#mf29

"They're back." he said, not noticing how close you were to having a minor cardiac arrest.

You didn't need to ask who. The sounds of marching had got louder, and the cool crisp voice, unmistakably Thranduil, rang through the cold morning air.

"If the dwarf won't give us what we want. We will have to take it by force!"

You closed your eyes and sighed loudly, earning a concerned look from Legolas. You knew that Thorin would refuse to give Thranduil the gems. Of course he would, he was a dwarf, and if dwarves were anything, they were stubborn.

"I knew it..." you muttered to yourself, and Legolas gave you a confused look. Despite having stepped back from you, he was still only two feet away from you, the alleyway that you were hiding in was small and cramped, and you could feel the heat coming from his body.

"Thorin refused," you explained, and he made a face, "Looks like your father's not happy."

"My father is never happy," Legolas replied to you, and the corner of your mouth quirked up into a smile, despite the circumstances.

"Well let's see if I can change Thorin's mind."

He rolled his eyes, obviously still unhappy with your decision to confront Thorin, but decided that it was in vain to argue with you, you had obviously already made up your mind. Instead, he came to stand beside you, and sat down on the floor, resting his back on the wall. He looked up at you, his eyes smiling.

"Have a seat, my lady," he jokingly gestured to the cobbled floor, "We have a long day ahead of us..."

You grimaced. He was right. You couldn't set off to confront Thorin until the sun set, and you wouldn't be spotted by attentive elvish guards. You slid down the wall until you sat next to him on the cool ground, so close that the tops of your thighs touched, the warmth from his leg warming you up. You let out a sigh and he looked down at you, concerned, so close that you could feel his breath on your cheek.

"What's wrong?" he whispered, not wanting to be heard.

You gave him a smile, and saw his lip quirk in response, "It's a good thing I'm used to uncomfortable hiding places..."

************************************************************

By the time the sun finally set below the horizon, your stomach was grumbling so loudly that you feared the troop of elves would find you based entirely on the complaining of your belly. Legolas was trying, and failing, to conceal a smile. You had shared half a piece of slightly soggy lembas when the sun reached its highest point in the sky, but apart from that, you had had nothing else to eat. Legolas, obviously, was absolutely fine with it. You, however, were decidedly less impressed.

You felt him chuckle beside you as your stomach let out another loud grumble, and Legolas turned his head to face you, looking down at you, his eyes seeming to shine in the darkness.

"We should set off," he whispered, and you nodded silently in agreement. The cover of darkness would give you a good camoflague as you walked from Dale to Erebor. The night was filled with the snores of Lake-dwellers and the occasional chirp of a cricket.

You stood up, placing your hand on Legolas' shoulder for balance, and stretched out your cramped legs , groaning slightly, as they ached from a day sat motionless. Legolas waited patiently for you to finish, then stood up himself, apparently with no bother. Arsehole.

"We must be quick," he whispered to you, your proximities still close, his warm breath tickling your face. You nodded in agreement, and unconsciously placed a hand to your belt resting on the hilt of a particularly sharp dagger.

He went first, walking to the edge of your alleyway with inhuman grace, peeking out to check that the coast was clear. He turned back to you and made a motion with his hand, and you nodded, following behind him as he navigated his way through the sleeping city of Dale.

The Lake-dwellers slept soundly, uninterrupted by the light tread of your feet as you stepped around them. In a matter of minutes, you were out of the main square, and on the long road to Erebor. The darkness gave you a cover from any particularly attentive guards watching, which you were grateful for.

The dark, however, did cause some problems…

"Shit," you grumbled, as you tripped over yet another fallen log, losing your footing for a second before uprighting yourself again and carrying on walking behind Legolas. He snorted in laughter at the sound, and you muttered a childish, "Piss off," in his direction, to which the laughter became even louder.

