Please do me the favor of letting me know where there are plot holes or characterization is lacking; what works in the writing style and what doesn't. Above all: hope you're entertained. Cheers!

She'd learned precisely a dozen dwarvish curses in the span of six hours and the only reason Jaq hadn't learned more was due to the fact that Thirischon had gagged Thrain when they drew closer to the ruins of Dale. They were ahead of schedule, in spite of dragging a less-than-pleased dwarf with them, and instead of reaching the old city by the following morning they'd found themselves entering its haunting shadow well after sunset. The old walls were covered with the evidence of nesting birds and the musky scent of rat and other burrowing-type creatures hung in the air around each of the buildings. It was obvious to Jaq that at one point in time this had indeed been a most glorious city but now the skeletal remains of it filled her heart with sorrow for a people she didn't know and who, quite honestly, she didn't quite understand. She'd never felt drawn to putting down roots or a kinship with anyone aside from her fighting forces. Her home life being as twisted as it'd been, and the fact that the military had basically raised her, sending her to all corners of the earth, it left her with no instinct towards traditional ideas of home and hearth.

Jaq could tell that Thirischon felt differently, however. As they moved further into the city, making their way to the far side—the one closest the mountain's entrance—his facial expression, as she could make out in the moonlight, looked to be reverent pain. The people who'd died here had not been elven, though perhaps maybe one or two had been caught in the crossfires as collateral damage. No, it surprised Jaq that Thirischon would appear so somber now. After all his nativist talk, and coming from the halls of one of the most xenophobic king's she'd ever met—in this world or the other—it was reassuring to Jaq that Thirischon wasn't all brainwashed talk of racial superiority. Maybe his near-death experience had sobered him up enough to see reason.

In fact, Jaq tipped her head to the side as she followed along behind Thrain, Thirischon leading the way, the more she looked back on Thirischon's behavior, the more she realized that he had indeed changed. If anyone had said she'd be on a quest with Thirischon months ago, when he'd still been a complete and total asshole to her, she'd have most likely laughed at them. But then she'd lost Cha'risa and Thirischon had stepped in to comfort her, in his strange fashion, at the hot spring. Then he'd gone and offered her his hand in marriage, via Thranduil/Lasdir; though at the time it'd been out of a warped sense of comrade-in-arms support, he'd done it nonetheless. So even before his drowning, it appeared that he'd begun to change towards her. Perhaps he'd begun to build an affinity towards her. After his drowning, however, that affinity was undeniable. He still bantered with her, of course, but it was different now. He wasn't insulting, just teasing, and he touched her more often. Not in a way that made her feel he didn't think her capable of taking care of herself, or in a deviant way—she'd have beat the hell out of him for that—but subtle touches here and there that let her know he was nearby or of similar ilk. It was comforting, and she was a bit concerned with how comfortable she was growing towards it. She wouldn't admit that she'd begun to crave it, no that would be foolish and impulsive, but she had most assuredly softened towards the idea of sharing touches with him, that much was true.

"We'll make camp here." Thirischon announced, pointing to what looked to be a guardhouse. It was the nearest building to the old stone wall that could still pass as a building and not a husk of one. It had walls and a roof, though the roof had areas where it'd caved in, as well as a door, though the door had rotted quite a bit over the years and now hung askew on its frame.

Thrain hesitated in entering the building, his eyes drawn not for the first time to the looming mountain, only barely visible from this distance in the moonlight. Jaq gently prodded him in the back with her hand, not wanting to use her rifle in a threatening manner towards him if she could help it. With slumped shoulders, the old dwarf entered the building and sat where she indicated. He'd grown quiet the closer they'd gotten to Dale. Even without the added influence of the gag, the dwarf seemed to have grown more despondent than agitated, and Jaq doubted if he would've been making the same amount of fuss now that he had been before.

"I'll set up a perimeter." She announced then. Thirischon nodded and turned to their packs to get out their cooking gear. The dwarf merely stared at the ground, lost in thought.

Wandering through the nearby streets only solidified Jaq initial impression that though this city had once been beautiful it was now beyond depressing. It reminded her of the bombed out cities she'd fought in on campaigns back in the old world. Old habits from those firefights had her very cautious as she rounded corners and set up the perimeter. She knew that it was unlikely that she'd come across anything aside from nocturnal animals and yet the very fact that they'd come across Thrain had her doubly cautious and she rechecked the perimeter twice before she came back inside the old gatehouse.

She found Thirischon sitting facing Thrain, the cooking fire in between them. Thrain was still bound, though his ties looked like they'd been loosened, and his gag had been taken out. Apparently Thirischon had sensed something similar that she had as well. Jaq placed herself between Thrain and the entrance, another old habit, and set her rifle down at her side, close enough to grab in seconds but further away from Thrain so he wouldn't be able to make a grab for it if he had another episode.

