Okay! So! This is a oneshot I've been nursing for a long time, but haven't really had the courage or focus to try to sit down and write without reason. Today, that reason came to me, and so I decided to write and gift it to a now-friend of mine, Scythe Eris, as a present for accomplishing his goals. This is the best congratulations I can offer you, I think. :)

Now, to the story! Enjoy!

Julius Root's eyes opened slowly. His head hurt horribly, almost as if someone was inside of it with a sledgehammer and trying to pound their way out. His entire body ached. He felt as though he had been ripped into a million pieces and then roughly thrown back together, but when he tilted his head down enough to glance down at himself, he was completely intact just as he remembered being.

Even without moving, he could feel how sore he was, and he knew that trying to move would be painful as hell. But pain had never stopped Julius Root before, and this time would not be the exception to the rule.

It was painstaking and unbelievably uncomfortable, but he managed to force himself into a sitting position. Then he forced his mind operate. Where was he? What did he remember? What happened?

He thought hard for a second, and then suddenly it all came rushing back to him. Scalene, the trap, Opal's face on the screen… and Holly. Holly! Where was she? She had been there. She must have actually hit the sweet spot. She must have saved him. But then where did she go?

After Artemis, of course. No doubt she was rushing there, ready to try and sweep in to save the Mud Boy. She always did have a soft spot for him, the same way he had a soft spot for her. They liked each other, that much was obvious, even if neither of them would admit it. All the evidence anybody but the two needed was in their actions. However, that wasn't what was important now. He had to find the two of them. If necessary, he had to help Holly save him.

Well, in order to do that, he had to find a way to the surface. First thing was first. Get out of this chute, find a shuttle, get to Fowl Manor. Ultimately, if they were still alive, that would be the rendezvous point. So he just had to meet them there.

He went over to the doors, which he was almost certain had been locked before, but found that they were open, much to his surprise. Strange. Maybe Holly would have the answers when he found her.

He left the chute and double-timed it back towards the Police Plaza. He just needed to get to his office, and he could write himself a pass for a pod to the surface. Quick, easy, simple. He just hoped he wasn't too late.

He stormed into the Plaza, surprised to find it almost empty. Why would it be almost empty on a work day? Where had everyone gone? He pondered, then decided it didn't matter. Foaly would be here, at the very least. He always was.

He pounded on the door to the Ops Booth. "Hey, centaur!" he shouted. "Open up!"

There was a long pause, then a hiss as the door slid open, revealing a tired looking centaur slumped over the central computers and blinking blearily.

"Wake up, Foaly!" snapped Root. "How could you possibly be sleeping at a time like this?"

Foaly jumped, started, and turned around. "C-Commander?" His eyes were wide, and he quickly rubbed his fists over them, trying to clear his vision. "Oh, Frond, I must be dreaming."

"No dream, centaur," Root said gruffly, but Foaly didn't seem to hear.

"I must've fell asleep at the desk again. What was I looking at? Probably old case files. That would explain this. Because there is just no way-"

Quickly growing tired of this, he decided to put an end to it. "Foaly!" Root thundered. Immediately, the centaur fell quiet, staring at him with wide, wonder filled eyes. "You aren't dreaming. I don't have time to explain all this. Hol - I mean, Captain Short didn't really try to kill me. It was Opal, and I sent Holly after Fowl. They're probably both in mortal danger. I need a shuttle and some weapons, stat."

Foaly stared at him, frozen, his eyes widening with every word. Root glared at him. What part of this was so hard to believe? What was wrong with the dumb centaur? He was a genius for Frond's sake, shouldn't he have an idea of what was going on and know better than to sit and stare?

Finally, after a long, tense period of silence, Foaly broke eye contact and turned to the computer. He started typing rapidly, numbers and windows flashing with light speed across the screen. Root watched with an expression of mild annoyance. "What-" he began, but Foaly cut him off, holding up one hand on his general direction and he continued typing.

He turned as he finished typing, looking worried. He handed Root a visa. "Go to Fowl Manor," he told him. "Just... They'll be able to explain better than I can."

"But the human-"

"His memories aren't a problem," Foaly assured. "Believe me. More time has past since you... entered the chute… then you would think."

Reluctantly, the elf took his visa and headed for the shuttle port.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Holly Short was having a good day.

The day was bright and sunny, and she got to spend it with her best friend and lover, Artemis Fowl II, above ground at his house in Ireland. She had the whole weekend to be able to relax and spend time with him, with no impending threat of death or world-destructing danger to be had.

