"I know what it is," Lex said grimly.
"You do? Does this mean you can get us back to Middle-earth?" Aragorn asked.
Lex chewed her lip in thought for a moment before speaking. "In theory."
"So… what is it?" asked Frodo.
Lex stared at those big blue eyes from a moment, some internal debate raging inside her. Finally, she spoke. "It's called a plot hole. See, in this universe, you guys are characters in a book, and people like to write stories about your adventures in Middle-earth. But sometimes people like to change the main plotline of the story, put in new characters, and generally muck the canon to all hell. The results are plot holes. I didn't think they were a physical phenomenon, but since you're here… I guess I have to believe."
"So how do you propose to get us back?" Gandalf quirked an eyebrow at Lex.
"I have to make a plot hole -- one big enough to get you all through. And I need to do it from the same location I found you in."
"And how exactly does one craft a plot hole?" Legolas spoke.
"Very bad writing," Lex muttered. "Gather your things. We need to do this. I'm worried you may have already lingered here too long."
The Fellowship dispersed to gather their belongings, but Legolas remained, staring at Lex as she sat perched on the couch, her head in her hands.
"What troubles you? You have solved our problem and are now to be rid of us. Why are you in such distress?" He made no move towards her, only stood and cocked his head slightly to one side.
"You'd laugh," was all Lex muttered.
"If I swore not to?"
"I still wouldn't tell you."
"Well, that business is yours alone, Lady." Legolas turned to go.
"Wait," Lex sighed.
"Yes?"
"I don't want you to leave me here alone. You collectively," she added hastily. "I've never even been to your world and I feel more a part of it than I've ever felt in this one. I'm having this massive moral dilemma about what to do. I think I can make the plot hole big enough to get myself through. But what implications would that have in Middle-earth? I don't want to just go skipping blithely into this and ignore the chance I could screw things up beyond all belief." Lex shook her head. "I don't know. My heart says one thing and my head another."
Legolas considered her for a moment. "It seems to me that if we could come here, there is no good reason why it would not work in reverse. But again, I am not skilled in the sciences of your world. And as for what you would do? I think you would make an excellent elf."
Lex looked up just fast enough to see Legolas quirk a smile, and then he was gone. She sat in thought a moment more, trying to quell the storm that ranged inside her. Finally, she picked up a pad of paper and a pen and began to write a note to Jeff.
*****
Lex was sullen the whole way up the mountain. The Fellowship, sensing her mood, kept their antics to a minimum. She noticed Legolas trailing his fingers out the window as they sped down the highway, and Gimli was staring murderously at the dashboard clock. Other than that, silence reigned.
With a spray of gravel, Lex pulled to a stop in front of the access gate to the fire tower. She climbed out of the car and waited for the Fellowship to extricate themselves. She was so distracted that Aragorn had to ask her to open the trunk three times before she heard him.
When at last they stood before her, she appraised them well before speaking. "Give me a half hour. Wait here. When I return, we'll do it." She said no more, but picked up the bag that held the laptop and started up the trail to the fire tower.
As she climbed the last of the steps, she took a deep breath and took in the clear day and surrounding mountains. Their beauty was truly stunning, the hills rippling and rolling around the secret valleys… But there was nothing here for her any more. Nothing she wanted. Lex opened the notebook and began writing one last story.
*****
The Fellowship waited patiently for Lex's return.
"What will it be like?" asked Pippin.
"I don't know about that," replied Sam.
Aragorn and Boromir were talking in hushed voices with Gandalf. Gimli was nowhere to be seen. Legolas had perched himself on the roof of Lex's car, lost deep in thought.
His ears perked as he heard footsteps coming down from the trail. Lex appeared, looking sad and not a little scared. She gathered the Fellowship to her, setting the laptop on the hood of the car.
"All I have to do it alter one line, and that should be enough to open the plot hole. All you have to do it jump through. I've set it up to drop you back where you came from, but I'm not sure I got it exactly right. We'll just have to play it by ear. Ready?"
