A/N: Huge thank you to anyone who reviewed! Also, if anyone knows which movie the title comes from, huge props to you. (It happens to be one of my favorite movies of all time.)

Chapter Two: Infiltrate the Dealer, Find the Supplier

Artemis stood by the Tara shuttleport alone, the midnight air cold and damp. Stars flickered in the dark blanket that was the night sky. Even though Artemis wasn't usually an appreciator of the outdoors, he felt content at the sight of the rolling hills, the beautiful scenery, and the view of the McGraney farm.

Precisely fifteen minutes early, he thought, glancing at his watch. As punctual as always. It wasn't like a Fowl to be late, after all.

Originally, Butler protested to his charge leaving on his own. However, Artemis pointed out that the innocent civilians were deathly afraid of the man mountain. And of course, Butler couldn't even stand up properly in Haven, being seven feet tall.

Artemis looked up expectantly, a relaxed smirk upon his features.

"Hello, Holly. Long time no see."

The elf seemingly appeared out of thin air, helmet in hand. "Get over here, mud boy." She grinned and held her arms out. Artemis nearly tripped before returning the embrace, and added a little pat on the back for longer than was strictly necessary.

"I see that you've been following your training routine," she snickered sarcastically.

Artemis rolled his eyes as they walked into the shuttleport.

The shuttle's nuclear engine revved and purred before taking off, and Holly pressed the autopilot button. She laid back, arms behind her head, hair disarrayed, and her legs on the console.

"So, Holly. What's our issue?"

She shifted in her seat. "Wow, straight to business, aren't we, Fowl? No 'I missed you,' or 'I haven't seen you in forever?'"

"Sorry," he said, slightly flustered. "It does seem like we only meet when there's an impending crisis."

"Yeah. Though, it has been forever since I saw you. Any new updates?"

"Hm. Well, I'm working on a patent for a new solar battery. It's decades ahead of anything else on the market today."

Holly's eyes narrowed. "You hacked Foaly's blueprints, didn't you?"

"You act like this isn't a regular occurrence."

Holly's fists crunched up, nails digging into her skin.

"I know you and Foaly play with your computers all the time, but you can't just steal his work! Didn't they teach you not to plagiarize in elementary school?"

"It was merely a glance. His designs just gave me an edge to the competition."

Holly glared at Artemis, and he felt like her eyes were lasers, vaporizing his cells into fine dust, mixing them with stinkworm juice, and incinerating it at ten thousand degrees. Not a good sign.

Elves are so emotional, he thought. One minute, they're your best friend. The next, they're ready to travel through time and space to make sure that you don't do so much as breathe.

The two sat in silence for what felt like years. He swore that Holly's presence made the room heat up from sheer anger alone.

"Holly, this is ridiculous," he said. Just brief me on the mission, at least."

She sighed. "Fine. We've got two pixies smuggling human weapons to Haven - a couple, and we're at risk of another turf war. So…"

"...You need me to infiltrate the dealer, and find the supplier, correct? This must be a difficult case if you need my help."

Ah, the smug bastard. He pisses me off to piss me off again. He'll never change, will he?

"You see, I'm quite flattered by this," he said. "I assume that Commander Kelp used me as a last resort, didn't he?"

"Mhm."

"And you need me to intercept this couple because I'm the only person you can trust aboveground, correct?"

"Yup."

"Alright, and what is my payment?"

Holly bolted up and glared at Artemis. He felt his legs turn into limp noodles before giving in.

"Alright, I'll admit, that was my poor attempt at a joke. Spending time with you is enough payment for me."

Holly flushed a little before turning back to the console and piloting in silence.

A/N: Constructive criticism is always welcome!