Hey! Still here!

Like 2 or 3 chapters left I think.

Here we go!

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or Bones.

"Talk to me about what?" Booth asked the scrawny man standing in front of him, his arms behind his back and feet slightly parted like he was standing at attention. Booth straightened his back and turned fully to Merlin, sending Bones a wary look before turning back to the servant. Merlin sighed before answering.

"Those legends you spoke of," he began, looking towards the floor to not make eye contact with the agent, partly because he didn't want to show his emotions of the topic and he was afraid for some reason. Maybe it had to do with the fact that these people thought a person named Merlin had magic in Camelot, which wasn't exactly false. But he couldn't risk letting them know the truth and telling his friends. But the agent said Camelot was gone, which had to mean that something happens to Arthur, that Merlin fails, otherwise how would the great kingdom the two were supposed to bring about just vanish. "What exactly happens to Arthur and Camelot?"

He looked up after a second to meet Booth and Dr. Brennan's slightly confused gazes. Booth's eyes narrowed slightly as he thought of a way to answer the question. Brennan sent her bewildered glare towards Booth. What on earth has been going on out in the Lab?

Booth crossed his arms and stared at the boy's face, who stared at the agent expectedly, trying to decide what to say. He couldn't very well tell the kid that his friend was going to die. Not only is that messed up, but it might screw with time travel. He didn't really know though cause the whole magic thing could rule out Back to the Future logic. But was why should he risk messing up the future? And even if he did tell him, whose to say that the stories were fact. For all he knows, all the stories were wrong. They said that the young man in front of him was an old wizard and he clearly wasn't. After a few moments without answering, Booth sighed before speaking with a wave of his hand.

"Uh, listen, kid, I don't think you should be listening to those stories. They're obviously wrong. I mean they said you were some old guy with a beard and a pointy hat, who shot lightning from his fingers. Clearly, we got the facts wrong," Booth said with a pointed look towards Merlin's beardless face.

Merlin stared at the older man with a dejected look before furrowing his brow as he tried to think of what to say next. After a moment he spoke again with a determined look towards Booth, "But you don't know. Maybe there are some parts that are correct, like what happens to Arthur and why Camelot falls."

"Yes, but I don't think you should know what might happen. What's supposed to happen, will happen," Booth stated. He nodded towards the door past Merlin before continuing. "Besides kid, your friend looks like he can handle himself pretty well. I'm sure you have nothing to worry about."

Booth gave a small smile, which was not returned as the servant stared at his feet. He could tell the agent wasn't going to share further, and Merlin, being Merlin, couldn't help but crave the knowledge of the future.

Merlin couldn't help but seek answers. It was his destiny to help Arthur, to protect him and Camelot, and here was the perfect opportunity to see if he failed in his task. He knew that it might not be a hundred percent factual, but it was something that could give him an edge over Morgana and destiny. To at least sort of know what was coming. If there was an even remote possibility that Camelot would fall, that he would fail, he had to know how to prevent it. He couldn't just pass this opportunity up. He wouldn't. Even if it meant revealing himself.

Merlin looked up, his eyes narrowing with purpose as he spoke.

"He needs my help in more ways than he can ever know."

Booth narrowed his eyes in return, only his were from misunderstanding. "Uh, what?"

Merlin sighed, his eyes closing and becoming lax as he did. Well, here it goes.

With an inhale of breath, his eyes slowly opened as his hand came up in front of him, palm facing the ceiling. His irises were painted fiery gold as a blue sphere of swirling light, no bigger than an apple, emerged from his hand and floated a few inches above his skin. One wisp of light broke off from the ball and twirled into the shape of a tiny dragon which began to fly around the heads of the occupants of the room.

It felt like an eternity of silence when it was probably only a few seconds, after the agent and the doctor gasped in astonishment before staring in amazement.

