El Shabang: Patrick has inherited personality characteristics from both Arty and Holly. He's clever, self-confident and cold like Artemis, but righteous and brave like Holly. Yes, Opal will have a major role in the fic because I like her. Heh, I always like the nasty but not completely evil characters, just like Rita Skeeter in Harry Potter... Opal is a lot like Rita. Your comment that every chapter is a work of art is the greatest compliment I could get. Thanks!
Indigo Ziona: Arty will have a problem with being proud of his son... well, you'll see.
C-chan1: Ron/Draco is completely stupid. Harry/Draco is something I don't like but it's still more sensible than Ron/Draco. About your future fanfic archieve: please do include Gilderoy Lockhart! :D
BrownPryde: sorry, but he is in mortal danger... more on it in chapter nine.
cocoaducks: Patrick won't need to play matchmaker. You'll see why.
BeatlesLover4: yup, I took that line from Hitchhiker's guide, I like it too :) Douglas Adams rulez. I'm currently reading another book by him, "Dirk Gently's holistic detective agency" - it's cool too. Have you read it?
Marfbag: yes, Holly indeed jumped a bit too quick to conclusions, but her fears will be proven right. Unfortunately.
TinkerBell394587: glad you think I managed to keep the characters in character. I'm not sure I will manage to do it throughout the whole story, but I will at least try.
roastpuff: have you read any of my other fics?
septempopuli: the lichecakemaker.exe is one of my fav things in chapter 3 too, glad you liked it :)
LittleGreenPerson: of course it would ;) You're just as clever as Ildi my proofreader.
A Writer on AF: as far as I know, the book that comes out in October isn't the official fourth book, but an aside, having the story of how Holly became a LEP fairy, interviews with major characters and a reprint of the Seventh dwarf. The official fourth book, The Opal incident comes out next May.
Elfy19: I'm updating once a week, as always. The kidnap has nothing to do with Patrick's parentage. I think the fairies kept checking on Arty for a couple of months after the mind wipe, but since Arty didn't find out about the lenses, they stopped checking. Well, with the exception of Root. As he says in this chapter, he kept an eye on Arty's career. No idea what Grub's mind made up about him being captain. It isn't important so will not be mentioned.
Nonoka: you little pervert, wanting to hear more about Arty's dream! Tsk, tsk, tsk... Rest assured that it was a veeery naughty dream ;) If you couldn't imagine a good AF fic, then go and read Nyghtvision's Idiot savant, that's a real piece of gem.
Epsilon2Delta: well, Arty is more or less an 'honest' businessman, but he still isn't a really nice person.
the coffee fiend: yup, the Hitchhiker's refernce was intended. I luv that book. And yes, you have quite a peculiar name, so it's hard to forget :)
leonsalanna: Patrick IS still ticked off, but he holds back. Geniuses usually don't start screaming and punching people when they're mad. They are civilised people ;)
blue-flames: Holly was a bit guilty all the way through, but repressed her guilt. Yeah, Patrick is probably slightly smarter than his dad. And his dad won't be happy about it...
Also thanks to: GoldenVampyreGoddess, leafs-gurl999, Miss Katie Bell, StarLightKagome, DreamWeaverKaisa, Miss Piratess, Neutrino, TrunkZy, thisal625, VampirePeaches, sophianwin, LadyLupinLover, Crescent Fresh, the Cherri Ookami, WackedOutPet13
Master and Commander
"I'm sorry, Commander, but young Short disappeared without trace," announced Trouble sullenly. Normally he just called Holly 'Holly', but sometimes, when he was in the mood for being official, he called her Commander. For that was her rightful title. She had been promoted right after Root's retirement. When the freshly retired Root had been asked whom he thought was most suitable for filling his vacant position, the first name he mentioned was that of Captain Short.
"Have you checked all the surrounding streets? Have you looked for fingerprints?" The commander demanded.
"We've done all the routine things."
"Then do more than just the routines!" snapped Holly.
"Yes, sir!" Trouble saluted and left the office. Under normal circumstances Holly would have been amused by being called 'sir', but for the time being she was too nervous to feel amused by anything.
Hours passed, and her officers arrived back at Police Plaza with no news on Patrick's whereabouts. Though practically shaking with nerves, all Holly could do was thank them for their efforts and hope that the next day's search would be more successful.
