A/N: HUGE hugs and thanks to everyone who has been commenting and favoriting this story! I'm glad you darlings are enjoying it! I have to give extra props to the people who have been reviewing every chapter- it really helps my writing and does a huge number for my self-esteem to get feedback every step of the way. You guys are awesome!


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Tuesday October 15, 2019

Pine Bluffs, Wyoming

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The first full day of quarantine Kíli spoke back, answering his brother's questions with short replies and occasionally adding a forgotten detail whatever story was being told. Fíli seemed to take heart in his brother's involvement, knowing that every comment the younger boy made was proof that he was holding it together in the isolation and that the plague had not yet taken hold. The other members of the company took turns at Fíli's side, bring food and sharing stories and offering quite hope that they didn't necessarily feel.

Bilbo took a break to stretch his legs and found himself drawn to the far side of the property where Thorin stared broodingly into the distance. Dark circles hung heavily beneath his eyes, the pinched lines on his face making him appear much older then his actual age. "We let our guard down." Bilbo opened his mouth to reply, but Thorin pushed on, talking as much to himself as to the other man. "We got careless and now we could loose Kíli!" His words broke off in a strangled sob.

"There's still hope," Bilbo said softly, as he reached a hand out to rest on Thorin's arm. "He's a strong boy, a fighter. And he's not showing any symptoms yet."

"The first ones to fall were the women and children. The damned plague tried to take them all. It's no small miracle that I got the boys out of the city in time." Thorin's shoulders shook with restrained tension and sorrow. He turned to Bilbo, their faces dangerously close together. "I felt safe here. It made me selfish. I just wanted a moment for myself, to feel something besides fear... I wanted to forget..." Their lips met in a rough kiss, all tongues and teeth and desperation. Bilbo sunk into it willingly. "Please, help me forget..." Thorin grabbed frantically at Bilbo's shoulders and pulled him closer, grief passing between them as they drank each other in.

"Wait... no..." Bilbo pulled back, blinking quickly to clear the lust from his head. "We can't... Not like this..."

Thorin's face changed from needy to confused to devastated to angered. "Fine. If you don't want-"

"-I do want!" He interrupted, reaching a hand up to brush Thorin's hair back from his face. "But not like this. I have to know it's not just a distraction from the fear. Do you understand?"

"I understand. I'm sorry. I just..." Thorin's eyes were a sea of hopelessness, desperate and lost and pained. "I was so bent on figuring out my father's message, then the bloody prophecy... and suddenly everything made sense! I thought the quest mattered- that maybe we could save the world... but I can't even save Kíli." His hand clenched into a tight fist. "My nephews are the only bright lights left in this whole cursed world. If Kíli... if he... I don't think Fíli will be far behind." Thorin collapsed to the ground and sobbed bitterly into his hands. "They're all I have left."

Bilbo sunk to his knees, "You also have me." He wrapped his arms around Thorin, holding him tightly as they both cried.

...

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Wednesday October 16, 2019

Pine Bluffs, Wyoming

...

Kíli fell silent late in the afternoon of the second day, after complaining about a headache and the heat. No matter how much Fíli begged and pleaded, banging his fist against the window and sobbing his brother's name, there was no answer. Only Bilbo and Thorin stayed at the older boy's side, while they waited out the silence. The rest of the company kept to the house; peering out the windows with mournful expressions and whispering to each other with dark, knowing glances.

Fíli sat against the side of the shed, his eyes staring blankly forward as if he had forgotten who he was. His skin goose-pimpled from the chill of the air, but he paid it no heed. Nor did he respond to anything Thorin or Bilbo said to him with anything other then a vacant expression. It was though without Kíli, there was no Fíli, and Bilbo worried that Thorin's fears might come to pass. Thorin reached out to try and comfort his nephew, but Fíli flinched away, drawing his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms around his legs. He curled in to himself, shutting out everything but his own heartache.

None of them slept that night.

...

...

Thursday October 17, 2019

Pine Bluffs, Wyoming

...

