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IV
WHEN TO KILL A CROSSOVER
Chapter 5 –What's Your Fantasy Draft?
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"Sleeper" Pray for Sound
Danika groaned at the sudden light peaking in through the small window of the room, pulling the blanket over her head as she snuggled closer to her husband and tucked her face closer to where his bare chest lay against the mattress. He jerked slightly, obviously startled by her sudden movement, and then laid his arm over her, pulling her closer to him with a contented sigh through his nose.
"What are you doing?" Kili whispered to her when she pressed her face even closer to his skin. She could feel him kissing at the top of her head.
"I'm burrowing." Came her muffled answer, but he must have understood her because he snickered and patted her back.
"Can't be easy to breathe," He murmured, moving his legs to scissor with hers.
"S'not," She admitted, lifting her head to kiss him and then returned to digging her face deep between mattress and dwarf pectoral. She savored the heat and pressure of the enclosed space, but faintly heard him speaking to her and lifted her head again. "What'd you say?"
"We have to get up," He repeated with a sympathetic expression.
Ducking her head back down into his flesh and pulling her side of the blanket closer to her, she growled out a petulant, "No."
"Danika."
She knew he was going to scold her, going to remind her of her responsibilities, but she wanted to milk these precious moments for all they were worth. "Five more minutes."
"I'd agree with you if we were back on Earth, but we're not." He patted her back again. "Come on, let's get up."
Once more, Danika lifted her head from the covers, her face revealing the desperate fear that had carried over since the previous night. How she had fallen asleep in the first place was a mystery—considering that she'd been chosen to play chess against an evil wizard, watched her husband fall under a sleeping spell, and been witness to a Dementor trying to steal her sister-in-law— but it was so hard to resist the body heat and comfort of someone she trusted so implicitly when she was feeling so haggard.
"Please," She begged in a small voice, finally showing just how frightened she was of what lay beyond the guestroom door. "I need five minutes of not worrying over everything—just five minutes, you can count the—"
"Hush," Kili touched her face, looking into her eyes and seeing that this wasn't the same "five minutes" she generally asked for in humor. This was recharging her courage and confidence… "You can have it. Five minutes. Burrow away, then."
"Fire-scene alt. version" S. Carey
Sigrid knew without a doubt that Fili's sword would do nothing against the ghostly creature that had attempted to take her in the night, but when he chose to take up a chair beside the bed with his weapon at the ready, she said nothing—the angry dwarf needed something to make him feel moderately in control.
The following morning, she woke to find her blond sentinel barely awake, sitting in the same chair, but the sword was now in his hand and not on the table. As she rose, she murmured something softly to him, but he only grunted in reply. A few attempts to coax him into a bath to help him relax failed and after a while, she gave up trying to speak to him at all.
Once she was dressed and had splashed her face with a little water, Sigrid left the guest room and strode into the hall with Fili following so closely behind her that his hand was always resting over her elbow or waist. It seemed the only thing that would comfort him would be keeping constant vigil over her and she wasn't about to argue. Not that she thought he'd speak up to argue anyway. Sigrid had seen him like this before—his temper wasn't well known to most, except to those intimately acquainted with him, but it was fierce when it struck. Likely he wouldn't say anything to her until midday, but she wasn't about to take it personally. She loved him too much to meddle with his methods of coping with helplessness and anger.
"Were you able to sleep last night?" Asked Danika as she and Kili strode over to the table where Sigrid ate her porridge. Fili snorted, sitting close enough that his shoulder was touching his wife's. He hunched over the table, his elbows against the wooden surface.
"Yes, a little," Sigrid answered Danika softly, laying a gentle hand on Fili's tensed forearm. "But I think we'll rest a little easier tonight, camped under the stars."
Kili nodded and seemed to be looking over his brother, assessing the older dwarf's mood. "Any word on when we'll be leaving?"
"As soon as you are finished eating, my friends," came the voice of King Eomer, coming to stand beside the table. "We have been preparing through the night and will not waste a moment of daylight. Which of you is able to ride a horse?"
Danika's eyes widened and she seemed to be mulling over the question when Sigrid came to her rescue and filled the silence. "I think we are accustomed to ponies, my lord. But when pressed, I'm certain Fili and I could manage a Rohan horse in the same saddle." She glanced at her husband, who continued to glare at everything, but spared her a nod of agreement. Sigrid might have said more, but she felt it might be rude to speak for her husband's brother and his wife.
