Chapter Three

He was in the middle of an unfamiliar street. There were crowds of people milling around, most of them with cameras and phones out, taking pictures of something off to Fili's left. His eyes weren't drawn there, though. Something was niggling at his mind, telling him to look to his right.

Through the crowd, he could see them, standing stock still on the sidewalk. A tall man with long dark hair shot with silver next to a woman with flowing white hair. Neither of them were old, but their eyes looked ancient, as if they had seen far too much. Both were staring across the street radiating a fierce and angry determination.

Though underneath that, Fili sensed an aching sorrow that caused his heart to wrench in sympathy.

No one should feel the amount of anguish and loss these two felt under their fury.

Fili turned to see what they were staring at so intently and started.

The White House.

His eyes snapped open and he froze, breathing as sigh of relief as Kili's breathing stayed deep and even.

He glanced at the clock on the nightstand and saw it was nearly eight. Knowing he'd never get any sleep after his vision, he silently rolled out of bed and went to the kitchen to make breakfast.

He dug the pancake mix out of the pantry and mixed enough batter to make a couple of pancakes for him and Kili, knowing that as soon as Kili smelled food, he'd be up. Deciding to spoil them both a little bit after yesterday, he grabbed the bag of chocolate chips he had bought for special occasions and mixed them into the batter.

Sure enough, as soon as the first pancakes were being flipped onto a place, Kili padded into the kitchen.

"I smell chocolate," he said, nose in the air as he exaggerated sniffing like a dog.

Fili snorted before moaning as Kili's arms came around his waist and he nipped at his neck. "Are you planning on eating pancakes or me for breakfast?"

"Can't I have both?" Kili asked, hot breath on Fili's skin causing him to shiver.

Fili all but melted into the love and desire Kili was showering him with. "I'm gonna burn the pancakes…" he warned, as his eyes fluttered shut of their own accord.

"Sorry," Kili chuckled with one final kiss to his neck before he backed away, grabbing the plate with the first pancakes on it and slathering them with syrup. He leant against the kitchen counter next to Fili and groaned as the first bite hit his tongue. "Have I told you I love you?"

"I see how it is," Fili quipped, flipping the last pancake onto his own plate and turning the stovetop off. "You only love me for my pancakes."

He knew it was a ridiculous notion. Considering how cheap pancake mix was, they had pancakes so often it was a good thing they weren't sick of them yet.

Still, Kili had put his plate down and had taken Fili into his arms quick as a flash, pushing his love towards Fili with an intensity that threw him. "I love you for so much more than your pancakes," he stated seriously.

"Kili…" he said, slightly breathless.

"I need you to know that," he continued. "I know you sometimes think you're forcing your own emotions onto me and making me love you, but you're not."

Fili cringed. He thought he had kept his fears secret from Kili. He hadn't wanted to worry him. "You don't know that," he couldn't help but point out, trying to step out of Kili's embrace but being pulled back immediately.

"I do!" Kili insisted. "You can only change people's emotions when you're near them. I've loved you every moment of every day since I was seven, even when you weren't around."

He swallowed thickly, feeling the overwhelming sincerity of Kili's words, the depth of the love Kili felt for him nearly flooring him. "I… didn't mean to doubt you…" he stammered out.

Kili rolled his eyes. "I know you didn't. I just wanted to put your mind at ease," he said, dropping a kiss on his lips before stepping back slightly and pushing Fili's plate into his hands. "Now eat your pancakes."

"Why now?" he asked, absently taking a bite of his dry pancakes. He didn't particularly like the taste of syrup.

"You're getting stronger," he said, picking up his own plate and shoving a bit of pancake into his mouth. "You were bound to start worrying even more," he added, his mouth still full.

It was Fili's turn to roll his eyes, turning and taking a seat at the table to eat breakfast like a normal person. Kili trailed after him and frowned at him when he sat down.

"You're going to have to be careful," the technopath told him.

Fili gave him an unimpressed look. "I'm not the one who gets power-happy, Mr. The-Toaster-Started-Smoking-On-Its-Own."

