A/N: Hello, lovely readers! I'm sorry this is a few days late; the past two weeks have been fairly hectic. Between my sister and her fam coming over for a whole week to help us out since it was mom's second chemo week, my birthday this past sunday, and other things...I didn't have much time for writing. So again, apologies for the delay. Hopefully such a delay won't happen for Azying next week!

The elven woman wore a look of astonishment as she gazed up at the hobbit lass, which, in turn, brought a frown to Bard's face. He looked between Baylee and the elf, his brow slowly beginning to rise.

Tauriel was the first to have her shock wear off. "I am glad to see that you're well, little mistress," she said, a kind smile coming to her lips.

A look of understanding came to Bard's features and he glanced down at Baylee in time to see an innocently guilty smile come to her lips. "Tauriel was one of your captors, I take it?" he questioned in amusement.

"Y-yes," Baylee admitted, cheeks beginning to turn red. "I must admit, I wasn't quite expecting the healer we've been hearing about was going to be an elf." She then paused and looked up at Tauriel. "You…won't be taking us back to Mirkwood, will you?"

Tauriel laughed, her brow rising in amusement. "No, little mistress, I won't. I hold no jurisdiction within the boundaries of this city, so you and your companions are safe." She watched as the hobbit let out a relieved sigh.

Though, for some reason, Baylee felt like Tauriel wasn't quite telling her the truth in that regard.

"And we didn't tell you that the healer we spoke of was an elf because we purposefully kept that detail from your companions' knowledge," Bard added. He then lightly pressed on Baylee's shoulder, gently urging to start heading down the stairs. "They were, after all, more than happy to voice their complaints about how they were 'unfairly jailed' by the elves of Mirkwood."

"And yet, you all somehow managed to escape," Tauriel said with another small laugh. "No doubt the little mistress here is to thank for that."

"I only played a little part in our escape," Baylee admitted, a sheepish smile on her lips. "No pun intended, of course."

"I had a feeling that was the case," she said. "Which one of you is it that I will be tending to, by the way?"

"Kili."

She looked down at the hobbit, her smile fading and worry coming to replace it. "Kili? Then I can only assume you mean the arrow wound in his thigh?"

Baylee nodded. "Despite Oin's best efforts, the wound has only been getting worse and worse."

A grave look came to the elven woman's face and she nodded. "Take me to him. I fear he may not have much time."

Knowing the gravity of the situation, Bard guided them through the city while using every shortcut he knew. Because of this, a half hour long walk was cut into half. When they approached the inn, they found Bofur pacing outside the door, his brows furrowed and his hands nervously wringing the end of his scarf. Upon seeing the trio approach, he looked up with wide eyes.

"Y-you!" he yelped, pointing up at Tauriel. "Y-you stay away, m-miss elf! I'm not goin' t' let you t-take us back to that blasted forest of yours!"

"It's alright Bofur!" Baylee squeezed her way past the confused human and elf, her cheeks red from a mixture of the cold and having to practically run to keep up with the two Big Folk. Grabbing Bofur's arm, she lightly pulled him off to the side, allowing the others to enter the inn. "She's the healer we've been told about."

Confusion came to his face and he looked up as Bard and Tauriel walked past him. "She's the healer?" he repeated, his voice betraying more than a little of his shock. As Baylee nodded, he shook his head and, pulling off his hat, he ran a hand through his unbraided hair. "That don't make sense; why would she be here t' heal Kili when she was one o' the main guards watching over us in the dungeons? She's got t' be here t' arrest us again!"

"No, she's really here to help us, Bofur. And even if she wanted to arrest us, she can't. She doesn't have any authority here—at least, that's what she claimed."

That made Bofur pause. "She doesn't?" He let out a relieved sigh and leaned back against the wall. "Oh, thank Mahal—the last thing we'd need at the moment is t' get arrested an' dragged back t' that horrid forest. Especially since Kili's taken a turn for the worst."

Baylee's eyes shot open and her skin somewhat paled. "What!?" she squeaked.

He flinched; he forgot she had been unaware of Kili's downward spiral, as she hadn't been there. "Er, aye, he's not doin' well at all. 'Bout an hour after you left this mornin', his fever got real bad an' he started t' get real woozy. So, Fili an' me carried him t' his room and Oin's been trying t' get the fever t' come down ever since."

