A/N: Well, this took a little longer than I meant to, but still less than two months which isn't too bad for how busy I've been lately! Hope you all enjoy, this chapter covers the mountains and Goblintown, next chapter we will be seeing Azog and probably Beorn, and things will start to get shaken up ;).

Thanks to everyone who's favorited, followed, and read so far! And extra special thanks to my reviewers of last chapter: MissCallaLilly, Lyryenn, and the awesome MoiraStarsong - I always love hearing what you guys think!

And PLEASE REVIEW EVERYBODY! If you would like more frequent updates, I need to know more people are interested or this will fall a bit lower on my priority list, as I have a few projects on the go besides work. I won't stop writing altogether of course, but it might be like every 2 or 3 months instead of 1. So if you want it to be 1, let me know and I'll work harder!

Disclaimer: Any scenes and characters you recognize do not belong to me, everything else does though!

Chapter 8: Thunderstruck

"You are still certain this will work?" Fili asked quietly.

Lily nodded. At his request, she'd waited until Alison had fallen asleep during Fili's watch, and then had come to speak privately with him. They had been on the road for three days now after leaving Rivendell, and would arrive at the mountains tomorrow. After that, it was likely he would not have any opportunity to speak to Lily somewhere that her sister wouldn't hear. She looked over to her sister's bedroll before replying in a low tone, "I'm sure."

"She did tell you about the 'friends with benefits' talk we had, right?" Fili still winced at the memory of that talk, and how frightened Alison had looked at the thought of a serious relationship. "She looked so terrified when she asked if I was serious about her."

"She told me, yes, and she is terrified. But it's a good sign, I promise." Lily threaded a hand through her hair, meeting his gaze. "I can tell you this much; she's never done the 'friends with benefits' deal before. If she thought there was even a chance a guy was starting to care too much, or she was, she'd just cut and run, without even talking to him. So it might not seem like it, but it's working. She's still not ready to hear how you feel, though."

Fili sighed, scanning the surrounding countryside in the dark before turning back to Lily. "No, I did not think she was." Still, the fact that she had agreed to continue on as before, in spite of apparently never having done so, was definitely encouraging. "I should just continue on with her as I have been, then?"

Lily nodded again, giving him a small smile. "Light and fun, as before. It'll work, I promise."

Fili sincerely hoped that she was right. He felt as though he were only falling in deeper with Alison, the more time that he spent with her. These last few days had been particularly difficult to deal with, as she had been so near, yet he had been unable to share her bed as they had in Rivendell, considering that they were back on the road. He was unwilling to endanger either her or himself by finding somewhere out of the others' earshot, nor was he willing to make love to her where the others might hear. Having the elf see them in the stable had been embarrassment enough, but he hadn't been able to help himself after she'd stated so firmly her willingness to help once more. And the stable had been at least somewhat private; here in camp would not be private at all. So he'd had to content himself with simply spending time with her, talking with her more about her family and his own. Though it certainly hadn't escaped his notice that she still avoided any details of her home, and instead focused solely on what her family was like, at least she was telling him something about herself. He had also noticed a strange sadness when she spoke of her family, and wondered what might cause it, but suspected he would have to wait to find that out, just as he would have to wait to confess his feelings. But, if Lily was right, he still had a chance for both.

He nodded to her. "I pray you are right. What about your visions? Have you seen anything more about Uncle or Azog, or what might happen?" He'd heard from his uncle that Lily's visions had been blocked by the magic in Rivendell, but hoped they might have returned to her by now. He could not bear the thought of Azog killing Uncle in battle.

"No." Lily shook her head. "Not yet. I think the effect still hasn't worn off enough. Hopefully I will see something soon." Was it his imagination, Fili wondered, or was she not quite meeting his eyes as she said that? "I do have a bad feeling about the mountains, though. We should be careful when we cross them."

"We will," Fili reassured her, wondering, too, why she looked so suddenly guilty. "Unfortunately, though, there is no other way to go, not if we wish to reach Erebor in time."

"Well, hopefully it will all work out, then." Lily stood up. "I'll go back to sleep now, unless you need something else." He shook his head, and she started to slip back over to her bedroll by Alison, calling softly behind her, "Good luck."

He just might need her wish of luck, Fili thought, and offered up his own prayer to Mahal that everything – including their trip over the mountains – would work out fine.

Fili was starting to feel cold, and he rarely felt the effects of the weather this much. The brutal wind driving at them, however, was chilled, and that was on top of the heavy rain soaking through all their cloaks. The rain drove into his face, as well, pushed so hard by the wind that it felt like pricks from a dagger striking his skin. And in the distance, lightning lit up the sky with alarming frequency, along with the deep boom of thunder. As if that wasn't enough, the path they were on was very narrow, causing them all to have to keep close to the mountainside and try to maintain their footing on the increasingly wet rock. He wondered if this storm was what had given Lily a bad feeling. He certainly didn't much like it.

