Authors' Note: A couple of questions have to be answered before we let you move onto the story. No we don't live in Ontario. We live in Newfoundland. Trish will be explained eventually. Boromir will show up, have patience please. Hurray for all of those who are dressing up for opening night too by the way. We all have very pretty elf dresses that Eirual's mum made for us. Also, we are aware that this is a very short chapter. The one on Thursday should be longer.

The Nightrunners.

Are We There Yet?

Soundtrack: It's Only Me (The Wizard of Magicland) (Barenaked Ladies)

Speaking as a guy who's really got it going on

It's only natural

It's only me

Take it from a fella

Who's been round the block so many times

He knows the only parking spot that's free

It's only me

You can say I've tried everything

I'd save on a wedding ring

Who knows me half as well as me?

I'm not antisocial and it's nothing that's reproachful

It's just natural

It's only me

I can't think of anybody else

I'd rather spend some one on one time with

It's not that hard to see

It's only me

I'm the me in monogamy

I'm not asking a lot of me

I give me R E S P E C T

And if your heart is broken

You can just do what you do best

You can just do what you do

When your heart is broken

Trust in the one who will love you

Never put others above you

I thought I was using me to get to you

But this is too unnatural

It's only me

They say you'll never love another till you love yourself

Well brother, I'm in love with everyone I see

It's only me

You can say I've tried everything

I'd save on a wedding ring

Who knows me half as well as me?

I believe in monogamy

I'm not asking a lot of me

I give me R E S P E C T







The hobbits had their groove on. They were running through a preconceived dance routine, perfectly in-sync, which was pretty impressive considering they were crammed in a compact car wrapped in several layers of safety belts.

Gimli gritted his teeth; rap was not his idea of good music. Unfortunately, none of the four had been taking requests. Glancing in the rearview mirror, he saw them exchange glances, then they launched into a new rap fragment:

"The road goes ever on and on,

Down from the door where it began

Now far ahead the road has gone

And I must follow, if I can,

Pursuing it with weary feet,

Until it joins some larger way,

Where many paths and errands meet.

And wither then? I cannot say."

Despite the quick rhythm of the words, Gabe caught most of this latest work. "Oh my God. Tell me you did not just try to *rap* Bilbo's walking song!"

Mark shrugged, or shrugged as best he could, considering he still had an eight-year-old on his lap. "Fine. We did not just try to rap Bilbo's walking song."

Felix grinned at his companions. "I think it has definite potential. Do you think the old guy would mind if we did a cover of it?"

The others laughed and Gabe groaned. Trying to drive in New York's rush-hour traffic was difficult. Trying to drive with four irrepressible, singing and dancing hobbits in rush hour traffic was very nearly impossible. He had accomplished some difficult missions working for the government, but this stupid drive to the airport seemed even harder.

Sam craned his neck to look up into the front seat. "Hey, Gimli?"

Gabe spared him a glance. "Yeah?"

"How'd you do that trick with the magic, anyway? That psycho mage-bitch hammered you with a pretty strong spell."

The university professor sighed, fixing his glasses. "I have a genetic resistance to magic," he explained. "Any kind of spell aimed at me has really unpredictable results."

Felix nodded, eyes wide. "I've heard of that. 'Magic-proof' people. But isn't that really rare?"

Gabe nodded. "Just lucky, I guess," he replied, his voice wry. "But, looking at it now, it could be the whole dwarven heritage thing. Durin's folk always were resistant to dark magic. Now it just seems to extend to all spells, curses, charms, and whatever."

"I always thought that a spell would just go nuts when it hit a magic-proof person, though," Felix said thoughtfully. "I've never heard of anything like that, a spell actually rebounding off a person to hit the caster."

The ex-dwarf looked at him sharply, then answered: "Yeah, well, it does stuff like that sometimes. I'm not complaining, mind you. It's gotten me out of some pretty tough situations."

The reply seemed evasive to the hobbits, but something in his tone warned them not to pry. They glanced amongst themselves, and reaching a collective decision; let the matter drop. They went back to singing, perhaps a bit more subdued than before.

Forgotten by the others, Trish watched the scholarly fighter for a long time after the discussion ended.