Bilbo was the first to catch his breath.

"Uncle!" he screeched. "Uncle? What on earth is wrong with you… dwarves!" And with that he broke off into a string of hobbit curses that would have had his father rolling in his grave.

"Bilbo!" Balin snapped. "Control yourself!"

Bilbo spun to face the elder dwarf, utter fury screaming from every line of his body. "Thorin's their Uncle? Their Uncle did this to them?" He looked down at Fili and Kili again, finally seeing the resemblance. Then the next thought struck him like one of Dwalin's axes. "Shouldn't they technically be princes then? If Thorin's King?" He chased that away – it wasn't as important right now. "But their Uncle? How could any of you have just stood by at let this happen?"

"Mister Baggins!" This time it was Gloin that thundered his name. "You presume much! None of us 'just stood by' as you say! We have done whatever we could to thwart the evil that grips our king."

"Some more than others," Dwalin growled back in Gloin's direction.

"At least we did not disappear to the Iron Hills, cousin," Gloin flicked back.

"Peace!" Balin called wearily. He glared at his brother who was ready to start thwacking things again. "We have much to discuss. But first we must deal with Fili and Kili." He rolled back his shoulders and settled into a business-like pose that Bilbo recognised from the Thain back in the Shire. "I move a motion of no confidence in the current leadership of King Thorin."

The change of topic totally lost Bilbo, but the other noble dwarves matched Balin's stance and tone.

"As two of the dwarf lords that supported Thorin and his kingship, let it be known that with the backing of the company, both sons of Groin put forward that Thorin is not in his right mind and should be removed, at least temporarily, as King." Gloin's glare showed he was just as ready as Dwalin to hit anyone who disagreed with him.

Balin nodded. "Both sons of Fundin, also supporters of Thorin, are in agreement."
"So done," intoned Oin and Dwalin.

Bilbo pushed past Bombur and Nori and rushed over to the boys. "Can I please help them? Why are you all just standing there?"

"There are some procedures we still have to follow," Balin said quickly. He turned to the rest of the group. "Now that Thorin has stepped aside due to his health, we the dwarf lords present call on the Company to form a council that will lead in his stead. Do you accept?"

Bifur nodded straight away, and poked his cousins until they voiced their agreement. Dori and Ori still looked horrified, but nodded as well when prompted.

"All the Company accept the burden of leadership in a joint council. So done."

"So done."

With the entire company speaking as one, the weight of what had happened finally seemed to settle.

"Oin, take care of Fili and Kili. The Company will be in charge of their care now."

Balin took charge and sent Oin rushing for his medical supplies.

Bilbo was grateful something was finally being done for them. Fili still hadn't stirred, and Kili hadn't opened his eyes. He didn't want to touch them and scare them, but the urge to pull them into a hug and not let go was growing.

"Dwalin, make sure Thorin is restrained when he wakes up."

"Restrained or contained?"

Balin thought for a moment. "Contained. He still is the King."

Bilbo scoffed. Balin looked down at the hobbit.

"Bilbo, we will need your help."

"What? Where?" Bilbo yelped. "I need to be here for the boys!"

Balin shook his head sadly. "There's something we need you to do first."

"And I still want to know what that glorified penny pusher has to say about things."

They all heard Dwalin's grumble from the other side of the fire, but even as Gloin rushed over – again – Dori surprised them all.

"Enough! I have had enough! The boys should be the centre of our attention tonight, and when – when – they are comfortable we will have a rational discussion about what to do next. But there will be no more violence tonight. Understood?"

It spoke of Dori's raw strength that both battle-hardened dwarves retreated.

"Bilbo?"

The hobbit returned his attention to Balin. "What could I possibly do?"

Balin sighed. All previous leadership posturing had totally faded. "Thorin will still have the ring on him, although I know he's not wearing it on his hands. We need you to get it off of him and take it. So none of us are…"

Bilbo nodded slowly. He understood.

He didn't like it, but he understood.

Tilting his chin back, he moved to the tree where Dwalin was currently removing all of Thorin's weapons. At least his ankle was fastened to the trunk, but the vengeful part of Bilbo wanted to see the dwarf pounded into the rocks at least a few more times before being left alone.

