It was like the world slowed. I watched, as his arm retreated, blade in the early morning light, the silvery metal so unfairly clean with only a few droplets of red to dim it.

Watched as that same hand moved forward, still in slow motion, Legolas still not seeing either myself or the heavy body on me. He wasn't there. He was somewhere, yes, but not with us.

I felt Boromir's body tense again, sudden, arms tighten as he drew me backwards. Legolas pulled his hand back, forward, and once again it found something. My leg. Only I didn't feel it. I felt it hit something hard, sure, and I felt warmth against my shoulder as we fell slowly backwards off the bed.

It was only when we hit the ground, when the first jolt of pain stabbed through my brain, that my brain shut back on. By then Aragorn was already there, dragging us backwards, and Legolas was continuing to fight something in his state, not seeing us, not seeing Aragorn, twisting and writhing. Feathers fell. I reached up to touch one, as it drifted down, as Aragorn slammed the door shut and locked it from the outside.

He knelt. Talked to me. I just stared at the feather.

"She's … in her own world once more..."

The pain in Boromir's voice cut through the shock. I blinked, fighting the strange feeling of confusion, and stared at the arm still holding on to me. Boromir. Shit. Shit. I twisted around, leg be damned, and stared at him.

He was pale, he'd tried to stop me from turning around, but now that I'd managed it he sighed and dropped the one arm still on me. The other was clenched firmly and stubbornly over his stomach and side. There was a red tint to his lips. It was bad. Fuck. Fuck.

I finally heard Aragorn's voice now.

"-tting help," just as he was already going down the stairs.

"Boromir?"

The red was all over him. Down his stomach, down his legs, and on his chin. It took a moment to connect 'red' with 'blood'. Blood with injury. The words 'Legolas stabbed Boromir' to 'oh shit, he actually stabbed him, and it's bad.' And while I stared, Boromir sat quietly, eyes in mine, waiting. Or was he too bad to talk? He was panting for air.

"How bad is it?"

He opened his mouth, hesitated, then shut it. No joke. He'd told me he wouldn't like to me.

"Aragorn..." Boromir said softly, voice without energy, leaning against the other door. "Legolas. Drugs. He will not remember even doing it."

Drugs. Great. Of course Middle Earth medicine would be like …lsd or something... instead of aesthetic. But I wasn't angry with Legolas. Even now, even in my stunned state, I could hear him tearing apart the room as he battled with something.

I slid closer to Boromir, slowly, shoving his other arm aside as it tried to cover my leg, ignoring the leg completely. It could drag behind. I slid into the space between his legs, trying to peel his hand off his stomach, and he tightened it.

"You're not seeing."

"Boromir..."

"Woman, you're already upset enough." Boromir growled softly. He grasped me, his other hand pulling me against him, shutting his eyes. "Elves. Prettier from a distance."

"Why did you … in our bed?" Not that it mattered. Not that it mattered at all. But I couldn't bring up the other question.

"Our bed." He laughed, or tried to, but it worked badly. He actually bubbled blood. Oh shit. Oh shit. "You slept so beautifully. It seemed rude to make him sleep on the floor, tied up, when he was your guest. And we have not yet soiled it."

Soiled it. What an unromantic way of saying that we hadn't had sex in it yet. I grasped him and kissed him, ignoring the metellic taste in my mouth, his arm coming to rest around my shoulders. I couldn't speak. Was this it? If we … if only I had the stupid … phone. Which Boromir had stolen.

"Where's the phone?"

"You want that thing now?" Boromir grunted. He shut his eyes. He looked so tired now. "Downstairs, in a desk, third drawer along."

I stood up, or tried to, but my leg was not accepting it and the floor was slick and slippery. I flopped down with a grunt of frustration, Boromir's eyes snapping open, and he only now seemed to notice my leg. He grasped me tighter, his free arm pressing on the wound, snapping with renewed energy, "And you are not getting it. Stay down. Be glad it was your bad leg."

"Yeah." I ignored it still. I grasped his hand, trying to peel it back from his stomach, and he held on tighter. "Let me see."

"You already know. I have some ...time. These ones do not … they are slow."

Painful too. He gritted his teeth, head slumping against my head, his breathing still fast and shallow. Time. I'd have to watch him die a slow painful death. No chance of doing anything else. But when Boromir added, softer, "I … I had hoped to have at least one child. With you. A daughter like you," my heart broke. He'd already accepted it.

"Stupid, why aren't you fighting this?"

No answer. He breathed in and out, eye still shut, hand firm on my leg.

