Back in Isengard in the tower of Orthanc, Saruman and the rest of the orc armies where getting ready to leave. Boromir woke with a start as he heard the cell door opening. In stepped an orc.

"Get up," the orc growled and kicked Boromir.

Sam stood and walked slowly over to the orc. The orc only glared at him and pushed him out of the cell and into the hands of another orc. Boromir stood up and the orc went for Merry.

"Don't touch him," Boromir said and stood in-between the orc and Merry.

Then he pushed the orc back a little and the orc growled so Boromir stopped and picked up Merry. It was hard with his bound hands, but during the amount of time they had been in the cell he had loosen the rope a little bit. There was at least a foots reach in-between each of his hands.

Boromir followed the orc out of the cell and saw Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli also following the leader orc up ahead. There were at least seven orcs and plus the six of them which made the hallway very crowded and clausterfobic. Everybody followed the orcs out of the dungeon without a fight or a struggle. They were all exhausted from the past few days without food or water.

The days following everybody had been searched except Merry, whom Boromir would not let them touch. All their weapons were gone except Merry still had the small dagger Aragorn had given him tucked away in his belt. Boromir and the others could have used it to cut their bounds or even to pick the lock of the cell door, but they had decided as a group that it would be too risky and could get somebody killed if they tried to escape.

Soon they all reached Saruman again and he looked wickedly happy.

"Are you all ready to go?" the wizard asked playfully.

Sam looked at the ground and everybody else glared back at him and said nothing. Merry was still asleep and had no idea what was about to happen or what already did.

"I have some news for you. Remember when that little one escaped?"

Everybody now eyed him suspiciously and had a little bit of panic rising.

"Well to grieve you then that he is dead," Saruman said.

Sam's mouth dropped open,

"No! That's a filthy lie! That..." the orc behind him made him stop talking by putting a hand over his mouth.

Boromir, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli all stood there in shock not really processing what they had just heard. Boromir pried Merry would stay asleep and miss this conversation. Saruman smiled and continued,

"No. Somebody tried saving him, but I stopped them and killed him myself,"

Sam's eyes filled with tears and he shook his head. Boromir was in a state of shock and only stared down at Merry. Aragorn remembered himself telling Pippin to run, to get help. Legolas muttered a few quiet elven words and suddenly Gimli spoke up,

"And who is this who you are talking about?!" he shouted angrily.

Saruman didn't answer, he only grinned at that question. He scanned the remaining bit of the Fellowship and stopped on Merry. He snapped his fingers and then said to a nearby orc,

"Wake him too! He deserves to know the news,"

Boromir backed up, but only ran into another orc who grabbed him by the shoulders and held him sternly in place.

"No, he doesn't need to know! You are only a liar anyway!" Boromir stammered.

"You still believe that?" Saruman asked. Then he turned to the orc, "Wake him,"

Aragorn stood in front of Boromir and said,

"I thought we were leaving,"

An orc pulled Aragorn back into his original spot and he held him in place there. The orc reached Boromir and Merry. Boromir struggled to get free from the orcs grasp, but he was too strong for Boromir as he held Merry. The orc extended a hand out to Merry's sleeping body and stopped at his neck. He tightened his grip on it chocking him.

"Stop it!" cried Boromir and Aragorn at the same time. They both struggled greatly. Boromir gave one good kick at the orcs shins. The orc growled and ripped Merry from Boromir's arms and onto the ground.

"Don't touch him! Let me go!" Boromir screamed.

Merry awoke as soon as the orc started choking him again and as he was splat on the ground. He looked frantically around the room, but couldn't breathe he realized as he looked up into the orcs nasty yellow eyes above him. He was coughing dryly trying to get air. He could see Boromir and Aragorn yelling above him as well, but could not hear them. Just as Merry was about spent and things were turning black all around, the orc let go and walked away.

Merry turned over onto his stomach and started gasping for air and coughing rapidly. The room around him was going back to normal again and he could hear. Merry was breathing hard and clutching his chest. He rested his face on the ground in front of him and closed his eyes. The orc that was holding back Boromir let him go and he fell to Merry's side.

"Are you okay?" he whispered to Merry.

Merry didn't response due to the coughing and his difficulty of breathing. Boromir lifted Merry upright into a sitting position. As the coughing subdued, Saruman was about to talk again, but Boromir covered Merry's ears with his hands and pulled him inward into his body so he couldn't hear anything. Saruman made a hand signal and the same orc that had woke Merry was coming his way again.

"Go away!" Boromir cried trying to hug Merry closer to him.

The orc easily pulled Merry upright and he gave a yelping sound of pain from his leg as the orc made him stand up. The orc half dragged and half made him limp over in front of Saruman holding him by the back of his shirt and held him there. Then Saruman continued what he was about to say earlier,

"It seems as though, little Halfling, that your friend is dead,"

Merry looked at the wizard in fear, confusion, and dismay. Did he mean Frodo of Pippin? He thought.

"What?" he was able to peep out quietly.

"That friends of yours, the one that escaped is dead," Saruman explained.

A tear rolled down Merry's face and his mouth dropped open,

"No, that can't be!" he said with a high pitched voice.

"Be it is," Saruman said and then did another hand signal to the orc.

The orc holding Merry pulled him back again. Merry half yelped and half gasped at the suddenness of it. As soon as the orc was close enough to Boromir, he pushed Merry into him. Boromir caught him awkwardly before Merry could fall. Merry started chock sobbing into Boromir's stomach, out of pain from his leg and his heart. Boromir gave a look of death to Saruman and shook his head ferociously.

"You will pay for this. For everything you have done! By the White Tree of Gondor, you will die!" Boromir shouted at the wizard not being able to contain his anger. Everybody looked at him in shock.

"You think you are so wise...but you aren't. Look where you are. You are in the towers of Orthanc imprisoned by me," Saruman mocked, "Alright the fun is over! It is time to go,"

The orcs pushed the Fellowship outside. Once they were out, they were soon engulfed in a crowd of nearly a thousand Isengard Urkai Hai orcs. They all had the white hand imprinted on their faces and where all wearing thick armor. Sam stayed close to Aragorn as he wiped his tears away.

Saruman climbed atop his horse and shouted,

"We leave to the Brown Lands!" 

A/N: Who is going to make it to the Brown Lands first and get Frodo?