Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin! Except for Jo. She's mine, MINE!

Merlin had had better days.

First of all, he was chained to the ceiling of Morgana's hovel. Secondly, said witch was staring at him with a smile that would scare children out of their wits (which meant that he was royally screwed- quite literally considering that her last name was 'Pendragon'). And thirdly, Nimueh was choking on laughter next to him. He didn't dare to look at her, considering that he had no desire to let Morgana know that he could see the deceased sorceress.

"Look at her!" sniggered Nimueh, smirking at the only living witch in the room. "Clueless as ever." Merlin noticed that Morgana's eyes narrowed slightly at that moment, but attributed it to coincidence. He was the only one who could really see the dead, after all.

On his other side, Lancelot released a pent up breath of frustration. "Nimueh, please," he muttered, exasperated. "This is bad enough without your comments."

"Oh come on," Nimueh scoffed. "Honestly, how can she not see it? I knew at once."

"Yeah," came Will's bored tone from behind him. "'Cept you were, what? Ninety something years old when you died? You had experience. Morgana doesn't."

Merlin was really wishing that they would shut up, but as usual the three (who always followed him around with more persistence than he did Arthur) continued on, oblivious to the discomfort on his face. Thankfully he didn't have to conceal it; he had more than enough justification for being uncomfortable with the situation, considering that Morgana was sending him a silent threat with her eyes. She had some dead visitors of her own: Uther (he grimaced; the man was sulking in a corner and didn't look ready to come out any time soon) and a girl with wild dirty blond hair who was currently reclining on one of Morgana's chairs, a bored expression on her face as she watched the proceedings.

"Please don't start railing about age, Nimueh," pleaded Lancelot. Merlin silently agreed; he'd heard the age rant from her numerous times already, and wanted to be spared from hearing it again. Nimueh huffed, affronted, but remained silent. At that moment, Morgana chose to speak.

"You know, there's one thing I don't understand about you, Merlin." As she said this, she moved around the room, grabbing a cloth and dousing it in a bucket of water, before approaching him and beginning (to his surprise) dabbing his wound with it. He gawked down at her, wondering if he was seeing things. "You're Arthur's servant, nothing more... yet time and again you've proved yourself willing to lay down your life for him."

"That's because he's-"

"Quiet, Nimueh!" said Lancelot, looking panicked, while Will shouted, "Shut up!"

Morgana's hand jerked slightly, making Merlin wince as her nails dug into the raw injury. Nimueh, meanwhile, sauntered over to Uther, a full blown sneer on her face. Merlin ignored this, choosing to focus on the real threat from the witch in front of him. Hoarsely, he croaked, "What're you doing?"

She scoffed. "What, you've never seen Gaius clean a wound before?"

"No," he replied, "I know what you're doing, I just want to know why."

In a sudden motion, she grasped his chin, forcing him to look at her. Quietly, she snarled, "I believe I asked you a question first." Her hand was cold as her voice.

(In the background, Nimueh was loudly taunting Uther; he didn't acknowledge her in the slightest.)

"I'd think that that one was obvious," drawled Will. He paused dramatically while Lancelot rolled his eyes. "Because it's Merlin!"

Merlin wasn't sure what to make of that comment, so he answered it as though he hadn't heard anything.

"I don't expect you to understand, Morgana. You have no sense of duty, no sense of loyalty..."

She paused. "You're wrong." Nimueh turned around and made a face at her that looked hilarious on the sorceress, and despite his situation Merlin found himself struggling not to laugh. "Don't think I don't understand loyalty just because I've got no one left to be loyal to."

This made Uther jerk slightly. He turned to her, eyes wide. "Morgana..."

Morgana's eyebrow twitched, and before Merlin really knew what was happening she had whirled around. "Shut up!" she screamed at him. His mouth dropped open as he realized that he wasn't the only one, that she could see them too. Once again, the two of them had something in common, and once again he could only pray she wouldn't notice.

"Oh," said Nimueh, blinking. She glanced over a Lancelot. "Is that why you told me to stop talking?"

"Seems that all sorceresses have intelligence problems," drawled the blond girl, speaking up for the first time. She jerked her head in the direction of Uther. "Want me to beat some sense into him?"

