A/N: Wow! What a great response for the first chapter! Thank you all SO much!
Here's the first origin story supplemental chapter, where we find out a little more about Bilbo's past. Enjoy!
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Origins: Bilbo
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To whom it may concern,
The Company is going to face a great evil tomorrow and I will be going with them. There is a very real chance that I won't be making it out alive, but as my father always said- 'where there's life there's hope'. If the unfortunate happens, let this letter bear my memory. My name is Bilbo Baggins and this is my story.
I was born in the Shire, a small farming community, and my youth was spent playing amongst the gardens, rolling hills, and walking paths. My mother was Belladonna Took and my father was Bungo Baggins. As far as I know, neither of my parents had powers. But we were from a small-minded town and it wasn't proper to speak of such things. Powers and adventures were the sort of nonsense that happened in the big cities, not in tiny rural places like the Shire.
When I was thirteen years old I worked up the courage to approach Danny Cotton behind the Party Tree. When I tried to get his attention Danny looked right through me, as if I wasn't even there. That was the first time I turned invisible. It wasn't a power that I could turn off and on at will. Instead, whenever I grew embarrassed or fearful I would fade from view. Later in life I gained a good deal more control over it, but as a faunt it happened at the most inopportune times.
I never had the opportunity to tell my parents about my powers. I kept it hidden for most of my teen years, though whether out of fear or shame or desire for privacy I know not. I do believe that my mother would have been pleased- the Tooks were always a more adventurous type. As for my father, I'd like to think he'd have loved me regardless, but I'll never know for sure. Just after my seventeenth birthday they were killed in a boating accident, leaving me alone.
Even though I inherited my family's house I left home soon after the funerals. I wouldn't stand the emptiness, the loneliness. I was always thought to be a bit odd by my neighbors and never felt quite as though I belonged in the Shire. So, I packed up my car and moved to a quaint apartment in the city, where I took a job at a corner coffee shop. It wasn't glamorous, but it was a fresh start in a town where no one knew me. From there I moved from job to job until I was offered the position of an executive assistant at the G-Tech. I was thirty years old and thought I was finally finding my place in the world. I made casual work friends, went on the occasional date, and made enough money to move into a slightly larger flat. G-Tech offered me five blissful years of uneventful life before I overheard something I wasn't meant to. That was where my troubles began.
By now you probably know what became of S.M.A.U.G. and how that unfortunate chain of events played out. All I will say is that I was the one who warned the Company and that over time I was taken into their fold. They have become very dear to me, given me the sense of belonging I haven't had since my parents died. We now know who was behind the attacks and will do our best to end them. No matter what happens tomorrow, know that I do not regret the choices I've made, nor would I change my own fate at the cost of my friends. We are all in this together- for both the sweet and the bitter.
If you are reading this then the worst has happened and I am no more. I will not say do not weep, for not all tears are an evil, but please don't mourn me. If I die, it will be because I was doing what I believe to be the right thing. Because we're all at stake and the world needs saving. All I ask is that my story be shared so that others will know of the deeds of the Company. And of my own very small part in them. I don't want to be forgotten. I don't want to disappear.
At your service,
Bilbo Baggins
PS: If by chance you are reading this and I am still quite alive- shame on you! This is a personal correspondence! Please leave it where you found it and stop poking around where you don't belong! Yes, Kíli, this means you!
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A/N: Well, that letter was a pretty big teaser of what's in store for this story. Bilbo actually doesn't write this letter until around chapter 27. Just a taste of what's in store!
Hopefully I'll see you darlings back here on Monday, when we'll find out what happened when S.M.A.U.G. attacked Red Team!