Displaced Prince

Morning brightens the sky, touching it with a warm glow, banishing the grey in-between hours. I have been awake for most of the night, and as dawn rose, watched the waves over Jay's shoulder. How could I sleep after talking with Paris, so many thoughts running through my head?

If what Paris says is true, and I have no reason to doubt him, I may die before I ever set eyes on my father again, before I can fulfil my promises to Jay. And one of those may not even be possible. If Bernard is truly destroyed, how can I ever face Jay again? He still lies with his back to me, my face buried in his hair. Seems to be the way our bodies naturally curve around one another while we sleep, and it is the perfect way to wake up. But if I cannot restore his father to him, I can never have this again. I sigh deeply, hoping it doesn't wake him.

Paris. A good man, who valiantly did his best to keep me alive, and how do I repay him? I take his body and use it as if it were my own, but how can I be sorry? How can I ever regret what I found here? My arms tighten around Jay once more, and he moves towards wakefulness.

And Dave. He welcomed me into his house, gave me food and shelter, and I gave him nothing in return but worry and empty bottles. If my father knew how I had repaid his hospitality ... I banish all these thoughts from my head, and concentrate on the body in my arms that is now squirming round to face me, eyes heavy with sleep and barely open look into mine briefly, before his head buries itself in my arms with a sigh.

Moving my legs, I realise I am stuck to this blanket, and laugh a little at the state of us both. "Jay." He groans and pulls me closer, ignoring me. I give in, and for several minutes, lie wrapped up in him, listening to the little snoring noises he makes in the half sleep he's in. But there is something I must do, something I've never done before, and I have spent much of my sleepless night thinking about it. "Jay, I need to ..." He finally looks up at me as I untangle myself from him. He's obviously not awake enough to join me, so I get to my feet, the cold air waking me even more. "I will be back soon." With that, I run down the beach, through the shallow water, and throw myself into the waves.

( Jay - I don't wanna wake up )

A son of Middle Earth, and a son of Modern Earth. I am fascinated by the opportunity that is presented to me, even as they draw closer together. I watch as they learn each other, see the closeness they feel growing between them. I learn their strengths, and their weaknesses. The son of Modern Earth so raw, yet so strong. A son of Iron. And his counterpart, the Prince of Rohan, shining steel, he is. I smile as I begin to maneuver their circumstances, so similar to the creation of a sword, this is. They are akin to two raw metals. Their father’s situation provides the heat needed to soften them both to my will. They cling to each other – just as two metals will fold over themselves yet still remain separate, they wrap around and around each other.

And the forging begins

Part One

Theodred: We travel to the hospital in silence. In truth, no more than a handful of words have passed our lips since the shower, but this is not a silence of anger or tension, this is the silence that can hang between two people who truly don’t need words to know each other’s thoughts. A comfortable silence, both of us knowing where we go, neither of us needing idle words to fill the empty spaces between us, because now there are no spaces.

We both know the task ahead of us may be insurmountable, but take strength from the fact that we are not alone any more. We have each other and now we are bound together, closer than brothers, a bond forged in blood is a bond not easily unmade.

As we left Bernard's house, Jay handed me two things. A worn copy of The Two Towers, the tattered condition of the pages a testimony to how well read, well loved it had once been, and a pair of "shades", identical to the ones he wears. These, I put straight on, turning and grinning at him. He grinned back, and we headed down to the car.

( The drive has given me time to skim through the book ... )

Dave: Having dropped Hugo off safe and sound at home, I continue on to my own place, glad to be back home. I'm a little stiff from sleeping in a chair all night, but who cares? Hugo's back, Elrond must be back too, all's right with the world, okay, well Armaas right as our little corner of the world ever gets. I push through the front door with a smile on my face, and I see the couch flipped open. That would have to be Theodred sleeping there, if it was Paris, well, I would assume he'd be upstairs. I wish Paris would get home soon.

