It was dark in the room when Thorin next woke. He took a moment to attempt to orient himself, but found that he was unable to. It was a small room, but it didn't seem familiar to him. His head felt strange and he rapidly decided that it had to be from lack of food. It might be time for him to give into his captors and eat once more. He closed his eyes, trying to hear any of the quiet sounds that he had become accustomed to in his cell. They weren't there. What he did hear was the quiet drone of the voices of his company.

He wanted to go to the door and see if they were there, even though he knew that they weren't, but the pressure on his wrists told him that he was still chained and such an action would only cause him pain. It wasn't as if he could reach the door. He glanced down at the once-white bandages wrapped around his wrists before closing his eyes with a sigh. It wasn't the first time he'd imagined himself to be somewhere else—though the bandages were a new touch— but judging by the sounds clearly this was going to be one of the bad days.

He could only hope that Bilbo—or even the elf—would come soon and break this illusion. It was far too cruel of his mind to force him to entertain the fantasies that had begun in his dream. Especially when they were so absurd. It wasn't as if Bilbo would ever suggest that they escape the dungeons by barrel, not with his fear of the water. It was ludicrous. No. They hadn't escaped the dungeons. He was still in his cell, regardless of how much it looked as if he was in a normal room. What appeared to be bandages were shackles. The wooden walls were actually stone. He wasn't free and he never would be.

The more he looked around the room and saw the details of it, the more convinced he was that it was true. The grain of wooden walls around him, the texture of the linen blanket below him, Kíli's laughter . . . they only served to convince him that he'd finally lost his mind. Just like his grandfather. There was no longer any hope of freedom even if Bilbo did find a way to free them from this prison. After all, it wasn't as if he could escape from his own mind.

ooOO88OOoo

Thorin was still sitting on the bed with his head in his hands and his knees pulled up to his chest when Bilbo returned from the market. He glanced up sharply at the sound of the door closing behind him panic in his eyes once again.

"Hello," Bilbo said coming to Thorin's side and sitting himself on the bed before the dwarf. "Are you alright?" Thorin just blinked at him a moment before his vision cleared once more and he seemed to focus on the hobbit. For a moment he was still confused about where they were. Bilbo was here. And he'd opened the door on his own. There was no elf with him. If all of that was true it only left one question: where was here?

With confusion in his eyes, Thorin reached for the hobbit, realizing for the first time that there was no clink of chains accompanying the movement. For the first time since he awoke the second time he began to wonder if the fantasy he'd had had actually been true. It was only when Thorin reached under Bilbo's coat and felt the rent fabric that had been used for his bandages that the confusion faded. But rather than comfort, a different emotion replaced the confusion: abandonment.

"You left," Thorin whispered, betrayal clear in his voice and pain in his eyes as he pulled his hands from the hobbit as if he'd been burned.

"To run the errands you asked me to run yesterday," Bilbo replied stroking Thorin's face in an attempt to erase the tension in his features. "You knew that I was leaving. We spoke about it this morning." When Thorin's forehead scrunched up further as he tried to recall that conversation, Bilbo felt worry for the dwarf flood his veins.

"Are you alright?" he asked again placing his hand on Thorin's face to turn the dwarf back towards him.

"I . . . I woke up and . . . I knew that the past few days had been a dream," Thorin whispered, his voice broken and his eyes haunted. "I knew that this room . . . my freedom . . . it was all an illusion. A mad hallucination. And . . . I was alone again. You said you wouldn't leave me alone! But I was alone and I just knew that I was still in that cell. Don't leave me alone again, Bilbo. Please." At the end, Thorin's words had turned desperate and he had gripped Bilbo's wrists firmly enough that it was nearly painful.

"I'm not going anywhere, Thorin," Bilbo promised, leaning forward to press his forehead against Thorin's as his wrists were being held immobile. "I swear it. I'll make sure you're completely awake before I have to run errands in the future, deal? I won't let you wake up alone again." Thorin nodded and rested his forehead more firmly against Bilbo's before he visibly composed himself and pulled back, freeing Bilbo's hands.

