10.

A few hours later, Holly was laying in the backseat of the siblings' car, staring blankly out the window.

She'd intended to drive herself, but they'd insisted she ride with them, so she'd simply got her things from her backseat, locked it up, and went with them. She didn't see much other choice. It seemed like a bad idea to get on their bad sides already. But she couldn't help feeling like there was something more sinister behind the insistence. She was supposed to be becoming a partner with them, but it almost felt more like she was a prisoner. Like they didn't want her to have means of escape.

She tried to shake the thought off. She had to just be being paranoid. After all, she'd just met these people, and her story was feasible enough. There was no way they were onto her already…. right?

She jolted to attention as the car came to a stop. The man, whose name she still hadn't gotten, had pulled into the parking lot of what appeared to be an abandoned motel and threw the car in park.

She glanced up at the siblings, and they were both getting out of the car. Holly frowned slightly and followed.

Princess looked over the car at her from the passenger side and grinned. "Welcome home."

Holly's frowned deepened as she looked around. "This is headquarters?" It looked like it had been nice once, sure, but now it appeared to have fallen into disrepair and been long abandoned. It was a beautiful building, in a haunting way. It was tall and brick, with vines and ivy climbing the old walls and twining around the building. In the dozens of windows she saw curtains that appeared to be intact, covering them so one couldn't see in. It towered above them, and above the trees around them, going up for at least a dozen stories. She looked behind her. Dirt roads and trees. No street signs, let alone any other signs of civilization. She didn't even see any power lines. Was it possible they didn't have power? Was living in an abandoned place like this all the more sophisticated this company actually was?

She gulped slightly, suddenly realizing she probably should have paid much more attention on the way here.

Princess's grin grew at her obvious apprehension. "It's better than it looks," she promised. She motioned her along. "Come on. I'll show you." She headed towards the building.

Holly bit her lip and shouldered her bag. Taking a deep breath, she followed her.

Directly inside the door was a dark cement corridor leading up. The other two immediately started following it, and she followed them. There were several corridors offset of the one they were traveling, but the two never stopped, going straight up the corridor for most of it.

Finally, they came to a concrete door. Holly and Princess waited as her brother unlocked it, then went inside.

Holly followed Princess out, then stopped short in the doorway. Whatever she'd expected, it wasn't this.

Whatever the outside of the hotel looked like, the inside was the opposite. It was immaculate, beautifully decorated, and brightly lit. The only similarity between the inside and out was the feeling. It was gorgeous and well serviced inside, but mostly empty. It still carried the same haunting air about it.

Princess took her by the shoulder and steered her inside, not speaking as she waited for Holly's obvious shock to wear off. It took a minute, but as Princess dragged her through the building, she slowly became desensitized to all the glamour around her and came to. The first thing she blurted was, "How?"

The other girl raised an eyebrow at her. "How what? The electricity?" Holly nodded slowly, figuring that was as a good a place as any to start. "Generators, for the most part. We tore down the power lines, and Fowl destroyed any record of them easily. It helps keep us off the grid."

There was that name again. The thought of the seeming impossibilities of the building flew from her mind. "That's your boss, right? Is he here?"

Princess nodded absentmindedly. "He's here somewhere, although I'm not sure where. I imagine my brother went to find him."

"Why? Do I get to meet him?" Holly asked casually, trying not to seem overly excited. Even if she couldn't get back to Root now, she could still call and give them a description. That might be a major break for them, to know who they were looking for, if by appearance and not name.

Princess shrugged. "Eventually, I'm sure, but probably not today. Come on. Let's get you settled in." She headed towards a set of stairs, pulling Holly with her.

Holly blinked. "Am I supposed to stay here?" she asked, voicing the question that had been bouncing around in her head since the car.

"Where else would you go?" Princess demanded, swinging around to look at her. "You said you were dropping out of the Academy post-break, and that you'd stop seeing your family, so where else would you go? You were staying with them, weren't you?"

Holly stared at her. She hadn't expected them to know that. "Y-yes," she stuttered, surprise making her answer honestly. "But-"

"Then why would you leave when there's nowhere for you to go?" She raised an eyebrow at her.

Unable to think of a proper response, Holly just shrugged. "I guess there's no point. I just wondered," she murmured. In her head, she made a mental note not to make any assumptions about these people again.

"Well, now you know." Princess started walking again. "Within reason, you can come and go as you please, as long as we don't need you for anything and somebody knows. But there's not really anywhere to go for miles around, so there's not much point."

Holly nodded, following her silently the rest of the way even as Princess talked on. Again, she couldn't help having the sinking feeling in her stomach. They'd effectively cut her off from civilization, took away any means of transportation that didn't come from them, and it wasn't like she had any idea where she was. Of course, the last thing was partially her own fault for not paying more attention on the ride, but it was crazy to expect her to remember every detail of the several hour ride even if she was paying attention.