Morgana, who only just seemed to realize that she looked like she was insane, ignored the question, though Merlin could see that she was itching to say yes. It made him curious as to who the girl was, who could speak so casually to the witch without needing to fear her wrath. Her presence seemed to be tolerable to Morgana, at the very least. Perhaps the young woman was simply bored, which had been Nimueh's justification for haunting him.

She laid a hand on his wound, breathing in deeply. "Ic de durhhaele dinu licsar mid dam sundorcraeft daere ealdan ae. Drycraeft durhhaele dina wunda."

"Why'd she do that?" pondered Will aloud. "He could just do it himself."

At those words, every spirit aside from Uther froze, hoping against hope that Morgana hadn't picked up on the meaning of the statement. However, despite never realizing Merlin's magic, she was no fool. Her green eyes narrowed down to slits, and she looked past him at Will, who gulped.

"And just what," she hissed lowly, "Is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing!"

Her eyes slowly slid back to become fixed on his own again, this time with a calculating look that screamed danger."Merlin," came her low, dangerous voice, as she stepped forward until she was inches away from him. He fidgeted, wishing he could back away. "Is there something I should know?"

"I'm sure he thinks it's something you shouldn't know," sneered Nimueh. Merlin nearly groaned aloud. Just now, Nimueh was choosing the perfect moment to get her revenge for her death. That, he now realized, was her real reason for following him around so readily since the veil was torn. "He's only a boy who's destined to become the most powerful warlock Albion has ever seen- oops," she added, her wicked gaze sliding over to meet his, relishing in the betrayal there. "Did I say that out loud?"

Figuring that the jig was up, Merlin allowed his power to surge through him, burning through his eyes as the manacles holding him released him with a click. Morgana seemed to stop breathing, and the fury he had been expecting in her eyes didn't appear. Instead, he saw unadulterated terror there, and before he knew it she was stumbling backwards, nearly tripping over a stray pot.

"Thanks Nimueh," he said dryly. "Because I really needed Morgana to figure that out."

"You probably could've headed off her suspicions if you hadn't done magic just now," replied the ancient sorceress cheerfully. "She doesn't seem to think very highly of you, after all."

"Emrys!" choked out Morgana, still looking shell shocked. "No- no it can't... no..."

Deciding to project confidence, Merlin took a step forward, noticing that she stepped back as he did so. Almost all of the spirits in the room (minus Uther) suddenly decided that they were needed elsewhere, slipping out the door. Lancelot muttered, "Good luck," to him as he passed, while Will ran out looking as though he wanted to die again.

"Yes," he replied calmly. "I am Emrys, Morgana. The warlock spoken in the druids' prophecies as the one who will help bring magic back to the land." She was still shaking her head, shutting her eyes as though she could shut out his presence in her hovel. "The one who's thwarted all of your plans thus far. I knew that Agravaine had heard the name from you- the question is, where did you hear it from?"

"Cailleach," gasped the woman. He blinked; he hadn't been expecting that. The gatekeeper had spoken to her as well? "Doom..." Suddenly she straightened, molten gold replacing the pale green. "No!"

The next thing he knew, he was crumpled on the ground against the wall. Morgana summoned her dagger to her hand, striding over to him purposefully, looking almost crazed. "You aren't going to kill me. I won't let you!"

He extended his own power to the weapon, causing it to fly out of her hand into the fire. She froze once again, while he slowly picked himself up off the floor, wincing as he did so. Just what had the Cailleach told her that made her panic so much? He frowned slightly; the gatekeeper hadn't really spoken to him. She had only called out his prophetic name, and then later told him that it was not his destiny to die on the Isle of the Blessed- just before Lancelot passed through the veil.

Except that the consequences had been more than he expected. Now he was stuck being able to see the dead... and apparently, Morgana was too.

For a moment, the two of them stared at one another, breathing heavily, neither one yielding. Merlin had to remind himself not to get lost in her gaze, which stared at him imploringly, reminding him of the way she had once looked at him, when she was lost and alone. A twinge of sadness went through him, accompanied by regret.