Especially, he thought, glancing to his right, when he could see how cold Alison clearly was. Her face was pale beneath the hood of the cloak the elves had given her, and he felt quite certain her lips were starting to turn blue. She was singing as they went, as if to distract herself from the weather raging around them, though Fili could only catch snatches of the song, and he didn't much understand what he did hear:

I was caught
In the middle of a railroad track
I looked round
And I knew there was no turning back

There was a pause where the thunder drowned out her voice, followed by:
Sound of the drums
Beating in my heart
The thunder of guns
Tore me apart
You've been
Thunderstruck*

Well, Fili thought wryly, he might not understand some of the words, but the last one certainly made it sound like an appropriate song to be singing under the circumstances. She had to halt her singing, however, as her teeth started to chatter, and he frowned. The sight made his heart wrench painfully; he did not like to see her in such discomfort, especially when he could do nothing about it. Uncle seemed determined to keep moving onward, in spite of the storm, but Fili decided he couldn't take it anymore. "Uncle, we must take shelter!" he bellowed over the thunder.

His uncle turned slightly in the direction of his shout, but didn't immediately respond. Kili, who was just ahead of Alison, with Lily on his other side, glanced back at Fili and nodded, before shouting ahead, "Uncle, please!"

Before their uncle could respond, Bilbo, who was further down from Fili, slipped and nearly fell right off the path. Dwalin was able to reach out and grab him, pulling him back to safety, and that apparently was the deciding factor for their uncle, for he shouted, "Yes, we will find shelter immediately!"

Fili had no sooner let out a breath of relief at these words, when Dwalin yelled, "Look out!"

Fili looked behind him, only to see an enormous rock come hurtling through the air towards them, about to crash into the mountainside above them. He quickly turned back, reaching out to Alison and pulling her in front of him, pressing her up against the rocky mountain and covering her body with his. He was just in time as the rock broke into several dozen pieces on the mountain above, sending a cascade of rocks tumbling over his back and over all the others. Kili, he saw out of the corner of his eye, had done the same thing with Lily, shouting out, "Hold on!" as he did so.

"This is no thunderstorm. It's a thunder battle!" Balin yelled from up ahead.

Fili turned his head slightly to see Balin pointing at the mountain across from them. He blinked a little in surprise as the mountain seemed to be moving, sure that he couldn't be seeing it right, but as he kept watching, it became clear that a giant made entirely out of stone was prying itself away from the rest of the mountain, before it broke off a chunk of the mountain.

Fili felt Alison poke him in the chest at that moment, and squinted down at her, her pale face nearly glowing in the rain as she looked up. "Thank you, Fili, really, but you don't have to protect me from the rocks," she told him softly.

He shook his head at her, even as he heard Bofur shouting something about legends and stone giants. "I know I do not have to, but I want to." I need to. "Besides, I'm not putting myself in more danger. The rocks would be falling on me anyway. So I am following our deal."

She gave him a wry smile. "So you're going to be stubborn about it?"

He nodded, about to open his mouth to say something else, but then he heard his uncle's voice bellowing, "Take cover, you fool!"

He quickly glanced up to see more rock showering down on them, and leaned forward to cover Alison once more as Dwalin called, "Hold on!" He felt more bits of rock thudding into his back, but they stopped soon enough, and he lifted his head to see what was happening now, only to hear an ominous cracking noise. He glanced down to his right, to see a crack developing in the path right between him and Kili. He looked up to see the horror reflected in Kili's eyes as he realized what Fili had already seen; the crack was growing larger, splitting right through the path. Fili tried to lean forward across the rapidly growing crack, reaching out as he called, "Kili, grab my hand!"

Kili was reaching out for him as well, but they were speeding away from each other too rapidly; neither of them was able to reach the other as the gap between them grew much too large. Fili nearly fell over the edge of the crack, but Alison grabbed onto his coat and pulled him back, tightly against her. He wrapped an arm around her, even as he stared at his brother across the way, trapped on what he realized had to be a knee of one of the giants, along with half of their party, his uncle included. "Kili!" he shouted again, even though he knew there was no way his little brother could hear him any longer. His stomach was tight with worry and fear, and he didn't know what to do. How could he save him like this?

"Fili. Fili, look at me." He looked down at Alison; she was smiling gently at him, her hands still clutching at his coat. "He'll be all right. They all will."

He wanted to believe her, he really did, even as he could feel the air whooshing by them as the giant moved, but . . . "How do you know?"

"I have faith," she told him, still smiling, and he felt some of his worry ease at the conviction in her voice, and really, her presence alone.

At that moment, however, the giant they were on shuddered, then tipped, crashing back into the mountain. Fili clung tightly to Alison, struggling to keep his balance along with the others on their side, and managed to glimpse the other knee drawing up next to a mountain path, Kili and the others racing off the knee onto the path before the giant moved again.

Fili couldn't see what was happening through the driving rain, but it seemed as though their giant was battling with another one, knocking each other around and sending bits of rock flying everywhere. As their giant moved, the knee they were still precariously perched on went swinging by the path Kili and the others had leapt onto, so close that Fili could actually see his brother's frightened face only a few feet away.

"Jump! Come on!" his uncle shouted, but there was no time as the giant kept moving, the knee swinging away once more.

It took Fili a moment, but he suddenly realized their giant was falling, obviously having been defeated in its battle, and the knee they were on was heading straight for the side of the mountain. "But are you sure we're going to be all right?" he asked Alison as they fell.

She gave him a half-smile, curling her hands into his coat tighter as he wrapped both arms around her, determined to do what he could to keep her safe. "Reasonably sure," she joked feebly.

Fili could see the mountain hurtling closer, and briefly considered telling her everything in that moment; that he loved her, that she was his One, but the wall was coming too fast. And in the same moment, he saw a path right below them, and knew that he could save them both. "There's a path!" he bellowed to the others. "Jump!"

