Disclaimer: I think it is quite obvious that I do not own the source material, nor do I profit from this little story.

Chapter 13: Instinct

"When your own life is threatened, your sense of empathy is blunted by a terrible, selfish hunger for survival." ― Yann Martel, Life of Pi

If it was chaos before, it was sheer pandemonium now that they were being chased. Run, leap, dodge, duck, repeat. The absolutely instinctual nature of their capture and chase was the only thing Gemma could later blame for her not noticing Bilbo was missing. She was in fight mode, and it gave her tunnel vision. Run, leap, dodge, duck, repeat.

At one point they used a pole like a windshield wiper to sweep the goblins over either side of the bridge. Then they used a ladder to cross a gap. She fired another shot into the swarm of goblins behind them, and then took out two more by swinging a post that she had pulled from a bridge railing like a baseball bat, knocking them into the pit below. The fight was too up close for her shots to be any good. They seemed to simply be swallowed up by the mass of goblins behind them, and she was unable to see if any of her bullets found their mark. Gandalf still led the way, with Thorin on his tail, the rest of the dwarves falling in line behind, Fili, Kili, and Bofur bringing up the rear with her.

Gemma had developed a raging cramp in her side and her quads had become tight, but she pushed on, running on willpower and adrenaline alone. The past two weeks in Middle Earth had messed with her normal workout routine; too much riding, and, in Rivendell, too much eating and lounging around. She was paying for it now, and, if she was still alive, she would pay for it even worse tomorrow morning.

Bofur pushed Gemma out of the way as some goblins began launching spears and other crude weapons at them. They leapt onto a bridge. Cut the ropes. Jumped onto another. Swung it to the other side of the tunnel. Jumped again. Run, leap, dodge, duck, repeat. They came to a slope and saw another group of goblins approaching, trapping the Company on either side. Gandalf made a grandiose gesture with his staff and, in a physics-defying feat that banished any doubts Gemma had about the legitimacy of magic, detached a boulder from the rock face and set it rolling down the track ahead of them. Their path was soon clear.

Gemma's left arm hung limply at her side, dislocated shoulder making it useless. She was sure that the only thing preventing her from feeling the severe pain of it was the excessive amount of adrenaline coursing through her bloodstream. Somehow her body knew how to compensate, instincts making her adjust her stance to be more stable and effective with her remaining arm. She took out a goblin that was attempting to surprise Fili with her makeshift baseball bat, but the goblin grabbed onto the board and pulled it with him as he fell. Weaponless, except for her gun, which was basically useless in this scenario, Gemma grabbed the neck of a second advancing creature and smashed it into the rock wall on her left. Her display of force surprised her, or would have if she had any time to reflect on it. Since when had she become to brazenly violent?

She grabbed the creature's crude, jagged sword. It was heavier than she'd imagined, especially when she only had the use of one arm, and she really had no idea how to use it, but it was better than nothing. A little over a week ago, just before coming to Rivendell, Dwalin had asked her about her fighting style. Of course, he hadn't seen much then, but the stoic (and, Gemma would admit, rather intimidating) dwarf became quite enthusiastic when it came to battle tactics. Gemma had shown him a few things, basic hand-to-hand and couple martial arts manoeuvres she'd picked up, and in return he'd shown her some of the fundamentals of wielding a dagger. He'd wanted to show her sword fighting, but at the time Gemma thought a dagger was much more practical. After all, she'd been set on going home A.S.A.P. back then, and she had little use for a sword in Washington (though the chances of her using a dagger in the city were almost as low). Now she wished he had shown her swordplay, but at least his lesson gave her a bit of background. She'd seen how Thorin fought with a sword; he was fluid, intricate, like a dancer. Gemma decided she would be better to just swing and hope for the best. They continued running, coming to a long stretch of rickety bridges held up by thick ropes, and Gemma had an idea. She grabbed Bofur, who was closest, and sped up her pace, pulling him along to the front of the line. "Hold this," she yelled to him, pointing to a rope, and he did. She began to saw at the rope between his hands. "Run, come on, get across the bridge!" She finished sawing through just as Fili and Kili made it across, and Bofur let go.