We sat there. Quiet. Everytime he breathed out, my heart stopped, waiting for him … to breathe in again. Expecting it to be his last. But he was hanging on, awake, opening his eyes from time to time to look at my leg. Still he was pale, his entire body tense with pain, the sticky blood all over the floor and my side where I sat between his legs.

I wanted to cry. Instead I felt numb. Crying wasn't practical. Staying here was practical.

Aragorn returned. With Elves. I wanted to throw the Elves out but they knelt, Lord Elrond close behind, gently trying to separate the two of us. Boromir resisted. It was Aragorn that managed to unwind Boromir's arm, slow, only him that Boromir seemed to trust. He may have joked about me being in a state but as Aragorn lifted him, slowly, I could see Boromir was increasingly loosing the plot too.

"We must lie him down." Lord Elrond said softly, when I went to stand and follow, but my leg … it was not having it. So I had to sit there and watch as they carted Boromir into the other door, Elves right behind, Lord Elrond staying with me.

"Legolas didn't mean it." I cringed as fingers probed. Pain brought my mind back big time. Elrond knelt there, eyes down, and ...pushing some kind of plant into my wound. Oh. Thanks. I needed a plant in my wound.

"He did not. He will not even remember it. The drug allows for a deep sleep, of which he needed, but it may linger a while in their mind as they wake. Dreams may linger. He still dreams."

"Don't let anyone tell him then." I knew him well enough to know it'd devastate him. "I mean. I guess he'll find out. But I should tell him."

"No one will." Elrond agreed. "But you will need to come to our camp."

He put sudden pressure on my leg, so sudden that I yelped, and heard Boromir's immediate 'Woman, wh-' response. Automatic. Loud. It was cut off so fast that I had to assume Aragorn had covered his mouth or something because the sound made whatever was going on with Legolas happen more.

Elrond was wrapping my leg up, firm, some kind of wad of cloth over the bad stab wound. It was at least stiffening it.

"Legolas needs ..."

"He will calm."

I wasn't sure. I was sure that on some subconscious level he was aware I'd been wounded. Whatever he was battling right now... it would be now related to me. I stood up, slowly, Elrond's arm under my shoulders. "No... I don't think he will. Until he knows I'm not in danger."

Elrond sighed. He followed my gaze to the door. No argument this time. Maybe he knew.

"If I have something to lean on then I'll go in, let him know I'm okay, and ...you know." I glanced back to where they'd taken Boromir and hesitated. Blood. Everywhere. On my back, on my shoulders, growing cool and stiffening my clothing. I felt faint somewhat. No. Boromir had like six Elves. Six. Legolas was tearing apart everything. "Calm him down. You guys take care of Boromir."

"If he does not calm..."

"Then I'll just back out again." I responded. Grasped the door handle as Elrond slowly twisted the key.. "You have good hearing. If things seem bad..." and before he could argue, I was back in the room.

Legolas was amazing. No one could deny that. The destruction and devastation he'd caused, the feathers, the shreds of fabric and cloth, the near-fire beside the fireplace that I would have to put out as fast as I could …

I shut the door in Elrond's face and held out my arms, softly calling as I hobbled forward, "Hey, Leggy, there's no … Orc. Here. Come here. Leggy. It's me. Your Wendy."

He swung towards me, face darkened in that 'warrior' mask I'd seen so often already, his blades in both hands. Whoever thought Elves were a bunch of rainblow-clad hippies had clearly never seen an Elf in the middle of battle like this. Legolas was barely breaking a sweat, blood splattered across his face, arms, with super-hearing and speed that had him virtually charging at me before I could breathe in to shout.

But instead of stab me, he'd grasped me in his arms, this tight almost panicked grasp that held onto me as he twisted towards invisible enemies apparently crowding around us.

"Hey. Hey. It's safe." I cooed, soft, stroking his face. His eyes were darting from one side to another. Like after his nightmare, I realised, the Elf was always in them. "Look at me."

He twisted his head out of my grasp, slashing forward, nearly tipping us both over as my leg just refused to go at that pace. I had to bite my tongue to keep in a gasp of pain- if he'd heard me in pain who knew what the hell he'd do. I felt the fresh rush of warmth down my leg. Shit. Okay. Time to stop him.

I grasped his face, twisting it towards mine more forcefully, and made him look at me instead. He only fought a moment before he finally seemed to see me, even if his eyes kept darting to behind my head, and he froze.

We stood there a long time. It probably only took a minute before his eyes stopped darting around me, though that felt like an hour, and maybe only two or three minutes before he seemed to see me properly. Boromir was outside the door again. I ignored him, swaushing down my fear for him, focusing on Legolas.

"Leggy. Come on."

