Written with and edited by co-author: InsanitysxCreation
Fili uttered a war-like cry as the hobbit landed safely in his brother's arms, charging out of the bushes with his weapon drawn. The rest of the company followed within seconds, every one of them making blows against the shocked trolls' legs. How dare they touch him! How dare they try to harm him! He growled, slicing against the thick skin of the troll, cursing when it did little to no effect.
Fili caught sight of Bilbo as the hobbit rushed across the clearing. He tried to run after him, but a large hand hit the ground in front of him. His spun his sword and drove it into the troll's hand. The creature roared, pulling his hand back with a cry of pain. Fili smirked, jumping back out of the way as the troll chased after him. He tried to find Bilbo once more as he slid between the legs of one of the trolls.
"Fili!" He heard his brother cry, and saw him run towards him. "Up!" He nodded, running towards him, quickly getting onto his knees and cupping his hands. Kili stepped into his hands, getting a boost up and sending a swing to the beast. Fili turned while his brother was airborne, knowing his hit would land, but Bilbo was gone from sight. He looked around wildly, but was drawn back into the battle.
Just as it started, it all stopped. Before he knew what happened, he was watching with terror-filled eyes as the trolls held Bilbo by both his arms and legs. His legs felt numb; his heart was in his throat as his hand shook around his weapon.
"Bilbo!" Kili cried, trying to charge forward, but Thorin held him back.
"Lay down your arms! Or we'll rip his off!" The troll warned.
Fili wanted to drop his weapons immediately, but that would draw suspicion. He looked at Thorin with terrified eyes. His uncle glanced at him, then angrily slammed his sword point first into the ground. The swords fells from Fili's numb fingers a moment later, the clangs as everyone else did the same echoing in the night air. His eyes remained on Bilbo, even as they were all tossed in sacks or tied to a spit. Bilbo landed near him and Fili tried to squirm his way to the hobbit, to apologize and comfort him. However, someone else's weight was pinning him down over the back of his legs so he could only futilely wiggle.
'Is this how it all ends?' he wondered morosely. 'Eaten by trolls half a world away from the mountain? I never even got to tell Bilbo I loved him...' The shock Fili felt when he realized the truth of his feelings for Bilbo transformed to intense worry in an instant as Bilbo stood up inside his sack and yelled for the trolls' attention. "Bilbo, what are you doing?" he hissed quietly. Bilbo ignored him, prattling on about how to cook dwarves. When he mentioned skinning them, Fili tried to bite the hem of his pants, to pull him back and shut him up before he got them in an even worse predicament. But Bilbo was out of reach.
Then Bilbo started to say they had parasite, parasites! Why was he doing this? Surely Bilbo wouldn't betray them, just to save himself. Surely he wouldn't. He could hear his brother yelling how they didn't have parasites and that Bilbo did. He rolled his eyes at that: it wasn't helping them anymore then what Bilbo was doing. But a rough kick from Thorin made them all look at him, realizations coming to them all. Of course! Their clever burglar! They all started crying out to the trolls about how big their parasites were, of course Kili had to claim his imaginary parasites were bigger then them all. With Bilbo's help of stalling the trolls, Gandalf was able to get to them in time. Cracking a rock with a piercing thump, the first light of the morning blinding them all. They heard the sounds of the trolls' grunts and cries of pain. When it was all over, and their eyes adjusted to the light, what stood in front of them were three stone statues of the trolls themselves.
Fili was in awe. How had Bilbo known to stall for time? He was amazing. "Can someone get us off here now?!" Dwalin demanded, still hanging precariously over the roaring fire.
Gandalf made his way down to the campsite. Luckily, the trolls had put the spit too far above the fire for the dwarves to actually cook, so while they were uncomfortably warm they weren't injured as they waited for release. Gandalf first cut some of the dwarves free from their sacks, so they could help the others down. Fili struggled out of his sack and immediately went to his brother, checking him over. When Kili assured him he was fine, Fili turned to Bilbo- and turned away with a blush. The shadows cast by the weak dawn light hid the red in his cheeks.
The trolls had stripped them of most outer layers, thankfully leaving their underthings on. Bilbo, having less layers than any of them, was in what had to be his underthings, so different from dwarven, and a thin linen shirt with no sleeves. So much of his pale skin was on display, it was indecent.
