Dom had already decided that he and Liberty would be spending lots of time at night together, but he hadn’t told anyone else of his plans. And, naturally, the weekends would be spent as a group since most of them got a day off on either Saturday or Sunday.

Dom arrived at Billy’s home in the early morning to pick Billy up for work. Lately Billy hadn’t been the best at getting up in time for their call so Elijah and Dom had taken to giving him a hobbit wake up call. Dom would first attack Elijah upstairs to wake HIM up and then drag him to Billy’s; Dom always made sure, however, that Elijah had some coffee first.

The Hobbit Wake Up Call consisted of Dom ramming through the front door at full speed (Billy made the mistake of giving Dom an extra key) hollering at the top of his lungs and Elijah doing an Ozzy Osbourne shuffle in after him making odd early-morning grunting sounds that wouldn’t have woken anyone, let alone Billy the heavy sleeper. Dom would then yell at Elijah to ‘step it up a notch’ and Elijah would stick his tongue out and then start making louder grunts while inhaling his first cup of coffee. Elijah Wood was not an early bird and Dom had only become one since shooting had begun.

Liberty shot up from her recumbent position and, wide-eyed, watched the scene play in front of her. Dom was tearing through the apartment waving his arms wildly and hollering at the top of his lungs, “BILLY! BILLY! AHHHHHHHHH!” etc. A quick glance at the DVD player’s clock told Liberty that it was 4:30. She wondered if the neighbors complained, then realized that the neighbors were only Elijah and another actor that she had not met, merely heard mention of. She suspected he worked on Lord of the Rings with the boys, but hadn’t yet gotten confirmation.

Elijah flopped down onto the couch beside her and took a deep drink of his coffee. “Morning,” he muttered, wiping his eyes and glancing at her. His voice sounded hoarse and old-man like, “Billy warned you about Dom in the morning, right?”

“Um…” Liberty glanced at Dom, who was running from the bathroom to the kitchen to Billy’s bedroom in some sort of odd scheduled motion all the while continuing to let out little yells of “AH!” and “BILLY!” and sometimes even, “WAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE UP!” She yawned loudly, “No, no one warned me.” She yawned again.

Elijah set his head back against the couch and yawned something that sounded like, “Sorry.” It was too muffled by the yawn to be distinguished.

“Do you always get before sunset?” She questioned, falling back onto her back and propping her feet in his lap. He raised his coffee, but didn’t do anything else; he didn’t seem to care that he had feet in his lap.

“Don’t have much choice,” he replied, yawning once more.

“BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIILY!” Dom yelled from the bedroom, “GET UP!” There was the sound of squeaking springs that suggested Dom had hopped up onto Billy’s bed and was trying to wake him up the hard way.

The “oomph” that followed suggested that Billy had either fallen off the bed, been landed on, or kicked Dom off and Dom had fallen onto the floor in a Dom-heap.

Elijah grinned slightly over his coffee cup, “I don’t think Dom’s realized you’re here. He seems to have forgotten.”

Liberty laughed a very tired laugh, “Perhaps. He is on a mission. Dom on a mission. Sacred thing.”

“You can’t speak in complete sentences in the morning either, can you.” Elijah sounded very amused at this concept. “I can’t until I’ve had half a cup of coffee.”

Liberty peered into his cup, “That you have, you lucky person.”

“Next time I’ll bring you some.”

“Oh bless you, Elijah, that would be brilliant.”

“Why are you speaking like me?” He asked, watching as Billy shuffled from his bedroom and wandered like a zombie into his bathroom. He shut the door behind himself and then yawned so loudly that the bathroom echoed the sound and carried it out into the living room.

Liberty giggled, “I have no idea, young hobbit.”

“You’re speaking like Orlando! He’s corrupted you!” Elijah would have jumped from the couch if it hadn’t been so deathly early, “DOM! Lib’s turned into Orlando! Come quick!”

