A/N I've been waiting for this story forEVER. It's gonna be so exciting. SO MUCH SHIT IS GONNA GO DOWN.

Welcome back y'all.

I say as if I took any break at all between stories.

Josephine squared her shoulders as night fell and she walked the path to Bilbo's house. She'd carry on through spite, through a fool's hope and if anyone tried to stop her she'd make sure they regretted it.

But now she had a part to play and passed through the gate, pausing with her hand on the wood and, for just a moment, realizing where she was. The green door was in front of her, marked with Gandalf's rune, and she was about to walk into a place she'd only ever dreamed she would see.

Fist raised, she knocked three times and waited patiently, fussing over the lay of her cloak and the wrinkles in her clothes.

It opened to the eyes of an old friend, but the face of a new one. Frazzled and wearing his dressing robe he seemed more confused to see her than he had been in the movie for the dwarves. She was starting to get used to it now.

"Good evening, Mr. Baggins." She tilted her head down in a court nod. "Josephine, at your service."

"An…And at yours." Bilbo stuttered with a frown. "I suppose you'd like to come in as well?"

Apparently she wasn't the first one there, something she was grateful for. The more dwarves that had arrived the easier it would be to slip around unnoticed until Gandalf had a chance to deal with Thorin. More questions would be avoided that way.

She cut in around him and he bustled off to deal with a crash that came from the pantry before he could say anything else. Dwalin's booming voice echoed down the hall and the higher pitch of Balin followed it to the chattering of Bilbo.

Josephine stepped cautiously into the empty sitting room where the fire burned brightly in the hearth. The familiarity was a comfort, even coming at such a high price. She squeezed herself into one of the chairs by the fire, her back to the door, and wrapped herself in her cloak.

Fili and Kili were the next to ring, and went down the hall without noticing her in the room on their left. Then another ring and she listened to Bilbo rant about dwarves as he opened the door a fifth time. Oofs and grumbles and complaints filled the air and Bilbo sighed heavily.

Glancing over her shoulder she waited a moment for the groups to filter out before standing to meet Gandalf in the entry. "Thorin won't arrive until after they've eaten." She told him.

"Very well. I have managed to acquire supplies for you, but I fear no steed will be found until we reach Bree that will suit you." He set a bag down at the side and nodded towards the dining room. "If you're going to travel with them, you had best go make yourself known. I fear there will be no good time to announce yourself so you might as well get it done."

He was right, she was hiding and it wasn't going to help anything. Unclasping her cloak she hung it on a peg on top of three others and left her weapons by the door. Gandalf left her, falling in with setting the table while she inched her way towards the mayhem.

Kili passed her with a bright smile and a chair in his hands. "You must be Mrs. Baggins! At your service!" And then he was gone, hollering back over his shoulder. "Fili! Don't forget a chair for Mrs. Baggins!"

"Jesus christ, this is gonna be a time." She grumbled.

Bilbo rushed after him clutching a stool to his chest. "Mrs. Baggin- I'M NOT MARRIED"

"Well then who is she then?" Dwalin said by the dining room entry, pipe smoking in his hand and staring at her under a pair of thick eyebrows.

"Josephine." She said courtly. "You'll find out why I'm here soon enough."

With a hmph, Dwalin took the pipe from his lips and hollered. "Save a morsel, there's a lady present."

Suddenly a plate of food was thrust into her hand and Nori scampered off before she could say thank you. Not that she had much of an appetite, but she picked at it nonetheless. The rules of a quest, you ate when you could whatever you could.

She leaned her arm against the door molding as the dwarves caused a ruckus at the table and watched them eat and burp and act out until the table was a mess of empty dishes and as quick as they'd gotten started they were done and rushing around clearing the table.

Ori walked up to Bilbo and asked very politely. "Excuse me, sorry to interrupt. But what should I do with my plate?"

"Here you go Ori, give it to me." Fili said, pitching it past Bilbo to Kili who snatched it out of the air and tossed it into the kitchen.

"That's my mother's Westfarthing pottery! It's over a hundred years old!"

Josephine ducked and skirted as bowls and plates and cups flew through the air, not a single one of them missing their targets. Then the silverware clinked and Bilbo's voice rose. "Can you not do that? You'll blunt them!"

