A/N: Alrightie! We're in the last leg of our story here, ladies and gents. This will be the last three or so chapters so I want you all to keep in mind a poll I will be doing during the last chapter: Would you like to see a sequel? I won't be really looking for responses on this until the last chapter because of course you need to see how the story will end, but I just want you all to keep it in mind as we approach the last leg. :)

Disclaimer: Nope!

~~Chapter Twenty Three~~ In the Land of Mordor, where the Sleeper waits

One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne, In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

Legolas stood in the Golden Hall of Meduseld, only half listening to the debate around him. Valo's terrified eyes as he was pulled int the air haunted his every waking thought. His cries as the Witch King carried him away echoed endlessly through his mind. Despite how he had treated him, despite his secret attempts to kill him and put him down, it had been him that Valo had cried out for. It had been him that Valo had reached out to for help. Help he had failed to give. No matter how hard he had tried to distance himself from the Morgul teen, Valo still loved him. He felt the shame all the way to his knees. Legolas had never felt so…inept and useless. He should have stood by Valo instead of letting Haldir's words get to him. If he were completely honest with himself, in a part of his heart that only inspired that deep shame, he had blamed Valo for his dear friends death. He had seen how the soldiers and people of Rohan treated the teen and he had done nothing. He had allowed the whispers and the unkind words. He had even participated at times.

The conversation filtered back into his train of thought.

"We cannot achieve victory through strength of arms." Theoden insisted, his reluctance for further bloodshed an unsaid but understood fact.

Aragorn took a step forward, his voice reflecting the calm intensity and determination radiating from him. The loss of his beloved charge was spurring the Ranger forward. He felt the loss more keenly than any. Legolas was supposed to love Valo, but Aragorn had vowed to protect him. In both, they had failed.

"Not for ourselves. But we can give Frodo his chance if we keep Sauron's eye fixed upon us. Keep him blind to all else that moves. It will give a separate group a chance to move in and rescue Valo in the same breath, right from under his nose."

There was an immediate snort of disdain from Theoden and Gimli coughed in alarm around his pipe. The King gave a sneer of distaste.

"That child is where he belongs. Let him stay with his own kind!"

The dwarf remained uncharacteristically silent on the matter. Perhaps he was feeling Valo's sudden absence in his own way as well. A small blessing. Maybe there was hope for the brusque dwarf after all. Gandalf strode forth as if he would say something but to the party's surprise, Legolas beat him to it. His silver eyes flashed in simmering rage.

"Valo is terrified of that place! You didn't see him as that monster carried him away! I did! He was crying and trying to get away even if it meant falling to his death." He ground out, his voice trailing off under the strain of his shame, despair and a determined fire that was stirring to life inside him. The drive to see Valo safe again, to get the chance to make amends.

"Valo si the Key to Sauron's return to human form. Without him Sauron remains a spirit, he remains cut off from much of former power. If the Dark Lord gain both him and the Ring…Middle Earth will fall to flame and shadow forever." Gandlaf interjected fiercely, adding fuel to the fire that the elf was feeling.

The Istari backing him up only made his cause all the more clear to him. Theoden gave him grudging agreement. No matter how much mistrust the King of Rohan felt for Valo, it wouldn't be on his watch that Sauron returned to his former glory.

"I'll go. Let me be the one to rescue Valo. After all, if it weren't for my own foolishness…he would be here with us. Give me this chance to make up for all of the wrong I've done him."

Aragorn said nothing, only nodded his hesitant assent. Gandalf was watching the elf with eyes filled with careful consideration.

"Sauron will not have left Valo alone so easily this time. He will be very well protected, perhaps even in the heart of Barad-Dur itself. He has likely been sent into the cursed Sleep again. There is also the possibility…that Sauron is using Valo's body on a more permanent basis just to ensure he is well watched and protected."

Legolas nodded softly, hoping for the best but expecting the worst.

"I'll be prepared."

~ o ~

He stared out of the window of his cold stone tower that he had woken in. All was dark outside but then again, it was always dark in Mordor. The rotten smelling blight flowers glowed with their eerie luminescence along the banks of the Morgulduin river. Valo felt the Witch King enter the room and his blood ran cold. Would he ever see Legolas again? Aragorn? Anyone? Or would he be killed or put back to sleep, possibly on a more permanent basis. The allure he usually felt for his keeper was strong and he shivered as if his body craved it like a drug. He could handle it though. With Legolas's soft eyes in his mind, he could resist the thrall. Those cold hands, all he had known for so many Ages, stroked over his turned back. The view from the stone room in the Morgul Vale was the same as it ever was. It was as if he had never left to begin with. The pitch peaks of deadly sharp mountain peaks, the smoke billowing from Mordor beyond. No doubt he would be moved to Barad-dur very soon. Then there would be no escape and no rescue.

The cold hands were suddenly harsh and unforgiving, turning him around by a grip on his throat. The dark thrall in the room became overwhelming in it's intensity. Intoxicating. It was like electricity and fire shooting through every cell in his body, pain and fierce desire all at once. Orange, flaming eyes met him from beneath the hooded cloak and Valo's heart seemed to stop. Sauron. Tom Riddle. Master. Those eyes dilated in vicious glee as his spine bowed from the dark aura surrounding him. Like an addict with a drug. He couldn't live without it, no matter the pain that accompanied his fix. Valo felt himself airborne for a half a second only to be slammed bodily back down on the hard stone table that had acted as his bed of sorts when he had Woken. That cold, unforgiving hand was still clenched tightly around his neck. The sounds of the Black Speech cut through the air like the sharp crack of a whip on his brain.

