After breakfast the following day, they headed out to the Rovers. Bella took a moment to tie the arms of her coveralls around her waist and noticed that she'd caught Thorin's eyes.

"Something to say, Captain?" she asked.

"You were wearing those when we descended upon you," he said looking her over.

"They're incredibly comfortable and practical," she said grinning. "They belonged to a neighbour's son, and I appropriated them shortly after he outgrew them. Do you know how hard it is to find ladies trousers with sizable pockets?"

"Next to impossible!" Tauriel called out from near the other Rover. Bella grinned at her and winked.

"You're not the woman we met then," Thorin said as he followed her to open the door for her.

"Oh, I am so. I'm just not as worried anymore," she said smiling and patting his chest. She hopped into the Rover and leaned towards him. "Actually I take that back. I'm actually terrified. We haven't seen that Azog fellow since that night outside the pub. The ghosts last night have been frightening and not anything to sneeze at. But, I do seem to be able to do something about them, so maybe that's what's different about me?"

"Maybe," he said. "Whatever it is, I'm glad for it."

"Me, too," she said smiling again.

Everyone loaded up into the Rovers, Kili and Fili making sure all the equipment was secure in the back, and then they headed off down the drive. The air was warmed by the sun with only a hint of a chill off the lake. Bella expected to feel the ever-present breeze from the lake and the mountains, but the trees were still in the forest and the lake barely rippled as they drove past. The world felt oddly quiet, and it unsettled her deeply. But as no one else remarked upon it, she decided to ignore it.

They headed down the road and soon began to see evidence of the mass exit all those years ago. An abandoned truck here, a broken wagon there.

"Did no one ever think to loot the area?" Fili asked in a hushed voice.

"Not that we ever heard," Balin said. "The threat of ghosts and the danger of the unstable tunnels were enough to keep people away."

"The tunnels are stable," Thorin said firmly.

"We don't know that, lad," Balin replied.

"I know it," Thorin said, his hands flexing on the steering wheel.

Balin sighed, but didn't say anything further.

They pulled into the yard and Bella looked around. She'd expected dusty wooden buildings and rickety porches, but what greeted her were sturdy stone buildings with clean lines that surrounded a wide yard. The large doors to the buildings were closed tight, and the windows stared out. To Bella's mind, it resembled a large mausoleum rather than a mine.

A sign that read 'Main Tunnel' caught Bella's eye and she studied the heavy metal doors that had been left slightly ajar. She saw a stirring of wind in the trees, but clearly no wind would ever shift those doors.

Thorin put the Rover into park and lifted the handbrake. He leaned forward and folded his arms on the steering wheel, staring into the abandoned yard.

"The majority of the workforce was in the main tunnel that day," he said quietly. "A thick vein of silver had been found the day before. My grandfather focussed everyone in that tunnel, determined to get as much as they could to flood the market. They dug so deep." He took a deep breath. "The main support beam fell. Just crumbled apart. More than half the men were trapped. Rescue efforts failed. One attempt was made to blast through, but it only made it worse."

He abruptly got out of the Rover, and Bella shoved back the desire to go to him and hold on for dear life. Instead, she straightened her coveralls and followed him to the middle of the yard, where Thorin stopped. He turned to the company.

"I have no intention of digging or even exploring where they failed," he said. "Not yet. There are several other veins that could still be viable. We'll start there."

He looked at Balin. "What do you think?"

"I say…" Balin grinned at Thorin. "Hand me my axe, lad, and let's get to it."

The smile Thorin gave was fierce and beautiful and made Bella's insides tremble.

They kitted themselves out with hardhats with small lights attached to the front and the men grabbed pickaxes and spades. Thorin let Balin lead the way into the tunnel on the right of the yard. Dwalin carefully flicked the switch to turn on the overhead lights.

A pop of breaking glass that had Bella jumping quickly nixed that idea.

"We'll take a look at the wiring when we're done here," Dwalin said. "Or we'll need to bring the gennie down with us."

"Lights on, then," Balin said.

Everyone switched their headlamps on and walked through the tunnel until they came to a hastily erected wooden barrier. Tauriel and Bella stood back while Thorin and Dwalin quickly pulled the boards down. Bella allowed herself a moment to appreciate watching the muscles that she'd quite cheerfully clutched the evening before in action. Swallowing, she looked away, but not before catching Tauriel's amused look. Bella rolled her eyes in response.

Dwalin pulled the last board down, and they continued on. Bella soon felt the familiar chill that precipitated a ghost.

"Wait," she said quickly, pushing past Dwalin and Thorin to stand in front of them. "We've got company, I'm afraid. Let me."

She stared down the tunnel, and her eyes widened. "Oh, heavens. Look at all of them! So many! They're…" She frowned and stepped back. "They're coming rather quickly, aren't they?"

