Cont…

The jet rocked precociously from the blast, it continued its flight path but was quickly loosing altitude, which Artemis supposed was a good thing seeing as a whole had been blown in its side and cabin pressure would soon cease. Holly's first thought after she re-gained her balance was of Artemis. He was right next to the window, only about three yards behind the wing. She briefly noticed the singed hole in the side of the jet, it was only about a foot wide, but it wasn't a good sign. They would have to make an emergency landing.

"Artemis?" She yelled over the sound of the air whistling by and the struggling engine of the jet. "Artemis are you alright?" He was still sitting roughly next to her, they had both been thrust to the floor of the cabin by the force of the shot. He was on hands and knees, mildly shocked, his black hair falling over his face.

"Yes, yes I'm alright." He turned quickly to Holly and sat up, eyeing her carefully. "And you?"

"Just a little surprised I must admit." She said, her eyebrows scrunching.

"From the angle of the hole, the shot was most likely fired from the air." He stood shakily to look out over the large body of water they were crossing, knowing that the shore lay only about four hundred feet away.

"Can the plane make it back to Fowl Manor? There's no need to avoid it, we know Opal's following us." Holly questioned, still on the ground.

"No, I don't believe the jet will hold up for that far. We'll have to land here. But I wouldn't worry about Opal right now. Look" He pointed out a rear window in the jet. Holly stood and walked over to it, looking behind them. She saw nothing for a moment, but when she switched her gaze she spotted an aircraft sinking into the calm waters. It was quite obviously fairy-made. She hoped Koboi had the sense to self-destruct it. That would take a whole team of LEP to hoist out of the water. A sopping wet and steaming pixie popped out of the water beside it, her arms full of as many sodden truffles as she could carry. She stared off towards shore, popping a bon-bon in her tiny mouth and chewing it so hard she must've been imagining she was chewing Artemis's head. (A/N uhh too grotesque? Lol. Couldn't help it…)

"It looks as if Opal has out-smarted herself." Artemis explained as he came up behind Holly. "The weaponry she installed into her out-of-date Cruiser was much too powerful, it overloaded the system and caused a break-down, she should update all her inventions to be compatible." Artemis almost smirked, but he remembered the situation they were in, this was no time for smirking.

"Do we have any parachutes?" Holly asked. Getting out of the jet alive was her number one priority right now.

"We do, but we're too close to the water now, we'd have to swim back anyway. Then, of course, we'd most likely run into Opal." He sat on one of the comfortable chairs as Butler stepped out of the cockpit to join them. "Holly, you have your wings. You can probably carry one of us on them."

"Foaly's updated the wings since we last saw each other. They might be strong enough for both." Holly added. Hoping to Frond that she was right, although she new Butler would count as two people on the weight limit, she would not admit it.

"That's wonderful, but how do you plan on carrying two people at once?" Artemis said

"I can hold on." Butler offered. "Holly will carry you, and I'll hold on, it'll put a little less weight on the wings at least."

"Of course" Holly said more to herself then to Butler and Artemis. "Foaly also added grippers just in case of a fallen comrade or- though he would never admit it- malfunction." Without another word Holly strapped on the mechanical wings and released the grippers, a set of bars that extended from the back of the wings. They were coated in a clear-ish blue substance that would remind one of thick Jello. Butler grabbed hold of them and his strong hands sank almost a half an inch into the soft rubber-like material.

"The jet should hit water in roughly seven minutes" Artemis calculated easily based on their height and how fast they were loosing altitude. Holly nodded. She was in mission mode, nothing could distract her now. Especially statistics.

"You ready Butler?" She called over her shoulder.

"Of course" He said. Holly took Artemis under the arms. He was glad he had changed into a t-shirt and jeans back in the forest. That would've been another Armani suit down the drain; he was considering giving them up for good. They reminded him to much of his former self. The child that had a mind to beat any adult. Seeing a teenager in such an expensive and business like suit would be repulsing to any normal person, Artemis found that jeans and buttoned silk shirts where much more comfortable (and, though he didn't care in the slightest of course, more fashionable. He would blame that knowledge on Juliet).

Holly opened the emergency latch and, swiftly as she could, glided out of the doomed Fowl jet. As she felt the weight of Artemis in her arms and Butler pulled on the wings she knew they wouldn't make it to Fowl Manor like this. She flew a little ways until she could see the shore line, but Foaly's wings were chattering and jerking on her back like a chipmunk on a Spin-a-Whirl.

"Artemis, Butler, they're not going to make it!" She yelled down to them.

"Can you get us to shore?" Artemis asked, wind was blowing in his eyes, making it almost impossible for him to see Holly even though he was looking up.

"I doubt it, the weight is too much." She tried to force them forward but only dropped a few feet.

Butler knew what to do to save them. There was no getting around the fact that if the wings were busted it would be his entire fault. He was strong enough to swim back, so that's what he did.

"Holly, I'm going to swim back instead, I can make it. You two wait for me at Fowl Manor, I'll catch a ride. Artemis, be safe." With one hand Domovoi Butler did a rare and very uncharacteristic thing, he let go of the grips and rumpled Artemis's black hair. Artemis was surprised, but not entirely, at this display of affection. Butler had been the only person he would've even thought about calling a "friend" for the first thirteen-or-so years of his life.

