In the interest of clarity, something that has been missing in this story for quite a while (My mistake, of course), this story is set sometime between Lost Colony and Time Paradox (5 & 6), and therefore acts as if everything after Lost Colony is void. I hope that clears things up.
DARK
The first thing Holly Short registered when she woke up was that she couldn't see anything. Her first thought was that she'd gone blind, but the changing focus in her mismatched eyes told her that she could very much still see. Unfortunately, there wasn't any light present to see anything with. She was laying on something hard and cold, possibly stone or concrete. The space itself was also quite cool, but the air felt stale and uncirculated. She quietly shivered to herself, the cold that elves were so susceptible to creeping up on her. No, it wasn't just the cold, there was something else to, but Holly couldn't put her finger on what it was. Gingerly, she tried to stand up. Trying to think like the cop she was, she decided that it would be a good idea to see how big her confines were. With nothing to guide her, she began walking. It felt like she had been walking forever, but just as she was about to take a break, her foot snagged on something. Unsure of what it was, she tested her foot against it again. It was a leg. Someone else was in this room with her. She could hear them breathing, and with the increased rate, she knew they were now awake.
"Hello?" She asked tentatively, her heart beating out of her chest.
"Holly?" The voice replied, and relief flooded her body. "You kicked my leg."
Holly wanted to laugh at Artemis' introductory line, but she was unsure if there was anybody else in the room with her. Artemis, however, didn't seem to see it as a problem.
"Darkness" He began. "Interesting. Either they don't see us as a high enough value target to pay the electric bill, or they purposefully want us disoriented."
"Keep us in the dark so they always have the advantage" Holly said on autopilot.
"Always the cop" Artemis replied. "But you've already made one rather large oversight."
Holly couldn't wait for this, Artemis' chance to prove himself a genius once again.
"OK then Artemis, I'll bite."
"What if I had been hostile. You never went for your gun."
Holly instinctively went for her gun, the trusty Neutrino 3000, which was usually strapped to her hip. But as she brought her hand to her side, she found the space empty. It wasn't there. Infact, come to think of it, everything was gone. Her uniform, her helmet, everything.
"OK Artemis, what have you done with my stuff?" She asked, sure that this was Arty attempting to prove a point. Arty. She must never let him know she thinks of him by that nickname.
"I haven't done anything with them. I don't have any of my things either, besides a few scraps of paper in my pocket."
Holly couldn't see him, but he sounded sincere. Not that she could easily tell when he was lying, however. She didn't like this one bit.
"OK" She said, thinking back to her training. "We have 3 basic questions to answer." She took Artemis' silence as agreement. "Where are we? Why are we here? And how did we get here?"
"I don't know where we are" Artemis conceded, "But I think that's the point. We're not supposed to know where we are."
"OK then, Haven or the surface?"
"Considering you're here, and not being experimented on in a lab, logic would say Haven." Artemis said flatly. Charming imagery, Holly thought, it's nice to see how he sees the human race.
"However, the room has a very high ceiling, and they could be keeping you as leverage on me."
"So basically, you don't know."
Artemis considered it for a moment. "Yes. I don't know."
Neither Artemis nor Holly could come up with a suitable answer for either of the other two questions, so Holly decided that they should probably search for a way out, just in case it gave them any ideas.
"I've already tried" Artemis said just as Holly was about to set off. "The walls are completely smooth, no flaws or anything that could give us a potential exit. I believe it could be one of the reasons for such a high ceiling; that there's a hatch they dropped us through."
"Great, Artemis Fowl has all the answers but none of the solutions."
"Is that sarcasm I can detect Holly Short" He replied, and Holly blushed. Right then, she was grateful he couldn't see her, he wouldn't stop going on about it. Still, it was nice to have the attention of Artemis Fowl.
"Sarcasm? Me? Never."
"It's nice to see I can depend on you to be professional." He laughed. Then he surprised Holly. "I wish I could see your face." She hadn't expected that at all.
