Disclaimer: As usual, I own nothing.
A/N: THANK YOU SO MUCH TO MY REVIEWERS!!!
And if you have any ideas, I would still like to hear them.
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Root had been thinking about what to say for the past ten minutes and he still hadn't come to a conclusion. He fully understood what Holly was talking about and why she had done it, but that didn't mean it was acceptable. He also felt the immense relief to have her back safe and didn't want to let it impair his judgement. All in all, he didn't feel like he was qualified to decide what to do with her. But he had to, of course. Because he was the commander.
"Congratulations, Short. You've officially got me stumped," Root finally said. "I have no idea what to do with you."
Holly looked up, her eyes wide with surprise. This isn't what she had been expecting at *all*. "You're not going to fire me?" she asked.
"I don't know," Root repeated. "Believe me, nothing like this has happened before. There's no precedent or anything in the Book to fall back on."
"I find that difficult to believe," Holly replied. "Something like this *has* to have happened before."
Root shook his head. There were a few more minutes of silence before he said, "I'll keep you in Recon, but I wouldn't be expecting a promotion anytime soon."
Holly stared at him in amazement. "You're not going to fire me?" she repeated.
"Apparently not," Root snapped at her. He could quickly feel his usual personality returning and lost the feeling of having Holly back. "Go to the Ops booth. I want you to stay in there."
"Not again!" Holly yelled in exasperation. "How am I supposed to work in the Ops booth? How am I supposed to talk to Frond in the Ops booth?"
"You're *not* supposed to talk to Frond!" Root shouted back. It was almost comforting to have returned to the usual shouting matches with her. "*Nobody* is supposed to talk to Frond!"
Holly glared at him with a mix of anger and fear of what would happen if the terrorist wasn't caught. "Please," she asked and realized that she had almost begged. "Please," she said in her normal voice. "Just talk to her."
Root sighed and rested his head in one of his hands. "Fine. I'll talk to her. But I have no evidence against her and no reason for her to be a suspect."
"Thank you!" Holly said happily, feeling as though a heavy weight had been lifted from her. She left, going as Root had requested the Ops booth.
"Why are you so happy?" Foaly asked sceptically after he had let Holly in. "You've just been confined to the Ops booth . . . again."
"Yeah, but Root is gonna talk to Frond," Holly explained. "I *knew* that if I pestered him enough, he would finally listen to me."
"Shall we watch?" Foaly asked and zoomed in on the camera in Root's office. He added sound and he and Holly settled back to watch.
*
"You wanted to see me, sir?" Frond said as she walked into Root's office. She was obviously pleased with herself that the commander wanted to see her.
"Sit," Root snapped gruffly. He felt better. This was how life was supposed to work. Him yelling at fairies.
Frond sat, tossing her blonde curls over her shoulder as she did so.
*
"I hate her," Holly mumbled under her breath.
Foaly glanced at Holly. "Why? Because she's flirting with Root?"
Holly shot Foaly a look that could kill. "No, because she's a blonde bimbo and thinks that her looks and money can get her everything."
*
"I'm assuming that you know that Captain Short's apartment was blown up," Root said.
"Of course, sir," Frond replied.
"Are you aware of when it happened?" he asked.
Frond's brow furrowed. "Somewhere around ten, right?"
"Nine forty-five," Root snapped.
"That sounds about right. I probably didn't hear about it until ten," Frond explained.
*
"Hear about it? You did it, you little-"
Foaly put a hand on her arm. "Listen."
Holly grudgingly complied.
*
"Certain fairies think that you might be involved," Root said, carefully omitting Holly's name.
Frond's eyes widened in surprise. "I have no idea they might think that. I was working."
"Would that check out if I asked Rains?" Root asked, referring to the Sprite who worked in the cubicle next to Frond's.
"Yes, of course," she said instantly. Root studied her. Something didn't seem quite right. But maybe Holly was just rubbing off on him.
"That's all," he said and returned to his papers.
"Yessir," Frond said and left, flipping her locks one last time before closing the door behind her.
*
"See?!?" Holly yelled. "I told you so!"
Foaly sighed. "Holly, that proves nothing."
"Call Root! Tell him to question Rains!" Holly said excitedly.
Foaly sighed but complied. After he hung up, he said, "My, my. Isn't this your lucky day? Root's taking your side. He also thinks something might be off."