"Hold tight," he whispered in Alison's ear, and she wrapped her arms around him as he took a deep breath and leapt for the path below.

"Ali! Please, you must wake up! Amrâlimê, I need you to open your eyes! Can you do that for me, please? I can't – Mahal!"

The voice drifted through Alison's head, along with snatches of a song. Broke all the rules, played all the fools, yeah yeah they, they, they blew our minds. Was she dreaming? Was she half-awake? She wasn't sure. She rather felt like she was in a dream, on the verge of waking, except there was nothing but blackness, the song repeating, and that desperately upset voice. She knew that voice, she was sure of it, and equally sure that it should never be that upset. It was asking her to wake up, and she wanted to, but she couldn't quite seem to get her eyes to open.

"Ali, I swear to God, if you don't open your eyes, I will smack you into next week! You can't leave me to do this alone!" She knew that voice too; better than anyone else's, in fact. That voice should also never be upset, though it sounded as angry as it was upset. Then the voice went on, more quietly, "What happened to her?"

"I – I don't know." The other voice, still sounding devastated and unhappy. "She must have . . . hit her head when we landed on the path. I landed on top of her; I must have knocked her head into the ground, and now she won't wake up. It's my fault; I didn't protect her."

"No, Fili, it's not your fault. You were trying to keep her safe. It was just bad luck, that's all. She'll be okay. No one's got a harder head than she does."

Yes, this was true, Alison agreed with the voice; it was often a joke among their family that they all had hard heads. She should be fine. And of course it wasn't Fili's fault. That was ridiculous. She needed to wake up. Wake up wake up wake up, she chanted to herself. Finally, through what felt like a Herculean effort, she managed to pry her eyelids open. Everything came rushing back into focus at that moment; her head did fucking hurt, like there was one giant, throbbing mass on the back of her skull, and rain was no longer falling on her face.

And she was lying on the ground, she realized, apparently with her head in Fili's lap. His face was only a few feet above hers, drawn with fear and worry, and when she turned slightly to the other side, she could see Lily kneeling next to her, her face pale and similarly worried-looking. "Hey," she managed. Both heads whipped to look down at her, lighting up when they saw her eyes were open.

"Ali! Thank Mahal!" Fili exclaimed, and she felt his hand brush her cheek as he beamed down at her, causing a rush of warmth in her chest. And I was shaking at the knees, could I come again please. She shook her head slightly to clear it; apparently she was still half-dreaming.

"Ali!" Lily added from her other side, and she tipped her head slightly back that way to see her cousin smiling broadly as well. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I've been thunderstruck?" she joked. Lily groaned, dropping her head into her hands.

"So punny, Ali, really." She grinned as Lily raised her head, scowling at her. "Seriously, you had me worried sick. How do you really feel?"

"Sorry," Alison said, more soberly, remembering how very worried they both had sounded while she'd been out of it. "I'm okay, really. I mean, my head hurts like fucking hell, and I'm a little sore overall, but I'll be fine."

She moved to sit up, and Fili quickly scrambled to help her, supporting her back and half-lifting her into a sitting position. Which was good, considering her head started whirling a little when she tried to move on her own. "I'm so sorry, Ali," Fili said fervently as he helped settle her so her back was to the cave wall. He tucked what appeared to be one of his cloaks around her, which was thankfully dry; it must have been in his pack, since everything else was drenched.

"What for?" she demanded, frowning. When he opened his mouth, looking guilty, she went on, "And don't say it's your fault I hit my head, because it's not. It was just bad luck I landed that way."

He snapped his mouth shut, looking surprised, and exchanged a quick glance with Lily. "You . . . heard us talking? How much did you hear?"

Was it her imagination, or did he sound a little worried? No, she was being ridiculous again; why would he be worried? It wasn't like he'd said anything bad. "Just the two of you asking me to wake up, and how you thought it was your fault I hit my head. And you threatening to smack me," she added to Lily, who grinned unrepentantly. "But I couldn't open my eyes right away, even though I could hear you. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, I was just wondering when you had started to recover," Fili replied, his tone light. "And there was a bit of excitement before you woke up, as well."

"Oh?" Alison just barely managed to keep herself from asking if it was about Bilbo, striving to keep her tone casual as she looked to Lily, who gave a brief nod.

"Yes, Bilbo nearly fell over the edge," Fili told her. "Uncle pulled him up, but I'm afraid . . ."

"He was a jerk to Bilbo afterwards," Lily said bluntly. "Don't worry, I told him so."

Alison couldn't stop herself from grinning, proud of Lily for standing up for Bilbo when she hadn't been awake to do so. But if that had all happened already, then . . . she glanced around the cave. Yes, they were in the cave that would lead to Goblintown. The dwarves were scattered all over, eating and talking amongst themselves, some already sleeping. Bilbo was off in one corner by himself, looking upset. Bofur was sitting with his back to a rocky wall, facing the entrance to the cave, having already taken first watch. Alison didn't know how long it would be before the trap opened up, but she needed to talk to Lily alone before it did; there were still a few details to hash out. And she needed to be able to think clearly. What rotten fucking luck she'd hit her head, but at least she was alive, so that was something.

She looked over to Fili, giving him her best pleading look. "Would you mind going to ask Oin if he has something for the pain in my head? I'd get up myself, but I still feel a bit dizzy."

"Of course!" Fili nearly leapt to his feet. "I'll be right back," he promised before he crossed the cave to where Oin sat eating with Gloin.