"Is he your lover?"

Jaq raised her eyebrows at Thrain's sudden and random question. She glanced over to Thirischon but found him smirking instead of offering any sort of useful answer. Jaq rolled her eyes at the elf then turned her eyes back to Thrain and she shook her head.

"No, we are not lovers."

"You said he'd tried to marry you." The dwarf frowned, as if he'd caught Jaq in a lie and was finding verbal ground to fight her on. Jaq was surprised he'd even remembered that since soon after that comment earlier had he'd fallen into an episode.

"He made the offer out of a misguided sense of comradery, not out of passion or desire." Even though she got the sinking suspicion that talking of the past would cause Thrain to relapse into another episode, Jaq also wanted to steer the conversation well away from herself and Thirischon; especially since the elf seemed content to let her suffer through the conversation without any support. "What of you?"

"Do I want to be your lover?"

Jaq laughed, surprising both Thrain and Thirischon, and shook her head, "No, I meant what of your lover or wife."

The dwarf shook his head and looked into the small fire Thirischon continued to cook over, "Dead." He paused a moment, staring harder into the flames, and then shrugged. "At least, I think she's dead."

"How would you not know one way or the other?"

Thirischon glared at her over the fire; he didn't want to test the limits of Thrain's lucidity whereas Jaq wanted to know how much it was the old dwarf remembered of his true self and how much of himself had been traded over to the Sauron character in the brainwashing. That would be helpful to know as it would give them an idea of how much it would take to "de-program" Thrain. Yes, Thirischon had said that it'd take a wizard—and Jaq supposed that if this world had dragons then it must also have wizards—or an Eldar, whatever the hell that was, to get rid of the enchantment. Yet, Jaq couldn't help but wonder if some of the "magical" elements of this world were similar to what was considered magical or otherworldly in the medieval era, things that could instead be explained with science and sound research-based evidence. If that were the case, then with proper counseling, Thrain could be brought back from the brainwashed state to a semblance of the man he'd been before it happened.

"That smoke," Thrain pointed to the wisps of smoke coming off the fire, "that's in my head and just as the smoke at times is thicker and sometimes its thinner, the same in my head. There are moments where I think I can see something, hear something, remember something," Thrain brought his hands up to his head where he pressed at his temples, "but then the smoke thickens and it chokes out whatever it was I'd nearly recognized and I start all over again."

Jaq nodded, "How is it now?"

"I fear," Thrain closed his eyes, "I fear," he began to shake then, "it's getting thicker." When he looked up again Jaq could see the look of fear mixed with pleading on his face. "Please, you must let me go."

"Why?" Jaq wasn't trying to be difficult in asking this, but she wanted to know what more the dwarf might reveal if she kept him talking, while he could talk reasonably that is.

"This close," Thrain lowered his hands to his torso and took to rocking back and forth, "it hurts. It hurts. The smoke. Smoke. Its choking me." He seemed to crumple in on himself, curling into a ball. Jaq exchanged a look with Thirischon. The elf had removed the cooking bowl from the fire and had since crouched into a position that would allow him to spring into action if need be. "Please." The dwarf looked up at Jaq again. His eyes were not clouded in the slightest but they were desperate nonetheless.

When Jaq didn't say or do anything in immediate response to the dwarf's plea, he let out a cry and with a sudden ferociousness launched himself at Jaq. She took the brunt of his heavy form in her own torso, causing her to fall backwards, her arms coming down around the dwarf as they rolled. She'd meant to roll them away from the fire, and her own rifle, but got momentarily taken off-guard when the dwarf's surprisingly strong fingers found their way to her neck. His eyes were not clouded, so Jaq knew he wasn't having an episode. It was strange, Jaq thought, that he would be doing this without being prompted by an episode. Knowing it'd be healthier to contemplate such things whilst not getting choked, Jaq clasped her hands together over her stomach then brought them up between Thrain's hands, thrusting her arms over her head and outwards, thereby breaking Thrain's hold on her neck. Thirischon had gotten to his feet and was behind Thrain by this point. He grabbed Thrain by the shoulders and dragged him off Jaq. He looked like he was going to hit Thrain in the head with the butt end of the rifle again but Jaq yelped and shook her head. While Thirischon kept ahold of the squirming dwarf, Jaq came up behind Thrain and put him in a chokehold. Thirischon watched with wide eyes as Thrain's efforts to fight against Thirischon's hold, and push Jaq away, lessened until finally he grew still. Jaq held on just a moment longer past his stilled movements before she let go and as gently as possible laid the dwarf down, scooting out from behind him.