As the goblins swarmed across, the unsupported bridge began to groan, and then sway. Some goblins tried to sprint across, but Gemma, Bofur, Fili, and Kili pushed and kicked them back onto the bridge. Another loud groan was heard, and then a crack as the weak supports buckled under the pressure and finally the bridge gave way, send many goblins flailing into the dark depths while leaving a considerable void between the rest and the Company. "Nicely done, lass!" Bofur said, giving her a clap on the back that painfully jostled her hurt shoulder.

Fili and Kili nodded and made to copy Bofur's motion. Seriously, what was it with dwarves? Slapping backs, knocking heads; pain seemed to be their form of appreciation. Gemma decided to teach them something better. She held out her fist towards the brothers. When they looked at her with confusion she said, "It's a fist bump. Here hold out your fist like this too." They did and she bumped fists with them both. The brothers smile in delight at the gesture; they loved anything exotic and otherworldly that she taught them. They tried the motion out with each other, grinning, before the four of them ran to catch up with the rest of the group.

Just as the Company thought they were in the clear, the section of the bridge ahead of them burst apart to reveal the Great Goblin. Black blood sluggishly flowed from the bullet wound in his shoulder, but he was far from dead. Just really pissed off. "You thought you could escape me?!" He swung his skull-topped staff at Gandalf, who was at the front of the group and just barely managed to dodge it. Bifur and Dori caught the wizard and pushed him back to his feet. Gandalf used the momentum to surge forward and attack, drawing his sword and slashing the goblin king's face, followed by his stomach. The goblin fell to his knees and Gandalf delivered a fatal slice to the neck. The body slumped forward on the bridge, so hard that the wood cracked.

Of course, due to Gemma's phenomenally bad luck, which apparently had extended to the entire Company, the bridge began to shake and then broke, and it was all the Company could do to hold on. They fell straight down, down, down, until the walls of the cavern narrowed and the bridge caught, slowing their descent so that when they finally hit the bottom they received only bruises, not a one-way ticket to the afterlife. Unfortunately, the body of the Great Goblin fell on top of them, causing an outburst of colourful words from the group which would have made a nun blush. Gemma crawled out and was helped up by Fili. The two of them dug out Thorin, who was quite stuck under the fragmented wood and tangled bodies. They helped the dwarf king to his feet, and Gemma brushed the splinters from his coat and hair; just like last time, it was an unconscious gesture. She was still quite mad at him, though at the moment she couldn't remember why.

They were pulled from their thoughts by Kili's shouts; the young dwarf was pointing to the steep slope behind them, which legions of goblins poured down, angry at the death of their king. "Only daylight can save us now. Run!" Gandalf yelled, and they did.

Gemma had lost the crude goblin sword in the fall, but that no longer mattered. The goblins were at a farther range and were not surrounding them; it was the perfect opportunity to put her gun to good use. She only wished she had a better gun with a longer range. Handguns were fine for policing and battle, but a sniper rifle would be amazing at a moment like this. Gemma's boss had been a sniper on a SWAT team when he was younger, and had taken it upon himself to personally train her in the art of long-range shooting. If he had been here now, he could have taken out tons of goblins, or at least come up with a good tactical plan. Gemma was trained in tactics and was reasonably good at strategy, but her forte had always been interrogation. There wasn't much use for that here; it wasn't a situation she could lie, intimidate, or reason her way out of. Not to mention she was hardly in the right frame of mind to come up with any half decent strategy.

Both Gemma and Thorin had fallen to the back of the group in order to cover the rest if the goblins caught up to them. It was for this reason that the events that followed had such an unfortunate outcome. The tunnel they had been travelling down was narrow but tall, stretching all the way up to the bridges and platforms of Goblin Town that they had run across only minutes ago. As the Company fled, one of these bridges far above gave way, probably from all the pounding feet of pursuers and escapees it had suffered, and fell down to the canyon floor. Gemma heard it before she saw it, and only just had time to grab the back of Thorin's fur coat and pull him out of the way. Breathing heavily, the two of them looked at the wreckage that now cut them off from the rest of the group. "Bofur? Is everyone alright?" she called.

A reply came from the other side of the blockade. "We're fine lass, but I don't think there's any way to get through this. You could try to saw some of the boards to open it up."

Thorin, who had been watching the approaching goblin army to their backs said, "There's no time. Bofur, tell Gandalf to lead you all out to safety. We'll just have to find our own way out. If we don't meet up with you shortly, continue on without us."

There was a long pause, and then a reply of "Yessir."

