*depressed voice* Hi. Yeah, I said I was gonna do this sooner didn't I? Ah well. I expect you've all forgotten this one now… yeah… *wanders dismally into the disclaimer*

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing but my hair, some nail varnish and a cat. Needless to say, I do not own Artemis Fowl or any other related indica, though I will say, seeing as Holly's mother isn't in the story as such (apart from being mentioned once) I would like some claim over her. But there really is nothing to claim because I haven't given her any new names or any new characteristics (though other fics have had her as nasty) so yeah. Never mind. And I also don't own Dido (nor the album – 'tis my sister's… *growl*) and I don't own the lyrics to 'Isobel' either.

TO MY REVIEWERS: thanks to soleil-luna-day, Lady of the Loch (if you come back… I'm sorry for making you so sick…), ms. halley bom-bally (course I remember you… you fic was so funny… I loved it…), ArtemisFowlWorld, SilverButterfly (where did you get the translation? Or are you just so multitalented and multilingual that you know Russian?), Fowlet, intrikate, Ever, Captain-Holly-Short, lutefa, fuzzbunni, HollyShort29406, Shattered Midnight Dreams and Seadragon (after this one is 'My last breath' by Evanescence).

A/N: Almost done with the pre-story crap now, don't worry. This is with the song 'Isobel' by Dido (track no. 9 on the album 'No Angel' – the best album in the world). Just ignore the fact that Holly's name is not Isobel, I doubt she has a car, she didn't hang around in Ennis and I can't really see anything wrong with what Artemis Senior became, etc. I never said the lyrics where written for Holly. If you haven't heard the song, you can listen to it at:

H t t p : / / m u s I c . b a r n e s a n d n o b l e . c o m / s e a r c h / p r o d u c t . a s p ? u s e r I d = 1 9 F B 0 D 4 I 7 N & e a n = 7 8 2 2 1 9 0 2 5 2 6

Just scroll down until you get to track listings and click on song no. 9 – Isobel. You only get about 30 seconds of it, but it was the best I could find. If you know a better one, please do tell me.

*****

Commander Root leaned round the door of the Operations booth to find Foaly sitting amid a pile of disks and other technical rubbish.

"Have you seen or heard from Captain Short yet today, Foaly? It's just that she hasn't reported in to me, and she's over two hours late."

The centaur turned, looking puzzled. "Nope, ain't seen her since she left three days ago. Are you sure you didn't just miss her?"

Root shook his head. "No, I've been waiting for her; there's something I wanted to talk to her about. Could you call her at home, find out why the hell she isn't here?"

Foaly nodded. "I'll get on it as soon as I finish encrypting these disks…"

I thought it was funny when you missed the train

When I rang you at home they said you'd left yesterday

An hour later, Foaly buzzed himself a line through to Commander Root's office.

"I tried calling Holly. Got no answer, the call just went straight to the machine."

Root sighed. This was all he needed. He was one officer short, and had no idea where she was. "OK, thanks Foaly. I assume you looked into it a little further," He let the sentence hang, waiting for the centaur to fill him in on the rest.

"Funny thing. I did a quick search, and shuttles to the surface came up. According to their database, an elf by the name of Holly Short booked a shuttle to Tara two days ago."

Root shrugged. "So what? She was probably just going to complete the ritual, everyone does it."

On screen, Foaly shook his head. "That's not the interesting part. The records say she caught the shuttle to Tara, but didn't get on one back to Haven. She didn't even book it. One-way ticket."

The commander frowned. "That must be a malfunction. If she only booked one way that would mean…"

"She's still up there." completed the centaur. There was silence for a moment. Root was thinking hard. He sat forward, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"Was any equipment, like, say, a wing rig signed out around that time?"

Foaly nodded grimly. "Yup. A pair of unauthorised Hummingbirds left Ops the day before. I didn't notice, thought it was just a miscount."

A feeling rather like dread was starting to crawl into the Commander's stomach. "Run a scan. Get me the results a.s.a.p." He cut the connection.

I thought it was strange when your car was found

By the tree in Ennis where we used to hang around

The incoming call alert on Root's desk started to flash. The commander punched 'receive' and waited for Foaly to speak.

"I did the scan. As you know, all LEP equipment is sprayed with a tracker, rather like the one used on the ransom gold, though slightly different so we can - "

The Commander emitted a low growl. "The results, Foaly."

"Well, I ran the scan and sure enough, there were traces around Tara. But it gets better. The tracker tells us that whoever this guy, or girl, is, flew out of the shuttle port, headed south-east and stopped at an airfield, an abandoned one. The trail ends there. I'd say, by the strength of the signal, our perp – or the wing rig, at least – has been there for about forty-eight hours."

