The matter of compatibility tests and all that they entailed were pushed aside when the Base had its first Kaiju attack of Bilbo's time there, and at last he had a chance to see their Jaeger in action.

The alert went out when Bilbo was just coming off of his last shift of the day, but he was certainly not going to relinquish his post while a Drop was in progress. The Command centre was buzzing, Bilbo's colleagues hurrying to and from consoles, Bilbo alongside them, reading over the reams of data that their long-range scans were feeding through, disseminating and extracting the most important information and sending one copy to each of the Jaeger cockpits for the pilots to read, and one to Marshall Dís, who was stood like an island of calm at the head of the Command centre, hands behind her back, eyes tracking the mass of rapidly changing information on the main console screen.

There, beyond the spider-web of glowing feeds and data of the see-through display, Bilbo could see the Jaeger Alpha Rayade, a mass of metal and electronics bound in place, just waiting to burst into life.

Excitement was making Bilbo's heart thrum, but he did not allow it to disrupt his focus. Kíli and Fíli had already been suited up in the Drivesuit room and were going through pre-Drop checks, Tauriel speaking to them in low tones through her headset.

'Initiating Neural Handshake,' said Tauriel, and every single personnel stopped what they were doing to watch the console screen. There was a small pause, then Tauriel nodded to Dís. 'Neural Bridge established and holding.'

The verbal confirmation was reflected on the screen, which began to display a visual representation of Kíli and Fíli's Bridge as a thrumming, thick blue line between them and their Jaeger. Bilbo had read that the brothers had one of the strongest Drifts on record and, as a result, one of the best Neural Bridges in Jaeger history, and he now he was seeing it with his own eyes.

'Alpha Rayade,' said Dís, 'you are clear for the Drop.'

Bilbo put on a headset of his own just in time to hear Kíli let out a whoop and Fíli say, 'beastie's going down.'

'As astute an assertion as that is, Comms are to be used for essential communication purposes only,' said Dís. 'As you well know. This...beastie... is a class four, and appears to be remarkably similar to the one that came through last week, but - as ever - engage with caution. Dúnedain Evenstar is being held in reserve for now.'

'Tell them to put their feet up, have a cup of tea,' said Kíli, and Bilbo just imagine the way he was grinning as he spoke. 'We've got this.'

The line of Dís' mouth suggested that she would be having words with her sons over proper Comms usage as soon as they were out of their Drive-suits. Bilbo shared an amused look with the elf sat next to him.

The resulting battle, which was played out in full across the console screen, was short and brutal. Alpha Rayade's fighting style was lightning-fast, striking out at the Kaiju so aggressively it had barely any time to respond. But respond it did, one clawed hand breaking through the Jeager's defences, raking across the top of Alpha Rayade's left shoulder, digging in deep between the armour plates. On the console screen, something was showing as having been damaged. After a quick check, Bilbo relayed that their primary Comms system had gone down. It was minor, and had only affected their ability to hear Kíli and Fíli.

'Thank you. Alpha Rayade, please activate your secondary Comms,' Dís said.

Static continued to filter through the headsets from Alpha Rayade. There was no reason to panic – the feeds were showing that Kíli and Fíli were still fighting - and very successfully, too.

'They can still hear us, Marshall,' Bilbo told Dís, 'it's just the other way that's sort-circuited.'

Dís let out a small breath. Coming from her, it was the equivalent of a great, heaving sigh.

'I repeat. Alpha Rayade, activate your secondary Comms.'

Still nothing. The personnel began to glance at each other. Kíli and Fíli finished their battle by wrenching the Kaiju's head sharply to the right, and severing its spine with the Jaeger's extendable blade. The base's helicopter feed showed that they were no longer alone on the battlefield – several television helicopters were now swarming the scene, their cameras no doubt all converging on Alpha Rayade, eager to catch the shot of the day.

'Alpha Rayade return to base. Our scanners are showing no further life-signs. You are still,' Dís hissed softly, and Bilbo flinched, 'required to turn on your secondary Comms.'

Out in the churned-up sea, Kíli and Fíli were too busy saluting at the TV cameras and pulling poses in their colossal Jaeger to pay much attention.