Currently, they were outside in Mrs. Fowl's garden, which she had built and expanded to circle around the fairy roses where Artemis had come back to life. It had turned out to be truly lovely, with flowers of every kind she could think of surrounding them in full bloom, up on the hill beside Fowl Manor. The wind was blowing lightly, carrying the scents of the flowers, and the sun was shining warm and bright down on them. Right now they were resting on one of the stone benches in the sun, staring down over the part of the expansive garden in front of them.

Holly rested her head on Artemis's shoulder and sighed contentedly. "Artemis?"

The human looked down at her thoughtfully. He was sitting beside her with his legs crossed and one arm draped over her shoulder. His other hand rested on his thigh, his fingers tapping meditatively on his leg repeatedly. "Yes, Holly?"

"Do you ever miss it?"

He blinked, then furrowed his brow down at her, looking surprised. "Miss what, Holly?"

"Our adventures. And...your hazel eye." She reached up and brushed her finger underneath his right eye, where his hazel eye had been before he'd died, then dropped her hand and looked away sheepishly. "I... I mean, I do, and I just wondered if you do too."

Artemis sighed. He reached down and tilted her head up, pressing his lips to her forehead for a half second. He pulled away then, and used his own thumb to trace beneath her blue eye as he spoke. "Of course I miss it. Having a part of you in me... I don't think we were ever closer, nor could we ever be. I'd be delighted to have it back, if we could find a way."

Holly smiled. She caught the hand on her face and squeezed it. "Okay."

"Why do you ask?" He tilted his head at her, running his thumb over her full bottom lip.

She shrugged. "Like I said… I miss it, I guess. Not so much the whole life-or-death, saving-the-world business as much as just… having something to do."

The corners of his lips turned up in a small smirk. "Ah. My little adrenaline junkie needs a fix," he chuckled, teasingly, rolling his eyes.

"Hey! I am not an adrenaline junkie!" Holly protested, but Artemis just grinned at her protests.

He turned completely towards her, leaning down and catching her wrists when she went to punch him in the shoulder. "Now, now… don't be like that. You know I'm more than happy to provide my little elf with a fix," he purred, giving her wrists a firm tug. He'd been working out since he'd come back to life - not by choice, at first, although recently he hadn't been putting up near as much resistance as it got easier and he started to see the fruits of his efforts - and he easily had enough strength to tug the small elf forward enough to close the distance between them. He pulled her into him, so their thighs were touching, her body angled toward his so much that she was practically in his lap. "All she has to do is say the magic word," he murmured, his lips brushing her cheek.

Holly tried to lean forward and close the distance between their lips, but he turned, lowering his mouth to the smooth skin of her neck. Holly huffed and pouted, but tilted her head nonetheless, her eyes fluttering as the human attended to her neck. Artemis had a tendency to tease her, and quite frequently. Sometimes she enjoyed it, but other times - like right now - it was incredibly frustrating. Being as well bred as he was, and growing up in a criminal family where you never knew who was watching, he understandably wasn't much for PDA, but they were alone in the garden, and having just arrived not too long ago herself and not yet getting a "fix" of him, as he had put it, meant she had little patience for his games. "Artemis," she half-pleaded, half-growled.

"Yes?" he asked innocently, his lips curving into a smirk against her neck. Holly nearly whimpered in frustration. He knew exactly what he was doing.

"Don't be cruel," Holly breathed, barely biting back a moan as he moved his lips up to her sensitive ear, nibbling her earlobe.

Artemis chuckled softly, making her ear twitch. "Oh, Holly. Haven't we discussed the fact that you haven't seen me at my most cruel?"

Holly never got the chance to respond to that, as it was around this time that one Julius Root was arriving into their airspace. He'd spotted them from several miles above in the air, and quickly zoomed in on his visor to confirm who it was just in time to see Artemis trapping Holly's wrists in his grasp. He felt a trickle of confusion at the sight. How was Holly here already? Why did Fowl look so much older than he remembered? Had it really been that long? Why were they just sitting around and not doing something productive to stop Opal? He also felt a surge of anger at Artemis at the sight of him restraining and then seemingly proceeding to force himself on Holly. He couldn't say he was surprised that the Mud Boy had feelings for Captain Short, but he hadn't pinned him for the kind of person who would force himself on an unwilling female.

Unfortunately, that seemed to be exactly what was happening. The poor commander didn't come within earshot in time to hear or see the beginning of the conversation; all he caught was the tail end where Artemis was very clearly on her and Holly was whimpering and pleading at him. He swooped down, hovering a few feet away and reaching automatically for his blaster.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Root roared, his complexion rosy before he ever drew a breath.

