This story takes place in Walt Disney World, in 2006. Holly has a new case, involving the dangerous Jon Spiro, and with Artemis' help will be able to afford 12 days in the large park. Susie and Gilbert will be accompanying them, as well as Butler. But what is Spiro up to? And why is he leading them there?

P.S. This has recently been revised and added to!

Chapter I

By Kaelyn Sale

Artemis glanced at Holly as she slid onto the seat beside him in the limousine. She grinned at him. "Susie and Gilbert are in the backseat, and Butler is ready."

He nodded. "Then we should be there within the hour."

He, Holly, and her niece and nephew were on their way to Disney World. Holly was on a new case and with Artemis' help, would be able to afford twelve days of investigating at the large park. Susie and Gilbert would assist them by making them less noticeable. The twins were in the last set of seats of the limo, Artemis and Holly in the second, and Butler as the driver. Each section was divided by a sheet of tinted glass.

Perspiration was gathering at Artemis' brow. He was wearing a black suit and a button-up white shirt, with a pressed collar. He was obviously uncomfortable.

Holly was looking at him with a frown. He glanced at her, right eyebrow arched. "What?" She rolled her eyes. "Are you seriously going to wear that? In Florida, of all places?"

It was his turn to frown.

"It's eighty-five degrees outside!" She exclaimed. Before he could protest, she leaned over and pulled the suit jacket from his shoulders and unfastened the top button of his shirt, and grinned with satisfaction. "There, that's better."

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. But his smile soon vanished when he realized how close she was. Her grin also disappeared. For a long moment, they just gazed into each other's eyes. Artemis opened his mouth to say something, when he was silenced by Holly's mouth on his own. Artemis didn't react for a long moment. Tentatively, his lips moved against hers.

A shiver crept up Holly's spine. Now that she'd kissed him, it dawned on her just how long she'd wanted to. The thought scared her more than a pack of angry goblins. Her hands dropped from his face and her hazel eyes widened. She was appalled at her lack of self-control. Holly shook her head slightly, and her lips parted to speak, but no words would come.

Artemis, even on his worst days, was very rarely speechless. It surprised him to no end that he had no words now. It took them both several long moments before they both noticed Butler had opened the door. The large Eurasian man's mouth had fallen open. Ever the professional, he quickly replaced his surprised look with the calm, at-ease one he always wore. Holly rose hurriedly from her position, and hastened past the bodyguard. Her cheeks flushed in embarrassment.

Butler looked after her, then glanced at Artemis. Bewilderment, surprise, and confusion played over his face. "Artemis, are you all right?" Artemis looked up quickly. Concern was evident in Butler's dark eyes. He started to nod, then shook his head, then stopped, and couldn't seem to make up his mind. His eyes brows shot up in surprise. He had never had that problem before.

Butler spoke in a lower tone. "Artemis?" This time the question registered. The Irish youth nodded. "I'll be fine." He replied quietly.

Butler's former look of worry had smoothed into a small smile. Before he was assigned Artemis' bodyguard, he had prepared himself for teenagers, but a few years by Artemis' side had made him realize Artemis Fowl the II was no normal eighteen-year-old.

Artemis climbed out of the limousine, and Butler closed the door behind him with a click. Holly was standing beside Susie and Gilbert, holding their hands. The children were chattering excitedly about the three-storied resort. Bright splashes of colors decorated the doors and railings of the Love-Bug retreat. The cement path led to a raised platform, featuring Herbie himself. Next to the white car was a large trophy, with a plaque reading, 'This is the actual car used in the Disney parade of 1989'.

Artemis went inside to sign in at the main building, while Holly and the children explored, and Butler unloaded their bags.

Purple, pink, yellow, and red flowers decorated the green lawn around the many paths leading to the different resorts in the area. Holly smiled excitedly at the twins, the kiss forgotten as the bright sun warmed her skin.

As they walked by the large pool, Susie and Gilbert begged her to let them go swimming later. She smiled and nodded. Holly led them to the main building, and sighed with relief as the air conditioner cooled her down. The twins caught sight of Artemis, and ran to him, their feet echoing on the marble floor.

Artemis smiled at the little girl as she hugged him tightly, grinning up at him. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Artemis shook his head as if to brush off the praise. He looked up as though searching for someone. When he caught sight of Holly, he stopped, his penetrating blue gaze holding her own. The single look asked so many questions that Holly had no answers for. Holly's breath caught in her throat as she stood frozen to the spot.

Susie and Gilbert were looking from one to the other with a quizzical expression. They had to repeat their question again before Artemis heard it and turned back to them. "What did you say?" He asked politely. Susie crossed her arms over her chest and frowned. "I said, what floor are we on?"

"The third floor." He replied absentmindedly. Artemis looked up, expecting to see Holly, but she was no longer there. She had disappeared.

Holly hurried out of the building. Confusion and desire were all-consuming emotions. Right now all she wanted to think about was escaping the perplexing situation she had landed herself in. She spotted a bench a good hundred yards away. Perfect. The farther she was from Artemis, the better. She was just about to make a bee-line for the bench when she heard her name. D'arvit. She turned around and forced a smile. "Hey Butler."

"Holly. Did you get the room key from Artemis?"

The question took her by surprise. "Uh, no-I-"

Butler smiled kindly, and shook his head to silence her. "Don't worry. I'll get it. Go on up to room 8900 on the third floor, we'll meet you there."

She nodded, and followed the signs to the elevator. So much for alone time to puzzle through my thoughts.