"Come on to … what?" He said, slowly, confusion slowly repalcing the tense warrior thing. Legolas's hand slowly raise to cup my cheek, brushing it, eyes sliding off my face and to my shoulders. "You are ..."

Panic. Complete panic. He twisted me around so fast that I almost fell, hands sliding my nightgown up and off, hands searching my back for blood. I could see it. The entire back of my nightgown was red with Boromir's blood. It made my stomach lurch. Oh fuck. How bad had Boromir been...

"Are you awake?"

"You are not injured..." He was saying, softly, twisting my hair up. "There is no wound on your back."

"It's Boromir's blood. Are you awake?" I left out the leg for now.

"I was ..." He grasped me against him, leaning against me, a shudder of breath released as he relaxed. "I was fighting."

"I know, but... Where are you now? Where are we?"

"I do not know." He muttered. Legolas grasped onto me tight. He suddenly twisted around, sending panic into me, but it was to fling a jug of water at that fire which was slowly starting to catch against debris. "Are we still in Minas Tirith?"

"No where else." I breathed out slowly. Heard Boromir dragged back.

"Is Boromir injured?"

"I told you that." I shook that aside, tugging his head back to mine, hands cupping his face. "Leggy, are you still having bad dreams?"

His face softened far too much at the nickname. I felt warmth flood me though. Had to stop using that nickname. Had to remember what I'd decided. For fucks sake. Couldn't I spend three seconds with the Elf without feeling like this? No. I couldn't. I just felt too tired. Cold. I leaned forward against him. Nice and warm.

"This was a memory. Is. No." He shook his head, flinching, as if something … was still there. Like he was still seeing it. "No. It was a memory."

The door opened then shut, fast, probably seeing me standing there stark naked. Legolas glanced beyond me to the door before he knelt, slowly, hands sliding down my legs. "This is not good."

"I know." I muttered. I watched him, keeping weight on one leg, and when he tentatively kissed my leg, I felt my resistance give way. Fuck. "Leggy, I really l..."

"Do not say anything you would regret on the day of your wedding." He muttered, cutting me off, and pulled me against him. Legolas was peeling the bandage off and frowned. "Give me your weight. Was this done by my knife?"

"Yeah. You were dreaming."

"Did I injure Boromir as well?"

When I nodded he sighed, head resting against my stomach, soft hair tickling. "Then I am sorry. I have been ...trying to accept this. It was not done consciously."

"They said the drugs do that. Make you dream."

He didn't answer, he was pressing his fingers into my skin, and I gasped in pain. "Hey. Don't …"

"Your bleeding is too swift. I am trying to find the bleed so that I can squeeze it." He gritted his teeth, ignoring my pain, fingers and hand covered in my blood. Then suddenly there was this nasty … pinching sensation. Legolas breathed out, sudden, shoulders slumping. "I have found it."

"You mean you cut an artery?"

"Yes."

The door re-opened and I heard someone slide in, a sheet lifted and dropped over my shoulders, Eowyn standing beside us.

"Is everything all right?"

I wasn't sure. I wasn't sure if it was. I shut my eyes and stood there, cold suddenly, and muttered, "Leggy, can you tell if the baby's okay?"

"There is no problems. His heart beats with strength. He would not leave us so easily."

"Boromir?" I turned to Eowyn. It surprsied me, how … Legolas came first, baby second, Boromir third, but … then, Boromir had a bunch of Elves. Right? It wasn't wrong to ignore him right now. "Is he all right?"

"They intend on taking him to the Elf camp when they can move him. I do not know if it is bad or not." She responded, sliding an arm under my arms, taking some of my weight. "What do you need, Lord Elf?"

Lord Elf. For crying out loud.

"Something to sew with."

Sew? She stiffened but she released me, letting Legolas have some of my weight, before he vanished. Legolas seemed unwilling to let go of whatever he was holding onto. He knelt there, eyes down, other arm secure around my legs.

"Did you need to lie down?"

I nodded and he carefully stood, somehow lifting me, and lowered me onto the bed slowly. He would mutter, this horrible pain as he suddenly had to fumble inside my leg, and I was dropped roughly as Legolas fumbled in the...

I felt so sick and nearly threw up. Oh gross. He had his hand inside my leg. My stomach churned and Legolas stared up, a light sweat on his forehead, forehead creasing. "Do not move. It is hard to keep hold."

"I'm trying."

Eowyn rushed back in, something in hand, and Legolas took it. "I have already threaded it."

"Put it in the fire until it is red with heat."

Okay. That sounded omnious. My stomach churned. I heard Boromir's pained screams, screams that shouldn't come from anyone, and suddenly wished I could be sick. Better than lying here.