Dís' tone remained frighteningly calm. 'Tauriel, please see to it that the pilots of Alpha Rayade run drills every hour on the hour for the next two weeks?'

'Gladly, Marshall,' grinned Tauriel, flashing Bilbo a smirk. Bilbo turned back to his own computer, not fighting the urge to smile, and began to work on the briefing notes.

Life in the Base became frighteningly routine. Bilbo all but ignored the problem of his Jaeger pilot candidacy, and Dís seemed to take his silence as an outright refusal. Bilbo couldn't bring himself to correct her. Besides, with two fully-functioning and effective Jaeger the base was hardly crying out for more pilots – for the moment, at least. Kaiju attacks seemed to be increasing in frequency, and both Jaeger teams saw more than their fair share of battle.

The usual day-to-day business of the base was interrupted by an influx of new personnel from New Greenwood. The rumour mill all but overran with gossip, and Bilbo listened to all of it with a keen ear, happy to get swept up in the excitement. Most of it centred around speculation as to why the Elves had decided to ally with Base Zero, in direct opposition of their King's assertion that the Wall was the only solution. The whole thing was made even more intriguing because if Lobelia was to be believed, there was an actual Prince in amongst the new Elves - a fact that impressed Lobelia to no end, but then she had always been impressed by royalty. But whatever their motivation, Bilbo was simply glad for the swell in the numbers of armament workers. Jaeger body armaments were a specialisation of New Greenwood Elves, and Dúnedain Evenstar was in need of a few upgrades.

Bilbo had expected his thirty-fourth birthday to come and go without much in the way of fanfare, but he was proved wrong when two packages arrived for him. The first was neatly wrapped, the present inside tastefully decorated, and the contents brought a bitter-sweet smile to Bilbo's face. A real book, with real paper pages was revealed under the wrappings - a very rare thing indeed. Bilbo traced the gold lettering of the title –The Beauty of Flowers in Field and Wood: Containing the natural orders of families of Wild Plants – and mused that the Lady of Light had always had a funny way of telling people things.

The other present was undoubtedly from Gandalf. The wizard was off to parts unknown, doing work that was a mystery to Bilbo but was surely vital to their cause. The present was wrapped in what looked like a very, very old newspaper; Bilbo had never come across news on paper in all his life, and when he carefully took it apart a battered box full of the finest Earl Grey tea from Gondor lay in his hands.

He had vague plans to spend a quiet evening in the Rec Room, drinking his tea and watching Channel 6's Jaeger Talking Points just so he could get annoyed at their ridiculous, inaccurate commentary on the latest Kaiju-Jaeger battle and yell at the TV. This was thrown completely off-course without any hope of recovery, however, when Kíli and Fíli spotted the presents in Bilbo's hands at the Mess table at breakfast. Quite suddenly, Bilbo found himself in the K-Science labs, watching as Bofur rigged up six huge screens to make one big one, and surrounded on all sides by junk food and a handful of his colleagues. He still wasn't entirely sure how he'd gotten there.

Hobbit tradition dictated that Bilbo give each of his friends presents, but this was all but shouted down as unnecessary by the others. Besides, said Fíli, there was little on hand to gift. Bilbo reluctantly relented, though he still made a mental note to look through his book collection – all made from synthetic paper, of course, unlike his latest addition – and see if there was anything suitable to match up to each of his friends.

They watched terrible, cheesy and increasingly-ridiculous action movies, fought over the popcorn and bickered endlessly. During a lull between films, Kíli attempted to create some kind of caramel concoction with Bofur's lab equipment, Lobelia standing at a safe distance and tutting disapprovingly. Tauriel and Arwen were quietly giggling together off to one side (and Bilbo suspected that their cups were full of more than just simply hot chocolate), Aragorn was being shown something organic in a tube by an excited Bofur, the human pulling disgusted faces at Bilbo every time Bofur's back was turned, and Fíli was busy teasing Gimli mercilessly over the latter's choice in films.

'It's a romance!'

'It is not,' grumbled the young dwarf.

'Is too – the opening shot has Annabella saying that she'll never meet anyone like her recently deceased husband again, and then it cuts to Sam! How is that not the set-up for a romance?'

