A/N Hello everybody! So what does one do when they want a bit of Fili, Kili and Thorin? Watch Desolation of Smaug for the 7th time the the extended Hobbit of course! :D Anyway I guess this is what you'd call a filler chapter more than anything, but still lots of important stuff and a bit more character development. I've been writing steadily, I'm looking forward to publishing the next chapter, some good stuff with the twins in there and a small nail biter :)
Shout out to Kari, Radiation11, girlgeekjf, wrmauney, Syblime, Lakota1172, GregsMadHatter, Guests and all my new reviewers and those who have favourited the story! Hopefully I continue to please :)
As much as it breaks my heart I do not own the writings or the characters of The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings, they are the wonderful and exclusive workings of J.R.R Tolkien
Fréya sat at the table, her knees refusing to stop bouncing up and down as she waited anxiously for Fíli to return. But the hours ticked by and the sun quickly sank beyond the horizon and still no blonde hair burst through the front door. The tea and dinner that she'd made for herself was now stone cold as she couldn't stomach the thought of eating whilst Fíli was nowhere to be seen, and it had been hours since she'd spoken to Balin.
Fréya was getting to the stage of wanting to rip her hair out from stress, it seemed better than sitting there doing nothing. Before she could entertain the thought the front door opened.
"Fíli?!" Fréya screeched at the darkness outside, her chair clattering to the floor in her haste to stand. It wasn't blonde hair that came through the door however, but rather white hair followed by a concerned face.
"Well considering your cry there, I take it the lad still isn't home?" Balin said as he closed the door and watched as Fréya corrected her chair before falling into it heavily and letting her face fall into her hands.
Fréya shook her head which was still resting on her hands as she spoke. "What do I do Balin?! Why in Mahals name would he run off and stay out all night? He's only 5! What did I say that could have upset him like this?" She looked up at Balin desperately, and he moved around to place a comforting hand on her shoulders.
"Fréya, this is not your fault ok? I do not know what has made him so upset he fears he cannot come home, but I know it is through no fault of your own. The boy loves you to bits my dear, there's nothing you could say that would upset him." Balin said comfortingly.
"It is dark now, however and I have a feeling he won't be returning tonight. I just pray that he's found some place warm to sleep. But you my dear, you need to get some sleep as staying up all night isn't going to bring him home." Balin smiled gently at Fréya as he could see just how worn down the young dwarrowdam was from the last few hours.
"Tomorrow at dawn I will get up and wander round the town and see if I can spot him, I will spend a few hours there and will try and ask without asking if you get my meaning, if anyone has seen him, the fewer number of people that know about Fíli's disappearing act, the less likely Thorin will find out before any solid information is gathered."
Fréya nodded, looking wearily at Balin as he spoke. She knew what he was saying made sense, but she highly doubted whether she'd be able to sleep at all. She rose from her chair slowly and headed to the living room, followed by Balin and she collapsed onto the couch near the fire. She watched Balin go further down the hall and he came back moments later with a spare pillow and blankets.
"Thank you Balin, your kindness is more than I deserve." Fréya said quietly as she took the blanket and pillows off him to make herself a bed on the couch.
Balin shook his head, "nonsense. You don't deserve to be worrying about where the lad has gone and Thorin and Dís will not blame you if they find out he went missing. They know how much you love that boy and they know you've never been careless where he's concerned, so stop beating yourself up over it. He'll come back in his own time when he's good and ready, you'll see." Balin said in a firm but kind tone. He hated seeing Fréya beat herself up over all of this, and he was determined to not let it shake her up so much that she might refuse to look after Fíli ever again.
"Get some rest, I'll stop by in the morning before I go and search for him ok." Balin said taking her shoulders and guiding her till she was lying down on the couch with a blanket pulled around her. "Goodnight Fréya" Balin said gently as he went around and dimmed out all the lights.
"Goodnight Balin" Fréya mumbled back, already lost to sleep.
As Balin strolled down the path towards his house he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He whirled around with his fists raised and a snarl on his face.
"Easy brother, yer more likely to break a bone in yer hand than do me any damage." Dwalin's voice drawled from the shadows in amusement.
"Evening brother" Balin replied in relief lowering his fists and squinting to see his younger brother "and it's not my fault you're as thick as bricks" Balin said with a grin when his brother joined his side.
Dwalin growled something incoherent before replying "I'll take it as a compliment yer swine" making Balin chuckle as they made their way up to their house.
