A/N Explanatory:

Well, this is a huge overhaul of my original fanfiction. The main reason for doing this was that I felt that the idea for this was really good but the writing, and the ending in particular, let it down in a lot of places. Also, as I was writing the sequel and some people were reading the prequel, I felt that it would be good to do it. Also I wanted what seemed to be the only positive A/O fic out there (that I've read anyway :P) to be a little more... believable. Nearly all of this has been changed and there are quite a few extra scenes throughout, but if you read this before and want to read it but not the whole thing, Ch.7 is probably the best place to start as it is the 'new' chapter and from thereon stuff changes a lot. You could also just read the ending, which is different to how it was before. This is now an unfinished story: it will be finished, but it will have probably at least three more chapters before it is.

'The One Called Demetra' has been my Beta for this overhaul and I have to say that I couldn't have asked for a better one. I needed someone to kick my butt, tell me when stuff was awful and be nasty enough to make sure I changed it when it was. OK that doesn't sound like a compliment but I'm sure Dem knows what I mean :)

Please, please, please read and review this as much as you can. I feel like this is my first actual fiction, even if it is only fanfiction, and it's certainly the most original idea I've ever had and the one I've spent most time on. I want to know what's wrong with it, where it didn't work and where it did, and just what people think of it. And be HONEST, really. I know everyone begs for reviews but... OK, everyone wants reviews and I'm as much of an attention whore as everyone else...

I hope you enjoy it.


Holly Short hovered near the explosion for a few seconds, allowing her helmet visor to scan the plane's wreckage. After looping twice, she buzzed forward and caught Artemis Fowl by the scruff of the neck before he had started to fall more than a few metres. He was almost pulled out of her hands by the jolt of the weight of two bodies.

"D'Arvit! Let her go, Artemis!" She swore again in a variety of languages and hooked him onto her moonbelt. She was faintly pleased that Artemis had held onto Koboi though, preventing her from plummeting to her doom. It showed the true man he had become, one who would never kill someone for vengeance or hatred. Her face hardened. She also wanted to see Koboi face justice, to be condemned for her crimes against the fairies and against all living creatures. To spend the rest of her life in a cell, rotting away for a long time. A quick end would be too merciful. The law would punish Koboi, the law she had so long defied.

"Artemis!" she called over the howling wind. "What happened there?" She frowned as she noticed something. "Why is she so small? And normal looking?"

He seemed to be in a daze though. Fair enough, she thought, an explosion in a light aircraft 10,000 feet above sea level would do that to a person. She concentrated on getting them all back to Fowl Manor.

*****

It was almost a disappointment to be arrested in their descent after only a few seconds, an anticlimax. But after this initial bizarre feeling, a realisation crept over him quickly, followed by elation, an ecstatic feeling of victory. They had made it. Artemis's mind immediately began to work almost the second after he had accepted that his – their – life had returned to them. Now, at last, there were simple, practical problems to be solved and, however difficult they might be, he could always solve them.

Opal too felt a huge relief. When she had heard Holly tell Artemis to drop her, she had imagined he would for a second. But, yet again, he had held onto her. It still felt impossible to her, and she clung to him in a daze as they sped over the land. But the mind of a genius is never content to rest, and it continued to work, realising what would happen when they had landed. And then they did land. Holly unclipped them and they almost collapsed to the floor from exhaustion.

Holly was barking orders into her helmet, and two armed LEP officers stepped forward. They quickly pulled Opal to her feet and cuffed her, and began dragging her out of the house. She made no effort to struggle or protest, but when she looked at Artemis, she seemed to be silently asking him a question: are you going to let this happen?

What happened next seemed to happen in an instant. Artemis made a curt nod to Butler who had appeared as if by magic in the fairies' path. Butler understood immediately and acted quickly, silently and without question. He moved behind the two officers and clasped a giant thumb and forefinger to the back of their necks, and they collapsed instantly, unconscious. Holly immediately whirled round, instinct taking over, and sank three charges from her neutrino into the aggressor's giant chest. He toppled over and hit the floor with an almighty crash, and Artemis took this moment to move to Opal's side, putting himself between Opal and Holly.

