Thank you so much for all the lovely reviews! I'm glad so many of you liked the Legolas bit, it was very enjoyable to write (and I had way too much fun with caps lock!) As I mentioned last chapter, things are going to be slowing down plot wise, but there is still quite a way to go yet I think. Anyway, I have a few more ideas that I want to fit in before the end! If you have any ideas of stuff you think should happen while they're with the elves, I am open to any suggestions too so let me know as a review or a PM, I would be delighted to hear them. Enjoy the chapter!

Bilbo watched, invisible, from Fili's side as the healing process dragged on. The sky was dark now, but Kili had shown no sign of change whatsoever and he was beginning to fear the worst, when he was distracted by something at his side. Looking downwards, he realised with a shock that Sting was glowing in its sheath, but he was invisible so neither Fili nor Tauriel could see it. That meant orcs were nearby and they would not be prepared. He had to let them know about it as silently as he could, and without Tauriel suspecting that he was there, because now was not the time for questions and there was also a chance the orcs nearby did not yet know they were there, in which case a fight might be avoided by staying hidden.

Then he realised Fili was completely unarmed, which certainly wasn't good if there was a chance of a fight. At the same time, he, Bilbo, had a sword, but no fighting skill whatsoever. Though Sting was barely a letter opener to Fili, Bilbo was sure it would be better than nothing, and suddenly he knew what to do.

Taking Sting noiselessly out of its sheath, he laid it on the floor just in front of Fili, where Kili obscured it from Tauriel's direct line of sight so she wouldn't notice it first. Then he let go of it with his hand and immediately Fili saw it, picking it up and catching the attention of Tauriel, whose eyes widened in the faint blue light. Both of them knew what it meant.

Reaching silently for her bow and arrows, Tauriel muttered one last line of healing verse for Kili and all of a sudden the young dwarf's eyes flew wide open. Fili dropped Sting at once and moved to look into his brother's face, but at that moment a ragged scream pierced the air, coming from none other than Kili himself. Bilbo could have smacked himself in the forehead at the bad timing, for though Kili's screams were loud they failed to drown out the heavy noise of footsteps coming towards them through the forest, and the sound of most unwelcome voices.

Fili was spending most of his effort trying to hold Kili down to stop him thrashing about and injuring himself more, so Bilbo supposed it was up to him to wield his sword after all. Tauriel was already on her feet, bow strung, arrow pointing into the darkness that seemed to swirl around them like a cloak. He took up a position the opposite side of the dwarves to Tauriel, so they would be protected from both sides, but thankfully it was from Tauriel's direction that the orcs came.

The heavy darkness did not seem to bother the elf at all as her bow hummed again and again, and as Bilbo swung his sword randomly and hoped for the best he supposed that, in his case, fighting in the dark wasn't much different to fighting in the light - at any rate, it mostly came down to luck.

It was over seconds after it started, the already battle weary orcs being no match for Tauriel's skill, speed and keen eyesight which meant she could shoot a bulls eye even when the only light was that of the moon above, hidden behind clouds and obscured by branches overhead. Bilbo was invisible, so his sword and the glow that went with it were only visible to himself. This put him at an advantage, but in the end he only managed to kill one orc before Tauriel had finished off the rest.

When all six orcs lay dead on the ground and Bilbo's sword had stopped glowing, both elf and hobbit turned their attention back to the dwarves on the ground. Kili was still struggling and yelling at the top of his voice, but there weren't any words so Bilbo could only guess what was going on in his mind.

"Help - me - hold - him!" gasped Fili in between blows as his brother lashed out, "he doesn't know where he is!"

"Or he's in pain," replied Tauriel grimly, "most likely both. I have a plant here that has a numbing effect, it might relieve some of it,"

"Whatever works," Fili told her, as he felt his heart break again and again with every scream that came from his brother's mouth.

"Look, the gates are opening!" cried Bilbo, completely forgetting that he was invisible and that Tauriel had no idea he was there.

