I do not own Artemis Fowl

Chapter 10

The front doors at Fowl Manor have been through quite a lot over the centuries since Lord Hugo de Fole first built the mansion. They've withstood several wars, bombings, and sieges directed at the building. Most notably, when Archibald Fowl, in the 16th century, had the local priest killed, and the church burned to the ground, simply so that he could acquire the land around the church. He holed up inside his house, and withstood siege from the authorities for several days, before the front doors were finally brought down with a battering ram carried by 14 men, and he was carried off to jail to stand trial for his crimes. He was hung in Dublin within the week, and the Manor went to his nephew, Apollo Fowl, the direct ancestor of the Manor's current residents. Underground, however, the People had a different story to tell about Fowl Manor's front doors – involving a Troll, and a very large, very angry mud man.

At the moment the doors were undergoing a different kind of stress, that induced when the very angry younger sister of a very large mud man, was tasked with closing the door behind her.

"Juliet, Please." Artemis protested, frowning as the loud bang echoed across the otherwise silent hall. "Mother and Father are sleeping, and what's worse you might wake the twins." Holly silently winced at the thought of the twins up and bouncing off the walls this late. Or was it early? She felt her nerves were too frayed at the moment to try to figure it out.

"I'm sorry Artemis." She did look sorry. "It's just infuriating that he would treat us like that."

"It did seem rather brash of him." Holly agreed, one hand on her hip, the other holding Artemis' hand loosely.

"I don't think so." Butler said, crossing his arms. "I think he was trying to protect us."

"What do you mean?" Holly asked him.

"He's scared." Artemis answered for his manservant. "He tried to hide it, and he's usually better at masking his body language, but I think he was so afraid that he couldn't act it out properly." Holly looked at her husband, and noticed that Artemis' eyes were steeled, and his lips pursed. With quick, jerky movements, he took his hand from Holly's, and moved away from the group in the center of the entrance hall, towards a hidden door that lead to one of the manor's numerous parlors.

"What do you mean "scared"?" Juliet asked, following Artemis through into the parlor. Holly and Butler followed after her. Artemis was already standing at the wooden bar, without the lights on, uncorking a bottle of red wine. Warning bells went off in Holly's head, Artemis rarely drank, and never this late.

Artemis slowly poured himself a small glass as he responded to Juliet. "He's scared of his brother. Scared he might die." Artemis looked like he wanted to say something else, but didn't. Instead he just stared at the wall as he brought the crystal glass up to his lips, holding it daintily in impeccably manicured fingers.

"Then we should help him, right?" Juliet asked, looking to Artemis for instruction. When he said nothing, she continued. "I mean if it's that dangerous, then we should tell him that he needs our help-"

"No." Artemis said. "If he does not want my help, then I am not inclined to give it to him. I will not beg for someone to accept my help when they have made it clear they want none of it. If you wish to aid him, I will not stop you from trying, though Butler might. Good luck in convincing him to accept it."

Though Juliet made no move to act on the permission, nor sound to try to convince Artemis otherwise, and a silence fell upon the darkened room, as Artemis finished his wine.

"I'm going to bed." He said finally, and left the room. Holly rushed to follow him out. She had to stop as soon as she made it out into the foyer, as the bright light from the chandelier blinded her momentarily. By the time she regained her eyesight, Artemis was at halfway up the stairwell, his long, spindly legs taking them two at a time. She went up after him, which was a feat made considerably easier by her modified body, but he still made it to the top, and was halfway across the walkway that spanned the back wall of the entrance hall before she caught up with him.

"Artemis, wait!" She said, grabbing his slender hand. He rounded on her with surprising coordination, and she was taken aback. Not by his action, but by what she could see in his face, what only she, and maybe Butler, had ever seen in Artemis; those rare moments of vulnerability that shattered, not only his icy-cool exterior, but the inner wall that seemed to be built up around him even when he was sincere. The first time she saw it was only a flash in the Arctic, when they were trying to rescue his father, and he admitted his mistake in kidnapping her: his first regret. The second time came in a flash too, when she had shouted at him over Butler's body in the cryogenic van. Those first two times she barely recognized what she was seeing, and it never registered with her. The third time, however, she saw it for what it was, when she had nearly died in Hybras, and he saved her life, bringing her back from time. She saw, then, the very core of Artemis Fowl; the freezing ball of bad feeling that had built up throughout a lifetime of neglect, and that he never showed to anyone. She was seeing that again, now, and she understood what it meant: he had been hurt.

Without a word, she embraced him, trying to force every ounce of warmth and passion she could through her body to his, to melt that ball of ice that had taken home in him. He hesitated for a moment, with his hands on the back of her shoulders, and then he returned her embrace fully, nestling his cheeks in her hair.

"I'm sorry." He seemed to be struggling to find the words. "I'm not very good at talking about feelings, particularly mine. I've read that many women like men who can talk and be open about what they feel, but that's just not me. I've hid things all my life, and -"

"Artemis," Holly finally said, taking her head out of his chest. "Don't worry about any of that. I love you, Arty. You. Do you know what that means? It means that when I got into this relationship, when I decided to have your child, when I decided to marry you, I knew exactly who you were, who you are. I love you for all of you. The workaholic who stays up till 3 in the morning because he's almost finished a new invention, the possessive megalomaniac, and even the impassionate scientist who never talks about his feelings, because that makes the rare times when I do get to see inside that big head of yours all the more special. I'd never ask you to change who you are, because that would be admitting that I don't absolutely love who you are. Do I think it'd be good for you if you were a little more open? A little more reserved? Hell yes, I think it'd be wonderful, but I'd never expect you to change. Especially not for me."

