As per usual, I own nothing. Please don't sue me.

WARNING: Somewhat gory death. If you are sensetive to that sort of thing, you may want to skip the first section.

CHAPTER TEN

SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY

"Always knew dwarves were slow!"

Kili rolled his eyes, weaving around a tree. "I'm not even trying! If I were, you'd have to watch out."

The sound of Gwen's laughter reached his ears, putting a smile on his face, even as he tripped a bit over a root. "Aye, Master Dwarf! I'll believe it when I see it."

Kili growled and forced his legs to move him along a bit faster. Gwen couldn't beat him. He did have some sense of pride to preserve. At last, he broke through the forest cover, sunlight washing over his skin. The babble of the stream filled the air, a nice breeze brushing through his hair. He caught sight of Gwen, sprinting upstream, her bare feet crunching in the gravelly sand at the side of the river. Grit flicked up at his calves from where his feet churned through the sand. Finally he caught up to her, grabbing her around the waist as he crashed into her back. Gwen squeaked in surprise, and Kili laughed in triumph, as he swung her off her feet in a circle. She squirmed free after a moment, then swore as she tumbled into the creek.

Kili only laughed more, at the sight of her utterly astonished expression, as the creek burbled around her. "Bloody dwarven bastard!"

"That's what you get for calling me slow!"

Gwen glowered at him, before scooping up a handful of water from beside her, flinging it in his direction. It hit him straight on, dousing cold river water down his face, and drawing a gasp out of his lungs. "Gwen!"

She smiled innocently up at him, still sitting in the middle of the brook. "What?"

Kili shook his head. This girl would be the death of him. When she was busy trying not to laugh, as he shoved loose strands of hair out of his face, Kili stepped into the creek, kicking a wave of water over her. She immediately raised her arms in defense, curling away from his attack. Once she'd recovered she staggered to her feet, bringing up another handful of water to throw at his face. Kili dodged it narrowly, but felt his balance go. Gwen tumbled down on top of him. With her weight atop him, he fell onto his back, wincing at the feel of the cold water seeping through his clothes into his skin. When his eyes reopened, he found his face centimeters away from hers, their noses brushing against each other's. Mahal, he wanted to kiss her.

He froze as that thought flooded his mind. But there was an undeniable truth to it. He suddenly became excruciatingly aware of the fact that he very, very much wanted to kiss her.

When he blinked, she was gone. He sat up, hands clenching in the mud of the riverbank beneath him, casting around. "Gwen?"

Where could she have gone? She was right there!

As he dragged himself to his feet, the heavy, dark skies above him shook with thunder, a crackle of lighting splitting through the imposing clouds. "Gwen!"

The rush of the river tried valiantly to drown out his words, and he heard no response. A wave of dread came up on him as he staggered downstream. No signs of Gwen. She was gone. The mud under his feet suddenly gave out, and he was sliding down the grass, a scream nearly tearing out of his throat. When he finally came to a stop, he fumbled to swipe the mud out of his eyes, only to let out a scream of surprise once he'd gotten them open. There, in the little eddy that formed on the side of the river, was the pale, broken body of Gwen. He stumbled back, nausea rising in him. Her eyes had been wide open, but blank, staring into his own. As another slough of water came down the riverbed, it turned her head, attached to her stretched, shattered neck. Her hair was lazily dragged away, enough for him to see her ears. Her long, pointed ears.

"Ai, rhaich..."

The world around him fell slowly into place. Skies, barely touched by the light of dawn; the chill of early morning air and the scratch of woolen blankets against his skin; the silhouette of Gwen sitting up on her bedroll; the sickening pound of his heart against his ribcage; the trickle of cold sweat that ran down his back...

Mahal, he barely remembered what he dreamed, only fragmented bits and pieces, but those things he did remember made him shiver in horror. He needed to not make this sort of dreaming a reoccurring thing. Two was quite enough.

He flicked his eyes up to Gwen, as she continued to mutter under her breath. He he had to blink a few times to get his vision clear enough to see she was clutching at her side, twisting to try and see, as she lifted her shirt halfway up her back.

"Gwen?" His voice was gravelly from disuse.

She startled at the sound of his voice, dropping her shirt, and looking down at him. "Kili! I didn't know you were awake."

"Just woke up," Kili mumbled, trying not to dwell too much on the cause of his rude awakening. He dragged himself into a sitting position on his bedroll. "What's gone on with you?"

