(Wow. I really disappeared for a while. Improving writing, and working on this. It's going to be very long, so bear with me here. Thank EmoPiglet169 for dragging me back. Updates will be erratic, but I'll try hard to update at least once a month (or every two weeks if I really try) until the summer. Then you'll be lucky to get one between June and August. And yes, the title IS somewhat clichéd.
Strong T rating for swearing (only some is censored) and mature themes that will be coming up at a later point. There is some AU in that I prefer Vinyaya alive.)
"LEPrecon Major Holly Short. Transferred to Atlantis Section of the LEP due to multiple surface-related infractions, core diving incidents, and lack of officers in Atlantis. Effective in two week's time. You do not have the right to appeal, as no demotion was presented." Holly ground her teeth as her Commanding officer- Trouble, in fact- looked at her solemnly, purple eyes emotionless, half-reading from an official looking piece of paper bearing the pressed seal of the LEP Board. Paper meant it was a big deal. Digital meant she could have Foaly erase the email. Digital meant nothing too life changing. Paper was dangerous. And he was paraphrasing.
"Acknowledged." She replied, tone indicating she had a lot of things to say at that moment that would most likely result in being fired rather than the transfer she was facing, or even a demotion. He nodded sharply, scruffy-sexy(no, scruffy, Holly!)- black hair that even being a Commander hadn't been enough to tame staying miraculously out of his eyes. It ended up in a vaguely teen pop star style that sort of fell across his forehead hiding his eyebrows in a way that had always left Holly wondering if he ever did more than just rub his hair in a towel as a means of styling it.
"Dismissed." His tone brokered no argument, leaving Holly to spin on her heel and stalk out, barely missing slamming the door. She had to smile to herself, even for a nanosecond though. His hair looked longer than her cropped auburn. But she brushed the thought away instantly, as it bordered on... Fondness. And that was something she'd sworn, up and down, that she'd never go back to.
"Hey, Hol-" the call died on the lips of whatever the heck that corporal's name was as she turned to face the small dwarf, eyes and demeanor fiery, face set. "Never... Mind." He seemed to shrink before the imposing officer who simply growled, barely pausing in her half-jog to her office. The stupid mechanical door slid shut calmly, denying her the satisfaction a window-rattling door slam would have created. Even if she didn't have a window. Holly took a seat in the rolling chair, skidding across the floor, feet tapping into her desk and knees bending to absorb the shock. An impulsive hand, moved by fury, slammed her 'inbox' over, sending paper flying and a metal tray crashing to the floor. Memo lines flashed at her- 'Neutrino Registration' this and 'Surface Base' that, before floating to the ground.
"D'Arvit!" She half yelled, trying not to kill the eardrums of the gnome next door, as he'd complained a couple trillion times, sliding out of the chair and to her knees to hastily scoop up the sheets and stuff them into the tray at random. Blurry headlines, it was all a big illegible mess- Wait. The headlines were perfectly clear a moment ago. Holly scowled at herself, furiously scrubbing at watery eyes. She loved Haven. Oh well, tough luck. The Major took a seat again, staring at her computer screen. No new mail, no instant messages from a certain paranoid centaur, no life-threatening crisis, nothing digital to do. Normally she would have welcomed the rare event, but the circumstances set her anger level higher rather than lower.
"Why are you mocking me!" She yelled at the computer, slamming the heel of her hand into the side of the monitor as if she was trying to fix it, voice rising to a screech "You f***ing computer!" Holly didn't answer the knock on the door, only whipping her head up when it slid open.
"What?" She snapped. Poor Grub Kelp was suddenly lucky to be alive, trapped in a death glare. "What!" She repeated the word when he didn't respond quickly enough.
"F-Foaly ask-asked me to t-tell you that the c-com-computer s-system's not w-working." He managed in a quiet stutter. "V-Vin-Vinya-Vinyaya" He finally managed the name and Holly sneered slightly. The Corporal had always had issues with the formidable grey-haired elf, and the thought of her on top of a pissed off Holly was making him wish he'd just quit after Cudgeon's goblins nearly shot him. "Vinyaya wants to t- talk to you."
"You just tell her to wait!"
"N-Now. S-She told m-me that y-you'd try to s-strangle me, but y-you have to g-go any-anyways. S-Something about At-Atlantis." Message thus completed he didn't wait for a response and disappeared down the hall, quaking in his boots. Why were all the women in Police Plaza completely insane?
Holly sat back, squeezing her eyes shut, interest sparked in spite of herself. Relax. Breathe. Ohm and all that Zen crap. There would be much worse than this to face if she somehow got her way and killed Trouble and Vinyaya. Which could be accomplished if she caught them by surprise with a Neutrino on a high setting. She always had been a good shot. But jail was not fun, she knew that much.
Holly sighed, getting to her feet and stepping through her opened door, starting the walk to the Wing Commander's office. Nothing happened along the way to save her- No invasions or plots or yelling centaurs trying to catch up with her (Oh what a week that had been).
