Bilbo sat comfortably in his armchair with a book, watching the candlelight flicker over the pages. He put down the book with a sigh, and looked down at the old piece of furniture fondly. When he was a child, this old chair had held both him and his mother, and on cold nights he would climb up and listen to her as she read him stories of great adventures by knights and warriors. He'd once dreamed of going on such journeys when he was grown, but as time passed that urge left him, and he was quite content to spend his days in Bag End, eating and tending to his gardens. Besides, all the great tales of middle earth were of men and elves, sometimes dwarves but never a hobbit, and it was apparent that no adventure was going to seek him out if it could get a elf or dwarf or even a man. The rattling of the door stirred Bilbo out of his reminiscence, and he got up reluctantly and walked over to the door.
"Yes, yes," he pleaded, hoping whoever it was would stop his persistent knocking before they busted his door. He'd just had it painted you know. Bilbo opened the door warily, to see a dwarf in a black jacket looming over the small entryway. An alarmingly large scar ran across his eyebrow, and part of his ear seemed to be - Bilbo swallowed- bitten off.
"Is this the residence of mister Bilbo Haggens?" The dwarf said, his voice a bit too loud in the still night air.
"No, sorry this is Bilbo Baggins' home maybe try next door," the hobbit mumbled, trying to close the door. Unfortunately the dwarf was faster than him, and before the latch clicked he grabbed the door with a firm grip and pushed it open.
"Bilbo Baggins, thats what I said." With that, the dwarf stepped into the house, and as he walked towards the living room, the firelight illuminated what the night had kept from sight. Bilbo could see that even though his suit was high end, the dwarf's hair was unkempt. Then again, he had more beard than hair, and his scalp was covered in runic tattoos. This was ridiculous. Bilbo stepped out in front of the dwarf.
"Look, not that I don't enjoy visitors, but what pray tell are you here for?" That got him a questioning look, and the dwarf sidestepped him and kept walking, his boots leaving nasty prints all over Bilbo's polished floors.
"I was told by Dr. Gandalf that i was to ...investigate you."
"Sorry who?"
"Gandalf? Tall, thin old man."
Bilbo thought back to that morning, out enjoying the sunshine and some pipeweed when a man walked up to him and took up a conversation. Nothing in particular, what's your name, nice to meet you, you live here? In fact, Bilbo scarcely remembered anything about him, although he did have on a rather nice grey suit.
"I did meet a man with that description today but we hardly shared a few words," Bilbo said. At any rate, he thought, it was hardly a conversation, where does he get off sending people to my house?
"Well, he told me to interview you." The dwarf stated, obviously becoming impatient with all Bilbo's questions.
"Interview me why? Look, it's been lovely having you, but-"
"If you don't pass the reason won't matter, so let's get on with it, shall we?" Bilbo stared at him, trying to work out a way to get the dwarf out of his house without angering him, but seeing no such course of action, the hobbit chose the safer route.
"A few questions, and then I'd like to get on with dinner."
"Of course, alright first of relatives?" The dwarf asked.
"Relatives?"
"Yes, relatives. Do you have them, where are they, do you speak to them often?" Bilbo was a little miffed that the dwarf was getting so impatient. Here he was, minding his own business, and this confounded creature had ruined the peace of his evening.
"Well, my parents passed on, I have no siblings and I've got relatives, but they're distant, and horrid besides." The dwarf looked up at that, smiling a bit.
"Ok, er... job?"
"In no need of one at the moment."
"In a relationship?"
"No actually a confirmed bachelor."
"Alright, last question. How would you describe your personality"
"I LIKE TO BE LEFT ALONE." Bilbo said, a bit taken aback at the tone of his own voice. Well, to be fair it had been a rather interesting evening, and hobbits are not well equipped to deal with interesting. He needed a cup of tea. After rolling his eyes, the dwarf muttered a hasty goodbye and strode out the door, leaving it open in his hurry. Bilbo scrambled over to the door, and yelled out at the figure. "You're leaving? Well fine then, did I pass?" He stood at the door for a while, but no answer came, and closing himself off from the chill night breeze, he went back to his book. Well, he thought as he sat down, that was an uncomfortable ordeal. Losing himself in the story, he thought no more about it, and by the time he went to bed, a cup of chamomile in hand, he had put the events of the day far back in his mind.
