A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! I deeply appreciate it. For the record, I own none of Tolkeins' characters.

Chapter 3 Jailbirds

Elrohir's POV

When the strange female, Becka ran from the room, neither twin attempted to follow. From what Elrohir could make out, Elladan was curled up on the ground doing a fair imitation of a shrimp. Apparently the female had had some training as a warrior. The situation was far from humorous though. The vile liquid that had been thrown in his face BURNED! Elrohir was barely able to see, his eyes watered profusely. It was difficult to breathe since the abominable potion had gotten into his nose and mouth setting his lungs on fire!

As Elrohir struggled for a bit of composure a pair of humans entered the room.

"Drop your weapons and put your hands on your head!" one shouted.

Elladan pointed out that both of the brothers' weapons were sheathed and that an elven warrior never surrendered his weapons. The newcomers pulled Elladan to his feet despite his protests and shackled his hands behind his back. They restrained Elrohir in a similar manner.

"Please have mercy!" Elrohir exclaimed. "My eyes greatly pain me! I am blind!" he continued as the strangers attempted to lead him from the room.

One of the newcomers said something about him not being blind and that they would rinse out his eyes soon. Thus contented, Elrohir allowed himself to be led away for the time being.

Elladan's POV

Elladan was led in front of his brother out of the room. He was in a certain amount of pain but it was quickly driven out of his mind by the strange sights around him. He was led down a lighted hallway. What was strange was that there were no torches or windows! The source of light seemed to come from the tiled ceiling itself!

Next they were led into a tiny room whose door had no handle. Yet the door opened as if on command. Once in this tiny box of a room the door closed again! Surely by the same magic that had caused it to open in the first place. Elladan was truly confused when the SAME door opened a few minutes later revealing a DIFFERENT corridor than the one they had been in! At the end of the corridor was yet another sight to marvel at! Double doors of the clearest glass! Elladan paused for a moment to see if these doors would open magically as the last ones had, but the man that held his arm gave him a sharp tug and pushed open the door using a small, silver handle that Elladan had not noticed before.

He was led outside, much to his relief. The air seemed somewhat fresher, and full of life than the air inside. Elladan could almost close his eyes and imagine he was in Rivendell. But to close his eyes would have made it impossible for him to examine the strange sights around him!

What immediately caught Elladan's attention was the noise. And what a racquet it was! There were rushing sounds, whistles, screams (from what he could not guess), and thousands more sounds he could not begin to comprehend. Looking around, Elladan could scarcely have been more dumbfounded. The building he had been in and the buildings surrounding him were taller than the tallest trees in Arda! The stone walk under his feet looked like one endless slab of stone with giant torches thrust in it for light. These torches were taller than him, and like the lights inside, did not seem to use fire to create the light! There was a road of sorts, (at least Elladan guessed it was a road) which had the strangest contraptions MOVING atop it! They were vaguely box-like in shape and seemed to come in different sizes and colors! They moved no doubt by some sort of dark magic! Elladan could not think of any other logical reason to explain this phenomenon.

Elladan realized that he had stopped moving when he received another sharp tug on his arm. After that he allowed himself to be led obediently while he silently marveled at the strange sights around him.

Elladan came to an abrupt halt when he realized that he was being led towards one of the demonic road boxes! This one wasn't moving but he wanted no part of the foreign devilry!

"Keep moving scum bag!" said Elladan's captor.

"I will not submit myself to bear this dark magic!" cried Elladan.

"The two guards looked confused. Finally the one holding Elrohir asked "What magic?"

"The unholy monstrosity standing before us!" exclaimed Elladan

This brought more blank looks from the guards. Finally one asked "The car?" They exchanged looks and muttered something about insanity.

'What is going on Elladan?' Questioned Elrohir in elvish. The first words he had spoken since he had claimed to be blind.

'These humans seem to wish to feed us to some sort of mechanical monstrosity!' replied Elladan in elvish. 'These things move swiftly about the road in front of us at speeds you have to see to believe and make roaring noises a dragon might envy! At first I thought they were fueled by dark magic but now I fear that they are powered by the souls of innocents!' Continued Elladan

After a moments thought Elrohir replied darkly 'Truly we have arrived in a cursed place.'

