A Stranger In The Woods

Chapter 14: Happenings in the Night

Katie awoke several hours later, drenched in sweat despite the freezing temperatures and desperately needing to pee. She stood up, trying to decide if going to the bathroom in the middle of the night required putting her pants and boots on. "To hell with it," she muttered under her breath. She would be right back anyway.

She tiptoed past the sleeping bodies towards a group of boulders in the distance. No one appeared to be awake, but it was better not to chance being caught with her pants down. Sharp rocks pressed into the bottoms of her feet and she cursed herself for not slipping on her boots.

"Ouch," she growled, muttering to herself as she walked. Finally, she reached the rocks and found one large enough to hide behind. She looked around to make sure no one was watching and then relieved herself.

After she finished, she quickly pulled up her underwear and stood, feeling 100 better. She began walking back towards the group but only made it half way when a large hand reached out and grabbed her shoulder. Katie swallowed a scream, not wanting to wake the men and receive a lecture. She spun around and came face to face with Boromir.

'Oh crap,' she thought, her heart sinking faster than lead. She wondered if it was too late to scream.

"Follow me," the man growled; a small knife glistened in his hand. "And don't even think about screaming."

'Shit.' She had no option but to follow him away from the group. 'Maybe,' she thought hopefully, 'I can convince him I'm not a spy.'

She was still trying to work out what to say when he shoved her back against a boulder, using both hands to effectively pin her against the cold, hard rock.

"You venture far from the camp," he whispered, sounding out of breath.

"Let me go. I've already told you, I am not a spy."

Boromir grinned. "Oh, I've figured that out. I just wonder what exactly you are." He slid his hand down the front of her shirt and Katie sucked in a breath.

Her mind fought to grasp his words. He knew she wasn't a spy. So why was he bothering her? Unless he thought…

Boromir chuckled and continued to run his hand down her body, over her bare legs.

"I am here to help the group. Nothing more. Whatever you think of me, you're wrong." She tried unsuccessfully to keep the quiver from her voice.

Boromir brought one hand up and undid the top button of her shirt. "If I am wrong, than why are you out here dressed like this?"

He unbuttoned another. Then another. Katie fought against him, suddenly furious. His hands immediately went back to her shoulders and the feel of the knife against her skin caused her to still.

"I shouldn't matter what I wear." She hissed, too angry to be silent. "If you were any kind of gentleman, you wouldn't be standing here groping me like a whore."

His right hand slid down and Katie gasped as he pressed the cold metal blade against her breast.

"And your elf Prince, is he a gentleman?" Boromir asked with a grin. "Because I see the way he looks at you. I see how all the men look at you."

"How?" Katie whispered, afraid to ask.

"Like you might be some fun if the road gets lonely," he hissed. His hands slithered all over her body. "Like you might provide a nice distraction."

She spit in his face. "I will never be your fun and I sure as hell won't be your distraction."

He pressed his knife against her angrily and Katie felt a drop of blood trickle down her chest. She didn't care. She was beyond caring. She shoved against him as hard as she could, forcing him to stumble backwards.

"Don't you ever touch me again," she hissed, so angry she was seeing red.

"Or what?" He regained his balance and took a step closer to her. "What's going to happen to me if I touch you?"

"I'll-." That was as far as she got before a figure appeared behind Boromir and yanked him backwards into the darkness.

She stood there frozen with shock, hearing the unmistakable sounds of fists hitting flesh. A movement to her right broke her trance and she took off running as if the flames of hell were licking at her feet. She didn't care about the rocks that cut into her soles, or the burning from her chest. All she cared about was getting back to the group as quickly as possible. Getting away from Boromir.

In the back of her mind she wondered who her savior was, but all thoughts flew from her head as she tripped over an uneven patch of ground and landed flat on her face. She scrambled to her feet and began to run again, ignoring the flaring pain in her leg from the fall. Suddenly, strong arms caught her from behind, pulling her to a stop. Katie opened her mouth to scream, and was silenced as a large hand clamped over her mouth.

She went crazy, kicking and screaming; struggling with everything she had, trying to free herself. All she could think about was being raped, and the knife. She bit down as hard as she could.

"Ouch!" It was Legolas. He tightened his grip around her. "I'm not going to hurt you, so quit fighting me." His voice calmed her more than anything else would.

Katie collapsed against him, nearly sobbing with relief. He removed his hand from her mouth and slowly lowered her to the ground.

"Are you hurt?" He asked, twisting her body around to look at her face.

She shook her head, not trusting herself to speak. She was precariously close to tears and didn't want to lose it in front of him.

His blue eyes bore into hers, searching her soul. Katie was suddenly aware of how close they were; one arm held her tightly around her waist and the other was resting on her bare leg. She looked down and gasped when she realized her shirt was still unbuttoned, exposing the tops and sides of her breasts.

Legolas followed her gaze and suddenly let her go- jumping back as if burnt. He sprang to his feet and abruptly turned away.

