Disclaimer: None of the recognizable characters from the movie or legend are mine. I make no money from this.

Time of the Heart

Delaney McAllister stumbled wearily through the trees, teeth chattering and muscles cramping.

Blood trickled and blocked her vision. Quickly she wiped it away with a corner of her cotton button down shirt. She leaned against a tree, gasping for air looking wildly around.

"I should be up to the highway by now." She muttered to herself.

She remembered the mountain road being slick with water and then swerving to avoid hitting an oncoming car. She remembered her stomach dropping as she spun through the guardrail and her car tumbled down the mountain side. Then she came to and it was dark and she was no longer in the car. Her purse was a few feet away from her and she was lying in a puddle of water with drizzle falling on her.

"Must be a freak spring storm." She said softly as she placed her hands underneath her armpits and walked some more. Her feet were cold and her legs throbbed. And she didn't know how far or how long she had been walking.

Laney fought the urge to just lie down and rest. Her vision would swim every once in awhile and she would pause by a tree until it righted itself. It was during one such moment that she swore she saw light up ahead. With a shrug of her shoulders she headed for it praying she wasn't hallucinating.

She eventually found herself nearing a small encampment. There were horses tied off to the side and a group of men were sitting around a fire. She was far enough away all she could see were black figures.

"Hail the fire!" Laney called, her voice hoarse. She cleared her throat again, "Hail the fire!" She said more clearly.

Laney had never been camping in her life, but she remembered her grandfather always said 'Hail the fire' when they would roast marshmallows outside in their backyard. All eyes were suddenly on her as the figures rose. Laney stopped, her vision swaying again, her hands held up to show she meant no harm. And then just as suddenly everything went black.

Dagonet went to the woman immediately, picking her up gently and carrying her close to the fire. Lancelot smoothed out his cloak for her and Arthur grabbed extra blankets from the others. The woman was dressed strangely, worn pants with the beginnings of holes in the knees were barely touching the cuffs of her leather boots. She had on what looked to be an over shirt with a shirt underneath and her hair was in disarray. There was a cut from her eyebrow to her hair line and her eyes were puffy and bruised. Her lip was swollen and split and there was an angry bruise along the bottom of her jaw.

All of them looked from her then to each other, she obviously was hurt and needed help.

Arthur looked to Dagonet. "Does she have a concussion?"

"Yes." He then ran his hands along the ribs, while listening to her breathing. "I feel a couple of cracked ribs, but her breathing is fine. They just need to be wrapped." He ran his hands along the legs and ankles then her arms.

"I can't detect any other breaks but look at this." He held up her hands for inspection. The wrists had bands of bruises upon them.

"Who do you think did this?" Arthur asked, staring at the mystery woman.

Lancelot was riffling through her bag and found a picture on a card. He rubbed his finger across it several times flipping it over and then back over again.

"Arthur, she's not from here."

"I gathered that by the manner of dress."

"No, Arthur, look." Lancelot gave him the bag and the card with a picture on it. "I don't think she's from our time." He said in a harsh whisper.

"Either way, we need to take care of the girl. We can't leave her out here like this."

"Remember what happened last time you rescued a damsel in distress Arthur. I do not believe Guinevere would be very happy if you brought home another woman."

"No, Lancelot, this time it's your turn."

"Pfft." They turned back to the girl. Dagonet had rolled her shirt up to below her breasts, her rib cage was riddled with dark red blotches. Lancelot helped lift her up as Dagonet wrapped a piece of linen tightly around her. He then gently laid her down again on the make shift pillow beneath her head.

Hoof beats brought his attention toward the rider that was just sliding off from a horse.

"And?" He asked raising an eyebrow.

"I followed her foot prints all the way back to a creek. I found where she was laying but no sign of whence she came. Of course, it could have been before the snow started."

"Such a mystery," Galahad murmured.

"Getting ideas already Galahad?" Gawain asked.

"You had better not be or I'll tell Kensey." Galahad shot back.

Laney heard voices in the distance. She tried to turn over and moaned as a fresh wave of pain ebbed through her. Suddenly the voices stopped. She opened her eyes and found 7 men peering down at her. She again tried sitting up and this time the man closet to her, a giant of a man helped her to a sitting position. He towered above her and he was sitting. He smiled kindly and the fire reflected a warmth to his gaze that made her feel at ease.

"I'm afraid I'm not myself."

"You are hurt, My Lady. You need rest. My name is Dagonet. your ribs are

cracked I did not find any other breaks just bruises."

"That sounds about right."

"Who did this to you, My Lady?" Another man was suddenly kneeling in front of her, his shoulders straight his dark hair barely grazing the collar of the shirt he wore underneath the metal of his armor. She felt her eyes grow wide, there emblazoned in the center was a gold dragon on a black back ground.

"My Lady?"

Laney quickly looked up at the man, his strong jaw scruffy with the beginnings of a beard. "I-I'm sorry, sir. I am trying to get my bearings."

"My name is Arthur Castus, My Lady. You have no need to call me sir."

"Arthur Castus?" Laney mulled over the name in her mind. She knew the name. Any scholar of Arthurian Legend worth their salt knew that name. However, her mind couldn't process how she had come to be in the time of Arthur. "My name is Delaney McAllister." She moved herself to a more upright position and winced when she brushed her hip against the tree trunk.

"You need rest, Delaney." A knight she hadn't noticed commented, his dark curly hair wet from the drizzle creating ringlets that fell between his eyes. "I am Lancelot."

Delaney barely gave a nod of her head. This had to be a dream. She hit her head even harder than she thought and she was dreaming. She smiled weakly, "No argument there. May I have some water?" A skin was quickly passed to her from another large man; not quite as large as Dagonet, "Thank you." She took a small sip, savoring the wetness then swallowed.

"You look like someone used you for a punching bag, girl." The man commented as he took the water skin.

Delaney smirked. "I feel like someone used me for a punching bag. So nice to know I look as bad as I feel isn't it?"

The man smirked. "I be Bors."

"Nice to meet you Bors." They went about their business leaving her to doze off and on. She sensed someone close to her and turned in the direction she thought he was. She winced as she did so.

"It's only me."

"Me who?" Laney asked, craning her neck to find the face to go with the raspy voice. A man with longish hair with braids spattered through out stepped from the shadows and into the moonlight. "Do you have a name?"

"Tristan."

He gave the impression that he wasn't the type for idle chit chat so she sat in silence. She slept in spurts waking up when she would try and shift and the pain would shoot through her.

"Do you know where my bag is?" She asked the stoic man next to her when she could take the pain no longer.

"Yes."

"Could you get it for me? Or tell me where it is and I'll get it?"

"Yes." With that he left then came back moments later with her purse.

"Thank you." She gently took her purse from him and then rifled through it. Ahh yes, her bottle of ibuprofen was still there. She undid the lid and quickly popped two pills, swallowing them gratefully. She noticed Tristan was watching her intently. "It's medicine to help with the pain and swelling." She handed him the bottle, which he took from her and began inspecting thoroughly.

Tristan was having problems with the child proof cap. Laney couldn't help but smile at him. "Press it down then turn."

He smirked when he got it open. He then took out one of the pills and looked at it just as intensely as he had the bottle. After a moment he put the pill back in the bottle, capped it and handed it back to her.

Laney then deposited it back into her purse and pulling the blankets about her drifted off to sleep