Resting her chin in her palms, she was gazing at a half-filled report in front of her, lost in thought. Surely Patrick wouldn't just run away from his birthday party… He can't have left to pay his father a visit after he'd promised he wouldn't. Besides, the LEP had checked all the chutes that led to Ireland and none of them had been used for days.
The more she kept thinking, the more convinced she became that Patrick had been kidnapped from under their noses. How ironic – kidnapping a LEP commander's son from a room full of LEP officers!
Holly made a grimace. She hated irony.
There was a knock on the door. She looked up to see Root standing in the doorframe.
"May I come in, Commander?" The elder fairy asked in a benign voice.
"Certainly." Holly beckoned to her onetime superior.
With a groan Root took a place in the chair facing Holly's. "No news, I presume?"
"None," she sighed. "And I just don't get it, Julius. Why would someone, anyone want to kidnap my son? And why not ask for a ransom at once? Then we'd at least know what we are facing…"
"I don't think this is about ransoms, Holly," replied Root. "Do you mind?" He pulled a fungus cigar out of his pocket.
"No." She shook her head. "I already got used to it. But… if it's not about ransoms, then what?"
Emitting circular puffs of smoke, Root leant back into the chair, closing his eyes, seemingly deep in thought. "I think it all comes down to his intellect."
"You mean someone kidnapped him because he's clever?"
Seeing her incredulous expression he replied: "You are young, Holly, but as you'll grow older, you will realise that no weapons or money can be as dangerous or invaluable as knowledge."
The commander knitted her eyebrows. "The project… how many people know about the project?"
"Quite a few, I fear," answered Root. "The whole Council, for example. Foaly. Some of our officers."
"Too many people," sighed Holly.
"And don't forget to multiply these too many people by fifty. Then multiply that by fifty, etc., etc."
"Multiply it by fifty?"
"Exactly. As far as I remember from my studies – which is quite remarkable, because those were eons ago - on average, every person has fifty regular contacts. Some might have only three, others might have two hundred, but on average, it's fifty. If everyone in the Council told their contacts and the contacts told their contacts, then…"
Holly held up a hand. "Enough. I see it now. It could be thousands of people who know about the project."
"Well, yeah." The ex-commander nodded.
"The Council should have been wise enough to keep the project a secret," grunted Holly. "If that substance gets into the wrong hands…" She looked up to meet Root's eyes. "Do you think that's the reason? Someone wants that human-maker substance?"
"We cannot rule out the possibility."
"But… when Patrick is finished with it, it will be available for every fairy! Why would someone need it so… urgently?"
Root shook his head. "I don't know… but I fear it must involve something
illegal. The kidnapper must have wanted to access the serum well before
anyone else could… Perhaps to use it when he can be sure he's the only
human-looking fairy around.
Perhaps they want to do business with humans and make sure that no
human-disguised LEP officers can arrest them in the middle of an illegal
business transaction."
"Yeah, that's possible," breathed Holly. "How far has Patrick got in the project?"
"According to Foaly, quite far."
"Still, they can't force my son to make that draught for them… can they?"
"I'm afraid vile people always have their means…"
Holly's heart clenched with worry. "What can we do, then? There are no clues, no fingerprints, nothing whatsoever to start the search with! They could have taken Patrick anywhere, and we're not likely to find him until it's too late! Oh, what have we done, Julius?" She hid her face into her palms. "We created him to make life for the People safer, and now it might be him who brings destruction upon our world!"
"Don't be such a pessimist, Commander." Root reached out to pat her arm gently. "He might have been kidnapped for a more trivial reason than the project, or even if he was kidnapped because of the project, it's still not sure that the kidnapper will be able to use the draught for his evil ends, whatever they might be… But, as long as we aren't sure, we have to count the possibility that someone is indeed trying to use the substance for questionable reasons, thus we have to find a way to neutralise its effect…"
"Neutralise it? How?" Holly sighed dejectedly. "The only person capable of making an anti-dote is Patrick himself. Foaly isn't exactly a biochemist…"
"There are professors at the Underground University who can surely cope with the task…" mused Root. "Or, perhaps not… I remember Patrick mentioning that the Council gave him the task instead of a biochemistry professor because he outdid his professors in all respects… he even voiced his opinion that those dupes he had had for professors – don't look at me like that Holly, I'm just quoting your son - so, those dupes wouldn't be able to understand the substance because it was too difficult for their simple little minds…" A shadow of a smile appeared on Root's face. "Your son has quite a peculiar style, you know…"
"I know." Holly grinned, but only for a second. "If Patrick thinks that no one else would understand the draught, then there's no one who could make an antidote."
