A/N: Over a thousand apologies for the lateness of this chapter. Literally I could not think of anything to do to actually carry this on, so I was left to plan it for about a month and then write it up for less than 7 days. It may seem repetitive and I'm sorry but it can't be avoided, I seriously may want to re-do this at a later date. But for now, please read and offer what you think.

"Oh no" Fili's eyes were wide as he pushed Kili lightly behind him and crouched onto the floor, attempting to pick up the large fragments and only managing to harm himself.

Bilbo nearly shouted at the dwarves for destroying one of his most prized possessions before he realized that red was spilling on the floor.

It was blood.

Fili's blood.

"Oh goodness, oh goodness" he repeated over and over, hands hovering over the blood and then the plate and then Fili's hands which were bleeding profusely.

"Master!" Fili was on the verge of tears, as was his brother who remained rooted to the spot half a metre away, "Please, allow me to clean! Please, please!" he moved to pick up the remnants of the crockery but his hands were batted away by his Hobbit Master. Baggins rushed hastily into another room and picked out the supplies he needed and returned in record time with bandages and cloths. Fili and Kili's eyes went as wide as saucers

"Away! Away from the plates!" Bilbo said, alarmed to see that they were moving to the broken shards despite his orders not to "You'll hurt yourself!" Bilbo acted quickly, he brushed the shards quickly into a corner of the room to clean up with later and turned to the dwarves, eyes softening as they recoiled. He noticed how Fili subtly stepped forwards to protect his sibling, talking before the other did. Bilbo noticed how the older brother always seemed to speak before the other had a chance. He was curious why he did that. Protection? Fear? It was unusual behaviour for brothers as close as these two.

"We're sorry Master, we're sorry, we didn't mean to. We promise not to do it again, we promise not to do it agai-" Fili was cut off by Bilbo laying a small, gentle hand on his shoulder,

"It's okay. It's okay" Bilbo whispered, as calm as one could when their heart was hammering against their ribs, nudging him to the couch by the fire and sitting him down before kneeling in front of him, holding out his palms and ignoring how Kili shuffled behind him, peering over his shoulder to check what he was doing "Your hands, can I look at them?" Fili flinched, bringing his hands a little closer to his almost bare chest.

"Y-You don't have to Mast-"

"Hands." Bilbo said sternly, tone relaxing as Fili's blue eyes widened "Please, Fili. Just let me see them. I need to see them." The blonde dwarf looked as if he was expecting another blow once he finally offered out his bleeding hands. Bilbo gratefully took them, with a stifled sigh, with such gentleness it reminded him of when his mother would do the same. The cuts on Fili's dirtied hands were clean but thankfully not deep. Beside him was a small bowl of water and he dipped a cloth inside before gradually cleaning the cuts, wincing when Fili's breath hitched. He left the blood-soaked towel into the bowl and bound the hands in fresh, clean bandages.

"There we go" Baggins said, patting Fili's arm softly and forcing a small smile "All done." He paused when the dwarf didn't look up "Are you alright, Fili?"

"Why are you treating us like this, Master?" the older dwarf whispered. Bilbo blinked in something that could only be described as shock

"What?"

"Like this? Why are you treating us like equals? We're nothing but slaves." Bilbo eyes the brothers calmly. In all honesty, he didn't know. Why was he actually treating them like he was? Why did he feel the need to buy them, take them into his home and feed them? Treat the like they were nothing less than guests? In all honesty, he had no idea. When he had first saw them, he had just felt pulled towards them. Fili's questions remained unanswered; instead, Bilbo remained silent as he delicately picked up the large shards of crockery, inspecting them in the light of the afternoon invading from a nearby window.

"Master, please, let us fix it-" Kili began

"It's fine, I can repair it" Bilbo interrupted, turning to them and offering a small, warm smile.

It can be repaired.

"But-"

"I will repair it, Fili" Bilbo said, rubbing his eyes in more of exhaustion then exasperation.

"Y-Yes Master…" the blonde mumbled forlornly, looking at his feet again, his brother mimicking his actions.

"Bilbo."

"Master?" Fili blinked at the smaller male

"Call me Bilbo, please." The young one's eyes were almost pleading; much like Fili's when he begged for him to take his brother "None of this 'Master' business, please."

"Yes… Bilbo" the name lolled off Fili's tongue and he seemed to roll it around his mouth, testing it, a grimace following. The Baggins nodded gratefully. They were bathed in silence, apart from the crackling of the dying fire when a fearsome yawn ripped itself from Kili's lips, which was covered quickly.

"Oh! You must both be tired." Bilbo said, mentally beating himself. He was a Baggins! He should be doing so much better than this!

