A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews, favs and follows :) to the guest reviewer I'm sorry I made you wait so long, I'll try to update more regularly. It was pointed out to me that I forgot to include a description of Jenna in the earlier chapters so I've edited the chapter In The Wilds to include it but for anyone that doesn't want to reread the chapter I'll include the paragraph at the end of this chapter :)

Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire

Jenna's POV

Jenna had been sleeping soundly until Bilbo woke up with a start beside her. Sitting up quickly, she saw what it was that had woken him from his sleep. A large fissure had somehow opened in the wall towards the back of the cave. Just as Bilbo let out a shout which woke everyone else in the cave, a large number of hideous creatures began pouring out of the opening. There must have been at least eighty of them and Jenna knew instantly there was no way they would be able to escape. The Dwarves fought fiercely of course but having just woken and grossly outnumbered it wasn't long before they were all subdued. However, when the repulsive creatures approached the wizard, there was a flash of lightning and several of them fell dead instantly. When the smoke began to clear there was no sign of Gandalf. Just when a wizard would have been most useful too! The remaining creatures wasted no time searching for him either. They swiftly carted their prisoners back inside the opening they had sprung from and it snapped shut quickly behind them. The dwarves' weapons were taken and they soon found themselves being pushed and shoved further and further down into the heart of the mountain.

The path that they followed wound down into the very depths of the mountain. Soon it was so dark that Jenna couldn't see more than two steps in front of her. The ground was uneven and winding and the further down they went the stuffier it became. Before long she found it difficult to get a breath in. She stumbled numerous times and would have fallen if it hadn't been for one of the dwarves catching her and steadying her though it was too dark to see which of them it was. Soon they could hear the sound of drums beating up ahead and before they knew it they found themselves pushed forward into a large circular room filled with hundreds of the disgusting creatures. The space was lit by large torches along the walls and small fires which had been placed sporadically around the room. In the middle of the room was a larger fire and beside it was a particularly large creature sitting on a throne made of the bones of some unfortunate animal. At least she hoped it was an animal, the alternative was too terrifying to even imagine. The entire place reeked of decaying flesh and it was all she could do not to vomit. The grotesque being stumbled from it's seat and made its way forward to look at them more closely.

"Who are these miserable creatures!?" The beast bellowed.

One of the creatures that had herded them down into the mountain came forward at the beast's question. "Dwarves your malevolence, two women folk and this." He said as he pushed Bilbo slightly forward while he referred to him. "We found them on the front porch."

"Well now," said the horrid creature as he approached Thorin, "Tell me, what do you mean by it? Up to no good, I'm sure. Spying on our private business! Thieves, murderers and elf friends, I shouldn't be surprised to learn! What do you have to say for yourselves! What are you doing in these mountains? Give me the truth now, not that it will do you much good, I know who you are Thorin Oakenshield."

Thorin stepped forward slightly to address the beast. "We are on our way to visit our relatives in the lands beyond these mountains. We took shelter from a storm in what seemed a convenient and unused cave. Nothing was further from our thoughts than inconveniencing goblins in any way whatsoever."

Goblins. So that's what these disgusting things were thought Jenna just as one of the goblins who had grabbed them up above stepped forward.

"Lies your malevolence! Several of our people were struck by lightning in the cave when we invited these hideous creatures to come below and they have not explained this either!"

With that the smaller goblin pulled out Thorin's sword. The large goblin gave out a howl of rage and the hall erupted with the screams and howls of the other goblins as soon as they saw it.

"Murderers and elf friends!" shouted the great goblin. "Slash them! Beat them! Bite them! Kill them! Take the women folk and lock them away, we'll find some use for them!"

