When Ricki was first led down to the dungeons, Thorin didn't take his eyes off her the entire time until she had been placed in the same cell as her sister. Even once she was there, he couldn't help but ask every once-in-a-while whether she was alright – just to be sure. They had been down in the dungeons for quite some time now: enough time for the entire company to gain back some of the weight they had lost in Mirkwood. Thranduil had continued to invite the sisters to his dinner table, receiving the same results each time. However, he actually found them to be decent company so he could hardly complain that they were less than compliant when he enjoyed the conversations they had. The two sisters had tried to convince him to return the clothes they arrived in, but he apparently preferred his female guests to wear dresses so their hopes in that area were completely dashed.

It was then that the little hobbit saw his opportunity.

The guards began to drink Thranduil's wine and Bilbo saw exactly where the situation was headed because the two Elves were not going easy on the alcohol. As they were drinking, Bilbo quickly ran to the room where Thranduil was keeping the supplies of the Dwarves and had to quickly make a decision as to what to bring. He had promised Sage her bag and he would be damned if he went back on that promise, but he could grab one or two other things while he was in this room. He ended up deciding to grab Orcrist and Thorin's shield, believing that those were among the only things in the room that couldn't be replaced. Knowing he couldn't carry any more items, he ran back to the cellars where the guards were now fast asleep, leaving the keys for the taking.

He began unlocking cell after cell, leading the Dwarves to the cellars when he was finished. However, they were a noisy lot and Bilbo was, frankly, surprised they were not discovered before they even reached the cellars. He shoved Orcrist and the shield at Thorin and shoved Sage's bag her way as well for them to hold onto during the barrel ride.

Sage, unlike everyone else in the company, immediately climbed in a barrel when Bilbo told them to because she trusted the hobbit more than anyone – except maybe Thorin, who quickly spoke in Bilbo's defense. "Do as he says."

As the dwarves and Ricki followed Sage into the barrels, Bilbo couldn't help but give them a quiet lecture. "Very well, if you don't like it, come along back to your nice cells and I will lock you all in again and you can sit there comfortably and think of a better plan. But I don't suppose I shall ever get hold of the keys again, even if I feel inclined to try." That shut the Dwarves up and made Sage smirk a little bit. She was happy the hobbit was finally standing up for himself and she couldn't deny that she liked the sass.

Sage also noticed as Bilbo attached the keys back to the guard's belt, probably trying to save him some trouble. He caught her staring and said, "He was a decent fellow – always nice to you all. Perhaps Thranduil will become convinced that our sorceress let you all out when he sees the keys aren't missing," he suggested with a smile and a wink. Bilbo had known from day one that Sage wasn't a sorceress but he had played along with Gandalf so she would be allowed to travel with the company.

Once all the Dwarves and the two women were in the barrels, Bilbo pulled a lever, sending them all into the freezing river, collecting some nasty sets of bruises as they fell. After a matter of moments, Bilbo joined them and they began making their way down the river. But their escape was hardly leisurely.

Not only was Bilbo holding onto one of the barrels for dear life, they soon found themselves pursued by not only Elves, but Orcs as well. It was incredibly difficult for them to fight while in the barrels and Sage was happy to just sit in her barrel and cringe as Ricki threw punches at the Orcs. "Now would be a good time to use your sword," she told Thorin.

"I hadn't thought of that," he said sarcastically as he shoved Orcrist into an Orc's chest.

Thankfully, Kili had a plan when they were caught at the gates. He began making his way towards the lever, only to be shot in the leg by an arrow. "Kili!" Fili shouted.

Thorin echoed his nephew. "Kili," he whispered.

"Thorin, throw me your sword," Ricki demanded. At the moment she was in a much better position to climb out of her barrel than Thorin was since his barrel was currently pressed up against the gate blocking their way down the waterfall. "I'll make sure nothing gets near Kili."

The Dwarf did as he was told, not questioning her judgement since her judgement had proved to be excellent in the past. Once she had the sword, she left her sister in their barrel and hauled herself – not without effort given how waterlogged her dress was – onto land. Within moments she was by Kili's side. "Can you stand?" she asked. He nodded as she cut the head off an Orc that was coming their way. "Then go pull that lever. I'll cover you."

Kili crawled over to the lever and laboriously pulled it, opening the gate for the rest of the Dwarves to escape.

"Go!" Ricki ordered, years of training as an officer in the army surfacing. Kili was certainly not going to argue and he jumped from the ledge into a barrel. Ricki quickly followed him, jumping back into her barrel and accidentally kicking her sister in the process.

Sage was about to yell, "You broke my nose!" before they were sent over the waterfall, quickly silencing the doctor.