Her shaky fingers fumbled with the buttons as she felt a hot blush creep up her cheeks. This was beyond humiliation. She finally finished and rose to her feet, taking several deep breaths to calm herself.

"What were you doing so far from camp?" He asked, back still turned.

Katie rolled her eyes at his angry tone. She knew he'd bring that up.

"I can hear you rolling your eyes," he snapped, spinning back around to face her.

Katie bit her lip to keep from smiling. "I'm sorry."

She couldn't resist. "The reason I was so far from camp was because I didn't want you to listen to me going to the bathroom with your super elf ears."

Legolas narrowed his eyes, not amused. "You should be glad I heard something or Boromir would have raped you."

Immediately she turned serious, realizing he was right. She didn't know if Boromir would have gone so far as to rape her, but he sure as hell scared her.

"I'm sorry, "she whispered, feeling like a jerk. "Thank you for…everything." She turned and began to walk back towards camp.

Legolas reached out and lightly grabbed her by the arm. "I did not mean to lecture." He said softly, keeping pace beside her.

They walked back to the group in silence. Legolas led her to his bedroll and made her sit. "Wait here," he whispered. He walked over to where Bill was tied and removed some cloth and a healing ointment from a small leather pack.

He knelt beside her, studying the cut on her leg. Gently, he dabbed the wound with the cloth, cleaning away the dirt and blood.

"This might sting a bit," he warned. He dipped a finger into the balm and carefully spread it over the cut. Katie barely noticed the pain. All her concentration was on him and the feel of his fingers caressing her bare skin. She was all too aware of how close he was, and how little she wore.

He wrapped a bandage around her leg and looked up at her with a frown. "Your chest is bleeding also," he stated, unsure of what to do.

"Oh," Katie squeaked. Just when she thought things couldn't get worse- poof- they did. Feeling mortified, she opened her shirt, keeping herself as covered as possible.

Legolas stared at her chest for a full 3 seconds. Katie counted. Then he blinked twice and quickly cleaned the blood with his cloth.

"You should wear more to sleep in," he said quietly, his voice tight. He placed more ointment on his fingers and slowly spread it down her cut.

Katie shivered at the sensation, watching him as he expertly refastened the buttons of her shirt. Boromir's cruel words echoed in her head. 'Like you might provide a nice distraction.' She shivered again, for a completely different reason. 'I wonder if Legolas thinks of me as a distraction.' Oh, she knew she wasn't a distraction to him in the way Boromir meant, but she wondered if he thought she was a distraction to the others.

She had to ask. "Legolas…" He looked up at her and Katie felt her mouth go dry. She hated the effect he had on her. He made her breath quicken and her heart race. It always seemed to happen at the most inconvenient times. They would be standing there talking about something boring and suddenly he would tilt his head to the side and Katie would realize again- like a punch in the gut- how damned handsome he was.

It was terribly annoying, not to mention distracting. 'There's that word again.' Building up her nerve, she raised her chin, forcing the words from her lips. "Do you…do you think I distract the others?"

He regarded her hesitantly, carefully masking his emotions. "Distract how?"

"You know," Katie muttered, feeling a blush heat her cheeks. "Do you think any of the others are distracted…by me being female?"

"Why?" His eyes suddenly narrowed. "Did Boromir say something?"

She sighed. "He just said that all the men saw me as nothing but a distraction in case the road got lonely."

Legolas looked away. "I don't think all the men are distracted," he said slowly.

"But you think some of them are?"

He gave her a wry look. "I think it's safe to say that Merry and Pippin are."

She smiled despite her nervousness. "Now that I think about it, there isn't much of a list. I can definitely rule out the hobbits and Gimli." She giggled. "And I don't think Gandalf will be a problem."

He smiled, and she continued. "Boromir is the only other person besides you and Aragorn and-."

He looked away quickly and Katie felt her eyes widen. Did he think Aragorn saw her like that? 'Surely not…but maybe,' she thought, noticing how uncomfortable he looked.

"I would watch how you dress from now on," he said stiffly, clearing his throat awkwardly.

"So, you think Aragorn is interested in me…like that?" She whispered incredulously.

Legolas wouldn't look at her. "I do not know. I think you should go back to bed."

'That's it?' She thought desperately, 'that's all he's gonna tell me. I don't know. What kind of answer is that?'

She opened her mouth to ask him but he cut her off.

"Goodnight." It was more of an order than a comment.

"Goodnight," she replied standing and walking to her own bedroll. She knew him well enough to know when he was done talking about something. 'I will get to the bottom of this,' she vowed silently before rolling over and falling into a dreamless sleep.

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A/N: Well, I'm back from a long vacation. I hope everyone isn't too mad at the wait. Expect more updates soon. I promise. Let me know what you think about the Boromir situation. I know I made him out to be a bad guy, but he redeems himself. I hope nobody is too mad…

I was very nervous about this chapter, so I hope I did an okay job. A big thanks to my brilliant beta The Hobbit Ivy for all her hard work. Keep it up!

Chapter 15 soon-

Katie-sue