Alisaundre: I'm planning to give Frodo more recovery time but I also want Merry to be evil again. Gggrr!

Aelfgifu: Yes, you are tight about the soup. BTW, now I feel that I won't be able to satisfy you guys!

John Lennon Across the Universe: Oh, your comment about how the good want to protect him and the evil want to harm him sent shivers down my spine!! Elwood's Frodo is just so adorable!

Blue Jedi Hobbit: "I'm in need of a great therapy chapter. Please help!!" ^_^

Krista: That's nooo problem about being late to review. But of course I always want people to review so I can be sure that they do read my story. Merry's going soft on Frodo? Maybe. But it's just one way to show that he's truly evil! Story is about to end? Oh, no, my dear! I'm afraid not!! :)
Warning: AU
Chapter 39
"Help--- Help me-" There was a faint voice but nobody seemed to heed it.

"That's right, Strider. I still cannot hear anything," Sam persisted. Strider gave up, sighing.

"I can't hear anything either now."

"What exactly did you hear?" Sam got curious.

Strider looked away.

"Mmh, I don't know. I'm not sure. It was like --- the sound of horses? Hundreds of horses? But sometimes it sounded different. And sometimes I just couldn't hear anything at all."

"Why didn't I hear it too?" chased Sam.

The ranger shrugged.

"Because it was too far, perhaps? And I'm a ranger. Maybe that's why--"

His voice was interrupted by yet another faint cry.

"Help, please ---"

Sam's ears strained. This one he could hear.

"Hey, Strider! Who is that?"

The man looked around. There were only the two bodies near them; one once belonged to Saruman and the other belonged to - no! The other one turned to be still moving! Strider ran to him immediately and checked on the pulse. It was there though very weak.

The man's eyelids shuddered a little and his lips parted slowly.

"H---"

"Ssshh," quieted Strider. "You'll be just fine - Ted." Though amazed at the fact that the man was still alive after all this time, Strider managed to recall the name Frodo had cried out.

Strider's fingers went to the arrow that was still sticking out of Ted's body. No wonder. It went into the part between his chest and stomach, not striking a vital organ that otherwise could be deadly. Strider was considering pulling it out, but he realized that he needed to be very careful at doing it.

Ted grimaced, squeezed his eyes shut tightly, and then opened them. He tried hard to focus his sight.

"Who - are - you?" he asked Strider in a mumbling voice. He was about to talk more when pain attacked him. Ted let out small hitches as he struggled to will it.

"I - " It was difficult for the ranger to answer the question. How could he say that he was the one who shot the arrow that could have ended the man's life?

"I - am a friend of Frodo," Strider said eventually.

"Frodo," whispered Ted. "A hobbit so fair and nice looking. Wonder why Saruman liked it so much to torment him," Ted said all those words with great difficulty. But affection was clear in his feeble voice. "He's dead, isn't he? That all happened because I was not brave enough."

A strangled voice escaped his lips, making Strider stoop immediately to check. No. Ted was all right. He was just - breaking into sobs.

"Don't," urged Strider. "Don't push yourself. No more talking. I will try to take the arrow out of your body."

Ted's eyes searched for Strider's.

"But it's right, right? Frodo couldn't stand the torture anymore. Not with a body so small like his."

Strider didn't say anything. He was concentrating on the arrow. He had broken half of the wooden part so now it was just the remaining half and the metal tip of the arrow that stayed.

"Sam," he hissed. "Please get some athelas from my bag. We're going to need them."

Sm nodded quietly and went find the bag.

The ranger turned to the arrow again and with one hand clamping over Ted's mouth, he pulled the weapon as swiftly as possible with his other hand. His scream muffled Aragorn's palm, Ted's eyes went huge.

"Done," informed Strider, relieved, to the slowly fading man. He lifted his hand from the mouth.

"Ooh!" heaved Ted. "It hurt-" He collapsed before he had the chance to finish his sentence.

Strider bent down to Ted's chest and started to suck the blood from the wound. That would keep it from getting infected. The metal had been stuck too long in Ted's flesh. Strider spat out the blood and took the athelas leaves and crushed them in his hands.

"Thanks, Sam," he said while covering the wound with the leaves. Then he eyed Ted.