"Lex?" asked Aragorn.
"Hmm?"
"Thank you. From all of us. You have done great deeds in service to us, and for that we are forever in your debt."
"Would you have done differently in my place?" was all Lex asked. She took one last look at the strange crew who had rapidly become her friends, and then turned to the laptop.
"Get ready," she said.
'The company of the Ring shall be Nine,' read Lex's text. Heart pounding, Lex deleted the word 'Nine' and replaced it with 'Ten.'
She could almost feel the tearing of the Canon. No, scratch that. She could feel it. And it hurt. Lex summoned the rest of her strength to turn around. The air behind the Fellowship seemed to shimmer and twist and a great wind rushed in to fill some unseen void.
"Go!" Lex screamed, but her voice was lost to the howling wind and the rending of space. She saw the Fellowship fade into the plot hole. Lex swore she saw some of them wave.
Now, to close that little bastard. Lex's finger hung poised over the delete key, ready to change 'Ten' back to 'Nine'. But… Lex's mind was made up, finally concurring with what her heart had told her from the beginning. Fighting against the plot hole, Lex struggled to the car and opened the door, setting the laptop on the seat and leaving the car key under the floor mat. She tapped one last command into the computer, closed and locked the door, and ran for the plot hole.
*****
Birds chirped. Lex wasn't sure at first if they were in her head or in the air around her. Cautiously, she pried an eye open.
Majestic blue sky, large, puffy clouds and light. Lots and lots of light.
"Ow," said Lex definitively.
"Hush, she wakes."
That's not English, thought Lex. But I understand it.
"Where am I?" she asked. No, that wasn't English either.
"We aren't far from Rivendell. And we are joined by a tenth, I see," Lex rolled her head to one side and espied Gandalf picking leaves from his robes.
Tentatively she sat up. Nothing seemed broken and the initial dizziness was passing. Lex took the opportunity to count. Yes, all nine members of the Fellowship.
"Pardon me. I … need a moment to take it all in." Lex stood shakily and walked a few steps from the group. Middle-earth. She had made it to Middle-earth and closed the plot hole behind her. But now what?
"I'm not prepared for this," she whispered, wondering if she had made a fatal mistake.
"You are as prepared as any who adventure strikes." She heard Aragorn's voice from behind her.
"You're more prepared than we were!" said Sam.
"Am I?" she said without turning around.
You are, said a voice in her head. But not hers. Lex could feel her eyes widen. This was not part of the crafting of the Plot Hole.
Legolas?!
I thought you might be able to hear me. It is good. It means you are attuned to nature, and thus to Middle-earth. It is a helpful and not entirely unexpected gift for you to have.
Lex felt herself begin to hope, just a bit.
"I cannot join you, you realize," she said as she slowly turned.
"You could go back to the Shire! You could tell them we're fine and that you're to stay on our hospitality until we return," Sam suggested.
"I thank you, Master Gamgee, and perhaps I will carry your message to the shire. But to sit in the Shire now that I have come here… No, I need to do more." Lex looked to Aragorn. "Where might I find the rangers?"
He looked surprised. "You would join them?"
"Aye. If they would have me."
"Well, you have shown yourself to be resourceful and not without wisdom, determination and strength. They may at that. You true test, however, will be to find them. We are many days walk from even the furthest outpost. I will tell you how to go, and tell you what you need to know to enter among them. After that, it will fall to you."
Lex nodded. "I understand. And I accept your gracious offer."
*****
Directions were given. Lex was provisioned by Sam, enough for a few days. Goodbyes were said. Promises for reunions were made, but Lex doubted she would see the Nine again.
As she set out, Lex wondered if she could survive here, in an unknown wild. She gave herself fair odds. This, she felt, was what she was meant to do. Carrying her memories of the Nine close at heart, she headed north.