is no big deal to float to the top of the tree and make soothing noises until the cat easily and willingly climbs into her arms. Kara slowly returns to the ground, not wanting to bother Pickles too much. Soon enough, the girl and her cat are reunited.

“You’re the best, Supergirl!”

Despite all the praise she receives for her work, something about the sheer joy and sincerity in the girl’s words make Kara blush.

“All in a day's work.” She says. “Make sure you keep an eye on Pickles from now on.”

“I will!” The girl chirps as she runs off, little Pickles purring contentedly in her arms.

“That seems a little below your pay grade, no?”

Kara turns to see a man who looks to be around her age standing nearby, a bemused look on his face. He is skinny, but not overly thin with messy black hair and some of the bluest eyes Kara has ever seen.

“I help all citizens of National City, no matter how small and furry.” Kara replies.

The young man laughs. “Fair enough. Well, I’m not small or furry and I haven’t been a citizen of National City very long, but maybe you can help me.”

“Of course!” She agrees.

“I’m pretty terrible with directions in the best of circ*mstances.” He says ruefully. “So, I think I’ve gotten a bit off track. Can you tell me the right direction for, uh,” he glances down at a piece of paper in his hand, “L-Corp?”

“Sure thing,” Kara nods, taking a step toward the man. “It’s not far from here, actually.”

Kara is glad Lena has finally been able to step out from the shadow of the Luthor name, once and for all. She is really turning L-Corp around and has started her own foundation. She’s been able to do some real good in the world.

Kara glances around the park. “If you go to the South entrance of the park, go two blocks down from there…“

She has to admit she is curious as to why he is looking for Lena’s office, but perhaps he is a donor of some sort.

“It’s got the name on the building, you can’t miss it.” Kara beams. “I hope that helps.”

“Brilliant.” He says with a wide grin. Kara notices a little something in his voice, a lilt reminding her of Lena, just a tiny bit Irish sounding. “Which way is South?”

Kara chuckles and points him in the correct direction.

“Thanks.” He begins to lope away, his hands deep in the pockets of his jeans.

Normally, Kara wouldn’t think anything of it and would just let him on his way, but something gives her pause as her super hearing picks up his mutter of, “Lena Luthor. Could it really be you?” as his heart rate elevates.

Now, Lena doesn’t experience nearly as many assassination attempts as of late, but Kara knows she has the ability to ruffle people’s feathers. She isn’t sure she likes the tone of the guy’s voice and considering he also sounds Irish? Color Kara suspicious. Maybe she should drop in on her girlfriend with an early lunch.

—————

The young man follows Supergirl’s directions. He has to admit this world is odd with its superheroes and what have you, but it is vastly better than Camelot where he wasn’t free to act as he pleased. Things seem to be rather different here.

He approaches the building with its glass doors. Just as Supergirl said, the name is on it. He grimaces, he thought about what Morgana did all those years ago and how this doesn’t seem to be in line with her.

Although to be honest, he almost envies her for the chance she has. She is certainly not the first reincarnation he has come across. Merlin, however, has not been so lucky. He is the physical embodiment of magic, the magic that fills the world even now although it is much weaker than once was. It doesn’t stop Merlin from going on, continuing as he has for several hundred years. He’s pretty sure it is close to 1500 years at this point, but honestly, he lost track some time ago.

In all his time, never before has Merlin encountered anyone who resembles his long-lost friends, which is why it is so odd that they are popping up now. Merlin first felt the shift a few years ago and since then it’s like the magic in the world was drawn out once more. It certainly still isn’t like it used to be, evidenced by the fact there aren’t griffins and questing beasts wandering around the undeveloped areas of land, but it has been some time since he felt it like this. Of course, the first thing Merlin did was find Gaius. He wasn’t even sure who or what he’d find, but in the end, it was easier than expected to both find the man and restore his memories. Despite the lecture he got about messing with people’s memories without consent, Merlin is glad he did because now he isn’t so alone.

Then, he saw an issue of CatCo magazine. There was Morgana’s face plastered across the cover with a different name. He isn’t all that great with technology, but with Gaius’s help he managed to scour the Internet and find her. Lena Luthor. Or at least, that is the name she’s using. They weren’t on good terms at the end and the way he treated Morgana when she was first learning her magic skills is one of Merlin’s biggest regrets.

If she is up to something now, he will stop it. If she is just trying to make up for the evil she did in the past? Well, Merlin doesn’t want to get his hopes up, but he wishes for the chance to right his own wrongs as well. He was so young then, barely even a man making decisions impacting an entire world. He is better now, or at the very least wiser.

Merlin pushes the door open and walks inside the building. It’s bright, light, and airy, much different than anticipated. He sees the board listing the offices, finds Lena’s name, and makes his way up the elevator. Just outside is a desk and…

“Gwen?” Merlin blinks in confusion.

The woman sitting behind the desk looks up from her computer. “Yes?” It doesn’t seem like she recognizes him, much like when he found Gaius.

Merlin hastily clears his throat. “I, errr, I have an appointment with Lena Luthor?”

It feels odd saying that name, especially when he knows her as Morgana. He wonders why she chose such a name, what the reason was?

“Emrys.” He added the name the Druids gave him long ago and the one he uses as a last name now. A name he hopes will get Morgana’s attention if she is still somewhere in there.

Gwen nods as her gaze flits back to the computer. “Ah, there you are. Miss Luthor will be ready in a moment. Would you like something to drink while you wait? Water, coffee, tea?”

“Oh, uhhh, tea is fine.“ Merlin replies before sitting in a nearby chair. He is looking around for anything that looks familiar to him, but everything is so modern and sleek.

He watches Gwen walk away to get tea and is reminded of when he first met her all those years ago. It’s strange being the only one to have the memories intact (so far, but perhaps Morgana is different?).

Lena. Her name is Lena. Merlin knows he is going to have a hard time with it.

Gwen returns with a steaming mug with the Lena Luthor Foundation logo on it. “We have sugar, honey, agave…basically anything you want to sweeten it.” She beams, handing Merlin the mug.

“Gwen, do I have time before…“ A woman with flowing dark hair and bright blue-green eyes comes out of the office. It is her, after all this time.

“I guess I’ll take that as a no.” Lena chuckles before turning to the guest. “Hello.” She walks toward Merlin with her hand extended. “I’m Lena Luthor.”

“Merlin Emrys.” He introduces himself, noting a complete lack of recognition in her familiar eyes. It is oddly familiar to see her in a blouse and sleek skirt, remembering the way she was always the best dressed no matter the occasion. “Thanks for meeting with me.”

“Of course.” Lena responds. “Come in.”

She leads the way into the office, shutting the door behind them firmly. The view from the window behind her desk is lovely, showcasing the shining buildings of National City. Merlin still prefers open spaces and wooded areas to the metropolises that have sprung up in recent years, but he supposes he can see some of the appeal.

“What can I do for you, Mr. Emrys?” She asks. “In your email you mentioned something about a donation to my foundation?”

Merlin winces. Gaius made that suggestion and while Merlin does have steady funds across several bank accounts he has passed down to his “grandchildren” (aka himself without the glamor of magic making him look old) throughout the years, he feels bad for deceiving her. Regardless of her personal intentions, if she carries Morgana’s memories, it seems the Lena Luthor Foundation is actually a force for good in this world.

“Yes, well, I may not have been completely honest with you.”

Her eyebrows twitch and a haunted look crosses over her face. “I know I’m the last Luthor standing, but If you’re a reporter trying to get some kind of scandal about me, Lex or any other Luthor family business by lying to me about…“ Her hand reaches for the intercom.

“No!” Merlin hastily interrupts. “I mean, why would it matter to me what your family does?”

His response gives her pause and she studies him intently. Merlin honestly isn’t sure what she’s talking about, he doesn’t exactly keep up with all the different news cycles and gossip. It gets tiring after a while, especially knowing none of it matters in the long run.

“Look, can we start over?” Merlin asks, running a hand through his increasingly disheveled hair. “I’m definitely interested in making a donation to your foundation, I promise. I just…no matter how I say this it’s going to sound ridiculous.”

Lena leans back in her chair, her eyes catching him with a focused intensity. “You’d be surprised how much tolerance I have for the ridiculous.”

Merlin’s brows raise at that, Lena still seems very cool and calm as she waits for him to continue to speak.

“Go on.” Lena urged, her hand gesturing toward Merlin. “Whatever it is, I highly doubt it’s something I haven’t heard before.”

Merlin blinks a few times. “I, umm, where do I start?“ Lena looks at him expectantly, this is a look Merlin knows far too well. When Morgana wanted answers, it was the same, which makes Merlin feel guilty about all the times he lied to her.

There will be no secrets this time, Merlin decides. Regardless of how much she does or doesn’t remember, he won’t conceal things from her this time around. Honestly, it’s the least he can do. Of course, that means starting at the beginning and hoping she won’t call a mental hospital on him before he can finish.

“What do you know about King Arthur?” He finally asks.

“He’s some sort of mythological personification of English hyper-masculinity.” Lena replies, eyebrow raised.

Merlin lets out a startled, strangled laugh. He can clearly imagine his Arthur responding to that with indignation, even if it is kind of true.

“Didn’t you say your name is Merlin?” Lena suddenly recalls. “I assume that’s why you’re so interested?”

“Well, kind of. You see the thing is…Arthur isn’t a myth and I’m not just named after Merlin. I am him.”

Before Lena can respond, the door to the office pops open and in walks a woman with glasses and her blonde hair up in a ponytail. She is holding a paper bag in her hands. “Sorry to interrupt.” She sweetly says. “I was in the area so I thought I’d bring you an early lunch.”

Lena doesn’t seem particularly bothered by the intrusion. “Of course, Kara. In fact, why don’t you stay? Mr. Emrys here was just telling me he’s actually the mythical wizard, Merlin.”

“Warlock, actually.” Merlin corrects with a smile. “Magic incarnate if you want to get cheeky about it. I wish you’d told me you were coming here too, Supergirl. We could have walked together.”

Both women freeze and exchange a glance. Merlin looks between them. “Am I not supposed to know you’re the same person because of some glasses and a hairstyle change?” He says slowly. “Did I just out you? sh*t, sorry. You’d think I’d be better at keeping secrets after all these years.”

Kara blushes as she hands Lena the bag. “Well, it usually works.” She shrugs.

“After an embarrassing amount of time, I know as well.” Lena sighs. “However, that information does not leave this room.“ She sternly states, her tone serious.

“You’ve got it.” Merlin smiles awkwardly.

“So, Merlin, like Sword and the Stone?” Kara’s brow raises as she looks at Lena. “Alex hates that movie, but I love it.” She rolls her eyes.

“The Sword and the Stone?” Merlin’s brows raise. “I, uhhh, don’t know about that, but I’ll say probably? I am the Merlin you’ve heard of.“

“More magic.” Lena sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Great.”

“Hold on.” Kara interjects. “How can you be the actual Merlin? I mean, wasn’t that hundreds of years ago?”

“You know about magic?” Merlin says with shock, deliberately focusing on what Lena said. “How? At this point I’m the only one left with any knowledge of the Old Religion or anything related to it.”

Magic never truly went away, it was part of the world, seeped into the earth beneath all of their feet, but he has yet to meet anyone else who can harness it in any way.

“Besides an extensive run in with a couple of fifth-dimensional imps?” Lena shakes her head and chuckles. “I went to Ireland to learn more about my mother recently and discovered she was a witch and was a member of a coven.” She grimaces.

“Lena, you don’t have to tell him this.” Kara cuts in and looks at Merlin, her protective nature rearing its head. “It’s a little personal.” She adds, trying to effectively cut him off.

“I…look,” Merlin sighs, “You’re right, she doesn’t have to tell me anything, but I’ll tell you a little something about me.”

He cast his mind back hundreds of years, things he thought had faded from his mind. “I was eighteen when a dragon told me my destiny was to save the entirety of magic at a time when the reigning king was so against the practice I was risking being burned at the stake just by existing in the kingdom. His son, who was also raised to hate magic, was my other half and I was the only one who could make sure he became the king he was supposed to be.”

He looked down at his hands, clenching them into fists. “I may have succeeded in helping found a kingdom where magic could live in harmony with those who once despised it, but I failed to keep my king alive. Time and time again, I ignored the warnings and made mistakes, I have done things I regret to this day. My king died in my arms and I discovered I would never be able to join him in the next life. I would never be able to pass through the gates of Avalon and see him again.”

Merlin looks up, meeting Kara’s gaze squarely. She looks invested, maybe a little less wary than before.

“I’ve been alive since then. Hundreds of years, over a thousand. I’ve watched entire civilizations rise and fall, alone through it all.”

“What does any of that have to do with me?” Lena asks.

“Because you are one of my regrets.” Merlin admits. “Or maybe not you , it’s still very unclear to me how this all works, but you look exactly like her.“

“Who?” Lena asks, her incessant curiosity surfacing in spite of her concern.

“Morgana.” Merlin replies, pain evident in his eyes. “Arthur’s half-sister.” And his downfall, he thinks, but doesn’t say. It seems a bit soon to bring up that unfortunate fact right now.

Lena lets out a derisive snort. “I hate to disappoint you, but I’m pretty certain I’m not…her.” Is it too much to ask that she get to be herself for once? To be free of the expectations her family and the world put on her, to just be Lena? “I just want to be me, not a Luthor and most certainly not this Morgana.“

“I know this is all rather odd.” Merlin interjects. “And it’s a lot to unpack, but frankly, you’re the only lead I have.”

“Lead?” Lena asks, raising an eyebrow.

“There hasn’t been magic in the world for a long time, then a few years ago boom!” Merlin makes an exploding motion with his hands. “Suddenly magic is back! I feel it all over the place. I find my mentor and father figure from so many years ago back again. I even feel her… Morgause. Your, I mean, Morgana’s half-sister. She isn’t a good person. Then I saw your picture on the cover of CatCo magazine and I thought…” He rubs his eyes tiredly. “I don’t know what I thought. I can’t let Morgause do whatever she’s planning and now that I’m here? I can feel her magic on you.”

“I have never met anyone named Morgause.” Lena insists. “And I certainly would remember if I had.”

Merlin is silent for a long moment. “Have you been having dreams? Crazy nightmares? Headaches?”

“Yes!” Kara interjects, eyes wide and bouncing between Merlin and her girlfriend. “Lena, you’ve definitely been waking up with headaches lately. Like, the last three months or maybe four.”

“It’s nothing.” Lena dismissively waves her off. “Nothing, I’ve probably been working too hard.” She shrugs.

“I really don’t think so.” Merlin jumps in. “Back in Camelot you…um, Morgana had a similar problem, nothing she did ever helped. Are the headaches the only thing you’ve been experiencing?”

“There is a perfectly reasonable explanation for this.” Lena huffs. “Just because magic exists doesn’t mean everything can be answered by it!I had headaches when I first moved in with the Luthors.” Lena’s tone is grim. “Those most definitely weren’t magic induced, though living with them it’s not hard to see why I had headaches.“

Kara settles next to Lena and gently squeezes at her shoulder. “Lena, it’s okay…“

“I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean to…I just...” He blurts out with a huff. “Look, I’m not here to tell you what you are and aren’t feeling. I’m certainly not here to make you into someone you’re not.” His voice cracks slightly at the end and he suddenly feels very old, very tired.

“Let’s put everything else aside and deal with the facts.” Merlin suggests. “Fact: we both have magic. Fact: you look exactly like Morgana although you are not her, which Morgause doesn’t know. Fact: both you and Morgana suffer from headaches and while there is a chance yours have nothing to do with magic I think they do. Fact: if I saw you on the cover of CatCo magazine then so did Morgause. She’s using her magic and has been using it on you from afar meaning she remembers and is looking for you. What better way to reunite with a reincarnated sister than to try to awaken her memories of that past life?”

“So, hence, therefore, ergo…” He waves a hand around them. “Insert another science term here, there is a chance she has tried to reawaken Morgana’s Seer power in you. A power that manifests as headaches and then trouble sleeping followed by visions coming in dreams. Regardless, Morgause is here in National City which will end badly for everyone involved because she’s smart, powerful, tenacious, and can hold a grudge like nobody’s business.”

What he didn’t say was if he could sense Morgause, then she could certainly sense him and there was no grudge that ran deeper than the one between them.

“How do you know she’s in National City?” Kara asks.

“I tracked her here.” Merlin replies. “I just can’t pinpoint her exact location.”

“How useful.” Lena lightly scoffs.

Merlin makes a face of false surprise. “Wow, you caught me. Magic isn’t perfect and doesn’t solve every problem.” He speaks in a dry, toneless voice. “Shock. Horror. New information I definitely hadn’t figured out over the past 1500 years.”

“I’m sorry, I’ve just had my fair share of experience with people coming after me for some nefarious reason or another. I prefer when I’m able to do something about it.“ Lena sighs.

“I think there is something you can do.” Merlin pipes up. “Since you are the target of this spell.”

Lena’s gaze narrows. Merlin swears he saw the very thoughts churning in her head before he had a chance to respond with his own ideas.

“Well…” Lena sighs, tired of this conversation already. She glances at Kara. “Through our previous encounters, we’ve been able to track magic signatures. If what you say is true, we should be able to do it again.”

“We did.” Kara confirms. “So, we should be able to at the T…“ She falls silent.

Merlin watches as the two women proceed to have a conversation with their eyes and viciously has to push down a sudden wave of envy. They obviously know each other very well and although they haven’t come out and said it, it’s apparent they are together, they adore each other. In his mind’s eye he can vividly see Freya’s joyous smile, Gwaine’s leveled gaze as he says“I’m not doing it for Arthur”, Arthur himself asking to be held as he labored through his final breaths. Merlin shakes his head sharply to clear the thoughts away. Now is not the time.

“I’m happy for whatever help you can give me.” He says, resigned to the possibility of never fixing things with Morgana. “Even if it’s just pointing me in a direction. Although, I’d be thrilled for more if you’re willing. It’s good to have…” Friends, Merlin thinks, but instead says, “allies.”

“Well, if he already knows I’m Supergirl,“ Kara sighs, “I guess we can take him to the Tower?”

Lena nods before turning back to Merlin. “No more pointing.” She sighs. “What we need to do can’t be done here, so…“

“I’ll come with you!” Kara jumps in. “I’ll just let J’onn and the others know, but can I come with you?”

“Sure?” Lena shrugs looking confused. “You don’t want to just…“ Her gaze drifts to the glass door leading to the balcony.

“Nope!” Kara shakes her head.

“Not that this isn’t amusing,” Merlin drawls, “but what’s the verdict?”

Kara gives a small nod, mostly to herself as if confirming a decision. “We have some friends who can help you.” She says firmly. “They’re PI’s, but not like a huma… a normal PI office. They have some…special skills.”

“Ominous.” Merlin says with a chuckle. “Shall we, then?”

“I’ll have Gwen get the car for us.” Lena stands from the chair casually, grabbing her jacket from the coat rack.

Merlin wants to say something about it, but he has a feeling Gwen will be a matter best left to another day. He watches as Kara reaches to grab the almost forgotten paper bag she came in with.

“Lena, your lunch!” Lena lets out a small laugh.

“Thanks, Kara.” She takes the bag and peers inside. “Did you really go all the way to Venice?”

She nods, a soft smile on her face. “Only for you.” Kara replies. Merlin thoroughly feels like a third wheel.

The car ride to the tower is a little awkward. Lena doesn’t mean for it to be. Despite the way she snapped at the strange man who seems to have arrived simply to turn her life upside down, she doesn’t dislike him. Sure, it’s strange but he seems normal enough. Well, other than the odd insistence he is someone she always considered a myth or tall tale. Lena knows she can’t judge from appearances and Merlin is likely older than he looks, but she still finds herself skeptical.

Merlin appears uncomfortable, but she gets the feeling it’s probably more to do with the car itself rather than the presence of Lena and her girlfriend. For her part, Kara is her usual bubbly self. While it was rather thrilling to see her play the protective girlfriend back in her office, Lena much prefers Kara’s normal happy-go-lucky attitude. It is a good contrast to her own more than occasional pessimism.

It is why the two of them have always gotten on so well, Lena can’t help but think about Alex’s response to the two of them getting together shortly after her wedding. Something along the lines of “f*cking finally”.

The car comes to a stop in front of a brick building with “John Jones, Private Investigator” stamped on the window.

“Guess we’ll go straight up.” Kara walks straight through the conspicuously empty office space to the hidden elevator taking them to the Tower.

Lena’s mind is already occupied with thinking about how they can adapt the Naltorian scanners to track more than fifth dimensional energy and magic that they track after facing Nyxly. Surely it’s a similar energy signature? A few tweaks, some small changes. Lena knows how to think ten steps ahead in most situations, sometimes being a Luthor pays off.

Merlin walks casually with his hands in his jean pockets, but Lena can tell he’s curious, scanning everything with a sharp gaze. Considering the easy way he pegged Kara as Supergirl, Lena expects they will need to keep a close eye on him in case he decides to use the knowledge for nefarious purposes. She doesn’t like judging a person before knowing them and being suspicious from the start, but she knows she has to be. Kara is far too trusting and Lena will die before seeing her girlfriend hurt by a friendship gone wrong.

One benefit of coming here, other than getting this odd man out of her hair, is J’onn getting a good read on him, making sure there aren’t any bad things hidden below the surface. It certainly pays to know a Martian.

The elevator carries them up, dinging loudly when it reaches its destination. It opens to the Tower proper and Lena lingers for a moment as she watches Merlin take everything in.

“This is the Tower.” Kara explains, hands gesturing around them in a half circle. “I guess you could say it’s sort of our base of operations.”

“You must be Merlin.“ J’onn is first to approach with Alex close behind him before pausing, a look of recognition flickering in his eyes. “It’s you!” J’onn says, interrupting Alex’s likely carefully planned speech.

Merlin looks incredibly confused. “Sorry, have we met?”

“It must have been an ancestor who looked a lot like you.” J’onn says, brow furrowed as he studies the man in front of him. “I think it was…450 years ago now, in England.”

“I’m pretty sure I was there around then.” Merlin says with a puzzled expression. “I was hanging around the north back then, what’s called the Lake District now, I suppose. I was going by Balinor at the time.”

Lena looks between the two of them, observing their interaction with a keen eye. So there is some shred of truth to Merlin’s story afterall. She is surprised to hear J’onn has apparently met him before.

“I remember that name.” J’onn confirms with a nod. “I doubt you would recognize my face, it’s rather different these days.”

“J’onn J’onzz.” J’onn holds his hand to Merlin. “Also known as the Martian Manhunter.”

“Merlin, son of Hunith of Ealdor.” Merlin greets, shaking J’onn’s hand. “Although these days, it’s just Merlin Emrys.”

“The name Emrys is familiar.” Comments J’onn as Merlin grimaces.

“Yeah, it’s one that’s been floating around for a while. It’s what the Druids called me, back when they were still around. I’m sure it’s in some old texts and such as well.”

“So you really are that old ? ” Kara says, sounding intrigued by the confirmation. “You look like you’re about 30 something.”

“Well, people do start to grow concerned if the neighbor they knew when they were a kid still looks the same when they’re a grandparent.” Merlin laughs at the childlike awe on Kara’s face. “I often have to adjust things, but honestly, it’s pretty exhausting to keep it up all the time, even for me. So I like to start over every so often and move to a new place.”

“Kara didn’t really explain much on the phone.” Alex says, her curiosity starting to push through her protectiveness., “Why don’t we go meet the others? Then you can start from the beginning.”

“Seems like a good idea.” Merlin agrees, following Alex to one of the side rooms filled with chairs and various other comfortable furniture.

Lena recalls many nights she and Kara have had conversations here (over potstickers of course). As they enter the room, Nia is sitting there already attempting to eat her lunch. It amuses her to see Dreamer in costume, then again Merlin is an outsider.

Surely it was a fluke that he recognized Kara, so this is probably for the best.

She’s sure Brainy is around somewhere, maybe observing to see if his computer of a brain can find anything amiss. It is not a good idea for them to play their entire hand at once.

“Nice mask.” Merlin comments to Nia, a slight smile on his face. “Your food looks like it might be better if it were hot.”

“Thanks.” Nia replies, sighing in defeat. “I mean, yes, it would, but the microwave is…“

Merlin slightly raises his hand, while murmuring a few words in an unfamiliar language. For a moment, the irises of his eyes burn a brilliant gold and when the golden light fades, Nia’s food is gently steaming.

“..busted.” She finishes with quiet awe and gaping jaw. “That’s so cool! I’m Dreamer.”

“Merlin.” The lanky man says as if he hadn’t just casually done some unfamiliar magic on someone’s food in front of people who might not exactly trust him.

He seems to catch on to Lena’s train of thought annoyingly easily and smiles sheepishly. “I promise I haven’t done anything outside of heating it up. I can taste test it if you need me to.”

“I-I, um, trust you.“ Lena blinks, of all the magic she has tried, hers has never looked like that.

“It’s not even cold in the middle!” Nia excitedly declares. “You know, one time Lena cast a spell and it broke my brain. This is way cooler.“

“Hey!” Lena pouts, her face turning red. “I didn’t really know what I was doing and you promised you weren’t going to bring that up again.,” She indignantly huffs.

“Oh, I’ve let it go,” Nia shrugs, a devious grin on her face, “but it’s still a good story.”

“Broken brain?” Merlin slowly repeats, his brow furrowed. “I don’t think I want to ask.”

“Thanks for that.” Lena sighs, it isn’t exactly her proudest moment. Having to learn magic with nothing more than her mother’s grimoire and her own research? It hasn’t been easy, even if it has helped her feel closer to the woman she lost such a long ago.

“So, you have magic…” Alex prompts, her brow lifting in question.

“Well, yes.” Merlin says as if she should already know this. “I’m Merlin.”

His careful use and emphasis definitely on his name doesn’t get past Alex, who lowers herself into a chair.

“As in,” she says, ever more curiosity blooming in her brown eyes, “ the Merlin? King Arthur’s Merlin?”

“Yes.” Merlin answers, slightly fidgeting at the mention of Arthur’s name. There is obviously some kind of history there that has yet to be revealed. “Although, I like to think I don’t belong to anyone. I spent several years as a servant so I’m not exactly looking to become property again.”

“That’s wild.” Alex sighs, shaking her head in disbelief. “You would think by now we’ve seen it all.“

“Apparently we haven’t.” Lena interjects, rubbing her forehead where her head is throbbing. “And, we possibly have some new magic related issues on our hands.” She drops her hands and folds her arms across her chest.

“More magic?” Alex’s brow shoots up. “Again?!”

Lena gestures to Merlin for an explanation. She still isn’t sure she believes it, but J’onn recognizing him puts her slightly more at ease.

“Er, right.” Merlin says, flustered at being put on the spot with all eyes on him. “Basically, Lena looks exactly like someone I once knew and I don’t think it’s a coincidence.”

“Who?” Nia asks, intrigued.

“Her name was Morgana.” Merlin further explains. “We met in Camelot. She was the king’s ward and a witch, although she didn’t know the witch part for some time.”

“She was King Arthur’s ward?” Alex asks, head tilted in confusion. Merlin lets out a bark of laughter.

“Oh gods, no. I can’t even imagine…no. When I first arrived in Camelot, Uther was still the king. Arthur was way too much of a prat back then.” His voice takes on a reminiscent quality. There is definitely something there that Lena can’t quite put her finger on. Yet.

“The king was very much against magic, which was part of the reason why Morgana’s power was kept secret from her. Especially since it turned out that she was actually King Uther’s daughter, Arthur’s half sister.” Merlin pauses, eyes scanning his now captive audience.

The air seems to suddenly sucked out of the room and Lena can feel all of their eyes shift to her.

“Who kept the power secret?” She asks, this is definitely not the time to discuss family.

“My mentor, the court physician, and…” Merlin winces, looking uncomfortable, “and me. He convinced me to keep it secret from you.” He looks at Lena, his eyes slightly unfocused, thinking of a time long past, not realizing she is not the person he meant to say this to. “It’s one of the biggest regrets of my life, that I didn’t help you when I could. Because I was in the same position as you. I was Arthur’s servant and in close proximity to him and the king every day. If either of us had been caught, well, you were Uther’s daughter. He loved you and I don’t think he would have ever harmed you, regardless. But me? I was a nobody. Sure, Arthur would have tried to stand up for me, but I would have ended up on the pyre anyway.”

Kara sucks in a shocked breath, which seems to break Merlin from his thoughts. He clears his throat and blinks away the wet sheen in his eyes.

“Morgana and I ended up enemies when we should have been allies.” He sadly says. “Part of it was my fault, I know that, but part of it was also Morgause, Morgana’s half sister on her mother’s side. She manipulated Morgana for her own gain. She showed her the acceptance I should have and it twisted her into someone she wouldn’t have been if I had been better. Now Morgause is back and she’s trying to find Lena, she wants to give Morgana’s memories back, to bring Morgana back to her.”

He looks at Lena again, regretfully. “I’m sorry, truly. If it was just you, I would think maybe the physical similarity was a coincidence. Once I saw your Foundation and the good you’re doing, I almost just left you in peace. However, my mentor is back too. He has all of his memories of our time in Camelot. Plus, your assistant? She looks exactly like someone too; Guinevere, Gwen. She was Morgana’s maidservant and eventually Arthur’s queen. Now, there’s Morgause. It can’t be a coincidence.”

Lena shakes her head and rubs her temple, it is a lot to take in. This is nearly as shocking as all the secrets Lex and Lillian kept from her over the years.

Morgana. Lena knows that name, or something similar. It makes her nervous, and to hear she and Merlin (if she is to accept his words as truth) are enemies?

“This is…it’s insane.” Lena shakes her head. “How could Gwen possibly be involved?”

Merlin shrugs his shoulders. “I wish I knew why all this is happening, but I don’t.” He admits.

Lena sighs, could she really be Morgana reincarnate? She has never believed much in faith and destiny. She likes science and logic, things that can provide clear answers. She learned to accept the more unknown and unexplainable when she first attempted to connect with the latent magic inside her, to find the same spark her birth mother had. But Arthurian legend coming to life? That might be a stretch.

“What can we do to help?” J’onn asks, crossing his arms. “I’m afraid if you don’t know why this is happening, then there certainly isn’t any way I will.”

“The best thing we can do is stop Morgause before she can cause further damage or chaos.” Merlin says, worry evident in his voice. “I’ve tracked her to National City, but that’s the best I can do, there’s too much interference. I was under the impression you might be able to help find her.”

“Well, we’ve found many people before.” J’onn nods. “What information do you have for us to use? Pictures, potential aliases?”

“There weren’t exactly cameras back then and I’m not a particularly good artist.” Merlin sheepishly replies., “Things from that long ago aren’t really easy to remember anymore.”

“Perhaps you don’t remember that Martians are telepathic.” J’onn says with a smile. “If you allow me to look into your mind, I’m sure I can find something that will be helpful.”

“Alright,” Merlin concedes, looking wary, “but please don’t judge me by what you might see.”

“I will avoid anything unnecessary to our plight.” J’onn assures him. The first time he tries to enter Merlin’s mind, J’onn makes a small hiss of surprise, winces and steps back.

“Sorry!” Merlin rushes an apology. “Sorry. Reflex. I’ll tell my magic to simmer down.”

The second time goes much more smoothly. It takes longer than Lena expects, although she supposes she is starting to believe Merlin’s age is accurate so there is likely a number of years to sift through. To be honest, she isn’t exactly certain how J’onn’s power works. Unsure if it’s like flipping a book or if there is some kind of index or database search option. It is rather fascinating to think about.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Kara appears beside her.

“Oh, it’s nothing.” Lena shakes her head, not sure she wants to share her thoughts at the moment. She nervously laughs. “It’s just been one hell of a day.”

“No kidding.” Kara agrees, shaking her head in disbelief before leaning in to press her shoulder to Lena’s in a gesture of comfort, or at least she hopes so. “You know, no matter how this pans out, I won’t think any differently of you. I’ll love you just the same even if you turn out to be the reincarnation of King Arthur’s sister.”

Lena hasn’t really considered that aspect of the whole situation, but it is still surprisingly nice to hear it from Kara.

The two of them watch as J’onn’s eyes open, glowing red as his entire body morphs and shifts. At first it almost looks like the few occasions he took on Kara’s appearance, but the differences between the two becomes starkly clear.

Lena gasps lightly, there is something niggling in her mind telling her this face is very familiar.

Merlin spits out some words in an unfamiliar language and flinches. “f*cking hell. That’s Morgause alright. By the Triple Goddess, did you really have to do that?!”

“It’s the easiest way for everyone to see her appearance.” J’onn responds, his voice coming out of feminine lips, a completely disconcerting sensation. Of course he can’t mimic Morgause’s voice, he’s never heard it.

“Yes, okay. Can you just take a photograph or something and change back?” Merlin asks, looking a little green.

“I recognize her.” Lena softly says, feeling a little sick herself. “Not completely, but in a faroff sort of way? Almost like I saw her in a dream or something. It’s kind of like a distant memory.”

She can’t help but think about what Merlin said about Morgana’s seer visions coming in dreams. From the way he exchanges glances with her, he is thinking the same thing.

Maybe her headaches aren’t just stress and work related afterall. Perhaps, it is magic at play, and maybe there is something in her mother’s book worth pursuing. It can’t hurt to try, right?

Then again, she has nothing to go off of and if she’s being honest, Lena is still worried about her magic. Lillian feared it. Sure, she learned some control over her magic, but there is still so much that’s unknown. An enormous fear Lena is keeping to herself.

Lena considers herself an open-minded person, but she likes to have an explanation for things, something more than just some unknowable force. It doesn’t mean she isn’t willing to learn. Seeing Merlin handle his magic with such ease, without even thinking about it, is fascinating and Lena’s surprised to note that she is a little bit jealous.

“Now what?” Merlin asks, breathing out a sigh of relief once J’onn shifts back to his everyday appearance.

“We search.” J’onn simply states. “You’d be surprised how easy it is to find people on the internet with just a name and a photo.”

“I’ll take your word on that.” Merlin chuckles, knowing he won’t be able to help with that search. “I don’t really get technology.”

“See, that’s usually where I come in.” Lena provides, feeling a sense of pride before adding, “Technology and science are certainly my forte.”

“We can do some digging, maybe try some facial recognition?” Alex proposes. “Hopefully it will yield something.”

“You would think so in a world with cameras on nearly every corner.” Lena nods.

“Well, that’s not terrifying at all.” Merlin says dryly, a grimace across his face.

Alex raises an amused eyebrow. “It’s not exactly a new thing.”

“Doesn’t make it any less creepy.” He replies, a slight shiver running down his spine. “You definitely won’t find me on any of those.”