'It's about two people overcoming their personal struggles for the greater good. The romance is simply incidental,' argued Gimli, 'and it has them blowing up an oil tanker!'

'Whist holding hands,' pointed out Fíli, who looked like he was having far too much fun. 'Just admit it, under all that hair you're just a big softie at heart.'

Dís arrived a little later, slipping seamlessly into their little group, although Kíli did attempt to hurriedly hide something behind his back upon spotting her. Dís' raised eyebrow let him know that he had not been successful. Behind her came an elf who was unknown to Bilbo – 'found him wandering the halls,' said Dís, 'do you mind if he joins us?' – but he quickly introduced himself politely as Legolas. He had bright blonde hair, paler than Fíli's, which had been cut to a conservative length and combed back from his face. Bilbo had heard that that Legolas was a very promising pilot candidate, and was due to take his first test any day now. He seemed to know Tauriel and Arwen, if their exchange of warm smiles and quick-fire Sindarin was any indication, and Lobelia all but grabbed the back of Bilbo's collar when she laid eyes on him, leaning over to whisper furiously in Bilbo's ear.

'That's him!' she said, 'That's the Prince! Oh, isn't he handsome?'

'All elves are. I'm not sure if it's anything to shout about,' Bilbo whispered back, trying not to laugh when she almost tipped over into his lap. He righted her gently, and she didn't seem to notice. Clearly, Tauriel and Arwen had been sharing their hot chocolate.

Dís had brought with her a small bottle of whiskey, which was only half-full, but she measured out a small amount for each of them, emptying the bottle completely and ignoring Bilbo's protests as she did so.

'To our newest hobbit,' she said, raising her glass in toast, 'happy Birthday, Bilbo.'

The others echoed the sentiment, downing their drinks, and Bilbo - though he was revelling in the warmth and presence of those around him - still made sure to snatch Lobelia's drink from her hand and down that, too, much to her outrage.

Marshall Dís left the base the next day, leaving Tauriel in command. Her absence was sudden and unannounced, with no explanation given. It wasn't Bilbo's place to ask where she had gone, and Tauriel would never say. Fíli and Kíli, though, clearly knew something, for their moods both took a foul turn, and they all but isolated themselves, speaking to Bilbo only as a matter of course for their missions. Gimli and Lobelia gently reassured Bilbo that is was nothing personal – the brothers were ignoring everyone, not just him, but Bilbo was hardly comforted; whatever Dís was up to, if it had sent her sons into such a strop then it surely had to be a dangerous endeavour indeed.

Gimli, meanwhile, finally took his first simulation test. To Kíli and Fíli's astonishment, Gimli's scores turned out to be record-breaking, besting Bilbo's easily. Gimli to his credit did not boast about it, and he hardly needed to – Kíli and Fíli were loud enough about his scores in the Rec Room that the entire base would surely know about them by sundown, the shock of it enough to snap them momentarily out of their sour moods. When the brothers asked Bilbo if he minded being beaten, Bilbo replied that he didn't mind at all. These weren't just empty words – he was honestly pleased for Gimli, who had worked so hard to prove that he was pilot material. It did mean, however, that Bilbo began to look at Gimli with a more considering eye. He and Gimli got on well enough, and he hoped he could count the Dwarf as a friend. Perhaps, when the fuss had died down about Gimli's scores, Bilbo would ask him if he'd like to see if they were compatible. He felt far more comfortable doing it with a friend, and if they turned out to be incompatible, then Bilbo was sure he could trust Gimli not to gossip about it. The Dwarves, meanwhile, were happy enough to pat Gimli on the back every time they saw him, and soon it seemed as though everyone in the base knew Gimli's name.

But Gimli's record did not last long. Legolas took the test just the following day, and Kíli and Fíli all but howled in outrage when it turned out that the elf had beaten Gimli by a single point.

'It doesn't really matter, in the end,' Bilbo said, trying to ease their indignation, 'a kill's a kill, and they both did well. Besides, their scores are so close that I'm sure if Gimli and Legolas both retake the test, you'll likely find that Gimli will be the one who comes out on top, next time. In a manner of speaking,' Bilbo added quickly, because he knew how often Fíli found innuendo even in the most harmless of remarks.