Before she could say anything further, three spirits rushed at her and passed through so quickly, she lost her breath.

"Wait!" she said slapping her hand to her chest. "That hurts!"

Several more just swooped in and through, and she gasped for breath as she stared at their blind, ravaged eyes. She could smell the dust on their clothes and tasted the grit on her tongue.

"Bella!" She heard Thorin yell behind her. "Close your eyes!"

Reflexively, she closed her eyes.

The ghosts stopped, and she held her breath before letting it out slowly. The cold of the ghosts was still there, just at the edge of her body. She felt the ghosts who'd rushed in follow the path through, and she 'watched' them go. The other ghosts hovered just in front of her, impatient and anxious.

"Oh, my," she breathed, her eyes still closed. "That was interesting."

Thorin's hand cupped her elbow and tugged her back to stand just in front of him. She felt the ghosts follow her.

"Your eyes glow like a lighthouse in the dark," Thorin said next to her ear. "They're attracted to you."

"Moths to a flame," she murmured. "Right."

"We should go," he said to the others.

"No," she said firmly, turning her head to him. "I'll finish this."

"They'll overpower you," he said.

"Not this time," she said, placing her hand on his and patting it. She stepped away and faced the ghosts.

She opened her eyes.

The ghosts surged forward.

She closed her eyes, quickly.

She felt the ghosts stop in front of her, and she heard soft moans of anguish.

"Now, I'm happy to help you all," she said raising her voice. "More than happy. However, you are to only to approach slowly. Slowly, or not at all!" She paused. "Is that clear?"

She felt more than heard any actual agreement, so she carefully opened her eyes.

The ghosts inched forward, and she nodded encouragingly. "Thank you," she said to them. "Now, one at a time, if you don't mind."

One by one, they came forward; they slipped in and through. She lost count after a while, their faces blurred into each other, the only thing she focussed on were their eyes. Grey, blue, brown, over and over, and the smell of dust and dirt stung her nose and throat.

Eventually, they stopped, and Bella swayed on her feet.

"Well, that was something, wasn't it?" she said as Thorin came up behind her, his hand once again cupping her elbow to hold her upright. "So many of them."

"One hundred and twelve," Bofur called out.

"You counted?" Kili asked.

"You didn't?" Bofur retorted.

"So many," Bella repeated quietly.

"Are you all right?" Tauriel asked coming to her side and handing her a flask of tea.

"A little chilly, but all right," she said before taking a long sip of tea. "I'm all right."

She took a deep breath and looked up at Thorin, who nodded down at her. "Well done, Miss Baggins. I believe our way is clear for the moment."

Bella hung back with Tauriel, letting the others headed down the now clear tunnel, and then following close behind.

"I think the question is where did they all come from?" Bella said absently. "Is there a connection between here and the main tunnel?"

"Ventilation shafts," Dwalin called back. "They stretch throughout the mines."

"Ah," Bella said. "Not that ghosts need openings, but it's surprising how much they prefer to use them."

They walked several more metres before Balin called out for them to stop. "It'll be here, lads. Look around you."

Bella looked around, not quite sure what she was looking for, but looking nonetheless.

"Am I looking at what I think I'm looking at?" Fili asked, his voice hushed.

Bella looked in his direction and watched as he slowly walked up to a wall. Thorin and Balin joined him.

Balin dropped a hand on Fili's shoulder. "It is, lad. Pure silver. Leave it to a Durin to spot it."

"Is it enough, though?" Kili asked walking up.

"Enough to make a start of it," Balin said, placing his hand on the seam. "It goes in deep. This is just the surface of it. But it's a good colour, and it will go far before we reach the end of it." He looked at Thorin. "It's a start, my lads."

Thorin grinned, and Kili whooped before sweeping Tauriel up into a hug. The rest of the company laughed and clapped, and Bella found herself swung up into the air by Bifur, and she laughed, clapping her hand on her hat to keep it fixed on her head.

She met Thorin's eyes through the crowd, and he flat out beamed at her, and she found she couldn't stop smiling.

"This calls for a drink!" Dwalin said grinning wildly, and the others cheered.

Later that evening, after a rowdy dinner of more soup and several bottles of lager found in the stores that had miraculously lasted, Bella wandered away from the others to look at the library. She'd just started to peruse some of the spines when Thorin walked in.

"Do you know that I think you're missing a few titles," she called over her shoulder.

"Oh?" he said walking towards her.

"Hmm. There are some gaps here," she said, her eyes closing as his arms slid around her waist. "Hello."

"Hello," he murmured against her neck.

"You had a good day today," she said reaching up to cup his cheek with her hand.

"We had a good day," he said pressing a kiss to her neck.

She hummed and tilted her head further. "I'm looking at your books, do you mind?"

