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Gandalf turned his head, frowning, as he heard a young voice cry out from between the trees. From his position on a log away from the dwarves he couldn't actually see them, but he heard one in particular loud and clear.

He put his pipe out and jumped up, eyes wide. What was going on? He raced to the direction of the noise, eyes fixed on three dwarves as he came near. Thorin was bent low over what he presumed was either Fili or Kili- stepping closer he could see it was the former.

He put a hand on the older dwarf's shoulder, gently moved him out of the way so he could see better. 'What happened?' he barked, putting a cool hand on the young dwarf's forehead; his skin was almost too hot to touch, yet his face was clammy.

'I- I don't know.' His brother answered, eyes wide and scared. 'One minute he was fine and suddenly…'

'He didn't let anyone take care of his wounds!' Thorin barked from beside him, before he ran a hand down his face. 'I told him….' He muttered.

'Is he going to be alright?' Kili asked, watching as Fili started to moan. 'Oh no….' he cried, his hand darting out to grab his brother's. 'Come on, don't do this to me. Don't leave me….' He whispered, bringing his hand up to his cheek, despite the pain it caused in his back.

This couldn't be happening, not now. Fili moaned once more, the shudders becoming even more pronounced now; Kili watched, eyes wide as he looked on.

'What should we do?' he heard Thorin bark out, his voice laced with fear.

Gandalf turned his head away for a second, motioning behind him. 'In my pack there is a long tube of white liquid, bring it to me.' He replied, before turning back to Fili, gently turning him over and peeling back his shirt.

Kili felt bile rise in his throat as he looked at his brother's skin- the flesh was now a mottled black and blue; clear pus was running in rivets down his skin. The smell made him gag, but he forced himself to watch. 'How did it happen so fast?' he breathed, watching with wide eyes as Gandalf gently blew cool air onto his skin.

'Goblin-Towns are not the most hygienic of places- and dwarven skin, especially yours and Fili's are not accustomed to the different bacteria and germs that reside there…he should have had someone look at his wounds.'

'I should have told him more…' Kili muttered, angry with himself.

'Oh, Kili- you were hurt, and badly by all accounts. You couldn't have done anything- the stubbornness of dwarves is what has caused this. Thankfully we may have caught it in time….'

Kili's head snapped up, eyes wide. 'May have? What do you mean may have?' he cried, voice high. He looked down at Fili, before lying down next to him, ignoring the pain lancing through his back. He pushed his forehead against the bare skin of his brother's, closing his eyes as he felt his brother's clammy, hot skin against his own. Fili's eyes fluttered behind his lids, and he started to moan low in his throat.

'What's happening to him?' he asked the Wizard- Gandalf had sat back, before he accepted the tube of cream that Thorin had got for him. He didn't answer as he unscrewed the bottle and immediately squeezed most of the white liquid onto Fili's back.

Kili felt his brother tense against his face as the cool cream hit his skin- he looked up as Gandalf gingerly rubbed it into his blistered, black flesh.

Fili groaned beside him, his fingers flexing; Kili took his hand and squeezed gently, feeling happiness soaring as Fili squeezed weakly back.

'It's alright, you're going to be ok- Gandalf's here….' He whispered, feeling tears in his eyes as Fili winced, a low groan again escaping his lips.

Kili looked at what the Wizard was doing; Gandalf was gently pushing the cream thickly around his back, letting it slowly sink into the flesh instead of rubbing it into the raw skin.

Kili felt his brother try and move away; he put his head further into his brother's hair, 'It's ok, it doesn't hurt, it's just cold….' He whispered into the blonde hair, trying to reassure him like Fili had done to him. Time for him to be the big brother now.

Fili nodded slowly, his eyes opening and closing without seeing. 'Kili….' He heard him whisper, and clammy fingers sought his hand out- Kili took his hand and squeezed again, grateful that he was now more lucid.

Gandalf was now muttering under his breath whilst wiping the excess cream onto the grass beside him. Kili looked up at his uncle; Thorin was close to him, a worried hand to his face as he looked upon his stricken nephew.

He watched as he looked up at Gandalf, eyes wide. 'So? Is he going to be ok?' he asked.

The Wizard looked between Thorin and Kili, and then smiled. 'He is- but he needs to be taken care of properly this time! His wounds need changing once the bandages are put on, as do Kili's. They both need rest and recuperation, to let their wounds heal properly.' He ordered gruffly.

He turned back to Thorin. 'We need a fire going near Fili, and all the heavy cloaks and warm things we can spare- he needs to sweat out this fever; this is something that cannot be undone by my magic at the moment. His wounds are safe and clean, with no lasting infection- let's keep it that way, hmm?' he muttered, before he stood with a groan, placing a hand on Thorin's shoulder.

'Look after them…' he whispered, smiling knowingly at the dwarf-prince.

'Of course I will.' Thorin replied, before taking the Wizard's place next to his eldest nephew.

Together he and Kili watched over Fili, silently studying and noting every groan, moan and sigh- they weren't going to let anything happen to him without them noticing again.

'Why didn't we see? We should have noticed no one had cleaned his wounds; I should have realised.' Kili muttered, face still close to his brother's- he was watching his eyes roll against his lids once more.

