A/N Whaaaat? I managed another one? IT'S A CHRISTMAS MIRABLE!1!1!11
And/or I was also looking forward to this part for a while cause #sassingfriendswhodon'tknowthey'reyourfriendyet.
When part of you wishes you were actually stuck at home for the holidays so you could just write like you did two years ago but then you'd also have to catch covid for the third Christmas in a row.
Yeahhhhhh...lets not do that. Nvrm.
And for those who celebrate, happy Winter Solstice! For the longest night of the year, may you have a new chapter!
The ones that Josephine told Thorin would stay behind, knew her plan, but the rest of the company and their host didn't. They piled on their armor and Josephine threw one of the heavy guardsman's cloaks on over top of Gilraen's. The brocade coat had given more than enough value to trade for her keepsake back.
The entire town gathered on the docks and walkways around the boat that waited for them to depart. On that dock, the company began to split. Those who were going piled in quickly, and she stayed on the slick wood planks with Fili, Kili, Bofur, and Oin around her.
"Well come on then." Bilbo said to her, waving to an empty spot at the back right by him. "Haven't got all day now have we?"
"They're staying behind." Thorin answered for her, causing the rest of the company to still.
"What?" Dwalin barked. "Why?"
Nodding to the five of them Thorin stepped back off the boat. "Kili's not well, he needs to heal before he can join us."
Bilbo sputtered. "But why-"
"Lady Josephine is going to see to him and I will not leave her unguarded. The other three will see to her." Not a word of her having ordered it in just that configuration.
Josephine met Thorin's eye and gave him a grateful nod, starkly aware that this was the last moment of true clarity she'd see in him for a while. "It's the right thing." She said confidently, turning to the rest of the company. "Trust me."
Bilbo stomped off the boat and came up to her, tugging her down by her sleeve so she'd kneel and he could speak quietly.
"And you're sure about this? This isn't about…well, you know…" He grimaced and nodded to her. "Your wounds?"
"This is all according to plan, I promise. But you have to go with them. The rest of us will follow when it's time." She found herself swallowing a lump in her throat as she looked at him. She'd grown used to having Bilbo around, now she wouldn't see him for weeks.
Bilbo nodded to her firmly and pulled her in for a tight hug. "Goodbye, Josephine."
Off tune fanfare started, played on long golden horns that sounded like nobody had touched them in decades. That was Thorin's cue and he interrupted them.
"Come along, Mr. Baggins. We cannot linger."
Bilbo followed the others reluctantly and the boat was nearly full, except for Thorin.
"We will see the lot of you once we've taken the mountain. And you," he continued, turning directly to Josephine. "You will restrain yourself from any rash actions. In fact, Fili!"
"Yes, uncle?" He said, shouldering Fili who was beginning to lean more and more heavily on his brother.
"Keep her out of trouble. I expect to see her again in one piece."
He offered a tight, sympathetic hug to Kili and froze when she caught him as he passed and gave him her own tight hug. "Behave yourself, you grumpy bastard."
A low chuckle rumbled in his chest. "Only so far as you will in my absence, petulant child."
He stepped away sharply and boarded the boat, offered no last look at the somewhat raggedly bunch left behind.
The much smaller company watched as the boat floated through the ice into the bright eastern sun until it was nothing more than a dark spot on the lake. The second they were out of sight the tone of the crowd changed and the guards swept through, shooing everyone away.
"Lady Josephine." Fili said worriedly, drawing her attention back to Kili. "He cannot stay out here. Are we to go back to the Master's house?"
She scoffed, shrugging off her top cloak and pulling it around Kili's shoulders as he shivered. "Fuck that. I've got a better idea…and he's not just gonna be happy about it."
Kili could barely shuffle his feet by the time they reached Bard's house, Bofur and Fili had practically carried him there. She knocked twice and the door swung outward to the frustrated face of Bard.
"No. I told you, I'm through with dwarves. Go away." He said, his efforts to close his door again stopped by Oin's heavy boot in front of the corner of it.
"Please," Fili pushed up next to her. "My brother's sick."
"The orc arrow." Josephine reminded Bard. "You know nobody else will take us in."
He looked them over, pausing for what seemed like longer than necessary before pushing the door open wider and stepping aside. "Come on. Put him in the bed over there."
As night fell, the children bustled in the kitchen, looking like they were trying to block out the sound of Kili's moans and cries. Josephine sat on the edge of the bed, pressing a cold cloth to his head while Oin fussed with another athelas poultice. They were down to the wire, she only hoped her gambling was going to turn out right.
Durin's day was three weeks away, but she needed Legolas and the orcs to show up that night. If they'd tracked them to Laketown it wasn't out of the realm of possibility that they would be on the right schedule. At least they wouldn't be worrying about a dragon burning down the town for a while.
"We're nearly out." Oin grumbled. "I'll need more."
"I've scoured the whole damn town, there is no more. We'll just have to make do." She said sourly.
Amidst Kili's moans and the clanking of stoneware in the kitchen, a heavy knock interrupted them followed by three guards bursting into the house without waiting.
"Bard! Ye'r under arrest!" Braga said as the other two took him by the arms.
"Da!" Tilda yelled.
"On what charge!" Bard snapped.
"Any charge the Master chooses."
Bain shoved himself in between Bard and Braga. "You're not taking Da anywhere!"
"Bain, I'll be back shortly enough. Look after your sisters."
"But Da-"
"Do as I say!"
Bard was able to take one last worried look around the house as they dragged him out, leaving the door hanging wide open. Silence fell over the room and the children were stunned.
