Summary: Close friends and distant yet close relations have been captured and are being held captive together. Friends who would do anything to save each other.

Disclaimer: I'm not Tolkein, Tolkein was awesome.

Warnings: Torture – not graphic.

Note: This was written by me (Jasper) and Saff. I'm doing work experience for her family's business so I'm staying over at hers for two weeks.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

When Legolas woke up, he found he was in a dark cell. He wasn't alone. There was an unconscious elf beside him. Legolas reached out and gently shook his.

The elf slowly woke up, looked up and flinched back. "It is alright." Legolas reassured. "I will not hurt you."

Legolas noticed various cuts and bruises covering the best part of the poor elf's fair skin. "What did they do to you?"

"I would rather not talk about it." The elf said in a soft, quiet voice, wincing as he tried to sit up.

"Let me help you." Legolas offered, aiding his cellmate. "What is your name?"

"Haldir."

Legolas gasped, recognising the name. "Haldir! I-I have not seen you since… well, since I last saw you!" He smiled.

"I-I am sorry, have we met?" Haldir stuttered, not recognising the young elf beside him.

The prince nodded. "I-I'm Legolas."

It was Haldir's turn to gasp. "Legolas! Wow, you've grown."

Legolas smiled. "So I have. How did you end up here?"

"I-I was… we were on a patrol… there were supposed Orc sightings. I was bashed on the head, and then I woke here."

Legolas sighed and asked the dreaded question. "How long have you been here?"

Haldir paused. How long had he been here? "A-A couple of hundred years I think."

The prince gasped in horror. A few hundred years held captive? "Haldir-"

"What about you?" Haldir interrupted, no longer wishing to speak of himself. "How did you end up here?"

"We were also on a patrol because of supposed Orc sightings." Legolas replied. Haldir gasped, a sudden pain shooting through him. "Haldir, are you alright?"

"Fine." He winced.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

Celeborn awoke to another pain filled day with the sound of the cell bars slamming shut. Someone had been thrown into the cell with him. Whoever it was wasn't moving. He gently rolled him onto his back and brushed his golden hair from his face.

"Thranduil? Cousin! Please don't be a hallucination."

Celeborn gently shook him. Eventually, he awoke. He blinked a few times, before whispering, "Celeborn? Is that really you?"

The Lorien lord nodded, smiling. "It's really me."

The two had not seen each other for a fair while, and now they knew why. Celeborn was captured the same time Haldir was, meaning he too had been held captive for a few hundred years.

Thranduil noticed his distant cousin wasn't as bright as he should be. He also noticed tears in his eyes, threatening to fall. "It is so good to see you."

Thranduil nodded, pushing himself up to a sitting position. "Aye, we have not seen each other for a fair amount of time."

Celeborn sighed and broke eye contact. "I know. The last time we met, it was in the Greenwood. Well, the day after I left for Lorien, I-I was captured… that is why we have not met since."

"You mean… you have been here the entire time? Celeborn, that was four hundred years ago."

"Four?" Celeborn almost chocked. "Really? I did not know it was that long. It was hard to tell how much time passed-"

Before Celeborn said another word, Thranduil embraced him in a much needed hug. "I missed you."

Finally, Celeborn let out the tears he had kept back for four hundred years. "And I you."

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

Elrond and Aragorn were walking through the wonders of Rivendell. Aragorn had only just returned, and Elrond intended to spend as much time with his son as he could.

"My lord Elrond." A dark haired Elf cried, running to catch up with them.

Elrond turned around swiftly. "Mellon nin, really, we have been through this." He said, having told his friend many times to simply call him by just his name.

"Sorry. There have been alleged sightings of Orcs around Imladris." The elf said, before turning to Aragorn. "Hello by the way."

Aragorn smiled. "Hello, Lindir."

"Who said this?" Elrond asked.

"Just a small group of Elves, I do not know them by name." Lindir told him.

Elrond turned to Aragorn. "Then we should probably investigate." He then turned to Lindir. "Would you like to accompany us?"