The Orcs and the Elves both relentlessly pursued the Dwarves, but the Dwarves were lucky the Elves were there to kill off a large number of the Orcs with very little effort on their part. Ricki could see the Elf prince among the other Elves, killing the Orcs with an amount of skill impressive even for an Elf – or so she assumed. For her part, Ricki was trying to protect her sister – still using Orcrist – and feeling bad as she noticed the blood flowing from Sage's nose.

Soon the Dwarves began to gather weapons from the Orcs they killed and were beginning to rival the Elves in their efficiency in killing the vile creatures. Thorin could see both his nephew and Ricki were okay, sighing in relief as he did so. Just as he killed an Orc using an axe he had managed to grab, he noticed an Orc sneaking up on the Elf prince.

Now, Thorin hated Elves more than most Dwarves but the Elves had not been unkind to them during their stay in the dungeons; they had been well fed and given everything necessary to be somewhat comfortable in the cells. Moreover, Thorin hated Orcs far more than he hated Elves so he wasn't about to let an Orc have the victory of killing Thranduil's son. So, with this in mind, he threw his axe at the Orc, sending it to the ground before it could do the same to Legolas.

When they lost the current, they all climbed out of the barrels and onto the shore, shivering in the cold, late fall air.

Ricki fussed over Sage just as Fili fussed over Kili, except one of them was much more grievously injured.

"I'm fine," Kili insisted.

"Same," Sage said as she tried to stop the last of the bleeding, her nose swollen.

"I'm so sorry," Ricki said.

Sage shook her head. "You were helping Kili. I'm just glad you're alive."

Bilbo was not nearly so calm when he saw Sage. "Oh my goodness!" he cried. "Are you alright? What happened?"

"Ricki accidentally hit me in the face," she explained. "I'm alright, though. In fact, I'd like to look at Kili's leg right now if that's okay?" She looked to Thorin.

He quickly ascertained that they had no way of crossing the lake and they could not go around it so he nodded. "Bind his leg quickly."

Sage set to work, then narrowed her eyes as they scanned the wound. It was strange somehow. "Kili, could you let me know if you notice anything about this wound?"

"Why?" he asked.

"I don't know. Something just seems…off. Please let me know…especially if the wound isn't healing right." The Dwarf prince looked concerned but nodded his head in understanding of her request, even if he didn't understand her reasons behind it. "His leg should be find now," she told Thorin, but he was distracted.

Away from the rest of the company, he stared at Ricki. "Thank you for helping Kili. I don't know what I would do if I lost either of them," he said softly. "Or you, for that matter."

She handed him Orcrist. "I believe this belongs to you." Ricki had to fight the urge to kiss Thorin right then and there, knowing it wouldn't be considered appropriate according to Middle Earth etiquette. (She never thought she would get used to what was considered 'proper behavior' on Middle Earth. Back home, before the bomb, Ricki was used to being much more forward in the romance department with her fair share of romantic encounters.) Before their moment could go any further, they both noticed the Man with an arrow pointed right at Ori.

Thorin raised Orcrist and his shield, Dwalin quickly ran in front of Ori and a few other Dwarves raised rocks to defend the youngest member of their company. The stranger, however, was no stranger to his bow and sent an arrow flying into Dwalin's weapon and into Kili's rock, sending it flying out of his hand.

"Do it again," the Man warned. "And you're dead."

"Is that really necessary?" Sage asked irritably. "Why the dramatics?"

The Man was momentarily distracted by the two women standing amongst a horde of Dwarves. He, like everyone else on their journey, could not fathom as to why two women would be with the Dwarves. He also took this moment to notice just how worn-out and ragged the company was and to notice the fact that multiple members had sustained injuries.

"Excuse me," Balin interjected. "But you're from Laketown, aren't you? That barge of yours wouldn't be for hire, would it?" Now the Man looked interested.

"What makes you think I would help you?"

"It would be nice?" Sage suggested as Ricki rolled her eyes.

"I would like to know who you are and what you're doing here, first."

"We are simple merchants from the Blue Mountains traveling to see our kin in the Iron Hills." Balin

He gave the group a look that clearly said he knew they were lying. "And what about them?" he asked, nodding towards the sisters.

"We have business in the Iron Hills," Ricki said steadily, a much better liar than her sister. "These Dwarves were kind enough to escort us. It is safer to travel in groups, is it not?"

"Two women felt comfortable traveling with a large group of males?"

"We can hold our own," Ricki growled, not liking her competence in self-defense to be questioned.

"Regardless of what your business after this is, it seems your business with the Elves did not end well," he ascertained, seeing the marks on the barrels.

"To be fair," Sage said. "Most of those are from Orcs."

"So you have two groups who are unhappy with you. I do not think the Master would want you to bring trouble into Laketown. You would need a smuggler to get in."