The clamour of the goblins grew louder. "Come," Thorin said, grabbing Gemma's arm, "There were other tunnels a few steps back. We'll have to find a way out through there." And they started running again until they came to a crossroads with a tunnel on either side.

"Which way?" Gemma asked. Both looked equally dark and unpromising.

"Left," Thorin said with false assuredness. The left tunnel was much smaller. Smart, Gemma thought.

They flew down it, rounding a sharp turn. Gemma pulled Thorin to a halt at the corner, signaling to be quiet. She peeked around the corner, watching as the goblins ran past. They heard yells, presumably from the army discovering the barricade, and a few seconds later they goblin army returned to the intersection. Gemma tensed, ready to run if the goblins turned out to be intelligent enough to split up and search both tunnels. But, just like they'd anticipated, they chose to turn down the larger path on the right. Thorin and Gemma let out a sigh of relief once the army had disappeared.

"Now we just have to get out of these damned tunnels," she whispered. The two of them continued down their tunnel, which seemed to grow darker and narrower with each step.

They continued on in silence.

Finally, after several minutes of walking, Gemma spoke up. "Thorin?" she said softly.

"Yes?" She hadn't realized he was standing so close behind her, and jumped at the sound of his voice.

"I think I dislocated my shoulder when we fell down from the cave. It's starting to be really painful. I need to reset it. Can you… help me?"

There was a pause, and then Thorin said "Alright. Lie down here." She did, taking her bag off her back. She was surprised that she hadn't lost is in all the commotion. Thank goodness she was tall and it was too high for those slimy little creatures to reach.

"You know how to do this, right?" Gemma asked as she heard, rather than saw, Thorin kneel over her. She senses him lean closer, and could smell the scent of smoke and sweat and pine that she'd unknowingly come to associate with the dwarf king. Rather than answering her, he grabbed her arm and, in a quick motion, popped her shoulder back into its socket. Gemma let out a small yelp, quickly biting her lip to quiet herself.

"Are you okay, Gemma?" Thorin asked softly, still leaning over her. She thought she could make out his the blue of his eyes in the dim, barely existent light. She could feel his breath on her cheek.

Instead of answering, she quietly said, "That's the first time you called me by my name." She liked how it sounded rolling off his tongue.

Thorin stood and helped her to her feet. "Wait a minute," Gemma said to Thorin. She picked up her bag and dug through it, pulling out a long-sleeved pyjama shirt, which she tied around her left arm in a sling. Continuing to dig around in the bag, she finally found what she was looking for: her flashlight. She pulled it out and flicked it on. "Ta-da."

Thorin seemed impressed. "Just when I begin to forget you are from another world, you always find another way to surprise me." He gestured for her to lead. They continued on.

"Thorin?" she whispered again.

"Yes Gemma?" She definitely liked it when he said her name.

"About Azog… just… I'm here for you, if you, uh, need to talk. I… well, I can't say that I understand, just like I can't say that I understand the rest of your predicament: being cast out of Erebor, leading a whole kingdom of people. But I sympathize, and… well just don't bottle it up. People always say that it's better to share it with someone, and sometimes it's best to talk to a neutral party. I don't know… I'm no good at the sharing thing either, but then, I'm not really the best to give coping advice. Sorry, I'm rambling, it's just… I wanted to tell you I support you, even if we sort of hate each other."

Thorin stayed silent, but he put a hand on her shoulder (the uninjured one) and gave it a squeeze of appreciation. This didn't change the fact that Gemma was still pissed at him for… well shit, she didn't really remember. Okay, maybe it did change the fact. She doubted their temporary camaraderie would last long, but while they shared it, Gemma found that it was actually kind of nice.

After a few more minutes of silent walking, they were startled by a yell coming from deeper within the tunnels. Gemma turned off her flashlight so as not to draw attention. Carefully, she and Thorin crept forward once more, and soon they could see a light at the end of the tunnel, which was now branching off in many directions. Just as they began to move down the tunnel they heard the yell again. Thorin pulled Gemma into one of the side tunnels, pushing her against its rock wall and covering her mouth with his hand. He positioned his body to cover hers. Slowly, he lowered his hand and they peeked around the corner to see what creature blocked their path to the surface.