Root's brain whirred, processing the information. "Two days. That's a long time." He cursed under his breath. "This still doesn't make any sense." He paused for a moment, then seemed to come to a decision. "Alright, send a recon officer. Who's available?"

Foaly consulted his records. "Um… Captain Vein looks like the best choice, sir."

Root nodded. "OK, bring him in. Prep him and brief him. Oh, and make sure he's wired. This whole situation is looking very fishy to me…"

Dear Isobel, I hope you're well and what you've done is right

Captain Vein cleared the shuttle port in record time. He wasn't a patch on Holly when it came to flying a pod, but he sure knew how to get through customs quickly. He brought the co-ordinates up on his locator, and programmed the location into the autopilot on his wings.

He arrived at his destination just as dusk was falling and followed the signal into the airfield's hangar.

"Control" he said into his mike, drawing his buzz-baton for safety. "Commander, this is Captain Vein. I'm at the location."

Root could be heard champing down on one end of his cigar. "What have you got for me?"

"There's no one here, sir. The rig has been left in a corner. I scanned it for bugs, explosives. It's clear." He panned the camera on his helmet round the large space. It was indeed empty of all except one pair of wings.

Oh it's been such hell, I wish you well, I hope you're safe tonight

Root swore, then buried his face in his hands. "D'Arvit. Alright, good work Captain. Get back here as soon as possible for a debriefing." He switched the link back to Foaly, who was looking grim. "Looks like she's gone missing. Again. We got any leads?"

Foaly shook his head. "No sir, but I'm looking. If they're there I'll find them."

"Good man. Let's find that Captain of ours and bring her home."

It's been a long day coming and long will it last

When it's last day leaving, and I'm helping it pass

By loving you more

Holly had been missing for five days. It had inevitably leaked out of the department and now everyone knew she was gone. They were all worried about her on some level. Foaly was asked at least ten times a day if any headway had been made. The answer always seemed to be negative. It seemed as though Captain Short had disappeared into thin air.

Foaly was listlessly scanning through a class list from Holly's Academy days when suddenly a thought struck him. Artemis Fowl. He pounded his fist gently on the worktop. Of course. Why hadn't he thought to check that as well?

Fingers flying over the keyboard, the centaur skimmed through the data, searching for relevance. At last he found a possible hit in the Dublin Police Department's missing person files: Fowl, Artemis, last seen 16/7/2010. He started. That was the day Holly had booked the shuttle. It couldn't be a coincidence. He patched himself a direct line to the commander.

"What is it Foaly?" growled Root, evidently not in the best of moods.

"I got a lead."

Root sat up, irritation forgotten. "Go on."

"Artemis Fowl. There's a name that should ring a few bells. Reported missing and last seen the day Holly left. There's got to be a connection."

Root cursed. "D'Arvit. This is starting to look more and more like a kidnapping every day. But it doesn't fit… she left of her own free will, it wasn't as though Fowl was down here with the gorilla and his gun." He sighed. "I think it's time we did a bit of first hand investigation. Foaly, I want you to search her apartment, look for clues. If he managed to blackmail her, we need to know how and why. I know it's an invasion of privacy, but in the circumstances…"

"Say no more, chief. I'll go later today."

And who he would become, all the things he'd have done

Foaly stood outside Holly's door and tried not to think too much about the implications of what he was doing. Her security system was child's play to bypass for an experienced technician like himself (it helped that he had designed the basic model a few decades ago) but it seemed wrong somehow, as though he was prying where he had no right to pry. If it would get her back, though…

He opened the door and peered cautiously round it. The apartment was empty and a thin film of dust had settled on the flatter surfaces. The ventilation had kept it smelling fresh but there was a decidedly dead and forgotten feel to it. Lying on the table, in one such pool of dust motes was a piece of paper.

A sinking feeling in his chest, Foaly moved towards the table and picked it up. It was a note, written it would seem, by Holly's own hand. With dawning horror, the centaur began to read it. He sat abruptly down in one of Captain Short's kitchen chairs and stared at it. It couldn't be. She wouldn't do that. But the evidence was right in front of him.

He sighed and switched on his mike. "Control. I found something, Commander. You're not going to like it one little bit."

Would he have loved you and not let you down?

Commander Root was staring at the small piece of paper on his desk, reading it for perhaps the sixteenth time. He kept shaking his head, rubbing his chin as though trying to figure it out. Foaly left him to it for a while. Anyone could see he needed some time to take it in.

