Entering through the gates of Bree brought a heavy sense of dread to Bilba, adding to the general feeling of nausea she'd begun to experience some time back.

Her eyes traveled down the dirt streets, past rickety wooden buildings, and toward the gate leading out the other side.

She'd never so much as looked at it the last time and, now, she'd be going through it.

She'd been committed upon leaving the Shire but every step since then had brought a growing sense of uncertainty. It was one thing to decide she wanted to find out what happened to her family, it was another thing entirely to actually set out and do it. Her confidence from her talk with Fram had long since faded, leaving only doubt and fear in its place.

Her family was dead, she knew that. The amount of blood on her clothing testified to that and also to her probably witnessing it.

Did she really WANT to remember that?

She took a deep breath and steeled herself. The not knowing haunted her and subsequently gave her false hope that her family would one day return. It was like a wound that hadn't healed properly. The only way to fix it often was to reopen it, clean it out, and let it heal correctly.

If she ever wanted to move on in her life, and hopefully her future with Fram, she needed to do the same with her past.

They made their way to the Prancing Pony. Before they arrived Gandalf announced he had things to see to and left them. Bilba believed he simply enjoyed being cryptic.

They continued on to the Inn where the rest of the group was, taking up nearly the entire room. Most of them seem startled to see her and she guessed Thorin must have made his position clear before they left.

If there was anything that Dwarf was good at, it was making his position clear.

She started to make her way to a table when the first Dwarf she'd met, Dwalin, loomed up in front of her.

"You able to use that thing?"

He indicated her sword and Bilba absently put a hand on the hilt. "Well enough, though I doubt I'm any expert."

He glowered at her, or maybe that was his normal expression, and stalked off without another word.

Bilba shook her head, and then her attention was caught by a young looking Dwarf, wearing mittens, sitting by himself in a corner. He looked as lost as she felt and she found herself walking to him and sitting down.

"Are all Dwarves so very odd or was it just a prerequisite for joining this group?"

He looked at her in surprise. It made him look even younger and she grew more annoyed at Thorin's claim about HER being too young to go.

"They aren't all so bad," he said quietly. "My brothers are all right."

He indicated two Dwarves, one with a weird, pointy hairstyle and a much older Dwarf. "That's them, Dori and Nori."

Bilba nodded, filing the names away. "And the rest? I know I heard them before but it was a bit chaotic."

Ori grinned. "Just a bit."

He willingly pointed out the rest of the Dwarves to her. There was Balin, the grandfatherly one she remembered, older brother to the scary one, Dwalin. Then there were the brothers Oin and Gloin, then more brothers, Bofur and Bombur and their cousin Bifur who had an axe of all things stuck in his head.

Thorin was talking to Balin and Dwalin. He sent the two off to go ready the ponies they'd be using, then set to getting food laid out for the rest of them, the last decent meal they'd have in an establishment before being reduced to eating on the road.

Bilba watched as the Dwarf came into his own, effortlessly commanding others to do his bidding as if it was the most natural thing in the world. And the others obeyed him as though the thought of defiance never crossed their mind.

There was more to him than a crotchety, ill-mannered Dwarf who didn't know when to shut his mouth. To her surprise, Bilba felt a pang of regret. She'd probably never get the chance to see and get to know the Thorin Oakenshield who inspired such loyalty in his people, and his own nephews. As soon as they reached Rivendell they would move on and leave her behind.

Balin and Dwalin returned and everyone settled down to eat.

Bilba stayed next to Ori while she ordered but, once the food arrived; he politely excused himself and went to sit with his brothers. Fili and Kili were clustered around Dwalin, telling him some story or another, and the others were all speaking to their own family members or one another.

It wasn't that they deliberately shut her out, she knew, it was simply there was no place for her to begin with. They knew each other, they didn't know her.

Thorin was seated by himself at a small table near the wall. He ate slowly, looking out the window, though she noticed he kept one hand near where his sword lay against the wall.

Bilba chewed on her lower lip a moment then put her shoulders back, straightened her head and marched over to sit across from Thorin.

He raised an eyebrow at her as she sat and she rolled her eyes in return.

"Brooding again, are we?"

"I do not brood." He answered. The answer was quick enough she wondered if she weren't the only one to lay the accusation.

