Author's Note: Do not expect this often. Two chapter in one sitting tends to cause our brains to fuse. We will continue to post as soon as the fire trucks leave Eirual's house. We also need the little voices to stop talking to Sun Queen. Then we need the triceratops to stop goring Ivory Moon and Eirual needs to stop whimpering under the computer desk. Then maybe they'll let us out of the nice padded room with no doorknob, and we can write some more ;).

Cheers

Brothers, in All Their Annoying Glory

Soundtrack: It's All Been Done (Barenaked Ladies)

I met you

Before the fall of Rome

And I begged you

To let me take you home

You were wrong

I was right

You said goodbye

I said goodnight

Woo hoo hoo

It's all been done

Woo hoo hoo

It's all been done

Woo hoo hoo

It's all been done before

I knew you

Before the west was won

And I heard you say

The past was much more fun

You go your way

I''ll go mine

But I'll see you next time

Woo hoo hoo

It's all been done

Woo hoo hoo

It's all been done

Woo hoo hoo

It's all been done before

If I put my fingers here

And if I say ""I love you, dear""

And if I play the same three chords

Will you just yawn and say

Woo hoo hoo

It's all been done

Woo hoo hoo

It's all been done

Woo hoo hoo

It's all been done before

Alone and bored

On a thirtieth-century night.

Will I see you

On The Price Is Right?

Will I cry?

Will I smile?

As you run

Down the aisle.

Woo hoo hoo

It's all been done

Woo hoo hoo

It's all been done

Woo hoo hoo

It's all been done before



Gabe entered his office, dropping his papers haphazardly on the desk. He had too much to do, and he felt that he would gladly hurl his entire schedule out the window, lock his office door behind him, and take off for the Arctic. Or maybe Aruba. It was warmer there.

"I need a vacation," he muttered, reaching for a fallen term paper.

"I'd say you do," a voice replied.

Gabe froze in a half-crouch, arm still outstretched towards the paper. Instinct took over, and lessons learned fifteen years ago let him rise smoothly, all without taking his eyes from the stranger who had just spoken. He quickly scanned the individual leaning against the wall, a handsome young man with long blond hair and electric blue eyes. With a mage-killer tattoo on his neck. Gabe was surprised. This man didn't look a day over twenty-five, and had a rather slender physique besides. Clearly an individual with hidden talents, if the tattoo were genuine. He pushed past his drilled suspicion, reaching for his more natural affability, despite the fact that this unknown youth had somehow broken into his office in his absence. "I'm sorry, you don't look like one of my students. Do I know you?"

The blond man smiled. "We were friends, long ago. I'm not surprised you don't remember me." He extended his right hand and Gabe shook it. His accent was faintly British, but this man evoked no memories.

An uncharacteristic wariness rose in Gabe. Was this one of the many faces he had known and forgotten during the war? "I'm sorry," he said, keeping his voice pleasant, "but I didn't catch your name."

The stranger now looked amused. "You can call me Leo," he replied.

Alarms sounded in Gabe's head at this non-answer. He did his best to push them away. "So what might I do for you, Leo?"

"Actually, Professor Gabriel Gleason, I represent a consortium, a fellowship if you will, and right now, we need your help."

He appeared to be watching Gabe closely for a reaction, but all the university professor felt was confusion. "Excuse me, but is this supposed to mean something to me?"

The man called Leo grimaced. "Apparently not," he sighed, and when he spoke again, it was barely audible, as if he were speaking to himself and had forgotten Gabe's presence. "Figures, he wouldn't remember without some prodding. All right then, we do this the hard way."

Gabe was alarmed, and unconsciously dropped into a fighting stance. Leo looked him in the eye once more. "Let me ask you something," he said, looking quite serious. "I'm going to speak, and you're going to stand there and not say a word. More than that, you are going to listen to what I have to say. And when I'm finished, if you want me to leave, I'll go, and you'll never hear from me again.

Gabe, wary of a trap, simply narrowed his eyes.

Leo nodded, understanding his unspoken concerns. "You think I'm trying to con you. I swear to you," he said, arching is neck to display the glowing tattoo, "as a mage-killer, that there is nobody else within two hundred metres of us, presently. I also swear that I will not move from this spot as I speak."

The university professor didn't drop his guard, but inwardly, he relaxed somewhat. He was pretty certain he could hold his own against this rather remarkable young man if they came to blows. But in fact, it was the oath of the mage-killer that tipped his decision. He nodded abruptly. "I will listen to what you have to say," he replied, "if only to honour a brother."

Leo's eyes widened. "What? Do you remember me?" He shifted his weight as if to move towards the other man, but Gabe's confused expression stopped him.

"I don't understand what you speak of that I should remember," he said, "I refer only to your mage-killer status." He rolled up one sleeve, revealing a glowing tattoo similar to Leo's, on his muscled forearm. "We share a bond, you and I."

Understanding dawned on Leo's face. "Ah, a member of the brotherhood of mage-killers," he acknowledged. "One who has killed a magic-user and has been branded by their dying magical energy." He inclined his head in a salute. "Well met, brother."

Gabe returned the nod. "If you will speak, do so, and I will listen. Farther than that," he smiled thinly, "I make no promises."