"I'm sorry," muttered Strider. "Wish I knew you were not that bad. I do hope the athelas will help you recover."

***

Feeling full, warm, safe, and protected, Frodo curled up dozing off on Merry 's lap. He was dreaming about some place beautiful and comfortable, but unfamiliar to him. Merry noticed his childlike elder cousin sometimes smiled a little. That made him smiled too. He played his hand through Frodo's hair, humming lullabies softly.

He had always liked Frodo, respecting him. But at the moment there was no respect in the dark little heart of his. There was only the desire to make Frodo completely bow down to his power.

Merry knew he could without Frodo, but why wasting a willing, though rather forced, bait? He ran his fingers down Frodo's stained cheek, then moved to his delicately sculpted nose and finally to the small, adorable lips. Frodo did look adorable but he was never popular amongst the lasses thanks to his worshipping books and adventures.

Frodo's lids fluttered open, his lovely blue eyes catching the sight of Merry so close to his face. He held his breath. A glint of fear flashed for a moment, but then vanished as soon as he was able to register Merry's name in his partially erased memory. The smile that had been adorning his sleep came back. Merry titled his chin up gently.

"What is it?" he purred, as if he were talking to a small child. "Beautiful dream, Frodo?"

Frodo looked away, blushing. He shook his head. It had to be beautiful, he was sure, but he couldn't remember it anymore. Still smiling, he turned back to Merry and whispered,

"Must have been in heaven. So peaceful and lovely. Then there were some people, too. They called my name, Merry. But I didn't answer. I don't know them."

Merry was silent for a while. Might they be Frodo's parents? Then he let it go.

"That is very nice, Frodo," replied Merry. "But you don't regret, do you, that you woke up?"

"Oh, no. No, Merry!" chirped Frodo. He sat up and hugged his cousin lovingly. "I am glad to be here with you."

Merry laughed and broke Frodo's embrace.

"I have a surprise for you, Frodo dear."

Frodo looked at him curiously.

"We're going to take a bath. Isn't that nice? I asked Pippin to boil some water a moment ago. I think it must be ready now. Can you imagine? You're going to get fresh and clean!"

Merry didn't expect Frodo to jump happily at the news, of course, but he thought the hobbit would at least welcome it. He never guessed that Frodo would instead draw back and get tense all over. The word 'bath' and 'water' had triggered something in his mind that made him recoil.

"Come on, Frodo." Merry stood up and took his cousin's hand. Frodo got more panicky. He shut his eyes, feeling like being swirled into another dimension. He seemed not to realize how Merry gripped him ever more tightly.

"What is the matter with you!" Merry yelled impatiently and tugged the thin wrist harshly now.

Frodo's eyes were still clenched shut. He felt like getting trapped somewhere with no chance to escape. Water! No! Unconsciously he remembered being gushed over by good amount of chilling water, leaving him freezing and quivering feverishly. Frodo was actually quivering now.

"Please, Merry, no. I have promised to be good," he begged miserably, pulling himself to the opposite direction.

"For Eru's sake, Frodo!" Merry grabbed Frodo's upper arms and shook the hobbit hard. "What on Middle Earth are you talking about? I said a bath, Frodo, a nice warm bath! What do you have in mind?! Open your eyes, Frodo!"

Still shuddering, Frodo opened his eyes. Horror was still lingering there.

"Warm bath?" he echoed weakly.

"Indeed!"

"Not - not cold water?"

"No! But you many go swim in the river with Pippin afterwards. And the water will be quite cold, I guess. What was it that you were thinking, Frodo?" asked Merry again.

But Frodo would not answer. He was a bit embarrassed now, having got panicked by - his own imagination?

Somehow Merry could see which part of Frodo's memory had just come to the surface. He glanced over to Pippin, who seemed to understand, too.

Merry hugged Frodo and led him to a fire.

"Look, Frodo," said Merry, pointing at a big wooden bucket full of warm water near the fire, cheerfully. "I have no idea where Pippin has got the bucket. I might have come together with the pony. But never mind! The important thing is I can make you feel frech again."

Merry brushed away some curls that were crowding over Frodo's forehead and were caked with sweat and mud.

"And your hair - it will become soft and shiny again."

Frodo just stood there, too stunned to say anything. He almost couldn't believe his eyes.

TBC