Merry wasn't sure why Gandalf had brought him along. Perhaps it was because he had a higher amount of knowledge of the law than the elderly man did. Perhaps it was because he had been saved by Eomer and now owed him something. Perhaps it was because nobody else was available and Merry had nothing better to do.
Merry had never visisted the captain of police's home before. He hadn't been close enough friends with Eowyn or Eomer to even consider a visit. The two of them, who had lived in Rohan before their parents had died, now lived with their uncle, the police chief.
What Merry didn't understand was why they were going there in the first place. He had heard that Théoden had caught some rare illness and that he was most likely going to die soon, but he hadn't heard that Gandalf was close friends with Theoden. It seemed as if they merely put up with each other, though Théoden had a small amount of respect to the elderly man. Gandalf visiting Theoden was something that Merry found incredibly weird, and incredibly suspicious.
Gandalf hadn't even bothered to knock on the door; he simply strolled into the police captain's house. He set his shoes in the walk way, and gestured for Merry to come in as well.
Now, Merry was well aware that breaking and entering was quite illegal; but they really weren't breaking in. The door had been quite unlocked. He still knew that it would count as illegal, but if they left without stealing things, they would never know. Hopefully.
Gandalf seemed to be completely comfortable being in Theoden's house. Merry, however, was disguisted. There was garbage, boxes, pill bottles, and crumpled newspapers everywhere. He knew that Eowyn had often complained about how her uncle wasn't taking care of their home, but he hadn't thought it was this bad. He now felt sorry for Eowyn.
When Merry accidentally tripped over a couple of bottles, he expected Gandalf to get angry with him. Instead, the man smiled, and then said, "Well, they would have known we were here eventually."
They. Merry thought that it would only be Theoden at home, since both Eowyn and Eomer had gone out to visit Boromir. (Merry was vaguely uncomfortable with the fact that they had staked out the house until the two younger members of the family had left). Before Merry could ask, the answer became apparent.
The they part of Gandalf's sentence turned out to be another man. He had rather greasy black hair, and a strange lack of eyebrows. Merry's first thought was that this man looked like a drowned rat. His second thought was that he looked like a worm, since his eyebrows were missing.
"Why do you disturb the slumber of an old man, Gandalf Stormcrow?" The man said. Merry shivered at the noise that had escaped that man's lips. "Can you not see that Théoden is not well? He needs his rest, and does not need visitors."
"I would agree with him not needing visitors," Gandalf said, sounding quite amused. "Your presence taints his mind. As well as his body."
"I misunderstand what you say," the man retorted, "I am only here to help him get through this hard time. His son died but a year ago. It is natural for him to still grieve."
"Yes, it is natural to still grieve. But it is not natural to be incapacitated by grief for so long," Gandalf said, "And I have a very good feeling that what you are administrating Captain Théoden are not anti-depressants like you say they are."
At that, the man flinched back. Merry didn't blame him; the tone Gandalf had used was one that Merry never wanted to be directed at him.
"Of… of course I am giving him the proper medication…" the man said, almost shaking where he stood. Gandalf raised an eyebrow at him, before he bent down and picked up a pill bottle that had been lying around the house.
"How have you been obtaining these?" Gandalf asked, turning the bottle so Merry could see what it read. Percocet.
Merry knew what these were. Pippin had once broken his arm after they had stolen apples from Mr. Maggot's tree, and required surgery to get it fixed.. To get him through the pain, they had administrated these pills. They disengaged the brain from all functions, leaving the person basically high and unaware of the world around them. Merry remembered that Pippin often had a hard time staying awake after he had taken the pills. He also knew that they could be incredibly addictive, and could only be bought through a prescription from a doctor.
He could distinctly remember the pill bottle and what it said, just as the pill bottle that Gandalf was now holding said.
MISUSE OF NARCOTIC MEDICATION CAN CAUSE ADDICTION, OVERDOSE, OR DEATH.
Gandalf smiled softly at the man, though Merry felt no warmth in it. Merry was beginning to feel like the man had not been here to simply make the police captain out of commission, but had been here to kill him. It would be easy to stage an overdose. Easy to do, and easy to not get caught. It would simply seem as though Théoden had been incredibly irresponsible.
The man took a step back, reaching into the back of his pockets, for what, Merry didn't know.
"Meriadoc, would you please locate Théoden for me? It would also be wise to call the hospital… but please wait until I have finished with this," Gandalf said, a steely look going into his eyes. Merry nodded, not sure if he truly wanted to leave Gandalf with this man. "Get going, Meriadoc."