"We can do the same." Kili nodded, earning a skeptic look from Danika.
"Can we?" She mouthed at him, and her hesitancy seemed to amuse him, but it hinted at some sort of inside joke which Sigrid was sure she'd rather not be in on.
"What about the hobbit? And Thorin and the Healer?" Eomer was obviously ignoring the mischievous smile of the dark-haired dwarf.
"I will take up Bilbo Baggins," Gandalf inserted as he sat on the bench beside Kili. "And you'll find that Thorin Oakenshield is perfectly capable of commanding a Rohan-bred steed of any size. And I doubt he'll wish to be parted from our red-haired companion." The wizard added with a glimmer of humor in his aged eyes.
Though King Eomer's tanned face was grim—an expression that seemed stuck to the horseman's features—he looked satisfied with these answers and murmured a, "When you're ready," before stepping away from the table and making his way out of the hall.
"Thorin and Wren will be along shortly," Gandalf mentioned, rising from his seat as though he'd forgotten something, and looked to be heading back to the guest chambers. "Bilbo and I will be waiting for you in the stables."
Sigrid scraped the last remnants of her breakfast, noting that Danika was ignoring her own bowl as she whispered angrily with Fili's brother, and her ears picked up a reference to heights. Kili shrugged at whatever it was Danika was fussing over and laid a comforting hand on his wife's shoulder, somehow finding words that seemed to placate the nervous woman.
"We'll meet you in the stables," Kili said as he rose, gripping Danika's elbow to help her up, but she shrugged him off in a huff and stormed toward the kitchen with her untouched porridge.
Now that they were alone, Sigrid took the opportunity to speak to Fili again. "Are you angry with me?"
Fili's eyebrows rose and he fixed her with an incredulous stare. "What on earth would give you that idea, lass?"
Sigrid did her best to keep from smiling—rejoicing in the small victory of getting the intense dwarf to speak—but the twitch at the corner of her lips must have been obvious. "You've said nothing to me all night or all morning and you wouldn't share the bed with me." Honestly, she knew the reason he'd been silent—he'd been "on guard"—but there was one point that had been nagging at the back of her mind since their encounter with the Dementor. "I… I shouted at you last night and I'm sorry I did."
"You rebuked me for being foolish, but that doesn't warrant how cold I've been." Fili released a heavy sigh and looked down at his knees, jaw muscles tensing. He looked to be thinking on coming words and shook his head a few times before they chaotically tumbled from his grumbling mouth.
"I thought we were safe—when we went to modern Earth—we haven't had peace like that before—and then Middle-Earth called on us again—I don't know if I can take it—there's no happy endings—and every story just seems—it's not a place for joy—"
Sigrid reached out to put a hand on his forearm as she had done before, but this time he clapped his other hand over hers, gripping it tightly and looking at her with glistening eyes that showed a breaking heart.
"Sigrid, how many stories have we been in together?"
Her eyes widened. "I don't think I could count them all. Quite a few, though…"
"And how do they all end?" His eyes were fixed on her, almost asking if she understood what he was getting at. But she didn't. Where was he going with this?
"Fili, what are you trying to say?"
"You die." He growled, squeezing her hand a bit too hard, but this was one instance where his dwarven strength didn't bother her. "I've had to watch you die over and over again—either because you're human and don't live as long as I do, or in childbirth, or in some other form of tragedy." Fili took in a sharp breath and turned his head to watch others within the hall rise from their seats and head towards the doors, obviously marking that it was nearly time to leave.
"The writers, they all think you're expendable." He snorted with an affronted expression. "Just another way to prove how dangerous the villain is, or just another way to get a rise out of me. But you're not expendable. Not to me." And when he turned his fierce eyes on her, she was powerless to look away. "We've come together in the stories more than a few times, Sig. But this time, I'm not going to let anything happen to you. Or our babe."
Sigrid was aware of something cool on her cheek, but she didn't realize she was tearing up until Fili lifted a hand to her face, brushing away the trails of wetness with his thumbs. His other hand reached tentatively for her belly, swollen enough that she was obviously rounded by pregnancy, and she rested her own hand atop his, pressing it firmly to the side where their little one was kicking.
