He wanted desperately to tell them he was an adult. They were protecting him, trying to make it easy for him, Bombur even gave him extra food and each time he offered to help he was shot down. Take his turn to stand guard, scout ahead, all they said no to. He could help if they knew he was adult! Surely this had gone on long enough now?

"They're probably dead Oin! And we are never going to get off this mountain, it's taking forever!"

"It took us eight days going up laddie it's not going to be faster down." Oin sighed and tried to forget his own fears to soothe those of Bilbo's. They've been three days already, traveling by day and hiding at night, and Oin himself constantly searched the cliffs in vain for any signs of their company. "Dwarfs don't die so easy, have a bit of hope."

Bilbo glowered up at him.

Oin tried to be patient, "We go down the mountain and follow the road mapped out. They will meet us on the way."

"At least let me scout so we don't get stuck so much."

"There is no need, we can scout just fine, rest a bit lad."

Bilbo was getting tired of all their no's. It was all so very frustrating! Maybe he should show them he can? If they will let him scout they wouldn't have to waste hours backing up ponies from a dead end ledge.

With that thought in mind, he waited for a moment when their attention was off him, and slithered down the cliff. Digging his feet in to the mountain side and 'holding on' with his fingertips to a rock above his head, he called, "Help!"

"Bilbo!" Bombur, who was the closest rushed over to save him.

Bilbo waited impatiently for him to hang a good way down in trying to reach him before he climbed back up himself, easy as pie.

"See! I can manage if I fall off! Now will you let me scout ahead?"

"What?" asked Bombur, kneeling breathless at the edge of the ledge.

"What?" asked Oin, staring at him aghast. "What was that, Bilbo!"

"It was just a joke, Oin. To show you I can climb, let me scout—"

"Scaring someone has never been a joke, Bilbo!"

"I was making a point! No need to shout at me."

"There is every need to shout!"

"Only Thorin can shout at me and he's not here!"

"Oh he will be soon, laddie." Bombur took over the conversation. "We will be sure to let him know about this nonsense too if you only take reprimands from him then."

"Are you trying to scare me? I fought goblins!"

"That you did, and you did it very well, but also remember we all did," the dwarf said. "Come let's go. Back up on the pony, and no you cannot scout ahead."

"But I just showed you…"

"That you can climb a rock." Bombur snapped. "Not that you can make a good scout, a childish prank is not the way to get anyone to trust your decision making abilities."

Now is the time to tell the two dwarfs he was not a child. Bilbo even opened his mouth to do so but was forestalled by an unearthly scream and they were snatched from the mountain face by monstrous Eagles.

It all sounded frightful, there was a competition among the dwarfs and ponies on who could make the most noise. Bilbo held for dear life onto Bofur's legs. He had grabbed on to them when it looked as if he was going to be left behind and his reasoning, thank you very much, was he would rather be eaten with his friends than die alone on a cliff. "Oh my arms!"

"Hang tight, lad!" Bombur shouted. Oh my legs! He slipped through the claw when he tried to reach down to get Bilbo and had to settle for reminding the lad every now and then to hold tight, keeping his legs very still and never letting him know he was crushing his ankles.

The flight took an eternity. His arms were aching so much and there was times when he thought he couldn't hold on anymore, and why should he, just to be eaten at the end? Bilbo's arms gave in just seconds before the eagles dropped them on a wide shelf of rock, right in front of their missing company. He tumbled the short distance, Bombur moaning in relief before he did the same on painful ankles.

"Oh Mahal be praised are we happy to see you!" was called from both sides and shouts of joy accompanied crushing hugs. Bilbo received the same treatment except he was small enough to be picked up and handed about, his feet not touching the floor for minutes.

"Kili, I can stand by myself…" I am an adult — just tell them!

"Why sweetness, are you not happy to see me?"

"I am!" He breathed out through the squashed hug.

"Maybe he's happier to see me." Fili took him, giving him a moment to breathe in before being squashed again. "I am much more handsome."