Artemis looked at her as she ended her speech. Pondering what she had said as he looked into her eyes; her own, and his own staring back at him. "I do want to change. From a psychological point of view, holding in feelings is not healthy."

She smiled at him. "That's another reason I love you."

"What's that?"

"Despite your age, you're not a petulant child, insistent in his own greatness to the point of idiocy." She smiled at him.

He smiled back. "I have you to thank for that, and I would never insist on my own greatness, it speaks for itself."

Holly rolled her eyes, but said nothing, as both her and Artemis noticed someone else coming down the hallway towards them: It was Angeline Fowl, dressed elegantly in a blue nightdress.

"Is something wrong, Arty?" She asked, rubbing sleep from her eyes. "I heard the door slam, and raised voices."

"I'm sorry, Mom, that was Juliet." Artemis said, taking Holly's arm in hers.

"What happened?"

"There was an accident at Constantine's house, a fire." Artemis said smoothly. He didn't like lying to his mother, but there were some things she didn't need to know. And besides, it wasn't entirely a lie – there was a fire, of a sort. "We've had a bit of a rough night."

"Is he alright?" She asked, concerned.

"Yes, He wasn't inside at the time, and the fire didn't harm anything valuable. Enough of his house is still intact for him to live in till it's fixed as well."

"Oh, well, that's good." She said, turning around, She started to head back to her room when she stopped. "Then why was Juliet mad?"

Artemis nearly let his exasperation show. "What do you mean?"

"Don't get that way with me, young man, I've been your mother to long to not know when you're lying to me." Artemis was always slightly scared of his mother when she got like this. Holly was simply impressed.

"I'm not lying."

"Then you're not telling the whole truth. So tell me: Why was Juliet mad?" There was a tone of finality in her voice, and Artemis sighed.

"Constantine may be in trouble with some people of an...unsavory nature. We offered to help, but he made it clear he didn't need, or want our help. Juliet was mad because she felt slighted." Artemis didn't bother adding that he felt slighted as well.

"So you gave up?" Angeline asked, looking at her son skeptically.

"What do you mean?"

"Well if he said he didn't want your help, then he must be scared. Didn't you press the issue?"

"Well-"

"Arty," She said, putting her hand on his shoulder. "You know how much I hate you constantly putting yourself in danger, but your friend needs your help."

Artemis thought for a moment, and Holly could almost see the gears turning at lightning speed in his head, processing everything his Mother had told him. He swore under his breath, then turned around, heading back down the stairs two at a time, calling Juliet's name. Holly watched him go, surprised, then turned to her mother-in-law, who was smirking.

"He's smart, that son of mine." She said, looking at Holly. "But he's not exactly wise yet. He's too young for wise." With that, she turned from Holly, and walked back to her room, blue satin nightgown billowing behind her.

Constantine and Marcus had both been silent for a while when their sensitive hearing picked up someone banging on the large metal door that led to the basement. Without a word, Constantine stood up from the blue foam mat where he had been stretching in the gym, and picked his gun up off a small table by the wall. He glanced at Marcus, who picked up his sword, and balanced it on his shoulder.

Constantine led the way into the hall, and cautiously made his way up the stairs, his revolver held loosely in front of him. When he reached the top, he punched a code into a spall number pad on the wall next to the doorway, and a view from a fish-eye security camera came up on the screen above it. When he saw who it was, he relaxed, and motioned to Marcus to stand down. He stuffed his gun in the back of his pants as he opened the door, and was abruptly punched in the face by Juliet.

He fell down the stairs in a raucous cacophony of the sounds of him tumbling, accompanied by the echo of Marcus laughing so hard he was nearly doubled over.

"I think I may have deserved that." He said once the sound and calmed a bit.

"Ya think?" Juliet called, still standing righteously at the top of the stairs. This set off another round of laughter by Marcus, which was quickly silenced by a wave of Juliet's finger. "Artemis gave me the duty of telling you that we ARE going to help you; whether you like it or not. Your brother isn't just threatening you, he's threatening all of us and, quite frankly, we take offense to that."

Constantine, still lying on his basement floor, sighed and covered his eyes with his hand. "And there's nothing I can say to change your mind?"

Juliet shook her head. "Nope."

Constantine was silent for a moment, then held up a finger in the air. "One week. We leave in one week. Use that time to train, prepare, pack, whatever."

Juliet was struck for a moment by the quickness with which Constantine gave in, but nodded. "Okay!" Then she went off to tell Artemis, Holly, and her big brother.

Marcus, chuckling, leaned over Constantine. "You never could resist the pretty ladies." He said with a grin. Constantine rolled his eyes.

"Shut up, dickweed, and help me up."

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've had exams, but I should be updating more regularly now!

Please Read and Review. :)

Happy Birthday to Dylan!