Kili pouted. "It did and that's not what I meant!" he shot back. "You know how lost you can get when you're receiving too much."

"I don't get lost," he said with a scowl, stabbing his pancakes vigorously.

"You get lost," Kili stated matter-of-factly.

"When have I got lost?"

"You got lost yesterday!"

"That was sex! It doesn't count!" Fili cried in exasperation. "And I wasn't lost! I was… caught in the moment…"

He very nearly said lost in the moment, which wouldn't have helped his case at all.

"You're so powerful, Fili," Kili murmured, reaching over to grab his hand. "I just… don't want that power to hurt you. I get scared for you sometimes."

"You're pretty powerful, too," he couldn't help but point out. "And you scare me when you get lost in the Internet. You throw your mind so far, I'm afraid it won't come back," he admitted.

"I only connect that deeply when you're around," Kili promised him. "You keep me grounded."

Fili smiled at that. "You ground me too," he confessed.

"The difference is," the technopath said meaningfully, "I can choose when to connect. The emotions just bombard you."

He sighed. "I can't stop it from happening," he said in resignation. "I'll be as careful as possible."

"You can start by not going back to work," Kili told him.

"Kili, we've talked about this. Do we have to keep arguing about it?" he asked. "I have to work."

Kili pursed his lips in displeasure. "After what happened yesterday? You really think that's safe?"

"It's not about being safe, it's about keeping us fed," Fili argued. "And before you start, you are not using your powers to get us money."

"It's a big city! I wouldn't get caught! And I would just take food!" Kili exclaimed, throwing his hands up as his anger rose within him. "It's better than you putting yourself in danger!"

"How is you putting yourself in danger any better?" he asked testily, his own irritation fanned by Kili's.

"Considering you've been protecting me all this time, it's about time I returned the favor," he snapped back.

Fili froze and just stared at Kili for a moment, dumbfounded. Kili bit his lip and looked away shyly, obviously having said more than he had wanted.

"You don't have to return any favor," he said gently. "And I'm pretty sure we've taken care of and protecting each other all these years."

"Doesn't feel that way," Kili muttered with a shrug. "Fili, you saved my life and made sure I didn't end up on the street and even made sure I graduated from high school. What have I done for you?"

"You've kept me from going crazy from all the emotions and the visions," he pointed out. "And you've loved me. No one ever loved me before you. Hell, when I was little, knowing you'd love me one day was the only thing that got me through sometimes."

"Fili…" he breathed, awe and horror mixing in him. Fili had told him how his father was, but he hadn't ever told him that Kili was the first one to love him. He hadn't wanted to sound pathetic.

"So you saved me too," he said, blinking back tears. "Just in a different way."

Kili stood and pulled Fili to his feet before pulling him close. "I love you," he whispered over his lips before kissing them gently. "Let me show you how much?" he asked as he pulled away, tugging Fili towards the bedroom.

He smiled at the silly question. He didn't need showing when he could literally feel it. But he went with Kili without protest, unable to deny how close he needed to be to the younger man in that moment.

#

"So what was your vision about this morning?" Kili asked breathlessly as they lay there panting as they tried to catch their breaths.

"Hmm?" Fili said, still hazy with his and Kili's residual pleasure still pulsing through him.

"The one that woke you up this morning?"

Fili hummed. "You were supposed to be asleep," he slurred, turning his head and resting his cheek against Kili's chest, the sound of his strongly thrumming heart comforting to his ear.

"I was until you got up," he replied. "I figured you had to have had a vision to get you out of bed so early without having to."

"I didn't understand it," he murmured with a shake his head, staring up at the ceiling as he remembered the couple from his vision. Why were they so sad?

The better question was probably why they were looking at the White House with such intense anger and determination, but that hadn't been what had struck Fili so strongly.

"I think…" he said uncertainly. "I think I saw two people planning to attack the president."

"What?" Kili cried, craning his neck to look down at him.