Suddenly the guards that had dragged them down there started to pull Jenna and Esme away from the dwarves. Jenna fought them off as best she could but there were too many of them and she knew she was fighting a losing battle. Beside her she heard Esme's desperate shouts for Dwalin to help them but the dwarves were already being attacked on all sides by the goblins. Jenna caught Esme's arm and held on as tight as she could, refusing to let go no matter how much the goblins pulled her. This was bad enough without the two of them being separated and put in different cells. In a rage the great goblin himself then ran towards Thorin with his sword in his hand but before he could reach his target all the lights in the hall went out. The large fire which the goblin's throne had sat beside suddenly erupted into a tower of blue smoke which scattered piercing white sparks among all the goblins. The whole room quickly filled with the thick blue smoke and Jenna could barely see anything at all but all around her she could hear the screams of the goblins as the sparks burnt into their skin. She clung to Esme even more as their assailants suddenly stopped pulling them and instead started to roll around the ground screaming in pain. Suddenly a sword flashed not far in front of her and she saw it slice through the large goblin where he stood dumbfounded just a few feet from Thorin.

"Grab your weapons! Follow me! Quickly!" said the voice and before she knew what was happening she felt herself being pulled after the shining sword by one of the dwarves as Esme clung to her. They ran through the dark passages as quickly as they could and soon the shrieks and wails of the goblins began to fade behind them. "Quickly now! The torches will soon be relit!" said the voice she now recognized as Gandalf's. Jenna could feel her legs starting to get weak, a combination of fright and the running, she wasn't sure that she could keep up much longer and she knew without asking that Esme would be feeling the same. Just as she was thinking it though, Dori called for them to stop running. "Half a minute please! Bilbo and the lasses, they can't keep running at this pace! We'll have to carry them." Bilbo climbed up onto Dori's back, Esme onto Dwalin's and Jenna onto Nori's as quickly as possible and off they went at a run again.

They did not stop running for a long while, not until they were deep inside the heart of the mountain. Then Gandalf lit up his staff and they did a quick count to make sure that everyone was there which thankfully they were.

"Well now," said Gandalf, "At least we are all here, it could be worse, then again it could be a good deal better. We have no supplies, no ponies and there's a horde of angry goblins not far behind. On we must go until we find our way out of here."

So on they went again as fast as they could but soon enough they could hear the cries of the goblins getting closer and closer. Suddenly Dori who was at the back of the group carrying Bilbo let out a shout. A goblin had sneaked up behind him quietly and tripped him from behind. He fell to the ground, dropping Bilbo as he did so. "Draw your swords!" Shouted Gandalf and suddenly the corridor they were in filled with chaos. The corridor was quickly overrun with goblins. Nori dropped Jenna down and handed her a small blade before rushing forward to help his brother. Before she knew it she was ducking and diving trying to avoid being killed by a goblin or one of the dwarves who seemed to be swinging their weapons around without even looking to see who they were attacking. Soon however the dwarves gained the upper hand and some of the goblins began to retreat. Suddenly Esme let out a piercing scream, turning Jenna saw that a goblin had grabbed her and was starting to pull her back down the corridor. Without thinking she ran forwards to help her friend. Slicing the goblin across the face with the blade Nori had given her she caught Esme by the arm and pulled her to safety but the goblin was only injured and advanced on them again. Esme had collapsed onto the ground and was hyperventilating so she wasn't going to be much help. Looking around desperately she saw the dwarves and Gandalf were all still busy fighting off what remained of the goblins that had attacked them. It was up to her to fight this disgusting creature off. She tried to remember everything Fili had taught her about fighting. She ducked and dodged as much as she could but fighting a goblin made training with Fili seem easy. Soon she was tiring and the goblin was starting to overpower her. The goblin swung it's sword and she ducked under it and knocked it out of her assailant's hand but at the same time she caught her foot on a stone on the ground and before she knew it the goblin was on top of her. She tried to fight it off but it was stronger and suddenly she felt it's sharp teeth sink into her neck. The pain was unbearable but the goblin wasn't finished with her. Just as it was leaning in to take another bite at her it stiffened and it's eyes went blank as it fell over dead. Esme stood above her with a bloodied dagger in her hand.

Jenna raised her hand to her neck, the blood was flowing out of it and her hand was quickly covered in it. Esme fell to her knees beside her, a worried look on her face. As she looked up at her friend she felt herself getting weaker, her vision started to blur and she suddenly felt terribly tired.

"Jenna! No! HELP! She's hurt, someone help!"