Artemis and Holly leapt apart, startled and looking as shocked and guilty as two teenagers caught making out in the backseat, despite both of them being perfectly consenting adults. Not that Root knew that…

Root stared at them, furious. They'd both separated to opposite sides of the bench, and both of them were staring at him. Artemis's brow was furrowed, and he rubbed his jaw, staring at him almost thoughtfully, but otherwise still impassive as ever. Holly, on the other hand, looked pale and clammy, her eyes almost bugging out of her head. She looked like she'd seen a ghost.

"I…" the elf squeaked, then stopped, her hand clamping over her mouth. She looked like she was going to puke.

Root was at her side instantly, his tone softening as he looked her over. "Holly, are you okay?" he asked urgently, shaking her gently by the shoulders. "Did he hurt you?"

"Hurt me?" Holly whispered, her voice muffled by her hand. She was still staring at him with wide eyes. They flickered to Artemis for a moment.

Artemis was still staring unseeingly at them, looking deep in thought. She could practically see the gears turning in his head as he tried to find a logical explanation for what was happening. "Artemis?" she whispered, her voice deathly quiet.

Instantly, his eyes refocused and snapped to her. He stood up. "I assure you, Commander, there is a perfectly logical explanation for this," he began, his voice level and carefully controlled, giving away nothing.

Root whirled around to face him, his face redder than Artemis had ever seen it, if that was possible. "Perfectly… logical…" he sputtered, then stopped. "Are you serious?" he roared. "There's a perfectly logical explanation for why you were forcing yourself on my captain? When she was trying to help you?"

Artemis glanced at Holly, who still looked like she was trying not to be sick and staring at Root with glassy eyes. His mind raced, throwing around ideas and tossing them out, trying to determine how this could possibly be happening. A slight frown marring his face was the only sign of his inner turmoil as he turned over hundreds of theories and ideas around in his mind. "I was not forcing myself on Holly," he said evenly, "Nor would I ever do such a thing. Do not presume to have all the facts." I don't even have all the facts, he thought suddenly. He sighed, bringing a hand to his temple and rubbing it, blinking against a sudden headache.

Root frowned at him, his mind also spinning. None of this made any sense. "Holly," he said, slowly, turning to look down at her. "Is that true?"

Holly looked up at him with wide, glassy eyes. She gave a slight nod, and that was all the indication she gave that she'd heard him. She turned to Artemis. "How?" she croaked, her voice hoarse.

Artemis looked down at her, his gaze unexpectedly tender. "I don't know," he answered simply. "At least, not yet." He licked his lips. "I have a few theories, but they're all highly fantastical. I need to talk to Foaly for consult, and perhaps meditate for a little bit…" He drifted off, looking at Julius. "I suggest we return to the Manor. Commander, perhaps you could help Holly along? She's a bit unsteady, at the moment." The dry amusement in his voice was almost unnoticeable under the tension it held.

The Commander frowned, not liking taking orders from the human, especially because he was now thoroughly unsure as to what was going on. He didn't wait for Root to respond before starting down the path towards the Manor, disappearing around the bend and out of sight behind the rest of the garden's flowers.

He looked down at Holly. She was staring after Artemis, looking lost and possibly on the verge of tears. Root sighed. "Come on, Short," he murmured, picking her up and slinging her over his shoulder, just like he had all those years ago aboard a train in the Arctic. She was still in too much shock to even protest.

Sighing, he carried the catatonic elf back along the path to the entrance to Fowl Manor. Butler was waiting by the door, having already been debriefed by Artemis about the situation. He stared at the Commander, his features registering a slightly amount of surprise - meaning he was probably just as shocked as the other two. Artemis was nowhere to be found.

"Commander," Butler greeted in his deep bass tones.

"Butler," Root returned evenly, stepping inside. He sighed. "Is there somewhere we can…?"

"Of course." Butler closed the door and gestured for him to follow him. He lead them silently to a sitting room. He watched from the doorway as Root deposited Holly on the couch and looked her over, frowning. It was silent for a few minutes as he tried to figure out how to bring her around to no avail.

"She's not going to respond," a voice said softly from the doorway.

Root turned and saw Artemis, looking considerably more exhausted now than he had a few short minutes ago. The teen was leaning against the doorway, his arms crossed over his slim chest, holding a recently closed phone in his hand. He smiled sadly at him. "Not to you, anyway. Not yet."

"Why not?" Root asked. He found himself calmer now than he had been a few minutes ago, surprisingly. He was still extremely confused, which didn't bode well with him, but he suddenly found he didn't have the energy to be mad anymore, especially when he wasn't even sure who or what to be mad at.

