A/N: I enjoyed The Time Paradox, but Eoin Colfer left me hanging with the questions he did not answer! Especially with the Fowl twins, Myles and Beckett. So...to satisfy my curiosity, I have decided to write on the events after The Lost Colony, particularly on the days leading up to TTP.
I look forward to constructive criticism and any other suggestions!
Disclaimer: All characters and everything else belongs to Eoin Colfer. My dream to kidnap Artemis might just have to be crushed - but a girl can dream, can't she?
In which Artemis meets his brothers
They would be here soon.
Artemis drew in a deep breath, reminding himself to stay calm. He had just seen his family a week ago, but they had not seen him in three years. And there were his two new brothers...he clenched his hand to hide the slight tremor that arose whenever he thought of the recent additions to his family. This was not a normal reaction on his part, but the changes that had taken place since he left had unnerved him somewhat. Would his parents question him about his unchanged physical appearance? How was he to explain everything to them? Had they changed since he last saw them? What were the new members of the family like?
Butler handed him a steaming mug of tea, his eyes concerned above his full beard. 'Are you all right, Artemis?'
'I'm fine, Butler.' He sipped his tea quietly, hoping that the man had not noticed his nervousness at meeting his parents.
'They can't wait to see you,' said Butler, placing a hand on the boy's bony shoulder. 'Your brothers in particular. Your mother...she has been telling them stories about you.'
'I see.' Artemis held the mug in his hands, grateful for the warmth it gave to his cold hands. 'I hope she gave them good accounts about me.'
'As much as she can,' Butler said, turning back to the stove. Artemis caught the note of uncertainty, mingled with pain, in his voice.
Poor Mother, he thought, his fingers tightening their clasp around the mug. This was not the first time that she had to wait for a member of the family to return home. If only I could think of a way to take away some of her pain.
A car drew up outside the cottage, coming to a stop beside the front door. Artemis placed the mug carefully on the table beside him and met Butler's questioning eyes. Well this was it. Time to meet his family and the new Fowl boys.
'You go,' he whispered. Butler nodded and went to answer the door.
He heard snatches of conversation outside – his mother's anxious voice, his father's deep one calming her, and the bird-like sounds of two boys chattering in their high voices. Artemis straightened the jumper he had borrowed from Butler and swallowed the lump in his throat.
Angeline Fowl paused on the threshold of the cottage with her hand in her husband's. The twins crowded behind her, both curiously peering round the doorway at the strange boy in the room. Artemis rose from his seat, his knees weak with relief. He felt like the time when he was seven, when his parents had been away for a month due to one of father's business deals. He had been left with Butler and Juliet at Fowl Manor and had not wanted for anything, but he had been secretly afraid then that his parents had forgotten him. The memory of seeing his parents again a month later had not left him ever since.
'Arty,' was all Angeline said, before she crossed the room and swept her eldest boy into her arms.
Artemis wrapped his arms around his mother and closed his eyes against the strange prickling he felt in his eyes. She was crying now, her tears damp against his collar. He felt his father's hand on his shoulder and the familiar voice saying something unintelligible above his ear. It did not matter what the words were – Artemis thought he knew what they meant. He kissed his mother on a damp cheek and stood back when she released him.
'We thought...' Angeline's voice broke, and she held a hand up to her mouth, tears still slipping down her cheeks. 'Arty. We've missed you.' She smiled through her tears, smoothing back the boy's hair from his eyes.
Artemis met his mother's eyes, knowing that his mismatched ones would not go unnoticed. Angeline took her hand away from her mouth and touched a fingertip under his left eye, the one that he had swapped with one of Holly's hazel ones. 'Strange,' she murmured. 'So strange.'
'I'm all right, Mother,' he said, his voice sounding oddly distant and flat. He swallowed for the second time that day and smiled. 'I'm all right.'
'We knew you would be back,' said his father next, drawing him into a hug. 'We were always waiting for you to come back to us.'
Artemis could only press his face against his father's shirt and mumble, 'Well, I'm back.'
'Dad?' said a voice near his knee.
His father broke away and bent to pick up the little boy. Artemis met the boy's solemn eyes, arranging his expression into one he hoped was friendly. The boy gazed back unblinkingly, almost as though he were checking the elder boy before him against the impression he had formed of Artemis through his mother's stories.
'This is Myles,' said Artemis Fowl Senior, smiling encouragingly at Artemis. 'He couldn't wait to meet you since Butler called to say you were back.'
'Hello, Myles.' Artemis held out a hand to the younger boy, not knowing what else he was supposed to do. Myles's serious expression was unsettling but somehow familiar; it was possible that it was the same expression that he often had when he was younger himself.
'Pleased to meet you, Artemis.' Myles shook the proffered hand before breaking into a wide grin. 'He talked to me first, Beckett!' he yelled.
The other twin, who was now in Angeline's arms, shrieked in protest and demanded to meet Artemis at once. Artemis stared in bemusement at the boy in his mother's arms; he was identical to Myles in looks, but the similarities ended there. While Myles was neat and solemn, this twin had a sticky, rumpled look to him as he kicked his heels in delight when Angeline brought him over to Artemis.
'Arty-mis!' he cried, raising his arms to his brother. 'Hello, Arty-mis!'
'Hello, Beckett.' Artemis couldn't help it – he grinned and ruffled Beckett's messy hair. His fingers came away sticky with something suspiciously resembling treacle. 'My name is Artemis.'
'Beckett,' said Beckett, pointing to himself and giggling madly. 'Me, Beckett!'
'I told you no more treacle, Beckett,' said Angeline indulgently, kissing the top of his head. 'Now he'll be hyperactive for hours.'
'Well, how do you like your brothers, Artemis?' Butler asked later, as he made more tea for the family.
The teenager, who had been sitting silent for the past hour watching his parents talking to the twins, merely nodded in approval; his eyes were unusually bright. Butler shrugged in understanding and said nothing.
Artemis leaned his head on his hand, his eyes unseeing as the Red Bentley sped along the quiet roads in the golden evening. Butler, who was driving, glanced at his charge in the rearview mirror from time to time. The boy had been silent since they left the cottage at Duncade sometime ago, and Butler knew better than to interrupt Artemis's thoughts. His parents had left earlier that afternoon to prepare the Manor and the twins for Artemis's return. A surprise party had been planned, but Artemis had – most unusually for him – suspected nothing afoot.
'Will Juliet be back soon?' said Artemis, breaking the silence. He met Butler's eyes in the mirror, his expression thoughtful.
'She caught the first plane home when she heard the news,' Butler replied.
Artemis nodded and turned back to look out the window. Juliet, according to Butler, had returned once a year since his disappearance three years ago.
'Do you think things will be the same, Butler?' he asked.
'I don't think they will be,' said Butler, as tactfully as he could.
'Hmm...you're right. It would be folly of me to expect things to be the same.' Artemis smiled as he twisted the ring he wore on his middle finger. He would have to call Holly soon, as promised. There would be so much to talk about, and to hear. 'And I'm not the only one, I suppose.'