To Bilbo's relief, Fíli was far too concerned with his own irritation to pay any mind to double-entendres. 'Elves,' he grumbled under his breath, and Dwalin treated him to a sharp, pointed glare.

'None of that,' said Dwalin, 'you know that's against the Regs.'

'Mirkwood Elves,' muttered Kíli, and received a cuff around his ear for his troubles.

Kíli's mutinous mumblings were tuned out by Bilbo. He was too busy watching Legolas and Gimli out of the corner of his eye. The Mess was far too noisy for him to hear what was being said, but he was fascinated all the same. He was guessing from their body language that Gimli was saying a very sportsman-like congratulations to Legolas. The elf looked surprised, Bilbo noted, and responded by saying something that caused Gimli's face to heat up to match his hair. Gimli shifted on the spot, speaking quickly. Legolas leaned in an imperceptible amount to reply, the edges of his mouth curling up into a smile Bilbo couldn't read. Gimli's hands clenched at his sides, and he abruptly turned and left, Legolas watching him go with a puzzled, intrigued look on his face.

Bilbo's eyebrows rose. The exchange had been brief and had clearly not ended well, but Bilbo had seen the way that the two had moved and shifted around each other. It had reminded Bilbo of the way that Aragorn and Arwen tended to stand in each other's space. Bilbo tried not to laugh at the thought of Kíli and Fíli's reaction upon finding out that Gimli was Drift-compatible with an elf.

A week after Dís first left the base, Tauriel took Bilbo to one side.

'The Marshall's returning,' she told him, and Bilbo saw tiredness bracketing her mouth and the weight of sleepless nights in the darkened skin under her eyes. Bilbo doubted he looked any better.

'Was she successful?' Bilbo asked, 'with...whatever she was doing?'

'She was,' Tauriel confirmed. 'I know we've kept you in the dark about this, but it was necessary. If it had been leaked to the press by some loose-tongued mechanic, then she might not have been so successful.'

Tauriel took a breath. 'Marshal Dís is bringing her brother back to base with her.'

She paused, clearly expecting a reaction from Bilbo. When none came the edges of her mouth turned down ever-so-slightly.

'That's...nice?' said Bilbo, nonplussed. He had no idea why this information was relevant.

'You are aware, aren't you, who her brother is?' asked Tauriel, frowning now.

Bilbo hated to admit he didn't know something, but in this case he had little choice but to say, 'no, I'm afraid I'm not.'

Tauriel's expression bordered on incredulous. 'I thought there wasn't a thing about Jaeger pilots that you didn't know,' she said.

'So he's a Jaeger pilot,' Bilbo inferred, then scoffed, 'well I don't know them all, and I'm more familiar with Elven and Human pilots, not Dwarven ones.'

'You'll know this one,' Tauriel said. She looked torn between laughter and incredulity, both emotions lightening the pale grey wash of her skin. 'Marshal Dís' brother is Thorin Oakenshield, former co-pilot of Seventh Durin.'

'Thorin Oakenshield,' repeated Bilbo, mind racing with this revelation, 'are you serious?'

Tauriel nodded sharply.

'It certainly runs in the family,' Bilbo muttered under his breath. Really, he shouldn't be so surprised. Kíli, Fíli and Dís were all exceptional pilots – little wonder, then, that they were related to one of the most famous Rangers in Jaeger history.

With a little twinge to his heart Bilbo realised that if Dís and Thorin were related, then Dís had lost a brother, and Kíli and Fíli an Uncle.

'She's convinced him to come to the base and try out for the new Jaeger,' Tauriel said, interrupting that unhappy line of thought, 'and if we're very lucky, he'll find his partner in no time at all, and we'll have three functioning Jaeger in the base.'

'If we're lucky.'

'Yes, if we're lucky. But I know better than to trust to luck.'

'What do you trust in, then?'

Tauriel answered with stone-faced solemnity. 'Dís' judgement,' she said.