Jenna wasn't sure if she blacked out or not but all of a sudden Esme was gone and Thorin was there instead. "It's ok. I have you." He pulled her up into his arms and then they were running again. After what seemed like an eternity of running in the dark there was again shouting and Jenna was aware of the sound of swords clashing once more. Thorin held her tight against him and she couldn't see what was going on but the cries of goblins seemed to fill the darkness surrounding them. All of a sudden the darkness lifted and she found herself looking up at a blue sky. They'd finally made it out of the goblin tunnels.

Thorin's POV

"Jenna! No! HELP! She's hurt, someone help!"

Thorin was just finishing off the last of the goblins when he heard Esme's shout. Spinning around to look in the direction her voice had come from he saw her kneeling over Jenna on the floor with tears spilling down her cheeks. A dead goblin lay beside them and Esme still held the bloodied dagger that had killed it. As his eyes landed on Jenna though, his heart leaped into his throat. She was lying on her back with her hand holding her neck, blood spilled from between her fingers as she tried to hold it in. He ran to her. Her eyes were clenched shut and she was deathly pale. Gandalf was already shouting for the dwarves to follow him again so Thorin reached down and brushed a hand along her cheek.

"Jenna! Jenna wake up!" Thorin had never been more thankful than he was when he saw her eyes flutter open. "It's ok. I have you."

Lifting her as gently as he could, he let her rest her head against his shoulder. Quickly as he could, he followed the rest of the company down the corridor. They ran for what seemed like hours until they finally rounded a sharp corner and he was grateful to see sunshine up ahead at long last. Unfortunately, the gate ahead was armed with goblin guards. The Dwarves drew their weapons once more and more swiftly than he thought possible; they fought their way towards the door and out into the countryside below. They'd made it. They could still hear the screeches of the goblins behind them and continued running until they came to a small copse of trees on the edge of a cliff where they were hidden from view. The sun was high in the sky and they knew the goblins would not follow them until nightfall as they hated daylight. They all stopped to catch their breaths.

Looking down at Jenna now, Thorin was glad to see her eyes were open and some colour had come back into her cheeks. He let her down gently.

"Are you alright?"

She offered him a small smile. "I think so. I think the bleeding has stopped." Her eyes trailed to the shoulder of his tunic which was smeared in blood. "Sorry I bled on you." She added sheepishly.

Thorin couldn't help but smile. "It's alright. Let's get Oin to have a look at that before we move on."

Just as Thorin was about to call the company's healer, Gandalf let out a shout. "Bilbo! Where is Bilbo?"

All the Dwarves, Esme and Jenna looked about as if the hobbit were to be found hiding behind one of them but sure enough there was no sign of Mr. Baggins. The hobbit was gone.

"Oh drat that burglar! Now he's lost!?" Dwalin shouted.

"Well we must go back and look for him. I will not abandon my friend to be tormented by goblins." Gandalf insisted.

Thorin could feel a headache coming on. As if the goblin tunnels hadn't been bad enough the first time, now they were going to be expected to go back into them in search of the foolish hobbit who had not had the sense to stay with them as he should have. "Your friend has not shown himself to be a very good burglar so far! He has been more trouble than he is worth and now you expect us to go back into those repulsive tunnels to look for him!?" he grumbled.

"Thorin Oakenshield, I brought Mr. Baggins along on this journey and I don't bring things that are of no use! If you wish to continue on without going back to look for him then you can continue on alone and try to get out of this mess yourselves while I go find him myself! What did you have to go and drop him for anyway Dori?" snapped the wizard.

Dori immediately took offence to that. "Well excuse me but you would have dropped him too if a goblin had crept up behind you and knocked you over in the dark."

"Well why didn't you pick him back up again!?" insisted Gandalf.

Thorin had heard enough. "That tunnel was overrun with goblins! We were all busy fighting them off. As soon as you shouted for us to follow you we did and Mr. Baggins should have done so too. It is not up to Dori to babysit the burglar!"

Suddenly Bilbo stepped from behind a tree into the clearing where they all stood. "I think you will find Master Oakenshield that the burglar does not require a babysitter."

Gandalf brightened visibly as soon as he saw the hobbit reappear but Thorin was less than pleased to see him. "How did you get past the goblin guards!?" he demanded to know.