Merry turned and left, searching the house for what would be the master bed room. He hoped that Theoden would be there, or else he would have no other leads.
Merry could feel his heart thumping in his throat. What had that man been reaching for? It could have been anything; a cell phone to call the police, a knife, a bar of candy, a credit card. Merry found the door to what was the master bedroom (at least he assumed; the other two doors had either the word EOWYN, and EOMER written over them). He was shaking as he opened the door.
The room was dark, but a small groan told Merry that Theoden was inside. He sighed in relief, and then groped the wall for a light switch. The lights had just flicked on when there was a load gun shot.
Merry yelped, and then turned around to run downstairs. A gun. A gun. The man had been reaching for a gun. What if Gandalf had been shot? What if Merry was going to get charged with breaking and entering, and murder? What if Gandalf was dead?
Merry had nearly stumbled down the stairs when he saw Gandalf standing there, a frown on his face. Merry was panting softly, either for running (it would be embarrassing if it was, he wasn't that out of shape) or because he was panicked.
"Are you alright?" Merry demanded, his eyes flashing around the room. He could see a hole in the wall, and he nearly fainted with relief. "You're not shot."
"Thankfully not," Gandalf mused, "But the wall is, and Grima has escaped."
Grima… that must have been the man. Even his name sounded slimy.
"Oh…" Merry said in response, not really knowing what else to say.
"Is Théoden in the house?" Gandalf asked, abruptly changing gears.
"Yes… he's in his room… do you want me to show you?" Merry said. Gandalf shook his head.
"Now would be a good time to call the hospital, Meriadoc… and the police."
Merry grabbed his cell phone and went outside to make his calls. When he was finished, he sat on the doorstep, listening as the sirens filled the air. Merry had simply mentioned that there was a possibility that Théoden had been given an overdose of the medicine, and that there had been gun fire. He was still interviewed by the police and by the nurses, though he did not have much to say. Gandalf was a more reliable source than he was.
Merry had just been excused to go home when he was stopped by another person. She was short, though her puffy black afro made her seem as though she was a couple of inches taller. She had a hairclip in, just a yellow star. She was smiling a bright smile; the white of her teeth stood out incredibly from her dark skin.
"Can I help you?" Merry asked, looking at the girl.
"Yes you can," she said, "I'm Estella Bolger, I'm a journalist for the-"
"I'm terribly sorry, Ms. Bolger, but I have nothing to say," Merry said, "At least not now."
"Can we make a date?" she asked, her brown eyes glinting. Merry stared at her for a couple of seconds, unsure of whether he could trust her. She was a journalist after all; she spun stories for a living. "Not a fan of journalists, are you?"
"Not necessarily," Merry admitted.
"You must be a law student, then," she smiled at him.
Merry blinked at her. "Pre-law, actually."
"Okay then," Estella said, handing him a small card, "if this prelaw student has anything to say, my ears are always open."
With that, she left, her heels clicking down the sidewalk as she went. Merry watched her go and pocketed the card with her phone number without really thinking about it.
Thanks to tommyginger, StormwalkerofLorien, MoonLight1300, TortoisetheStoryteller, Louisiana Stephenic, BrightWatcher, BoricuaPinkRanger, Spartan-G257, NTSFroes, Wanderingidealism, tess, Evenstarroses,whisperingofsilence , and TheMidnightPoet for reviewing. Thanks to Arctic Eagle, Godzilla and Gamera, Stargazer-Dreamcatcher01, ChibiTheDemonic, TheShortBlondeOne, and whisperingofsilence for favouriting/reviewing.
Also, sorry to mention this again, but I got a review saying that making Gandalf gay was wrong, AGAIN. I'm not sure if you people are aware, but there are gay people in the world, and I believe they should be represented, whether it be in Fanfiction and in Fiction. I am not going to criticize you for your beliefs, but just so you know, every comment I get mentioning how bad gay people are is like a personal attack on me. Please stop it. Reviews are for criticism, yes, but I will not tolerate this kind of hurtful criticism.
Sorry for such a late update. My lungs have not been functioning properly lately; after two minutes of solid running I can't breathe. I've been kind of down because of this, and then spiralled into a Writer's Block. My lungs still aren't better, but I've been feeling a lot happier as of late, so I wrote a chapter. Sorry for the lack of quality, I passed out giving blood for tests today and still have a headache. (That's not really an excuse)