"That was a neat manoeuvre," Lily murmured as soon as he was out of earshot.

"I do need something for the pain," Alison pointed out. "And I am still a bit dizzy. But yeah, I needed to talk to you." She glanced quickly around the cave, noting that Kili was the nearest, talking to Nori, and should still be out of earshot; Fili must have picked a relatively quiet spot for her to wake up in. "Those trap doors should be opening up any minute, and we need to be ready."

"Right," Lily nodded. "You have a plan?"

"Mostly a non-interference plan, but there are a couple of things I thought we should do," Alison replied. "First, you need to make sure you hang onto your bow, and try to make sure Kili hangs onto his. I think this is where he loses it, and if we can make sure he has it when Azog appears, he might be able to take him out from a distance. Or maybe you can. Either way, we need those bows."

"Makes sense," Lily agreed. "Long-range would be ideal for fighting him. But how am I supposed to make sure Kili keeps his bow?"

Alison shrugged. "I don't know, go cozy up to him. Tell him you can't sleep because you're cold or something, and then make sure you've got his bow and yours close at hand."

"You want me to sleep with him?" Lily hissed incredulously.

"Sleep next to," Alison corrected, though she was unable to stifle a smile, "and just sleep, if you can. I'm not sure I'll be able to sleep, knowing what's coming. You can drag him over here if you want, by Fili and me, but don't be a baby. Having the bow could be part of what saves their lives."

Lily scowled at her, but finally sighed and nodded. "You could be right. What else?"

"When we do land down there, we should probably pull our hoods up and keep our cloaks wrapped around us as much as we can. I don't know for sure, but I don't think it will be good if the goblins find out we're women." Knowing that gross Goblin King, he'd probably suggest torturing them first or something equally problematic, and Alison wasn't about to let Lily go through something like that. "Other than that, we just keep our heads down and try to survive until we get out. Sound like a plan?"

"Okay." Lily heaved a sigh. "I'll go talk to Kili."

"Jesus, you make it sound like you're going to face the goblins," Alison said, amused as she waved her hand at Lily, who got to her feet. "Go on, then."

Lily stuck her tongue out at her before she headed over to Kili and Nori, going to sit down by them. Just as she had done that, Fili came back, cradling a steaming cup in his hands. "Here," he said, handing her the cup carefully. "Oin already had this heating up for you. He says it will help with the pain."

Alison took the cup, taking a careful sip of the steaming liquid, which fortunately didn't taste too awful. She suspected it was probably willow bark tea or something like it, which was often used to treat pain. It wouldn't be as good as a couple of extra-strength ibuprofen, but it would have to do. "Thank you, Fili." She smiled at him over the rim of the cup.

He smiled in return as he sat down next to her once more. "It was the least I could do."

She sighed, shaking her head. "Fili, you'd better not still be blaming yourself for me hitting my head. I don't blame you, and I don't want you to feel guilty. In fact, I'll get mad at you if you keep blaming yourself."

"But I –" he began, cutting himself off when she glared at him fiercely. He smiled slightly. "Would you really be angry if I blamed myself?"

She nodded firmly, determined that she would make him stop feeling guilty for something that wasn't even his fault. "Very much so. I might even refuse to be near you for as long as you blame yourself for it."

He laughed softly, those remarkable blue eyes of his shining at her with some emotion she couldn't quite identify in their depths. "In that case, consider me sufficiently warned. I will do my best not to feel guilty about it."

She grinned at him, taking another drink. "Good."

He reached his arm out, wrapping it around her shoulders, and she let him pull her into his side, snuggling herself against him. He pulled another cloak out of his pack, wrapping it around them both. She was cold, she told herself, and he was radiating heat like he always did. A little sharing of warmth between friends was nothing.

"You should get some sleep, Ali," he told her softly.

"I'll try," she promised, "as soon as I finish this." She lifted the cup up again as a reminder, taking another sip.

"Yes, of course." He was quiet for a moment, before he squeezed her lightly and added, "I am very glad you woke up."

"Thank you," she murmured, feeling that rush of warmth in her chest again. "I am too, and that everyone is all right." She drained the rest of her cup before setting it down, checking to make sure she still had her sword and daggers on, and curling up against him, hoping she could get a little sleep before all hell broke loose – and trying not to feel guilty that she wasn't warning Fili about what was coming.

Though Alison hadn't thought she'd be able to sleep, she did manage to doze fitfully, weird dreams dancing through her head that she didn't remember when the sound of Bofur's voice jerked her awake. She was laying on her side now, Fili pressed to her back with his arm around her waist the way he'd done in Rivendell, meaning she was almost ridiculously warm at this point since there were still cloaks piled over them. She grinned when she saw Lily lying next to Kili, his arm flung over her as well, several feet away, both of them looking very comfortable. She looked over to where Bofur stood confronting Bilbo, who had been trying to sneak out, and felt suddenly guilty that she hadn't talked to Bilbo before trying to sleep.

"Back to Rivendell," she heard Bilbo hiss at Bofur.

Bofur shook his head. "No, no, you can't turn back now, eh? You're part of the company. You're one of us."

"I'm not, though, am I?" Bilbo asked sadly, and Alison nearly got up to talk to him then, but decided not to interfere; Bofur needed to be the one to try to make him stay. Although really, Thorin should be doing it, she thought as Bilbo went on, "Thorin said I should never have come, and he was right. I'm not a Took, I'm a Baggins. I don't know what I was thinking. I should never have run out my door."