The elf didn't comment but gave Fili a quizzical look as she passed a torn up leaf underneath Kili's nose. The younger dwarf slowly began to calm down, crying out less and less, until he at last fell silent, chin quivering and eyes wet with tears. Fili made a strangled noise of relief and let go of his brother's shoulders to slide both arms beneath him and lift him into the air like a child, holding him close as Kili began to sob quietly into his shoulder.

The three elves who approached them through the gate were only half visible in the darkness, but from the way the foremost one's hair gleamed paler than the rest Fili assumed it was Legolas. As they drew closer he was shown to be correct.

"Is your father with you?" came Tauriel's voice from beside him, the worry in it evident.

A shadow passed over the Prince's face, visible even in the dim light.

"He would not come," replied Legolas, "but I have faith in you. Bring Kili to the medical room, I have gathered these healers to assist you,"

"Me?" exclaimed Tauriel, taken aback.

"Of course you," frowned Legolas, "you're one of the best healers I know, and don't argue with that because it's true. Has he shown any change?"

The Prince now turned to Fili and Kili, though he still addressed Tauriel.

"I managed to wake him, but he was in pain so I have given him a strong herb to numb the pain until the poison can be drawn out," replied Tauriel.

Legolas nodded, knowing he was right to have faith in the Head Guard, then beckoned for Tauriel and Fili to follow him and the healers back inside. As they walked, Tauriel whispered to Fili:

"You're going to have to explain about that vanishing sword later,"

"If I told you it was invisible hobbit, would you believe me?" replied Fili with a small grin.

Tauriel's eyebrows shot up, but she didn't confirm or deny it. Then they were into the palace and heading down twisting corridors until, quite suddenly, they reached a small medical room with three beds, a sink and cupboards lining the walls. It wasn't too far from the front gate for the reason that injuries usually happened outside so it was more convenient for quick access.

One bed had been prepared, thanks to Túvel's extreme planning and organisation, which Fili laid his brother carefully onto. He saw Kili relax immediately on the soft sheets, but knew from what Tauriel had told him that it would not be long before the anaesthetic wore off and his brother would be back to a world of pain and torture. The healers had to act quickly.

And that they certainly did. Each one seemed to know exactly what to do and was doing it with speed the like of which Fili had never seen. While one of them stripped Kili's top half and threw his dirty shirt and Fili's cloak into a pile, another had brought a wet cloth and was gently dabbing at the raw side of Kili's face. Then the first was preparing a pungent smelling concoction in a little clay pot, and Tauriel herself had shed her outer cloak, scrubbed her hands until not a singe grain of dirt remained, and rolled up her sleeves to prepare for the healing.

Dimly, Fili realised someone was trying to move him towards a bed next to Kili's, but he shrugged off the elf's grip, determined to be at his brother's side. As he took Kili's hand in both of his own, he felt someone tugging again on his shoulders to get him to move aside, but thankfully Tauriel spoke up at that moment.

"Let him stay there, he's doing no harm,"

"He's tired, he should be resting," argued the healer.

"He won't rest until his brother is in the clear," replied Tauriel, "he'll be better off here than anywhere else,"

The healer didn't argue back at this, and Fili sent the Head Guard a grateful smile, knowing how much trouble she had just saved him. Kneeling at Kili's side, he laid his head on the edge of the bed and stared up at his deathly pale brother, clutching his hand as if it was anchoring him to the world while the healers moved around him. He was unaware of what they were saying any more, and all he could think about was the fact that Kili could still die. They might be safe from spiders and orcs, but poison still ran in his brother's veins, sapping away his life little by little, taking him further and further away from the safe shores of consciousness. Kili lay on the verge between life and death, barely breathing as Tauriel approached his wound with a concoction of a plant they called Athelas.

And then came the screaming. It was worse than Fili could ever have imagined. While his brother writhed in a dark world of pain, Fili felt every one of Kili's screams pierce him like a deadly sharp knife. He felt his heart break more times than he would have believed possible in those long minutes that he had to sit through, unable to do a thing while the healers moved like lightning and Tauriel never left Kili's side.