"None of this foreign gibberish!" said one of the almost forgotten guards. "Enough of this foolishness! Get in the twice damned car already!" he continued.

'Elladan, an elven warrior must accept his death if it comes. We seem to be out of options with our hands bound and this cursed potion blinding my eyes, now is the time for courage and stoicism brother' said Elrohir in a tone that did not quite hide his fear from his younger twin.

With these parting words, Elrohir allowed himself to be maneuvered into the car. His face remained calm and he did not cry out, as a proper elven warrior expecting death should.

Elladan was only slightly comforted when he heard no noises from his brother. Either Elrohir was unharmed or had gone quietly to his death. Then it was Elladan's turn to get into the car through the door he had seen his brother enter. He ducked his head and sat down as directed, expecting razor sharp teeth, poisonous barbs, or something equally pleasant to tear into him. Instead, he was sitting in an almost comfortable seat next to his brother. The door next to him closed noisily and their captors moved until they were sitting in front of the twins separated by a metal grate of some sort. One guard twisted a wheel and the car began to move!

Inwardly Elladan berated himself. He had been frightened almost to the point of fainting by what had turned out t be some sort of fancy cart! He also cringed mentally about how he had scared his brother and the teasing he would almost certainly receive.

Those thoughts were quickly driven from his mind as the sights around him once again amazed him. The glass in the cars' doors had on the outside been dark and imposing, like giant, lidded eyes. Inside the car they were amazingly clear. The car moved faster than the swiftest horse. Elladan wondered if the car might go so fast that it might simply leave the earth and fly through the sky like some sort of mechanical bird! During this most recent contemplation, Elladan glanced at the sky and immediately wished he hadn't. Even with his keen elven vision he could barely see the stars. The giant torches on the sides of the street blocked out the lights of the stars and the roaring around him muted their song.

It was distressing to see the stars dimmed. As he watched the buildings, torches, and other cars swiftly moving around him, Elladan fervently wished that he had fled from the palantir when he had the chance!

Elrohir POV:

Elrohir had been more than a little nervous when he had allowed his captors to put him inside the car-demon. To his utmost relief, his twins' fears had been unfounded and the car had thus far proved to be harmless. Elrohir could barely see his surroundings but assumed that the car must appear very ferocious to have shaken his normally bold brother as much as it had. Elrohir was unable to accurately measure time in his current state, although he guessed that close to an hour had passed when the car-demon stopped moving.

The twins were both relieved to have escaped the cars' clutches. Elrohir sensed that they had been led into a building when the air around him grew cooler. The sounds his captors' feet made as they moved along changed in tone too. A sure sign that the ground they walked upon had changed. Elrohir heard his brothers' shouts as he was led down the hall AWAY from his brother!

"Where are you taking me!" exclaimed Elrohir. "And why do you separate me from my brother!" he continued.

"You are going to have your eyes seen too, and your brother is going in for questioning. You'll be joining him soon enough." Said the guard who held his arm.

Elrohir did not think that "questioning" could possibly be a good thing but the idea of having the foul potion cleaned from his eyes was a pleasant thought. Once again, Elrohir found himself with no reasonable alternatives at hand as he was led away from his brother.

The lady that cleaned the potion from Elrohir's eyes was far from gentle. He could only assume that she was a healer although she had the roughest hands of any healer he had ever encountered. It was also to Elrohir's great annoyance that the manacles on his hand were not removed during the tedious, and somewhat painful process. The lady had basically held Elrohir's face in place while she had squirted water in his eyes. It took over an hour to clear away the despicable potion, and by the end Elrohir was positive that the healing lady was simply spraying water in his face for the sheer torture of it. Nonetheless, he did not complain and his eyes DID feel better at the end. His vision was still a bit blurry but it was a vast improvement from seeing nothing at all. He was assured that his vision would be back to normal soon. Then he was led away for his "questioning."

Elrohir was led into a plain room. It only had a table and two chairs. Thankfully, his manacles were removed and he was able to sit down. A pair of guards stood by the door. One thing NOT in evidence was any sign of Elladan. Apart from the guards, the only other person in the room was a man; he was dressed differently from the guards and introduced himself as "Officer Rios".

