Disclaimer: NOT MINE. I haven't stolen Tolkien's work. Simply borrowed it, twisted it to my liking and posted it here. ;)

Lots of thanks to islington bus no. 199 for beta-ing this chapter!

Chapter 4

Los Angeles, Earth

Year 2013

Midnight came and the silver light of the moon fell on two figures, one of them hooded, standing in front of the iron door of a basement. The trash scattered around the little alley gave off a heavy smell which was repelling to their sensitive sense of smell.

Haldir tightened the grip of the hood around his neck.

"Do you remember what I told you about guns and what damage they cause?" Míriela asked him, as she readjusted her own gun on the inside of her coat.

"Yes." He had thought how sad it was that these people had perfected their techniques of war, and against their own kin too.

An empty can kept rolling around making low, metal noises each time it met a barrier. 'Why would it be there in the first place?'

For once in his lifetime Haldir was truly out of place. Tonight, though, he had decided to face the depths to which this foreign world had decayed and, with it, his troubles. He had yet to solve the mystery of the dark elleth.

"All those people inside are armed. Our business is kind of… delicate. We're meeting the Anarchists and that's no problem since I am on good terms with them. But not all of them are only Anarchists... Some don't 'play' fair." She gazed at him intensely before adding the essence of her little speech. "It's best you remain silent and keep it low."

"We have already agreed on this." He met her disbelief with the patience of the older. "I am no elfling Míriela. I know not to attract trouble in situations I'm not familiar with."

"Okay then. We have no time to dillydally. Just… act carefully."

He ignored her intense look, mostly because from her point of view he was a stranger who had died in a battle, which was true of course but not entirely. Some details were amiss.

Then, she proceeded to secure the silken black kerchief she had used to cover her head with. It reached just above the eyebrow line and it was wrapped around her hair, covering it completely. It was a very peculiar look in Haldir's eyes and, combined with the rest of her black clothing and cloak it increased the mystery of Míriela's life even further. One thing he knew for certain, though, was that he didn't like it, the person she became once she was in that uniform. And now she was looking at him again... Her stare reminded him of silver daggers piercing him. It was quite like… his own. While she shook her head in exasperation for his silence and pushed the door open, he made a mental note to try to change his usual glare.

As soon as the door opened and the elleth burst in, he was overwhelmed by painfully intense music vibes. His ears started to whiz and he winced in discomfort. However, Míriela had already disappeared in the stuffy room, so he braced himself and followed.

He was in a dimly lit chamber. The decoration was extreme and totally different from any decorative school he knew. There were many unmatched colors and drawings raw and primitive on the walls. His senses were assaulted even more with the penetrating sound he supposed to be music.

And it smelled heavily of drink, ale if he was correct.

Míriela walked purposefully towards the back of the room. Some rugged men stared at her tall form with a look Haldir characterized mainly as vulgar. She didn't even turn her head as she kept pacing arrogantly towards the bar where two men stood, deep in conversation. Haldir followed from a distance, keeping his face under the big hood so that only shadows were visible from his nose and upwards if seen from a fair distance.

In the middle of the room, the elleth stopped and turned to look behind her back to see if he was near. Her face was a stone.

'She is more than role-playing here. Has she had to do this for more than a century?'

He noticed however that she hadn't moved and that her face was tenser than before. Just as she started to come swiftly towards him, he felt someone move up to him from behind. He ducked and the person's elbow caught air. Expecting to see a big man with ale-dripping beard, he was astonished to find that he assailant was… a woman. With orange spikes for hair and athletic built but a woman nonetheless. She looked cheekily at him and her light green eyes lit up as she eyed him better. It was then he realized he had dropped his hood in the ducking.

He replaced it quickly on the top of his head to hide his ears that fortunately were covered by strands of silver blond hair. Míriela had reached his side and looked down her nose at the woman.

"Having fun, Lysha?"

"Looks to me like you're the one having the… fun." Her voice sounded hoarse and provocative to Haldir. He didn't like the woman; she smirked at him but he met her eyes coldly.

"In any case, I thought I have long ago taught you not to mess up with my business, is it with Rodriguez or anybody else."

"Rodriguez… Still at task to get him do what you want? Taking money now? And now this lovely piece of a man… Hmmm… how's she, pretty face? Y'know what I mean… Rodriguez won't tell me." She took a small step towards Haldir, whose eyes were taking in her face, the small rinsed eyes, the freckles and thin mouth surrounded by aggressive hair. With every look and word she uttered, he disliked her even more. He side-looked at Míriela and was surprised to see she was grinning unpleasantly rather than fuming.

'This can't be good. There is too much venom in this mortal woman.'