"Did you kill him?" Thirischon leaned forward, the snore from Thrain his answer. "How did you know to do that?"

Jaq rubbed at her own neck, "Close combat training." She stood and went to her pack where she retrieved her water canteen. It'd been quite a while since someone had gotten the better of her enough to reach her neck. She didn't like the implications. She was either getting rusty in her training or she'd let her guard down far too much. Or perhaps both.

"Where DO you come from?"

Jaq turned around to look at Thirischon, the elf's eyes on the passed out dwarf a moment longer before they traveled up to meet her own. Jaq sighed. Now that they were this damn close to the mountain, she felt that death was that much more likely to come from this cursed mission. Thranduil had known that and it'd only been her own stubborn desire to do the honorable thing towards Alyse and Suarez that had had her agreeing to this suicide. That Thirischon had voluntarily come with her was beyond ludicrous in her mind. It was now her turn to do something for him out of a skewed sense of comradery. After she divvied up their food, leaving a portion for Thrain once he woke up again, she led Thirischon just outside the guardhouse. The elf followed her, after he retrieved their rifles, and sat down next to her. They were facing the rest of the city; Jaq didn't want to look at the mountain any more if she could help it. Thirischon placed the rifles on the ground between them and set his dish of food on the other side of himself. He drew his knees upwards towards his chest and rested his forearms on them. Jaq sat cross-legged, her bowl in her lap.

"What do you remember of when you first found me?" Jaq asked once they were settled.

"You were wounded in the middle of a clearing and the rest of the humans that had been with you were dead from the fight with the orcs."

Jaq nodded. She reached up and touched the area on her chest where the dogtags hung under her tunic. She'd worn them every day since then and it pained her that she'd never been able to retrieve Cha'risa's.

"And you've never before seen people dressed as we were dressed or wielding weapons as we wielded, have you?" Thirischon shook his head in response. "And in your time living and working with me, would say I am much like the other human women you've met in your years?"

Thirischon smirked, "Most assuredly not in the slightest."

"I'll risk taking that as a compliment."

Thirischon leaned over until his shoulder bounced off hers and Jaq saw his smirk turn into a genuine smile, "It was intended as one."

"Right." Jaq blinked, momentarily at a loss, before her train of thought returned. "You said wizards have the ability to get rid of enchantments, correct?"

"Yes," Thirischon frowned, "I don't see how that's connected though."

"Hear me out." Jaq held up her hand to silence him and Thirischon leaned against the wall, as if to get more comfortable while she spoke. "I'm making the point that you yourself belief that there are people who have the ability to work magic." Thirischon nodded. "So then you believe in magic and that unexpected and often unexplainable things can happen." It was a statement, not a question, but Thirischon nodded his agreement. "Would you then believe that I, my men, as well as Alyse, Cha'risa, and Edwin were all from another realm of existence?" Thirischon raised a single eyebrow prompting Jaq to explain from another angle. "Meaning, could you believe that without explanation, aside from perhaps magic or something like that, my people and I were transported from our world to yours?"

Thirischon was silent for a few moments and Jaq was content to let the silence drag for as long as Thirischon needed. She didn't feel like she needed to go into great detail about what life was like in her own world, in reality it had no bearing on their present situation. While he mulled over her words, Jaq downed their simple dinner, finally able to sit still long enough to realize how hungry she was. By the time Thirischon spoke again, Jaq had finished her food.

"In my years I've seen many things that would cause many a man, dwarf, or even elf, doubt their sanity for a time. And be it from the use of magic or forces beyond our current ken, I've witnessed many things that could compare to your story in eccentricity and doubtful credibility." Thirischon gestured towards the rifles sitting between them as well as to Jaq herself. "However, I've seen enough evidence to believe you."

Jaq sighed, not realizing she'd been holding her breath, "That's a relief."

"I must ask," Thirischon's eyes now lit up with mischief, "are all women in your realm so odd?"

"What do you mean?" Jaq certainly didn't see herself as odd, but then again she wasn't looking at herself as an elf might.

"Your friend Alyse," Thirischon smirked, "quite different from you and Cha'risa, but even yourself and Cha'risa, you all act strangely. Where Alyse appears to be physically unable to fight off much of anything, she makes up for it with her verbal assaults. Cha'risa," Thirischon paused, as if to give a moment of silence in honor of Cha'risa's memory, "seemed just as physically capable as you but she had a gentler way about her. Then there's you."

"Yes, there's me." Jaq narrowed her eyes at the elf, daring him to say something insulting.

