Disclaimer: Still doesn't belong to me....
Authors Note: Erg...sorry...my document manager wasn't working...*sigh*....anyhow....Wow! This my be my longest
chapter! Or second longest. Right after the 2nd chapter. Many apologies about the wait! *see above for one
excuse....continue reading for others* We went to my mom's 20th college reunion this past weekend and I had a 20 hour
drawing to do for art.... But here it is!
Haldir woke with a start in a white room. "Leaping lemmings!" He shouted, looking around.
Legolas smiled. "Haldir! You're back!"
"Is that you Legolas? Everything seems so blurry..."
"We took the microchip off of your head. It was controlling your brain."
"Micro-oh...I think I remember someone saying something..." Haldir thought for a moment. "In the bush...said I could see and hear because of a microchip...very small...both the chip and them...dark hair...possessingly blue eyes...," Haldir broke off and rubbed his head.
"Frodo!" Legolas shouted. "He did this to you! Guards and nurse! To the dungeons!" In an instant they were off and Haldir was left to smile to himself.
Down in the dungeons, Frodo greet Legolas with a pleasant, "Leggie!"
Legolas cringed, but said, "Frodo, what did you do to Haldir?"
Frodo raised his eyebrows making his already over-sized eyes even bigger. "What do you mean?" He asked innocently.
"Did you plant a microchip on him?"
Frodo rolled his eyes, then glared. "Oh, go choke on a radish," he said, almost casually.
"Wha-," Legolas looked perplexed, but then regained composure as he focused on something on the back wall.
"Stupid little pansy whelk prince...can't even understand 'go choke on a radish'...What is our government coming to? Back in the Shire..."
Frodo continued to rant, but it fell on deaf ears as Legolas focused on the back wall. It was so familiar, yet...it couldn't be! He was guilty...he had to be.
Red. Stone. Red. Stone. Red. Stone. The monotonous blinking continued, just as it had in Haldir's cell, and even now in the lab. But...
"What are you staring at, blondie?" Frodo asked pointedly.
Legolas was jolted back to reality. "Uh...nurse...scented cloth, please..."
The nurse nodded and grabbed a cloth. Then both she and Legolas entered the cell.
"What are you doing?" Frodo asked suspiciously, jumping up.
The next thing Frodo knew, he was in peaceful slumber with a scented cloth around his face.
* * *
Frodo awoke with a small squeak an a table in a white room. He shuddered and instinctively curled up in a ball, like a frightened animal.
"Frodo," Legolas said sharply, expecting a retort.
Frodo closed his eyes and curled up tighter. "Where's Bilbo?" He whimpered.
Legolas started. Bilbo? Oh...the old hobbit...Did Frodo really not know he was out of the Grey Havens? Or was he just playing dumb?
"Where do you think he is Frodo?" Legolas asked levelly.
Frodo whimpered again. "Right next door?" He asked hopefully.
Legolas was shocked. For some reason, he didn't think that Frodo meant 'across the sea' when he said 'right next door'.
"Do you know where you are?" He asked Frodo.
"The Grey Havens?"
"No."
"No?"
"No."
"Oh. In a dream?"
"No."
"Dead?"
"Not yet."
"..." Was all Frodo managed to say.
"You are in Mirkwood. In the palace of King Thranduil."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Positive?"
"Yes!"
Frodo whimpered again.
"Do you know how you got here?"
Frodo shook his head.
"Do you remember the Grey Havens?"
Frodo shook his head again.
"What do you know?"
Frodo looked scared.
"Anything!" Legolas shouted.
Frodo paused. "Well...," he began meekly. "I don't think I ever got onto the ship to the Grey Havens..."
"Really? Why?"
"We...we met up with a bunch of elves. They said they wanted a word with me. Only me. They...pulled me aside...gave me some wine...told me they had a gift. Then they touched my neck...and...and...I blacked out. Then I woke up here."
"Who was the gift from?" Legolas asked, assuming the pat on the neck was a microchip planting.
"I...don't..."
"Think!"
Frodo thought for a while/ Suddenly an expression of realization crossed his face.
"Who was it from?" Legolas asked impatiently.
"I...can't tell you!" Frodo covered his head and curled up in a ball.
"Tell me, or I'll shoot you." Legolas said, quite seriously.
Frodo poked his head out and looked up with painfully blue eyes. "It was...it was...," he took a deep breath, "It was
from...King Thranduil."
