A/N: Ha! I was looking back at my first chapter today, and I had said this fic would be no longer than four chapters. Uh…yeah. So much for that! :-) I think I will have about two more chapters after this, but I'm not certain. Don't want to miss guess again…

Anyway, I'd like to thank szepilona10, Inwe Nolatari, trecebo, ringbearingreasergal, Calathiel of Mirkwood, joshifine, Peregrin Inonad, and Jimmy Candlestick for reviewing on chapter five! Thank you so much, you guys! I really appreciate the encouragement! Now! On to chapter six so you all can discover the….

Chapter Six: Stranger's Identity

A knife flashed soundlessly in the darkness, and the man collapsed, revealing the dark shadow behind him. A jagged line of bodies wrapped around the outside of the razor wire fence which encircled the grey stone building, a silent testament to the silent specter who had ended their lives. The form reached down and wiped the blade of the knife on the shirt of the final sentry, his movements smooth and completely noiseless.

The figure paused and ran gleaming blue eyes over the razor wire. After a moment of contemplation, a slim hand ducked into the pocket of the black jeans and pulled out a wire cutter. The form hesitated for a brief moment and glanced down the brown track that consisted to this building's road. They should be here soon. But he knew he could not wait for the aid. The precious minutes were ticking by, and time was running out for the one he sought.

He shuddered visibly at the thought of coming too late and sheathed the knife with a trembling hand. He knew the danger of what he was about to do, knew the risks that it held, but he had no other options. He shed the sweatshirt and pushed the baseball cap back slightly, revealing short blond hair. Adjusting the holster for the Glock 18 pistol at his side, he grasped the wire cutters and attacked the fence vigorously.

In less then five minutes, a small hole was made in the fence, and the figure slipped through the wire into the complex. Though the ground was covered in sticks and dried leaves, his footsteps made no noise, and he crept silently up to the single guard who leaned indolently on the door, weapon dangling carelessly.

The figure paused for a brief moment before drawing the knife once more and flipping it so he grasped the end of the blade. In a quick flick of the wrist, he threw the sharp object, watching as it rotated through the air and slammed into the throat of the guard. The man's eyes went wide with horror and a strangled gasp escaped him before he slumped to the ground.

The phantom stepped forward and retrieved his blade, leaning over the dead guard's body, a look of sorrow in the ancient eyes. "Goheno nin," he whispered, saddened that all this death must happen over one man's greed. Reaching down, he gently closed the guard's eyes.

Straightening, the black clad figure moved toward the door and drew a thin, two by four inch object from inside his shirt. Placing it on the door, he punched a button. A small orange screen lit up and a list of numbers began steadily decreasing.

Abandoning all semblance of caution, he jumped away from the door, slapping more of the charges against the walls of the building as he ran. Reaching the base of a tree, he leaped up into the branches and walked along a limb until he was above the roof of the complex. Dropping down on the flat roof, he sprinted across the roof and pulled up a grate, dropping without hesitation into the darkness below as the small orange numbers hit zero.

o-0-o-0-o

Legolas hissed in a mixture of anger and pain as a fresh charge jolted through him. Kell had evidently become tired of whatever games he was playing and decided to follow through with his earlier threat, activating the elf's electric bonds. Every time he moved, an electric charge originated from his wrists and traveled through his body. The volts were not fatal, just painful, and though he tried to remain still, even the very slightest movement set them off.

And right now, remaining perfectly still was an agony. His shoulder throbbed unmercifully, and he trembled slightly as the loss of blood began to affect him. His head felt light and the room tilted dizzyingly whenever he blinked. He grimaced as another volt ripped through him, and a spasm reflexively shook his frame. Luckily, it paused five seconds after each strike so the spasms would not set if off into a continuous cycle.

He sighed and closed his eyes, feeling despair prying at his heart. It was next to impossible that anyone would find him here, where ever here was, and he knew that there would be no more escape attempts. Kell and his cronies had seen to that. In one part of his mind, he ranted against the unfairness of the situation. He had lived so long and seen so much – even the changing of the world. Why would his life be so unjustly ended now? What was Ilúvatar's wisdom in this? Another part of him calmly and stoically accepted the fate assigned for him, knowing that there was a reason for everything, even if he could not see it at the moment. Perhaps this was Ilúvatar's way of calling him home.

"If you want me back so badly, you could have asked," he mumbled to himself. "Was it really necessary to go to these extremes?"