The hobbit seemed taken aback by his question as he stood there fiddling with something in his pocket. "Oh yes... well I... I mean... I just..."

"JENNA!"

Thorin spun around quickly at Esme's scream. Jenna was slumped against Nori's side, the star haired thief holding her up. Her face had taken on a grey colour and blood had started to pump from the wound on her neck once more. Thorin rushed forward and helped Nori to lay her down on the ground.

"Help her Oin! Please do something." He begged.

The healer took a look at the wound but shook his head. "I can't Thorin. I have no supplies, I can't help her."

Jenna had started to shake and when he took her hand in his it was ice cold. Thorin could feel panic welling up inside of him. He had promised to take care of them. He had failed her. Just then Gandalf pushed his way past Oin and knelt over the lass covering the wound with his hand as he mumbled a few unintelligible words. "That's all I can do for now. It will stop the bleeding but we need to get her help as soon as we can before the wound gets infected."

As he watched on, Thorin saw the colour begin to come back into her face. She stopped shaking and looked up at him with a relieved look in her bright blue eyes. A wave of relief washed over Thorin as he helped her into a seated position.

"Are you alright?"

Jenna nodded but as she did the countryside around them was filled with a hideous howling. Thorin jumped to his feet drawing his sword as he did so.

"Wargs! Quickly, into the trees! All of you!"

Esme's POV

"Wargs! Quickly, into the trees! All of you!"

Esme had been sitting on the ground sobbing with Dwalin's arms around her when she heard Thorin's shout. Dwalin jumped up, dragging her to her feet as he did so. She looked over at Jenna, she was looking markedly better than she had just a few minutes beforehand but she still looked weak, far too weak to climb a tree. Esme tried to run to her but Dwalin caught her by the arm and tried to pull her towards the nearest tree. Panic welled up inside of her as she thought of leaving her friend behind. It was her fault Jenna was injured in the first place, why did she freeze in the tunnels? If she had just got to Jenna a few seconds earlier she wouldn't have been hurt by that hideous goblin and she'd be able to get away now. Esme tried to pull her arm free of Dwalin's grasp so that she could get to her.

"Jenna! She can't climb Dwalin. I have to get to her!"

Thorin who was helping Jenna up onto her feet heard her desperate shout. "I have her Esmeralda! Get into that tree! NOW!"

With that she instantly stopped fighting and allowed Dwalin to pull her into the nearest tree as she watched Thorin pick Jenna up. Thorin had her. He was going to save her. As she watched on he managed to scramble into the next tree with Jenna over his shoulder just as three wargs came running into the clearing. Esme wasn't sure she had ever felt so relieved and yet so frightened at the very same time before. Here they were all stuck sitting up in the trees with more and more wargs making their way into the clearing by the second. Soon they were completely surrounded.

The wargs began to leap up as far as they could into the trees trying to catch them. Although they were just short of reaching the Dwarves, it didn't make the experience any less terrifying for Esme. She clung onto Dwalin as the tree shook and swayed under the weight of the attacking wargs. What if the tree broke under their weight? It was all Esme could think of. It was just her luck to escape from goblins just to be eaten alive by wargs. Were they all going to die here? Why had she ever left Rivendell? She began to sob against Dwalin's chest. It was bad enough that this was happening but she had dragged her best friend in the world along with her into this mess. Jenna wasn't a dwarf. She didn't belong in this world. She should be back at home in their old world where it was safe. She was only here because of Esme. It was all her fault.

Suddenly there was a shrill yelp from one of the wargs below them. Esme looked down just in time to see one of the wargs burst into flames as it ran around the clearing in a mad frenzy. Looking around confusedly for the source of the flames, Esme watched as Gandalf set another pinecone on fire and sent it hurling towards another one of the wargs. Pinecone after pinecone the wizard lit up and Fili and Kili who were both in the tree with him let them fly towards the wargs with perfect accuracy. Unfortunately, just as they were thinking that Gandalf's plan was working, the wargs that were already set alight began to run around the clearing setting fire not only to the other wargs but to the trees as they did so. Soon the flames were licking the bottom branches of the trees that held them as they tried to scramble up as high as they could to get away from them. The heat from the flames became more intense as the fire began to spread higher and higher.

