Fíli stared at Balin. "They want what?" he demanded.

"Thorin promised the Men of Laketown a portion of Erebor's treasure before the battle. They want to claim it now."

When his uncle lay in a near death state and his nephew struggled to put their kingdom back together? "No," Fíli said. "Thorin promised them a share of the treasure if and when they returned the Arkenstone. Last I was told, it was still within their possession."

Balin nodded slowly. "That is true."

"If they can't meet Thorin's terms, they won't receive the benefits."

There were murmurs of agreement around the table. All of the company were sitting with him, except for Bilbo. The hobbit was still in the Lonely Mountain, but all of the company had agreed that one of them was to always be with their fallen leader. Despite everything he had done, Bilbo wasn't the greatest protection, but Gandalf was also with him. No one was going to get past that pair.

The hobbit also said that he had no place on a dwarven council, that Thorin had removed him from the company. Fíli knew this as well as any of the others, but he also knew that his uncle hadn't been in his right mind when he'd said it. Something had changed in Thorin when they had reclaimed their broken home. Fíli hadn't had a chance, but he wanted to speak to Balin about it. He loved his uncle and would follow him anywhere, but the Thorin that had claimed the mountain and the treasure with it was not the uncle he knew.

"The elves are still sitting on our doorstep as well," Balin continued. "They haven't said anything about wanting a share of the treasure, but we know it has to be on Thranduil's mind."

That and he was still angry over the fact that thirteen dwarves had disappeared from his dungeon seemingly by magic.

"We didn't ask them to come," Dwalin growled.

"If it weren't for the orcs," Gloin threw in, "they would have been fighting us instead."

Fíli knew that. Their time in those dungeons was still fresh in his mind. He wasn't keen to give them anything other than a swift kick off the mountain. The men had been promised something by the king and he was willing to honour it once the Arkenstone was home. But no such promise had been made to the elves.

"Word came from Dain again."

All eyes turned to Kíli beside him at his announcement and Fíli sighed. Their distant cousin's message had been unwelcome and not something he'd wanted to bring up here.

"He's like a vulture," Dwalin spat. "Just waiting for his chance to feast."

"Without him and the dwarven warriors he brought, we wouldn't have succeeded," Balin said quietly. "What did he say, laddie?"

Fíli took a breath. "He offered advice about the people camping on our mountain, urging me to settle matters swiftly so we can rebuild Erebor." Which he had already known and been trying to do. It wasn't his fault that it wasn't going smoothly and he was inclined to point out to Dain that he was camping on the mountain as well.

"He also said that Fíli should accept the title of king and not regent," Kíli added.

There was a beat of silence before noise exploded around the table as the dwarves realised what Dain was implying.

Fíli leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. "Why did you mention that?" he muttered to his brother.

"They deserve to know what Dain's thinking."

And now they had dissolved into shouts and threats against the king of the Iron Hills. Which is exactly what his brother had done when Fíli had shown him the letter. Dain's message hadn't been pleasant to read and Fíli had destroyed it after Kíli's reaction. Everything in it was nothing new to him. Even the bit about declaring himself king. Opening his eyes, he met Balin's gaze. The dwarf lord was the only one besides the brothers who wasn't shouting.

Balin had already spoken to him about this. Thankfully, he had approached Fíli during one of the few times he had been alone. Kíli wouldn't understand what Balin was trying to say. Fíli understood where he was coming from, but it still made his gut clench. It had been two weeks since the battle and his uncle had barely stirred. The possibility that he'd never wake up was very real and was always on his mind. It was on all of their minds, but it weighed heavily on Fíli's. At the moment, Fíli was trying to build a kingdom worthy of his uncle when he woke. Everything was done to ensure that Erebor became what his uncle wanted. If Thorin died without ever seeing it peacefully under dwarven control again….

"Enough!" Fíli shouted, rising from his chair as the dwarves didn't cease. "Bickering about Dain is getting us nowhere! His method is harsh, but he speaks the truth. We need to get Erebor back on its feet so our people have a good home to return to. To do that, we need to settle matters with the Men and determine why the elves are still here."

The company was all looking at him like he had grown another head, but he didn't dwell on it.

"Balin, inform Bard that he is welcome to a share of Erebor's wealth the moment the Arkenstone is in my hands. Urge him to be swift for surely they are as eager to rebuild their home as we are."

Balin nodded. "Aye, my lord, I'll see to it."

"One of you needs to find out what the elves are about without sparking another war," Fíli continued. "Can any of you do this?"

There was another moment of silence before Bofur nodded. "Bombur and I are unassuming enough," he volunteered, "And even though we're part of the company, we have no claim or ties to the mountain. Our problem with them is much more recent and can be ignored for the time being. They might be more open to speaking with us."