"I can't see a bloody thing, Legolas." You whispered, and it was true. The moon had hidden itself behind the thick clouds, meaning that your only source of light were the lonely starts. Of course, you couldn't just light a torch, that would attract the attention of the elvish guards right away.

"Just come up a bit closer to me," He whispered back, and you sighed, and gingerly walked forwards, cautiously placing your feet on the uneven ground, heading towards the sound of Legolas' voice. Your foot caught on a rouge rock, and you tripped forwards again, your arms flailing.

A pair of warm hands caught you by your shoulders, and pulled you upright, and, though you couldn't see, you could feel Legolas in front of you, the warmth from his body crossing the cold air between you.

He sighed in resignation, and did something utterly unexpected.

He held your hand.

Your heart leapt in your chest as his much larger hand wrapped gently around yours. You could feel the contained strength in that hand, the strength that he was holding back.

You were pretty sure that you took a surprised inhale of breath, but before you had time to comprehend what had happened, Legolas had already begun walking at a quick pace, dragging you alongside him.

"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?" You hissed, falling over yourself in an effort to keep up with his long strides.

"Making sure you don't break your leg tripping over a rock," he replied calmly, not slowing in his arduous pace. The pressure on your hand was distracting, but you managed quite successfully to not trip over anything else on your way to Erebor. The mountain loomed ahead of you like a giant, and when you finally reached it, you were breathing heavily with the exertion of jogging all the way.

Thorin had created a barricade, a wall of stone to lock himself in and anybdy else out. A dim golden light shone through a crack in the wall, and you made your way towards it, letting go of Legolas' hand. You placed your finger to your lips, and he nodded, understanding the message, and kept quiet, standing beside you as you neared the source of the light.

"Thorin?" you whispered, peeking through the small gap. You couldn't see much of the inside of the mountain through it, but were able to make out the glint of gold. Lots of gold.

"(Your name)?" An excited voice, not Thorin's, exclaimed, and suddenly you saw a blonde head pop up on the other side of the hole. Fili. Of course it would be him.

"Listen, Fili. I don't have a lot of time. I need to speak to Tho-"

"(YOUR NAME)!" Another young voice yelled, and Kili's brunette head popped up next to Fili's. You had to admit, he was looking considerably better now than he had done last time you had seen him, when he had been recovering from a wound from a poisoned arrow.

"Listen," you urged, knowing you did not have much time, "Where is Thorin, I need to speak to him."

The brother's faces fell, and Kili sighed, "He is in the underground chambers. With the gold."

Ah. That made sense.

You rolled your eyes and glanced up at Legolas, whose usually smooth forehead was wrinkled in worry. His face glowed slightly in the light of the dwarves' candles, and his hair, usually shiny even by day, had taken on the appearance of molten silver. You tore your eyes away from him and looked back at the two brothers through the gap in the wall.

"Call him. Quickly. I need to speak to him."

The reluctance on their faces was almost tangible, but before they had a chance to go and fethch Thorin, a booming voice came from inside the mountain. A voice that you recognized far too well.

"Who dares to come to my Kingdom unannounced?"

The brother's faces dropped, terror overcoming their once easy smiles. You bent down slightly further, giving yourself a better look inside the mountain through your small vantage point. Sure enough, behind the heads of Fili and Kili, the Dwarf King was descending a rugged set of stone steps, garbed in finery.

"Kingdom?" you replied scathingly, as Kili and Fili darted away, and you were left face to face with Thorin, who was looking more worn out and tired than you had ever seen him. Despite this, a heavy golden crown rested on his head, and he appeared to be wearing a cloak with a thick wad of fur sewn to the hem.

"I wouldn't go as far as Kingdom, Thorin. It's more like a rabbit hole, the way that you've hidden yourself inside..."

A soft cough came from Legolas, and you turned to see him give you a look that clearly said 'Are you really in the right position to be insulting him? You're trying to convince him!'

His face contorted in rage, and you quickly backpedaled.

