Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit. Are you surprised?

Chapter 8: Danse Macabre

Never give a sword to a man who can't dance.

–Confucius

They just stared at each other for a second, as if God had hit the pause button. Wow, she thought, his eyes are really blue. Like hydrangea flowers or water in a swimming pool. Then she realized what she was thinking and whom it was about, as well as which body parts were pressed much too close against his, and sprang up from the ground. Thorin followed, recovering from his shock.

"Nice reflexes there, Oaky," she commented with her usual smirk. He scowled. There, everything was back to normal. "What the hell is that thing anyway?" Gemma asked, looking down at the truly terrifying beast.

"Is that a wolf?" Bilbo asked as the rest of the Company and the two wizards rushed over.

"Wolves, no, that is not a wolf," Bofur said, lacking his usual humour. The whole Company seemed to simultaneously look around, and thankfully so, as Kili was able to spot the second creature approaching. He shot it in the throat just as it pounced. Thorin swung his blade again, finishing the job.

"Warg scouts," Thorin growled, "which means an orc pack is not far behind."

"Orc pack?!" Bilbo demanded, but was ignored.

Gandalf rounded on Thorin. "Who did you tell about your quest, aside from your kin?"

"No one," Thorin answered.

"Who did you tell?!" Gandalf shouted with terrifying force.

"No one, I swear." Gemma could hear the slightest bit of panic in his voice. "What in Durin's name is going on?"

Gandalf gave him a hard look before replying, "You are being hunted."

It was precisely at this moment that Ori burst into the group to deliver more bad news. "The ponies are all gone!"

Thorin's eyes widened in panic and Gemma was reminded that he was the leader of this quest; he was responsible for all of them. At a moment like this, she wouldn't want to be him for all the money in the world. Gemma grabbed her bag and strapped it to her back, then pulled out her gun and snapped the safety off, the sound breaking everyone out of their shocked inaction.

"What's the plan then?" she asked, mostly just to get them all back on track. In times like this, she lost her humour and developed tunnel vision, entirely focused on the matter at hand. Her colleagues used to tell her that it was like she transformed into another person; serious, hyperaware, and, when she needed to be, ruthless.

"I can lead us out of here; I know a safe place close by. We will just have to avoid the orcs," Gandalf said. The strange look that passed over Thorin's face at the mention of the "safe place" did not go unnoticed by Gemma, but she made no comment.

"I shall distract them and buy you some time," Radagast declared, hoping onto his rabbit sled.
"Those are Gundabag wargs!" Gandalf exclaimed, "They will outrun you!"

Radagast smirked. "These are Rhosgobel rabbits; I'd like to see them try!" and with that he took off, at a speed that no normal rabbit should be able to run.

Gemma decided that he was actually pretty awesome.

Thorin could barely contain his panic. He had hoped that the journey would be relatively smooth; their task once they reached the mountain would be hard enough. Yet, already they had encountered mountain trolls, a strange wizard, and now, wargs and orcs. Oh, and a traveller from an entirely different world. The quest seemed doomed to be treacherous, and now they knew someone was after them all.

Gandalf and Thorin lead the group out into an open, grassy area of hills, studded sporadically with large rock formations. Gemma had fallen to the back, watching with her little contraption raised in preparation. Or at least, she was when he had last looked. Radagast had just lead the orcs and wargs past them and away again, and as the Company broke into a run she came up beside Thorin.

"What the hell are those things? Those are orcs?" Her presence at his side made him jump. Gemma legs, much longer than the rest of the company's, had allowed her to catch up quickly. Thorin just nodded in answer to her questions. The group stopped at a large boulder, crouching low and flattening themselves to the side. "Well, they are freaky. What's their armour like? Will my bullets go through? "

Thorin wanted to yell at her to stop asking all these question, but he then heard a sound from above them; a warg and its rider were perched there. Thorin covered Gemma's mouth with his hand, silently pointing upwards to the group. He gave Kili a look, to which his nephew returned a nod and readied his bow. Taking a deep breath, Kili pushed off the rock and into a crouch, shooting two arrows in rapid succession, one for the warg and one for its rider. Both creates topple down to where the Company hid, and the dwarves sprang on them to finish the job.
Thorin, still covering Gemma's mouth, saw her eyebrows knit together in— confusion? Worry? He couldn't quite tell but he knew that when they shot up and her eyes went wide she had figures something out. Gemma pried his hand from her face to whisper harshly, "Wait, you've got to get the—," but it was too late. Most of the dwarves had attacked the orc first, meaning the warg was not yet dead. The beast managed to let out a piercing howl before Dwalin split its skull.

Swearing under his breath, Thorin pulled Gemma and Bilbo up from their crouched positions, and with that, they were running again, this time actually being chased.

"Move! Run!" Gandalf called, as if they needed to be told.

Thorin saw the direction he was steering them. He had a bad feeling about this. "Where are you leading us?!" he yelled back, but received no answer from the wizard.

"There they are!" someone yelled.

"This way, quickly!" Gandalf urged back.

