Holly Short was having a bad day. A really bad day. As she sped down the crowded corridor towards the main exit of Police Plaza, she cursed Foaly's diabolical lack of communication skills.
"D'arvitting pony can't even remember a d'arvitting answerphone message" swore Holly. Then again, Foaly's supposedly huge brain being mainly occupied by his work, his wife Caballine and year-old daughter Equeste. It was a miracle his tin foil hat didn't burst from the pressure.
Holly had seen her fair share of mothers cooing over pictures of their newborns, but had not discovered the true meaning of the phrase 'sick to death' until Foaly had brought in Equeste's baby photos, and had continued to proclaim to anyone who would listen, how his daughter would grow up to be the second most brilliant member of the people after, of course, himself.
Indeed, since the Hybras mission it seemed that she had become favourite aunt & babysitter to half the children in Haven City. While a LEP Major's salary was good compared to those of some of the lower ranked officers', it was by no means plentiful compared with some of the civilian salaries being paid by Haven's many large corporations. At first, Holly had welcomed the extra few thousand credits for looking after the pampered princes & princesses of rich fairies, but she had quickly grown tired of being the rent-a-hero babysitter; sitting in someone else's home when she wanted to be in bed listening to 5 year old fangirls demanding in-detail recounting of her adventures as their bedtime story.
Though she continued to baby-sit for friends (Holly's mind flashed back to taking care of 4-month old Equeste, and the problems having 6 limbs rather than the usual 4 caused), the upper class elves had long discovered that, unless they wanted to get up close and personal with the latest Neutrino model, they were to leave Major Short well alone.
Thus it came to be that Holly was running 20 minutes late for that evening's appointment with Tallulah Kelp. Foaly-his forgetting of Trouble's request for a babysitter being the cause of Holly's lateness-had rung ahead to inform Juliet of the Delay.
As Holly hopped onto the metro (having decided that in Haven, a personal shuttle was a pointless waste of money), she took the opportunity to reflect on two of her best friends' relationship. Had anyone told her before, Holly reckoned she would have bet every gold bar in Haven that such a relationship would never happen, let alone work. Yet from the moment they met she has seen the spark between the Butler girl and the LEP Captain, who had been promoted to the same rank as Holly after the birth of his daughter.
But in spite of her reservations, Trouble & Juliet had become one of the most devoted (and famous) couples in haven. Of course, when they were seen together it was almost impossible to tell they were of different species-Trouble always having been a very tall fairy and Juliet a rather small-and very strong-woman, with both of them standing around 4'8'' tall. However, it was their daughter Tallulah, rather than Mr & Mrs Kelp, who was the true celebrity of the family.
Being the first-cross species child in several Millennia, and having been conceived naturally, 2-year old Tallulah was the darling of the fairy world. Her birth, and progress to date, (not that Holly thought much could be derived from the very limited progress of an infant half-elf, even one who could speak moderate English, Irish & Gnomish), had persuaded many fairies that re-establishing contact with humans-'mud people' having become an unacceptable slur overnight-was a distinct possibility.
Unfortunately some elves-particularly those who had read an interview Juliet had given to Mesmer magazine-had decided to take matters into their own hands. After the article was published, in which Juliet gave a rather 'vivid' description of human men, Holly had ended up chasing groups of female fairies across the surface, trying to prevent them doing more 'detailed study' into the validity of Juliet's assertions.
Still, Holly was looking forward to taking care of her goddaughter for the night, while Juliet took Trouble to see her favourite musical-'The Phantom of the Opera'-in London. Holly had put in some extra hours to get Trouble a half-day overground pass, in exchange for which Trouble had arranged for her to have 3 weeks off, to rest and recuperate from the strains of being the LEP's second most senior officer.
Holly had been so lost in thought she had failed to notice her feet carrying her off the metro & up to the Kelp's front door. Gathering herself, she rapped the brass knocker 3 times on the green front door.
Suddenly, the door burst open, and a blond haired whiz shot toward her.
"AUNTIE HOLLY!!!!" Screamed Tallulah Kelp, happily colliding with Holly's leg. Holly could not help but be amazed at how like Juliet the 2 year old was. Smart grey eyes and pointed elfin ears aside, she was a miniature version of Juliet, from the flowing platinum blonde hair, right down to the (slightly annoying) tendency to ask several questions at once.
