Thanks for the reviews. I hope this chapter pieces together some of what happened. I know you guys want to know.

Chapter 10: Time

"It looks like nothing's out here," Kili said with a yawn. Fili shook his head at his brother's dismissal.

"There could be orcs hiding somewhere nearby, and goblins have been sighted all over these mountains," he said, chiding his brother at the same time as expressing his concern and want to fulfil the mission they had been given properly, "You cannot just assume things."

"Yeah, yeah," Kili replied in a way that made Fili hold back a sudden urge to lunge at his brother. This was no time to overlook dangers or to only half do their intended job because they believed some assumption.

"This is serious," Fili ground out, before jumping as something dashed right past his foot.

"Because a rabbit is definitely going to kill you," Kili replied, not bothering to hide his smirk at his brother's tense overreaction to the animal's appearance. Fili glared at him, and not out of embarrassment either.

"Do you want me to tell Thorin that he should send you back?" he asked. That shut his brother up and earned him a black stare for his troubles. Fili grimaced. He may have gone too far with the threat, but still, if Kili did not take this more seriously than he might very well be sent back home regardless. And his younger brother would love that.

The pair were quiet for a while as they both looked around the area in silence, one fuming away as he did so.

"Kili," Fili began finally in a resigned voice, only to turn as a short, sharp cry sounded behind him. "Kili!"

His hands fell to the hilt of his two swords, eyes widening as he took in the sight of his brother being manhandled by an orc that had appeared out of nowhere. Kili's face was one of shock and an almost fearful air as he struggled against the grip of the orc, one arm caught up against his chest as he furiously tried to dodge the swinging club around his head.

Fili did not even consciously thinking about his actions before he had blocked a lethal blow towards his brother's head with one sword, and dealt his own life-taking strike with the other. The orc fell dead behind Kili as the brunette tore himself from the orc's now limp hands, Fili looking him over with concerned eyes. The cries of wargs in the distance and yelling of orcs that had not been there before jolted the blonde into action.

"We need to warn the company," Fili shouted, shocking his brother out of his revive. The brunette shot him a startled glance before quickly nodding his head and dashing off hot on his brother's heels. The fact they had not heard the orc until he had grabbed Kili weighed heavily on his mind, as did the fact that the orc had actually grabbed his brother instead of just killing him on the spot.

Thorin watched as Fili shrugged, the youth wincing as the movement put some strain on his healing chest. This was the first time that either of his two nephews had even spoken about their days as captives.

"I remember they came out of nowhere," the blonde said, avoiding looking his uncle straight in the eye.

"Yes," the dark haired dwarf said, gently prodding his older nephew into telling him more of what had occurred, "And then what happened?"

"What are we doing?" Kili asked suddenly, skidding to a halt as he spoke. Fili frowned at him.

"We've got to warn the company," he said. Kili shook his head.

"We're leading the orcs right to them. I do not doubt for a moment that they are right behind us," the brunette pointed out. Fili paused, thinking.

His brother was right he realised, they were leading the enemy straight to the company. But they had to warn Thorin at the very least.

"We have to take the risk," he decided, "We cannot allow the company to be surprised by Durin knows how many orcs there are out here."

Kili glanced at him and then their surroundings, uneasy. The blonde knew the brunette knew that their situation was not one they had been prepared for. They had only been scouting for Mahal's sake! He also knew that they were further from the company than was desirable at that current point in time.

"Come on, we have tarried long enough," he growled, tugging his brother along by the hand to get him running again. Kili took the hint and ran. They both did until the first of many tackled them to the ground.

"Fili?" Thorin asked, drawing his nephew out of the disconnected state he had been in for what felt a lot longer than the handful of moments that had passed. Fili closed his eyes.

"They grabbed us, just like that," he continued reluctantly.

"Did you fight?" Thorin asked. Fili sent him a glare, eyes flashing and body tensing as he remembered.

"Of course we did. Who wouldn't if they were caught in a situation like that?"

It was brutal; two against so many more, the pair both inexperienced at that. Their skills with their chosen weapons may have been good, but they were not that good and soon the brothers were overwhelmed.

The blonde had heard Kili cry out as his wrist had snapped, a result of the brunette trying to twist his way out of the grip of an orc who had latched onto him. Fili had not wasted a single moment in cutting off the said orc's hand a second later. He had pushed his younger brother behind him in a poor attempt to shield the dwarf from further harm. Kili was gasping in pain behind him, injured arm held close to his chest, knife drawn and held at the ready in his good hand.

Fili himself had received several injuries, taking a few harsh punches to his gut and upper body in the process of defending both himself and his brother. It seemed that the orcs, for some obscure reason, wanted the pair alive, for Fili was fairly sure they would have been killed a lot earlier on. A lot earlier on.

As the blonde was distracted cleaving the neck of a warg which had darted too close to his flailing swords, a silver knife flew past his face, missing his ear by a mere finger's breadth. He watched, slightly startled, as the weapon buried itself into the skull of a would be… Assassin? Kidnapper? Neither was any good. And now his brother was pretty much useless; unable to draw his bow and provide them some cover. He had drawn his sword, but Fili knew he would be struggling to maintain his hold on the weapon as he desperately tried to block the blows from the enemy, the pain from his wrist and his inability to use it rendering him somewhat incapable of defending himself to a great extent.

It was hopeless. Everything about this was hopeless, and it was not long before they were subdued by their opponents.

"I do not know what happened next," Fili stated, answering his uncle's unspoken questions, "But I do know they took us to a cave."

Now was the part where Thorin really wanted some answers, something to either confirm or deny his and Oin's suspicions.

"What did they do?" the dark haired dwarf asked, "What did you do?"

Fili blinked, his face now more impassive than before making it virtually impossible to garner any information from his expressions.

"Exactly what orcs are known to do."

This did not help to clarify anything for the exiled dwarfish king. He frowned.

"And what exactly is that? What did they do to you? Make you do?"

At this last question, Fili closed up, giving off an air of sudden hostility.

"I am tired," Fili announced, slowly easing himself back down, wincing as he did so. As soon as he was laying down, the blonde shut his eyes to the world.

Thorin took the hint and retired to another corner of the cave to watch over his two nephews as the rest of the company finished up their activities for the evening and settled down to muted conversations. While none of them showed it, they all had heard what had transpired between nephew and uncle. That did not worry Thorin, though he wished the cave offered more privacy. But the real issue was finding out what had happened.

Fili listened to the footsteps of his uncle fade away, but still he did not dare to open his eyes, though he was not in the slightest bit tired.

"What did they do? Make you do?"

He knew. Thorin knew what he had done, and most likely what his brother had done as well. He had not sounded angry, more like unsure. Still, Fili could not bring himself to face up to his crimes and admit his shame, his failures to his idol, the one dwarf he looked up to the most.

The thing was, he remembered it all clearly; every detail of every accursed day. And what he wouldn't give to wish he hadn't.

"Well, well, well," a voice said above them, "Look at what we have here."

Fili glared up at the foul face above him. He remained silent, keeping his expression one of distaste.

"Oh, don't be like that," the orc before him mocked as he grinned, "The other one isn't awake yet."

A jolt of fear flashed through Fili, though he tried hard not to let it show. He allowed his eyes to flicker quickly to where the orc's gaze was directed, finding his vision made up of the unconscious body of a brown haired dwarf.

"You leave my brother alone," Fili growled, turning back to the monster in front of him. The vile creature smiled again, this one more fear-inducing than the last.

"Brother?" he asked in a way which instantly made the blonde regret his words, "Why, then we must certainly wait for your brother to wake."

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