October 2, Technical Support
Artemis ran his hands over the bomb, searching frantically for something, anything, that might stop the countdown. The blinking numbers already read ten minutes, and were steadily decreasing. Holly might have resigned herself to the fact that she was going to die, but Artemis had not.
"Holly, is there a tool box anywhere about?" he asked.
Holly looked surprised. "Yes", she replied. "Foaly always maintains one here. Titanium casing and the latest in gadgetry omni-tools. But what good will that do?"
"Can you bring it to me, please?"
Puzzled, Holly retrieved the bulky rectangular case from a shelf and handed it to Artemis, who immediately emptied its contents onto the floor.
"What are you doing?" asked Holly, daring to hope that Artemis might have a plan. She jumped in shock as Artemis selected a laser cuter and trained it on the bomb's casing, making a small hole. "Artemis! What are you doing?"
"I'm releasing the hydro-nitrate gas", he answered. "The fewer combustive atoms that are within range of the fuse ignitor, the smaller the explosion will be. We don't have time to release all the gas, but maybe we can restrict the blast to a small area." He unceremoniously yanked the bomb from the shelf and shoved it inside the titanium tool box. "That should significantly decrease the power of the explosion, but we still won't have enough time to get clear." He cast calculating eyes on the door frame of the room. "Where is the control pad for these doors?"
"Right here", Holly said, pointing at a switchbox mounted on the inside wall. "If you're planning on locking the bomb inside the room, you can only do it if you're inside too. You can blame Foaly's paranoia for that system."
Artemis nodded curtly, then pushed Holly out before activating the doors.
"Artemis!" Holly screamed, realising what he was doing. "No!" She pounded on the clear, bulletproof glass.
"I have to, Holly", Artemis said in a pained voice. "This is the only chance for Haven…for you."
"Come out", Holly begged. "We'll think of something else. Don't sacrifice yourself. You're too valuable."
"What's one life compared with ten thousand?" Artemis asked with a half-smile. "No, Holly, this is the only way. There's no time to think of anything else." How true – the numbers on the bomb read 02:00. Two minutes.
"Artemis, please", Holly pleaded. "Please don't do this. I've already lost so many people – I can't lose you too. Artemis – Artemis, you're my best friend – please, please don't do this."
"I'm sorry, Holly." Artemis's voice was sincere, and his eyes shone with – were those tears? "Please tell my family I love them, and give my regards to Foaly and Trouble." The timer ticked to fifty seconds, and now the countdown became audible.
"No!" cried Holly. "I love you, Artemis", she said impulsively, knowing he wouldn't take it the wrong way and not caring if he did since she would never have the chance to say it again. "I never told you, but I love you."
Artemis smiled gently. "I love you too, Holly", he told her as the numbers counted down to ten. "You've been a very good friend to me. I'm glad I got to know you. Be well."
Holly froze. Be well. The same words Julius Root had uttered to her more than five years ago, before he died. Holly felt like she was reliving history, trapped in a nightmare as the timer ticked down to zero and a bluish-yellow flame blossomed within the room, enveloping Artemis completely.
"Artemis!" she cried, tears running down her cheeks. "Artemis", she murmured brokenly.
Amid the roar of the contained explosion, she seemed to hear the ghost of a whisper floating in the room.
Be well.
Chapter Ten
Ward 11, St. Caduceus Hospital, Haven City
Holly moaned softly as she slowly regained consciousness. She hurt all over and the light was too bright even through her closed eyelids. Her senses were beginning to work again, coming back one by one – first feeling, then smell, taste, and hearing. She guessed she'd be able to see if she opened her eyes too, but she didn't want to do that just yet. Instead, she strained to hear what the murmuring voices were saying.
"I don't understand, Julius", said Trouble's voice. "Do you mean to say you've been living with the Mud Men for the past six years?"