The nudges from the one inside seemed to lend Fili some comfort because he smiled widely despite tired and tearful eyes and he cooed something in Khuzdul to it before returning his gaze to Sigrid.
"We're not leaving with the others." He announced calmly. If Fili hadn't just explained himself before telling her of this decision, Sigrid might have protested, but the more she lingered on the idea was the more she wanted to agree with him. "I've already spoken to the King of Rohan. We'll be staying here until that horrid game is over." He suddenly took both of Sigrid's hands, his face begging for her fullest attention. "I don't know what's going to happen when it's done—when either Danika or the dark wizard have won—but whatever is to come… Please, just tell me you understand. Tell me you know I only mean to keep you safe. Tell me I'm not—"
"I understand." Sigrid nodded, leaning forward on the bench to embrace the weary dwarf. "But you haven't said anything to your brother, have you?"
"Not yet," Fili muttered, looking nervously from side to side as the hall was emptied of riders and servants.
"I think you should do it quickly." Sigrid said as she pulled her leg out from the bench to stand. "And if you must go with him, I'll do as you say and stay here."
"Lass, you're too good to me, making that offer. But it won't come to that—I'll not leave you here alone."
Sigrid nodded, silent relief washing through her, though she refused to make any outward sign of it.
"Northern Lights" The Cave Singers
Danika hadn't considered herself tall before her appearance changed in coming to Middle-Earth, but she could easily have passed for a tall dwarf, much like her husband. It had never, and would never, come up in conversation, but Danika secretly relished in the idea that although she'd had two hearts vying for her affections, only one was the clear winner: why had she become so short if she was supposed to belong to the rather large Eomer? The man was considered very tall and strong according to the standard of men, throwing their proportions even more out of sync.
No. Danika was clearly formed for Kili.
Unfortunately, her lack of height had several downsides—one of them being the enormous animal she had been presented to ride with. Thankfully, the Rohirrim kept many different sizes of saddle, making it easy to select one that would bear both her and her dwarven husband, but the principle of riding at such a height was still daunting.
"Can't I ride in a cart?" Danika whimpered. She turned her head, wondering if Kili had heard her, but startled when she realized he wasn't standing beside her. He was speaking in low tones to his brother in the corner of the dark, logged stables and he didn't look happy. In fact, he looked nauseous.
"A cart would be too slow for the ride we need to make." Eomer's voice came from her left. She turned to find the horseman near his horse's stall.
"Firefoot," Danika smiled, not resisting the onslaught of memories concerning the grey steed. It struck her as silly that her hand reached into her riding dress' pocket, but the instinct revealed that she had tucked away an apple—probably a force of habit for Lisswyn. Danika's feet had unconsciously taken her to Firefoot's stall and she held the apple in an upraised hand.
The warhorse lowered its speckled head, snatching up the apple in an instant and devouring the treat with a shake of his head.
"He's missed that," Eomer was stuffing something into a saddlebag at Firefoot's side. "He seems to think I plan on starving him to death without your secret stash of soaked oats."
Danika snorted, brushing her fingers over Firefoot's nose and speaking to the horse instead of the horseman. "He's not neglecting you, is he? Too busy being King to remember to feed you?"
"Oh, hush," Eomer rolled his eyes at her. "With the way you've pampered him, I'll need a longer saddle-strap just to reach the first buckle-notch."
Danika made a theatrical gasp. "Firefoot, did he just call you fat?"
Firefoot continued to chew.
"As long as he gets his ration of carrots, I don't think he'd care if anyone called him an oliphaunt." Eomer chuckled, coming to stand beside Danika.
"I dunno, Firefoot." Danika rubbed gently over the horse's nose and between his eyes. "Wide belly, grey coloring, likes to stomp on things… I think Eomer has a point." She laughed. "You're an oliphaunt trying to pass as a horse."
Danika grinned up at Eomer, only to find that the humor in his eyes had died down and the way he was looking at her… it was an expression she was familiar with and she cleared her throat to break the mood.
"All of these horses might as well be oliphaunts," She said hastily, looking back at the horse assigned to her and Kili, "for all the good it will do me to try and ride one."
Eomer looked between her and her horse a moment, as if coming to an internal decision. He then took her hand and pulled her toward the horse's stall, hefting her up by the waist before she knew what he was doing, and handed her the reins.