Bilbo was to prepare for Thorin's arrival by sorting out the practicalities of adding a new staff member to the Base's rota. Thorin would need security clearances, accommodation and a new uniform, to name but a few tasks. Bilbo did all of this as quietly and as carefully as he could, as per Tauriel's instructions. The entire Base would find out about their newest pilot almost as soon as Thorin took his first step inside, Bilbo was sure, but for now he endeavoured to keep it under wraps.

Bilbo had mentioned during his and Tauriel's meeting that he would like to test out his compatibility with Gimli. Tauriel had vaguely agreed, leaving Bilbo somewhat dissatisfied with her answer, but he knew that he could do little besides submit the paperwork while Dís was away.

Tauriel had passed Bilbo Thorin's file almost as an after-thought, so that Bilbo could see to it that any problems with allergies or medications were seen to. But Thorin turned out to be frighteningly healthy, and Bilbo only glanced over the rest of his medical records – he didn't want to pry, though as he scanned through the form his eyes inadvertently read '...burns to left arm and left side of chest, likely to scar,' and, '...severe emotional trauma almost certain-,' before he quickly turned the page.

There was no photo attached to the file, but Bilbo was beginning to build a picture of the Dwarf as he read. He tried not to read anything too personal, skipping over the sections on Thorin's family history and ignoring the psychiatric report. Instead he lingered over Thorin's test scores – all in the high nineties, all marks that Gimli couldn't hope to dream of, though Thorin had been criticised by his tutor for leaving his defences wide open in exchange for a killing blow.

At the back of the file Bilbo was surprised to find Thorin's personal essay on why he wanted to be a Jaeger pilot. Such a thing must have seemed necessary, all those years ago when Thorin had first become a Ranger, when there had been time to properly test potential pilots.

' I agree with Doctor Oin's assertions that the Kaiju are nothing more than killing machines, with no other purpose aside from the destruction of life in any form, ' Thorin had written, ' Kaiju cannot be bargained with, and know no other language save the language of violence. I will admit that the Kaiju frighten me, as they would any sane Dwarf, but I would rather be fighting on the front lines, leading the charge, than have to stand by, helpless and powerless. Erebor is my home. It is more than a city to me, for it is inseparable from the concept of family in my mind. It is therefore my greatest treasure. My only wish is to defend it.'

Bilbo rubbed at his tired eyes, heart constricting with sadness, and closed the file.

It was, as Bilbo's mother would say, raining cats and dogs. Better get out the extra-strength umbrellas, Bilbo's father would always reply.

The memory made Bilbo smile as he popped open his black umbrella and stepped out into the deluge, breathing in the rain-fresh air. A helicopter was coming into land, and Bilbo stopped on the edge of the helipad, bracing himself against the back-draft of the whirling blades. The door opened, and Dís stepped out, unmistakable in her big black coat. She was closely followed by another dwarf who was slightly taller than her, and so had to stoop a little to duck under the slowing blades. A few steps of his combat boots later and the Dwarf was able to straighten his full height. Bilbo's gut tightened.

So this was Thorin Oakenshield. Dark, shoulder-length hair, shot through with grey, a closely-cropped beard and a bomber jacket with a thick fur collar. A cloth bag was slung over one shoulder, and he turned from Dís for a moment to meet Bilbo's curious gaze. Bilbo did not look away.

'So this is the hobbit,' said Thorin over the sound of the helicopter's engines winding down, eyes raking over Bilbo. It did not take long. Bilbo was not very tall.

'This is Bilbo Baggins,' corrected Dís as Bilbo fell into step beside them, 'one of our best and brightest.'

'Really,' said Thorin offhandedly, looking away from Bilbo, and Bilbo felt as though a weight had been lifted off of him.

'It's a pleasure to meet you,' said Bilbo, stepping into the lift behind Thorin and closing the umbrella. He rearranged the umbrella and files in his arms so that he could extend one hand in offering to Thorin. The dwarf took it, pressing one warm, rough palm with cold fingertips to Bilbo's, and Bilbo saw that Thorin's eyes were a deep blue, not brown like Dís' were. He had a firm grip.