"Of course not." Bilba responded, sarcasm heavy in her words. "I'm sorry. You're right. You don't brood. You majestically consider the weight of the world on your shoulders, is that better?"

He studied her. "Most generally show me more respect."

"Is that why you think they won't sit with you?" Bilba leaned forward and lowered her voice in a conspiratorial whisper. "I think it's more likely they fear you'll brood them right out of their appetite."

"I already stated I do not brood." He shot back.

Bilba gave him a look that said what she thought of that comment and started eating. She hadn't PLANNED on baiting him when she'd come over, it just seemed to spring up naturally when she was near him.

He glowered at her a few seconds more, then gave up and started looking back out the window.

Bilba grinned and looked out over the Inn.

A few tables away two men were hunched in a corner booth. The younger one, tall and thin with straggly blond hair, stared at her so openly it was unnerving.

Bilba looked back at him, expecting him to look away, but he only grinned, revealing stained, missing teeth. She frowned, but dismissed him. On her last visit there'd been a few less than pleasant individuals who'd shown interest in her but none had openly threatened her and she'd returned home safely. If she hadn't been bothered then, alone with no escort, she highly doubted anyone would seriously bother her now that she was with a company of Dwarves and Gandalf.

"I shudder to think how you treat whoever passes for a leader in your own town."

"What?" Bilba looked back at Thorin.

He turned his attention away from the window and back toward her. "The utter lack of fear or respect you insist on showing me, is that the way you treat all authority or am I just lucky?"

He was pretty much just lucky.

"You didn't kill me after our first two meetings so I doubt you'll suddenly kill me now." Bilba said. Her eyes went back to the two men. The younger one had pointed her out to the older one, a heavy set man with dark hair drawn back in a messy ponytail and both were openly staring, clearly taking delight in how uncomfortable they were making her. "As for respect, I think you have to earn it."

"Indeed?" Thorin asked. "And what great deeds did your lover do to earn your respect?"

Bilba gaped at him. "My WHAT?"

"The young man waiting for you as we left. He was quiet adamant in seeing you off. You mentioned having no kin, so who else might he be?"

"He's..." Bilba stammered. Her eyes flickered back toward her two watchers, and she grimaced in distaste as one of them made an obscene gesture at her. "Fram is a friend." She said finally. "A very, very good friend and...hopefully...maybe more someday..."

"Indeed." Thorin said. You seem to think highly of him. You must have known each other a long time. Did you grow up together?"

She floundered. "Well, not exactly. Actually, I've only spoken to him twice...but he's lived in the area for years!" The last words came out in a rush and she turned to look at Thorin as she did.

He was looking back over his shoulder, but returned his gaze as though sensing hers. "So you barely know him better than me, yet you count him a friend and potential lover. And you give him your respect."

No. No, that wasn't it at all. She KNEW Fram, she did! She saw him every day, watched him go to the market, saw him interact with his friends and family. Just because she hadn't TALKED to him all that much didn't mean she didn't KNOW him.

"He's done nothing to prove my respect is misplaced," she mumbled finally. She looked up, and her eyes widened at the sight of the two men up and moving purposefully in her direction.

"Nor have I," Thorin said, casually.

And just like that he drew his sword and almost casually drove it into the floorboards between her and the two approaching men. Thorin didn't even bother to turn around before doing it.

Instant silence fell over the tables next to them. Dwalin, Balin, Oin, Gloin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Fili, and Kili – every single one of them was staring at the two men with fixed, blank expressions.

Both of them stopped, as though it had JUST occurred to them that all the Dwarves were together and it wasn't just Thorin and Bilba.

Though Bilba had a feeling the sight of Thorin alone should have been enough warning. Perhaps she should have rethought baiting him after all. She tightened her grip on the hilt of her own sword but was honest enough with herself to admit it probably wouldn't do much good. She'd never practiced against anything but wooden targets, and those her own size. She had zero experience in actual fighting, and especially not against multiple targets, both of whom were larger.

The younger of the two men held his hands up. "Hey, hey, don't go getting all stirred up. We just wanted to say hi to the little lady, right? Been on the road a spell, we have, and haven't seen a woman in even longer."

