Strange Allies

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A/N: This is more movie verse here than book verse. I hope you can forgive me.

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Haldir watched her jam the items into her pack and smiled at her. She could not understand what was happening to her or why and he was content to keep it that way. He would tell her soon enough. Perhaps the night before they reached Lothlorien. That would give her a chance to escape should she finally succumb to her desire.

But what of his desire? What would his escape be? He would not need one. No, he had seen the admiration in her eyes. He would not need an escape. He wanted this. More than ever he wanted to see her desire for him openly in her eyes.

When he finally realized that she was not going to pay any attention to him and felt the salve had dried enough, he slowly put on his tunic. His shoulder no longer burned but a dull ache had settled into it and he was feeling almost a bit tired. Annowe had been correct – if he had kept walking he would not have made it much farther. He had lost too much blood.

Her keen nurturing senses picked up his movement and she watched him anxiously, looking for any sign of pain as he slipped on his tunic. He grunted and grimaced but it wasn’t too horrible and she relaxed. He should heal quickly but she feared he would need to rest before they could continue on their journey.

“You should rest,” she said softly, handing him some lembas. “I can keep the fire going through the night and stand watch.”

Silently he took the lembas from her, his eyes meeting hers. He saw no malice or pity there, just concern. He could accept her malice but he could not bear her pity.

When he didn’t answer, she smiled thinly. “I guess it is your turn to trust me to keep you safe,” she said, raising an eyebrow.

“Indeed it would seem that way,” he acknowledged, biting off a piece of lembas and chewing it thoughtfully as he continued to study her. She was such an odd creature and it fascinated him. She had a backbone of mithril and yet he knew firsthand how tender she could be. Why did she come back for him when he told her to run? Why did she tend to his wound when she could have easily escaped to the river, leaving him to the wolves?

Had she indeed hated him as much as she said, she would have wasted no opportunity to be rid of him. But she did not. Given the chance to abandon him to his fate, she had stayed and come to his aid. That was not hatred. He smiled and looked down at the lembas in his hands. No, she did not hate him, not completely. Mild loathing perhaps but not outright hatred.

“What are you grinning about?” She demanded crossly, thinking he must be planning some new torment for her.

He raised his twinkling eyes to hers. “You would not believe me if I told you,” he murmured.

She narrowed her eyes at him then snorted. “Try me.”

“I was wondering if you would allow me to rest my head in your lap to sleep,” he lied to see her response. How far could he take this? He wondered.

“You’re right, I don’t believe you,” she scowled. “Why do you need to put your head in my lap to sleep? You have your cloak and pack to lie on.”

“Yes, I do. But I will need those to cushion my shoulder against. You know elves usually sleep on their backs,” he reminded her.

She seemed to consider this for a few moments. “I will need to be near the fire so I can tend it while you sleep,” she pointed out. It was not an outright refusal, as he would have predicted. She never ceased to surprise him. He turned away so she could not see the grin on his face.

“Very well. I have some more firelight in my pack. I will place it near you so you can use it if you need it,” Haldir said, reaching for his pack to produce the promised item.

She nodded and removed her sword belt so she could keep her scimitar near her. With the extra firelight and her scimitar at her side, Annowe sat down near the fire, her knees tucked up to one side under her so Haldir could make himself comfortable against her legs. He folded up his cloak and positioned his backpack so that he would not put any undue pressure on his injured shoulder.

Carefully he stretched out and placed his head gently on Annowe’s thigh, surprised that she would allow him such familiarity.

As if to answer his unspoken observation, she murmured a bit ruefully, “I guess it is my turn to be the pillow.”

Haldir smiled up at her. “Indeed it is,” he agreed.

She watched him for a few moments then turned to stare off at the horizon, watching and waiting as he settled himself comfortably. She did not want to look at him lying against her, his thick flaxen hair spilling over her thighs, his pink lips slightly parted so temptingly. No, she did not need to see him like that. It only increased her ache for Legolas and made Haldir seem more attractive to her and that was bad. She did not need to have any more of those disturbing thoughts of the March Warden’s naked skin against hers as their hungry lips met. Stop it! She growled to herself.

Soon Haldir’s breathing became regular and she knew he slept even though his eyes were open. Slowly, Annowe felt her gaze drawn toward him. How had that wolf managed to catch him so off guard? She wondered. Certainly he had to smell it, to feel it. Perhaps it was the overwhelming number of them that had thrown him off? Whatever the reason, it made her uneasy. What if Legolas had run into the same pack of wolves? Her only consolation was that the ranger and Gandalf traveled with him. There were more than enough of them to take care of any wolves if they had not been caught off guard. No, Legolas would have sensed them and alerted the others as Haldir had alerted her.

She knew the world around them was becoming more dangerous with each passing day. Elrond had been right – there was no time to waste. It made her more anxious than ever to reach Lothlorien so she could be on her way to Pelargir.

As her thoughts drifted, her eyes turned to gaze into the fire. All of her senses were alert and her hand rested easily on the grip of her scimitar but her mind began to wander. Random scenes flashed before her eyes, some she recognized and some she did not but it did not concern her and she let those play out, waiting. Waiting to see if a vision came to her.