"No one of the People, you mean." Root put out his cigar in an ashtray that Holly kept on her table just in case her old friend visited her.
"I don't get it." Holly frowned. "If not one of the People, then who…?" Her eyes widened as it dawned on her. "No. You surely don't mean who I think you mean… do you?"
"He has the brains for it, Holly. You might not have kept an eye on his career like I did, but he got three Nobel science prizes, one of them for a biochemistry project. He invented something that slows down the aging of Mud Man cells, as far as I know…"
"But that would mean exposing our world again, Julius! And to him of all people! You know we can't memory-wipe him again!" Holly protested. "And it's… it's… against the law! We aren't allowed to contact Mud Men and reveal anything about the People to them!"
"You have changed," sighed Root. "The Holly Short I remember was always willing to bend some rules… and she was brave."
"Are you implying…" Holly jumped up from her seat, "…that I've become a bloody coward?"
"Did I say anything like that?" Root asked with an innocent expression.
"You implied it."
Root took a deep breath. "Listen here, Holly. You're a courageous girl, you always have been, you never thought twice of risking your life for others. But this time it's about something personal. It's about telling Artemis Fowl that you have a child by him. And you're afraid to tell him."
"Since when have you been able to see into my soul?" Holly asked with a sad smile.
"I don't see into anyone's soul, I just know you too well. You're almost like a daughter to me. And Patrick is like the grandson I never had. I want to save him just as much as you do. And perhaps Fowl can help with that too. He can think with the head of a kidnapper, after all… he has some experience in this kidnapping-business. He could help us find Patrick and develop an anti-dote in the meantime."
"What about the exposure of our world?" Holly whispered, still in doubt.
"Even Fowl may have changed a bit since our last encounter… who knows, he might not want to harm the fairies at all." Root shrugged.
"You've become really disrespectful of the rules, civilian." Commander Short shot the older fairy a half-reproachful, half-amused look. "What will we tell the Council? I doubt they'd be too happy if we brought Mud Men here again. Especially that Mud Man."
"The Council won't have a say in this. If they try to stop us, we'll just remind them that it's all because of their project. We'll shut them up. But best if we don't even tell them."
"I wish I had half the optimism you do, Julius…" muttered Holly. "Right, then. It's time for me to visit a certain Mud Boy."
"Actually, that boy is a man now," Root reminded her. She ignored the remark, not suspecting that soon she'd be surprised how right Root had been.
The doorbell buzzed and Juliet dropped the potato she was peeling to go and answer it. Humming a little song she'd written about her new idol Joe the Bonecracker, she opened the door. The song stuck in her throat.
On the Welcome doormat there was a fairy.
No doubt. A fairy. A small creature with dark skin, pointed ears and wings. Even though they looked mechanical, they were wings.
"Hello, Juliet," the fairy greeted her.
It took the young woman quite a bit of time to react, as she was rooted to the spot, unable to move any body part, especially her mouth. Her eyes, however, had widened to the size of saucers. She knew this fairy. Her name was… what was her name again?
"Holly Short." The fairy extended her right. "You remember me, don't you, Juliet?"
The girl produced some sort of a voice, but even if she'd tried to say something coherent, she hadn't managed to.
"Well, then, may I come in?"
Juliet mutely motioned the visitor to enter. The fairy would have entered even if she hadn't allowed her to, since once Master Artemis had 'invited' her to Fowl Manor and that invitation was still valid because Artemis hadn't withdrawn it. Juliet shuddered as the torrent of wiped memories assaulted her. Fragment after fragment popped into her mind as the fairy leisurely walked into the hall.
"Well then, please announce my arrival to your master. The younger master," demanded the fairy.
"Er… right," mumbled Juliet and somewhat insecurely she headed upstairs.
Artemis Fowl, 26, esteemed businessman and bearer of three Nobel science prizes, looked up from The Wall Street Journal to see that Juliet had entered. The first thing he found curious about it was that Juliet hadn't knocked. The second thing that seemed to be out of the ordinary was that Juliet was practically shaking – something not characteristic of her at all.
"Are you all right, Juliet?" he asked her, putting the newspaper down.
She nodded numbly.
