A.N: So I did write a section of Kili and Tauriel, much as I dislike the whole love triangle thing they added (it took too much time away from the rest, especially Fili, and prevented us from seeing how the rest of the Company reacted to the deaths of their king and princes and that's putting my thoughts mildly). I did need to explore it at least a little as she's vaguely referenced in both Frerin and Legolas' Mirkwood chapters and I at least needed the background for my own notes. In the end it didn't add anything and opened the door to a part of the movies I had no desire to explore and could cheerfully do without. I know some disagree with me. About the only part of their interaction I did like was the trousers line, which I borrowed, but I've had similar conversations with friends. Let's face it, Kili's a flirt and has had his head filled with Nori's stories.

Kili flirts.

"Aren't you going to search me?" He asks the red-head as she divests Fili of yet another knife (one day Kili will discover just how many Fili keeps on his person, though he's beginning to doubt his brother even knows). "I could have anything down my trousers."

"Or nothing," her expression doesn't change as she shoves him into the same cell as his brother, who is loudly protesting his separation from Bluebell even though they have a fairly good view of her.

The door slams behind him and he turns to watch the elf depart. He should know better than to turn his back on Fili when he has been doing something his brother would disapprove of. The hand that smacks him across the back of his head is harder than usual. Fili is a little bit more than just disapproving it would seem.

"Fee," he whines.

"No," his brother says firmly in the same tone Amad often uses when he tries the same thing with her.

"I was just being friendly," Kili objects.

"You don't play nice with your captors, nadadith," Fili lectures as though talking to a simpleton, his voice deliberately pitched so that the others (Thorin) won't hear. "Especially not when they're elves."

"The ones in Rivendell were alright," he objects.

Fili gives him a look that tells Kili exactly what he thought of the elves in Rivendell. Especially Elladan and Elrohir, who seem to be capable of getting under anyone's skin better than Kili could ever dream of achieving. They were easy enough to get along with, why should these ones be any different? And she's pretty enough, he supposes, a little bit tall, certainly cold, but she doesn't know him yet and he enjoys a challenge. There's nothing serious in some harmless flirting and it annoyed the arrogant blond in any case. A bonus in Kili's eyes if there is any at all in their situation.

Fili huffs at him and settles next to the barred door, looking up at the spiral of cells until his eyes fall on Bluebell. There must be some elf magic in the ground here as there was in Rivendell, Kili thinks, because Fili's eyes have taken on the same mithril shine they did in the last elven home they spent time in. It's muted here, little more than a subtle glow, and Fili seems not to have noticed. With everything that's happening that isn't really a surprise. The flecks of indigo in them are a surprise, however, and when Kili looks over at Bluebell he can just make out a silver ring around her irises. It seems that whatever they did together on the Carrock and under the Misty Mountains has had a long-term affect, though he doubts they've noticed.

The red-head walks back past them a few hours later and Fili kicks him before Kili can try to open his mouth and catch her attention. He decides against retaliating, he's not quite bored enough yet and their shared cell isn't big enough for a decent wrestle. They'll just end up frustrated and unable to take it out on each other properly. It isn't worth the arguments that will follow, there will be enough of those when it comes time for them to decide who gets the bed. Kili suspects Thranduil doesn't have captives all that often judging by the small cell block, the state of the cells and the fact that they have filled this section even with there being two, or more, to a cell in some cases.

The next time the she-elf passes is several days later, and Fili is snoring behind him. Kii is fiddling with one of the only personal belongings he was able to keep hold of, the stone charm Amad worked for him. He should give it to Fili and see if his brother could make a weapon of some sort out of it, but Fili has spent the last couple of days trying to influence the stone of the cells and he's exhausted (and when he isn't doing that he's focused on Bluebell who isn't handling their captivity and her isolation well). He has managed to make a couple of cracks, but they haven't established how regular the elf patrols are. Even if they do manage to get out of the cells, they have no idea how, or even if, they would get out of Thranduil's palace and Mirkwood as a whole. Without weapons they would be recaptured too easily. The others don't make mention of it at all, they don't want the elves to know about the Stone Sense and most of them don't know how powerful Fili really is anyway. A lot of what he can do is the stuff of myth and legend and it's exhausting for him.

"What have you there?" The elf asks and for a moment Kili wants to make a joke of it, maybe try and frighten her, but the arrogant blond one isn't nearby to annoy, and he can see Nori watching from the cell above Bluebell's.

"A gift from my mother," he says, "a reminder of my promise to return to her with my brother."

Fili doesn't know about that part. He doesn't know that Amad made Kili promise to bring him back. Kili is reckless, true, but Fili's dedication to both Thorin and his brother is more likely to get him killed. He glances back as Fili makes an odd noise, but the sound of snores quickly resumes.

"Given what awaits you at your destination, it seems a futile promise," she replies, still cold but curious as well.

"The Iron Hills?" Kili asks as innocently as he can but the lie sits strangely on his tongue. "We're all she has left," he sighs, "how could I not make such a vow?" She looks startled. "But you think all dwarves are greedy, vicious brutes," he adds.

"Are you not?" She asks and Kili grins at her.

"Depends on who you ask," he replies but turns his attention from her at the sound of the cell next to his being opened. "What are you doing with my uncle?" He demands and hears Fili shift behind him, apparently done with pretending to be asleep.

"He is being taken to see the King."

Her words make something in Kili's gut tighten. He hasn't heard Frerin ask to see Thranduil, but that doesn't mean that he hasn't. They have all the proof they need that Frerin will prioritise Belladonna above all others. He did vanish for forty years without a word, after all, just to help her. Why else, though, would Thranduil send for him, unless Frerin has demanded an audience due to his wife's condition.

"Perhaps your uncle will be more reasonable than your King," the elf adds.

Kili isn't sure what he wants to outcome to be. On the one hand, if Frerin proves reasonable they will be released and allowed to continue. Which will mean that Frerin has betrayed Thorin and that will not end well, no matter what his reasons or intentions are. If Frerin doesn't prove reasonable, or stands by Thorin, they'll end up stuck in these cells. He turns away from the elf, suddenly charming his way out doesn't seem so appealing anymore.