I feel like it's been forever since I posted... which is entirely my fault, especially with this particular story, which is actually complete, as many of you might know. I've been trying to keep it caught up, but I've had testing everyday for the past week and a half (including today, even though it's Saturday. I had to take the ACT. Not fun.). So, yeah, not much time. And I have it all next week too, but then I'm on spring break, so... yeah, hopefully more then.

Also, for the record, some of you have requested I put a few things back up, and I AM trying to, but apparently my Google Drive has eaten approximately half of my stories. So bear with me while I try to find a way to get them back.

For the record, if anyone is interested, I'm working on a sequel to this. It's going to be EPIC. So yeah. There you go. The faster I repost this the closer you are to the sequel, so let me know if you want it and I'll try to keep updating frequently.

I think that's all. Enjoy! Oh, and if this chapter seems a bit different, it's because it was originally two, and I put them together because otherwise it would have been really short. Just so everyone knows and doesn't think they're going crazy (as I often do).

4.

It didn't take her long to find out what he meant.

Fowl was serious when he said that she had better pray that she had some magic left, because early on, in around the next hour or so, came the pain.

He tortured her.

It wasn't actually him, much to her surprise. Also surprisingly, it wasn't the guy he had been talking to the first time she'd came round, when she'd regained consciousness on a level but hadn't actual woken. She was sure of that. Although, she hadn't actually seen who had done it to her... but she was sure it wasn't them because the hands and the voices hadn't added up.

She hadn't seen them because, originally, she was asleep. The first thing they did when they came in was inject something into her. Again it was her shoulder - the same place they'd put the tranquilizer into. The sting woke her up - but she couldn't open her eyes. The drug had immobilized her.

A pang of fear shot through her chest at the realization. She couldn't move, she couldn't speak, she couldn't defend herself at all. Although, she probably couldn't have very well had she not been immobilized, but at least her legs would have been useful - she could have kicked at them, had they got too close. But now she was just stuck.

For a long minute, until the drug kicked in, there was silence. No one moved, no one spoke, and nothing happened. Then, suddenly, she felt it: a feather touch against her cheek, but it was cold, pointed. She heart leapt as she realized what she was feeling was the prick of a knife.

It was light for about a quarter of a second more, then it bit into her skin, dragging down her cheek and slicing it open. The cut was relatively small, but deep; about an inch long but closer to half an inch deep. She would have gasped if she had been able to move her jaw.

The knife moved around, the touch light again. It smeared blood down her jaw. She could feel the sickly warmth of blood as it dripped down her jaw on her collarbone and gagged as the knife trailed down, clear down, scraping lightly everywhere but not really cutting anywhere else because of her clothes. That was, until it reached her leg, and then suddenly it was inside her leg, almost exactly where Fowl's hand had been not long before.

This time the drug didn't hinder her; perhaps her jaw was still frozen, but that didn't keep her from letting out a bloodcurdling scream of pain as the knife dug in and was twisted into her leg inside the bone.

Suddenly, it was pulled out of her leg, and it was in her opposite side instead, wedged between her second and third rib. Tears of pain were running down her face by this time; she couldn't open her eyes to blink them away, and she wasn't sure if she could have in this amount of pain anyway. Once again, her training still wasn't suitable for what she was facing in large-scale, real life.

Then, just as quickly as it all had started, it stopped. The knife was gone, the hands - and just in time, because she could feel herself start to black out; whether from blood loss or pain she didn't know, probably a combination of both. But it didn't matter, because she was still gone.

The last thing she heard before it all went dark was the door creaking closed behind them as they left.

oOoOoOoOoOo

When she regained consciousness again, the drug had worn off, and she wasn't alone in the cell.

Fowl was there. And he was leaning right over her.

Holly gasped and tried to pull back, but she couldn't. The immobilizing effects of the drug may have worn off, but she was still tied up.

"Stop," she mumbled, jerking away from the cool touch on her face. His cool chuckle resounded next to her ear.

"You stop. I'm only trying to help you," he said softly, wiping her cheek again and trying to get the blood off her skin.

"Help me? I think you mean hurt me." She tugged her head away again, and this time he stopped. "You know, that was... kind of brutal," she said, slightly afraid that he would get irritated if she brought it up.

Fowl nodded and looked down. "I know. It wasn't exactly what I had in mind either."

Holly narrowed her eyes. "Yeah, right. You don't have to lie. I know I was being punished, and lying to me about it is just -"

"No," he interrupted her. "Holly, it wasn't. I did have it inflicted as punishment, a way to loosen your tongue - but I only said a little amount of knife play. Not gaping wounds, or… the other things they did."