She shrugged, resting a hand on the spot he knew her wound was. "Just tore my scrape back open in the river."

"May I see?"

"It's nothing," she said with a dismissing wave of her hand.

Kili shook his head, as memories from his two terrible dreams rose up in his mind. Neither were true. Gwen was here. And she was okay. He patted the space on the other end of his bedroll. "Come on."

She rolled her eyes. "Will protesting do me any good?"

Kili shook his head. "Not now that you've got me worried."

"Fine," she sighed, but a half smile showed on her face as she gingerly crawled the few feet to him.

Once she was sitting in front of him, he pulled her shirt up to her waist, forcing down the blush that tried to rise on his cheeks. This was purely for medical purposes. He had to lean down at a bit of an odd angle to see the wound, and the lighting was faint, but he could see it well enough. The edges seemed to be well along with healing, and most of it was well scabbed over, but along the very center, he could see a crack that was oozing fresh blood. He fumbled for his waterskin, tied to the side of his pack. "D'you have any clean bandages?"

In a moment, she offered him a fresh roll of cotton. He tore off a piece, and soaked it in clean water, before leaning down, and working gently to clean the reopened part of the wound out. "So, what all happened in the river?"

"Honestly, I don't remember all of it," she explained, wincing only slightly as he dabbed the blood out. "I was panicked. I free drifted for a bit, before I remembered what was happening. After a bit, I found Thorin, caught against a log, getting pulled under. I got him out of there, and it carried us a bit further, together. My ankle caught in something, and we got separated. I was in too much pain to swim very well but the next thing I knew, someone was holding my arm, and I couldn't get any air. Then...well, you know what happened after that."

Kili nodded, even though she couldn't see. She'd done well, in his book. "How is your ankle feeling?"

"It hurts," she said, simply. "But Oin was right. It's not a bad sprain."

"If you ever need help, just ask, aye?"

She chuckled drily. "We both know I won't ask for help."

Kili gritted his teeth. "I wish you would. Would you rather I just carry you the whole way?"

She laughed genuinely then, though she kept it quiet enough not to wake the other dwarves. "No offense to your strengthliness, Master Dwarf, but I really don't think you could."

"I will if I have to."

"Your determination is impressive, I must admit."

Kili reached for the rest of the roll of bandages, setting aside the bit he'd used to clean out the wound. He spoke as he wound the bandage firmly around her. "I've had a lot of people tell me that."

"Some might consider it annoying, really."

He gave her a poke in the ribs, once he'd tied off the end of the bandage. "Watch your tongue, lass. I'm the only one keeping you alive so far." He set aside the bandages, shifting forward to wrap his arms around her waist, pulling her back into his chest and settling his chin on her shoulder. The warmth of her against his front helped to repel the damp chill of the morning air that crept over his skin.

She snorted indelicately, tilting her head over to rest against his. "Don't be daft. Fili's helped too."

"Not as much as I have," Kili grumbled.

"Don't pout," she told him in a fairly stern tone. "It's unbecoming of a prince of Erebor."

Prince of Erebor. That had a nice ring to it. He found himself tightening his grip around her, as excitement bubbled through his veins. He would be a prince of Erebor.

"But what would be rather becoming," she continued. "Is going to fetch some water from the river for me to boil out."

Ah. There was her ulterior motive. He leaned away a bit, flicking her in the side of the head. "Manipulative little brat."

She grinned at him, as he fumbled to yank his boots on. "Not manipulative, per say, just clever."

Kili rolled his eyes, standing up. "Aye. Whatever helps you sleep at night."

Before he could leave for the river, though, a sound cut through the early morning air. Wargs. And close by. The camp flurried into waking around him, as he exchanged a look with Gwen. This couldn't be good. Thorin's voice sounded clearly above the mumbles and groans of the other dwarves, and the faint howling of wargs. "Up, all of you! Bilbo, go up and see how close they are. The rest of you, pack up camp."

Kili dropped back down onto his bedroll next to Gwen, fumbling for his belongings. "Mahal, can't they-"

"Quickly!" Thorin said again. "We may be chased down again."

Kili closed his mouth quickly, forcing himself to focus on the job at hand as Gwen crawled back to her bedroll.

The entire camp was packed up before five minutes had passed. Kili felt a certain sense of pride at this. They may not be the best and brightest, necessarily, but they could certainly follow orders. Suddenly, Fili leaned into Kili, speaking low. "I saw that, you know."

