Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Artemis Fowl characters

If He Listened

Butler was fuming, yes fuming. It wasn't a particularly pretty sight nor did it encourage others to approach him; not that others were particularly inclined to approach him on a regular basis. Domovoi Butler didn't particularly have a reputation for being soft and cuddly, on the contrary he was usually seen as big, dangerous, intimidating, and above all, scary. To see him in this kind of state would usually send most people running for the hills.

The reason for his anger, well, the answer to that was simple: his young charge Artemis Fowl. Well, not Artemis Fowl as in himself or rather the "state" of Artemis Fowl as of that current moment and just a little prior to two hours earlier.

Artemis was currently sitting just across from him on a couch located in the large, spacious living room of Fowl manor. Artemis's mother Angeline Fowl sat next to him currently busy with the large bloody gash on the back of Artemis's head. Still sluggishly oozing blood, the wound looked worse than it actually was and seemed only to require a few dabs of antiseptic.

A slight grimace could be seen creeping its way along his young charge's face, although, just barely owing to the large cold pack Artemis now held over his rapidly swelling black eye and cheek. Butler could already see the bruising spreading out in thick patches of purple, blue, and black across the pale skin of Artemis's face.

But, it didn't end there, not to Butler's fury. Artemis's other hand was currently occupied with pressing a large gauze pad over the jagged slice in the knee of his now-ruined, previously expensive, Armani suit. Blood was already beginning to soak through the gauze and onto the pale youth's hand.

Mrs. Fowl continued to attend to her son's head wound only pausing for a moment when, she felt him wince accompanying a particularly harsh dab to the still-bleeding wound.
"I'm sorry, Arty. Are you alright?" she said looking down at him eyes filled with concern.
Artemis regarded his mother with a baleful one-eyed gaze. "Well, I AM currently bleeding copiously from multiple wounds, but I suppose I will live if I do not abruptly acquire some deadly bacteria that causes an extreme infection and or death."

Angeline Fowl glowered reproachfully down at her son. "You shouldn't joke about those kinds of things, Arty."

The boy regarded his mother calmly. "I was not joking, mother, but rather stating the irrefutable truth."

Angeline Fowl sighed, but said no more. Arguing with Artemis Fowl was like trying to argue with a rock. The conversation was usually one sided and left her feeling foolish.
Across the room, Butler ground his teeth furious with their current inaction. He wanted to be out there hunting down the unfortunate, cowardly being that had chosen, so unwisely, to harm his principle

"Who was it, Artemis? " Butler growled through clenched teeth attempting to keep his anger in check so as not to accidentally ruin any of the expensive items currently residing in that very room

"We already discussed this, Butler. There would be no logical point in me revealing my assailant's identity, due to the fact that he has, most assuredly, already boarded an aircraft and is currently over half an hour into his flight to America. "

Butler crossed his arms angrily turning his now simmering gaze on Angeline. "What did I tell you? I knew that carting him off to that school was a bad idea. Something like this was bound to happen when you removed him from under my protection."

Angeline turned to him with a cold scowl. "I apologize, Butler, but I was under the impression that I was his mother, and, therefore, was in charge of the decisions concerning my son. Furthermore, I believe that Artemis needs to learn for himself that YOU will not always be there to protect him."

Butler growled. "I would have, if you had just convinced them to-"

"To WHAT: follow Artemis around school, sit in the back of his classes, and knock out the other children for simply LOOKING at him wrong?" Angeline retorted.

Butler did not respond, but rather sat there in a moody silence as stiff as a stuffed frog.
Angeline's voice softened. "I know you care about him, Butler, as do I, but you are not doing him any favors by sheltering him like this. Artemis needs to learn to look after himself because eventually, whether you like it or not, you will not be there to look after him. You may not want to admit it, but you are NOT immortal; neither are you invincible. The sooner you AND Artemis realize this, the sooner we can begin preparing him for the real world."

Oddly enough, through this entire discussion Artemis had remained uncharacteristically silent. Usually when it came to matters involving himself, Artemis always preferred to have his say. According to him he was a "Perfectly qualified genius, and so I am perfectly capable of making my own decisions. Thank you very much."

But Artemis hadn't really been paying attention to the grownups argument. In fact, he was currently deep in thought, something he did often, but this time, other than some elaborate plan involving revenge, his thoughts had drifted back approximately three hours to dwell on the earlier events of the day.