Here's chapter 2

"Holly," Artemis said, "are you okay?" the elf hadn't said anything for a few seconds. Artemis noticed her lips were moving, "Holly, what are you doing?"

"I'm counting," she said calmly.

"Counting what?"

"Artemis," Butler said as he walked into the room, "I understand that you wished for me not to interfere tonight. Are you sure you don't want me around?"

"Yes, Butler, you may leave," with a nod, Butler left. Artemis could have sworn he saw an amused smile on Butler's face as he turned around to leave, but he thought nothing of it, "and what are you counting?"

"Time," she said, eyes closed.

"Time? For what?"
"It's your head start."

"What are you talking about?" Artemis said, growing annoyed at her vague responses.

"The time I was giving you to run before I make your IQ drop a few points."

"Heh," Artemis chuckled with a small smile, thinking it was a joke. When he noticed Holly was still counting under her breath his smile faded, "Crap."

Holly opened her eyes and jumped up to Artemis' eye level. Not being the most combat ready human out there, Artemis didn't think of doing one basic thing when the Elf wound up her fist…Duck.

She hit his left eye as hard as she could, knocking him to the ground, "I guess I deserved that," he said, trying to ignore the pain as he got back to his feet, hand over his eye. He noticed Holly still looked pissed, "I'm sorry," it came out sounding more like a question than he had hoped for.

"Oh, not yet," Holly said threateningly, "when I'm done getting revenge for what you did, then you'll be sorry."

"Come on, Holly," Artemis said, trying to cool her down, "it's just a skirt. How big of a deal could this possibly be?"

"Foaly," the Elf said to the centaur, "your printing job is finished."

"Perfect," Foaly said, "Can you bring it in for me?"

"Sure," the Elf reached back to his cart and handed the centaur a large, rolled up sheet of heavy paper.

"Are those blueprints for some new invention?" the elf asked—he'd always been somewhat of a technology enthusiast.

"Not quite," Foaly said as he unraveled the paper, "Ah…excellent," he walked over to a bare spot on the wall and tacked up the paper.

"Is that Captain Short's photo?" the Elf said in astonishment.

"Of course," Foaly said triumphantly.

"Don't you work with her often?"

"Yup."

"You do realize that the second she gets back, you're going to be hanging on that exact spot, right?" he motioned towards the poster.

"Not to worry. She's with the Fowl kid. I'm sure that by the time she gets back here, she'll have caused enough pain and suffering to bring her anger out on me."

"This movie better be good," Holly said as they left the Fowl mansion, "and it better not be one of those sappy romance stories."

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll love it." They walked over to the garage. Artemis pulled out an electric door opener and clicked the button, remotely opening the door.

"No…no way," Holly said, "that is not happening."

Artemis walked up to the motorbike, "Why not?" he asked, tossing a helmet to Holly.

"Artemis, you are one of, if not the, least suitable people to do anything macho. And…this," she pointed to the motorbike, "is at the top of my list of things not to trust Artemis with. I still have to perform the Ritual. I don't think I have enough magic to even heal you if you do crash."

"Relax," Artemis said, putting on a helmet, "I passed the test, so how bad could I be?" he put on a studded leather jacket and waited for a response.

"You look like a jackass," Holly said as she walked up to the bike, "but I'll make you a deal. You don't crash, I forgive you for the skirt incident. But, if you crash, I don't care how injured you are, I'm going to break every remaining bone in your body."

"You've got a deal, Holly," she nodded and got on the back of the motorbike, "Um, Holly," Artemis said, noticing how, because of her height, she seemed far from safe and stable, "I don't think that's going to work."

"Artemis," she said, crossing her arms, "you've already got me wearing a skirt and riding a motorbike, don't think for a second I'm going to be sitting in front of you."

"Fine," Artemis said, "It's your choice," he smiled, "I'm glad to hear that you finally give my driving abilities the trust they deserve." With a light growl, the Elf shifted forward. Artemis placed himself behind her and leaned forward, nestling her safely between his chest and thighs. He started the bike, "Don't worry," he said over the rumbling, "I'll be sure to get you there in one piece."

When they got to the movie theatre parking lot Holly pushed Artemis back with her elbow and hopped off the bike, "Never again," she ripped off her helmet and threw it at Artemis. He just managed to catch it before it hit him, "I am never getting on…or in anything that moves if you're driving it. Especially that thing."

"Relax, we got here, didn't we?"

"Barely," she said, "Artemis, I'm not sure if the whack-job who gave you your license ever taught you this, but it's usually a good idea to stay in one lane when you're driving."

"Okay, so I may have swerved a little," he said, removing his helmet and the jacket.
"A little?" Holly said, astounded at his level of arrogance, "What you did was not 'a little' swerving. A troll could have thrown me from her to Haven and back again, and that would have steadier than your driving."

"Come on," he said, taking her helmet, "let's go get tickets." she followed him, angry that everything that had happened so far had been nothing but trouble.

Well, there's the new chapter. I hope you enjoyed.

Please Review