The minutes seemed to stretch by like hours as the young dwarf writhed and screamed, any anaesthetic the elves tried to give him apparently having no effect. If Kili died this night, Fili vowed he would not see the dawn. He wanted to close his eyes and block out all sound to his ears, to be once more at peace, which was something he hadn't truly felt ever since they had left their home in Ered Luin, but blocking out his own brother wasn't something he could even consider. They shared everything, from their bed back home to food rations to the beads they wore in their hair. Whatever his brother was going through, Fili would go through it too. He always had, and he always would.

Only once the heart rending cries had stopped, and his brother breathed evenly as if in a deep sleep, did he realise that while his left hand had been grasping his brother's, his right hand was also squeezing someone else's hand tighter than would be comfortable. He could feel from the size and shape that it belonged to no elf or dwarf. Knowing it would be too risky even to whisper to the hobbit with so many sharp eared elves in the room, Fili relaxed his grip then gave Bilbo's hand a small squeeze, knowing it could never convey the full extent of his gratefulness, but hoping it would be enough for the hobbit to understand his thanks.

As the elves slowly filed out of the room, Fili looked up and met Tauriel's eyes. His expression asked the question for him.

"He will live," confirmed the elf, a genuine smile crossing her fair features, "he is strong,"

"I know," Fili replied, allowing himself a moment of relief. The danger had passed, and Kili had pulled through. No one could ever question his brother's strength again.

"You should get some rest,"

"Huh?" Fili looked up abruptly, surprised to be addressed after thinking only of his brother for so long.

"I said you should try and get some rest. You've had a long day, and you can't pretend you've got through it entirely unscathed," Tauriel told him, laying a hand on his shoulder.

"No - wait, can't I stay here a little longer? Please?" Fili begged.

"Kili will not wake for hours yet. We gave him a sleeping draught. He will not come round in your absence," replied Tauriel, nudging the dwarf to get up.

"But -" started Fili, grappling for any excuse he could think of.

"You will not be leaving his side, the beds are barely two feet apart," Tauriel told him stubbornly.

With a sigh, Fili gave in and got to his feet, almost falling over again in tiredness and only staying up because Tauriel caught his shoulder just in time. He took a couple of wobbly steps to the second bed, (which hadn't been made up with sheets or pillow but consisted of a plain mattress on a wooden frame) and slumped onto it, boots and all. He was asleep even before the elf had finished pulling his muddy boots off his weary feet and laid a blanket over him.

Still as a statue, Legolas had watched all events unfold from his position in the far corner of the small room behind the third bed, unnoticed by anyone except Tauriel, who had not said a word about him being there nor made any move to shoo him away. He just needed time, that was all. Time to sort through his emotions and to fully take in all that had transpired in this very long day. One thing was for sure: it would be a while before he talked to his father again.

But there were also things that he hadn't known for sure. He hadn't been sure whether Kili would survive, for example. Had he been too late? Had his father already condemned a young dwarf to a horrible death simply by shutting the palace gates? Who would be responsible for telling Thorin Oakenshield that his youngest nephew had died of a wound infected with orkish poison because the elves had been too late to save him? Such a message would surely prise open the rift of hatred between the two races even further. This wasn't just about saving a dwarf, it was about gaining the long term trust of the people that, should their mission succeed, would inhabit Erebor for generations to come.

That, however, had seemed to turn out well in the end, against all odds. Tauriel had confirmed that Kili would live. They would not have one (or possibly two) dead dwarven princes on their hands. Legolas had been well aware that if Kili died, Fili might well die of grief. It was not uncommon in his race for elves to pine away after their loved ones died, the idea of an eternity ahead of them and no return of the one they loved too much for them to bear. The bond between the brothers, as Tauriel had pointed out, was strong, stronger even than the bond he had seen between the twins Elladan and Elrohir when he visited Rivendell, and that was saying something.

All in all, he was severely rethinking his opinions of dwarves. He also realised that Tauriel had been unbiased from the start, and that annoyed him. He liked to be right about things, and often was, but this hadn't been one of them. Maybe it runs in the family, he thought miserably, thinking of all the bad decisions his father had made recently. We really are no better than the dwarves when it comes to corrupted royalty.

