A.N: what were Fili and Kili doing when they lost the ponies? Minds out of the gutter! Although mine tends to live in the gutter. Regardless, this one covered very little that wasn't going to be covered by Thorin and Bluebell. It also took me a little bit deeper into aspects that I didn't want to get into and put voice to some realizations in Fili's part that it wasn't time for

Fili and the Trolls

"This is boring," Kili complains for the third time in as many minutes. Fili eyes his brother while he smokes his pipe but doesn't comment. "We're the only ones out here, who's going to bother with our ponies?"

"Do you want to tell Thorin that?" Fili asks mildly.

"With the mood he's in?" Kili snorts. "I'd sooner be a warg's chew toy, it would be quicker and probably less painful."

Fili leans more against his tree and tilts his head back to look up at the sky. The stars are just becoming visible in the gaps between the leaves of the canopy above them. The sight of it makes something deep within him shudder. Fili is a child of the stone, in many more ways than Kili is, having so much nothing above him has never felt quite right even though he doesn't really know any different.

"You can't tell me you're not bored," Kili says.

"I'm busy working out if it's possible to hack you into a dozen pieces and get away with it," Fili shrugs.

"You wouldn't do that to me," Kili smiles. "You'd miss me."

"Keep telling yourself that," he grouses in response. Kili falls silent for a blissful minute.

"Fee?"

"Mahal's sake, Kili, what?"

This is why Thorin never puts them on watch together. They either plot trouble or Kili drives him insane.

"Do you think you'll forgive Frerin any time soon?"

What?

"Why do I need to forgive him?" Fili asks, already suspecting Kili's answer. His brother can be like a dog with a bone.

"For leaving," Kili elaborates, much as Fili had suspected he would. He huffs.

"Does he need my forgiveness?" Fili deflects.

"Well, you've forgiven Bluebell," Kili replies. His brother is talking shit, of course, Fili never blamed Bluebell, even when she was just a nameless correspondent. "I just thought it would make things easier if you-"

"What?" Fili interrupts. "If I told him that I finally understand why he abandoned us? That it doesn't matter that we weren't important enough to confide in? This never had anything to do with Bluebell, and you know it, she just asked for help. I don't believe for a second she told him not to stay in contact."

"But, Fili,-" Kili begins.

"Let it go," he snaps, turning away from his brother to run his eyes over the ponies. "Just-" he pauses. "Kili, count the ponies."

There's definitely two missing, although he finds himself hoping that Kili's count will turn up the pair that he can't see. Kili's eyes are sharper after all. The loss of the ponies doesn't help his mood, and it won't help Thorin's either. This is why Thorin doesn't trust them on watch together usually and to make it worse, Thorin will blame Fili entirely for getting distracted. He won't say a word to Kili about it, he never does, but Fili will feel the full weight of his uncle's displeasure.

Which makes Bluebell's arrival with dinner both timely and inconvenient. He's tempted to tell her to just go back to camp when she notices that there is something wrong but dismissing her so coldly because of his own mistake seems harsh, too much like something that Thorin would do, and she's willing enough to help them work out what happened. Even if she is exasperated with them. Mahal, he needs to stop letting Kili get to him so easily.

Once they've found the trail, of course, she declares that they should tell Thorin and he protests that quickly, they can surely handle this themselves and there's no reason to make his uncle's mood worse. Which is why he isn't sure if he's relieved or frustrated that Belladonna and Frerin choose that moment to show up, although he knows exactly how he feels when they discover that they're dealing with three trolls and Frerin immediately starts issuing orders.

"Fili, Kili, go back and tell Thorin what's happening," Frerin orders. Kili shakes his head when Fili begins to object. Frerin has been gone for so long, how can he presume to simply take charge like that? Except Kili is right, now isn't the time, and his stomach has reminded him that lunch was a long time ago. He takes his stew as he passes Bluebell, though he finds he can't meet her eyes. He doesn't want her to see just how much he resents his uncle taking over like this. Instead he settles for slurping down his, now cold, dinner as they trot back to camp.

"You know, if Frerin hadn't turned up we could have gotten the ponies back easily enough," Kili comments, "Bluebell would have helped."

Fili doubts that. He's learnt that Bluebell can be quite stubborn when she thinks she's right.

