Author's Notes: Elvish is in ' '. Only the unknown characters belong to me! This fic contains eventual Haldir/Glorfindel slash, and verbal and physical abuse! The focus is on Glorfindel and Haldir, not Aragorn and Legolas, though both will be mentioned in this fic. This fic takes place sometime between the Prologue and the first chapter of 'Reasons'.

Part 4. The First Day

Early the following morning, Haldir was awakened by someone opening the door to his talen. He sleepily focused his vacant eyes on the figure, before he stiffened slightly. It was Rissan who stood there, looking down at him impassively.

Haldir instantly sat up and gazed back, feeling the familiar twinges of hurt, betrayal, confusion, and a fleeting speck of love, replaced by wariness. The young Elf stood and watched Rissan silently.

'What do you want?' Haldir questioned, his voice sounded strained, even to him.

Rissan sighed, and barely kept from rolling his eyes. 'I already apologized, Haldir. I didn't mean to hurt you like that.'

Haldir carefully slipped his feet into his shoes, before he murmured, 'You did. You hurt me, no matter if you meant it or not. I don't know if I can easily forgive you for that.'

'I said I was sorry,' Rissan countered. 'What more do you want?'

'Nothing…' Haldir sighed. 'I'm leaving for a while; I've been chosen to go with Lord Glorfindel to find out what has been happening to the other Galadhrim.'

Rissan's eyes flashed briefly with a hidden emotion. 'So you had to get me out of the way first, Haldir?' he said, feigning hurt. He turned his back to the younger Elf. 'I thought I meant more to you than that.'

Haldir said, 'It's not my choice; Lord Celeborn wanted me to go. I cannot disobey him.'

'Why not?' Rissan demanded. 'I don't want you alone with that strange Elf from Rivendell.'

'You are not my keeper,' Haldir argued. 'I am going, and there is naught you can do about it, Rissan. I'll be gone for three days- we'll talk about this later.'

Rissan stepped closer to Haldir and narrowed his eyes. 'You belong to me, Haldir. Make sure you remember that. I will know if anything occurs between you and that Elven lord, and it will be fatal.'

Haldir protested, 'He doesn't even like me.'

'Yes, he does,' Rissan replied, before taking a firm grip on the shoulders of the younger Elf. 'You are far too young and naïve to see it, Haldir. Glorfindel will use you and leave you alone with a broken heart.'

'I'm not that young.' Haldir frowned at Rissan's words. 'What do you mean?'

Rissan hid a smirk, knowing that he had Haldir's full attention now. 'Come now, Haldir. Glorfindel is much, much older than you. Surely you do not think that he would settle down with someone like you, for he has never done so with another for very long. He can have anyone he wants, for Glorfindel is an Elven lord. And you…' He feigned sadness, before continuing with, 'You are merely the youngest Galadhrim, Haldir. He could not stay with you forever, for he is of a much higher rank than you.'

Haldir paled and looked slightly shaken. Could it be true, he wondered. He didn't have time to think about it, for a familiar voice was calling his name. It was the Elven lord himself.

'I'll be right there,' Haldir called back, as he grabbed the bag he'd packed the night before with his left hand. His right wrist was feeling a lot better, but would not be healed for a day or two.

Glorfindel stood at the bottom of the tree that the talen was in. He was looking into the branches when Haldir appeared at the doorway of his talen. Haldir tossed the bag he held down, and re-entered his talen, grabbing his bow and quiver.

Rissan caught Haldir's left arm and warned him, 'Do not let yourself fall for him, Haldir. It will only break your heart and cause death.' Of course, the dark-haired Elf had no intention of giving up; he just had to delay his plans for a few days, until Haldir returned.

Haldir said nothing in response and exited his talen once more.

Glorfindel was shocked when, instead of climbing down the ladder, which would have been difficult and painful with his injured wrist, Haldir merely leapt down to the ground, ignoring the distance between the two.