Thorin looked over his shoulder as their pursuers gained ground. Gemma had stayed near the back again, attempting to urge Bilbo and Bombur along faster. His eyes connected with hers again, just for a moment, before he heard Kili yell to him, "There's more coming!"

"Kili, shoot them!" Thorin ordered, voice tinged with panic.

"We're surrounded!" Fili called as Kili release the first arrow.

Thorin looked to Gandalf to see what he had to say, but the wizard was no longer at his side. The others noticed too.

"Where's Gandalf?" Kili shouted.

"He has abandoned us!" Dwalin growled back.

Bilbo mumbled something along the lines of "Gandalf would never do that." Thorin wasn't really listening. He had turned and was watching the approaching orcs. Blood rushed in his ears and his fingers tingled as he drew his new elven sword. He was consumed in that pre-battle feeling; that adrenaline mixed with a slight bit of fear, just enough to set him on edge. He relished in the feeling.

"Hold your ground," Thorin ordered. Taking his stance, he counted in his head as the orcs came closer, nearly upon them. Three…two…

BANG!

Just as Thorin made to leap into battle, the sound assaulted his ears. It brought everyone, even their enemies, up short, frozen. His ears rang from the noise; it was like the world had been ripped open, blown apart, violent death described by sound. The scene was nearly comical; orcs and dwarves alike frozen with weapons raised, wargs looking like scared pups. They all watched as a single orc slumped forward, a gruesome hole blasted right through its brain, utterly dead. Thorin and the others slowly followed the line of fire with their eyes, all the way to the end of Gemma LaRoche's tiny, seemingly useless weapon, which she held pointing forward in both hands, her stance solid. Thorin, in his completely shocked state, unconsciously met her eyes; they were hard as steel. It was a look he had not seen on her before, even when she had attacked him. Then, they had been wild; now they were unwavering, unfeeling. The look soon changed to one of complete disbelief.

"What the hell are you doing?! Fight them!" she screamed.

The bonds of shock broke, and the dwarves rushed their enemies again. Thorin stabbed and whirled and slashed, fighting with the grace of a dancer. Somehow, completely unintentionally, he found himself back to back with Gemma. They fought like a unit, even more in sync than when they fought the muggers. They anticipated each other's moves instinctually; Thorin switched sides to catch an orc blade aimed at Gemma's head, and Gemma let off another two deafening blasts at a fast approaching warg, catching it in the side. The creature collapsed, not quite dead but close enough. If Thorin was a lone dancer before, Thorin and Gemma were now practiced dance partners.

They were pulled from their danse macabre by the sound of Gandalf's call. "This way, you fools!" He appeared from a hidden passage in the nearby rock.

"Come on, move!" Thorin urged. "Quickly, all of you." The dwarves began jumping down the passage, Thorin and Gemma pushing them through. Thorin cut down another warg, but more were approaching quickly. He looked back to see Kili, still firing arrows, a good hundred metres out. "Kili, run!" His nephew turned and sprinted towards him, oblivious to the orc approaching from the side. Gemma, from her crouched position at the mouth of the tunnel, fired another shot, narrowly missing Kili to hit the orc fatally in the neck. The young dwarf charged past them, right down into the passage. Thorin gave Gemma a nod of thanks, which she answered with a lopsided smile, and then they both slid down the hole together.

Gemma helped Thorin up, brushing the dirt from his shoulders without even realizing what she was doing. The tender action took Thorin by surprise, and, for reasons he could not comprehend, his chest seemed to tighten. The din of a horn from above interrupted his thoughts. The Company listened in silence, trying to discern what was happening up here. Thorin thought the horn sounded familiar, and his chest tightened for a different reason; one he entirely understood. Suddenly, a body tumbled down as if falling from the sky. Gemma leapt back, right into Thorin's chest, with a barely audible gasp. Thorin steadied her and moved to look at the body. His suspicions were confirmed; the body was of an orc, slain with a silver arrow in its neck, which he removed. The arrow was of elven make. "Elves," he stated with thinly veiled disgust, glaring at Gandalf.

"I cannot see where the pathway leads," Dwalin called. "Do we follow it, or no?"

"Follow it, of course," Bofur replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Thorin reluctantly followed, not missing the questioning look that passed between Gemma and Bilbo before they fell into step behind him. Neither of them had met an elf before, and neither knew much of the feud between races.

They would find out soon enough.

A/N: I didn't really know how to end this chapter. Or write this chapter. Action scenes are hard. Anyway, we're finally back to the actual plot. This will start moving quickly from here. One of my favourite chapters is coming soon, chapter 10 I believe (just for a little teaser, imagine Gemma drunk), but it's also going to be a bit of a weird chapter. I have to fix up a few things, but expect new updates soon.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, you guys make my day. I got a lot of comments about the humour; I'm so glad you guys are enjoying it! Also, thanks to everyone following, favouriting, and just reading.

I don't think there were any hints in this chapter about Gemma's secret or her past, but a few things will be revealed soon. And if you guys are feeling that Gemma is a bit all over the place, that's not because I'm a terrible writer. Gemma's got some issues, and she's sort of stretched herself to the limit.