Guess Who's Home?

A/N: This is one SCARY chapter! Hold on to your socks, people! Mrs. Johnson returns! DUN DUN DUN!

OK, on with the chappie.

The morning breeze glided through the window curtains of the kitchen and brushed the back of Artemis's head. He gazed upon the multiple children surrounding him, munching away at their cereal. Today was a big day for all of them, and a sense of rebellion and oncoming feedom was in the kitchen air. As the children chatted away happily, Mr. Johnson came in and ate breakfast with them.

"Hey, kids, today the social worker will be here around noon, so just get ready before then. We can play games this morning, but after that, you need to talk to her individually. The older boys need to stay here after breakfast. I think they know why."

Mr. Johnson caused the shoulders of every adolescent at the table to jolt upward in shock. How could he have known? Perhaps the scuffle with Artemis Fowl the great fighter was heard last night. Mr. Johnson casually ate and read the paper as the children ran upstairs after breakfast and chose to play in their rooms until the 'talk' with the teens was over.

Mr. Johnson set his paper down and looked to Artemis. A smile spread across his bearded face and he chuckled.

"Oh, Artemis the genius. I know how it works. You see, I have been watching closer than you boys think. I know that you all have a plan to fix things around here, and so far, it's looking great. My only suggestion; don't blow your cover around Mrs. Johnson. She'll be back today. She always comes back."

All of the teens let out a sigh of relief as Mr. Johnson continued to speak in a way that would help them complete the final phase of their plan.

"Those photos Artemis took will help in the investigation against my wife, but you guys have to get them developed, right? I will do this in the bathroom upstairs with Zack. He may not talk, but boy can he help," Mr. Johnson continued.

"Excuse me, Mr. Johnson, but I do have a few questions for you," Artemis said quietly.

"Sure, shoot," Mr. Johnson said, leaning on his elbows to listen.

"You claim that you have been watching us for some time now. I simply wonder why you never tried to intervene? This plan of ours involved much stealth, and because of my actions, you no longer have an activated security system in your house. Are you not upset that we have lied and stolen to achieve this goal?" Artemis asked casually.

"Nah, I'm fine with it if it involves helping those poor kids. They've been through hell, Artemis. I know that you're smart enough to figure all of that out. So, I laid back and watched as your plan unfolded. Though I do wonder why Owen and Jack went at it the other night. Mind explaining that?"

Owen jumped in at this point, seeing as Mr. Johnson already knew, there were no more secrets to be kept.

"Well, it all began when we needed to give Artemis time on the computer. His parents never really abused him, as he claims, and he just wants to get out of here. So, we created diversions and pretended to beat the crap out of each other. This bought him some time," Owen said quietly.

"No problem at all, Owen. Just as long as you deleted the history and everything. My wife is the one who installed the internet monitoring device. Though I highly doubt that deactivating it was an issue for Master Fowl over here," Mr. Johnson chuckled.

"I just can't believe that you see it our way! I mean, we shouldn't have been hiding all this time!" Mike jumped in.

"Well, in a way, it's better that I kept quiet about it. You see, Mrs. Johnson has a way of figuring out if I'm hiding something, and if you guys had told me about this earlier, she would have gone haywire," Mr. Johnson explained.

"Alright, the final phase of our plan should be executed, then! I will need some time alone with Mr. Silvernail before any of the children speak with him. I have built a file of evidence that is sure to get Mrs. Johnson jailed for her crimes," Artemis began.

Mr. Johnson nodded and waved for Artemis to continue.

"I would also like to tell you that I have built a file that will get my brothers and I back home where we belong. It has been an honor to live here with all of you as a foster family, but I really must go back home. My parents are worried sick," Artemis explained.

All of the men at the table nodded and shook on completing the plan.

By noon when the social worker arrived, the photos had been developed and Artemis Fowl was ready. He would show Mr. Silvernail his completed evidence packets, and he would complete his job here.

The doorbell rang on cue, and the social worker nodded to Mr. Johnson and entered with a grim expression. Artemis sat at the kitchen table, files in hand. He trembled at the sight of the man who had broken his family apart, but then stiffened his upper lip. He knew better than to back down now. As the social worker came in, Artemis cleared his throat.

Mr. Silvernail took a seat next to him and raised an eyebrow as Artemis placed in front of him the binder about the children in this foster home. He opened it and took about ten minutes to complete reading it through. After that, he took his glasses off and looked directly at Artemis.

"This evidence is…truly disturbing. I must contact the authorities and get this woman arrested for child abuse. I am so sorry that I did not see any of this before. It could have saved the kids here many years of abuse. Thank you, Artemis. Now, if we can just take a look at the next binder that you wanted to show me-" WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?"

Artemis gasped, the social worker reeled around, and they both took in a sight that they had hoped never to see.

Mrs. Johnson seethed through yellowed teeth at them, a beer bottle in hand.

The social worker stood up and got in front of Artemis.

"I have evidence against you, Mrs. Johnson. You could spend years in jail for what you have done!" Mr. Silvernail cried.