Bilba felt her skin crawl. There were plenty of women in the Inn, but Bilba was the smallest and youngest of them. For not the first time she mentally cursed the frame she'd been given, it made her look weak.

Right, her mind supplied, because you're not ACTUALLY weak, is that it?

Bilba's mind went to her mother. Belladonna Took had been anything but weak.

"The lady doesn't wish to speak to you," Thorin said. He still hadn't turned around, dismissing the two as insignificant.

Now the older one spoke up. "Now you don't know that, do you? You should let the little lady speak for herself don't you think?"

As he spoke he leaned forward, toward her. Bilba shrank away, only to feel the wood of the bench at her back.

Thorin sighed, and faster than she could see, had the sword out of the floor and at the man's throat. The man froze.

Instant silence fell over the entire Inn.

"I believe her actions speak for themselves," Thorin said, and now his voice held an ice that Bilba didn't even know he possessed. He straightened in his chair, steel in his backbone and a fire in his eyes. In a second he became a thousand times scarier, and more threatening, than Dwalin.

Bilba realized he'd never been angry at her in their interactions, just greatly annoyed.

She definitely should rethink baiting him.

The younger man grabbed his friend's sleeve and tugged him back. "Hey, no harm done." He backed away, dragging the other man, who looked royally pissed off. "We didn't mean anything by it. We'll just be on our way."

They fled, nearly tripping over themselves on their way out.

Sound returned to the Inn, and the others returned to their eating like nothing at all had changed.

The sound of scraping wood sounded and then tables were being shoved against the one she and Thorin sat at. The result was a literal wall of Dwarves blocking her off from the rest of the Inn, and the Inn from her.

It also mean Thorin was now a part of the group. Kili sat down next to him, while Fili clambered over the table to sit next to Bilba.

"Sorry about that," Fili said. "We should have done that to begin with."

"You don't have to protect me," Bilba groused. Then, because it sounded ungrateful, she caught Thorin's attention and said. "Thank you."

"That's the least of the dangers you'll face on this trip, even as far as Rivendell," he responded. "And I entirely fail to see why a young woman of means would wish to go, particularly when she has a lover waiting for her at home."

Bilba flushed again at the use of the word lover.

Around her the sound died away until every one of the Dwarves was looking at her.

"What?" She said. "I can't just want to go on an adventure?"

"You expressed your feelings on the quest quite clearly," Thorin said, his expression blank. "And yet suddenly you announce your desire to prove yourself to us, in spite of the fact none of us have known you long enough to earn your respect."

He said the last part with a slight sneer.

Bilba sighed. "Fine." She looked down at the table, studying the wood grain. "My parents went missing on a trip to Rivendell years ago, along with my brother. I was with them but don't remember what happened. I hoped this trip would bring the memories back."

When she finished talking silence met her words, for so long she was finally forced to look up to meet Thorin's eyes.

He looked relieved.

"Fine." He said. "We will escort you as far as Rivendell. Once there you will return home."

Really? That was it? No questions on why now, no grousing at having to deal with her issues when they had their own to look after?

Around her the other Dwarves nodded and returned to eating, though Fili and Kili looked disappointed.

Bilba's eyes narrowed. "Were you truly that worried? What, did you think I was going to assassinate you all as you slept?"

"I did not know what to think," he responded.

Bilba rolled her eyes. It seemed to be a reoccurring trait of hers whenever she was around Thorin. "You are very paranoid, Thorin Oakenshield."

He shrugged. "I'd also considered you were simply after the gold involved, though I could not see that you seemed in particular need of it."

Bilba's eyes widened. "There's gold?"

Throin looked exasperated. "Did you read the contract before you signed it?"

She hadn't of course, because she didn't plan on continuing and knew Thorin didn't want her along anyway.

Now she couldn't help but smile at him, mischief dancing in her eyes. "I didn't, but now that I know there's GOLD involved...."

Humor flickered around his eyes and mouth but he studiously tried to fight it off. Again, Bilba, caught a glimpse of how young he truly was.

It was locked away again quickly enough, and Bilba felt a pang of sadness.

Without really knowing why, she decided to make her mission twofold.

One, find out what happened to her parents.

Two, get Thorin Oakenshield to lighten up.