Ah Nutz. You know, I can so see all Legolas Lovers out there giving me a hard time for this chapter. In fact, you'll ALL hate me after this. Anyway, In this fic I wanted to focus on the real meaning of love, the feeling you will do ANYTHING for that person and he/she would do anything in return. The…er…lovemaking is only a small part of this love; it is merely the physical satisfaction that draws out the intimacy and closeness. It is not always necessary but in this fic, if you're gonna have slash, you gotta have the lot. So, I am prepared for the flames I shall get for this, not only coz I don't focus on sex as much, but for some other reasons too, you'll see.

Warning: Enter, the bad guys.

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CHAP 5

"I love you." Legolas had said that the moment they woke up and he had stared into those deep blue orbs. He had said 'I love you' in return and they had dressed slowly, never seeming to be able to keep their hands off each other before they gave up and returned to another bout of love making. The bed was out of the question as the springs looked as though they could stab you, so the floor was chosen again and they loved until about noon, when food seemed in order.

They had just sat down to the leftovers of last night's takeaway Chinese when they had come. They was no warning, they simply burst through the door sending splinters showering over them and then they were surrounded, a long butt of many a rifle pointed at their hearts as they froze, not daring to move for fear of provoking the soldiers further.

Then those three men in suits walked in and just stood there, smiling like the cat that got the cream as they looked the two elves up and down, taking in their ageless faces, tall lithe bodies but mostly the almond shaped ears that peeked out from under their tussled hair.

"Two." That pale one had said, his badge said his name was Dave and his grin got even wider. Apparently the elves were more valuable to them than Haldir had first thought.

Then the really tall one had tried to touch Legolas' ear and the elf had reacted in the only way his instincts could handle, taking out a fork, and impaling the hand to the table. As the man had screamed and tried to hit the elf he had blocked, and was about to hit back when one of those weapons had gone off and caught him in the shoulder, totally shocking him before he realized what had happened and had swooned in Haldir's arms.

That had been 15 minutes ago and Legolas had just woken up, staring around him with wide, very angry eyes as the two uninjured men stared them down, waiting for them to say something, possibly to incriminate them further if they spoke in elvish. They kept silent and Legolas poked his shoulder, wincing as the bullet wound throbbed beneath the makeshift bandage, but they didn't move from the floor where he had fallen, just simply stared with passive expressions that revealed nothing to their captors as they talked about something between them. The tall one had been led off by someone to probably have his hand checked, Legolas did a pretty good job when he wanted to.

"Well, don't you guy's talk or are you using telepathy?" Dave sneered at them and hooked his thumbs in his belt, obviously used to having his own way in things as he waited for them to respond.

Haldir didn't give him the satisfaction and held Legolas closer, the elf was lying in his arms with his head being supported by Haldir's chest, the wound looked very painful and he dared not move him anymore than was necessary.

The man growled and a cruel expression twisted his face as it went redder from suppressed anger at their insolence. But when he spoke his voice was soft, yet icy with cruel intent.

"We have been tracking you for years, my father started it ages ago and I have continued for him. You have been one mighty clever little person, slipping through our fingers every single time. Did you know they thought me crazy? That I was chasing phantoms all my life and that you didn't even exist?" He motioned to the older man next to him and he shuffled his feet, obviously embarrassed at being proven wrong.

"Well now I've got two, they won't be expecting this, I'll finally be recognized and maybe even a promotion. You's two are worth a lot to me, didn't you know that?"

Legolas looked at him in shock, his mouth unconsciously dropping open as he realized they were only money to this man, this man that had been searching for Haldir possibly his entire life. He shifted his gaze up to Haldir and the elf looked back grimly, he obviously knew a lot about his pursuers, more so then he had let on before possibly so he wouldn't terrify Legolas. Not that it helped, he was already terrified, he had been since he first found out Haldir was in trouble, sensing him through the bond that had been caused by Narya and the presence of the other two, Nenya and Vilya. He decided to smile right then, it was almost no matter now as to what happened to him, as long as Haldir got out safely and escaped to Ireland, to the henge that was the gateway, the only way to get back to Valinor.

"What are you so happy about?" Dave snapped and glared at him, Legolas didn't try to conceal the snicker that escaped his throat and Haldir was mortified, did he want a death wish or was the tension finally cracking him?