"Butler!" Holly screamed as she saw her old friend topple over, immediately regretting her reaction. Then it hit her. "Artemis! What the hell are you doing?" Her voice was a furious cry, her confusion resonating in her words.

"You're not taking her, Holly. I won't let you take her away." His voice was calm, a firm authoritative tone with a slight hint of anger mixed in.

Holly couldn't understand the words that were coming out of his mouth. As far as she knew he had lured Opal away, the plane had exploded and she had caught them in the air, and that somehow Koboi had lost her power. This she had put down to one of Artemis's ingenious plans, and that would be explained later. But this made no sense; he was protecting her, defending her.

"What - why did you?" she looked down at her unconscious officers. "What are you doing, Artemis?!"

"Opal is going to stay here with me Holly. You need to let me explain. Please."

"You'd better explain. Right after you've given her over to me and she's rotting in a cell in Atlantis. Then you can do all the explaining you want. And it had better be good."

"No, Holly. You have to listen to me now. I'm not letting you take her."

"No, you listen to me, Fowl. I don't know what plan you have and I don't want to know. Your part is over now, and you have absolutely no right to get in the way of justice. So forget it. You don't have a choice. I can stun you and take her on my own."

Artemis looked at her grimly, and then she noticed what was in his other hand. He raised his arm and pointed the handgun he had taken from the unconscious police officer. "I can't let you do that Holly. I'll fight you if I have to."

And that gesture is what made Captain Holly Short stop. In front of her, Artemis Fowl, her Arty, was pointing a gun at her, willing to shoot her. She felt a terrible feeling spread from her stomach, she felt sick as she looked into his eyes that looked unflinchingly back at her. And though she could easily have beaten the boy and fulfilled her threat, the impact of that gesture from Artemis was like a blow. A blow that knocked the wind out of her.

"How could you do this, Artemis? After everything she's done to us. She's a monster, Artemis, a monster. Look at what she did to you." She gulped back a tear, "She murdered Julius, she tried to kill us all. She tried to destroy me. Doesn't that matter to you?"

A slight hesitation flickered across his face as he felt the force of her feeling. But then it was gone. He had no choice. "No, Holly, not any more."

He tried to explain further but she shouted him down, her eyes filling with red, hot tears. "Don't call me Holly! Don't speak to me like that! I can't believe I ever trusted you, cared for you! I can't believe I -" She gasped for air, a painful shuddering sound. "I thought you cared about us, I thought you cared about the People! This is just another scheme isn't it? After all we've been through, all we've done for you! All you've done for me. Does that mean nothing to you?"

"It's not like that, Holly. Please let me explain."

Holly shook her head, as if trying to shake what she couldn't believe out of her head. As far as she was concerned this was, could only be another plan, another manipulative scheme for his own benefit. After all she thought he had changed, this time his betrayal hit her the worse. He had disregarded all of her feelings, ignored all the ideas of morality and fairness she thought he had learnt, just so he could further some selfish goal of his own.

"How did I ever think you'd changed?" Holly's stricken face steeled, as her self-control hardened her rage and quashed her rising emotions. Artemis saw this happen and felt an immense regret fill his heart. He wished he didn't have to do this to her.

"Holly, look at her." Opal peeked out from behind Artemis, her head resting on his stomach. She didn't look like a criminal, she didn't look evil and she didn't look like a threat. As she gazed back at Holly with her huge, dark eyes, she looked like nothing but a child. But to Holly Short she looked smug, as if she was gloating at her, as if she was crowing at her from the top of a throne: Look at what I've done. I've taken everyone from you now. Even the Mud Man you love. I win. Holly felt small and ashamed at her own failure.