"For which we would pay double," Balin interjected.

Now the bargeman looked even more interested, mulling over their offer in his head.

"Please help us," Sage begged.

"You'll pay me double," he agreed.

"Does it look bad?" Sage asked Bilbo, referring to her nose.

"No, not at all," he lied. "Practically unnoticeable."

"You're lying," she observed with a defeated look on her face. "But thank you for trying to make me feel better."

Bard took a particular interest in the women as he navigated the waters towards Laketown. More than anything, he wanted to get a straight answer out of them – out of anyone in the company, for that matter. He didn't trust the Dwarves, although the little fellow – whose race Bard could not identify – was pleasant enough. He had at least had the courtesy to ask Bard his name and give Bard his. When the Dwarves began arguing whether or not they could put their faith in the Bargeman, the two sisters and Bilbo walked towards Bard.

"Why are you staring at me?" he asked them.

"We could ask the same," Ricki replied. "You've done nothing but stare at us ever since we met. But, to answer your question, you're the first among the race of Men that we've seen in nearly a year."

"How did you happen to come by these Dwarves? They are strange companions for women such as yourselves to keep."

"Through a mutual friend," Sage answered truthfully.

"Thirteen Dwarves, two women and Bilbo all have a mutual friend? You'll forgive me if I'm skeptical."

"Think what you want," Ricki said with a shrug. "It's the truth. We're hoping our mutual friend will be meeting up with us soon."

"May I enquire as to why the Elves pursued you and tried to attack you, yet gave you fine Elven dresses?"

"Our relationship with Thranduil was…complicated."

Before Bard could give any more lines of questioning, the Dwarves all stood and stared at something in the distance: Erebor. The sisters and Bilbo turned their heads, too, to face the mountain and felt chills run down their spines both at the thought of reclaiming it, and what may happen if they failed. For Ricki, the excitement went beyond simply reclaiming it. If everything worked out as well as she hoped it would, that mountain would become her home for the rest of her life – a sentiment she enjoyed thinking about.

Sage noticed the wistful look on her sister's face and felt a pit grow in her stomach. It was clear to her now that Ricki was serious about staying on Middle Earth if they could and Sage began to reorganize her own priorities. Would it really be so bad if she and her sister were to stay? After all, their fellow survivors had been living without the sisters for nearing a year now and fending without them. Her eyes drifted to Bilbo, imagining the possibility of spending the rest of her days in the Shire, which sounded like a dream-become-reality to the dark-haired woman. Yes, she would definitely have to reconsider her thoughts on leaving.

"The money," Bard interrupted. "Give it to me quickly."

Thorin stared hard at the Man, not finding that arrangement at all agreeable. "We will pay you when we get our provisions but not before."

"If you value your freedom, you'll do as I say. There are guards ahead."

Before too long the company found themselves buried by fish inside their barrels and it was not soon enough when they were allowed to climb out of the stinking mess. Bard was about to help some of the Dwarves and the women but the looks they were giving him told him very clearly that they were not interested in accepting any help from him.

A boy approached them. "Da, the house is being watched."

Bard had to think quickly. As much trouble as they were, these Dwarves were the best thing that had happened financially for him in a very long time so he was not about to betray them to the master. Bard was, after all, a man of his word. "There's only one way for you to enter my home without being seen but you're not going to like it. I'm afraid you'll have to come up through the toilet."

"You've got to be joking," Dwalin growled. "Never."

"You don't have any choice."

"Finally," Ricki sighed as she and Sage changed out of their dresses in one of the rooms of Bard's home.

Sage stared at the oversized clothing she had been given. "I miss my sweater."

"Just be glad that Bard listened to us when we said no dresses."

They brought the dripping dresses out to dry in front of the fire along with most of the Dwarves' belongings and noticed Bard looking at them. "What?" Ricki demanded. "If you want them you can have them."

Bard started in surprise. "But they are of such fine quality," he breathed. "Why would you give them up so easily?"

"We have no use for them," Sage explained with a shrug.

"They may fit my youngest," he said wistfully, turning towards his younger daughter. "Though they are much too short for Sigrid."

Neither sister was exactly pleased to be informed them their clothes sizes would fit a child but they also couldn't deny that they were both short women – Sage especially. "Take them."

The oldest daughter, Sigrid, handed the two sisters cups of hot tea along with almost all the members of the company in an attempt to warm them all up. It occurred to Ricki and Sage just how kind Bard was being to them. He clearly didn't have much to give and yet he was putting his family at risk for the Dwarves, giving them clothes he couldn't afford to give away and giving them tea. He had more than earned the money paid to him by the Dwarves.

"We'd like to see the weapons now," Thorin informed Bard.

A/N: As always, let me know what you think. I use your reviews to improve my story and my writing.