"Because she hasn't accepted you as real," Artemis replied simply. "Sort of like the mindwipe; in order to return the memories, one has to be presented with irrefutable proof that the subconscious cannot find another explanation for. She needs proof that you're real to come around. Right now, she's drowning in guilt and possibly thinking she's hallucinating."

"And what proof would that be?"

Artemis crossed the room in a few long strides, pocketing his phone. "An explanation from the person she trusts the most to figure it out. Me." He shot Root a look that was reminiscent of his normal smug-self, but a little too tinged with emotion and exhaustion to actually seem like it. He knelt in front of Holly, and Root settled on the couch cautiously beside her, his body sagging with relief. Everything still hurt.

"Holly," Artemis said softly, his voice soft and coaxing as if talking to a caged animal. "Look at me, darling."

Root shot him a sharp look at the endearment, partially out of surprise and partially disgust, but neither of them paid him any mind. Holly's eyes seemed to focus again for the first time since the human had walked away. She looked down at him with wide, wet eyes. "Artemis… how?"

Artemis sighed. He glanced at Root, wetting his bottom lip and taking her hand. "Okay. This is going to sound really complicated, but I'm going to try to make it as simple as possible for both of you, okay?" She nodded numbly, and he looked at Root to be sure he was also listening before continuing. "Alright. Holly, do you remember how old I was when we met for the first time?"

"12," both of them blurted instantly.

"No. I was nearly 11," Artemis corrected. "The incident in the past, remember?"

Root had no idea what he was talking about, but Holly nodded. Artemis continued. "Alright. Good. And the Opal who came into the future - our present - from that time, was the one that Present Opal had killed. Still with me?" She nodded again. "Alright. That means that Opal ceased to exist after the year 2000 - the year she was removed from the timeline to come here."

Holly's brow furrowed, and she frowned down at her human friend. "But… Opal did exist, Artemis."

"She did until Present Opal killed her," Artemis explained gently. "With her removed from her own time, and killed, that erased any possibility of her existing in any time after that point at which she came to the future."

"But she did exist," Holly insisted again.

"In our timeline, yes, she did." He sighed. "When she was killed, Holly, that made it a physical impossibility for her to actually exist. The universe attempted to right this with the nuclear fission, but Opal was smart enough to channel her energy and create another corporal form, meaning she still did exist." He paused, watching her carefully. "Now, even though she outwitted it, the universe was still attempting to right itself, erasing all of her influence that shouldn't have existed from this time and the past times she shouldn't have existed in… meaning any trace of Opal from the time I was 11 to the time I was cured of Atlantis Complex was erased from history. This is why all of her technology exploded and we had the techno crash. Understand?"

Holly nodded hesitantly after a long moment. Root, on the other hand, was thoroughly lost. He knew nothing about any of this. He knew he should keep his mouth shut until the Mud Boy was through, but he couldn't help it. "You had Atlantis Complex?" he blurted. "When did that happen? And what's this about time travel and technology crashing?"

Artemis and Holly both turned to look at him slowly, as if underwater. The human frowned. "Commander, let me finish and I promise we will catch you up on what you've missed after," he told him, then turned Holly's head gently back to him. "Still with me, Holly?"

"So…. The techno crash happened because Opal shouldn't have existed for seven years prior to that happening, and so the universe was trying to erase all evidence she existed?" Holly said, slowly, looking at him for confirmation that she understood correctly.

"Yes. Now, as I said, that means everything Opal did was wiped from the timeline. And if that technology never existed, Holly, then-"

"Then the bomb…" She looked at Root, her eyes wide. She looked like she was seeing him for the first time. "The bomb that killed Julius never existed. She never made it, let alone orchestrated the plan."

"Correct. Very good." Artemis smiled at her, tucking a lock of her behind her ear. She'd started to let it grow out since he'd come back - it was nearly to the middle of her back now.

"But…" Holly frowned, turning back to him. "Why did he come back? Opal did exist, Artemis. We fought her. How was she erased from history and yet still here?"

Artemis inhaled deeply. "She had already existed in our timeline, Holly, so that was simply it - she existed. By all rights, if she had actually been erased, we should have been thrown into an alternate timeline where she didn't exist. But she wasn't, because she was smart enough to figure out how to keep that from happening. So, she still existed, and the only thing that could happen in that case was that an alternate timeline had to be spawned outside of ours to right the events of the past several years. But," he added, glancing at Julius, who was still listening eagerly despite his utter confusion, "Our old friend Commander Root would have never died in that timeline, and with the bomb being erased from this one, he would never have died in it, either, thus resulting in two living Commanders. And since two of the same person cannot live in the same timeline without creating further paradoxes, and the fact that the bomb that killed him and his killer were erased from history in ours, he was dropped back into our timeline, where he belongs, whole and complete as if he were never exploded."