"Good, but is he going to talk to Rains?" Holly asked.
"Yes," Foaly replied.
*
"Sit," Root snapped at the nervous looking sprite.
The sprite sat. He knew he wasn't going to be brought up into Recon anytime soon, so he had no idea why he was here. That could make anyone nervous.
"Do you remember what you were doing from nine thirty to nine forty-five on April 21st?" Root asked him.
The sprite nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, sir. I was reading writing down my report from the previous night."
"Was Frond there?" Root asked.
The sprite's brow furrowed. "I don't think so. She said she had to go home because she had forgotten something."
*
"See?" Holly yelled as loudly as she could. "I *was* right! It *was* Frond!"
Foaly couldn't argue. There was finally some concrete evidence against her.
*
"Thank you," Root replied. "You can go now."
As soon as the sprite left, Root walked down to the Ops booth.
"See?" Holly yelled for the third time in the past couple of minutes.
"Holly, it doesn't prove anything," Root said wearily. "It's something to go on, but we can't prove anything."
"But can't you at least do *something* about it?" she asked, almost desperately.
"I can do something," Root told her. "But whatever that something is, it will have to be carefully thought through."
"I know that," Holly snapped.
Foaly had been watching this entire exchange with an eyebrow raised. He couldn't help but think that there was *something* between the two, although what he couldn't place. Oh, well. He could bug Holly about it later. It was apparent that she would be spending a lot of time in the Ops booth.
"What do you suggest I do?" Root asked angrily, although it seemed that he was actually curious about what Holly thought. "We can't just go down and accuse her outright of blowing up your apartment. Besides, the little evidence we have only supports out case for this time. We have nothing to connect her to the terrorist attack ten years ago."
Holly's eyes gleamed. "I have an idea, but I'm not sure if you'll like it or not."
"Well?" Root snapped.
Holly told them.
Root felt a slight smile begin to creep across his face. "That might work. That just might work."
*
Trouble Kelp was in the break room pouring himself a cup of coffee when Holly came in. "Hey," he said, smiling slightly. "Did you get my flowers?"
Holly nodded. "Thanks," she replied, also smiling.
"Sorry I didn't have a chance to talk to you before now," he apologized. "I've been really busy."
"So have I," Holly replied. "Trouble, could you do me a huge favour?"
"That depends on what it is," Trouble replied, taking a sip from his coffee.
"Well, I have an idea that might help capture the terrorist and I need your help," Holly replied.
"Then, yeah, sure. What is it?" Trouble asked.
"All you have to do is . . ."
*
Trouble walked down the hall to Lili's cubicle telling himself over and over again that this was for the good of all. He knew why he had to do it and not some other fairy, but he still didn't want to.
"Hey, Lili," he said, leaning against the doorway of her cubicle.
Lili spun around in her chair and when she saw who it was, a slight blush started to creep up her neck. "Hi," she replied.
Trouble walked into the cubicle and perched himself on her desk. "Did you hear about Short's apartment being blown up?"
"Yes . . ." Lili said carefully. "Why?"
"Well, whoever did that has a lot of guts," Trouble told her. "And is pretty brilliant since they haven't been caught."
"Yes . . ." Lili replied.
"I was just wondering if you knew who the elf was," Trouble asked.
"I might. Why?" Lili asked.
*
"Bull's-eye," Holly whispered from the Ops booth.
*
"Well," Trouble replied, now being careful himself. If he screwed this up, he'd be in some serious trouble. "I'd really like to get to know somebody that brave and smart."
Lili perked up. This was a chance that she had been waiting for since she met Trouble. She stood up so she was directly in front of him. "Well, what if I told you that *I* was the one who blew up Short's apartment?" she asked him.
Using all of his self-discipline to stay in character, he reached out and stroked Lili's cheek. "Then I'd ask you if you wanted to be my girlfriend."
"I did it," she whispered. "And if I had the chance to do it again, then I would."
*
Back in the Ops booth, Holly let out a triumphant shout. "I knew it!" she yelled. She turned around and started poking Root emphatically in the chest. "I told you so! I was right!"
*
Trouble slipped off the desk and, still struggling to stay in character, pulled Lili into an embrace. He ran his hands along her arms and brought them around to her back while kissing her, willing her not to try and deepen it. But, of course, she did. So, while frenching Lili Frond, trying not to push her away in disgust, with lightning speed he reached into his own pocked, flipped out the handcuffs that he always kept handy, put them on Frond and stood in front of the doorway, preventing her escape.