Kili frowned, turning to face his brother's mischievous expression. "Saw what?"

Fili smirked. "Gwen. On your bedroll."

Oh. That wasn't good. Kili shook his head. "It was nothing."

"Really?" Fili raised an eyebrow, mocking. "Nothing?"

Kili was luckily saved from having to reply, by Bilbo scrambling down from the rocks, into their midst. Bless that little hobbit.

"How close is the pack?" Thorin pressed eagerly, Orcrist already drawn.

"Too close," Bilbo panted, slowing to a stop in the center of the group. He was panicked. This was quickly seeming to be a very disastrous situation. "A couple of leagues, no more. But that it not the worst of it."

On that note, Kili drew his sword. No reason not to be prepared.

"The wargs picked up our scent," Dwalin growled.

"Not yet, but they will." Bilbo took a moment to regain his breath while Kili swore. They hadn't been moving nearly fast enough. "We have another problem."

"Did they see you?" Gandalf asked. At Bilbo's slightly confused look, alarm trickled into the wizard's tone. "They saw you!"

Bilbo quickly dismissed it with a shake of his head. "No, that's not it."

Gandalf hummed happily. "Well done to you. Quiet as a mouse. Excellent burglar material," The wizard continued.

A grin broke over Kili's face, as he slapped Fili in the arm. They'd done good, trusting in the little fellow.

"Will you just listen to me?"Bilbo implored, tone strained. "I am trying to tell you, there is something else out there!"

"What form did it take?" Gandalf asked, any traces of mirth gone from his tone.

"A bear?" Gwen added, tension audible in her voice. Kili glanced up at her to see she'd gone a bit pale.

"Yes-" Bilbo turned to Gwen, startled. "Y-yes, but bigger, much bigger."

Bofur looked from Gwen to Gandalf, then back to Gwen, panic starting across his features. "You two knew about this beast."

"I say we double back," Dori suggested, shifting anxiously from foot to foot.

"We'll be run down by a pack of orcs," Thorin shot back.

As the rest of the dwarves broke into mumbling, Gandalf and Gwen exchanged a rather serious look. Kili could see the trepidation in Gwen's eyes. She was very unhappy. Gandalf turned to look across the forest. "There is a house."

Gwen sucked in a deep breath at this, her fist clenching on the hilt of her sword, and Kili felt nerves bubble up in him. If Gwen, seemingly possessing some greater knowledge on this whole predicament was made uncomfortable by this proposition, then Kili was certainly wary of it.

"It's not far from here," Gandalf elaborated. "And it's where we might take refuge."

"Who's house?" Thorin asked, tone suspicious. "Are they friend or foe?"

Gandalf hesitated before replying. "Neither. He will help us, or.."

"He'll kill us," Gwen finished grimly.

Oh, well this sounded like a bloody brilliant plan. Practically risk free.

"What choice do we have?" Thorin said, right before a vicious snarl sounded nearby. Chills ran over Kili's skin.

They all whipped around to seek out the source of the sound, while Gandalf merely answered, "None."

The rest of their day was spent fleeing from not only the orc pack, but also whatever vicious bear-like beast was on their trail. Kili's muscles were burning awfully, each panting breath stinging his lungs. They'd had to run more than half the way, ushered onwards by the sounds of wargs howling, the horrible screams of orcs, and the roaring of the bear-beast. Most of them had kept up alright (including Bombur, to all of their surprise) but Gwen's injured ankle had left her collapsing on the ground after the first hour. Thorin had quickly arranged for her to be carried, so Dwalin, Oin, and Fili had all taken turns carrying the girl on her back. She'd tried to start running again, when they were crossing a field, but Thorin had quickly snarled at her to stop being foolish. She'd kept her mouth shut the rest of the way. After hearing the roars disturbingly close on their heels, they broke through the tree cover, sprinting across an open field towards what looked like a massive, over grown wall. They streaked through the gate, into a garden of sorts. Kili hardly had time to glance around, before he crashed into the doors of the stone house in the center. The doors were solid wood, hardly budging an inch, even when he slammed all of his weight against it. Another roar sounded. Mahal, they were going to die. "Open the door!" Gandalf shouted from a bit behind.

Kili quickly found the weight of multiple dwarves crashing into his back, smashing him into the door. Open it? Where was the latch?

"Quickly!" Thorin added.

