As Elrond sat next to his still sleeping wife, his mind could not help but wander to his two missing sons' and his close friend Glorfindel. He could not help but feel a hint of guilt by how they had last spoken and was hoping upon hope that would not be how they would last see each other.

Elrond sighed heavily, the weeks and months of sleepless nights now catching up to him. If it was not his wife keeping him awake, it was his children. He did not know just how much longer he would be able to keep going at this rate before his body gave out on him.

His eyes had slowly started drifting shut when Erestor barged into the room, his eyes flashing with worry. "My Lord Elrond, the search party has just returned. Your presence is required at once; your eldest received a severe injury."

Hearing his son was injured, Elrond swore under his breath and rushed out the room. Several thoughts entered his mind at what he might see upon entering the infirmary, each one more gruesome than the last. When he finally arrived, Glorfindel was just laying his unconscious and deathly pale son onto a bed.

Rushing to his son's side, he found he was far too scared at the moment to be angry. Upon closer look at Elladan, he saw his son appeared to be breathing heavily his lips a slight blue. Feeling his forehead, he flinched at the amount of heat radiating from him. It was then his eyes fell onto his son's shoulder, and he frowned at the sight of the blood-soaked bandage. Taking off the bandage, his face paled at the sight: the wound an angry red with pus leaking from it. But what made him more concerned was the pus was speckled black with wide black webbing radiating towards his neck, down his arm indicating the wound was poisoned.

Why had Glorfindel waited so long to bring his son home? Only an injury left untreated for this long could have festered this bad. "What happened?" Elrond demanded as he finished examining his son.

Elrohir jumped slightly before finding his voice. "We were chasing the Orcs at the first camp we came upon when Elladan slipped. Before he could get to his feet, the leader speared him in his shoulder. Glorfindel found us a few hours later, and after cleansing it, he stitched it up, but by then Elladan had lost an enormous amount of blood."

Turning on Glorfindel, Elrond's eyes flashed dangerously. "Why did you not bring my sons home? I gave you a direct order you were to bring them back, not encourage them to go on this chase for revenge!"

Glorfindel struggled to keep his cool, as much as he loved and respected his friend, Elrond was pushing his luck. "I tried to bring them back my lord, but they refused to return. So, I went with them to make sure they would be safe. When I examined his injury, it did not appear poisoned, so there seemed to be no reason for me to be highly concerned. It was not until we came upon the second camp, Elladan became profoundly ill, collapsing during a skirmish. We had managed to escape and found a hidden alcove to hide in until morning. I was not able to do anything but clean the wound, and your son had not regained consciousness since the day before yesterday."

Feeling a mixture of anger and fear for his son, Elrond glared at Elrohir. "I will deal with you later, but right now I must tend to your brother." Then seeing Haldir, Rúmil, and Orophin standing nearby in a corner he straightened. "Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn demand to see you at once."

The three wardens stiffened upon hearing the names of their lord and lady and excused themselves from the infirmary. After they had left, Elrond turned all his attention to his younger son. "Elrohir, go to the supply room and bring some clean bandages, a needle, thread, athelas, some herbs for infection, pain, and to keep him asleep, and a knife. Glorfindel, boil me some water."

The two obliged and left to do as commanded. When they returned a few minutes later, Elrond took the small knife and slowly started to cut the dead skin around the wound. Upon feeling the intrusion, Elladan's eyes flew open in fear and pain, and he began to thrash wildly around. "Help me hold him down!" Elrond shouted trying to hold his son down before he could do any more damage.

Glorfindel and Elrohir quickly rushed over and held Elladan's arms down while Elrond poured his healing energy into him causing him to still seconds later. When Elrond was sure his son would not awaken again, he continued to tend to the wound. Pouring some water on the wound, he cleansed the pus out before taking a rag with some crushed athelas and gently wiped it. The wound had started to bleed again, and Elrond took a special herb and packed it into the deep hole. Within seconds the bleeding ceased, and Elrond could finish tending to the injury. Taking a handful of whole athelas, he packed it into the gaping hole and wrapped the shoulder as best he could tightly with a clean bandage.

Until confident the poison was no longer a threat, he could not stitch the wound up. He would just have to keep a close eye on him until then to make sure he would not bleed again. "Elrohir, will you please stay with your brother while I mix some herbs together to bring the fever down?"

Nodding, Elrohir held his brother's hand. When Elrond returned, he looked over at Glorfindel. "I need you to please help Elrohir sit Elladan up so I can give him this tea. It will help fight off the remaining poison plus bring down the fever. I have also added a sedative to keep him asleep." Moving over to Elladan, Glorfindel helped Elrohir sit the elder twin up. It took some work, but Elrond was able to get Elladan to swallow the mixture, and within moments, he was in a deep healing sleep.