"How've you been Auntie Holly? Did you see Daddy in Mesmer? There's a really good film on tonight can I watch it? Can we stay up late tonight, drink Cola and eat ice cream?" Fortunately, Holly was saved from the girl's incessant questioning by the arrival of her father.
"Now, Tally, let Auntie Holly get in the door first, there's plenty of time for questions later" Trouble said jovially. "Go and play with your WWE figures until Holly's read". Apparently a love of wrestling was another trait Juliet shared with her daughter.
"Hiya Trub" Holly greeted as she pulled him into a firm hug.
"Good to see ya Holls" replied Trouble as he flashed her a poster-perfect smile. It was interesting, Holly noted, how wrong many people had been about Trouble Kelp. For years, everyone had told her that the reason he spent so much time around her was because he was madly in love with her. Yet nothing had ever happened between them, even though they'd been best friends while going through school & the LEP academy. And despite the remarks and 'knowing glances' folks gave them when they saw them together, they had remained simply good friends ever since. So good that, upon Tally's birth, Trouble had instantly asked Holly to be godmother.
"Holly!" both Holly & Trouble looked up as Juliet came down the stairs at a run, her curvaceous body supporting a gorgeous midnight blue off-the-shoulder dress.
"Oh Juliet you look fantastic!" exclaimed Holly as she admired the other woman's attire, while wishing she had occasion to wear something so beautiful. "How much was it-it must have been very expensive-it's absolutely exquisite"
"It was quite a bit" admitted Juliet "but Trouble insisted I should have it-something about 'the LEP's poster boy's supposed to be good looking, so his wife should look heavenly'". The blonde placed a loving kiss on her husband's flushed cheek, and Holly found herself wishing she could find the same sort of happiness two of her best friends had found with each other.
"So Holly" Trouble started "what are you planning to do with the 3 weeks you've got free?"
"I'm not sure" Holly replied. "I mean, Mulch is still running the PI firm with Doodah Day, and they're snowed under with work at the moment. You two are busy here, and all the psychotically dangerous, world-threatening maniacs are either dead or locked in Howler's Peak. I guess I could give my flat a clean, but that'll only take a few days. All in all I picked a boring time to take 3 weeks off."
"Come off it Holly, it's obvious what you need" chided Juliet.
"What?" asked the elf, curiosity starting to rouse its head.
"A holiday!" exclaimed Juliet as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "3 weeks of relaxation away from Police Plaza and away from Haven. Trust me, it'll do you a world of good".
"But there's nowhere to go" complained Holly. "Atlantis is just as busy as Haven, if not more so. And there'll still be the problem of people recognising me and demanding Autographs every few yards. I won't get a minute's peace.
"Well why confine yourself to the lower elements?" pushed Juliet. "Last I heard, Artemis was quite lonely. Fowl manor's an awfully big for just him & Dom, what with his parents having taken the twins to Rome for the next 3 months".
Holly looked at her shoes. She hadn't talked to Artemis for nearly a year. Though they had chatted regularly since returning from Hybras, the calls had become less and less frequent until one day they just stopped. Holly felt slightly guilty about this, since after their last mission she had thrown herself into her career, trying to make up the 3 years she had lost, and put herself in line for the Commander's job once Vein retired. Though Artemis had asked her to come & stay several times, she had always found a reason not to go. Now though, it seemed she had finally run out of excuses.
"Are you sure?" she asked "I mean, will he want me around while he spends all day hacking into some big bank or corporation's accounts?"
"Oh Holly, don't be silly" laughed Juliet. "Artemis doesn't do that any more-I think the Spiro incident put him on the straight & narrow. Anyway, he's loosened up quite a bit in the last year and a bit-he's quite good company now-hard as that may seem to believe".
"Ok then, Fowl Manor it is" muttered Holly. "I'll call him later".
"No need" piped up Trouble "I already did. You're on the 9am shuttle to Tara tomorrow morning, and Mulch has already packed for you-your stuff is already at the Shuttleport.
Holly sighed. It seemed every avenue of escape had been quickly & meticulously sealed off. Anyway, she thought, spending 3 week at the manor couldn't be too bad. Besides, seeing what a 'loosened up' Artemis was like could be a laugh.
As the front door closed behind Trouble & Juliet's retreating backs, Holly pondered whether, having not spoken for almost a year, Artemis would want her to come & stay at all.