An- Hey everyone! I know, it has been forever (as in, over a year). I am so sorry about that- I hadn't even realized it had been that long! So, we really have to thank Madison, whose review finally got me off my ass to finish a half written part. Though every review gives inspirational (we totally love you guys!) Madison's long, fairly detailed and all around loving review, really kick started us again. And Madison, I'm so glad that you got an inspirational message from the stories. That pretty much made my day, reading that part of your review.

So, onto this part. As the title says, it's an Isenguard part rewritten. Back when we were first writing this, the third extended version of the movie hadn't come out yet, which was a shame, because the new and improved scene with Saruman? Pretty much the most gruesome scene in all three movies. I was so upset that I didn't get to write it, back when we were still working on the second story. Since I had that chance, here it is!

l.l.l.

When they rode out of the trees and into Isenguard, after six days of traveling, the riders all breathed a sigh of relief.

"This is it?" Carla asked, unimpressed by the sight she was seeing, "I was expecting something a bit more…grand."

The terrain and structures around Isenguard were in ruin. There was knee deep water everywhere. Orthanc Tower still stood in all its glory, but to the girls, it looked more creepy than magnificent.

They heard laughter coming up ahead of them, and the voices sounded familiar. When she managed to pick out the words 'long bottom leaf', Jane knew who it was. A moment after she came to this realization, they rode out past some trees and there, sitting perched on a half destroyed wall, were Merry and Pippin.

"Welcome, my Lords and Ladies, to Isenguard!" Merry cried out happily as he jumped up and smiled at them.

"Oh my God!" Jane was ecstatic to see the two Hobbits, "You're still alive!"

Jane honestly couldn't believe it. She had dreaded finding out that Merry and Pippin had been killed. She had held out hope of course, but that didn't stop the fear in a corner of her heart. Thank God they were okay!

"And a fine chase you've led us on!" Gimli said, "And here you are, feasting and smoking!"

Jane could tell that it was only mock annoyance in the Dwarf's voice, because he was grinning as broadly as the rest of them.

"Never thought I'd say this," Niori said, "but is it ever nice to see the two of you."

Pippin elbowed Merry in the ribs before speaking, "See? I told you she really fancied us."

There was a burst of snickers (Carla and Jane) and choked coughing (Legolas), and Niori glared, "I take it back."

Pippin gave her a wide smile to say he was joking, but it didn't lessen her glare. Beside him, Merry was chuckling…until that too was silenced under Niori's death glare.

Gandalf found it important to ward of Merry and Pippin's potential imminent death, and spoke for the first time, "And what, pray tell, do you happen to be doing on this particular wall?" he paused, and then added with a small smile, "in addition to eating and smoking."

"We're under orders from Treebeard, who's taken over management of Isenguard!"

"What the hell is a Treebeard?" Carla leaned over and asked, and Jane shrugged. A look over to Niori showed that Niori had no idea either.

Gandalf gave a silent nod, and then continued riding into the ruins of Isenguard. He paused for a moment, allowing Pippin to climb down onto the horse. Being one of the only two riders without passengers, Eomer did the same for Merry. Then, as a group, they urged their horses through the water and floating debris.

At first, Jane wondered how a tree had withstood the battle that had obviously been fought there, because there it was, standing in the middle of nothing. She was still trying to figure it out when the tree turned around and spoke.

"Ah! Young Master Gandalf! I ammmmm glad you've come. Wood and water, stock and stone I can master, but there is a Wizard to manage here. He is locked in his tower."

"Did…did the tree just talk?" Carla leaned over and asked, this time her voice covered in shock.

"The tree just talked," Jane confirmed, sounding just as shocked.

"I think that's a Treebeard," Niori added.

After a moment, Jane could do nothing but shrug it off. In a world full of Elves, Dwarves, Hobbits, Orcs and Wizards, why shouldn't there be talking trees?

Meanwhile, Gandalf was giving them a warning, "Be careful. Even in defeat Saruman is dangerous."

"Then let's have his head and be done with it!"

Silently, Jane agreed with Gimli one- hundred percent. Of course, then Gandalf went and said that they needed the Wizard alive so that they could pump him for information, and her opinion begrudgingly changed. From the look on the other girls' faces, they continued to agree with Gimli's just-kill-him plan. Jane wondered when they had gotten so bloodthirsty.

"Tell me you're joking!" Niori protested, "Because of that bastard, thousands of people are dead, and Not only at Helms Deep! I was introduced to the wrong end of a sword because of him! We leave him alive, the minute he has the chance, he's going to stab us in the back!"

