A/N: Written to celebrate 400 followers on Tumblr. I had rather too many different requests to include them all in one fic but, in the end, I went for the most popular; Mergana, of course. Fairly inevitably the planned one-shot quickly became a two-shot.

Takes place after 4x11 and will go AU after that. Yes, that's right. For once I'm not going to be a slave to canon. I hope this makes you happy. :D

Remember Our Future

Merlin had had enough.

His attempts to warn Arthur about Agravaine had failed, as had various attempts to beat or subdue Morgana. And so, asking for a week off in order to visit his mother, the young warlock headed towards Morgana's hovel, determined to deal with this threat once and for all.

He didn't expect his mission to take long, but only asking for a couple of days wouldn't have made sense if he were to journey all the way to Ealdor and back. And so, with far more confidence than he'd felt for a very long time, Merlin headed towards the small, partially concealed cottage, not bothering to change into Dragoon, with the words of the spell already on his lips.

Why this particular enchantment? Why not one that would kill her? He could not answer that. Dared not answer that. All he knew was that, right now, this seemed like the perfect solution to all his problems. A spell that would ensure that she remained alive whilst simultaneously making certain that she would have no desire to harm Arthur or him, ever again.

Yes, he decided, ignoring the little voice of doubt in the back of his mind - sounding worrying like Gaius - this was the perfect spell.

Merlin kicked open the door of the hovel and stormed in, his eyes burning with determination. Morgana looked up from the book she was reading; shocked and surprised, but soon recovered, quickly standing and throwing a spell his way with a mere flash of her eyes. Quite unconcerned about revealing his magic to her, Merlin quickly blocked her attack and threw his own spell straight back at her.

She ducked, falling behind her desk with a clunk.

"Merlin?"

Her voice sounded as sceptical as it did shocked. It would be even more helpful if she didn't believe it was truly him in the first place – if she thought this was some sort of illusion or doppelgänger. So he said nothing as her heard reappeared and he threw the spell at her for the second time. Something reflective caught his eye and he attempted to duck, simultaneously casting the spell again, just to be quite certain it had hit its target.

Then everything went black.

~o~0~o~

It felt like awakening from a dream. Slowly the room came into focus and Merlin shook his head, trying to work out where he was and what had just happened.

He was standing over a cooking pot, apparently in the act of serving himself some stew. Such an ordinary, everyday action and yet he was immediately on his guard, sensing something was very wrong. He was mostly dressed, he noticed, except for missing shoes, neckerchief and jacket. The basic hut he was in felt worryingly familiar and he turned around very slowly and nervously, trying desperately to remember something.

Why was he here and, more importantly, where was Morgana?

"What going on?" His rhetorical question was the quietest of whispers, despite his shock. The hovel was neat and seemed far more welcoming than it had the last time he was here. A fire was burning merrily in the hearth and there, curled up under the covers of the bed, was Morgana.

"What is it, Merlin?" she asked sleepily. "Come back to bed. I'm cold."

"What...?" He just stood there, staring at her dumbly for a moment before attempting to find his voice. "Yeah, just … putting more wood on the fire."

"That's a good idea," she mumbled.

Merlin tried desperately to find his memories but nothing came. He couldn't even recall why he'd come here or when he'd come here. He remembered being here once before – tied to a beam when Morgana had captured him - but, that wasn't now. His shoulders felt a little sore, as did a few other parts of his body, but nothing like the horrible pain he'd suffered when he'd been a prisoner here before.

A hint of more recent memory returned; him kicking open the door – hand raised ready to cast a spell but, nothing else. He shook his head, fear continuing to bubble up inside him until it turned to panic and he hurried to put on his boots and jacket, searching desperately for his neckerchief.

Unable to find it nearby, he backed slowly out of the door of the hovel and soon discovered his horse calmly tied up outside tucking into food that had obviously been recently left. With another fearful glance back at the hut, Merlin quickly mounted the horse and rode home to Camelot as fast as he could.

~o~0~o~

A knock on the door caused Morgana to suddenly sit up in bed with a start, surprised to find herself naked. What was she thinking? She always slept fully clothed in order to be instantly ready for any emergency that might come her way. She threw a quick spell at the closed door, ensuring it was fully barred before calling out.