Dom raced from the bedroom; by the look of him it seemed he had indeed been pushed off the bed. “What?” He asked, “Liberty, you’re up!” He dropped onto the couch beside her and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

“How could she NOT be up with your racket?” Elijah joked, finishing off his coffee. He held it out to Liberty who was snuggling up against Dom; he seemed quite pleased by this and slipped his arm around her. “Do you want the last drop, Lib?”

“How chivalrous of you, Lij,” Liberty laughed, “But no thanks. I’ll go make some.” She pulled out of Dom’s grasp and took her feet out of Elijah’s lap, then jumped up. Dom tried to pull her back, but she scrambled out of the way and walked into the kitchen.

It was dark in the apartment as it was dark outside, but a small light over the oven was turned on so Liberty could see what she was doing. The big window in front of the sink shown the moon shining brightly and the sky beginning to turn from dark blues to a fiery orange and subdued purple.

Liberty was shuffling around in random cupboards when Dom entered the room behind her and jumped up onto the kitchen table. He wiggled his hips around a bit and Liberty turned around when she heard the slight sound of creaking boards. She dropped the little sugar packets she was holding when she saw what he was doing. Her hands went to cover her mouth as she laughed uncontrollably; the laughing woke her up more than the coffee could.

“What?” Dom asked, a grin tugging at his lips, “No good?” He wiggled around some more making a very funny rock star type face.

“I’ll do that,” Elijah said, coming into the room and setting his empty coffee cup in Billy’s sink. He turned the coffee maker on, which seemed to be all set and ready to percolate.

“You’re going to hip shimmy?” Liberty asked, hiding a laugh.

Elijah turned towards her, “What? No, I’m talking about making you coffee.” He turned towards Dom, who stopped wiggling immediately and tried to look innocent. “When you’re finished doing your suggestive hip movements, Dom, you might want to go turn the car on. We’ve got to throw Billy in there this morning.” Elijah left looking haughty and walked with the air of confidence he usually didn’t display so blatantly.

Liberty burst out laughing the second Elijah left the room, but she calmed down when Dom hopped off the table. “You’re throwing Billy into the car?”

“Nah,” Dom replied, smiling largely, “he’s just kidding.” He cocked his head to the side and added, “More or less,” as an after-thought.

Liberty nodded, “I do have a question though,” she paused, “What WERE you doing making those suggestive hip movements?”

Dom stepped back and leaned against the wall, “Oh, well, that’s easy. I was trying to turn Elijah on, but, damn…he’s just resistant to my charms.”

“He is not the only one,” Billy muttered, wandering into the kitchen and pouring himself some coffee, which wasn’t completely done, but what was ended up in Billy’s awaiting mug.

“I’m not resistant,” Liberty stated, leaning against the counter and watching Dom as he looked into the living room to locate Elijah. It seemed the younger hobbit had decided to go back to sleep, for he was now curled up on Liberty’s vacated sofa, looking like a sleeping kitten…minus the purring.

“I count on the fact that YOU are not resistant, it’s these blokes I’ve got to worry about. I mean, honestly, how can you resist this?” Dom did a little bit of a shimmy with his hands on his hips and walked towards Liberty, who was chuckling lethargically.

“It’s really easy,” Billy replied from the kitchen table, “Especially after a while. You build an immunity.” He sipped methodically at his steaming, black coffee.

“I hope I don’t build this immunity you speak of,” Liberty mused, sliding into the seat beside Billy and watching him slowly come to life as the coffee circulated in his system.

“You won’t, don’t worry,” Dom assured her, still standing in the doorway, “Girls can’t resist me.”

“Oh, please!” Elijah hollered from the living room. They heard his footsteps as he approached the kitchen. He was looking mournful when he finally appeared.

“Oh, you know you want me, Elijah, don’t deny it,” Dom said to him, trying to keep a straight face.

Elijah nodded quite a bit, “Yes, yes, I do.” He became deathly serious, “Like a person in hell wants fire.”

Dom’s lower lip went out in a pout, “Liar.” There was a slight pause, “I thought you were asleep.”

“I was just resting my eyes,” Elijah replied, leaning against the doorframe.