Without saying a word, Baylee darted past him and through the open door. She hurried through the common room and down the hall; she could hear a mixture of worried and upset voices coming from Kili's room. Before she could reach the door, however, Fili was all but dragged out of the room by Oin, who had a firm grip on the prince's arm.

"Look, the wee lassie is back!" the latter said, pointing at the hobbit as she hurried over. "Lassie, what in Mahal's name is goin' on here? We were told a healer would be coming—not an elf!"

"That elf—I mean Tauriel—is the healer," she explained, just barely remembering to raise her voice a bit so that Oin could understand her. "She's not going to take us back to Mirkwood—she's just going to help Kili." She crept over to the doorway and peered into the room; it was hard to see Kili, given that he was laying on the bed and was partially blocked by both Bard and Tauriel. She could, however, easily hear him groaning in pain.

"She's got to be lying," Fili declared, still struggling against Oin's grip. "She has to be—no elf from Mirkwood would ever help a dwarf! Let alone a dwarf who just escaped the royal dungeons less than a week ago!"

Baylee put her hands on her hips and gave him a scolding look. "Yes, she's an elf, Fili, but you know as well as I that elves are renowned the world over for their skill with healing. Oin is quite a good healer, but Kili needs someone with a few hundred more years' experience right now." She wasn't at all surprised that Fili didn't look terribly pleased by her answer, but a bit of relief came to her when the prince had ceased his struggling.

"Alright," he grumbled, "but if she does anything to make my brother's condition even worse—"

"I assure you, master dwarf, I have no intention of having him worsen while he is in my care," Tauriel said from inside the room. Both she and Bard came to the doorway. "Little mistress, can you boil me some water, please?" she requested. "I will also need a clean rag—" she then looked at Bard, "—as well as bandages; a small, sharp knife; some unspun cotton dusted with flour; and athelas."

"Athelas?" Bard repeated, sounding a bit confused.

Oin spoke before Tauriel could, taking everyone by surprise. "Better known as kingsfoil. It's an herb that does wonders for bringin' down fevers an' all sorts o' other ailments. When crushed, its flowers have an especially potent calmin' effect on a person."

The man shook his head. "We know it as a useless weed. I don't know anyone who use it for anything other than pig feed."

A look of concentration suddenly came to Bofur's face as he remembered spotting a pig pen somewhere in the city, but the expression went unnoticed by the others.

Tauriel closed her eyes for a moment, as if she were restraining herself from scolding him. "Is there any way that we would be able to get ahold of some?" she questioned. Baylee could hear a bit of frustration in her voice.

"Aha!" Bofur suddenly chirped in realization, startling everyone. "I know just where t' find some!" Then, before anyone could stop him, he turned and hurried back down the hallway. Not too long after, the group heard the door to the inn slam shut.

"I'll get the knife, bandages, and cotton," Bard stated, starting to also head down the hallway. "Miss Baylee, you handle the rag, water, and flour."

She nodded. "Understood."

It took less than half an hour to get almost all of the items gathered together for Tauriel. The only thing that they were still waiting on was the kingsfoil, but she had enough to get started at the very least.

"I don't like having to wait out here," Fili grumbled as he paced back and forth in front of the door to Kili's room. Across from him, Baylee was sitting on a stool she had dragged over. "He's my brother, damn it! I should be in there with him!"

"Fili, I know you're worried, but you need to calm down," Baylee told him, doing her best to hide the worry she felt. While she was able to hide it in her voice, however, her expression betrayed her. "Kili's in capable hands—two sets of them, mind you, given that Tauriel's got Oin in there to help her."

"But she's an elf, Baylee!" he argued. She noticed that he was refusing to look at her when he spoke, making her brow rise slightly; was he upset with her for telling him to calm down…?

"An elf who would go to your brother's cell in Mirkwood and spend hours talking with him," she reminded him. "An elf who, along with Lady Ithiliel, would often make sure that we received good, warm food and even ensured that we got to bathe a few times while we were imprisoned." As she spoke, she watched as Fili's pacing began to slow until he came to a complete stop.

His hand rose and he rubbed his face in frustration before he merely held his hand over his eyes. "I'm just so worried about him," he spoke after a moment, his voice a touch wobbly. "He's never been this injured before, Baylee. He's always been the one to bounce back from injuries like nothing happened; he'll sprain his ankle one day and in just a week, he's back on his feet like normal. Should he have been back on his feet? Probably not, but he was."