Maybe the feeling would go away. Maybe all new recruits felt like this. After all, even though she hadn't really seen any others yet, they made it sound like this was common practice. So perhaps it wasn't just her that felt this way, in the beginning. Or maybe it was just her own paranoia, knowing that she really would be in trouble if she got caught.

But then again, maybe it wasn't.

Several flights of stairs later, Princess stopped in front of a green door. She pulled a key out of her pocket, unlocked the door, then handed it to Holly. Wordlessly, she pushed open the door and gestured her in.

Holly walked in and looked around as Princess came in behind her. "This is your rooms. Everyone's pretty much looks the same to start, but you can decorate it however you want. Just be aware that it can be subject to random search, so don't put anything to embarrassing up." She smirked at her.

Holly was only half listening. The door opened up into a kitchen area, with counters lining the back wall and a round small table in the middle of the room. There was five chairs spaced evenly around the little table. She walked into the next room to find a small, cozy sitting area, and in the door attached to that room led to the bedroom, and then to the bathroom, and then back to the kitchen area. It was only four rooms with doors leading to each, making a giant loop.

Princess followed her through as she explored, not saying much. Holly leaned against the table as they returned to the kitchen. "It's cozy," she admitted.

"It's not much, but like I said, all of our quarters look this way to start. Do with it what you want." She waved her hand and turned to leave, then stopped and looked at her. "Oh, and all our quarters are on this floor, so if you need anything, just knock on someone's door. Mine's the pink one down the hall."

"What do I do now?" Holly asked before she could walk out.

Princess paused. "Nothing, for today. You can explore if you like. Just don't go too far." She shrugged, then walked out and closed the door behind her.

Holly stood there for a minute after she left, staring at the door. She wasn't really sure what to do with herself now. Shrugging, she went back into the bedroom, threw her bag on the bed, and set out to explore like Princess had suggested.

She pocketed her key and stepped cautiously outside her door, looking around. It seemed kind of foolish to lock her door, as she was sure that anyone who wanted to get in would be able to one way or another. She was currently in a building full of criminals, after all.

She walked down the hall slowly, looking around. The doors on this floor were all painted odd colors, she noticed. Wondering whether all of the floors were like this, she started up the stairs again to look around.

It seemed like the upper levels of the building had been transformed into the real living spaces. As she went up, she saw conference rooms and labs and a whole variety of things. To her delight, only two floors up from her quarters she discovered a dojo. Smiling to herself, she went inside.

It was fully equipped with every possible type of equipment one could dream of. Treadmills and other exercise equipment was in one area, a shooting range in another, boxing equipment in even another. A variety of weapons were arranged in cases along the walls. The floors were lined with mats and the majority of the gym was wide open for sparring. One of the walls even had a built-in rock wall - one taken from a real cliff face, if the appearance was anything to judge by.

She started towards the rock wall but stopped at the sound of someone opening the door behind her. She whirled around to find Princess's brother standing behind her.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Exploring?"

"Something like that. This place is incredible." She looked around again.

"I know. Juliet and I built it." He started towards the weapons cabinets.

Holly frowned, following him. "Who's Juliet?" she asked, thinking she must not have met her yet.

"My sister." He opened the cabinet, staring at the assortment of weapons thoughtfully. "Princess is her alias."

"Oh." Holly blinked in surprise. "So Juliet her real name?"

"Yes." He gestured to the cabinet. "Do you know how to use any of this stuff?"

She ducked under his arm to look. Most of what was in the cabinet was hand-to-hand combat weaponry - fake swords, wooden staffs, fencing tools, the like. She shrugged. "Not really. I'm best with shooting weapons and just regular hand-to-hand grappling."

"That's good, but it's even better to be able to use anything your surroundings offer up." He reached in and grabbed one of the smaller staffs, weighing it before offering it to her.

Holly took it, weighing it herself. It fit almost perfectly in her hand, and was lightweight for her to be able to handle it with both hands but heavy enough to do some damage. "What do I do with this?"

"I'll teach you." He grabbed his own staff from the cabinet and motioned her out into one the sparring areas.

"You never did tell me your name, you know," Holly said as she followed him.

"Butler." He stopped in the middle of the mat and turned to face her. "And that's my real name, although not my first."

"Is Juliet her first name?" Holly asked curiously.

"Yes."

"Why don't you use yours?"

"I just don't. It's bad luck where I come from. Juliet is the only one who knows it." He lifted his staff and showed her how to hold it.

She mirrored him easily. "Why does she do it then?"

"Juliet and I are very different, as I'm sure you've noticed," he told her dryly.

Holly laughed. "That much I've noticed on my own, yes."

"Well, it doesn't take a genius, frankly. Now, focus," he ordered, readying his weapon. Holly obeyed.

They spent the next few hours sparring uninterrupted. Butler was much better than her, without a doubt, but she was a quick learner, and she got better the longer they went on.

Finally, after several hours, Butler lowered his staff and studied her. She was getting better, but she was also getting tired, and it was starting to impair their progress.

"Let's call it quits for now," he told her. "You're a quick study, but you're not going to get any better today."