'That was a very foolish thing to do,' Glorfindel scolded.

Haldir smirked, 'I am young, Lord Glorfindel. Exceptions must be made for young ones.' His sly grin appeared, as Haldir slung his pack over his left shoulder, along with his bow and quiver. His sword hung at his side, though he most likely would not be using it, for he primarily used his right hand to wield the Elven blade.

Glorfindel's pack rested against his shoulders, and his sword was sheathed in its sheath, hanging from his sword-belt. His own quiver and bow were slung across his shoulder, and he looked directly at Haldir, a frown on his face.

Haldir chose to just smirk again, before he gestured for Glorfindel to lead the way.

As they walked together through the tall trees, which provided shade from the scorching sun that bore down on them, the day did not grow much better, at least in Glorfindel's opinion. Haldir delighted in teasing him, which was a little irritating, but the Elven lord was glad to see that the younger Elf was not nearly as upset today as he had been last night.

Neither of them found any trace of anything suspicious, though both were slightly distracted, but they managed to keep focused somewhat on their mission. The spot where the latest Galadhrim had been attacked was easy to find, for the grass was crushed, as were the flowers that had been in the field.

But that was not what drew their attention the most.

The flowers and grass that remained were wilting much more quickly than normal, a feat that was said only to be caused by the most evil creatures alive; the only one who had been proven to do such things to green, growing plants was Sauron himself.

Haldir looked directly at Glorfindel, shock on his face. 'It couldn't be him, could it?' Every Elf was wary of the evil one known as Sauron, the dark lord, though a few were afraid of him. Haldir himself was a little afraid, but it did not show in his voice.

'No,' Glorfindel said carefully. 'Everything here would be affected, if he was in Lothlorien, and both Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn would know.'

'Then who else could it be? The black riders that serve Saruman and Sauron?' Haldir questioned.

Glorfindel gaped at Haldir, not expecting that question. Lord Elrond, Lady Galadriel, and Lord Celeborn were trying to keep the existence of the Nazgul a secret from as many of the younger Elves as possible.

He slowly nodded and said, 'It could be them. But there is nothing here to suggest that the Nazgul are in Lothlorien, or that they were the ones who attacked the Galadhrim patrols. They usually leave obvious signs.'

Haldir frowned and murmured, 'So it's most likely an unknown enemy, who seems to be very strong if she, he, or they could defeat some of the stronger warriors in the Galadhrim.'

Glorfindel's hastily formed opinion of Haldir was changing. He had thought that the younger Elf was too impatient and mischievous to be of much help. Surprisingly, Haldir was proving him wrong by his thought-provoking questions and words. 'Indeed. The only trouble is that there are no clear tracks to follow, which means that either whoever it was knows how to conceal their tracks, and the Elves that found it surprised the unknown enemy, or this is a trap, set out to lure more Elves into the open.' Glorfindel chewed on his lower lip thoughtfully, uncharacteristically worried.

'What's wrong?' Haldir could sense the uneasiness in the Elven lord, and wondered at it, for Glorfindel was usually as stoic as Lord Celeborn was.

'If whoever it was attacks us, we stand about as much a chance of defeating it as the other Elves did,' Glorfindel told him. 'With your wrist injured like that…'

Haldir retorted, 'It will be fine tomorrow. Anyhow, if that person or thing was still here, would it not have attacked us by now?' He was annoyed now, because just when he thought he had proved to Glorfindel that he was not a child, the Elven lord again seemed to think that he was little more than a nuisance.

Glorfindel muttered, 'Not if it's studying us, to figure out what we will do next.'

'Isn't that obvious?' Haldir replied, slightly sarcastically. 'Lord Celeborn made it clear that we are to find whatever it is and stop it. As for right now, the sun is already sinking in the sky. We can either continue this argument, continue looking, or set up camp before it gets dark.'

'Do you speak this way to Lord Celeborn?' Glorfindel sternly asked.