Eowyn was back suddenly, far too soon, and Legolas breathed in as he took the hot object. Thick. No fine needles here. It glowed and he hid it as he caught me staring at it.

"Bite something, A'maelamin. Cloth. Lady Eowyn, hold her." He couldn't even look me in the eye as he arranged it, holding it up, Eowyn sliding onto the bed behind me. She shoved something into my mouth, soft, and I got it..

Oh fuck. Didn't people get to be drunk first?

It was not a picnic. Eowyn literally had to hold me there with all her strength, Legolas pinning down my legs under one arm, as he did something horrible. The smell of burning flesh was horrible. I didn't even get to pass out.

Or did I?

I lay there panting, staring up, stunned as I found myself staring into his grey eyes once more. Legolas knelt across me, brushing my face, searching. Not demanding. Just waiting. Eowyn was gone.

"It will take some time." He said softly, when I blinked, "Before you should walk."

"I have to walk." No such thing as a wheelchair here.

"I know." Legolas rested his forehead against mine, drawing me against him carefully, his fingers against my back. "You marry Boromir, if he is well."

"If? He isn't?"

Legolas didn't answer. He got that distant thing again. I flinched, pushing him back, and tried to stand. With a soft sigh he grasped my arm, drawing the sheet around me quickly, and slid his arm under my arms. "Come."

He helped me into the hall and into the other room. It was similar to Boromir's room. I saw Boromir lying there, tense, upset, trying to stand even as they held him down easilyHe relaxed when he saw me, slumping, and I cringed as I saw the hole. Not a long gash, exactly, it was actually pretty narrow. But being narrow was bad. It meant the knife went in, rather than across, and his shallow breathing and white skin only proved that.

Boromir needed a hospital. It was pretty obvious. The Elves didn't know how to fix this. He was giving up too.

"Wendy..."

"He needs a better healer." I muttered. Moved closer, Legolas moving forward beside me unprompted, and sat down beside him with a sigh of relief. I shoved his hand back from the wound as he tried to hide it, his weak body so easily pushed aside.

"Wendy, he's dying." Aragorn's eyes met Boromirs. He sighed and stood up, speaking quick Elvish to the two, who tried to help us even as I sat there numbly. "This is not a wound that can be healed."

"You can't heal him here." It wasn't a question. It was a statement. "So. I'm taking him home."

Legolas tensed, right beside me, his hand coming to rest on my shoulder.

"You said I had to go to my home. Arwen said I could go any time I wanted. How?" I grasped onto Boromir's hand. He barely held onto mine in return. He was barely concious. Something in me flared, this stubborn rage that he always provoked, an unwillingness to let him do this. Stupid man. Where did he think he was going? Not away.

"You would return to the moment you came here, with memory of all that has happened, and with all physical memory. You will be exactly as you are now. All that you had contact will remember."

Okay, that was nice, and a bit confusing. "But how do I do it?"

"This." Lord Elrond touched the ring on my hand. The ring Lady Galadriel had given me, the one I'd barely even thought about til now, and I stared at it like I'd never seen it before. Oh yeah. That thing. "You must put the will into this."

"Magic ring?"

"No, but a ring that connects you to the Lady Galadriel."

Wow. Okay. That was nice. Again- had to think about this another time. I had bigger problems. I grasped onto Boromir tighter, hearing his soft grunt of 'I can't feel my hand' and deciding to ignore it, adding, "...and I can take him."

Lord Elrond hesitated a moment, my heart sinking, but his eyes went over Boromir and when he said, "You can take him but he must always return. You can remain. He can not. Your child can not." I stared at the ring. Right. Wish. Wish. Like a stupid blue fairy.

Wait. I was going to be shoved back into a storm drain, mid-flood, with an injured man. Oh fuck. "Aragorn, can you get … my phone?"

Aragorn raised his eyebrow.

"She means the little black object."

"I know what it looks like." Legolas spoke up. "I will get it. Where is it?"

Boromir told him, voice so soft I could barely hear it, and Legolas vanished. He was only gone ten seconds, maybe, feet so light that I didn't hear him. When he returned he had something else too. One of Boromir's tunics? Oh yeah. Being dressed might help.

I was turning the phone on and dialing Brian, fast, ignoring the Elves.

"Babe?"

"Brian, look, um. This is going to sound crazy. But ...You know that storm drain? The one that's near the Kmart near..." I rattled off directions. At least I knew where I'd nearly drowned. "We'll be there."

"We? Look, babe, you don't want to … it's been raining ..."

"Call an ambulance on the way, okay? It's bad."