Kili leaned down to pick a flower, a pretty purple bud from a hobbit's perfectly maintained garden.
"Kili!" Came Dwalin's harsh whisper, "cut it out, we're here on business!" The young dwarf looked down at the flower, murmuring a half hearted apology. His brother's hand rested on his shoulder a moment in consolation, and Fili nodded at him sympathetically. A smile played across Kili's lips, and he offered the daisy to his brother. Fili took it gently, and when Kili had turned around he began plucking off the petals one by one, mumbling something under his breath. A few moments later, Dwalin stopped them in front of a tiny gate. "This is it, come on." Fili and Kili followed him up a tiny path and waited patiently as he unlocked the door. This was really just an easy source of money for them, seeing as they weren't there for anything important, just the legwork. They just helped transport the merchandise. Following Dwalin through the darkened house, the brothers made their way to a bedroom, eyes tracing the barely noticeable shape under the covers. Dwalin crouched over the edge of the bed, holding a rag, which he pressed over the mouth and nose of the hobbit. The thing made a few feeble attempts at escape, but he'd already breathed in too much, and he stopped fighting as the dwarves lifted him into a bag, dazed but still conscious. Dwalin marched out, leaving the hobbit to Fili and Kili, who each grabbed an end and stumbled out the door, running into a chest on the way out.
"Hey Fili, do you know this one's name?" asked Kili. His brother thought a moment and looked up.
"I don't think I do, erm..." he paused to shut the door. "Dwalin, what's its name?" Dwalin turned, obviously bothered by the younger dwarves' curiosity.
"I don't know, Bilbo Haggins or something, now come on." A muffled shout came from the bag.
"Brragnns!"
"Oh, fine then," Dwalin chuckled, "Baggins."
"Wait wait wait, Baggins?" snickered Kili. His brother looked at him incredulously.
"You deaf? Baggins." Fili said jokingly, and Kili beamed.
"So we've got a Bagg-ins," he paused for effect. "In a bag!" The brothers exploded in raucous laughter, and Dwalin turned on a heel.
"Would you two idiots be quiet?" He raised a fist in warning, and they stopped laughing.
The rest of the walk was silent, the quiet punctuated only by a few moans of protest from the creature in the bag. Fili and Kili stopped next to the cemi and handed the bag off to Dwalin, waiting for their pay.
The truck rattled its way over the rough back roads, and the clanging of metal echoed in the cargo. The noise stirred Bilbo, his brain still too fogged to understand his situation. Across from him, an elf sat staring, and Bilbo tried to ask what was going on, but recoiled at the sensation of dirty fabric on his tongue. He squinted, and through the darkness he saw a gag tied tightly around the elf's face, and chains holding his thin wrists to the inside of the cemi. Bilbo gave an experimental pull, and found that his wrists were both restrained. Turning his head, the hobbit saw several elves and a few humans chained down, and a dwarf sitting on a box with a gun, eying the prisoners. Now that his head felt a bit lighter, Bilbo remembered a few things. He'd been put in a bag, thrown about and then bartered over. The implications of these memories did not bode well, and Bilbo began to struggle, to squirm his way out. From the end of the truck, the hobbit heard a heavy sigh, and the dwarf stood, grabbing a small bag and walked towards Bilbo. He put the bag over Bilbo's head and clomped back to his seat, muttering angrily about that nuisance of a hobbit.