"I have no time for this, Lysha. Your complaints to Rodriguez. I need to speak with him now," she said arrogantly, as if addressing a servant. Probably, the now annoyed woman deserved nothing better; it was, however, a dangerous game.

'Snakes attack fast and when you least expect them to.'

"Ol' Shadow got her firm ass off the aristocrats' salons to pay a visit to her low life friends?" she spat, animatedly turning around Haldir. "How much did you ask him for?"

"You never quite got over it, did you? That he trusted me more than you, even though you licked his shoes every day?" The elleth was still composed but the effect of her words was harsh on the young woman; her eyes became like slits.

"You fucking bitch!" She gritted her teeth.

"Goodbye."

However, before she could actually leave, the girl lunched forward and threw towards Haldir a small blade, which was caught mid-air by Míriela. She closed in Lysha's face and hissed her in her most freezing manner:

"Don't."

Then, she pushed the blade by the blunt side hard at the woman's chest, sending her several steps behind.

"We'll see about that." she spat. "Now, look, Rodriguez comes this way! He must have seen his slut in danger and come to her rescue! Oh, boy, you really are his favorite!" Turning to Haldir who was trying to restrain his anger, since, were they back home, the woman would have faced great penalties, such as his sword. Lysha added as venomously as she could master: "I hope you don't mind sharing... Barbie boy."

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" The dark-haired elleth barked suddenly. "You may insult me if you have nothing better to do but I will accept nothing of the kind about him." she finished, pointing with her head at the ellon's direction.

"I can handle it alright–" said Haldir tersely.

"You won't have to, whoever-you-are. Lysha, Marcella, this feud is called off now." When he noticed the tall, blond guy looking questioningly at her, he decided not to ask. "Marcella, take your friend and let's go to my room. We can talk better there."

"This isn't over…" said Lysha threateningly.

"Is it ever?" murmured the elleth disdainfully, before taking Haldir's hand and leading him to the hole Rodriguez referred to, as 'his room'.

He looked around, examining the place. It was not that different from the rest of the…'club' had she called it?

"Alright, you're here for ammo?" Rodriguez was taller than the elleth but still shorter than Haldir, as he noticed. He was muscled and not so clean but his eyes were a deep, honest brown. His hair was brown too, only a lighter shade.

"Smart boy." She offered him a small smile. "Shall I send my servants to pick it up?"

The man laughed loudly.

"Tomorrow it'll be ready, send them by the warehouse. Not sure when I'll be able to set you up again though. Could be a month or two…"

Míriela sited herself at the edge of the torn bed, while the two males remained standing.

"You'll figure it out, Ro. I'm counting on you."

"Yeah… Who's the guy, Marc? It's not like you to bring company in business…"

"I've told you a million times not to call me Marc. He's a friend. It's not of the present to say anything else, nor will it be of the future."

"Okay, okay, touché! We'll meet again soon, girl…"

She snorted and got up.

"Only if I wish to," she whispered at him, passing by and leaving through the back door with Haldir next to her.

The winter wind was chilling but fortunately neither of them could feel much nor be affected by the strong cold. It must have been half an hour or so since they had left the warmth of the club. They walked quickly.

Míriela decided to speak so as to break the silence between them. It wasn't an angry silence but more like an awkward or even thoughtful one.

"That went well."

A smile formed on Haldir's lips.

"That was interesting," he said in turn.

The elleth guffawed a little. "I bet it was, Haldir of Lórien."

His smile widened.

"It certainly was, Marcella or Míriela of Gondolin."

"Oh come on! Míriela."

"…"

"What?" That ellon was annoying! Why was he laughing at her?

"I have a question."

"Yes?" He was probably confused over the complicated politics she had tried to explain to him that morning. She certainly was too, at the beginning.

"Why did you not object to the woman's accusations about that man, Rodriguez?"

She looked at him with startled, grey eyes.

"You don't let anything pass, do you?"

"I'm the only other edhel than you in this world. I can understand many more things than the humans you lived with, for so long. Why didn't you try?"

"Perhaps because it was pointless?" she offered, raising an eyebrow sarcastically.

"Perhaps because it was part true?" he replied, doing the exact eyebrow motion.

She began to say something and then sighed. "It is more complicated than that. I– oh, we've reached home. We'll talk about this tidbit of Earth later, okay?"

"Whatever the lady wishes," he said half-courteously, half-humorously.

"Hmph! You should know better than that – God, I hate stairs!"

"You're starting to sound like a human, are you aware of the fact? And who is this God?"

"I prefer elevators; I'll show you tomorrow. Did I say God? I meant Eru."

"Here we are."