Merlin finally closed his hand, disbursing the light in a swift motion, and his eyes returning to their original sapphire blue. He clenched his jaw as he stared at the two strangers before him, staring at him like he had just grown a third eye. His eyes were wide with anticipation and a touch of fear as he stared at them in the silence. Perhaps I shouldn't have done that.

But I didn't really have a choice.

Dr. Brennan was, surprisingly, the first to speak. And to no one in particular.

"It's real," she whispered so quietly as she stared at her desk with wide eyes. Her mouth locked into a frown.

Booth sent her a look, but she didn't meet his gaze, instead choosing to stare at the piece of furniture longer. Booth, maintaining his wide eyes, looked back at the apparent wizard. His hands had dropped to his sides from the initial shock, so he crossed them once again, almost hugging himself to keep his composure, before inhaling to catch his breath back up to his thoughts.

"So the legends are right. You do have magic!" the agent said with a nod towards the man, his shocked expression never leaving.

Merlin paused for a second before giving a curt nod and frown. "Arthur can't know."

Booth, still shock from seeing real magic for the first time in his life, blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "Why? I thought you were friends?"

Merlin's eyes widened at the man's lackadaisical attitude to his life-or-death situation, but he quickly composed himself back to a neutral expression.

"He is my friend, but he's also the king of Camelot Magic is banned. Punishable by death," he looked Booth in the eyes with a stone gaze.

"Even if he wasn't king in a kingdom that hated my kind, he's been hurt by magic too much. He'd never accept the things I do. I'd be lucky if I didn't end up on the pyre…" Merlin wasn't yelling, but he was heaving by the end of his sentence, his voice laced with anxiety as he breathed in and out. He tried to recover by clenching his jaw so hard it started to hurt. He hadn't meant to get so worked up over the truth, but he couldn't help it. It was something that plagued his mind daily and it felt good to finally tell someone other than Gaius why he had betrayed his friends. He composed himself quickly, moving his hands back behind his back before looking at Booth once more, who was staring at him with a concerned look.

"I'm confused, why are you with people who want to kill you?" Booth asked. Merlin gave a half smile that almost met his eyes.

"I need to protect him. It's my destiny to protect him. He's supposed to unite the lands and bring peace and magic back to Camelot. And… and he's my best friend," Merlin said the last part as a whisper as he looked towards a bookshelf towards his left, the smile disappearing. He turned back to Booth after a moment. "Please, tell me what happens to him so I know how to protect him and my home."

Merlin sighed with desperation after pleading with the man before him. As he gazed, he thought about his friends and his home, and how desperately he wanted to keep both safe. How it was his duty to keep both safe. He thought about how he had just revealed his secret to two strangers from the future and could be facing death, but he thought gaining information on their future was more important. And oddly, like a sixth, well in this case seventh, sense, he felt like these two were trustworthy.

Booth, on the inside, was freaking out. He just saw magic, real magic. It was something he never thought he'd ever see, something he thought never existed until they opened the stones. He couldn't decide whether his inner child was filled with glee or the adult in him was scared from the unknown.

Booth stared at the man who looked and acted like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders, studying him. The raven-haired man couldn't have been older than twenty-two if that. He still looked like a kid, yet he stood there talking with a look in his eye like that of an old war veteran. Booth felt a shiver run up his spine as he thought of what this new acquaintance of his had done to give him that stare. He sighed again before speaking, his mind made up.

"It might not be true. I mean the stories say you were an old man and the king's advisor, not a servant, so who knows what else might be wrong," Booth said with a gesture towards Merlin. The servant subconsciously looked down before looking up.

"I understand," the Merlin said with a nod. "But knowing anything that might possibly give us the advantage could save us. Please, Agent Booth."

Booth looked into the young man's pleading eyes, and shook his head as he broke.

"Arthur apparently dies in a battle with this guy named Mordred," Booth sighed, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. He noticed the kid's eyes light up with recognition at the name. "I know Camelot disappears sometime after Arthur dies. That's all I can really remember, but there are other versions of the story, ones I haven't read, so that might not even be the way it happens. Plus it might not even happen that way now that I've told you."