Fili shrugged. "Or at least the White House. I don't know. It was weird."

"Well it's nothing we need to be involved with," Kili decided, flopping back down and wrapping his arms even tighter around Fili.

He didn't say anything to that. They both knew that he couldn't ignore visions. He had never gotten one without a reason.

But surely Kili was right. It couldn't be up to them (they were a package deal, after all) to stop someone from attacking the White House. For all they knew, the White House deserved to be attacked! Look at what humans had done to them, after all! Maybe that was why the couple he saw were so sad. Maybe they were mutants who had finally had enough.

In his heart of hearts, he knew that violence wasn't the answer. It wouldn't solve anything and might even make things worse. But he could understand the impulse. He could empathize, he thought to himself, snorting internally at his own joke.

He let himself soak in the comfort of Kili's arms for a while before glancing at the clock and sighing. "I've got to go in for the lunch shift," he told Kili, who tightened his grip on him.

"I don't want you to go," he begged.

"I've got to," Fili said, disentangling himself from Kili's grasping limbs. "But we'll figure out something, okay? If you're that worried about the diner, I'll see if I can find another job."

Kili was relieved at that, and Fili didn't have the heart to tell him that he had looked for another job many times and had never found one.

Besides, maybe this time something would pan out.

He hopped in the shower and got dressed quickly, rushing out with a quick kiss from Kili. He unfortunately still missed the bus he had planned on taking, meaning he had to wait for the next one and was running a tad late by the time he got to the diner.

Belle, the older woman who had probably been working at the diner for at least thirty years, glared at him when he came in. He was her relief and she didn't like waiting to go home. Even if it was only five minutes at most.

"Sorry!" he called, making a beeline for the backroom to clock in and get his apron. "I'm here. You can take off!"

She didn't need to be told twice as she pushed past him and clocked out before he could clock in.

He rolled his eyes and clocked in. He was just tying his apron when he blinked and the world around him had changed.

He was standing before a large, iron-wrought gate that was hanging off its hinges and bent outward. It gave him an ominous feeling as he read the twisted and barely legible words on the top of the gate. Bag End Institute.

He glanced around, but there was nothing but trees and hills, though he thought he could see a paved road in the distance.

Which is what the gravel road he was currently standing on must lead to, he realized as he looked down.

He stepped closer to the busted gate, peering through the gaps in the metal and staring in horror at the crumbling shell of a very large mansion.

There were still lingering feelings of despair, pain, and terror clinging to the building, telling Fili all he needed to know about the horribly violent death the people who lived there must have gone through.

Without meaning to, his feet began to move up the drive, pushing open the gates and wincing as one of them fell completely to the ground.

Tears filled his eyes as he stepped into the mansion, covering his mouth and nose with his shirt as the smell hit him.

The corpses were still relatively fresh, so whatever had happened here hadn't happened too long ago, but they were beginning to rot. He froze as he neared the stairs, gazing in dismay as he recognized two of the bodies lying in a nearby archway.

The two mutants he had saved. Had he just saved them from one death only to let them go to another?

He was yanked roughly from his vision as he felt hands grab his hips and pull him flush against a large body.

"Such a pretty thing," Larry's voice purred his in ear.

He could feel slimy lust smother him as he felt the bulge of his boss' arousal pressed against his back. He shuddered in disgust.

"Please let go of me," he pleaded, not wanting to resort to using his abilities if he didn't have to.

"Now, that wouldn't be any fun," Larry murmured, his hand creeping over Fili's stomach and inching towards his crotch.

Fili panicked and instinctively pushed all his fear and disgust onto Larry, who staggered back and crashed into the table behind him.

He stared at his boss as the older man pulled himself to his feet, projecting apathy into him and hoping to erase the disgust and fear.

Disgust and fear were too memorable. Much better to make him not care.

Larry narrowed his eyes as him before shaking his head. "Get to work!" he barked, shutting himself in his office a moment later.

Fili sighed and finished tying up his apron with shaky hands.

That was far too close.

tbc…