A/N: Warning, next chapter contains explicit slash scenes.

And again THANK YOU for my beta PH03N1X 50NG for all the precious time spent on me!

Chapter2

When Things Go Wrong

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Aragorn watched Legolas until night fell. Dried blood covered the small, pointed ears and the man wished he could at least see the elf's face. He tried hard, but could only make out the slightly illuminated fair curls on the dark ground. He tried to speak to Legolas, but the elf would not answer.

'As usual.' But he could not laugh at his own joke.

His elven companion lay eerily still in a cell beside his. The orcs had just thrown him in and left immediately after, not caring whether he lived or died. No. Aragorn immediately banned the horrid idea from his thoughts. Legolas had to be alive, but there was no way he could be sure.

Aragorn shook his head. It was getting darker and colder. 'Elves do not like the darkness.' he sighed.

'Why did he do that?' Aragorn' mind was working frustrated. 'I could have managed them alone. But he just had to jump between me and that bastard!'

The man started to pace from one wall to the other for the umpteenth time.

Did he just imagine that, the little noise coming from the other's direction? Was Legolas awake? He jumped to the bars separating them and listened hard. Surely, it had been only a little whisper, but it could have meant that the elf was alive.

"…hate you." Aragorn could not believe it; relief flooded through him. Legolas was coming to! His blood started to pound into his ears. He would make things better now – he would tell Legolas about his feelings. Perhaps, if luck was on his side, the elf would even understand them. Perhaps he had read his signs wrong and was only a coward to ask. His lips parted to call out to the elf.

"Aragorn..."

His lips stayed open and still. His eyes opened wide. 'I hate you...Aragorn...?' The man felt a sudden weakness in his legs.

How could this be? How could Legolas hate him after all the things he had done for him? After he had protected his life? 'Though, he was unconscious at that time,' Aragorn remembered. And then the bitterness came again.

'Could a man be any more foolish than I?'

It was still nighttime when Legolas heard footsteps approaching. A sharp click cut into the air and rough hands jerked him to his feet. A small groan of pain escaped him when his legs did not quite cooperate.

"Were are you taking him!" a daring voice demanded.

The elf was unbelievable happy to hear Aragorn's voice.

"Aragorn!"

The owner of the rough hands started to laugh. It was a disgusting sound and Legolas could smell the foulness creeping into the air. "Ugh, don't ya worry. We just wanna play a little."

The elf started to struggle, but the rope on his wrist was fastened too tight.

"Stop!" Aragorn protested. "He is injured. Let him be!" But his words were only followed by more muddy laughter. "Take me instead!"

"You will be next, man." the creature lifted Legolas onto his shoulder and walked away.

"No!" Aragorn could not accept that this was happening. Never had he felt so weak and helpless before. He started to pace in his cell again, feeling like a trapped animal in a cage. His hands were fisted, his pulse running faster with every second. 'What are they doing to him?' He hit the wall with all of his strength. "Damn!"

Just as he thought he would go crazy, he heard voices again. His body tensed with anticipation as the darkness faded and an orc came into view, holding a single candle.

"Where did you take him?" Aragorn asked the dirty creature in a low, grim tone. The answer came with a yellow-toothed grin.

"The elf's with our leader. He ordered me to take you as well." Aragorn felt resolve form within him. He could easily beat this one orc, find Legolas, and escape. Yes, he would try it. For Legolas. But the orc seemed to read him well and his grin became even darker. "If you are thinking of harming me or anyone else, your friend will die – probably tortured some before that."

Aragorn's shoulders slumped. There must be a way for them to escape, right? For now, though, he just let the orc lead him out of the filthy prison.

He had to wait until the right opportunity to escape presented itself.

He refused to put Legolas in more danger.

The room to which the orc led him was lit poorly with only a few candles. It did not look as dirty as the rest of this dark place, still quite Spartan. A tall figure stood in one of the corners. "Leave!" he spat at the lingering orc, who hurried away immediately.

"You two dared to intrude upon my territory and killed many of my numbers." The voice was too calm, making Aragorn shiver. "Therefore, I have decided that killing you right now would not satisfy me. You deserve to be taught a lesson."

The door of the room opened again and two orcs dragged in a struggling Legolas. The blood had been cleaned from his face and he no longer looked as weak as he had before.

"Legolas!" Some of the weight on Aragorn's chest seemed to lift.

"What are you waiting for?" the voice from the corner asked. The orcs took the elf promptly, yanking him to the middle of the room, where coarse chains were hanging from the ceiling. Legolas fought against them with all of his strength, but he had no real chance against the other two as he was still suffering from his head injury.

Aragorn moved quickly. One of the orcs soon found himself on the ground, bleeding. The other was not able to put up a long fight either and quickly joined his fellow.

Before Aragorn knew it, however, strong arms c trapped him from behind and a sharp knife was pressed into the flesh of his throat. "You're not fast enough, man," a voice whispered in his ear.

"Elf! If you want your friend to bleed to death right now, keep on fighting us!"

Legolas stilled reluctantly. Agony was clear on his face as he let his hands be bound tightly over his head.

"You damn bastard!" growled Aragorn behind clutched teeth.

A chuckle was the answer. "Now we can play..."

TBC…