"I don't think so, you look frightened as though you've just seen a ghost," Artemis remarked with a hint of concern in his voice. Butler's sister, his personal bodyguard for almost ten years now, had never been the type to get frightened by anything. She had always been the bravest female Artemis had known; except for… except for someone he couldn't quite remember. Sometimes he had this weird feeling that certain parts of his memories were missing, but try as he might, he couldn't retrieve them. There were several occasions when he realised that he didn't know how things had turned out as they did – for example he had no recollection how Butler had become a frail man with heavy breathing, incapable of working as a bodyguard. He was also very surprised when he accidentally found a huge sum of money in a Swiss account and he didn't remember when or how he had transferred it. His mind had provided him with alternative memories, yet somehow they all felt wrong. They all felt unbelievable.
Being a genius, Artemis found these things highly disconcerting, believing them to be the sign of brain damage, but as the years passed and he kept inventing brilliant new gadgets and took a successful venture into biology and chemistry, he realised that his brain was still working perfectly, thank you very much. Missing memories or not, he was still a genius, and even though there were things he couldn't explain, he decided it would be the best tactic to suppress them before they drove him crazy. For Artemis Fowl couldn't afford to go mad. The world needed a brilliant mind like his! And he needed a brilliant mind like his too.
"N… no ghost, Artemis," stammered Juliet. "It's a… fairy."
"Fairy?" The young man raised an eyebrow. "Have you been drinking, Juliet?"
She shook her head. "It's… really… a fairy, Artemis. By the name of Holly. Holly Short."
Artemis blinked. Something, in the deepest recesses of his mind stirred. Holly. Holly Short. He knew that name.
He knew that fairy.
A fairy…
…hazel eyes, skin like caramel, auburn hair, cherubic lips… and an attitude of hitting him so hard across the face that he fell on his backside wondering whether he was a boy or girl.
"Holly…" he whispered, his eyes distant, as though trying to see beyond the wall of his workroom. Images flashed through his mind – a tiny girl searching for an acorn in a river-bend; the same tiny girl trying to take her cell apart, banging the bed on the concrete floor; a male fairy smoking a fungus cigar; a centaur using a retimager on him; himself crawling through a pipe filled with orange gel; himself giving a dwarf a disk disguised as a fairy coin… "Mulch… he never turned up…"
"Excuse me?" Juliet frowned.
Artemis shook his head. "Nothing… nothing, just… send her in."
The young woman didn't move.
"What are you waiting for?"
Juliet snapped out of her trance and with shaky steps, left the room.
Artemis's mind reeled. She was here. One of them. And he remembered her. He remembered all of them. And yet he didn't understand. What was she doing here? Wasn't she supposed to give him a wide berth and make sure he'd never ever remember them? Though she had seemed slightly unwilling to wipe his memories all those years ago, finally she agreed with Root that it had to be done. So, why now? Why was she here?
Deep in thought Artemis slipped lower and lower in his seat, but as he heard the door creak, he sat bolt upright, straightening his back as much as he could. The more gentleman-like he looked, the better. He couldn't afford to look weak and confused in front of Short!
Holly entered the room with her heart throbbing in her throat. She wasn't the type who easily got nervous, but this time she couldn't help it. For all she knew, she could have been walking into the lion's den. Not that she couldn't defend herself if needed, but… it was Artemis Fowl she was dealing with, and even with his alleged decent life and legal enterprises, Fowl was still a threat.
For a second it occurred to her that perhaps she'd made the wrong choice in coming here, but then Patrick's face flashed into her mind, giving her heart. Anything for her son! Anything for Haven!
"Captain Short, if I'm not mistaken…" came an icy voice from the other end of the room.
"You are mistaken, it's Commander Short now," she replied as she walked
closer. With each step she took towards Artemis, the wider her eyes became.
This… this couldn't be the same Mud Boy who had kidnapped her all those
years ago? Could he?
Without even standing up, Artemis looked tall. He must have been at
least… 180 centimetres, Holly thought as she kept walking in his direction.
He'd become tall and… stronger. No doubt, there were muscles under the
fine material of his dark blue suit. The colour of his suit brought out
the blue of his eyes, she perceived. Even though he was eyeing her as impassively
as possible, his fingertips put together; she felt as though an invisible
hand had clenched her stomach. The only word she could have used for describing
him was attractive. And she felt like kicking herself for it.
She pulled herself together and stopped in front of his table, trying to look superior. The problem was that Artemis managed to look superior without even trying.
"You have grown," she blurted out, then immediately felt like banging her head into something hard. The solemn entry she had planned was ruined. D'Arvit, d'Arvit, d'Arvit!