Billy snorted into his coffee, “You sound like my grandmother, for Christ’s sake. What are you, sixty-seven?”

Elijah sat down in the last chair at the table, “Dude, I’m only sixty-two. Stop aging me.”

“You act older,” Billy responded evenly, “It’s not my fault if I age you in my head.”

*

After shooting, Dom picked Liberty up and headed to the airport to get Raya. Liberty was nervous, for no apparent reason, sometimes she got gut feelings and went with them; this was one of those times.

Dom and Liberty were walking around the airport waiting for Raya’s flight to get in and trying not to become deathly bored. “What’d you do today?” Dom asked, while thumbing through a rack of magazines in the gift shop.

Liberty looked around the shop as if searching for the answer, “I don’t even really remember. I unpacked.” She shrugged, “I slept a lot.”

“Jet lag,” Dom replied knowledgably. He pulled a magazine from the rack and frowned at it, “Apparently Elijah is dating Josh Hartnett.”

He held the magazine out to Liberty who raised her eyebrows, “That’s quite sad, really. Josh is hot in an ‘I don’t comb’ sort of way.”

“Mmmmm,” Dom responded doubtfully. “What about Elijah?”

“What about him? Sure, he’s hot. I’m not entirely sure how great he and Josh would be, though.”

Dom rubbed his chin in thought, “I’m not either, they’d always be competing to see who was the hotter one. We obviously already know,” Dom slid the magazine back onto the rack, “Rubbish.”

“Mmmmhmmm,” Liberty said, and wandered over to the little New Zealand inspired trinkets, “Who are you dating this week?”

Dom came up behind her and watched as she ran her finger along the rim of a shot glass, “If this is considered a date, them I’m guessing this American girl called Liberty Crane.”

She grinned, “I don’t think going to the airport and walking aimlessly around the gift shop is considered a date.”

“That’s too bad,” he replied, “Maybe there needs to be dressing up involved?”

“I did dress up,” Liberty stated indignantly. She looked down at her jean skirt and tactfully simple t-shirt.

“My mistake,” Dom laughed, kissing her cheek gently.

She turned around to face him, “I’m kidding.”

“I know,” he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her from the shop. “What time are they getting in?”

“Soooooooon I hope,” Liberty replied, leaning her head against his shoulder as they walked.

“Airports aren’t fun unless you’re going somewhere,” Dom said, pouting a little.

“Agreed,” Liberty stated simply.

It was ten minutes later (Liberty and Dom had been standing against a pillar in half comatose states) when an immaculately dressed woman wearing dark sunglasses and wheeling a huge suitcase finally walked up.

“Liberty!” She cried, throwing her arms open and dropping her suitcase with a keypunch to the linoleum floor. Her shout brought Liberty out of her daze and she soon hugged Raya with happiness. “You look good,” she said honestly, “I can see your fashion sense has improved dramatically.”

“Why thank you,” Liberty replied, smiling. She put her arm around Dom’s waist and watched as he and Raya shared a very stony hello with stoic faces. Raya dipped to pick up her discarded suitcase with the gracefulness of a swan clothed all in fashionable black.

“So,” she said airily, smiling at them, “You two look cozy.” She nodded in approval, “Obviously I do good work.”

Liberty coughed when she felt Dom tense beside her, “Where’s your friend, Raya?”

Raya looked blankly at Liberty as she tied her hair in a pony tail, “Oh…” her voice trailed off, “I don’t know. I lost her in the crowd. She’s worse than I am.” Dom shot Liberty a look that plainly said, ‘Is that possible?’ “She was fighting with one of the more portly men to help her get her luggage from the over head compartment. She’ll be along. How are you, Lib?”

“I’m great,” Liberty replied, grinning.

“And…” Raya looked to Dom, “Dominic. How are you?”

“Brilliant,” Dom replied emotionless. Liberty pulled away from him and raised an eyebrow. “Shall we go to baggage claim, Raya? Or are you getting your flying monkeys to?”