"Very well, Fowl." She spat out his name with as much hatred, more than when she had first known him. It was worse this time because she had expected better, and now she felt like a fool. Even more so because she had trusted in him, confided in him, loved hi – she pushed that thought out of her head. "You have thirty minutes to explain before I call in Retrieval, and trust me you have no idea how much I want to do that immediately."

"Thank you H – Captain. Could I ask that N°1 is brought in?" She didn't reply but whispered something into her headset. A few minutes later the jolly little demon walked into the room smiling, followed by a centaur who looked far more apprehensive. His smile quickly vanished as he saw Opal Koboi. He almost fell over when he saw Opal, but rallied when he noticed she had no magic left, bouncing back upwards on his tail.

"So?" This was Holly.

"N°1 set up what happened in that plane crash, I'd like him to explain." The demon's face was surprisingly hard as he looked up at Artemis sharply.

"Well, N°1? Is he telling the truth? What did you do for him?"

The young warlock paused for a second. "It was – the demon bubble."

Holly felt her heart sink. "You did this?"

"Yes." The demon looked at Artemis holding Opal by his side and he frowned and addressed him. "But I never would have done it if I thought this would be the result."

"I never meant this to happen. I never thought this would happen."

Holly ignored his protests. "So you and Koboi were in this thing together?"

N°1 nodded to confirm this. "That is correct. I put the spell into Artemis, so the only way he could get her too was to drag her in with him. He was supposed to use the effects to strip her magic away. Evidently something went wrong."

"There is something wrong," spat Holly, her emotions getting the best of her. "So Fowl, you and the pixie have sorted out your differences have you? How nice for you. Now stand aside so I can make her pay for the other people she's hurt."

"No." She stared at him, anger, disbelief and sorrow mingling in her expression. It killed him to do this to her, but he had made his choice. "Opal is staying with me, Captain Short." Holly snorted but Artemis continued: "I shall pass her off as my child, my adopted child."

A cruel laugh rang out from Holly. "Your child! Of course! And you'd like us to just go away whilst you raise your child. Apart from the fact she's public enemy number one, how will you explain the fact she stays under a metre for the rest of her life? Or that she has pointed ears, and the figure of an adult?"

"That's hardly your concern, is it. At any rate, the bubble has stripped Opal of her magical powers."

Holly scowled. "And that matters to me why?"

But Foaly was groaning in disbelief. "Oh it does matter, it really does. This is unbelievable."

Artemis nodded. "And that means she is not technically under your power, according to the book. A fairy is a magical creature, and Opal Koboi is no longer a magical creature."

"That's just a technicality and you know it. The LEP is perfectly within its rights to apprehend all creatures of fairy origin if they are a threat to our existence or secrecy, with or without magic. Just look at Mulch Diggums."

"But not," Artemis replied smoothly, "If said creature is under the protection of any Mud Man in full knowledge of the circumstances in which he shelters said creature. The Book overrules any LEP guidelines or practices. Legally, I am perfectly within my rights."

"Is this true, Foaly?" Holly asked.

The centaur answered her after a long silence, and through the speakers she could hear the suppressed rage as he spoke through gritted teeth. "Yes. Fowl is allowed to shelter the murderer if he chooses to do so. Opal will become a member of the human species."

"Just leave, Captain Short. There's nothing you can do here. No-one expects you to have to make this decision."

Holly froze at these words, an unspeakable rage boiling up inside her. "You. Shut up. I can't hear another word that comes from your mouth."

N°1 looked at her with sympathy. "We should go, Holly."

Foaly nodded, despite himself. "He's right, Holly, we should go. Not because of what Fowl wants but because this is too big for us. Let the council decide what action to take."

Holly listened to his words and knew that he was right. But she felt she couldn't leave. Koboi was standing right in front of her, powerless to defend herself. How could she walk away from her and let her get away with her crimes yet again? She deserved retribution, and Holly wanted revenge, wanted compensation for the pain that had been inflicted. She was standing right there, defying them, mocking them by her very existence. Holly forced herself to push down her hatred, focusing on Artemis, focusing on the one who had made all this happen.

