The power went out today. I'd like to say that's the reason I waited so long to update…but it may actually be the only reason I did… Weird, huh?

Probably won't say this again, but just to be safe: the characters may be a little OOC but they belong to Eoin Colfer, not me.

Thank you Indochine, ukikie, Crazy Female LEPrecon, NobodySomebodyAnybody, Harry Artemis Jackson, and an anonymous guest for commenting on the first chapter. I appreciate your feedback.

The same evening, Captain Holly Short tapped on Artemis Fowl's study window, after making sure that the boy and his body guard were quite alone.

When she stepped through her chosen portal, Artemis smiled in a very uncharacteristic way. This unsettled Holly but she tried not to think about it.

"Hello, Butler. Hey, Artemis." Uncommon as it may have been, Artemis's new smile—his friendly and welcoming smile—was infectious. She couldn't help but grin back.

"Hey, cap," Butler said warily. "I thought you said not to expect you until tomorrow."

Holly shrugged. "Apparently, I've been really out of it. Troub—Commander Kelp told me to take the week off—go wherever I needed to go—and not come back until I had my head back on straight. So I got a Visa and came straight here." She directed her attention to Artemis. "So, do you remember anything new, Arty?"

He shrugged. "Yes, but how can I be sure if it's real or not, princess?"

Holly stiffened. "Oh, gods. Not this again."

Artemis cracked a smile. "Okay. That was mean. Sorry, Holly."

Holly looked the other way, determinedly avoiding their gazes. Don't do it, Short. He's done that before. It's no biggie.

The tears came anyway—not fast and hard like when her friend had died, but more than she would like. The elf wiped them away hurriedly, hoping they would go unnoticed.

"Holly, I've been wondering," Butler said quietly, stealing Artemis's attention from his friend in arms. "The LEP and the Fairy Council—Well, this isn't going to go unnoticed. And then there's the rest of the world, too. It wasn't exactly a secret… What are we going to do about that?"

Holly shrugged, herself once more. "I really don't know, but we'll think of something."

"Why would they do anything?" Artemis stood from behind his desk and slipped a notebook into the drawer. "It's not like I've come back from the dead or anything crazy like that."

Holly winced. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to keep that from him…

"Well, Arty…Everyone was pretty sure that you wouldn't come back this time. I mean, there was a plan the whole time… But we didn't know if it would even work."

Artemis nodded absently, gazing out the window.

Holly noticed that—possibly for the first time—he hadn't done anything with his hair. It was just there, as if he'd only just gotten out of bed… The rest of him looked that way, too. She couldn't even remember the last time she'd seen Artemis not wearing a suit. Holly actually found herself wanting to laugh. And she did, rather hysterically.

Artemis jumped and glanced over at her. "Holly? Are you okay?"

She nodded, still laughing, and sat on the floor, shaking. "I'm sorry! It's just…I didn't know you knew how to wear a shirt that goes over your head! What's 'randomocity'?"

The corner of Artemis's mouth twitched and he looked down at the shirt. "I promised my mother I'd wear it…but she didn't say anything about being in public."

Even after Holly calmed down, she was still smiling. "So tell me. What did Myles and Beckett do when they saw you?"

The boy genius turned away. "They…they ran away from me. I'm not sure what's going on there."

Holly bit her lip, making a mental note to do some mesmerizing when Artemis and Butler weren't looking.

"I'm sure they were just shocked, Arty. I mean…six months is a really long time for four-year-olds."

"Beckett said something about a ghost."

Holly didn't know what to say to that. What could she say.

A timer beeped on Butler's wrist watch and he turned for the door. "Dinner's almost ready. Holly, would you like to stay? Madame Fowl wished to speak with you earlier and wondered why you left so suddenly."

Holly paled. "Umm…she's not—"

"Mother's known about everything since Opal possessed her. Father knows some of it, but he doesn't really believe a word of it."

Holly put her face in her hands. "This is a big mess."

She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Artemis smiling faintly.

"I know it is. But it'll work itself out."

Holly nodded silently and followed Butler from the room. Artemis shut the door behind her and sighed, catching a glimpse of his face in a small mirror on the wall. His eyes were both blue now, but he would worry about that later, because he could see a smile on his own lips that he could not feel.

"Go away, Orion!" he hissed before slipping out the door.

Holly and Butler were in the kitchen together for the second time that day. Holly peeled potatoes while the big man simultaneously stirred a sauce pot and pulled a baking sheet from the industrial-sized oven. The elf couldn't help but notice that the meal appeared to be one hundred percent vegetarian.

"Butler—"

"When they all had breakfast this morning," the burly bodyguard said suddenly. "Artemis was acting…really strange. I mean, even for him. Poached eggs, bacon…He used to eat a really hearty breakfast, even though he's never looked like it. We could barely even get him to drink milk. He's rarely ever that picky… Did Foaly…mess with anything?"

Holly frowned. "Well, there's always the hope that I've just rubbed off on him… But I guess that's not very likely."

"It's a valid hypothesis," Butler countered. "He's changed so much since you became a part of his life. But did Foaly mess with his DNA?"

"I don't know… I wasn't there the whole time. When I wasn't working or sleeping, Commander Kelp had me in therapy…"

Butler sighed and turned off the oven. "We need to talk to Foaly about it. He's avoiding leather furniture like the plague. You might not have noticed, but his office chair's been replaced."

Holly hadn't noticed, but she pretended she had. "I'll talk to Foaly, see if he did anything. But I doubt it. I mean, he's tech-savvy but… Well, he passed Biology, but he didn't ace it. I don't think he would know how to splice chromosomes."

Butler shook his head and reached for plates. "What about the twins? They'll say something they shouldn't and then Artemis will know we've been lying to him."

Holly took a long moment to work out what she should say. "I'll mesmerize them."

Butler sighed. "Are you sure? I really think that these secrets and lies need to stop. You forgave him for lying about his mother, but this somehow feels bigger. He was dead, Holly."

"No one should remember what it feels like to die," she whispered, staring at the pile of potato peelings in the floor. How long was I missing the bucket? Holly began scooping up the brown skin with her hands and carefully placing the long strips in the compost bucket. "When we were saving the demons…Well, he felt the same way. He didn't want me to remember that Abbot had stabbed me with that disgusting sword. I saw as much in the time tunnel."

This was the first time butler had heard of this particular incident but decided to ask questions later…Like, after he retired.

Butler picked up the arranged plates and started for the dining room. "Well, Captain Short. Now is probably the best time to mesmerize Myles and Beckett. If I were you, I'd Shield and go find them."

Holly nodded and disappeared without a word.

Please review, comment, and critique. I love constructive criticism but if you read what I write and absolutely hate it, please keep it to yourself.

Have a nice day and God Bless!