Kili saw how red Fili's face was when he handed his brother the rest of his clothes. The trolls had thrown all the clothes into a big pile at the edge of the campsite and those who weren't gathering the ponies and supplies dug through the mound to sort out which clothes were whose. Kili had snagged his, his brother's, and one more bundle of cloth, which he now shoved into Fili's arms with a wink.
"I'm going to go help sort out weapons. Why don't you give Master Baggins his clothes back, brother?" He laughed when Fili sputtered and quickly walked away. Fili had no choice but to approach the nearly-naked hobbit, lest he draw more attention to himself.
He did his best not to look at Bilbo as he approached him, but his eyes kept dragging across expanses of pale, soft-looking skin. Were those freckles? No, no, don't look! His face was visibly red under his blonde beard when he quickly gave Bilbo his clothes.
"H-here you are, Master Baggins, your clothes. Better get dressed quickly, I expect we'll move out soon." He clenched his jaw shut, to stem any further babbling. As soon as the surprised hobbit took his clothes, Fili quickly walked back to where he had dumped his- Mahal's forges, did he really just walk up to Bilbo in his underthings?! How incredibly embarrassing and improper! Fili got dressed as quickly as he could without seeming too rushed, keeping his eyes firmly away from the tantalizing sight of Bilbo adjusting the tension of his suspenders and- He roughly jammed a knife back into its place, face aflame. The others were discussing where a troll hoard might be hiding and Fili gladly listened to that. It took his mind off less proper things. As he was dressed and now armed, he joined the group searching for a large cave that might have been the trolls'. A call from the far end of the clearing signaled the find and he cut across to get there faster. Bilbo was between him and the hoard, now fully dressed and proper again. Fili took a deep breath and nervously approached him as the others went into the smelly cave. He hesitantly placed a hand on his shoulder, smiling.
"You did great back there," he told the hobbit.
Bilbo jumped slightly at his touch, turning and looking up at the prince "O-oh! Well, I heard them talking about the sun light...and it was almost morning... So... Well, I just figured it was worth a shot. I couldn't let us get eaten, just because I was careless enough to get caught."
Fili shook his head. "You were not careless, you were amazing." He blushed at his own words, continuing, "You were really brave, going to save the ponies like that. And you were smarter then all of us, getting us out like that." He smiled at him. "You really saved the day, Master Baggins."
Bilbo's cheeks flushed a light pink, which traveled up to his ears "Oh... Well... Thank you, Fili, as were you." He smiled, hitting his shoulder suddenly.
"Ow!" Fili exclaimed, "What was that for?" For a hobbit, he did pack a punch.
"That was for almost biting my ankle off, you stupid dwarf," the hobbit laughed.
Fili stared at him in shock, then broke out into loud laughter, a huge smile on his face. Their laughter petered off and they were left staring at the other. Fili licked his lips, opening his mouth to say something, when Nori walked by with a shovel, bumping into him and breaking the moment he and Bilbo were sharing. Fili looked at the cave then back to Bilbo. His nerve failed him and he just squeezed Bilbo's shoulder again.
"I should go check on the ponies," he said lamely.
Bilbo's face seemed to fall a bit and he nodded. "Oh. Ok, yes, that's a good idea. Make sure the poor dears aren't too traumatized from the whole ordeal." Fili nodded and walked off, cursing himself. The ponies were a bit nervous, but seemed fine, so he went back to the others. He found his brother near the entrance of the cave and wrinkled his nose at the smell.
Kili greeted him with a grin. "Close call back there, our hobbit sure is something. Speaking of which, I saw you talking to him." He wiggled his eyebrows. "So when is the wedding, I'll be the best man, right?" He said teasingly.
Fili sighed, looking down at his own feet "...I didn't tell him."
Kili blinked, grin lowering to a frown "What? But we had that whole talk about it," he whined.
"I know that!" He shook his head, lowering his voice. "I chickened out, okay? I was going to, I really was. But everyone was around, and he was just so...so...perfect. My nerves got the better of me." He looked over to where Bilbo was now talking with the wizard. "...I just don't know what to do. I love him. I know that now. I can't lose him."