"Is that where you've bee-"

I turned it off. Tried to think. Okay. I was about to throw myself into a flood, into a flooded storm water pipe, with a heavy Boromir and a leg I couldn't even put a tiny bit of weight on...

"I am coming." Legolas said softly. He squeezed my shoulder. "You know. I will be there."

Yeah. I knew. I stared up at him, breathing faster, heart hammering. What was I doing? Throwing Boromir into my world? My hospitals? Dragging Legolas? But one look at Boromir and I felt the tense 'no way in hell are you dying' stubborn feeling.

"Just to warn you." I muttered. "We're going to be in a lot of trouble."

"When are we not?" He was barely listening though. Boromir was nearly passed out.

"This time it's bad. Worse. Floods. Just … get ready to swim." I didn't know if he'd heard me or if he'd really be able to do that. "And we'd be back..."

"Be it a month or a year, you would still return now. Time will not move."

I wasn't sure about that. I didn't know why. Maybe the stress of the situation was getting to me. But there was no time to argue. I slid closer to Boromir, trying to get an arm under his heavy body, Legolas closer as well.

God. I hoped the Valar were around now. To protect Boromir, to keep Legolas alive, to … whatever they planned with both of them, I guessed. I grasped the ring. Tried to focus. One hand in Boromir's hand, the other clutching the ring, Legolas holding on.

It was mid-way through this thought, through literally feeling the calming presence of Galadriel, that I realised that it was stupid to bring Legolas. What if he died? Panic. Panic and ...then he was gone.

Boromir was here.

It was this pause. It was dark. Dark. Warm. It was hard to explain, everything felt dense, heavier than ...air? Water? ...and even I felt 'paused'. Floating. Outer space style, no gravity, without any real light or darkness. Just Boromir and myself, his free arm wide, and it took real effort to try and draw him close. My leg hurt. I stared down at it in the weird … place... and watched as droplets of blood actually beaded off and floated away.

If it wasn't so strange it might have almost been peaceful.

Then we collapsed into something. Wet. Crazy, not just wet, water swirling and dragging and Boromir's weight dragging along with it. So naturally I was dragged too, dragged down, water pouring in from all over. Twisting around, gasping for air, I tried to get a grip on the edge of the storm water drain's wall with my free hand, the other grasping desperately onto Boromir. Pain surged through my leg, sharp shocking pain that snapped me into 'action Wendy', but also so bad that I couldn't even MOVE that leg. Fingers caught a dent in the wall and hung on for dear life.

The storm drain wasn't black, like last time, but it was filled with water. These things were more than enough for a person to stand normally- I'd even heard of people living down here when it wasn't raining- but when it rained up here in Brisbane things got crazy. Messy. Dangerous. And with a maze of these drains, a maze that people got lost and died in during flooding, I clutched harder to the rough bricks at the edge and hung on, breathing in short sharp pants, my ruined leg dragged away from me in the current without any muscles able to pull it back in.

I heard Boromir speak, heard his voice rumble, but the water was too loud and anyway I was panting, sweating, pain shooting through my fingertips. He seemed to be moving his legs. Good. At least the guy was aware of water. But he was so damn heavy.

The end was, I realised as I grasped onto Boromir and searched desperately, was a good twenty metres away. The water was shoving us, even as I tried to hold onto the rough wall, shoving us backwards and towards the dark hole that we'd easily get lost in.

Legolas wasn't here. I knew that. And that moment before with him suddenly seemed so stupid. I grasped onto the tiles, or concrete, or whatever the hell was the edge of the storm water drain and felt nails break as I clung hard. Five minutes with him might have meant I didn't have a half out of it version of Boromir.

Who was sinking. Who's legs had stopped moving. It wasn't enough. We needed his legs to move- I only had one working leg right now- and when I tried to kick for both of us with my bad leg the agony of it nearly had me faint then and there.

I hoisted him up, my grip slipping, and would have probably made some horrible noise if we hadn't just sunk underwater again, pushed and shoved against the bottom of the drain as the water rushed past us, and to my horror I saw the red. Red. Even in the darkness, blood in the water was so horribly easy to see, and it forced me to use my bad leg, even though everytime I did I saw white.

With more effort, with every last thing, I grabbed the man under the arms and tried to kick and drag him back to the side, feet slipping and cutting on the bottom of the massive water filled tunnel. It was like the water pressed us there, the current rushing over us, and all I could manage was to slide slowly sideways, lungs starting to scream for air, as we were shoved into increasingly dark areas of the water drainage system.