Thorin turned from where he was watching Nori and Gloin build a fire next to them; he thanked them wordlessly. 'We took him for granted, as usual- he seemed to be fine…..but we should have checked.' He agreed, shaking his head, shame in his heart. He should have been more forward with the boy, should have badgered him to let someone tend to him, instead of blindingly believing he would be ok.

'I should have been there for him….' Kili muttered, eyes closing as he felt a tremor run through his brother. Why wasn't he opening his eyes?

Remembering what Gandalf had said he reluctantly started to move upwards; he winced and groaned as his back flourished with renewed pain. Thorin watched him, eyes narrowed.

'What are you doing, lad?' he asked, watching as Kili seemed to just move his arms around, moaning in pain.

'Gandalf says he has to sweat out the fever…..I'm giving him my cloak.' He muttered. He yelped through a mix of frustration and pain as he just couldn't shift the cloak from his shoulders.

'Oh no you're not- you need that just as much as he does. He can have mine, and I'll go get some more from the others….' Thorin instructed, gently pushing the cloak back over Kili's shoulders. His nephew glared at him, breathing hard through the pain in his back and face, before he sat back to look down at his brother once more.

Thorin sighed and stood up, crossing the grass to the other members of the company to ask them for spare cloaks and anything else that was warm that they could spare.

Kili didn't take his eyes off his big brother- Fili looked a little calmer now; it seemed magic really was a useful thing to have around. He gently pressed his hand to his brother's temple, not really knowing what to do; Fili always was the better comforter between them.

'You're going to be ok, you know?' he whispered, just for something to say. 'Thank Durin you're going to be ok….' He smiled as Fili pressed his head against his palm, his eyes staying still behind the lids.

His back pulsed with deep agony, but somehow he just didn't feel it anymore- it wasn't important enough for him to notice now. His brother was more important. He growled and tried to move his shoulder blades to shift some of the pain, but nothing worked; he leaned forwards, eyes only for Fili.

'You know you can wake up now…..' he muttered, frowning as Fili remained unconscious. 'I really don't mind…'

He looked up as someone dumped a collection of cloaks onto his brother's prone body- Thorin looked apologetically down at him, before getting to his knees to sort out the furs. 'I got as many as could be spared.' He muttered, placing each cloak like a blanket on top of his nephew.

Kili nodded, appreciative. 'How long does he have to stay like this for?' he asked.

Thorin shrugged as he sat up. 'Don't know….until his fever is gone I guess….' He replied, before looking up at his nephew. 'You look tired, maybe you should rest.'

'How can I? What if Fili wakes up and I'm not there to see? What if he thinks we've all left him because no one was next to him?' Kili gabbled, emotion thick in his voice. Thorin frowned and placed a hand on his forearm.

He leaned in, smiling. 'You think I would let that happen? Do you think I'll let either of you wake up alone ever again? Never. You sleep- I'll watch over you both…..' he rubbed Kili's forearm gently, winking at his nephew with a grin.

Kili felt a rush of love, and also a great sense of protection. Their uncle had never let them down once- he would trust him with his life. 'I still want to be next to him….' He muttered, nerves clinching his stomach.

'I'll sit between you, so neither of you gets to feel alone.' Thorin muttered, before gently moving Kili away from his brother. 'Besides, I can move quicker than you at the moment- if anything happens to either of you I'll be able to get help faster.' He reasoned.

Kili nodded, reluctant understanding dawning in his mind. He slowly moved away from his brother, Thorin quickly taking his place. Their uncle sat between them, looking from one nephew to the other. He took Fili's innate hand in his own tight grasp with one hand, while gently gripping Kili's arm with the other.

'There…..now neither of you can feel alone. Now sleep, Kili, and regain your strength- we have to move soon anyway; we've been here far too long already. We're sitting targets as it is, we don't want to make it any easier for them.' He growled, eyes dark.

Kili nodded. 'I know…..I'll have to start practicing with my bow in the morrow then; I hope my back will let me.'

'I hope so too.' His uncle muttered, nodding. They would need all the help they would get.

'We've still got the rest of today-it's hours till sunset, but try to sleep as much as you can.' He advised.

He looked down at his two nephews; this moment reminded him of when they were children, and the annual winter fever had rendered them both bed-bound for weeks. For nights he had sat at their twin bedsides, sat in the middle between their beds, holding each one's hands as the sweats and tremors plagued their small bodies. He hadn't left their sides once.

He wouldn't again, either.

After a few minutes of reminiscing he looked down at them again; Fili still hadn't woken- his face was a sheen of sweat as the fever still swept through his body, he could see his laboured breaths even beneath the thick mountain of cloaks atop his body.

Kili, meanwhile, was not asleep; Thorin could see his eyes shining in the midday sun, wide and scared. He sighed inwardly; he wished there was something he could do to put his mind at ease, but he had already comforted him with all the words he could find.

So he settled for just holding both his nephews tight, for once protecting them, looking after their needs properly for the first time since they were children.

He only hoped tomorrow would be a better day…

To be continued…..

Thank you for reading!

A/N- there will be much more action in later chapters, don't worry all you hurt!kili and protective!fili lovers out there! Although I do hope you enjoyed all the comfort of previous chapters!

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