Author: Mirrordance

Title: For Every Evil

Summary: Legolas is a policeman in 2004. His colleagues start to wonder why the 10-yr veteran doesn't age & more trouble ahead after he runs across the Fellowship & some friends in modern incarnations, resurrected along with a new world-threatening peril.

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22: Forming

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Imladris,

Vienna, Austria

Mid-2004

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They contemplated hurrying to pack the things that were most important to them and leave Imladris for awhile, should the intruders return. Halvor, and the few servants who did not live in the main house but in the un-attacked little quarters abound in the other parts of the estate did not like the idea of abandoning their post to the hands of the enemies.

Anatalia called Elladan to ensure him that most of them were safe, and the twin masters of the house ordered the entire troupe out of Imladris as a precaution.

'This is not a time of war, Halvor,' Elladan said to the manservant soothingly, 'We have no army to fell theirs, we only have each other. And each other we must protect.'

'Your lady mother,' Halvor said haltingly, 'I deface her house with my abandonment.'

'It is not an abandonment,' Elladan said steely, 'Imladris will always stand and it will always belong to our blood. But we must preserve ourselves first.'

Elrohir plucked the mobile from his twin's hands, 'Halvor. No dramatics, my friend. No one's taking over the place like some war prize or captured territory. We have the deeds, eh? Welcome to the new millennium.'

Upon Legolas' disappearance the twins naturally reacted with more worry.

"Do we tell the police?" Adrian asked when Ana yielded the cell phone to him.

"Don't just yet," Elrohir advised, "Besides, they will not act upon it until he's been missing for a number of hours. We will be there by then."

Adrian nodded, "We will search a bit more, perhaps he just tumbled around somewhere here. And we will revive our prisoners for questioning. We'll toss them in your dungeons with some food and drink, then we'll check into a hotel. Have a safe journey. We'll see you in a few hours."

He ended the call and handed the phone back to Ana.

"One more search?" he asked of his friends, and they all quietly dispersed about the grounds.

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They did not yield anything, and it seemed rather plain already that the elf had been captured, for it was not like him at all to simply vanish off with no word, or with no quick return.

When a fair-haired elf burst forth from the coat closet, Adrian's heart soared at what he thought was the safe comeback of Leland Greene. When the angry face lifted up to him, it instead belonged to a sputtering stranger.

"Who the hell are you?" Adrian asked.

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They abandoned the hotel idea for the moment. The elven servants were loyal to the house were rather old but still had a load of the warrior skills of their illustrious kin. Bearing bows and arrows taken from the old arms room, and some rifles left from the world wars, they patrolled the grounds and kept in touch with hands-free digital radios, making for a rather lethal mix of the best of the old and the most useful of the new.

Halvor, bless him, still somehow had the mind to serve tea and cake. They were hoarded voraciously, for the troupe had not known they've fallen into hunger until the foodstuffs was set before them.

Dawn was still hours away, although the chirping of birds now and then could be heard, heralding the coming of the new day. Most of the group sat about the living room, breezier now that the windows have been blasted away, curtains billowing about them. Halvor busied himself with the dusting away of the glass shards and the mopping of the blood, and Brad and Emmett busied themselves tying up the three rousing prisoners as they spoke of what had happened and what the next step was.

The cabinet-closet-elf was an agent of Interpol, Halvor had said to the others a bit sheepishly. He said that Master Legolas shoved him there to keep him alive and to keep him from stirring up trouble with his little gun. He apologized for forgetting about the agent in all the madness.

Horace Harding sat upright and very uptight amidst the strangers. He looked a bit disheveled, golden wisps of his hair out of place here and there, though Adrian reflected that he really shouldn't look so different from all the rest of them.

"Where's Greene?" Harding demanded.

"They took him," Eowyn replied, watching the other's face and wondering if she knew him. He looked familiar… perhaps not in this incarnation but as someone else, long ago. Legolas surely saw it fit to protect him, although it seemed Halvor was clueless of who he was.

Well you're regal and pompous enough to have once been an elf, she reflected wryly, noting that though he must have been famished, he did not partake of their inviting feast.

"Who took him, Ms. Rigare?" he asked, and her brows raised at the fact that she was known to him. He read her face clearly. "I do know you. I'm investigating Fortress Defense."

"Why?" Emmett demanded, "What have we done to merit the attentions of Interpol?"

Horace was hesitant. "I cannot talk of this at length and with particularities, especially with you. Suffice to say anything and anyone dealing in arms and weapons are obviously of concern to us."

"How did you come to be here?" Eowyn asked him.

"I was looking into your company," Harding replied, "And detected an electronic inquiry that was being too nosy. A hacker, if you will. I let him give the information to his client. I wanted to see who it was. I have the hacker in my custody, and now I have questions to ask of the owners of this house, his clients. And now… well you of all people are here. The heirs to the financial empire. Why would you have to steal information from your own company? Your own uncle? Are you the ones behind the stock-hoarding?"

"We are not trying a hostile takeover," Emmett replied, "But someone is. I am no longer… in the loop in the company, you could say. I have a suspicion, and I want him dealt with before he does something with the company."

"Or you're creating its fall yourself," Harding pointed out, "Like a disgruntled employee turned saboteur."

"Tempting thought," Emmett said dryly, "But I've been investigating this for awhile, not just since I got the boot. And someone is after us too, you saw it yourself."