Lindir smiled and nodded. "Of course."

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

Elrond had heard about these phantom sightings in both Lothlorien and Mirkwood, so he gathered his most trusted friends and guards. "And if this is another phantom sighting?" Glorfindel asked.

Elrond sighed. "It most likely is, but you should still stay alert."

The group continued, until cries were heard behind them. They turned around swiftly, to see their guards with arrows shot through them. Lindir gasped, not used to the sight of death. He was no warrior.

Sensing this, Glorfindel pulled him close.

The next thing they saw was darkness.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Haldir?" Legolas whispered, not wanting to disturb him if he was sleeping. It was now dark, so was hard to tell. "Are you awake?"

There was a pause, before Haldir responded. "I am. What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Legolas replied honestly, feeling a sudden bad feeling for disturbing his friend. "I just… I can't sleep."

Haldir sighed and reached over, until he could feel the prince's arm. "Come here."

Legolas slowly moved closer to Haldir, who welcome him with open arms (literally). Legolas snuggled close to his friend, who hugged him back. "It's alright, you'll be alright."

"Can you promise that?"

Haldir paused. "It just seemed like the right thing to say."

Legolas smiled, laying his head back, intending to get some sleep.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

The night in the other cell was far from comforting. Celeborn flinched when the cell bars opened again, this time five men walking through. The first one, the leader, looked across to the fallen king. "Our new prisoner needs breaking in."

Both elves had two men each restraining them. They were too strong for Thranduil to break away, but Celeborn was too weak to even try.

Not that there was any point. He tried before, many times, and it was the same result.

The two elves were forced to their knees. The leader knelt down in front of Thranduil and tilted the king's head up to look at him eye to eye. "We heard your cute little conversation earlier. I had no idea you two even knew each other, never mind that you're related. This will be fun."

Celeborn fought the urge to scream at them. 'Don't hurt him.' But he knew it would only make matters worse. Thranduil would be hurt more if he tried to persuade them not to.

Thranduil gasped when he was backhanded, purely because he wasn't expecting it. "I thought you might like to know, your son is here also."

"Legolas?" The name slipped out of Celeborn's mouth.

The man smiled. "Yes, that one."

"Leave him alone." Thranduil didn't care about himself at that moment, he just wished his son wasn't hurt.

"Oh but he's so young and weak, it will be fun to make him scream." The man taunted. "Maybe like this."

One of the men restraining Thranduil pulled his arm back, until he heard a crack. The king winced, but didn't scream.

"No?" The leader asked, smiling. "Oh well, never mind. Let's try something else." He pulled out a knife and slowly dragged it down Thranduil's left cheek, dragging it upwards, until it reached his eye. "Really? No screams yet? Too bad?"

For the love of Elbereth, scream. Celeborn inwardly cried. It'll all be over for you if you'd just scream. Why do you have to be so stubborn?

He plunged the knife into Thranduil's broken arm, finally causing a scream. The man smiled. "Much better."

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

The most recently captured elves were flung into their own cell. Lindir gasped when he landed on his arm, which bent backwards.

"Lindir?" Elrond gasped.

"It's nothing." Lindir lied. He didn't want to be the centre of attention.

"I saw your arm bent in the wrong way when you fell." Aragorn told him, causing Lindir to sigh.

"Let me see." Elrond said, holding out a hand. Lindir shakily extended his arm, wincing again when he realised it probably wasn't such a good idea to move it. "Your shoulder is dislocated… You know what I need to do?"

Lindir nodded, bracing himself.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Daro!" Celeborn pleaded. It was his turn to face the pain. "Saes."

The leading man smiled. "Aw, too much for you is it? Whatever happened to the strong, defiant elf we once knew?"

"We left him at Lothlorien." One of the men joked, earning laughter from the others.

The leader backhanded Celeborn, pushing him to the floor, before they all exited the cell.

Thranduil couldn't believe what he had just heard. His – as they said – strong, defiant cousin… lord of Lorien… pleading? Begging? It scared him. How long must it have taken to break him like that?