Merlin's brow scrunched in puzzlement. "Why do you say that?"

Booth looked up slightly before rubbing his neck again. "You know. Time travel stuff."

"You have other dealings with time travel?" Merlin asked with wide eyes.

Booth quickly looked up, shook his head and waved his hands. "No, no, no. I saw it on TV. It's- uh, hard to explain."

Merlin stared at him with his head tilted to the side slightly before straightening out again, deciding to drop the subject.

"Thank you," he sighed, feeling a bit of the weight roll off his shoulders only to be placed with a new weight. His brow narrowed again. "You won't tell the others right?"

Booth rose a brow before giving a half smile and shaking his head. "No, bud. Your secret is safe with me."

Merlin nodded his head, smiling back in return before remembering there was another person in the room and frowning again. He looked at the anthropologist who hadn't moved from looking at her desk.

Booth followed his gaze. With a concerned look on his face, he reached his hand out to nudge his partner on the shoulder, whispering gently, "Hey, Bones."

Startled from her stupor, Dr. Brennan looked up to see the concerned face of her friend. She had been deep in thought, nearly oblivious to the conversation that had been going on around her. Magic is real. The same nonsensical thought kept bouncing around her head along with its rational partner: But magic can't be real.

But it was real. She had just witnessed the proof. The man created light from nothing. Created a dragon made of light from nothing! Right before her eyes! As much as she pined for another reason for what she had witnessed, nothing came to her. As much as she thought of it being a technology or special lighting or the idea that she and Booth had been drugged, she couldn't shake that feeling that occurred when the dragon made of blue light floated around her head like she was the sun. It felt warm, safe. It felt like Booth smiling at her, Angela hugging her, and her mother holding her again all at once. It felt wonderful, like nothing she ever felt before. It felt… magical.

She glanced over at the dark-haired man who was intently staring at her, before looking up at Booth with a small smile on her face.

"It's real Booth," she said as a whisper at first, her smile widening as she spoke. "Magic is real!"

Booth smiled in return, the concern leaving his face. "Yes, Bones its real."

Still wearing her smile, she turned back to Merlin, who was still rigid in his posture as he stared at her, waiting for her to speak. Booth turned to look at him as well, still wearing his smile, too. Her large grin turned into a small, knowing smile as she spoke. "We won't tell anyone your secret."

Merlin stared a second longer, getting a read on whether they could truly be trusted, before visibly relaxing and giving his signature, goofy grin at the partners. "Thank you."

They were interrupted by a man shouting outside the office. "Merlin!"

Not a second passed before Gwaine came into the lab, Angela right behind him. As soon as he saw Merlin, his intense stare quickly shifted to one of relief and glee. Angela also sighed in relief before sending the still smiling doctor and agent a questioning look.

"There you are!" He shouted as he clasped one friendly hand around Merlin's shoulder, looking him in the eyes with a large grin. "What were you thinking running off in a place like this! If the princess doesn't have your head, he'll have mine for not watching you!"

Merlin rolled his eyes before realizing he didn't have an excuse to be in the office. He quickly sent Booth and Brennan a pleading look, which both caught onto quickly.

"I'm sorry, I asked for his help- uh," Booth began, sending his own questioning look towards Bones, whose eyes widened before looking back at the knight.

"Help with getting me out of this office," she stated with a small smile. "I'm sorry for being rude earlier. I see now what is truly happening, and I want to help."

Gwaine stared at the pair for a second with a wary gaze, obviously not buying what was said, before turning back to his friend, deciding to just let it go for the time being since Merlin was safe. "Right, well we need you back in the- uh, big room? We've found the eye."

Merlin's eyes widened before looking towards his new friends. Booth held a similar expression while Dr. Brennan looked confused why they had been looking for the orb from the story. Booth sent a look that said he would explain later before nodding towards Merlin. Merlin nodded in return before turning back to the knight.

"Let's go."

See you in the next chapter!