"You're homesick," Bofur said soothingly. "I understand."

"No, you don't," Bilbo retorted angrily, and Alison winced, knowing what was coming as he stormed on,"You don't understand. None of you do. You're Dwarves. You're used to this life. To living on the road, never settling in one place, not belonging anywhere!" Alison could see Bofur hang his head at the words, and Bilbo looked suddenly contrite. "Oh, I am sorry. I didn't –"

Bofur held up his hand to stop Bilbo's apology. "No, you're right." He looked back at the other dwarves. "We don't belong anywhere. I wish you all the luck in the world. I really do." He patted Bilbo's shoulder, and Bilbo started to turn away. Alison went to sit up, tugging Fili's arm off of her as Bofur said, "What's that?"

Alison already knew what he was seeing; Bilbo's sword glowing a bright blue. She realized, startled, that her blade was doing the same thing; blue light was spilling out of the small gap where the hilt met the sheath. So the sword Fili had found her was just like Sting; that would be handy. She could feel Fili stirring at her back, muttering, "Ali? What's wrong?"

She heard it then; the mechanical clanking and whirring that meant the ground was about to open up beneath them. "Something's coming," she warned Fili at the same time that Thorin shouted, "Wake up! Wake up!"

All the dwarves woke up with a start, just as the two halves of the cave floor beneath them opened up, dumping them all down into a rocky, tunnel-like slide. Alison could only be grateful that Fili had managed to grab her before they fell, and he was keeping his arms wrapped around her as they slid and tumbled downwards, trying to keep himself between her and the rocky ground; otherwise this would be a lot more painful, and her head still hurt, though not as bad as before at least. She gripped Fili's arms tightly, trying to repress the urge to scream as they kept falling; it was a lot more terrifying than she'd expected it to be.

Finally, they landed in the round, bowl-like cage at the bottom with a thump, all the dwarves piling on top of each other. Alison landed on top of Fili, this time, his arms still secure around her waist, and managed not to hit her head or anything else, luckily enough. "Are you all right?" she gasped to Fili, and only caught his mumbled, "Aye," before goblins were swarming over them, yanking them roughly to their feet.

Alison quickly pulled her cloak shut as much as possible and kept her hood up over her messy braid as much as she could as the goblins pushed and prodded them forward, not even bothering to fight. She didn't want the goblins looking too closely at her if she could help it. She glanced around, trying to spot Lily through the throng as the dozens of goblins pushed the struggling dwarves along. She let out a breath of relief as she saw Lily several feet back by Kili, also keeping her cloak around herself. As the goblins shuffled them across a bridge, she kept looking back until she saw Bilbo crouch down, avoiding the crowd, and the goblins go along without him. Good; he'd get the ring, then.

The goblins kept pushing them along the rocky paths and wooden bridges until they came into a vast cavern, filled with lantern light and goblins on every available surface. A horrible imitation of a song was being played all throughout the cavern, and the Goblin King was singing as they were finally pushed in front of him.

Alison wrinkled her nose in disgust as they all stopped several feet away; the Goblin King was even grosser than she thought he'd be. He was enormous, towering over twice as high as the dwarves and goblins around him, a huge, bulbous stomach hanging over the weird skirt thing he wore, with a dangly turkey chin bobbing back and forth as he sang. He wore some kind of bony crown on his head, and held a bony sceptre in one hand. Fili managed to push his way to her side just as the song wound up, and took her hand in his, pulling her close to him as Balin said, "That's not a song. That's an abomination!"

"Abomination. Mutations. Deviations. That's all you're gonna find down here," the Goblin King drawled. He stood up, getting closer to them and leaning down into their faces, nearly making Alison gag at the disgusting smell of his mouth as he demanded, "Who would be so bold as to come armed into my kingdom? Spies? Thieves? Assassins?"

"Dwarves, Your Malevolence," said a small goblin at the head of the crowd.

"Dwarves?" the king repeated incredulously.

The other goblin nodded. "We found them on the front porch."

"Well, don't just stand there. Search them. Every crack. Every crevice," the Goblin King bellowed.

At this, the goblins swarmed over them again, yanking their weapons off of them and throwing them onto the ground in front of the throne. They pulled their cloaks aside, their bony, sharp-clawed hands poking and prodding everywhere. This time, Alison did fight, as she couldn't stand the feel of their hands beneath her cloak, and Fili fought as well to keep them off of the both of them, but there were far too many. For every one that they managed to knock aside, another took its place, its disgusting hands groping everywhere, and Alison couldn't help but shudder. She kept her mouth clamped tightly shut, though, and hoped they were too stupid to realize just what they were groping.

Unfortunately, though, they must have been too rough with Lily, for she let out a shriek behind Alison just as the last of the weapons had been stripped away. A sudden silence fell over the crowd of goblins, and Alison felt panic threatening to overtake her. No, she couldn't let them do anything to Lily, but how could she stop it?

"What is that I hear?" the Goblin King demanded, a sick glee in his voice. "Was that a woman? Did these Dwarves bring a female with them?"

There was only one thing Alison could think to do, so she did it; luckily, Fili had been pulled away from her during the struggle, and he wasn't able to stop her as she tossed the hood of her cloak back and stepped forward. "Yeah, they did. So what?"