"I can show you to your room, if you want?"

Both Fili and Kili exchanged shocked glances at that. Not only were they allowed to stay inside this warm house, but they got a room? This was too good to be real. Perhaps they were being tested by their new Master? Or Bilbo even? Maybe he was testing if they would misbehave or break the rules so he could punish them…? But Mast- Bilbo- didn't seem like the sort of hobbit who would do that. He had treated them kindly so far.

He had made them feel more at home than any of their previous masters had. He never shouted at them. Never called them names like 'Dog' or 'Bitch' or 'Whore'. He had not beaten them until they could no longer scream or cry. He had not left them in the cold outside, not even lay a finger on them!

No, he had brought them into his home. He had released them from their bonds and allowed them to sit in chairs. He fed them the best meal they had had in decades. And even though they had accidentally broken one of his plates and forgotten to clean up after themselves, he had stayed calm and collected. He had wrapped up Fili's cuts and wrapped them in bandages.

"Uhm… Please. Ma-" A critical look "-Bilbo."

Maybe, just maybe, the brothers finally had something nice coming their way.

Right?

Bilbo didn't know why he was shaking slightly when he walked to the spare room, the brothers padding quietly behind him. Perhaps it was just the shockwave of everything coming back to bite him on the backside? Most likely.

"Erm… You'll have to share a bed." He quipped, cursing that his voice shook "I'm not sure if it'll be big enough for the both of you, it should but I'm sure something can be arranged if it isn't." He arrived at the spare bedroom that was 3 doors down from his.

His hand hovered over the door handle. He nearly retracted it. It had been so many years since he had been in that room. It used to be his Mother and Father's bedroom. After their…passing, he refused to go anywhere near it, even doing as much as running past it to avoid the urge to look inside. And yet here he was now, offering it to two dwarves after so many years of it being otherwise untouched.

"Mama?" small hands gripped at the sheets covering the bed as another clap of thunder lit the room in a fiendish glow.

"Bilbo?" Belladonna Baggins eyed her son with worry "What are you doing out of bed?" Another wallop of lightning, louder this time, making the tiny Baggins jump and scurry quickly under the duvet, slotting himself in his mother's side.

"The thunder, mama, I don't like it" Bilbo whispered, covering his tear stained cheeks

"Hush, my child" his mother cooed, stroking his curled locks "Mama is here. Mama will protect you from the lightening" Blue eyes, almost drowning in tears, stared up at the female Took "Mama will always be here to protect you."

"Always?" A kiss to a soft forehead.

"Always, my child."

You lied.

"Bilbo?" A voice said in his ear, so familiar to his mothers, and he blinked, realizing he had lost himself in his thoughts and was merely standing in the –surprisingly open- doorway, Fili and Kili behind him, shuffling from foot to foot.

"Oh. Right. Yes, sorry" Bilbo apologized, shaking those kinds of thoughts out of his mind. He walked inside; looking around the room and feeling his throat constrict slightly but coughed it away. No point breaking down in front of his guests. "It isn't much but it will do, I hope. Is this alright for you both?" Bilbo turned, watching the pair behind him. Both had wide eyes as they stared intently at their new surroundings.

"It's perfect." Kili breathed

"Thank you." Fili finished, looking alarmingly close to tears.

Bilbo nodded, clasping his hands behind his back and bouncing at the balls of his feet.

"There's a bathroom through that door over there, you may bathe yourself there as well. There should already be towels there; however I don't think there are any clothes that will be able to fit you in the house. My room is a few doors down the corridor in case you need me during the night. If you need me later in the day, however, you'll be able to find me elsewhere in the house or garden. You should be able to find your way back." He looked at the brothers once more before nodding and deciding to make his leave. Kili and Fili thanked him a dozen more times as he left and he did his best to wave them all off with a smile.

Bilbo closed the door behind him, leaving it slightly ajar should he need to hear anything later, before he travelled back into the living room to sort out the mess across his carpet and floor.

The rug in front of the fireplace had small blotches of blood here and there that would be a nightmare to get out, but thankfully not impossible. He rolled it up and propped it against a wall to deal with another time before he picked his way through the broken plate forlornly. He ran his fingers over the pattern, careful not to cut himself, and felt tears in his eyes.

He covered his face with his hands as he exhaled a shaky breath.

It was only a plate.

Little bit longer than the last 2 chapters for you :) Again, sorry for the wait and bad-ish chapter. I just really wanted to get this out of the way and over and done with.

Anyway, if I don't see you before, Merry Christmas to you all and hope you guys have a Happy New Year! See you soon, if not, in 2015! *hug*