Let's say she was caught out. No magic, no electronics, nothing.

And she just happened to be in Dublin.

Note: Post AI. Characters not mine - only the crossword .

He leant over – to check my progress, it seemed. I stared at anywhere but him.

"Will they be calling?" Suffice it to say 'they' were the authorities.

"Dunno. Why?" I struggled to keep my face as normal as possible.

He shrugged. "It is expected of them." He returned to his own paperwork. No crosswords for him. I tensed, holding my breath.

Nothing.

I let it out with an almost audible whoosh. If he knew –

"Have the rest of the goblins been detained?"

"Way ahead of you."

If he knew how I felt towards him, he'd freak out, wouldn't he? The famously unshakable Captain Holly Short, survivor of two brushes with the Mud Man Artemis Fowl, falling for him, her very kidnapper. Oh, the irony.

Silence.

He turned towards me. I could feel my face heating up. His cerulean eyes bored holes into me as I tapped my pencil against the table, staring unseeingly at the clue to 8 across.

Marked by foolish or unreasoning fondness: Adjective.

Besotted, probably. Seven letters, though. A synonym?

"Smitten." He leant over my shoulder, this time, his shirt barely brushing against my skin.

"Mud Boy bored?" I teased half-heartedly, his aura sedating me –

"Yes, as a matter of fact." He scooted his chair closer, all the better to read the next clue.

The quality or condition of being unlike or dissimilar: Noun.

Difference. That one was easy. I printed out the letters – all upper case, of course – and sat back, admiring my progress.

"Not much progress achieved, I see." He smirked.

"Oh, shut up." I rolled my eyes and moved on.

Excluded from use or mention: Adjective.

Not allowed, nine letters. Banned? Contraband? Off limits?

"Forbidden." A ghost of his vampire smile flitted over his face, and the next moment I found myself staring at him, hypnotized by his sapphire eyes –

Must have been the heat in the room. "It's too hot in here." I turned away from him, hastily scrawling in the word. Smitten, difference, forbidden. All related to me... him... our relationship.

"Why so monosyllabic?" He asked.

And then he kissed me.

Fun, fun, fun.

Carry on?

Oh yes, and the surprise – who remembers a ShadowCatWhisperer? Or perhaps the Parasite Scenario...? Does anyone remember what happened to the story in the end?

Review and tell me. It won't be pointless then.