There were no words of encouragement or glimmers of hope in the company when the time came to open the shed. There had been no sounds from inside for over a day, except for the occasional shuffling of a body moving across the wood floor. Logic screamed that there was little chance of Kíli not being infected, and the bleak acceptance of what they were expecting to find was mirrored in every heavily guarded expression and tight-lipped nod. There was no way to prepare themselves, no manual for grief that could be read or studied, no words that could steady their hearts from wildly thundering in their chests. Every member of the company was present, even though their faces were heavy with guilt and sorrow and despair.

Bofur stood at the door, trying not to draw attention to the freshly sharpened mattock in his hand. He alone seemed to know what waited for them on the other side of the door, the grief of a freshly turned loved-one, and he was ready to end Kíli's suffering so his family didn't have to.

Fíli moved to stand next to Bofur at the door, looking forward with the fatalistic resolve of someone who was facing down their own death. He didn't try to wipe away the tears that poured down his face, as wordless sobs tore from his throat in a silent plea. Thorin reached out as if he wanted to pull his oldest nephew back to safety, but his hand closed on empty air. It was Bilbo who took Thorin's hand and pulled him forward, until they were standing beside Fíli. Reaching out, he took Fíli's hand as well, and the three of them clung together as Bofur unlocked the door.

It was dark inside the shed and it took them a minute to locate Kíli in the gloom. His body was tucked into a tight ball, wedged in the corner of the building and shaking violently. Hearing the noise from the door, his head shot up, eyes wide and dark. For a moment no one moved.

"Kíli?" Thorin whispered the question and Bilbo felt the smallest bud of hope take root in his chest.

For a long moment the boy just stared at them, and then fell forward, crying garbled relief into the air. Bofur's mattock hit the ground with a dull thud.

That was all it took for Fíli to break free of his grief. "Kíli!" He rushed forward, gathering his brother into his arms and sobbing incoherent promises into the younger boy's dark hair.

"Fee?" Kíli's face lit up in awe and joy, as if he had just been given back the sun after weeks in the shadows. He clung to Fíli, desperate and needy, holding on to his brother like a lifeline.

Thorin was on them in an instant, pulling Bilbo with him by their joined hands. There were tears and hugs and wordless thanks to the heavens, and Fíli's arm never moved from around his brother's shoulders. The other members of the company gradually went back to the house, clasping each others arms with grateful sighs of relief.

There was no reason Kíli should have been spared. Bilbo knew this, but refused to dwell on the thought. What was important was that their little light was still with them, still sitting beside his brother on the bed, marking off another day on his calender. He would drift off to sleep curled in Fíli's arms, and wake them in the morning with forgotten nightmares. Their Kíli was safe. This was not the end.

...

Monday October 21, 2019

Pine Bluffs, Wyoming

...

They stayed four more days with their friends to finalize their plans. Kíli was an unusually silent version of his normal vibrant self, but he recovered quickly at his brother's side with honest smiles and quiet laughs. Thorin questioned the wisdom of their continued journey, having narrowly escaped disaster and not willing to risk his nephews further. It was Balin who regarded his friend for a long moment before pointing out the obvious. "Someone has to do something, otherwise there won't be a world for the lads to grow up in. We'll just have to be more careful." With that logic in order, they turned their designs to the map, searching for the closest place they might find a vehicle.

It was Bifur who offered a simple solution to their biggest concern. "We c'n tek m' cer."

"Your car? What?" Thorin stared open-mouthed for a moment, trying to wrap his head around the other man's words.

"Yep. M' cer." He nodded encouragingly, a huge smile spreading across his face.

Bifur explained, "He's got a Ford Bronco parked in the field behind the house. It ain't gonna be comfy, but it'll fit all nine of us." He shrugged, stroking hesitantly at his pigtails.

"Who said anything about you lot coming with us?" Dwalin choked, his eyes narrowing skeptically. "Granted, you've helped us out a whole lot the last few weeks, but still..."

"Look, lads," Bofur tugged the flaps of his hat into place and glanced at Bombur, who nodded. "We have the supplies an' the car, ya have a direction an' some grand plan." Thorin looked affronted. "What? We've known from day one that ya ain't telling us everything. We've been catching little tidbits here an' there an' gather you've got a possible way to fix things. We want in on it."