"Well, let's see this 'evidence' that our genius Artemis has built!" Mrs. Johnson hissed, striding around the social worker to tear open the binder.

Pages flew out of it as her spidery hands ripped out pages of information and photos. She slammed the binder down on the kitchen table and looked at Artemis, ready to pounce.

And pounce she did. Artemis didn't see that the beer bottle had been broken, or that Mrs. Johnson was sober when she attacked him. Like a tiger, she leapt at him and knocked him from the chair to the tiles of the kitchen floor. He cried out in shock and pain as she grabbed his hair and pulled as hard as she could.

"You bastard! You dick! I'll…I'll kill you! I'll murder you!" the rabid woman shrieked like a banshee.

Artemis swung his fists into her face and shoulders, refusing to lose the fight. She Held the jagged edge of glass to his throat and he froze in place.

"Not so cocky now, are you, little shit?" She laughed manically.

Artemis's eyes rolled over to the side so that he could see what was going on near the kitchen door. Mr. Johnson was calling the police on his cell phone, and the social worker was nudging the group of gathered children outside of the room.

"You kids don't want to see this, just go to your rooms. I'll stand by the door and make sure she doesn't come after you, too! Zack, Jack, Mike, Owen! Get over here now! Help Artemis!" Mr. Silvernail roared.

The four teens didn't speak, but moved swiftly into the kitchen. Owen had brought a heavy wine bottle and the other boys bore no weapons. They had will power.

Mrs. Johnson didn't hear the teens creeping in behind her. She was too busy screaming threats in Artemis's face. A loud crash, like thunder, rang throughout the foster home. Green glass exploded over Mrs. Johnson's head, and she went limp without a sound, crashing onto Artemis and dropping the beer bottle. Artemis struggled beneath the dead weight, attempting to roll out from under her.

The teens pulled her off and out of the house, dumping her on the front lawn. Just as she was about to wake up, the boys all ran indoors and slammed the doors, locking them with deadbolts, chains, and basic locks. Not trusting that those would keep her out, the boys began to barricade the windows with old boards and stood guard by them, waiting for police sirens to wail throughout the neighborhood.

They heard a scuffle outside, screaming and fighting in the grass. The police almost had her before she punched one of them. This move was met with swift consequences; a police officer rendered her unconscious again and handcuffed her before he slung her over his shoulder and nodded to his partner to open the car door.

"Wow, she put up a fight!" one of them panted.

As the car drove off, Artemis got off of the floor and noticed that the children had stampeded down the stairs to see the arrest. They all remained silent for a few moments before one of them, Keith of course, cheered loudly.

"Yeah, the bitch is gone! HELL YEAH!" Keith roared, jumping up and down.

Mr. Johnson's eyes nearly popped out of his head before he burst out into laughter, releasing the tension that they had all felt for years.

A collaborative cheer rang throughout the house, and even Mr. Silvernail was smiling upon the joy. The kids ran out of the house and onto the front lawn, dancing and cheering loudly.

Artemis waited for the teens to come back into the kitchen and noted that one of them, Zack, was crying. He saw Jack put an arm around his foster brother and whisper something that he could not hear over the cheering outside.

"Artemis? Please come with me into the study. Mr. Silvernail has something to tell you," Mr. Johnson beamed.

Artemis felt his heart leaping and trying to get a steady rhythm after what had just occurred. He followed Mr. Silvernail into the dreaded steaming study and sat down on a chair, sweating through his clothes.

"Artemis, I am going over your second file now. According to this, the man who reported your father for abuse is actually a mafia member himself…connected to your father," Mr. Silvernail began.

"I insist that you hear out my side of the story, Mr. Silvernail! I have had a terrible time here, and one of my brothers was physically abused by the woman who just assaulted me! I demand that you return my brothers and I to our home! My father never touched any of us! Now, you may look at a criminal record from three years ago and believe that he is evil, but let me tell you that it is simply a past! Everybody has something that they are ashamed of, but that does not give you any right to tear a family apart based upon information given to you by a corrupted BASTARD!"

Artemis flinched at the last word, not realizing that he had it in him to resort to profanity. But at this time, he was desperate, and he loathed the notion of staying in foster care systems until he was eighteen. He wanted his brothers to grow up normally, and this past week was the most traumatizing thing that the twins had faced during their short ten years.

"Artemis, allow me to continue. I believe that with the records showing that this man is currently in the mafia, he is no longer a credible source for the allegations of child abuse. I wanted to tell you to pack your bags and get your brothers because you are all going to be taken back home tonight," MR. Silvernail snapped.

Artemis paused and let the tension hang in the summer air, dust drifting like snow between Mr. Silvernail and himself. He took a deep breath and released it through his mouth, leaning back in the sticky leather chair.

"Oh, I see. Well, then, I…thank you for your time, sir. Please, if you will, I would like to stay here for an hour more before being taken back home."

"Very good, young Artemis. I trust that you will be ready by seven."

"I will, sir."

Artemis shook Mr. Silvernail's sweating hand and left to find his brothers in the party outside.