"I will leave, Fowl. But I have something to tell you before I do so."

He saw the look in her eyes and wished he could do something, anything to stop this from happening. "Holly, please. Don't do this."

Her eyes started to sting with tears, and she blinked them furiously from the eyes that were half from her and half from him. "Shut up. You have betrayed us all, Artemis. And most of all I can't believe you would do this to me." He was shocked that she was making it personal in this way, and the sting of her words intensified. "After all we've been through together, everything that's happened between us, I can't understand how you could hurt me. But know that it's over. Whatever I ever felt for you is gone; you have betrayed us all more than you have ever done before, and - I hate you. I don't understand you, but I know that if you did care for me you wouldn't do this."

The bare truth of her emotions hit him like a physical blow, and he could see how hard it was for her to speak this way. It was as though she had to force out this truth whilst she still could. "Holly..."

"Don't speak to me!" She furiously blinked back the tears that poured from her glistening eyes. Her voice shook, and she trembled slightly as she looked at him. But there was nothing else she could do. There was no forgiving this.

When she spoke again her voice was hard and formal. "The people will decide what to do with you and the criminal. The restriction on house entry has been lifted, so if we decide to take the pixie and mind-wipe you there is nothing you can do about it." She made no further reference to herself as an individual; the protocol she followed seemed not to be coming from her. It was like she was watching a different person, a strong and decisive person, take control of the decisions. Inside Holly was torn. As she looked at Artemis she was still filled with a terrible urging, a compulsion to do something, anything to reason with him, to preserve their friendship and more. But as she looked at him she saw the thing she hated more than anything in the world standing right behind him, her claws twisting into him, manipulating him against his friends and everyone who cared for him. She could never forgive him for this. It was the last time he would betray her.

*****

As he watched them fly away, Artemis felt a huge pang of regret. For the second time the thought crossed his mind: what have I lost? He looked down at Koboi, and for a brief second he felt angry at her. He had lost Holly for her. But Opal looked up at him with truly innocent eyes, and he couldn't blame her.

"They're gone. You're safe now."

She was genuinely grateful. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

They stood there for a minute gazing out at the beautiful Irish countryside.

"Your child?"

"Oh, I just said that for them."

"Of course you did." She spoke jokingly, but she felt genuinely worried. There was no reason for him to keep her here now. She was effectively throwing herself on his mercy, though he had taken the responsibility without her asking. "So, um." She bit her lip

Artemis looked at her. "Don't worry about it. You can stay here for as long as you want."

"I think I will," she said. It suddenly felt all too much for her. So many things had happened in such a short space of time. She felt dizzy.

Artemis spoke to her softly, casually. "Are you alright?" He put an arm around her shoulders; a friendly gesture. She moved into him slightly.

Artemis's brain started working, calculating. She was far from stable yet. This was a creature who had been utterly insane, then had gone under some intense mental trauma. He began thinking about what he would have to do to keep her as comfortable and relaxed as possible, to rehabilitate her into a relatively normal life. Being reliant on someone would be difficult for her, as would living in human society, as would staying hidden from the world the whole time. Then there were the worries she must be having that the LEP would return; now that there was nothing to physically stop them, Artemis was relying on them adhering to the principles of the book out of duty. And of course he had to worry about the chance of her relapsing, and what he would do then. Countless scenarios and possibilities played through his head. Anything to distract himself from the cluster of specks disappearing from sight.

"Hey," Opal said, noticing his mood, "don't let it get to you too badly."

"You're right," he answered uncertainly.

"I mean, you were quite a good kisser, really."

He coloured at this. Looking down at her, he saw her looking back up at him with a teasing expression, stifling a giggle. He sighed deeply. Perhaps she'd be okay after all.