They were left in darkness. "Are you alright?" Celeborn asked.

"A-Am I alright?" Thranduil repeated. "Should I not be the one asking you that?"

"Aye but I am used to it."

Thranduil almost cried when his cousin said that. He shouldn't have to be used to it. "Well I am fine, are you alright?"

Celeborn nodded. "Fine."

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

The men burst into the cell containing the new arrivals. "Let's see how your screams compare to that of the dear King of Mirkwood's."

One of the guards looked over to Glorfindel. "How about the golden haired one first?"

"Ah," the leader smiled, "the born again warrior. Soon you will wish that never happened."

"Leave him alone." Lindir said quietly.

But not quietly enough for the men not to hear. The leader turned sharply towards the young, terrified elf. "I'm sorry?"

"We haven't done anything to you." He whispered, because a whisper was all he could manage. He was truly terrified. He was actually shaking with fear.

"Maybe we should start with this one." The leader, named Rorior, changed his mind. The elves, however, didn't know their names, safe for Glorfindel who had met them before. His experience was no dissimilar to this one, except for one major detail.

This time, he wasn't alone.

"No!" Elrond yelled. "He's right, we've done nothing to you! We don't even know you, what do you want from us?"

The man ignored the question, turning to Aragorn, who had not spoken. "Anything you would like to add?"

Aragorn remained silent.

"You are not an elf." Rorior noticed. "Why are you among elves?"

"That is none of your business."

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

Like with Thranduil and Celeborn, the four captives were pushed down onto their knees. One of the men restraining Elrond grabbed his arm and lifted up his hand. "Looky here. Looks like we've caught ourselves a ringbearer."

The leader gasped in surprise. "So we have. I was not expecting that."

"Well this one will be no fun if he had the strength of the ring helping him out." The second man restraining him said, swiftly pulling the ring away, throwing it to the floor outside the cell bars.

Elrond immediately felt an effect. He immediately felt weaker.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Haldir!" Legolas yelled, waking his friend. "You were having a nightmare."

Haldir slowed his breathing. "Thank you."

"Haldir I… I heard screams. Is there anyone else here?"

"Not that I know of." Haldir answered honestly. "But that doesn't mean there aren't."

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

Their small torture session left the four captives feeling weak. "Lindir I'm sorry." Elrond apologised. "I should never have asked you to come."

"Why did you?" Lindir asked. Not out of spite, but because he genuinely wanted to know.

"Because I wanted my closest and most trusted friends." Elrond replied.

Lindir paused. Well that's all well and good, he thought, but why did you ask me?

Sensing Lindir's confusion, Elrond sighed. "Lindir, I consider you a close and trusted friend."

"Y-You do?"

Elrond smiled and nodded. "I do."

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

The cell bars burst open and the men walked through. Haldir flinched violently, shaking with fear, but Legolas tried to remain strong for his friend.

Rorior turned to the prince. "More royalty. Let's see if you're as weak as your beloved father."

"What?!" Legolas yelled, suddenly forgetting his own situation.

The man smiled. "That's right."

He turned to Haldir. "We have captured a fair few elves now, maybe a little more than we can manage." Rorior threw a knife to Haldir.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

Saff: I stayed up all night writing this, and I have work experience at a Primary School tomorrow. Not a good example, is it?

Jasper: She doesn't even like kids.

Saff: We decided to name the leader half way through writing to make it easier.

Jasper: But we lost the will to come up with names for others.

Saff: And there's no story to when Glorfindel met them before. We just realised when we'd finished the chapter that 'hey, how would they recognise Glorfindel and not Elrond, unless they've met before?'

Jasper: So yeah, I want to sleep now

Saff: So do I

Jasper: Well go to bed then!

Saff: I can't, you're sleeping in it!

Jasper: I'm sleeping on the top bunk, you still have the bottom!

Saff: Haha he typed I'm sleeping top and then thought 'no that's wrong.'