Author's Note: Surprise! Yeah, two chapters in one day. This won't be a normal thing, mind you, but I wanted to reward you guys a little and make up for the shortness of the previous chapter. Here comes some Durin angst, ya'll!

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or the three verses of the song used. I do not stand to profit by it; it's all purely for enjoyment.

In the Darkness, a Torch

Kili's whimpers had turned to cries and wails of anguish, and he writhed and clutched at Fili as if trying to escape. Tears wet his face, and they just kept coming. He was driving himself distracted. Fili felt panic rising in him, though he remained calm and steady outwardly. His grip tightened around Kili in an attempt to still some of his thrashing and perhaps calm him.

"Shhh, Kili," he murmured, soothingly, "Hey little brother, you're doing fine. I know it hurts. Remember what Uncle said; it will pass. Just a little longer. Shhh."

"Fili, kill me! Knock me out! Anything to stop it! Please, brother, I beg you! It burns, Fili! Like the cursed fire of a balrog, it burns!" Kili's voice was wild, hysterical. And he was only hurting himself more, twisting and tossing like he was. Fili could barely hold onto him. He made a decision and put Kili face down on the floor, motioning for the other dwarves to help him hold Kili down. They'd get through it like this, if they needed to. Fili took Kili's right wrist, holding it firmly to the floor with one hand and gripping his hand comfortingly with the other.

"You need to be strong! Think of something else. Anything else. Remember when we were kids in Ered Luin? Mum thought you'd never grow up. She was proud of you, all the same. You were always getting into trouble." Fili allowed himself a small, fond smile, and was gratified to see Kili watching him from beneath the tangle of hair that fell over his face. He had his attention. "It was always Uncle to discipline you for your misadventures, though; Mum couldn't bring herself to do it, though she had no such reserve with me. Remember what she said?"

Kili made a huge effort to get a coherent sentence to form.

"B-because I had a baby f-face," Kili managed, and then bucked violently, trying to get the other dwarves off. "Please, Fi, please, it HURTS!"

"Shh, I know. A little longer. Let's go on; you've got to stay with me. Remember every night when Mum would put us to bed? She always sang that song about the maid and the five yellow chickens, but you always liked it when Uncle was at the house. He would sit by the fire in our dark room and stare at the flames, and sing songs of Erebor deep into the night. You love those songs the best, Kili, even now, don't you?"

Kili nodded, though he was finding it increasingly difficult to focus on his brother's words through the torturing agony. His voice rose in screams...Fili gripped his hand harder and put his mouth by his ear, singing.

"Far over the Misty Mountains rise,

Leave us standing upon the heights

What was before, we see once more.

Our Kingdom, a distant Light.

Fiery mountain beneath the moon

The words unspoken, we'll be there soon

For home a song that echoes on

And all who find us will know the tune"

Fili sang quietly to avoid the goblin spectators hearing him; not that there was much chance of that over Kili's screams and the goblins' gleeful racket. He wasn't even sure Kili could hear him, but he sang on, the words lending him strength even as he hoped they would his brother.

"We lay under the Misty Mountains cold

In slumbers deep and dreams of gold,

We must awake, our lives to make

And in the darkness a torch we hold."

Thorin exhaled loudly through his nose. Kili had finally quieted. And no word of Erebor passed his lips. Thorin shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. That had been far to close. Oh, too close. Thorin didn't like being so helpless. The whole quest hung by a single word. One word, Erebor, from his nephew let slip in a moment of weakness and the dwarves all would be slain, their chance to reclaim their homeland forgotten, wasted. Thorin would never feel the gold of the Lonely Mountain flowing through his fingers, never take his place on the throne of Durin's heirs. And it all hung on Kili, a young, foolish, untested boy. Durin help them.

Kili had stilled in his writhing. At a nod from Fili the dwarves released him and Fili gathered him near again. Kili's fingers closed on a fold of his brothers coat and he cried silently, his face buried. Fili was deeply grateful that the screams had stopped. He rested a hand on Kili's head as Kili's sobs abated. Suddenly, Kili bolted upright and lost what little had been in his stomach on the floor next to them. He sank back against Fili, exhausted, but seeming to feel a good deal better.