It was… well, Gemma didn't know what it was, and from the confusion on Thorin's face, he didn't either. The thing was humanoid in shape, but much smaller and grotesque. It was bald, had bulbous eyes, and was skinny enough that you could see the shape of its bones. "Curses!" it cried in a rough, high-pitched voice. "Precious! We hates it forever!" The thing slunk back down another tunnel on all fours.

"We're going to have to make a dash for the end, in case that… creature returns," Thorin whispered, still pressed against her. Gemma was suddenly aware that his height meant his face was nearly perfectly level with her chest. She blushed, and nodded, glad that the tunnel was dim. The two of them took off, sprinting down the tunnel and into the safety of the light of the setting sun. They continued to run, spotting the rest of the Company down below.

"Thorin, Gemma! Thank the Valar you're alright!" Gandalf greeted them. The old wizard started to count them all, making sure the entire Company made it out of that terrible place.

"Where's Bilbo? Where is our hobbit?!" Gemma's head shot up at Gandalf's cry.

"Wasn't he with all of you?" she demanded.

"Curse the Halfling, now he's gone and got himself lost," Dwalin said.

"Don't be a jackass Dwalin," she shot back.

"I thought he was with Dori." The allegations started to fly.

"Don't blame me!"

"Well, where did you last see him?" Gandalf prompted the dwarf.

"I think I saw him slip away when we were captured," Nori said.

"Oh God, how could we not have noticed! We've got to go back," Gemma turned to Thorin, pleading.

"No. I'll tell you what happened. Master Baggins must have seen his chance and took it," Thorin growled. "He's thought of nothing but his soft bed and warm hearth since first he stepped out his door."

"No, no we've got to go back for him," Gemma said. She looked to Fili, Kili, and Bofur for support, but they just bowed their heads. Much as they liked the hobbit, they would not defy Thorin. She huffed and turned to leave, determined to find him herself, but Thorin grabbed her arm. "Let. Go. Of. Me," she said, words clipped and tinged with a barely concealed threat.

"We will not be seeing our hobbit again. He is long gone," Thorin said, staring her down with equal conviction.

"No, he isn't," a voice called. It was Bilbo. The Company sighed in relief, and Gemma closed her eyes and smiled, glad that her friend was alright.

"Bilbo Baggins, I have never been so happy to see anyone in all my years," Gandalf said.

"We'd given you up," Fili said, giving the hobbit a friendly slap on the shoulder. Gemma smiled. She supposed old habits die hard. "But how did you get past the goblins?"

"How indeed," Thorin growled, and Gemma shot him another glare. She just couldn't understand how anyone could dislike Bilbo as much as Thorin seemed to. The hobbit was just so… likable.

Bilbo shrugged and laughed awkwardly, fingering something in his pocket. He gave no answer, so Gandalf said, "Well, what does it matter? He's back."

"It matters. I want to know. Why did you come back?" Thorin said.

Bilbo considered the question, and then replied, "I know you doubt me. And you're right. I often think of Bag End. I miss it. See, that's where I belong. That's my home. And that's why I came back; because you don't have a home. It was taken from you. But I will help you take it back if I can." There was a long silence when he finished his speech, and appreciation shone in everyone's eyes; even Thorin's, who gave Bilbo a nod of respect. Gemma moved over to Bilbo's side and, unable to contain herself any longer, wrapped him in a hug as best she could with her free arm.

"I'm glad you're alright," she whispered in his ear. "I don't think I could handle all these stubborn dwarves on my own." They shared a smile.

The happy reunion was shattered by a howl. Gemma whirled around to find Thorin, eyes wide.

He closed his eyes in dread and then said, "Out of the frying pan…"

"And into the fire," Gandalf finished, drawing his sword.

"Run!"

AN:

Bonjour mes amis! Another chapter for you! Yes, I deviated slightly from the plot in the movie, but for good reason: Gemma/Thorin fluff! I think we need a ship name for them. Any suggestions? Last chapter had some serious and dark themes, so I hope this fun, action-packed one sort of balanced that out. The next three or four chapters are going to be really… heavy, shall we say. Gemma's "secret" will be revealed, and some really important things will go do, which pertain to some dark topics. So consider this an early trigger warning.

Remember, I love to hear what you think. All of your reviews make me smile and I can't thank you enough for reading my story.

Side note, I'm editing a wonderful Hobbit fic by the lovely AliceNotInWL, called The Treasure Hunter and the King Under the Mountain. Go check it out!