Here we go. Chapter 14 comes out just a day after 13. That's pretty good. Though its bad for my school work as I am doing this instead of homework. Though I suppose it could count as English revision? :D
Thankyouthankyouthankyou for all the lovely reviews I got for the last chapter! You guys are sooo great!
And I finally got past 100 reviews!
Aah, I remember the time when this fic was brand new and I had just 3 little reviews… ^_^
Disclaimer: I do not own Artemis Fowl, though I think you probably know that by now
Chapter 14: Alienation
Fowl Manor: Ireland
Butler found Artemis and Holly sometime later, lying side by side on top of the bedcovers, fast asleep.
"Artemis?" he called softly. His principal did not stir. Beside him however, Holly woke with a start, flipping upright before Butler even had time to blink. She jumped off the end of the bed, flushing a little as she looked up at the bodyguard.
"I was trying to get Artemis to go back to sleep. I must have drifted off as well."
Butler nodded. "It's to be expected after what you've been through in the past few days."
The elf jerked her head towards the sleeping boy behind her. "Do you want me to wake him up?"
"Knock yourself out."
She grinned and thumped Artemis on the chest, harder than she would normally have done. "MUD BOY!" she yelled in his ear. "WAKEY WAKEY!"
Hmmm. Thought Butler as Artemis woke with a yelp. It's almost as though she's compensating for something.
Artemis sat up, rubbing the place where Holly had hit him. "What was that for?" he asked in an injured tone.
The elf shrugged. "Nothing. Butler wants you."
He turned towards Butler questioningly. "What is it, old friend?"
"The LEP are trying to send a communications signal through. Someone wants to speak to you."
Artemis frowned. "Will they breach our defences if we make contact?"
Butler shook his head solemnly. "No. Not if we put them through on a secure line with no other connections."
Artemis nodded absent-mindedly. "Do that then. I will be there in a moment."
Butler nodded and headed for the door. As he left, he distinctly heard Artemis whisper in a plaintive voice; "why'd you attack me Holly?" Butler would've let the comment slide as the beginning of a normal Artemis/Holly argument if he hadn't heard the elfin captain's reply.
"I don't know. I was trying to cover up that I'd been kissing you. It's made me all self conscious, like everyone who sees us knows."
Artemis's reply was low and unintelligible, so Butler decided to leave. He pondered this new development. It certainly explained a lot, such as why Holly was so eager to help defend Artemis from the LEP. As he made his way to the security booth, Butler sighed. Trust Artemis Fowl to have the most complicated love life ever. Of course he couldn't settle down with a normal girl, no. Because that would make Butler's job far too easy.
Instead, he had to become romantically involved with a police captain who had a reputation for being the biggest danger magnet Butler knew, apart from Artemis himself. Oh, and she was also an elf. How could he forget that?
He sighed again. Oh well. If master Artemis was happy, who was he to complain? And it wasn't exactly out of the blue either. He had long suspected Artemis had feelings for Holly. He just found it surprising that she returned them. He continued on his way, deciding that the best course of action would be to appear oblivious for the present.
Artemis caught up with Butler a few minutes later, looking slightly pink. "Butler. Are we online?"
"Nearly. I'm just patching them through to the secure line now."
"Good." Artemis needed to see what the LEP had to say. He needed more of an insight to their plans so he knew how to proceed from here.
"We're online." Butler brought up a screen on one of the computers lining the walls and turned up the volume. Sitting in front of them in a specially modified shuttle-pilot's chair was Foaly. Artemis sat down and stared intently at the centaur.
"Artemis, Butler." he whinnied. "It's good to see you're still alright. I mean, not that I should care, with me being on the opposing team once more…" he fell silent for a moment and checked over his shoulder, presumably to make sure he was alone. "Artemis, I- I'm sorry about this. But there's nothing any of us can do. Our hands are tied, it's the council that make the decisions."
Artemis nodded. It was quite touching to see that the centaur was genuinely upset. "We understand, Foaly. But why are you calling?"
"Trouble wants to come in and negotiate for Holly to leave. The council are still in the dark about her apparent allegiances to you, but we won't be able to keep it that way for much longer. Once they realise that she is staying of her own free will, and standing against the LEP, she will be done for."
Artemis frowned. "In that she'll lose her job?"
Foaly sighed and shook his head. "It's not just that, mud boy. Holly is essentially turning her back on her own people. By assisting you against the council, she faces losing not only her job, but also her contact with the people. They will exile her if this gets out. She will be an outcast."
Artemis slumped backwards and ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "I have tried to convince her to leave you know."
"I believe you Artemis."
"She won't go."
"I believe that too." Foaly smiled regretfully on screen. "I have never met a more stubborn fairy than Holly Short."
"Commander Kelp can come for negotiations in the morning. Tell him to meet me at eight o'clock at the main entrance. I shall let him in then."
"Very well. Oh and Fowl?"
"Yes?"
"Take care."
"Thank you Foaly." He terminated the connection and turned to his bodyguard, worry written all over his face. "Butler. She won't leave. She's going to end up exiled and it'll be my fault."
"No it won't Artemis. You did what you had to do to save her life, remember?"
"I know." He stood up. "I need to find her."