"You are." He snorted a little and pursed his lips, trying not to let that laugh escape his mouth anymore than was necessary.

"Oh, so you DO speak. Well, tell us all about it, enlighten us." Dave waved his hand around at the soldiers surrounding them, still on alert and ready to fire on command.

"You are funny, it is amusing to me and I think you would do well to work as a jester, you would be paid handsomely." He slipped back into his old was of speaking, drawing out the words slowly and precisely, the accent extremely obvious to anyone who didn't know the language. To Haldir it reminded him of home, his real home where he could drop the slang and the fast talk and just converse normally, being himself so to speak.

"What did you say?" Dave growled softly and the two elves could see he was a man of little patience. Legolas ignored it and continued to speak slowly and deliberately; making sure everyone in the small motel room could hear him.

"If only Mithrandir were here, he would show you a thing or to about truly tracking someone. He tracked a slippery creature for nearly a quarter of a century, not meaning that it is a long time to me, child. I too have searched for many years, but I have known Haldir for far longer than you can possibly fathom. If you are seeking immortality, you have found it, but it will never mean you can possess it for we are free people and will not handle captivity for long."

"Oh, so you think you can escape?" The man snickered and Legolas frowned.

"No, we would die."

"You won't have the chance to, not even starving yourself if I have to force food into you myself." He laughed again.

"We do not have to do it physically, capture is against our nature and we can simply make a choice. And our choice will be to die and we will be useless to you." The flat voice silenced even the slightest murmurings in the room, even Dave seemed speechless. Haldir gripped the stoic elf tighter to himself, he was taking a risk and Haldir knew it was for his own benefit, hopefully to distract them so he could make his escape and return the ring. If they didn't get out of this, the whole world could be in turmoil and the fear of it brought the ring back to life right there and then.

It's red light pulsed and throbbed with great heat that seemed to sear his very skin and he bit his tongue, trying not to scream at the pain. But it's light grew and Dave noticed.

"What's that?" he snapped, but with fear in his eyes of the unknown.

"It is great sorcery that you could never imagine, do not anger us or it will be unleashed." Legolas smiled, a malicious glint to his eye that he always reserved for those he was playing along. But Dave didn't take the hint and his own greed got the better of him.

"Give it to me." He growled and held out his hand, expecting them to simply hand it over. But when they didn't he got angry and reached out for it, stepping forward deliberately.

"No!" Haldir yelled and a burst of fire shot forth, stabbing the space at the foot of one of the soldiers and he panicked, aiming his gun for Haldir and pulling the trigger.

Legolas had no time to think, he simply twisted in Haldir's grip and pushed him to the floor, lying on top of him to shield his body with his own.

Haldir heard a rattle of shots going off and it pierced his senses, making his hearing a little muffled before it came back in a rush and he realized Legolas was still lying on top of him, his face merely inches from his own.

"Legolas," he grunted, smiling a little at the confused expression on the other elf's face. "You can get off me now." His smile dropped from his face as Legolas shook his head, giving him an obviously pained smile of his own.

"I am afraid that is impossible…melamin." He whispered, shaking his head slowly before it dropped to Haldir's chest, the weight of his body suddenly becoming greater as he panicked and rolled them over, holding the limp figure in his arms. The blood pooled around them and Legolas' back was soaked in it, drenching both him and Haldir as the older elf gripped him in shock. Legolas' eyes stared vacantly at the ceiling and he didn't move, not a sound came from him and his chest didn't rise with a normal breath of air Haldir so wished would come.

"Legolas." He whispered, shaking him slightly, the panic welling up in his throat as his heart clenched in pain.

"Legolas, wake up!" He shook him harder but the elf didn't respond, a dead weight in his arms.

***He is cautious, that bow is taunt and I give him a stare that would usually make one flinch. He doesn't move and observes me coolly, then the dwarf speaks and the stare is broken, the hobbits flinch under my eyes and the elf continues to stare. He is studying me, he is curious…***

"Legolas, uuma lle um sina a amin!"

~Legolas, don't you do this to me!~  Haldir shook him more forcefully, an icy grip encasing his heart.