"You too old friend." Artemis said with a bit of regret, he didn't want to let Butler do this, but they would all have to swim to shore if he didn't, this was the only option.

"Goodbye Butler, thank you, and may you stay safe." Holly tried to turn her head to face Butler but couldn't. She said a little prayer for the body guard as he stripped of his coat, let go of the second grip and dived down to the murky water. Holly and Artemis watched, feeling the tension and release at the same time as they held their breath and the wings began running smoothly. Butler re-surfaced almost a minute later and began swimming back to shore, looking up at them every once in awhile as if they were the ones in danger.

"Grab the grippers, it'll be easier for both of us that way." Holly said once Butler was off. Artemis was thankful that he had been doing a little more exercise lately. He carefully reached around Holly and grabbed one grip, but the second would be a little more difficult. He held her shoulder (it looked as if they were doing a deadly waltz in the sky) and, locking his other arm tightly into the grip, let go to swing himself around. Unfortunately, the back of his hand brushed Holly's breast, causing a ridiculously awkward moment. They decided to dismiss it and focus on the task at hand though. Both faces had turned nice shades of red and were heating up like ovens.

"Ready then Mud Boy?" Holly asked. That would be her pay-back. He hated being called Mud Boy, of course, who would enjoy it?

"Yes Captain Short. Let's move on."

"Alrighty then." Holly pushed the wings forward and then flew fast over the blue waters, Butler was far behind them when Artemis looked down, a tiny speck of the hulking man. Just for fun, Holly decided she would do some spins.

"Holly!" Artemis yelled after the first loop. "What in the world are you doing?"

"It's called relaxation Fowl." She remarked, trying hard not to laugh

"Well sorry to break it to you, but it's anything but!" She shrugged

"I can't help it if you've got a weak stomach."

"Holly…" The name dragged out and grew with tension. Artemis was not happy. Holly couldn't reply because she was laughing so hard, so, to avoid injury, she flew in a fast straight line towards shore.

They were only 200 feet from shore when Holly's wings jerked and died. The sudden lack of the hum of machinery was deafening. The wings caught in the wind slightly, making the fall less harsh, but it was still fast. Artemis lost his grip and tried spreading out to slow the fall until he was feet away from the water and he did a graceful vertical dive. Maybe jeans weren't such a great idea after all.

Holly un-strapped the failed mechanism and dived in seconds after him with a minimal splash, but she didn't take a large enough breath. The plummet sent her deep under the cold water. She opened her eyes to see the light of the sun slowly being swallowed by the black liquid. She looked from side to side and only saw blackness. It was as if strong metal bones were crushing her. Desperate to cry out and grab hold of oxygen, she slapped her hand over her nose and mouth. Nothing could stop the flash-back. Cold metal wall pushing in on her, underwater, no air, no body, no mind. She was the darkness that encased her. However, she would hold on for her mother. She wouldn't be beaten the same way. Finally she noticed a shadow moving in front of her, felt someone come around her. Knowing she was safe, Holly drifted off, waiting for the sweet taste of air to fill her lungs again.

Artemis dragged the elf in one arm and pulled himself forward with the other. He constantly had to keep Holly from dropping back into the depths. He shook the black, wet hair out of his eyes so he could see. They weren't far from shore now. At last he felt the endless water fall away to gritty, loose sand, then dry hard-packed earth. He rolled his friend onto her back. After a few seconds she coughed and shuddered, tiny blue sparks playing around her torso. She leaned on an elbow and looked up at Artemis who was sitting on his knees.

"Well, I suppose it was your turn to save me." She said in a light voice, slightly cracked with water. Artemis ginned from one corner of his mouth and leaned forward.

"I'm glad you're okay. You were worrying me out there… you were thinking of her weren't you?" His voice filled with understanding and sadness. Holly wanted to speak but she couldn't talk about her mother's death. She shook her head and Artemis wrapped his arms around her. They stayed like that for a moment until they remembered Butler. He should be coming into view soon. He was never that far behind them. They lay on the shore together, trying to dry off a little. Artemis carefully watched the position of the sun to keep track of time.

Artemis figured it had been about thirty minutes since they reached land; they were dry and comfortable in the cool breeze. Holly snored beside him, she wouldn't normally fall asleep at such times but Artemis assured her it would be alright. Still, Butler had yet to make an appearance. Artemis would wait thirty more minutes, then he would be forced to send out a search party. Holly yawned then sat up next to the teenager.

"How long?"

"Almost fifty minutes" Holly's face was drenched with worry. She put an arm around Artemis as he watched the horizon for his long-time friend and one of her favorite Mud Men. That was when she finally remembered.

"About our conversation in the jet…" She cocked her head to one side and watched Artemis. His profile was strong and focused still, as if he hadn't heard her, but she saw the tiniest tick under his blue eye. "What was it you were saying, or thinking rather, in Hybras exactly?" Artemis took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and let the moment hang while he thought of what to say. Of course, he would have to tell her the truth....

A/N: Gee... I feel as if I might be building up the "truth" too much here O.O oh well. Hope you enjoyed this! Probably only two more chapters to go (well three if you count an alternate ending, and four for a possible epilog!)