"Was it at least a productive trip to the market?" Thorin asked looking at Bilbo with blue eyes that had lost a bit of their desperation though the haunted edge was still there if one looked. Bilbo shrugged rubbing his wrists absently.

"It was alright," Bilbo said simply. "I'm afraid that I wasn't able to find any blue silk but I did find some scented soap and a bit of oil for your hair. You were saying that you wanted some and there was a woman that was selling it. She . . . well she recognized me as your hobbit—well, the company's hobbit at any rate—and when I asked for help selecting some as I said that I knew nothing about it but that it was for you . . . well, she was more than happy to help me. Wouldn't even allow me to pay her. I did bring a bit of money and I won a bit on the road but," Bilbo shrugged again as if to say 'what could I do?'

"What?" Thorin asked trying to keep up with Bilbo's rapidly shifting tale. What did he mean that he hadn't found any blue silk? And why . . . Thorin's eyes went wide as he realized that Bilbo was referring to the statement he had made in the dungeon weeks ago about binding him with blue silk, and his own comment about what he would do if they were properly clean and the oil . . . if Thorin hadn't known better he would have thought that his hobbit was propositioning him.

"I said 'would you take a bath with me?'" Bilbo said looking at Thorin with a smirk. It wasn't what he had said but it was what he had meant, in a way. "I would very much like to see how this soap smells on your skin and how your hair looks when properly cared for. No offence, but it looks a bit wild at the moment."

"I can think of a better use for that oil," Thorin purred, leaning forward to nuzzle Bilbo's neck as he realized that Bilbo did mean exactly what he had though he had.

"It's a large bottle," Bilbo replied pulling it from his bag. "It can do both."

ooOO88OOoo

The rest of their stay in Lake Town was less eventful than the first night had been and everyone benefited from their recuperation time. Even so, Bilbo worried. Not only was Thorin continuing to have slips, they were growing more frequent rather than less. While he loved the dwarf and understood why this was happening, and that it was not Thorin's fault, he couldn't help the frustration that rose within him at just how needy Thorin had become. s

He couldn't help the anger that burned in his veins when he thought of the Elf King. He hated to see the change that had come over Thorin since his captivity. Thorin, who had once thrived on solitude, now seemed to need others around. If not Bilbo, then his nephews or the company. Too much time alone inevitably led to Thorin believing that he was still trapped in the cells and convincing him he wasn't beginning to wear on Bilbo. It seemed as if they were always having the same conversation. And Bilbo was starting to run out of ways to tell the dwarf that he wasn't going mad. Especially since he was beginning to wonder if Thorin wasn't actually. After all, sane people didn't jump at shadows and forget days of happenings at a time.

It was one of those conversations that left the first bruises on Bilbo's skin. In his desperation and fear, Thorin had gripped too hard in his need to feel that Bilbo was real and his fingers had left marks. The dwarf had been beyond repentant once he came back to himself, but the damage was done. For the first time, Bilbo began to wonder if Thorin might be dangerous after all when he was in one of these fits, despite what he had told the dwarf about not needing to fear him. Even so, he stayed. After all, when in his right mind Thorin had never and would never hurt him.

When all the preparations were made and the time had come to leave, Bilbo was more than ready to be back on the road. Not that he truly wanted to go closer to the mountain and the dragon within in, but it would at least solve one of his problems. There was no time for solitude on the road. Even if every step took them closer to the end of everything, at least Thorin would be himself. Or at least that was what he tried to convince himself as the Lonely Mountain loomed over him. Somehow he had never truly prepared himself for this. Some small part of him had never believed they would make it this far. And if the expressions on the others' faces were anything to go by, neither had they. And if their joy and shock when the hidden door was found said anything, it was that none of them had ever thought that if they did make it to the mountain they would ever find the door.