Holly nodded, not inclined to argue. She was in shape, granted, but even still her muscles ached and she was dripping with sweat after so long. "Alright. Thanks, Butler."

He nodded just as the door to the dojo flew opened again. Mulch marched in, grinning.

"Mulch!" Holly grinned back at the dwarf. "It's good to see you."

"You too, kid. I'm glad you decided to join us." He nodded to the staff. "Training already?"

She shrugged. "It was a fun workout. I learned a lot."

Mulch shrugged back. "It's your pain, kid, not mine. Do what you like." He stopped. "Why don't you clean up and join us for dinner?"

"Sounds good." She stood up straight, taking her weight off the staff, and walked over to put it away. "Where did-" she started, looking back before spotting the answer in the doorway.

Butler was standing by the door, talking to someone she couldn't see behind his mass of bulk. As she watched, they finished talking and Butler turned back around, coming back towards them. She saw a flash of black disappear around the corner.

She frowned slightly, putting her staff back in the case. Butler approached behind her as she stepped back from the case. "Who was that?"

"Just the boss checking on some things." Butler put his own weapon away. "Nothing for you to worry about."

Holly nodded, looking at the door. The elusive Fowl was only about ten feet away from her just a few minutes ago, and she still hadn't seen him. It was actually pretty frustrating.

"Well, I'm going to go clean up before dinner then," she told Butler. "Will you be there?"

"Most likely. Do you remember the way to your room?"

"I think so."

He shrugged. "I'm headed the same direction. I'll walk you there."

Seeing no reason to object, she let him walk her back to the floor where their rooms were before disappearing into her own to shower.

She showered quickly and went back to what was now her bedroom, looking through her bag for something to wear. Should she dress formally? Butler was dressed formally earlier, but Juliet wasn't, and neither was Mulch. She wasn't really sure if it mattered, and she hadn't really brought much to chose from either.

In the end she settled on jeans and a collared button up shirt. It looked professional enough, but was also comfortable enough to pass for casual. It seemed safe enough, so she threw up her hair quickly and headed up.

She'd discovered the dining area a few levels up earlier in the day while exploring. It seemed like the lower levels were left untouched so the appearance of the hotel being abandoned would hold up if someone accidentally stumbled upon it. She headed towards it.

Juliet and Mulch were already there when she arrived, and the food was already spread out for consumption. Neither Butler nor the infamous Fowl were anywhere to be seen.

She took a seat beside Mulch. Juliet smiled at her as she sat down. "I heard you had a sparring session with my brother. I'm amazed you're in one piece."

Holly smiled back. "Give me some credit. I know I'm just a cop-in-training, and a newbie to you guys, but my dad was a paranoid parent long before any of this." She shrugged. "I started training at a young age."

The table went quiet for a moment at the mention of cops, then Juliet shrugged. "Well, he was going easy on you in any case, but I'm still impressed. Maybe we can spar tomorrow."

"I think I'd like that." Holly smiled. "I'm kind of dying to try out that rock wall."

"It's great fun," Juliet admitted. "But we have no harnesses, just so you're aware."

"Oh." She frowned slightly, then shrugged too. "We'll see then."

They all loaded their plates and started eating. The conversation continued through dinner - easy going and natural. Holly started to forget her misgivings and wonder what had caused them in the first place. She actually felt at home here. She liked these guys - a lot.

Butler nor Fowl never did show up for dinner. Holly went back to her room after and got ready for bed.

As she flopped into her bed, she pulled out her phone for the first time in hours and checked it. Guilt washed over her when she saw the dozens of text from her father. Apparently, he'd found out where she was now.

She chewed her lip for a moment, debating. Finally, she sighed and hit the call button.

He picked up on the second ring. "What the hell were you thinking?" he demanded before she could speak.

She blinked in surprise. "What?"

"You could have at least told me!" he growled. "You just left!"

"You knew!" Holly defended. "You were there when Root asked me to do it!"

"But I didn't think you would, let alone without telling me!" her dad snapped. "Holly, do you realize what you agreed to? Even this call could get you killed if anyone is listening!"

Her eyes automatically flicked around, looking for any sign of surveillance. "I think I'm fine for now. And I know what I'm getting into. This is my career choice too, Dad."

He took a deep, shaky breath on the other side of the line. "I know, but it wasn't supposed to be yet." He stopped for a second. "Did you at least get anything?"

Holly hesitated. She knew she could give him the names of everyone she'd met so far, but again she was hesitant to. "Not yet," she said finally. "I haven't got anything interesting yet. I'm in headquarters, but I honestly have no idea where I am. And everybody is using aliases."

He sighed, and she knew he was rubbing his temple on the other end. "Alright. Just be careful."

"I will. I promise." She bit her lip. "Goodnight, Dad."

"Goodnight, Holly." He hung up.

Holly stared at her phone for a long minute, then erased her call log and hooked the phone to the charger. She laid down and stared at the ceiling for a long time before finally going to sleep.