"I don't need to learn how to do this—Kili's gonna be driving—" Danika objected.
"And what happens if your husband falls off?" Eomer put his fists on his hips. "What then?"
Danika heaved a resigned sigh. There were many differences between Eomer and Kili, but the one that stuck out the most was the way they approached things: Eomer came at things head-on, preparing for the worst, and believed in facing something with everything he had. Kili, on the other hand, had a talent for pinpointing things—the principle of an archer—and believed that anything that could not be overpowered could somehow be avoided. Some might have called it 'running away', but Danika knew that it was the skill of evasion and had nothing to do with fear or cowardice.
But in this case, Eomer had a point. "All right, then, tell me what to do."
"The telling isn't as important as the action." Eomer reached for her leg and Danika jolted. It wasn't an intimate touch, but she had been surprised by it, relaxing the limb when she understood he was only attempting to instruct her. A series of presses to specific muscles and a few words regarding how much pressure she should apply caused Danika to feel some relief. Maybe this wouldn't be so hard after all.
Kili finished speaking with his brother and came to the opening of the stall with his arms crossed, glaring at the King of Rohan and clearing his throat as if announcing his presence. Eomer looked more annoyed than intimidated by the glare the dwarf was sending his way, but nodded at Kili before stepping out of the stall to allow Kili in.
"Will you need a mounting block, master dwarf?" The King asked, probably more of a jest than a genuine offer.
Danika scowled at Eomer and was waiting for Kili to let out some angry remark, but the dwarf only shook his head and answered with a surprisingly polite, "No, thank you."
Kili came alongside the horse and looked up at Danika, who was biting her lip as she waited to see what he would do next. The horse was so tall that the stirrup was level with her husband's nose!
Quicker than she would have thought possible, Kili crouched before leaping at an angle away from the horse, his thick boot catching on the stable-stall wall—as if pressing against a step—and jumping back toward the horse. He twisted in midair, other boot using the stirrup like another step, and flew upward to swing his leg over the saddle, landing perfectly behind Danika with a sassy grin. The horse shifted underneath them, but didn't seem phased by the dwarf's unconventional way of mounting it.
Danika made no effort to stop from gaping at him, but Eomer had enough reserve to keep his impressed response to, "Interesting," before returning to Firefoot's stall.
"Where did you learn to do that?" Danika's mouth was still hanging open as Kili moved his arms around her waist to grab the reins.
"You liked that, eh?" He smirked at her, kissing the side of her temple and moving their steed out of the stall and through the doors of the stable.
"Um, yeah," She guffawed. "That was hot."
Kili laughed. "That's good. Something to get your attention away from him."
Danika rolled her eyes. "Kili," She groaned in exasperation, trying not to let the comment hurt her too much. "Just… shut up." She crossed her arms resentfully. "He was making sure I knew what to do in case you fell off."
"I'm not going to fall off," He huffed in offense. "Not unless he's planning on pushing me, in which case I hope you won't be riding off by yourself."
"I'm not doing this again." Danika shook her head. "Stopping treating it like a love-triangle and it won't be a love-triangle. Ugh, in fact, I refuse to say those two words together anymore."
Kili brought their mount to a halt just outside the stables where the rest of the riders were assembling and Danika found herself looking for the rest of her family.
"We're missing Fili and Sigrid," Danika scanned the crowd again as the wind blew wisps of hair into her face. She batted them aside and looked out over the plains, realizing just how long of a ride this was going to be. "Are they still at the hall?"
"Fili and Sigrid aren't coming." Kili said in a low voice, full of regret and disapproval.
Danika looked at him over her shoulder. "Why?"
Kili sighed and drew his arms closer around her midsection, resting his chin on her shoulder as King Eomer rode before the gathering to address all who were there. Danika was distracted by Kili's closeness and her curiosity regarding Fili and Sigrid, but she definitely heard when the horselord mentioned "riding hard" and "short rests". Her poor backside was not going to like this…
Eomer concluded in something Rohirric and the rest of the horsemen, about twenty-five heads apart from Danika and her companions, gave a loud shout before moving down the hill and through the gates.
It wasn't until they were on the open plains that Danika had the courage to speak again. "Fili's afraid, isn't he?" Her words came out disjointedly while the horse bumpily trotted slowly with the crowd.