There was only silence to his question, but his musings were disrupted by a thunderous boom followed quickly by another and another. The entire building shook to its foundations and cracks appeared above him as plaster rained down from the ceiling. Ashley screamed, and Legolas flinched, half expecting the building to come crashing down, but though it creaked and groaned ominously, it remained standing.

A white, powdery dust filled the room, and Legolas coughed and shut his eyes. Shouts could be heard from the hallways and the sound of running footsteps. Moments later, the lights flickered and died, complete darkness falling over the room. Legolas gave his bonds a tentative jerk, and nothing happened. With a relived sigh, he let his elven eyes adjust and looked over at Ashley. She was trembling with fear and eyeing the ceiling warily but seemed fine.

Satisfied for the moment, he turned his attention to his bonds. He had never been awake long enough to try to escape his bonds before, but now, the guards would be distracted from the security cameras, and he might have a chance. As he worked his right wrist in its bindings, he pondered what could have caused such a violent explosion. He heard no gun fire, so he doubted that it was a rescue, but he could not quell the hope. Knowingly, Kell had been doing some other questionable activity, and it had backfired on him.

He smiled grimly at the thought and glanced at his wrist which was now wet with his own blood. The fluid made his wrist slick, and he ignored the stinging and patiently twisted his hand back and forth, attempting to work the manacle over his palm. Finally, he gave it a jerk, and the cuff slid off his wrist.

Wincing, he flexed the sore hand and slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position. His head spun, and the bullet wound in his shoulder sent flashing of agonizing pain through his arm, but he tried his best to pay it no heed. He stared down at the steel binding his left wrist to the platform, knowing that there was no way he would be able to do the same thing with that hand. His shoulder would never allow him to put even the slightest bit of stress on it. He scowled at the offending wound.

Abruptly, the door slid open, and he sighed tiredly, wondering not for the first time if bad luck just naturally seemed to stick close to him. Bright flashlights held by several silhouettes shone into the room, and Legolas squinted and raised his free hand to shade his eyes.

"Been busy, I see, Lasgalen," one of the figures, Kell, said. His voice was taunt with strain and fury.

Legolas shrugged with his good shoulder, lowing his hand and letting his eyes adjust once more. "There wasn't anything else to do."

"Clean the blood off his wrist and bind him back down," Kell ordered the soldiers, he drew a pistol from his jacket in a silent warning against trying anything as the two men moved to obey. He impatiently pulled a radio off his belt. "Get the generators running now!"

Legolas did not resist as the soldiers bound him back down. It would have been foolish, and even if he could have , he would have never been able to get out alone, anyway. Part of him wondered if that was wisdom or despair speaking to him, but he really didn't care at the moment. It was just good to see Kell flustered.

Soon after the guards finished rebinding him, the lights flickered on dimly, lighting the room with a shadowy, yellow light. Legolas had to snicker at the sight of Kell. The normally dark haired man now sported locks white from plaster and drywall dust.

"What?" Kell demanded, hearing his quiet laugh.

"I am surprised how much the explosion aged you, fern min," Legolas answered cheekily. "But then, men age quickly."

Kell gave him a glare that would have cause Sauron to blink. "You don't look much better, elf. Shut up."

Legolas matched his glare with one of profound annoyance. "What is going on, melch adan? Did something go wrong, or is someone threatening your profits?"

"I will have everything back under control in a few moments," Kell shot back, his face flushed with sweat and anger. Stepping forward, he grasped the elf's shirt and shook him roughly. "Who is this blasted person?"

Legolas gasped with pain and shot him a death glare. "What do you mean?"

"Don't play coy with me," Kell snarled and backhanded him fiercely.

For a few moments, his mind wavered between unconsciousness and reality, and all was dark and uncertain. Legolas felt tempted just to give up and let the blackness take him, but his pride and honor fought desperately against the wish to surrender. With a deep shuddering breath, he pushed back all pessimistic thoughts and forced himself to open his eyes, unwilling to let Kell win.

But, except for Ashley, the room was empty.

He glanced around in confusion, wondering if he had been out longer than he had thought. With a frustrated sigh, he relaxed back on the hard platform and stared moodily at the plain white ceiling, dimmed a yellowish grey by the poor lighting.

And…the door hissed open once more.

Legolas sighed tiredly, resisting the urge to yell a list of choice dwarven and quenya expletives in the man's face. Couldn't he just leave him alone? As if things weren't bad enough without his charming presence.

A soft gasp from by the door caused him to glance quickly over, and he froze, his eyes wide and mouth dropping open with unabashed astonishment. It couldn't be…. This was not true – he had to be dreaming or hallucinating. Or perhaps, it was one final, cruel trick by Kell. It just couldn't be true.

