I was thinking about the song Final Countdown when I uploaded this chapter lol XD

Urgh I'm so busy nowadays it makes me want to cry .

This story is just about done and I want to thank all the reviewers again :D I suppose the last chapter will be a sort of "christmas eve" present and should be up at noon or a bit before on the 24th XD

I also want to thank those who told me about their impressions of the Desolation of Smaug because it help me sort out my feelings towards it and made me appreciate it more :D I'm pretty certain that when I go to see it again tonight, I will love it far more than I initially did XP

Anyways, ENJOY!

Everything seemed to have happened so slowly and yet so quickly. Smaug had suddenly shoved Bilbo away and turned to face Fíli and Kíli who had approached from behind. He had barely dodged Fíli's swing and probably would have shot him if Kíli hadn't kicked the gun out of his grip. The brothers then made quick business of grabbing Bilbo and dragging him to where their uncle had found refuge around the house after dodging the bullet.

"I told you both to wait next to the car and wait for Bard!" Thorin snapped at them once they were safe. "This is dangerous! You could have been killed!"

"That's exactly why we couldn't wait!" Fíli snapped in return.

"You should be thankful, we saved you and Bilbo!" Kíli added.

"Speaking of which," Fíli said and turned to Bilbo who struggled to understand what had happened, "How are you doing?"

"Frodo…" he breathed after a moment, "Where's Frodo?"

"He's fine," Fíli assured, "We confided him to a neighbour, the Tooks. He was a bit confused on what was happening and why he couldn't come along but the children in that flat quickly distracted him."

"Good." Bilbo sighed in mild relief.

"What were you thinking?" Thorin asked, scooting closer, "And why's your shirt open?"

"I-I just…" Bilbo mumbled helplessly, but before he could finish speaking, shots were fired in their general direction.

"My, my," Smaug hummed, amused, "I didn't know you would daringly bring your beloved nephews, Thorin."

"He's coming closer." Kíli reported after quickly peaking from behind the wall.

"Shit!" Thorin cursed.

They needed a plan and they didn't have much time to think. There was no knowing when Bard and the others Thorin had called would show up and they could only hope that it would be soon. However, hoping would not save them from the current threat. Thorin popped out from around the corner and shot in direction of Smaug a few times, stopping when the other sought cover and thus retreated back to his nephews and Bilbo's side.

"We need a plan." Fíli stated, "A way to kill him or to survive while stalling for Bard."

Thorin nodded in agreement quietly and thought, looking around the rubble for any inspiring idea. Bilbo did the same and that was when he spotted a portion of the second floor that barely stood what with the lack of support from beneath. He gestured towards it to the others who immediately caught wind of his idea. If they could lure Smaug beneath it and cause it to collapse, the weight of it would be enough to knock him out and, if they were lucky, kill him.

"How are we meant to go about it?" Kíli asked, "Your plan, I mean."

"I'm not sure—" Bilbo answered but was quickly interrupted by Smaug.

"Plotting are we?" Smaug asked and shot in their direction, obviously missing as he made his way closer. "I wonder if you're aiming to kill me or inhibit me, Thorin…"

"We'll have to improvise." Thorin said quickly, "I'll find a way to bait him beneath what remains of the second floor while you three find a way to make it collapse. Now go!"

Thorin jumped out into the open, firing the remaining shots of his pistol at Smaug and dashed for cover again while Bilbo, Fíli and Kíli separated and began running through the ruins of the estate in direction of the second floor. Bilbo quickly found that the stairs had been destroyed as well as all access to the second floor and so they would have to make their own. However, just as he was about to gather a ton of debris as to create a sort of access point to the second floor, Kíli had found a way to climb on the broken walls and reach their destination. Thus he made a quick b-line while Thorin and Smaug continued to shoot at each other.

"Would you mind telling me what your nephews and lover are doing?" Smaug asked loudly, over the sound of gunfire. But Thorin promptly ignored him and merely concentrated on his task, "I see how it is then," Smaug growled, "Ignore me all you want, I'll still kill them and you as well!"

It was a matter of seconds for Bilbo to join Kíli as well as Fíli who had been faster than him. The floor was incredibly unstable and creaked menacingly beneath their every step. One wrong move and it would collapse and their plan would fail.

"Is there any way to bring it down?" Bilbo asked.

However, before either boys could answer, Smaug shot in their direction and they were forced to tackle the ground as to avoid any injuries. The shots only stopped when Thorin covered them but now they were well aware that Thorin had caught all of the mad man's attention.

"I don't think so." Kíli answered after a moment. "Even though it seems like it's on the verge of crumpling, there's one key thing that keeps it from doing so even under our weight."

"Then let's go find it." Fíli said.

