"So what can you tell me about the boy?" Thorin sat in front of Bilbo, and sipped on his tea. Somehow the beautiful eyes of his host were captivating him and making him feel more relaxed than in years.

"It's definitely a form of FAS. But I would consider it a light case, he's got some classical symptoms, but he doesn't have some of the more annoying and difficult to deal with symptoms." Bilbo slowly explained. "He doesn't have ADD as stated in his American papers. But apart from FAS he does have symptoms of trauma and that's why I invited you here tonight." The short therapist gently spoke to the slightly overbearing man. "Could you please tell me more about your family and his childhood so that I can better understand and help the boy?"

"I think it all started with my parent's death." Thorin started speaking after a moment deciding that revealing the family story to Kili's therapist might help the boy. "My mother died from cancer at the age of thirty-eight. My father didn't deal with her death well and he started drinking and having delusions. I was seventeen when I noticed the first symptoms of insanity and alcoholism, my sister was barely twelve. I tried to shield her from father's craziness from the alcohol, but somehow she knew what was going on. I caught her drunk the first time when she was fourteen. My father killed himself; he was so drunk he drove off a cliff near our home in Scotland. Since then it was constant rehab and control, and the more I tried to control her the more she wanted to break out. She would run away, go to parties, get drunk, and get drugged. I did what I thought was best, I cut her off from the money, I did all I could, but one day she simply told me she was pregnant. She gave birth to Fili barely at the age of seventeen, during that time I made sure she was locked up in rehab and she hated me for it. She disappeared in 1999 at the age of eighteen. I never found out who was Fili's father, and there was no trace of her up till last month."

"It must have been very difficult for you." Bilbo gently commented. "How did you manage to raise Fili so well being all alone?"

"My housekeeper helped a lot, but Fili was a delightful child, easy to raise. He was always cheerful, easy to please and understanding. I feared a lot that when he would become a teenager he would start going crazy like my sister, but that never happened. I can trust him and rely on him. He's very special." Thorin explained.

"Yes, that's very rare. In my field I used to meet only those kids who went overboard, so hearing about a kid who is the model example is a rarity indeed." Bilbo gently told him. "So how did you find Kili?"

"Kili's foster father had a police friend who never stopped looking. They started a new DNA match program for missing people and when they added the boy's profile; my sister's old missing case came up. So I got a surprise call from Alaska to pick him up." Thorin slowly explained the occurrence thanks to which Kili came to his care.

"It must have been a huge shock." Bilbo noticed and gently guided the conversation.

"Indeed it was, I was slowly losing hope to ever find her, but then I got a call she left another child under the care of practically a stranger in Alaska." Thorin spoke bitterly. "When I arrived, for a moment I was considering it was a fraud trying to blackmail me into paying money for something, but the moment I saw him I knew he was her son. He looks so much like her, and the more I look at him the more I fear I will have problems like with my sister."

"So you immediately took him in?" Bilbo gently forced the conversation to continue.

"Despite all the things I found out, about his problems at school, about the ADD diagnosed by his school psychologist, I just knew I had to take him home and take care of him." Thorin told him. "From the first moment I saw him I wished she would have called me all those years ago. I would have raised him just like I did with Fili. I would have loved him. But under her care he went through hunger, pain, abuse. His whole back is full of scared, whip marks and Mahal know only what kind of injuries. Then she dragged him around, and finally she just dropped him off at a kind's stranger's house like an unwanted parcel."

"Tell me about how she left him there." Bilbo insisted suddenly.

"Beorn, Kili's foster father, said that he saw them walking along the road clearly both were cold and hungry so he invited them in. She disappeared three days later, forgetting about Kili. He's been at Beorn's care ever since." Thorin explained. "I just wish I could take back all the mistakes I've made and that Kili would have a normal life here with us. I wish she would have saved him from the evil he suffered from." Thorin's eyes were full of tears.

Bilbo looked at the handsome man, and his heart was aching to ease the pain this man was feeling. Slowly he was realizing how complicated this case was, and slowly he understood that if he were to help Kili, he would have to help the whole family. If he were a therapist back years ago, he would avoid this kind of complication, but now being a friend for all of them would work just fine. And Bilbo immediately realised that would give him a reason to spend more time with this extremely handsome, caring and strong man. Bilbo knew he could never have hopes for meeting the right man for himself, he was used to disappointments but being close would be enough to settle his own aching heart.

"I don't think your sister was evil." He finally told the man adding up all the facts. "She left Fili under your care knowing he would be safe. She left Kili under the care of Beorn, a man she barely knew, but a man she could trust. You said she never tried to contact you, but are you really sure about it? Maybe she simply couldn't contact you? Maybe someone forbid it? Considering what you said about them moving constantly and changing location, maybe she was running from someone dangerous? And maybe she left Kili at the first safe place she found and continued to run to draw them away from him?" Bilbo was changing Thorin's perspective rapidly; the point of view he was proving was something Thorin had never considered.