"Mh-mm." Kili answered. Normally, Danika would have expected him to become defensive, knowing that her statement could have been misconstrued as calling Fili a coward. But the whole situation was certainly not normal. "Sigrid has a tendency to be used as the red-shirt in her stories."
"Red shirt?" Danika raised a brow.
"The one who comes to some terrible fate as proof that circumstances are dire." Kili elaborated. "And Fili's seen it happen one too many times." Kili sighed and Danika turned in the saddle to look at him—a difficult thing to do while moving so jerkily. "Probably wise not to bring someone like that into the hell-storm we're walking into. I think Thorin might have asked the same thing of Wren, but she's too stubborn to stay behind. I know if I could ask you to stay behind, I would."
"You'd have to tie my hands and feet and lock me in a cellar to make that work." Danika rolled her eyes at him, turning back around.
"Don't think it hasn't crossed my mind," He chuckled from behind her, but there was still something making him uneasy. "I know Fili would have come if I asked him, would have left her in Rohan and come with us. But I know he would have worried over whether or not something might happen to her while he was away."
Danika reached her hands behind her to clasp around his back. It was slightly awkward, but she didn't care—it was all she could do to offer support.
As the horses made their way slowly down the hill, Thorin and Wren came to ride beside them and spoke briefly, sitting similar to Danika and Kili on the saddle, though Wren sat behind the older dwarf instead of in front like Danika. When they began to gather at the flat land, Danika couldn't help her curiosity.
"Would it be easier for me to ride behind you like Wren is with Thorin?"
Kili made an amused sound and one of his hands released its grip on the reins, sliding over Danika's side and along her outer thigh. "Easier, yes. Would it be as fun, though?"
She chortled as he scooted himself to press closer to her, teasingly.
"Probably not as much fun."
A call went out to the riders and the ones at the front of the company darted forward in a gallop.
Kili let out an exasperated sigh. "Things are about to get bumpy. Hold on to the saddle-horn."
"The one in front of me or behind me?" Danika wagged her eyebrows as she twisted to look at him.
"Later." Kili promised with a small wince. "Turn around."
The severity in Kili's command startled Danika, but once their horse erupted into a run, she understood it. She'd only been holding the saddle-horn tentatively before the animal broke into a fast gallop, but now she clung to it for dear life. It felt as though the horse had become a kangaroo, impacting harshly on the earth with every stride before leaping through the air and impacting again.
"Count your breaths," Kili called over the wind passing through Danika's ears. "The going will be easier in a bit—and when it does, loosen your grip on the horn and lean back on me."
Danika did as she was told, counting and giving herself something to focus on while remembering to breathe—one, two, three, four… and just as Kili had said it would, the animal's jerky movements flowed into graceful ones as they caught more speed, moving smoothly as though it was sailing through the wind. The air smoothed around Danika's face and time seemed to slow down. The horse's mane fluttered like a flag in front of Danika's hands and she was almost tempted to let go of the horn entirely and spread her arms out like she was flying—a distinct difference from a moment ago when she was convinced she would fall off!
Pressing her back into Kili's chest was not so much leaning as anchoring herself to him while his muscles compensated fluidly with the movement of the horse. A sting of admiration ran through Danika—not only had he ridden before, but he was good at it, something she could only have appreciated while he was in his element. The tediousness of their lives on modern Earth had always made her wonder if he had ever enjoyed living there, but now she had her answer. This was where he belonged.
"I love you." She muttered against him, finding herself enjoying the gallop of the horse, and knowing he probably hadn't heard her over the wind.
"I love you, too." He answered above her ear.
"Small Things" Ben Howard
The ride through the plains had been uneventful and the company of riders covered a lot of ground before stopping at nightfall. It was obvious that Eomer was determined to get to the fields of Pelenor in record time and there were few who would contest the motive. The sooner they got through this awful game of chess was the sooner they would either have their people back or know for certain that those hostages were unreachable.
Campfires were lit and bedrolls were flattened on the scraggly grass of the plains, and with a blue and purple sky overheard, glistening with gems of starlight, one might think it a pleasant outing. But the grim truth was that most of the riders believed they rode to certain death and Danika heard a few of them saying so to each other.
As Kili and Danika, Thorin and Wren, Bilbo and Eowyn sat around the same fire, Eomer approached the group with a long and narrow wooden box in his hand.
