Philip Oakenshield was a first lieutenant despite his young age. He joined the army as soon as he graduated from high school. He was raised in a foster family, by a kind man named Bilbo Baggins. Bilbo took him in at the age of thirteen and never regretted it. Fili was a kind person, hard working in school, great at sport. The way he turned out Bilbo kept joking he adopted a prince. He was great at school, but he didn't want to let Bilbo pay for his studies. The idea to go to the military was a spontaneous one, but he never regretted it. He finished engineering studies while in the service, and he engaged fully into his duties. Many people joked that he wanted to be canon meat, but he excelled at leading. His technical knowledge always gave him an edge over other officers, and he had a great sense of leadership. Whenever he would come home Bilbo would joke how his prince became a general, but Fili knew it was pride speaking out of the short man. Other of Bilbo's foster kids always waited impatiently for Fili to arrive, he always had lots of presents and stories to tell. Some might say his life was complete, but Fili had a feeling of emptiness in his life. He had friends; he had his squad and his friends in the service. He had Bilbo and a loving foster family; he had a steady income, a thrilling job. But he felt as if something important was missing. Maybe it was the longing for love, something he never truly experienced.
Bilbo was a calm school teacher, he always kept writing as a past time, and finally at the age of nearly thirty-five under the encouragement of his oldest foster son he decided to try to contact a publishing house. Within the next five years his life flipped upside down. Four of his books had been published, and the money began flowing. He stopped working at school, and focused on the last four kids under his care. Ori, Nori and Dori were brothers taken in by Bilbo just before the first book was published. Just after it was published Bilbo's nephew Frodo joined them after the death of his parents.
When Fili was serving in a military base in the Middle East, Bilbo was worried about him more than ever. That part of the world was dangerous by any definition, and he didn't want any of his children to serve in a dangerous zone. For Fili it was very difficult, he loved the military as such, but the brutality of war was not his thing. Finding an enemy where anybody could be your enemy was nerve-wrecking. He dreaded every patrol; he dreaded every contact with local people. He'd seen famine, he's seen extreme poverty, and he's seen hurt and sadness. He kept doubting why they were sent there, what was the purpose to it all. When three of his best friends were killed in an ambush, he just began shutting down. He had enough of the emptiness and a meaningless life. All his senses were focused on surviving, on saving anybody he could save, but war wasn't a game. It was a real blood thirsty monster demanding more and more sacrifices.
Bilbo could see the damage war did to his favorite foster child. During the rare phone calls Fili sounded depressed. In the letters he wrote, Bilbo could see the loneliness and emptiness surrounding his oldest child. When Fili returned from his tour in Iraq, Bilbo was focused on bringing him back to life.
He found a beautiful house in Mexico and informed the boys they were all going for a long holiday. Money stopped being a problem so Bilbo decided to go full out. He rented a remote house, in a beautiful area, with a beautiful beach. In one word it was paradise.
"There is a huge swimming pool at the back of the house!" Ori came running into the living room.
"Why would anyone build a swimming pool if there is a beach just two minutes away?" The practical Dori could not comprehend.
"Who cares! I'm going to get the best room!" Nori ran up the stairs, to check the bedrooms.
"Boys go and unpack the car, I'll get dinner going." Bilbo instructed his family.
"According to the owner the fridge should be fully stocked, the nearest town is half an hour away, so if we go shopping we better buy a lot." Dori reminded Bilbo.
"Don't worry, we'll manage just fine. I've arranged everything to have the perfect holiday." Bilbo told the worried boy.
"I'm more worried about the cost of all this." Dori murmured.
"And I'm not. We all need this holiday so relax and enjoy our two months of paradise." Bilbo told his son gently.
"I love this place!" Frodo told Bilbo running into the garden.
Fili came out but he didn't say anything, just glanced out of the window. "It seems very quiet here." He noticed after a moment. "Do we have any neighbors?"
"The owner said there is only one house in the neighborhood, around two kilometers to the north. So it's just us and all the peace and quiet in the world." Bilbo told him setting some meat into the oven.
"I'm going to take a look around." Fili told him and went outside in the direction of the beach.
Meanwhile just two kilometers north from their location, two security guards were watching the beach.
"It seems the house has been rented again." Dwalin spoke into the radio.