"Why, forgetting what it looks like already?"
"No, it's just... Reassuring" He said, almost hesitantly. If there's one thing Artemis Fowl is not often, it's hesitant. Holly wanted to respond, but she suddenly felt an incredible pressure inside her head. Visions flashed across her brain, a weird set of images that didn't make any sense. Her legs suddenly felt non-existent, and she stumbled, but Artemis caught her.
"It's OK" He said, genuine concern filling his voice, "I've got you. Don't worry Holly, I've got you." She felt like a dead weight, and so let Artemis lay her down on top of him. Right now, she could just lay on him all day, he certainly didn't feel too bad...
"What happened?" Holly asked, bringing herself back into reality.
"You collapsed" He replied. "I caught you."
"I can tell" She said, perhaps more sternly than she had intended. Holding her head in her hands, she tried to focus. "I saw... Images. I don't know what they mean though."
"Flashbacks" Artemis replied as matter-of-factly as possible. "Whatever amnesiac they used in their knockout drug must not work the same in fairies as it does humans." Holly nodded her agreement, not that he could see it, and attempted to stand up, but almost fell straight back to the floor.
"Woah" Artemis said, steadying her. "I think you should lay down for a while."
"I'm fine" Holly protested, but nobody would move Artemis Fowl once he's made up his mind. "Since when did you care so much about my wellbeing anyway?"
"Holly!" Artemis said, shocked. "You are my best friend, of course I care about you. I care about you more than anybody."
That statement surprised Holly. It took something big to get Artemis Fowl to tell someone he cared about them. Is it at all possible that?... No, surely it isn't possible...
Holly Short had been having conflicting feelings about Artemis Fowl for a while now. During their time together saving the world (Both above and below ground), they had grown close to each other. Artemis had even once managed to save her life, bringing her back from the dead using his incredible genius. But Holly had no idea about his true feelings for her, nor could she decipher her feelings for him. She always tried to deny it to herself, but something deep down wanted nothing more than to blurt out 'I love you' and be done with it. No, her and Artemis would never work. He was a human and she was an elf after all.
"Trust humans to create something incompatible with fairies" She said, making sure she didn't let her distractions be known.
"Huh, compatible" Artemis laughed. That certainly grabbed Holly's attention.
"What was that?"
"Nothing" Artemis said, backtracking. Obviously he hadn't meant to say that out loud.
"Oh no, that wasn't 'nothing'" Holly said, unmoved.
"I'm not telling you." He replied. Damn Fowls always being stubborn.
"Artemis Fowl II" Holly said, using his full title, "You will tell me. Don't make me use the mesmer on you."
Artemis knew that Holly would never use the Mesmer, one of her many magical abilities. That allowed her to get the truth out of anybody, on him, but he also knew that she wouldn't give up.
"Fine" He said, letting out a large, dramatic sigh. "I suppose I should tell you. A few weeks ago, I talked with Foaly about Fairy genetics, namely cross-species compatibility. Foaly had never had any human samples to run for his tests, so I sent him ones from myself and the rest of my family, Juliet and Butler included."
"Carry on" Holly said, intrigued.
"We came out with some interesting results. Unlike within a species, where everyone is compatible with everyone to a large extent, mixing fairies and humans varies on a case by case basis. In addition, no two matches were 100%. Then, we ran one final simulation through the machine, and it came back as 100% compatible.
"Who were they?" Holly asked, her interest piqued.
"Us." Artemis said. Holly's heart skipped a beat. Did Artemis Fowl just say the two of them were fully compatible? That meant they could theoretically work... No! Herself and Artemis were just friends; Best friends yes, but only friends. Nothing more.
"Well now you know." Artemis said. Holly didn't know how to read Artemis' voice. It almost seemed embarrassed, or nervous. But that was not Artemis Fowl. She wanted to change the subject, but fortunately Artemis did it for her.
"So, what flashbacks did you have?"