"Where is my brother Officer Rios?" asked Elladan

"He is in the room next door." Replied Officer Rios, "no doubt telling the officer with him all about your little crime spree. In the mean time do you understand your Miranda rights as they were explained to you at the crime scene? And do you wish to give me your version of events?" He continued.

Elrohir was at a loss for words. He HAD remembered that the officers had said some things to him. He HADN'T understood what it all meant though. Things about "lawyers" and "Right to silence" not to mention something about a "court of law." He also was curious as to what Officer Rios expected Elladan to be telling the other Officer. Or what a "spree" was. It was all quite confusing, to the best of Elrohir's knowledge, neither he nor Elladan had done anything illegal. However, things were VERY different in this strange land, so perhaps they had, but hadn't realized their error. Elrohir decided that telling his "version of events" was probably the best way to clear up the misunderstandings, and hopefully be released from wherever it was that he was currently being held.

Elrohir told the truth to Officer Rios. He gave his name and station as a Lord of Rivendell. He carefully explained about Rivendell and the peaceful ways of the elves that dwelt there. Elrohir told of how he and his brother had been following the orc party and how the palantir had been discovered. He also described to the best of his ability, how they had come into this strange land of false lights and mechanical wonders. Elrohir did admit that they might have been a bit abrupt to the human female Becka, but carefully explained his belief that Becka might have summoned them somehow. He admitted his confusion as to why he was being held and what crimes he had supposedly committed. Elrohir also spent some time asking what lawyers were, and cars, not to mention, "scum bag". Elrohir was curious if "scum bag" was the natives' word for "elf". As he told his story, Officer Rios looked first annoyed, then angry and by the end he was simply dumbfounded. After a long silence he finally spoke.

"Alright, Mister, um…Elrohir. I am going to be booking you for assault and breaking and entering. You are going to stay here for the night. Don't worry, their will be some nice people who are going to talk to you about, uh, this Rivendell, tomorrow. They will try and work something out for you." Said Officer Rios. Under his breather he muttered, "whack job" in a tone of voice that he obviously hadn't meant for Elrohir to hear.

"Do you have any other questions?" he asked.

"Just one" said Elrohir

"What is a whack job?" he questioned.

Instead of answering this supposedly simple question, Officer Rios got very red in the face, and called for the guard. Elrohir was shackled again and led down a hallway to a place the guard called a "booking room". Elrohir was quite curious, but upon entering did not see a single book in the room. These humans certainly had strange names for places! The men working in the room began asking him all sorts of strange questions. Things about his age, his birth date, where he was born, and something called a "social security number." None of his answers seemed to satisfy them. Finally they said something about just getting his "prints" and worrying about a "mug shot" the next morning. The also said that they would run him through "missing persons." All of this was thoroughly confusing. After all, how could you run through a person, especially if they were missing?

Since none of the conversation had been directed towards him, Elrohir held his silence for the moment. He was then led over to a strange box-like contraption sitting on a table. The guard released his hands from the shackles and proceeded to direct Elrohir's hands, telling him where to place his fingers. Then he was told to keep his hands where they were. Another human sat at the table that the box thing was on and was pushing buttons on ANOTHER box object on the opposite end of the table. The seated man, looked at some sort of square that Elrohir couldn't see. He than said that he had a "bad read" and the guard told Elrohir he could move his hands. The seated man proceeded to clean the box-thing while Elrohir was led to a small, very strange fountain and told to wash his hands. Then he was led to the box-thing again and the process began again. The result was the same; the man at the table couldn't get a "good read."

The man seated at the table finally spoke to the guard "Bill, I don't know what's wrong with the computer. I know that Diaz will have my hide, but I think I'm going to have to do this the old-fashioned way. I'll scan in the prints later."

"Have fun with Diaz Alan, I don't envy you. Better dig up the ink then"

The man (Alan) then proceeded to get some paper and what looked like ink that had been soaked into a cloth tablet. To add to the strangeness, the ink was then applied to Elrohir's fingertips and then placed upon the paper, leaving finger smudges. Elrohir was at a loss as to why. Alan than proceeded to look at the finger smudges with a looking glass of some sort. The shocked expression on his face was amusing to see.