“If you’ve been in this city for any amount of time, you’ve definitely had your image captured dozens of times.” Nia points out.

Merlin smirks, his eyes flashing gold. “Not if I can help it.”

“Well, hopefully Morgause isn’t taking that into account.” Lena sighs. “Or this might take longer than we thought.“

“Well, it will likely still take us approximately 18.75 hours to go through half the city’s cameras.” Brainy chimes in with his fingers linked behind his back, “and roughly an 82% chance of finding her somewhere.”

“That’s an approximation?” Merlin’s brows shoot up causing Lena to let out a little laugh.

Brainy frowns, but doesn’t seem offended in any way. “Would you like a more exact estimate?”

“No.” Merlin chuckles in amusem*nt. “The approximation is fine. Have you been hiding in a back room or something?”

“Simply observing until my assistance was needed.” Brainy matter-of-factly replies.

“And staying out of sight in case I was some sort of threat?” Merlin adds, with a grin. “So I could be taken by surprise, if needed.”

“Precisely.” Brainy agrees.

Merlin still looks utterly bemused by Brainy. “Merlin, this is Brainiac-5, Querl Dox, but we just call him Brainy.'' Lena explains.

“I am also a twelfth level intellect from the planet of Colu from the 31st Century.'' Brainy begins to pace with his shoulders back. “You are the Merlin of Arthurian Legend, correct?”

“T-The 31st century?” Merlin gawps.

Lena figures it’s likely a bit much, even for an apparently immortal being like Merlin, to think about something so far into the future. It is almost amusing until she realizes he might very well continue to live on until then. It seems like a very lonely sort of life. She’ll gladly take one relatively short life over a supremely long one any day.

“Yes.” Brainy awkwardly confirms.

“Right, sure why not.” Merlin sighs, trying to regain his composure. “And yes, that’s me. Arthurian Legend. Not that Arthur would need that sort of ego boost, his head is big enough as it is.”

Lena notices Merlin tends to slip in his tenses when talking about Arthur, almost as if Merlin wishes he was still here. Despite what he said about her assistant looking like Queen Guinevere, Lena knows Gwen’s husband isn’t named Arthur. So, even if she is a reincarnation too, it won’t help in that regard if Merlin suspects Arthur is back as well.

“I suppose we should set the computers up to start scanning.” Lena sighs, looking over to Brainy. “Especially if it will take that long for half the cameras.“

“I could scout out around the city?” Kara suggests. “See if I can spot her anywhere as well?”

“It might help.” Lena nods. “At least we can use whatever resources we have and hopefully this Morgause isn’t expecting to be tracked by National City’s resident hero.” She grins as Kara’s face flushes pink.

“Flirt on your own time, please.” Alex scoffs with a roll of her eyes, although she doesn’t sound particularly exasperated so Lena elects to ignore it as usual. Alex and Kelly are usually twice as bad anyway.

“Waiting,” Merlin sighs, “it’s my favorite pastime. Most of my life has been waiting. Hey, Lena?”

She looks over at him, surprised. “Yes?”

“How would you like to do some magic training?” Merlin casually asks.

Lena blinks, unsure if she heard correctly. “Why?”

“It couldn’t hurt.” Merlin replies with a shrug. “I don’t think our magic is exactly the same, but I’m sure I can help with some of the basics and I’d love to learn a bit more about what you can do. Plus, if Morgause comes to you before we can find her, I’m sure everyone here would prefer you have some kind of magical defense.”

Lena shifts uncomfortably. “I, umm, I guess?” She shrugs, unsure of the decision. Maybe this is a good thing? After all she’s been doing all this work on her own with a lot of trial and error.

She also has the voice in the back of her head reminding her that her mother lost control of her powers. On the one hand Merlin could help her, make sure it never happens to her, but on the other, what if it makes things worse?

Merlin can’t possibly know about all of her reservations, no matter how obvious her hesitation is, right?

“You don’t have to.” He assures her. “I’m not going to make you do something you don’t want to and I will admit there’s a bit of selfishness in it for me because I don’t want to make the same mistakes I did with Morgana. So…this is me making an offer, trying to be better than I was.”

If there is anything Lena understands, it’s that. Trying to be better than you used to be or how others expect you to be. Plus, she isn’t ready to let her worries control her life. Not again.

“Let’s do it.” Lena firmly agrees. “Or let’s at least try.”

Merlin’s grin could light up the room. “Brilliant! I mean, not right this second obviously. I’m sure you’ve got lots to do.”

Lena smiles. “Just need to get facial recognition up and going. It might not be magic, but it’s certainly useful.” She adds.

“Maybe that will help.” Merlin shrugs. “If it’s not magic, I doubt she’ll see it coming. Morgause always did think very highly of herself.“

It is still wild to Lena to think she might be related to Morgana the witch. From what little Merlin has said about her, she might not have been as evil as literature led everyone to believe.

Merlin isn’t particularly surprised to learn there is a training room in the Tower. He isn’t as oblivious as he lets people think. He noticed Supergirl isn’t the only crime fighter out there. He notices the addition of J’onn, the Dreamer girl, and whatever the heck Brainy species is. It certainly isn’t difficult to figure out every single one of the masked or costumed fighters around National City are part of this little group.

So, he knows there is a training room and it’s where he and Lena will be doing their own training. On the one hand, Merlin is absolutely thrilled, on the other he is a little nervous. This is going to be unlike anything he’s done before.

Lena strolls in with a cup of coffee in hand. “We’re currently scanning the city for any sign of Morgause.”

Merlin can see she has a leather bound book tucked under her arm. “What’s that?”

“Oh,” Lena glances at the book before holding the book out to Merlin. “It was my mother’s spell book, something given to me when I found out about this whole thing. I wasn’t sure if we would need it.”

“May I?” Merlin asks, only taking it when Lena gives him a nod. “It’s been a long time since I saw a magic book. I usually hid mine under a loose floorboard in my bedroom and I definitely didn’t have enough time to look at it. Partly my own fault, of course.”

He opens the book carefully, looking inside. “What language is this?” He asks, brow furrowed. “It’s not the language of the Old Religion, for sure.”

“It appears to be an amalgam of sorts.” Lena replies. “My mum wrote it herself back when she was living in Ireland.”

With that piece of information in hand, Merlin looks over the book once more. He can see sections in modern English, passages in Gaelic, and possibly another language as well.

“She wrote this?” Merlin asks.

Lena nods. “Or, at least that’s what I was told.”

“Interesting.” Merlin murmurs, reading a few words here and there. “It’s like the language of the Old Religion, but not quite.”

“What do you mean?” Lena asks.

“It makes sense.” Merlin continues. “The language is over a thousand years old. Over time, it developed, changed, and split into various languages depending on where the people were. So, things like Welsh or Gaelic, like in this book, were derived from it. Which means that we can also use some of the Old Religion books I’ve been able to keep preserved. Gaius keeps them for me now, they’re too fragile to travel much. However, I should be able to bring them here.”

“What is this Old Religion you speak about?” Lena asks.

“It’s really from before my time.” Merlin replies. “Not all magic users practiced the Old Religion, but everybody who practiced was a magic user. Almost all of them were killed during the Great Purge when Uther killed every magic user he could find. It’s less a religion as you would think of it now and more of a way of life, a way to help train people who decided to learn magic. There were also the Druids, but I never really knew the exact connection between the two groups. Morgause was a high priestess of the Old Religion and was training Morgana to be one too.”

Merlin frowns when he notices Lena’s perturbed expression. “It isn’t evil.” He says, trying to convey the truth to Lena. “Neither magic nor the Old Religion are inherently evil. It’s all based on intention. People like Morgause and Nimueh twisted it into something it was never meant to be.”

“This is not the first time I’ve heard of magic getting away from the user.” Lena grimaces.

“It can happen.” Merlin nods. “But that’s why we train!”

His voice must give him away because Lena eyes him warily. “How many people have you trained in magic?” She asks.

Merlin grins at her in a way that is the opposite of reassuring. “Never.”

“Perfect.” Lena sighs, head dropping as her hand reaches up to massage her forehead.

“Hey, it doesn’t mean I can’t.” Merlin retorts in defense. “I’ve been doing magic for a thousand years!“

“Doing doesn’t correlate to teaching.” Lena frowns.

“True.” Merlin concedes. “We can do as much or as little as you want. If we try and it doesn’t work, then no hard feelings. But if we don’t try, we might end up missing out on something good. And I don’t really think it’s worth risking, do you?”

Lena sighs, shrugging her shoulders. “I suppose you’re right.” She reluctantly admits.

“Great. Let’s begin then, shall we.”

While he may not have taught any magic, Merlin had conversations with magic users in the past. Particularly, Gaius and several Druids way back when and so he knew none of them were exactly like him. Merlin feels his magic all the time, buzzing underneath his skin as if waiting to get out. He has never gone prolonged periods without using his magic so he doesn’t know what might happen if he did, but he assumes it would lead to the involuntary bursts he had as a child before he could control it. Other magic users seem to need to search for their power to use it, it doesn’t seem to come naturally. Since Lena’s magic isn’t quite the same as his, Merlin assumes it will likely be the same for her as well.

“Okay.” He says. “The first thing we need to do is to get you in touch with your magic. You should be able to feel it, once you can, you’ll be able to access it more easily. For me, magic feels like, I don’t know, like some sort of vibration inside me.”

Merlin takes a seat on the floor and gestures for Lena to do the same. She hesitates for a moment, but eventually she takes the final sip of her coffee and places the cup to the side before sliding her shoes off to face him, her legs neatly crossed.

“Have you ever meditated?” Merlin asks, head tilted in curiosity.

“I’ve done yoga,” Lena replies, “and deep breathing has always been helpful for me to control my anger.”

“Perfect, we need to do that.” Merlin tells her. “You need to try to reach inside to find the source of your magical power. I, hmm, I don’t really know how to explain it any better. Sorry.”

Lena adjusts herself into a more comfortable position on the ground and closes her eyes. She begins to slowly breathe in and out, trying to focus on what Merlin attempted to explain.

“I was told I have the spark.” Lena sighs, still feeling silly to say those two words. “There is this woman in Ireland, her name is Florence, she told me that.” Lena still remembers it all so very clearly. She went to Fortune Bay in search of answers, she never thought those answers would involve her mother being a witch or her having magic herself. “Is that similar to what you mean?” The youngest Luthor asks.

Merlin makes a small humming noise as he considers her question. “Could be. Probably. To be honest, the only person to really study with me had a small amount of magic himself. So, his training was mostly reading rather than anything practical. He never really got what I was saying about feeling his magic. Try leaning into the spark, finding it inside yourself.”

Lena lets out a small snort of derision and Merlin laughs along with her.

“Yeah, alright I know.” He chuckles. “It does sound a bit mad. Humor me here, let’s try.”

Lena purses her lips and releases a sigh before closing her eyes. She tries to do as he says, to “lean into the spark” even if it doesn’t make a lot of sense and sounds ridiculous. She thinks about her mother and how much she doesn’t know about her. She does remember that most of her memories were ot the two of them out in nature.

As uncertain as she is about her magic, there is no doubt that for the first time in her life, Lena feels a closeness to her mother.

She is brought out of her concentration by a small gasp and her eyes fly open to see Merlin giving her an odd look.

“What?” She asks, slightly annoyed at being interrupted.

“Nothing sorry, it was working, I could feel it.” He explains, slightly bashfully. “It’s been a while since I felt magic outside of my own. It’s nice not to be alone, ya know?”

And yes, that is something Lena can certainly understand. She is all too familiar with loneliness. When she was very young, her only friend was Lex, who more often than not was just using her as a means to an end.

Then there was Andrea. Even after all this time, they seem to have repaired the damage that occurred between them.

Then came Kara, and with Kara came so many others. Lena remembers her first game night, feeling odd as she sat there drinking and thinking all of them were judging her for being a Luthor. They have had their ups and downs, but in the end, Lena has something that somewhat resembles a family.

“Loneliness is something I understand.” Lena laments.

“It seems like you’re surrounded with people now.” Merlin speculates, sounding a bit wistful. “I’m glad. I hear life is much easier that way.”

Before Lena can try to interpret his statement, Merlin is guiding her back into the odd meditation. It seems to be work, despite what skepticism she had. By the time lunch rolls around, she is pleasantly exhausted and her body feels kind of tingly with a buzzing under her skin.

“Yes, that’s the magic.” Merlin acknowledges her words. They don’t bother going anywhere special for lunch. He sprawls out on the floor of the training room to eat the food Kara so sweetly brought them. It is from the Middle Eastern place Lena likes, the one with the roasted eggplant to die for and the hummus Kara would eat by the tub-full if she could.

“It’s odd.” Lena ponders, tearing off a piece of pita. “Will I feel it all the time?”

Merlin shrugs. “Possibly? I do, but then I’ve also been around for forever. It could just be when you’re accessing your magic. We’ll have to see what happens when we try to actually get to some spell work this afternoon.”

They are silent as they eat, but it is a comfortable one.

“Do you think I should try to get my memories back?” Lena suddenly asks.

“You mean, Morgana’s?” Merlin tentatively asks. When Lena nods, he sighs. “I wish I had a good answer for you, but you’re going to have to decide for yourself. I can do it if you want me to, but if you don’t then I won’t.” His ears slightly redden in embarrassment. “My mentor, father figure, whatever, Gaius? When I found out he was here, that he’s been here for a while and is actually only like ten or fifteen years younger than when I first met him, I gave him his memories back without thinking about it. Ultimately, he’s happy it happened, but I definitely got an earful about free will and letting people make their own decisions.”

Lena feels a knot form in the pit of her stomach as she thinks about her own ill-fated attempts at tampering with free will. It is something she is sure she’ll regret for the rest of her life. Regardless if it was something started with good intentions, it failed miserably.

“I suppose I’m just curious.” Lena shrugs in response. “Finding out I apparently lived this whole other life that I can’t remember at all.“

She thinks about the Crisis and the reality that most of the people on earth actually experienced the same thing in a way. Then again, it isn’t like the rest of humanity was a witch of Arthurian legend in past life.

“I can tell you about her, if you’d like.” Merlin tentatively states. “There are a lot of good parts to go along with the bad parts. Some of them were my fault.”

He tries not to think about those things, things like him not helping her, like him poisoning her. He swallows hard, like the fact he killed her in the end.

“I can tell you everything and you can make your choice.” Merlin adds.

“Really?” Lena raises her brow in question. “A-Are you sure?” She bites her lip. “What sort of good things?”

“Well, she was actually very kind when we first met.“ Merlin begins, a wistful smile on his face.

“I suppose I need to forget all I ever learned about these legends in school.” Lena snorts in amusem*nt. “If only Mr. Gibbons could hear this now.“

“Mr. Gibbons?” Merlin asks.

“AP English.” Lena explains with a flick of her hand. “I don’t think he ever liked me much.”

Merlin laughs. “Sure.”

In all honesty, he doesn’t fully understand what AP is. Gaius tried to explain it to him once. He realizes it has something to do with schooling, but it isn’t like he has ever been involved in the current day education system.

“And yes,” he continues, “the legends and myths around now certainly get quite a bit wrong. Case in point, I am not a shriveled old man with a long white beard. At least, not unless I want to be.”

“Unless you want to be?” Lena laughs out. To be frank, the idea of changing one’s appearance isn’t that odd. J’onn does it rather frequently and she herself created the tech inside nearly every image inducer on the market.

Maybe the possibilities of magic truly are unexplainable and endless. Even if she doesn’t like the idea, she simply has to accept it.

“Alright, so despite not looking like Gandalf or whatever, what else is different?” Lena curiously asks.

“Well, like I said, Morgana really was one of the kindest people.” A faraway look enters his eyes. “She was nice to me even though I was a servant and she always talked to me like an equal. She did the same with Gwen, I think they were best friends actually. She always stood up for what she believed was right, even if it put her on Uther’s bad side. She never stayed there for long anyway. Oh, she loved to put Arthur in his place. He would never admit she was as good as he was with a sword, she even bested him in the rare moments when they sparred. She was so smart, had a sharp tongue, and such an open heart for those in need.”

He thinks of Mordred, of those first moments they met when Mordred was just a Druid child and Morgana just the king’s ward. Saving the boy was probably where Merlin and Morgana’s distressingly short-lived friendship actually began.

Lena lets out a sigh, it is almost like she can picture it in her head. However, it’s disjointed and blurry, like trying to fill in holes that remain empty. “Gwen? Like my Gwen?” Lena inquires.

While Lena has gotten better about opening up and trusting people, it’s still hard after being betrayed time and time again. So, her process of choosing her new assistant at L-Corp was lengthy and rigorous, to put it mildly.

Kara laughed when she read through Lena’s first draft of potential interview questions.

“Umm, yes. I think I mentioned it?” Merlin replies. “She looks just like Guinevere and even if it is her, she’ll get the same choice. Or, I don’t have to talk to her about it at all. That’s fine too.”

It isn’t fine. After Arthur, Gwen was Merlin’s closest friend. Even after Arthur when the battle was done and the casualties were counted and Gwen had taken the throne as the sole ruler of Camelot, Merlin stayed by her side as an advisor. They helped each other through the grief of losing Arthur. She never remarried, instead taking on a ward who was made the crown Prince and heir when he was of age. He missed Gwen and wished he could get her back, but he won’t push the matter.

It is only after her passing that he considered leaving Camelot at all.

“I don’t want to make the decision for her.” Lena shakes her head. “I’ll let you sort that out between the two of you.”

Merlin solemnly nods in response. “So, it seems to be I’m the only person in National City who really doesn’t know about Lena Luthor.“

“That’s probably a good thing.” Lena lightly scoffs as she rips at a piece of pita and takes a bite. Sure, she’s done a great deal of work to clean up the Luthor name, even if she had to start from scratch yet again. She knows there are still whispers sometimes, people wondering if she’ll somehow wind up like the rest of the Luthors. She is the only one left, after all.

“But what if I want to know?” Merlin continues, “In some ways you remind me of… well, of Morgana, but you’re far from the same.” He shrugs.

“Ah, the classic interview question, ‘what makes Lena Luthor tick?’” She rolls her eyes, she is about to tell him to look her up on Google and make his decision, but that isn’t what he wants. Besides, most of those pieces are incredibly biased.

“Then let’s pretend I’ve been living under a rock and have never read any of your interviews.” Merlin explains. “Truth is, I haven’t. There’s nobody better to tell me about you than you. Other people always talk through their own interpretation.”

He can’t help but remember the way Arthur so steadfastly loved and admired his father despite his many glaring faults.

“Plus,” he continues, grinning, “I’ll share my dirty secrets, too. Then we’ll be even.”

It’s been too long since he allowed himself to have a true friend and Merlin is really hoping that Lena will be willing to fill the gap.

“Well, in this life,” feeling strange to say it, Lena begins, “my mother had an affair with Lionel Luthor, resulting in my birth, but she died when I was four.”

Those memories aren’t as jarring or painful as they used to be. The memories of being a small child on a beach watching her mother swim out into the water, never to return. It had eaten her up inside for years upon years, feeling as if she should have done something, anything to help her.

“I was adopted by the Luthors. Surely you’ve not lived under so much of a rock that you don’t know the name Lex Luthor?“ She lifts her brow and lightly chuckles. Everyone did, for better or worse.

“Ah, well,” Merlin rubs the back of his neck bashfully, “sort of? I mean, I don’t know all of the details, but I’m at least aware of him. And of the fact there are two different versions of his history or something like that. The sheer amount of magical power behind that makes things a bit more fuzzy than they should be.”

“Hmm, yes, Crisis.” Lena lets out a deep sigh. “I, for one, am glad Lex isn’t seen as a hero anymore, that was unbearable.“

Lena frowns and remembers how Lex used her intelligence and tech to attempt to take over the world. Not only did Lena feel terrible for her participation in the scheme, but the fact she thought she could trust Lex? She should have known better, but she was angry and hurting, mad at Kara for lying to her. Lex used her anger to get Lena to bend to his will, she was little more than a pawn.

“Either way, Lex has been and always will be a horrible person.” Lena grimly replies. She thinks about her brother's fate, trapped in the Phantom Zone. At least there he can’t hurt anyone.

“Crisis?” Merlin chuckles dryly. “I like that. Before the Crisis, none of this would have happened. It’s only since that event that people from Camelot have begun to appear again. Probably something to take note of, I guess.”

“Well, from what Kara told me, the whole multiverse universe was essentially wiped from existence.“ Lena pauses, seeing the confused look on Merlin’s face. “Maybe it’s best not to get into that today.”

Merlin winces. “Yeah, maybe not. I can’t promise I’ll understand even if you do.”

“It is confusing.” Lena concedes. She is probably one of the only people who can actually understand it, at least as much as possible.

There is a moment of silence as Lena reaches for a fry. She still has so many questions for Merlin. And concerns too, what if all her work has been for nothing?

What if trying to redefine the Luthor name is a foolish and vain attempt? If she was Morgana in the past, maybe she was just destined to go down the same dark path?

Lena came close before, between killing Lex prior to Crisis and everything she’d done to deliberately hurt Kara. She once told Brainy that version was the darkest version of herself. Of that she is certain, and the thought still scared her, the fact she went as far as she did.

“Did someone order fried sugary goodness?” Kara enters with a light breeze in her wake as she carries a box of donuts.

“Lena, I made sure to get all your favorites.” Kara beams. “Including chocolate with rainbow sprinkles, aaaaand…“ Kara produces a paper bag and hands it directly to Lena. “I may have made a pit stop in Dublin just for you.“

Lena feels like a giddy child as she takes the bag filled with her favorite scones. “Sorry, I’m not sharing these.” She grins as she speaks to Merlin.

Merlin laughs, shaking his head. “I was in that part of the world for a long time, I’ve had my fair share of scones. I’m good with the doughnuts. If there’s one thing you can be sure of in this world, it’s that every civilization and culture will find a way to fry some dough.”

Kara helps herself to a donut as well. “It’s a shame we didn’t have anything comparable on Krypton.” She sighs. “Humans certainly have the right idea.”

“Is that the reason you’re obsessed with potstickers too?” Lena teases.

When he lets out a huff of amusem*nt, the two women look over at Merlin, who has shifted to sit with his legs tucked against his chest and his chin resting on his knees.

“I don’t know if I can get over the fact that you’re an alien.” He muses.

“Magic, reincarnation, and immortality don’t faze you, but life on other planets is what gets you?” Lena asks, eyebrow raised.

Merlin shrugs. “Seems so. You forgot dragons, by the way.”

“Dragons…” Lena shakes her head, “like the mythical fire-breathing kind?”

“Well, they weren’t so mythical.” Merlin gestures and smiles. “In fact, you had one.”

“I had one?” Lena co*cks her head to the side.

“Well, Morgana did.” Merlin explains.

“Pet dragons sound pretty cool.” Kara interjects.

Merlin laughs. “Well, I’m not sure pet is the right word, dragons are opinionated little sh*ts. Although, Aithusa,” he raises his eyebrow at Lena, “yours, was very young and hadn’t even learned to speak yet when he was in your company. I never did see him again after everything was over.”

Kara gawks at him. “Dragons could talk?!” She exclaims.

“Oh yeah.” Merlin confirms. “Killgarrah could talk your ear off and never say a damn thing. Damn cryptic lizard.” His voice was fond, but also a little bit sad. “I don’t think I ever got around to thanking him for his help, even if it usually took me a while to understand what he meant.”

“He’s not around anymore, I assume.” Lena states.

Merlin shakes his head. “No. He was already very old by the time I met him. The last of his kind before I accidentally hatched Aithusa. He was trapped underneath the castle like a prisoner for twenty years after Uther’s magic purge took out all the rest. I freed him eventually. Even if he did try to burn down Camelot, I think we came to a sort of understanding in the end. I had kind of hoped he would stay around forever. I mean,” He pauses, looking a little embarrassed, “my bloodline is what we call Dragon Lords. My father was one and when he died it became my title to hold. We were connected to them and could command them in a way that didn’t always sit right with me. In any case, I thought the connection between us might keep him going, but I think eventually he just had enough.”

Lena is quiet as she takes in what Merlin says, her world might have superpowers and aliens from far-off planets, but this? Dragons? Talking ones no less, is something else entirely.

“Forgive me for finding this all to be quite a lot to take in.” She sighs and picks at the scone savoring the taste.

“No apology needed.” Merlin assures her. “I’m happy to answer any questions you might have.”

There is something on Lena’s mind, something she can’t understand based on how Merlin talks about her, or the person she might have been in a past life.

“What happened with Morgana?” She blurts out. “You speak of her intelligence and her kindness, so I don’t understand how she could have ended up being an enemy.”

“Ah.” Merlin lets out a shuddering breath. “I’ve had a lot of time to think about that one and come to terms with my own part in it. The biggest cause was dishonesty. I never told her about my magic, never offered her the support she needed. When she was being used by Morgause as an anchor for a curse that was liable to kill all of Camelot, instead of talking to Morgana, telling her about the connection and trying to figure out how to sever it, I thought my only course of action was to…” He swallows hard and clears his throat. “To um, get rid of the anchor.”

Lena is a smart woman. She is nearly certain she understands what Merlin means, but something about the way he talks around it makes her want to force him say it out loud. Not out of anything malicious, just from her own experiences about talking through past traumas and sharing them with others.

“Get rid of…” Lena states matter-of-factly, not phrasing it as a question so much as presenting her theory. She can tell Merlin knows she already understands.

“I poisoned her.” Merlin finally says. “I pretended to be her friend and I put something in the water. I can’t even remember what it was anymore, I convinced her to drink it and she died. She didn’t stay dead. Morgause took her and the next time we came face to face, we were enemies. I don’t know how much of it was against me and how much of it was Morgause influencing her. Morgause having Morgana at her will for an entire year, anything could have happened. It’s also my fault and I’ve had to live with it. I killed Morgana twice and carried the burden of that for over a thousand years. I don’t expect you to be her, Lena. I do expect more of myself, to be a better friend this time around.”

Lena grimaces as Merlin explains what happened to Morgana, what happened to her?

“Well, I think I still have a thing or two to learn about being a good friend.” Lena momentarily glances at Kara. “That’s never been my strong suit, and it doesn’t help when your brother is an evil megalomaniac.”

This startles a laugh out of Merlin. “Yes, I can imagine. I was able to befriend a stuck up, spoiled prince whose father was genocidal and wanted myself as well as everyone like me dead, so I think I’ll manage.”

“More than befriend, if the way you talk about him is anything to consider.” Lena teasingly says. Merlin blushes, the pink extremely stark against his pale skin.

“It wasn’t like that. Not for him, anyway. And I just wanted him to be happy. Gwen was what made him happy.”

“More power to you.” Lena laughs and shrugs. “The only reason it ever worked with this one is because she’s relentless.”

“What?” Kara blushes, adorably. “No, I just thought it was unfair how everyone was judging you.“

Lena momentarily thinks about Gwen, who occasionally mentions something about a significant other. Then, she looks back at Merlin. “Do you know how many people the two of us went through before we finally figured things out?”

“Kara!” Lena gasps, flushing red.

“We’re both a bit oblivious when it comes to each other, admit it.” Kara says, a teasing smirk on her face. “I mean, come on, there was…” she points at Lena before continuing, “Jack,” points at herself, “James, Mon-El,” then back at Lena, “James...“

“We don’t speak of that!.” Lena cuts her off, cheeks flaming red. “I thought we agreed to pretend it never happened.”

Kara giggles. “Right. Sorry. What about you, Merlin? A thousand years, there must have been someone.”

Lena isn’t sure whether her girlfriend didn’t pick up on Merlin’s obviously unrequited love of Arthur or not, but regardless Merlin looks a bit abashed.

“I was never really lucky in those things.” He admits. “I mean, there was my childhood friend, Will, but I left for Camelot and then he died. Then there was Freya, we were going to run away together, but she was killed. Lancelot, I suppose, but then he fell in love with Gwen and sacrificed himself to save us. There might have been Gwaine, but I was a bit too caught up with…things.” Meaning Arthur, Lena thought to herself. “I guess once I figured out the whole immortal bit, the idea of making any sort of connection with someone whose life was so fleeting, someone I would have to see grow old and wither away, sort of lost its charm.”

Lena’s brow furrows, it seems like such a sad and lonely existence. How many people has she seen that craved ultimate power and immortality (her brother included)? Yet here is Merlin showing that just maybe it isn’t all it is cracked up to be.

“Sometimes you just have to take a chance!” Kara beams, ever a positive beacon of hope. “I’m not immortal.” She shrugs. “However, being physically invulnerable doesn’t seem to be much different.“

“The amount of times you’ve thrown yourself in front of an explosion or a bullet.“ Lena shakes her head.

“To save you! You’re my squishy breakable human, I want to protect you!” Kara pouts.

“It’s always the breakable ones who are in danger the most, isn’t it?” Merlin muses.

“They can’t seem to help themselves.” Kara agrees, throwing her arms up in frustration.

“I’m right here, you know.” Lena grumbles, folding her arms across her chest. “And I’ll have you know, I’m not completely helpless.”

“I know.” Kara’s smile shines back at her. “But I’m faster than a speeding bullet… and you’re, not?”

“Oh great, quoting your cousin now?” Lena rolls her eyes.

Kara shrugs. “If the shoe fits.”

“Alright,” Lena says with a sigh, “enough distracting me. Merlin and I have some training to do.”

“Oooo, can you show me some magic?” Kara asks, slightly bouncing in excitement.

“It’s mostly been meditating and trying to feel power until now.” Lena admits. “We haven’t really done much of anything.”

“It’s been doing a lot, actually.” Merlin tells her. “Trust me. Your power is so much more in your control now, less like it might burst out by accident. Which is a good thing, I assure you. Accidental magic is not a fun time with the amount of power you and I have.”

Kara lets out a snort, “Like that time Lena…”

“Please don’t bring that up.” Lena grumbles, flushing a deep shade of red. “I didn’t do it on purpose.” She purses her lips.

“Sounds like you already have experience with it.” Merlin furrows his brow.

“We were in a bit of a time crunch.” Lena admits. “Fighting magic with magic seemed to be the only solution.”

“It often can be.” Merlin nods. “I couldn’t tell you the number of times I’d run across a magical beast that could only be defeated using some particular magical artifact or enchantment. Of course, it’s never the same thing twice, magic is like that sometimes.”

“I don’t like the guesswork.” Lena huffs. “Even unknowns like new aliens and meta-humans can usually be examined by science, finding their weaknesses, etc.”

“I’ve tried to find some kind of explanation for magic, trust me.” Merlin chuckles. “I’m sure I’m not as up on the modern stuff as you all are, but I did a few degrees here and there. Nothing official, of course, but I would wander around university campuses when I was bored and sit in on some lectures.”

Lena looks Merlin over again and starts to wonder if perhaps he slipped into one of the many courses she attended in pursuit of higher education.

There is a buzz and Lena turns to see Kara sighing at her phone. “It looks like I have an emergency of the CatCo variety, but I still want to see cool magic stuff later.”

Just like that, Kara is gone in little more than a flash and a slight breeze rustling some nearby papers. “Still not sure I can ever get over that.” Merlin mutters.

“So, yes to magic, yes to literal living Arthurian legends, but aliens are where you draw the line?” Lena drawls in amusem*nt. “Good to know.”

“Aww.” Merlin puts a hand over his heart and widens his eyes like a puppy. “You think I’m a legend.”

Lena pinches the bridge of her nose and shakes her head. “I certainly didn’t mean to give you any sort of an ego boost, that’s for sure. Now, can we please get on with it?”

“Yes, my lady.” Merlin teases, a sh*t-eating grin in place.

“Oh, shut up.”

Arthur Pendragon’s alarm rings at 5:00AM, just as it has every morning for the past several years. In his younger years, he was never really much of a morning person. His mother joked that getting him out of bed in the morning for school was an epic battle of wills worthy of the history books. However, nearly five months of intensive training at Quantico definitely kicked his habit of sleeping in. He managed to get through his Bachelor’s degree in criminal justice by choosing classes that never started before 11, but the FBI training facility didn’t offer such options.

It is routine to him at this point, the early alarm coinciding with his coffee machine spitting out its morning brew. Pulling on his cut-off sweatpants and whatever t-shirt he grabs first, he pours about half the coffee pot into his massive to-go cup for his long walk to the gym. Bag over his shoulder stuffed full with a towel, water bottle, swim trunks for the days he swims laps, and his favorite wrist and ankle weights.

It is important for Arthur to stay fit, so he goes to the gym every morning. He enjoys the nearly silent streets of National City as the early morning calm blankets him.

He listens to a podcast as he makes his way to the gym. Arthur scans himself in before he drops his bag in a locker and starts stretching. Blue eyes scan his surroundings, Arthur notices several people he sees here regularly, other “regulars” like him.

It isn’t like he is friends with any of them, but it’s a nice sort of camaraderie to have, a good part of his routine. Arthur finishes his stretches and makes his way over to the machines. He exchanges a companionable hello nod with the red-headed woman doing some squats with a frankly impressive amount of free weights.

He walks past her and spots a familiar face. “Officer Gallo.” Arthur waves at the man who just finished his set and is resting for a moment.

“Agent Pendragon.” The other man responds. He doesn’t even sound winded despite the sheer amount of weight he has on his bar. Then again, considering the size of his arms and chest, Arthur isn’t surprised.

He and Officer Gallo are friendly at the very least and often work together when Arthur’s federal cases need cooperation from the local PD. Something that seems to happen often in National City. No wonder the FBI has a rather well-staffed branch in the city.

He watches as Officer Gallo proceeds to load even more weight onto the bar.

“Need any help with that?” Arthur offers. “Help make sure you don’t drop anything?”

Officer Gallo settles back on the bench and glances up at Arthur. “Sure.”

And look, Arthur knows he probably doesn’t need it, he’s never seen Officer Gallo use a spotter the entire time he’s been living in National City and going to this gym, but Arthur is a young and healthy bisexual man. So, if he wants to get permission to ogle a guy’s muscles while spotting his bench press? Well, Arthur is sure as hell going to get the permission.

After wrapping up his workout, Arthur takes a quick shower before hitting the next stop on his commute. Sure, the coffee he makes at home is fine, but he needs something a little bit better if he has any hope of getting through the day.

Thankfully National City seemingly has a never-ending supply of coffee shops all over the city.

He shoulders his bag and whistles a tune as he walks, choosing to enjoy the increasing bustle of people beginning their days rather than listening to a podcast. Technically, he is heading back toward his apartment to drop off his bag before he continues his day, but his favorite coffee shop is a little bit out of the way. Arthur didn’t mind, it is worth it to support a small business.

