Previously:
Kili and Amelia find Bilbo outside the mountain. The three sneak back in to rescue the company, and soon get lost. Amelia tortures a goblin to get the directions they need and splits off from the other two. Kili and Bilbo go to free the dwarves while Amelia retrieves their weapons.
For several long moments, Kili and Bilbo could only stare after where the Phoenix had disappeared.
Shock swam through Kili's mind. His mind was playing tricks on him, he knew it. None of the past few minutes were real.
One glance at the goblin slumped against the wall told him that what he saw had been very, very real.
"Kili," whispered Bilbo. "What was that?"
Kili shook his head. "I don't know, Bilbo. I don't know who that was."
He gulped. He really didn't. Yes, that had been the Phoenix standing in front of him, but it hadn't been her. The woman there had her face, but she hadn't been the woman Kili had grown to treasure over the past weeks.
This stranger was dark and deadly. Uncaring. The exact opposite of what the Phoenix stood for.
She hadn't even felt anything when she'd tortured that goblin! Kili felt bile rising in his throat, and he gulped it down. Her eyes had held no pity for the creature, no regret for her actions. She had tortured the goblin and then killed it, and she hadn't even blinked.
Kili felt like his entire world was falling to pieces. Fili's words rang in his mind.
"Minds can be corrupted. What if she's no longer the person Gandalf has heard of?"
He gulped back fear. It couldn't be. She wasn't bad, she wasn't evil. Kili refused to believe it. Yet, the image of her blank, emotionless eyes swam before his vision, eyes that only an hour ago he had considered beautiful.
Now they seemed bleak and hard and uncaring for the sufferings of the world.
Kili shivered. "Come on, Bilbo," he said. "Let's get the others."
They made their way shakily from the tunnel, climbing down to where the goblin had said the prison cells were. There they ran down the corridor, which was just as dark as the tunnel above and smelled no better. Very soon the tunnel split, and Kili cursed.
"One of these will lead to the prison cells," he said. "The other likely leads to guards' quarters, if they're following the layout of the original mines."
"And we have no idea which is which."
"Yep." Kili bit his lip, gazing back and forth between the two hallways. Which should they take?
"I'll go ahead," volunteered Bilbo. "Report back to you which is the right tunnel."
Kili looked about as uncertain as he felt.
"Don't worry," said Bilbo. "I can manage it. I'm a burglar, remember?"
With that he started off, not giving Kili a chance to respond. He seemed to almost vanish into the darkness of the tunnel on the right, and Kili blinked, surprised.
Once Amelia reached the proper corridor she nocked an arrow, creeping slowly forward. It was dark, but she could just make out two goblins guarding where the weapons were kept.
It was a simple matter to deal with them. The first arrow struck before they even knew she was there, and the second followed before the last goblin had a chance to do more than gap at its fallen companion. Amelia retrieved her arrows; they were undamaged, so she stuck them back in her quiver.
Inside the room Amelia found things the goblins had taken from a multitude of unfortunate captives over the years. There were also bits of gold and gems that had been recovered from the abandoned dwarf home. Everything had been thrown carelessly inside, and Amelia sighed as she began to go through it.
Luckily, the company's belongings were at the top, and Amelia began to shove everything into her bag. Oin's ear piece had been crushed beyond repair, but by digging through the pile of forgotten items, Amelia found something else she thought might work well enough. Her own dagger went back in its sheath, and she felt the better for its presence. She was just about to return Orcrist to its scabbard when the blade began to shimmer a blue-silver color, and Amelia cursed.
She had hardly scrambled from atop the unstable pile of weapons and treasure before the horde of goblins descended upon her.
"They might still be alive."
Bilbo paused as the voice washed over his ears, recognizing it instantly. It was Ori, the young dwarf ever optimistic.
"They're not."
Bilbo could practically hear the scowl in Thorin's voice He continued to creep ahead as the dwarves spoke, grinning and eager to reveal his presence to them. He toyed with the ring on his finger, ready to pull it off.
"They might be," argued Ori. "What if Gandalf arrived just on time and caught them."
"If he had, the three would be here by now," Gloin stated gruffly. "You heard the Phoenix. Gandalf won't reach these mountains for several days at best. Even then, he likely won't even realize what happened to us. Kili and the Phoenix are dead."
As Bilbo reached where the company sat in a wide iron cage, he couldn't help how his heart squeezed at the sorrow on each dwarf's face.
"My brother." Fili was all but crying. "My baby brother." He sniffled, then glanced beseechingly to Thorin. "I was supposed to keep him safe. Ma made me promise… I was… I was…"
Thorin shushed him gently, his head barely knocking against his nephew's. "You did everything you could," he said softly. "This was not your fault."
Bilbo was so gripped by the emotional scene that he forgot all about taking off the ring. His eyes began to water, his heart twisting as he watched the king and prince cry quietly together.
"It's her fault," accused Nori. "He died trying to save her."
"She didn't ask him to do it," Balin reasoned. "You can't blame her."
Nori scowled. "Nothing has gone right since she came along. In fact, this whole quest went down the throat of a dragon the moment she appeared!"
Bifur yelled something in Khuzdul. Bilbo had no idea what it was, but it caused everyone else to pause in shock.
"How would you know enough of her to defend her?" asked Dori finally. "It's not like you ever spent much time with her. You can't even speak to her!"
Bifur said nothing, but even Bilbo didn't need a translation for the gleam that shone in his eyes.
