Disclaimer—I daresay the readers here are intelligent enough to figure out what is Tolkien's and what is mine.

A/N—So many pre-FOTR stories have Frodo falling sick, but what if Bilbo was the one to be in danger? It's something of a rite of passage for Frodo, but I can NOT think of a decent title for this to save my life! Please help.

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"Blast it, Frodo Baggins, where have you got off to this time???" Clover Proudfoot bellowed into the air above Bag End. She'd been sent by her mother to find Frodo, but he was nowhere to be seen, of course. That lad was the easily the most exasperating hobbit in the Shire. Ever since he'd come to Hobbiton to be adopted as Bilbo's heir, he'd been nothing but trouble to Clover. If he wasn't her cousin…….

"Frodo!! Come down here now! Mother needs to talk to you!" Clover continued to call as she searched. She grew more aggravated the longer it took to find him. Her errand was truly pressing, her news of the utmost urgency. Frodo would berate himself for not realizing the gravity of the situation, but he wouldn't know if she couldn't find him to tell him!

"Honestly, that hobbit! Out tramping with elves, no doubt, when he is so sorely needed at home. He will never forgive himself if…….No, I won't think of that right now. Focus on the task at hand, girl. Find Frodo Baggins!" Clover had a habit of talking to herself, to inanimate objects, to people who were not listening, to the air, to anything and everything. The hobbit lass found it difficult to think without talking. She was inordinately fond of the sound of her own voice.

She tramped through the woods, calling Frodo's name. Periodically, she would stop to pick some herbs she knew the apothecary needed, but mostly she hunted for Frodo. The sun began to sink low in the sky, with still no sign of that frustrating hobbit. Clover grew frantic. She needed to be back helping her mother. Frodo, too, needed to be there, not off wherever he was, doing who-knew-what. Clover had never been one to handle frustration well, especially when the need was urgent. She began to cry.

"Why are you crying, Clover?" Frodo asked, popping up from behind a tree and startling her out of her wits. She took an instinctive swing at him. Frodo, long used to his cousin's volatile temper, ducked just in time.

"Where on Middle-Earth have you BEEN???" she demanded, wiping tears away. "Don't you know when you're needed around here?? I've been hunting all day for you!!! You have to come back with me to Bag End right now!!"

Frodo held up his hands defensively. "Calm down, Clover. I've been walking, that's all. I felt the need to get out of the smial."

"Hmmm!" Clover snorted, not bothering to disguise her annoyance. "Walking, indeed! You're needed back IN the smial! We are both needed, right now! I've wasted quite enough time looking for you. Didn't you hear me calling??"

Frodo gave Clover his best stupid look. Of course he'd heard his cousin calling, she had a voice that was impossible not to hear. He had simply ignored it, knowing how prone to exaggeration Clover tended to be. He was not ready to go back indoors, no matter what chores his Aunt Citrine thought so vital. He would not have left his hiding spot at all, except he never could stand the sight of a maid crying. Especially Clover, as she hardly ever cried. She may have been one of the strangest hobbits in the Shire, but she was also one of the toughest. It was the Proudfoot in her.

"Don't give me that look, Frodo Baggins, I was using it on Mother when you were still wasting your time in Brandy Hall!" Clover shouted. Normally, she was not so prejudiced against the Bucklanders as other hobbits, since her mother's sister Esmeralda had married one of them and she knew them well. Merry Brandybuck was a closer cousin to her than Frodo, and much more likeable to Clover's mind. Right now, though, she was in what her Uncle Paladin Took called "A State", and anything Frodo said or did was liable to get on her nerves.

Frodo, to his credit, did his best to calm his distressed cousin. "Clover, I don't understand what you're so upset about," he said gently.

"Of course you don't!!!" Clover exploded. "YOU'VE been out wandering, with nary a care in the world, while Mother and I have been breaking our backs keeping Bilbo alive!!"

Frodo's already-pale skin turned milk-white. "What do you mean, keeping Bilbo alive?" he asked softly.

Instantly, Clover knew her sharp tongue had gotten the better of her again. She wiped away more tears and gulped. "Bilbo is sick. Very sick. If Gaffer Gamgee hadn't found him and called Mother instantly, he'd be dead by now. You simply MUST come back to Bag End, and so must I. We are needed," Clover said with as much control as she could muster. Proudfeet were known for grace under pressure.

"Bilbo? Sick?" Frodo looked helpless, like he had lost the only thing that made his life worth living. Clover forgot her own fear as her heart went out to her most irritating cousin.

"Frodo, he's in good hands," she reassured. "Mother is there, and Doctor Bolger as well. They will see him safely through this, if any hobbit in the Shire can. But we must return to Bag End as swiftly as possible. I have herbs Mother will need, and I am certain having you there will help Bilbo recover." Frodo may be annoying, but Bilbo had always been one of her favorite relations. He told the most wonderful stories. More importantly, he did not look at Clover as if she was insane all the time, like her Proudfoot family did. Bilbo was the main reason she tolerated Frodo.

Frodo was silent, shocked senseless. Bilbo had always been his strength, the one thing he could hang onto since his parents had drowned. Losing him was simply unthinkable. Frodo could feel tears slipping down his cheek.

Clover looked at her cousin. She could not even imagine losing her beloved parents, let alone them and her favorite uncle. Furthermore, she had the same opinion of a lad's tears that Frodo did of a maid's. In fact, the cousins were much alike, which was why they clashed so often. She did the only thing she could think of at the time. She gathered Frodo into her arms and hugged him tight. "Shhh…..it'll be all right, I promise. Mother will put things right. But we DO need to get to Bag End quickly," she said. Clover was at her best when taking care of someone in need.

Frodo clung to his cousin for several moments, until he regained his control. To his credit, and Clover's astonishment, that didn't take long at all. He broke the embrace, and squared his shoulders. "Let's get back. Bilbo needs me."

Clover bit back a tart reply. Instead, she nodded. The hobbits headed directly to Bag End with all the speed they could muster.