Love at First Sight

Plates, cups, forks whizzed past her nose, thrown around by a small mob of hobbits. Heavily armed hobbits. Really hairy hobbits? Singing hobbits?

Lexi smushed herself against the wall and slowly worked her way inwards, looking for Bilbo.

She found him looking aghast in the hallway, as his beloved mother's china bounced off various body parts of strangers.

"Bilbo!"

"Alexandra! I've been overrun by dwarves!" He hurried towards her, skidding to a stop in front of her with an outraged expression. "They've eaten everything in the pantry, they've ruined the plumbing and now this!" He gestured at the flying crockery.

Dwarves! As Lexi tentatively took a step forward to survey the group, Bilbo ran off towards the dining room, which seemed to be the final destination of the flying dishes.

Just as the singing ended and Lexi thought it might be safe to join Bilbo, a blond dwarf, with a dual braided beard, rounded the corner and locked eyes with her.

Lexi stopped breathing. She could've sworn so did he.

"Amrâlimê" he whispered. Lexi didn't know the word.

"Fíli!" "Alexandra!" The moment was broken by simultaneous calls from the dining room.

They both moved laterally towards the dining room. Fíli through the living room and kitchen. Lexi down the hallway. Once she reached the doorway, she looked to see him enter through the side. They locked eyes again. Lexi stopped breathing again.

"Alexandra. Alexandra."

Lexi shook her head and turned to smile at Gandalf. "Sorry Gandalf, how rude of me. I didn't expect to have…so much… company when I came I came in. I apologize. How can I serve you?"

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Fíli whispering intently to a young-looking dark hair dwarf.

Just as Gandalf started to speak, the doorbell rang.

A frisson of energy ran throughout the company of dwarves. Bilbo and Lexi looked at each other.

"He is here." Said Gandalf, heading for the door.

"Who?" Lexi mouthed to Bilbo, who looking aggravated, just shrugged in exasperation. The whole company headed for the vestibule.

Gandalf opened the door and a tall, stately, dwarf entered the burrow. The rest of dwarves bowed towards him. Much like Lord Elrond, his nobility was plain to see. Lexi lowered her head in deference. Fíli had somehow ended up beside her. Or she beside him. 'Like a moth to a flame' she thought.

"Thorin Oakenshield." she heard Gandalf say. Lexi was trying to pay attention to what Thorin Oakenshield was saying, what Bilbo was protesting, but all she could feel was him. Standing beside her.

"Now, to the business at hand." Gandalf surveyed the group and led them into the dining room where someone set Thorin a dinner to eat. Lexi sat down in the hallway outside, behind the dining room wall and out of sight of the company and listened to the ensuing conversation of portents, prophecies and dragons. She watched Bilbo linger behind Thorin in the hallway, fretting.

She heard Fíli talk. She couldn't see him, but she knew it was him. His voice was low, warm…sexy? "We may be few in numbers, but we're fighters – all of us, 'til the last one'.

"NO MORE!" Thorin roared, startling Lexi and causing her to shrink down on her seat.

She listened to Thorin's speech about it being the time to reclaim Erebor.

'That man was made to be a king.' She thought; just as inspired as the dwarves who were cheering in the next room.

Gandalf handed Thorin a key.

Fíli's voice again. "If there is a key, there must be a door".

Gandalf explained that the answer was in the map and while he didn't have the skill to decipher it, there were others that did.

"Alexandra." Gandalf called her.

She took a deep breath, stood up and rounded the corner.

"May I introduce Miss Alexandra Archer, expert of languages and cartology. She will be able to decipher the map when the time is right." Gandalf waved his hand towards her; rather vaguely she thought.

"Hello" Lexi all but whispered. They all stared back at her like she had two heads. The young dark haired dwarf looked swiftly at Fíli. Lexi looked at a spot in the middle of the table.

"Absolutely not." Stated Thorin in a steely voice.

She squished herself to the side of the round doorway and took up an examination of her fingernails.

Gandalf seemed to ignore Thorin outright. The wizard continued to outline his plan, stressing the need for stealth and courage, and ergo a burglar.

Bilbo doubled down on his inability to be a burglar. Lexi silently agreed with him. For the first time since she'd know the wizard, she doubted him. After getting to know Bilbo so well, she resented that Gandalf was putting him forward for such a dangerous task. She also started wondering if she was massively out of her own depth. Perhaps she shouldn't have believed Gandalf so readily when he insisted she was the one referred to in the prophecy. She was no warrior. She wasn't even a cartologist. She resented Gandalf for saying she was.

One of the scarier looking dwarves insisted that the quest was no place for 'gentle folk who can't fight or fend for themselves.' She could feel his gaze burning into her. She didn't disagree with him.

Gandalf rose from his seat. He seemed to expand in size and the room itself seemed to momentarily expand. Lexi felt power emanating from him. She took a step back, frightened.

"ENOUGH! If I say Bilbo Baggins is a burglar, then a burglar he is. Hobbits are remarkably light on their feet. In fact, they can pass unseen by most, if they choose. And, while the dragon is accustomed to the smell of dwarf, the scent of a hobbit is all but unknown to him, which gives us a distinct advantage." He seemed to shrink back to his regular size and self and his tone became testy. "If I say Alexandra is coming, then coming she is. She is necessary and that is all I will say about it. I will not justify her presence to you." Gandalf look up at Lexi and then back to Thorin, whom he continued to berate for his lack of trust.

She knew why he didn't bother to explain about her role in the quest. He was still trying to convince Bilbo to go, and therefore listing out all the reasons. Lexi, however, had committed to seeing this through months ago, in the quiet study in Rivendell. And besides, what attributes could he really give to her? She wasn't courageous or stealthy. Apparently, she could read a map.

Thorin instructed a friendly grey-haired dwarf to hand over contracts to both herself and Bilbo. Lexi signed hers immediately, without reading it and handed it back. She was going no matter what and didn't much care what the terms were.

Bilbo, being the hobbit he was, wandered into the hallway and started reading bits out loud. It did start to sound rather alarming. "Funeral arrangements, evisceration, incineration…".

Thorin leaned close to Gandalf. "I cannot guarantee their safety."

Gandalf, looked slightly uncomfortable. "Understood."

"Nor will I be responsible for their fates."

Gandalf hesitated for a moment. "Agreed."

Thorin arose and turned to look at Bilbo, catching Lexi's eyes in the process. She looked away, unable to hold his gaze. He thought she would be a burden. She was fairly certain he was correct.

Bilbo fainted.