'Oh, Father!'

Artemis rolled his eyes as Holly waved goodbye before leaving him in the waiting room. Dr. Winz came out shortly and acknowledged the young Fowl with his usual stiff expression.

"Artemis, if you will."

"Of course, Dr. Winz."

Artemis strode in sync with down the long white hallways until they reached his office. Usually, Artemis would have gone in first after the doctor, but this time, Dr. Winz paused outside of the door. Artemis gave him a quizzical look and was about to ask what was wrong when Dr. Winz held up a hand.

"Artemis, I want you to know that you have a visitor this time. He has expressed his deepest concerns for your well-being. You must remain calm when you see who is behind this door. If you try to run…well, we've been down that road before, haven't we?"

Artemis nodded and recalled how it felt to be sedated.

"Very well, let us proceed." Dr. Winz swung open the door and went in first. Artemis followed and stopped short upon seeing his father.

"What in God's name are you doing here? I thought I told you, I will not open up about anything! You know exactly what you put me through in your absence! But perhaps that was preferable; you weren't exactly a model parent when I was young! '5 am, in my office, lessons on the criminal underworld, don't tell Mother!' Well, you can say what you like, but I shall remain silent!"

Dr. Winz scratched down notes and patiently waited for Mr. Fowl's response. He stood up, walked over to Artemis, and put his hands on his son's tense shoulders.

"I want to talk, and I want to do it now. You won't get away this time, and I will make sure that you listen to what I have to say, for once! Now, sit down, shut up, and look at me." Mr. Fowl growled in a low tone.

Artemis, who was too shocked to respond, did as he was told; nobody had actually stood up to him before. He was a criminal mastermind who could control many people with a single glare. They knew their place around him. However, when it came to his parents, they were unyielding.

He took the time that he had before his father began to glance around the office. He focused on the changes that had taken place in the office since he was there last. A new volume of his favorite psychology encyclopedias sat upon Dr. Winz's desk. How he would have loved to leaf through the fresh pages and expanded his knowledge on his own mind. His father, however, would not allow any more distractions to interfere with his plan to reach his rebellious son.

Sitting in a chair three feet away from his estranged father was uncomfortable for Artemis, to say in the least. He took a long time to study his father's features and put them to memory once more. It was almost as though the Russian Mafia had aged him by 10 years. His once jet black hair was now streaked with ash and gray. The brilliant, sly cobalt orbs had once shone through Artemis and were now fogged with sadness, confusion, and longing. He truly wanted a relationship with his son, but he had almost given up at this point. Even his posture seemed less proud, more remorse over what crimes had been committed.

It seemed to take a year for him to speak his mind to young Artemis Fowl.

"I need to tell you that I can't believe how much you disrespect other people. Just because they don't have an IQ that's over 200, you seem to think that you are so much better than they are! I know this kind of thought pattern because I was your age at one point. I had surpassed all of my family members and peers with my intellect. From that fact, I naturally concluded that I could only have one kind of relationship with them: a controlling, manipulative, and even abusive relationship. Instead of merely pointing fingers and laughing at their lack of intelligence, I lied to them, snuck around, and began a criminal life, which I see you have done."

At this point, Artemis put his elbows on his knees, head in his hands, and contorted his face into a pout of sorts. He feigned a trembling in his shoulders and caused the two adults in the room to lean towards him. He chocked a sob, or so it looked like.

"Arty, It's OK." A quiet murmur of father's voice echoed to him.

"This may be a breakthrough, Mr. Fowl." Dr. Winz brilliantly deduced.

Oh, what a nasty shock awaited them both. But Artemis would not be so quick, so obvious in his act. He continued his 'sobbing' for a while, baring his teeth at one point. His timid voice came out from behind clenched fists.

"Father, oh, where did the years go…what have I become?" Artemis pitifully whined.

Mr. Fowl made his way over to the sobbing suit that was his son. He gingerly patted his back and started to sit down next to him when his head snapped up quickly.

Dr. Winz and Mr. Fowl jumped a foot as Artemis broke out into laughter. An almost hysterical sound, the laugh was something mildly disturbing to Mr. Fowl.

"Oh, Father, Father, why have I become such a horrid criminal? Why did you ever, ever take pride in my immoral actions? Am I to die like this, a monster that you created? Where did the years go?" Artemis bellowed in an almost jubilant hysteria.

Dr. Winz looked upon father and son, shaking his head slowly in disbelief.

"No patient has ever responded to a relationship this way…I'm afraid that the only thing that can heal this relationship is time. I am officially stumped, Mr. Fowl. It seems that your son can no longer intimately connect with others. You will simply have to let this relationship run its course. I'm sorry."

Dr. Winz escorted a fuming Mr. Fowl to the doors of Haven's Psychiatric Unit. He watched as a defeated man boarded a pod back to the earth above Haven. For a moment, Dr. Winz could have sworn that the greatly feared Artemis Fowl I was utterly defeated by his own criminal son.