"Who is after you?" Harding asked.

"We don't know," Adrian replied with a wince, "And so we don't know either why they took Detective Greene." He paused in thought, "Our hacker is with you?"

"Yes," Harding replied, "I deposited him in one of our outposts here in Vienna."

"We need him," Adrian said.

"I'm not going to lend him," Harding replied coolly, "I'm not even certain if you are the ones to be trusted here. I have to speak to my captain."

"Listen," said Brad, "We can kill you here and now and bury you in the back with no one knowing any better, 007. But we won't. Because we're the good guys. You tell your bosses about all this right now, and stuff will leak that we'd rather not get into and believe me, when you find out what it is, you'll hate it too. So. Lend us the hacker, be privy to all the info that you want, file your report, be a hero, save the world, etc., etc. We'll let you watch over our shoulders, just don't jog the elbow. Does that work for you?"

"They are waking," Ana said quietly of the three prisoners, who were squirming against their bonds.

Adrian loomed over the three men threateningly. In the light, and with lesser numbers, they seemed young and though hardened by their harsh few years, they did not look so tough now.

"Who sent you?" he asked them darkly.

Naturally, none of them replied.

"Where's Leland Greene?" he asked.

And was once again met with the same silence.

The doctor set his jaws and stepped away from them, considering them one by one. Hardwing watched the group work with narrowed eyes, considering his options and weighing in his own curiosity. He rose from his seat and gently but authoritatively pushed Adrian Aarons aside.

"I'm Agent Horace Harding with Interpol," he said coolly, showing them his identification. "You know what kind of trouble you're in, gentlemen? Assault, industrial espionage, attempted murder, kidnapping, destruction of property, likely terrorism too. We're talking international court here, guys, with everything from the books thrown at you for an intricate rap sheet that will send you to jail. The world is in my hands, my friends, and I personally guarantee that all your silence will buy for you is the darkest cells in the worst corners of the planet, where people will forget you and you'll never see the light of day again, and life will be long and time will be unbearably slow. And the buddies you protect will be wealthy beyond belief and dancing around in the sun. They left you, remember? You're all mercenaries here. I only ask you to be… what you already are. Buy your freedom, gentlemen. Buy the breezes and the sun. Turn witness. No one's a squealer here, we're all just being practical." The Interpol agent turned to the table for an effective dramatic pause and casually bit into a muffin. "Good stuff," he said to Halvor before turning back to the three, "I'll let you think about it."

He walked away from them, and toward the windows. Adrian watched him with wry appreciation. He turned to the thoughtful young faces. He hoped they would break. He hoped they would talk. The sooner they found out where Leland was and who held him captive, all the better.

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Elladan, Elrohir, Gandalf and Faramir returned just before the rising of the sun. Though they were displeased to find the troupe had not left Imladris for the safety of some other place, this was definitely overshadowed by their relief.

What was a great and profound shock to them, though, was to find Haldir of Lothlorien sitting beside a surprisingly towering and heavy-set Gimli Gloin's son in their living room.

Eowyn, who was the only one of the group left in the house who already reclaimed her old memories was watching their faces impishly. No one else—Brad, Adrian, Anatalia, Emmett and Halvor-- knew who Gimli was. Gimli himself did not even know who he was! Gandalf's shining eyes met hers. The fellowship was forming, and though Legolas was lost for the moment, the sight of the 'dwarf' was giving him hope.

"Horace Harding of Interpol," Adrian said to the new arrivals, "And Jimmy Goran. Your hacker. Agent Harding traced you from Goran. Harding's investigating Fortress Defense."

"Fine trouble you got me into, laddies," the hacker glared at Elrohir and Elladan, not quite sure which was which although he, a purveyor of information, obviously knew who his long-time clients were.

"Unbelievable," Elrohir breathed, "All these years… And you're taller and smarter than me."

Elladan stepped toward Goran, who was already manning a laptop. Those questions can be answered later. "What can you tell us about our missing friend?"

"Your little hostages over there were of some help," Goran replied, turning his attention on the computer, "The intruders did not come here with intent to kill. They came to capture. You lot are wanted for some sort of questioning. They're not sure who they work for-- they are part of a group of mercenaries contracted toward assassination and kidnapping, and only their top people know their clients. Anyway, with orders for capture, you have something their boss wants and chances are, they'll keep your lad alive."

"But where is he?" Elrohir asked, "We do not have much at all."
"I wasn't done yet," Goran snapped, "We don't know the client but we know the bosses, eh? And we know their strongholds too."

"Strongholds?" Elrohir asked.

"There are two in Europe," Goran replied, "I do not know yet which they would go to. I argue that nearer is the best bet, but these three are saying they've also been known to deliver the goods to the client in high-paying cases like these."

Elrohir sighed, closed his eyes and rubbed at the bridge of his nose in deep, despairing thought.

"We have time," he said, mostly to comfort himself, "They will keep him alive as long as they think he has something to give to them. And Legolas will stay alive because he never breaks. He'll wait for us."

TO BE CONTINUED…

Hey guys!!! Thanks for the r&r's. Unbelievable, I'm still stuck at chapter 26! Crazy! But I'm working, I am, I promise :) Please keep the reviews coming if you can, chapter 23 will be up soon and afterwards and we'll all know where Leland Greene is :) 'Til then!!!