"Bill, take a look at this, I don't think it's the machine after all" said Alan, his voice incredulous.

The guard called Bill, proceeded to look at the finger smudges, and the guard looked just as amazed as Alan. Elrohir could not figure out why.

"What is it that you expected to see?" asked Elrohir. He couldn't help it; the curiosity was overwhelming.

"I was expecting to see your finger prints." Said Alan.

"But isn't that what you have? The smudges made by my fingers from the ink?" asked Elrohir, more confused now than ever.

"Do you know what a fingerprint is!" asked Alan in an angry tone of voice.

"No, I do not." replied Elrohir honestly.

The man, Alan then began to describe fingerprints. He told Elrohir that every print was individual to its owner, they were there at the moment of a persons' birth and the same design stayed on a man or woman's fingertips for his or her entire life. By looking at the finger- prints a person had left behind, it could be determined where a person had been and what things they had touched. "But you don't have any!" finished Alan. "I didn't think such a thing was possible!" he continued.

"Could it be that I do not posses any of these prints since I am an elf, and not a mortal man?" asked Elrohir

Alan looked as if he wanted to explode into a rage. Finally he told Bill that he put a note into the "doc's invoice" about how Elrohir didn't have any prints. Alan also made it clear that he wanted nothing more to do with Elrohir at that time.

Bill shackled Elrohir again (after allowing him to clean his hands) and explained that Elrohir would be staying in a holding cell with his brother until the doctor came to see him in the morning. Elrohir was curious as to what a "doctor" was but decided that silence would reunite him with Elladan more quickly. He did not mind being led down a maze of halls if it would lead him to his brother. As much as Elrohir hated to admit it, he was scared and wanted his brother by his side. Things always were better when his twin was around to help him get in and out of trouble.

The holding cell was small. It barely held two small beds and some sort of water basin. But Elladan was already inside this strange prison, so Elrohir was not going to complain about the size. When Elrohir had been unshackled and the guard had left. Elladan promptly began asking him questions.

"Are your eyes better? Did they try to look at some of those fingerprints we are supposed to have? Do you think they believed us?" were a few of his questions.

Elrohir described his experiences to Elladan, and in turn Elladan filled him in on all the things that had transpired since they had been separated. Elladan explained that he had been questioned. The Officer had wanted Elladan to confess about a series of "dorm" robberies. This officer had been very annoyed when Elladan had asked what a "dorm" was. Elladan had told him, to the best of his knowledge how they had arrived in this strange land. The officer had accused Elladan, of being insane, or a liar. Elladan had protested quite vehemently to both accusations, but nobody had believed him. He too had been finger printed, and the woman who had done that had been quite fascinated that he did not posses these mysterious fingerprints. Elladan had been in the small cell for close to an hour before Elrohir had been brought in.

Both brothers were silent for a while, each in their own thoughts about what happened to them. Finally Elrohir broke the silence.

"It would seem to me brother, that we need to think of a way to escape this dreadful land. It seems unlikely that these men will believe us, since they seem truly convinced that we are insane." He said.

"That would seem obvious Elrohir, but how are we supposed to get out of here? These bars are solid and I have never seen a lock such as this before." Replied Elladan while he pointed to the lock that sealed the cell's door.

"Thank you for pointing that out Elladan. But an idea might be more useful at the moment." Elrohir grumbled.

After a few minutes contemplation Elladan suddenly exclaimed "The bird!"

"The bird?" asked Elrohir.

"Brother, do you remember when we found that mother jay?" questioned Elladan.

Elrohir nodded "She feigned injury, to draw us away from her nest. She feared that we were predators. Then you approached her, thinking she truly was injured only to have her fly away." Replied Elrohir with a laugh at that particular memory as he remembered the expression on his twin's face.

"Exactly" said Elladan.

"These men might think us insane, but they don't seem to be heartless. They tended your eyes and probably would tend us if they thought one of us injured." Continued Elladan.

"Now the question is, what injury should we feign, and who should do the feigning." Replied Elrohir with a grin.

Elrohir and Elladan began hatching their escape plan in earnest. They were careful to speak in Elvish lest a guard should attempt to overhear. There plans set, both twins rested for an hour or so, they would need their strength soon.