"Good Lord, no", answered another familiar voice. Holly twitched and almost sat up straight, but a heavy lethargy lay like a blanket over her and she remained still. "No, Trouble, I don't think I could stand to live as a Mud Man for more than a year, surface life or no surface life. I just didn't want to barge straight back into Haven when it was quite obvious that everyone thought I was dead."
Darn right they did, thought Holly to herself. I saw you die, Julius, how are you alive?
"I was up there no more than a month", continued Root. "I got wind of Fowl's death and decided to come back, only to run into our Mud Boy friend who was lucky enough to escape the same way I did."
"Luck had nothing to do with it", denied Artemis. "It was pure science. I assumed I would die in that explosion, of course, but now I know that the concentration of nuclear power actually transported me through time."
This time Holly really did bolt upright, shocked to the core at the revelation that not one, but two people whom she thought had died had miraculously returned to life. Then she regretted jerking awake so violently – her body wasn't ready yet, and she collapsed back on the bed, dizzy.
"Holly, take it easy – that was a pretty rough healing you went through", warned Trouble.
"What…" Holly gasped.
"Save your breath, Major Short", Root said gruffly, hiding his emotions well. "We'll explain later. For now, be grateful you're still among the living."
"How are you feeling, Holly?" Artemis asked anxiously. It was then Holly noticed that he was holding her hand.
"Don't make her talk, Fowl", scolded Root. "Please do take into consideration with that big brain of yours that this was a much more strenuous healing than the one that reattached her finger back in Murmansk."
"What happened?" Holly managed to ask. "How are you…"
"Long story." Artemis waved the question aside. "Suffice to say, the separate explosions that supposedly killed both me and Commander Root had in fact transported us to the future. Julius arrived in New York City on February 28 this year, and I appeared in Tara just this morning. Fortunately, Julius was there to tell me what was going on."
"First of all, I'm not the Commander anymore, and secondly, don't call me Julius", said Root.
"If you are no longer the Commander and I am not allowed to call you Julius, pray tell, just what may I address you as?"
Root opened his mouth to make a retort and then closed it again. "I didn't think about that", he admitted. "All right, fine, you're allowed to call me Julius if you use my name sparingly – very sparingly."
"Very well", conceded Artemis.
"Can somebody please explain to me exactly what happened?" Holly demanded.
"You got yourself shot, Holly", Trouble said curtly. "We almost lost you. If Julius and Artemis hadn't been there, we might not have been able to keep you alive long enough to get you to No1 for healing. What were you thinking, exposing yourself like that?"
Holly cringed, and then shot upright again, remembering why she'd been distracted. This time her body had recovered enough to stand the action. "D'Arvit, I forgot!" she exclaimed. "It was Foaly – he was in trouble…he said Lorianne Herbert was coming to get him – how is he? Is he all right?"
"Foaly's fine, Holly", Artemis assured her. "He's still locked in his booth, but he's got an LEP officer helping him override the lockdown from outside – Lieutenant Hallie Fern, no less. He's more worried about you." Artemis's brow furrowed slightly. "It really was very close, Holly", he stressed. "You should rest."
"I'll rest when we've caught whoever is behind this all, be it Ark Sool or Yolande McGregor", Holly retorted, climbing off the bed.
"Ark Sool?" Root scowled. "You never mentioned this", he accused Trouble. "What's Sool been doing? And who's this Yolande McGregor?"
"They're our current suspects for this mayhem in Haven", Holly replied, stringing her Neutrino on her belt. "Foaly did some research and discovered salt-ionized copper potassium cyanide in the home of Lorianne Herbert."
"Okay, stop", said Root forcefully. "Rewind. Go back, Holly, and give me a proper briefing. For Frond's sake, you're a major now, Short."
Holly grinned and, with Trouble's help, began again, explaining everything that had been happening since Artemis's supposed death. She downplayed the part where she fell into a depression, but described in detail the current plot that was threatening to upset the balance in the entire underground. When she finished, Root rubbed his chin and cursed.
"D'Arvit. This is serious. Very serious. Mesmerizing fairies, you say?"