"That's... that's not what I meant Thorin, I just want you to listen to me..."

He snorted, and you rolled your eyes, the stubbornness of Dwarves was legendary, you would have a hard time convincing Thorin to do anything.

"I get that you don't want to give the elves their gems. Thranduil is a wanker. We can all agree on that."

You heard a choked swallow from your left, but ignored Legolas, and continued to look at Thorin, whose face was becoming slightly less angry as you insulted the elvish king.

"But the people of Lake-Town helped you, they gave you weapons. They killed the bloody dragon!" You can't let that go unrewarded. Please, Thorin. You promised them money, just enough to rebuild their lives."

His face lost its hard-edged look, and was replaced with one that was almost amiable.

"What made you come here to ask me yourself, (Your Name)?" He asked, curious, "Why not leave the negotiating to the Bow-man and that puffed-up fairy?"

Another, slightly quieter noise of exclamation from Legolas, who wasn't used to his father being referred to with such hatred and disrespect.

You sighed, and glanced down for a second, before looking up and meeting Thorin's eyes. "You made a promise, Thorin. You don't seem like the kind of person to break a promise. If you refuse, they will fight. The elves and the men will rage upon you like a storm, and don't tell me that the fourteen of you will be able to stop them."

You took a deep breath.

"I don't want to see you get hurt, Thorin..."

You felt Legolas stiffen slightly beside you at your heartfelt statement, but ignored it, and kept your gaze directed to the Dwarf, who had almost a ghost of a smile on his lips. You smiled back, shocked. You had done it, you had got through to him.

"I suppose you are right, (your name)," Thorin sighed, and you could swear that you could hear a few sighs of relief come from the dwarves on the other side of the wall, "The people of Lake-Town helped me, so I will help them."

He gave you a strange look.

"Why not join us?" he asked, and you cocked your head in confusion, "Come into the mountain, stay here. You have been a good friend these past months, and I could do with all the friends I can get at the moment."

The question shocked you, but what shocked you even more was the way that Legolas reacted, his strong arm pulling you backwards, blocking you from Thorin's view with his body. He stood in front of you, his eyes blazing. Thorin's words were innocent enough, but regardless, Legolas was using his torso to shield you from the Dwarf's view, visibly shaking.

"I don't think that's going to happen." his voice reverberated through his whole body, and Throin took a step back, the shock on his face mirroring yours.

"What the hell are you doing?" you hissed angrily, but this time, it was Legolas' turn to ignore you.

"You..." Thorin whispered, and all at once, his face lost its softness and returned to its stormy glare, "YOU!"

He pointed an accusing finger at Legolas, and you pushed him out of the way, looking at Thorin, your hands up in surrender.

"Thorin, listen to me-"

"You bring an elf to my gates? You lead me to trust you, then bring this," He gestured to Legolas with a flick of his wrist, the disgust evident on his face, "Are you trying to trick me? Trying to make me give away my prize?" He practically yelled at you, his booming voice echoing through the dark chambers of Erebor.

"Shh, please, Thorin..." You begged, glancing back at Dale to see torches being lit. Shit. The elves were awake.

"I'm not with Thranduil. Thorin, you have to believe me, please-" you continued, but the Dwarf was beyond reason.

"Get out!" he yelled, the sound of his baritone reverberating through the mountain.

Shouts began to come from Dale, and Legolas grabbed your elbow, pulling it away.

"We have to go, we have to go, (your name), please..." his voice was strained, and you knew that he was right. If you stayed there any longer, you would be certain of being caught. Thorin's face was filled with rage, and behind him, you could see his nephews, Kili and Fili, looking at you with a mixture of anger and pity. You had brought an elf to their gates, and they would not forgive such an act in a hurry.

"I, I have to go." you said, giving Thorin one last glance, and grabbing Legolas' hand, letting him pull you away, running through the night together, with Thorin's voice still ringing in your ears.

"I trusted you!"

***************************