The minute Niori's words finished, a sickly sweet voice floated down to them, "You have fought many wars and slain many men, Theoden King and made peace afterwards. Can we not take counsel together as we once did, my old friend? Can we not have peace, you and I."

Jane jumped at the sudden voice, and her eyes flew up in the direction it came from. There, standing at the very top of the tower, stood the man Jane assumed was Saruman. Honestly, he didn't look all that threatening at the moment, just an old man standing there and leaning on his staff. Thankfully, Jane wasn't dumb enough to buy what was obviously an act. From the scowls on the faces all around her, everyone else agreed with her assessment.

"We shall have peace," Theoden slowly replied, and Jane gaped at him in shock. Was he insane? "We shall have peace when you answer for the burning of the Westfold and the children who lie dead there! We shall have peace when the lives of the soldiers whose bodies were hewn even as they lay dead against the gates of the Hornburg, are avenged! When you hang from a gibbet for the sport of your own crows, we shall have peace!"

Jane was glad to see that Theoden hadn't lost his mind after all. Also, Saruman's outraged face was rather pleasant to see.

"Gibbets and crows! Dotard! What do you want Gandalf Grahame? Let me guess, the key of Orthanc? Or perhaps the keys of Barad Dur itself? Along with the crowns of the seven kings and the rods of the five Wizards!"

"See!" Niori said, "This isn't going to work! He's never going to help and we can't risk leaving him here. We need to get rid of him!"

When Niori spoke, Saruman actively became aware of the three girls. A look of comprehension flitted over his face.

"I never did find out the results of the spell I sent you and your companions. Tell me Gandalf, did you acquire the three women wherever I sent you?"

Gandalf looked back at the three of them and then back to Saruman, "Saruman, you fool, your plan to destroy us only caused us aid. You have given us new allies- fighters from another world. They have helped defeat your hoards."

Jane expected Saruman to look angry at Gandalf's words. Instead, he gave them a cold, knowing grin.

"Are they? Or will they bring about the end of us all?"

He looked at each of them in turn. A cruel knowledge in his eyes. Niori broke the gaze and looked away. A visible shudder went through Carla and, seeing the reactions of her two friends, Jane refused to meet his eyes.

She would have brushed off his words if it hadn't been for the troubled look on Gandalf's face. The fact that Gandalf was worried about Saruman's prediction, frightened Jane.

Was he right? Were they going to cause something bad to happen?

Jane didn't have much time to brood about it, because Gandalf continued on with his original line of questioning, as though Saruman hadn't said anything. Jane had the idea that this wouldn't be the end of his thinking about it though.

"Your treachery has already cost many lives. Thousands more are now at risk. But you could save them Saruman. You were deep in the enemy's counsel."

Jane was of the opinion that appealing to Saruman's better nature wasn't going to work. This was the man who sent raiders to wipe out the rural population of Rohan, and sent an army of monsters to Helms Deep to finish off the rest. How could someone like that even have a better nature?

For a man trapped in a tower and surrounded, Saruman looked far too cocky and superiour when he answered, "So you have come here for information. I have some for you."

Jane was absolutely stunned. Never in a million years would she have expected him to give up anything. Saruman held out a small glass ball for them all to see, and the sneer that twisted his face made the Wizard absolutely terrifying. The tone of his voice when he spoke again only notched that terror up a few pegs.

"Something festers in the heart of Middle Earth. Something that you have failed to see. But the Great Eye has seen it. Even now he presses his advantage. His attack will come soon. You are all going to die," it was said with such a cold, certain menace, that Jane shivered, a tendril of fear uncoiling in her, "But you know this, don't you Gandalf? You cannot think that this Ranger will ever sit upon the throne of Gondor. This exile, crept from the shadows, will never be King," Jane almost spoke out in Aragorn's defence, but saying something like 'Aragorn will make a great king!' seemed a little too childish for the moment. Not to mention she really, really didn't want to draw Saruman's attention, "Gandalf does not hesitate to sacrifice those who are closest to him, those he professes to love. Tell me, what words of comfort did you give the Halfling before you sent him to his doom? The path that you have set him on can only lead to death."

Jane's stomach clenched painfully. All this time, that was something Jane refused to think about. Erin was in her thoughts all the time, but Jane always forced her self into denial about the danger her friend faced. She worried about her, especially because of the pregnancy, but ignored the reasons she needed to worry in the first place. Jane was quite good at it, so having Saruman remind her of it point blank, felt like a slap in the face.