"Legolas," came a whisper barely loud enough for his sharp ears to catch, "come outside where we can talk louder,"

Tauriel indicated the two sleeping dwarves, and Legolas understood - they needed their rest more than ever, and she didn't want to disturb them. He came silently over the bare stone floor, and slipped out of the room after Tauriel, closing the door behind him.

"Tell me what's wrong,"

Legolas sighed, knowing there was no keeping secrets from the elf he had been friends with since childhood.

"My father wouldn't come," he replied, "he wouldn't help. He was going to leave Kili out there to die,"

Tauriel's eyebrows constricted, concerned for the Prince, as she knew his relationship with his father meant a lot to him, no matter how removed he pretended to be.

"I shouted at him," continued Legolas, "I told him he was selfish and blind. He didn't listen. Then he slammed the door in my face,"

"Where is he now?" She asked carefully.

Legolas shrugged. "Probably still locked in his chamber,"

Tauriel nodded. If it was one of Thranduil's tempers, a rare but stressful occurrence, he would likely not come out for several days, and no one would interrupt that. She remembered one time when Elrond had criticised the King of Mirkwood for the way he ruled his kingdom and Thranduil had stayed in his chamber for nearly a fortnight, only emerging when her own second-in-command had blocked off his private supply of water to the room, forcing an early reappearance of their King. He had been in no better mood than when he had gone into solitude in the first place, and shortly afterwards issued an order for her whole band of warriors to go on a long expedition to the south of Mirkwood to investigate rumours of darkness lurking there. That had been before the evil things had started creeping northwards, before they had ever known how much trouble would be caused by the things that they hadn't managed to find on that long ago mission.

"What are you going to do now?" Legolas asked her, bringing her sharply out of her reminiscing.

"Me? I'm going to find the rest of the guard. I realise they've been in a battle and those who aren't injured are probably shaken, but we need to establish patrols round the perimeter in case there are any more attacks, though I highly doubt that the orcs will try again," she replied.

"I saw Rúthen near the top staircase if that helps," supplied Legolas, "but don't forget to give yourself a break. Your shift this morning started before dawn, you deserve some sleep,"

"How do you know when my shifts are?" Tauriel eyed him suspiciously, "and thank you, but don't worry about me, I will get some rest once everything is sorted out and running smoothly again. You should get some rest yourself, you look as if you need it,"

Legolas shook his head. "I can't, and anyway, someone should keep an eye on the dwarves in case one of them wakes,"

Tauriel raised her eyebrows almost undetectably, reading between the lines of Legolas's seemingly simple statement.

I can't go to my chamber because it's too close to my father's and I would have to walk past too many people with questions and I need some peace to be alone with my thoughts because they're driving me to wit's end and I'm also worried for the dwarves so I think it would be best if I stay here.

"I understand," replied Tauriel, "come and find me when Kili wakes,"

The Prince nodded, then turned and noiselessly re-entered the small healing room where the dwarven brothers lay sleeping. He did not hear Tauriel retreat down the passage behind him, but as soon as she was gone he felt suddenly alone, despite the raucous snores that now echoed round the room. All the better - he had plenty to think about.

For the first time in way too long, Bilbo let himself relax, his hand only slightly sore from where Fili had held it in an iron grip. Kili slept soundly, peacefully and without disturbance, and that was all that mattered. He had been so sure, for several long moments after the youngest Durin had finally become silent, that Kili was dead and gone, gone to a place where he could not return from. It was only once he saw the steady rise and fall of the young prince's chest and felt Fili's grip relax on his hand that he realised that Kili was in fact alive, and would in fact recover, given time, medicine and plenty of patience.

All the elves had left the room, but he could still faintly hear two of them talking the other side of the closed door and he knew it was unlikely the elves would leave two dwarves in a room completely unsupervised, even when said dwarves were fast asleep. That gave Bilbo just a little time to find somewhere comfy to lie down, for he didn't expect that he would be able to stay awake much longer himself. While he couldn't move any type of bedding around without a risk of being noticed, he felt too weary to care so in the end he simply rolled underneath Fili's bed, directly beneath the source of the snores that reverberated off the walls, and fell fast asleep.