I have so much work, it's not even funny. I am really sorry about how long it is going to take me between chapters.

Bilbo was not particularly violent, no hobbits were, but he was fully ready to beat Thorin's dwarf butt straight to Mordor. After everything, everything, Thorin had said and done he still fell back under the spell of the gold-sickness. It made Bilbo angry just thinking about it. Bilbo did not appreciate lying, or anger, or over all people valuing objects over people. Gripping the ring in his pocket, Bilbo planned on smacking Thorin over the head the moment he saw him.

Storming out of great hall Bilbo puffed out his chest to face the king. Bilbo did not save Thorin from freezing to death in that tunnel, or from Azog, or from the judgmental men of the lake just to have Thorin loose himself again in the blink of an eye. The more he thought about Thorin the faster his feet went and soon enough he heard Dain's laughter booming out from a corridor. Slipping on the ring Bilbo slowly approached.

Thorin and Dain were standing in a corridor facing each other, Thorin's back to Bilbo. From what Bilbo could see Dain was extremely happy. He had a wide smile on his face and had a hopeful gleam in his eyes. Bilbo could not see Thorin's face, but he could tell his muscles were tense and both his hands were gripped into tight firsts.

Dain let out a laugh again and scanned the corridor making sure he and Thorin was alone. His eyes passed by Bilbo, but with the ring on Bilbo remained unseen. Dain began to clap, "impressive Thorin, truly inspiring."

Thorin said nothing.

"I liked how you added in the battle cries. Not what I would have done, but you are the king after all," Dain said still smiling. Bilbo crept closer. "Come now Thorin, you should be happy. This was your choice after all."

"There was no choice," Thorin said, intense anger in his voice.

Dain stayed quiet, thinking over his words then smiled wickedly. "Did you see the looks on your little company's faces?" Thorin practically growled at Dain as he mentioned the company. "They looked so hurt by your words; I saw it in their faces. Especially Balin and…what's his brother's name…Dwalin?"

"Dain...," Thorin growled.

"You know, I have often said Balin is a poor adviser and you could do much better. I think you should ask him to step down from his position on the council and appoint me as your closes adviser. In fact, I think you should order him leave the council. What do you say Thorin?" Dain asked.

Bilbo felt his heart beating fast. Thorin was taking a while to answer. He stood in silence thinking over what Dain purposed. Bilbo stared at the shady forms waiting to see if Thorin would come to his senses on his own. Bilbo knew Thorin had the power to fight the sickness, to break himself free just long enough to see what he had become. The longer Thorin stood still thinking in silence the more hopeful Bilbo became. If Thorin regained himself for even a moment, Bilbo knew he could jump out and keep Thorin sane. He knew he could reason with Thorin and remind him of the horrors the gold-sickness caused.

"What if I say no?" Thorin asked.

With a bright smile on his face, Bilbo knew Thorin was fighting it. He began to take the ring so he could help Thorin through his.

"Then I kill Balin instead," Dain said.

Bilbo froze in his tracks the ring still around his finger. He stared at Thorin who had his head down. Bilbo had no idea what was going on, but the hair on his toes stood up.

"It serves the same purpose, really," Dain went on. "It would not be hard for me to kill the old fool and maybe I'll kill his brother too."

"You will leave them alone!" Thorin yelled loudly his voice sounding pained.

Dain laughed and Bilbo could feel his heart sinking his chest. Something wasn't right about this. Dain smiled, "We can talk about this another time. We should not be yelling at one another, cousin, we should be rejoicing! Our army is getting for war, a war that we will easily win. Those stinky lake-men will be dead and we will have all the gold you foolishly gave to them." Dain looked at the king. "You should be proud of yourself, Thorin. You gave an amazing speech. Even I was convinced that you want war."

Bilbo let out a gasp, but not loud enough for Thorin or Dain to hear.

"See," Dain smiled circling Thorin. "You could do anything with the right…motivation."

Thorin let go of his fist with his hands slightly shaking. "Where are they?" he asked softly his voice filled with sadness. Dain laughed as an answer. "Where are they, Dain!?" Thorin yelled at his cousin all the sadness in his voice turning to rage.

Dain put his hand on his chin and acted like he was thinking hard about something. "Well, I suppose I should tell you, after all you did make such a convincing speech. Follow me."

Bilbo followed the two dwarves having no time to think about what he heard and saw. He did not have the time to process what was happening or to truly understand what they had said. He just hurried along following as the dwarves with his heart being fast and his sense of danger going crazy. He could hear Thorin and Dain talking, but by keeping his distance he could not hear what they were discussing.

He followed Thorin and Dain to a room he had never been inside before, which was amazing seeing how he had walked around Erebor lonely for weeks. He passed by the room itself many times, but Bilbo never knew what was inside. He asked Bofur one time, but the dwarf told him not to worry about it.

Dain opened the door and five guards from the Iron Hills were standing inside. They stepped aside making a small path for Thorin and Dain to pass. "Show King Thorin to our guests," Dain said all happy to the guards. He and Thorin walked inside and the door closed before Bilbo could get in.

Panicking, Bilbo did not know what to do. He stood outside the door freaking out. He needed to get inside. He needed to know what was going on. He thought about whipping out Sting and charging inside taking on anyone who got in his path. He thought about breaking the door and killing the guards who stood in his way.

Just before Bilbo almost got the nerve to charge inside the door swung open. The guards, once again, opened a small path, but this time only Dain stepped though. Afraid something happened Bilbo ran inside after Dain exited just narrowly getting past the guards. Bilbo fell on his face, but held in his pain. He stood up and instantly knew what the room was: the dungeons.

Five guards stood at the door and another one sat at a chair by a pair of keys. Down a few steps were two empty cells, with thick metal bars and chains hanging from the ceiling, and a hall to the left. Bilbo fought an urge to yell out for Thorin. He slowly walked down the steps. He turned to look down the hall seeing that there were at least ten cells on each side. The hall was empty, with the guards only at the entrance above the steps. Bilbo could hear the faint sound of someone franticly talking. It was hard to hear, but it didn't sound like Thorin.

With caution Bilbo walked towards the source of the noise. The further down the hall he got the louder the sounds got. He could hear someone breathing heavily, choking on each breath. The breathing turned into a scream of agony and Bilbo ran. He ran straight to the last cell on the right.

Bilbo gasped loudly. He saw a figure lying on a bed within the cell covered and soaked in the most blood the poor hobbit had ever seen.

Another cliff hanger because it makes me feel special and with all the homework I have I need to feel special. Don't worry; everything will be explained next chapter.

Please review, it means so much to me, and have a good day!