The dwarf pulled the bag off of Bilbo's head, plunging his world back into the light. It had been three days, and the hobbit had almost forgotten the taste of fresh air. He stared up at the dwarf, who busied himself unlocking Bilbo's chains from the semi walls. Before the halfling could tend to his aching wrists, the dwarf hooked his restraints to another set of chains, pushing Bilbo forward roughly. The doors to the cemi creaked open, moonlight revealing two rows of bedraggled prisoners, all shuffling forward weakly. They were all too weak to protest, and when the dwarf produced a whip they picked up the pace, stumbling along fearfully. Dragged out by the others, Bilbo looked up to the night sky, wishing for morning. It seemed like forever since he'd seen daylight, or had a good smoke. Once his eyes adjusted, they fell upon a city street, flecked here and there with the dim glow of streetlights. Bilbo had never been to a city, only seen glimpses in books or magazines, and to tell the truth he'd never understood the appeal. Although, the metropolis he stood in now was quite different from what he had seen before. The majority of it's citizens were dwarves, intermingled were elves and humans, usually chained or on leashes. Most of them were in some state of undress, and Bilbo grew increasingly frightened as the dwarf pushed them along the crowded streets. A few of the people near them reached out, and Bilbo drew back as they leered at the prisoners. The dwarf leading them paid no mind to the disgusting advances of the townsfolk, and continued to trot them forward towards a large stand on the street corner. The dwarf made them climb onto it, prodding them with the end of his whip, as two others chained them to yet another wall. Bilbo could hear the dwarf shouting into the street, "new toys just captured, good prices and great finds!" A few dwarves moved out of the crowd to get a better look, and most of them headed towards the elves. One dwarf in particular was getting attention from the salesmen as he stalked down the row of helpless prisoners.
"What do you think, Thorin? Just in today," the salesman said. The dwarf, or rather Thorin, Bilbo supposed, raised an eyebrow.
"Sure you didn't just buy the already used goods off a trainer?" He said suspiciously.
The dwarf shook his head, feigning offense. Thorin walked past him, stopping in front of Bilbo. The hobbit avoided his gaze, but a hand came down and cupped his jaw, yanking Bilbo's face upwards.
"What about this one?" Thorin called, jerking the halfling's head from one side to the other. The salesman ran over eagerly.
"Ah! A fine choice, I guarantee you no one else will have a hobbit in their stock!" Thorin turned to the other dwarf.
"And what was he before you took him?"
"Always the gentleman Thorin, even in this business," the salesman laughed. "He was a burglar, I know how you detest buying the ones with reputable backgrounds."
Bilbo shouted protests through his gag, but the words came out muffled, and he quieted down at the sight of the vendor's hand reaching for a whip.
"Good." Muttered Thorin, and his fingers began digging into Bilbo's cheeks, prying the hobbit's mouth open. When Bilbo gave way, Thorin pushed his mouth open, and he let out a small cry as the dwarf stretched his jaws apart.
"His mouth opens fairly wide for such a small thing," Thorin muttered. All at once he removed his hand, and Bilbo's mouth slammed shut painfully. Thorin reached down to the halflings chest, and Bilbo couldn't pull back, the chains were too tight, so he stayed there, shivering under the unwanted touch. Thorin's hands moved slowly across his body, and the dwarf smiled every time Bilbo jerked away from his touch.
"Responsive." Thorin's hand slipped further down, and the hobbit gasped, choking a little on the gag as the dwarf grabbed him, giving a few experimental pulls. "Not much to work with here, but at least he's got a pretty face." Thorin's hand released it's grip, and Bilbo sighed his relief. Maybe now he would leave. But the dwarf reached even further back, fingers pushing roughly into Bilbo's ass. The halfling tensed, pulling against his chains in disbelief. Why was no one stopping him? Bilbo searched the crowd for a sympathetic face, but no one seemed to be paying any mind. Tears blurred his vision, and he looked up to the sky, willing them away when Thorin's hand grabbed his face, pulling it down so their eyes were locked. The dwarf grinned, and looked over at the salesman.
"I'll take this one."
Bilbo walked through the streets behind Thorin, his legs trembling as he tried to keep up with the dwarf's stride. They wound their way through the dimly lit city, and the hobbit tried his best to ignore the perverse scenery as he was dragged along, keeping his eyes on the dwarf. The two came out of a grungy back street and Thorin made his way towards a large gate, through which Bilbo could see the white bricks of a mansion. The gate opened before them, and the dwarf walked through, pulling Bilbo along. As they approached the door, the halfling grew fearful, and he used what was left of his strength to resist the pull of his chains. Thorin looked back at him, giving the chains a sharp pull as he swung the door open.