When he arrives at the coffee shop, Arthur is hit with the smell of freshly brewed coffee. He let out a contented sigh as the bell overhead rings. There is a slight line at the shop and Arthur finds himself behind a couple that seems to be playfully bickering with each other.

“Out of all the eighty’s movies you have seen, what do you mean you haven’t seen Flashdance?”

“Is it a work of theatrical genius compared to the brilliance that is John Hughes and The Brat Pack? ” The alien man with blonde hair replies, looking mildly offended.

The line is moving slowly but surely, the sound of the espresso machine loud as it releases steam.

“Order up!”

“Hey, Lance.” Arthur greets the man who is handing over a gigantic cup to a tiny teenager.

“Arthur.” Lance replies with a grin. Lance owns this shop and it is definitely part of the reason Arthur comes here every day. They met in an odd and tangential way – Lance was dating the sister of one of Arthur’s former frat brothers – but he is a nice guy and one of the first that Arthur looked up when his transfer to National City came through.

“Got your usual already to go.” Lance adds. “Just pay with Morrie.”

Morrie is the sullen, dark-haired nineteen-year-old who works at the cafe in between classes at the local community college. Arthur is sure that Morrie is short for something, but he hasn’t been able to figure out what.

The cash register beeps and rings as the drawer shoots out and Arthur hands over his cash. “Keep the change.” Arthur smiles, pushing the rest back toward Morrie.

As Arthur is exiting the shop, coffee in hand, Lance’s aforementioned partner is entering.

“Of course, Ms. Luthor.” Gwen speaks into the carefully balanced phone at her ear.

He doesn’t want to interrupt her so Arthur gives her a small salute with his coffee cup, which Gwen returns with a smile and a lift of her chin. Arthur smiles at the couple previously standing in front of him as he scoots past the table they are now sitting at and out the door.

With a renewed, caffeine-fueled spring in his step Arthur makes his way back to his apartment to drop his bag off and get dressed for the day.

Normally, if he is going into the office he wears a suit or at least something similar, but today is his day off so he chooses his favorite jeans and comfortable sneakers. He puts on a button-down shirt, since he doesn’t feel like getting the stink eye from his father for dressing like a “slob” for wearing a t-shirt. He does select something with a fun color and pattern, something we wouldn’t wear to work. Just because.

Back out onto the street, Arthur makes his way to the tall, sleek, glass building housing Pendragon Group.

As he reaches for the door, he sees something overhead. Arthur pauses for a moment to look up. His eyes land on none other than National City’s own hero, Supergirl.

He still isn’t quite used to having a hero so close by. Of course, he is trained in how to interact with heroes, aliens, and such, but he didn’t have too much personal experience before moving here. Not that he’s met Supergirl or anything, but it is certainly much more than just in his periphery now. There is a high chance he’ll have to interact with her sooner or later, it seems there is always some kind of alien threat that eventually ends up coming to National City. With one final glance upward, Arthur enters the building.

He doesn’t actually work there, much to his father’s chagrin, but Uther has given him a key card that allows him access to all areas of the building. Arthur doesn’t mind, being able to check up on his father is the whole reason he requested to transfer to National City in the first place.

He whistles as he strolls into the elevator and presses the button. His father’s executive assistant comes up beside him with coffee and a legal pad in hand. She isn’t the most friendly or warm person, in fact, Arthur would classify her as very business-like.

“Ms. Orkney.” Arthur says. “Good morning.”

“Good morning, Mr. Pendragon.” She replies, pursing her lips and tugging at the hem of her blazer.

She is dressed smartly as always, blonde hair in a complicated twist and her eyes darkly lined, nails perfectly manicured. Ms. Orkney, who never even told Arthur her first name let alone asked him to use it, has always intimidated him, but she is good for his father, keeping control of his schedule with an iron fist. He hired her when Arthur’s mother’s illness progressed enough that Uther was too preoccupied to deal with it himself. Another reason Arthur moved to National City. Ygraine’s death nearly a year ago hit Uther extremely hard. Not that Arthur wasn’t hit hard by his mother’s death, but Uther wasn’t as young as he used to be and Arthur worried.

“And how is father today?” Arthur asks Ms. Orkney.

“As fine as he can be, Mr. Pendragon.” Ms Orkney flatly replies.

The door to the elevator slides closed and slightly jolts as it starts to move floor by floor. “Did you do anything fun this weekend?” Arthur asks, shifting the weight on his feet.

Ms. Orkney lets out a breath through her nose, tapping her fingers on the back of the tablet she has in her arms. “Nothing of note, Mr. Pendragon.”

“Right.” Arthur mumbles. Well, he tried, he truly did, but Ms. Orkney certainly doesn’t make it easy.

The elevator chimes as the door glides open when they arrive. Ms. Orkney strides out with purpose before Arthur even has a chance to say “after you.”

Arthur walks a couple of paces behind her as she strides into his father's office. It is light, airy, and filled with windows offering a beautiful and clear view of National City. His father is seated at the desk scrolling on a tablet with a nearby cup of coffee (the mug is emblazoned with the company logo).

Arthur pauses to observe his father. While Uther has never been the most physically affectionate father, he used to give away smiles like it was his job. Now, more often than not, his mouth is set in a frown, the crows feet at the corners of his eyes making him look old rather than joyful. Whatever he is looking at on the tablet isn’t bringing him much joy either, it seems.

“Mr. Pendragon, your son is here.” Ms. Orkney announces. “You have a meeting with finance in thirty minutes and later, you have lunch scheduled with your brother-in-law. I’ll go see why your latte hasn’t arrived yet. Excuse me.”

As quick as she finishes her sentence, Ms. Orkney is back out the door. Uther looks up at Arthur and his frown melts into a now-rare smile.

“Arthur.” Uther warmly says.

He stands, arms extended, and Arthur meets him to grasp his arms in greeting.

“Father, how are you this morning?”

Uther sighs. “Oh, the same. You know how it is with my weekly reports.”

“Of course.” Arthur laughs.

“Your hair is getting long.” Uther chides, reaching up to brush the bangs from his forehead.

Arthur dodges easily and retreats to sit in the chair across the desk. “Alright, alright. That’s enough of that.”

Uther settles back in his own chair and leans forward. “Will you join me for lunch with Agravain?”

Although he phrases it as a question, Arthur knows it isn’t one. He doesn’t know his Uncle Agravain particularly well. “Of course, father.”

“Good.” Uther nods in response. “Ms. Orkney made reservations for us at some new place that’s just opened.” He is vaguely gesturing with his hand as he speaks.

“Sounds great.” Arthur replies, a lot of things really have changed with his father in the last year. Arthur never likes saying it out loud, but he has to admit, it does worry him.

Uther somehow senses his feelings because he steeples his fingers on the desk and looks Arthur in the eye. “I do wish you’d come work for me.”

“Father.” Arthur huffs.

“I know, I know, you enjoy your work.” Uther says. “But it would make me feel much better knowing you’re nearby.”

“It would make me feel better if you reduce your workload.” Arthur shoots back. “Don’t you have a Vice President or something you can foist some of it onto?”

“Don’t you go implying I’m old.” Uther warns. “Plus, my Vice President is a rube.”

“A rube?” Arthur repeats with amusem*nt. “Not exactly contradicting the whole old thing with that, father. Why did you hire him if he can’t do the job?”

“He can.” Uther grumbles, waving a hand in Arthur’s direction. “I’m just being contrary. I didn’t sleep well last night.”

Arthur suddenly becomes serious. “You really should get something to help with that. You need your sleep.”

Uther shrugs. “I’ll sleep when I’m dead.”

Arthur winces at his father’s off-color remark. “Surely you can phrase that better?”

“Arthur, if I’ve learned anything from what has occurred,” Uther says, talking around the specifics of Ygraine’s death, “it’s that I need to face my own mortality head-on.”

Arthur resists the urge to heave a heavy sigh and continues to argue that his father should really slow down. There is no convincing him, not when he is being bull-headed. In any case, Ms. Orkney returns with a cup of coffee and announces the finance department is ready for their meeting.

Arthur bobs his head and follows after Ms. Orkney and his father. He considers asking if she has a coloring book and crayons so he can keep himself occupied. Then again, if his father insists he continue to make sure he attends such meetings he’ll invest in the crayons himself. The Crayola 120 pack would do, the one with the sharpener in the back.

They relocate to a nearby, glassed in conference room. Like everything else in the building, it is clean, modern, sleek, and one-hundred and ten percent devoid of any personality. Not even a cheesy motivational work poster about “working together as a team”. They even have those at the National City FBI office, even if they are mostly a joke, usually accompanied by government-issued motivational posters of Supergirl.

Arthur isn’t particularly interested in the details of the company’s financials, not to mention, the accountant is a bit of a bore to listen to, but it makes his father happy for him to spend these rare days in the office with him, so Arthur stays. He lets his brain wander a bit, tracing absent-minded patterns on the table with a finger as the discussion drones on.

“Arthur? Arthur what do you think about…“

Arthur didn’t realize he started to slowly drift off in the process of tuning out the ongoing finance meeting.

“Arthur!”

His father’s hand connects with the table causing the pen in front of him to jump. “Hmmm?” Arthur’s brow slightly raises.

“Arthur.” Uther says in a tone of voice he remembers very well from his childhood. “If you’re going to take over the business one…“

“Father.” Arthur sighs, tired of having the conversation. “I’m not going to…“

“Yes, fine.” Uther interrupts. “Regardless, I would appreciate getting your opinion on this matter.”

Arthur doesn’t mind spending time with Uther, truly he doesn’t, but it is things like this that rub him the wrong way. He doesn’t know anything about business and or what it takes to run one. He has a degree in criminal justice with a minor in political science for goodness sake.

Arthur winds up letting out a dramatic sigh, leaning back into his swivel chair as the meeting continues. He keeps checking his watch while they discuss acquisitions, leasing, management and…to be honest he isn’t sure what else. He zoned out again until his father stood, essentially signaling the end of the meeting.

He wasn’t hungry before, but he certainly is now. “Best get going so we make our reservation.” Uther looks over at Arthur.

“Yeah, sure.“ Arthur vaguely nods in response.

The restaurant is something newer in National City and has proven difficult to get a seat. However, apparently Ms. Orkney pulled it off. Arthur watches as a woman in front of them standing at the hostess station waits to be seated.

“The rest of my party should be here shortly.” The woman with long dark brown hair pulled into a slicked back ponytail says to the hostess.

“Of course, Miss Luthor, come with me and I’ll get you settled at your table.” The hostess grabs a couple menus before leading the woman into the restaurant to a small table.

The Luthor name sounds vaguely familiar to Arthur, but he brushes the thought aside as he waits for the hostess to return and seat them. When she returns, she gestures for Arthur and the rest of his party to follow as they walk past the brunette who was just seated and is casually looking at her phone.

His uncle Agravain is already sitting at the table the hostess leads them to. He is tapping away at something on his own phone, but looks up when they approach.

”Arthur, my boy!” Agravain warmly greets, rising to pull him into a tight hug. Arthur hadn’t had a lot of interactions with Agravain before Ygraine became ill. Apparently the two of them had some sort of falling out, something that has been resolved or at least put in the past after Ygraine was diagnosed. The last months allowed Arthur to get to know his uncle quite well. Well enough to know he never liked Uther and the two of them still don’t get along. To Arthur, though, Agravain has been nothing but kind and supportive.

”How are you, Uncle Agravain?” Arthur asks. “How’s work?”

Agravain worked in publishing and has some pretty high-profile authors as clients. All of the copy editing keeps him quite busy and Arthur honestly loves hearing about the ridiculous drama of some authors. It is honestly worse than the things he deals with in his own job sometimes.

”Lord save me from the whims of writers.” Agravain sighs. “They’re such fickle creatures.”

Uther and Agravain perform their usual manly handshake greeting competition and Arthur swears he can actually see lightning flash in their eyes. He knows they do their best to get along for his sake and it’s honestly amusing sometimes. When it isn’t a bit sad that two grown men hold a grudge better than most petulant teenagers.

The restaurant is merely a guise of keeping both men on their best behavior. “Anyone being particularly fickle?” Arthur asks as they settle around the table.

“Well, most certainly when you have Cat Grant on your docket.” Agravain laughs. “That woman is in a league all her own.”

Arthur nods, of course he knows who Cat Grant is, who doesn’t? Especially when she has a branded building right in the heart of National City.

“Oh sorry!”

Arthur lets out a huff, a little surprised at how hard he’s just been knocked into the edge of the table and stunned to see a blonde woman standing behind him looking sheepish.

“Really, I’m so sorry.” The blonde repeats as she adjusts her glasses.

“I-It’s alright.” Arthur winces and watches as she awkwardly nods and seems to be in search of her own table. Turning away, Arthur adjusts his chair and slides it back to regain some of the real estate he lost.

“Young people are just so rude these days.” Uther huffs.

“That,” Agravain heartily nods, “is something we can agree on.”

Arthur releases a snort of laughter. “Kids these days, huh? Still not beating those age allegations, old man. And Uncle, I expected better of you.”

At the tease, Agravain reaches over and pinches Arthur’s arm in retaliation.

“Ow!” Arthur complains, putting on a show of rubbing his abused arm. Out of the corner of his eye he sees a smile flicker onto Uther’s face and it makes his heart warm.

A few moments later a waitress swings by to take their drink order as they continue on with their usual lunch.

After lunch, Arthur says goodbye and decides it is probably best to get his groceries. However, there is something else he needs to do first. Pulling out his work phone he dials Leon, his oldest friend and current co-worker.

“If you’re calling for the reason I think you’re calling, Arthur, you better hang the damn phone up right now.”

Arthur laughs to himself. Saying he’s a workaholic is a bit of an understatement and he knows it drives Leon crazy with his extreme lack of work-life balance. “I think you know why I’m calling.”

He can hear Leon muttering to himself before returning to the line, “I should have known.”

“Come on.” Arthur wheedles. “You know I’ll just hear it tomorrow morning when I get to the office, if you tell me now I can start thinking about it now. I’ll have at least three ideas by the morning.”

After all these years as friends, then roommates at university and during training at Quantico, Arthur knows Leon well. Probably better than his own parents know him. So Arthur knows the best way to get what he wants is to appeal to the side of Leon that requires things to be neat and orderly. He likes things to be figured out and tied in a bow. It is part of what makes Leon such a good investigator. He is the brains and Arthur is the brawn. Not to say Arthur isn’t good in the office and Leon isn’t good in the field, they wouldn’t be where they are if that was the case, but they each have their strengths.

Leon sighs in the way that tells Arthur he won.

“Fine.” Leon grumbles. “But you better not log in to the network on your day off. I’m giving you this info just for rumination, got it?”

“Sir, yes sir.” Arthur stops himself from punching the air in triumph at his success.

“There’s been another one.” Leon tells him. “The CEO of some computer technology company, I can’t remember the name right now. It’s the same as all the rest. Sudden. No notice. All assets transferred in an instant. A couple of the gals down in digital investigations have been trying to track the wire, but whoever is doing this is using some kind of spoofer or buffer or whatever it is they call it. They’re covering their tracks well.”

“So nothing helpful.” Arthur concludes.

“Not yet.” Leon agrees. “I think there might be some connection between all of the disappearing bigshots. I’ve been scrubbing through security footage, trying to see if I can find someone who visited all of the places in the days before anything happened. Some of these places need to seriously upgrade their security camera quality. I’m trying to ID faces, but I can’t see sh*t.”

“Talk to Gideon.” Arthur says, naming one of their computer techs. “He’s a wizard with a camera, he might be able to clear up the images at least a little. Nothing miraculous, but maybe enough to save your poor aging eyesight.”

“I’m literally a whole three months older than you, dick.” Leon fires back. “Fine, good idea. That’s all the work I’m letting you do on your day off, so don’t even try it. I’ll see you tomorrow. You can tell me the latest Uther and Agravain drama.”

Arthur laughs. Leon is such a gossip, even if he doesn’t want to admit it. “Deal.”

Would he remain true to his word? Debatable. Arthur has long since learned with his partner, it’s far easier to ask forgiveness than permission. Leon is just lucky he has a few more errands to run, so maybe that will get Arthur to comply.

The wheels are already turning in Arthur’s head as he thinks about the other industry CEOs and business leaders who have gone through the same thing. Kord Industries, Amertek, and Ace Chemicals all within the last three months and all in nearly the exact same scenario.

Other than the time frame, there are no clear links between the companies or the people who go missing only to turn up extremely disoriented a short time later.

Perhaps by tomorrow he’ll know who the missing big-wig is and he can break out the red yarn to see if he can make sense of it all. Well, not really. But he has to admit, as inaccurate as nearly 90% of television is, that part always looks fun.

Once his errands are done, he swings back through to Lance’s for a final coffee of the day before heading home. He is at a bit of a loss at what to do with the rest of his evening, honestly. After all of the time with his parents and then roommates, Arthur hasn't quite mastered the skill of living alone. Sure, he likes his time to himself as much as the next person, but not having something to do makes him twitchy.

The news only holds his attention for a short time before Arthur is pulling out his laptop and remotely connecting to his work computer. He will let Leon grouse at him about it later, but for now there is a ton of security footage to sift through.

Her magic never fails her, of that Morgause is certain. The trail is just faint, so while she’s able to confirm that Morgana is indeed somewhere in National City, she just feels as far away as when she started the journey.

Now she has the endless drudgery of being Uther Pendragon’s Executive Assistant to look forward to day after day. Why is her sister nowhere to be seen? Why is it a name she can’t find in any sort of employee database (might as well put the access she has to use). She’s even used every combination of names her sister might be using as an alias into Google, nothing. Nothing beyond the supposed “Historical Records” and books upon books of legends. None of them are right.

Not for the first time, she wishes she had her magic books back. She remembers a lot, has many things stored in her mind that feel fresh despite the time passed. Unfortunately, time was not so kind to the books. In the free hours of her day, she follows every lead to find true books of power, but to no avail. Sure, there is the rare posting on eBay or Craigslist that seems legitimate, but it always turns out to be a scam or a fake some person took to be genuine. The only time she got close was an odd antique book collector in London who still communicated through faxes of all things. The prices he suggested were so exorbitant that Morgause couldn’t even think about paying for it. Especially considering he refused to send her any sort of proof of legitimacy. She would have been buying sight unseen and pay the most insane shipping costs ever. So, no.

Morgause felt like there was something she was missing, some sort of clue. She could have sworn she’d seen her sister’s face somewhere. On the news or a magazine cover or something similar. She refuses to lose hope. She just has to bide her time, build up her power again.

—————

Lena watches as Merlin excitedly flips through her mother’s book. She is grateful to have it in her possession as she has practically nothing else to help her remember her birth mother. Lillian saw to that long ago, going as far as to take away her beloved teddy bear a few short weeks after she arrived at Luthor Manor when she was four.

“Fascinating.” Merlin mutters. “Where did this come from?”

“Fortune Bay…it’s a small town in Ireland. It’s where my mother was from and where I was born.” Lena shrugs. “An old friend of hers, Florence, gave it to me.”

“Fascinating.” Merlin repeats yet again.

Lena herself hasn’t seen any magic books outside her own, whatever it is that’s so different about hers seems to baffle Merlin. She doesn’t know him well, but surely he’s seen so much magic in his life already, what makes this book so special?

So, she asks. “You keep saying ‘fascinating’, is this different from other books?” The brunette raises her brow in question.

“Well, yeah. I noticed a difference when you first showed me. The interesting combination of languages makes it seem like it was written by different people over a long period of time. All of the books I’ve ever seen were in one language, the language of the Old Religion. It’s a language that looks similar to a sort of cuneiform and comes from the roots of what we know as Welsh. This is, well, it’s like scientific innovation, I think. Instead of just following exactly what people in the past said, you experiment, validate, adjust, and update methods that don’t work anymore for whatever reason.”

Lena looks at him with mild amusem*nt. “Has anyone ever told you you’re a bit of a chatterbox when you get excited?”

“I’ve certainly been told to shut up enough times.” Merlin grins proudly.

Lena huffs and thinks back over what Merlin said, about her own attempts of getting a hand on the apparent magic she always possessed.

Her mind wanders to the years and years of experiments and projects she’s worked on. The nanotechnology in the garage with Jack, the Harun-El serum with Eve, Non-Nocere with Lex.

A gasp escapes her as she recalls how terribly that ended. The riot at Strykers prison, how badly she failed and accepted defeat. She set out to “do no harm”, but she actually caused so much pain and distress instead.

Her brother looked her right in the face and shouted how he wanted her to fail, he wanted her to see the absolute worst humanity had to offer. Then, in typical Lex fashion, he stole her work for his own nefarious whims.

The CEO pauses for a moment and sighs, breathing in slowly. His harsh words from over a year ago still loudly ringing in her ears.

She quickly shoves the painful memory away, choosing instead to focus on the here and now. The concept of both magic and science still seem so thoroughly divorced from each other in her mind. Maybe this is the sort of change in perspective she needs?

“Yes, I’ve done some research and experimentation.” Lena confirms. “Changing a variable here and there in hopes of achieving different outcomes.”

Those failures never stop Lena from pressing on until she finds a solution, she figures maybe magic isn’t so different. Especially now when the fate of humanity isn’t squarely on her shoulders. Well, along with the rest of the Super Friends. Previously, she was afraid to try, fearing she might make things worse. Fearing in the end she would lose control.

“Exactly.” Merlin says, obviously not privy to her inner thoughts or the slightly darker turn they took. “Imagine what we can do by combining your book and mine, we could redefine how magic is used.”

He grins at her. Lena smiles back, Merlin’s grin is so wide and infectious that she can’t stop herself.

“Back on the day we met,” he starts, “I remember Nia mentioning something about a mishap you had?”

Lena slightly blushes, cursing her pale skin for showing her embarrassment so easily. “Yes…I’d rather not go into detail.”

“No problem.” Merlin agrees, waving a hand. “It doesn’t matter. With our combined resources and a little bit of ingenuity, we can figure out a way for your magic to work for you rather than feeling like a burden.”

Lena grimaces. “Unfortunately, I’ve spent most of my life feeling like a burden.” It’s true. After her mother died and she was taken to the Luthor home, things were never the same. Later in life, Lillian would tell her she loved her, but Lena struggled to believe it.

She never was the golden child Lex was, only part of the mess Lionel left behind. A burden Lillian had to bear on her own after her father passed. The two of them consistently butted heads time and time again. Lena was always the daughter the woman never wanted.

“I guess it would be nice if magic didn’t feel the same way. Things like science and math? They’ve always come easy to me.” It was also the only way she ever seemed to sense the smallest flicker of pride in her adoptive mother’s eyes. Though it was usually short lived. She shrugs and continues. “I guess magic has always seemed too wild and unpredictable to be of any use to me, but if Kara can trust and believe in magic, so can I.” Lena turns back to Merlin.

“See, I’ve always been the opposite.” Merlin thoughtfully says. “Magic always came easy to me. My mother used to say I was levitating my crib before I even learned to talk. Despite that,” he shrugs, “I know what it’s like to feel like a burden. Magic is only unpredictable if you let it be. The more you know about it, the better you can control it. Knowing magic is not just feeling it, but also studying it. A lot of magic can be instinctual, but you can also never underestimate the power of a good, well-tested spell.”

“Okay, so how do we start?” Lena asks.

“Translation.” Merlin replies definitively. “In order to use both books in tandem we need them to be in the same language. I’m guessing it’ll probably be easiest for us if we make that language english. No?”

Lena hums in thought. “I would say so, yes. I think I have a way to make the whole process easier. If we scan all of the pages, I'm sure I can make a program to translate everything. We will need to have a few words in each language to use as a Rosetta Stone of sorts, then let the program run.”

Lena watches as Merlin’s blue eyes go wide with pure shock before a smile tugs at her mouth. “What?”

“That doesn’t seem like magic to you?” Merlin responds, his mouth wide open. “It seems like magic to me to be able to get machines to do all that ?”

The brunette shrugs. “It’s some simple coding and computer programming. Computers have their own languages too, you just have to learn them, then it’s easy.”

Merlin still seems absolutely bemused as he shakes his head and runs a hand through his dark hair. “I’ll leave the technology stuff to you.”

“Perhaps wise.” Lena laughs, finding Merlin’s befuddlement amusing. “Though, at some point you should at least let me show you some basics, it is the 21st Century after all. It’s practically a necessity in this day and age.”

Merlin purses his lips. “Maybe. Maybe I’ll relent.”

“Well, we will need some of those books if we want to get started.” Lena declares, her mind already whirring with code. “We need to make our key and start from there.”

—————

She is getting closer, Morgause feels it. Her pinpointing spell isn’t doing any good, only telling her that her sister is somewhere in the city.

“Not helpful.” She growls at the results of her latest attempt that still doesn’t yield anything new. “Why do I keep doing this?”

It is a terrible thing to feel like her magic is failing her. The only reason she can think of is that Morgana isn’t fully herself yet. A scenario making things even more complicated. She needs to find a way to restore her sister’s memories. Memory magic is a dangerous and fickle thing, Morgause’s grasp of it has always been shaky.

But now it seems it might be the only way to get her sister back once and for all. Morgause stalks back to her desk, flipping through the book she has shrouded in magic to look like an ordinary Pendragon Group binder. Binders the accounting department keeps in droves and is far less conspicuous than a large, leather bound tome that looks more like it belongs in a museum than in the hands of a perky, executive assistant.

As the world changed, maybe magic changed too? It’s certainly something Morgause may need to consider. The books weren’t written to consider all of the knowledge available in the world today.

Morgause huffs and flips through the pages as she slowly sinks back in her swivel chair to ponder.

“Ms Orkney.”

Morgause works hard to make herself seem unflappable, to not flinch regardless of who is talking to her and in what tone, but there is still something about Uther Pendragon speaking to her pleasantly that sets her teeth on edge.

“Good morning, Mr Pendragon.” She says, closing the binder and setting it aside in the least suspicious way possible. Thankfully, the mild concealment charm making peoples’ eyes slide away from the binder if they contemplate trying to open it works like a dream. So, at least she knows it isn’t her magic that isn’t working.

“You have a meeting with R&D at three to discuss building materials for the new development South of the city.” She tells her current boss. “And dinner with your son this evening in honor of your late wife’s birthday. Other than that, the day is yours as requested.”

Uther gives her a small, sad smile. As much as Morgause hates him with a passion, she feels sorry for this version of the once-king. He is a bit pathetic despite all of the financial and business success.

“Thank you, Ms Orkney. I’ll have my second coffee at ten and lunch in my office at noon..”

If there is one thing about quiet days like this, they are few and far between, but at least she can do her own studying and planning without being bothered.

Morgause watches as the older man walks away and stiffly waits for the door of his office to close. She gives the binder another sidelong glance then turns to her laptop. As she quickly scrolls through her latest emails, noting nothing of interest, she spots an update to the three o’clock meeting. A meeting with L-Corp, one of the partners on their latest project.

Morgause might be the Executive Assistant to Uther Pendragon of Pendragon Group, LLC, but she tries to stay out of the actual business side of things. Why should she care about the endless parade of old men in stiff suits coming in and out of here on a daily basis. It’s nothing to her.

She scans the email from “[emailprotected]” with attachments. At the very bottom it reads, Ms. Luthor sends her regards. She is unable to make it to today’s meeting, something has come up.

Once Morgause uses the intercom to inform Uther of the update, she finds herself with a clean inbox and an empty to-do list until she needs to get coffee at ten. With a small smile meant only for herself, Morgause pulls out her book disguised as binder. Even if she can’t find her sister using a spell, there must be some way of using her resources to her advantage.

—————

Lena’s green eyes dart across the screen as she checks over her program once again. As expected, everything is running properly and the translations of the pages they’ve scanned are going well.

“Well, I’m not sure how much longer it will take, but there is progress.” The brunette turns back to Merlin who has a mug clutched in his hand. “H-How many espressos have you had today?” She asks warily. Her manicured brow raises pointedly as she addresses the warlock. “Does being thousands of years old make you immune to the effects of caffeine?”

“Coffee is a modern marvel.” Merlin says, pulling his mug closer as if worried she’s planning to take it from him. “I honestly don’t know how I used to make it through the day without it. However, to answer your question, no. I’m not immune, I’ve simply built up a tolerance. I know my limits. Trust me.”

Something about his tone intrigues her and Lena has to ask. “What happens if you surpass your limits?”

Merlin looks embarrassed, his cheeks flushing red. “You know the earthquake in San Francisco in 1906?”

“Seriously?”

“To be fair, that was way over my limit and I may have been going through a bit of a bad time. Plus, I helped repair things afterward!”

“How about we don’t let it get that bad again?” Lena sweetly says. “I like this city the way it is.”

“Cross my heart and uhh…” Merlin lets his voice drift off, choosing instead to take another sip of his drink as he approaches the computer beside Lena. He watches the way the symbols run across the screen at an impossibly fast rate.

Lena sniffs. “Now you’re making me want coffee. It’s about the only way I can survive impossibly long days at L-Corp. Gwen is so used to it, she has my order memorized and anticipates me needing it before I even ask.”

There was a little jolt in Merlin’s chest at the mention of Gwen. It must have shown on his face because Lena took note.

“You know her, right?” Lena gently asks.

“I know who she used to be.” Merlin corrects. “She looks just like her, it’s been a bit of a shock. I don’t want to force any memories on her, just like I don’t want to do that to you.”

“I think,” Lena begins, “once we have this whole Morgause thing sorted out, you should speak to Gwen about it to see if she’s interested or not.”

“Is she married?” Merlin sounds both curious and wary.

“She is.” Lena replies. “His name starts with an L, I believe.”

Merlin’s eyes widen and he lets out a small laugh. “Could it be Lancelot?”

“That sounds right.”

Merlin laughs again, running a hand through his hair. “Gaius is never gonna believe this.”

Lena has heard the name in passing from Merlin a couple of times now, but hasn’t pressed him about it. Today, she’s doing things differently.

“So, who is Gaius?” The brunette asks. It still feels weird to say, to know it’s actually more than a fictional place, but she asks anyway. “Is he someone else from Camelot?” She shakes her head in disbelief since apparently she was a part of it as well.

“Yes.” Merlin confirms. “Gaius is from Camelot, too. He was my mentor.”

Lena bites her lip in hesitation before choosing to pose her next question. “Did I? Did…Morgana know him?”

An odd look passes over Merlin’s face. “Yes. He was the court physician. As the king’s ward, Gaius was directly responsible for your…for Morgana’s healthcare. She suffered from nightmares, things that turned out to be part of her seer power, but it was horrible for her.”

He has a faraway look in his eyes, as if he’s currently reliving his past. “He made her a dreamless sleep draught every day and I would deliver it to her. He didn’t practice a lot of magic after the Great Purge, but I could coax some things from him now and again. Despite being a close confidant for the king, Gaius kept a few magic books hidden away and passed them along to me. There was a lot of theoretical knowledge, both about magic and what was then modern medicine, stored in his brain and he helped me as much as he could. Healing magic was never my strong suit, but I could make a tincture or poultice with the best of them.”

“He sounds like a wonderful man.” Lena gently says.

Merlin snorts. “In some cases, yeah, but I often feel like I didn’t really know him. It turned out he was well aware of Morgana’s fledgling magic and he convinced me not to reveal my own to her. She was so scared and I didn’t do everything I could to help. He and I have talked things through now, had our fair share of arguments about it, but things are better now. He is the first reincarnation I met and I gave him back his memories without a second thought.” He laughs briefly. “I definitely got an earful about it, but I think he’s glad to have them back now.”

“So, is Gaius your only source of magical mentorship?” Lena questions, her thoughts drifting to her mother and Florence.

“Mostly.” Merlin replies. “I never knew my father growing up, but I met him once a couple years into my service to Arthur. We were having a dragon issue so Arthur and I went out in search of the last remaining dragonlord. Imagine my surprise when we found him and he was my father.”

“Dragonlord?”

Merlin nods. “It’s a special form of magic that gives you control over dragons. The whole concept of it was always a bit iffy for me, to be honest. Being able to force a living and sentient creature to do what you want is…well, it’s not great. Of course, the power of the dragonlord is genetic. Thus, when Balinor, my father, died it all came to me. I managed to get a few moments with Balinor even after his death, but it certainly wasn’t what I would consider true mentorship. Maybe a little bit more like mild guidance.”

Lena breathes in deeply, thinking about how the world of magic is vast, deep, and complex, much like the entire universe. She knows so little, what feels like the smallest fraction of the smallest fraction, minuscule, and completely invisible to the naked eye.

“I have so many questions.” Lena admits. “You…You always knew you had magic?”

“I did.” Merlin nods. “It would have been difficult not to in my case.”

Lena grimaces. “I-If I am Morgana , I guess some things never change no matter the lifetime.”

“Oh?” Merlin’s brows rise in question. “What do you mean? Well, if you don’t mind me asking.”

Lena walks to a nearby table and slowly sits down. “You said Gaius knew about her magic? That he hid it from her?”

There is a moment of silence and Merlin nods. “It’s one of the things I would like to correct this time around. Why?”

Lena wrings her hands. “W-When L-Lillian, uhhh, my adoptive mother, was dying, she told me much the same. She knew about my magic when I arrived at the Luthors when I was four.” The brunette's voice cracks in the way it does when she’s overwhelmed by the pain of her past. “S-She apparently did what she could to stifle it. She put talismans around the manor and pushed me toward the sciences.”

Lena lets out a derisive snort. “Yet I was still never good enough.”

Merlin is silent for a long moment, long enough Lena worries he might be upset with her about it. Irrational, yes, but a fear nonetheless.

“I’m sorry that happened to you.” He finally quietly says. “I can’t imagine. It must be so difficult to have who you are as a person so cut off. Not to mention extremely overwhelming once you get it back.”

“Overwhelming is certainly one word for it.” Lena agrees.

“Can I…” Merlin pauses, considers, and continues, “Can I give you a hug? I mean, if you want. It won’t heal all wounds but it might help?”

Lena shoots Merlin a sidelong look. “I’m not usually much of a hugger.” She informs the warlock in her typical cool, serious tone, but then a small playful smile pulls at the corner of her mouth. “However, I’ve come around on it over the last few years, so why don’t you lay it on me?”

The brunette is a little surprised when Merlin does just that. She braces for it to feel awkward and uncomfortable. In fact, there is almost a sense of familiarity in the action. Almost, like they’ve been here before. She allows herself to relax into the embrace and is almost reluctant when he lets go and steps back.

“I’ll be honest, it helped me.” He chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Me too.” Lena admits.

“I do hope you’ve at least had some positive experience with magic before now?” Merlin questions. “Your adoptive mother and now Morgause, are not exactly good examples.”