As he sniffled, Baylee figured out the real reason why he hadn't been looking at her: He was crying. "I'm just—I'm just scared," he managed to say without his voice breaking. "I don't want to lose my brother. He's still young…we're still young."

A look of pity came to Baylee's face and she slid off of the stool. Going over to the dwarf, set her hand on his shoulder and did her best to give it a reassuring squeeze, though it went unfelt due to the layers of clothing Fili wore. "It's alright to cry, Fili," she told him. "You don't have to put on a brave face and hold it in. This is a really scary moment for all of us, so I can only imagine that it's even worse for you."

"Leaders don't cry," he stated, trying to keep his voice firm as he sniffled again. "They have to remain strong and stoic so they don't dishearten their people or appear weak." He used his sleeve to wipe away a few tears before they could fall, but they were quickly replaced.

"It's just you and me in the hallway, Fili. There's no one around to be stoic for."

His brows furrowed when he looked down at the hobbit and he suddenly felt the wall he had been trying to build around his emotions start to crumble. Just a few seconds later, he collapsed to his knees and clung onto her, a choked sob leaving his mouth.

Baylee quietly sniffled as she hugged him in return. "It'll be alright, Fili," she told him, trying to sound as soothing as possible. "Kili's in good hands. Tauriel will have him better in no time, you'll see." As she spoke, she gently patted his back, hoping he found some comfort in the gesture. She also glanced up and peered down the hallway, praying that Bofur would return soon with the kingsfoil; something told her that it was something very important to whatever healing tricks Tauriel was going to be using.

And she was in luck. The sound of the inn's door bursting open could be heard and, seconds later, the behatted dwarf came sprinting around the corner. His cheeks were bright red—whether it was from the cold or from exertion, Baylee couldn't guess—and he was breathing hard. Fili, with his face buried against the hobbit's shoulder, didn't see him, nor did he seem to even hear him through his sobs.

She watched Bofur pause in his steps, a look of horror coming to his face; she knew he was starting to think that the worst had happened. To somewhat reassure as well as remind him of his task, she pointed at the bundle of herbs in his hand and then at the door to Kili's room. He sighed in relief and nodded, quickly moving over to the door and opening it. As he slipped inside to deliver the kingsfoil, Baylee continued to gently pat Fili's back and quietly reassure him that everything was going to be alright.

"His body is free from the poison, but he's exhausted from having fought it for so long. He will have a limp for a few weeks—though, I am not quite sure how quickly dwarves heal compared to elves and men, so that is merely a rough estimate." Tauriel accepted the cup of tea that Bard offered her. "Regardless, he will need, at the very least, a few days of rest to recuperate some strength."

"We'll do our best t' keep him from gettin' out o' bed without reason," Bofur promised. "Even if it means tyin' him down t' the bed."

"I'm fairly certain we won't have to do something that drastic," Baylee told him, her brow rising somewhat in amusement. "Anyway, he's too tired to keep his eyes open, let alone try to get up and walk around." She took a sip of her own tea; it was a bit stronger than she normally would have liked, but she wasn't going to complain. Especially since she wasn't the one who had made it—Bard was.

"We're most grateful t' you, Miss Elf," Oin said, keeping his hearing trumpet lifted to his ear.

"I am glad I arrived when I did. I fear he would not have made it if I was even just an hour later," Tauriel replied, her voice a bit louder so he could hear her. While working with Oin to heal Kili, she had quickly come to learn that the dwarf was quite hard-of-hearing. "And I'm grateful for your help in tending to him." She then turned her attention to Bofur. "And to you, of course, for finding the athelas."

Bofur rubbed the side of his neck, a half-hearted smile coming to his lips. "I'm sorry it took so long t' get it t' you…it was pretty crowded out there an' I didn't want t' shove anyone in the lake."

Bard quietly chuckled, his brow rising. "And I'm certain the citizens of Laketown appreciate your thoughtfulness." He took a drink from his tea. "It's doubly good you didn't, either, because then you would have certainly caught the Master's attention and you wouldn't want that right now."

"Why's that?" Baylee questioned, her head tilting. "Aside from his general unpleasantness, that is."

"You don't have the protection of Thorin's presence anymore." Seeing the confused looks on Baylee and the dwarves' faces, he sighed. "As you know, the Master is a greedy man," he began, keeping his voice extremely quiet, as if he feared being overheard, "and being a greedy man, he might come up with some excuse to throw you out of the city, since you don't currently have any money on your persons."