As they entered their house they shirked out of their coats and hung them by the door. Balin looked at his younger brother and said "where have you been tonight?"
"With Thorin" Dwalin replied simply.
"Ah and how has he been since I left? And Dís?" Balin asked as he went to the kitchen to pour himself some ale, with Dwalin following close behind.
When both dwarves were seated with a mug of ale and a plate of food Dwalin looked at his brother. "Oh you know how Thorin is, same as when Dís was pregnant with Fíli: about as nervous as a thief wearing bells approaching Smaug would be." Dwalin said with a grin "some things never change; he didn't stop fidgeting the whole time and almost wore holes into the carpet from his pacing. In the end I had to force him to sit down by threatening him with a sleeping draught from one of the healers if he didn't try and relax." Dwalin took a swig from his mug followed by a hearty bite out of his chicken.
Balin couldn't help but grin either. Thorin had been a right shocker before Fíli was born, he had been so nervous about the new arrival but Balin couldn't blame him. Not only was he getting a nephew and an heir that night, but pregnancy in general was a tricky and complicated business for dwarves, if they weren't careful they could have lost both Dís and Fíli during the birth. However when they'd been told that the birth was a success and both mother and child were resting, Thorin had all but collapsed against Balin and Dwalin in relief, and had to take several moments to compose himself before going in to see them.
When Dwalin had finished his mouthful he continued on, the grin still plastered on his face. "And Dís, well its Dís Balin, fighting fit and ready to throw the healers, Thorin, Mahal and Aüle themselves through the wall if they so much as say a wrong word. In fact Thorin was sent in there at one point to have a few words with her about what she's been saying to some of the healers, they are after all and I quote one of the younger healers 'the ones who are trained to deliver, not her'. Clearly the new ones have forgotten or are too stupid to realise she's done this before and that she knows exactly what she needs. Thorin went in and spoke to her then spoke to the healers and managed to calm the situation down some. Anyway they think the baby will arrive sometime tomorrow morning."
"Poor Oin, Dís must be giving him a headache, assuming he's kept his ear trumpet nearby in order to hear what's being said." Balin said shaking his head with amusement.
Dwalin's smile widened "oh no, Oin has been wise enough to stay away until she's about ready to deliver, he told us that this was good training for the younger healers."
The brothers burst out laughing; trust Oin to find an escape from Dís's wrath, after all he'd suffered enough abuse from her when she was there waiting to have Fíli.
After the laughter died down Dwalin looked at his brother with a small frown. "Where do you get off to today? Thorin said you had been gone an awful long time and it was unlike you to stay away."
Balin grimaced; he'd been hoping to avoid this particular topic of conversation, as he'd decided it was better to be busy out looking for Fíli rather than sitting around and doing nothing. However Balin knew it was no use lying to his brother, Dwalin would have his head if he learnt that Fíli had gone missing and he hadn't told him. Dwalin, the immovable mountain of a dwarf that he was had a soft spot for the golden haired child because just like Balin he was like another Uncle to Fíli.
"Unfortunately brother I got side-tracked on my way back to the Healing House. I ran into Fréya on my way there, she'd gone to pick up Fíli from Bofur's, only there was a slight problem when I saw her: Fíli's disappeared. And before you march out that door…" Balin had to yell at his brother who was on his feet and indeed looked ready to march out the door to tear the town down looking for the lad "I spent all afternoon trying to find him, so you might as well sit back down!" Balin said crossly at his brother who was glaring at him, and Balin waited until Dwalin reluctantly lowered himself back into his chair.
"We believe something has upset him and he's run off, so there's no use trying to find him. No, Thorin doesn't know he's disappeared and I want it to stay that way, you hear me. I'm going out at first light to search for him again, and you will go and be with Thorin as though nothing is amiss. We'll find him brother, don't worry."
Dwalin glared at his brother. Discovering Fíli was missing was the last thing he expected Balin to tell him and it was against the wish of every fibre of his being that he sat there as Balin asked, rather than get out there looking for Fíli. He prayed that Balin was right and that he was just staying with someone else and would go running through the door to his house first thing in the morning begging for forgiveness.
"Are you planning on telling Thorin at all?" Dwalin asked, managing to keep his anger in check.
"If he hasn't turned up by lunch, then yes I will tell him, I just pray the baby has arrived by that stage so Dís will be kept occupied and won't find out."
Dwalin nodded, pleased that his brother had a plan.
Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day.