Holly sat in the pilot's chair and Trouble was in the copilot's
chair. Root was keeping an eye on Mulch elsewhere on the shuttle. Holly had
buzzed him for trying to steal Trouble's wallet earlier and he was now
avoiding her.
"You know, Holls," said Trouble. "Some people think you spend entirely too much time on the surface."
"Are you one of them?"
"No."
There was silence.
"Do you really think Fowl's behind this?" asked Trouble.
"Why ask me?"
"You know Fowl better. You've been at the heart of all the other Fowl cases. Do you really think Fowl's behind this?"
"No. I don't. I think he's the logical choice, but I don't think it's him. It's not his style. He'd try to download Foaly's computer rather than just bug the Ops Room."
"Then why are we here?"
Holly landed the shuttle. "Orders are orders and if Foaly thinks this is a possibility then we've got to check it out." She shouted, "Everybody out of my shuttle!"
"I'll be keeping my eye on you, Diggums." Root prodded Mulch with his blaster to keep him moving.
They got out at the fairy fort. The shuttle was parked and they got all their gear together. Foaly had issued them new hover-scooters to get them to Fowl Manor, which was about 20 klicks from Tara.
They stopped twenty yards from the Manor. "Alright, Mulch. Don't even try to escape. With Foaly's new sleeper in you, you won't get far if you try to escape, so don't try." It was of course a bluff. The sleepers wouldn't work on the surface but they'd lied to Mulch, put a "new" subcutaneous sleeper in him, and said that it would work above ground.
"We forgot the iris cams," said Trouble.
"I never agreed to wear one," said Mulch.
"Dwarf, you get in, find out what you can, and get out. If you're not out in 1 hour, Short is coming in after you. Understand?"
"Sure thing, Julius." Mulch winked.
"Don't call me Julius, convict!"
Mulch unbuttoned his back flap and the rest of them ran for immediate cover.
Trouble didn't want to stay near Holly while they waited for Mulch to return. He wanted to wait with her, but he didn't think it'd be a good idea. So he climbed into a large tree and sat on one of the limbs.
Foaly's voice came from inside his helmet, "Hey, Trubsy."
"Shut-up, horse."
"Why the foul temper, Lieutenant?"
The bad pun went unnoticed by Trouble. "I think I'm going to have to quit the LEP."
"Why?" Trouble was one of the best officers LEP had, ranking right up there with Holly.
"I'm going crazy. I can't stand working with her anymore. It's too painful."
Foaly had no doubt about who he was talking about and decided that now was not the time to be funny. It was time to be serious. "You could always tell her how you feel."
"No, I can't."
"You're such a drama queen, Kelp. So what if you take a dive? At least then you'll know for sure how she feels."
"No! I already know how she feels about me. She can't stand me. I know we've both been saying it was a mutual break up before, but that was just her being nice and saving me from humiliation. She dumped me."
This was a surprise. "Why?"
"She never told me why. Just said that it'd be better if we didn't see each other anymore outside of work."
"Oh."
"I'll hand in my resignation when we get back to the Police Plaza."
"Don't."
"Goodbye, Foaly." Trouble shut off his communicator.
Root was not the most sensitive of men, but even he had noticed Trouble's mood lately.
He approached the tree Trouble had disappeared to and heard him speaking. Root assumed the boy was just thinking out-loud, but it became immediately apparent that he was talking to Foaly. Stupid centaur. Root listened to the conversation as best he could. Trouble and Foaly were on a private channel so Root could only hear Trouble's side of the conversation. When Trouble stopped talking, Root turned on a channel to talk to Foaly.
He used a whisper-shout. "FOALY!" There was murder in his voice. "I am not losing me second best officer!"
"What, sir?" Now did not seem to be the time to test Root's temper.
"I heard Trouble talking. I am not going to lose my best officer because he's a little lovesick! What are you going to do about it?"
"Sir, what do you want me to do? I'm not the one he's in love with."
"Argh!"
"I already explained this to you, sir. You have to get Trouble to talk to Holly. It's the only way."
"What am I supposed to do? Tell them to kiss and make up?"
Mulch resurfaced just a few feet from Root. "No good. Solid limestone. He went and put limestone in the bare spots from before. Only way in is through the door."
"Then get going!"
"You're grumpy."
"That's because we've been stuck out here in the snow!" It had begun to snow again. He went to the common channel, "Kelp, Short, shield now."
Mulch sauntered up to the house.