"Not at all," he said pulling her close to him; his tall, broad shoulders towered over her. "We should do an inventory of them, actually."

"Sounds like fun," she said. "I thought you had gardens, though. I haven't seen those yet."

"I'll show them to you," he said pressing his mouth to her neck again.

"Oh, this wasn't what I expected," she murmured.

"What wasn't?" he said against her skin.

"I never really planned on this," she said.

"This being…?"

"Romance?"

He lifted his head and turned her around in his arms to peer down at her. "Romance? You never planned to marry?"

"Not really?" she said. "No one was ever really interested, and I was never really interested." She frowned. "I'm not quite sure why you're interested, to be honest."

"Why wouldn't I find a gardener by day, spirit medium by night interesting?" he said smiling a little. "Although, I do understand. I hadn't planned for any of this either."

"You never thought about marriage?" she asked.

"I never really thought about anything past making sure my family had enough to eat. Then I thought about making sure my men survived the war, then I thought about getting our land back." He frowned. "You weren't in the plan, Belladonna Baggins the Younger."

"You certainly weren't in mine, either, Thorin Durin," Bella said poking his chest. "You're like this elm tree that just sprouted up in the middle of a rose garden. You don't want to pull it out, because it's a bloody elm tree, and they're glorious, but it's really going to muck up your rose garden."

He chuckled. "I'm an elm tree?"

"I suppose you'd prefer to be an oak tree in this utterly nonsensical analogy?" Bella asked rolling her eyes.

"No, what I'd prefer is to kiss you right now," he said.

"Beg pardon?" she asked blinking up at him.

"I'd very much like to kiss you right now," he repeated. "I've not been able to think of much else today, in spite of our success."

"Oh," she said in a small voice, her mind whirling around not able to settle on anything apart from, 'Yes, please! Kiss me! What a lovely idea!'

"Oh?" he repeated stepping forward. "Was that an 'oh' of repulsion or an 'oh' of interest?"

"Interest," she said quickly. "Keen interest, if you'd like specifics."

"I would like specifics," he said sliding those hands of his up and down her sides and leaning down. "By all means, tell me everything you're thinking."

"Do you know," she said rising up on her toes and carding her hands through his hair, "I've completely lost my train of thought."

She caught sight of his smile before closing her eyes and falling into his kisses. She lifted her head, "Oh, I remember! You're missing some books."

"Do you really wish to discuss books now?" he asked, a little breathlessly.

The lines of his face stood out in sharp relief in the fading light as shadows moved across his features. She ran her fingers over his cheekbone down to his jaw.

"I could be persuaded to discuss something else," she said leaning up.

He lowered his head.

His mouth moved over hers again and again. Bella did her best to meet him pass for pass and tightened her grip in his shoulders. His hands smoothed down her back, and she rather wished she'd done away with her jumper earlier so she could feel each callus that caught on the wool as he moved his hands over her. When he reached her backside, she made a sound into his mouth as he curved his hands over her bum to her hips. Effortlessly, he lifted her, and she awkwardly wrapped her legs around his waist.

"Is this-" he asked against her mouth.

"Yes, yes," she said frantically. "Just don't drop me."

"Never," he said chuckling as he moved them closer to the fireplace and the small fire that burned there. He sat down on the loveseat, and she tipped forward onto him as he leaned back. Strands of her hair tickled her cheek as they slipped out of her bun, and she tilted her head back a little to move them out of the way.

Thorin quickly found her throat with his mouth, and she let out an 'oh!'

"All right?" he asked pressing tiny kisses under her ear.

"More than," she said curling her hands into his hair and holding him in place as his tiny kisses turned into open-mouthed affairs. "Oh, sweet heavens."

Her head fell back as his mouth trailed down her throat, and she reached down to grab his hand. She had just pulled it up to rest on her chest when she heard a shout.

"Oh, not again," she said opening her eyes to stare up at the ceiling.

"Bella! Ghosts!" Kili shouted from the floor above.

"Damn," Thorin muttered as Bella hurried to her feet. They both ran out of the library and up the stairs.

"Where are you?" Bella called.

"Master bedroom!" Tauriel shouted back.

Bella ran to the end of the hall to the room that Tauriel and Kili had taken, Thorin close behind her.

A gun fired just as she reached the door, and Thorin pulled her back before she ran into the room. She stared up at him confused, but he just yelled, "Cease fire! We're coming in!"

He nodded at her, and she went into the room and just stared.

Six large ghosts like the night before swarmed and jumped about the room. They ran through walls to appear on the other side and they kept trying to go through Kili and Tauriel. However, armed with an old golf club (Kili) and a cricket bat (Tauriel), they were fending off the ghosts rather well, swiping and parrying as they stood back to back.