"You two are supposed to be watching the ponies," Thorin says when they rush back into camp. "You had better not have convinced the hobbit girl to take over so that you can shirk your duties." Fili stamps on his brother's foot before Kili can get side tracked.

"There's been an unfortunate development," Fili tells Thorin quickly, "four of the ponies have been taken by trolls. We tracked them back to their camp, there's three of them, and Frerin sent us to tell you what had happened while he keeps watch with the hobbits."

"You mean to tell me you allowed a troll to get by you and steal four of the ponies?" Thorin demands and Fili flinches. Yes, the troll got by them unnoticed, but does Thorin have to focus on that now?

"Now, Thorin," Dwalin intercedes. "I'll grant the lads are very good, but even they wouldn't be able to handle a fully-grown mountain troll between the two of them. Never mind three."

It isn't often that Dwalin will take a side against Thorin. Usually he keeps his mouth shut and Fili is grateful that he's chosen to speak up this time.

"Did my brother speak of a plan?" Thorin asks through clenched teeth.

"No," Kili answers, though Fili suspects that he's trying to divert Thorin's attention. "He just told us to get you."

Thorin nods and begins to bark orders to the Company. Then he flicks a quick order to lead the way at the brothers. They obey, walking in downcast silence back past the remaining ponies and towards the troll camp, once again following the trail of destruction. They are barely past the remaining ponies when Fili's Stone Sense, usually so tightly controlled, flares to life briefly and a tingle spreads through his limbs. He glances at Kili in time to see indigo fire flare over his brother's body and settle in his eyes. A quick look confirms that the same has happened with the rest and there is a great deal of uncomfortable muttering and suspicious gestures. Fili recognises the colour of it, though, as Kili must and they continue at a faster pace. There is only one hobbit waiting for them, when they reach the area that they had left Frerin and the ladies, and her eyes shine brilliantly as she gestures for silence against her rapidly moving lips.

"What foul sorcery is this?" Thorin snarls as he marches past Fili and Kili to grab her. Bluebell shakes her head and refuses to answer or can't if her frantic whispering is anything to go by.

She's obviously terrified, Fili thinks, though whether of Thorin stopping her from doing whatever it is she's trying to achieve or simply of Thorin, Fili doesn't know. The fact that she isn't stopping tells him it has as much to do with her mother and Frerin as it does with the Company. Thorin's grip is tight, however, tighter than it should be against one of a race not their own. Fili pulls Bluebell out of his uncle's grip, not surprised to find that she's nearly vibrating under his hands and holds her against his chest.

"Thorin, stop!" He snaps as he puts his arms around her. She shudders and her words falter momentarily.

"It's a hobbit thing," Kili cuts in and Fili isn't sure whether he should thank his brother or hit him. "Like Fili's Stone Sense." Kili adds and hitting him becomes the more prominent impulse. The secrets were always going to come out but this is hardly the time to announce them.

It makes Frerin's return all the more timely and he holds Bluebell tighter when she sways after her chant stops. A glance down shows that she is obviously exhausted by her efforts, no matter what they were in aid of. She's light, he realises, and she fits against him perfectly, he could hold her for as long as she wanted or needed and be happy for it. It's a startling realisation and not entirely welcome given the nature of their quest. It mixes with the need to protect her that arises as he sees the distrustful stares of the others and makes the stone deep below him sing as it had in the Shire and in a way that he has only ever heard his mother describe. It makes him protest when Belladonna reaches to take her daughter into her protection, as it should be, though it is gratifying to hear her own protests mix with his.

That urge to protect, however, makes him watchful when they retrieve the ponies. It makes him see her discomfort in the scrutiny of the others and he places himself as near as he is able. He almost expects Frerin to drive him away with the same dark scowls that he has used on the rest but he merely nods as Kili follows to help block Bluebell from accusatory stares and poorly muted whispers. That makes him more angry than anything else, that his own people can be so accepting of the oddities of the Stone Sense (although there are aspects of it they refuse to accept as possible even though Fili is slowly discovering many of the old stories may be true), but they then refuse to allow that the hobbit magic might be every bit as strange as their own.

It makes Bluebell's amazed acceptance of his own gift, when he has occasion to use it, all the more incredible.