"W-who is it?"

"Agravaine. My lady, are you well?"

She scrambled out of bed and searched for her clothes – confused to find them hanging neatly up on the other side of the hovel. It made absolutely no sense.

"What are you doing here?" she asked as she opened the door to Arthur's uncle. Something was very wrong. She felt very odd and could not remember how she had ended up like this. Couldn't remember anything that had happened recently at all.

There was a long pause. "It is Tuesday evening, Morgana. I always come to visit at this time."

"Tuesday?" That wasn't right. Surely Agravaine had only just left a couple of days ago.

She opened the door and tried to maintain her usual casual demeanour around the man, although she was fairly confident it wasn't working.

"What is it, Morgana? What's wrong?"

"I'm not sure … I think… I think Merlin was here."

"Ah, I believe you're still suffering from the effects of that fall after Emrys attacked you," Agravaine said, genuine concern evident in his voice. "Merlin was indeed here at that time – you imprisoned him – put a creature in his neck to subdue him."

"Yes." She frowned, desperately trying to remember something. "But that … that was some time ago."

"It was, yes. Anyway, Merlin's just recently left to visit family. He is due back at Camelot soon, in fact."

"Then you should be certain you're there when he returns," she retorted, a hint of the usual fire returning to her voice. "That boy is not to be trusted."

"On that we agree then but, never fear, despite Arthur's affection for his servant he will still not believe him over his devoted uncle."

"No, Arthur always did value family first and foremost." Morgana made her way back to her bed, still feeling strange. She would think she was ill except that she couldn't remember when she'd last felt quite so relaxed and healthy, despite suffering from a few strange, unfamiliar aches.

"So, do you have any further instructions for me, my lady?" Agravaine asked.

"No, not today. Come again next week – unless something urgent occurs at Camelot in the meantime."

Agravaine paused, apparently not happy about being dismissed quite so quickly. "Are you sure, Morgana? Perhaps I could..."

"Go, Agravaine. Do I really need to tell you a third time?"

"No, no, of course not." With no further excuse, Agravaine left and she couldn't help but heave a huge sigh of relief once he'd gone.

Despite having apparently slept for most of the day, Morgana still felt surprisingly tired. Sitting back on her bed, she spied a piece of cloth lying on the pillow and froze, a sudden panic hitting her as she recognised it. He had been here. Now there was no doubt.

What was Merlin's neckerchief doing in her bed?

~o~0~o~

Her dreams were strange and erotic. Strong, calloused hands gently stroked her body, whilst soft, plump lips kissed her neck and her lips - warm air caressing her skin.

She had never experienced sensations like this before, awake or asleep. Even magic didn't feel as good as this did. Her own hands clung desperately to warm shoulders - nails clawing at skin - before moving up to slide through short, thick hair. The kisses became deeper and more desperate as his hands moved lower; caressing her breasts, then her stomach, before moving confidently between her legs.

"Yes… please..." She encouraged him, opening her legs wider, pushing his head lower so he could suckle at her breast.

The room was dark and so she could see nothing, but that was hardly necessary, they already knew each other intimately. He pushed roughly into her then and she cried out – more with delight than pain. Morgana had never experienced this in real life but here, in this dream, she knew it wasn't her first time – that he'd been here for a number days already and that this was just the way her life had been recently - a sudden freedom after the recent fear and uncertainty.

During the last few days and nights they had made love numerous times; on the bed, on the floor, up against the wall. So much desperate desire and passion. So much… dare she say it... love?

She would not attempt to remember his face or his name. She would not dare. She could not accept that she would ever do such things with someone she so despised. And yet, in her dreams, she felt nothing but love and desire for the man. Nothing but gratitude for all the good things he'd done for her recently and for how he'd saved her.

Saved her? That certainly made no sense.

Morgana woke up, hot and out of breath, her own hands now between her legs as she realised with certain clarity that what she was recalling had not been a dream. She now understood what that strange pain was that she had been experiencing since Agravaine had knocked on her door yesterday. Someone had made love to her in this hovel and they had both been entirely willing.

Why could she not remember exactly what had happened?

~o~0~o~

Part Two is mostly written so, it shouldn't be too long.