Holly's eyes widened. "What do you mean, the other things they did? Did something happen after I passed out? I thought they left... "

The human shook his head, looking almost pained. "It doesn't matter. They did leave, and that won't happen again - at least, not without some very strong provocation." He paused. "Which reminds me… are you ready to talk yet?"

Holly gave him a disgusted look. "Now especially I won't tell you anything."

He sighed. "Oh, really? Why not?"

"How do you even know my people took your father? For all you know, he up and left. If I had a kid like you, I'd leave you too."

Fowl didn't like that, that much was obvious; he closed his eyes and reigned in his temper carefully before speaking again. "He was going on a business venture. It involved your people. It's fairly safe to assume that even if you don't have him in your clutches, your people are still to blame for his disappearance. And you should really, really hold your tongue." He opened his eyes again, and they glinted with steel, but strangely, there was no hint of malice in them, just a slight irritation and a lot of determination. "If you do have him, it's a simple matter of an easy swap. They give me my father back, I give them their little elf back." He shrugged and smirked at her. "Quick, clean cut and easy."

"And what if we don't have him?" Holly asked. Assuming she was thinking about the right thing, she knew that they did - he was comatose and being held in Haven by the LEP. It must have been the same case her own father had been telling her about on the way up. But still, she had to know.

"Then your people will find him," Artemis replied promptly. "And when they do, they will bring him back to me, and it's the same deal."

"What if he's dead?" Holly asked. "Or we can't find him or won't give him back? What happens then?"

Fowl looked her in the eyes. She looked back and forced herself to not swallow or make a sound. "Well, then, they'll have to cope without their little elf then, won't they?" he said quietly. "Exactly the same way I'll have to cope without my father."

Holly swallowed and nodded. "Yeah, I guess…." she muttered, letting it run off. She leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes, swallowing hard.

She didn't expect what she felt next. Much to her surprise, she felt something large and warm cover her good knee, lightly squeezing. She opened her eyes to see him staring at her with an almost sympathetic look on his face. "Don't worry about that. I have reason to believe your people do have my father, held somewhere, similar to how I have you now in fact. And even if they don't…" he shrugged. "I'm not much for painful deaths, so it would be quick, at least."

She was quiet for a minute. "You know I don't know anything," she whispered, after a minute. Her eyes flitted up to him and locked on his pale face. "Right?"

Artemis shook his head. "Oh, but you do," he told her, meeting her gaze sideways. "I know you do. In fact, I'm sure lots of people know something, anything at all; even rumors that have been tossed around and twisted to the point that you probably wouldn't know where they came from unless you thought very, very hard about them, which I doubt that you have. And I can tell, from your eyes, especially," he added, tilting her chin up when she looked down again, "When you attempt to avoid my gaze, that you do know something. You just won't tell me what it is." He paused, then, almost mockingly, added, "Right?"

Holly just stared at him silently, unable to move her gaze from his, and unwilling to cough up what little information she knew. It wasn't much, but it was probably more than he knew, and she didn't want to tell him anything. It would be too much to give in. After all, this was all set up... it would be sort of like a game. And he'd said it himself - he was torturing her to loosen her tongue. He was trying to break her, to get the information he seemed to desperately want... but she didn't plan to break.

Eventually, he sighed and released her chin, then stood up to leave. Holly stopped her silence then, at least momentarily; there was one thing eating at her that she had to know.

"...Fowl?"

The human stopped and looked back at her. "Yes?"

She hesitated, then said, "The fairy, the other one, who was with me… what happened to him?"

He turned fully around towards her and raised an eyebrow. "Why do you ask? If you're hoping he'll attempt to rescue you, I promise you it's not going to happen."

Holly's eyes widened. "Did you kill him?" She tugged against her bonds once, her motions almost frantic. "Please tell me you didn't kill him."

Artemis cocked his head, thinking. Then he said, "Tell me who he is to you, and I'll tell you."

Holly swallowed hard and dropped her eyes. "He's my father," she whispered, lowering her head. "Please, I know it's not right, but-"

"What isn't? That you care about him? Of course it is. You should." He turned and went back to the door, and Holly's shoulders slumped, figuring she'd been cheated and he wasn't going to answer her. But he paused by the door. "No, we didn't kill him, merely knocked him out. He's alive, Holly." With that, he closed the door and left her alone.