'I thought hobbits don't wear shoes?' said Thorin by way of reply. Now they were out of the rain and in the quiet of the lift, Bilbo could properly hear Thorin's remarkably deep voice.

'They're standard issue,' Bilbo said with a small shrug.

'And is the rest of you standard-issue?'

'Maybe. Is that a standard-issue haircut?' Bilbo shot back, and had to refrain from covering his mouth with his hand. He hadn't meant to say that. Thorin must think him so rude.

Thorin glanced at his sister, whose only response was to quirk one corner of her mouth.

'I didn't realise there were hobbits to hand to check pilots' appearances upon arrival,' drawled Thorin, turning back to Bilbo, 'I would have combed my hair. The rules have changed quite a bit since my day, it seems.'

Bilbo couldn't read his tone or expression at all, and there was an edge of defensiveness in Thorin's stance. He had no idea if the dwarf was teasing or not.

'You will find a great deal has changed since you last stepped foot in a Jaeger stronghold, brother,' said Dís, 'haircuts included. Bilbo has been assigned to you to help you over the next few days.'

'So hobbits do now come as standard,' Thorin said to her under his breath, but Bilbo's sharp ears caught it all the same.

Bilbo was still trying to figure out if he should take offence to this when the lift doors opened, revealing a bright-eyed Lobelia.

'Oh!' she said, 'welcome back, Marshall, I didn't expect to see you here!'

You utter liar, thought Bilbo fondly, and privately he was agog with astonishment. How Lobelia had managed not only to find out that Dís had arrived with someone in tow, but also which lift they were using and what floor they would arrive at was a mystery to Bilbo. His suspicions as to why Lobelia had engineered their 'accidental' meeting were immediately confirmed when Lobelia extended a hand to Thorin as their small party exited the lift.

'Hullo,' she said with polite curiosity, 'I don't think we've met. I'm Lobelia Bracegirdle. I work in the K-Science Labs.'

Dís let out a small sigh as Thorin shook hands with Lobelia, introducing himself.

'You seem to be overrun with hobbits,' Thorin said to Dís, and it was a wry observation, not a judgement on Dís' staff. How Bilbo had inferred this he wasn't entirely sure.

'We have only two,' said Dís, 'and you've now met them both. Bilbo, I'm sure you do not need reminding, but I will need to speak to you and Tauriel later in the briefing room. In the meantime, would you be so kind as to make sure Lobelia makes it safely back to her lab?'

'Of course Marshall,' said Bilbo with a nod, trying to keep a straight face. Lobelia let out a little huff of indignation beside him.

'And I'm sure my brother will need help being reminded what's standard issue and what's not,' Dís continued, 'you may need to write him a list. Possibly with diagrams.'

Thorin scowled at her. To Bilbo, he said, 'I'm not how sure you've coped with my sister as Marshall. You must be mad by now.'

'It's a requirement of the job,' said Bilbo.

Thorin let out a breath through his nose and shook his head. 'It was interesting meeting you both,' he said, hefting his bag of belongings back onto his shoulder and walking away with Dís.

Bilbo watched him go. Inadvertently, his eyes dropped from the broad line of Thorin's shoulders to somewhere rather...lower down.

He looked away hurriedly, aghast at his own behaviour, only to find that Lobelia had been doing the same, eyes fixed approvingly on one particular part of Thorin's anatomy.

'Bilbo!' she exclaimed, bordering on gleeful, 'Bilbo Baggins, I didn't think I'd live to see the day!'

'Shh, for goodness sakes!' Bilbo said, flapping at her ineffectually. 'And I don't see why you're acting all...all...you when you were staring, too!'

'Yes, but I'm not the one embarrassed by it,' crowed Lobelia, 'goodness, Bilbo, I didn't know your tastes ran so...well, wild.'

'Shut up.'

'How very adventurous of you.'

It was no use. He was going to have to retreat. Lobelia could wander the halls for all he cared. He turned to walk away, ears and cheeks aflame, but Lobelia wasn't done with him yet.

'I'll just get Ori to put him in a room near yours, shall I?' she shouted after him.

'I hate you!' Bilbo yelled back at her over his shoulder, and Lobelia's pealing laughter followed him all the way down the corridor.