“Nor the evil fifth dimensional imp who nearly destroyed the universe.” Lena scoffs, her mind thinking about Nxly. “Or the Kryptonian witches who originally created one of my best friends to be a Worldkiller.”

Lena breathes in deeply and sighs. “You’re right, it hasn’t been all bad, though even the road to the good hasn’t been easy either.”

The brunette breathes in deeply. “I needed to find myself last year, there is so much I don’t know about my mother and I finally decided to find out more. It took me to Ireland where I met Florence.” She smiles thinking back on her trip, but she was in such a state of disbelief then. Especially once the people of Fortune Bay learned her mother was Elizabeth Walsh their demeanor quickly changed.

“Florence?” Merlin curiously asks. “Who is that?”

“She was one of my mother’s friends.” Lena explains. “Well, before she left Ireland, before the Luthors, and me.”

“And she knows magic?” Merlin asks, brow rising.

The brunette nods. “According to her, she was in a coven with my mother and she tried, or has tried to teach me. I haven’t had much of a chance to make my way back to Ireland, but we’ve done what we can to keep in touch despite her being off the grid.”

Merlin hums thoughtfully. “You know, Ireland makes sense. The entrance to Avalon is in that area, Freya was able to keep it safe and hidden before she all but disappeared. The mere presence of Avalon is enough to keep things relatively alive. That and the crystal cave.”

Lena would be lying if she said she hasn’t brushed up on her Arthurian legend since all of this began. So, the name Avalon is at least familiar. She isn’t sure if she actually believes it’s some kind of spiritual, afterlife sort of place, but she recognizes it.

“Crystal cave?” Lena asks, as a memory starts niggling in the back of her mind. She thinks back to the trip all those months ago. Short, but eventful.

“It’s in a place that was once called the Valley of the Fallen Kings.” Merlin replies. “I’m sure it probably had some kind of official name, but I always just knew it as the crystal cave. It’s considered the birthplace of magic itself.”

The memory bothering her suddenly becomes clear. “Florence has taken to living in a cave.” She practically blurts out as the idea hits her like a ton of bricks. “Could that be one in the same?” The brunette muses.

“Seriously?” Merlin sounds shocked, but also thrilled. “I have a small part of the crystal, but I thought the cave itself was too hidden to find.”

“Not for Florence, though it did take me some work tracking her down myself even with GPS.” Lena shrugs. “When I found her, she said she had been waiting for me.” Her voice becomes soft as she gets lost in the memory of finding the older woman in the cave. The woman who is the last connection she has to her birth mother, Elizabeth Walsh.

“Can I talk to her?” Merlin asks. “I’d love to hear how she found it, what she’s learned, what she could teach you, and me for that matter.”

“As I said, she’s off the grid so it’s kind of difficult.” Lena says. “Usually we have specific times we set in advance.”

“Well,” Merlin says, drawing the word out, “if she spends a lot of her time in the cave, we could probably use the Crystal of Neahtid to contact her. No technology required.”

“Really?” Lena asks, curiosity piqued.

“Hey, magic can do as many wondrous things as the technology you hold so dear.” Merlin replies with a laugh.

Lena lets out an annoyed huff directed at the warlock, but the curiosity overtakes her. She does want to see this crystal in action, put her mind to the test to see if she can puzzle out exactly how it might work, and if it really can get in touch with Florence. There has to be more to it than the fact that “it’s magic”.

“Show me how it works?” The brunette asks.

—————

As the days continue to pass, Morgause grows more and more frustrated with the fact she seems no closer to finding Morgana. There are traces here and there. Her spells have never failed her before, but her sister continues to remain elusive. She figures perhaps it’s time she tries something else.

Could her little sister deliberately be laying low? Even so, why would she hide from her? It’s possible, Morgause thinks, that Morgana is not herself at the moment. Of course, she hasn’t always been aware of being herself. She needs something to help increase her magic, something to boost her natural talent, something to help work through whatever is obscuring her sister’s identity from her.

It takes her several days of careful searching to figure it out. With the lack of natural magic in this world, the magic in existence being hidden or excused as something else entirely, it takes her several days to find anything legitimate. Most of the stores or individuals who sell theoretic magical crystals are shams. When she does find something real it’s almost difficult to believe.

Morgause turns the amulet over in her hands, mulling things over. The stone at the center has an eerie, unearthly green glow. From the moment she holds it in her hands, she knows it has immense power. She smirks as she examines it. Even though she knows little about the stone, it’s proven to enhance her spellwork. Perhaps this is just the thing she needs to track down Morgana once and for all.

She now feels ready to try her hand at a tracking spell. The power of the green stone fills her, making her fingers tingle with excess magic. She eschews the book this time, reaching inside herself to find the well of power within and allow her instincts to guide her.

—————

Lena stands by Merlin, her lips pressed into a thin line, intent to watch him work. She’s curious about these crystals and how they work. It’s also been a while since she has spoken to Florence.

The pair have only spoken a handful of times since her trip to Fortune Bay, but Lena discovered she likes having the older woman in her life. It helps her feel closer to her birth mother and all she lost so long ago, a pain she’ll likely always carry.

The Crystal of Neahtid is larger than Lena imagined, large enough that Merlin has to use both hands to hold it. It reminds her of a quartz stone, colorless, but not clear with many flat facets. Merlin tried to explain how it worked, but it seems too vague and non-specific. Something about branches of destiny and metaphorically grabbing them. It’s honestly a bit confusing.

Merlin mumbles something over the crystal with his eyes closed. Lena’s translation algorithm worked like a charm so she and Merlin could now read each other’s books just as easily as they read anything else. Of course, he still performed a lot of his spell work in the language of the Old Religion. After using it for over a thousand years, Lena figures it’s probably difficult to change things.

Merlin’s eyes suddenly fly open, the last bit of gold draining out of them as he curses.

“Stupid crystal!” He grumbles.

Lena walks over to him. “Problem?”

“It’s very keen to show me the past and the future, but not the present.” Merlin complains, frustration evident in his tone. “I don’t need to see my past, I lived it, and the future is always a gamble for me. I can never tell if what I see is how it’s supposed to happen or if it ends up happening that way because I meddle with things.”

“Any way I can help?”

Lena is so sure he will say no that she is surprised when Merlin agrees.

“Hold the crystal with me.” He says, waiting for Lena to place her hand on it before he continues. “You have Morgana’s seer power and you’ve also met Florence. Those two things combined with my experiences in the cave before might be what we need.”

At this point, she has performed spells already and actually thinks she is coming along nicely, but she and Merlin haven’t tried doing something jointly before.

“Just think of Florence, feel your magic, and breathe.”

Both Merlin and Lena’s gazes find each other, hold, and they breathe in sync. Lena’s eyes feel hot, but she has no idea if they’re glowing or not. Merlin’s certainly are, his blue irises are bright gold and shining. And then…

“Who’s there?”

A familiar voice. Lena looks down at the crystal in their hands and sees Florence’s face as clear as anything.

“F-Florence!” Lena exclaims, her bright green eyes wide. She sees the now familiar face of Florence Abbott, her careworn face and curling, gray-streaked red hair.

“Lena? How did you…Who is that with you?” The older woman’s brows furrow.

“O-Oh.” Lena’s heart beats wildly in her chest as she casts a sidelong glance at Merlin, who seems to be lightly chuckling to himself. “I, or, we…we tried something new, Florence. You might not believe this.” The brunette once again looks at Merlin.

“I’m Merlin.” He introduces himself, a pleased smile on his face.

Lena glances at Florence, curious to see the older woman’s reaction. Her face appears to be oddly serene given the circ*mstances.

“Merlin.” Florence lets out a small laugh.

“You don’t seem surprised.” Lena blinks.

“Why should I be, lass?” Florence replies.

Lena breathes in deeply and releases a sigh, of course Florence isn’t surprised. She certainly doesn’t like the obnoxiously smug look on the warlock’s face. “Never mind.” Lena shakes her head. “Florence, Merlin would like to speak to you. I think we can really use your help. Something is happening here in National City.”

“The legendary Emrys needs my help?” Florence says in a lilting, teasing tone.

“Emrys?” Lena tilts her head in question.

Merlin blushes, a dusting of pink covering his cheeks and tips of his ears. “An old name the Druids called me. Do you follow the Druidic teachings, then? Please call me Merlin.”

“I’m aware of them, yes.” Florence replies. “I prefer to make my own way, but I do include some of the Druidic teachings in my practice. What can I help you with?”

“Apparently,” Lena begins with a hint of nervousness in her voice, “I’m the reincarnation of Morgana, the half sister of King Arthur.”

Once again the older woman seems completely unfazed by the latest revelation. “Your mother always reminds me in my dreams that you’re special. In more ways than one, my dear Lena.”

Lena breathes in deeply as she feels a flush creep across her pale skin. It’s hard to hear someone like Florence constantly tell her she’s special or meant for great things. When she has lived the majority of her life being compared to Lex over and over and always being reminded that she was never good enough, hearing something positive is overwhelming. Practically everyone in her life repeated those words time and time again, it wasn’t until she met Kara that she was able to have any belief in herself, her skills, and her talents.

“I don’t understand how you two can be so calm about all this!” Lena exclaims, looking between Merlin and Florence. Then again, it isn’t like it’s their lives that have seemingly been turned upside down within the last couple of weeks. They’ve simply been sitting on the sidelines watching.

“I am not calm at all.” Merlin cheerfully chirps. “I haven’t been calm since…oh, about 600 or 650 AD when I realized I couldn’t die.”

“Calmness is relative.” Florence adds with a shrug.

Lena sighs, rubbing the bridge of her nose in exasperation. “Sure. Why not? Makes as much sense as anything else right now, I suppose.”

“What can I help you both with?” Florence asks again.

“I’ll be perfectly honest,” Merlin says, pausing to gather his thoughts, “it’s more of a general advice kind of thing. I understand Lena doesn’t have a lot of experience with her magic and while I’m doing the best I can to teach her, I’d love to get more input from someone who knows her type of magic better.”

“Why now?”

“As much as it might sound like a soap opera, my evil half-sister is out to get me.” Lena dryly says.

“Accurate,” agrees Merlin. “I’ve been around for over a thousand years. As I am sure you know, it’s just recently that there’s been a surge of magical energy in the world.. First, I found the reincarnation of my mentor, then Morgause showed up, and now Lena. Not to mention Gwen, Lena’s PA, is the reincarnation of Guinevere who was Morgana’s personal maidservant. There are too many occurrences for it to be a coincidence, if you get my drift.”

Florence nods in agreement. “I understand. It’s not like reincarnation is completely unheard of. I’ve always known Lena’s magic to be quite powerful, even if she hasn’t realized it yet. Elizabeth had immense power, too, and it seems Morgana’s abilities were even beyond theirs.”

Lena notices Florence is studying her face with stark intensity. The brunette almost shrinks back under the stern gaze of the older woman.

“Tell me more about this half-sister.” Florence presses, the intensity morphing into a defensive protectiveness.

Lena shrugs. “Another day, another half-sibling with nefarious schemes.” She turns to Merlin for assistance. “All I know is that her name is Morgause and apparently she’s evil. Merlin knows more, what is her deal?”

“I still find it incredibly disconcerting how familiar you are with the concept of evil siblings.” Merlin shoots Lena a look before turning his attention back to Florence.

“To be honest, I’m not exactly sure how she and Morgana first met.” Merlin admits. “I do know they were half-sisters through a shared mother. Morgana’s father was, of course, Arthur’s dad, King Uther. Morgana was a very powerful sorceress, a high priestess of the Old Religion. She had a very valid and understandable grudge against Uther, considering he was the one who started the Great Purge.”

The look on Florence’s face lets him know he doesn’t need to explain what, or rather who, Uther was purging.

“Morgause and Morgana believed Morgana should take the throne of Camelot. They felt Arthur was too much like his father to ever accept magic. The two of them were wrong, Arthur was coming around to the world not being as black and white as his father made it out to be.”

The stuff about Arthur isn’t really pertinent, but Lena gets the impression Merlin feels like he needs to defend him every chance he gets. After all of their time together, she is even more convinced Merlin had a thing for the prince. However, she gets the distinct feeling it wasn’t reciprocated.

“I handled the revelation of Morgana’s magic badly. To this day, I regret how my actions made it easy for Morgause to get in her head. While I have no doubts Morgana felt less alone with her, Morgana was missing for an entire year. When she returned to the palace, destroying Uther and Arthur was suddenly the only thing she was interested in.” Merlin sighs, looking like he wants to run a hand through his hair, but can’t since he’s still holding the crystal. “Morgana needed a friend and Morgause used that to manipulate her.”

Lena swallows uncomfortably at Merlin’s statement, thinking back to her own arrival in National City desperately trying to leave behind the pain and destruction following her everywhere in Metropolis. Wasn’t that exactly what she told Kara during one of their earliest meetings? She didn’t want friends, it wasn’t what she was looking for.

“I know far too well what that feels like.” Lena’s voice is little more than a whisper as she looks at Merlin. “I’ve been reviled all of my life for being the unwanted child of an affair, for being a Luthor, and before I even understood it, for being a witch.”

Every time the brunette learns more about Morgana, the more certain she is about feeling a connection. Even if she has no memory of her past life, everything in her present life seems to run eerily parallel to what her life apparently was in Camelot. Not a carbon copy, but just enough to put Lena on edge and make her feel serious concern.

“It’s different now.” Florence insists, her firm voice breaking the silence. “You’re not alone, Lena. Emrys, I see the sincerity in your eyes and I sense great things coming from the pair of you.”

Before either of them can respond, Lena gasps as a surge of power washes over her. It is all she can do to stop her knees from buckling. Merlin isn’t so lucky. Lena scrambles to grab the crystal from him before he falls to the ground clutching his stomach.

“Merlin!”

“What is it?” Florence asks, her voice distorting as if the signal is unstable.

“Morgause.” Merlin grits out through clenched teeth. When he looks up at Lena, the gold in his eyes has a sickly green tinge. “She must have found some way to enhance her magic. I was trying to cloak you from her, but whatever she’s done is too strong. I can’t hold it off much longer.”

“It’s okay, Merlin.” Lena tells him, doing her best to comfort him without losing her grip on the crystal. “Let go, it’s hurting you. It’s fine. We’ll deal with her when the time comes.”

When Merlin lets out his next breath, his eyes revert to their usual gold and Lena can feel the power of Morgause’s spell engulf her. It doesn’t hurt, per se, it just feels unpleasant. It feels like a too-cold wind that raises goosebumps on her arms. Fortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any adverse effects once the feeling wears off. With the crystal still cradled in the crook of her arm, Lena helps Merlin to his feet.

“I didn’t like that one bit.” He grimly says. “It’s been awhile since anything magical has been able to take me down like that.”

“Do you know what it was?” Lena asks, addressing both Merlin and Florence. “How can Morgause enhance her magic?”

“There are many ways, Lena dear, magic is ever changing.” Florence supplies, a look of fierce concern on her face. “Just like our world, magic changes with it, it never stagnates.”

There is something about the green color reflected in Merlin’s eyes that makes Lena uneasy. It’s a green that feels all too familiar, but it has nothing to do with magic, right? There’s no way.

“I’ve never felt anything like it.” Merlin admits. “Whatever she’s doing, it’s not something I’m familiar with.”

Something baffling a thousand year old, legendary warlock? It’s hardly a good sign. The brunette audibly swallows hard. “So, Morgause is likely closer than ever now?”

Merlin slowly nods his confirmation. “Y-Yes, she is.”

Lena sighs. “Great, just great.”

“We’ll handle this.” Merlin firmly insists. “Even if it’s uncertain now.”

“I hope you’re right.” The CEO mutters.

There is a buzzing from the comms. J’onn was out looking for Morgause, a duty that was being split between the various members of the superfriends. Today, the job fell to the Martian Manhunter.

“... Lena, Merlin…”

The comms take a moment to make a solid connection before J’onn’s voice comes through clearly.

“J’onn?” Lena answers.

“It seems we’ve found Morgause’s location here in National City or at least where she’s working.”

Lena’s brows rise in interest as she looks over her shoulder at Merlin. “Really?”

“Indeed.” J’onn replies in his calm, cool tone. “She was spotted at the coffee cart outside the Pendragon Group building downtown.”

“The Pendragon Group?” Lena blinks, it’s a name she’s familiar with as they’ve done quite a bit of work with L-Corp over the years, even before she took over in Lex’s stead.

“Brainy is pulling employee files now, we should know more shortly.” J’onn continues.

“Good.” Lena nods, even though J’onn can’t see her. “We’ll see you in a bit.”

When he hangs up, Lena breathes a deep sigh of relief just as Merlin decides to speak up.

“Did you really say the Pendragon Group?” Merlin blinks. His laugh is both amused and slightly manic. “The coincidences keep on coming.”

“You recognize the name?” Lena asks.

Merlin snorts. “Arthur Pendragon has been on my mind since the day he died in my arms.”

“I think we’re a bit past coincidence at this point.” Lena tells him. “I’ll add to the fun by saying L-Corp has a relationship with the Pendragon Group. They’re a property development company and we help with making their new properties more environmentally friendly. I’ve never met the CEO in person, but I’ve exchanged some emails.”

“Is it Arthur?” Merlin asks, his heart beating quickly in his chest.

“I don’t believe so.” Lena says, her brow furrowed in though. “The email address is something along the lines of U. Pendragon.”

“Uther.” Merlin intones grimly. “Of all the people to be reincarnated, why did it have to be the guy who would kill me and anyone like me in a heartbeat?”

Lena winces. “If it makes you feel any better, his emails are usually very polite. Some companies still want nothing to do with L-Corp after everything Lex did. So, it’s good to know who my allies are.”

Merlin lightly scoffs and shakes his head. “Pendragon Group, it was there this whole time.”

“You didn’t think to do a Google search?” Lena asks.

Merlin shrugs. “I’m really not good with technology.”

Lena sighs, looking down at the crystal she’s still holding. “Florence, I have a feeling we’ll be talking again soon.”

She watches the smile spread across the older woman’s face. “I’ll be looking forward to it, lass.” Florence nods.

“Merlin?” Lena looks over at the warlock.

“We will definitely be talking again.” Merlin insists, rubbing a hand through his hair. “So, goodbye for now.”

“Goodbye, Florence.” Lena nods before realizing she’s not sure what to do with the crystal and shuffles awkwardly. “Uhh, Merlin, how do I…”Tthe brunette gestures at the stone, “I guess, hang up?”

She hears a small laugh from Florence. “I’ve got it from here, dear.”

Just like that, Florence is gone. The crystal is nothing more than a crystal again, Lena puts it down on her nearby work table.

“So, Morgause is at Pendragon Group.” Lena sighs, rubbing her forehead in what has become a regular action since meeting Merlin. “Or, at least we think she is. It sounds like we need to get in there to find out for sure. Good thing you have me and that my girlfriend is the editor-in-chief for CatCo Magazine.”

—————

Kara is extremely grateful to Cat Grant for appointing her editor-in-chief of CatCo Magazine. It’s a dream job for her, really. She loves journalism. While she doesn’t get to go out and do the actual field work very often, it’s nice to be trusted to keep the magazine running at the high quality it is known for. It also doesn’t hurt to be her own boss when she needs to literally take off early or at random to deal with a Supergirl situation. Her assistant is used to it by now and never seems to question her disappearances from her office.

There are many perks to having a balcony attached to the large airy office, easy access to get in and out when necessary. The blonde is currently seated at her desk looking through some upcoming articles for the latest issue when something catches her eye.

Of course throughout her years on Earth, Kara has learned to control her various abilities with immense skill, but sometimes they get the better of her. Like the sound she hears now on the ground floor of the building. She looks up from her work, eyes sparkling with joy as she can pick out the all too familiar sound of Lena’s heartbeat.

She certainly isn’t expecting her girlfriend to drop in on her today, but it’s not like she’ll turn her away. It would be weird for her to be waiting at the elevator for Lena, instead she chooses to take a deep breath and at least try to temper her excitement.

Her effort is instantly ruined the second she hears the loud ding of the elevator’s arrival and she’s off like a shot. Thankfully, everyone else on the floor has their head buried so deep in their work, no one notices.

“Lena!” Kara exclaims as the familiar form of her girlfriend steps off the elevator. She throws her arms around the smaller woman, hardly noticing she’s accompanied by Merlin.

“K-Kara!” Lena wheezes. “Can’t. Breathe.”

The Kryptonian immediately loosens her grip, takes a step back, and adjusts her glasses. “So, what brings you two to Catco?” She looks between Lena and Merlin before gesturing toward her office.

She watches as Lena makes a beeline for the chair across from Kara’s desk, the one she normally sits in when she does drop by. “Something magic related is my guess?” Kara notes Merlin’s presence.

Lena breathes in deeply. “Well, we found Morgause.”

“That’s great!” Kara exclaims, her excited smile met with a grimace and tightly pressed lips. “I mean, that is great, right? It’s what we’ve been trying to do. Where is she?”

“Working at the Pendragon Group.” Lena provides.

“The company L-Corp is working with on the Green Initiatives?” Kara supplies as her girlfriend nods in agreement.

“They’ve been doing business with us since we were still Luthor Corp.” Lena explains. “I was thinking, perhaps you can find an excuse to cover one of our new projects and possibly get us in there to look around?”

“CatCo Magazine, Lena Luthor’s favorite publication.” Kara teases. “I’m sure we can be clever enough to come up with something to get us inside without it seeming odd.”

“So, what does a magazine have to do with this?” Merlin asks, head co*cked to the side.

Kara laughs. “It’s a little inside joke of ours. Lena and I were friends long before we got together romantically. When I was a journalist for the magazine, I would often be able to get exclusive interviews with her for various things.”

“You exploited my crush on you.” Lena smirks, obviously joking. “I would have done anything for you.”

Being a Super doesn’t stop Kara from being embarrassed, she feels her cheeks heat. “ Anyway! ” She says, giving her girlfriend an eye roll. “I think I have an idea. We’re doing a 30 influential women under 30 feature this year. I was going to ask to include you in anyway, so maybe if we put a spotlight on L-Corp’s collaboration with Pendragon Group, we’ll be able to get into the building.”

“There’s no telling where Morgause will be.” Merlin adds. “She could be a receptionist or she could be in the construction labs or whatever secret back rooms a property development company has.”

“True.” Lena agrees. “To make it believable from the magazine side, we’ll probably need to get some pictures, too.”

“Oh! I have the perfect person for that!” Kara excitedly says, waking up her office computer and pulling up a video chat program.

“James.” Lena replies, a knowing look on her face.

“James.” Kara nods.

“James?” Merlin asks.

“Pretty much the best photojournalist I know.” Kara tells him as the video chat rings.

“Flattery will get you everywhere.” A deep voice sounds from the computer.

“Hey, James!” Kara greets, grinning.

“Kara Danvers.” James replies with a laugh.

Lena circles around to stand behind Kara’s chair so she is in the frame, Merlin follows behind at a slower pace.

“And Lena Luthor.” James continues when he sees her. “And someone new. Hello there.”

“Wow, you’re hot.” Merlin blurts, then flushes. “Sorry, I don’t know why I said that. I’m Merlin.”

“Merlin.” James nods. “Certainly a unique name, not the Merlyn’s of Star City by chance?”

“Ummm, No?” Merlin blinks as James simply nods.

“So, what warrants a call from the editor-and-chief of CatCo?” James grins.

“I was kinda hoping you could do us a little favor?” Kara bites her lower lip.

“I know that look.” James sighs, shaking his head. “What sort of favor, Kara?”

“One involving your great camerawork and eye for composition?” Kara responds hopefully as James lets out a bark of laughter.

“You’re snooping again, aren’t you?” James asks.

‘“A lot has been happening in National City since you left.” Lena jumps in to explain. “It’s all a little complex and more than a little convoluted, if you ask me.”

“The point is, we could really use the talents of a skilled photojournalist like yourself.” Kara interjects.

There is a moment of silence before James responds. “I don’t know, Kara. I’ve been very busy here in Calvintown and…”

Kara’s smile falters a little. “I know you’re busy, but it would only be for a day at most. Or two? And I bet Kelly…”

“Woah, slow down there Flash!” James interrupts with a smirk. “Just because I’m not sure my schedule will let me break away doesn’t mean I don’t have someone in mind to help you out.”

“Really?” Kara’s brows crinkle on her forehead.

“I seem to have found a bit of a protege here.” James smiles.

“A protege, how fun!” Kara enthusiastically says. “And they’re good?”

“He is.” James confirms. “Talk about an eye for composition. I gotta tell you, the raw talent in some of these kids is unreal. Well, I say kid, but I think he’s in his twenties.”

“I’m happy to set up some accommodation for him here in the city.” Lena offers.

James shakes his head. “No need. He has some family in National City. A twin sister I think. So, I’m sure he won’t have any problems with that.”

“Let me know if that changes.”

“Of course, Lena.” James smiles. “You all better fill me in on this drama at some point.”

“I’m sure we’ll get around to it.” Kara tells him. “Thanks for your help, James.”

Kara closes the application and looks at her watch. “Well, I would like to make the executive decision of ordering Chinese food and then sort out the rest of the plan.”

“Of course you do.” Lena snorts.

“Potstickers help me think.” Kara replies as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

“Sure they do, Darling.” Lena laughs before softly kissing her girlfriend’s cheek. “Don’t worry, there'll be at least five orders for you to have all to yourself.” She teases.

“What’s happening?” Merlin asks as everything around him seems to be moving like a well oiled machine. Clearly Lena and Kara have been in situations like this before.

“We’re picking up food, and…meeting at your place?” Lena looks at the blonde with a single brow raised as Kara nods in agreement. “Then we plan. The interview is just the first step, we’ll need to get Uther to agree to it and figure out what we’re going to do while we’re there.”

“Okay, right.” Merlin says, a look of confusion on his face. “Sure. What’s a potsticker?”

When they regroup at Kara’s place later that evening, (despite her place as the boss, even Kara can’t leave work that early, she does have to wait until at least 4pm) this is the very first incredibly egregious, if you asked Kara, oversight they correct. Once Merlin is properly introduced to potstickers and Chinese takeaway in general, they can proceed with their planning. The guy is so behind the times culinarily. Kara forgot tonight was meant to be a Danvers sisters girls night, but when Alex arrives the three of them quickly fill her in and they settle in with some booze and a notepad to plan.

“Getting Uther to agree to a meeting will be the easy part.” Lena says, carefully writing the task at the top of the to-do list. “I’ll have Gwen take care of it tomorrow. I can’t see him turning down the publicity Pendragon Group would get by our partnership being featured in the article.”

“So, Uther is potentially the reincarnation of the king who wanted to rid the world of magic.” Alex clarifies. “The father of King Arthur. Like, the round table King Arthur.”

“That was actually quite a late addition to Arthur’s reign.” Merlin says, matter-of-factly. “Relatively speaking, not that his reign was incredibly long, but still.”

“We still have no idea if he’s even around.” Lena points out. “I know you didn’t Google him, considering you didn’t even know Pendragon Group existed.”

Alex taps at her phone for a moment. “Huh. I know this guy. We go to the same gym, I see him every morning.”

“Wait, what?” Merlin scrambles up from where he was sinking into the couch cushions to make grabby hands at Alex until she hands over her phone.

She has Arthur’s LinkedIn profile pulled up. Merlin’s gaze goes soft as he looks at the picture.

“Oh.” He sighs wistfully. “I’d almost forgotten how blue his eyes were.”

The three women exchange glances. Alex grinning in amusem*nt while Lena looks like she understands the sentiment all too well. Kara is trying and failing to stifle a giggle at his tone.

“So, that’s him?” Alex confirms with a smug smile as Merlin nods in confirmation. Then her eyes find Lena’s. “Oh don’t give me that look, Luthor. I watched the two of you make longing heart eyes at each other for years!”

Lena slinks down into Kara’s couch, her legs tucked beneath her.

“What’s the plan while you’re inside?” Alex asks, turning her attention back to the mountain of Chinese takeout.

“I’ll probably have to exchange some pleasantries and actually do the interview.” Lena shrugs. “We want to make this believable after all.”

“I can look around.” Merlin interjects. “Since I’m not directly involved with the ruse.”

“That’s not a bad idea.” Lena nods in agreement. “Will Morgause recognize you?” She asks warily.

“Well, considering she seems to remember you, I’d guess the answer is yes.”

“So, she might not like to see you snooping around.” Lena’s nose crinkles at what she sees as a flaw in the plan.

“You are probably right.” Merlin concedes. “You sure a pair of glasses won’t do?” He offers a crooked smile and looks over at Kara.

“It usually works.” Kara defends with a pout.

“Okay, so we need something more substantial.” Lena says, her mind whirring with questions. “Don’t you have some kind of spell or something to disguise yourself?”

“I can make myself look like an old man.” Merlin replies. “Or an old woman, but Morgause has seen one of those. Possibly both? I don’t actually remember anymore, it’s been a long time.”

“Seriously?” Alex asks. “Only old people?”

“Well, it’s more like what I would look like if I could age.” Merlin tells her. “Or if I were a woman who could age. I’ve used it over the years when I want to stay in the same place for longer than a handful of years. Unfortunately, it always looks like me, so I don’t think it will fool her.”

“We need to make you look different enough that she won’t think it’s you.” Alex muses. “At the very least, something where she won’t look twice at you.”

“An image inducer?” Kara suggests. “Then it’s like you’re hiding in plain sight.”

“That is a good idea.” Lena nods in agreement. “It won’t be blatantly obvious and should conceal your identity.”

“Image inducer?” Merlin asks, brow rising. “Is that some sort of tech thingy?”

“It is.” Lena responds with a light laugh, noticing the look on the warlock’s face. “I promise it doesn’t bite.”

Merlin’s blue eyes narrow at the CEO. “It’s not that, it’s just, I’ve had experiences of magic and technology not getting along.”

“Well, we won’t know unless we try.” Lena shrugs looking at Merlin. The wary look on his face makes her sigh. “Perhaps maybe we could consider a more practical option?”

“Practical option?” Merlin co*cks his head to the side.

“Sounds like a makeover to me!” Kara grins excitedly.

“I-I might have a good idea for that.” Lena smiles and pulls out her phone to start flipping through images. “I had a bit of a phase in boarding school.” The brunette snorts. “I have a feeling this might work well in our favor.”

Alex leans over to look at the photos Lena pulled up and snorts.

“Oh my god, Lena.” She laughs heartily. “Seriously?”

Merlin joins her in looking at the image and co*cks his head in mild confusion. “That’s…that’s a lot.”

“What?” Kara asks curiously. “What is it?”

She crowds up behind Lena on the couch to look at the phone and has to actively stop her jaw from dropping.

“Lena!”

Lena shrugs, mildly self-conscious, but not ashamed. “I had a rebellious phase.”

“Oh Rao.” Kara breathes out slowly, her golden skin taking on a pinkish hue.

—————

“The 2:15 to Central City will be departing in five minutes-”

Elyan Smith is making his way through the National City Port Authority bus station. He’s just hopped off the bus from Calvintown that he’d been on since obscenely early this morning. It will be worth it, he reminds himself. His editor, James Olsen, is sending him on an assignment to do some work for CatCo magazine. With Kara Danvers, his good friend. Pulitzer prize winning journalist, Kara Danvers.

This could be the chance of a lifetime.

The added bonus to being in National City is that he gets to see his twin sister, Gwen, who should be waiting for him. Elyan shoots her a quick text to confirm where they’re meeting.

“Ely!”

Instead of getting a response to his text, Elyan gets half tackled by a ball of excitement and curly hair. Elyan instinctively wraps his arms around Gwen and lifts her off the ground in a hug.

“Hey, Winnie.”

It’s been far too long since they’ve seen each other. After having grown up together and even gone to the same university, splitting up for their respective jobs was difficult on the twins. Almost as difficult as it was for them to leave their single father to go to university in the first place. It was just the two of them now, but Gwen and Elyan remain close despite their physical distance.

“I’m so excited you’re here!” Gwen gushes. “I can’t wait to show you all my favorite spots. Oh, and you have to see Lance’s coffee shop!”

Elyan laughs. “I am here for a job, Winnie. You know that.”

“I’m sure you’ll have time for some sight-seeing, too.” Gwen assures him. “Plus, if you stick around you might get to catch a glimpse of Supergirl.”

She says the last word in a sort of sing-song tone, which makes him laugh bashfully. He’d been fascinated with superheroes for as long as he could remember and Supergirl is definitely one of his favorites.

“Do you really think so?” Elyan asks, his excitement getting the best of him.

“Mhmm.” Gwen nods as they walk arm in arm out of the station. “She also is on very good terms with my boss, she might be able to…”

“O-Oh, you don’t have to do that.” Elyan shakes his head frantically. “Hell, just seeing her fly overhead would be cool.”

“If you’re certain.” Gwen laughs.

“Bugging Lena Luthor to call up a superhero on my behalf feels a bit much.” Elyan laughs. “After all this time, I still can’t believe you work for her.”

“She’s pretty great.” Gwen nods along as they take a turn out to the parking garage. “Are you hungry?”

“Starving.” Elyan smiles.

“Let’s hit up the coffee shop, drinks are on me.” Gwen replies with a playful wink.

“It’s Lance’s shop!” Elyan scoffs. “Aren’t drinks always on you?”

It’s not a particularly long walk to Lance’s coffee shop and the weather cooperates nicely, giving them some lovely sun and a mild breeze. The overstuffed backpack with a few days worth of clothes is a bit heavy and his camera bag is slightly ungainly, but Elyan is having fun listen to Gwen. Her excited chatter and pointing out various things in the city as they pass along makes carrying his bags worth it. Plus, there’s the promise of coffee on the other side as well.

The shop is fairly bustling when they arrive, but Lance still takes a moment to step out from behind the counter to greet them. It isn’t so busy that Morrie, the community college student who helps out most afternoons, can’t handle it. Elyan gladly accepts the hug from his brother-in-law.

“How was the trip?” Lance asks because he’s just that kind of guy.

After spending his university years as part of a frat, Elyan almost forgot that guys like Lance exist. He is so glad his sister snagged one of the good ones.

“Long, but blessedly uneventful.” Elyan chuckles and sighs. “No delays or anything.”

“Glad to hear it.” Lance flashes a blinding smile. “Coffee order still the same?”

“You know it.” Elyan grins as Lance nods before zipping away.

“Let’s get a table.” Gwen sighs. “I want you to tell me everything about this gig.”

“Really?” Elyan’s brow rises.

“Yes, really!” Gwen insists as they find a table in the back corner of the coffee shop.