Boromir seemed to kick back into life, or at least try to, because I felt him try and grab me in return, clasping onto me. Still weak. Still depending on me for once. Warmth was between us- his blood, I guessed- between my stomach and his. My stomach. It only reminded me that this was about more than Boromir. How much would I fight before... before …

We broke through the surface, gasping for air, fighting as we were dragged, and torn past objects and random things, into the blackness. Panic flooded me, panic so terrible and great that I almost screamed underwater, which would have been a really fucking stupid idea.

I nearly lost it before we reached air, nearly gasped water in, and as our heads burst over the edge of the water again, his eyes so wild with shock that I barely saw more than the white of his eyes in the near darkness. Something hard, cold and steady was under my hand, I realised,

"Woman, what have you done!" He swore, grasping onto me, and while I couldn't see his face, I could feel every muscle suddenly tense. With pain or fear? I knew Boromir hated the darkness.

We were both trembling, panting, but at least we were … sort of secure against whatever it was I was holding. The water was bizarrely warm given the circumstances... but then, it was the tropics.

I clenched harder to the pole, breathing in and out hard, heart hammering. What had I done? I'd wanted to get him a stupid ambulance, not drown him in my world, and what was the water doing to his stomach?

"We're ...at home. My home. You need a hospital." If he didn't before, he would now, I'd probably screwed up the stab wounds worse. He barely seemed to be breathing, however much he was talking, and his breathing was shallow and weird. I smelt blood. That meant it had to be in his mouth or something, his mouth so close to mine, and anxiety flooded me. Could I even... swim. Up this?

I felt his hand against mine, holding onto whatever it was I clutched onto, his other hand against his stomach, one of his legs curled around mine as if he was trying to keep a hold on me anyway he could. I clung to his tunic hard, praying the stupid thing wouldn't tear or something, forehead against the cold metal.

Cold metal?

A ladder.

"Up." I shoved him, heard him swear at me, his body slumping. Was he passing out again? I shoved at Boromir harder. His skin was so damn cold and clammy. Lungs slowing under his chest, which was still pressed against mine, his heart slowing. Sleep or … that other thing. I went with sleep. It was the more positive of the two. "Don't go to sleep."

"I would not sleep now!"

Something splashed hard nearby, scaring the crap out of both of us in the darkness, Boromir's head swinging up so hard that our heads cracked. I nearly got knocked off the ladder then and there, red hot pain shooting through my forehead, and he slipped. One second he was there, the next he wasn't. And light. There was light suddenly. I couldn't tell if it'd come with the splash or after- I felt too dazed to figure out the order of things right now- but I acknowledged the blinding light. More splashes. I clung there, blinking,

"Boromir!"

The shout echoed. Splashing. I could hear a lot of it. I wasn't sure what to do, to let go and go after him, or … was that him swimming? I grasped onto the ladder for only a moment, only a second, before I let go.

Something hard slammed into me, knocking the air out of my lungs, and I was shoved back against the ladder hard. Blonde hair. Muscles. Boromir slumped, eyes half shut once more, and a man hung onto him, his face red with effort, swearing as Boromir nearly slipped out of his grasp.

"Fuck, babe, you going to grab him or am I doing all the work here?"

I grabbed onto Boromir, staring at Brian, and felt … like I was going mad again. Brian. Boromir. Fucking hell. Brian grabbed onto Boromir hard, shoving him up the ladder, swearing again as Boromir apparently wasn't going to climb.

"The ambos are coming." He grasped onto my waist, holding me against the ladder as well, somehow using his body to pin both of us there. "Left my car up there with hazard lights and a rope dangling down the manhole. To me."

"How the hell did you know we were here?"

"Some random up there ... I ...don't … know where he is. Probably waiting for the ambo." Brian swore again, the words so strange after Middle Earth, as Boromir nearly slipped out of his grip. "Is he bleeding or pissing?"

"Bleeding badly... you need to put pressure on his stomach." I tried to talk normally, tried to hide my own agony, and was relieved when Brian did what I said. I clung onto the metal rings, eyes shut, holding on for dear life as the current dragged and pulled at my increasingly heavy body. I felt pain in my stomach.

Oh fuck, no. Not that. Anything but that. That was one thing I wouldn't sacrifice for Boromir.

The second I released my hand to feel my stomach I was caught and dragged off the ladder into the darkness, under the water, and away. Bad leg hit things, head hit things, water crushing me, and all I could do now was hang onto my stomach and breathe, every time my head found air, but … it was black so fast. It was disorientating so fast. Head struck something? I was sure I passed out. Leg hit something, I was sure I did, but there was no way to be sure about that- there was no way to tell up from down or down from up.

I did know that if I stayed, I died, so even though I didn't know ...where I was going, what I was doing... and I wasn't sure what to do any more.