Holly spotted the elevator and jammed the top button on the panel next to the doors. Feeling extremely impatient and frustrated at the moment, Holly took pleasure in jamming the button several more times, un-necessarily. Silently, she cursed Mudmen for making everything so frustratingly slow. Holly pushed the button a few more times, but it did nothing to speed up the process.

"Holly?" She jumped two feet in the air when she heard Artemis' voice behind her. His blue eyes sparkled with amusement.

"Don't sneak up on me like that!" She hissed angrily. He chuckled as she glared at him. His face was only three inches from hers, and when she tried to step back, she was right up against the elevator door.

Artemis didn't move; he smiled his vampire-like smile.

Holly growled in irritation. The fact that he was so composed and met her gaze squarely made her madder than she was before. She pushed a stray strand of auburn hair behind her ear. She was perspiring and all she wanted was to get to the room and into the air conditioning.

"Holly, you really ought to consider reading the sign first, it's so much better than waiting for them to fix the elevator." Artemis advised, with a hint of amusement in his voice. If looks could kill, he would have been dead long ago.

She marched over to the other elevator and pushed the button. Not three seconds later, the door opened. Artemis followed her inside. Holly started muttering under her breath.

Artemis was watching her closely. He handed her a keycard, and she followed him out the door and eleven doors down. He set down the sleek silver case he was carrying and opened the door.

There were three rooms total, a bathroom, and two bedrooms. The walls were painted a dark green and set in the Toy Story theme. A TV rested on a chest of drawers in front of the two beds, and on the wall outside the bathroom had a large mirror and sink below it.

Holly sat on the bed nearest the door while Artemis opened it for Butler, Susie and Gilbert. He gave them a weary smile, and took his bag from Butler when he handed it to him.

Susie plopped down beside Holly and smiled at Artemis. "Holly and I get this one."

He nodded curtly. "And Gilbert and I will take the one over here." He turned to Butler, smiling kindly. "And Butler, you must take the spare room. You've done so much for us as it is." The bodyguard was about to object, but Artemis silenced him with a stern frown. "No buts, and if a burglar manages to break in here, I'll be sure to wake you." He teased, the lines around his eyes crinkling when he smiled.

Artemis really has changed, Holly thought. The thought kind of alarmed her. Before the gradual improvements to his character, he had been predicatable.

Artemis turned to her and Susie. "Now that we have that out of the way, let's unpack. There are four drawers here, so we each get our own. Butler has a spare cabinet in his room, so he can use that."

Holly nodded, and unlocked her suitcase. Perfectly folded, lay a white spring dress and several skirts and blouses. The clothes she had packed had been disposed of. "D'arvit, Juliet!" Several strings of words followed, but they would be too inappropriate to list here.

Butler hastily pulled Susie and Gilbert into the spare bed room when he saw the furious look on Holly's face. There was nothing worse than an angry Irish elf.

"Artemis!" She barked. He looked up from his position at the table.

"What is it?"

"What happened to my clothes?" Holly demanded.

"Well, Juliet begged me to let her go shopping for you, so I did." His gaze met hers head-on. Holly punched the air with her fists.

"I'm going to kill her!" She vowed fiercly.

Artemis' arched a brow at her, a hint of a smile on his lips. "Really? And how are you going to do that? As I see it, you don't have much choice but to wear the clothes she bought you, so either way, she wins. Besides, it would be unlady-like to fight in a dress."

Holly glared daggers at him and scowled. "There is no way I'm wearing those clothes!"

Artemis continued as if he hadn't heard her. "But, the choice is yours. I'm sure you could make some excuse for the LEP uniform you are wearing underneath your jacket."

She growled and went through the contents of her suitcase. The white dress was the only thing that wasn't terribly revealing. The skirts looked like they would be a little too short on her, regardless of the fact that the human growth hormone shots had given her another foot and a half in height. Grumbling, Holly grabbed the dress and stomped off to the bathroom.

Artemis chuckled to himself.

Butler poked his head into the room. "Is it safe to come back in?"

Artemis nodded to the bathroom to indicate Holly's location.

Susie, oblivious to what was going on, pulled out a deck of memory cards from her pocket and lined the cards up into neat rows on the carpet. Her eyes twinkling mischievously, she sang, "Artemis and Holly, sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Catching on, Gilbert joined in. Butler frowned at the two, but it was difficult not to smile. After all, he had been the one that caught them kissing.

Artemis scowled at them. In order to distract himself from thinking about kissing Holly, he took out his laptop from the briefcase. He would analyze it later, when there weren't witnesses around to tease him about his reddened cheeks.

Twenty minutes had passed and there was still no sign of Holly. Artemis stood outside the bathroom door and knocked. "Holly, you've been in there long enough. Come out. Now."

"No." Was her stubborn reply.

"Holly," He said sternly. He heard her sigh and she opened the door. Artemis' eyes widened.

The sleeveless dress fit her perfectly, and he couldn't help but think he would have to congratulate Juliet on her sense of style. It fell past her knees, and had a v-neck that showed skin but not too much. The dress was tied into a bow behind her neck, and Juliet had also thought to get matching shoes for the dress.

Holly frowned as he hesitated. He tried to smile, but it was weak. "You look...fine."

She raised a brow. "Uh, huh."

Artemis frowned at himself. He had never stuttered once in his life, and before he could say another word, her fist met his face. He staggered, and his eyes widened once more.

She smiled in triumph. "I missed that."

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