"Your 'Doctor' is a bit saddle-sore," the King announced to Kili with a bit of humor, shaking his head. "But he is in one of the small tents and says he would like to speak with you."
Kili eyed the man warily, but nodded. Danika watched him rise and disappear into the tent, startled when Eomer plopped down beside her and began unfolding the box. It was a chessboard that had been folded with the pieces inside of it.
"We've already covered the basics," Eomer said, placing the pieces on the board. "But I'm not sure how much you remember from last night."
"Probably not as much as I should," Danika bit her lip as the others around the fire fixed her with interested faces. "I mean… there were a few distractions…" She hesitated to mention Dementors, not for fear of the ghosts, but because they reminded her that Fili and Sigrid hadn't come with them.
The next hour was filled with strategy and trying to commit certain things to memory, but Danika could feel her exhaustion wearing on her. Nearing the end of that hour, Wren came to sit beside Danika, offering advice and proving herself a brilliant strategist, much to the obvious satisfaction of Thorin, who watched his lass with no small amount of pride. It was eventually Wren who played against Eomer while Danika watched and attempted to make sense of the rapidly moving chess pieces.
Danika felt a warm hand on her shoulder and knew that Kili had returned, but when she looked up, she saw that the Doctor stood there as well, hands in his pockets and leaning heavily on one leg.
"How's it going?" Danika yawned, stretching her arms up into the air.
"We've been reading over the paper Voldemort left us." The Doctor announced tiredly. "Apparently it's just what he said it is: rules and instructions."
"Is the magical bastard's game any different than this?" Eomer asked tersely.
"Yes," Kili answered, coming to sit beside Danika and wrapping an arm around her waist.
The Doctor shifted his weight to the other leg, but made no move to sit. "In a regular game of chess, the players move the pieces on the board turn by turn and try to eliminate each other's pieces from the board with strategy—the only difference between that and Amended Wizard's Chess is that when two pieces meet, instead of one automatically overpowering the other, the pieces come together for a duel. The outcome of that duel determines which piece claims the spot."
"A duel?" Eomer raised his brows skeptically.
"As in, 'It's my turn to move and I'm going to take out your pawn with my bishop, but now we'll just have you two fight and whoever wins keeps the space?'" Danika said, squinting as she tried to understand.
"That's right." Kili nodded. "The instructions say what Voldemort said, the night he appeared to us: you get to choose your pieces."
"So, if I choose, say, the Hulk, to go against a weaker piece Voldemort has chosen, that pretty much guarantees a victory?" Danika asked, receiving nods from both Kili and the Doctor. "If this didn't involve the lives of hostages, I might say that sounded fun." And then her brows furrowed. "So it doesn't really matter if I'm a good chess player, does it?"
"Sort of," Kili said, rubbing his forehead. Danika imagined that if he'd been pouring over the instructions and rules paper with the Doctor for so long, he was probably getting a headache. "You need to know how to maneuver your pieces around the board so that one of your weaker choices doesn't go up against one of Voldemort's stronger choices."
Eomer nodded. "It's exactly as we've been teaching you, Danika. You've nothing to fear if you remember the principles we taught you."
"Okay, then," Danika looked from face to face. "So we've got to start thinking about game-pieces…"
"We can advise you, but these have to be your choices, according to the rules." Kili said, reaching out a hand to the Doctor and taking the parchment from the Timelord's hands.
"Voldemort has already shown us his 8 principle game-pieces," The Doctor began to explain, pointing at a portion of the paper Kili held. "And we are supposed to write our 8 principle pieces on this paper before we get there. The other 8 pieces, the pawns, won't be revealed until the game begins, but it might be a good idea to have them sorted out before we get there."
"Principle pieces? You mean the King, Queen, Bishops, Knights, and Rooks?" Danika peered at the paper, scanning over it before coming to the names.
"Right. The King piece has to be the one playing the game, so Voldemort is the King on this board, while you are the King on your board."
Danika's face scrunched as she looked over the list. "So this is Voldemort's list right here?"
Bishop: Sarumon from the Lord of the Rings Universe
2nd Bishop: The Sith Emporer from the Star Wars Universe
Knight: King Leonidus of the Spartans
2nd Knight: The Terminator from the Terminator Universe
Rook: Maleficent from the Sleeping Beauty Universe
2nd Rook: Q from the Star Trek Universe
"Why doesn't it show his Queen piece?" Danika asked, surprised that this was the thing that worried her amongst all of the other things she should be concerned with.