"Just one signal from her and I would have picked them both up, I've got money and contacts I could have protected her." Thorin spoke bitterly.

"Maybe she was too scared to admit she made a huge mistake running away? Maybe she was afraid to face you?" Bilbo asked gently, and the confirmation in Thorin's eyes proved the man understood the point. "I think she made lots of mistakes, but somehow I think she cared for the boy leaving him at Beorn's house. She cared for him trying to run away from wherever they were held before. She was just a lost teenager, addicted to drugs and alcohol, and she had the feeling she couldn't turn to you because she couldn't admit to the mistakes she made."

"If only she did..." Thorin could feel the tears come down his face, for years he begged for a release to his pain, but he could never cry. Now the wall broke, and the tears were falling, and soon he felt warm arms go around him as he cried the pain of the last twenty years away.

Xxxxxxx

Fili and Kili ate dinner at a fancy Italian restaurant and came home very late. They didn't see Thorin anywhere, so they just went upstairs to try the new laptop and phone. They settled in Kili's room, and Fili was patiently showing him how to use the laptop and phone. Fili later noticed Kili dozing off after the day full of excitement so he gently carried him to bed and undressed him a bit. He was tempted to touch the slim, firm and lean body, but he tried not to indulge into that feeling. Instead he just took his own clothes off and without a moment of hesitation he took the sleepy boy into his arms and watched him sleep.

He wanted to kiss those soft lips. He wanted to trace his whole body with his hands, and touch him in the most gentle and intimate way. He wanted his own brother so much it was hurting him. But when he was next to him, when he saw that light in his eyes, when he saw the smiles, his life was more than perfect and complete. He gently eased his head on Kili's a slowly drifted into a place where they could always be together.

Thorin returned home with a feeling of hangover. Not an alcohol type of hangover but a moral one. Somehow in the middle of a discussion with Kili's therapist, when he poor man tried to comfort him he just overdid it. He kissed those gorgeous lips and brought the smaller man close to him. Without even thinking they had sex in Bilbo's office and it ended up with Thorin spending the night.

Thorin never intended to approach the cute man in a sexual way. He wasn't even sure Bilbo liked men, up until the moment he assaulted him. But it just happened, during the intercourse and later during the night he never heard a protest, he only felt an enthusiastic response. He never meant to sleep with Kili's therapist. He rarely let himself engage into flings anymore, even since he became responsible for Fili his personal life was pushed aside. Now with two teenagers in the house, he was further to sleeping around than ever. But something deep inside of him was longing for a person to talk to, for a person to spend time with. Someone to feel comfortable around, someone special to share his life with. He dreamt of love, but being gay he had low hopes on finding a partner who would want to raise a kid with him, and create a loving family. Now it was practically impossible, he had to think of Kili's fragility and needs. He had to take perfect care of him.

He decided to check on the boys, and again he was surprised to find them sleeping together. The way Fili was holding onto Kili was like he desperate to have him near. Thorin had enough, he didn't know how to deal with this, and he just wanted to stay alone for a bit. He would have to go and talk to Bilbo later about this issue.

Kili woke up feeling at peace. He was comfortable and warm, and he felt safe. Deep inside there was the fear that this wouldn't last, but Fili did everything to give him the feeling of being wanted and accepted at least just for now. Kili felt intense love towards his brother, he loved everything about it, but what really made the deal was Fili spoiling him, Fili spending time with him. It made him feel really special. He tried to get up not waking Fili, and he rushed to the bathroom for a quick shower and to get dressed. Kili had a plan.

Thorin came back downstairs just to smell a beautiful smell all around the ground floor. In the kitchen he saw Kili cooking pancakes, and he just smiled at him.

"Did you sleep well?" Thorin asked hesitantly.

"Very well." Kili admitted with a shy smile on his lips. "Are you hungry?"

"A bit." Thorin replied, and as soon as he said it a beautiful pile of pancakes was laid in front of him.

Fili came down sometime later; there was some kind of smile on his lips which made Thorin apprehensive. As soon as he sat down, without a word Kili placed a pile of pancakes in front of him. Fili had a strange feeling waking up alone to the sound of a gentle ringtone. He saw a message on Kili's phone and decided to play along.

He loved pancakes, and those prepared by Kili were delicious. Fili just observed him with a smile as Kili was running around the kitchen preparing the last portion of pancakes.

"So will you drive Kili to his archery trials today?" Thorin gently asked Fili, feeling he was missing out on something important between the boys.

"Yes, we're leaving in like fifteen minutes to be on time." Fili told him with a smile.

"Good luck!" Thorin smiled warmly at Kili and the boy just nodded, but Thorin could see the enthusiasm and energy radiating from him.