A/N: Welcome to chapter three! Oh yes, the moment you have all been waiting for. *Drum Roll* The Doctor appears! (Sort of…) The mysterious letters are examined a bit more and Legolas says he's fine. (What's new?) A big thanks to Oakwrym, Impossible is my reality, and Restrained . Freedom for reviewing!
Displaced
Without thinking, Legolas breathed out one word.
"Elvish."
"Hmm?" questioned Emily as she carefully took out the drawer.
"Oh, I was just amazed at the writing. It's so…beautiful."
"What, no joke?" Legolas ignored the quip, too shocked to respond. Emily continued. "I was hoping you could shed some light on it."
"I am eager to get started," said Legolas, in a daze. He took the unit from Emily. And slowly walked to his desk, eyes riveted on the pages before him. Legolas sat down and put the papers on his desk. He picked one up and leaned back in his chair, his other hand gripped the chair, anxious to know what was written on the page. The first name leapt from the page and sent a shiver down Legolas' spine.
King Thranduil.
The letter was to his father. After all these years he thought he had the only written documents of Elvish in this world. Legolas had stayed long after the elves had left Middle Earth, continuing to resist the call of the sea. Living in the age of men, he visited Gondor many times and was happy protecting the heirs of Aragorn. But Legolas had stayed in Middle Earth too long after the time of the elves and a silence passed over the land from the Valar. Legolas no longer heard the call of the sea. A fear gripped him as he felt its absence. He handed off his duties as protector as soon as possible and left to the sea. Legolas lived with sailors and learned their trade, ever conscious that the sea turned not into a call to Valinor, but simply water. Once he had mastered its craft, he bought a small vessel in pursuit of Valinor, which he dreaded was not open anymore. A storm hit, and once it cleared Legolas found himself on foreign lands. Legolas quickly learned that he found himself in a world that never knew of Middle Earth, elves, dwarves, hobbits, or even orcs and other such dark creatures. It only knew of men and common creatures. It was a world dominated by men. And it was definitely not Valinor.
But here, in his hands, were four pages of Elvish writing, so very displaced as he was. He saved the contents of the first letter for later and looked for the recipients of the other three pages. "Elrond," he announced, and set down the second page. "Elladan and Elrohir." He picked up the last. "Galadriel." He was breathing fast. Not only did they find Elvish letters, they were to people he knew. Legolas rose, the room becoming suddenly too claustrophobic. The lack of natural light to preserve the pieces in storage turned the storage room into an artificially lit cave. One that he desperately wanted out of at the moment. When the elf first took the job he wondered why he purposely holed himself away in a man-made cave, but the fear and tightening feeling of being without the natural world slipped away and he became accustom to it. Now, his anxiety was at a high. His body screamed for fresh air.
Unchecked Elvish abilities had him flying up the steps in a heartbeat. Legolas just managed to not burst through the door. "Are you okay, Liam? You look a bit pale."
"Fine! I'm fine!" replied Legolas hastily to the security guard. With quick steps he made it to the outside, and the blessed fresh air. Legolas breathed in the London air like it was his life blood. The elf coughed, trying to take in too much air at once. "Get a hold of yourself, Legolas!" He commanded, uttering his real name for the first time in a very long time. Legolas leaned against the wall and straightened his suit and tie. The elf ran his hands over his face, trying to shake off the feeling of shock. He ran his fingers through his hair violently, causing it to go every which way.
The door opened and Legolas snapped his head to see who was invading his weak moment. Emily let the door shut behind her. "Liam? You okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine," he all but growled.
"If by fine, you mean terrible, then yes." Emily gave him a gentle one-armed hug for support. "Let's go get something to drink, yeah? Maybe a nice hot tea."
"No, no," replied Legolas. "I just had a sudden need for fresh air."
"Are you sick?"
"No. I'm fine," came Legolas' canned response. The elf straightened, relinquishing the support of the wall. "Go back to your grocery list. I will be down in a moment."
Emily didn't budge. "I don't think you need to work. Just take the day off."
"No!" snapped Legolas. There was a moment of shocked silence. "Sorry," he mumbled. "I…" the elf scrambled for words. "I just think I'm on to something."
"Just go home early, yeah? Please. It's my fault you came in on Saturday. Take the weekend off."
Legolas looked at Emily and mustered up a smile. "As you wish, my lady."
Emily slapped his arm playfully, but noticeably more gentle than before. "Stop with that 'my lady' stuff, you old-fashioned pointed-eared bloke."
"Harsh," Legolas said, screwing up his face in mock hurt as he touched his ears. He was returning to his normal self and participated in the banter.
Emily laughed. "Come on, you know you think it's your best quality."
"Perhaps," said Legolas slyly. He fixed his hair and gave her his award-winning princely smile. "They're pretty dashing, don't you think?" Legolas winked and the two burst into laughter. After the two collected themselves, Legolas spoke up. "Well then, now are we just getting paid to look upon my lovely pointed ears? Let us return to our duties."
Emily smiled. "If you insist, my lord," she said sarcastically. "Just don't work yourself too hard, okay?"
"Yes ma'am!" saluted the elf. Emily laughed and opened the door, traveling down to the archives again with Legolas following close behind.
The elf settled back down in his chair and picked up the abandoned letter, his wits about him this time. He started to read.
King Thranduil,
Your son, the prince, came into my care only days ago, with many hurts. I see it fit to inform you although Legolas has expressed his explicit wishes for you not to be concerned of his well-being, and is, as always, "fine." He is recovering soundly in my halls, after a near escape in an orc battle. If you see it fit, I shall send him home once he is well with a small delegation of my soldiers.
Lord Elrond
Legolas almost cried tears of happiness. It was a standard letter that his father received, one that always made going away to visit Imladris or on patrol hard. He stifled a sad, reminiscent laugh. He could almost see the grand arches that created the windows and doorways throughout Imladris. The sound of the waterfall. Even smiled. Even the touched of the blankets in the Healing Halls. He had always wanted out of those Halls and now, he would do anything to get back into them. Legolas was disrupted from his thoughts as his phone rang. He picked it up.
"Sir, there's someone here to see you. He says he's the Doctor."
Legolas raised an eyebrow in question. "Who?"
A/N: Oh yes. He did just ask that question!
Yay quick(ish) update! (As I already had half this done from splitting chapter two…) I'm planning to update every weekend to work around school, and hopefully I can keep that agenda, since I really only have about half this story figured out… But, as always thanks for reading! Criticism, feedback, etc. is encouraged!
And remember: "It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn't use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like "What about lunch?" ~A.A. Milne