"Ali, no!" She heard Fili cry behind her, and it sounded like he was struggling to get closer to her, but more goblins must have swarmed over him, for he wasn't able to reach her. The other dwarves were shouting as well, but they sounded far away; Alison suddenly felt very alone as she stared up at the Goblin King.

"Well, this is most fortunate," the king drawled, gesturing to his goblins, who grabbed her by the arms and dragged her forward, closer to his throne. She kicked and fought as much as she could, but there were so many goblins and so many hands that she couldn't stop them. Once she was a few feet away from him, goblins clinging to either of her arms to keep her in place, the Goblin King reached down to cup her chin with a clawed hand, tilting it up to his face. "I have not seen a dwarven female in quite some time. How disgustingly clean and unmarred you are. But I can fix that, if you dwarves do not tell me what you are doing here."

The dwarves were all protesting loudly behind her now, Fili's voice the loudest of all as he shouted something in Khuzdul that Alison couldn't understand. He sounded furious and panicked, however, and in spite of the pounding of her heart, the fluttering of her stomach, and the way her hands were shaking, she wanted to tell him it would be okay, even if she wasn't sure of that herself. But she definitely, no matter how terrified she was at this moment, did not want them telling their plans to this idiot for her sake. "Don't tell him anything!" she shouted loudly and clearly, holding on to every ounce of bravado she had.

The Goblin King struck her hard in the side of her face, and she went down on her hands and knees, hearing the shouts of her name even above the ringing in her ears. The goblins grabbed her arms and pulled her up onto her knees, holding her there as she stared up at the king, trying to look as defiant as she could with her face still throbbing. "Look at how the blonde one fights for you," the Goblin King said mockingly, looking over her head. "You must be his. I wonder how he would feel if I marred that pretty white flesh of yours?" He tore her cloak off, tossing it aside as Fili snarled, "I'll kill you!"

"Oh, I'd like to see that," the king taunted him as he trailed his hands down Alison's body. "Fuck off," she spat at him, trying to focus on the part of her that was furious over the part that wanted to whimper at how he was touching her.

"Ugh, too clean," the Goblin King remarked at last, pulling his hands back. "I suppose we will just have to see how much you can endure before you break – or he breaks." He smirked malevolently at Fili before he shouted, "Bring up the mangler. Bring up the bonebreaker." The goblins cheered at this, and Alison tried to keep her fear locked inside.

"Wait!" Thorin's voice rang out above the cries of the other dwarves behind her, and Alison nearly sagged in relief, hoping this meant that the Goblin King would let her go.

"Well, well, well. Look who it is. Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror, King Under the Mountain." The Goblin King gave a mocking bow as Thorin strode forward next to her. "Oh, but I'm forgetting. You don't have a mountain. And you're not a king. Which makes you . . . nobody, really."

"I will tell you what you want to know," Thorin said, ignoring the king's comments. "Just let her go."

The Goblin King gave him a long, considering look. "Well, if I have you to torture, I suppose I don't really need her." He gestured to the goblins holding Alison, and they let her go. She almost fell face first when they released her arms, but managed to catch herself and scramble to her feet instead, fleeing back to the others before he could change his mind. Fili shoved off another goblin just as she reached him, gathering her up in his arms, and she buried her face in his chest, hating herself for the fear and weakness she felt, but unable to face the rest of the world at the moment.

"What in Mahal's name were you thinking?" Fili growled at her, though he held her tightly, and she could feel his hands tremble on her back.

"I was thinking . . . I didn't want them to do that to Lily," she murmured, pulling her head back enough to look up at him. He looked worried, angry, and relieved all at the same time as he shook his head at her.

"I suppose I can understand that," he said softly, even as Alison could hear the Goblin King taunting Thorin about someone paying a pretty price for his head in the background, "but please try not to do something like that ever again."

"I don't plan on it," she replied shakily. "I think I used up all my courage on that one."

"Good," Fili muttered, though his face was starting to soften as he searched hers. "Are you going to be all right?"

She nodded. "I think so." She felt strangely safe in his arms, now, in spite of knowing they weren't out of the woods yet. So she turned a little in his embrace, though he kept his arms firmly around her still, so that she could see Thorin facing off with the Goblin King.

"Azog the Defiler was destroyed," Thorin was saying to the king, though it almost sounded like he was probing for information, rather than stating it angrily like he would have before. Alison noted that he glanced back at Lily before continuing, "He was slain in battle long ago." Ah. So he was checking one last time to make sure Lily really was right, Alison thought. Stubborn as ever.

"So you think his defiling days are done, do you?" The Goblin King chuckled before he turned to the tiny little goblin perched on a swing-like device next to him, clutching a quill and parchment. "Send word to the pale Orc. Tell him I have found his prize." The little goblin nodded, scribbling away before he went sliding off on the ropes his swing was attached to, cackling away. "Now," the king turned back to Thorin, "I will find out just what you are doing here, in my kingdom."

Alison had no idea what Thorin planned to say to the king, for even as they stood glaring at one another, one of the goblins shrieked, flinging Thorin's gleaming sword down in front of the throne. All of the goblins were suddenly panicked, scrambling away and crying out in terror. Even the Goblin King shrunk away from it, standing up on top of his throne like a person terrified of a mouse running around on the floor. He pointed a shaking hand at the sword. "I know that sword! It is the Goblin-cleaver! The Biter! The blade that sliced a thousand necks! Slash them! Beat them! Kill them!"

