Title: Lost and Broken
Prompt: #81 - Broken / Mellon Fic 100
Author: TrinityTheSheDevil
Rating: Hard R
Genre: Angst, Drama, Tragedy, AU
Characters: Aragorn, Elladan mainly
Disclaimer: Not mine, at all.
Summary: The breaking of a spirit ...
Warning(s): Implied (please note: implied only!) rape, torture, CHARACTER DEATH, and general not-niceness.

A/N: The evilness flowed like water with this one. I don't know where it came from, but I'm hoping there is more like it, hahaha. And please READ THE WARNING AND THE RATING before the fic ... do not say you were not warned!

--

It came of no surprise when Aragorn finally staggered back home to Imladris, dragging a litter behind him. The sorrow had already been felt far and wide and elves grieved for the one that was lost. The one that had brought peace and a safe haven, now gone forever from the soils of Middle Earth. Trackers had been sent out the week before, yet even the best of them were not successful in their mission. Some evil had shielded the two from everyone, so that they would not be found. The reason was not yet known, though many elves were too grieved to find out. Some, in fact, had already left to sail.

Elladan and Elrohir were the first to rush up to Aragorn, standing in front of him until the man finally stopped, realizing that he was not alone. They visibly blanched at the empty look in their brother's eyes, the look of pure desperation, of horror caused by the recent deeds he had seen. Aragorn's mouth opened slowly, as if the words were caught in his throat and unable to escape. His breath hitched and a tear rolled from his eye to trail down his blood caked cheek.

"A-ada ... " Aragorn whispered, beginning to tremble. With great care, the man gently lowered the covered litter to the ground, his body moving with an ease that belied his injuries. As he straightened again, he looked into the eyes of the twins, not bothering to blink back the tears that were now coursing down his face.

"I'm sorry." He managed to murmur, before he collapsed into their arms.

--

Elladan was holding up as well as he could. His brother, Elrohir, had left a week ago with his sister Arwen. The grief was far too much for the two of them and so they had decided to sail and spend the remainder of their days with their mother, and perhaps one day again, their father. Elladan himself had managed to hold back his own sorrow thus far, focusing his attempts instead on healing his mortal brother Aragorn. He did not know exactly what had transpired during Aragorn and Elrond's captivity, but if Aragorn's muttered nightmares were of any indication, it was not good.

The older twin had already gathered that Elrond was tortured for quite some time before he was dealt a killing blow. There were deep gashes and slashes across almost every inch of his skin, most of his bones were broken - or crushed altogether, burn marks were placed in random places on what skin was left and there was evidence of abuse that Elladan refused to even think of. His heart, broken as it was, kept together now for only one reason: Aragorn would need someone here, while he healed. In a way, Elladan blamed his brother and sister for leaving as they did, without so much as a goodbye for Aragorn. He knew, though, that it was for the best.

Arwen herself seemed to think it was well within her rights to blame the man for her father's death; Elladan knew it was the grief that spoke, but nevertheless he was grateful that Aragorn was unconscious and did not hear it. Elrohir had been in a state of shock since Aragorn's arrival, choosing to simply follow his sister to where he knew lay healing and peace, instead of staying in Middle Earth to waste away with every minute.

Elladan did not fool himself into thinking he was above them though. Once Aragorn healed, he would follow them to the place that now pulled at his very being, calling him with a sweet seducing song. He would probably be the last to leave Rivendell; after Elrond's body had been cleansed with flame and sent into the sky, most of the elves had left the same time Elrohir and Arwen had. Glorfindel and Erestor, at least, stayed with Aragorn for a night to say goodbye to the man. Although the human may not have been awake for it, on some level he acknowledged them.

Other elves felt the same; the grief was so thick in the air that it could almost be cut with a knife. They were leaving, little by little, as they succumbed to the sorrow of losing one so dear. Even elves from Mirkwood and Lothlorien had shown up on Rivendell's doorstep to pay their respects, on the way to the sea. Galadriel had not yet arrived, but Elladan knew she would. She and Celeborn were not yet ready to sail, even though now they were to leave sooner than they had originally thought. When Elladan had asked why in one of his letters, Galadriel had simply replied, "There is still much good to do here in Middle Earth."

Two weeks slowly passed and Aragorn's health had finally improved somewhat. His nightmares occurred throughout the day and night, causing Elladan to keep a constant watch over him. Elven though he was, he still had to rest, and was thankful when one of the other elves who had stayed in Rivendell watched over Aragorn for him. It was during one of these times that the man awoke, looking around the healing chamber with a dawning horror.

The other elf left quickly to alert Lord Elladan to the human's change in condition and Elladan arrived as soon as he could. He was not quick enough to prevent Aragorn from jumping to conclusions, it seemed, and found the man to be curled on the bed trying to stifle the sobs that escaped his torn lips.

"Shh, Aragorn. I am here, little brother." Elladan sat gently on the bed, placing his hand on Aragorn's shoulder.

Moments later, Aragorn rolled over to peer at his brother from under his too short hair. Elladan was forced to cut it to sew one of the gashes that had went all the way across the top of his head, an action that pained him greatly.

"I thought you had left." Aragorn whispered in despair.

"Nay, I stayed for you, Estel." Elladan gathered the man in his arms as best he could on the small bed. "I am here for you, my brother."

"Elrohir?" Aragorn sounded almost terrified to ask. Elladan's heart seemed to be squeezed in a vise, but he managed to reply.

"He has sailed, with Arwen. I am sorry." Elladan was pained as another sob tore itself from the man's abused body.

"It is I who am sorry, Elladan! I let them ... I let them kill ada!" Aragorn's hand wrapped itself around Elladan's tightly, holding on for dear life.

"No! It was not you, Aragorn! It was not you!"

"But I let them! I did nothing, while they tortured him! He endured it for me, do you not see this! I was captured, not him! He should have escaped before they found him, but he charged them head on! And instead of torturing me, they turned their attention on him! I was forced to wa- ... to watch ... while they ... they broke his spirit!"

Elladan tried to shush the man, to calm him down, but Aragorn would not be quieted.

"After his spirit fled the earth, they left me there, to watch as the beasts converged on his body. I managed to free myself before they were able to ... to ... " Aragorn broke off, forcing himself to calm before he passed out. "I made a litter to carry him back ... I did not rest. But it was not enough, not enough by far!"

"Aragorn!" Elladan said fiercely. "You must not say that. Your wounds were great, and even I would not have been able to save ada. You were struck three times by arrows and had suffered at their hands before ada saved you from the death they surely would have given you. Do not take lightly the gift that ada bestowed upon you; he did it out of love, wanting you to continue on to whatever destiny is yours. His death was not in vain!"

Although Aragorn knew that Elladan was right, he could not forgive himself. As he gave in to the darkness that called to him, all he could say to Elladan was, "I am sorry, my brother."

The elf watched as the man finally closed his eyes, letting his body succumb to the rest that it needed. He sighed, shifting so that Aragorn lay across the blankets in a comfortable position and watched the man for a while.

It was like this that the servant found him, both eyes staring unblinkingly at the human. The servant cleared his throat and waited until he got Elladan's attention before saying, "Prince Legolas of Mirkwood has arrived, Lord Elladan."

--Continued in Found and Mended, Prompt "Fixed"--