"But Fili and Kili are the princes an' Baylee's the future queen," Bofur said, voice also quiet. When Bard had started to speak softly, he began to sign to Oin in Iglishmêk, ensuring the older dwarf could understand what was being said. "If he treats them poorly, then that could affect future negotiations an' trade agreements between Erebor an' Laketown."

"…Unless he's beginning to doubt Thorin's ability to reclaim the mountain," Baylee hesitantly said. "If that's the case, then he could kick us out any day."

Tauriel frowned at this. "Is that where the rest of your company is? Traveling to reclaim the mountain?" she asked, incredulous. When the others nodded in confirmation, she closed her eyes for a moment. "I must admit, I'm not very happy to hear this news—and no, it is not because I was hoping to return you do the dungeons of Mirkwood."

Having been about to ask that very thing, Bofur quickly shut his mouth and glanced away innocently, despite knowing her eyes were shut.

"But I do agree with Bard," she continued. "You shouldn't do anything to attract attention to yourselves for the rest of your stay here."

"Even if Thorin fails, though, Fili an' Kili are still princes," Oin argued, doing his best to keep his voice low. "Upon Thorin's death, Fili becomes king o' Ered Luin—an' Erebor, should he seek t' reclaim it."

"In that case, the Master may imprison the lot of you and send ransoms to Ered Luin and the Shire for your safe return." He then let out a quiet sigh. "But it's hard to say what he would truly do; it all depends on his mood, I suppose, and how vindictive he feels." He shook his head before sipping his tea. "If the Master does have you thrown out of the inn, however, you could stay in my home for a while again."

"That's very generous of you," Baylee said, giving him a small smile. Despite the smile, she was beginning to worry about the possibility of being thrown out—or worse. Taking a sip of her tea, she hoped that the others couldn't tell how worried she was now. "If that were to happen, you know I'd be more than happy to help with the cooking." She then looked between Bofur and Oin. "And I'm certain we would all be happy to help with any other chores that need doing."

"Aye, that we would," Oin agreed with a nod. "As best t' our abilities, we'll help you in any way we can, laddie."

Bard smiled, his brow rising ever so slightly at being called 'laddie'. "For now, though, the only thing you need to worry about is Kili healing well."

Bofur nodded in agreement. "We'll have no trouble with that," he said. "An' if we have t' leave the building, we'll do our best t' not attract attention t' ourselves."

Tauriel raised her brow in amusement. "The Valar would have to bless them with invisibility for that to happen," she said. "They are four dwarves and a hobbit in a city of men—they would attract attention regardless if they wanted to or not."

"Well, then wee Baylee here is in luck," Oin chirped, reaching over and patting the hobbit on the back. "She's can practically turn herself invisible, even if she doesn't mean t'!"

"Th-that's not entirely true," Baylee countered, her cheeks turning a bit red. "We hobbits are just good at not being seen when we don't want to be."

"And you're especially good at it," Bofur grinned. "How else would you have been able t' sneak around the dungeons without getting caught by—" He suddenly stopped himself and cleared his throat when he watched Tauriel's reddish eyebrow slowly rise. "I mean, ah, hide in the corner o' your cell…?"

Tauriel looked down at Baylee. "And just how were you able to sneak around the dungeons when you were locked up in your cell?" she questioned, her tone a bit dry.

Baylee felt her cheeks beginning to burn now. "W-well…I may have been able to fit through the bars of the cell," she replied, an innocent expression on her face. "Just barely though! It was a tight squeeze and I had to tighten my stays up in order to do it."

"I shouldn't be too surprised to learn about this. You are, after all, quite a small person," Tauriel chuckled, her brow still raised. "I must admit, however, that I am surprised it took you so long to free the others in your company."

Not wanting to give away the fact that it had actually been her father who had come up with the plan, she said, "Yes, well…Mirkwood is quite enormous and, as you said, I am quite small. I could only go so far before I had to turn back, lest the guards catch me." She took another drink of her tea. "I never did find the kitchens," she added with a small, wistful sigh.

"Believe me when I say that's for the best, Miss Baylee," Bard chuckled. "If you had, then they would have come in the next morning to find the place filled with delicious pies and everything sparkling clean."