(A/N: I know, I know, I should be working on other stories. But I've decided that the only way I'm going to get done with them all is if I just pick one at a time and power through working on it. So this is what you get.)

Carry you with Me

Part 4

Bilbo stepped into the bar, breathing in the air conditioning with a slight smile. He wore his hoodie even in the summer heat, but he appreciated the level of cold that Thorin seemed to desire for his business. The man in question was across the room, furiously scrubbing at the glassware once again. This time, however, there were two other men with him, one blonde, the other a brunet, both similarly occupied by the task of cleaning.

"Are these the nephews that I've heard so much about?" Bilbo said with a grin and watched sheepish expressions turn his way. He had caught a glimpse of their faces before, but couldn't quite remember what it was that they looked like.

"They are. Fili, Kili, meet Bilbo, now get back to cleaning," Thorin said and Bilbo would have thought that the other man was angry at the boys were it not for the half smile on his face as he spoke. As it was the boys both grumbled under their breath and continued to scrub their respective surfaces. Bilbo smiled cheerfully and stepped over to the bar, grabbing a seat near to where Thorin was scrubbing.

"Do you want me to help?" Bilbo offered, glancing at the one called Fili and noting that his hands were pruned up around the washcloth that he was using the scrub down the tables and chairs. The one called Kili seemed to have been spared the fate of his brother and instead was hunched over with a mop, furiously scouring the floor of any foreign substances.

"No, but I appreciate the offer. Would you like some coffee?" Thorin asked, setting another glass down to dry, his hands were also pruned up from exposure to the water. Bilbo wondered how long the three of them had been awake and cleaning the bar, considering it was his customary time of 9am already.

"Yes please," Bilbo said after a moment's pause during which he was totally not distracted by Thorin's face at all. He watched Thorin vanish into the kitchen and swiveled his head around once again, observing the pair of brothers that were hard at work cleaning the mess that they had left last night. Of course it was their mess; Thorin had said that they were his nighttime bartenders. But what Bilbo couldn't figure out was where they got the energy.

"Uncle says that you took a college class on soul mates," the blond one, Fili, said, splashing his rag into a wash bucket and moving to a table nearer to Bilbo's side of the bar. Surprised by the statement Bilbo paused and fumbled for the words, giving Thorin time to emerge from the kitchen with two steaming mugs of coffee.

"I did," Bilbo said at last, causing Thorin to raise a curious eyebrow, throwing a glance toward his nephews.

"What did it say about sibling soul mates?" Fili asked, looking past Bilbo into Thorin's eyes. The professor saw nothing but coldness in that face and wondered just what it was that the brothers had gone through.

"That they aren't uncommon. The magic picks your soul mate for you, based on who is most compatible with you. It isn't unreasonable that that person be a family member. It also isn't uncommon for those bonds to be romantic in nature. However, it is still generally looked down upon if, say, that pair were to have a child. The magic can only protect against so much," Bilbo said, hoping that he remembered all of it.

At some point Fili and Kili's attentions had both shifted to Bilbo, and the small man was certain that he could feel Thorin's eyes burning a hole in the back of his head. And then all at once, like someone letting the air out of a balloon, the brothers deflated. Each sagged into the nearest available chair and covered their face with their hands. There was something of a prolonged sigh from behind him and Bilbo turned to look at Thorin, finding the other man to be resting his head against the bar.

"Why don't you two go to bed? You've got to be up in a few hours to help your mother in the kitchen," Thorin said at long last and raised his head to look at his nephews, his eyes seeming to avoid Bilbo entirely.

"Right. Good night Uncle," the one called Kili finally spoke and stood from the chair that he had been sitting in, extending his hand toward his brother. Without a word, Fili rose from his own seat and wandered over to his brother, calmly taking his hand and following him out of the room, through the door that Bilbo had noticed before.

"They're soul mates then?" Bilbo asked when Thorin was not immediately forthcoming with the information.

"They are," Thorin said and nodded as he came around to join Bilbo at the bar.

"Who is it that doesn't approve?" Bilbo questioned, curious as to who in the family that he had heard so much about could be so callous toward the pair of siblings.

"Their father would be the one. He and Dis aren't together anymore because she wouldn't tolerate him trying to keep her sons apart when they were meant to be together. His assumption was that the bond would be a romantic one," Thorin smiled morbidly for a moment and looked up at Bilbo. "It isn't, but I wouldn't care if it was. I just want them to be happy," he said and slipped his hand into Bilbo's.

"I would want the same thing," the smaller man said and squeezed Thorin's hand tightly. He couldn't imagine someone telling their children that they couldn't be with their soul mate. Actually he was pretty sure that it was illegal to prevent someone from being with their soul mate. He wasn't sure that he could live without the familiar tingle in his skin from Thorin's touch.

"I'm glad. I don't think I could be with someone that would deny my nephews their happiness," Thorin admitted and chanced a glance over at Bilbo.

"No, that's perfectly understandable. What I can't figure out is how your sister could have had someone in her life that was so obviously incompatible," the smaller man said, scratching his head with his free hand before grabbing up the coffee mug and blowing over the surface of the liquid to cool it.

"They weren't soul mates. But they were young and in love and thought that it wouldn't matter if they were together. And to be fair, the problems didn't start until after we found out that the boys were soul mates. That seemed to be the core of the issue," Thorin said with something that resembled a shrug, though it could have simply been his shoulders sagging, Bilbo wasn't sure which.

(A/N: Well that's all for now. I hope that you enjoyed it. Please leave me a review if you like it, or just to let me know what you think.)