Ch. 2: Truth of the matter

Despite the Peredhel's pasty completion, Maedhros was caught by surprise when Elrond went limp in his grasp. He was even more surprised when he felt his hand growing warm and sticky. With centuries of experience, the tall elf didn't need to remove his hand to know that what he felt was blood. He swore colorfully as he slung Elrond over his shoulder and darted off to the infirmary.

He laid the peredhel down on the closest bed before quickly cutting away the sleeve. Elrond's slender bicep was loosely wrapped in bandages. Bright red blood leaked out where sloppy stitches had torn loose. The skin underneath was puffy and showing the beginning signs of infection. The wound appeared to be from an arrow. Elrond was luck the arrow hadn't shattered the bone, merely passing through the muscle. Maedhros wondered who had the nerve to shoot the elfling and not own up to their crime. He also wondered why Elrond had felt the need to hid this, though it would explain his strange behavior today.

Maedhros frowned and clapped his hand back over the wound. He sent for water while he kept pressure on the wound.

"It'll be fun, he said, you can bond with the boys, he said," Maedhros grumbled while he waited, his hand was large enough to wrap all the way around Elrond's bicep and press on both the exit and entry wounds, "I swear, I'm going to wring your neck Kanafinwë as soon as you get back. I didn't sign up for this."

He had agreed to watch the twins only because the Avari they were trading with refused to trust him, only trusting Maglor. The needed supplies, so Maglor had to go and barter with them. The twins had wanted to go with their foster father, but Maglor had said no. While Maedhros didn't agree with his brother's questionable choice to keep Eärendil's brats, the elflings brought Maglor joy, so Maedhros decided he could tolerate them for three days without Maglor's intervention.

Maedhros had intended to let them do whatever they wanted while his brother was gone (Valar knew they could use some freedom from Maglor's overprotectiveness). That plan was derailed when he noted that, contrary to his usual behavior, Elrond had hidden in his room all afternoon and then not spoken a word at dinner. Maedhros, trusting his gut instinct, had investigated and here they were.

The water arrived a short while later along with a very worried Elros. Maedhros chose not to comment on the fact that he had technically sent the elfling to his room knowing that a heated argument would delay treating Elrond. Elros sat in total silence while Maedhros thoroughly cleaned and re-sutured the wound. It wasn't until Maedhros was re-wrapping Elrond's arm that Elros spoke.

"Is he gonna die?" The peredhel's voice little more than a whisper.

"No," Maedhros grunted. He would see to it or Maglor might just murder him. He would rather not explain to his father that he was sent to the Halls because he had accidentally killed one of the children his brother had adopted.

"I didn't mean to hurt him."

"You did this?" Maedhros' eyes shot up to glare at the elfling. Elros flinched back.

"I didn't mean to. He was looking at flowers down range. I didn't see him."

"You were shooting at the archery range?"

"Maybe?" Elros cringed, relizing his mis-step.

"Where did you get a bow?" Maedhros demanded sharply.

"The room at the end of the hall where Atya cries a lot. I put it back already, I promise," Elros mumbled. He knew he was in big trouble.

Maedhros grimace. That had been the Ambarussa's room. Neither Maglor nor Maedhros had the heart to clean it out after Sirion. Maybe they should have at least checked for loose weaponry.

"We'll deal with that later. What I want to know is why you hid this from me."

"Elrond thought that you would get angry at me for stealing the bow and hurting him. He thought that you would hit me as punishment. He said that he knew what to do so that we didn't have to bother anyone," Elros picked at the hem of his slightly too large tunic.

Maedhros sighed. That sounded like Elrond alright. He pondered what an appropriate punishment would be. Before he could say anything else, Elros surprised him by throwing himself at the redhead. His arms stretched as far as they could around him in a hug.

"I'm sorry, Atto, it won't happen again. I promise," Elros mumbled into Maedhros' tunic.

Maedhros froze.

The twins had only ever reserved such close familial titles for Maglor and that made sense as Maglor was their primary caretaker. He had only ever Maedhros or, not until recently, Uncle Maedhros; never Atto.

Dazed, Maedhros stroked the dark hair. He eventually decided not to comment on the name. He guiltily liked it too much and was afraid that if he commented, Elros wouldn't call him that again.

"It better not happen again," Maedhros' throat was tight, "I don't think I can handle stitching either of you up again."

"Thank you," Elros pulled his face away to stare up at Maedhros, his large grey eyes eerily similar to Turgon's at that age.

"Like I said, never do that again," Maedhros grumbled.

"No, well, yes. Thanks for helping El. He's an idiot. What I meant was thank you for taking us in. I know you have done bad things, but I still like you," Elros said seriously, "You're not all bad."

More than a little embarrassed and ashamed at the fact that he could ever win one of the peredhel's affection, Maedhros didn't know what to say. Instead, he detangled Elros from him and set about cleaning up the supplies he had gotten out. Elros didn't seem to mind the abruptness. He simply crawled into the bed and curl up by Elrond's uninjured side.

It was late evening the next day when Maglor and his party finally arrived back at Amon Ereb, supplies in hand. Maglor wearily made his way to report to Maedhros.

"I was half expecting to come back and find the place deserted," Maglor joked tiredly, flopping down in a chair next to the blazing fire. Despite the fact that is was early summer, the nights still had a bit of a chill.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence. Everything was fine Kano. No one died," Maedhros assured his younger brother without looking up from the reports he was reading.

Something in his posture and tone tipped Maglor off to the fact that something had happened. The musician straightened.

"What aren't you telling me, Russ?" Maglor narrowed his eyes at his brother.

Maedhros sighed as he felt the familiar probing poke of his younger brother's òsanwë in the back of his mind. Maglor was going to find out sooner or later, so he might as well get this over with.

"Elrond took an arrow to the arm."

"WHAT?!" Maglor screeched in horror, "You just said everything was fine! I leave them with you for three days Nelyafinwë - three days - and you let one of them get shot? I swear, you're as bad as that time Tyelko told Ammë that Pityo was just bruised after a hunt when he had really broken his leg. I can't believe you. Do I have to get a baby-sitter for you too? What part of letting them play within range of arrows screamed 'this is a good ide''?!"

"Calm down, Kano," Maedhros grumbled, more than a bit affronted, "Only Elrond was shot, I think Elros already feels guilty enough about doing it."

"Elros shot Elrond?" If it was possible, Maglor's voice rose another octave, "Valar above, what were you thinking? Why would you give Elros a bow? Elrond could have died!"

His hollering easily reached the healing ward were two precocious peredhel sat drinking hot cocoa.

"Do you think we should save Atto from Atya?" Elrond mumbled sleepily. Maedhros had laced his drink with a heavy duty pain reliever after Elrond had refused to have any because it 'tasted bad'. The poor elfling was quite out of it from the amount of drugs in his system.

Elros wiped away a hot cocoa mustache as he pondered the question.

"He'll be fine. Probably," Elros finally shrugged, "Atya will yell for a while like he always does and then he'll come check on us. What do you want to bet he'll be extra nice to us for a while? …. El?…. El?"

Elros' only answer was a snore. Elrond had finally fallen asleep, his remaining hot cocoa spilling across the bed. Elros snorted fondly as he listen to the sounds of his foster parents squabbling upstairs. Yes, he loved his strange little family.