**********

I took a deep breath, watching the one who had once been my best friend. "Fair enough. You, Professor Gleason, are the reincarnation of Gimli, son of Gloin, one who lived approximately thirty thousand years ago, in the third and then the fourth age of Middle-Earth. During your lifetime, you swore loyalty to a halfling named Frodo Baggins, who carried a the One Ring of Power, a weapon that could subjugate all life in Middle-Earth. He was sent to destroy it in the fiery pits of a volcano known as the Cracks of Doom, deep in the black land of Mordor, realm of the enemy of our peoples, Sauron. He was the Dark Lord who had first forged the Ring, and he hunted Frodo in his efforts to retrieve it. You were a member of the Fellowship sworn to protect the Ringbearer, and you did your duty well.

"Now, thirty thousand years later, Sauron, who we once thought defeated forever, has returned, when magic re-emerged into the world. To combat this new evil, the Fellowship of the Ring has been reincarnated, into new forms. The memories of Gimli -your memories- are still there, however. They may be buried deeply, but they are there."

"You are there, Gimli, I know it. The friend I once had cannot be completely forgotten!"

I finished my speech with this passionate plea, which I had practiced on the way to the University and thought quite moving.

Gabe blinked, looked at me, blinked again, and I knew that deep within his mind, doors were opening and long forgotten memories were emerging.

I knew it to be true.

Or...maybe not.

"Right. I think you should really leave my office now, okay?"

"I don't think you understand." Shit. This was not good.

"Oh, I understand fairly well. Which one of my students put you up to this? They've got weird senses of humour."

"Nobody put me up to this-"

"Yes, I'm sure they didn't. Who came up with that story anyways? Gimli, son of Gloin? Seriously, now. Why didn't you just say that I was Napoleon in a previous life, or hell, I don't know, Einstein? Wouldn't that have been easier?"

"No, you've got to listen to me!"

Gabe stepped back at the vehemence in my tone, and I was infuriated to see the look of pity that crossed his features. "Hey pal, look, I understand. The war was hard on everybody. Killing a mage, that takes a lot out of you. Now, there's a hospital just down the street with some great doctors who can help you out-"

Great. He had decided that I was nuts. Oh, this was going so well. If I didn't get locked up by the well-meaning professor, I was going to kill Elrond for making me do this.

Getting desperate, I began to play my trump cards, one by one. "Come on, Gimli, I know you're in there. Remember Rivendell, and how much you hated the elves at first? Being a member of the Fellowship, getting buried in the snow on Caradhras, getting lost in Moria!"

He was looking more and more freaked out. Bloody hell. Right now, I probably did look the part of the babbling lunatic. Having no choice, I continued:

"Remember the Riders of Rohan, and how you defended Galadriel? And how you were scared of horses? What about Helm's Deep, and the orc-slaying contest that you and I had? The battle at Mordor's Gates? The Glittering Caves? Travelling to the Undying Lands? We went together, you and I, can't you remember?"



He shook his head, looking at me with such pity that I wanted to throttle him. Now I picked my targets carefully, hoping for a hit. If he did not remember, I didn't know what I would do. "Gandalf. Frodo. Sam. Merry. Pippin. Boromir. Aragorn. Anyone?"

His face was set in firm resolve, and he walked over and gripped my arm. "All right. That's enough. I *really* think you should leave."

Behind the words, I heard the unspoken threat. If I did not leave, he would throw me out. Stupid, arrogant, stubborn, annoying bastard!!

He steered me towards the door, and the exclamation burst forth instinctually. "A PLAGUE ON DWARVES AND THEIR STIFF NECKS!"

I couldn't see his face, but I felt him freeze. For several long moments, neither of us twitched. It was silent as a tomb in the office, so quiet that I could hear his heartbeat with my elvish ears.

And then, he replied, very quietly. "Well, Master Elf, you are the one who will not leave my office. Perhaps the cry should be 'A plague on elves and *their* stiff necks!'"

Then he grabbed me around the shoulders and hugged me tightly.

"It's been a long time, my friend," I whispered.

"So it has." Gabe agreed, releasing me. "Would you mind telling me what the hell is going on?"

"I will, I promise you." Digging through my pockets, I came up with one of Glorfindel's embossed business cards, my address scribbled on the back in neon green magic marker. Haldir had found this absolutely hilarious.

I handed him the card. "I need you to meet me here. The rune deactivation key is written there too. Now, tell me, how quickly can you disappear?"

His face settled into a contemplative frown. "Give me 'til midnight. I'll get a grad student to cover my classes. I'll give the dean some excuse. I'll be waiting outside your door with half a dozen suitcases before you get back."

I rolled my eyes. "Great. Wonderful. Tell my landlady I said you could go in."

"Trusting sort, is she?"

"You wouldn't believe it."

**************

The sun was beginning to set as I made my way across the winter-brown lawns of Princeton University. Turning down a raked gravel path, I almost tripped over a sitting figure.

Haldir stood and stretched. "Hey, Legolas. You certainly took your time."

"What are you doing here?" I asked, as he brushed dirt from his pants.

"Glorfindel and the twins are waiting with the chopper." he said casually, leading me towards a thick stand of trees beyond the campus. "We came to give you lift."

"Out of the goodness of your hearts, I'm sure." I commented dryly.

"Well...no." He grinned. "Actually, we came in case Professor Gleason had you locked up and we had to spring you from the mental ward."

"You're too kind."

Haldir shrugged expansively. "Well, someone has to look out for you kid."