"Ugh," he said, distastefully. "That goblin brew is even worse coming up than it was going down."

Fili didn't say anything. He didn't trust himself at the moment. Kili's attempt at lightheartedness abruptly fell away.

"D'you want to know something, Fili?" he asked, looking up at him sadly. "I think Uncle is angry with me."

Fili shot a glance at his brooding Uncle, standing rigidly on the other side of the cell. He knew how much Kili valued Thorin's approval.

"He turned his back to me," Kili said in a soft, broken voice. "I'm so ashamed, Fili. I said I would be strong but then I... I disgraced him with my lack of restraint. "

Fili was angry with Thorin, which was a new occurrence for him. Both of the young warriors had always worshiped him, but since they were lads there was always an element of favoritism with their uncle, it seemed. Fili was vastly thankful that his relationship with his brother remained strong, and Kili had not given up on trying to prove his worth. It spoke well of Kili's character.

But the fact that Thorin was giving Kili the cold shoulder, here, of all places, in this situation, of all situations, with Kili suffering what he was...Fili felt himself grow hot. He opened his mouth to say something comforting, but was cut off before he began by Thorin, who had been listening and now turned sharply to glare at them wrathfully. Kili quickly sat up and valiantly fought to hide his discomfort.

"I am angry," Thorin admitted quietly, menacingly. "Kili, you were an outright fool. Why did you tell the Goblin you were the youngest?"

Kili tensed.

"I- I thought it would be best. Ori couldn't be tortured because the Goblin made a mistake...and...I thought I could hold out longer than him. I did it for Erebor, Uncle!"

He said this last part to appease his Uncle; though Erebor was carved with longing into Kili's heart also, it had been less of a motivator to him than the immediate safety of his companions.

"You thought you could hold out," Thorin repeated, his tone by no means kind. "You were a child under their hands, nephew. So near to breaking already. Erebor will be lost to our people because you lack the strength of Durin's line."

Kili flinched, as if Thorin had actually struck him.

Balin quickly stepped forward to try to stop the confrontation before Thorin said anything more that he might regret later. Several other dwarves, Bofur among them, started to their feet at Thorin's unfeeling accusation.

"Thorin!" Balin began, "Stop this at once-"

But now Fili's ire was up. He shouted at his Uncle, ignoring Balin altogether.

"Don't you understand anything, Thorin? Anything at all? He wants to please you!"

"Perhaps he could stop throwing himself headlong into rash choices, then!"

"Perhaps YOU could stop pretending he doesn't exist! You only notice him when you think he needs scolding, have you never seen how much that hurts him?! Or do you not care to know?"

"Pain is life. Any people that survives long enough knows that! The dwarves learned it long ago. Pain is to be faced with endurance, something Kili would do well to study, instead of weeping like a dwarfling when questioned!"

"I don't know if you bothered to notice, but Kili actually withstood. He told the Goblins nothing!"

"Yet," Thorin said, darkly. Fili's eyes widened in a I-can't-believe-you-just-said-that look, and he leapt to his feet.

"Thorin Oakenshield, I don't care if you're King Under the Mountain. I will fight you right now! If you think-"

"STOP IT!" Kili's voice was very loud, and the two paused and stared at him. He had an extremely annoyed look on his face. "Please. Both of you. Just stop it."

Fili sat back down by his brother, shooting a last furious glance at Thorin, who just turned and stalked away to glower again. Kili sighed. This was turning out to be hard in more ways than one.

Author's Note: How was the characterization in this? Thorin is a challenge for me, but I have fun writing him. I just don't know how accurate he is. And perhaps I should make it clear; he feels helpless and he's worried sick over Kili, but he doesn't like those vulnerable feelings. So he masks them with something that comes more naturally, and makes him feel stronger. Stay tuned guys, Balin is awesome in the next chapter. ;)