Chapter 11

Artemis squeezed Holly's hand tightly, muttering under his breath.

"Please, please, please."

Butler laid his hand on the boys shoulder, tears trickling from his own eyes. The captain had saved both Artemis's and his own lives more times than he cared to think about. Over the past seven years, she had moved from quarry, to unwilling ally, to friend. He hoped Artemis could save her.

The Eternity stone sat on her chest, inactive, for several seconds. Trouble gave up hope and turned away, covering his eyes. Artemis ducked his head, struggling to breathe. Holly couldn't be gone. She just couldn't.

He looked up, wanting to imprint her face in his memory, and gasped. The Stone was glowing vivid blue. The glow shifted to cover Holly's frame, and her hand twitched in his. He clutched it tighter, whispering her name under his breath. Her body spasmed again, and the Stone slipped from her chest. The bomb damage had cracked it across, and further trauma broke it completely. It hit the floor, and broke into shards. The blue glow around Holly faded and died.

Artemis dropped her hand. It hadn't worked. He closed his eyes, trying not to feel his heart breaking. He had lost her.

He ignored Butler shaking his shoulder for a few seconds, only replying when he lost the feeling in his arm.

"What?" he asked tonelessly.

"She's breathing, Artemis. Holly's alive."

He opened his eyes. The movement was miniscule, but her chest was definitely rising and falling. She was alive!

Trouble jumped to his feet, yelling for the Retrieval squad to clear a space for the paramedics. Artemis hadn't noticed the officers surrounding them. Seven medical warlocks pushed everyone out of their way and knelt in a circle around the fallen captain. Artemis stood up, trying to see what they were doing, but his view of Holly was completely obstructed.

For ten minutes, Holly was surrounded by paramedics, shooting magic into various body parts. The hardest part was removing the bullet. One of the warlocks had to make a new incision to reach in and remove it. Finally, they stepped back and cleared an area around her. Artemis knew what was coming. He'd seen it twice before, and been through it himself a few months previously after being attacked by a gorilla. Holly, shrouded in blue sparks, shook and flailed about, nonsense words in various languages spilling from her mouth. After a minute or so of this, she flopped limply back to the rubble. Trouble was the first at her side, pushing her hair - which had grown about two inches - out of her eyes.

"Holly. Holly, can you hear me?"

She groaned and winced.

"Ouch." she muttered. There was something pointy digging into her back. She opened her eyes, and sat up. Trouble pulled her into a tight embrace, and she hugged him back, not certain what was going on. The last thing she remembered was a pain in her stomach…

Trouble was whispering into her ear.

"Don't you ever scare me like that again, Holly, do you hear me?"

Scare him? She pulled back and touched her stomach. Her hand came away sticky with blood. Her blood. She had a sudden vision of Julius and her parents, and her eyes widened. Trouble put his hand in her bloodstained one, hiding it's shaking from the cheering Retrieval team. He looked directly into her mismatched eyes, saw the comprehension there, and squeezed her hand gently.

"It's ok now, Holly. You're safe."

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Artemis watched as Trouble embraced Holly, and she hugged him back. He wanted to go to her side, to join in the celebratory hand-slapping the LEP officers were doing, but his legs wouldn't move. Butler spoke from his left side, the smile on his face evident in his tone.

"You did it Artemis."

Artemis watched as Trouble helped Holly to her feet, steadying her with a hand on her waist. The scene upset him for some reason. He shook himself mentally, trying to think with his head rather than his emotions. Holly was alive, wasn't she? What more did he want?

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Holly was surrounded by her fellow officers. They all attempted to hug her or pat her on the back, all tried to make eye contact. She smiled thinly. Had she really died, or had she hallucinated that she saw Julius and her parents? She asked the nearest person to her, who happened to be Grub, what had happened..

"Artemis did something. With a necklace Opal was wearing."

She looked up at Artemis, met his eyes and smiled.

'Thank you' she mouthed. He nodded back. His eyes were red, and his face was tearstained. He'd cried for her? She fought her way free of the crowd around her and made her way to his side. They stood smiling at each other for a moment, then as one they threw their arms around each other.

"The Eternity Stone?" she asked incredulously. He nodded, eyes closed. She felt the motion and hugged him tighter.

"Thank you, Artemis. That's the second time you've brought me back."

He smiled into her hair.

"Let's not try for a third, eh?"

She laughed and pulled back. For a few seconds, they just stared at each other, then Artemis bent down and kissed her on the cheek. A few members of Retrieval wolf whistled. Butler cracked his knuckles and the suddenly decided that they had better places to be. Artemis ignored the whistling.

"I'm glad you're alright, Holly."

She grinned at him and punched him on the arm.

"Can't keep me down."

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Trouble watched the interaction up to the point where the Mud Boy kissed Holly, then turned to his team and started to clear them out of there.

"Come on, we've got a mind wipe to do, we've got to find Number One and get him to sent Opal back to her proper time, and we've got to put our Opal back in prison! Let's move, team!"

The two vans with the Opals in went first, followed by the paramedics and the rest of the Retrieval team. Finally only he was left. He turned to face Holly, who was assuring Butler that , yes, she really was fine. He cleared his throat and she turned to look at him. Gods, he loved that smile.

"Thank you for your help, Artemis. And you, Butler."

The two humans nodded.

"We should probably get you home, before anything else happens. I'd take you myself, but I've got to call the Council and explain this to them…"

"I'll take them, Commander." volunteered Holly. "I've got to pick up my helmet from the Manor anyway."

Trouble nodded reluctantly. He didn't like how close Holly and Artemis were, but he saw little alternative. What he'd been about to suggest was that he could ask Captain Vein to take them.

"Are you sure you're up to it?"

"I'm fine Commander. I could fly that shuttle blind."

Butler sincerely hoped that she wouldn't. There were enough near misses with walls when she could see, though in fairness that was mostly because he'd only ever flown with her in high-speed chases. That and the fact that she had a liking for acrobatics. As she said, what was the point in flying slowly?