A/N Hot damn it's been two months. It's been hella busy and I'm tired. Granted it's been like 90% fun stuff, but still. I need a little more introvert time in my life so I can do things like...you know...write. Three-ish more busy weeks and I'll hopefully have some decent down time.

I hope.

Please.

Also side note, I really fucking miss Aragorn like a lot. She'd been without him for 37 goddamn chapters now. God.

(I say that as if I didn't write myself into this mess)(But to be fair the angst is prime)

Ug. Anyway, I'm in a wedding in two weeks hence a lot of the business.

Not my wedding. Don't get excited.

Dating apps suck. That's where that's at.

Lol anyway, missed you guys. Glad to be back. ENJOY!

Thorin got more and more antsy as days passed and became nearly unbearable to be around, so the dwarves dispersed through the town and Kili pretended he was as whole and hale as the rest of them.

Josephine, all too aware of the danger he was in, couldn't rest and couldn't relax. She had to keep him alive until Legolas and hopefully Tauriel arrived and then convince them to help her. She hovered when she could get away with it without worrying the rest of the company, and when she couldn't she left to do some wandering of her own. They'd need a lot more athelas than the small bunch Bain had left her with days ago.

One bunch she snagged out of the mouth of a hog, and slowly she began a street by street combing of the homes to find more. She was hunched down to cut the leaves from a plant growing out of a home's foundation when a shadow passed over her.

"Gatherin' flowers, miss?" Alfrid's sickly sweet voice asked from behind her.

Josephine gripped the handle of the knife she'd been using and straightened back up, turning to face him and grimacing as a breeze made her very aware she was downwind of him.

His smile made her tuck her lips into a stiff line. "Is that okay?"

"If it's flowers ye want, the Master will get you the finest available." He took a few steps towards her that she matched by stepping back, keeping her distance. "You seem much improved since the other day. The Master will be pleased."

"Just getting some fresh air, I'm still feeling a bit under the weather."

She didn't really think Alfrid could do much to her, she doubted he was all that strong under his heavy coat, but the same old caution of being stuck with a man in a deserted corner was hard to shake.

"Well then allow me to escort you back to the house, wouldn't want ye feeling faint on the way back. The Master is quite fond of you after all, might have a place here if ye play ye'r cards right."

"I'll be fine, I promise." She smiled stiffly. "I won't keep you from your duties."

"'S no trouble, miss." He stuck out his arm for her.

Josephine opened her mouth to rebuke him again with all the politeness she could muster but she didn't get a chance before a third person interrupted.

"Alfrid, she'll return when she's ready." Bard snapped, stepping up behind Alfrid and leaning over him just enough to make him feel uncomfortable. "So you'd best be off."

Alfrid spun around and almost popped onto his toes to get closer to Bard's eye level. "The Master won't stand for you interfering, you'd best watch yourself."

Bard grasped Alfrid by the back of his coat and shoved him back up the road. He stumbled, glanced back over his shoulder, and then stalked away.

Bard watched until he was well on his way and then turned back to her, nodding to the knife still clutched in her hand. "No need to fend me off, I'm not going to pursue you in his stead."

Josephine nodded with a silent laugh and slipped the knife back into her boot. "I appreciate it. I know you probably don't want anything to do with any of us right now after figuring out who's leading us."

"Even that would not keep me from coming to your aid against Alfrid. When it comes to the unsavory in this town, he's one of the worst, though I feel you would have Alfrid well in hand if I had not come."

"Not sure how well things would've gone for me after I was finished with him though."

"Yes. You wouldn't want to anger the Master before you and your friends get what you need from him." He said with an accusatory tone. "You must have great need for the riches of the mountain to put up with such as Alfrid and the Master. Or does a great lady of the Southern Countries not have a need for gold?"

Word had gotten around town, utterly contradicting the story they'd given Bard about where she was headed, not that the lie hadn't become obvious the moment the dwarves' plans were revealed in the town square that night. "You have no reason to believe a word I tell you, but never for a second has this quest had anything to do with the gold in that mountain for me."

"Then why risk your life in its pursuit?"

"Because there's so much more at stake than treasure, enough to pay for the blood I've given for it a thousand times over."

Bard watched her carefully, fearfully even, like he could see the dragon's fire in his mind as clearly as he could see the earnest look in her eyes. "I do not understand your reasons, but I cannot deny your honesty. But know this, I still believe your mission a dangerous gamble. You will find no further help from me in its pursuit." He dipped his chin and turned to leave, pausing just long enough to gesture to the brocade coat she'd been gifted. "The merchant to which I traded your cloak has yet to sell it, the material is too fine for most to afford. That coat would be more than enough."

And with that, he left, and she rushed off to the market.

In her head, Josephine had convinced herself she'd be fine once the wounds had scarred over. Sure, she might need to build back some muscle like she had with her injury from Morannon, but she'd be back in fighting shape by the time it would be necessary. Or so she'd thought. She'd muddled through their encounter with the spiders and the orcs on the river, but the Battle of the Five Armies wasn't going to be so forgiving.