"Wing Commander." Holly nodded respectfully as she stepped in.
"Cut the formalities, Holly." Raine Vinyaya did not appear to be in the best of moods. Which did not bode well for the Major.
"Alright then. What do you want?"
"I was planning to lecture you, but instead I want to talk politics."
Holly blinked slowly. "Politics?"
"Yes. Don't tell me you haven't heard of them, it's been almost twenty years since the Fowl boy captured you."
"Yes. Artemis is twenty nine at the moment, and I know what they are." Oh joy. The both of them were in snarky moods.
"Well. Atlantis." Holly bristled. Like she needed reminding. "The current Commander is very old, inept. He's going to either die or be replaced soon, and you're a good enough officer that you may stand a chance of replacing him."
"Me? Good officer- Have you even heard why I'm being transferred?" Holly scoffed
"Aside from that." The older woman waved a hand as if she were brushing aside a spider web. "You're reliable, smart, good at dealing with people."
"Apart from the Kelps."
"Just get over Trouble and develop a little tolerance for Grub." The ghost of a smirk lit her features, like she was remembering a private joke
"Get over Trouble? I am. Don't you worry, and don't bet on us getting together."
"I actually have a few ingots in that office pool." Holly stared, and Vinyaya ignored her, putting on a pair of light glasses and pulling out a folder.
"Head Commander Jared MacKinnon of Atlantis. Their system is run a little differently. You have a Head Commander who oversees the LEP and Majors run each branch under his command. The Deeps have a sub-commander to run it, but the Head Commander's really in charge. Since Atlantis is smaller than Haven and has less issues with perps escaping to the surface, he really has the same workload as I do, or Root did. Jared is nearing a thousand, and that's OLD, even for a fairy. His effectiveness has been slipping and Atlantis discipline is loosening. Their Sub-Commander, Tarpon Vinyaya- My older brother- is not quite qualified for the position and not nearly as effective as he could be. The presence of females is less than Haven, but there are still a few girls."
"I know all this." Holly had slouched slightly in her chair, strongly reminded of High School lectures
"But I can talk to Tarpon and have him ask you to be his replacement, my brother's retiring you see."
"Sub-Commander?"
"Making you the next Commander if you don't screw up and the LEP likes you."
"Wouldn't they be the AP?"
"LEP. Lower Elements extends to Atlantis." Vinyaya smirked slightly.
"Fine. I don't have to live in the prison do I?"
"No. You have an apartment. We're letting you stay in a hotel for a month while you get a house, then you're responsible for it. The LEP will pay half, but you need to be able to pay mortgage and the other half."
"Fine." Holly rose from her seat, turning to leave.
"Holly."
"Yes?"
"You're not plotting Trouble's murder, are you?"
"It's all planned out already."
"Don't be too hard on him. Grub says he was nearly in tears over it." Holly stopped, glanced back, and nodded before fleeing to her office. Vinyaya watched her go then smiled to herself. Those two were definitely not over each other, whatever they insisted.
"Water!" Holly gasped, eyes widening in pure terror. "Atlantis is... Surrounded by water!" Took you a week to notice, Short. She slowly relaxed the fist she'd clenched, staring at the wall. That was... Very bad. Water. Enclosed spaces. Both of her phobias. That was it. Trouble was evil. You see, after Opal infected Artemis' smother, she'd been trapped in a barrel of animal fat, feeling her magic draining away, breathing through a snorkel. Contrary to what she'd told a worried Artemis, she had been sick for a couple weeks afterwards, to the point Trouble ordered her home, or he was firing her. And then Turnball Root and the thrall rune, she'd associated the experience with water, leaving her so terrified that it was affecting her ability to function normally. She still refused to swim, nearly killing the smart-ass Private who had tried to get her to. She was showering regularly and had managed to chase a fairy through water to capture him, so they (meaning the higher-ups, meaning Trouble) put up with it.
"Yes it is! Five points to Recon!" Foaly snorted over the video call.
"No! That's bad!" she stared at the centaur. He'd always seemed insane, but this was conclusive proof.
"It's perfectly safe." He replied insolently, crunching a carrot.
"No! How can it be!"
"You don't need to be so-oh..." Neurons sparked and the genius nodded. "I can't help that. You won't let me try any mind control."
"I'm not letting you trick me into buying you carrots!" She replied, trying to bury her fear with sharp comments.
"Fine," he muttered, carrot hanging from the corner of his mouth like he was smoking it, typing up something or other.
"So what did you want?"
"Well I was going to ask if you could ask the Atlantis commander guy to take that trainee I like- Roob- to help the Atlantis techies."
"He's good?"
"Can't have him stealing my job. Will you?"
"Sure." Holly rolled her eyes. "Two sarcastic centaurs in charge of the LEP's technology, what could go wrong?"
"Exactly!" She saw a grin before the link was closed. Holly kicked herself away from the desk, chair rolling to bump into the wall, preoccupied with worrying about Atlantis.
Please review? You review mine I'll review one of your stories. They really make my day. :)