Holly stared at him, her brow furrowed as she tried to comprehend the whole paradox as he tried to explain it to her. Artemis said nothing, watching her and waiting for her to speak. Eventually, she did. "So… why now, then?" she asked at last, looking at her lover. "I mean, shouldn't he have been dropped in where he left off, if he never should have died?"

Artemis hissed through his teeth. "Holly, I don't know the answer to that. It's entirely possible a third timeline spawned where the two of you went into that chute for some other reason and there was no bomb and he continued to live. I don't know. The best I can tell you is the fact that we're still here, memories intact, living the same way as if she had existed - because she did - means that an alternate timeline spawned to right it, and that Root did die in the past. But with it now being a physical impossibility for that to have happened, it was reversed somewhere in the grand scheme of things. Why he was dropped here, now, so long after past Opal's death, I can't tell you either. Perhaps because it was the first or only safe, logical point in our time for him to be returned." He shrugged. "But that much is just theory, at this point. I'm sure we could find the answers, between Foaly and I, but it would take a while."

"No, that's okay." Holly rubbed her face. "I… think I get it. The best a non-genius can, anyway."

"Well, I don't," Root cut in, crossing his arms. He wasn't sure what to make of what he was hearing, and with little to know background details, he was utterly lost. "I died? And how long ago was this? What am I missing here?"

Artemis and Holly shared a look before the human stood up, running his hand through his hair, sighing heavily. "A lot," he said at last. "And, frankly, I don't have the energy to explain it to you right now. I still have to somehow explain this to Butler, Juliet, and help Foaly explain it to the rest of the Lower Elements that their dead commander has somehow reappeared. So, Holly, if you don't mind…" He nodded at Root.

Holly hopped up on the couch to be closer to head level with him, smiling for real for the first time since arriving that day. "Of course." She hugged him for a moment, stretching up to kiss him gently on the lips before letting him go and flopping back down. "Go do what you need to do, Arty."

Artemis nodded and smiled softly at her, sparing a quick glance and curt nod to Root before leaving the room quickly. He was on the phone and speaking in rapid undertones again before he'd ever reached the door.

Holly and Root stared after him until the door closed behind him again, and then, quick as a blink, Holly threw herself into him, hugging him tightly. Root grunted in both pain and surprise. "Alright, Short, I think that's enough," he told her, tersely, but even his normally gruff voice shook a little.

Holly pulled back and wiped her eyes. "I'm sorry. I know, I just… gods, Commander, I watched you die…"

"I know. It's surreal." He offered her a small smile. "Even more so for me. I don't remember anything after-..."

"Don't," Holly interrupted quickly. "Please. Let's not relive it. Besides, it…" She stopped, glancing at the door behind them. "It never happened," she said softly, smiling again suddenly for no apparent reason. After all, he had no way of knowing what the words meant to her.

"Right. Apparently not. But apparently a whole lot of other crap did, so can you please catch me up on everything I missed?" Root sat back, crossing his arms. He was not thrilled to still be in the dark after listening to the Mud Boy explain a bunch of stuff that made absolutely no sense for over the past hour.

Holly nodded, settling back into the arm of the couch and smiling. "Of course." Her smile faded slightly. "Maybe we should start from the very beginning though. After all, you've missed a lot, and I've learned a lot about what happened myself since everything went down…"

Root stared at her, uncomprehending, then suddenly realized what she meant. "Oh, no. I don't want to relive all the Fowl incidents, Holly. I want to know what happened since I… died." He stopped and swallowed thickly. Saying that felt so… wrong.

Holly just smiled. "I know. But it will make more sense with updated information, from… behind enemy lines, shall we say." Her eyes glittered as she said it, her smile growing slightly as she settled back. "Don't worry, I've had to tell these stories a few times before, as you'll soon realize. Now, let's see… I think I'll start at the same place I had to last time. Ho Chi Minh city in the summer. Sweltering by anyone's standards. Needless to say, Artemis Fowl would not have been willing to put up with such discomfort if something extremely important had not been at stake. Important to the plan…"

So how's THAT for convoluted?

I know, the ending may have been a bit much, but I couldn't resist.

So, did anyone else see this my way? I hesitated writing it because I was afraid to mis-explain it, but I think I did it alright in the end. Perhaps it's just me wanting to see Root's death as never happening, but... hey, too late now, right?

Please let me know what you think! Is anyone interested in seeing a story based on the alternately spawned timeline? And I apologize if I made anyone's head hurt with my explanations. Time travel is complex, no? ;)