A slender arm reached above his head, and suddenly, the door had swung open. He and the others tumbled inside, and as soon as he'd regained his footing, he grabbed the swinging door, throwing his weight to close it again. He'd hardly got it back in the doorframe, when an awful weight collided with it from the other side, and suddenly, the massive head of a bear, snarling and spitting, drool dripping from its gaping jaws, crammed itself in the slight gap between the two doors. Kili recoiled immediately, as its hot, foul breath washed over him, its jagged, glistening teeth snapping hardly inches from his head. As he felt the door start to push open, though, he ignored the vicious beast, throwing his weight against the door again. "Get it closed!" he shouted, the words stinging his raw throat.

In another moment, the heavy slab of the other door thumped closed, and the inner deadbolt had been thrown down, securing the doors shut. Kili slumped against the door, shaking. That was far too close for his taste.

"What is that?" he heard Ori gasp.

"That is our host."

Kili had to look up then. Gandalf's face was entirely serious, and quite a few questions rose in Kili's mind. Had the wizard finally cracked?

The beast seemed to fade in its growls, perhaps backing away from the doors as Gandalf continued. "His name is Beorn, and he's a skin-changer."

Gandalf turned away from the doors, making his way further into the house. Many of the dwarves followed him, including Kili. He exchanged a nod with his brother, before his eyes went to Gwen, sitting on the floor against the wall. She looked rather ashen, her eyes wide and unfocused. Kili crouched beside her. "You alright?"

She nodded, a bit numbly. "Aye."

Kili watched her for another moment, but still couldn't figure out what was wrong with her, so grabbed her arm, pulling it across his shoulders. "Come on, let's get you out of here."

He listened absently to Gandalf's words, still in a bit of a state of disbelief, as he hauled Gwen up to her feet.

"Sometimes, he's a huge black bear, sometimes, he's a great strong man. The bear is unpredictable, but the man can be reasoned with. However, he is not over-fond of dwarves."

Kili helped Gwen out of the entrance area, supporting her as she hopped, one footed, up the few stairs. The space was massive, straw strewn over the wood-plank floor, large tables filling the space, much higher and wider than any he'd seen. The man who lived there would have to be huge. He'd just sat Gwen down on a small ledge, when he heard Dori say, in a not-so-quiet whisper, "It's obvious, he's under some sort of dark spell!"

"Don't be a fool," Gandalf groaned, as Gwen rolled her eyes, shifting over to give Kili room to sit. "He's under no enchantment but his own. Right, now," he said louder, to the rest of the room. "Get some sleep, all of you. You'll be safe here tonight."

Kili sat heavily next to Gwen, his legs crying out in pain. "We really have not been able to catch a break lately, have we?"

Gwen shook her head. "And we still haven't caught a break."

"What do you know of this skin-changer?" Kili asked.

"I've heard many tales of him," she explained. "And Gandalf was right. He's...unpredictable, at his best mood. Of course, Gandalf was also right about him not being fond of dwarves, so I really doubt he'll end up being at his best mood."

Kili sighed, stretching his legs out in front of him. "Bloody brilliant."

"You're right about the bloody bit," Gwen mumbled, setting Kili on edge. This was just getting better and better. If he weren't dead exhausted after the day of flight, he'd likely have trouble sleeping. Suddenly, Gwen spoke again. "You look terrible. Quite a mess."

He raised a brow. "Quite the flatterer, you are."

Gwen rolled her eyes. "Turn about. Let me see your hair."

Kili might have protested, but the finality of her tone told him that it would only prove to be a waste of energy. He turned on the bench, and Gwen went to work immediately, sliding his clasp the rest of the way out from his hair. Her fingers worked nimbly through his tangled locks, mostly gently, though Kili flinched as she yanked a particularly snarled knot out. "That is my hair you're pulling, you know."

"Really?" she asked absently. "I thought it was Fili's. This is awkward."

"Oh, Fili would be protesting much more," Kili said. "He's a rather sensitive scalp."

"What's that?"

Kili flinched at the sound of Fili's voice. He glanced over to see his brother had just made his way over, looking curious.

"Kili's told me you've a delicate scalp," Gwen told him.

Fili's outrage was immediate. He leaned forward, giving Kili a stinging thump on the temple, settling himself down at the very end of the bench in front of Kili with a huff. "I thought we'd agreed not to tell anyone about that!"

Kili opened his mouth to speak, but Gwen got there before him, still working through Kili's hair. "And as long as we're getting the truth out there, he's also told me that you cry at the drop of a hat."

