Jeremy Kane's attempt at a pleasant smile was rather appalling. "Good morning, Serena. What did you think of my article?"

It took Serena a moment to remember-God, had it only been last week?-the details of the malicious article that had proven to be such a powerful catalyst. Gazing at Kane, she wondered if he could possibly imagine what an incredible chain of events he had set into motion.

Still smiling amiably, she said, "I thought the article belonged in a supermarket rag, Kane. It had all the journalistic class of a story about the latest sighting of Bigfoot or Elvis."

Kane flushed an angry red. Harshly, he said, "I went to Merlin's office, but it was closed. Is he here?"

Bring him into the study, Serena.

She stepped back and opened the door wider, thinking how nice it was to hear that calm, resonant voice in her head. She felt very much connected to Merlin, and her awareness of that bond made her certain as his voice. Whether or not they had been successful in changing the society of wizards, together they definitely had found personal triumph.

Kane came into the foyer, looking around and then eyeing her warily as she shut the door behind him. "Where is he?"

"This way." She strolled into Merlin's study and took up a position near the desk as she leaned against the back of a leather wingback chair. She was situated perfectly to watch both men.

Merlin was in front of his desk and leaning back against it, with his arms crossed over his chest. His black eyes fixed on Kane as the older man entered the room-and there was a brilliance in them that Serena had never seen Merlin show to anyone in Seattle. It was the somewhat disconcerting look of a Master wizard: an almost hypnotic, unshuttered power.

Kane jolted to a stop a few feet from the desk, one hand reaching for his loosened tie in nervous gesture. He wore a slight frown and was clearly unsettled.

"Hello, Kane," Merlin said coolly. Even his voice was subtly different, so deep and vibrant it almost seemed to echo in the quiet room. "Is there something I can do for you?"

After a glance at Serena, the reporter said, "You might want to hear this in private, Merlin." His voice was blustery, the attempt to verbally dominate the younger man completely transparent and hardly successful.

"No, I don't think so. Anything you have to say to me can be said in front of Serena. She knows most of my secrets."

"Most?" Serena queried with interest. "You mean, I don't know them all?"

"Allow me to preserve some hint of mystery," Merlin said, turning his head to look at her. "I don't want to bore you."

"Somehow, I doubt that could ever happen."

"Perhaps not, but I'd rather be cautious."

"Well… if you insist. But you know, of course, that now I'm very curious. In spite of myself, I'll have to do my best to uncover your secrets."

Merlin smiled. "I think I'll enjoy that."

"Excuse me," Kane sputtered.

Looking back at their guest, Merlin said politely, "Do forgive us. You were saying?"

"I knew there was something between you two," Kane said victoriously, allowing himself to be led off on a slight tangent.

Merlin lifted an eyebrow with feint mockery. "Congratulations on your intuition."

"You aren't going to deny it?"

"Why on earth should I? What you see before you, Kane, are two-I believe the phrase is consenting adults-who are breaking no laws and harming no one. If there's a story in that, I'd like to know what it is."

"She was a minor when she came to live with you," Kane pointed out nastily.

"Which was nine years ago. Whatever may have happened between us then is definitely old news. In point of fact, I acted as Serena's guardian until she came of age, and there was nothing sexual between us. If you think you can prove otherwise, go right ahead."

Kane wasn't quite willing to wallow in the gutter to the extent of threatening to ruin Merlin's reputation with veiled accusations of impropriety, and his frustration was as visible as a cloud of steam.

Serena had to hide a smile. She was thoroughly enjoying the little scene, mostly because it was a striking indication of how much Merlin had changed since their trip through time. He was having fun with Kane, and that relaxed, nonchalant attitude was incredibly sexy; it made him seem very human, even as the vivid radiance of his black eyes was a reminder of the vast power under his control.

She didn't know what he had in mind for Kane, but Serena had the distinct impression that Merlin's solution for the problem the inquisitive reporter posed was going to be much more playful than it would have been before their visit to Atlantis.

"I've been digging into your background," Kane told the Master wizard finally in a defiant voice.

"Why?" Merlin inquired, nothing in his tone but courteous interest.

"It's full of weird things, that's why. Name me somebody else who was involved-to put it politely-in half a dozen mysterious cases of fire before he was out of elementary school."

"Richard, you didn't."

"You weren't the only one who had trouble with fire, I'm afraid," Merlin confessed to Serena gravely.

"And you had the nerve to rag me about it!"

"I was much younger at the time than you were, Serena. Much younger. And they were very small fires."

She sniffed disdainfully. "Yeah, sure."

Kane, clearly baffled, was scowling, and his voice broke a bit when he said, "There were other odd things too. I managed to track down a few of your schoolmates-"

"Who remembered me clearly after twenty-five years?" Merlin interrupted sardonically.

"Oh, they remembered you, all right. Most of them just said what they recalled was how incredibly lucky you were."

Serena looked at Kane with lifted brows, and asked in astonishment, "Are you going to hang him for that?"

"No, not for that! But I want to know how he's going to answer questions that have baffled quite a few experts for twenty-five years." Kane glared at Merlin. "Questions like-how was it possible that during the several years you lived in Chicago, three planes that should have crashed, didn't? Those planes were mechanically damaged to the point that all the experts agree they should have gone down. Even the pilots didn't know what the hell had saved them. And it's a funny thing. You were there all three times. Twice on field trips with a science class, and the third time about to leave on vacation with your parents."

Serena gazed at Merlin's calm face, thinking of a boy not knowledgeable enough to repair damaged planes in such a way that there would be no mystery for the experts, and yet powerful enough to bring the crippled aircraft down safely. Softly, she said, "So we can't repair the ills of mankind?"

He looked at her and smiled. "No… just a few engines here and there."

Kane was more than a little disconcerted by the exchange. He looked from one to the other, then blurted, "There were some other things-"

"Never mind." Merlin studied the visitor briefly, then sighed. "Have a seat, Kane."

Serena had a premonition. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" she asked.

"Why not?" Merlin shrugged. "After all, we really owe him a debt. If it hadn't been for his article…"

She agreed with a nod. "Yeah, but that doesn't mean we have to go overboard with gratitude. It wasn't like he had a positive motive for writing that piece."

"It's all right, Serena. Trust me."

She matched his smile, thinking about how both of them had come to value those two simple words. And since she had utter faith in Merlin's abilities, it was easy to accept his assurances.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Kane demanded, frowning. "I came here for a few answers-"

"You came here," Merlin told him pleasantly, "for a story. I don't know what you expected to find, and I doubt you were very clear on that point, but what you're going to get is the truth."