"Dwalin! I'm scared! I'm so scared." Esme sobbed as the flames got closer and closer.

Dwalin pulled her closer to his chest and kissed her on the top of her head. "Look at me."

Esme pulled back slightly so she could look up into his eyes. He too looked as scared as she did but he smiled down at her. "If we don't get out of this I want you to know, I love you."

Tears continued to flow down Esme's cheeks as Dwalin leaned down and pressed his lips against hers. Pulling back slightly she placed her hand on his cheek. "I don't want to die without you knowing I love you too."

Just as Dwalin placed another kiss on her lips a screech filled the air and before she knew it Esme felt herself and Dwalin being lifted out of the tree and carried away in the talons of the largest bird she had ever seen.

Dwalin's POV

Dwalin couldn't remember a time when he had felt this scared. The wargs were still howling and yelping all around the clearing but all he could hear was the pounding of his own heart in his ears. From the second they had encountered the stone giants, Dwalin had regretted allowing Esme to come with them. Now as she clung desperately to him as the flame burned higher and higher he regretted it even more. He should have left her behind in Rivendell where it was safe. One thing the goblin tunnels had made him see was that she was far more precious to him than all of the jewels in Erebor combined. When the goblins had started to pull her away at the behest of their king Dwalin had seen red, he had fought furiously to get to her but their foes were too many. He was never more grateful than he was when Gandalf had rescued them. She meant more to him than he had ever realised and now he was going to lose her.

"Dwalin! I'm scared! I'm so scared."

Pulling her closer to him he placed a kiss on her head. He could feel her trembling as she sobbed against his chest. How could he have put her in this kind of danger? What had he been thinking? She had already been through so much and it was his fault. He couldn't tell her that he was frightened too, it wouldn't comfort her, but he didn't want to lie to her either. He didn't know if they were going to make it out of this. All he knew in this moment was that if he never got to see her again he wanted her to at least know how much she meant to him.

"Look at me." Emerald green eyes full of tears looked up at him and his heart broke to see the fear in them. "If we don't get out of this I want you to know, I love you."

Dwalin had never thought he would be saying I love you to anyone. Not in his wildest dreams would he ever have thought he would be lucky enough to meet someone like Esme. His only regret was that he had waited for a time like this to tell her how he felt. Tears continued to spill down her beautiful cheeks as he leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers. Her hand came up to cup his cheek and she looked at him with so much love in that moment that he could almost forget about the chaos surrounding them.

"I don't want to die without you knowing I love you too."

In any other circumstances Dwalin would have been the happiest Dwarf in Middle Earth. Esme was perfect. She was everything that he had ever wanted and here she was telling him she loved him. In that moment his heart shattered into a million pieces as he thought of the life they could have had together if he had just chosen her instead of this quest. He could have had everything. Pressing his lips against hers again he silently begged Mahal for just one more chance. With that he heard the screech of an eagle and suddenly they were being lifted out of the burning tree and carried away to safety. Mahal had answered his prayers.

TBC

Jenna's Appearance: Fili seemed to be faring far better with Jenna. Though he certainly wouldn't be admitting it to her, he was impressed with the speed and strength that she showed while training. Her skill was made more impressive still by the fact that she was clearly exhausted and he wondered how she would fare with training if she hadn't been. It was the first time Thorin had allowed himself to look at her properly. She was fitter than he had thought her at first glance, slim but her muscles were well defined and she was much stronger than he had expected. He wondered what she had done in her old world that led to her having a physique like that; it certainly wasn't typical of how women looked in this world. He imagined that the world the girls had come from must have been vastly different from this one. She was pretty for someone from the world of men all the same. She had sallow skin and a slight dusting of freckles across her button nose. She had pulled her long blonde hair back into a braid and her pale blue eyes twinkled as she laughed after knocking Fili over for the second time. She had full lips and dimples that appeared on her cheeks when she smiled or laughed. Yes, she was definitely pretty, not that he cared either way, it was merely an observation.