The goblins swarmed forward again, wielding whips that they cracked over the dwarves' backs, beating at the dwarves and grabbing Thorin. Fili quickly whirled with Alison in his arms, even as she tried to pull away from him, and covered her with his body as the whips cracked across his back. She could feel his body tense up with each impact. "Get off, Fili," she hissed. "You have to stop doing this!" She could not have him hurt because of her; she didn't think she could live with that.

He simply shook his head at her, pulling her more tightly to him if anything as the Goblin King shouted, "Kill them all! Cut off his head!"

Alison didn't have to see to know that Thorin was a minute away from death before a blinding white light exploded through the cavern, searing into her eyes and knocking everyone flat on the ground with the resulting wave. She scrambled out from underneath Fili almost immediately, trying to blink away the dancing lights in her eyes as Gandalf came marching forward, his sword in one hand and his staff in the other. "Take up arms. Fight. Fight!"

All of the dwarves got to their feet at this, racing over to their weapons, Alison included, as Gandalf covered them, swinging his sword with a deadly skill at the onrushing goblins. Alison scooped up her sword and the daggers as the Goblin King shouted about the Foehammer, noting with relief that Lily, looking perfectly healthy, was grabbing her bow and quiver from the pile and tossing Kili's to him. Obviously she'd managed to keep their bows on hand, which could make a big difference in the next battle. She hoped so, anyway. She had just straightened back up to her feet, weapons at hand once more, when Gandalf yelled, "Follow me. Quick! Run!"

He ran forward, past where the Goblin King's throne had been, across another bridge, and the dwarves all streamed after him, Thorin in the lead. Alison quickly pulled her sword, hoping that she'd learned enough to use it effectively by now, and followed the rest. She could see Fili watching for her, and as soon as he saw her join them, he hurried forward after the others, though he was obviously trying to stay closely by her.

The goblins, however, were not slow in recovering, and were soon swarming all around them as they tried to run along through the cavern's many twisting, turning paths and bridges. There seemed to be a goblin in every direction that Alison turned, and she did her best to block their blows and deliver her own. Fortunately, years of cat-wrangling had given her rather quick reflexes, so although she got a few cuts from the goblins, it was nothing terribly deep, and she managed to get the better of them in the end. A few times she settled for just kicking a goblin over the side, all the while trying to keep an eye out to make sure her placement in things didn't cause someone else to get hurt. At one point, when she was directly behind Fili, she even pushed him forward just out of the way of an onrushing arrow, narrowly avoiding it herself as well. He gave her a quick glance backwards in surprise before he shouted to her to keep moving, and she listened, following quickly along the path as the dwarves ahead laid down a ladder for everyone to run across.

They kept moving, pushing their way through the crowd of goblins, and Alison kept glancing behind as well, making sure that she could see Lily amidst the crowd of dwarves, but she seemed to be fine each time she checked. Then, suddenly, they were all on a wooden platform that some of the dwarves cut free from its lines, so it could go spinning across the gap to the path on the other side. Alison fought to keep her balance as the platform whirled in the air even as it swung over to the other side. Some of the dwarves managed to jump off onto the other side, but Alison didn't have her balance enough to even move when it did, and had to stay on with the handful of others, including Lily, when it swung back again.

More goblins swarmed them as soon as they reached the other side, and Alison hacked and slashed, trying to keep the goblins off her as the platform swung back once more. "Come on, lass," Nori urged her, grabbing her arm and running her off the platform with him along with the others. Alison glanced back to make sure Lily had gotten off safely too, then gasped out, "Thanks!" to Nori before she kept running.

And she kept running, on and on after the others, even as they all used every trick at their disposal to keep the goblins at bay, including Gandalf's Indiana Jones trick with the boulder. And just when she thought she couldn't run anymore, the dwarves in front of her all halted, causing her to slam into Fili's solid back. He turned around almost immediately, giving a brief smile of relief when he saw her, before he turned his attention back to what had caused them all to stop.

The Goblin King, Alison saw, had come bursting up through the wooden bridge that they all stood on, which was the only thing joining these two sections of rocky path, and the only thing between them and the canyon yawning below. "You thought you could escape me," the Goblin King taunted as he swung his sceptre at Gandalf's face.

Gandalf lurched backward, nearly falling into the other dwarves behind him, who were in front of Alison and Fili, but the dwarves caught him and pushed him back upright as the Goblin King said mockingly, "What are you going to do now, Wizard?"

In answer, Gandalf jabbed the king in the eye with his staff, causing him to cry out and rear backwards. Before he could even recover, Gandalf sliced him across the stomach with his sword, causing him to fall to his knees, and Gandalf delivered one more stroke to his throat. Shit, Alison thought, just before the full weight of the Goblin King hit the bridge, causing the whole thing to free-fall down into the canyon.

She sheathed her sword before she ended up stabbing herself with it as they all went screaming downwards, the bridge hitting the rocky wall and turning into a sled of sorts as it kept plummeting down. She grabbed the back of Fili's coat to help keep her balance as their bridge slammed into rocks and bumps, and before she'd even registered what he was doing, Fili had managed to wrap her into his arms again. Just as he did so, she felt the bridge starting to slow as it began to get stuck on the rocky walls, lurching back and forth before it finally hit the bottom with a thud, leaving many of the dwarves squished on top of each other.

Alison smiled and shook her head at Fili when she realized he'd kept himself between her and the bottom of the bridge again, obviously trying to shield her from hitting her head. This meant she was now sprawled on top of him, with another dwarf half across her legs, though she couldn't see who. "You're stubborn as hell, Fili, you know that?"