"Good." Fíli looked at the rest of the company. "I need the rest of you to assess the damage Smaug did to the mountain and see if any of the dwarves who came with Dain are willing to stay."

"Are we poaching them?" Nori asked.

Fíli shook his head. "No. Some of our people, after Erebor was taken, went to the Iron Hills. If any of them wish to return or reclaim the halls of their fathers, let them know they are welcome to. We can't rebuild if our people don't come home."

Murmurs of approval came from around the table.

"Kíli and I will remain here to help survey the damage," he continued and felt his brother tense beside him. "I'll let the rest of you decide what you would rather do."

"Aye, my lord," they all said.

Looking at Kíli, he left the table and knew his brother was following. He wound his way through the empty halls until he reached one of the main stone ramparts. Going to the edge, he stared out at the land below. Three armies were spread out across the torn ground. The only time they had worked together besides the battle had been to remove and burn the bodies of the orcs and to find their own fallen. Now they had pulled back behind their own lines and set up camps.

"We should be out there reclaiming our people."

Fíli sighed. "Things are different now, Kíli. We can't be the same as we once were."

"I know but we haven't left the mountain in two weeks! Why shouldn't one of the line of Durin be out there showing them how strong we are?"

"Because we aren't strong right now!" Fíli said sharply. "We are both still recovering from nearly fatal wounds and our uncle lies near death! Our home is reclaimed, but shattered! We have no room to make mistakes because everyone is watching us!"

Silence met his words and Fíli had to take a deep breath. He could count the number of times he had yelled at his brother on one hand and not use all of his fingers.

Turning, he saw Kíli wasn't looking at him but staring out at the land. His brows were drawn together as they always were when he was faced with something he didn't care for. "Kíli-"

"We're still strong," he said abruptly. "We will always be strong because we have each other. The bond between us and our uncle isn't something that can be easily broken and it needs to be seen. We can't just hide in the mountain and expect it to protect us."

"That isn't what we're doing," Fíli sighed. "Until we establish some kind of normalcy in Erebor, we are vulnerable. If anything happens to either of us, Dain will take the mountain."

His brother's brows came together even more. "After," he said, looking at Fíli. "After they're all gone, we won't be stuck in the mountain."

Fíli's lips twitched. He didn't like being tied down any more than his brother did and it was a constant struggle to remind himself that he couldn't agree with Kíli, that he couldn't just run off to do something his uncle would deem stupid. "After they're all gone, we're going to be busy rebuilding a mountain."

"I never expected any of this," Kíli admitted after a moment, stepping up beside Fíli and making a gesture. "Mahal, I don't know what I even expected anymore."

That was easily understood. Before this quest, they had rarely left Erid Luin and even when they had, they hadn't gone far. It was honestly their home and Erebor only a distant place in the stories their mother and uncle had told. When Thorin had approached them about this, they had signed on without hesitation, but neither of them truly knew what was to come. Despite the way everything had gone, Fíli knew that neither of them would change their choice.

"What are we going to do if he doesn't wake up, Fíli?"

Fíli closed his eyes. In the week since he had woken, Kíli hadn't asked that question and he had wondered if his brother ever would. "Live, Kíli," he said softly. "Live and be the rulers of Erebor that our uncle would expect us to be."

"It'll never be the same."

Of course it wouldn't. Thorin was the closest thing to a father either of the brothers had. Losing him was going to be a blow that neither of them would ever recover from, but something they would have to face together if it happened. "That's why I need your support now more than ever, Kíli," Fíli said, turning to him and gripping his shoulders. "We need to be careful and watch each other's backs until we know that we're on firm ground again. You can't run off like you used to because uncle isn't going to be there to bail us out of whatever trouble we get into."

Kíli gripped Fíli's shoulders as well. "We've always been princes of Erebor," he said, his voice low, "but it was always just words before. We had no throne and the words were empty. They aren't empty anymore and I don't know if I know how to carry the weight that comes with them."

"It was uncle's to carry before us and now it's ours as the last true heirs of Durin. We wouldn't have been born into the line if we couldn't handle it."

Kíli nodded slowly before he met Fíli's eyes. "You reminded me of Thorin in there," he said quietly. "When you yelled at everyone."

A chuckle left Fíli as he stepped back. If there was one talent his uncle had, it was yelling unruly dwarves into submission and he had gotten decades of practice with his nephews.

"But it wasn't just the yelling and I know it wasn't just me."

"What do you mean?" Fíli asked, glancing back out at the armies.

"Didn't you hear it?" Kíli said softly. "They called you 'my lord.' If Thorin doesn't wake up, they've already accepted you as king, Fíli."

A/N: Thank you to every single one of you who reviewed, favourited, followed, and read the first chapter! I loved that you love it! And as you can see, I decided to keep going. I can't say how many chapters will actually come of it but for now I know there will be more. Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoy writing it!