But no matter how good they were at getting some good hits in, the ghosts were relentless. One large fellow in particular with a viscous snarl on his face actually managed to fly through Kili. He shouted out and doubled over.

"No!" Tauriel shouted as she braced him up.

"Here!" Bella yelled stepping into the room directly into the path of one of the ghosts.

His snarl turned into a look of surprise before he fell into her and then down the path in her mind. Bella gasped and felt nauseous as the remnants of his hate-filled mind lingered.

"Oh, dear God," she said under her breath, looking blindly around the room. She blinked and re-focused. "Come to me! I'm the one you want!"

A shot rang out, and Bella looked over at a ghost that Thorin had managed to shoot in the head. The ghost stood stock still, his hand held to his forehead that had a small black hole in it, which slowly closed up.

He looked at Thorin, stunned, until Bella rushed over to him and said fiercely, "Look at me."

The ghost looked down at her and without a word, moved forward and through.

"Bloody hell," Bella muttered, glancing at Thorin who nodded before shouting, "Aim for their heads!"

"One at a time," Bella added weakly.

The next few minutes passed in a blur of gunshots, swinging cricket bats, and ghosts silently finding their way to Bella.

When all was said and done, Bella found herself slumping to the floor to just sit, her aching head in her equally aching and chilled to the bone hands. A hand she recognised as Thorin's gently cupped the back of her neck.

She lifted her head to look at the room. Kili sat on the bed, his arm wrapped around his stomach, while Tauriel held a hand to his forehead.

"Are you cold?" Bella asked Kili

"A little," he said through gritted teeth.

"Help me up," she said to Thorin, who easily lifted her to her feet. She stumbled over stiff legs to Kili and placed her hands on his face. She peered into his eyes and tilted his head to the side and then back.

She shook her head. "You're fine. He just got in a good swipe at you. The chill should fade."

"Thanks, Bella," he said smiling up at her. "God, it must be agony for you. They're bloody cold, aren't they?"

"They are," she said with a sigh. She looked up at Thorin. "I don't think this is random. I think we're being targeted. Your brother's old room last night, the master bedroom tonight? Someone is trying to hurt your family, Thorin."

"And I think we know who," he said grimly. "But where is the bastard, and why doesn't he just show his face?"

"And how is he getting the ghosts to do what they're doing?" Bella asked no one in particular.

"Shall we try to smoke him out somehow?" Dwalin asked. "Get him into the open?"

"If we knew where he was, we could," Balin said.

"Then we need to look for him," Thorin said. "Every morning, we search the house and the grounds. Then we work on the mines in the afternoon." He looked around the company. "I'm not letting him interfere with our plans, but I'm also not going to be blind. We search, and we work. Is that clear?"

"As crystal, sir," Bofur said while the others murmured their agreement.

Bella rubbed her hands together and said, "Anyone else for a cuppa?"

She was quickly met with a chorus of 'yes, please' and 'God, yes.'

After everyone had a cup of something warm (some with a little something extra and some not), Bella made her way upstairs. She quickly changed out of her coveralls and into her nightdress and warm jumper. She paused but then pulled on a pair of thick socks she'd found in one of the dresser drawers, before she crawled into bed.

But as it had the night before, sleep just wouldn't come. Her mind whirled with thoughts of ghosts and silver mines and magic and Thorin.

"Oh, blast," she muttered before throwing back the duvet and getting out of bed. Her socked feet slid a little on the hardwood floors, but she crept quietly down the stairs and headed towards the library.

When she saw the orange glow from the fireplace spilling into the hallway, her heart sped up.

She entered the library and saw Thorin in the same place as the night before, stretched out in front of the fire.

His head was turned towards the door, and he smiled faintly when he saw her.

"Can't sleep?" he asked.

"Didn't really try," she replied walking towards him.

"Mind filled with thoughts of ghosts?" he asked.

She shook her head.

"What then?" he asked his voice low and his gaze fixed on her.

"You," she said simply.

They stared at each other for a beat, before he held out a hand and said, "Come here."

She walked straight to him and took his hand. He pulled her down to his lap and she curled around him, soaking up his warmth. He sighed and pressed his mouth to the top of her head.

"You're still cold," he said.

She nodded. "The fire's helping. You're helping."

"Good," he said rubbing his hand slowly up her arm.

Bella raised her head to look at him. They simply stared at one another for a moment, before Bella leaned forward and pressed a chaste kiss to his mouth. He hummed and smiled faintly against her lips.

"May I stay here in front of the fire?" she asked. "With you?"

"Always," he said softly.

Smiling, she lowered her head back to his chest and listened to the steady thump of his heartbeat.

"Not what I expected," he murmured into her hair as he tightened his hold on her.

Bella just curled her hand into his jumper and closed her eyes. Sleep came very quickly.