She'd waited for the dwarves to be out and about for the day and leave their communal sleeping quarters before she took up the nearest fire poker and began working through the movements Boromir had started her on so many years ago. Her sword was still, presumably, locked in an armory in Mirkwood, she'd have to get it back once she got home. The poker wasn't well balanced and was a bit heavier than her sword, but she'd be switching from an elven blade to a sword made by Dale, maybe the difference in feel would be beneficial when they were armed.

Skin pinched and scars pulled, her arm shook and slowly panic began to rise in her chest. How could she fight with them like this? How could she battle Azog to save Thorin and his nephews if she couldn't even hold a block against thin air?

Throwing the poker to the ground with a heavy thump on the dusty carpet she swore and pressed her fingers to her burning eyes.

"It will take time to regain your strength." Thorin's voice said from behind her.

Blinking away tears she kept her back to him. "If I can't fight, I don't know if I can save you."

"The toll your injuries have taken is not within your control." He reminded her gently.

Josephine nudged the poker with her toe and turned around. "Well I need to do better than this."

Somberly, Thorin shut the door and gave them more privacy to talk. "I do not doubt you will do all you can, but if it is not enough, then that is my fate. I would not wish you to bear blame for it."

"Fili and Kili will have the same fate as you, I know you're not as ready to throw them under the bus."

He sighed heavily, looking frustrated. "Can you not speak plainly in the common tongue for just once?

"Same place." She said firmly, slicing her hand down through the air to punctuate each sentence. "Same day. Same time. I have to save all three of you and I can barely hold a damn fire poker above my waist for more than a few seconds without shaking!"

"The Valar cannot fault you for such a thing. They will return you home regardless, Josephine."

"This isn't just about going home, for christ's sake!" She hissed, not able to yell in case they were overheard. "I'm not going to stand here and let my friends die when I can do something. I'm gonna save your sorry, stubborn ass so that when I get home I can come back to Erebor and we'll sit down and tell stories just like you said we would back in the Lone Lands."

"Josephine, you are a Seer of our fates, but you are not the master of them. Perhaps if you tell me how we are to fall, I too can try and circumvent it?"

"And if you take what I tell you and make assumptions and change your behavior and everything goes to shit because of it? No. I could end up getting the entire Company killed." The Company, the people of Dale, lose the entire battle for all she knew? There was no telling what Thorin could do with that information once he was under the Dragon Sickness. She'd already been flippant enough with how much she'd disclosed to people. Within a matter of days they'd split up and by the time she was at the gates of Erebor, he'd be slipping into madness. It was so close. Too close. For as much as the two of them butted heads, Josephine was fond of her grumpy dwarven friend, the idea of him going mad with Dragon Sickness made her stomach churn.

In her following silence Thorin didn't press, or argue. But he did pick up the fire poker and hand it back to her. "Very well. Then we should begin."

"Begin what?" She took the fire poker from him, having her assumptions, but she needed him to confirm exactly what he was planning.

Suddenly, trying and succeeding to catch her off guard, he grasped a branch from the stack by the fire and swung it towards her. The wood hit the metal poker in her hand and the impact sent a shock all the way up her arm and down her shoulders. For the second time the poker hit the rug with a dull thud though this time it had been out of her control.

"Fuck! A little notice would've been nice!"

"A dragon will give you no notice." He replied sharply. "Again."

"A dragon isn't going to attack me with a log for the fire." She snapped, snatching her weapon off the carpet. This time she swung at him, gritting her teeth at the impact when his block rattled her. She was swinging too hard for her own good, too much for her body to quite be prepared for anymore.

Thorin shrugged off his heavy coat and rolled up his sleeves. "You are stiff, and I daresay the cold in this town helps little. Come. Again."

Over and over she swung the poker and blocked his attacks. Again and again it slipped from her hand. She was panting and grinding her teeth trying to muster the strength to strike at him each time he repeated 'again' until finally, Valar only knew how long into their training, her back seized.

Thorin grabbed for her, slowing her down as she dropped to her knees, breath hissing through her clenched teeth.

"I have to do better." She groaned. "I have to."

"Josephine, perhaps this is a sign that you have done enough. Perhaps your duty was in those caves and so you have fulfilled it. My fate is my own to bear."

He gripped her arms, staring into her eyes like a command to believe what he was saying. But Josehpine knew better. And even if he was right, she wasn't going to lead him to the slaughter without trying to stop it.

"I'm not going to walk away and let you die!"

"I may not." He reminded her. "If you were sent to change the future, then it is not set. But if it stays as you have seen, you must accept that."

Her eyes welled as the scenes played in her head, the eyes of each one of them growing dull as they died. "No." She growled.

"Yes." He said softly, but firm in his conviction. He cupped her cheek in his palm and looked at her apologetically. "If the strength of your body is what you need to change our fate, then I beg you let go of that task. I will not trade your life for mine, and that is what I would be doing if I asked you to continue in such a state. I made my own vows of your protection and I refuse to deny them."

Fire burned in her chest and hot tears rolled down her cheek. She wanted so badly to refuse him, but he was right, she wouldn't do him or Fili and Kili any good on the battlefield if she couldn't push past her injury. She wouldn't stop trying, but fear gnawed at her gut wondering if the weakness would linger until it was too late.

"I absolve you of your duty to us, and with that your guilt for our fates."He pulled her into his arms. "Hush now, you will soon be home and safe again. Of that I am certain."

Perhaps she would. But they wouldn't.