Then suddenly, as I was dragged around a bend, light blinded me. And I fell.

I slept.

After some time I became aware of … arms?

Arms. More arms. So many bloody arms. Lips, too, lips pressing against mine, and hands pressing against my chest, hands that hurt. A hand.

With a sudden rush of water, I came back, literally as every last drop of water in my lungs came flooding out of me in one big gush into the already soggy ground.

"That's it, sweetheart. Let it out."

The voice was strange. Strange hand rubbing my back. I groaned, breathing in and out, so disorientated all of a sudden. Sweetheart? Who would call me sweetheart? A woman. She had bent me over onto my side, and I noticed a man beside me, apparently doing something with my leg. I gasped in pain as he tentatively slid leggings back- he must have cut it- and a nasty looking spurt of blood made my head spin again. Sleep sunk up around me.

Things got a bit weird. I was sure I saw Legolas. I know I saw Brian, at least I assumed I did, and I was pretty sure I saw Boromir. But once again I wasn't sure. Ambulance. Some whistle in my mouth, which seemed to take a lot of pain away, and I blinked stupidly around the ambulance for a a few minutes as the daze of drugs swam over me. Confusion. Had I dreamed everything or was I …. just in a flood?

A face hovered over mine in the ambulance, face lined with worry, a hand clasping my face as the woman beside him was fussing somewhere else further down my body. It had to be a dream. I stared up at Legolas, who was searching my face, stared up at him and waited for him to vanish. Had to be the drugs. He was wearing jeans and a tshirt. Legolas. Wearing jeans and a tshirt. Oh sure, he still had the hair, he still had the ears, but...

"Can you see him?" I tried to ask, the thing in my mouth falling out, and saw Legolas and the woman exchange glances.

"Yes, of course I can. Hold it there. Keep that in your mouth, sweetheart, it'll help with the pain."

"She knows you're pregnant with our child." Legolas murmured, pressing his cheek against mine, and I heard him inhale slowly. Felt his body tremble. I breathed in slowly too, tugging down an oxygen mask to do so, trying to smell past the stench of blood, water, mud, medicine, oxygen, and … it was him.

I reached up to grasp his head, his hair, and felt his breathing hitch as I touched him, an arm coming to rest across my body. He grasped the mask and pushed it back down on my face. Had he come earlier? Had Galadriel sent him here ahead of us? I supposed that would make a lot of sense.

"Leave it." Legolas said softly.

"Boromir?"

"Ben." He glanced to the woman, who blinked and nodded, eyes going from Legolas to me. Legolas seemed so comfortable. It was so strange to see him like this, in the middle of my world, in a fricken ambulance, sitting there in a dark green t-shirt and dark jeans. Maybe it was my drugs talking but I would have always assumed he'd freak out. Panic. Cars flying everywhere, pollution, that kind of thing. But he was so calm. He grasped my hand tight, just a tiny motion of panic everytime a car passed by us, but that was all. Legolas smiled a tense smile. "Ben, who we call Boromir, is ahead of us. A helicopter was waiting."

"A helicopter?"

"The flood waters had blocked that area off. Don't panic, Kim." The woman sat up quickly and shoved me down onto the stretcher. She gritted her teeth. I didn't feel anything but when I glanced down I saw another flood of red across her hands. "Chris, we're going to need to get there faster, I can't slow the bleed."

"Gotya, Chris."

"Bleed?"

"You have drugs in your body. You no longer feel it. But stay still." Legolas had his eyes fixed on me, as if he was determined to not look at my leg, and his smile grew tense. "Do not move."

"Hey, wait a sec, it's just-"

"Whatever it was before the drains, my love, is now torn wider. The baby is what I worry about and so please, stay calm."

It took a few more dazed seconds, a few more long dazed seconds, before I remembered the other pain. I didn't sit up this time but panic finally broke through the strange feeling of calm around me. "The baby-"

"We have a doctor already waiting at hospital. Already giving you a drug to stop the contractions."

"Contractions!" NOW panic came. I nearly sat up, but Legolas was ahead of me, his hands on my shoulders. No wonder why he was hiding his tension so well.

"It's all right." 'Chris' responded, twisting, and I saw a needle pushed into my leg. Didn't feel it, exactly, but I saw it. "Just have a little sleep. Lee will keep an eye on you."

I didn't get a chance to ask who Lee was. I slept again, in and out of some weird dream, the siren of the ambulance mingling with the soft song Legolas was singing to me. Dreams about drains, water, drowning, but … the song was what followed me most.