But it was.

His tongue came unglued. "Adar!"

o-0-o-0-o

The tires of the corvette passed over the hard-packed dirt road with ease, belying the tension of its two occupants. Tree-covered mountains rose up as inky shadows and melded with the equally black sky on one side, as sheer cliffs dropped away on the other, disappearing into the night below. The lights of the vehicle pierced into the sinister murk and lit the road ahead, causing an occasional deer to dart deeper into the forest.

Then the mocking serenity of the night was broken by a thunderous explosion, the flames lighting up the sky in a spectacular display. The leaves on the trees quivered, the ground shook, and all the creatures ceased their nocturnal noises. All fell silent save for the roar of the car.

Elladan stared up at the mountain side as bright flames licked upward and colored the sky a foreboding orange. He glanced over at Elrohir who gripped the steering wheel tightly with white-knuckled hands, his face taunt and void of emotion.

"I think," the older twin said rather lamely, "we're getting close."

"Obviously," Elrohir said, his tone dry. "I wonder what that crazy elf is doing."

"If he's even there," Elladan muttered, eyeing the glowing skyline with growing concern. What is the thug had lied? What if they were walking into a trap? What if Legolas was – He choked off that thought before he could even finish thinking it.

Think positive! he scolded himself. If there is anything wrong, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Elrohir shot him a knowing glance. "He's fine, you'll see. He's lived too long to go now." He twisted the wheel sharply, sending the vehicle skidding wildly around a curve. "Look – I see the complex."

Elladan peered ahead, the reprimand for his twin's harebrained driving already forgotten. Elrohir stopped the car, and they stared ahead at the burning building before them. Guards ran aimlessly about in the flickering light, seeming uncertain what to do, and the elves glanced at each other.

"We couldn't have a more perfect distraction than if we asked for it personally," Elrohir announced, grabbing his Uzi and opening the car door.

Elladan followed his example, swinging a backpack of ammo over his shoulders yet eyeing the blaze warily. "We better hurry, though. I doubt they'll get this under control, and I don't think they'll call the fire department."

Elrohir snorted, flicking the safety off his Uzi. "That would bust this little op of theirs for certain. Come on. Let's find Legolas. Just remember that you're going to explain what happened to his car once we find him."

"He won't need a car once I find him," Elladan said, his attempt at forced humor falling flat. He checked the 50-round clip once more and set off at a silent jog towards the building, his brother at his heels.

They reached the razor wire fence and steel gates, when Elladan stopped short with an exclamation of surprise and knelt beside the motionless form of a black clad guard lying motionless on the ground. In all appearances, he appeared to be sleeping except for the bloodied gash across his throat.

Frowning, Elladan searched the ground for tracks as to the man's killer, but the dirt was undisturbed. The man's weapon had not been taken and lay neatly beside him as if it had been placed there.

"Do you think Legolas got out by himself?" Elrohir asked.

Elladan did not answer immediately but touched the man's neck lightly before rocking back on his heels and chewing thoughtfully on the inside of his cheek. "I don't know," he admitted at last. "I believe only an elf could have made this kill, though I could be wrong. Even in this modern world, there are a few edain who can rival the elves with their woodcraft. Whoever did it is near, for it is only a few minutes old, and the blood is still warm and moist."

He stood and peered up at the gates, searching for handholds. "Whatever happened, we should still check the complex to make sure Legolas is not in there."

Elrohir nodded and sprang up the gate, scaling it with ease and dropping down the other side. Elladan followed him with slightly more care, his thoughts busily occupied with the new development. Dropping silently down, he took in the ever-changing positions of the frantic guards and ran his eyes along the burning building, searching for a usable entrance.

His scan of the area was interrupted by a familiar thwack-thwack-thwack which rose over the roar of the fire, and Elrohir grabbed his arm and pointed up into the sky as a large helicopter rose over the mountain and zeroed in on the complex.

The guards on the ground looked up a few moments later, and shouts of fresh panic and alarm spread among them. Several began to sprint towards the elven twins, thoughts of escape through the gate clear in their minds. Others raised their weapons and let loose a torrent of bullets at the approaching craft. The helicopter shrugged it off as if would a swarm of flies and replied with the memorable, thunderous fifty cal, raking its line of fire in systematic patterns across all open space.

The guards racing toward the gate fell first, almost ripped apart by the powerful weapon, and Elrohir shoved Elladan to the ground as a line of bullets hammered into the gate where they had been standing a moment before.