Once they’re settled, Gwen with her drip coffee and Elyan with a foamy cappuccino, a giant blueberry muffin between them, Elyan curls his hands around the mug to feel the comforting warmth.

“I would think you’d know more than me about this job, honestly.” Elyan says. “It has to do with your boss after all.”

“Oh, wait!” Gwen gasps. “ You’re working on the special interest piece for CatCo magazine?”

“Yeah!” Elyan replies with a grin. “It’s not usually my thing, I like to go for the more investigative things, but my boss specifically wanted me for the job. Since he used to work at CatCo, it’s kind of an honor Mr. Olsen thought of me, it’s obviously important to him.”

“That’s so cool!” Gwen gushes.

Elyan chuckles and takes a sip of his drink. “I’m sure I’ll get more details tomorrow when I meet with Miss Danvers and Miss Luthor.”

A playful smile crosses Gwen’s lips. “Kara’s on the story?”

“Hold on, you know Kara Danvers as well?” Elyan blinks in surprise as his sister nods.

Gwen is casually stirring her coffee. “Miss Danvers and Miss Luthor are very close .” There is a hint of a teasing tone in her voice. “But, you didn’t hear it from me.”

Elyan feels like he’s picking his jaw up off the ground. “Wait, so they…”

“I didn’t say anything.” Gwen smiles, brows rising and hand raising in a dismissive gesture. “You’ll just have to see for yourself.”

Elyan sits with this revelation for a moment before he shakes off the shock. Well, good for them, he supposes.

“Anyway…” He says. “It sounds like it’ll be kind of fun. It’s been a while since I was able to take shots to look good for the sake of looking good.”

Although he is more on the investigative side of things, Elyan did an internship with a fashion magazine before getting his current job and he definitely misses taking the glamor shots sometimes.

“Miss Luthor has the best outfits.” Gwen agrees. “I love her style. I would never be able to pull it off, but it really suits her.”

“Your style is great.” Elyan assures her. “Perfect for you.”

Today she is wearing a top in a pale lavender that looks great against her skin tone.

“Thanks, mister jeans and a t-shirt.” teases Gwen with a smirk.

“Hey, my t-shirt collection is carefully curated from only the finest Walmarts and thrift stores.” Elyan sniffs with a fake haughty expression. Gwen giggles.

“Hey.” Lance says, suddenly appearing at their table. “Morrie and Freya are gonna handle the closing shift. Wanna get out of here and see some city sights?”

“Definitely!” Gwen enthusiastically agrees, eyeing Lance pointedly until he gets the hint and leans down to press a kiss to the top of her head.

They’re so sickeningly sweet it makes Elyan want to scream. “Sure. Can I drop my things off at your place first? My back will thank you by footing the bill for dinner tonight.”

“Tell your back we appreciate it.” Lance jokes. “Of course, we’re just upstairs so it’s not very far.”

—————

The next day Elyan makes his way to the heart of downtown to the CatCo building. It’s hard to miss with its bright lights and branding at the top shining like a beacon in the early morning sun. He stops to grab a quick coffee from the cart outside before heading into the lobby to scan the directory and find the floor he needs.

Elyan beams as he confidently strides toward the elevator and presses the button. He waits for the car to arrive as his excitement brews. This is it, it’s all so real now. Here he is in the elevator up to CatCo’s main floor where the office of Kara Danvers is located.

He’s alone in the elevator as it zips higher into the building, stopping to deposit him on the main floor of CatCo where journalists, photographers, copywriters, and so many more are hard at work.

Elyan steps out, in awe as he looks around. The place is incredible, the large windows provide a stunning view of the city. They’re so high up he wonders just how often they see the Girl of Steel herself fly past.

“Woah, incoming!”

A lithe young woman nearly trips into Elyan as she drops her stack of papers. “Shoot!”

“Let me help.” Elyan quickly bends over to assist. “Also, maybe you can help me find Kara Danvers office?”

The woman looks up at him, her brown eyes wide. “Y-You’re here to see, Kara?”

“Yeah.” Elyan confirms. “I was sent by James Olsen.”

“O-Oh! Oh, it’s you!” The woman’s excited tone elevates. “I’m Nia! I’m actually supposed to give these to Kara so come on. I’ll show you the way.” She awkwardly laughs.

Suddenly, Elyan is faced with large glass doors. Apparently the doors to Kara’s office. Nia pulls them open for him, but he hesitates.

“Come on.” Nia insists with a grin. “I promise she doesn’t bite.”

Elyan nods, following Nia inside. As he steps inside, he realizes not only is Kara Danvers there, but Lena Luthor is as well.

Of course, he knows he would meet her at some point considering she’s the subject of the piece, but it’s still a little surprising to see her so soon.

“Elyan?”

It isn’t Lena Luthor who speaks, but rather a young man around Elyan’s age with messy dark hair, bright blue eyes accented by dark eyeliner, and a lilting accent. He’s also looking at Elyan like he’s just seen a ghost.

“Yes?” Elyan replies, confusion evident in his voice. “I should hope you were expecting me.”

“Right, yeah, I’m Len…uhhh, Miss Luthor’s assistant.” The guy continues.

Elyan frowns. He doesn’t remember Gwen mentioning another assistant. “I thought that was my sister’s job.”

“Your sister?” The young man looks faint. “Of course, Gwen’s your sister. I mean, it’s…I’m new?” He sounds unsure of himself. “And temporary. For specific reasons, a specific reason.”

“O…kay.” Elyan says, drawing the word out. The vibes of this guy are so strange.

“Don’t mind Merlin.” Lena Luthor says with a dismissive wave of her hand, striding forward to shake Elyan’s. “He has a chronic case of foot in mouth disorder. It’s so lovely to meet you, Elyan! Of course, Gwen’s told me all about you.”

“Likewise, Miss Luthor.” Elyan tells her. “And Miss Danvers, it’s an honor to work with you. Mr. Olsen is always singing your praises around the office.”

Kara grins at Elyan. “Glad to hear James is doing well.”

“The Calvintown Gazette is really climbing to new heights.” Elyan nods in agreement. “So, what sort of shots were you looking for?”

“Well…” Kara leans against her desk. “We’ll need photos of all the women on our 30 Under 30 piece.” The blonde nods.

“However, it’s certainly easier when one of your subjects is a good friend.” Lena cuts in with a soft smile as she looks at Kara. “For my piece we’ll be focusing on an upcoming L-Corp project with the Pendragon Group.”

Elyan nods along as they catch him up to speed, his gaze continually flicks back toward the dark haired assistant. He will certainly be following up with his sister about the guy.

“All in all, it’ll take about a week.” Kara concludes, her bright blue eyes scanning the young man’s features. “We’ll have to do some out of town traveling, but all expenses will be covered by CatCo.”

“A week?” Elyan frowns. “Mr. Olsen was under the impression it would take four days.”

“That’s my fault, I’m afraid.” Lena admits. “Between my schedule and his, getting a meeting with the CEO of the Pendragon Group is not as easy as it would seem. There was really only one option and that was for a week from tomorrow.”

“I’ll clear things with James, don’t worry.” Kara assures. “On the bright side, it means we don’t have to rush. In any case, we have a good number of the subjects who will be coming to us. I wanted to have a good mix of posed pictures and candids taken while they’re working. Of course, I’m happy to get your artistic opinion on any of the shots. James says you have a great eye for image composition.”

The back of Elyan’s neck prickles with heat at the praise. He knows James likes his work, but he didn’t realize he praised his work to other people.

“Thank you, I appreciate that.” Elyan replies.

Kara smiles. “We’ll hit the ground running today, we have a few of the subjects coming this afternoon for pictures and then more throughout the rest of the week.”

Elyan nods along. “Great, sounds like a good plan. I doubt my sister will mind me hanging around a little longer.”

“Sisters are great for that sort of thing.” Kara adds with a laugh.

Elyan notices Miss Luthor’s dark haired assistant still seems to be looking him over before getting to his feet. “I’m…I’m going to get some coffee.”

Once he slips out, Elyan can’t help but comment, “Your assistant is a bit weird.”

Lena and Kara share an odd look.

“You have no idea.”

“Ow!” Merlin complains for the millionth time. “Stop poking me!”

“It’s an eyeliner pencil.” Lena sighs for the umpteenth time. “It has a pointy end, it pokes.”

“Yes, but it’s supposed to line my eye, not puncture it.”

“Oh, stop whining.” Lena huffs and rolls her eyes. “I do this every day, I’m not going to puncture your eye.”

As much as she mildly regrets having such a stereotypical rebellious phase, Lena admits it’s coming in handy right now. When a quick test proved Merlin’s magic did indeed make the image inducer fritz out to the point of not working, they decided to go with Plan B. While he certainly still looks like himself, it’s enough of a difference that Merlin is convinced Morgause will overlook him if she sees him. Lena revels in the fact the pale skin and dark hair coupled with the goth look actually quite suits the warlock.

Lena bites her lip and looks him over, narrowing her green eyes. “Almost there, this should do it.” The CEO turns and reaches for a tube of black lipstick.

“I thought the whole point was to be inconspicuous.” Merlin frowns, looking warily at the lipstick in her hand. “I feel like I’m going to stand out more.”

“It’ll be fine.” Lena insists, twisting the tube to apply it.

“I’ll do this myself.” Merlin snatches it away from her.

“Fine.” Lena scoffs. “Do it yourself and then get dressed.”

The brunette turns to see Merlin frowning at the outfit chosen for him to wear. “It’ll sell the look, I promise.”

Lena reaches for her own lipstick, her favored shade of dark red. There might be a plan at work today, but they really are doing an interview with Uther Pendragon and Elyan would be taking pictures so she needs to look her best.

There is a woosh as Kara flies in through the balcony, her red cape fluttering behind her. “Sorry about that, crisis averted.”

Watching Kara flit in and out doesn’t phase Lena in the slightest, but it does give her a sense of joy to see Merlin’s eyes nearly pop out of his head every time. She gets the same joy when Kara is off again in a matter of seconds, dressed perfectly professional for their interview. Her blonde hair pulled back from her face and glasses perched on her nose.

“Super speed.” Merlin huffs, pulling on the clothes given to him. “So strange.”

“You get used to it.” Lena tells him. “If you stick around long enough, anyway.”

“Oh, I’ll be sticking around.” Merlin assures. “Morgause, you and Gwen, Uther, now Elyan. Who knows how many of my old friends or not really friends…” He considers. “Who knows how many more of you are skulking about National City.”

“Skulking?” Lena repeats in amusem*nt.

“Plus,” Merlin says, “I thought we were becoming friends. You don’t want to get rid of me so soon, do you?”

Lena simply rolls her eyes in response. He isn’t wrong, she has come to quite enjoy Merlin’s company.

“We’re meeting Elyan at the Pendragon Group.” Kara tells them, interrupting. “We should get going. You don’t want to be late for your meeting, Lena.”

Lena nods, brushing a stray, loose lock from her face. “You’re right. Here goes nothing, I guess.”

The three of them exit the Tower and step into Lena’s private car. For a moment, Lena is quiet as they sit in the back seat.

“This, this feels strange.” The brunette admits, releasing a deep sigh. “Just knowing I apparently knew Uther all those years ago.”

“It was a lot more than that.” Merlin supplies, his eyes gazing into the distance as if sorting through memories. “You were the only person who really dared talk back to him, the only one who tried to stand up for what was right.”

“Sounds like Lena.” Kara smiles, giving Lena’s hand a soft squeeze. “Though, if he is a jerk to you I won’t hesitate to fly him halfway across the world and leave him somewhere unpleasant.”

“My hero.” Lena teases, a smile spreading across her face.

“Adorable.” Merlin says dryly. “Also a plan I fully support. If he starts to show himself to be more like the person he used to be, drop him in a volcano for all I care.”

“That’s a little extreme, no?” Kara winces.

“No.” Merlin grimly confirms. “Murder of magic users, remember? Lots of burning at the stake.”

Kara wrinkles her nose. “Yeesh.”

When they arrive at the Pendragon Group building, Elyan is indeed already waiting for them, his camera on a strap around his neck and a bag over his shoulder.

Lena takes a deep breath, interviews like this aren’t anything new to her. This should be easy since she’s just the distraction while Merlin is scouting out Morgause.

She knows her company, she knows all her talking points, she knows the plan. “Let’s go.” Lena directs with the slightest hint of a waver in her voice. The brunette can tell how badly Kara wants to take her hand and soothe her nerves, but they’ve long since decided it’s best if Lena Luthor and Kara Danvers keep their romantic relationship under wraps.

One day…

They pile into the elevator heading to the fifteenth floor. The door opens to what looks like any other corporate office in America. Employees walking about and a general flurry of motion. Lena feels several sets of eyes land on her and Kara, clearly recognizing them. She’s certain, for herself, it’s still the recognition of the Luthor name and everything her brother did to taint it.

Lena walks toward the receptionist, deeply absorbed in her computer screen. “Excuse me, we’re here for a meeting with Uther Pendragon.”

The young woman gasps loudly. “O-Oh! You’re Lena Luthor.”

Lena smiles. “Indeed, I am. We should be on the schedule for 11:30.”

The receptionist taps a few keys on her keyboard and looks up at them with a smile.

“Of course, Miss Luthor, I see you here. If you’ll wait just a moment, I’ll let Mr Pendragon’s assistant know you’re here.”

Lena takes a moment to glance around the lobby. Knowing the type of money the Pendragon Group takes in, there’s more than one floor that belongs to the company. For one thing, Lena doesn’t see anything that appears to be the CEO’s office. Plus, there’s an elevator on the far wall she doesn’t remember seeing on the ground floor. As she looks around, she spots somebody who seems vaguely familiar and surreptitious nudges Merlin with her elbow. It’s extremely easy to see when Merlin spots the other man because his body goes as stiff as a statue.

—————

Arthur isn’t sure what makes him want to go into his father’s office that day, but something seems to compel him. He has the day off anyway so he supposes it doesn’t hurt to have some extra one on one time with his dad. Uther is very busy, of course, but Arthur has no problem waiting until his morning meetings are finished to pop in. So, he’s just wasting some time in the lobby when he spots the man. He’s dressed in a black t-shirt with some kind of vaguely heart-shaped design on it, black jeans with a chain and black combat boots, black leather cuffs on his wrists, and his dark hair is artfully messy laying over his forehead.

The goth look has never really been Arthur’s type, but when the woman he’s standing beside nudges him and the guy looks his way, Arthur feels the breath catch in his throat. Blue, he thinks, blue eyes. Sharp cheekbones. Pink lips. Arthur feels caught in his gaze, his heart pounds in his ears.

—————

Oh, Merlin thinks, oh god. It’s Arthur. It’s really him. He looks exactly like the photo they found online. Exactly like he looked back in Camelot except for the modern clothes. He’s tanned, blonde, and broad-shouldered. He looks just as gobsmacked as Merlin feels. He feels slightly faint.

The slight tapping of a hand on his shoulder is startling in its suddenness and Elyan looks apologetic for having bothered him.

“We’re going in.” Elyan murmurs, gesturing toward where Lena and Kara started walking toward the secondary elevator that must lead to where Uther’s office is located.

“Right.” Merlin whispers, following along behind with his head continually swiveling to look back at Arthur, who is frozen in place.

They are whisked off into what is apparently Uther’s private elevator. “Just like Ms. Grant.” Kara remarks, adjusting her glasses.

The elevator carries them a few more stories before they exit the elevator. Merlin’s eyes dart about looking for…he’s not sure what. Morgause has to be here somewhere .

Lena is picking a piece of lint off her dress before she smooths her hands over the material. Elyan pulls his camera out and removes the lens cap.

Merlin stiffens when he hears someone address them. “Oh, you must be the group from CatCo and…”

There she is, it’s Morgause. The woman they’ve been after, the sorceress who is up to something. Merlin notes that indeed the blonde is looking right past him, her gaze firmly focused on Lena who offers her a friendly smile.

“Ms. Orkney, right?” Lena speaks up, holding out her hand to Morgause. “You’ve been coordinating with Gwen at my office. Nice to meet you, I’m Lena Luthor.”

“L-Lena Luthor.” Morgause repeats the name slowly as Lena nods in confirmation.

Lena smiles. “Yes, as you noticed I’m here with…”

“Kara Danvers, Editor-in-Chief of CatCo Magazine and Elyan Smith our photographer.” Kara steps ever so slightly in front of Lena. She’s sporting her ever so bright and cheery smile. “We’re here for our interview with Uther Pendragon as part of our special issue on National City’s 30 Under 30 .”

“Of course.” Morgause swallows uncomfortably. “Yes, right this way.”

They follow after her. Merlin is utterly stunned at how easy it was to find her, he’s a little anxious about what might happen now. Though he doubts Kara will hesitate to subdude Morgause, if necessary.

However, he notices this ridiculous disguise Lena cooked up worked. Morgause’s gaze slid right over him as if he wasn’t there, an assistant below her notice. It’s perfect, exactly what they hoped for. He has a couple of options now and is trying to figure out the best interest of the group. He makes his decision.

Lena, he calls in Druidic mind-speak.

To her credit, Lena doesn’t jerk in surprise or anything too obvious, but she does send a questioning glance his way.

Sorry. He apologizes. It’s a Druid thing, don’t worry about it. Listen, that’s her. Ms. Orkney is Morgause.

Lena can’t reply in the same way, he knows she can’t. It takes a lot of practice to form words, but Merlin feels the ‘ ????’ she sends back to him. At least that is the feeling he ascertains.

Yes, I’m sure. Merlin grumbles. Do you actually need me in this meeting? I thought I might snoop around a bit, see what I can find out about Uther from the staff. If she’s here, then he must not have his memories. I think he would remember her.

Lena glances back again, giving him a small nod. As the others continue onward, Merlin slips away from the group. He’s actually quite glad to. Memories or not, he isn’t in any hurry to be in the same room as Uther Pendragon again.

Merlin sighs as he watches Lena and the others get further away, Morgause in tow. He runs a hand through his incessantly flat-ironed hair and looks around, ready to say he’s looking for the restroom or something as a simple excuse if anyone asks. He glances around, looking for what, he isn’t sure.

Maybe he needs to go back down to the previous floor, there are more employees down there. Arthur is down there. Merlin clenches his jaw, now is not the time to think about him. He can’t be thinking about Arthur, but he also can’t stop.

Merlin sighs, heading back to the elevator. He forcefully taps the button to go back down and waits. It takes longer than he’s anticipating. He considers seeking out the stairs when the elevator finally dings and the doors slide open.

There he is again, Arthur Pendragon. Here, in the flesh. Standing right here in front of him after all this time.

Merlin doesn’t know what to say. It isn’t exactly a new feeling when it comes to Arthur, but it’s been so long that he is out of practice with the way it makes him feel. The thing that really takes his breath away, however, is Arthur seems just as blind-sided as he is. For a brief moment, Merlin thinks maybe he remembers, but there is zero recognition in the blue gaze, just awe.

“Hi.” Merlin breathes.

“Hi.” Arthur replies, equally as breathy.

“Hi.” Merlin says again, his brain stuck on itself.

Arthur grins and it’s just as charmingly crooked as Merlin remembers.

“I think you said that already.”

“Well, it’s a nice word. Short and to the point. Succinct,” Merlin says in a rush.

“Less succinct with each repetition.” Arthur chuckles. “I’m Arthur.”

He reaches his hand out for a shake, when Merlin takes it, it feels like the time he was struck by lightning. Albeit a lot less painful.

“Merlin.” The group briefly discussed the idea of him using a fake name if anyone asked him, (he was not a big fan of the ultimate choice of Jethro) but Merlin can’t bring himself to lie to Arthur’s face. He had enough of that back in Camelot.

“What an odd coincidence.” Arthur says.

“What?”

“You know, Arthur and Merlin?”

It’s still odd to him that some fictionalized version of their lives together is so ingrained in modern popular culture.

“Of course. Right.”

“It must be fate.”

Arthur is flirting with him. Arthur is flirting with him. Him ! It’s cheesy and kind of low hanging fruit, but Merlin still feels flustered all the same.

He has to say something, right? He can’t just stand here and not say something. “Y-Yeah, fate. Of course.”

Was that really all he could say, that was it? Merlin runs his hand through his bordering on crispy dark hair.

“So, I haven’t seen you around.” Arthur notes. “Are you a new hire, or?”

“CatCo.” Merlin replies. “Uhh, well, L-Corp. Yes, I’m here with L-Corp, I am Lena…Miss Luthor’s assistant.”

“Really?” Arthur’s brow rises and Merlin is absolutely certain he’s a goner.

“Well, kind of,” Merlin admits, his cheeks flaming red. “More like consulting on a particular situation.”

“A consulting assistant.” Teases Arthur.

Merlin shrugs in a way he hopes is nonchalant. “I have many skills.”

Arthur’s gaze makes its way down and back up Merlin’s entire person in a way that feels extremely deliberate. “I bet you do.”

Oh, this is getting ridiculous. Every word out of his mouth feels like a come on and while Merlin hasn’t been celibate all these years it’s definitely doing something to him that nobody has for a long time.

“Maybe you could tell me about them over dinner.”

Merlin can’t help the laugh that escapes him. “That was smooth. You’re smooth.”

“Smooth enough to get your number?” Arthur asks.

“Yeah.” Merlin replies. As much as technology is the bane of his existence, cell phones he’s gotten a handle on. It would be difficult to go without one in this day and age. “To both.”

“Both?”

“Getting my number and taking me on a date.” Merlin is internally panicking and hopes it doesn’t show on his face.

“I said dinner.” Arthur corrects. “You’re the one who’s making it into a date. Now who’s being smooth?”

“Maybe that’s just one of my skills.”

“Somehow I doubt it.” Arthur chuckles.

Merlin grins. “You’re right. One-time smoothness deal. Expect only roughness from here on out.”

Arthur’s voice lowers and his smile sinks into a smirk. “I can handle a bit of rough.”

Oh, what in the Triple Goddess is even going on right now? The flirting, the tension. Merlin might just snap from it all. He’s prevented from having to think of some sort of response by Lena’s voice.

“Jethro, let’s go.” Oh man, he almost forgot about the stupid cover name.

Arthur raises an eyebrow. “Jethro?”

“Middle name.” Merlin invents. “Merlin Jethro Emrys. That’s me.”

“Well, then I guess it’s only fair to tell you that my middle name is Caradoc.” Arthur replies. “So, we both have embarrassing middle names.”

“Jethro!”

“Best not to keep your boss waiting.” Arthur says “I have to get to a meeting with my father.” He indicates the direction of Uther’s office.

He grabs Merlin’s hand, sending another shock through the warlock and pulls a pen from his pocket before scrawling a number across his forearm. Merlin watches his hand, those familiar fingers holding the pen in a perfect, textbook grip.

“You’d better text me, Merlin Jethro Emrys.” Arthur says when he’s done.

“Oh, I will.” Merlin replies, savoring the next words as they leave him. “Arthur Caradoc Pendragon. I was promised dinner.”

“And I was promised a bit of roughness.” Arthur says in return with a wink that makes Merlin’s cheek flush red all over again.

He practically has to be led back to the elevator, his eyes glued on Arthur’s retreating back. Once the doors close, Merlin scrambles for his phone to key in the number before the pen smudges. He isn’t losing this, not a chance.

“What the hell was that?” Lena asks with amusem*nt sparkling in her green eyes.

“I have no idea.,” Merlin faintly says, clutching his phone to his chest like it might run away.

“I believe that’s what the kids would call a meet-cute.” Elyan offers, patting Merlin on the shoulder. “Good on you.”

“Adorable.” Kara agrees, her eyes practically heart-shaped with the way they’re shining.

“You sap.” Lena snorts at the alien.

Merlin isn’t used to being the center of attention and coughs to hide his embarrassment, tucking his phone away.

“So? How’s it going?” The warlock asks, trying to change the course of the conversation.

“An all around average interview.” Lena sighs. “Ms. Orkney seems awfully interested in me.” The CEO notes, her red lips pressed into a thin line while she’s deep in thought.

Merlin nods, noting that since Elyan isn’t in on the whole plan, Lena doesn’t elaborate further in his presence. He’s hardly surprised Morgause is overly interested in Lena and not exactly being subtle about it. They’ve been here before, but this time it will be different. It has to be.

—————

While Lena is finished with her part of this whole plan, Kara still has some work to do with Elyan to finish up the last of the magazine piece. They take the time to escort Lena and Merlin back to L-Corp. Merlin goes straight to the restroom to remove the makeup and change back into his normal clothes (cover story with Elyan be damned). When he leaves the restroom, he sees the photojournalist and Gwen together for the first time. His heart is already pounding from sending a simple greeting text to Arthur and it almost stops when he sees them.

Gwen is sitting at her usual desk with Elyan perched on the edge. Although he is pretty sure they were simply brother and sister back when he first knew them, this time around it is pretty obvious they’re twins.

For a moment, it feels like too much. Merlin watches them for a little longer before breezing past them toward Lena’s office.

“Miss Luthor told me to come in.” Merlin mutters before pushing the large French doors open and slipping in to find Lena sitting behind her desk, sunlight streaming in from the large windows behind her.

“I was in the middle of something.” Lena barely looks up from her tablet.

“Is that something more important than Morgause coming after you?” Merlin flops himself onto the pristine, white leather couch and is surprised by how comfortable it is.

He watches as Lena pointedly puts her device down and gets up from her chair. “Is that what’s got you all out of sorts?” She raises her brow as she walks in front of her desk.

Merlin anxiously taps his foot against the floor, the sound is muffled by the rug beneath his feet. “Maybe.” He shrugs. Deep down he knows it’s not true, especially when he jumps as his phone buzzes in his pocket.

“Sure, and the reason you’re about to jump out of your skin?” Lena offers an amused smirk. “I might have something for that.”

Merlin watches her walk over to a nook where she keeps a selection of glasses and decanters. Instead of reaching for a frosted one filled with water, Lena goes for the taller one filled with an amber liquid and removes the stopper.

“It’s five o’clock somewhere.” Lena laughs, pouring two glasses before casually handing one to Merlin. “Please use a coaster.”

Merlin takes a slightly too-big sip and coughs as the alcohol burns its way down his throat.

“Holy f*ck!” He hisses. “That’s a far cry from the watery, sour mead and beer of Camelot.”

“Have you not had any alcohol since then?” Lena asks, taking a sip from her own glass as she leans back against her desk, watching Merlin on the couch.

“Not a lot.” He admits. “It’s a bit dangerous for me to have a clouded mind.” He takes another, more manageable sip this time. There’s still a grimace on his face, but at least the burn is more like a warmth sliding down his chest and settling deep in his gut this time.

“And yet here you are. Drinking.” Lena points out.

Merlin sighs. “Well, as you so helpfully pointed out, I’m stressed. It doesn’t… not have to do with Morgause. If I read her face right when she first saw you, she was surprised. Like she hadn’t been expecting you.”

“That’s a bit odd.” Lena agrees. “She’s working as Uther’s personal assistant so she sets his schedule. She would have known about the meeting between Pendragon Group and L-Corp.”

“Morgause working for Uther.” Merlin giggles. “That’s priceless. She wouldn’t have been caught dead working for Uther the first time around. I’m pretty sure she actively assisted Morgana in killing him.”

“Morgana…killed Uther?” Lena asks. It’s a new piece of information, despite all she and Merlin have already discussed, how things went south with Morgana, it shakes her a little bit.

“Yes.” Merlin grimly confirms. “I tried to save him in my old man form, but I missed something important and failed. All it did was further convince Arthur about the evils of magic.”

If Lena notes his slight hesitance around Arthur’s name, she doesn’t mention it.

“In any case,” Merlin continues, “Her surprise at seeing you is what’s got me concerned. It tells me she didn’t know you were you, that Morgana Pendragon and Lena Luthor are one in the same. In our undeniably successful attempt to find Morgause, we also succeeded in giving her useful information she didn’t have.”

“It is concerning.” Lena sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose. “I’m guessing you’ll want to do some more protection spells?”

Merlin nods. “Maybe if you, me, and Florence cast together we can keep you safe.”

Merlin’s phone, which he removed from his pocket and placed on the small table in front of the couch, buzzes again causing him to flinch.

“Let's talk about the elephant in the room.” Lena suggests, pointedly glancing at the phone. “Are the messages from who I think they’re from?”

“Probably.” Merlin miserably replies. “I think I’ve already told you how totally morbid my romantic life has been.”

Childhood best mate/crush? Dead. Shape-shifting girl? Dead and turned into the spirit of the lake of Avalon. Brief flirtation with a fellow serving girl? Turned out to be Nimueh manipulating him. Also dead by his own hands.

“I’m not inexperienced.” Merlin continues with a grimace. “It’s been over a thousand years. I’ve done the lust thing, physical intimacy for the sake of physical intimacy. This is not that. I don’t want it to be that. This is the great love of my life who I thought I had lost and would never see again.”

Lena watches him take another drink, sliding further down into the embrace of the couch and looking her through watery eyes.

“How did you and Kara get together? The way you two act, I would think it was a sudden and inevitable lightning strike moment when you first met.”

Lena lest out a derisive snort. “You’re hilarious.”

“I’m serious.” Merlin frowns. “There’s just something so electric about the two of you. It just seems like a love at first sight sort of thing. Or whatever you call it.”

“Well, it wasn’t.” Lena scoffs and sips her scotch. “Maybe, a little part of me fell in love with Kara the first day she walked into my office.” She sighs. “But I kept my walls up, I didn’t come to National City to find friends or fall in love, something much bigger was at stake.”

She can still remember another one of Kara’s earliest visits to her office, “I flew here on a bus” and all that. Maybe a part of her suspected there was something more to Kara Danvers than meets the eye, but she didn’t want to see it. Why couldn’t Kara just be Kara?

“Officially, we’ve really only been dating for about a year.” Lena places her glass beside her on the desk. “We finally said some much needed things to each other at her sister’s wedding.”

What they realized at the end of the day was they could be themselves with each other, truly and completely. No hiding, no secrets, no alter egos. They could just be Kara and Lena, and it’s truly been the most wonderful thing.

“It took us the better part of five years to get here.” Lena adds. “A lot of ups and downs. Some really, really bad downs, if I’m being honest.”

Sometimes she still recalls, with painful clarity, the day in the Fortress of Solitude. How she manipulated Kara for weeks, in the end she hurt Kara and herself. For what?

I killed my brother for you, for our friends! Don’t you understand what I’ve done? Lena winces thinking about that one singular, horrific moment she's sure will haunt her no matter how much time passes or the number of apologies she makes. Even if Lex didn’t actually die that time around, the youngest Luthor still grimaces about it. At least she knows the Phantom Zone isn’t an easy place to escape as they learned when they brought Kara back. Lex being stuck in that awful place gives her some peace of mind. Him being there is just as good as death, maybe worse.

Lena, lost in her painful memories, remains silent for a moment. Her friends tease her by saying it’s her favorite pastime, but when you’ve had a life like Lena’s, it’s hard not to dwell.

“We’ve reached a point now where I think we know each other better than anyone else.” Lena reaches for her glass once more, taking a deep sip. “The rest of the world can think what they want to think about Supergirl, Kara Danvers, or Lena Luthor, we know better. We know each other and that’s really what matters. A Luthor and Super, working together, it’s still inconceivable to many.”

“I still don’t get that.” Merlin presses his lips into a thin line. “I mean, clearly there is some underlying prejudice there.”

“Honestly, for good reason.” Lena crosses her legs at the ankle, there’s a flash of the red sole of her Louboutin shoes. “I’m trying to change their minds, but Lex hasn’t made it easy. Especially when he’s most notable for trying to genocide all aliens, particularly those from Krypton.”

Lena notices the blank look on Merlin’s face. “Krypton? The planet where Kara is from.”

“R-Right.” Merlin nods. “Alien, yup. Got it.”

“I really don’t think you do.” Lena laughs, shaking her head. “Lex made a name for himself, most certainly not in a good way. Not that any of the Luthor’s have been paragons of virtue. They’ve always been a little ruthless. Lex is, or was no different. He convinced me he was. I just happened to be foolish enough to believe him too many times and, again, I have to pick up the pieces.”

Merlin is silent for a while, obviously taking it all in.

“I think it’s wonderful.” He finally says. “You found each other, you both overcame the prejudices of the past to find each other. It’s something I never really got.”

“Did you ever tell Arthur about your magic?” Lena asks.

Merlin smiles ruefully. “Eventually. Of course, he died nine or ten hours later? So it was never really anything for us to get through. Although I logically know this current Arthur isn’t my Arthur, he looks so much like him. How do I know I’m not pursuing him because I feel like I should, you know?”

Lena hums thoughtfully. “Well, when you ran into him today…” She pauses to add, “You know, Kara is going to want every detail about it. She’s a hopeless romantic.”

“Maybe I should be asking her for romance advice, then.”

Lena points at him with the hand holding her glass. “Rude. You haven’t even let me finish.”

“Okay, okay.” Merlin laughs. “Go on.”

“The point is, you ran into him today.” Lena continues, her juniper green eyes sparkling with mischief. “I don’t know what was said between you two, but from my keen scientific eye, it looked like there was something there.”

Merlin’s face heats when he thinks about the conversation he shared with Arthur, the easy banter and flirtation felt so right. “It certainly felt like there was.”

“I ignored how I felt about Kara for far too long. The two of us kept winding up in relationships we never really wanted to be in.” Lena grimaces at the thought of those travesties. “I should have paid much closer attention back then and things might have been different. If there is something between you and Arthur now, go for it.”

The first thing she realizes is she doesn’t know how she got where she is. It’s daylight, but not morning and she feels like she just woke up. The last thing she remembers is being on a couch in a tower and someone telling her…something. In a moment of disorientation, she doesn’t quite remember who she is. Her head throbs with a cacophony of memories that don’t seem to agree with each other. She is…her name is…

“Morgana.”

Of course.

“Sister.” Morgana replies, smirking as she catches Morgause’s eye.

The scene feels familiar, she’s been here before, but something is off. There is a loud buzzing in the distance, but it’s muted, underwater. She’s sitting at a table across from her sister. Her sister with her long blonde hair and deep brown eyes. The older woman has a firm grip on her hands. Something feels incongruous, Morgause isn’t supposed to be here, but who is?

“Morgause…” She whispers and a smile spreads across her sister’s face.

“You do remember.” Morgause looks smug.

“Remember?” Morgana repeats faintly. “Of course, why wouldn’t I remem…”

She interrupts herself as pain shoots through her head. It’s like her vision has superimposed over itself. Another blonde woman, a different one, blue eyes not brown, kind eyes filled with concern.

“What?” Lena mutters. No. Morgana. She’s… “My head.”

In a flash, the pain is gone. Blonde hair and blue eyes are in her sight along with others she doesn’t know except for Arthur.