"Um… Dwalin?"

The larger dwarf didn't stop his search. "You're here for the Ring?"

"Yes."

"On a mithril chain, around his neck."

Bilbo was surprised. "You found it already."

"If by found you mean considered strangling him with it, then yes."

He almost laughed. What a life Dwalin must have lived, for his humour to come out at such a dark moment.

Trying hard not to look at the unconscious dwarf in front of him too much – he knew the Took in him wanted to break at least the nose – Bilbo reached out, unclasped the chain and inspected the ring.

"Hard to believe, isn't it, that tiny thing is the source of so much…"

"Hate?" Bilbo supplied.

"Hurt."

Bilbo hummed in agreement. "It won't affect me, will it?"

"Better ask my brother that, not me. But my guess is it only works on dwarves. That's why he asked you to take it, anyways."

"But will someone… would anyone be tempted…"

"To take it off of you?" Dwalin shrugged, and threw Thorin's last sword down so it bounced off his thigh and onto the dirt. "Whoops. But no, I don't think that will happen. Good number of the Company aren't royal, so less susceptible to the curse. And there are too many of us who have seen what it does. Reality is as good a protection as any."

Bilbo nodded again, and left Dwalin deep in thought. Gandalf was still missing, but perhaps he could put about that the wizard had taken possession of the ring. Not that he didn't trust Dwalin, but still. It wouldn't hurt. He slipped the chain over his own neck so it was hidden under his shirt. He would tell the wizard later. After berating him for what was going on right under his nose.

.

.

-ooo-

.

.

Bilbo was once again ashamed to admit he hadn't been much help treating Fili and Kili's wounds. Oin had been precise and methodical, and Bofur had helped where he could. But Bilbo kept wanting to retch at the sight of the open wounds, and instead had gone to fetch some herbs from the woods to pack into the worst cuts.

But now the boys were finally patched up, and resting as well as could be hoped for. Bilbo hoped he would be more help the next morning when they woke up.

But the dwarves had put their serious, business faces back on, and Bilbo tried to do the same. He wanted to hear the full story as well. Thankfully, the talk moved away to allow Fili and Kili to rest.

Somewhat surprisingly, it was Gloin who began.

"Some twenty years ago, Thorin's sister and her husband found the Durin ring. No one knows exactly how they found it, but I suspect a travelling dwarf from another tribe found it sometime after the fall of Erabor and traded it to them. The couple planned to hide or even destroy the ring, having seen what it cost their family already, but Thorin found out before they could carry out their plan. They were executed and their names have since been wiped from the family books of Erebor."

The company paused in a moment of silence.

"Dwalin and I were in the Iron Hills as part of a trading group," Balin took up the story, "Trying to organise extra supplies for the growing settlement at Erud Luin. We returned two years later and the entire family was gone. We followed rumours to a new settlement in a different area, but by then it was too late. The place was even more traditional and had fully accepted Thorin and his ways. No one would dare speak against him."

"I would," Dwalin huffed, but Oin scowled at him.
"Which is precisely why you were sent back to Erud Luin to keep the peace there! You couldn't hold your tongue!"

"Hold my tongue! Of course I couldn't hold my tongue! The boys were not safe! I helped raised them, and I could do nothing to stop what their Uncle was doing to them!"

Dwalin was visibly trying to regain control. "I did what I could. Why did you not speak up? Why did you do nothing?"

"We might not have spoken up, but that does not mean we did nothing," Oin glowered. "Do you know how many times I patched those boys up without their Uncle knowing?"

"We kept Thorin away from Fili and Kili when we could, when we saw his sickness growing," Gloin added gruffly. "We even tried convincing him to change the slavery laws. We did what we could."

"As did we all," Balin said, trying valiantly to keep the discussion focused.

"Don't look at us," Nori snapped. "None of us were important enough to do anything." Dori looked annoyed at Nori for interrupting, but he reluctantly nodded in agreement. Bofur and Bombur looked equally regretful.

"It's like you said," Bofur agreed softly. "We all did what we could. But that was not a lot."