"My beautiful one...you have been very very disobedient." The Dark Lord slammed the small figure down on the table brutally as if to emphasis his words, "You DARE disobey me? Do you forget what you are? I created you!"

Valo cowered before his Master's fury, hating the terrified keening whimper that tore pathetically from his bruised and sore throat. Sauron released him onto the dais like he'd been touched by something slimy and horrid. His eyes blazed in disgust and rage down at him. The teen could feel his anger burning his skin like fire.

"Master-" he began but cut himself off short of begging for forgiveness.

Sauron liked when he gave himself to him when he apologized. Valo knew that Legolas would be upset if he knew that he'd done such a thing, especially for his enemy's forgiveness. He wanted to be faithful. The memory of the prince's coldness towards him brought that train of thought to an abrupt halt. Legolas didn't want him...Sauron caught his hesitation though and hissed furiously, squeezing his throat again in rage.

"Why do you hesitate to beg, pet? What is it that comes between us after Ages together?"

Valo did not give him an answer though his expressive eyes gave his inner turmoil away. His Master's orange eyes narrowed and without warning or mercy, the Dark Lord forced his way into his Key's mind. All Valo could do was shriek as that scorching presence tore through his consciousness, gathering information on the Fellowship's recent activities as he went. Each scene played out in his mind and Valo found himself longing for the days before Isengard, before his true nature had been revealed. He searched until he found the face he desired. The kiss he and Legolas had shared. The elf's tender arms wrapped around him. The scene broke Valo's heart to witness, knowing how the two of them had ended. His heart felt as if it were breaking all over again. His burning presence flowed smoothly out of the panting, sobbing teen's mind like water and silence met in his wake. Against Valo's terrified expectations, Sauron did not lash out at his betrayal immediately. He sat quietly, stroking the trembling, crying teen's dark hair contemplatively. His lack of reaction was perhaps the most frightening part of all. The calm before the storm. At last he spoke and it was in a voice so deadly in it's hissed calm that Valo thought for sure his maker would strike him down.

"An elf. Has he touched you?"

Valo was too scared, too frozen solid to answer immediately. His terror earned him a fierce slap to the face that made his world tilt and spin for a few precarious seconds.

"Has he touched you?"

"No, Master, no! No one has touched!" He cried, gasping for breath when he could.

Sauron seemed pleased by this and his anger dissipated to a boiling simmer. He resumed stroking the dark locks, ignoring the line of blood that ran down Valo's chin from his split lip. Valo ignored it too. He was too afraid to wipe it away. He didn't want to attract more of his Master's attention than he had to. That dark power flexed and coiled inside the teen, turning from pain to desire at it's Master's will. Valo's spine bowed, his sobs turning to pleasurable gasps even though inside his soul cried in misery. How could his Master play with his very physical reactions this way? Was it because he was merely another piece of the Dark Lord? After all, what did he know of souls and things?

"Oh my precious, how shall I repay your betrayal? How should I react to my beloved Consort becoming nothing more than an elf's whore. How you've hurt me…" The Dark Lord crooned in false sadness.

That inner voice was ruthless in it's scathing monologue, coming to light stronger than ever for his Master's close proximity.

'You betrayed the only man who has ever really loved you! You plotted against him with Men and Elves! You whored yourself out to his enemies while he tried desperately to find you. To keep you safe! He gave you life, protection and even gave you himself! You should be left to rot in the deepest depths of Barad-dur, you ungrateful whelp!' The thing screeched, forcing more tears from shining emerald eyes.

Valo's heart wrenched painfully, drawing a harsh gasp from his throat. The remembrance of Legolas's blank eyes watching and weighing him, judging him, was a fresh dose of reality. He didn't belong out there with them. His heart crumbled. The voice was right.

"Forgive me, Master...I was foolish without you. Please, don't banish me from your side. Forgive your servants folly…" Valo whispered in a sob, giving into his need for comfort of any sort and clinging to the Dark Lord's borrowed frame.

He felt Sauron smirk, laying him down ever so gently on the stone. His Master leaned down to lick the fine trail of blood from his pale flesh. Cool hands gripped his waist like a vice but Valo welcomed it.

"My poor beautiful one. I see what this is. This is but a small rebellion. I've kept you cooped up alone for too long, on too short a leash. You've missed me." Hands slid up and down his thighs finally settling on his bare hips beneath his black cloak.

Valo's mind spun.

"Oh no, Master! You are perfect! Please, it was my mistake-''

That his Master could think his faults were his own mistakes was unthinkable! Sauron continued on as if he hadn't heard him.

"You've become restless shut up inside with no distraction. I think you've learned your lesson now. After this little escapade, I believe I can trust you enough to allow you out under certain terms."

Emeralds became round with shock. Truly? His Master would let him outside? Even after everything he had done? Gratitude filled him and he slid his hands beneath the Witch King's black robes along ruined flesh. He wanted to reciprocate the pleasure his Master gave him, to show how much this new declaration meant to him. Sauron's flaming orange eyes dilated in desire. Valo beamed happily, his chest filling with pride. He finally felt as if he were doing something right for the first time since he had been Awoken. He would make his Master happy. That was all that mattered. After all, it was what he was created for.

R&R!