A/N: So, I'm bringing in some H/T but this isn't going to be easy on him. Poor Trouble! hehe, I got the idea of calling him "Trubsy" from a review by Kelsey. Read and Review and I'll update soon!
"You know, Holls," said Trouble. "Some people think you spend entirely too much time on the surface."
"Are you one of them?"
"No."
There was silence.
"Do you really think Fowl's behind this?" asked Trouble.
"Why ask me?"
"You know Fowl better. You've been at the heart of all the other Fowl cases. Do you really think Fowl's behind this?"
"No. I don't. I think he's the logical choice, but I don't think it's him. It's not his style. He'd try to download Foaly's computer rather than just bug the Ops Room."
"Then why are we here?"
Holly landed the shuttle. "Orders are orders and if Foaly thinks this is a possibility then we've got to check it out." She shouted, "Everybody out of my shuttle!"
"I'll be keeping my eye on you, Diggums." Root prodded Mulch with his blaster to keep him moving.
They got out at the fairy fort. The shuttle was parked and they got all their gear together. Foaly had issued them new hover-scooters to get them to Fowl Manor, which was about 20 klicks from Tara.
They stopped twenty yards from the Manor. "Alright, Mulch. Don't even try to escape. With Foaly's new sleeper in you, you won't get far if you try to escape, so don't try." It was of course a bluff. The sleepers wouldn't work on the surface but they'd lied to Mulch, put a "new" subcutaneous sleeper in him, and said that it would work above ground.
"We forgot the iris cams," said Trouble.
"I never agreed to wear one," said Mulch.
"Dwarf, you get in, find out what you can, and get out. If you're not out in 1 hour, Short is coming in after you. Understand?"
"Sure thing, Julius." Mulch winked.
"Don't call me Julius, convict!"
Mulch unbuttoned his back flap and the rest of them ran for immediate cover.
Trouble didn't want to stay near Holly while they waited for Mulch to return. He wanted to wait with her, but he didn't think it'd be a good idea. So he climbed into a large tree and sat on one of the limbs.
Foaly's voice came from inside his helmet, "Hey, Trubsy."
"Shut-up, horse."
"Why the foul temper, Lieutenant?"
The bad pun went unnoticed by Trouble. "I think I'm going to have to quit the LEP."
"Why?" Trouble was one of the best officers LEP had, ranking right up there with Holly.
"I'm going crazy. I can't stand working with her anymore. It's too painful."
Foaly had no doubt about who he was talking about and decided that now was not the time to be funny. It was time to be serious. "You could always tell her how you feel."
"No, I can't."
"You're such a drama queen, Kelp. So what if you take a dive? At least then you'll know for sure how she feels."
"No! I already know how she feels about me. She can't stand me. I know we've both been saying it was a mutual break up before, but that was just her being nice and saving me from humiliation. She dumped me."
This was a surprise. "Why?"
"She never told me why. Just said that it'd be better if we didn't see each other anymore outside of work."
"Oh."
"I'll hand in my resignation when we get back to the Police Plaza."
"Don't."
"Goodbye, Foaly." Trouble shut off his communicator.
Root was not the most sensitive of men, but even he had noticed Trouble's mood lately.
He approached the tree Trouble had disappeared to and heard him speaking. Root assumed the boy was just thinking out-loud, but it became immediately apparent that he was talking to Foaly. Stupid centaur. Root listened to the conversation as best he could. Trouble and Foaly were on a private channel so Root could only hear Trouble's side of the conversation. When Trouble stopped talking, Root turned on a channel to talk to Foaly.
He used a whisper-shout. "FOALY!" There was murder in his voice. "I am not losing me second best officer!"
"What, sir?" Now did not seem to be the time to test Root's temper.
"I heard Trouble talking. I am not going to lose my best officer because he's a little lovesick! What are you going to do about it?"
"Sir, what do you want me to do? I'm not the one he's in love with."
"Argh!"
"I already explained this to you, sir. You have to get Trouble to talk to Holly. It's the only way."
"What am I supposed to do? Tell them to kiss and make up?"
Mulch resurfaced just a few feet from Root. "No good. Solid limestone. He went and put limestone in the bare spots from before. Only way in is through the door."
"Then get going!"
"You're grumpy."
"That's because we've been stuck out here in the snow!" It had begun to snow again. He went to the common channel, "Kelp, Short, shield now."
Mulch sauntered up to the house.
A/N: So, I'm bringing in some H/T but this isn't going to be easy on him. Poor Trouble! hehe, I got the idea of calling him "Trubsy" from a review by Kelsey. Read and Review and I'll update soon!