They inched towards the way they had initially crawled up the second floor and halted upon seeing Thorin dash for cover beneath them. Smaug was near and they needed to find the pillar or whatever it was keeping what was left of the upper floor in place. They managed to sneak down and avoid any more shots from Smaug but were now trapped between he and Thorin.

A couple more bullets were fired from both men before Bilbo, Fíli or Kíli could peak beyond and that was when Bilbo saw the pathetic column of wood supporting the majority of the upper floor. Like mainly everything in the ruins of the estate, it was blackened by ashes but the middle part had also been chipped off by something, leaving it incredibly fragile and vulnerable. Smaug was moments away from being in place for the plan to work and they would have to find a way to cross through the path of bullets rapidly to reach it.

"We need to cross." Bilbo whispered to the boys.

Fíli and Kíli observed the destination and quickly looked around before noticing something Bilbo initially hadn't. a wall had crumbled in an odd fashion, essentially doubling over and providing a very narrow tunnel for only someone as small as Bilbo to cross. It was then that Bilbo, for the first time, thanked his petit size which had made him the prey of many bullies in his early childhood.

"We'll get out of here," Fíli said, "You try crawling through and break the support when we tell you to."

They then parted ways. Bilbo made quick business of inching through the rubble all the while bullets continued to fly by and bounce off the stone that shielded him. He thanked the heavens once he safely made it to the other side and ran to the blackened pillar.

"I'm curious, Thorin," Smaug said loudly, over the sound of popping guns, "Did you ever tell your nephews the truth about their parents?"

Bilbo stiffened, knowing that if Smaug ever had the option to finish wording the events of the past, current things could change drastically to the point of causing their plan to fail. Thorin needed to get Smaug in place immediately so as to cut everything short.

"Shut up!" Thorin snapped and changed locations causing Smaug to do the same and move just a tad closer to the crucial area. "Don't you dare talk about them!"

"Well I don't see why I shouldn't." Smaug taunted. "I loved them too…once."

"You did not!" Thorin growled.

"You're just biased because I killed them." Smaug laughed, "But I really did love them. And then they became annoying. And I couldn't help but want them to suffer, but you were obviously the worse out of them all. I wanted to kill you most and, for some reason, it's been the most problematic thing to do so far."

"Thorin!" Bilbo yelled out as to remind him of their goal and to keep calm.

"I've slaughtered your family once," Smaug said, "And I'll do it again—" just then, Smaug ran from his cover, dashing towards Thorin, "Starting with you!"

"Bilbo!" Fíli yelled, "Do it now!"

Bilbo tackled the pillar, breaking it with ease and, seconds later, causing what remained of the second floor to crumble on Smaug and Thorin. Just a bit of the debris had fallen unto him but the weight and amount hadn't been enough to cause more damage than a few scratches and maybe a bruise or two. Nonetheless, Bilbo quickly got to his feet and ran to where he remembered Thorin being before the floor collapsed and began digging through the fallen planks to find him. He was quickly joined by Fíli and Kíli who helped him with the same adrenaline and worry that pumped through Bilbo's veins.

They quickly found Thorin who moaned in pain but seemed to be relatively okay. "I…I didn't think it would fall on me too…" he groaned as he was helped into a sitting position.

"You're okay and that's all that matter now…" Bilbo said with a laugh of relief as tears stung at his eyes.

"Uncle…" Fíli said slowly, "Was it true…? What he said about murdering our parents and the rest of our family, I mean…"

Thorin's expression grimed considerably and he averted his gaze, "We'll talk about this later—"

The fallen debris suddenly shifted and Smaug erupted from where it had crushed him. He seemed more livid than he ever had, the intent of murder shining in his annoyed eyes. Bilbo, Fíli and Kíli desperately tried to pry Thorin to his feet but it was then they realized that a plank had stabbed through his leg, keeping him pinned in place when a blood curling cry passed through his lips. Thorin was trapped and no amount of rapidity or strength could set him free in time to avoid death by Smaug's hand.

"There won't be a later." Smaug hissed as he shook off the rest of the debris and began stepping over it, "I'm done with you. You're going to die here and now along with those bastard boys!" he raised his gun and all paled considerably upon facing death, "this is the end—"

Smaug pulled the trigger and the sound of the bullet leaving the cannon echoed in Bilbo's ears. For a moment, it was the only thing he could hear as he stared wide eyed at Smaug who stood above the debris. It seemed as though that very moment had been frozen in time: Smaug in a position of power, he, Fíli and Kíli kneeled around Thorin who was still partially buried in the rubble. Bilbo would never forget it. Not even when a crimson stain spread on Smaug's chest as blood poured from a decisive bullet hole. He crumbled to his knees and fell on his face, motionless and dead, revealing the man who had dealt the sentence.

"Bard…" Thorin mumbled in awe.

Someone told me I should make the chapters longer and though I do see the interest in wanting longer chapters, the ones I write are as long as they need to be so sorry if they're not as long as you'd like :S