"Not sure," Kili muttered, scowling in puzzlement.
"Whatever," Danika shook her head. "It doesn't even matter—I've got to start thinking about who to match against these."
"If I may be so bold," Gandalf came to stand beside the Doctor. "As to offer myself as a piece in the game."
Silence fell over the camp and Danika looked up at the wizard and nodded. "Are you sure?"
Of all the things Gandalf could have said to assure her, nothing was as impactful as his very stern, very powerful, "Yes." The way he said the word embodied more argument than a handful of words, and Danika wondered just how much magic was in the wizard's voice alone.
"All right then," she sighed. "Gandalf will be one of my Bishops."
Eomer began to say something in objection, but all of their heads turned when the paper in Danika's hands glowed and red words appeared beside Voldemort's written list of pieces. The paper had already committed Danika to her spoken choice.
"Perhaps," Eomer said with clenched teeth, obviously trying to hold his temper in check. "You might discuss which person holds what position on the board before announcing it to the paper…"
Danika's eyes went wide and she turned to face Kili. "Erm… I shouldn't have made Gandalf a Bishop, is that what he's saying?"
Kili winced and nodded sympathetically at her, causing her stomach to flip. She swallowed. "Sorry about that. I know these pieces won't meet up exactly, but I'm just using Voldemort's pieces as a reference…"
"It's fine," Kili looked defensively at Eomer. "That's not a bad way of going about it. Who else were you thinking of?"
"Well, I honestly think the only person I can pit against Terminator would be Robocop."
"Remember, you're not pitting them against each other—" Eomer started, but Danika held up a hand.
"Look, this is confusing enough as it is!" Danika threw her hands up in disgust. "I know one of my bishops will probably end up going against one of his Knights, but this is the only way I can keep things straight in my mind!" she was immediately embarrassed by her outburst and blushed, ducking her head into her hands. "I'm sorry. I'm just trying to keep things straight."
Eomer looked neither surprised or offended by her eruption and murmured an apology, encouraging her to continue.
"Gandalf against Sarumon, Terminator against Robocop," Kili parroted her choices, laying a reassuring hand on her back. "Do you have someone for The Sith Emporer?"
"I don't know," Danika shook her head, biting her lip a little too hard. "Dr. Manhattan from The Watchmen?"
Kili raised his eyebrows. "We could put him as the only piece on the board and win the game."
"I know, right?" Danika permitted herself a small smile. "I'm not sure who I'd have fight King Leonidus. I mean, you've seen 300 right? That movie was intense…"
"Oh, that's easy," Kili sent her a cheeky grin. "Maximus."
"Wait," Danika sat up straight. "Like, General Maximus? Like, Maximus Decimus Meridias?"
"How do you know his whole name?" Kili smirked at her.
"I've seen the movie just as many times as you have," She winked at him. "You only pick it every other Friday."
Kili rolled his eyes at her. "This coming from the woman who watches Dr. Who every night."
Gandalf cleared his throat. "I don't mean to interrupt, but perhaps we should focus on the choices."
Danika heard Bilbo's snort of disapproval from behind her. "…just let them…"
"Sorry, you're right." She shook her head. It was strange that in the face of something so dangerous, her husband could still manage to make her smile and feel at ease. But that ease was replaced by the weight of responsibility, brought on by the serious expression Eomer was sending her way. Didn't the man every have a day off?
"Dr. Manhattan, Bishop." Danika said to the paper, watching the red ink appear. "King Leonidus, Knight. Robocop, Knight." And reading over the list again, the wheels in Danika's head started turning. "Green Lantern, Rook."
"Ugh, really?" Kili grimaced. "You honestly think the Green Lantern stands a chance in a game like this?"
Danika's jaw dropped. "Excuse me, but I like the Green Lantern. Forget that awful Ryan Reynolds movie, he was a fantastic character before it!"
Kili held his hands up in surrender. "We'll see. Who are you going to match against Q from Star Trek?"
Deciding to spare her lip from further biting, Danika tapped her fingers against her knee instead. "I'm thinking…"
"What about Raven?" Bilbo piped up from behind them.
