0isclaimer: I do not own the rights to Artemis Fowl. All rights go to Eoin Colfer.

Sorry if this took a while, I was on vacation.

Chapter 4: Playing with Fire

Chicago

Isabella was pleased with her new teammates. It was her old partner, Enrique, that was the problem. Get rid of him and the team would have a chance at winning. Luckily, it seemed that Artemis was smart enough to be a team himself.

The group was heading to their respective hotel rooms. Girls in one room, boys in another. Isabella pitied Artemis, for he had to share a room with the egotistical Enrique. It was possible that Artemis wouldn't get any sleep with the jerk spouting his family history. She herself had almost died during the flight when he started talking about how he was related to Julius Caesar.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she almost walked into Alexis. They had arrived at their room, and the boys were just across the hall. With a dramatic swipe of the card, Alexis opened the door. Isabella wondered if they had been given a suite. The first thing she noticed was that it had a balcony. As soon as they put their things down and claimed beds, both the girls went out, looking at the Chicago skyline.

"Is this your first time traveling alone?" Isabella asked.

"Pretty much, if you don't count Artemis and Butler."

"Oh," she tried to think of something else to say. She really wanted to be friends with this girl. "By the way, if Alexis seems too formal, call my Lexi. My parents started doing that recently."

"Then call me Izzy," she giggled. No one had ever called her by that nickname since she was four. Time to bring it back. She looked at the skyscrapers and then directly down. Far below her was a small carpet of grass, the place where she had planted the acorn her grandmother had given her.

"Let's see, if this is North," Alexis murmured, "then that's Deerfield, and that's--" There was a knocking on the door.

"You order room service?" Isabella asked. Alexis shook her head. The two crossed the room, and Alexis looked through the peephole, since Isabella was too short to reach.

"It's Artemis! Should we let him in?"

"Is the idiota with him?" Alexis shook her head again. "Then let him in." Lexi pulled the door open. Artemis stepped in quickly and shut the door much faster than necessary.

"Enrique looking for you?" Isabella knew how troublesome he could be. He looked through the peephole.

"Hopefully, he is a dumb as he looks."

"Believe me, he is," Izzy sighed. "Come sit down. Want a soda?" She motioned to the small fridge on the floor. At least they could have some team unity without Enrique.

"I'll get ice," Lexi said, heading to the door. She opened it slowly, checking the hallway before leaving. Izzy raised an eyebrow.

"Is she always like this?"

"She has a little brother that enjoys spying on her. When we were selected to go on this trip, she was glad to be leaving him behind. But, it looks like your dear partner, Isabella, is just as bad."

"First, call me Izzy, except in front of my 'dear partner'. And do you have any siblings?"

"No. For a time, I wondered what it would be like, but then I met Alex, Alexis' brother," Artemis looked thoughtful for a moment. "Do you have any older siblings?"

"Nada. My mother died when I was little."

"Natural causes?"

"A fire."

"My sympathies Isabella. I know what it's like to lose someone close," Artemis said sincerely. Although, the person who had died was revived. But there was no reason to mention that.

"She wasn't very young though," Isabella continued, her voice quiet. "All the photos of her she looks to be in her mid-twenties. I mean, she was short like me, but no one could tell she was nearly forty. My dad didn't know either," Izzy chuckled. "She was just like my grandmother. Even though she's shorter. She looks barely fifty but is in at least her nineties."

"I take it there is a pattern of longevity in your family," Artemis said. Izzy cast him a look. He had said it so calmly, and yet, he seemed very interested.

"Yes, I suppose."

"You wouldn't happen to know what causes that, would you?"

"Why?" Now the conversation was getting strange. She looked into his deep blue eyes.

For a moment, Artemis held his breath, wondering if he should continue with his plan. He blinked, determined not to be distracted.

"Doesn't everyone want a long life?" Now the risky part. "I mean, to be nearly immortal, like fairies."

"Oh, you're funny," Izzy said, jumping to her feet. "Real mature Artemis."

"What?" It was a rare moment for Artemis Fowl. He was genuinely confused.

"You think that in the last fourteen years I never noticed my ears? Think I was never called a fairy or elf?" In frustration, she balled up her fists and threw them at the floor, opening her hands. As she did so, two streams of flame erupted from each hand. Isabella gasped, looking at her palms. Artemis was just as surprised. She was defiantly one of the People. And she didn't know it, that was for certain. But elves didn't have power over fire, only goblins. What was this girl?

Before Artemis could explain, Isabella reached into her pocket, taking out an envelope. She looked at it, then Artemis, and shook her head. With a shove, she put it back into her pocket. She put a fake smile on her face.

"I fooled you didn't I?" she gave a weak laugh. Thankfully for Isabella, Alexis rushed into the room, slamming the door shut behind her. The People forgotten, Artemis and Isabella looked at her.

"It wasn't my fault," she said hurriedly.

"What happened Lexi?" Artemis looked from Isabella to Alexis, and he mouthed the nickname. Alexis grinned feebly. She crossed the room, sitting between the two.

"Well, there were some other delegates at the ice machine. I arrived just in time to see one of the kids trying to do a jig. An Irish jig, mind you. He was terrible, and we were all laughing. He got mad, and asked if any of us could do better. And I could and I did, along with two other girls. But he just got madder, which led to me running back here."

"You really need to work on your people skills," Artemis said. But he was smiling anyway.

"It wasn't as if I was doing it alone or out of spite. But he got mad at me because I was the Irish one. Something about an unfair advantage." She shrugged. "Artemis is a better dancer than that kid. No offense Arty."

"None taken. I see how bad this boy was then." As the girls laughed, he couldn't help but feel surprised. He had made a joke that was funny, something that wasn't common in his life. It amazed him how much he was acting like, well, a teenager. He would have to speak to Butler about this. The bodyguard was sleeping in the adjoining room, so it wouldn't be difficult to sneak away from Enrique.

Yes, he might become a problem, Artemis thought. When Mulch arrives, there is a chance that my roommate will see the dwarf. That wouldn't be good. We'll have to do something about that.