It had been a dark and stormy night and now it was a beautiful morning.
Frodo Baggins sat in his favourite café, enjoying the early sunshine, a milky cappuccino and a cigarette. He looked like a normal young man, a student fresh into college perhaps, and not the least like the operative of a secret organisation. Frodo had been a talented thief, a small-time crook on his way to juvenile jail when The Council had recruited him out of high school. Years of training had turned him into the perfect con man, one of the best in his profession. It helped that people tended to underestimate Frodo. His shock of black, constantly tousled curls, his big blue eyes and his boyish smile made him appear years younger and more innocent than he really was.
Thoughts of The Council were the farthest thing on Frodo's mind. He'd come home from an exhausting assignment two days ago and now he just enjoyed the rare time off. No one expected Frodo to save the world at the moment, no one expected him to ingratiate himself with some criminal mastermind. No one was trying to shoot him, poison him, blow him up or kill him in any other way. But if his boss needed Frodo, he'd know where to find him, he always did.
He was idly trying to decide what he would do after breakfast – go for a walk or go back to his apartment to finish the book he'd been trying to read for months – when someone roused him from his reverie.
"Master Baggins," said a familiar gravely voice. "Your services are needed."
Frodo looked up. "Hello, Gimli," he said to the red-bearded man standing before him.
Gimli was tall and broad-shouldered, and his finely-tailored suit did nothing to hide his muscular frame. But he was more than your usual strong man. He was an expert in unarmed combat, made a mean cup of coffee, provided a compassionate heart, an open ear and a shoulder to lean on for Frodo and his three colleagues, and often ended up being their driver and baby sitter. In short, George Gimli was the boss's girl Friday.
"Can't a guy have a moment's peace? What is it this time, Gimli?" Frodo asked.
"I'm not authorised to tell you, I'm only here to take you to the briefing. Gandalf will tell you soon enough."
Frodo sighed. "All right, I'm coming." He stood, left some money on the table and said goodbye to the sunshine and his plans for the day before he followed Gimli to the car.
The back seat was already occupied by one person.
"Hey, Frodo," Sam said.
Samwise Gamgee was Frodo's best friend, on the team and off. He usually ended up playing Frodo's bodyguard, being an expert on every conceivable weapon and martial arts. Sam was 10 years Frodo's senior, though he didn't look it, with his compact body that was pure muscle, his reddish-golden locks and soft, dark blue eyes.
"Hello, Sam," Frodo said. He still wasn't happy about having his leave cut short, but it wouldn't do to take it out on Sam. "So, what's up? Do you know why the boss needs to see us so urgently?"
"Nope. I was out running this morning when Gimli showed up and he wouldn't tell me anything."
Sam smiled and Frodo's gaze was drawn to his mouth which was the perfect Cupid's Bow shape, and then further down to his body clad in a snug t-shirt and track pants.
'Stop it,' Frodo berated himself. 'Sam's a colleague and your best friend. Don't go there.'
"So we're going to have to wait until Gandalf deigns to tell us, as usual. I wish they'd give us at least some information if they insist on dragging us into the office in the middle of our leave," Frodo said. "What about the others?"
"They're meeting us at headquarters."
"Good enough." Frodo said, leaning against Sam's solid shoulder, closing his eyes, and they sat in companionable silence.
"I know that ass," Sam suddenly said and pointed out of the window.
Frodo looked out, too. He saw two men sharing a motorcycle and the ass of the one in the back looked very familiar indeed. No one wore tight jeans as fetchingly as Merry, their colleague. "Since when do the Infernal Two own a motorcycle?"
The motorcycle flanked the car for a moment longer, then accelerated and swerved across the road right in front of them. Gimli cursed under his breath before he took a turn and followed it into the parking lot of "Middle-earth Inc.".
As soon as he stopped, Frodo and Sam jumped out, both of them eyeing the motorcycle.
It was a Kawasaki, black and powerful and fast. One of its riders was Peregrin Took, Pippin to his friends. He was the team's master of disguise and could change his own and the others' appearance like a chameleon. In civilian life, Pippin was slender and wiry, with fine features. He looked upon the world with pale, grey-green eyes which were alternately sweetly innocent and full of mischief. He was also Scottish and fiercely proud of it. He peeled off his helmet and gave his friends a cheerful smile. The leather get-up he wore made him look simply hot.
Merry, Meriadoc Brandybuck, the owner of the fine ass, peeled his helmet off, too. His blond hair stuck up in all directions, but that didn't make him less handsome. He was a hacker, but not of the geeky sort. Merry was lean and muscled, with chiselled features, a knobbly nose, an endearingly crooked mouth and bright blue-grey eyes.
Merry and Pippin were not only colleagues, but best friends. They lived together and words like 'inseparable' and 'joined at the hip' were applied to them. There was some wild speculation about how close they really were. Sam and Frodo called them 'the Infernal Two', and the four of them were known as 'the Hobbits' at The Council.
"So, back together again, eh, guys? How could I have survived two days without you?" Pippin said, giving Frodo and Sam a wry grin.
"That's because you have me to keep you company, Pip." Merry threw an arm around Pippin's shoulders and tousled his short hair.
Behind them, Gimli cleared his throat. "Masters, you don't want to keep Gandalf waiting."
"Of course we don't," Frodo said, speaking for the others.
The four hobbits composed themselves, trying to look somber enough for their boss, and followed Gimli into the building.
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Story notes: Warnings: This is a modern-day AU - which means I've taken a few liberties with the characters that might not be to everybody's liking. Some character traits and descriptions are made up, some are inspired by RL. However, this is *not* meant to be RPS.
Inspired by a discussion on another list and based on "Charlie's Angels".
My thank-you for beta-ing and kind words goes to Rachel and Tatjana.
This is for BlueKat who thought up this "deranged plotbunny".