Dwalin stalled, unsure of what to say. "What about the guy who owns this place? Won't he worry if he comes home and you ain't here?"

Bifur cracked a beer and shrugged at them, "Dat ol' ber? I en't worried 'bout 'im."

"He's right," Bofur agreed with a bright smile. "Beorn ain't gonna care if we're here or not. We'll leave him a note- Went to save the world. Ta!"

"Beorn?" Thorin frowned at hearing their mysterious host's name for the first time. "Why does that sound familiar?"

"Because, Uncle, it means bear," Fíli said, looking up from where he sat on the floor with Kíli on the couch behind him, fixing his braids.

"They will cross the Misty Mountains

and find help in the Bear's den."

Balin quoted slowly, his eyes meeting Thorin's in question.

The silence in the room was palpable, but Thorin broke it willingly, "Welcome to Mahal's Pride. We'll fill you in on the way."

Bifur's Bronco was a great beast of a car, with two rows of bench seats and a cabin that opened into a large cargo hold. If anyone questioned the bright daisy yellow paint job or the oversized tires, they kept their thoughts to themselves out of respect for Bifur's gift. Having a car again would make their quest a much easier journey.

When the time came to leave, the boys scrambled into the very back of the car, tucking themselves in amongst the baggage, Kíli glued to his brother's side. It was to their unexpected delight that Thorin climbed over the back seat and joined them with a pleased grin. Bofur, Bifur, and Bombur took the middle seat, with Bifur muttering unintelligible curses at being crammed in between his cousins. Dwalin drove while his brother rode shotgun and Bilbo settled betwixt them. It was not the most comfortable or glamorous way to travel, but it was better then walking and they were all grateful.

...

"Why was Kíli spared?" Dusk set in and only Bilbo remained awake as Dwalin drove in the mounting gloom. A thought had been niggling at his brain for days, but there had never seemed to be a good time to broach it. He hadn't wanted to ask Thorin, who was too overjoyed by his nephews continued existence to look beyond it. Waiting in the darkness, he finally decided to voice the question to Dwalin, "Why didn't the plague take him?"

Dwalin pressed the toe of his boot a bit harder on the accelerator and shrugged, "Guess we were just lucky."

"No, that isn't good enough." Bilbo frowned and raked a hand through his hair. "I'm really not sure luck plays any part in this world."

"What do you want me to say? That Mahal himself spared the lad? That ain't the way things work."

Bilbo sighed, "There's got to be some logic behind it. Some reason..."

"The corpse was probably older then we guessed, past it's infectious stage. The plague doesn't take everyone. Or maybe it died of something other than the plague- It ain't like any of us saw it up close, only Kíli did." Dwalin glanced over to regard Bilbo, "The lad's safe, why is it still bothering you?"

"Because no one questioned it." He worried his hands together, trying to put his thoughts in order. "Because Kíli seemed to have the symptoms- I thought he was lost to us!"

Dwalin nodded slowly, "The lad ain't used to being on his own anymore. I doubt his brother has been out of his sight for more than a minute or two since they left home. He probably panicked at being locked up all alone... It would be enough to fuck any of us up."

Bilbo considered it for a long moment, "So, you're saying it wasn't symptoms at all, just Kíli shutting down because he couldn't deal?"

"Pretty much," Dwalin shrugged again. "You didn't like my luck theory, so this is all I got."

"So many people have died..." Bilbo said, mostly to himself. "Not that I'm ungrateful, but it almost doesn't seem fair. So many lives lost and yet Kíli is spared."

"But spared for what? This ain't a pretty world and if we don't find a way to save it there ain't much point in the boy living." Dwalin glared at the road in front of them. "We've got a ways to go yet and there's a pretty good chance the whole lot of us will be dead before we even reach the coast."

Bilbo stared into the path the headlights cleared in the darkness. "Maybe you're right. Maybe it is just luck." The thoughts weighed heavily on his mind, but there was no way to lighten them. For now they were all alive and that had to be enough, because there were plans to be made and a world to save.

