I don't own the characters in the story (except one which you will find out later). The famous Eoin Colfer owns them.

Author's Note:
This is my first story so be nice to me. Give me ideas on review please! This is set after TOD and Root didn't die he escaped through a trap door the LEP found half a year after Opal's defeat. He was eating a supply of nettle smoothies in a cooler left behind by some LEP officers who was guarding the tunnel. HA!

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Chapter 1

/The Phone Call /

Artemis was talking to Holly on the communicator, sitting in a chair only someone like Artemis would need, and in front of his laptop, the latter's screen scrolling down the page automatically as he ran a quick check of his files. Their conversation wasn't as heated or as full of insults as one would expect it to be, but then again no one could ever predict Artemis' moods.

Just in the middle of the conversation, Artemis' phone started vibrating. Something flickered over his face, perhaps surprise, since no one but Butler had this phone number and the latter had just checked on his five minutes ago.

Holly had just started calling him a name when Artemis cut her off. "Wait for a moment Holly," he pressed the mute button, and set the electronic device on the bed. He caught a glimpse of Holly's face mouthing the words 'Mud Boy' but he dismissed the need to reply. The small cell phone vibrated again, and Artemis stretched out on pale hand to press the little green pick up button. Of course, flashing on the screen was 'Unknown Caller'. Just this once, Artemis let his curiosity get the better of him.

"Who is this?" Not exactly polite, but Artemis wasn't going to stop being Artemis just for one unknown caller who just happened to know a private cell phone number. The person who replied though didn't have an answer to his question. Artemis' first thought was that something extremely strange was going on or that it was an extremely idiotic person playing a joke. Why they would go through so much trouble though was something he would need to put more thought into.

"Meet your body guard and his sister outside at 4:00pm. They will be accompanied by three members of the fairy population, and soon, you." The voice seemed rather unearthly, but it could just as easily have been a machine. Artemis was about to repeat his previous question when the line went dead. With a trace of annoyance on his face, Artemis mentally put 'Trace Hacker' on his To Do List. He returned to his chair, and picked up the communicator again.

'Who was that?' Holly asked, as soon as her voice was audible on the other end. Her curiosity obviously made her forget about the fact that Artemis had cut her off mid sentence, though Artemis doubted that there was anything that she could've done about it.

"No one important…" Artemis said vaguely. He wasn't about to tell Holly that someone had dialed his private number. It would be the perfect opportunity for her to gloat. Seeing her skeptical look though, he added, "No one important that you know."

Holly rolled her eyes, but for once, let the subject drop. She was one person that knew too well that Artemis wasn't going to reveal any information that he didn't want to, and she'd rather save her time doing other things than arguing with him. "Fine… As I was saying, before someone so rudely cut me off," she gave Artemis a sneaky look. Ah well, Artemis thought dryly, curiosity didn't make her completely forget then, "Root just came out of coma yesterday and I was forced back into my job. It is still amazing how he escaped from the trap door…"

"Oh yes, amazing," Artemis said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "I for one could never imagine surviving on nettle smoothies. The idea of leaving an underground place in an underground town wouldn't have crossed my mind. Oh no…" Holly scowled at his words. Artemis smirked, knowing that Holly would be one of those people – correction, fairies – that couldn't stand to hear one bad word about Root. Artemis could count on one hand the things that he didn't bother investigating, and why his officers liked Root so much was one of them. He wisely kept his mouth shut though, another rare moment for Artemis Fowl.

"Anyway, I've got to finish packing. Annoy you later…" Holly smiled. Her mood was a lot better than what it would've been if Artemis had said what was on his mind.

"Bye," With a short word, Artemis ended a conversation that had been going on for half an hour. He put down the small communicator on his desk, a trace of contentment on his face.

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Cutting the connection line, Holly had a similar look on her face as she looked around her office to see if she left anything behind. Talking to Artemis put her in a mood that was close to irritation, but was also happy. She walked out to see Mulch about to eat a muffin. Wondering why Mulch was there when he had clearly told her that he was going on a job, Holly headed towards the doors before stopping abruptly. About? Holly turned around again. Mulch was standing next to the desk, frozen stiff and his hand was frozen while miming throwing something up into the air. How about the muffin?

Well, that was hanging in mid-air.

Author's Note:
Please be nice and review for a first timer -gives puppy dog- look I would like some help with details and everything so if you can think of anything e-mail me.

/Brizo/

Note from Beta: Well, I've turned this short chapter of a mere 150 words to 800 -bows- lol. Anyway, grammar checks, and everything else should be better now, and I've tried my best to stick to the original story, but I've added a few things. My friend has requested me to make her story longer, so every chapter until Chapter 5 will have a little note from me that says pretty much the same thing, but it records the number of words, like a 'Before and After' :-) They're not as long as my usual chapters, but there's just so much you can do with 150 words… 24.08.2006