“That’s right.” Morgause whispers. “Arthur is the target. Him and his pet warlock.”

“Lena, don’t listen to her!”

The voice is so familiar, but she can’t place it.

There is a cruel smile on Morgause’s face, but her face is interchanging with a different blonde woman. Tall, intimidating, her green eyes so familiar, so cold, and calculating. A name she finds for now she can’t recognize, but it’s like her mouth is moving of its own accord.

“Lillian?”

Who is Lillian? Then she’s gone and Morgause is back, nothing makes sense and it’s overwhelming. Lena? Morgana? Whoever she is, her breathing is shallow. Her vision blurs as anxiety starts to overwhelm her and her ears start ringing.

—————

In the past, it wasn’t exactly rare for Lena to spend the night at work, it is part of the reason she has such a comfortable couch in her office. Of course, it happens much less often these days, but with the way she and Merlin are working themselves into exhaustion with magical training and brainstorming ways to handle Morgause, Kara insists she get some rest. Both of them.

Lena is on the couch while Merlin opts to curl up on the floor despite the insistence they could figure out a more comfortable option. Kara assumes it has something to do with all of the hunting trips in the forest with Arthur he’s told them about. She quite likes Merlin, he’s funny even if a bit odd.

Kara is hoping they might be done for the night, so she flies to the tower only to find them both asleep. She is just about to turn the overhead light off when she notices Lena isn’t resting easy. Her brow is furrowed and she’s frowning, twisting restlessly with her fists clenching and unclenching convulsively. Initially Kara thinks it’s a normal nightmare, something Lena isn’t a stranger to, but then her girlfriend’s eyes shoot open. They’re glowing with the golden glint Kara now associates with Merlin’s magic.

Kara tries to wake Lena to no avail, so she rushes over to Merlin.

“Merlin!”

“Wha-What’s wrong?” Merlin’s voice is heavy with sleep.

“It’s Lena. Look.”

Merlin slowly gets up, his eyes go wide when he sees the golden glow from Lena’s usually clear, green eyes. “What in the name of the Triple Goddess?” He moves his hand in front of Lena’s face and gets no reaction, as if she can’t see them.

“Has this ever happened before?” The warlock asks.

Kara shakes her head, a crinkle finding its way to her forehead as she anxiously looks at the brunette. “N-Nightmares, yes. W-We both have those at times, but not like this.”

Merlin watches as Kara wraps her arms around herself, usually such a strong force with her cheerful smile and happy attitude. Now, she looks worried and scared.

He has never considered himself the heroic type, that was all Arthur, but seeing someone he calls a friend so distressed tugs at something deep within him. Merlin kneels next to the couch and places a hand on Lena’s clammy, sweaty forehead. Her eyes are open so wide it almost looks painful, irises glowing gold and pupils like pin pricks.

“Sorry.” He mutters. “I wish I could ask your permission for this…”

“What are you going to do?” Kara asks, frowning.

Merlin grits his teeth. “I’m going to try going into her mind to see what’s going on. I only did something like this once and it was to give Gaius back his memories.”

“But Lena…” Kara starts, sapphire eyes growing wide.

“I know.” Merlin interrupts. “She’s not sure yet and I won’t force any memories onto her I promise. I just want to know what she’s seeing. Considering the apparent magic of whatever is going on, I think she might be Seeing something.”

There’s not really a way for him to differentiate verbally between seeing and Seeing, but Kara seems to understand.

“Wait!” She suddenly says. “I know someone who might be able to help and she has a lot more experience with visions and dreams than any of the rest of us.”

“You do?” Merlin blinks.

Kara nods frantically, looking ready to take off into the night sky without a second thought when the elevator dings and a tall brunette wearing a blue-superhero suit walks in looking pleased with herself. “Another night of putting the criminals of National City to bed.”

“Nia! Oh, thank Rao!” Kara’s shoulders droop at the sight of the other hero. “We need your help.”

“You do?” Nia slightly frowns as she removes her mask.

“It’s Lena.” Kara grabs the younger hero’s hand and takes her to where Lena remains motionless.

Upon seeing her friend, she gasps and color drains from Nia’s face. “W-What do you need me to do?”

“We need to see what she’s Seeing.” Merlin provides.

Nia breathes in deeply. “I guess my night is just getting started.”

“Can you help?” Merlin asks, realizing he’s just barely gotten a chance to know the other hero since they’ve been introduced. He’s discovering it’s likely he doesn’t know the full extent of her powers.

Nia solemnly nods. “I think so, at least if she’s in the dream realm we should be able to find her.” The brunette looks at her friend, worry clear on her face and Merlin is oddly comforted to know Lena has so many people who care about her.

“I want to help.” Nia continues. “I think, no, I-I know I can.”

“Great.” Merlin nods. “How do we do this?”

Nia grimaces for a moment before instructing him. “Take my hand.”

“Alright.” Merlin takes the young woman’s hand as they’re surrounded by swirling blue, causing their surroundings to disappear. Gone is the Tower, Kara, Lena, and everything familiar. Instead they're in a…

Merlin blinks, it seems like the forest outside of the walls of Camelot. But is it? “What is this place?”

“The Dream Realm.” Nia responds. “I always start here. I-I-I don’t know why.”

“Remarkable.” Merlin’s blue eyes are wide and bright.

“The last time I did something like this, I had a sort of map to guide me.” Nia’s nose crinkles as she looks around the forest. “We’re not so lucky this time, but I’ve never seen anything like…like what’s happening with Lena, but I’m certain we can find her, find her vision, can you still sense magic?”

Merlin nods. “I can, maybe it can be our guide.”

“If that’s all we’ve got,” Nia sighs, “it’s better than nothing.”

As they begin their trek through the strange and unfamiliar woods, Merlin’s eyes shimmer gold as he reaches out to find Lena’s magic with his own and fill Nia in on what he knows.

“I never saw Morgana have a vision myself.” He says. “However, I know they plagued her most nights. The fact they were able to be suppressed by a draught created to stop nightmares and cause a dreamless sleep, I figure they’re probably related enough to dreams that we’ll be able to find her here.”

“So the visions are sort of like prophecies.” Nia states. The trees around them seem to be thinning as if they’re reaching the edge of the forest, but there’s no sign of it ending yet.

“Sort of. I personally never really got the hang of scrying.” Merlin admits. “For people who are skilled, either from learning or just innately the way Morgana was, therefore Lena likely is to a certain extent, the things they See are just one potential future. It’s not simple to change things when you know the final outcome, but not all of the things that lead there. The one time I tried, I ended up causing the future I was trying to prevent.”

“Sounds complicated.” Nia comments.

“Visions are just as complicated as regular dreams, I would think.” Merlin makes a note to at some point ask Nia to look at what he has in his books about Seer visions. It would be interesting, in an academic sense, to get her take on things.

“Normal dreams don’t tend to result in real-world changes.” Nia says, her eyes taking in the surroundings. “Unless of course it has to do with personal growth, but interpreting dreams is an art, that’s for sure.”

“I’ll have to pick your brain about it sometime.” Merlin laughs.

Nia awkwardly shifts, discomfort on display. “I still don’t know a lot about it myself, it’s…complicated, but it’s a trait passed down in my family.”

“Really?” Merlin’s brows rise.

“I tried to ignore it, I didn’t want my powers for the longest time.” Nia grimaces, remembering the fight with her sister. “Perhaps that’s a story for another day.”

The golden glow in Merlin’s eyes momentarily grows brighter and he momentarily freezes as a fearsome shiver runs down his spine. “T-This way, I’m sure of it.”

He can’t say what it is, but something tells him Lena is near, she’s near and in distress.

The forest suddenly opens up to the city. There’s no transition, the trees simply end and they are in the middle of National City. It’s jarring, but not as much as seeing himself standing there. Merlin has the vague realization of just how tall he is. It’s a nonsensical thought, but he never expected to see himself from the outside. He remembers seeing the vision of Kilgharrah burning Camelot in the crystal. Then it was like watching a moving photograph, but now it’s as if they’ve stepped inside one.

Lena looks mostly like herself except for a very familiar glint in her eye. It’s an odd sort of tableau with Lena and Morgause facing off against Merlin and Kara. Arthur is there too. However, he’s obviously confused and scared, if the way he’s half clinging to Merlin’s arm is any indication. He notices there are others as well. Alex, Kelly, Nia, and J’onn, all too focused on the way the Vision-Merlin stares Lena down.

“Lena, don’t listen to her!” Vision-Merlin says.

“My sister and I have been reunited.” Morgause cackles, a bitter coldness echoing in her words. “She is no longer deluded and unaware.”

“I know exactly who you are, Emrys.” Lena adds. “My sister has shown me the truth about you.”

“Lena.” Vision-Kara whispers. “Please.”

There is zero recognition in Lena’s eyes, she is wholly Morgana. Merlin, the real Merlin, feels his heart clench with sadness. All Lena wants is to be her own person without the weight of past experiences and associations yet she’s in here lost in them. Merlin can only hope this version of events can be avoided.

“I can’t believe I let all of you keep me from my power with your lies and sweet words.” Morgana-Lena snarls. “You hid it from me on purpose because you are scared of me.”

Vision-Merlin has his hands outstretched in a placating gesture. “No. Giving you the choice is not hiding things from you. Lena, err, Morgana…whoever you truly are. You don’t need to listen to Morgause, you don’t need to do this.”

“I want to.” Morgana-Lena says with a smirk. “You killed me back then Emrys, so now I’ll return the favor.”

It’s chilling as Merlin watches Morgana-Lena turn to look at the vision version of himself and her eyes have the tell-tale flash of gold. In these past couple of weeks he’s gotten used to seeing the kindness in Lena’s green eyes. Those eyes are an occasional painful reminder of the Morgana he used to know all those years ago.

Again it’s gone, this is a future Merlin will not let come to pass. He can’t fail her again.

“Lena, please! I know you’re still in there.” Kara cries out. “Please, we’ve gone through so much, don’t give up now.”

Morgana-Lena scoffs. “Your Lena is already gone, Kryptonian.”

There’s a sudden flash of green striking Kara squarely in the chest. The hero crumples as her golden skin is veined green and writhes in an incredible amount of pain.

Morgana-Lena slowly approaches Vision-Merlin. “After all this time, I’ll finally get what I want.”

Merlin vaguely hears Nia say something about kryptonite, but he’s tuned in to the confrontation. Morgana-Lena extends a hand toward his vision self, magical power in her eyes and crackling along her fingertips. Somebody must knock into his vision self or maybe Morgana-Lena changes her aim on purpose, but suddenly in a burst of magic it’s Arthur, still clinging to Vision-Merlin’s arm crumpling to the ground.

Merlin can’t breathe. He watches the vision version of himself cry out in horror, crouch down to cradle Arthur to his chest and Merlin can’t breathe. There’s a ringing in his ears and a tightness in his chest. He sees Arthur, holds him in his arms, feels his final breath ghost across his cheek. What happened so long ago is suddenly as fresh in his mind as if it just happened. Oh goddess, he’s failed. He’s failed again and there’s nothing he can do.

“No!” Even as she shouts, Nia’s voice sounds like it’s coming from miles away.

“Lena, you have to stop !” There’s power in the last word and it makes Morgana-Lena pause. She shudders, a full-body thing like she’s freezing cold and she’s Lena again.

“What?” Lena whispers as she looks around at the now-frozen tableau. She sees Arthur on the ground, Vision-Merlin’s face streaked with tears. Then she sees the real Merlin standing there, stricken.

“Merlin? What’s happening?”

Nia is at her side in moments, taking Lena’s hands in hers. “You’re dreaming.”

“I don’t understand.” Lena says.

“You’re having a vision, you’re Seeing. None of this is real. You need to wake up .”

There’s that power again, the thing Nia doesn’t seem to know she’s doing. As if she willed it, it suddenly is. They’re in the office again, Lena waking up on the couch with a violent gasp. She is being held in Kara’s strong arms, one of the blonde’s hands a calming weight over her heart. Nia is kneeling next to her still holding her hand. Merlin is nearby, he must have dropped Nia’s hand as soon as they left the vision. His legs are pulled up to his chest, face buried in his knees, and arms wrapped around his shins.

“I’m so sorry.” Lena sobs softly, burying her face into Kara’s neck. “It felt so real. I don’t know what was happening.”

“It’s over babe.” Kara soothes, holding the youngest Luthor close to her. “You’re back, that’s all that matters.”

The Kryptoninan is still holding Lena close when she addresses Merlin and Nia. “What happened in that place?”

“A vision, a possible future. It’s something undetermined.” Merlin’s voice is shaky as he slowly tries to come back to himself. It’s a reminder that what he just witnessed is just one outcome, it is not yet written.

“I-I-I hurt people! I hurt you, Kara.” Lena cries out. “I’m no better than Lex, or Lillian or…”

“But, you didn’t.” Kara presses a gentle kiss to the brunette’s temple. “You said it’s undetermined? Whatever Lena saw, isn’t guaranteed to happen?”

Merlin slowly nods his confirmation, still struggling to find his words. Nia is the one to cut in.

“It’s like my dreams, but more straight forward.” Nia grimaces. “They’re not permanent and we can take actions to change things.”

Kara blinks slowly, pleased to see Lena seems to be slowly relaxing in her arms. “So, these, uhhh, visions? They work on ‘That’s So Raven’ rules?”

Nia’s brown eyes go wide with excitement. “I didn’t realize it until now, but yes! That’s exactly what that is!” The younger hero lets out a cackle of laughter. “Maeve and I used to watch that show all the time.”

At that Lena raises her head, her red rimmed eyes looking at her girlfriend in pure confusion. Unsurprisingly, her confusion is nothing compared to the look on Merlin’s face.

“That’s So Raven?” The warlock asks, utter confusion momentarily bringing him back to himself.

“Only one of the best TV shows Disney had to offer.” Nia wistfully sighs.

“Sure.” Merlin blankly states. “If you say so.”

“The important part is it’s possible to change things.” Kara reiterates, nodding solemnly.

Merlin rests his chin on his knees, still hugging his legs to his chest even if he is more present now. “Ye-es, but you need to be careful about it. You could unknowingly bring it about by making a seemingly innocuous decision.”

“Well, I know one thing.” Lena firmly says. “That future will only happen if I remember my time as Morgana. It was as if I had taken a back seat in my own mind and was just her, only Morgana. I don’t want to be her, Merlin.”

The warlock looks at her. It seems like he already knows what she’s going to say.

“I don’t want my memories back. I want you to tell me things, especially the good ones, but I would like the rest to stay locked up inside of me.” Lena frowns.

“I promise.” Merlin tells her. “I promise I won’t give you back your memories or even try to convince you otherwise. I respect your decision.”

There’s something odd in his voice, but Lena has no doubts he will keep this promise.

“Good.”

—————

Merlin has been acting strange lately. Well, stranger than usual. Although Arthur hasn’t known the other man for very long, he can just tell. They’ve been on a number of dates at this point and while the initial zing of flustered attraction hasn’t faded, it has mellowed to a level they can actually have normal conversations. Arthur still likes to fluster Merlin, it’s so easy to do sometimes. This is the first relationship he’s been in since his high school sweetheart, Vivian, that hasn’t made him feel like he wants to run away whenever he considers things getting more serious.

The pair of them are at a very nice restaurant at Merlin’s suggestion, though he’s been fidgety all night. Arthur can hear the tapping of Merlin’s foot against the wooden floor and can clearly see the way he is twisting and toying with the cloth napkin.

“Drink a little too much espresso today?” Arthur smiles as he reaches out to grab Merlin’s hand. Instead of easing or stilling the motion it seems to increase nearly ten fold. “Careful.” He laughs. “California is on a fault line.”

Merlin stops for a moment as if he believes he’s capable of being the reason the majority of the West Coast will separate from the rest of the country.

“You know,” Arthur says, adjusting his grip on Merlin’s hand so they are palm to palm, interlacing their fingers, “if there’s something bothering you can tell me.”

Merlin looks down at their joined hands with something akin to wonder in his eyes. This is part of what draws Arthur to the other man, he seems so enamored with every little thing they do together, as if every simple touch is a gift. It’s really quite adorable and exceedingly romantic.

“Just…” Merlin sighs. “I’ve had some stuff from my past dragged up and I guess it’s affecting me more than I thought.”

“Anything I can help with?”

Merlin chuckles. “You are helping by just being here, by liking me.”

“Who wouldn’t like you?”

“You’d be surprised.” Merlin dryly says.

Arthur grins at him. “Oh, I see. Am I going to have to battle your seven evil exes? Because if so, I’m ready.”

“I…what? I don’t have any evil exes.” Merlin looks so adorably confused.

It’s odd, they’re more or less the same age, but any pop culture references Arthur makes from the time of their childhood always seem to go right over Merlin’s head.

“N-Nevermind.” Arthur lets out a chuckle when the waiter swoops in to deliver their drinks. “Amazing you got a table in a place like this.” He notes, very impressed.

“Oh, Lena…Miss Luthor helped me.” Merlin flushes, shifting uncomfortably

Arthur lets out a laugh. “I haven’t had the chance to properly meet your boss, but it’s good to know even a CEO like her has time for her employees.” He does mentally note he should potentially introduce himself to Miss Lena Luthor, especially if she’s going to be doing more work with his father’s company.

“Oh-oh yeah.” Merlin nods. “Right, employee.”

Arthur reaches for his glass to take a sip of his drink. “How long have you worked for L-Corp?”

“L-Corp?” Merlin blinks.

Arthur curiously co*cks his head. “The company Lena Luthor owns and runs?”

Merlin nervously laughs. “Right. Of course. Can I be honest with you?”

“Always.” Arthur responds.

“I don’t actually work for L-Corp or for Lena.” Merlin admits. “I’m a…family friend.”

“Of the Luthors?” From what Arthur knows of the family, Merlin’s whole demeanor doesn’t really seem like that of someone the Luthors, at least any of them other than Lena, would have associated with.

“Not the Luthors as a whole, just Lena.” Merlin says. “From her Irish side. It’s a fairly new thing to be honest. I’ve tended to stay out of big cities up until now. I wasn’t comfortable being left alone while she was doing the interview with your father. We had to make up a way for me to be let in with her.”

He winces as if waiting for Arthur to be mad at him for lying, but honestly he finds it funny and laughs.

“And the emo outfit was for…” Arthur raises an eyebrow curiously.

“The emo…oh, the eyeliner and stuff.” Merlin’s pale cheeks flush pink, which Arthur finds utterly adorable. “Just a bit of fun, I guess. Lena insisted it would look good on me.”

“It did.” Arthur agrees. “I wouldn’t mind seeing you in something like that again.”

“O-Oh.”

Arthur does like to fluster him. At least Merlin seems calmer than he was a few minutes ago.

“Seems like quite a brilliant bit of fate that you walked in with Miss Luthor for the interview.” He smiles.

“R-Really?” Merlin laughs awkwardly. “You think so?”

“I mean, don’t you?” Arthur smirks a little. “It is how we crossed paths and things seem to be going pretty well if I do say so myself.”

“Oh, uhhh, yeah.” Merlin frantically nods.

“Perhaps we should make a toast in her honor.” Arthur playfully holds up his glass. “To fate and Miss Luthor.”

Merlin gets an odd look on his face. “No need to tempt fate by toasting her. You never know what it might invite in.”

“I didn’t take you to be the superstitious type.” Arthur says.

“I just have enough experience with the ways of the fates.” Merlin replies. It doesn’t really make sense to Arthur, but he chalks it up to one of Merlin’s cute quirks. In any case, he won’t judge the other man for his beliefs, whatever they may be.

“Does it have something to do with why you’ve been so squirrelly lately?” Arthur asks.

“Squirrelly?” Merlin seems amused by the choice of words.

Arthur lays his hand on Merlin’s, which is twitching. “You’re fidgety and distracted. I know it’s not from something I did, so do you want to tell me what’s up?”

Merlin seems to struggle for a moment about what to say and Arthur gives his hand a reassuring squeeze.

“If you thought…” Merlin begins, pausing to gather his words. “If you knew something was going to happen, might happen, that put someone you love in danger or could cause their death, would you do anything to stop it from happening?”

What should sound like an oddly specific theoretical question feels somehow very real in the tone of Merlin’s voice.

“I suppose so.” Arthur responds.

Merlin is the one gripping his hand now, tight, but in a way that feels clinging rather than crushing.

“I mean, would you do anything ?” Merlin sounds a little frantic now. “Even if it meant the person you love might end up hating you afterwards.”

Arthur frowns at him. “Short of harming someone, I think I would do anything for my loved ones even if they might not understand my decision. Merlin, what’s going on?”

“Even if it would change your loved one forever?” Merlin continues. “Even if the person might not love you anymore when things are said and done?”

“Are you in danger?” Arthur asks. “Are you being threatened?”

As quickly as the intensity came, it’s gone again and Merlin sits back in his seat, his hand remains on Arthur’s like a lifeline. The rest of their date is uneventful and Merlin almost seems like himself again. When it’s over and they leave the restaurant hand in hand, Arthur doesn’t protest to being led in the direction opposite of his apartment. It takes him a moment to realize they aren’t going to Merlin’s place, however, that he is taking them to the L-Corp tower.

“What are we doing?” Arthur asks. “I thought you said you don’t actually work here.”

“I don’t.” Merlin says. “I just forgot something inside. Come with me to get it?”

While it’s true Arthur really only knows of the work L-Corp does in partnership with his father, he has always been curious about going inside.

“Alright, but if we get in trouble you’re taking the blame.” Arthur tells the other man, bumping their shoulders together affectionately.

Merlin laughs. “Fine, but we won’t. Although before we go in…”

Before Arthur can think, Merlin’s lips are on his. It isn’t the first time they’ve kissed, but it’s certainly the most thorough kiss they’ve shared. Arthur finds himself quite breathless by the end. Merlin grins and winks at him before heading inside, tugging a still-dazed Arthur with him.

This time of night, L-Corp is eerily quiet. Arthur follows Merlin toward the elevator and the pair of them wait for it to arrive.

“So what did you forget?” Arthur asks as the elevator dings and they slip inside.

“Oh, uhhh, nothing too important.” Merlin shrugs.

Arthur’s brow furrows. “B-But you needed to get it now?”

The elevator starts going up. “Well, I guess it’s sort of important.”

Arthur is about to say something when the elevator door slides open and Merlin hurries out. The floor seems mostly cold and clinical with a sign on the wall denoting it as L-Corp Research and Development.

They walk down the narrow hallway toward a door, the card reader flashes green and it opens. Though Arthur isn’t sure he saw Merlin pull out any sort of a key card to get them inside.

Arthur is about to ask when he catches sight of the space they’re in. Now, he isn’t a scientist by any means, but part of his FBI training included some courses in the labs and this is something else. It is like something out of a science fiction movie with all of the machines and such. He almost expects to see bubbling test tubes or something of the like.

“Woah.” He says in a hushed whisper. “This place is very high tech. The FBI doesn’t have anything on this.”

“The joys of the private sector and seemingly unlimited personal funds.” Merlin distractedly says. “Come here for a minute.”

Reluctantly, Arthur resists the urge to snoop further, not that he understands any of it, and walks over to Merlin who is very obviously not looking for whatever he left here.

“Merlin?” Arthur asks. “Why are we really here?”

Merlin bites his lip. “Do you trust me, Arthur?”

“Of course.” Arthur replies without hesitation.

Merlin beckons him to sit down in one of the rolling lab chairs, which Arthur does. Then, Merlin holds Arthur’s face between his hands and looks deeply into his eyes.

“Is this some kind of kink or…huh?”

Merlin’s eyes are golden, glowing, and molten. Everything in Arthur’s peripheral narrows down to just blue eyes. The last thing he hears is Merlin’s whispered “I hope you forgive me” and then everything goes dark.

—————

Lena is working late. Despite the fact she prefers to be home with Kara right now, it is kind of nice to be able to work on something purely scientific with absolutely no magic involved whatsoever. While it has been surprisingly nice getting to know Merlin and figuring out the extent of her power, there is still something about it that defies logical explanation and frustrates her. She really needs this, some time alone, just her and the machines. This stuff? It makes sense to her.

Science has always made sense to Lena, perhaps it’s why she was not only accepted on early admission to MIT, but graduated top of her class as well.

Leaving her office, she heads down to the R+D labs where she has her own dedicated space to work on her personal pet projects. She’ll spend an hour or two here at most, then go home. At least that’s what the brunette tells herself as she reaches for her key card and the green light flashes allowing her inside.

Lena is reaching for a nearby lab coat hanging to the side until she realizes she’s not alone and freezes.

Someone else is here .

Someone else is in Lena’s private lab, late at night and she’s equally frightened, not to mention angry. Her green eyes flick to the Superwatch on her wrist, it can call Kara and keep her safe from whatever is lurking in her lab. At least it’s what the Kryptonian would want her to do, only trouble is Lena is not always the best at listening.

Instead she takes some wary steps forward, her hand hovering over Supergirl’s crest ready to call for help if things get out of hand.

Lena hears soft muttering and takes a couple more hesitant steps forward. She’s certain she knows the origin of the voice.

“Merlin, what the f*ck are you doing in my lab?” Lena steps out of the shadow, frown on her face and green eyes narrowed. A gasp escapes when she sees the scene before her.

Although she hasn’t officially met him, Lena recognizes Arthur from the run-in and flirting the day at the Pendragon Group. His eyes, which Lena knows are supposed to be blue, are gold and match the same color in Merlin’s eyes. The warlock holds Arthur’s face in his hands, his lips moving as he mutters words in the language of the Old Religion.

“Merlin!”

A stream of golden magical energy continues to connect their eyes even as the warlock turns to look at her. It takes Lena a moment to notice his cheeks are wet, tears spilling down them.

“Merlin, what are you doing.” She doesn’t phrase it as a question, Lena is well aware of what he’s doing.

“I had to.” Merlin roughly says. “I had to.”

Lena’s eyes narrow. “Merlin. Did you tell him? Does he know what will happen to him?”

“He got hurt, you Saw it.” Merlin continues as the glow in Arthur’s eyes grows brighter. “You Saw it happening.”

“You said those visions can still be changed.” Lena reminds him. “Merlin, nothing is set in stone, that’s what you said.”

Merlin isn’t paying attention. “He needs to be able to defend himself. I can’t do it.”

Lena moves closer to the two men, her hand outstretched. She isn’t sure what she’s planning to do, she doesn’t know how far along in the process Merlin is.

“No!”

Merlin always seems pretty laid back. There’s an underlying trauma for sure, but he isn’t hot-headed. So hearing the sheer anger in his voice is a bit of a shock.

“I need this! He needs to defend himself! I can’t!”

“Merlin.” Lena soothes gently.

“ He needs to come back!” Merlin roars, a rumbling dragon-like growl in his tone. “ I need him! I can’t watch him die again! ”

Lena freezes, she’s been in this spot before. It’s still all too fresh to recall herself begging Alex not to use her device and overwrite Kara’s single scrap of DNA still on earth when her beloved was trapped in the Phantom Zone.

“It was my war with Supergirl that started all this!”

It’s what she said to justify her actions. In a moment of pure desperation, she nearly sacrificed thousands of lives in National City just to bring Kara home. She’s glad the elder Danvers talked her out of it because once the dust settled she’s certain she wouldn’t have been able to live with what she’d done.

It’s that moment playing out all over again and Lena almost wavers. “Merlin, you have to stop.”

Lena’s voice has the same icy edge she uses when dealing with those who’d rather not listen to her, who underestimate her. “It’s wrong, you know it is wrong and you need to stop!”

Obviously her words aren’t working so Lena resorts to striding over and forcibly removing Merlin from contact with Arthur. Her hands tingle with the residual magic as the connection is severed.

“No!” Merlin gasps, hands still reaching.

Lena lets him go as Arthur slumps in the chair, allowing Merlin to catch him before he hits the ground. Both she and Merlin are breathing heavily. Arthur is still.

“Wake up.” Merlin urges in a soft whisper, his previous anger seemingly forgotten. “Come on Arthur. You should be awake.” He turns frightened blue eyes to Lena. “He should be awake. It wasn’t like this with Gaius, he was awake right away. He didn’t sleep like this.”

Lena crouches beside the two men and carefully places two fingers at Arthur’s throat just under his jaw.

“There’s a pulse.” She says. “He’s unconscious, I think.”

“I wasn’t finished.” Merlin miserably tells her, his eyes filling with tears again. “Oh Goddess, what have I done? I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

Lena thinks there is so much she doesn’t know about Merlin, all the trauma and pain he keeps hidden under a mask of mirth and calm. She doesn’t support what he’s done. In fact, she hates that he did such a thing after what they’ve talked about, but Lena feels sympathy for the centuries-old warlock. Merlin continues to cry and murmur apologies. Lena isn’t sure if the words are to her or Arthur. She suspects it might be a bit of both.

When Arthur’s eyes fly open, the last thing he figures he would see is her. To see Morgana right there in his line of sight, to even see her ever again, but there she is, bright green eyes, long dark hair framing her face. Someone he once cared about before everything was completely and totally destroyed.

“Y-You!” He sits up, but the world is spinning around him. “What the hell are you doing here, you murderer! You witch!” Morgana flinches as the venomous words leave his mouth, but Arthur doesn’t care, why would he?

Arthur is flailing around reaching for…for what? Sword, where the hell is his sword. “I don’t understand why you’re all just standing here, Morgana is right there ! ” The other people he doesn’t recognize make no movement, not even, Merlin?

“Merlin!” Arthur practically growls.

“Hey!”

The voice that speaks up is firm, authoritative, and coming from where Morgana had been just moments ago. A blonde, with a red cape.

Supergirl.

At least his brain is kind enough to provide him with that, though he's not sure exactly who Supergirl is at this moment.

“If you want to get to Lena, you’ll have to go through me and I promise you I won’t make it easy.” Supergirl stands there with her hands on her hips, her blue eyes are cold as she levels them at Arthur.

“L-Lena?” The name leaves his mouth in confusion, it seems Morgana has some sort of alias. “She might have fooled you, but she hasn’t and won’t fool me!”

“Arthur, Arthur. Look at me.”

He’s reluctant to take his eyes off her, he knows what Morgana can do and has seen her destruction first hand, but Merlin’s voice is trembling in a way he simply can’t ignore. He whips his head toward his boyfriend. His manservant? Arthur’s brain is so confused, but Merlin is crying and that is something he simply cannot abide.

“Are you hurt? What has she done to you?” Arthur grasps blindly for Merlin and manages to catch his hand.

“I’m fine.” Merlin says, unconvincing with the way his voice wobbles. “You’re fine. You’re here. Are you…do you remember…”

Arthur isn’t exactly certain what he remembers. Too many things seem true at the same time, but they also don’t make a lot of sense.

“I-I…” Arthur blinks slowly, his adrenaline still spiking and heightening once again when he sees Morgana step back from behind Supergir. His eyes anxiously flick to Merlin. “What is she doing here?” He practically seethes.

“Arthur.” Merlin approaches slowly and takes his hand. “She’s not who you think she is, I promise you. It’s just…it’s complicated.”

Arthur warily narrows his gaze as he looks at the dark haired woman whose eyes are downcast. She looks exactly like Morgana, Merlin says she isn't. Yet, it’s complicated. None of this makes any sense, how can it? “What the bloody hell is complicated supposed to mean?” Arthur frowns as his head is hit with an intense pain, worse than any hangover he’s experienced times ten.

“f*cking hell.” Arthur groans as he pinches the bridge of his nose in a vain attempt to stop the pain.

“Y-You should rest.” Merlin insists as Arthur desperately tries to wave him off.

“Is he going to be a threat?” The blonde woman – Supergirl, Arthur’s mind supplies – asks, taking a step forward as if to stand in front of the woman who possibly is or isn’t Morgana.

“ No . This isn’t how it happened with Gaius. I’m sure it’ll settle down if I just…”

“No more magic.” Maybe-Morgana warns.

“Magic.” Arthur gasps out. “Merlin you have…I don’t…”

He’d known that, hadn’t he? Merlin had told him, Arthur swore he remembered it. He saw Merlin in his usual tunic and neckerchief, tears in his eyes. He saw Merlin in a t-shirt and jeans, eyes bright with adoration. His head is pounding.

“...thur? Arthur!”

He must have drifted out because Merlin sounds scared, terrified even. Arthur forces his eyes open and finds the other man close to him, very close. There are warm hands cupping his face, blue eyes searching his.

“I’m sorry.” Merlin whispers. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I didn’t mean…I’m sorry.”

Arthur wants to kiss him. It’s an urge that’s both extremely familiar and utterly strange. He lets out a pained groan. “I don’t understand what’s going on.”

“Neither do we.” Not-Morgana, or whoever she is, responds giving Merlin a dark look. “Maybe it’s best we let him be.” The dark haired woman’s tone is firm and insistent.

“I’m not leaving him alone.” Merlin says hotly, suddenly all strength and grit. “Not right now.”

“Merlin…”

“Lena, I’m sorry.” Merlin roughly interrupts. “I know we’re still…I know what I did and what I shouldn’t have done, but it’s done now. I’ll deal with the consequences of it, but I need to tell him the truth.”

The woman lets out a light scoff. “Fine.” She takes a step toward Supergirl and gently grabs her forearm. “I think you can back down, darling.”

Arthur watches as the superhero hesitates before letting her shoulders drop before shooting him another firm look with cold, blue eyes.

“Th-The truth?” Arthur blinks, turning toward Merlin, eyes narrowed. “Merlin, what truth are you talking about?”

Merlin takes a deep breath, removing his hands that were still cupping Arthur’s face. Before he can pull away entirely, Arthur catches one of Merlin’s hands in his. It’s warm and clammy, but Arthur doesn’t let go because for whatever reason it is bringing him comfort.

“Do you remember Camelot?” Merlin says, “Being a knight, a prince? The King?”

“What kind of question is that?” Arthur frowns. “Of course I do, Merlin. That’s my life. Camelot and Guinevere and the round table. And you.”

“Okay.” Merlin sighs, his fingers curling around Arthur’s hand, nails digging in slightly. “Do you remember Quantico?”

“I was there for months of training.” Arthur scoffs. “I know their obstacle courses and shooting ranges like the back of my hand.”

Arthur pauses as what he just said registers in his own brain.

Merlin’s voice is gentle, calm and soothing. “The year is 2022. You’re still you, you’re still King Arthur of Camelot, but also you’re not. You haven’t been for over a thousand years. You’re also Arthur Pendragon, special agent of the FBI. Your father is a real estate developer, he owns The Pendragon Group.”

“I knew my mother.” Arthur whispers, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes. “I grew up with a mother.”