Haldir snapped, 'Of course not. He never acted like I was an inconvenience to him or treated me like a child.' The 'Lorien Elf stalked off towards the other side of the clearing. Even if Glorfindel saw him as a child, Haldir was not going to let Lord Celeborn down. The words that Rissan had spoken to him echoed in his mind, plaguing his thoughts.

Glorfindel froze at the harsh accusation. He knew that Haldir was right, but he was used to his solitude, to being alone, as was his choice. Part of him resented Celeborn deliberately breaking his customary privacy by sending Haldir along. Everyone knew that he liked to be alone, Glorfindel thought. So why had Celeborn made him take Haldir with him? He was pulled out of his thoughts when he realized that he was standing alone, and that Haldir was already halfway across the clearing.

Glorfindel called to Haldir, who blatantly ignored it. The young Elf was tired of trying to gain the Elven lord's approval when all Glorfindel did was either scold him, baby him, or argue with him. It was enough to make Haldir want to shake the older Elf and show him that he was not a burden, that he was capable of taking care of himself, if Glorfindel would give him the chance to prove it.

The thought-of Elf groaned and quickly sprinted after Haldir, who refused to look at him. It took very little time for Glorfindel to reach Haldir, and even from a distance, the Elven lord could see the angry and tension radiating off of him.

'I didn't mean to offend you,' Glorfindel began, before he sighed. The young one was apparently not even willing to concede that he was here.

Haldir merely continued looking straight ahead, not acknowledging the taller Elf that was trying to speak to him.

Glorfindel tried again, to reach past the hurt feelings and angry that he could easily read. 'The truth is… I'm used to being alone, and doings missions such as this one by myself. I have not been paired up with anyone since before you were born to do assignments for Lord Elrond and I am accustomed to having my privacy.'

'I didn't ask to come,' Haldir pointed out. 'My lord asked me to go with you, and no one can deny him a request. Not even Lady Galadriel can refuse him.' A wry note was in his voice, as he finally looked at Glorfindel.

A small, quiet laugh came from Glorfindel. 'No, I imagine that Galadriel does not wish to refuse him.'

Haldir choked back laughter. 'You actually made a jest and laughed! Did it hurt?' He smugly grinned at the Elven lord.

'No,' Glorfindel said, scowling slightly.

'Are you sure? You're scowling,' Haldir teased, a genuine smile on his face.

Glorfindel sighed, before he questioned, 'Why do you tease others so often?' He was starting to enjoy the bantering with the younger Elf, but Glorfindel wondered if it was more of a defensive gesture of Haldir's, to keep anyone from truly knowing him.

Haldir frowned thoughtfully. 'Why not?' he answered. 'It lightens the heart.' Though Haldir know that he was currently using it to keep his mind off of Rissan. He had to agree with his current, maybe ex-lover. Glorfindel would not like someone like him.

'Does it not get tiresome after a while? Can you not be yourself?' Glorfindel probed.

'Nay, for I desire to forget things that I can for a time and escape from the memories, before I must confront them,' Haldir whispered softly to himself, not realizing that Glorfindel had heard every word he said, as Haldir touched his bandaged right wrist gently with his left hand.

Glorfindel's piercing, blue eyes narrowed at those words, and he tried to figure out what Haldir meant. Was he trying to forget how his wrist had been deliberately damaged, or why it had been done? Or was the memory of the one who had done it what Haldir wished to forget?

Haldir suddenly looked at Glorfindel. 'We should probably start making a camp, unless you want to continue searching this night. But I do not know if it will be safe to sleep on the ground.'

'Then we can sleep in the trees,' Glorfindel answered.

'I…' Haldir looked at his wrist, and then back at Glorfindel. 'I cannot climb a tree one-handed.' He shifted, and his pack brushed against his back, felt even through his shirt.

Glorfindel said, 'Then I will help you. Let's find where we're going to sleep and light a fire, before we decide if we sleep on the ground or in the trees.'

To be continued