I step in further, and my foot hits something. Looking down, I see an empty Grand Marnier bottle roll away from me. It thumps against an upright Scotch bottle, clinking loudly as empty bottles will do. I turn to look quizzically at Theodred, and that's when I notice he's not alone. And they're both stirring now, the sound of the door and the bottles must have gotten through to them. If they drank these bottles dry, they've got to be hurting right about now. I tell myself they've drank over a hundred dollars worth of my booze, and suddenly I don't feel too bad about waking them. Besides, I'm curious as hell about who Theodred's managed to pull into bed already.

So, I step closer, and sit down none to gently on the end of the couch, shaking the entire bed.

( Morning, you two! Time to rise and shine. )

There have to be better ways of getting around in this world than this "Lincoln". To be trapped in this box and driven at high speed along highways is not my idea of travel! I have seen no horses on these roads, and wonder why anyone would give up the pleasure of riding to sit in these things.

We drive in silence. Jay thinks Paris has betrayed him in some way, but I felt him against me as we left the hospital, felt him let down his guard, and take strength from me, and that is good, it is a start. We need to find a way to work together. I know what has happened to his father, and must find a way to tell him that he will believe. I wish to restore his father to him, as I need to restore my father back to full health.

Jay took me to eat by the ocean. I have never seen the ocean, and could not take my eyes away from it as we drove down towards the tavern on the shore. I wandered out onto the beach as Jay arranged for food to eat, staring at the waves crashing on the sand. I walked to the water's edge and stood for a while, feeling small against the vastness before me.

We ate in silence, and after I finished two of the most delicious egg dishes I have ever tasted, a plate of what Jay called "fries", and a glass of ale that was not what I was used to, but sufficed, we are once again "hitting the road", and on our way back to Dave's home. I must persuade Jay to stay with me until we have come to an agreement on how to release our fathers.

Jay: After everything that's happened so far this morning, I really don't know what to say to Paris. My mind is spinning faster than the tires of the car, and I know if I open my mouth before I've had a chance to really cool off I'm just gonna start a fight again. Breakfast first, questions later. Omelets make everything better.

I watch Paris out by the ocean while I wait for our food, and as I drag on my smoke I wonder what the hell is goin' on in this place. Dad fallin' off his rocker and thinkin' he's a character he played in a movie, that's one thing. But Paris, who seemed like a pretty down-to-earth kinda fella when I first met him, now playin' the same "I am the prince of Rohan" game like he means it, well, that's another. I know sometimes actors can get really into their roles (fuck, Dad was a case after his Boys from the Black Stuff days) , but this was takin' it to a whole new level.

( All I know is that I've gotta get to the bottom of this, and I know I can't do it without Paris' help. )

Paris: Mornings are cold in the mountains this time of year, so we both felt better after bundling ourselves back into our clothes, and heading off to a nearby greasy café for a really good, but really bad for you breakfast. When we're walking towards the door, our hands brush and touch and hold, and we glance at each other, smiling over secrets, words somehow unnecessary.

After breakfast, we take a drive back to Wellie. I’m getting used to the feel of Sam pressed against my back, she fits just right. I park the bike up just inside the gates and don't mind admitting I'm pleased John's not home. The damn carbs have been playing up again, and I really need to strip them, so Sam takes off to have a shower and get changed, while I get to work.

Jay: I know I should be at the hospital by now. I know I promised Dad I'd be by to see him. But after waking up alone on his couch again, this time feeling like someone was takin' a fucking jackhammer to my skull, I knew that was in no shape to face him. Even given the shape the old man's in, I don't want him to see me like this.

Bullshit. I know I'm fucking stalling, driving around town in circles, pretending to be lost. I know I'm too much of a damn coward to see him again like that so soon, to spend another day searching his glazed, hollow eyes for any sign of life.

So instead of taking a left, I take a right, towards the beach. It's been a long time since I've smelled pure salt air, and I figure it'll do some good to clear my pounding head. The road takes me by rows of neat little pastel houses with sea-shell wind chimes hanging from the porches and boats in their driveways. It's so quaint and fucking charming it makes my head hurt even more. How can people live like this?

( But then I see it, standing out like a bright, red stoplight, sharp and shining among the pale cottages )