"No!" The dwarves began to exchange looks. "How?"
Bifur's expression read something along the line of oops. He sighed, then said something else in Khuzdul.
"You're sure?" asked Bombur. "Every language?"
Bifur nodded, and the dwarves began to shout curses.
"Why didn't she tell us this?" demanded Thorin. "What else did we not know about her?"
Bilbo bit his cheek as an image of a screaming goblin flashed through his mind.
"She's been meeting with Kili in secret," Fili said. "At night. They take their watches together; they sit up all night talking."
"What?" Dwalin glared at Fili. "You didn't think to tell us this?"
Fili blushed. "I wanted to give her a chance. I had hoped nothing would come of it." He shook his head bitterly, and tears flung from his eyes. "I should have. I should have told you straight away. I'm sorry, Uncle."
Thorin sighed and rubbed Fili's arm, saying something softly in Khuzdul.
"And you?" Bilbo had never seen Bofur this angry before. "What have you to say for yourself? Why didn't you tell us she knows Khuzdul?"
Bifur glowered around him. Bilbo didn't know what he said, but he doubted it was very nice.
"Alright." Balin clapped his hands. "We can all assign blame later. Right now we need to figure out a way to escape these tunnels."
"Nori, you were the last to see Bilbo," Thorin said. "Did you see what happened to him?"
Nori scowled. "He slipped away. Left us all here. He's headed home now, I'll tell you that."
"No." Thorin shook his head vigorously. "It can't be."
"He's thought of nothing but his armchair since he left the Shire," grumbled Gloin.
Bilbo felt anger rising in him. He held onto the fact that Thorin still believed in him, but to his astonishment, doubt was beginning to flicker across the king's face. Bilbo felt his heart slowly shatter.
"We've seen the last of our burglar," Balin commented sadly.
Bilbo couldn't take anymore. Balin, who had never had anything unkind to say to him the entire journey, who was like the wise old father figure for the company, had lost faith in him. Thought the worst of him.
Did they ever have any faith in you? He asked himself.
Hurt and anger swept over Bilbo, and he pulled off the ring and stepped forward. He cleared his throat to draw the company's attention, and couldn't help a grin at the happy astonishment that came over their faces.
"Actually," he said. "You haven't."
"Bilbo!" Thorin lurched to his feet, stepping forward with his face lit up.
"You've come back!" exclaimed Fili.
Bilbo nodded. "Of course I did."
"Why?" Dwalin was glaring at Bilbo, though his glance was softer than it had been in the past. "Why did you come back?"
Bilbo gulped. He shoved aside the obvious answer- he was not going to win anyone's bets for them- and racked his brain for something else. There had to be another reason why he was there besides just Thorin.
"You were right," he said at last. "To doubt me. I would too. And you're right, I've missed Bag-End. I miss my armchair, and my books, and my garden. You see, that's my home. And well, I suppose that's why I came back. Because you don't have one. It was taken from you. And I will help you take it back if I can."
Bilbo finished with a resolute nod, feeling very proud of his little speech. The company took a moment, but then they erupted into cheers. More than a few had tears in their eyes.
"I don't suppose you have the key to this place, do you?" growled Gloin at last.
"Here!"
Kili grabbed it off the wall and tossed it to Bilbo. Behind the hobbit, the company gasped.
"Kili!" Fili rushed to the bars of the cell, straining to reach his little brother. "You're alive!"
Kili laughed. "You underestimate me so," he teased. He turned his gaze to Bilbo and shrugged at the indignant look on the hobbit's face at being rushed after like a child. "You were taking too long."
"How are you alive?" Thorin frowned. "Where's the Phoenix?"
As both Kili and Bilbo's faces darkened, the company frowned.
"What happened?" asked Oin.
Bilbo finished unlocking the door and opened it. "It's a bit of a story," he said slowly. "She's alright," he added hastily. "But erm-"
"She went to get the weapons." Kili's voice was brusque. Bilbo glanced at him in surprise, and was met with a hard glare. "She'll be along in a moment."
Bilbo frowned, and as the company filed from the cage he dragged Kili off to the side. "What's going on?" he asked. "Aren't you telling them?"
Kili shook his head.
Bilbo sighed. "All her other secrets are out in the open," he said. "Your fireside chats, her ability to speak every language."
"Wait, wait, what?" Kil held up a hand. "How? And what do you mean, she can speak every language?"
He staggered as his brother and uncle launched themselves at him. It was only once they separated that his question was addressed.
"You didn't know that?" asked Fili. "I would think you did."
Kili didn't bother with a rebuttal to the accusatory tone in his brother's voice. "It seems there's quite a bit I don't know about her," he intoned quietly.
Fili frowned, and was just about to ask what that meant when the company heard a great clamoring from outside. Frowning, they rushed from the cells, and they arrived at the entrance to the tunnel just in time to see a large horde of goblins dragging a limp figure onto the wooden platform that hung at the center of the cavern. They dumped the person at the feet of the goblin king, a giant monstrosity who sat on a crude throne at the head of the platform.
"Well, well," he exclaimed. "What is this?"
He stepped down from his seat, crushing a small pile of goblins beneath his feet, and approached the limp figure with footsteps that shook the wooden boards. The other goblins backed away, and for the first time Kili got a proper look at their captive. His heart lurched at the sight of the torn grey cloak matted with a mixture of black and red blood, and at the hands bound crudely behind her back.
"Oh Mahal," muttered Kili. "Phoenix."