Nori took him next, before he could be handed back to Kili, swinging him to Ori, pulling his ear in passing. Ori squashed him as much as the nephews. "I'm glad to see you Bilbo, we were so worried," he said more sensible. Then passed him to Bofur, Bifur, Gloin and Dori.

"Well done lad," Dwalin told him, giving him a short hug before passing him over to Thorin who set him on his arm to stay.

"We were worried about you." Thorin grinned. "Did you behave for Oin and Bombur?"

Like his dad used to ask when he came back from an outing. Did you behave for your mom? Oh hello Thorin, I would like to tell you all I am actually an adult...no.

"I thought you were all dead!" Bilbo cried instead, threw his arms around Thorin's neck and to his own horror promptly burst into tears. He was hushed and patted which made him cry more and then the dwarf started to jiggle and sway! He cried even harder. Alright fine, maybe today was definitely not the day to tell them he's an adult.

There was storytelling on both sides. Thorin kept hold of him, keeping him in his arms when he moved about or on his lap and rubbing his back every so often. He let it be, feeling like a wrung out dish cloth with all the fears of the past days now cried out.

Bombur set to preparing hares and birds that the eagles dropped off with dried root vegetables from the packs. All their food had survived and they had not spent all four days hungry but without fire had only jerky and dried fruit to chew on while the others had had only meat from the eagles so both groups were looking forward to the meal.

It seems Gandalf had indeed blocked them in the cave with the goblins, (he was not admitting to it being a mistake — Wizards!) and they had a much harder time than Bilbo's group.

Captured and harried with whips by the goblins who saw them as spies, it needed another intervention from the Wizard to escape, throwing lightning and cleaving goblins with Glamdring. Thorin himself killed the goblin King with Orcrist and the telling of it made every dwarf smile and whoop!

They had spent two days being chased in dark tunnels and when they finally escaped had managed to pass through the mountain on the correct side but were set upon by wargs. That commotion brought the eagles to investigate and luck was with them when they recognized a friend in Gandalf standing on top of a burning tree, ready to jump.

When it was their turn, Bombur told it and he gave Bilbo far more heroics than he felt he deserved. He had been in such a daze of fear and frustration and tired and hungry that he didn't remember half of what had happened. Bombur could be making it all up.

The telling took all the meal and half the night as Gandalf came at the end and added his news. "The Eagles said the goblins and wargs were up in arms and searching high and low for the dwarf who killed their king."

"Eagles can talk?" Bilbo interrupted without thinking.

"These ones can." Gandalf answered a bit impatient where before he would have just snapped at Bilbo to hush, which meant he had improved quite a bit. "Let me know when you are done interrupting so I may continue." Well not that much improvement then.

Xxxx

They left in the morning. This time on the back of the monstrously huge eagles with Bilbo set in front of Fili.

"Don't pinch!" said their eagle. "You need not act like a frightened little rabbit even if you look like one. What's better than flying?"

A soft bed. A warm meal. A book in front of a fire. Bilbo started listing things off in his head. He loosened his fingers and leaned back into the safety of Fili's sturdy chest. A picnic in a sunny field. Sour apples. A spanking by Thorin. No. A spanking by Dwalin!

Xxxx

A spanking by Thorin was starting to seem like a very real possibility.

The eagles had taken them as far as they would, not wanting to be close to any villagers or farms, setting them in a clearing next to a small stream. Gandalf was on about some bear of a man that might put them up and help with their lost gear and hurrying them up for fear of wargs following them but Thorin declared they should all wash and breakfast as they were not savages.

Bombur waited only until everyone had scrubbed themselves clean in the small stream before fetching Bilbo to where Thorin sat smoking. "I think we have unfinished business, lad. Let's go ask an audience with our king."

It took Bilbo until they were in front of a surprised Thorin to remember what that was about.

"Help the lad here to understand pretending that he fell from a mountain is not a nice joke," he told Thorin. "He did not want to listen to us since only Thorin can tell him what to do."

That sounded very bad now that all was said and done and Bilbo preemptively put his hands back to cover his bum. "I didn't mean it as a real joke, I only wanted to show them I was able to climb back up myself if I fell because they didn't let me do anything!"

"To keep you safe," Bombur justified.

