What Friends Are For
"Let me guess: Artemis Fowl, right? I should have known. You people are becoming quite the team." Trouble smiled. Sool wouldn't be happy with him but there wasn't much he could do, seeing as Trouble had been right.
On the trip back Trouble allowed himself to relax and just fly. Or at least his body relaxed and the adrenalin began to leave his system, his emotions where flying all over the place. He was still in shock at having lost Commander Root and yet at the same time he was relieved that Holly was not behind it. Though he had not been able to process that Root was gone, he did react to Holly's plight. His friend was yet again in a situation that seemed impossible to get out of and this time he had been able to help. Only a little, but he had helped none the less.
The first time he met Holly she had saved his life risking her career by illegally piloting a shuttle. Her ingenuity had impressed Trouble so much that he had argued with the Commander until he had agreed to give her another chance. Holly was his best friend and he knew that this wasn't over yet. As he had proved before, he was willing to help her any way he could.
Chute E1, just after Holly's initiation
"Well Captain," said Trouble. "Congratulations."
"Thank you," came to response. There was an awkward pause, which Trouble used to try and phrase his next comment.
"Look, Holly… Captain Short…"
She smiled, "It's all right, you can call me Holly."
"OK then, Holly I just wanted to say that I shouldn't have doubted you earlier," said Trouble. "I was hoping I could be forgiven."
Shifting to look at him in the uncomfortable LEP shuttle, Holly smiled. "I think I can forgive you as long as you are willing to promise never to do it again."
Trouble winked at her. "I never make the same mistake twice."
Haven City
Holly pressed her thumb to the pad next to the door of her apartment. As soon as the door slid open she stepped inside and palmed the control to close the door with more force than was necessary. Collapsing on the dusty couch she sighed and closed her eyes massaging her temples with long thin fingers. Today had to have been one of the worst days of her entire life. She had lost so much, Commander Root, her job as a LEP officer, and probably a few friends. Her true friends would stick around; Mulch, Foaly, and Trouble. Trouble. Would Trouble be able to forgive her for leaving the LEP? Or would he consider it abandonment? Holly shook her head there was no way to tell what Trouble would think; he might think that she was justified.
After a few minutes Holly's phone began to ring, she ignored it. Finally the answering machine picked it up. "Holly, its Trouble please pick up. Come on Holly I know your there. Holl…" The message timed out just before Trouble's third plea. Holly didn't want to talk to anyone right now least of all Trouble, the only one of her friends who might feel betrayed.
Trouble walked into the Ops booth, he had just finished his shift and stopped by Holly's office to see how she was holding up only to discover that she wasn't there. He had decided to see if Foaly knew where she was.
The centaur looked up from his computer. "Hey Trouble." Foaly gave him a puzzled look. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be heading home?"
"I could say the same to you." Trouble smiled. "I'm actually looking for Holly. I stopped by her office a few minutes before my shift ended to see how she was doing but she wasn't there. I thought you might know where she is."
Foaly's face fell. "Trouble, she's at home. Didn't you hear about this morning?" The confused look on Trouble's face told Foaly all he needed to know. "She resigned, she said she couldn't work under Sool, not after he accused her of…"
"She what?!" Trouble was understandably upset. "Thanks Foaly."
"Trouble wait don't…" called Foaly as he rushed out, Trouble ignored him; he wanted to talk to Holly right away. Reaching his office he called her house number. She didn't answer. "Holly, its Trouble please pick up. Come on, Holly I know your there. Holly answer me." Trouble heard the answering machine click off. "D'Arvit," he cursed. If Holly had quit than she must have been in pretty bad shape, she loved her job and she had worked so hard to get to where she was.
Trouble took a deep breath, Holly wasn't going to do anything stupid, but he decided to go make sure.
Ten minutes later Trouble was ringing Holly's doorbell. On the third time she finally answered the door. She looked extremely nervous. Just seeing her with his own eyes allowed him to relax, he felt the tension leave his muscles he closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breathe.
"Can I come in?" Trouble asked after a few moments. Holly stepped aside silently, closing the door behind Trouble. Then she turned and walked to the sofa avoiding several piles of LEP manuals. Trouble sat down on a chair across from her not sure what to say. He had come here on an impulse, something he didn't often do and always regretted. For a few moments they just looked at each other across Holly's slightly cluttered coffee table. Holly finally broke her silence. "What are you doing here?" she asked him.
Trouble avoided her eye, developing a sudden interest in a neglected spider plant on the counter behind her, embarrassed at his out of character behavior. "I… I was worried," he mumbled.
"Thanks Trouble, but I'm fine," she said stiffly.
Trouble's resolve returned by such an obvious lie. "Holly you are not fine, you've been through more than your fair share in the last few days."
"I can handle it!" objected Holly.
"If anyone can handle this it's you but I still wanted to talk to you, your not the only one who misses him you know," he said calmly.
"I know that," snapped Holly.
"Then why did you quit?" asked Trouble trying to sound calm and reasonable. He needed to understand this, and maybe talking about it would help Holly.
"Trouble I can't work with Sool. I don't trust him, and he doesn't trust anyone. Trouble he accused me of killing Julius. Can you honestly expect me to work under someone like that," Trouble knew she was right; she wouldn't be able to work with someone who didn't respect her or trust her.
"I'm not sure I can either," Trouble whispered. He was shocked by his own admission, but he knew it was true.
"Why, what did he do to you?" Holly asked curiously.
Steeling himself for her unknown reaction, Trouble answered, "He ordered me to shoot at your shuttle. I thought I would have to for a minute, until I thought of the comm spike."
"So we are facing different versions of the same problem, being forced to shoot at people we care about," commented Holly.
"And hating Sool," added Trouble.
Finally Holly smiled. She opened her mouth as though she was going to say something when the phone rang. They both jumped and Holly grabbed the phone. She talked for a few minutes saying things like "yeah" and "Okay" and finally "I'll get on it tomorrow morning".
"It looks like Mulch and I have our first job," she announced hanging up the phone. Seeing Troubles confused look she explained about her plan for a private detective agency.
"Well it looks like I'd better go then. We've both got work in the morning," said Trouble, rising form his chair. He and Holly walked to the door.
Just as Trouble turned his back to step through the door, Holly spoke, "Hey Trouble?"
He turned around, still standing in the doorway, "yeah?"
She smiled. "Thanks."
Holly smiled. She felt a lot better, she still missed Julius but she could deal with it. Her friends where there for her, all of them.