Before Bilbo could make any sense of what was going on, he was trotting at the back of the group faster than ever, thankful that the yammering and shrieking of the goblins were growing fainter behind him as he struggled to match the pace of the dwarves. They were led by the faint white orb of light glowing from Gandalf's staff, forced to run down endless narrow passages that never seemed to end. The wizard unsheathed his sword again, which glowed at the presence of goblins, now bright blue as if delighted it had slain the Great Goblin himself. The sword is called Glamdring, the foe-hammer, but to goblins it is named Beater, and they hated it more than Orcrist if that was possible.

Though they were a good distance behind, it is a widely known fact that goblins can travel faster than dwarves, especially in the dark tunnels under mountains, and it wasn't long before they had caught up with them. The dwarves had to run and fight in the same moment, slashing here and there with axes and swords. A few of the goblins' limbs were severed, and a good many number of heads rolled to floor before falling off the scaffolding along with the rest of their owner's lifeless bodies. One goblin began to charge Thorin while his back was turned- a rather cowardly move, but the goblins feared Orcrist beyond measure and didn't want it facing them at any cost. As it came within striking distance, Rose took her weapon and disarmed the creature before stabbing through its chest as easily as if it were made of butter.

They came to a dead end, with the other length of scaffolding at least a good ten feet across. Behind them the cackles grew even fiercer as the goblins assembled not two yards away. Thorin immediately devised a plan. "Cut the ropes!"

The moment the bonds were freed, the segment of platform they had been standing on lurched forward into open air to the other side. More than half the company was able to jump to the other side successfully, but Rose, in a brief moment of uncertainty and hesitation, still remained with the second group. Fili saw the look on her face and understood instantly. Without giving any sort of warning he grabbed her waist and threw her across to Thorin on the other side once the platform began to swing as close as it could. Fili then slashed the remaining ropes as he jumped after his aunt, sending a dozen goblins into the dark abyss below. They continued to move onward, Rose being vaguely aware that little Bilbo was struggling to keep up beside her while his feet flapped against the cold, rocky floor. When all seemed quiet enough, their pace slowed from a dead sprint to a jog. Suddenly there was an excited growl, and Bilbo was knocked from the rocky paths they had been travelling along, hit his head somewhere far down below, and remembered nothing more.

The trails seemed to never want to end. The company kept silent, save for the sound of their feet hitting the pavement as they ran and the exhausted panting and huffing of their efforts, for the silence seemed to dislike being broken. No one had the slightest idea that Bilbo had fallen. In fact, Rose and Dori assumed he was still trailing just behind. Onward they went, met only by the echoes of falling rocks and their gasping breaths and running feet. After what felt like ages, they finally reached what looked like a door. It led them straight through the other side of the Misty Mountains and into the forest that lay ahead. At last they were safe! The dwarves began to cheer as they ran at a slower pace, for goblins don't enjoy sunlight and will avoid it no matter what the costs. As she ran, Rose could have sworn she heard a shrill cry pierce her ears. It sounded much different than the cackles and howls of evil goblins- this came from a being that sounded as if it had lost the last thing dear to it that still remained in this world. For a moment she couldn't help but think of Fror. Rose shivered and continued to run with her kin, not waiting to see if there had in fact been something lurking in the shadows.

They ran halfway down what looked like a steep hill shrouded in trees, until at last Gandalf decided it was safe enough to stop and count them. He paused after tallying them off a first time, and counted a second and third just to be certain his old eyes hadn't been playing a cruel trick.

"Where is Bilbo?" he demanded. Everyone looked around frantically, noticing his absence for the first time. Gandalf demanded a second time, "Where is our hobbit?"
"Great," muttered Dwalin, "Now he's got himself lost!"
"I thought he was with Dori," Gloin accused, "He offered to carry Bilbo when he began to fall behind."
"Don't blame me!" Dori protested. "One of the goblins grabbed my legs, and anybody would have dropped him. I fell over and had to pick myself up and start running again!"
"Well why didn't you pick him up again?" Gandalf demanded.
"Can you ask!" said Dori angrily, "Goblins fighting and biting in the dark, everybody falling over bodies and hitting one another! You nearly chopped off my head with Glamdring, and Thorin was stabbing here and there and everywhere with Orcrist. All of a sudden you gave one of your blinding flashes, and we saw the goblins running back yelping. You shouted 'follow me everybody!' and everybody ought to have followed. We thought everybody had. And here we are—without the burglar, confusticate him!"
"It makes no difference," said Thorin as he came forward, "I'll tell you where he is. Master Baggins has dreamt of nothing but his warm hearth since the moment he left his door- he seized his chance and he took it. We will not be seeing our hobbit again. He is long gone."

Rose looked at her husband with a new found sense of disgust. Not even making any attempt to try and go back to search for Bilbo, when he was trapped in a mountain surrounded by hundreds of goblins, was an all new low. She drew in a breath to rebuff him and state that if he wasn't going to rescue the hobbit, she would, when out of nowhere there was a popping sound and a voice that startled everyone.

"No, he isn't."
They jumped quite a distance in the air, I can tell you. Out popped little Bilbo, as if he had been pulled from thin air! Gandalf seemed as surprised and astonished as the rest of them, but he was also the most pleased. "Bilbo Baggins, I have never been happier to see anyone in all my life!" And that was a very long time.

"Bilbo!" Kili exclaimed in amazement, "We'd given you up!"
"How on earth did you get past the goblins?" asked Fili.
"How indeed," said Dwalin, clearly impressed.
Bilbo smiled and slipped his hands into his pockets, and the wizard caught something there that perhaps should have never been in his possession, although it would prove to save them on more than one occasion afterwards. "What does it matter," he said as he looked at the hobbit with knowing eyes, "He's back."

"It matters," said Thorin as he stepped around Bombur and Ori to glare at the wizard, as if it were his fault Bilbo had appeared in the same moment he had given him up. "I want to know." He turned to Bilbo incredulously. "Why did you come back?"
"Look, I know you doubt me," Bilbo said after a short pause, "I know you always have. And you're right- I often think of Bag End. I miss my books, and my armchair, and my garden- see, that's where I belong. That's home. And I came back because...well, you don't have one- a home. It was taken from you. But I will help you take it back if I can."

The dwarves stared at him silently. It was nice for a change that, in a world full of those who doubted and teased their efforts, there was one who at least agreed to join them. Even if they were as small and unlikely a companion as Bilbo. Rose's eyes watered appreciatively. She and the hobbit exchanged a smile and he added: "It's true, adventures are not all pony rides in May sunshine, but now that I'm beginning to grow used to it, it isn't all that difficult to see the brighter side of things."

For a moment all were silent, blissfully standing in the sun's fading rays and filled with a new hope for their quest. Then Gandalf pulled them to their senses.
"We must be off," he said, "Dusk is not far away, and goblins like to venture out in these parts at night. No doubt they will be enraged at the death of the Goblin King, and will be hunting us for miles."
With that, the company moved on as quickly as possible, with no food or ponies to take with them.

A/N: I decided not to include Bilbo's interaction with Gollum because 1. I wouldn't be able to do Tolkien's version any justice and 2. Hopefully you, the reader, have already read about it or at least seen it in the film. If not, that's just sad. I am currently working on the company's stay at Beorn's as well as the first big plot twist that happens in the story, but it's kind of slow going with trying to find a way to smoothly transition from scene to scene, so if you'll just bare with me for awhile. Plus I have more projects to write as well, so that's always fun (No really, it is).