Brother's Keeper

Notes: I finally get write at work again::does happy dance: Well, only at breaks and lunch, but it's more than never. Besides, my muse seems to want to concentrate on fiction when I'm supposed to be concentrating on real-life, pays-the-bills work. So chapters should come a little faster than before. I've already started on Part 11!

Reminder: I don't know anything about the real person that was/is Todd Blackburn, (for this story, he's just a character from a movie) so I don't actually know his full name. But Thomas sounds good, doesn't it?

Part 10

We filed in through the arched doors. The elves marched in perfect formation. I was so exhausted I struggled to keep in step with them. We went down a wide corridor that swung up towards the castle-like tower. On either side, scatterings of local soldiers made way for us with beaming grins on their faces.

Of course, "soldiers" was a strong term for the bedraggled bunch that we passed. A lot were very old. Even more were very young. Every last one of them was hunched down and looked like they had never worn armor or held a weapon in their entire lives.

We stopped in front of the stairs to the tower. An older man in nicer armor stood there. Aragorn was with him, and upon spotting Haldir, gave him a bear hug and welcomed him heartily. Haldir bowed to the older man and made some speech about elves and men fighting together in the past, and how they were honored to join forces with men again.

Legolas was there too. He came and clapped me on the shoulder in greeting. I wish he hadn't, 'cause I fell to one knee when he did.

"Todd! I am sorry!" he said with a frown of concern. He looked at me intently and then gave me a wry smile. "I should have known such a trip would tire you. Come." He grabbed me by the arm, hoisted me up, and dragged me over to a barrel. I sat, and he took my pack from me.

"Thanks," I muttered before passing out against the cold stone wall.

I awoke to gentle prodding. I opened my eyes reluctantly. I was still tired, but better after my nap. Legolas stood next to me…he looked grim.

"You need to come, Todd. All are gathered at their positions. Aragorn wants you with us at the wall...if you will..."

He left the question unsaid: Do you want to be on the castle where it's safe, or on the wall where it's not?

I shrugged. I was a soldier after all. Soldiers go where they're told, which is usually where they're most effective in the fight. I followed Legolas to the wall where Aragorn and Gimli were already lined up with the elves.

Aragorn nodded at me as I approached. Gimli gruffed at me, "Well, at least some of us get to rest." I smiled tightly, but he continued, "I don't suppose you have any more tricks left that could take care of this...er, little problem of ours?"

I noticed the hopeful note in his voice. "'Little' problem?" I looked out to the horizon where the valley floor was slowly filling with thousands of torch lights. "Exactly how many are we facing here?"

"Ten thousand strong, at the least," Aragorn answered.

"Fuck...How many on our side?"

There was an almost inaudible sigh. "Less than five hundred…including the Lorien regiment."

I goggled at him. "Say that again...I thought you just said 'less than five hundred.'"

"That is what I said."

"Fuck!" I repeated. "That's what...twenty to one odds? With a conscripted army of old men and little kids? Fuck!"

"We are well aware of the odds against us, lad," Gimli said tersely. "No need to be remindin' us...not at this point, at any rate."

"If you would rather be tucked away with the women and children, no one would blame you."

I searched a ways off to my right for the all-too-familiar voice of Haldir. He smirked at me condescendingly.

His brothers looked over his shoulder with apologetic faces, but it was too late. I had had more than enough of him and his crap.

"Just what the fuck crawled up your ass and died, Hal?"

Every elf goggled at me, then at Haldir to see his reaction.

"I beg your pardon?" he said.

"You heard me."

"My hearing is not in question. What do you mean by it?"

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, I'll use smaller words this time. Why do you always insult me? What the hell did I ever do to you?"

Aragorn laid a hand on my shoulder. "Perhaps this should wait--"

I shrugged him off. "For what? For them-" I motioned to the valley "-to wipe the floor with our asses? It's not gonna do any good to wait until after we've been massacred to ask him why he's a stupid fuckshit."

Haldir glared daggers through me. "I am the March Warden of Lothlorien. How dare you speak to me--"

"And I," I yelled cutting him off, "am Private Fucking First Class Todd Thomas Blackburn, Army Ranger of the United States of America! And if you think I'm gonna put up with your bullshit anymore, you are sadly fucking mistaken!"

My fist connected with his jaw. He went down hard, looking shocked that someone had actually hit him.

"Todd!" Aragorn yelled. I ignored him.

Haldir stood glaring at me and rubbed his jaw. "To answer your question, Todd." I winced at him using my name with familiarity. "I treated you as I have because of reasons you would not understand."

"A bullshit answer if I ever heard one...How the fuck do you know what I would or wouldn't understand?"

Hal didn't answer, just gave his jaw one final caress, and then turned back to his space in the lines.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "I don't get you, Hal. You were almost decent on the trip here. What changed? You may not have been showering me with affection, but at least you didn't go out of your way to--"

I stopped. My eyes narrowed as a thought occurred to me. "That's it, isn't it? That's why you do it, isn't it?" I laughed at him humorlessly.

He didn't answer, didn't even turn around.

"What?" asked Rúmil. "What do you mean, Todd? What is 'it'?"

I speared Hal with my eyes. "He's a show-off, that's what's 'it.' He only insults me when there's an audience around to enjoy him. 'March Warden,' my ass!" I spat on the ground. "You are a bully, Haldir of Lothlorien. A plain-as-dirt common fucking bully."

He still didn't acknowledge me, but his ears tinged pink. His brothers regarded him with a mixture of concern and thoughtfulness.

I turned back to my own place in line, satisfied that I had finally hit on the answer to my question.