Those images soon faded into a scene of Legolas, a dwarf at his side, fighting on a wall. Haldir was there as well. Her heart leapt at the sight of Legolas, clad in his dark armor and brandishing his bow. He was alive!

Then suddenly, her gaze was inexplicably drawn to the March Warden in her vision and, as if replaying the events of earlier, she saw darkness surround him. Without warning, a glint of steel flashed in the shadows behind him and Haldir fell forward, a stunned look on his face as the weapon was quickly withdrawn. Instinctively, she knew the wound was fatal and jerked violently at the frightening vision, causing Haldir to immediately awaken in her lap.

“What is it?” He demanded, quickly rising to a sitting position next to her and reaching for his sword in one swift motion.

She looked at him terrified, clutching at his arm. Her eyes were wild and she gasped trying to speak but could not find her voice. It had seemed so real that for a moment, Annowe could not remember where she was.

He frowned at her and would have chastised her had she not looked so fearful. Quickly, he glanced around but the night was still and quiet. He did not appreciate being awakened so abruptly for no apparent reason. But the look on her face gave him pause. Something had frightened her quite badly. He stared at her in puzzlement. Her face was pale and drawn in the firelight; her eyes terrified and he felt the hair on the back of his neck rise. She had not intentionally awakened him.

“You’ve seen something, haven’t you? Some vision?” He asked softly, searching her eyes. She was visibly trembling and seemed almost on the verge of tears as she clung desperately to his arm.

She nodded but did not answer him, still unable to make the words come. She lowered her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. She had to tell him, he needed to know that he was in danger. She squeezed his arm several times to steady herself, to remind herself that it was only a vision and he was safe for now.

“What is it? The wolf?” He asked, gripping her chin firmly, forcing her to look at him, urging her to speak.

She shook her head slightly in his grasp. “The wolf was just a warning,” she finally managed to whisper, reluctantly meeting his gaze. “A warning to watch your back. You must watch your back.”

He furrowed his brow and studied her for a moment before he gently released his grip on her. She had certainly seen something that had disturbed her quite badly.

“When?” He asked.

She shivered. “Soon I think. Legolas is there and the dwarf from Rivendell,” she answered.

“Where?” He pressed.

“I don’t . . . I don’t know. On a wall – a battlement somewhere,” she frowned, searching for any familiarity to the scene and finding none.

He considered this. A battlement meant it was not Lothlorien and not Rivendell. Mirkwood perhaps? No, that was a series of caves. Where? Minas Tirith or Mordor? That was not out of the question. She didn’t recognize it so it wasn’t Pelargir or anywhere to the south of that.

“Who?” He whispered urgently.

“Haldir, please!” She fairly wailed at him, needing him to understand he was in danger. “I don’t know! You’re on a wall with Legolas and the dwarf from Rivendell. Sometime soon and you are attacked from behind by someone that I couldn’t see! Now promise you’ll watch your back!”

“As you wish, Annowe,” he soothed and patted her trembling hand that was still gripping his arm tightly.

“No! Say it! You must say it! Say ‘I promise I will watch my back’,” she demanded, squeezing his arm until it almost hurt him. She desperately needed to hear him say those words. He had to say the words to make it real – a pact between the two of them.

She was so distraught that he would have promised her anything at that moment, even to cease tormenting her, if would have eased her mind. He had certainly not seen her in such a state before. She was absolutely terrified for him. A faint tremble passed through him – whether it was desire, admiration or guilt he did not know or care. He would have sworn to walk to Mount Doom after the Prince of Mirkwood had she asked him.

“I promise, daughter of Ulmo, that I will watch my back,” Haldir said softly, meeting her frightened eyes. “And you must make me a promise as well.”

“What is that?” She asked, relaxing her grip on him only slightly.

“That if you see this vision again, you pay more attention to it so I can be better prepared,” he murmured.

She sighed in relief and nodded in agreement then inexplicably threw her arms around his neck and hugged him close. He grunted in pain but did not rebuke her. She was certainly terrified and he could feel her trembling as he wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her back soothingly.

What had she seen? He would ask her again later, when she had calmed down. Perhaps she would remember more details once she had gotten over her initial fright. For the moment, he was content to hold her tightly in his arms, feeling her small warm body pressing against his without any animosity between them. He closed his eyes and held her close, sealing the bargain. Yes, he would watch his back.

“I thought you hated me,” he couldn’t resist reminding her.

She sniffed then cleared her throat. “Well, I do. But not that much,” she admitted in a small voice, pulling away from him before he could get any funny ideas and try to take advantage of the situation or her distress.

“Ah, I see,” he smiled, tipping his head to her and trying not to smile wolfishly. He failed miserably and couldn’t even keep the amusement from his voice as he added, “Perhaps you would miss me? Miss our stimulating conversations if I were to perish?”

She snorted then giggled despite herself. He was completely odious.

“Perhaps,” she replied, baiting him. He so completely deserved a good thrashing but she did not want to see any of Eru’s Firstborn perish. Not even him.

And then he smiled at her. Not his usual smug smile or his tormenting smile but a genuine smile of affection and she laughed, the fearful vision losing it’s terrifying hold on her.

“Now rest again,” she said. “I won’t wake you until we’re attacked or the sun rises. Whichever comes first.”

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