"Oh, did you hear that lads? He says we'll blunt the knives." Bofur teased.

She slid in beside Gandalf along the wall, using him in part as a shield from the flying cutlery, and pressed her knuckles to her lips. She hadn't just loved the original trilogy, the Hobbits had also held a special place in her heart. Guilt came over her as the corners of her lips tipped up and the familiar song was sung between the dwarves. She didn't want to enjoy any of it, but there was still a small bit of wonder left in her and it cherished getting to see this.

Bilbo burst into the kitchen to investigate the damage, only to find the dishes washed and dried and neatly stacked with no casualties. Laughter echoed through the house but was suddenly silenced by a heavy knock at the door.

Pushed to the back of the crowd as the dwarves huddled in the sitting room doorway, Gandalf opened the door and welcomed Thorin inside.

"Gandalf. I thought you said this place would be easy to find. I lost my way, twice. I wouldn't have found it at all had it not been for that mark on the door."

"Mark?" Bilbo stuttered. "There's no mark on that door. It was painted a week ago."

Gandalf looked at him tiredly "There is a mark. I put it there myself. Bilbo Baggins, allow me to introduce the leader of our company: Thorin Oakenshield."

The lights were dimmed and they went back to the dining room where Thorin sat down with a bowl of soup and bread while the others questioned him. He noticed her, passed a glance to Gandalf who nodded, and went back to his kin. She waited, again at the edge of the room while they discussed, debated, and argued. Dragons and goblins and spiders waited in her future. Miles of travel and unknowable problems. What if she missed something? What if she changed something? The future of all of Middle-Earth could be changed depending on which theory of time travel was correct and then…She could doom the future she so desperately needed to return to.

Tired, and already knowing what was happening she broke off and wandered back into the sitting room. When Gandalf needed her, she'd join back in but for now, in the quiet of the cracking fire she tried to collect herself.

A half hour later Gandalf poked his head around the corner and motions for her to follow him. They gathered with Thorin in Bilbo's study and Thorin looked at her with a distinct lack of confidence.

"I told you to choose the fourteenth member of this company, not a fifteenth as it pleased you."

"Until this morning I quite thought fourteen would be enough. But circumstances have changed and an opportunity has presented itself." Gandalf explained. "The Seer Josephine has come to aid you in your journey."

"Seer?" Thorin scoffed. "Such things do not simply happen."

She crossed her arms. "I think using the term simply is a bit of an understatement here."

"I will not take on the burden of her protection. You have already given us enough dead weight to carry on this journey with your so-called burglar."

"I've seen my fair share of battles." She countered. "And I've traveled further distances than the length of this journey so don't use my lack of skills as an excuse."

"Your honesty, then." He snapped. "The riches of the mountain would nearly make a king of the whichever lord you serve."

Josephine pursed her lips and reached for the braid in her hair, tearing it apart and sliding the token out of it she always carried. Slapping the bead down on Bilbo's writing desk she glared at him. "This was a token given to me once by your kin, the same one who helped me learn the very skills that kept me alive in those battles. I am here because something may be about to go very very wrong on this quest and it's imperative it succeeds. But I can only do that if I go with you. If you stop giving me shit and realize that I'm going whether you want it or not, and the only difference will be whether I'm riding along with you all, or singing every drinking song I know at the top of my lungs over and over again from ten yards behind you!" She bit her tongue to stop herself from going on and took the bead from Thorin's hand, hoping he took it at face value and didn't realize it was the same bead Gloin was wearing in his beard in the other room.

Thorin shared a silent look with Gandalf and reluctantly turned his eyes back to her. "You will carry your weight."

"Good." Josephine said shortly. "Now if you'll both excuse me." She turned and stalked towards the pantry. The barrel of ale must have been nearly dry by that point in the evening, but the dwarves still crowded around it and Fili was just topping off a tankard, the foam rising to a rounded top above the edge. Josephine sighed and reached for it. "May I?"

Fili was caught a bit off guard, but handed it over and watched as she tipped it past her lips. Her first drink was good, slow, savoring the rich Shire ale. Then she tipped it back a second time and chugged. If she was going to get anywhere with anyone during the quest, she needed a good first impression. This one just had the added perk of hopefully dulling her nerves.