"Like a baby. I wasn't allowed to help at all!"

"Stop. Both of you." Thorin sighed. "The rule is only myself and Dwalin can punish you. That doesn't mean you shouldn't listen to everyone else or that they are not allowed to tell you off if you need it."

"I listened to them the whole time! I only wanted to help but they kept saying no!"

Thorin raised a questioning eyebrow at Bombur.

"We did not let him scout ahead as some of the climbs were tricky and we also did not let him stay up to take a turn on watch." He shrugged. "There wasn't a lot of other jobs we could hand out being that we were having cold camps and hiding."

"What's wrong if I scout or take my turn on sentry duty?"

"They did not explain?"

"I'm too small, I will get hurt, I don't have any experience…" he stomped a foot in frustration. "So the experience should just waft down on me from the clouds?"

"I don't see that I would have done differently in their shoes and while I commend you on feeling that you want to contribute, you have to think a bit on whether it was the right time for you to start learning how.

Kili is nearly thirty years older than you and still learning how to stand watch, you yourself slipped by him. Do you think Bombur and Oin cared so little for you that they did not want your help or so much for you that they wanted to be very sure of your safety."

"I don't know," he sulked.

"You do know. Everyone here cares for you. You have learned a lot of skills since you've come along with us, lad. If you want to learn more we can teach you but let's wait until we are not in emergency situations, like now."

"Well I don't want to anymore."

"That's also fine, you are very young yet. You need to apologize to Bombur and Oin for scaring them."

"And then what."

"That's it."

"I'd rather be spanked!" He didn't want to apologize to anyone who told on him. Bombur would probably like it better even if he was beaten.

Thorin figured it was another case of Bilbo's mouth running away from his brain and did not rush to comply. "I would rather not spank you. You have until dinner time to apologize to them, if you still don't want to then we can go that route."

"You can just as well do it now," Bilbo crossed his arms, "because I won't."

"Bilbo, lad…" Bombur tried to help out but Thorin waved him quiet.

"No need Bombur. Let's all have breakfast before we move on. Bilbo and I will be having a private chat."

Which was probably a euphemism for spanking and Bilbo swallowed hard. Did he just order his own punishment? His eyes felt like they were going to pop out of his head and it took everything in him to stand still while Thorin picked him up. He had fought goblins! He still had the nightmares to prove it!

"I don't know why you are insisting on being spanked." Thorin sighed, walking them to the edge of the clearing.

"I'm not." He held himself stiff and did not throw his arms around the dwarf's neck like he always did. "What...what are you going to use?"

"To hit you with? Nothing. We are going to chat, I told you."

"But I said! You…"

"I said we are going to wait until dinner. Do you think I am going to run around as you please Bilbo Baggins?" They crossed the tree line, the kid now quiet and Thorin kept walking until he found a fallen log to sit on. He arranged Bilbo more comfortably on his lap and for a long moment just hugged him tight. "Tell me why you are so angry at Bombur that you can't apologize."

"I'm not."

"Do you really think he did wrong to protect a child in his care?"

Bilbo was beyond frustrated. Now was the perfect opportunity to say I am not a child. If only he wasn't sitting on the dwarf's lap, being hugged! He would like to be at least out of arm's reach when he spills that bit of deception.

"What sweetheart."

"Nothing!" Sweetheart!

"I can see that something is bothering you, Bilbo. No-one is around to hear so you can tell me anything you want."

"I can't..."

"Did Bombur or Oin do anything to hurt you?" That's all he could think of, surely it is something superficial, some naughtiness that he is afraid will come out but Thorin did not reach a hundred and ninety five without learning that a person could always be surprised by the actions of another. "You don't have to be scared to tell me anything, lad."

"You will hate me!"

That was the last thing Bilbo would say and he cried bitter tears into Thorin's shirt. Thorin gave him over to his nephews, ordering them to keep an eye and went to corral the two dwarfs. They did not know any other reason Bilbo could be stressed about. Neither did Gandalf when asked and the wizard was quite abrupt that he should not have to be bothered by a child's issues. Thorin decided to leave it and see. Not that he had any other option.