***He has come back to visit, I am glad he took that time and we stroll through those woods for hours, simply talking. He notices my head wound and starts to fuss, I try and explain it is only from Rúmil's stray arrow but he continues to fuss, even a scratch seems much to him and our friendship is solidified.***

The blood continued to pool but all too soon it stopped, forming a still puddle about them as the first moans of grief were uttered from the elf's throat. He gripped Legolas tight to his body and started to rock, hiding his face in the younger elf's hair as his eyes were wide and staring at the floor, his whole body becoming cold and the pain stabbing at his heart relentlessly.

***He is asked me why I was leaving. I truly couldn't tell him but gripped his forearm, telling him that I will never forget him. He gave me Nayra, oh what a gift and we embraced like brothers. I shall miss him and the last time I see him he is standing on the shore, those white robes for the occasion flapping around him in the breeze, his hair blending into the whiteness as the distance increases, and I see him no more.***

"Legolas?" Haldir sobbed slightly, the grief killing him from the inside as he couldn't release his grip, holding the elf tighter then ever and fisting his hands, drawing blood as his nails bit into his skin.

***"Legolas, you have come for me?"

"I have Haldir."

"But why?"

"Because you are a part of me, in a way."

"Oh I missed you Legolas."***

He was dead. The thought made him jerk finally as it became real and a tinny whine came from his mouth, reaching up from his stomach and becoming louder and sharper by the second. It broke suddenly and he gasped and choked on his own tears, not caring who saw him, even if his pride usually concealed such things. He was still rocking, squeezing his eyes shut as the tears flowed freely, his breath shuddered and he cried like a child, but he didn't care. He was dead.

***"I love you."***

He was dead.

***"I will love you forever."***

He was dead.

***"I will never leave you."***

He was gone.

He wailed and loosened his grip on the body for the first time, letting Legolas, no, Legolas' body roll in his arms and face the ceiling. His wide unseeing eyes were closed gently by a shaking hand sliding slowly down his face, before he leaned over and gave a farewell kiss to his cold forehead, then his cheek, then his lips.

He was dead, he had been murdered.

A red haze crossed Haldir's eyes as rage built up in his system. He lowered the body to the floor and looked up at the men standing over him, all with a look of shock and horror at what they had witnessed.

"BASTERED!" he screamed at them from the floor, the tears drying up with the fire in his body, he couldn't understand it.

"You idiot!" Dave turned on the soldier who had fired and the man shrank away at the harsh voice, the weapon that had killed Legolas hanging loosely by his side as he shook silently and took his verbal punishment. Dave's face was red and when the soldier's eyes turned from him to Haldir, all followed his gaze and they were silent. The elf had stood up and was now quivering with pure rage and hatred.

"You killed him." His soft voice held an iciness that made everyone but Dave cringe, he stared not at the soldier that had fired, but at Dave himself, his eyes becoming steely grey with the one thought, that Dave was responsible.

"You should have given me the ring."

"You are no better than the greed I saw thousands of years ago." Glass shattered in his heart and his voice was dead.

"Stuff that, you still should have listened to me."

"You killed him." The voice was still icy and he took a step closer to the man, all guns rose to the ready but they were hesitant, Haldir was on the edge.

All he could hear in his mind was Legolas' voice, telling him over and over that he loved him, and all he felt was the intense pain of knowing that he was Legolas' first. He had saved himself for so long, only to have it all stripped away by one man and his greed in a matter of seconds. Haldir's heart felt hollow and he stopped encroaching on Dave, simply standing in the middle of the room as grief consumed him.

"HOLY SH…!" One soldier standing close to Haldir screamed as the ruby in the ring pulsed once, and exploded in a wave of solid heat that enveloped everything except the elf. He stood silently in the middle of the swirling flames before kneeling down silently next to his lover, gently pushing back the golden hair from his face and smiled.

"I'm coming." He whispered and kissed him gently on the lips just as the circle collapsed and he was consumed. His last thoughts were ones of irony, after escaping the pyres of the witch-hunts for so long he was letting himself go freely, but this was for one simple reason, the love was pure and he knew it would continue for eternity.

TBC

A/N: Ok, you hate me now? Look, blame the muses, blame the muses, they did this, they made me. But anyway, I needed to explore where love can take someone, what grief can truly do. Take this as a learning experience and no, the story is not yet finished.