"You're not gentle; you're quite physically capable, and yet you also have the ability to verbally assault, much like Alyse."

"Are you asking me to verbally assault you right now, Thirischon?"

Thirischon grinned, "Why would you? I'm paying you compliments, woman, not insults. I'm merely asking if all the women of your realm are as odd as the three of you."

"It's a shame," Jaq rolled her eyes at him and then looked ahead again, "you'll never know."

Thirischon laughed and Jaq shared in his mirth with a smile of her own. It was strange to have this momentary light feeling between them, on the night before their final push into the mountain, but Jaq supposed it was much the same as what'd passed between her and her officers so many times before. The night before a major assault was usually spent in open, honest conversations with much laughter and everyone doing what they could to live up the last moments they could be assured to live. Those were the nights where you could see the truth of a man's soul, what he held most dear and what he dreaded losing the most.

"You were wrong though."

Jaq turned to look at Thirischon, "Wrong? About what?"

"When you were talking with Thrain earlier." Jaq was still not following but kept silent, figuring Thirischon would explain himself soon enough. "And you were wrong the other day when we fought in the forest as well." Jaq narrowed her eyes, wondering if she was thinking the same thing he was but still not quite sure. When he turned his gaze to her, and away from the skeletal remains of the city in front of them, Jaq sucked in her breath. It seemed that they just might be on the same train of thought, and that was intimidating. "You said I'd made the offer of marriage out of a sense of duty, protection for a comrade-at-arms. That it was in no way made out of passion or desire."

"Yes." Jaq didn't know what to say, or do, especially not in the face of Thirischon's intense stare. It wasn't just the moonlight making his eyes seemingly glow now. That light she'd seen in the hot springs, and also that she'd momentarily seen during their fight in the forest, had returned. She felt her heartrate increase and her stomach twisted, and not at all in an uncomfortable way. She resisted the urge to squirm and instead stayed still, returning his stare with her own.

"I said before that I hoped the day would come where you would find the answer, as to why I would come all the way out here with you to help you." Thirischon's arms were still resting on his legs but his torso had begun to lean in her direction and Jaq found that she was equally drawn to lean in his direction as well. "Has that day come?" He lifted the hand closest to her and with his fingers he tucked some of her wayward strands of hair back behind her ear. "Do you know the answer?"

His hand withdrew from her face slowly and Jaq immediately shivered from the loss of warmth. It'd been momentary but it'd apparently had been enough for her body to grow accustomed to it. This was so foreign, this situation, and these feelings. In all her life she'd never once experienced what one would call a "first love" and so didn't know if the stirrings in her stomach, and lower, combined with the erratic thoughts in her head were what one could equate with such a term. She'd only ever had sex, and even then it'd never been lingering or with excessive emotional connection. What Thirischon seemed to be offering her now, this slow, deliberate attention—like in the caverns before—was shattering everything she'd known before. Though not a virgin, Jaq felt as knowledgeable now as if she had been one.

"I," Jaq finally croaked, "you," she licked her lips and swallowed, her eyes widening when she saw Thirischon track the movement of both tongue and throat with his gaze, "friendship."

Thirischon leaned back, out of her personal space, and stared at her with a strange expression. Jaq couldn't tell if it was disappointment or disbelief. All Jaq knew was that she'd panicked and said the first thing that'd come to mind that she'd known would throw him off. Now she almost lamented having said it.

"Friendship?" Thirischon's voice was deeper and if Jaq closed her eyes she imagined she'd be able to feel the echoes of it in her chest cavity.

"Yes, friendship." Jaq took a steadying breath. "You're pledging your loyalty and friendship to me, like Thranduil did when he renamed me that awful name."

Thirischon's chuckle held little humor, Jaq recognized that, but she didn't have a chance to say anything in response to that before she felt Thirischon's hand on the back of her neck. He used this hand to tug her towards him at the same time that he twisted his torso to face her. In a matter of seconds, Jaq had been taken off-guard for the second time that evening, only this time she didn't fear for her life. No, something else entirely was at risk.

"You have my loyalty." Thirischon's face was close to hers and when he spoke she felt the warmth of his breath on her lips and cheeks. She reached up and took hold of the forearm of the hand he had on her neck. "You have my friendship as well." He reached out with his other hand and smoothed it over her head then down until it too rested on her neck. She mimicked her hold of his second arm the same as she held onto his first. "But that is not why I am here." He tipped his head down, his eyes now almost fully lit with that strange light, and squared his gaze with her own.

Jaq could barely find it in her to speak but she managed to whisper, "Then, why?"