...

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Tuesday October 22, 2019

Laramie, Wyoming

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The Bronco quickly ran low on gas and they spent the night crammed in the seats, parked in the lot of a ransacked convenience store, somewhere just inside Medicine Bow National Forest. When the first rays of sun glinted across the windshield, Thorin roused them from their slumber and gave them their orders. "Bombur, you're in charge of digging out some food. Your cousins can scour the store to see if there's anything of use left inside it. Dwalin, Balin and I will deal with filling up the car. Bilbo, you're responsible for keeping the boys safe." Their eyes met for a long moment and Bilbo nodded, extremely pleased that Thorin trusted him with his nephews. Kíli was busy whispering into his brother's ear, his lips curved into a mischievous grin. "Listen here, you two!" Thorin snapped at his nephews, gaining their attention. "You lads are going to stay at the car with Bilbo and don't move an inch. Stay." He backed away slowly.

"He acts like we're puppies he can order around," Kíli said, his tone teasing. "You boys sit. Stay. Good doggies!" Fíli roared with laughter, and Bilbo could only shake his head and grin as he watched the boys laughing and clinging to each other as they attempted to keep from collapsing.

They paused long enough to consume granola bars and bottled lemonade, but otherwise worked the better part of the morning to siphon enough fuel to fill the Bronco. Bilbo was surprised at how little the boys complained about being tethered to the vehicle. He spent most of the morning watching as they sat together on the hood of the car, their heads inclined in quiet conversion as they snacked on the chocolate bar Bombur somehow procured for them. At first Bilbo marveled over how quickly Kíli had bounced back from his goblin scare, but the more he watched the boy, the more he realized that while Kíli's tone was light and his smile teasing, his eyes didn't hold their usual sparkle. More then that, as the hours passed, he noticed the open panic that crossed Kíli's face whenever his brother was not physically within reach.

Bilbo regarded the map as he sat in the shade beside the car with Bofur, Dwalin, and Fíli. Kíli was splayed out on the hood above them, all awkward sprawling limbs, snoring softly in the midday sun. The rest of the company stood on the other side of the Bronco, stretching their backs and preparing themselves for a long drive.

"I do believe we've lucked out by staying on the interstate," Bilbo said as Thorin sunk down into the shade beside him, their shoulders brushing together. "This whole area of forest seems to be bordered by mountain ranges... it wouldn't be pleasant to have to muddle our way through on the back roads."

Dwalin frowned as he stared at the map, tracing his finger along a small side road to the north of them. "Dammit," He cursed, glowering at the map. "I know this place."

Bilbo opened his mouth to voice a question, but was cut off by the shout of a strange voice. "Nobody move! Stay where you are!" Looking around, Bilbo realized they were shielded from sight by the car, and that the voice was talking to the rest of the company. He quietly lowered himself to peek out between the tires and saw three pair of combat boots as well as a set of red cowboy boots, all tucked in to the legs of containment suits. Cowboy boots paced, seemingly in charge. "I am Guard Captain Thranduil. You are now in the custody of the Mirkwood Protection Camp. Please remain calm, our ride will be here shortly." A rumble in the distance turned into the squeal of tires as an old school bus pulled in to the parking lot. Several more guards in containment suits exited the bus and moved to round up the peered up at his companions for a sign of what to do. Bofur chewed nervously on his lip, while Dwalin clenched his fist as if readying an attack. Thorin had his hand clamped tightly over Fíli's mouth, as the boy struggled to get to his sleeping brother.

"Get in the bus, please," Thranduil's voice was intoned with bored authority. "We would rather not have to use the tasers, but we will if it means getting you to the safety of our Camp." A collection of muttered curses and grumbles sounded from the captured members of the company, as they shuffled towards the bus. Bilbo strained to hear what they were saying, but was distracted when Kíli's sleeping form was drug bodily from the hood of the car. "A child? It seems we got here just in time. The world is not safe for children."

