8th May 2005: Due to this website's recent outright ban of songfics, I have had to edit my songfics and remove the song lyrics so as not to have them deleted. I am also reposting all of my other fics (without making changes to them) so that they appear in the right order on my profile. I apologise if this annoys anyone.

Disclaimer: I don't own Holly or Trouble. I only own Larch, Pine and the smoking pixie. And they're all very boring.

Author's Notes: In general, I dislike the ship Holly/Trouble. I don't see any chemistry between them in the minimal scenes they share. Lots of times I've seen Trouble just used as a prop in fanfics, with his and Holly's relationship existing for very sketchy reasons. So I decided to write a Holly/Trouble fanfic where it made sense for them to be together.

Like on several other occasions, I only decided to put this up because Blue Yeti suggested that I should. Whilst I think it is of passable quality, I can rarely be bothered to post things here, especially as my exams are coming very soon. Therefore, thanks and/or blame should be sent in her direction. ;D

PERSONAL TRUTHS

"Oh, Trouble!" cried Captain Larch, mimicking Holly's voice. He threw his arms around Captain Pine's neck, fluttered his eyelids and attempted a schoolgirl giggle.

Trouble Kelp was trying not to laugh. A week ago, he and Holly had been put on an assignment together. They were not leading the team; they were the team. Naturally, there were now all sorts of rumours flying around that they were a couple.

"Holly," growled Pine, trying to make himself sound butch. "I'll protect you from that Artemis Fowl." He solidly clamped an arm around Larch's shoulders and struck a pose.

"Trouble! You're so manly!" More fluttering of eyelids, and even a puckering of lips. But this time there was no applause. There were no wolf-whistles or laughter. There was only Holly Short herself standing in the doorway, her face more red than Root's had ever been seen to be.

"Sexist pigs," she muttered. Had there not been absolute silence, no one would have heard her. They would, however, still have seen the look of disgust she shot at the two would-be actors, before she stormed out of the officers' canteen.

Trouble looked around. Nobody was watching him. As quietly as he could, he got out of his seat and followed Holly from the room.

She was stalking away down the corridor at an incredible rate. "Short!" he called as he raced after her. "Holly! Holly!"

As he drew alongside, Holly gave him a furious glare. "What do you want?"

"Holly, they were only jo-"

"Joking about you and me, yes. Because I'm a girl. If I was a guy they wouldn't care who I was working with." She halted her tirade for a second. "And I didn't see you protesting against their little love scene."

"If I tell them to stop, they'll think we're dating. If I laugh at them, they'll think we're dating." Trouble snorted. "And if I just ignore them, you'll give me grief."

Holly slapped her palms against the door she had just reached. It led onto the smokers' balcony, which was usually full of fairies just bunking off work. Evidently someone had rounded up all of the faux smokers within the last few minutes; there was only a small pixie sitting in a corner a few metres away, puffing on a cigar almost as large as him.

Trouble followed Holly as she quick-marched towards the wall. She slapped right into the hard surface, grabbing a tight hold of the railing as she did so. "I just don't understand," she said through gritted teeth, "why they feel the need to make everything sexual."

"Who's 'they', Holly? Larch and Pine are just idiots. Not all men are like them." Trouble was looking at this co-worker with one eyebrow raised.

"So you're not like them, then? When you look at me, you just see Holly Short, Captain in the LEP? Or do you see Holly Short, the prettiest member of Recon?" She loosened her grip on the rail and turned to face him.

"Well, yes, Holly, you are pretty, but -"

Holly let out an aggravated screech and spun away from him. Then she turned back around and began poking him accusingly in the chest. "See? You don't know me. You're just another one of those arrogant flyboys!"

Trouble grabbed her finger to stop her from jabbing it into him again. "You say I don't know you? Well, you don't know me either. You've never even seen me outside of work - you have no idea who I am."

For a moment, they stared into each other's eyes, sparks of hostility flying between them. "Then tell me," said Holly, withdrawing her finger. "Explain to me what the real Trouble Kelp is like."

He hesitated. Where was he supposed to start?

"Your brother. Grub, isn't it? He's in the LEP too, right? Tell me about your family." Holly must have noticed his confusion. Trouble smiled weakly, as thanks.

"Yes, his name is Grub, and, yes, he is a corporal. We both live with our mother." There was a hint of pride in his voice as he said this. "She used to be a dancer. Then she was in an accident. Hover-car crash. She broke her right ankle, and it never healed properly.

"Grub and I both contribute part of our salaries to paying off the mortgage. Of course, on his corporal's wages he's not able to donate so much, but he does more than his fair share in other areas."

"And your father?" inquired Holly. She was aware she may be entering a sensitive area, but Trouble was being very forthright.

Sighing only slightly, Trouble answered. "He didn't survive the accident." Trouble tilted his head towards the earthen sky of the Underworld. "That was more than thirty years ago now."

"I guess we have something in common then." Trouble returned his gaze to Holly's face, a quizzical expression resting on his own. "My father... He was in Retrieval." She shrugged. Nothing more needed to be said. Retrieval had more fatalies to its name than any other LEP division.

"Time for me to ask you a question," said Trouble, trying to divert the conversation from such a morbid topic. "What's your favourite colour?"

Holly only laughed. "That's a very strange question."

"Why? Isn't your favourite colour important to you? Isn't it a part of you?"

"I suppose..." Holly leaned her head to one side. "Alright, red. I like red."

Trouble nodded sagely, as though he had been expecting that all along. "I'm a blue man, myself."

Shaking her head and laughing softly, Holly turned to lean back against the wall. "So now that I've answered our all-important question, do you think you know me?"

He made a non-committal noise, then said nothing for a few seconds. "What about you? Have you got me figured out yet?"

"No," she replied. "But I think you've proven that you'd be someone worth getting to know."

The two of them locked eyes again, but this time there was no anger. Trouble decided to risk incurring some by leaning forward and kissing Holly full on the lips.