It was sunny when I woke properly. Sunny, clean, and cold. I lay in the hospital bed, staring out the window, as if a switch had clicked me from 'sleep' to 'awake'. My leg was stiff and there was something in my arm.

Beside me was a window. The hospital had a rooftop next to me, or a balcony, or something, because I saw a pot plant out there. There was a rail. An Elf, kneeling beside the rail, speaking to the pot plant.

Legolas had this soft smile on his face as he touched the leaves, his fingertips tracing the big broad leaf, eyes distant while he knelt beside it. He looked strange still. I couldn't explain why, or how, but he did. Was this the effect my world had on him? It made him look a bit tired. A bit strained. He even had lines around his eyes.

As if he knew I was awake, he stood slowly, brushing the dirt off his knees. Then he turned to me and the soft smile increased.

"Wendy."

"Leg..." I squeezed my eye shut as my throat protested this idea, it was so dry and tickly, and heard him come inside. Water was tipped down my throat, slow, cool water that eased the throat.

"Just a little." He said softly as he sat down beside me. "You had surgery. Our son has not suffered and rests comfortably within you. They looked within you and I saw..." He inhaled slowly, grasping my hand, leaning against it. "I would never have thought I would see my own child growing within you."

"Leggy. When did you..." He was so strange. So openly affectionate. Had he forgotten Boromir? What I'd done? What I'd decided? I didn't know how to ask.

"I was here before you were. I had time to plan." He kissed my palm, again and again, brushing it. "To find this Brian of yours."

"Not mine."

"He is a friend, if not a lover, and I found him just moments after you contacted him. He remained with Boromir and I went on to follow you. The drain empties into a river not far from there. There, we called for the healers, and I tended to your leg until they came."

Oh. That made sense. I supposed it did, anyway, and I didn't have the energy to ask how or why he'd decided to go for Brian. I watched as Legolas sat there, ignoring the lines in my arms, ignoring my leg, watched as he sat in my world without protesting.

"Boromir is in a place which is called Intensive Care and has not been allowed into a place where I may visit. I have told them that he will panic and he has."

"Panic?" The word snapped me into reality. I wanted to sit up, I loved the idea, but nothing in my body seemed able to do anything except twitch. "I should go to him."

"You do not need to worry. They have put him to sleep for now. He has injuries that … may take longer to repair." Some shadow crossed Legolas face at the words. Guilt? "As do you. I barely remember it but I am sorry. Rest. Brian waits with Boromir and I wait with you. He has shown me how to contact him and we talk every hour."

I might have told him off for ordering me like that another time. This time? I breathed out, slowly, and found that my body agreed with him. Legolas went quiet, his hands stroking mine, and I shut my eyes.

It might have been a minute, an hour, I wasn't sure, but when I woke Legolas had barely moved. Without even having to ask, when he saw me wake, he offered me another mouthful of water. It gave me the chance to ask, "You're real?"

"I am."

"So... both worlds are real."

"Did you still doubt this?"

"Who wouldn't?"

He smiled and ran his finger across my stomach, slowly, eyes in mine. So much love. Unlike before, when I'd made it clear I was marrying Boromir, Legolas wasn't hiding anything. And it killed me. His question 'Wouldn't you wait for me?'. That killed me too.

I didn't know what the hell to do. No. I did. That was the problem. It would upset everyone.

Except Legolas. Because he was right. I would have waited. Ten years. Twenty. As long as he accepted I'd grow old.

"You know I was going to marry Boromir when I got back."

"I know that's what he intends. What do you intend?"

I stared at Legolas a long time. This morning there'd been pain. Hurt. Heartbreak. He had barely been able to look me in the eye. Now, however, it was so different. Longing, open love, and … something else. I couldn't explain it. What did I intend?

"Do you accept I'm going to age?"

"It is difficult to believe." He responded. "But … if you want to age, then I accept it."

I sighed and shut my eyes. "I just want everyone to be happy."

"Boromir was so ha-"

"Were you?"

I didn't know. That's what bothered me. I didn't know if I was happy. I was happy when he was, I was happy that he had what he wanted, and even able to find a way to enjoy it. But thirty seconds later I'd always ...feel uncertain. I wanted Boromir happy above all else. I wanted Legolas happy in the same way.

"I don't know."

"You do not have to know. There is no pressure now. Simply rest, heal, and trust that all will be well."

Legolas leaned over to kiss me, slowly, this long lingering kiss, and his breath seemed to speed up at the sheer touch, the kiss going from 'gentle' to ''hungry' within seconds. He breathed out slowly, a long exhale of air, and muttered something in Elvish. He fell back into the chair heavily and gazed away out the window.

A/N

We're actually nearing the end :O