Bofur shut the door against the cold and glanced at them. "He'll be alright. He's not done anythin' wrong…well, cept for sneakin' us in I suppose…"
His platitudes didn't seem to be helping so Josephine caught his attention. "Bofur, go see if you can find more kingsfoil."
She couldn't believe she was hoping for an orc attack, let alone one when they didn't have any weapons and there were three kids running around the house. Three very distracted kids.
Josephine got up from the bed and handed Bain the lukewarm bowl of water she'd been holding. "Here, go get me some more ice from the lake, alright?" She gave him a light push towards the stairs. "Go on now."
Tilda was chopping carrots with tears in her eyes and Sigrid was intently focused on the steaming bowl of stew starting to come together. "Your dad won't be in there forever, I promise."
"Ye best listen to 'er, lasses." Oin added. "She knows what she's talkin' about."
He'd either get out, or she'd break him out. Either way, she'd have him ready to fight Smaug with the black arrow hanging over their table.
An hour passed and Bofur still wasn't back, Kili was only worsening, and they all picked nervously at their dinner for different reasons. The house creaked around them and Josephine jumped, looking up at the ceiling half expecting an orc to crash down through it.
"Are ye alright, Lady Josephine?" Oin asked, pressing another cool cloth to Kili's head.
She opened her mouth to make an excuse but in her moment of distraction, the roof really did cave in. The kids screamed and scattered as an orc crouched on the table, surrounded by shingles and broken beams.
A second orc rushed through the door, getting a face full of pots that Oin threw at it and leaving it off base enough that Fili body slammed it into the wall. The house began to swarm and Josephine grabbed Tilda, nearly throwing her back onto the bed and on the other side of Fili.
Bain threw everything he could find and Sigrid dove under the table.
Snatching up the knife Tilda had been using earlier, Josephine jabbed it several times into the back of the neared orc as another two dropped through the ceiling. They could barely move. It was so thick, there were at least five of them and the dwarves were doing all they could to both distract them from the kids, and hold their own without weapons.
The dull kitchen knife glanced off the armor or another orc, this one flipping the kitchen table to go after Sigrid. Josephine raised it again to at least hope to get its attention when a flash of green came through the door and sliced its throat.
Josephine and Tauriel caught each other's eye and with a barely perceptible nod, Tauriel moved on to the next target. Legolas was next, dropping in and perching for a moment on the edge of the turned over table. He was still just long enough and with his back to her that Josephine took her chance.
She grabbed the hilt of Aragorn's knife and pulled it smoothly from the holster. A proper weapon in hand she joined in as the orcs kept coming. "Fili! Get the kids!." Like she had with Tilda, Josephine shoved Sigrid towards the bed where Fili could look after them and Kili at the same time.
Close quarters slicing and dicing was almost easier with Legolas and Tauriel keeping most of the orcs' attention. But just as quickly as they came, a call echoed out and they started to run. Tauriel bounded after them through the front door. Legolas made to follow but Josephine was between him and his exit. She jammed the tip of the knife into the doorframe right in front of his nose, blocking his way. Her arm shook and her lungs were burning but so were her eyes as she stared up at him.
"Kili was hit with a Morgul arrow, I can't heal him, he needs an elf."
"He is not my concern." His eyes flicked to the knife in her hand. "And I will take that with me."
She wrenched it free from the frame and pressed the tip of it under his chin. "The orcs can wait, and you're not getting this back."
"Why should I?" He spat.
"Because, Legolas…Asea anni" Yes, help this stranger who claims to be your friend from the future. "We'll be friends one day you stuck up, racist, elven princeling and so help me if I get back home and you've walked out on me right now I will make your life a living hell, so get over there and help me save him!"
His face held a stony frown for what seemed like hours and his eyes flicked between her and the dwarves. Finally, he moved. Carefully he grasped her wrist and lowered the knife from his throat.
"Get him on the table." He snapped to the dwarves.
Bain hurriedly righted the furniture and Oin and Fili pulled Kili from the bed. Wide-eyed and clutching a bunch of green stems, Bofur rushed back in, stunned as Legolas snatched the athelas from him.
They huddled around the table while Bain and his sisters tried to cover the holes in the roof, too frightened and wired to go to sleep. Legolas muttered in sindarin as he worked, making a poultice and pressing it into the wound. The night was long and they were all cold, Josephine's hands went numb as she kept the cloth on Kili's brow cool. But at dawn, the sun broke free of the fog and washed over the table. Finally, Legolas stepped back.
"I've done all I can, but I believe it was enough."
There was more color in Kili's cheeks than he'd had in days and the pained scrunch of his brown had relaxed. She was so relieved she threw her arms around Legolas before she could think about it and it happened so suddenly he didn't react.
"Hannon le, mellon nin." She whispered.
He was frozen for a moment, then grasped her by the shoulders and pried her off. "Let me guess. I taught you sindarin as well?'
"No, but I do practice on you."
"Something else to look forward to." He grumbled. "Am I released from your charge or are there any other dying dwarves you wish to threaten me into helping?"
"You're free to go. Promise." She said honestly. Everything else Tauriel had been involved with up to Erebor she could flub. Besides, if Tauriel had run off and Legolas was here, she didn't like the change. The two needed to be back together.
Legolas eyed her carefully, then slowly reached for his belt. He slid the knife sheath off and set it on the table. "Perhaps you stole this, perhaps you did not. Regardless, you should not be unarmed if you continue to travel in such company. Do not make me regret returning it to you."
Josephine grabbed the sheath and slid Aragorn's knife back into it, pressing both flat against her stomach protectively.
"Thank you."
Coldly, he stalked out of the house, shutting the door loudly behind him. Josephine, still clutching Aragorn's knife, stared at the closed door disappointedly. She missed her friend.