"You, Jaq, must tell me that." Thirischon's thumbs moved to lightly stroke her cheeks, his grip on her neck light and yet still firm. He leaned forward and pressed his forehead against hers, his eyes falling shut. He inhaled through his nose and Jaq somehow knew that he was taking in her scent, though that knowledge didn't bother her. She found herself doing the same, her eyes closing, and taking a deep breath with her nose. There he was: smoke, earth, leather, and the peppery scent that was unmistakably Thirischon. Strange, that she would recognize it so easily, but then maybe she'd been more aware of him than she'd allowed herself to believe before. "Tell me Jaq." His voice wrapped around her senses, hypnotically soothing, and Jaq felt herself further melt into his touch.

She'd never been much for words. In all her life she'd much preferred "showing" to "telling" and that was one reason why she'd advanced to her current position in the military but not further, her superiors always complaining about her lack of communication skills. This time was no different. While Jaq recognized what it was Thirischon wanted her to say, she found she didn't have the words to say it. Instead she did as she'd always done: she showed and didn't tell.

Closing the distance between them, Jaq pressed her lips against Thirischon's and moved her hands up his arms until she could also cup his neck. She felt a shudder pass through Thirischon, or was that her, before the pressure of his lips increased again hers. When he tipped his head to the side and deepened the kiss, Jaq unexpectedly let out a moan in response. This seemed to fuel Thirischon as he moved one hand from her neck, down her back, to her waist. Jaq near-mirrored his hold and let go of his neck enough to pass her arms under his until she could wrap them around his torso to his back. He pulled her towards him and Jaq was barely mindful of the awkward press of the rifles pressing into her knee. She had a fleeting thought of whether or not the safeties were on, before Thirischon opened his mouth and tentatively pressed his tongue against her lips. She responded by opening her mouth and moaned again when she finally tasted Thirischon, his tongue moving in and out of her mouth in slow, deliberate strokes. His hand on her neck traveled up until his fingers were tangled up in her hair, the hand on her lower back increasing its pressure. The kiss was deep, unhurried, and Jaq found that she very much couldn't think straight.

Jaq wasn't sure how long they would've stayed like that, or how much further they would've gone, but an almost animal-like cry and their perimeter sounding an alarm had them falling apart. Thirischon was reaching for his rifle before Jaq had managed to blink away the haze of lust, though she quickly joined Thirischon in picking up her rifle and stumbling to her feet. She was wobbly at first and Thirischon had to reach out to steady her. After a reassuring nod, Thirischon let go and they moved away from the wall and back around the corner. Thirischon ducked inside the guardhouse while Jaq kept watch on the shadows.

"He's gone."

Jaq looked over Thirischon's shoulder, "Thrain?" Thirischon nodded. "But how did he get loose?" Jaq was already mentally berating herself. They never should've left the dwarf alone. He'd been so desperate to get loose earlier that he'd attacked Jaq, while in his "right" mind. Of course that desperation would have him attempting—and apparently succeeding—at breaking loose at the soonest available moment. Their momentary neglect was just the opportunity Thrain had needed to succeed in an escape. "Fuck."

"I don't know what that means," Thirischon's growling voice reminded Jaq that her curses never translated correctly into his language, "but I understand and agree with the sentiment." Thirischon gestured towards the mountain. "No doubt, the crazed dwarf has gone home."

"You don't think he's run away? Earlier he was trying to get loose to get away from here."

Thirischon shook his head, "Most likely he was trying to get loose in order to get closer to the mountain, not further away. If he is, as you said earlier, a sleeper agent, then his job would now be to awaken the dragon or if naught that then to alert Sauron's spies that may be nearby."

"Well," Jaq entered the guardhouse and began to make quick work of packing up what little supplies Thirischon had earlier taken out, "there's no point in chasing after unknown spies when there's a known dwarf heading towards a known dragon."

Thirischon took over then so Jaq could take down their perimeter. Jaq hoped that with their added height, thus longer legs, they would be able to overtake the dwarf once they started after him. But then again, this used to be his home and not theirs, so he may know shortcuts or entrances or even ambush areas that they weren't aware of. Jaq cursed again, drawing up beside Thirischon once she finished both taking down the perimeter and having a good curse-fest. The elf nodded to her and made to leave but paused and looked back to her again. Jaq raised her eyebrows, already impatient to leave. Thirischon, even recognizing this in her, still stayed still long enough to dip down and place another kiss on her lips. When he drew back, Jaq's blinking at him in semi-delighted confusion, he smiled again.

"While I regret losing the dwarf," he started forward with Jaq on his heels, "I don't regret anything else."

Cheeky elf. Jaq smiled in spite of the situation and increased her pace to match Thirischon's run.