"This tea should keep him sleeping for a good day or two. I will need to stitch the wound before then and change the bandages two to three times a day, but he should make a full recovery within a week if he does not relapse."

Elrohir turned to his father to speak, but Elrond quickly cut him off. "Do you mind telling me just what you two were thinking?" Elrond asked his voice getting angrier by the second. Do you have any idea how lucky the two of you are to be alive? If Glorfindel had not of been there, I do not know what would have happened to you!" Elrond wanted to yell but found himself too drained emotionally and physically. "If your mother knew what happened to Elladan or if one of you came back dead, it would no doubt destroy her for good."

Elrohir lowered his eyes in shame. "I am sorry, father. Elladan and I were so angry at what happened to mother and Faron; we were not thinking. It will not happen again, we promise."

"Do not make promises you may not be willing to keep, my son."

Looking away, Elrohir turned to leave before he stopped his hand feeling something in his tunic. "Father, I just remembered. I have something for you." Turning around, he gave his father the Elessar they had retrieved from Azgad.

Elrond felt the color drain from his face and sucked in a breath. "Where did you get this?" he asked quietly.

Elrohir's fists balled up tightly. "It was upon the Orc who stabbed Elladan. He called himself Azgad and was the head Orc in charge of mother's torture." Elrohir felt anger beginning to rise in him as he spoke.

"I see, and what exactly did you and Elladan do to this…Azgad?" he asked not sure he wanted to know.

"Do not worry. Elladan and I took care of him. He will never harm another living being again." Elrohir realized he did not want to get into details on just how they took care of Azgad as it would no doubt displease his father even more than he already was.

Elrond could tell his son purposefully avoided answering his question completely and told himself he did not want to press the matter more. Whatever his sons did to this Orc he did not wish to know. Azgad was no longer a threat, and his wife's jewel safely returned to him. "Thank you for bringing this back to me, Elrohir. I think you should clean up and get some rest."

"I will, but first, how is mother doing?" he asked. Last he knew his mother was awake and talking.

Elrond avoided looking at Elrohir, instead his eyes looking down at the jewel in his hands. "I am afraid; she is not doing well. Physically, she is healing but her fëa is broke, and she is fading. I do not know if she will ever be whole again. Right now, she is sleeping, but I know she will be overjoyed to see you and your brother again."

Elrohir's eyes flashed, his face angrily contorting in deep pain hearing his mother was fading. "Will she die?" he asked, finding it hard to speak.

"I do not know if she will die. As I said, she is fading but only time will tell whether she will find the strength to live or not."

Finding his father's news almost too much for him to handle he had to take several slow breaths to calm himself. Elrohir also realized how dangerous it could be to his mother if she knew what had happened to Elladan. "Father, please do not tell her what happened to Elladan."

Elrond's eye raised. "I most certainly will not tell her. That is the last thing she needs to hear, although, do not be surprised if she finds out on her own in due time. Your mother is the daughter of Lady Galadriel after all."

Laughing, Elrohir hugged his father happy to be back home. "Thank you." Turning, Elrohir went to go clean up and get some much-needed sleep.

After Elrohir had left, Elrond looked back down at the Elessar. "Will you be ok?" he heard Glorfindel ask.

"I do not know. To be honest, I am terrified. Not just for my wife but also for my children."

Glorfindel placed a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. "Your wife is a fighter Elrond. I know she will pull through this. As for your children…" Glorfindel had no words of comfort there as he was also scared for them. He was aware that it would only be a matter of time before they left once more to hunt again. Turning, Glorfindel started to leave but then stopped. "Elrond, how is…never mind."

Elrond knew what he was going to ask and smiled softly. "Faron is in a deep sleep right now. However, it is highly unlikely he will ever be the same again. His parents are considering sending him overseas to the Undying Lands come summer when the weather is good for sailing."

Glorfindel looked torn. Perhaps if he had told him sooner, Faron would not be in this condition. "I am sorry for not telling you as soon as I learned he was alive."

"Do not apologize my friend. I understand why you did not say anything, but you should know by now you are like family, and you never have to be afraid to tell me anything. Your problems are my problems too. Even if you did tell me sooner, Faron still would not have healed from this traumatic experience." Looking at Glorfindel, Elrond frowned before he continued speaking. "I also want to apologize for lashing out at you earlier and blaming you for his condition. I was out of line."

"It is alright Elrond. I do not fault you. You have been through more than most people, and no one can blame you for losing your temper. May I see him?"

"Of course, you may, but first I think you should get some sleep."

Thanking Elrond, Glorfindel turned to leave. Just as he made it to the door, Elrond called out to him. "Glorfindel, thank you for bringing my sons back home to me."

"You are welcome, Elrond."

The Half-Elf watched Glorfindel walk out the door. When he was alone, Elrond tightened his hand on the Elessar and returned to his wife.