Bilbo blinked the sleep from his eyes. He wasn't sure what had woken him, or why he had slept in such an uncomfortable position.
Then Kili kicked him in the shin, and it was all he could do to not cry out in pain.
Why had he let Kili sleep in his boots?
Untangling his fingers from Kili's hair, and carefully stepping over FIli's legs – had he moved during the night? – Bilbo stumbled towards the ashes of yesterday' fire.
"Has a whole day and night gone by?" he managed out.
Balin was writing something, but he looked up when Bilbo spoke.
"We decided that we could all use more rest."
After what has happened went unsaid.
"Thankyou," Bilbo said, and he meant it. "What are you writing?" He couldn't help his curiosity.
"A contract. For the boys."
"For what?" Bilbo bristled.
"If I could, I would free them now," Balin sighed, "But that is not something the King's Council has the power to do – it remains with the individual. But I – we – do have the authority to pass temporary guardianship of Fili and Kili over to the Company."
"Very temporary," Dwalin muttered. "And unusual."
How did that dwarf move so silently?
"It's been done before," Balin argued, "In times when the King was sick or absent and his slaves needed caring for."
Dwalin huffed. "Not arguing with you, brother."
Bilbo swore he saw Balin roll his eyes.
"So, if the Company are in charge of them…" Gloin trailed off expectantly.
"It means we can do what we see fit with them," Oin explained. He finally had his ear trumpet back in.
"Say, treating their wounds?" Bilbo asked hopefully.
Oin nodded. "Aye. And feed them properly for once, keep them warm and not force them to stand guard all night in the cold!"
The other dwarves inched back ever so slightly from the grumbling healer. Bilbo followed a beat after. He was quickly realising that even the dwarves who didn't look like fighters were still formidable in their own right.
"So they're still slaves then?"
"Aye," Dwalin muttered darkly. "But better us than Thorin."
He turned to Dwalin. "Has Thorin…"
The dwarf grinned. "He stirred. But something dropped on his head – he hasn't woken up since."
The other dwarves chuckled darkly. Bilbo caught himself about to do the same.
What has happened to you, Bilbo Baggins?
Fili twitched and groaned in his sleep. Bilbo rushed over before the other dwarves said anything.
These boys happened, that's what.
Took of a hobbit.
.
Inevitably Fili's movement started waking Kili up as well, and so Bilbo was greeted with a matching pair of eyes madly searching the clearing.
"Easy there," he said calmly, quietly. Reassuring. He kept his hands within view, like they were startled animals. "It's just me."
"Mister Bilbo," Kili said, and it warmed Bilbo's heart that the young dwarf trusted him enough to close his eyes again. Fili still looked ready to bolt.
"Do you need anything? Water, something to eat?" Bilbo offered. "Are you warm enough?"
Kili jerked awake again and Fili looked suspiciously at Bilbo.
He hasn't looked at me like that since the berries.
"Why are you doing this?"
"Doing what?"
"Offering us things."
Bilbo couldn't help himself. He snorted. "We've been through this already! I am choosing of my own free will to look out for you, and am not interested in what any other dwarf might think. So: do you need me to get you anything?"
Kili relaxed slightly. Fili wasn't convinced. He wasn't looking at Bilbo like he was about to poison them, but there was still something hidden behind his eyes. "Mister Baggins, did you buy us off of Master Thorin?"
If Bilbo had a cup of tea he would have spat it out. "What?"
"Did you buy us? Do we belong to you now?"
They had totally lost Bilbo. "Why would you think that?"
"Master Thorin's probably had enough of us messing up and sold us on to someone who could put up with us," Kili said, looking off into the distance. Where Thorin would have been sleeping.
Fili nodded. "And we're no good to you like this. So you're helping us get better so we can work properly."
I wish I was imagining the hopeful look in Kili's eye. Perhaps…
"No boys, I didn't buy you," Bilbo said gently. "But I would want to help you get better regardless. As for Master Thorin…"
"What…" Kili paled.
Fili braced himself. "What does he need?" He started stretching, trying to stand up.
Bilbo raced to stop him, but Bofur got there first.
"Easy laddie, none of that. The only thing any of us needs is for you to keep resting and get better."
Fili frowned, but accepted Bofur's help to lie back down. "Of course. We'll get better quickly so we can get back to work."
Now it was Bofur's turn to frown. "You're not going to be punished for resting Fili. You're also not going to be forced back to work before you're able. In fact, it's an order: you need to rest until told otherwise."
Both boys shared a confused look, but when Bilbo turned to Bofur he knew that talk of Balin's contract must have made it round the rest of the Company. But how to broach the topic with Fili and Kili?