"Precisely", said Trouble. "Now you see why it's so difficult for us to get a hold on the perpetrator behind this."
"On the contrary", said Artemis, a thoughtful look on his face, "The fact that the mesmer is being used on fairies will make it easier to locate the villain."
"What do you mean?" Holly asked.
"Am I correct in assuming that mesmerizing fairies requires more power than mesmerizing humans?" Artemis inquired.
"Significantly more", Trouble affirmed. "Our own magic counteracts the mesmer being used against us. It would take a substantial amount of magic and several weeks to completely mesmerize even one fairy."
"Where are you going with this, Fowl?" Root queried.
"Look at it this way", said Artemis. "If a fairy is mesmerizing several other fairies, he or she would require frequent infusions of magic – therefore, he or she would need to perform the Ritual fairly often – perhaps every month or so. That being said, any fairy performing the Ritual that frequently would need easy access to the surface – or, more specifically, to an oak tree by a river bend. I'm certain that helps narrow down the possible locations."
"Only Foaly would know for sure", countered Trouble. "But you're probably right." He withdrew a communicator from his belt and opened a channel. "Foaly. How's it going? Are the computers working yet?"
Foaly's voice was muffled and slightly hazy as he replied. "Barely. The locking mechanism on the door's still not functioning. Lieutenant Fern's doing her best, but she's no techie. It's been over two hours; if this goes on much longer I might call in Mulch to tunnel me out. That's how bad this is. I hate being a prisoner of my own inventions. How's Holly?"
"Holly is fine, and already back on the case, so can you quit ranting, centaur, and listen to the Commander already?" scolded Root.
There was a pause at the other end of the line, then a hesitant, very cautious response. "Trouble? Who's the other person with you who sounds very, very much like the late Commander Julius Root?"
Trouble coughed; in all the excitement, he had forgotten to inform Foaly that Root was alive again. Or Artemis, for that matter.
"It is Julius Root, Foaly, and I am present as well", Artemis said into the communicator.
In the Ops Booth, Foaly nearly had a heart palpitation. "Mud Boy's there too?" he said in an incredulous voice. "Trouble, what in Frond's name is going on there? Something you forgot to mention?"
"Long story short: Julius and Artemis were tossed into time portals rather than being killed in the explosions that they supposedly died in", Trouble summarized.
"D'Arvit, Trouble – all you told me was that you were taking Holly to St. Caduceus for healing and that she was almost gone! How am I supposed to work when I'm left out of the loop? Does nobody tell me anything?"
"Stop complaining, Foaly", Holly said.
"Holly!" came Foaly's relieved voice. "Gods, it's good to hear your voice. You've got to stop playing poker with death, Holly – I can't count the number of times you've cheated it; your odds must be getting low."
"While I completely agree with that assessment", Root said testily, "might I suggest we get back to the purpose of this call? Foaly, can you make a list of places in Haven which have easy access to chutes or shuttle pods? And while you're at it, see if anyone has applied for frequent or long-lasting surface visas. Anything closer than three weeks or longer than two months is suspect."
"Got it. I'm running the criteria through Haven's general database right now. Might I add that it's good to have you back, Julius?"
"Don't call me Julius."
Foaly chuckled. The old team was together once more.
A/N: Reunion! Reunion! So, what did you think? Was that last flashback too corny? I'm still relatively new at writing romance, compared to all my other genres - especially A/H. I wasn't even sure I wanted Holly and Artemis together. I dithered on that a bit, but I think I resolved it pretty nicely in the last few chapters of the story - which we will get to in due time. Thank you dimka-roza-belikova, mischievous101, Magiske-Fingrer, Marco Schuster, RideForeverO.o, stoffelus, and ZeZe123 for reviewing! That's a record for this story - reviews on a single chapter from seven different people! Special thanks to dimka-roza-belikova, who's reviewed on every single chapter and the prologue. mischievous101, don't you think hacking's a wee bit extreme? I'm already posting daily.
Disclaimer: Ha ha, no.