(A/N) Wow, thanks for all of the lovely feedback! I really appreciate everyone who has fav'd and followed this story, and reviews always make my day! I didn't have time to respond to each individually, but I do see all the suggestions, so keep 'em coming! So, as per the recommendations of bronze andromeda shun and maplewind, I offer you a Fili-Kili scene:

Disclaimer: I don't own, but if I did, I wouldn't have been so surprised when Legolas ran out of arrows. He. Ran. Out. Of. Arrows. I'm still shocked, even now. So don't sue me.

WARNING: Serious spoilers if you haven't seen the movie, and dialogue is only as good as my memory. Oh. And feels.

Brothers in Arms

They race through stone encased passages as fast as they dare. The smallest of noises have them skidding to a halt and remaining stock still for minutes on end. Kili knows that something is not right—it is too quiet. He feels trapped within the narrow halls, and his hands are twitching with anticipation. But they will continue to search. Uncle Thorin has asked it of them, and Kili knows he would do anything for him now that he is no longer under the pull of gold sickness. So they search.

And the feeling of wrongness only intensifies.

His brother is beside him, sword drawn and fierce expression of determination writ across his features. Kili sees there is nothing to fear. His mind knows it. And since when has he ever feared bodily harm? Yet he is more afraid now than he has ever been. And he doesn't know why. He schools his features into the usual battle mask, not allowing the unease to fray at his nerves. He should be having fun. The three of them are back together, fighting together, and that force is unstoppable, orc armies be damned.

That is, until Fili suggests they split up.

"No, stay and search the lower levels. I've got this."

Warning bells are going off in Kili's head now, and he really wants to refuse. To say no, and to tug his brother back by the arm to Uncle and Dwalin. But this is a childish thought that no dwarf could ever harbor, so he shoves it aside. He nods briskly. It makes more sense. They've gotten out of riskier situations unscathed, so this should not be any different. Still, he meets the blue-grey of Fili's eyes and holds them longer than necessary. It is clear that Fili feels the wrongness as well, but neither of them are willing to admit it. Instead, it is all he can manage to speak a little too late.

"Be careful, brother." He is not sure if Fili has heard him.

And there is nothing left to say, so he turns his back and they run their separate ways. He lets his mind focus on the task at hand, but he can find no orcs, can see no trace of them. He is at the bottom level, with nowhere left to search, and he curses that Fili should be the one to find them and not him. He hates not knowing what is happening, and the wrongness has festered for too long.

But here he can see across the way to Thorin on the ledge, and he tries to give him a reassuring smile. All is well, he tries to convey, though he does not feel it. But Uncle does not look at him, does not see him. He is staring above, and his eyes are lost-looking and horrified. Kili's hands wring at the grip of his sword until the knuckles are white and his heartbeat is too loud. He needs to know what is wrong, but he is not sure he wants it. That knowledge.

He sees Thorin's lips form a name. Fili. But it is too softly spoken for him to hear.

There is noise above him, garbled Black Speech calls across the void, and the shuffling of weapons and feet and something more. The grunts and protests of another, of Fili, as he is no doubt prodded and shoved. Kili's blood freezes.

.

They have him.

.

They have Fili.

.

Kili's body tenses and it takes all the self-control he can muster to stay hidden where he is. Provoking the orcs above can only do ill for whatever scenario is playing out. He must find a way to get there, to him, but he is frozen with the same fear he can see flickering across his Uncle's face.

No. Thorin's lips form. Then louder. No.

But all Kili can hear is a strangled,

"Go!"

"Run!"

And Fili's voice is desperate, but not for himself.

Kili has just decided that he must go, but not in the way Fili wants him to. He cannot wait, he cannot be still and hide—not when Fili is alone and outnumbered.

But that is when the body hits. The lank, blonde form of his brother strikes the stone not twenty paces from where he stands and there is only shock and horror, and hope that his brother will stand right back up. That little fall? That cannot hold me back, Fili would say and they would laugh and slay the orcs together.

Red stains the ground quickly, but Fili's eyes are empty. He is not getting up. He was not alive when he was dropped. The body is a shell. He will never get up. Still, the face is contorted with bravery and not fear, and Kili is suddenly angry.

He is so angry that everything he can see is the color of the lifeblood pooling out over stone, and anywhere his eyes fall can only find those blank, dead eyes staring back at him.

He feels the anger replace the fear in moments, and it holds him up and keeps him standing—rage flowing through his veins instead of blood. A small part of him knows that he must let the fury consume him, because without it he would be nothing, empty and collapsed like the shell left of his brother. So he lets the anger build in his lungs and limbs like adrenaline, lets out a battle cry as he can finally move again.

He storms up the stairs, all rawness and anger, and because everything hurts already, he does not feel it when an orcish blade nicks his shoulder. His sword is lethal, his powerful strikes wicked with accuracy and hate. That small part of him that knows cannot see ahead past the rage, so there can only be fury and carelessness left. He cannot think—can only feel. If he thinks he will stop and remember, and he cannot stop, or he is sure he will die.

"Kili!" He hears Thorin roar behind him, a command and a plea for him to stop before he cannot go back. Kili does not look at him, because he can't. If he looks he might break.

.

He has already decided.

.

He cannot stop.

(A/N) Done because I agree with maplewind and Fili's death was totally underdone in the otherwise amazing movie. Thanks for reading, and drop me a suggestion XD!