Caught (a legolas fanfiction)

Hurting

A/N: Thanks for all your reviews! Most people thought that the voice was Glorfindel's. Is it? Yes.

Chapter 17

Elrond shot up from the bed, grabbing Elrohir's wrist and starting to sprint down the hall.

A few seconds later, they burst into the healing room, and were greeted with a sight that cut them to the very core.

"Legolas! Please, penneth, let me help you!" Glorfindel cried, reaching for the younger elf.

Please no! thought Legolas. I don't want the ones I love to hurt me any longer. Please don't touch me!

Another bout of pain seized his stomach, and he clutched at it, willing the pain to go away. How it burned!

A hand brushed against his shoulder. He flinched away from it. Why wouldn't they just leave him alone?

Suddenly, the strangest and most painful feeling overcame him. His stomach was twisting, shrinking. He cried out and doubled over. There wasn't enough space for anything inside it, not even air. He felt bile rise in the back of his throat, and he opened his mouth. The acidic vomit, which contained barely any food since it had been five days since he had eaten, covered the sheets, and he heard Elrond yell something.

"Legolas! All we want to do is help you, Thranduilion! We would never hurt you!" Elrond cried. He reached to stroke the hair of the prince, in an attempt to calm him down.

STOP IT! Legolas screamed at them in his mind. STOP IT, STOP IT, STOP IT!

He leaped up with a growl, grabbing the lord of Imaldris's wrist and shoving him to the ground.

Thranduil felt a pang of pain in his stomach as they entered Rivendell, and he winced. He pressed his hand against it, but the pain would not leave him, even as they walked through the courtyard and received greetings from many guards, it persisted, and, it seemed, grew even stronger.

There were tears running down the face of the being above him. Elrond couldn't move at all. He was held completely secure against the ground, and the only sound he could hear was the harsh breathing, wracked with sobs, that came from the mouth of the elven prince.

"Legolas! What are you doing?!" Glorfindel cried, grabbing the elf from behind in an attempt to pull him off of Elrond. The fact that he had done so unexpectedly, however, made the other elf whirl around. He felt a hand thwacked against his cheek.

Thranduil, Aragorn, Gimli, and Elladan began to make their way to the healing room that the guard at the door had told them belonged to Legolas. Elrond and Elrohir had yet to make an appearance.

They were about fifteen feet from the door when he heard the yelling, and he began to run.

Legolas growled at the elf who he had just hit.

"Legolas!" Glorfindel breathed as he saw the anger in the glowering eyes in front of him. "Why are you doing this? Please, Legolas! We want you to recover, and you're pushing us away!"

Suddenly, the anger was drained from the eyes, and there came a sudden, deep sadness, and the blue pools seemed to go unimaginably deep. He fell to his knees.

Please don't hurt me! He thought. I'm sorry for fighting back, I'm sorry I defied you! But please, please, don't touch me!

The pain in his stomach intensified.

The hands came again, and he screamed his heart out in fear.

Thranduil burst into the room and took in the scene within seconds. Legolas was in the center of the room, crouched, screaming. Elrohir, Elrond, and Glorfindel were surrounding him, reaching for him.

Suddenly, four words, repeated over and over, entered his mind through the bond he shared with his son.

Please don't touch me, please don't touch me, please don't touch me!

"Stop touching him!" he yelled, and four heads jumped away from the body and their heads snapped to look at him. He rushed down to where his son was, shuddering in relief.

"Ion-nin..." he whispered. The face didn't look up.

Ion-nin... he said to his son through the bond. The face did turn up this time, and he smiled gently down at the pale, tear-streaked face.

From Legolas's perspective, that grin was not a comforting one, but an evil one. Images of the whipping flashed through his mind, and he felt a sob escape his throat.

Thranduil saw a few horrifying images flash before his eyes. Himself, grinning cruelly, bringing a whip down upon the shoulders of his son, over and over.

Please no, Ada, came a small, shuddering thought. I love you, Ada, please don't hurt me!

I would never hurt you, ion-nin, he said, even as his own mind reeled. When on Arda had Legolas gotten those memories? That wasn't real. Please, ion-nin. Trust me.

He accompanied the thought with a sudden embrace of his son. He pulled Legolas close, wondering at the coldness of his body.

Legolas stayed rigid for a few moments, but he eventually leaned into his father's embrace. An overwhelming tiredness overcame him.

He noted, with relief, that as his consciousness faded, so did the pain in his stomach.

Thranduil heard the sigh of relief that came from all of the occupants of the room when Legolas finally fell unconscious. Aragorn and Gimli were standing in the doorway, looking on with grim expressions. Elladan had moved to stand by his twin, and Elrond and Glorfindel stood beside them.

Thranduil took his son's still form in his arms and lay him on the bed. Still, there was no reaction from the rest of the occupants of the room, other than an awkward stare.

"What?" he asked after a second of staring back. "Why are you all looking at me like that?"

"How did you do that?" Glorfindel asked suddenly. "You calmed him down, and you didn't even speak a word to him."

Thranduil sighed. "We have a bond," he said. "You know that. I can speak to him through it." He paused. "And now I know something of what has been done to him."

"What is it?" Elrond said, prepared for the worst.

"He was forced to see images of me, and probably some of you as well, hurting him. We whipped him, over and over." He took a deep breath and tried to force the image of his own cruel smile out of his mind.

Elladan and Elrohir looked stricken, as did Gimli and Aragorn.

"And the whipping was real," Elrond said. "Because he does have the lashes on his back."

"If it wasn't there, he would've known because of the lack of pain and blood that the experience wasn't real," Aragorn said. "I suspect that the man did it himself, but he created an illusion to make it seem like it was us."

The group paused, taking it in.

"That's so cruel!" Elladan said suddenly. "Why would anyone do that to any other living being, especially Legolas? He's so...warm, you know?"

"I know," said Thranduil. "He was one of the only things that brought light to Mirkwood during the dark times."

They continued to speak of how Legolas had been as the sun set, and then they lit candles and continued. It was late in the night when Elrond finally suggested that they all retire.

"That is a good idea," Glorfindel. "Estel, Thranduil, Gimli, you all can make yourselves at home in any of the guest rooms."

The three nodded their thanks, and they exited the room. Glorfindel and Elrond left as well.

"Could you blow at the candle, 'Dan?" Elrohir said, and Elladan nodded.

"Goodnight, Legolas," he whispered as he blew out the only source of light in the room.

A/N: Sorry for long time no update! Been busy!