Even worse than that, were the words about Gandalf, because, for the most part, they were true. Jane knew that Gandalf loved Frodo and cared about Sam and Erin, but she was one-hundred percent certain that, if it came down to them or Middle Earth, he would choose Middle Earth. It worked that way for all of them, himself included. Jane honestly couldn't blame him, because she knew that a handful of lives didn't compare to an entire world. But she only understood it intellectually, because the idea of sacrificing her friends for any reason was fundamentally wrong.

Saruman was doing his best to make them uncomfortable and untrusting of each other, and for Jane at least, it was working.

"I've heard enough!" It was Gimli who spoke, "Shoot him! Put an arrow in his gob!"

Jane expected Niori to add her own affirmative comment, but the girl said nothing. Jane glanced over at her friend, and saw that Niori still looked unnerved from earlier.

Once again, Gandalf shoot down the 'kill Saruman'. " No! Come down Saruman and your life will be spared."

This just seemed to enrage him, "Save your pity and your mercy! I have no use for it!"

Without warning, Saruman pointed his staff at Gandalf. A fireball erupted from it, and the blast hit and engulfed Gandalf, Pippin and the horse they sat on. Jane screamed, half in surprise and half in fear. Only when the flames disappeared and she saw that they were unharmed, the only damage done with Pippin falling off the horse, did her heart rate go back to normal.

"Saruman, your staff is broken!"

When the Wizard's staff exploded, Jane felt the need to stick out her tongue at him for pure spite. Served the bastard right. Then, a familiar and equally disliked face appeared on the roof. Jane was, quite frankly, surprised that Saruman had actually kept Wormtongue alive.

"Grima! You need not follow him. You were a man of Rohan once. Come down."

Theoden was apparently feeling forgiving after all, at least towards someone who was not Saruman.

"A man of Rohan?" Saruman's sneer was back full force, "What is the House of Rohan but a thatched barn where the brigands drink in the reek, and their brats roll on the floor with the dogs? The victory at Helms Deep does not belong to you, Theoden Horsemaster. You are a lesser son of greater sires!"

It was at that moment that Jane realized that, even without his staff, Saruman was just as dangerous. His words, made to sow discord, were direct hits, and they did their job as well as his magic ever had. They had an effect on Theoden –you could see it in his expression-, even if the King seemed to shake it off quickly.

"Grima, come down. Be free of him."

Saruman barked out laughter at that, "Free? He will never be free!"

Grima must have said something, because Saruman turned to him. Jane couldn't hear their exchange, but it ended with Saruman slapping the other man to the ground. When Saruman turned back around, Gandalf tried to get back on track.

"Saruman! You were deep in the enemy's counsel. Tell us what you know!"

"You withdraw your guard and I will tell you where your doom will be decided. I will not be held prisoner here!"

Instinctively, Jane tried to call out a warning when she saw Wormtongue advance behind Saruman with a drawn knife. Before she could even make a sound, the knife was plunged into his back. Just after the second stab, an arrow was shot off from beside her, and it embedded itself in Wormtongue's chest. While Wormtongue stumbled backwards, Saruman's body fell off the tower. It landed on the spiked turning wheel, impaling itself through the chest with a sickening ripping thump sound.

It took all of her effort to keep her lunch down. Jane turned her head away, the nausea threatening to overwhelm her. She closed her eyes tightly, only to have them fly open again when the gruesome scene replayed itself behind her closed eyelids. Instead, she buried her face in Aragorn's back. It was only Treebeard's voice that made her look up again, but she didn't look in the direction of the wheel. If she saw Saruman's body again, she would be sick.

With her face covered, Jane hadn't seen Pippin wade off a small distance. Treebeard's exclamation of "Bless my bark!" made her look over. The Hobbit was holding the same orb that Saruman had held earlier. It looked completely unremarkable, and Jane wouldn't have really noticed it had it not been for Gandalf's reaction.

His demand for Pippin to hand it over wasn't that surprising, but his urgent tone of voice was. So was the speed that he wrapped it up and the long look he gave Pippin. Jane's curiosity was peeked, but put aside a moment later when Carla, who had stayed silent the entire exchange, spoke up.

"What now?"

l.l.l.l

An- Along with just rewriting the scene, I also added a little bit of foreshadowing here. First, being the idea that the girls have screwed everything up by being in Middle Earth, which is a big part of the third story. Whether or not Saruman actually knew something or he was just trying to get under their skin, I'll leave you to decide. The second bit was Jane's passing interest in the palantir, which she also ends up touching along with Pippin. Since it has such a big effect on her (making her split from the other two girls and go to Minas Tirith), I thought her noticing it before hand, even for just a moment, would be a nice touch. Anyway, hopefully you enjoyed, and let us know either way. I swear on everything that is holy, the next part will NOT take that long to get up!