Kíli awoke as Thranduil grabbed him and screamed, thrashing in the stranger's arms. "Fee! Help! Let me go! Fíli!" The terror in his voice was apparent, as were the broken sobs that followed his screams.

"Come, child. We will take you someplace safe where are other children for you to play with. Why, my own son is there and would enjoy having a new playmate." Thranduil spoke as though he was trying to sooth a wounded animal, but Kíli was having none of it, kicking and gnashing his teeth as he wailed for his brother.

As Thranduil pulled Kíli closer to the bus, Fíli broke free of Thorin's hold. "I can't, Uncle! I can't leave him! Not again!" He kept the volume of his voice low, but the pain and determination was apparent even in a whisper. "I'd rather spend the rest of my life in a Camp then have him be alone. It's Kíli, Uncle. Please!"

Thorin stared at his nephew for a moment, his eyes darkening with the memory of grief. Grabbing Bilbo's hand he pressed a kiss to the knuckles and whispered roughly, "Stay hidden. It's up to you to get us out of this mess." Thorin grabbed Fíli's arm and dragging the boy to his feet. "Come on, lad. We're going with your brother."

Thranduil regarded them with measured excitement before herding them onto the bus with the others. Peering out between the tires, Bilbo saw Kíli fling himself into his brother's arms and Thorin cautiously glance out the window as the bus pulled out of the parking lot.

"Fuck those tree-humping bastards!" Dwalin spat, glaring at the retreating cloud of dust left by the bus. "This means war! Thranduil and his goons ain't taking our friends!"

"Well, now, let's stop a moment, please," Bilbo stuttered, nervous of Dwalin's wrath. "I don't believe war is the best course of action here. There are only three of us. And they have tasers! Perhaps subterfuge is a better plan given the circumstances?"

"You want to be sneaky? God dammit! I want to kick his fucking ass!" One tattooed fist slammed heavily into the side on the Bronco, denting the door panel.

"I agree with Bilbo on this one," Bofur fiddled absently with his pigtails. "Our best bet is to get our friends out an' be gone before anyone notices."

They climbed into the Bronco and drove slowly in the direction of Mirkwood, with Dwalin pointing out directions as they drew closer. Parking the car in an empty clearing, they cautiously followed a small game trail until they could see the high chain-link fence that circled the camp. Their position was on a hill and they could see most of the grounds from that vantage point. A small stone cottage sat on one side of the clearing, smoke trickling out of it's chimney. "Thranduil's office," Dwalin snorted. Three long squat wooden buildings stood in a long row, with another identical structure on the opposite end of the camp. "Barracks. The one on its own is where they keep the children." An open-air kitchen stood in the middle of the camp, with a bank of latrines along the wall closest to their hiding place. An open area at the front of the grounds held several picnic tables, and a group of children played tag nearby. A small padlocked brick bunker stood in the farthest corner of the compound. "Quarantine." There were two entrances to the compound- the first was a heavily guarded terminal, wide enough for a bus to enter. The second was a smaller padlocked gate that led out to a small shed at the edge of a river, which skirted the edge of the compound and disappeared into the distance. "Laundry."

Bilbo stared down at the grounds and pressed his palms together in thought. "How many of these camps are there anyway?"

"Before the power went out there were a dozen of them spread across the county," Dwalin ran a hand over his head as he spoke. "Thranduil and the other Guard Captains tried to keep records on who was where, but it was hard with so many people pouring in every day. When we lost power everything sort of went to hell. No one was left to police the guards and Thranduil started doing things his own way. Balin always said he meant well, but his methods were shit. You can't force people to stay here!"

"So, what's the plan?" Bilbo asked with a forlorn glance at the others. "What do we do now?"

When Dwalin answered, his voice was uncharacteristically soft. "We watch. And we wait."

...


A/N: Wow... I'd forgotten how much happens in this chapter! And things just keep on moving.

I hope you're all happy that Kili is all right for now. He really lucked out! But now most of the company is trapped in Mirkwood... Any guesses on how they escape? Also... if anyone wants to draw fanart of Thranduil in red cowboy boots and a leisure suit, I would love you forever. :)