Kili opened his mouth to retort when there was a loud rustling in the bushes. Immediately, he pulled out his bow and an arrow and had them trained on the moving bushes. Fili also went on the defensive, ready to defend his brother as he took long distance shots. He glanced at Bilbo, but he was with the wizard so he should be alright. The bushes parted to erupt a group of large rabbits, all harnessed together and pulling a sled. On the sled, a strange man in brown robes was yelling, "THIEVES! MURDERERS!"
They all only relaxed when Gandalf greeted the man as a fellow wizard. The two went off a bit to chat. Bilbo was looking at a new sword. Kili walked past Fili to lean on Bilbo's shoulder, peering at the blade. Fili followed, also curious and always ready for an excuse to be close to Bilbo.
"What've you got there, Mister Boggins?" Kili asked.
Bilbo rolled his eyes at the mispronunciation of his name, "It is a sword, Gandalf found it for me in the troll hoard." He turned the blade around, looking at the markings that traveled up it to the hilt. "Never actually used one before," he admitted to them, "but I'm sure that doesn't surprise you."
Fili smiled; it was more like a dagger then a sword, but a perfect fit for their hobbit. "It is a nice blade," he commented, "I am glad you have something to protect yourself with."
Kili grinned. "Maybe my brother can show you a few moves, teach you how to handle such a weapon."
Fili blushed at his brother's bold remark, "Kili, please..." He looked at Bilbo. "We don't have to, but I mean I wouldn't mind!" He sputtered, "I'd be happy to help you if you need me to, I mean you are a part of the company! We should all help each other and know how to protect ourselves!" He knew he was making weak excuses, but-
"No, I...I would really appreciate that." Bilbo smiled shyly at Fili and the blond dwarf felt his heart melt. That molten puddle of heart seized when there was a howl and he saw all of the blood drain from Bilbo's face. "Was that... was that a wolf?" Bilbo asked, terrified.
"No, it was a-" Fili said, turning, his blades in his hands. Kili was a step ahead of him, shooting the warg in the face as it emerged from the trees. "-warg!"
It was chaos after that.
They ran through open plains dotted with huge rocks, ran because the ponies they had rescued just last night had bolted under the threat of wargs. They ran and ran and Fili did his best to stay near Bilbo so he could protect him. He pressed the hobbit against the huge rock they were hiding behind, waiting for Radagast to race past. His breath caught in his throat when a growl sounded above them. A warg was sniffing around and panic rushed through Fili at the thought of Bilbo getting hurt. He saw Thorin nod to Kili. He held his breath as his brother took the shot, then helped Dwalin and Nori kill the orc and warg quickly. They made too much noise, though, and Radagast no longer was distracting enough to keep the wargs away. They raced after Gandalf, Bilbo panting and gasping beside him. Gandalf disappeared and they were surrounded, backing slowly toward a huge rock. Fili wanted to hold Bilbo close, but knew he had to protect him. The elven dagger quivered in Bilbo's shaking hands when he held it out in front of him. Fili had never felt so relieved as when Gandalf reappeared and urged them all into a hidden cave. The prince made sure Bilbo had slid down into safety before he followed.
He slid down the slope, landing with the other mess of dwarves at the bottom. He looked up as Thorin cried for Kili, his heart soon forgetting about Bilbo and going for his brother. It only relaxed once Kili and Thorin both slid down to meet the rest of them. Fili took a deep breath and moved closer to Bilbo, staying in front of him as they all watched the entrance. The sounds of the Orcs could be heard overhead, the sounds of horns and cries of the creatures.
They all jumped back as an orc flew down the entrance, rolling down to their feet. Thorin poked at his with his sword, giving it a kick before he leaned down, pulling an arrow from the creature's neck.
"Elves..." he growled, looking up at the wizard.
Gandalf did not dispute this accusation, but led the way through the narrow craggy path between the thick rocks. There were some moments the thicker members of the company got stuck on an outcropping and had to be pushed past the narrow point. Bilbo seemed to dance between the sharp rocks. Fili had a front row seat to this twisting turning performance and he couldn't help but admire how gracefully Bilbo avoiding brushing against the sharper rocks. His too-big feet didn't seem at all a hindrance like he would have thought they'd be. It took a few moments for Fili to realize they were out of the path. Bilbo gasped, his eyes wide, and Fili drank in the sight before following his gaze
"Rivendell..."