"Raven who?"
"You know—Raven! From the Teen Titans," Bilbo looked astounded that Danika hadn't understood the reference. "You do know who the Teen Titans are, don't you?"
"Not really..." Danika turned to face him, losing the battle and biting her lip again.
"How?" Bilbo was incredulous. "How do I know who the Teen Titans are, and you don't?"
Kili waved a hand at Bilbo. "It doesn't matter. Yes, that's an excellent idea, but if Danika doesn't know who that is—"
"I don't think that should matter," The Doctor said.
"Raven would be a formidable piece, indeed," Gandalf murmured.
"Raven, Rook." Danika said before anyone else could speak. She clamped her eyelids shut to avoid seeing their reactions and blew out a tired breath. "Did I just pick my main pieces in all of ten minutes?"
The silence that met her ears didn't encourage her to open her eyes yet and she drew her bent legs to her chest, laying her forehead against her knees. "I'm so screwed…"
"No, you're not." Kili's hands smoothed over her shoulders. "You picked an amazing set of game pieces. But we're going to make this a little easier for you. The Doctor and I are trying to find a way around this game, and we might have a few ideas…" His fingers slid gently over her wrists. "Please, please look at me when I say this."
Danika peeked up from her knees with meek eyes.
"We need you to make the Tardis the Queen."
Now Danika's head came up. "The Tardis?"
"Yes," The Doctor stepped closer to her, handing her the key. "We think we might be able to outsmart Voldemort if we keep you close to the Tardis."
Looking from the face to face, Danika began to feel hopeful when she saw that they'd done more in the tent than look over the rules. They were planning something… "Tardis, Queen."
The paper took up the name and something lifted from it, a wisp of red smoke, and it sped through the air and away from the campsite.
"Now the dark wizard knows your principle choices." Gandalf nodded. "A wise move on his part—to force you to pick your most important pieces first. But he will not see your pawns until we arrive—perhaps we should give some thought to them."
"Tomorrow," Danika sliced her hand through the air. "I'm done for the night—if it's even night anymore…"
"It is." Eomer said, slowly rising to his feet and nodding at them before heading for his tent.
The majority of them dispersed for their sleeping places and Danika popped her knuckles tiredly. "I could fall asleep right here."
"I'm relieved to hear that," Kili smiled apologetically at her. "Because that was sort of the idea." He'd already brought their bedrolls alongside them, spreading them out side-by-side before lying down and patting the space beside him.
Danika crawled to his side, stretching and yawning as he pulled a blanket over them, before curling into him and laying her head on his shoulder. As he turned to his side to pull her to his chest, he let out a happy hum and kissed her forehead.
"My choices were crap." Danika murmured into his throat.
"Shh," He wrapped the blanket tighter around her back. "You did well. There's no point in second guessing yourself now."
"Mmf." She argued intelligently.
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You've waited too long for this chapter, so I didn't think you'd mind
if I made it longer than usual. And it hasn't been edited, so I'll go through it later
for typos and such- I was in a hurry to get it up for you!
As you're reading this, I'm writing the next chapter, so I promise it won't be
as long of a wait as last time!
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By the way, the reference I'm using for the previous Eomer/OC relationship is one of my favorite stories- Heart of The Horselord by rynogeny. Please be sure to give that story a read, it's fantastic!
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Want some Thorin/OC romance/angst? Try JEWELS AND DAGGERS
Just as Thorin becomes engaged to be married, the dragon attacks Erebor and all is thrown into chaos! Men with wicked intent take captive some of the wandering dwarves- will Thorin, Frerin, and Dwalin be able to rescue the enslaved dwarves, including Runa, Thorin's beloved?
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Want someKili/Tauriel romance/adventure? Try STARS AND HAMMERS
Fluff, Drama, Romance, Hurt/Comfort - This is a compilation of one-shots following Kili and Tauriel's one-year adventure as they accompany Bilbo back to The Shire (after the Battle of Five Armies) and then return to Erebor.
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Want some Fili/OC romance/adventure? Try GOLD AND FIRE
Fili and Nur marry in secret just before he leaves for Erebor, but what is a lonely wife to do while her husband is braving life and death for their future? Covers the Battle of Five Armies and afterward.Explanations for some of the actions within the movies as well as some behind the scenes! A sequel to GEMS AND POISON