Elrohir's' shouts brought guards running to the small cell early that morning. It was dawn. As the guards approached they saw the other twin sprawled on the floor, clutching his chest. His face seemed pale and he struggled for breath. The guards, fearing some sort of heart attack opened the cell door, to lend aid while they shouted for another guard to call an "ambulance". No sooner had the guard opened the door than Elladan jumped up and kicked the guard in the groin as hard as he could. Elrohir, who had been standing near the door, jumped through and swiftly knocked out the other guard with a punch to the man's temple. Both twins rushed out of the room and into the hall, desperately looking for some way out.

Shouts in the hall alerted guards to their presence. The twins knew they would be short on time as they ran through a labyrinth of corridors searching for some exit. ANY exit! While they did not find an exit one of the doors did lead into a supply room. There was a guard in this room. It was easy to compel him to return the twins' missing belongings, the main ones being their packs, daggers, bows and swords. With the guard taking an assisted nap, the twins were out the door, searching for the elusive exit. Calls rang down the halls, as guards scoured the halls looking for the missing prisoners. No matter how many twists and turns the twins took, it seemed that someone was reporting their movements to the guards, for no sooner did they seem to lose them than they did reappear! They encountered a flight of stairs, and for lack of a better option took them as far up as possible. The stairs seemed to end at a small corridor. At it's end was a door labeled "Roof Access No Unauthorized Personal Beyond This Point" Predictably the door was locked. However, the makers of that particular door had never imagined the prowess and determination of two very upset Elf Lords. The door was quickly broken down. The twins took a moment to savor the feeling of being out under the sun again. Then they began leaping from rooftop to rooftop, until their foul prison had vanished from their keen elven sight.

After that it was a matter of finding a roof with an unlocked door. Elrohir and Elladan descended a flight of stairs in a building that seemed to be some sort of residential house. It was similar to the first building they had been in. It had been called an apartment Elrohir recollected. Once out on the street they began attracting many strange stares, no doubt because of their clothes and weapons.

"Elladan, we will not be able to avoid capture for long if we cannot find some way to blend in." said Elrohir

"Keep your eyes open for a textiles merchant, perhaps we can find some ready-made clothes that might suit us." Elrohir continued.

As if in response, to Elrohir's words, they came across a store selling ready-made garments. However, when the merchant saw their coins, they were promptly told to leave.

"We don't take funny-money! Get out of here before I call the cops!" exclaimed the merchant.

It was the same story at another shop the twins' tried. There coins were simply different than the currency that was used in this hostile land. Both twins were at a loss over what to do. They found an empty alley to eat some of the stores that they had carried with them. Then they stripped down to their shirts and breeches. Their clothes were still different although at least not as badly as when they had on their tunics and cloaks as well. They hid their weapons as best they could, so that when they stepped back on to the street, the strange looks they received were somewhat lessened. As they continued to wander around the strange land that they had found themselves in, they came across a building that had a sign that said "charity day" on it.

On Elladan's insistence they entered the building. A smiling lady listened to their plight about not having the proper currency for clothes that would help them to blend in. She listened sympathetically, and then shuffled off to a back room to "see what she could do for the poor lads." From where the twins were standing they were able to overhear her conversation with a man in the other room. She told the unknown man about the homeless lads who were in the front. They seemed nice enough, but a bit off in the head. She returned a few minutes later with some trousers and shirts. She pointed them to a room where they could change. The trousers fit well enough but the shirts were a bit big. Still, they were decently covered in clothes that would let them fit into this strange land. The twins profusely thanked the lady and offered a gold coin as payment. She waved it away explaining that this was the "church's" charity day, and they were giving out food and clothes to people like themselves. Elrohir assumed she meant homeless and possibly insane, when she said, "people like them." Still, Elrohir was not about to refuse help even, so again he thanked the lady and the twins were on their way.

'We might be considered insane, but at least we can fit in better.' Elrohir told his brother in the Elven tongue.

'What do you mean "we" might be insane' replied Elladan 'I have been well aware of your lack of sanity for quite some time brother' continued Elladan.

Elrohir could not help but laugh as the two of them set out to explore this new land, and began searching for a way home.