“You did.” Merlin confirms. “From what you told me, she was wonderful.”

“What the hell?” Arthur lets out a pained groan, his mind currently still struggling to reconcile these two drastically different lifetimes in his head. No wonder it feels like his head is about to explode.

“So then…” Arthur warily looks at the woman everyone keeps assuring him isn’t Morgana despite the fact she looks like a carbon copy of her. “You’re?”

“Lena Luthor.” The brunette responds calmly. “You are indeed partially correct, I am her.”

Arthur’s fist tightens and he grits his teeth when he hears Lena speak. Especially when she says that.

“I have chosen to forego Morgana’s memories.” Lena explains calmly. “I have enough in my own life, I don’t need that sort of burden as well.”

“Chosen?” Arthur’s brow rises and he looks from Lena back to Merlin.

Lena shoots Merlin a cold look before turning her attention elsewhere. “I told you.”

Arthur looks to Merlin, who is avoiding his eyes now, cheeks pink. The events before he awoke suddenly rush into his mind and Arthur isn’t able to resist the urge to pull his hand out of Merlin’s grasp.

“You did this without telling me.” Arthur accuses.

Merlin doesn’t deny it, wrapping his arms around himself and keeping his head bowed.

“You used magic on me without my permission.” Arthur says. “You promised me, when I was dying you said you’d never do that. Not to me.”

“I know.” Merlin whispers, still not defending himself.

“Did you even know if my current memories would remain?” Arthur demands. “Were you really willing to erase a whole human being just to have me back?”

“He’s been waiting for you.”

Arthur’s gaze snaps to the person who spoke. Supergirl.

“Supergirl.” Lena says, her tone firm and serious. “Merlin needs to face the consequences of his actions.”

“I know.” Supergirl huffs. “But he should know. He has a right to know. This whole reincarnation thing is new for all of us.”

She turns to Arthur and looks him straight in the eye. “Merlin has been waiting for you, Arthur.”

“You said the reincarnation is new.” Arthur says.

“Merlin…isn’t a reincarnation.” Supergirl tells him gently. “He’s been waiting since you first died.”

“So he’s been waiting…” Arthur pauses and thinks back on what Merlin said to him and most of the anger simply drains out of him. “A thousand years?”

“One thousand, four hundred and eighty seven.” Merlin says ruefully. “To be exact.”

“f*ck.” Arthur hisses running a hand through his hair. “f*cking hell, Merlin.”

There is a moment of silence between all of them. Arthur tries to steady his breathing as he shoots another look at Merlin. He doesn’t know what to do or think. On one hand, it feels incredibly, well, romantic for lack of a better word. However, Merlin has been lying the whole time, he lied before, too.

“Do you need some time to yourself?” Lena suggests softly.

It’s so weird hearing this woman speak to him, another fragment of the past, yet she isn’t. Still, she manages to bring up a deluge of memories, both good and bad.

“Yes.” Arthur murmurs. “Or no, I guess. Can we talk?”

There’s no denying who he’s speaking to, but it’s obviously a shock to everyone. Lena most of all.

“You and me?” She asks, green eyes darting side to side like she’s making sure he’s addressing her.

Arthur gives a brief nod. “If you have the time?”

Lena appears not to really know what to say, but Arthur can also tell she doesn’t want to seem too wrong-footed because she schools her expression into something neutral.

“Sure.”

Everyone else files out of the med bay leaving Lena and Arthur alone. She stands there awkwardly for a moment, brows furrowed and arms folded across her chest.

“You can sit down.” Arthur suggests with a slight shrug.

“I know.” Lena mutters before walking toward a small rolling stool, dragging it back with her, sitting down, and brushing her long wavy hair out of her face.

“So you’re Morgana?” Arthur asks, his tone softer.

Lena grimaces and shrugs. “That’s what Merlin says.”

Arthur lets out a small snort at her response. “Do you remember anything?”

Lena shakes her head. “No, I-I don’t want to.”

“You said that.” Arthur nods.

“I’m sure you can understand why.” Lena grumbles as she lightly taps her foot against the tile floor. “I’ve got enough problems with my life as it is and things finally seem like they are good, settling.”

Arthur sighs as he looks at Lena, clearly she’s had a hard time with things. Another flash of memory hits him. “Lena Luthor…”

Lena raises her head and looks at him curiously. “Yes?”

“That’s you? You’re Lena Luthor.” Arthur remembers briefly meeting her. The calm, cool, collected CEO he’d briefly crossed paths with on the elevator. That’s not the woman who is sitting before him, she’s clearly more vulnerable and…

No, not weak.

“I just remembered us meeting previously.” Arthur mutters.

“Oh?” Lena leans back slightly, the stool shifting with her movement.

“This is a weird sensation.” Arthur groans intensely. “Two lives in my head like this.”

“I don’t envy you.” Lena sighs.

“I wouldn’t recommend it.” Arthur says, pinching the bridge of his nose in a vain attempt to stave off a headache.

Lena gives him a small smirk. “I’ll keep that advice in mind.”

A silence descends over them, just on the wrong side of awkward. Arthur doesn’t really know what to say to this woman who isn’t his sister. He doesn’t even really know why he asks to speak to her alone, it is some kind of odd impulse.

“Has…has Merlin told you about her?” Arthur tentatively asks. “Morgana, I mean.”

“Some.” Lena says. “He’s mostly told me the good things about her. The things that happened before she…”

“Right.” Arthur sighs. “Is that the reason why you don’t want to have your, I mean her, memories returned to you?”

Lena silently nods in response. “I’ve had more than enough family drama to last a lifetime and frankly, I don’t want more.”

“Yeah?” Arthur’s brow rises.

“Lex Luthor.” Lena deadpans. “Surely, you ‘ve heard of him?”

Arthur momentarily wracks his brain and while the name sounds familiar, he’s still not sure why. “A little.” He replies sheepishly, shrugging his shoulders. “Maybe it will all come back once I sort things out in my head.”

“To be blunt, I didn’t exactly have a happy childhood and that sort of family turmoil has followed me for years until recently.” She grimaces.

“Oh.” Arthur momentarily looks away from her as he catches glimpses of the childhood he’s starting to remember back from Camelot and Morgana’s presence in those memories. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“What for?” Lena co*cks her head to the side. “It’s not like you had anything to do with it. Just a sh*tty luck of the draw.” The brunette rolls her green eyes.

“That doesn’t mean I can’t be sorry about it.” Arthur counters. “I think, I think I never really realized how good I had things the first time around. I was a prince, the most family drama I had was my mom dying in childbirth and a secret half-sister.”

“That’s not nothing.” Lena tells him. “And it doesn’t do anybody any favors to compare trauma. Life is messy, we all have our sh*t.”

Arthur laughs. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“Why me?” Lena asks, head once again co*cked to the side.

“Why you what?” Arthur replies.

Lena lightly taps the heel of her boot against the tile floor. “You wanted to talk to me, even after you went from zero to sixty on me less than…thirty minutes ago.” The brunette takes a moment to look down at the watch on her wrist. “I would think you would rather be alone or talk to Merlin” She shrugs.

Arthur sits with this for a moment, trying to get his thoughts in order.

“I don’t know.” He finally says. “Merlin is confusing right now. I have all of these memories of him that keep getting confused. He was my manservant, I pretty much owned him and his life.” He can’t stop the distaste coloring his voice with that. “He was the best friend I ever had, the person I shared everything with. He’s also this awkward and sweet guy I met by chance at my dad’s work who I want to impress, who I think I might be falling…” He swallows and looks down at his hands. “But is that really real? Did he just humor me because he knew me? It seemed so genuine and he was always a terrible liar. Except about his magic.”

“While that does sound confusing,” Lena prompts, “it doesn’t explain why you wanted to talk to me.”

“The only other familiar face?” Arthur offers lamely. “We used to tell each other everything when we were kids, Morgana and I. We were close before everything went wrong.”

“I’m not her.” Lena reminds him. “I can’t be her for you.”

Arthur huffs out an unamused laugh. “Of course. I know that. Some of my…newer memories are coming back into focus so I don’t feel like I need to attack you anymore. If that’s any consolation.”

“You’re hardly the only one in National City who has wanted to do that.” Lena rolls her eyes. “And they only want to do it because I’m a Luthor. So, at least your reasoning is more original.”

Arthur lets out an awkward laugh in response. “Is that the reason you apparently have Supergirl on speed dial?”

He watches as Lena’s face flushes. “She’s so much more than just a hero to me and she’s saved me in so many ways.”

Arthur looks over at Lena once more. “Well, I know you aren’t, aren’t… her.” He grimaces. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t talk at all, right? Maybe you’re not in the market for any sort of a sibling. What about a friend?”

—————

Lena doesn’t mean to end up being the only person left at L-Corp, but she gets caught up in her project and her thoughts, before she knows it it’s late and she’s alone. It’s only been a couple days since Arthur had his memories returned and while Lena isn’t thrilled with how Merlin handled things, she still feels a bit of sympathy for him considering the semi-cold shoulder he’s been getting from the love of his long life. They still don’t know what the side effects of this sort of thing are, even though Merlin insists his mentor Gaius is doing fine. Merlin will be staying with Arthur for a while.

Lena sighs, rubbing her eyes to get them to focus on the real world again after being glued to a computer screen for far too many hours. Her cell phone has gone dark, the battery dead after she forgot to charge yesterday evening. She isn’t expecting anything to happen, of course, but in hindsight she really should have.

With a groan Lena gets up from her desk and walks across her office toward where she keeps a decanter of scotch. She pours some into a glass and looks out at the glittering lights of downtown National City surrounding her.

She sips her scotch, savoring the taste. It’s far from being her best bottle, but it’s certainly something she enjoys. Woody, a touch of smoke.

She can practically hear Kara chastising her for working so late. A light sound catches Lena’s attention, for a moment she turns hopefully toward the balcony thinking she’d possibly see the hero with a dozen donuts in hand offering to fly her back to her penthouse.

There’s nothing, the balcony empty. There’s a second where the silence feels oppressive and Lena’s only clue things are about to go wrong is a small shuffling sound before her office door is flung off its hinges. She whips around, her heart pounding and her hand clenched around her empty glass. This isn’t supposed to happen here. There is security, locks, and enchantment enhancements, yet standing before her is a person Lena does not wish to see.

“Sister.” Morgause says, her voice sickly sweet, darkly lined eyes boring into Lena’s own. “I’ve finally found you.”

Cold fear floods Lena’s body, but she tries not to let it show. This is feeling all too familiar, too similar to encounters with Lex in the more recent past.

Lex…

Lena lets out a sigh, she remembers having personally seen to the upgrades of her security system herself, if only because she doesn’t trust anyone else to do it properly. Her upgraded systems can sense shifts in levels of 5th dimensional energy, the same sort of signatures put out by imps and magic users like herself.

Help will be on the way, Lena just has to remain calm. She’s a Luthor goddamnit, she can do this, play the long game. She won’t let Morgause know how she truly feels.

“I hate to break it to you, I’m not your sister.” Lena coolly puts her glass down beside the decanter.

“Maybe so.” Morgause concedes. “Not yet, anyway.”

“Morgause.” Lena says, keeping her voice firm and unwavering, trying to think of anything useful she might have in her slowly growing magical arsenal to deal with this.

“You see.” The other woman interrupts, taking a step closer. “You know me. She’s there within you, waiting to be drawn out.”

“I know only what I’ve been told.” Lena replies. “Only what Merlin…”

She’s interrupted again by Morgause’s hoarse scream of frustration, the sorceress’s eyes beginning to glow with gold.

“Him!” Morgause hisses. “Of course it would be him. He’s trying to turn you against me.”

“He’s succeeded.” Lena knows it probably isn’t the smartest idea to deliberately antagonize the blonde in this way, but she can’t help it. She has a thing against manipulative siblings, so sue her.

Morgause’s eyes narrow. “The warlock tells nothing but lies.”

“Funny.” Lena scoffs. “He’s said the same thing about you.”

Morgause hardly seems pleased to hear this. “There are a couple ways of handling this, Morgana.”

Lena’s jaw tightens when Morgause calls her that name and she can hear her heart pounding in her ears. She has a feeling Morgause’s “choices” are hardly even choices at all. Great.

She doesn’t even get to hear this non-choice, however, as there’s a very familiar whooshing noise followed by the tap of feet landing on the balcony. Two pairs of feet. Lena turns her attention to the tempered glass separating the room from said balcony. Unsurprisingly, it’s Kara in her full Supergirl regalia. Slightly surprisingly, she has Merlin with her and while he looks slightly green around the gills from the flight, his expression is almost as stormy as her girlfriend’s. It looks like it takes a lot of restraint for Kara not to open the glass door so hard it shatters, but she manages it.

“Cute, you’ve got a little attack dog.” Morgause laughs.

Just keep underestimating her. Lena thinks to herself. The amount of times Lena has seen criminals and the like shoot at Kara when it’s clear they should know bullets can’t harm the hero. Hopefully Morgause acts in a similar fashion.

Kara’s eyes are dark and Lena’s about to get the door when Merlin’s eyes flash gold and the door flies open.

“I’d suggest backing down if I were you.” Kara speaks in an authoritative tone, her cape fluttering slightly as she enters.

“Cute.” Morgause sneers, her own eyes flashing gold as she jerks her head to the side. Kara puts her arms up in front of herself, crossed in an X, as she gets pushed back a good few feet. Morgause is obviously expecting something a bit more extreme because she scowls.

Merlin steps forward. “That’s enough, Morgause.”

“Emrys.” The sorceress growls venomously. “I’ve been waiting for this moment ever since I first awoke in this time. You killed me before, it’s about time I return the favor.”

For all Merlin had told them about his past, he had never mentioned killing anyone. It isn’t really surprising to Lena, he definitely had a darkness within him that isn’t quite as hidden as he thinks. Still, it is a bit chilling to see the way his eyes grow hard and icy, his shoulders squaring and his hands curling into fists at his sides.

Lena’s unsure of what to do, very much caught in the middle of this whole mess. “What do you want?” The brunette asks Morgause. “Besides Merlin’s demise.” She adds, rolling her eyes.

“I just want you to be happy and free, my sister, in your rightful place.” Morgause says.

“Fifteen hundred years of being a broken record must be boring.” Merlin drawls. “Especially since records didn’t exist for most of it.”

“Insolent!”

Morgause’s eyes flash gold as she sends a wave of magic toward Merlin. The warlock doesn’t even flinch, a mere dip of his chin sending the magic off to the side where it knocks a painting askew on the wall over his shoulder.

“I’m already happy and free.” Lena says as if the small interaction didn’t happen. “And I am not your sister.”

Morgause narrows her eyes and huffs. “You only say that because you don’t know the truth, you’ve been deprived all this time.”

Lena looks around her office. “I was deprived of a great many things, but I already had one sh*tty sibling, I’m fine without another.”

This is clearly the wrong thing to say as it only further fans the flames of Morgause’s ire.

“You are blind!” Morgause cries out. “I only want what’s best for you, open your eyes Morgana. You and I can change everything.”

Lena shivers when Morgause addresses her as Morgana, reminding herself it’s not her. Not now, not ever. It’s why Merlin gave her the choice, isn’t it?

“Change how, Morgause?” Merlin huffs. “Camelot is long gone, nobody of the Pendragon line has any claim to the throne, even if you could prove it.”

“Magic can be…”

“Magic as you knew it is gone!” Merlin shouts, the dragon-like growl in his voice. “I felt it wither and die before being born anew. The world has outgrown you, Priestess of a dead religion, and none of us here in this room will allow you to corrupt it.”

Morgause’s eyes narrow. ”Don’t speak of what you don’t know!”

As Lena stands there, she feels the prickling feeling she was searching for back in the Tower. It’s stronger than it’s ever been, even when actively trying to cast a spell or test out her magic. The brunette doesn’t know what it is, but realizes this is not really the time to be questioning when facing Morgause as an active threat.

A voice in the back of her mind is urging her to just follow the feeling, use it as a guide. Then ask questions later.

So Lena does, focusing in on the fizzing feeling which feels like it’s being accompanied by a sharp, high-pitched ringing in her ears as she slowly raises her hands to do something.

“Morgause.” Lena calls out to the other woman. “Get the hell out of my office and if you even think about coming back, make a f*cking appointment.”

Lena feels the prickling feeling further intensify so she leans into it, no spell comes to mind she just acts . Then there’s a flash of bright golden light firing at Morgause. It’s so bright Lena winces in response to it.

When the golden light fades, nothing remains. Well, that isn’t strictly true. What used to be the door and wall of her office is cracked and crumbling, fractures spider webbing into the ceiling. What doesn’t remain is Morgause, but somehow Lena knows it isn’t as simple as that.

“f*ck!” Merlin seethes. Lena doesn’t think she’s heard him curse before.

“Is she…” Kara begins to ask, looking at Lena with awe in her eyes making the brunette feel warm down to her very core.

“No.” Lena replies, knowing that it’s true.

“I have a feeling next time won’t be so simple.” Merlin says darkly.

“Next time we’ll be prepared.” Lena tells him. She’s still upset about all of the Arthur stuff, still not quite ready to go back to the friendship they were building, but Lena knows she can trust Merlin to fight by her side. Plus, she has Kara and the new odd, fizzing, instinctual pull she realizes is a link back to Morgana. “She won’t get away again.”

Lena is still shaking as she surveys the damage to her office. Tragically, this is not the first time something like this has happened. Devoting resources to consistently repairing her offices, labs, and other infrastructure is not necessarily how she wants to spend her billions, but unfortunately, it’s a necessary evil.

“Lena?” Kara gently whispers as she walks up beside her placing a soft hand on her shoulder.

When the blonde’s touch connects with her body, Lena releases the breath she was holding and flings herself into the strong arms of her girlfriend.

“Woah, baby it’s okay.” Kara soothes, carefully returning Lena’s embrace.

Lena hiccups slightly, burying her face in the crook of Kara’s neck to just breathe her in. Kara always seems to smell like a crisp spring day, complete with sunshine and a goddamn f*cking rainbow.

It’s soothing.

“Let’s go home.” Kara softly suggests. “A hot bath and a drink will do us both some good.”

Lena nods, takes a breath, and steps back. “Please.”

“We’ll take care of the damage in the morning.”

“No need.” Merlin murmurs. His hands are extended toward the damage, eyes glowing with magic. One by one the cracks shrink and disappear like a film in reverse.

“Thanks.” Lena says, tears still glistening in her eyes. “You didn’t have to do that.”

Merlin shrugs, but doesn’t speak, his focus still on fixing the damage. Under the magic, his eyes are distant.

“You’re going to see Arthur, aren’t you?” Lena sighs.

The encounter with Morgause has obviously shaken him more than expected.

“Right,” she continues, “Go easy on him.”

Merlin’s nod is enough of an answer so Lena follows Kara onto the balcony. Safely ensconced in her girlfriend’s arms, they fly home. She still isn’t the biggest fan of flying, but she knows she’s safe with Kara.

They touch down on the balcony of Lena’s penthouse. The brunette expels a sigh of relief, glad to be home and safe.

“I’ll get the bath, you rest.” Kara insists as they enter the apartment.

“Kara…” Lena tries to protest, but the Kryptonian gives her a stern look. She meanders over to the couch, bracing herself against the arm and immediately wrestling with her shoes. She can hear Kara rustling around and the sound of the water running.

Even when they were just friends, Kara was always so good at knowing exactly what Lena needed and when she needed it. Usually when the CEO remarks on it, Kara gives her a nod then reminds her, “hope, help and compassion for all” is kind of her thing.

Lena isn’t complaining, of course. Having an attentive girlfriend is good for many things, all of which are certainly more relaxing than facing off with the reincarnation of her evil half-sister from a past life. Once her shoes are kicked off, Lena pads over to her wet bar to pour herself a drink. She more than deserves it.

She returns to the couch to finally sit down, thankful she wore pants and not a skirt today. She tucks her feet up, relaxing against the arm and back of the couch. It’s not exactly comfortable, but she hopes any aches will soon be soothed away by hot water and, knowing Kara, bubbles. So, Lena doesn’t mind the slight discomfort. The whiskey goes down smooth as always, warming her from the inside and sending a wave of calm through her system.

“How’s it going in there?” Lena calls out to Kara.

“Peachy!” The Kryptonian cheerfully replies. “Did you want lavender, rosemary mint, or blood orange?”

Lena lightly scoffs at her girlfriend’s question. “Rosemary mint.” She coolly responds.

“You’ve got it!”

Lena chuckles as she continues to sip her scotch. Kara emerges from the bathroom smiling, her suit deactivated in favor of something more comfortable. Lena reaches out with her free hand, wiggling her fingers at Kara. Her girlfriend takes the hint and walks over to tangle their fingers together pausing to place a soft kiss on the back of her hand.

“Bath should be ready shortly,” Kara tells her, “and while you relax, I’ll take care of ordering dinner.”

“Or,” Lena says slyly, “you could join me.”

“A tempting offer for sure,” Kara teases in response, “I’m sure I could be convinced.”

“I’ll definitely make it worth your while.”

The half-finished glass of scotch is left abandoned on the coffee table.

—————

Merlin hesitates with his fist raised, poised to knock. After the first night when he got his memories back, once Arthur was cleared physically and mentally, he left for his apartment in the city. It seems the two sets of memories are coexisting in his mind. Merlin reached out once, tried to call him. Arthur simply texted back that he needs some space. It is such a jarring change from their previous text conversation planning their date. Texts filled with pet names, emojis, and little X’s to symbolize kisses.

It hasn’t been long, but Merlin is feeling shaken up by the confrontation with Morgause. Not because he’s scared of her per se, but rather of what she represents.

The apartment door opens before he can even decide what to do and there stands Arthur.

“Are you going to come in or do you plan to loiter outside my apartment all night?” Arthur asks.

“How did you…”

Arthur shrugs. “I could feel you. Or something.”

Right. The magic Merlin used left a mark, a tether between them.

Merlin awkwardly shifts on his feet at the threshold before making a decision, Arthur closing the door as they both shuffle inside.

There’s a tense, awkward silence as Arthur just stands there, his arms folded across his chest.

“Thanks for letting me in.” Merlin mutters. “You would not believe the night I’ve had.” He adds a laugh in an attempt to lighten the mood.

From the slight quirk in the corner of Arthur’s mouth, it seems to do the job because he appears to fight off a smile. However, it fades as quickly as if it never existed and Arthur is stone-faced once more. It hurts Merlin to his very core.

“Sorry.” He says, miserable. “I’m sorry I did this without your permission.”

It isn’t anything he hasn't tried to say to Arthur already, but Merlin feels like he will never finish apologizing.

“But you’re not sorry you did it.” It isn’t a question.

“I was so scared about losing you to Morgause, I couldn’t think. Well, the joke’s on me.” Merlin huffs a humorless laugh that’s almost a sob. “I lost you anyway. Again.”

Arthur breathes out a sigh. “You didn’t lose me.”

“No?” Merlin’s voice breaks, a hopeful lilt in his voice.

Before Arthur can say anything else, a dam breaks inside Merlin. He’s suddenly crying in big, heaving gasps. Arthur catches him when he stumbles forward, lowering them both slowly onto the floor and holding the warlock close.

“I can't forgive you.” Arthur says once the sobs slow. “Not yet. But I will. I just have to know…what we’ve been doing these past weeks, the feelings there.”

“Real.” Merlin confirms, his voice raspy from his breakdown.

“And back then?” Arthur asks, something Merlin can’t quite read in his tone.

“I have loved you since the first time you tried to sacrifice yourself for me.” Merlin tells him.

He feels the hitch in Arthur’s breath, his voice is wavering when he next speaks. “So what, these feelings just…came back? After all this time?”

Merlin pulls back slightly so he can see his king’s face, even as their arms remain wrapped around each other.

“Oh Arthur. They never went away.”

They still have a lot to talk about, a lot to figure out, but Arthur kisses him so sweetly that Merlin believes it’ll turn out alright.

—-------

There’s something going on, Gwen is certain. Working as Lena Luthor’s assistant, she has learned to roll with the punches, as it were, and nothing much phases her anymore. But this? This is strange. It isn’t unusual for her to be called into her boss’s office. Heck, it isn’t even unusual that Elyan is there. He has been present for interviews with Lena so it makes sense. Especially considering her brother is reaching the tail end of his assignment with Kara Danvers. No, the thing that really gets to Gwen is the fact her husband has been asked to attend. Of course, she knows Lena is aware of Lance’s existence and they met at a company holiday party or event, but Gwen really isn’t sure why he’s asked to join them today.

Gwen directs Lance to Lena’s office and the pair enter, she’s a little surprised to see the Merlin guy as well while Lena is seated behind her desk.

“Miss Luthor, is everything alright?” Gwen warily asks.

Lena silently nods and grimaces. “Gwen, you might want to take a seat.”

Gwen does as directed, but this feels very strange and out of pocket behavior for Lena.

“What’s going on here?” Gwen asks, her brown eyes darting around the room to the various occupants as she and Lance take a seat.

Elyan simply shrugs. “Dunno, but I have a feeling it doesn’t have anything to do with the article. Does it?”

Lena breathes in and out slowly, deeply before turning to Merlin. “Do you want to do it or should I?”

Merlin looks conflicted for a moment before resolve overtakes his features.

“I’ll do it.” He says. “I should…I need to do it.”

He looks at the three of them sitting in a row.

“First of all, even though everything I’m going to tell you is going to sound insane, you need to trust me that it’s true.” He takes a breath. “I’m Merlin.”

There’s a beat of silence.

“Like the wizard?” Elyan asks.

Merlin grimaces. “Not just like him. And I prefer the term warlock.”

Then, his blue eyes glow gold, with a small lift of his chin a pen on Lena’s desk goes flying and hits the far wall with a thunk.

“Seriously.” Lena sighs, her brow rising as she speaks.

Merlin looks sheepish. “Sorry.”

Lena takes a moment to shake her head. Gwen is even more confused than when this started.

“I’m sorry.” Gwen squeaks in disbelief. “You’re right, this does sound insane.” She pauses for a moment to take a deep breath. “But discarding that, what does this have to do with me? With…us?”

Lance reaches out to grab Gwen’s hand, giving it a gentle, soothing squeeze.

Lena presses her red painted lips into a thin line while giving Merlin another look.

“It’s more than me being Merlin.” Merlin sighs, his shoulders drooping. “You’re a part of this too, all of you…”

“Even Miss Luthor?” Gwen’s eyes flick toward her boss.

Lena nods in confirmation to Gwen who slowly loosens the tight grip she has on her husband’s hand before looking back at Merlin.

“B-But how? What?” Gwen is utterly baffled.

“Well, for one you’re Guinivere.” Merlin begins.

Gwen lets out a snort. “You’re kidding.”

Merlin looks sheepish. “I…honestly have no idea how to prove this to you. We were friends, Guinevere and I, both servants in the castle. Elyan was her, your brother back then too. And I’m sure you know the legends of Lancelot.”

Lance’s eyes widen when Merlin looks at him. “Me?”

“So, is this some kind of reincarnation thing?” Elyan questions.

Gwen stares at him, wondering if he’s really buying this story. He seems pretty earnest in his question, but Gwen thinks he may just be humoring Merlin.

“Exactly!” Merlin looks relieved that someone is taking this seriously. “The fact you guys ended up as siblings again? Amazing. Of course Lancelot and Guinevere are a whole…” he twists his hand around a few times, as if they aren’t familiar with the story, “thing. Oh and Lena is the reincarnation of Arthur’s half-sister Morgana.”

Gwen looks to her boss, hoping Lena will at least be a voice of reason here, but the other woman simply nods in confirmation.

“What was I like back then? Before?” Elyan asks, excitement in his tone. “Was I cool?”

“You were a knight of the round table.” Merlin tells him.

Gwen can practically see the stars shining in her twin’s eyes and realizes it actually isn’t much of a stretch that he would whole-heartedly believe this.

“Sweet!” Elyan fist pumps as Gwen shakes her head, she gives one last hopeful look toward Lena.

“I thought it was crazy too,” the brunette supplies, “but as I’ve gotten to know Merlin, and after a few incidents now. It makes sense.”

Gwen releases a deep sigh. “So this reincarnation thing, we’re saying it’s real? Even so, why bring it up now? What does it have to do with us?”

When she sees the resigned look on her boss’s face, Gwen begins to get some kind of idea as to what this may be about.

“We were overdue for something,” she says to her boss, “weren’t we.”

Lena gives her a tired nod.

“Er, yeah.” Merlin says, rubbing the back of his neck. “If only it was the good guys who get reincarnated. Morgana’s half-sister is out to get Lena and there’s been a marked increase in reincarnated people I once knew in the past few months. So, I can give you your memories back, if you want them.” His eyes flick over to Lena, something in them Gwen can’t get a read on. “But you don’t have to.”

“I have chosen not to.” Lena informs them.

“But…there are people who have chosen to do so.” Lance interjects, reaching over to take Gwen’s hand in his.

“There are those who have their old memories back, yes.” Merlin hedges.

“Like you?” Lance asks.

Merlin’s mouth twists into a sad sort of smirk. “I didn’t have a choice. I’ve been hanging around since then.”

“Must have been lonely.” Lance says. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

That is why Gwen loves her husband. His compassion is what drew her to him when they first met and it’s one of her favorite qualities even now.

Merlin looks shocked, as if nobody has ever said those words to him. “Th-Thanks. Yeah. I guess it was. But it’s better now. There’s my old mentor Gaius and of course Arthur.”

The name sends a jolt through Gwen and she suddenly thinks of something. “If we do choose to take our memories back, will we forget who we are now?”

“No.” Merlin vehemently tells her. “It’ll just be like you have both sets of memories. From what I understand it takes a little getting used to.”

That actually makes the decision more difficult. If she would have lost herself, lost Lance, it would be a hard-line no immediately.

“What about past feelings?” Elyan asks.

Merlin seems to understand the question behind her brother’s question and a muscle in his jaw twitches as he clenches it.

“You wouldn’t suddenly not love the person you love.” He says. “The past feelings might be there, but they’re older and more dormant.” He looks directly at Gwen and then Lance then back to Gwen. “Nobody would be expecting you to just step into a past relationship. Least of all Arthur.”

There’s more to that story, Gwen can tell, but she doesn’t ask about the sadness in Merlin’s blue eyes.

“I need to think about it.” Gwen says.

“I’ll do whatever Gwen decides.” Lance adds.

Gwen looks at him. “You don’t have to…”

“I know.”

It’s Elyan who says the thing they are probably all thinking. “Can we meet King Arthur?”

Merlin blinks, mildly nonplussed. “Sure, I don’t see why not. I’ll ask him.”

Elyan’s eyes seem to light up with pure joy before looking over at his sister. “What? I mean you have to admit, that part is really cool.”

Gwen rolls her eyes in response. “Only you.”

—————

It takes several days for everyone’s schedules to line up. Elyan has to get back to work for a bit before he can take a long weekend in National City, Lena (and by extension Gwen) are busy with L-Corp things, Kara is still putting together her 30 under 30 piece, Lance has to make sure Morrie can be in charge of the coffee shop, and Arthur honestly has to be talked into agreeing to meet at all. From what Gwen understands, that’s mostly Merlin’s doing.

They decide to have the meeting at Kara’s apartment. It’s more of a neutral ground and the location is convenient for everyone. It’s a cozy place and Gwen can definitely see the signs of Lena coming around quite a lot in things like the bottle of whiskey on the counter and the black sweater draped over the back of the couch. They’re waiting for Merlin and Arthur to arrive, delayed either by the former’s inability to be on time to anything or the latter’s nerves, or maybe a bit of both. So, the rest of them are a glass into their drink of choice and honestly Gwen feels like she needs the wine to soothe her own nerves, it’s a win-win situation.

Lena and Kara are both present as chaperones, the connection between the two worlds colliding tonight. At least Lena is, if this whole story is to be believed. Gwen is becoming more inclined to believe it the longer it goes on without Lena saying “sike” or something.

Finally, there’s a knock on the door that brings all conversation to a halt. Gwen has her back to the apartment entrance so she hears rather than sees Kara open it.

“Hey, come on in. Something to drink?”

Gwen twists around to look at the door and gets her first glimpse of the fabled King Arthur. Sure, he’s attractive – blonde, blue eyes, muscles – but it’s not like her heart is tripping over itself at the sight of him or anything. She wonders if it would be different if she had the memories of her supposed previous life. Especially when Arthur sees her and his expression goes at breakneck speed from recognition to excitement to gentle adoration to something resigned, but not in a way that feels forced or negative. Particularly, when he turns his attention to Merlin and that same gentle adoration fills his gaze. Suddenly the things Merlin said about feelings make a whole lot of sense.

“Hello.” Merlin says, giving an awkward wave. “Sorry we’re late.”

No one really seems to know what to say to anyone as they all look at each other, but Gwen notices there’s a look of recognition in Arthur’s eyes. Part of her wants to remember the same memories he does, there are just so many questions.

“Does everyone like potstickers?” Kara jumps in.

Gwen hears a light giggle belonging to Lena, who she sees standing near Kara shaking her head. While Lena has always been kind to her, it’s always been in a professional manner and it’s become clear to her she might not really know who this woman truly is as a person. She’s more at ease in Kara’s place than in the office and she certainly never thought she’d see her boss in any sort of collegiate sweater and yoga pants.

“I’m game.” Elyan heartily agrees. “I love potstickers.”

“Great!” Kara bounces up on her tiptoes, her blonde ponytail moving with her as she adjusts her glasses.

“Already on it.” Lena calmly supplies, pulling out her phone and typing away.

Kara beams at the brunette as she ushers everyone else toward the living space, a cozy couch and chairs surrounding a coffee table. “Make yourselves at home.” The blonde insists.

“This must be so strange for you.” Gwen says when they’re all comfortably seated. She isn’t sure if it’s the right thing to say until Arthur chuckles.

“You can say that again. I’m still coming to terms with everything myself, to be honest.” He accepts the bottle of beer Merlin hands him before perching on the arm of the armchair Arthur is sitting in. “I didn’t recognize Merlin and Lena before I got my memories back, but once I did it was as if I had known all along. Very strange.”

“So are you happy you got those memories back?” Elyan asks.

Arthur and Merlin exchange a look that Gwen can’t quite read. It does make Merlin grimace and look down at his own hands.

“I think so.” Arthur hedges. “I mean, it’s only been a week and Merlin’s been very helpful in easing things along. I assume you all…haven’t decided yet.”

“It’s a lot to take in.” Gwen tells him, reaching over to Lance, who takes her hand and threads their fingers together.

Arthur’s eyes go soft when he looks at them. “I’m glad you two found each other. I know you’re not really my Gwen, or Guinevere I suppose, but if it wasn’t me then Lancelot is definitely the best option.”