Root eyes flickered to the top the paper again, fingers tracing the pictograms as if to check they were authentic. The note read:

I have gone. Which, I'm sure, you will already know as no doubt you found out about the shuttle. I expect Foaly will have made the connection between my disappearance and that of Artemis Fowl. That will be why you are searching my apartment, for clues as to how he got me to the surface. The answer is simpler than you might think. It is because I love him. How, you may well ask yourselves. I can't answer that. I just know that I love him more than I've ever loved anyone, and I know he loves me.

I have disappeared. I'm not going to come back, so please stop looking for me. Just know that I am safe and leave it at that. I don't want to be hunted by my friends and family, and I'm sure you don't want to do the hunting. Forget me.

I am sorry to leave like this, but it was the only way. You know you would have stopped at nothing to prevent me going. Artemis's family is the same. That was why we had to be so secret, and I'm sorry if I hurt you by not telling you. I will think of you, but I don't want you to think of me. Simply know that I love you, all of you and I will always remember what my life was. Thank you for all you've given me. You all know who you are. I must go now, or I'll miss the shuttle. Thank you again.

Holly

Root buried his face in his hands. It couldn't be genuine. She would never do this, she was a smart girl. D'Arvit, she was an elf and a recon officer! Fowl must have threatened her in some way, possibly threatened the fairy civilisation. He wouldn't put it past him.

Root pressed a button on his in-office com system that got him a direct line to Ops.

"Foaly? I want you to test that note to within an inch of its life. I want every check for authenticity known to fairy, I want psychologists to analyse the handwriting and the tone, language, the works, I want an expert to check it's definitely Holly's writing. Then I want you to pull up any surveillance of Holly just before and as she left and get the quacks on that too. While you're at it, contact the Fowls. They have to know something. We can still find her if we're quick."

Foaly nodded and terminated the link. The commander was having a hard time accepting what Holly's note was telling him, that much was obvious, but he could have a point. The centaur hoped he did.

And would he be stronger than his father?

After two days of in-depth, intense analysis the psychologists, experts and tests had all come to the same conclusion: the note was genuine, the feelings were genuine, she was telling the truth and she had definitely shown indications of excitement and anticipation before her departure. The Fowls had yielded nothing new, although most of the Fowl household had noticed a change in the youngest occupant, a 'lightening of the spirit' as his mother had described it and a 'sneaky, secretive air' as Juliet had put it.

Hope of finding something to disprove what looked like the inevitable conclusion became slimmer and slimmer. Root became more bad-tempered, if possible, and Foaly seemed to be strangely subdued. An air of dread mixed with faint hope hung in the hallways of Police Plaza and everyone was quieter somehow. No one was prepared to accept the truth.

Don't punish yourself, leave it well alone

After three months the case was officially dropped by the Council. Captain Holly Short was proclaimed missing indefinitely and they left it at that. They had been reluctant to give up; Holly had never been very popular with them but she was one of their own, a member of the People. Those who knew her found it harder still. Commander Root refused to give up on her, whatever others might say and Foaly never gave up the search, exhausting every lead before finding new, even more far-fetched ones. Mrs. Short was possibly the best person to take the news. After a few weeks of denial and hysteria she simply excepted the fact and made do with the knowledge that her daughter was happy.

Dear Isobel, I hope you're well and what you've done is right

Oh it's been such hell, I wish you well, I hope you're safe tonight

Despite her request, the People never forgot Holly. She soon faded from the general public's interest and became the stuff of myth, but certain members of the LEP took steps to ensure she would not be completely lost to them. A small plaque was erected in the entrance hall of Police Plaza with the simple inscription:

Captain Holly Short 1921 – 2010

Lost But Never Forgotten

Somehow, though they never said it, they each hoped that eventually she would return to them, when the human she had chosen over them left her alone in his world.

It's been a long day coming and long will it last

When it's last day leaving, and I'm helping it pass

By loving, loving you more

So until that day, the fairies waited. When times were hard and the world seemed dark they waited and hoped. Someday their sister would return to them, and when she did, they knew, everything would start to go right again. Their city would heal.

*****

Before you ask, yes I did steal that bit from Tomb Raider. Talking of Tomb Raider, there's this song on the soundtrack (Edge Hill, by Groove Armada) that has a beat thing that is exactly like the one in Isobel. Seriously. It's the song near the end, when they get the last piece of the triangle and turn back time to save Alex, and when she comes back and everything is frozen and she grabs the knife, turns it round and shoots the triangle? You know that bit? The music there. Soundbites can be found at bn.com for anyone who's interested. Ahem. Sorry. Went off track there a bit…

Hope I didn't put anyone in hospital with a stomach bug. Next one will be up… at some point in the near-distant future. That one will be the last.

Luv slime xxx