Author's note: So for those of you that don't know I'm in the process of editing this and am replacing the chapters one by one. I'll also be taking out a lot of these author's notes and replies to reviews that probably bug the hell out of the casual reader :)

Disclaimer: I do not own the Artemis Fowl series or any of the characters involved in it, they are the intellectual property of Eoin Colfer.

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Chapter 1

Fowl manor
Dublin Ireland

Artemis paced his room agitatedly. It was seldom that he abandoned his icy shell of composure and displayed any form of emotion. He had trained himself over the years to remain calm, to compartmentalize most of his emotions that would only get in the way of making money and achieving his goals. Not that anyone was there to witness his apprehension in this instance. Juliet was training with Butler and his mother and father were out at some social gathering.

In actual fact, a partial cause of Artemis's distress was his father. The man had already lost over 5% of the family's fortune on reckless purchases. Combined with the amount Artemis was losing, thanks to Tsu Ling that was quite a large amount.

That thought made Artemis clench his fist involuntarily. Artemis was barely ever violent. He was a thinker; always had been but lately he felt his nerves were becoming more and more frayed and thinking of Tsu Ling only made him that much closer to snapping.

Artemis shook his head, pushing those unhealthy thoughts aside and refocusing on his father. My father and his born again happy-go-lucky spend-thrifty ways, the Irish teenager thought irately.

Another factor that annoyed him was that his father's constant surveillance prevented Artemis from continuing any illegal enterprises he might have pursued. His father was a much more involved and intuitive guardian than his mother ever had been. That in itself was limiting Artemis's scope in terms of making money. A twinge of guilt hit him for thinking that way.

It wasn't that Artemis didn't feel strongly about his father; he was immensely relieved that the man was safe. Showing such an emotion just wasn't in his nature though, such warm sappy feelings needed to be kept separate from those that were required to run an empire. And that's exactly what Artemis had been doing solo up until the return of his father. Now everything was out of whack.

The only redeeming aspect of the situation was that his parents loved to socialise. On a few occasions, Artemis had managed to get them out of the way for a few days so that he'd been left with some short sabbaticals from their attention wherein he could go back to conducting business the way in which he was accustomed.

However, he had yet to come up with an idea to regain enough money to stop their fortune from sinking. His father had gone completely legitimate and had invested several million in new companies, often lending money to the little man to do his part to alleviate some of the losses in the current economic climate, despite the onerous cost to the Fowl fortune.

Artemis thought back to what he had done the last time his fortune had started to deplete. He had kidnapped an elf and tricked the Lower Elements out of a substantial amount of fairy gold. That particular plan had had many setbacks to it.

Dealing with a whole other species of people was a whole lot more complicated then he had anticipated at the time. Retrospectively, Artemis found it amazing that he had gotten off as easily as he had. Indeed Juliet had almost been killed and Butler had been killed. If it hadn't been for the help of one feisty Captain Short, they would have never made it out of the situation alive.

The irony was that she was the same elf he had kidnapped. She had helped him a lot. She had de-depressed his mother, saved himself, Butler and Juliet and helped to rescue his father. Reflectively, Artemis pulled out a small coin from his pocket. He always carried it with him, justifying it to himself as being a souvenir, a keepsake rather than a sentimental object of affection. The coin had a round hole right through the centre.

'"You keep it, to remind you"

"To remind me?"

Holly stared at him frankly. "To remind you that deep beneath the layers of deviousness, there is a spark of decency."'

Artemis wondered how Holly could have done so much for him after he had kidnapped her. Some people are born that way; honest and kind and righteous. A small part of his brain told him. And face it Fowl; you just aren't one of them.

If the boy hadn't had such good breeding he would have snorted at his own whimsy. It hardly mattered that he had not been born with such qualities, he had the intellect and the skills to make money and protect his family, and that was everything he cared about. He could admire certain things about Captain Holly Short without needing to emulate them himself. Besides, no one expected him to do anything with that "spark of decency" anyway. Holly was probably one of the only people who wouldn't question it's existence. Not that he hadn't given her reason to.

Artemis sighed and once again forced himself to shove the train of thought aside. Holly Short, the LEP and Haven were in his past now, for good. He knew that he had done some questionable things in his life, but he also knew that he was not about to cause any more suffering to an auburn-haired, hazel eyed elf. Especially not one with such a mean right hook.


Haven
LEP Headquarters

Holly Short stepped into work that night only to receive a fast blow to the head.

"Alright," She yelled, picking up the mud-man tennis ball that had assaulted her. "Who threw this?" When no one came forward she whistled, "Right well I can have it down in forensics in two minutes, have an I.D on the yahoo in three, and have Methyl from MOMMA slapping a huge fine on all those involved in four, so I suggest someone come forward. Now."

MOMMA stood for the Misuse of Mud-man Materials Authority and Methyl was an aged Sprite, renowned for her harsh punishments of violators of her precious statute regarding mud men creations.

There was a collective groan as several low-ranking officers exchanged rueful glances, as if silently asking each other if she would go through with it. After a moment, a corporal that she couldn't remember the name of stepped forward hesitantly to the sound of snickers from his partner.

"Sorry ma'am." He apologised, then he added in an undertone. "Didn't know you were so fragile."

She threw the ball back at him hard, enjoying the satisfying thwack it made as it hit his ribcage. "That's Captain, and you would be in trouble…" she winked "...if you didn't throw like a mud girl." Trouble Kelp gave a small chuckle as she breezed past the insulted corporal.

Holly was fully aware that she sometimes came off as defensive and a bit of a kill-joy but that was only because she had worked extremely hard to be respected; to make a name for herself despite the ubiquitous chauvinism that permeated the force. Even after years of working for Recon, she was used to getting stick for her every screw up so it was only fair that she was equally as hard on her subordinates.

She went and sat at her desk. In a way, she couldn't blame those officers for goofing off though, the LEP wasn't exactly swarming with work as of late. Normally that would have been a good thing; less work means less crime. But the cause for this lack of crime was decidedly disturbing. An elusive group called the Sabres. They were vigilantes. They took the law into there own hands and hand no qualms with breaking a few, as long as they got their fairy.

How they had managed to emerge overnight and evade the LEP so far was a mystery. None of the leads that they had had on the group had panned out.

The general people loved them. In every way they seemed superior to the LEP officers. Officially, the LEP was not even acknowledging the existence of the Sabres, or at least not to the sheer size or scale of the operation. However, Root had made it quite clear that they were to be arrested on sight. He had reason to believe that the Sabres were also causing quite a few crimes. He had also briefed a few of the more senior officers, Holly included that they should be very careful as to whom they approached with any intelligence about the Sabres. A reliable source had informed him that the Sabres had their teeth into the council too; corruption had spread throughout it. He wasn't sure who to trust.

When Root had PM'd his select officers that he was sure he could trust for the briefings on the situation, Holly had been surprised to be included. She had half expected to be distrusted with such clandestine information simply by virtue of being a female and therefore, in the eyes of her colleagues at least, more inclined to gossip. Then again, there was a practical reason why Root might have included her in his dream-team; Holly was the only officer to have encountered a Sabre, and seen his face.