"It was not enough but we all tried," put in Balin again, "Dwalin and I joined the quest to try and once again work alongside Thorin, to protect the boys as best we could by being near."

"Fat lot of good that did," Bilbo snapped. The dwarves seemed to have forgotten he was there. They turned, almost as one.

"What?"

"I said, fat lot of good any of you did! Regardless of your ties to Thorin, their Uncle still beat them into submission daily! And now they almost died at his hands, and you're all wasting breath arguing about who's most to blame – which by the way, is their UNCLE – instead of actually helping them." He sat down heavily. "And now we're just going around in circles."

"It needs to be said though, Bilbo," Ori put in suddenly. "But you're right. None of us are fully to blame, but none of us are blame free, either. We all stood by, for whatever reason, but now's our chance to do something about it."

That was by far the longest thing Bilbo had ever hear the young scribe say, and he seemed to realise that the entire Company was watching him in surprise, and shrank back. But Dwalin slapped him on the back and grinned.
"Well said, Ori! And now that Thorin is gone, we can do something about it. The Company will look after the boys, won't we?"

He asked the final question with a glare, almost daring them to disagree. Balin simply scoffed.

"No dwarf in their right mind would argue with that, brother."

Well, Thorin clearly wasn't in his right mind, Bilbo snipped mentally.

"Bilbo," Balin was saying, "You should be the one to look after Fili and Kili."

"Me?"

The other dwarves all nodded. "They're most likely to trust you, after…"

After the learned that all dwarves were out to hurt them.

Bilbo just nodded. "I understand. Of course I'll care for them."

Just you wait until I can take them away, far away…

"Dwalin, you must keep Thorin away from them. Always."

The grin from before, the one with a club in its hand, resurfaced. "With pleasure."

"And other than that, we continue as before," Balin concluded. "But…"

"What is it Balin?" Dori asked.

Balin looked down. "I know that Thorin has done wrong, and I know he must pay for what has happened. But… He is our King. He is… was a King I would have been proud to serve. I merely ask that we all remember that he has been corrupted by a power we truly don't understand. Perhaps the wizard can explain better than I. But try not to hold him solely to blame for his actions."

Bifur let loose a string of whatever tongue he spoke, and Nori snarled viciously. "Aye, not solely. But mostly."

Clearly Nori was not the only dwarf present who had a problem with slavery in general.

"I suspect a little mental recalibration will have altered matters quite significantly, Master Dwarf."

Gandalf's voice from the tree line startled them all. The wizard looked more solemn than Bilbo had ever seen.

Which was saying something.

.

Out of the corner of his eye, Bilbo saw Kili begin to stir. He caught Balin's eye, and the older dwarf nodded in approval. Bilbo left the group and headed back towards the fire.

"I will speak with you later, wizard," Bilbo hissed as he walked past.

He huffed as he heard Gandalf sigh deeply from behind him. He was far too upset to talk to the wizard now, though. There were many things he needed answers for. But that would come later.

Kili was trying to turn over, but the poultices on his back made moving difficult.

"Easy there, Kili," Bilbo hushed, "Try not to move. Your wounds have been taken care of but you need rest."

The dwarf jolted at his voice and tried to stand.

"I'm sorry, Mister Bilbo, I'm not being lazy, I don't…"

Bilbo's heart broke that Kili thought he was expected to get up and work in this condition. As gently as possibly, he pushed the dwarf back done. He knew Kili would be scared, but the possibility of worsening his injuries made it a price he was willing to pay.

"You can't get up now, Kili, but it's alright. Everything's going to be OK."

Tiredness was catching up with Kili now – his eyes were fluttering shut even as he fought back.

"Please don't tell Master Thorin…"

Bilbo's breath caught again.
"I'll take care of Master Thorin. Don't you worry about anything. Just rest."

Gently, carefully, Bilbo reached out and ran his fingers through Kili's hair. He had seen Dori do the same to his youngest brother when Ori was having trouble sleeping one night.

Kili flinched, but started relaxing into the touch. His breathing was slowing down. A small smile – or as close to one as Bilbo had ever seen on either of the brothers – worked its way across his face.

Bilbo kept murmuring reassuring words until Kili was fast asleep.