"I know you won't like ordering them around Bilbo," Bofur whispered, "But maybe now it's for the best. They need to get better first, before anything else."
He was right. Bilbo wasn't happy about it, but he would do what needed to be done.
.
.
-ooo-
.
.
Fili and Kili spent the day floating in and out of wakefulness. Bilbo managed to convince them to eat something around lunch time, and while they were distracted Oin had a quick look at their injuries.
"A mild infection," he reported quietly once the boys were both asleep again. "Nothing too serious, I've applied some fresh dressings and the fever should go done in the next day or so."
Bilbo breathed a sigh of relief. It didn't take much to imagine what a proper illness could do to someone out in the wilds like this. Especially without a base of good health to start with.
He sat with them for most of the day, the other dwarves coming and going as they did various tasks around the camp. Ori came over and showed Bilbo some scarves he was knitting for Fili and Kili; Dori came by and measured some of the spare coats against them. Bombur got Bilbo to help flavour that night's stew, and while that was cooking Nori came and just sat with the hobbit as he stroked Fili's head. It was about time for him to wake up, but Bilbo remembered how much this sort of touch had calmed Kili and hoped that for once, Fili might wake up without being terrified of who he was with.
He was hoping that the food might be ready by the time they were both properly awake, but apparently Bifur told Nori it would still be a while when he passed. Fili and Kili insisted on sitting up; Bilbo and Nori propped them up against some packs and made sure they still had enough blankets.
When Balin was around earlier, he had told Bilbo that maybe mentioning Thorin wouldn't be such a bad idea.
"We're going to have to tell them eventually," he had said. "And perhaps knowing that Thorin isn't technically in charge of them anymore will help them heal more quickly."
Bilbo still wasn't sure, but he had opened his mouth and instantly Fili and Kili looked at him expectantly. An encouraging nod from Nori helped him stumble on. "How do you… what are your feelings towards your uncle?" he asked tentatively.
Kili hissed under his breath, but Fili just looked at Bilbo blankly. Nori rolled his eyes.
"We don't have an uncle," Fili said plainly.
It was sad just how good Fili was at hiding his emotions. Bilbo would have to help him break through that.
"Sorry," Bilbo stuttered, "I meant, what do you think of when you think of Unc… Master Thorin?"
He hoped that he could steer the conversation from 'Master Thorin' to 'technically he's not you're master anymore'.
He had also hoped that neither of the boys caught his slip.
Too late.
Fili flinched violently. Kili shuddered. Distantly Bilbo observed that their eyes seemed out of focus, like they weren't really there.
Was it that ingrained in them, to be afraid of 'Uncle'? What on earth did he…
"We don't have an uncle!" Kili yelped. "Uncles don't beat you for not saddling the horses right, uncles don't keep food from you because your stomach rumbled during a meeting, uncles don't slap you for looking them in the eye!" He was almost hyperventilating now, but Bilbo was worried he might get hurt if he got closer. "Uncles don't chain you or flog you or kick you! We don't have an uncle we have a Master!"
That last word seemed to break both Fili and Kili out of their haze.
"Master," Fili gasped, "We didn't say anything, we didn't tell them! We didn't say that, please just let us work, we can still work, see?" He tried getting up again but only succeeded in falling onto Kili. Balin and Oin – they must have heard the noise – quickly moved the boys back to their blankets while they were still disoriented.
"It's the fever," Balin hissed to Bilbo and Nori. "Their minds are running away from them."
"Boys," Oin said sternly. "You are under orders to stay here and rest. It's what your Master wants."
Fili stopped fighting straight away, and Kili still fiddled with his covers but put his chin down on his chest.
"That's better, Fili, Kili," Balin encouraged in as normal a voice as he could manage. "You're both good. You're doing well. Go back to sleep."
It didn't take long for their breathing to even out, and Bilbo sat back on his heels with a sigh.
"That was a workout," Nori whispered.
"How will we tell them about the contract?" Bilbo asked Balin.
"When they've recovered from this slight fever," Oin answered instead, "And they are more rational, then we can try to explain things. It was a mistake to try to introduce the idea to them this soon."
"I'm sorry," Bilbo started to protest, but Balin waved him away.
"Not your fault Bilbo. We suggested it, after all. But maybe we need to think more carefully about how we approach the topic. Until then…"
"Until then, we have to keep things as normal as possible," Oin agreed.
.
.
-ooo-
.
.
On the other side of the fire, tied to a tree, Thorin Oakenshield, son of Thrain, son of Thror, stirred back to consciousness. He didn't know where he was or what he was meant to be doing, but he recognised the shape standing between him and the light.
"Dwalin," he asked hoarsely, "Where are the boys? What happened to Fili and Kili?"