Raya’s lips twitched and Liberty saw her eyebrows go up into her hairline. The dark glasses were still in place, which made it difficult to figure out Raya’s reactions completely. “You would know, you’re my flying monkey. Minus the flying bit.” Suddenly, there was a long string of curse words said in a foreign tongue by a British accented woman which halted the bickering. Raya smiled and clapped her hands together, “Ah, here she comes.”

“Should have known,” Dom mumbled to Liberty, who held back a laugh. A woman wearing a long black leather trench coat over dressy black trousers, and a button up black vest over a cream colored blouse was hobbling up to them dragging an oversized carry-on bag. Her hair was falling over her shoulders; it was long and different shades of blonde making the overall look a honey color that went well with her rosy complexion. She wore glasses that matched Raya’s.

The woman pulled her glasses down her nose and peered at Dom over the rim. “Hello there,” she said, her livid demeanor completely gone to be replaced by a voice encrusted with superiority and high society. Her eyes were a dull light blue, but the heavy makeup around them made them look more lively. “And who is this handsome gentleman, Raya?”

Raya raised her eyebrows at her friend and pulled her glasses down her nose to look at her in surprise, “Dominic Monaghan, a friend of Orlando’s, and Liberty Crane, his girlfriend.”

“Anaka Medea,” the woman said, the ends of her lips curling in what Liberty supposed was a smile. She held her hand out to Dom, who shook it. Anaka looked oddly at him for a moment, but regrouped quickly; she had obviously been expecting a kiss, as was the ‘high-society’ custom. “So lovely to meet you, Dominic.”

“It’s Dom,” he corrected her, pulling his hand back and slipping his arm around Liberty’s waist. Liberty was surveying the woman in front of her with immediate dislike. She had no idea the age of this person, but a quick glance would suggest an early thirties working woman. Liberty knew better than that, however, because how would Raya have befriended her when she was just a small child.

“Anaka,” Raya interjected, “Where’s your other bag?”

“You carried on another bag?” Dom asked Anaka directly.

She smiled condescendingly, “Yes, I had to have a makeup bag. You know how it is----” her gaze fell on Liberty, “---well, maybe not.” She laughed falsely, “Liberty is it? That’s a very…interesting…name.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Liberty replied blandly. “Your name is straight out of Pippi Longstocking, isn’t it?”

“I have no idea, what is that Pippi business?” Anaka looked away before Liberty could answer; an older man approached carrying a black makeup train case like it held a Royal‘s crown. He bowed and handed it to her and then walked off.

“Was that your butler?” Dom asked, grinning a little as he watched the man walk towards baggage claim.

“Goodness, no,” Anaka laughed, “Just a nice bloke who helped me on the plane. Now, where’s the limo? I need to go have a lie-down while you fetch my luggage. I’m dreadfully tired.”

Dom’s eyes narrowed, as did Liberty’s; Raya saw this, “Anaka, don’t be silly.” She laughed nervously, something not common for her, “There is no limo. Dominic and Liberty probably came in his car. Right?”

“Yeah,” Dom replied slowly, waiting for the bristling comment that was sure to come.

Raya nodded, “Let’s go get our luggage and get out of here, then. I want to see Orlando. Do you suppose you could swing me by the set and then drop Anaka at our place?”

“Sure,” Dom said, shrugging as he started walking off, Liberty and Raya in tow. Anaka followed eventually, surprise that Dom hadn’t offered his help with her bags. Just as she was about to complain about Orlando’s friends not having any manners, Dom stepped back beside her, “I’m sorry. Do you need help?”

Anaka handed over her bags to him graciously, “Yes, thank you ever so much.” She giggled and ran a finger down his arm while Liberty and Raya watched, up ahead of them, in confusion. “You’re very strong. You must work out.”

“Sometimes,” Dom shrugged, walking quickly to catch up with the other two. Anaka followed closely behind him.

As they walked to claim Raya and Anaka’s baggage, Liberty silently cursed Raya; she knew this was what she had been dreading. A nice little vixen to come by and be her competition. Well, she thought, I’m ready for the challenge.