While Bilbo felt their elation, his joy was stopped cold by another realization. This was it. It was time. All the danger he'd already come through that he hadn't been warned about and now it was finally time to fulfill his contract; he had to face a dragon.

"Well," he said looking at them all with a sad smile on his face as he memorized their features in case this was the last time he ever saw them. "I . . . I suppose it's time for me to do what I was contracted to do, isn't it?" All at once, the excitement in the air died. They had nearly forgotten why they'd brought Bilbo with them. The fact that they were sending him into a dragon's den . . . it wasn't something that they had actively thought about since Bag End.

"You . . . you don't have to do this, Bilbo," Kíli said sadly, his eye pleading with the hobbit to decide that he would not. "None of us would fault you. I mean, it's a dragon."

"No, lad," Balin said gently. "None of us would fault you for it. After all, there may be a live dragon down that tunnel. If—"

"No," Bilbo cut him off shaking his head. "I . . . I signed a contract. I knew what it was that I was agreeing to, even if I never believed I would actually come to do it. I'll go. Besides, I still have that Ring. I doubt even dragons can see through magic rings."

"You've also done things that weren't ever in your contract," Bofur added. "I'm willing to bet that Thorin will more than hold your oath fulfilled."

"To what end?" Bilbo asked with a sad smile. "The reward was made payable at the end if we survived. I'd hate to deprive all of you of your rewards because I refused to do what I was contracted to after all, we made it this far, didn't we?"

"Gold isn't worth your life, Bilbo," Fíli said gently.

"No, but a home is," Bilbo replied, preparing to go down the tunnel, refusing to say goodbye or look at his lover. He wasn't sure he'd be able to go if he did. He was one step away from the tunnel when he felt a hand close around his arm. With a sigh he turned and looked up into Thorin's blue eyes.

"Bilbo," the dwarf said, his eyes burning with an intensity that Bilbo generally associated with sex but that he knew this time meant something else entirely.

"I know, Thorin," Bilbo replied placing a hand Thorin's hand on his arm and trying to dislodge it. "All the same, I'm going."

"No just—"

"You're not going to change my mind," the hobbit said cutting him off. "So just—"

Bilbo stopped with a grunt as Thorin shoved him against the wall. "Thorin!" he squeaked, shocked at the rough treatment he was receiving at his lover's hands. His wasn't the only voice that had spoken. None of them had ever expected that Thorin would be rough with the hobbit. Fíli, Kíli and Nori exchanged worried glances wondering if this was an after effect of the imprisonment. They hadn't seen any more slips, but Bilbo had been looking rather harried lately. Perhaps they needed to keep a closer eye on him.

"Just listen. Do not speak," the dwarf breathed placing his free hand over Bilbo's mouth and staring down at him seriously. "If the dragon is alive . . . your Ring may be of little help. He will smell you. And me on you. He will know there are dwarves here. Do not lie to him but . . . do not tell him the truth either. And do not give him your name. I know that your mind is sharp, use it. Riddle with him if you're caught. It might save your life."

Bilbo nodded and Thorin pulled his hand away once more before crushing the hobbit to his chest. "Please," Thorin whispered in his ear. "Please come back to me. If you cannot safely burgle anything, just come back alive." Bilbo nodded and smiled, though his eyes were sad. He wasn't certain that he could come back at all and refused to promise something that he could not do. It was everything Thorin could do to allow Bilbo to walk down the tunnel alone and in the end it was only the knowledge that his presence would lead to his hobbit's death that let him do it.

ooOO88OOoo

Well, I'm back. As some of you may know, school is now over! BUT I'm expecting a baby any time now (her due date is the 15th of April but heaven knows they never show up when their supposed to) BUT, I am trying to finish this fic before the baby arrives so that it's not a WIP anymore. I think it can be done. And if not, I should have quite a nice chunk sandbagged. That said, I hope you enjoyed the newest chapter. I'd love to hear what you thought, that is if any of you stuck around through my hiatus :)

Stickdonkeys