Fili gaped, while Kili closed his eyes, bracing for the storm. "Ah," Fili said, brightly, after recovering. "Then maybe you'd like to hear a thing or two about Kili?"

"No," Kili answered.

Gwen ignored him. "I think that would be quite appropriate, indeed."

"He wet his bed until he was twenty-two, hid in the cupboards when it stormed till he was twenty five, and still gets scared by the stories about ghosts in the mines."

And just like that, Kili's face was burning up, and he was quite pleased imagining what it might look like to see his brother's head on a pike.

Fili smirked at him, before adding, "And he doesn't have a beard because it looks like that of a balding goat when it grows out."

Oh, that was the last straw. He lunged forward, pulse blazing. He would see his brother dead that day, or he would die trying. He was halted by Gwen, who kept a firm grip on his hair. "Now, now, Kili. Calm down."

"Gwen, let go!" he called back, longing to wipe that smug smirk right off his brother's face.

"Not a chance. Besides, there's no shame in being...sensitive. Or beardless." He could practically hear the suppressed laughter in her voice.

Only her iron grip on his scalp kept him from twisting around to attack her. "I swear, Gwen, I will-" he was cut off with a slight yelp, as she yanked a bit of hair by the nape of his neck, making his eyes water.

"Oh, sorry," she said, in a tone that indicated no real remorse.

"I believe I've caused enough damage here," Fili yawned, as he stood, stretching. "Time to check on food."

Once he was gone, the hold on Kili's hair lessened a bit, to be replaced by the somewhat soothing feeling of her fingernails combing gently over his scalp. "You're the worst, you know," Kili grumbled, as his bloodlust faded.

Gwen chuckled. "That was all your brother. I just sat and absorbed the information being presented, then commented as I saw fit. "

Kili snorted. "Aye, sure."

He felt the cool brush of metal on his scalp after a moment, before Gwen's hands fell away. "There. You're pretty again."

"I was always pretty," Kili asserted, turning to face forward on the bench, to see Gwen watching him bemusedly, one eyebrow raised. "Thorin's the majestic one, Fili's the airheaded one, and I'm the pretty one."

Gwen snorted ungracefully, settling back into the wall behind her. "It's good you've got this worked out."

"I like to think so," Kili said, leaning back into the wall as well. Gwen looked tired, and a tad drawn, but Kili took particular notice of her hair. He reached over to pluck a somewhat frizzy curl off her shoulder. "You know, you're not exactly looking quite put together either. Would you like me to go through your hair? Maybe braid it away a bit?"

She shook her head dismissively, the curl falling out of his fingers. "I appreciate the sentiment, but I'll take care of it myself. And braids tend to do more harm than good."

Kili frowned to himself. This was...odd. What did she mean? Unprompted, the image appeared in his mind of long, gracefully pointed ears. If she was, in fact, hiding ears like that, she'd not like to have her hair braided away. Or having him fiddling with her hair at all, really. He shook his head. This was ridiculous. There was no way Gwen was an elf. All the evidence, save maybe this went against it.

"It's alright, you know, that you're not quite perfect." He looked to see Gwen had slouched down to the point where she had to look up a bit into his eyes. "That you were, or still are, a bit frightened of some things."

He examined her eyes carefully. Her emotions were mostly guarded, but he was able to pick out concern, weariness, and maybe a bit of remorse? "I'm glad you think so," he said quite honestly.

Relief flickered through her gaze, before she focused it down to her hands. "And, it's...well, not that it really matters, but I don't think you need a beard to be...handsome, or whatever it is you want to be."

Kili tilted his head, trying to see her face a bit better. While she kept it mostly hidden, he was definitely able to identify a blush tinting her cheeks as she adamantly avoided his gaze. He found a smile growing across his face. She'd definitely just called him handsome, in her own roundabout way. He slid an arm over her shoulders, squeezing her into his side. "Thank you, Gwen." Before she could squirm out of his grasp, he planted a kiss on her hairline.

Bit of a dry chapter,but really, I do believe this is the last dull/uneventful chapter in this entire fic, so stick with me people! We'll get through this together! So...nine reviews, eh? That's crazy. Totally crazy. You're all wonderful. Special shout-out to all my first time reviewers. I love you. Just thought you should know. Of course, I love all of you, though, not just first time reviewers. Thank you so much for your support! Drop a review if you get the chance! They brighten my day like a 4000 watt bulb. Seeya Friday!

Next Chapter: Not Brave Enough