"Anyone we should be worried about?" A firm voice replied.
"Just a bunch of kids and two men. Our informer from town said it's just a family going on holiday." Dwalin replied still keeping his eyes on two boys walking along the beach.
"Keep an eye on them." The voice told him firmly.
"Boss is pissed again." Oin the second security guard noticed.
"That idiot Mendez can't get the idea that he should sell us that house to get the Boss out of his hair." Dwalin replied.
"At least it's not a bunch of crazy college students like last time." Oin noticed grimly.
"I have a feeling Mendez is going to have some trouble soon." Dwalin smirked evilly thinking about the man irritating his boss so much.
"I wouldn't want to be in his shoes." Oin noticed still observing the moving people.
Fili reached a turn on the beach within a few minutes, he ran towards the forest line and soon he reached a road. He looked at the road closely, it was evident it was used frequently. Strange for such a remote location. Fili had a bad feeling about this holiday from the start; Mexico was a wild country, with many problems and corruption. A remote location in Mexico was like going straight into gang territory in New York. He looked around and heard a car come by. Without hesitation he moved into the forest again, and watched as a jeep drove by. There were two men sitting in it, and both of them were armed. He just crossed his brows and looked at the direction the men were heading. If his calculations were correct, that was the location of the only neighboring house.
He retreated towards their house going in the forest line, as he was looking back he noticed a shine in the wood. He focused on the target, and soon he realized at what he was looking, far away in the middle of the forest, there was a watchtower overseeing the beach. If his assumptions were correct and if they had the right equipment they could even see what was going on in their house. He had a really bad feeling, but then he realized as long as they don't cross paths with their neighbors, no harm would come to his beloved family.
"So what did you find out?" The Boss looked at the two of his security after they finished their daily route.
"It's a family consisting of one parent and five children. From what I understand it's a foster family, and the father rented the house for two months." Gloin reported to his boss. Bifur stood right next to him, but being mute he just nodded with confirmation.
"Dwalin said there were two men." The Boss noticed an inconsistency immediately.
"The oldest son is probably over twenty five." Gloin told him. "Mendez said he's not going to sell this house to you, and he said there is no way you can force him to."
"Did he really say that?" The Boss lips pressed into a thin line.
"He did." Gloin swallowed hard. "He's been toying with us for too long. We should send the boys to give him a scare."
"I'm the person making the decisions around here." The Boss's voice was cold as ice.
"What are you going to do about Mendez uncle?" Kili stood right behind Thorin as Gloin and Bifur were leaving. "We need to get that house. Sooner or later someone will find out about what we're doing here."
"Let me worry about that." Thorin smirked. "You should worry about our newest project, and leave our unwanted neighbors be for the time being. If they cause trouble then we'll deal with it swiftly."
"And if something happens to them Mendez will have enough reason to blame us, and he'll send his troops here." Kili noticed immediately.
"Mendez is just a sheriff; he has no real troops to send for. He's just trying to make us make a move, and we're too smart to fall for that." The Boss just smirked at his nephew, Kili was very young and very eager, and that sometimes meant he wasn't careful enough.
"So what's for dinner today?" Dwalin asked looking longingly at the house down below near the beach.
"Looks like roast chicken." Gloin noticed. It became their new hobby, watching the guests of the house and guess what was for dinner. Food was their one problem, Bombur was a great chef, but being engaged elsewhere he often lacked time for cooking food for them.
"I wish I could just go to the beach and have some fun." Dwalin looked at the four boys playing volleyball on the beach. His eyes kept catching a small red head jumping high and laughing loudly.
"It's kind of ironic, we're living in paradise but we can't just go and have fun on the beach." Gloin noticed sternly. "Thank Mahal I can read all I like." Gloin pulled out his favorite book by William Underhill.
"Looks like our neighbor is working really hard on his laptop all day." Dwalin noticed the small man focused on his laptop again.
"What about the other man?" Gloin asked looking away from the book for a moment.
"No idea. I've seen him only like twice in the last week." Dwalin noticed.
"Now, who would sit home all day in paradise?" Gloin asked philosophically.
"I'm not sure if he's sitting at home." Dwalin suddenly realized.
"Then where is he?" Gloin seemed startled with the idea.
"I plan to find out." Dwalin murmured and decided to start hunting.