Artemis finally located Holly in the library. She was leafing through one of Beckett's dog-eared early-reader paperbacks without much interest. When he entered, she looked up and smiled.
"What did they say?"
Artemis relayed his and Foaly's conversation. When he finally fell silent, he had to pluck up the courage to meet her eyes. He felt as though he had just delivered her a deathblow. Sure enough, when he looked, her expression was indeed one of horror.
"They'll exile me?"
"Only if you stay. You still have the chance to leave Holly."
She crossed her arms and scowled. "Artemis Fowl. For the last time, I do not intend to leave you. No matter how much you seem to want me gone."
Artemis was a little hurt by that. "I don't want you to leave, but you have to." He sat down beside her on the floor and kissed her hesitantly. She twined her fingers into his hair and pulled him closer, but after a couple of seconds, he pulled away and stood up, breaking her hold. "I can't make you choose between me or your life. Trouble will be here in an hour to negotiate with us." with that, he left.
Trouble Kelp waited at the entrance archway to the grounds of Fowl Manor. A couple of metres away from where he stood, the blue force field stretched up out of the ground and curved across the sky, encasing the vast area. All around him, chaos reigned. Techies rushed to and fro, rigging the Commander up with every piece of surveillance equipment they could lay their hands on. Medics unloaded at the scene, ready for any casualties that might arise from the peaceful communications about to take place. Officers chattered excitedly, wondering what the outcome of today would be. Would Fowl give up Captain Short peacefully? Or would this become a full-scale siege, as it had last time? They all believed that Fowl had kidnapped Holly once more. And Trouble couldn't tell them the truth, for that could put Holly's life in jeopardy. He wished he could remind someone of everything that Artemis had done for the people. Okay, so he wasn't exactly his favourite human, but he had saved the fairy race more times than Trouble could count. On his left, a shuttle sidled to a stop and yet another bunch of fairies swarmed out, talking non-stop. In their midst, a diminutive figure looked about uncomfortably, scratching his rear end as he did so. Apart from Trouble himself, this appeared to be the only other Fairy in the immediate vicinity who seemed to have some inkling that things were not as they should be. Trouble strolled over and pulled him out of the crowd and into an empty shuttle.
"Have you been told what to do by the council?" he asked.
"I have, but…"
"But what?"
"Well. You can't really believe this Commander. Artemis Fowl turn on Holly Short? Maybe a few years ago he would have, but he's changed. We've all seen it."
Trouble nodded distractedly. "I know. They've twisted what really happened. This isn't what it seems. But you have your orders from the council, as do I. We must stick to them."
The diminutive figure nodded and turned for the door. "I'm ready when you are."
"Good. Get into position. You need to be ready to move fast."
"Aye aye, Commander." The figure nodded and made his way to the launch spot, where he very quickly disappeared from sight.
Trouble sighed and made his way to the same spot. He only had to wait a few minutes before he caught sight of one of the manor's doors open and a tall human step out. It was Butler. The excitable fairies fell silent one by one as the man-mountain advanced towards them. Eventually he stopped just behind the wall of the force field. His skin glowed blue from the reflected light as he leaned forwards a little, pulling a metal rectangle from behind his back. He nodded his head in greeting. "Commander."
"Butler." Trouble replied a little nervously. He'd never forget the first time he'd gone up against that man. That had been the most embarrassingly short retrieval mission he had ever participated in. In front of him, Butler was attaching the rectangle to a long metal rod, which he held in one hand. The contraption resembled a door-sized fishing net, albeit the wrong shape. He placed the rectangle against the force field and to Trouble's surprise, instead of passing straight through it, the blue energy seemed to bend itself around the frame, creating a small doorway for him to step through. He did so quickly. At the same time as he stepped through, a small disturbance seemed to come from the force field itself. There was a sort of rippling effect that reverberated across its surface. Butler did not seem to notice. Good. The plan was proceeding.
Trouble said nothing as the manservant led him up the sweeping driveway towards the house. He was guided inside and into a small living room, where Artemis Fowl was waiting on a sofa. He gestured to the one opposite and Trouble sat down cautiously.
"Good morning commander. It is good to see you again. I trust the council are listening?" Though his voice was even, he swore he could see Fowl's eyes flash with anger.
"Yes. They are."
"Right." Artemis seemed to hesitate for a moment, as though bringing himself to say something he didn't want to. Then, he raised his voice and called through the door behind him. "C-Captain Short?"
For a moment, the doorway stayed empty. Then, a feminine figure appeared at it, dressed in a disconnected LEP suit. Trouble stood up. "Holly."
She seemed to make no sign of recognition towards him except for a scowl. He understood. It wasn't directed at him, but rather the council members who were surely watching the drama unfold through his iris-cam. Holly made her way slowly to the sofa and sat down beside Artemis, making her loyalties very clear. Trouble glanced at the human. Though his face remained impassive, there was a sort of hopelessness in his eyes that made him think that Artemis had tried to talk her out of this, but had obviously failed.
Well, everyone knew that once Holly Short made her mind up about something, there was no changing it.
Yahoo! Negotiations! Not quite sure how those are going to go yet, but my head is buzzing with ideas at the moment so it shouldn't be too long to wait for an update. I aim to have this fic finished by Christmas :D
Please review; I love it when I get lots of reviews. It makes me write faster which is a good thing ;)