“Just Lance.” Her husband puts in. “I can’t believe we’ve seen each other, even spoken several times before I never knew.”

“Wait.” Merlin blinks. “What?”

“Lance owns the coffee shop I go to every morning.” Arthur explains with a laugh. “What are the chances?”

“Hold on a minute.” Elyan says suddenly. “That’s why you’re familiar! You were in Delta Kappa Phi!”

Arthur blinks. “That was mine and Leon’s frat in undergrad.”

“Mine too!” Elyan grins. “I think we just missed each other. I pledged as a freshman, but remember seeing you at the house when I was checking it out during my last year of high school. Your picture was up on the who’s who of graduates too.”

“Leon as in Leon ?” Merlin interrupts. “As in First Knight Leon?”

Arthur gives him a strange look. “I told you this already. My childhood best friend. My partner at the Bureau.”

“I didn’t realize you meant that Leon.” Merlin says, appearing slightly hysterical. “It’s the end of the world.”

“You’re being dramatic, Merlin.” Arthur scoffs.

Merlin barks out a laugh. “I’m really not. The Great Dragon told me you would return when Albion’s need was greatest. Now, not only have you returned, but also Morgana, Morgause, and half of your round table? This is no coincidence.”

“Let’s all just calm down.” Lena sighs, putting a hand on Merlin’s shoulder, which oddly enough seems to cow him out of his catastrophizing. “The world isn't ending yet, typically when it actually is…you’ll know.” The brunette grimaces.

Elyan gives the youngest Luthor a look. “That’s not exactly comforting, you know.”

Lena calmly shrugs and sits beside Kara, curling up close to the blonde. “I hate to say it, but I’m used to it.”

Merlin sits on the couch slightly rocking back and forth, wringing his hands. “Is there anyone else that might be a reincarnation you’ve crossed paths with?” He’s looking at Arthur, but it seems the question is open to everyone.

“Isn’t that kind of hard for us to know?” Elyan shrugs and furrows his brow.

“R-Right, right.” Merlin nods. “Just, something doesn’t feel right about this, while I have been waiting thousands of years for this day to finally come…I guess it doesn’t mean I’m not terrified about what it might mean.”

“So, there are bigger things besides Morgause is what you’re saying.” Lena’s brow furrows as she pulls closer to Kara, their fingers intertwined.

“Kilgharrah, the Great Dragon, was always annoyingly vague about things.” Merlin sighs. “He was cryptic for absolutely no reason. Honestly, I think the overgrown lizard just liked messing with me.” He sounds grumpy about it, but also kind of fond at the same time. “All he would say is that Arthur would return when Albion’s need was greatest.”

“And Albion is…” Lena raises an eyebrow.

Merlin shrugs and grimaces. “Great Britain? Europe? The world? I don’t even know.”

“Are we going to just gloss over the whole dragon thing?” Elyan asked under his breath. “Really?”

“Arthur was always meant to unite the lands of Albion.” Merlin continues. “I always thought it meant the Five Kingdoms, but, well, even I can admit I tended to be, I guess the term now is Eurocentric. Albion could really be anything.”

“Not helpful.” Kara points out, a crinkle forming in her brow.

“Not helpful.” Merlin confirms.

Arthur leans slightly forward in the chair, his shoulder coming to rest against Merlin’s side. “We can figure all of that out later. Right now, the important thing is dealing with Morgause.”

“I’m not sure how much help we can be.” Lance slowly says. “I own a coffee shop, I’m not exactly a fighter.”

“You were once.” Arthur tells him. “You were the best of us.”

“I’m a pacifist.” Lance weakly replies.

“Please don’t pressure him.” Gwen cuts in before Arthur can say anything more. “I understand you have these memories, but we don’t.”

“I’m sorry.” Arthur immediately apologizes. “That wasn’t…I have no intention of pushing. It’s your choice.”

For whatever reason, that makes Merlin flinch and Arthur leans further against him as if to comfort.

Lance turns to Lena. “You haven’t taken back your memories?”

“That’s correct.” Lena nods in confirmation. “I’m sure you can understand why.” Her tone momentarily gets soft.

Lance runs a hand through the messy mop of hair on his head. “I still don’t see what we can do about any of this, with or without our memories of Camelot.”

He says the name of the long lost place like he’s trying to speak a foreign language for the very first time, awkward and stilted.

“He’s got a point.” Lena turns to Merlin and gives him a look. “In most situations, having more people behind you is better, but we don’t know what we’re doing or what we’re up against. Well, we do but not really.” She shrugs. “Adding people now is just asking for trouble and asking for innocents to be hurt.”

Merlin’s face hardens and he gives a short nod.

“We won’t put you all in danger.” He firmly says. “Morgause is after Lena first and foremost. Killing me will just be a bonus, payback. I don’t trust she won’t go after other people she recognizes from Camelot, though. So, I would request all of your permission to put some magical shielding over you. You won’t feel anything, I just want to hide you all from her.”

“I’m with you in this, Merlin.” Arthur tells him. “Don’t you dare shut me out.”

“I figured as much.” Merlin sighs.

“If you wanted to keep me out of it, you shouldn’t have given me my memories back.” Arthur snips, a biting tone to his voice “You brought this on yourself.”

Merlin ruefully smiles. “Of course I did.”

—————

It’s not like Lena wants to confront Morgause, but she doesn’t want to sit around and wait for her to return. They’re steadily approaching the building that houses Pendragon Group, Lena hopes they can lure Morgause outside, no one needs to be needlessly hurt because of her sister's vendetta.

Why can’t she ever have normal siblings in any sort of timeline?

She feels Kara reach for her hand to give it a reassuring squeeze, Lena turns to her girlfriend and smiles, watching her adjust the glasses on her face. No need to go in full guns blazing.

They’re walking toward the large glass doors when Morgause walks out. “You’re not the Noonan’s I ordered.”

The tone of her voice is dry and glib in a way that seems forced, especially with the smirking smile on her face. She would be rather pretty if she wasn’t so ugly on the inside, Lena thinks.

“How long did it take you to think of that one?” Merlin snarks.

They haven’t exactly come en masse, but they aren’t really short handed either. Lena and Merlin have been working on their offensive spells and she’s been getting better at using her instinctual magic. Kara is of course ready to be fully suited up at a moment’s notice. The others are on standby, Nia, Brainy, J’onn, and Alex all hooked into the comms, waiting. Arthur refused to stay away, but Merlin convinced him to stay inside the building to protect his father. They aren’t taking any chances trying to guess what Morgause has planned and it seems like a good idea to keep her in the dark about Arthur having his memories back.

Morgause doesn’t deign to answer Merlin, instead keeping all her attention on Lena. “So, maybe you’re here to finally listen to reason and learn the truth.”

Lena clenches her hands into fists as she glares at Morgause. She wants to wipe that awful smirk off her face so badly. “Hardly,” The brunette glowers, her green eyes intense and stormy. “What part of, I don’t care about anything you have to say, don't you understand?”

“Pity.” Morgause shrugs. “You could be great, you know, the two of us side by side.”

“You know I’ve been pretty great without you by my side.” Lena fires back, quickly getting tired of this cat and mouse thing between them.

There have been many moments in Lena’s life where she’s felt like she’s a part of some cheesy movie or TV show. This is definitely one of those moments. Morgause sounds like a stereotypical villain. Lena is half expecting her to start monologuing like her brother at any moment.

“Do you think she ever gets tired of saying the same things over and over?” Merlin asks.

Lena snorts in amusem*nt. “If she did, wouldn’t that have happened already?”

“All talk, no action.” Merlin taunts. “I think that’s why she’s so obsessed with you, Lena. Cenred, Morgana, hell she even almost managed to get Arthur to kill his father. She never had the guts to do her own dirty work.” His grin turns into something sharp and feral. “Now, Nimueh. Oh, now she was a High Priestess worth fighting. I killed her when I was just sixteen and couldn’t even control my magic properly yet.”

This was part of their plan. Merlin forces Morgause’s focus onto him, distracts her, then Lena and Kara come in to finish her while her magic is otherwise occupied. Morgause falls for it, hook, line, and sinker.

“Emrys!” The name is half-unrecognizable, swallowed by a scream of rage.

Kara takes her cue, slipping away to suit up as Morgause and Merlin’s magics clash. The golden glow in Merlin’s eyes is familiar by now and it makes the fact that Morguase’s own glow is slightly different all the more obvious. It’s tickling something in Lena’s brain, that sickly green undertone.

She’s pulled from her thoughts by a shout of pain from Merlin. He’s being pinned to the neighboring building, his spine directly on the sharp corner, face twisting into a grimace. Of course Lena knows he isn’t limitless, but Merlin is powerful and something is wrong with the way he’s being subdued. She can see the magic glow spilling out of his squinted eyes.

Morgause is laughing, her hair a swirling mess of tendrils in the wind kicking up around her. Her whole body is surrounded by a green-gold glow.

“You underestimate me for the last time, Emrys.” Morgause seethes. “You will pay for your crimes against magic. For Nimueh. For me. For allowing yourself to become the kept pet of a Pendragon!”

“Merlin!”

Arthur. Lena doesn’t know where he got that broadsword he’s brandishing, but it looks right in his hands, like it belongs. Excalibur , a deep and hidden part of herself whispers.

“If it isn’t your little master.” Morgause giggles gleefully.

“You leave him be, Morgause.” Arthur snarls. He’s either very stupid or very brave, Lena thinks, or most likely a combination of the two.

“Ha!” Morgause lets out an incredulous, punched out laugh. “He remembers! That will just make this all the sweeter.”

Lena feels the instinctual magic building within her, but before she can let it go Morgause is tossing Merlin aside and into Arthur, sending both men reeling off into a crumpled heap.

“Where’s your other little protector, Miss Luthor.” Morgause sing-songs, turning her attention back to Lena.

Okay, so Plan A is a bust. Fine. She can work with this.

“I think you’re forgetting who exactly beat you the last time.” Lena growls, the magic inside her is building, her eyes are burning.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” Morgause simpers, “but I will if I have to.”

Then, several things happen in quick succession.

“You won’t get the chance!” Kara proclaims as she swoops over in full Supergirl gear, her brow furrowed in determination.

Morgause turns toward the new intrusion, allowing Lena to finally fully see the stone that’s embedded into her belt buckle.

Lena feels a wave of recognition run through her at the sight of the stone, the way it glows, the green tint in Morgause’s magic.

Kryptonite.

“Supergirl Look out !”

The warning comes too late. Kara is within range of the influence just as a blast of kryptonite-powered magic hits her square in the chest and sends her tumbling to the ground so hard the street dimples and cracks. Kara’s golden skin looks sickly, green spreading through her body, her veins glowing as the hero writhes in intense pain. Lena is the distracted one now, her entire focus on getting to Kara, keeping her safe. Morgause’s magic seems to come out of nowhere, pinning her in place.

“Kara…” Lena whispers to herself and feels a tear roll down her cheek.

“I have tried to be kind.” Morgause grinds out, coming closer as Lena struggles to break free. The kryptonite must be giving her more power. Lena suddenly remembers how Merlin’s eyes turned that same green when his wards were under magical attack while they spoke to Florence.

“I tried to give you the choice,” Morgause continues, stepping even closer, “But my patience has run thin. I will have my sister returned to me one way or another.”

Then, all Lena feels is pain. It’s like someone has taken a saw to her skull, pried it open, and stuck a drill into her brain. Someone is calling to her, she can feel it, almost taste it. Images and feelings and memories bombard her with no end. She feels joy. She feels sadness. She feels twisting, warped hate. It all burns.

She isn’t even aware that she’s crouched down to the ground, wrapped her arms around herself like it will protect her from the onslaught.

Slowly it fades into a dull thump of her heartbeat in her temples. She uncurls herself, stands, takes a breath. There is so much in her head. She sees Kara, weak from kryptonite and reaching for her. She sees Merlin half-conscious and bleeding sluggishly from a cut on his forehead cradled in Arthur’s arms. She sees Arthur’s wide-eyed and frantic stare. She sees Morgause, triumphant.

“Welcome back, Morgana.”

Arthur sits there frozen. For a moment, it feels like time has stopped around him and the world goes quiet as he watches Lena get hit with a spell before falling to the ground. He gasps, the long dormant chivalrous knight inside him wanting to do something, but Merlin is cradled in his arms while another voice in his head warns him to stay back.

What has Morgause done to her?

He might not know Lena well, but in this short period of time, he has grown to like her. Lena reminds him of the Morgana he lost before she died, the woman she may have become if she had a proper chance.

He keeps his eyes on the younger woman, gaze flitting between her and Merlin, heartbeat speeding up when he watches Morgause approach her slowly and calmly. Then, he looks at Supergirl pitifully trying to reach toward Lena, the green veins in her skin becoming more intense as she does.

He watches the horrible smirk spread across Morgause’s face as she looks at Lena’s fallen form, speaking words that make his blood run cold.

“Welcome back, Morgana. ”

Is that what she’s done? Forced the memories onto Lena she so desperately didn’t want to take? Of course she did, the woman is a lunatic and apparently desperate as hell.

If she has, does it mean Lena Luthor is lost forever? The strong business woman, who has an incredibly kind heart beyond her sh*tty circ*mstances. His grip on Merlin’s shoulders increases for a moment, watching Lena and wondering what she’ll do. If she’s even still there.

This whole plan has gone completely off the rails.

It feels like the whole world is holding its breath. For several long, terrifying moments, Arthur is completely convinced he’s going to have to fight his sister again.

“M’gana.” Merlin mumbles. “No, sh-she…Lena.”

Arthur has pretty much forgiven Merlin for giving his memories back without consent. Sure, it was confusing for a while and he doesn’t quite know how to consolidate the two versions of himself, but he’s much better with it now. However, the feelings of exasperation, concern, and frustration for his manservant and worry, fear, and love for his boyfriend putting himself in harm’s way all twine together in Arthur’s heart. It’s horrible and wonderful all at once. Before he can do anything, possibly try to stop Merlin from exacerbating his injury, the warlock struggles to his feet with Arthur not far behind, Lena—Morgana?—speaks.

“I remember.” She says, her voice filled with awe and pain. “I remember all of it. The fear, the pain, the loneliness.”

Merlin takes a struggling step forward. “Lena.”

She doesn’t seem to be listening to him, staring down at her hands as if seeing them for the first time. “I remember feeling so lost, so in the dark.”

“I brought you to the light.” Morgause says, but Lena isn’t paying attention to her either.

“I remember so much suffering,” she continues, “but do you know what else I remember?”

She looks back at Merlin, who takes another desperate step forward. She looks directly at Arthur and he doesn’t allow himself to wither under her gaze, as much as he would really like to. She looks at Morgause, who is triumphant and joyous.”

“I’m Lena f*cking Luthor,” Lena growls, “and I am not to be messed with.”

Power crackles in the air and surrounds her, her eyes glowing hot and golden. Morgause doesn’t even get the chance to move before it strikes her, lifting her into the air, and freezing the look of shock on her face.

“Yes.” Merlin whispers. “Yes!”

He’s rushing forward before Arthur can stop him, stepping easily through the magic swirling around Lena. She looks at him as he places a hand on her shoulder, grounding. Then his eyes are glowing, too.

“You are so strong.” Merlin says, reverently. “Let my power be your anchor. I am Emrys, I am the last Dragon Lord, I am magic itself. Morgana Pendragon, Lena Luthor, the true High Priestess of the Old Religion. Let us be what we were always meant to be. Allies. Friends. Use my power as you need and finish this .”

All of the years Merlin has lived are suddenly visible on his face, worn and lined and impossibly old.

“I don’t need your permission.” Lena tells him.

Merlin laughs. “Nope. But you have my blessing.”

“I don’t need that either.” Lena says, but she’s smiling. Merlin doesn’t even reply.

Arthur watches in awe, once again Lena’s green eyes flash gold as she focuses her attention on Morgause once more.

“You dare hurt my family! Those I love!” Another blast of energy wraps around Morgause like a tight, golden coil. “You’re going to regret what you’ve done Morgause.”

The hand Merlin had on her shoulder also glows, pulsing like a heartbeat. The magic surrounding Morgause does the same.

“Sister.” Morgause tries.

Another burst of energy and her mouth slams shut, her eyes flashing weakly with an attempt at magic that is quickly quashed.

“Lena.”

The pain in Supergirl’s voice draws the Luthor’s attention, although the magical hold on Morgause didn’t waver.

“Don’t be a killer.” Supergirl grinds out, obviously struggling and in pain. “Not for her. She’s not worth it.”

“It’s your choice.” Merlin adds softly. “I support your decision.”

After a moment, Lena gives a small nod and turns her attention back to Morgause. She takes several steps closer to the other witch, holding her angry gaze firmly and without wavering.

“I wish it didn’t have to be this way.” She says. “I wish you could have just let the past go. It never goes well when you hold a grudge. I don’t know how you got your memories of Camelot back and I certainly hope it was less painful than what you put me through. Because I’m sorry Morgause, but this is going to hurt.”

There is no indication of what she is going to do, just the crackling of magic and then Morgause is writhing, her shouts muffled by the power keeping her mouth closed. It seems to last forever and yet no time at all, the surge of magic burning so bright by the end that Arthur squeezes his eyes shut and turns away lest it blind him.

When it’s all over, Morgause is in a crumpled heap on the ground. The green stone in her belt buckle is gone, either shattered or disappeared. Lena and Merlin are leaning on each other, both panting as if they had run a marathon. Arthur finds himself rushing forward, suddenly desperate to get to Merlin’s side. He sees Supergirl doing the same for Lena, although of course she gets there much faster than Arthur. He’s only human after all.

“Is she…?” Supergirl whispers, rising slowly, her eyes on Morgause’s still form.

“She’s alive.” Lena replies. “She’ll be fine. Physically, anyway. I took all of Morgause’s memories out of her.”

“It was rooted pretty deep in her mind.” Merlin murmurs, moving from leaning on Lena to leaning on Arthur. He wraps an arm around Arthur’s waist, hand splayed on his hip. Arthur’s arm goes instinctively around Merlin’s shoulders.

“Something about her use of kryptonite to increase her power twisted something inside her.” Lena explains. “The person she used to be before Morgause’s memories came to the forefront was still there underneath, but it’s been a while. I don’t know if she’ll recover.”

“We’ll do what we can for her.” Supergirl says firmly.

“After we take care of you.” Lena bends down beside her. “We need to get you back to the Tower, I’m worried about the effects of magic infused with Kryptonite on you, Darling.” Lena cups Supergirl’s chin gingerly.

“Darling?” Arthur’s brow rises.

Lena startles slightly, looking over at him. She sends a look toward Supergirl, who gives a small nod.

“It’s Kara.” Lena tells him.

Arthur blinks and looks at Supergirl again. Now that Lena’s said it, it seems pretty obvious Supergirl is Kara Danvers.

“Oh,” he says, “And you two are…okay.”

Merlin snorts in amusem*nt and lets his forehead fall onto Arthur’s shoulder.

Lena chooses to ignore him, focusing more on brushing the blonde curls from Kara’s face.

—————

Once back at the Tower, Lena doesn’t want to leave Kara’s side while Alex check’s her over. She can barely think about all these new (old?) memories. Not when Kara is hurt and she needs her.

“I’ll be fine!” Kara insists, a pout forming on her lips.

“You need to rest.” Lena insists, looking to the elder Danvers to back her up.

“Her vitals are looking good.” Alex remarks, calmly looking everything over. “Even with the magic infusion it seems she’ll be okay.”

“Not helping.” Lena’s eyes narrow as Kara practically jumps up from the sun bed she’s been lying in.

“See!” The hero declares, her blue eyes turning to a fully concerned Lena. “How are you?”

Lena presses her lips into a thin line and offers a noncommittal shrug. “Alright, I guess…”

“Baby…” Kara reaches for her hand as Lena blushes.

She’s reminded that Morgana was never able to find love and for a long time, she thought she wouldn’t either. However, she has Kara, an absolute goddess of a woman who thinks the world of her. Tears spring to her eyes as she thinks about it before she’s quickly overwhelmed by a massive headache. A migraine straight from the depths of hell.

“Woah.” Alex reaches out toward Lena to steady her. “Ditch those heels and sit or lay down if you’re going to pass out on me.”

“I’m not.” Lena speaks through gritted teeth, squeezing her eyes shut, but glad to have Alex’s help.

She is very nearly proven wrong almost immediately as she stumbles. Luckily, she has a very strong girlfriend to catch her.

“Okay.” Alex says with a sigh. “Kara, please get your girlfriend to rest for once. I’m going to check on the others.”

None of them ended up severely hurt, but the Tower’s medical bay is certainly getting more use than it has in a while. Arthur appears to be a bit bruised from being tossed to the ground, but Merlin has a mild concussion and a few shallow wounds. Morgause, or the woman who used to be her anyway, they’re still trying to figure out who she was before, is of course the most affected. Brainy is currently attending to her, keeping an eye on her brainwaves to make sure she’s stable. Lena can see J’onn speaking with Arthur about something, the former king practically glued to Merlin’s side.

It’s odd, thinking of Arthur as her brother now. She remembers a lot of the good times they had together as children, the closeness and gentle teasing of youth. She much prefers him as a sibling over Lex. Then again, the bar Lex set is so low it’s underground, so she isn’t really surprised. Lena closes her eyes against the migraine still pounding in her skull, making everything she sees look like it has some kind of hazy film, every sound seemingly magnified.

“Your head?” Kara murmurs.

When Lena gives a short nod, her girlfriend gently helps her swallow a few pills. It takes several long minutes to take effect, even as the headache quiets to a dull roar, the migraine aura continues to swim in the corners of her eyes.

“Why can’t all these memories just settle?” Lena complains. “f*ck.”

“You’re trying to reconcile two lifetimes over a thousand years apart.” Kara replies with a shrug.

“Thanks for reminding me.” Lena grumbles as a shiver runs down her spine. She doesn’t feel any different since Morgause forced these memories back on her. Well, no different other than her magic received an exceptionally strong boost.

She still feels like her, like Lena. Before this she always feared one day something in her would break, a switch would flip and she’ll turn out as horrible as all the other Luthors.

Now?

Just because she doesn’t feel different now, doesn’t mean she’ll stay that way.

“So,” Kara says, drawing the word out, “does this mean I should call you Morgana now?”

Lena lets out a snort. “Definitely not. I’m still me.”

“Good.” Kara sighs happily, pressing a kiss to Lena’s cheek, “because I kinda like you.”

Even struggling as she is now with the concept of identity, the sentiment makes Lena feel warm.

“I kind of like me, too.”

She then grips the Girl of Steel’s chin to turn her face so their lips meet. Kara’s lips are soft, warm, and firm, Lena absolutely lives for her kisses and wishes they’d figured out their feelings long ago. But never mind that, they have each other now. Neither of them plan to go anywhere.

Lena tangles her hands in Kara’s mussed blonde curls and deepens the kiss.

“Am I interrupting something?”

Lena slowly pulls back with a sigh, turning to the voice when she sees Arthur standing there shifting awkwardly. “What do you think?” The brunette grumbles brushing her long, dark hair from her face.

“Right.” Arthur nods, looking awkwardly between Lena and Kara. “Well, I was hoping we could talk for a minute?”

Kara presses another chaste kiss to Lena’s cheek and slowly rises from the sun bed she’s been seated on. “I’ll leave you to it. I wanted to talk to Merlin anyway.”

Arthur takes the seat Kara vacates, his fingers twisting together in his lap. Lena remembers the Arthur of their young adulthood, the brash and confident prince who is so far removed from the awkward and anxious man sitting before her. It sets her head spinning. It seems Arthur is also a bit more like his current self than his past one which gives Lena a bit of relief.

“How are you feeling?” Arthur asks. “Silly question, I know, but humor me.”

“Scrambled.” Lena replies with a sigh. “Like my brain went through a blender.”

Arthur nods in understanding.

“Did it hurt for you?” Lena asks him. “The memories.”

“No.” Arthur says. “It was…uncomfortable and I had a headache for a couple days, but I think Merlin did everything he could to make sure it didn’t hurt. I’m guessing Morgause didn’t take the same precaution.”

Lena snorts. “Not even close. I suppose that’s the difference when it’s somebody you want to use as opposed to someone you love.”

Arthur’s cheeks flush pink at the last word and he rubs self-consciously at the back of his neck.

“Was that a thing? Back then, I mean.” Lena can’t help but be curious. She knows Arthur had truly loved Guinevere, but in hindsight he and Merlin were much more friends than master and servant after their rocky start. They were more like how Morgana and Guinevere had been. She then chuckles a little at how the universe put her and Gwen together yet again.

“No.” Arthur repeats. “At least, not from my end. I think Merlin’s always been…well, it couldn’t have been easy for him. For multiple reasons.”

They are both obviously remembering their father. Wasn’t that an odd thing, having another father? One who at least treated her with love and kindness despite being a horrible person deep down. Though Lionel wasn’t all that different, he’d been far kinder to her than either Lex or Lillian had been when he wasn’t drinking.

“And now?”

She’s thinking back to what Merlin said during the final confrontation, about him and Lena being destined to be friends and allies. Even with his bad decision making, not to mention the fact in her previous life he had tried to poison her, she likes him and wants him to be happy.

“Before the memory thing,” Arthur begins, “we were still fairly new, but I was already thinking of a future with him. Now with the added weight of the years we spent together, what we went through both together and apart, the way he looks at me sometimes like I’m the center of his whole world. It’s a lot, but it’s also…”

“Nice.” Lena finishes when he can’t seem to, knowing the feeling well. “A terribly inadequate word to encompass it all, but also the best fit.”

“Yeah.” Arthur nods, grinning at her. “I’m glad you have that, too. With Kara.”

Lena smiles at him as well. “You didn’t come over here to talk about our love lives, though.”

“Can’t you let me bask in it for a little longer?” Arthur laughs. “I missed you. I missed this. Even all the time we were against each other, I missed you.”

“I don’t think I set out to be against you.” Lena reveals with a small frown. “I was upset with Uther for lying to me and I was scared about my magic. Then Morgause was there being so accepting and open with me.”

“The year you were gone,” Arthur says tentatively, “did she, I don’t know, torture or brainwash you or something?”

“She certainly preyed on my weaknesses.” Lena admits, trying to parse through some of the still fuzzy memories. “But she was never outwardly cruel to me. There was possibly some manipulation and gaslighting involved.”

“How about now? I mean,” Arthur hurries to continue, “obviously you didn’t turn on Merlin or me. Not that I thought you would, I know you’re not evil. But evil is subjective and…I want...I just…f*ck, I’m really putting my foot in it, aren’t I?”

A laugh escapes Lena at his awkward fluster. In this exact moment, it’s hard to imagine him as a cool-under-pressure FBI agent, but Arthur has always been a bit of a softy under his knight’s armor so maybe it isn’t so strange.

Lena shrugs. “Like I said to Kara, I’m still me. I’m still Lena and while I haven’t had the easiest or best life, I think a lot of it has overridden the pain, loneliness, and heartache I experienced back then. I’ve learned that hurting others doesn’t help, even if you think it might. In the end, it only hurts you more.” The brunette wrings her hands as she carefully picks and chooses her words.

“Oh…” Arthur trails off slightly.

“I tried to strive for good then, but I lost my way.” Lena glances up to see the other Superfriends conversing with each other. She smiles softly before turning to look back toward Arthur.

“I’ve lost my way in this time, too.” Lena admits. “However, I’ve always been able to find my way home.”

She thinks of Kara, her guiding light, her beacon, the love of her life. A woman she sometimes thinks she doesn’t deserve.

“I think I know what you mean.” Arthur murmurs, his gaze moving as if pulled by magnets to Merlin. After a moment he clears his throat and looks back to Lena. “I hope we’ll be able to do that for each other as well. Home. We shouldn’t waste this second chance we’ve been given. Even if it means the world’s going to end soon.”

“End of the world,” Lena scoffs, “been there, done that. We can handle it.”

—————

It takes nearly a week for Morgause to awaken. By then they’ve discovered who she was before her memories returned. Morag Orkney, a school teacher from a little town in England who suddenly quit her job and disappeared nearly a year ago. She must have used some magic to get her position at Pendragon Group because the record of her employment began very suddenly without there even being a job opening waiting to be filled. There does not appear to be any trace of Morgause left within her and Morag’s memories of the past year are completely gone. She has no family left so there was nobody to miss her while she was gone.

As much as Morag is very different from Morgause, she’s kind and chipper and her experience working with kids actually makes her a great PA. Merlin doesn’t think he’ll ever get over how she looks. It’s more difficult for Arthur, who can’t suddenly stop visiting his father at work, but she has nobody else and it’s not like they’re going to just toss her out on the streets. Plus, Merlin wants to keep an eye on her just in case. One of many reasons why he’s decided to continue calling National City his home.

He might have come here just for Morgana, but now he has Lena to continue training, J’onn who appreciates getting a little magical help with his investigations every so often, and Lance who he finds himself falling into an easy friendship with just as he had before. Of course there’s Arthur and the whole “he will return when Avalon’s need is greatest” thing to figure out. He and Arthur are taking things slow, learning to trust each other and building back the closeness they had in both of Arthur’s lives. If they sometimes slip up and end up in bed together…well, that’s nobody’s business but theirs.

There are some perks to having befriended Lena as well, truly befriending. Sometimes Merlin wonders if this is what he missed out on long ago. The youngest Luthor is kind hearted, wicked smart, and has quite the sense of humor. Outside of their training sessions, they often spend time together while Kara is out patrolling and Arthur is stuck in the FBI office or on his own work missions. They are usually on Lena’s couch with some sort of alcohol in hand. Sometimes they talk about magic. Sometimes they reminisce about the past. Sometimes it’s just good, old-fashioned gossip.

Which naturally means Merlin gets to have front row seats to the mildly unsettling thing that happens to Lena at work.

“You’ll never guess whose resume came across my desk today.” Lena begins.

“For the new lab tech position?” Merlin asks, or rather confirms because they spoke about it not that long ago.

“Lab tech slash assistant.” Lena says. She pulls out the papers, neatly staples them together in the corner and hands them to him.

It looks pretty normal, at least as normal as the resume of someone who wants to work at an L-Corp lab can possibly look when you’re someone as science-illiterate as Merlin. Then he glances at the name of the applicant.

“No.” He says in a hushed whisper.

“I looked him up on LinkedIn.” Lena replies. “It’s definitely him.”

It really shouldn’t be surprising to see more reincarnated versions of people he knew in the past showing up, yet it is. Other than Merlin and Morgause, the rest of them had come together by pure chance. Gwen marrying Lance and Elyan being in the same frat as Arthur. Gwen becoming Lena’s assistant, on her own merits of course, and Leon being Arthur’s childhood best friend now work partner. They even recently discovered the police officer Arthur saw working out at his gym every day was Percival, or rather Percy Gallo, who even had a tangential connection to Lena through his occasional interactions with Kara. But this was a bit unexpected, especially in this setting.

“Gwaine?” Merlin breathes incredulously. “Gwaine is a scientist ?”

“And a good one, too.” Lena adds. “He received honors in every single degree and has a list of publications as long as my arm.” The brunette sighs before sipping her scotch. “Hell, he’s even been working at S.T.A.R. Labs in Central City for the last three years, it’s incredibly impressive.”

“Are you going to hire him?” Merlin asks, brow rising.

“There’s no reason not to.” Lena sighs, giving a shrug. “I can truly only see him being an asset to L-Corp in the grand scheme of things of moving things forward.” The CEO pauses before giving Merlin a look. “That look on your face concerns me.”

Merlin purses his lips. “I-I-I think I just can’t reconcile the idea of him being a scientist of all things.”

Lena snorts. “You still can’t grasp the fact my girlfriend is an all powerful alien.”

“Touche.” Merlin nods.

“There’s something else.” Lena says, a bit hesitant. “You know the new interns started today, too.”

“Oh yeah! The kid who works at Lance’s coffee shop.” Merlin says. “What was his name? Something old fashioned.”

“Morrie.” Lena sighs. “I didn’t recognize him before, I chose him for the internship six months ago. How could I have recognized him?”

“Hold on, another reincarnation?” Merlin laughs incredulously. “You have two of them. Okay. Who is it? Please don’t tell me it’s George. Of all the people to…”

“It’s Mordred.”

Merlin takes a long sip from his drink. “Oh.”

“Yes. Oh.” Lena drawls.

“So that’s everyone.” Merlin laughs without any humor. “All of the important players from Camelot are in one place.”

“Do you think he’ll be a problem?” Lena asks. “Mordred.”

Merlin bites his lip. “I don’t know. Last time, what happened with him…well, it was definitely another one of my mistakes.”

“Morgana certainly didn’t help.” Lena tells him, continuing her habit of not quite embodying her previous life despite having the memories of it in her mind.

“I was so focused on the prophecy about him being Arthur’s doom that I made it happen.” Merlin counters. “But yeah. That too.”

“We’ll both do better with him this time.” Lena resolutely says.

Merlin nods in agreement, raises his glass, and clinks it against Lena’s. “We will, maybe that’s why this is happening. We’re all finally getting a chance to do things right.”

Lena smiles softly. “That’s a nice way to think about it, I’m not sure I completely believe it…” She pauses, her green eyes drifting out her windows to the National City skyline. “But just maybe, certainly stranger things have happened.” The brunette snorts.

“You’ll have to tell me all about it at some point.” Merlin insists.

“You’d be here for the next five years.” Lena teases. “I swear, my life was…No, I take that back, I don’t think my life has ever been normal.”

Merlin laughs. “You think mine has? I was born with magic at a time where I would have been burned for it. Literally.”

“Normal is overrated anyway.” Lena says. “Then we wouldn’t have any fun.”

“You think the craziness is fun?” Merlin asks, raising an eyebrow.

“You don’t?” Lena questions, raising an eyebrow back.

“Sure.” Merlin concedes. “Much more fun when you’re not doing it alone.”

“So true.”

—————

Like energy, magic cannot be created or destroyed, it is simply present and innate. Perhaps not always active, but always there, dormant and quiet. Waiting to be called upon again. Power thought lost for centuries has time to flourish, to grow brighter. But when the lighter side is kept busy, practiced, consistently used, the power also has time to fester, to be consumed with rot and darkness.

Magic surges. The past is awakened.

Somewhere in the void, darkness pressing in and constricting, choking, endless and dark, someone awakens. Like the power, they have been dormant for too long, what is inside them, already twisted and becoming something beyond recognition.

Deep in the void and nothingness, she awakens. Nimueh, supreme High Priestess of the Old Religion, opens her eyes and lives once more.