"Good day to you too, Captain," said Artemis in a slightly sarcastic voice. "Er, excuse me, Commander. Have a seat." When Holly took a seat in the huge armchair facing his, he continued. "Back to your remark, twelve years have passed. In case you're interested, I reached my full body-height at the age of eighteen and I managed to gain five kilos of pure muscle after I bought a home gymnasium… you know, those funny things they show on TV."
When Holly didn't reply, he carried on in a chit-chatty tone, "I never thought I'd see you again, Commander."
"I thought you had no recollection of the People, Fowl." She crossed her arms.
"That's exactly why I never thought I'd see you again." He grinned. "But I take it you want something from me, otherwise you wouldn't have come. And if this is a business discussion, then I can at least expect you to call me Mister Fowl, Commander."
Holly looked like someone who had bit into a particularly sour lemon. "Right, Master Fowl. Er… Mister Fowl," she corrected herself. "I need your help."
"I wonder why, though… you wiped my memories, got rid of me, and now you happen to need me?" Artemis leant back into his chair, his legs crossed. He couldn't have looked more superior yet more arrogant.
"If my memory serves me well, you consented to have your memories wiped if the People helped you against that Spiro person," Holly pointed out.
"True. You helped me and I made a sacrifice. We were quits. Now, however, you're here to ask something. And let me assure you in advance that whatever it is, I won't help for free." Seeing the scowl on her face, he shrugged. "I'm a businessman, Commander. My life is business. Have you heard the saying of Milton Friedman, business is the business of business? That's as good as the number two Fowl family motto now."
"At least listen to what I've got to say, then you can… make your conditions."
Artemis nodded. "Right. But first, I'm hungry. And I can't discuss business on an empty stomach." He pushed a button on a small control panel set into his worktable. "Juliet, come in, please."
The burly girl entered a minute later, in a considerably less shaky style. "Yes, Artemis?"
"Breakfast. Toast with marmalade." In the past few years Artemis had developed a liking for sweets, no matter how much he had detested them as a child. "And for you, Commander?"
Holly had to admit that she was indeed starving. She looked at Juliet, contemplating what to ask for. As their eyes met, Juliet hastily said: "Dolphin is out of stock!"
"The same as for Master… Mister Fowl, then," replied Holly. She was really mad at herself. Why was she calling him Master Fowl? He was twenty-six, for heaven's sake! Yet she had to admit that it was quite hard for her to get used to the thought of a grown Artemis.
With a slightly reproachful look, Juliet left.
"She doesn't like me," the commander remarked.
"Wonder why." Artemis looked amused. "You made her think she was watching some wrestling show, you made a total fool of her, and you even wiped her memories."
She rolled her eyes, thinking that the last thing she needed now was
Artemis filling her heart with self-accusation. If it wasn't bad enough
already, Juliet's behaviour made her feel even worse. All those years ago
they had been friends for a short while…
If the Butler girl's memories hadn't been wiped, Holly would have sent
her a disk with a gnome wrestling show on it, but she suspected that Juliet
would have none of it now. And she couldn't even blame her.
"How long will you keep bringing that up?" She sighed and looked at Artemis.
"Until you develop some kind of… pangs of remorse," he replied coldly.
"You wish," she hissed.
He again gave her an amused look, which made her feel more and more uncomfortable. How on Earth did this Mud Boy – correction, Mud Man -, always manage to look this self-confident? And how on Earth did he manage to create this sinking sensation in her stomach? For a minute she felt worried about the safety of her thoughts, for the Mud Man's gaze was penetrating… She scolded herself. Fowl couldn't see into her soul, no Mud Man was capable of that!
Juliet returning with two plates of marmalade-toast shook her out of her reverie.
"Thank you." She smiled at the blonde woman who seemed to ignore her friendly gesture and walked out without a second glance at her.
"Well then, Commander Short," said Artemis, munching his toast, "I'm all ears… although I highly doubt I'd be interested in whatever you've got to say. The only thing that would be of any interest to me is a huge pile of fairy gold… but I suspect that it's not what you want to talk to me about."
"Right, it's not about gold. But I bet it will interest you."
"Fire away, then," replied Artemis, licking a bit of marmalade from the left corner of his mouth. Holly shuddered. She had never thought that she'd ever find such a gesture sexy… She pinched herself. It hurt. Well, at least she managed to keep her head.
She took a deep breath. Here we go… "Artemis… it's about our son."
A/N: evil cliffie, huh? ;) Arty's reaction in the next chapter.