He gave her an unrepentant smile. "I will make no apologies for it."

"Well, as much as I like being on top, we have to move," she told him, which made him chuckle as she tried to squirm free from whoever had landed on top of her. Bofur hadn't said anything yet, so that meant she still had time –

"Well, that could have been worse," Bofur piped up cheerfully.

God damn it, Bofur!

With that, Alison felt the impact as the Goblin King's body landed on top of the pile of dwarves, causing a simultaneous groan from everyone involved. She could feel the extra weight bearing down on her, pressing her even further into Fili, who surely had to be feeling crushed by this point, though he just gave her a rueful smile as he worked to try to pull them free.

"Gandalf!" Kili cried from somewhere to Alison's right, and though she couldn't see him, she looked forward to Gandalf, who'd managed to land free of the pile. He was staring up beyond them, looking alarmed, and she knew what he was seeing: a huge crowd of goblins rushing down into the canyon.

She renewed her struggles to get free, and between her and Fili, they managed to pull themselves out of the pile just as Dwalin added, "There's too many. We can't fight them."

"Only one thing will save us, daylight! Come on!" Gandalf hurried forward, pulling Thorin out of the pile, and between that and everyone squirming, they all managed to get free. Alison waited to make sure Lily was on her feet and going before she hurried after the others, heading for the entrance and hopefully daylight once more.

It seemed like forever before they finally burst out of a cave entrance on the side of the mountain into the light of the setting sun. Though she felt exhausted, her head throbbing with renewed pain, Alison kept running down the side of the mountain until she saw the others finally slow to a stop, panting for breath, so she started slowing down too. She knew they'd have to run again soon, but she needed at least a little break first.

Gandalf was counting everyone as they came past him, slowing to a stop. "Fili, Kili, that's twelve. Bombur, thirteen. Alison, Lily, fifteen. Where's Bilbo?" He started looking around their group frantically as Alison stopped altogether, leaning her hands on her thighs and trying to catch a breath, Lily next to her and Fili and Kili only a few feet away. "Where is our Hobbit?" Gandalf shouted once more as all the dwarves started to look around.

"Curse that Halfling! Now he's lost?" Dwalin growled.

"I thought he was with Dori!" Gloin added.

"Don't blame me!" Dori exclaimed.

"Well, where did you last see him?" Gandalf demanded.

"I think I saw him slip away when they first collared us," Nori offered.

Alison nodded, straightening up to add, "He's right. I saw Bilbo duck down and the goblins just kept on going. They didn't even notice."

Gandalf looked between her and Nori. "And what happened, exactly? Tell me!"

"I'll tell you what happened," Thorin said scornfully, interrupting Alison before she could try to reassure Gandalf. "Master Baggins saw his chance and he took it. He has thought of nothing but his soft bed and his warm hearth since first he stepped out of his door. We will not be seeing our Hobbit again. He is long gone."

"How about you stop picking on Bilbo?" Lily snapped, hands on her hips. "I told you before, he's doing the best that he can, and you sure aren't showing any damn gratitude for someone who risked everything he had to come help you. He didn't leave us."

Alison grinned at Lily, immensely proud of her once more as Bilbo himself appeared, coming forward into the midst of the crowd of dwarves. "She's right. I didn't leave."

All the dwarves turned to stare at him, astonishment on most of their faces, though Bofur was smiling and Gandalf chuckled as he said, "Bilbo Baggins. I have never been so glad to see anyone in my life."

"Bilbo!" Kili exclaimed, beaming. "We'd given you up!"

"Welcome back, Bilbo," Alison added, smiling at the hobbit. "I knew you could do it."

Fili shot her a curious glance before he asked Bilbo, in what Alison could only think was a suspicious tone, "How on earth did you get past the goblins?"

"How, indeed," Dwalin agreed.

Bilbo merely chuckled nervously at the question, slipping his hands into the pocket of his vest, and Alison exchanged a significant glance with Lily, who nodded. Bilbo had the ring; now they could feel free to change whatever they had to, and Alison was definitely determined to start fucking with the storyline now. Hopefully starting with Azog.

"Well, what does it matter?" Gandalf said brightly. "He's back."

"It matters," Thorin replied coolly. "I want to know. Why did you come back?"

He and Bilbo stared at one another for a long moment before Bilbo shrugged and said, "Look, I know you doubt me. I know you always have. And you're right. I often think of Bag-end. I miss my books. And my armchair and my garden. See, that's where I belong. That's home. And that's why I came back. Because . . ." He looked around at all the dwarves. "You don't have one. A home. It was taken from you. But I will help you take it back if I can."

"So will we," Lily added, and Alison nodded firmly, meeting Fili's gaze as she said, "No matter what."

Thorin looked down at Bilbo's words, his expression softening, almost looking a little ashamed, while Alison could see that Fili didn't know whether to be pleased or irritated at her statement and what he had to know she was saying with it. But just as Fili looked like he was about to say something, familiar howls sounded in the distance.

Thorin looked up the mountain, towards the direction the howls were coming from. "Out of the frying pan."

"And into the fire," Gandalf agreed. "Run! Run!"

And with that, they were all running for their lives again, Alison hoping that the bows would make the difference that they needed them to; she'd just have to see how it all worked out.

*Just in case anyone doesn't know, all the song lyrics in this chapter are taken from AC/DC's Thunderstruck.