"Yes." She took the keys off her pocket and opened the door to the cozy apartment. The two men were still out and probably would for some hours to come. 'I wouldn't be surprised if one day, when there would be no more women that hadn't come to this place already, they'd come back with half a dozen empty-headed, giggling female humanoids they'd stolen from NASA.'

Haldir shut the door behind him and took the hooded cloak off, as Míriela did the same with hers and the kerchief.

The gits were old enough to take responsibility themselves and for their actions, she decided. 'Right now all I want to do is go to my room, shut the door and leave outside the door the confusing feelings his presence brings me. He's so …handsome, an ellon after all these years, and an interesting one too… It's dangerous, he's looking at me. He's so close… I–"

"I'll go… to the… bathroom. Uum, make yourself at home!"

Now he was even closer… And his eyes were intense, a shade between blue and grey quite difficult for one to tell apart.

'Great! That wasn't suspicious at all, I so surprise myself! Eru… help me. And make him STOP GRINNING!'

"I will."

"Huh?"

"I'll make myself at home." He passed her side closely, lingering a little longer and headed for the bedroom that she had told him was his that very same morning with leisured steps.

Shaking her head to clear it of its thoughts, she took off for her own bedroom.

'It was nothing. I simply have been around humans for too long a time.'

Then she realized there was something she had terribly missed doing with all her late night work and lack of sleep. And now was the best time to do it.

She would drown in her memories.

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Haldir got up from his relaxed position on the bed and put on a long sleeved shirt of the light one he was wearing in bed. He had no sleep, after all.

'Perhaps, a bath will clear my mind. I hope she has finished her own. It would have been a very awkward moment for the elleth! Come to think about it, perhaps I should try it some time... She's quite enrapturing despite her confused state and cultural crisis.'

Smiling inwardly at the thought and actually surprised he was smiling so much in the situation he was in, he opened the door and entered the cold hall. A distant buzzing was coming from the elleth's room.

He walked to her door and knocked gently. Was she alright?

The door remained close and no one answered him too. Slightly worried, he knocked again and when he still received no answer, Haldir turned the handle and pushed in slowly.

There was not much light in the room. There in the middle, a long skirt was whirling around following the movement of the elleth's body. It was a circle flowing around her knees and then calves, as she kept tuning and turning with her arms open and raised. Her eyes were closed and the pale face was dreamy. She didn't seem to mind that her feet were bare on the freezing marble. The music he had heard was a whisper in the air, rhythmic enchantments in a language he had never heard before…

'Mia fora…

nase vlepa gia ligo…

mono mia fora…

ki as pethena meta…'

All he could do was lean in the doorframe and watch.

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Smiles, hugs, kisses…

A picnic basket full of fruit with a bracelet at the bottom…

Two beaming ellyn twirling her around in a mad dance…

She smiled, eyes still shut.

A soft look…

A soft hand…

Soft lips…

Someone in the room?

She stopped dead in the tracks and opened her eyes immediately.

In the door stood Haldir, silver blond hair untidy from lying down, lips slightly turned upwards adorably.

He crossed the distance between them with slow, smooth steps and leaned over her.

"I said I would have to learn," he whispered "but answer me something, Míriela…"

She waited. Her breath wasn't steady, with the dance and his presence. Her eyes were reaching his chin and the elleth's nostrils were filled with the scent of bitter almond.

The soap in the bathtub. Were they really that close?

"Tell me… Are you an angel or a demon?"

They looked at each other; the tension was almost visible in the air of the half-dark chamber.

"I'd say both." She didn't realize how slow and silky her voice was at the moment. "Black is not a choice, a color. It is the lack of it."

He slightly inclined his head in consideration, looked at her intensely a little longer and then, with some effort, left.

The incredible storm of thoughts kept both of them awake on their beds until dawn came and, with it, two very messed up and satisfied with themselves young men.

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A/N: Here I am again with the continuation of the tale of the two worlds! Did you like it? What do you think of Haldir? Tell me, tell me, tell me!!

Just for the record: Míriela is not a Mary-Sue and I hope you can see that. She is beautiful but that is normal for elves; she is dark but that is the outcome of many years trying to survive in a world very cruel most of the time. There was love between her and the Golden Lord but that is normal, is it not? ;) And lastly, the bond Haldir and her both feel is nothing lyric. They are two elves alone in a hostile and foreign world. They are the only male and female of their species and they are both special in their own way. How could they not be attracted like a butterfly to the light?

The song (it doesn't belong to me) has a meaning not irrelevant to the story. I will try to translate it here:

Once

If I could see you for a while

Just once

Even if I died afterwards

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Lovely song!

Don't forget to leave a review if you like this little tale!