The vision was lost as Morgana's formerly beautiful face twisted with rage. "All this time!" she shouted, her magic rearing and throwing a pot at him. He ducked, too accustomed to hiding himself to use his own. "All this time, you had magic. You could have helped me, could have taught me to control it, but no! No, you had to be selfish and use it for yourself. And then you poison me- why? If we were the same, why?"

Her had been decreasing in volume during her rant, and each item she magically threw at him had less bite, until the last question was no more than a whisper. Merlin had known just how personally she would take when his magic was revealed, but he hadn't expected this reaction. The screaming, yes, the throwing things at him, yes... but not the despondence that she currently possessed.

She didn't look up, but spoke again.

"Go on then, Emrys," she breathed, making him wince at the way she said his other name. "What are you waiting for?"

He jerked as though she had slapped him, knowing that his jaw had hit the floor. Morgana giving up? The two words used in conjunction weren't part of her vocabulary.

Ignoring the logical part of him, which said that what he was about to do was a very bad idea, he knelt down in front of her and hesitantly took her hands in his, gripping them tight enough that she was unable to pull away when she tried.

"I think you know that I can't," said Merlin just as quietly. "Even if I wanted to."

A bitter smirk appeared. "And common sense tells me that I'd be a fool to heal you, but I did anyway." Pause. He knew what she was waiting for.

"I was afraid Morgana," he began, noting the way her cheeks flushed in anger as he said this, but continuing before she could say anything. "Everyday I waited for Uther to somehow find out about me- or for Arthur to, and reject me for it. I've had this power all my life, and went for years without knowing how or why. When I was younger, my mother was terrified that I would give myself away. I was making objects fly left and right. By some miracle, only Will found out, but ever since I was born I've had to hide myself. I couldn't bring myself to tell anyone- not even you."

"You think I wasn't scared?"

"I know, Morgana," he insisted; he could see that she didn't believe him. The silence dragged out for what seemed like hours, with neither of them moving. He was tense, waiting for her to summon the dagger again and plunge it through his heart, while she waited for him to speak a spell that would end her life in a split second. In that time, neither of them noticed the blond girl poke her head through (yes, through) the door and breathe a sigh of relief, before leaving again.

"I thought I was the only one who could see them," said Morgana at last, making eye contact with him. "I thought I was out of my mind. But... strangely, it's kept me sane. Jo, she's been something of an anchor for me. Mocks me at every turn, but it's worth it."

"Who's Jo?" he prompted gently.

She didn't answer at first. "I knew her when she was much older than me. She worked in the kitchens. She never really talked to other people much, but I badgered her a lot. She started teaching me how to wield a dagger, until Uther found out and put her in the stocks for it. She wouldn't stand for that, so she left. I... she died soon after."

There was a part of the story that she wasn't telling him, but Merlin wasn't going to push her.

"I see that Lancelot's been following you, as well as Nimueh," remarked Morgana. "Morgause never did know who killed her... was it you?"

The matter of fact way in which she said that made him pull away abruptly again, looking away. There was no abhorrence in her eyes at the possibility- there was actually some fascination. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing. "Yes. I used her life to bring back Gaius."

A sharp intake of breath followed these words.

"You can-"

"-mirror life and death." She shrunk from him slightly at the darkness on his face when he faced her again. "Are you afraid?"

Her tone became sharp once more as she stood up, suddenly the witch again. "Don't be a fool," she muttered. "You're supposed to be my destiny and my doom. How do you think I feel?"

His eyebrows shot up, and he too rose to his feet. "Is that what she told you?"

She laughed mirthlessly. "'The one called Emrys will walk in your shadow. He is your destiny, and he is your doom.' Her exact words. So, I'm still waiting. But-" She frowned suddenly, looking confused, before understanding dawned on her face. "That old man- the one who took the blame for Gwen- that was you?"

"Not one of my better days," mumbled Merlin- just like today.

"And... all those times, when Camelot somehow managed to get out of these impossible situations..." She began pacing back and forth. Merlin took a moment to reflect on the strangeness of the situation- that he and Morgana, of all people, were having a civilized conversation. "How didn't I see it before?"

"There are advantages to being thought of as an idiot," said Merlin lightly.

"Obviously you're not," muttered Morgana.