Fili's eyes widened in surprise along with the rest of the dwarves who fell silent until she dropped the empty mug to her side and wiped the foam off her upper lip. Cheers Dwalin slapped her on the back, sending her reeling forward.

"Good on ya, lass. Might 'ave ta come with us if you can drink like that."

Thorin's booming voice cut through the chatter. "She will be."

Dwalin, who a moment ago had been praising her college born skill, turned dark and laughed. "The lass is as fragile as Mr. Baggins' chairs."

"What?! What about my chairs?!" Bilbo's voice echoed from somewhere behind them in the hallway.

"She won't last a day in the wilds!" Nori added through a mouthful of cheese.

"Nevertheless." Thorin continued. "Gandalf has informed me that she is a seer. We would be foolish to leave her behind."

Despite his reservations, he wasn't going to let the other dwarves question her place in the company and she gave him a small nod of thanks.

"A lady coming to fight a dragon?" Ori said with wide eyes.

Balin frowned. "Thorin, perhaps-"

"Enough! I say she is to join us and I will leave it at that." He left the room, following Gandalf back to the study, no doubt to discuss the journey further.

Having done her duty, and hoping the coming buzz from the ale would dull things even just a little, she pushed past the dwarves and back into the sitting room. She sat on the window seat, crushed into the corner as far back from the rest of the room as she could get. The hour was late when the dwarves started filtering in and Thorin rested his arm on the mantle.

Pipes were lit and chairs were filled, Bofur found a spot on the window seat across from her and flashed her an awkward smile.

She wanted this gathering to be over, to slip away somewhere to sleep where nobody could hold her tears against her. They didn't need to know what she was leaving behind.

The deep hum began in the dwarves' chests and she felt it reverberate in her own as Thorin's voice began the song that once upon a time had brought her so much excitement. She thought, as they began the second verse, that her voice would be drowned out by the others. Small, light and quiet as she sang with him. But it wasn't, and several pairs of eyes turned towards her curiously as she matched their song with the kind of precision she shouldn't have been able to accomplish.

"Josephine. Josephine?"

Blankets shifting she rolled towards the sound of the voice and a hand lightly touched her cheek. Her pillow was soft and so inviting she almost ignored the voice, but something told her she couldn't.

"Josephine, my love, you must wake up now. There are things to do."

Aragorn. Relief washed over her as she opened her eyes to see him leaning over her, dressed for the day. It was their room, their bed she was in. Home. No Dwarves or quests or dragons to worry about.

She sighed and took his hand, holding it against her chest. "I had the worst dream."

He frowned and sat on the edge of the bed, laying his other hand against her cheek.

"I woke up in the Shire, decades ago when Bilbo went on his adventure. I thought I'd never see you again."

Aragorn nodded. "Your journey is important."

"What?" She sat up, her heart sinking. Something was off, this wasn't right.

"You have much to do." He leaned down and kissed her, then turned to leave. "It is time to wake."

Her eyes snapped open, this time to show the curved ceiling of Bag End. Josephine had to close her eyes and bite her lip to keep from crying. She could still feel his hand in hers, his lips against her skin.

Silently she got up, picking up the pack at her feet and a bedroll. No doubt it was Gandalf who'd left it there last night after she'd fallen asleep in the parlor. She could feel something come over her as she took hold of the bag's straps. It was a tightness like a spring in her chest, coiling tighter and tighter until it felt like it was the only thing keeping her in one piece.

The house was still dark, with just a faint blue hue coming from the windows to mark how close they were to morning. The dwarves' snoring rumbled through the halls and she slipped out the front door. Dropping her pack by Bilbo's bench she sank into it, propping her elbows on her knees and pressing her fingers into the back of her neck. An old fear was settling into her bones, uncertainty with a fool's hope of being returned home. Orcs, goblins, and dragons in her future and the burden of knowing that every step she took could ruin the future of Middle-Earth. How had she managed to carry this fear during the quest? How had it not swallowed her whole like a wave? She knew the answer, it was a familiar presence with a gentle touch and an even lighter kiss. And now she had to find a way to do it without him.