The helicopter hovered above the ground, firing on any who dared step into the vision of its gunner, as ropes where dropped down and soldiers repelled down, the light of the fire glinting on SIGs, helmets, and night vision goggles.

"This is obviously a realSWAT team." Elrohir muttered in his brother's ear as they pushed themselves cautiously back to their feet. "Should we be worried?"

The soldiers began to fan out about the courtyard of the complex, and three started towards the twins, weapons raised. "Remain still, and drop your weapons, or we will shoot," one called out.

"Uh, yeah," Elladan answered his brother while setting his Uzi on the ground with exaggerated care. "I'm worried."

o-0-o-0-o

Legolas could not believe his eyes, as his father rushed forward. Thranduil was dressed in black with cropped blond hair and looked more like a secret agent wanna be than the former king of Eryn Lasgalen.

"Adar," he repeated, looking with stunned eyes into his father concerned face. "Adar, what are you doing here? Am I dreaming? Are you real?"

His father reached down and gently touched his son's cheek, tears of relief and worry glimmering in his blue eyes. "I am here and am completely real, ion nín," he said, his voice calm, though it shook slightly. His face darkened as he lightly fingered his son's restraints and inspected the bruises on his face and the wound in his shoulder. "What have they done to you, penneth?"

"Nothing a little time won't heal," Legolas replied, a small smile working its way onto his features. He still wondered if this was but a figment of a fevered mind, but he no longer cared. If this was only a dream, then it was one he was only too happy to keep dreaming.

"How do I release these restrains?" Thranduil asked, crouching down and checking the sides of the platform for any switch or button.

"I'm guessing Kell has a master switch somewhere," Legolas replied, his shock at seeing his father slowly evaporating and being replaced by a professional sense of calmness. "He released me once, but that was only after he left the room. I believe you can release Ashley, however." He nodded towards the girl.

Thranduil stood and shifted his discerning gaze on the girl who eyed him dully in return. "Where is Shawn?"

Legolas blinked. "You knew they were here?"

"Yes," Thranduil answered grimly as he stepped beside the girl's chair and searched for a way to release her bonds. "I know much about Kell and what he does, including the fact that he watched you for a number of years before making his move."

Legolas stared at his father. "How…?"

"We can talk more of this later," Thranduil answered, his voice becoming clipped as he pressed a small button on the side of Ashley's chair, freeing the girl. "Where is Shawn?" he repeated.

Legolas closed his eyes briefly, the guilt and grief assailing him once more. "I – I tried to escape," he said at last, opening his eyes and attempting to hold back the tears. "It was foolish of me, but I was desperate. It failed miserably, and Kell, he…shot Shawn. I think he died instantly, but I don't know. Kell had shot me in the shoulder, and so I wasn't very observant at the time."

Thranduil stepped back over to his son's side and gently squeezed his hand. "It was not your fault," he said softly. "Kell is to blame for all of this. He –"

The muted rattle of machine gun fire from outside the building caused him to pause, and he sent a worried glance at the door. "I wonder who that could be."

Legolas gave a hollow laugh. "Probably Elladan and Elrohir. You know they always favor grand entrances over subtlety."

Thranduil shook his head with a small smile. "Those gwanur will be the death of us yet." He turned and glanced at Ashley who still sat unmoving in her chair, her expressionless eyes staring vacantly at the elves. Satisfied that she wasn't going anywhere, he turned his attention back to the binders holding his son's wrists to the table. "We really need to get these off and get out of here. I'm not sure how fast this fire will spread, and I don't like the fact that Kell has vanished."

"You're not going anywhere." Ashley's emotionless voice caused them both to glance sharply over at her. "You've overlooked something, you know," she said, and the edges of a hateful smile began to play at the edges of her lips.

As on cue, footsteps resounded on the floor out in the hall, and Thranduil spun around to face it, his pistol gripped suddenly in his hands. For a moment, there was only silence, and then the door hissed open. Thranduil tensed, finger tightening on the trigger.

But the doorway was empty….

o-0-o-0-o

Translations:

Goheno nin – Forgive me

fern min – Dead one

melch adan – Greedy man

Adar – father

penneth – young one

gwanur - twins

A/N: Well? Did I shock anyone? I just thought people didn't give poor Thranduil enough positive attention. :-) Hope you all enjoyed it! Once again, I'm not sure when I'll post next, but I'll try not to let it drag too long. Please review! I'm grateful for your support and encouragement!

Hugs! Ila