"Thanks."

"Unless it was you who released the Great Dragon," she spoke up suddenly. "In which case I revoke my earlier statement. What were you thinking? Oh, wait- you weren't."

"You know for some reason it's only when you're mocking me that I see the similarities between you and your half brother."

She didn't respond to that, though it made Uther glance in their direction. There was another long silence, in which Morgana's pacing slowed somewhat.

"I didn't know, you know," she said softly, glancing at him. "What Morgause was planning, when she was attacking with the knights of Medhir. If you had told me..." She seemed to hesitate for a moment, before plowing on with a determined air. "But there's no point in dwelling on it, is there? What's done is done. I suppose I should be thanking you, anyway."

He blinked. "For what?"

She smiled, and he almost winced openly at the cruelty that twisted her mouth. "I may have... helped, somewhat, but it was you who killed Uther in the end."

He didn't gift that statement with a response.

Still with the smile on her face, she asked, "So, how did you end up with those three following you around?" Her face twisted in disgust. "Uther came here a day after he died. He won't leave... and Jo's been here from the beginning."

"It's a bit of a long story."

"I've got time," said Morgana, sitting down in one of her chairs and squirming in a rather undignified (adorable- no Merlin, she's your enemy) fashion to get comfortable. Resigning himself to the task of speaking possibly for hours, Merlin sighed and sat down across from her, still wondering at her being somewhat hospitable.

"Well, I guess it started when you tore the veil..."

Lancelot didn't think he'd ever seen a stranger crew.

He'd gradually grown used to Nimueh and Will, since they also stubbornly followed Merlin around as he did (Nimueh did so somewhat obsessively), but the blond woman was something else. Her sarcastic, verbal sparring had been ongoing with the sorceress for some time after they'd left the hovel to give Merlin and Morgana some privacy. Will looked like he was rather enjoying the show.

"So you aren't stalking him?"

"I'm observing him."

"That's stalking. It's creepy. Get a life, no pun intended."

Nimueh sneered. "Oh, and just how long have you bee following Morgana Pendragon around?"

Jo reclined against a tree root. "At least I have the decency to not stare at her while she's sleeping."

"I do not-"

"Yeah, you do," Will interrupted. "It's creepy. She's right."

Nimueh shot him a dirty look before resuming her glaring at Jo, but seemed unable to find anything else to say. Jo couldn't have looked more bored, in Lancelot's opinion.

"So," drawled the blond woman. "How did you three end up chasing him?"

"I wasn't about to leave him alone," muttered Nimueh. "Not if it meant haunting him for the rest of his days."

"Creeepyyyyy," sang Will.

Lancelot sighed. "You might as well start, Nimueh. This could take awhile."

And once again, my insanity rears its ugly head. Hooray for being sidetracked! Yet again. Seriously, this is like my sixth story. Have I finished any of the other ones? Not even close. Oh well. I write what I want!

You're probably all thinking "Uh...". Want to know why I wrote this? Because after rewatching series one, I decided that I liked Nimueh. Then I decided that writing dead/harmless/insane Nimueh would be fun. Seriously, I think once you get past her evilness, you'd find that she's batshit crazy. And remembering what The Darkest Hour was all about... heehee.

So yes, Merlin and Morgana can now see dead people. They don't like it very much. Is this crack? I'd like to think that it isn't, but I suppose, if you wanted to interpret it that way... yeah. Does this mean that it will be M/M romance? Hopefully I'll get there eventually, but it'll be veeerrryyy slooooow. Because their relationship is something I believe would take time.

As for other deceased characters, I have a few ideas on how to incorporate them into the plot. For now, though, the main ones are Nimueh, Will, Lancelot, and Jo. Please don't kill me for using an OC... I can't get her out of my head! You're welcome to give me suggestions, if you want. I'll let you know if I've thought about it or not.

There will be an indeterminable number of chapters that catch the story up to the present time, generally following the first five episodes of Series 4 (with both major and minor twists). It's like the Odyssey! (not.)

Next time: The veil is torn! DUN DUN DUN! Oh, and Merlin gets the living (HA!) crap scared out of him by Nimueh.

Review, please! Love you all!