A/N: Okay, I know it's been a while and I'm so sorry! I've just been having a little trouble thinking up a way to get to the ending I have planned. Anyways, here is the next, severely delayed, update. Enjoy!

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Chapter Ten; Jabs

Haven's sun strips were just fading into sunrise when Holly Short was pulled out of bed by a loud knock on her door. Grumbling as she got out of bed, Holly made a mental note to beat Trouble for arriving so early. She would have to tell him that was such a thing as being too gung-ho. Pushing the thoughts of how much she hated early mornings to the back of her mind, Holly stumbled to the door and answered it. However when Holly opened the door, she was quite surprised; and not in the good way.

Instead of Trouble Kelp, her morning callers were two burly gnomes. It took Holly's tiredness less than a second to slip away into alertness and she instantly realized the danger she was in. Both gnomes were armed with the same guns that had been stolen from the Birch crime scene and as such, Holly had to automatically assume that they were loaded. The elf was pushed back into her apartment by one of the gnomes while the other closed and locked the door. Once they were sure that there would be no interruptions, both the gnomes launched themselves at Holly in an attempted attack.

Unfortunately for them, Holly would not go down without a fight. A well-placed roundhouse kick sent one of the poor gnomes flying into the wall. A quick glance in his direction told Holly that he appeared to be unconscious. She smirked inside. The fight was fair now, even though this gnome seemed to excel much more than his partner in hand-to-hand combat. Holly had no doubts that he had done some wrestling in his younger years.

The two were locked in intense combat, punches flying everywhere. Holly wondered if they were making enough noise to wake the neighbours. In her momentary lapse of concentration, the gnome took a chance and aimed a kick at Holly, hitting her square in the stomach. She fell backwards, spluttering for air. The gnome she had been fighting only moments ago stood over her, a satisfied grin on his face.

"You can't win girly," he said, "Drop the case now, or we'll do to you what we did to the annoying centaur."

Holly felt her heart rate increase. There was only one annoying centaur they could be talking about. Feeling the rage inside her bubble, Holly stuck out her leg and kicked the gnome across the knees, causing his joints to buckle. He was brought to the floor and Holly pounced. She pummelled the tiny creature with as much force as she could muster, causing bruises and cuts all over his face.

"What did you do?!" she hissed at him, fingers grasping his throat.

The gnome just laughed, blood gushing from his lip all over Holly's once clean floor. His laugh infuriated the elf and she tightened her grip on his neck, causing him to gasp, struggling to breath.

"If you hurt him, I swear to Frond I'll…"

Holly never got to finish her threat as she felt cold metal hit her over the head with extreme force. She knew that the other gnome had woken up from his daze. Her vision became blurry as she slowly passed out, into complete darkness.

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Trouble Kelp woke up with a smile on his face. He had been dreaming of the events of the previous day. He had kissed Holly again, and he finally remembered how absolutely perfect it felt. The Major hopped out of bed enthusiastically, looking forward to spending some time working alongside Holly. After a quick shower, he suited up in his LEP uniform and began to walk to Holly's, where he would spend some time mulling over the case with her before he had to check into work at Police Plaza.

He reached her apartment in what felt like next to no time and made his way to her apartment. He stood at her door and smoothed out his hair before knocking. There was no answer. Trouble grinned. She was definitely still sleeping. He knocked again, a little harder. Still no answer. The Major chuckled and pressed his ear against the door, to listen for any clues that would indicate Holly was getting out of bed or taking a shower. Instead of running water or footsteps though, Major Kelp heard something that made his heart skip a beat. There was a muffled voice coming from inside, words completely unrecognizable.

"Holly!" he shouted through the door, hoping that no neighbours would come out and curse at him for shouting at such an early hour. Trouble listened closely and noticed that the muffled voice had gotten louder, more urgent. He heard something that sounded distinctly like help.

"Oh gods," Trouble muttered, his eyes rushing around the hallway, trying to think of what to do. This was the first time he had felt terrified for as long as he could remember. Holly was in danger. That was the only thought he could process. That is, until his eyes fell upon the number pad that could be used to open her door. He prayed that she had not changed the code since they had broken up and tried the numbers he had used to enter her dwelling on so many previous occasions.

There was a slight hiss and the door slid open. Trouble breathed a quick sigh of relief and then rushed into the apartment. He saw signs of a struggle and blood stains all over the floor. Please, he thought, Please don't let those be Holly's. He continued on into the kitchen where he finally caught sight of the female elf. She was sitting, bound to a kitchen chair, with a cloth taped around her mouth. Trouble went wide-eyed with horror and rushed to her side, quickly removing the cloth, which was making it difficult for her to breathe properly. As soon as her airways were clear, Holly gulped in a large amount of oxygen.

"Finally," she muttered feebly. Trouble nearly laughed. That was Holly Short for you; a near death experience and a joke. He noted, greatly impressed, that Holly did not seem to have been crying. She was strong.

"Are you okay?" Trouble asked, grabbing a knife from the cupboard and cutting at the ropes that were tied around her wrists and ankles.

"Peachy," Holly replied, "I was knocked out and I woke up like this."

"It's okay," Trouble said, breaking the last of the bonds and holding out a hand to Holly. She took it and stood, blue sparks dancing around the lacerations the rope had left on her skin.

"What happened?" Trouble asked, leading the elf into the living room. Holly looked at the blood all over her floor and closed her eyes. She nearly killed that gnome; after what he said about Foaly. Holly paled. She had just remembered what the gnome had said.

"Foaly!" she exclaimed, "They've got Foaly! They told me to stay off the case or else I'd end up like Foaly! Oh gods, Trouble, we have to find him."

"We will," Trouble placed a hand around her shoulder, "They were probably just lying, to scare you. Who did this Holly? What did they look like?"

"Two gnomes," she muttered, "I'll kill them if I ever see them again." Her bottom lip was trembling and Trouble knew she was on the verge of tears. Julius had died not even two weeks ago, and now Foaly was in danger. He could sense that Holly felt as though her entire world was falling apart. He held her closer.

"It'll be okay," he said, "I promise."

"You have to go," Holly said suddenly, pulling herself away from Trouble's grip. He looked confused. "Go to Police Plaza," Holly continued, "Make sure Foaly is okay. Please."

Trouble nodded and stood up. Holly stayed seated.

"Do you want to come with me?" he asked, "I don't think they'll come back, but I can't be sure."

Holly nodded and stood up as well. They exited her apartment and headed down the hall. Trouble grabbed Holly's hand as they walked down the stairs.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," Holly said, "Thanks for that…back there." Trouble smiled down at the slightly shorter elf. Yes, everything would be just fine. He would make sure of it.

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A/N: I doubt that was worth the wait, and I'm terribly sorry again. The next update won't take as long. I'm finally back on track with this thing…for now. Reviews are much appreciated. Cheers!

-Liv xoxo