A/N: Nothing about Lord of the Rings or any Tolkien character is mine and I'm not making a penny off of this. All original characters are mine. Thank-you once again to the reviewers. They help make writing worthwhile.



*****



Time and Space

Chapter 4



"Do you believe my words?"

His words echoed through my head between fits of sneezing and sniffling. Damn cold, I thought. Had to go running around in the rain.

The computer screen flashed up with a search result. Seems that Tolkien's books were quite popular on the Internet. Apparently, whole societies had been created devoted to the various races and characters from his books. "Guess he wouldn't have much trouble finding information," I said quietly taking a sip of tea. I surfed through some of them, finding a few quite intriguing.

"So now what?" I leaned back in my chair, stretching lightly. I flipped through his file, still unable to find much to draw on. "How am I going to get you to tell me what happened to you?"

Sitting forward again, I went over his medical write-up. He appeared normal in most ways, except for his ears and blood. Ears could be written off as a mutation, but his blood? That had never been seen before. My chin sat in my cupped hands as I read and re-read the report.

And then a terrifying lightbulb went off. Word of his blood will spread, fast. All kinds of doctors and specialists are going to poke and prod and make his life horrible. That was the last thing he needed. I rose quickly and was almost out of my office when the phone rang. I paused, debating on whether or not to pick up.

"Hello?" I said into the receiver.

"Lin? We need you down here right now?" Doreen's voice came through.

"Why? What's happened?"

"It's your pointy-eared patient. He's causing quite a stir."

I grimaced. God only knew what he was capable of. "I'll be right there."



Moments later, I found a shocking sight...again. At least four guards were manhandling Legolas as he struggled free. "What are you doing?" I shouted.

"Thank goodness." Doreen ran up to me.

"What's going on?" I was completely outraged. "Let him go!" I made a move to where the fight was, but Doreen held me back.

"Lin, he's dangerous. I don't think you should get too close."

"He's not dangerous. He's scared."

"He punched one of the guards, knocking him out."

"For a good reason, I'm sure."

"Grab him! Grab him!" a guard yelled. I watched as Legolas had managed to free an arm and was swinging it hard, cuffing a couple men across the head. That only increased their anger.

"God damn retard!" another yelled. "Get him the hell down." He looked at us, expecting us to do something. "Well don't just stand there, knock him out!"

"No! Just let him go!" I pulled out of Doreen's grasp and went straight to Legolas. He continued to squirm and twist, doing anything he could to be freed. "Legolas," I said calmly, "please just relax. They'll let you go if you calm down."

I didn't seem to have any effect. "Will you let him go?" I said to a guard. He looked at his supervisor, but held fast.

Think fast here, girl. There's got to be something. "Don't you dare!" I screamed at Doreen, her hand holding another sedative needle. "Not this time." I frantically wracked my brain trying to come up with something. Think!

"Release me!" he yelled between clenched teeth. He continued on his struggle with no signs of letting up.

The lightbulb went off. "Do you remember the tree?"

He paused with a puzzled expression.

"Outside. You said the tree was lonely."

He ever so slightly began to calm down. I took a step closer.

"You could hear that tree, couldn't you? Listen to what it was saying."

He now looked at me, his eyes full of fury, but some clarity began to appear.

"I know you would like to see it again. See even more trees. Well..." I looked at a guard, imploring him to release his captive. "...if you want to do that, please..." I touched his forearm, hoping for a calm reaction. "...please calm yourself." I stared hard at the guards, especially the leader to put him down. With narrowed eyes, he instructed his men to release his legs. They fell with a jarring thud, almost causing Legolas to lose his balance. He then ripped his arms free then just as quickly turned with a frightening growl. He was ready to kill these men.

Without thinking, I jumped between him and the guards. "Please, just leave." I faced my patient. "Don't. You'll be in even more trouble," I said softly.

He glared at his captors, but I could sense that he would follow my advice. That the guards left also helped to calm him. Once they were gone, he turned abruptly on his heel and resumed his post at the window.

Taking a deep breathe, I face Doreen. "Mind telling me what that was all about?"

She began walking back to the medical cabinet. "He tried to escape," she said matter of factly. She opened the door and put the needle away. "You know we can't let them leave with authorisation." She sat at her desk. "Rules."

My blood practically boiled. I swallowed hard. "All that because he wanted to go outside?"

She looked at me sternly. "Your little stint yesterday has put ideas into his head." She jerked her thumb in his direction. "Figures he can leave any time he wants."

"And he needed four guards to keep him inside?" I was trying remarkably hard to stay calm.

"Apparently so."

That this man had to endure the wrath of security was one thing, but Doreen's casual attitude very nearly made me bust. How dare she just shrug this off? Legolas was going through some serious emotional problems and she just threw them aside, all because he wanted to feel the grass on his feet again.

I couldn't speak to her anymore.



"Legolas?" I cautiously ventured.

He ignored me.

"I understand that you're probably very angry right now and you have every right to be. If I were in your shoes, I'd probably have..." In his shoes? I only stood next to him in front of that window. Nothing I could say would really make up for he suffered through. "I'm sorry," I said quietly. "For all of this."

Slowly, deliberately, he turned towards me. "Sometimes," he began, "circumstances are beyond our mastery." He looked back out. "This is, I suppose, one of them." His sigh was sad, as though he resigned himself to his position, his place as nothing more than a prisoner in a strange world. His light was dimming before my eyes.

We remained there for a long time, me next to this wonderfully beautiful creature, a creature that we were turning into a shell. I couldn't let that happen. I refused.

But what could I do?



To be continued...