"I cant believe you got put on a mission!" Holly exclaimed, looking at Artemis with a still delayed sense of disbelief. It was shocking, the LEP had recently grudgingly admitted that Artemis would be helpful, and sent him out on an LEP grade mission, with Holly to keep an eye on him.

"Well it is my teritory." He said "This should be simple."

"Its supposed to be." She said, rolling her eyes "Its a mission for trainees. Human gets ahold of LEP technology and runs wild, happens all the time. They usually just crack and start crying like babies once people with guns show up!" They bickered back and forth until they set down on the ground.

"This is the place." Foaly said through Hollys helmet, "And stop fighting, ive already taken two asprin and i cant take anymore without getting all wierd."

"And youre not already wierd?" Artemis put in. Foaly was quiet after that. Holly promptly took off her helmet and checked it. Sure enough, the signal had gone out. Holly frowned, that wasnt supposed to happen. The two made thier way into the roped off bank building. The looked around, searching.

"Isnt this the place-" Artemis started to say.

"Stop right there." The two turned around to see a human girl standing there, pointing a gun at them. "Stop or i'll shoot."

"What are you doing here?" Holly asked her, the gun was made by humans she was sure of it, though she didnt want to provoke the girl too much. Bullet wounds hurt like a troll even after theyre healed.

"None of your business! Just stop! And put your hands where i can see them!" Holly rolled her eyes when Artemis raised his hands. Amature.

"You too shorty!" The girl yelled at Holly. Holly was about ready to pull one of her LEP gadgets, when Artemis beat her to it. He winked at her and flexed his hand. A capsule shot out of a hidden compartment and hit the ground in front of the girl.

"Invisible gloves," Holly thought "Brilliant." The girl was leaning down to check the capsule when it went off in her face. Holly expected her to start screaming at the shot of dwarf gas, and then they'd be going home. But it was the exact opposite. The moment the girls scream pierced the air, all hell broke loose. Several trolls, goblins and ogres came from every which way.

"Its a trap!" Holly screamed, though she was sure Artemis had already figured out that much. Everything happened so fast. She didnt know where to look, to many things were happening at once. Because of that, she didnt have time to react when one of the humans grabbed the girls gun, pointed it straight at her, and fired several shots. They bullets never hit her, their intended target. Hollys blood ran cold. She couldnt breathe as her mind replayed the last few seconds. All she could think was that Artemis was down, that Artemis was lying on the ground, that Artemis was bleeding with several bullet holes in his torso. Her head spun as she hit the ground, and saw no more.

Holly opened her eyes and gasped. She tried to get up, but she was bound to the bed she was lying on.

"Uh uh un." Foaly came into her line of vision. "I thought you might try to move, thats a no no. You need to rest."For a minute, Holly was confused. Then she began to remember what had happened, and-

"Wheres Artemis?" she demanded "He- He was shot!"

"He cut it real close." Foaly said "Another minute and hed be going to the other side of the river, its lucky we got there in time to heal him, since you were unconcious."

"It was an ambush." Holly said "There were so many of them."

"Actually, two trolls, three goblins, and a vertically challenged ogre, along with a few humans." He said "They were a rogue group who obviously isnt a fan of the LEP for whatever reason." Holly immediatly felt stupid. She couldve handled that. But she had frozen up..and...

"Is Artemis okay?"

"Well..hes going to be sorer then a bruised goblins behind, but he'll live." he got serious for a second "What happened Holly? Ive never know the fowl boy to get himself shot." Holly thought back, the man had aimed a gun at her. And just like that, Artemis had been there, in front of her. Everything became crystal clear. Artemis had taken not one, but three bullets...

For her.

It took two hours until Foaly finnaly let her up. It also cost her twenty bucks. But it was worth it. Holly all but ran to where Artemis was, her heart racing.

"Is..is he okay?" She asked the LEP medical out front.

"See for yourself." He said before opening the door. She was met by two very distressed elves.

"Oh thank goodness youre here captain short!" One of them exclaimed "We are having trouble controlling the fowl boy!"

"First of all, i do not need to be controlled." Hollys head snapped around. A very annoyed looking Artemis was standing the corner, using a stool as a makeshift shield.

"Second of all, i think it should be me to say "Thank goodness youre here" Holly." Holly was across the room and hugging him in a second.

"Artemis!" She said "I thought..I thought."

"I know, now let go of me." For a second Holly was hurt, then she understood at the strained pained expression on his face. She immediatly let go of him.

"Sorry." she said.

"No problem." he set down the stool. She cringed when she saw he was wearing the same shirt. Three holes were ripped in the fabric. But underneath all that was left were painful looking bruises.

"Ive had worse." he said "These two kept trying to pin me down, but i dont want them too pin me down i dont like it i dont-" he shut his mouth abruptly.

"Alright," Holly said "How much pain medication did they give you?"

"Lost track. It was gross too, really icky, i didnt like it!" Holly looked at him and laughed. It was apparent that his tougue was on overdrive

."Okay, maybe you should sleep it off." She took his hand and stopped when he started fast talking again.

"The bullets hurt and i didnt like it but it was worth it."

"Why?" she asked him.

"Because he was aiming a gun at her and i didnt want her to get hurt, that why i saved her, it hurt but it was for her." Holly stared at him.

"Um, maybe three tranks was too much?" said one of the nurses. Artemis practically collasped on the bed. He must have been fighting that for a while. She thought. She lifted his chin and forced him to look at her.

"Fall asleep..." she said, using the mesmer on Artemis could have withstood it, but his high and exausted mind was now easy to get. Holly set him down, still babbling, and she heard him say one last thing before he fell asleep.

"I love her...i love Holly."