Frond stared at him in shock. Then she regained the power of speech. "I HATE HER!" she yelled in Trouble's face. "I DID IT AND I'D DO IT AGAIN IF I COULD!"
Trouble stared at the elf in front of him in amazement. Even though he hated Frond, she had always seemed so cool and pulled together. Now she was the opposite. She was yelling as loud as she could about how much she hated Holly and deserved her position. Her normally perfect curls were quickly becoming frizzy and jumbled. Her blue eyes were filled with hatred and, frankly, Trouble welcomed the sight of Root, Holly and Foaly.
"You did it!" Holly said, her voice happy but filled with a satisfaction stronger than Trouble had ever seen before. Then again, the fairy who had killed her sister and almost herself was finally caught, so he reasoned that she deserved it.
He didn't notice that Frond had fallen silent until he saw that Holly's gaze was no longer directed at him. Instead she was staring at Frond, who was matching her gaze. There seemed to be a sort of electricity in the air and if anyone broke the silence, something unnameable would occur. He wasn't the only one who realized it, though. The growing crowd was silent, something unheard of in the LEP.
After almost five minutes, Holly left without ever having said anything to Frond.
"Alright, that's it. Break it up," Root finally said, breaking the silence. When nobody listened to him, he roared, "I said get out!" Everybody except for Trouble, Foaly and Frond left.
"I oughta go talk to Holly," Foaly said and left.
"Well, let's take her down," Trouble said, grabbing Frond by the arm. She opened her mouth to start yelling again, but Root glared at her with enough venom to shut her up. Trouble practically dragged Frond down to the few cells that were in the basement of headquarters for emergencies such as this one with Root following, hand resting noticeably on the triblaster hanging from his hip. Trouble closed the doors of the cell and turned to Root. "Glad that's over."
Root nodded. "Me, too."
*
Foaly found Holly sitting at her desk, head in her arms, most likely crying.
"She's finally caught," Foaly said gently, going up next to her. "You won't have to think about her anymore."
Holly looked up and Foaly saw that he was right. "She killed my sister and tried to kill me," Holly said, wiping her tears away. "How am I supposed to look at her again?"
"You won't have to," Foaly pointed out. "She's going to jail, most likely Howler's Peak."
"There'll be a hearing," Holly said. "And I'll have to go to testify against her."
"But don't you *want* to send her to jail?" Foaly asked.
"Yes, but I feel sorry for her in a way. If she was driven to murder so she would get a higher position in the LEP . . ." Holly sighed. "I *do* feel bad for her, even though I know I shouldn't."
"You should feel whatever you want," Foaly told her. "After everything that's happened, I'd be happy with any sort of reaction. If you didn't feel *anything*, then I'd be worried."
Holly smiled at him. "Yeah, I guess."
"I know I'm not Root, and I'm glad that I'm not, but I'd say you can go home if you want," Foaly said.
Holly looked surprised. "Why would I want to do that? The terrorist has been caught; there's no reason to leave. I still have to work."
Foaly looked at his watch. "It's almost time to go anyways."
Again, Holly was surprised. "It is? What time is it?"
"Five thirty," Foaly replied.
"Wow . . ." Holly trailed off. "It seems much earlier."
"I know," Foaly replied. "But if you think about it, it doesn't. You were in Fowl Manor, did the Ritual, Root came to get you, you and Root and a lengthy meeting where neither of you said anything, Root talked to Frond, then Rains, then you got your idea, Trouble did it and it worked. A lot has happened."
"Mmm . . ." Holly replied and yawned. She almost laughed. "I guess my body realized it, even if my brain didn't."
"Then go home," Foaly told her gently. "You need the rest."
"You aren't allowed to give orders," a gruff voice said from behind Foaly.
Holly and Foaly both turned around to see Commander Root standing in the doorway.
"She needs the rest," Foaly said.
"Be as it may, Holly leaves in a half hour anyways, so it doesn't make a big difference," Root pointed out.
"But-"
"He's right, Foaly," Holly said, leaning her head on folded arms that were resting on the desk. "I can sleep here just fine."
Foaly snorted and looked at Root for a reaction. He was slowly turning purple.
"Short-" he started, but was interrupted by Foaly.
"Leave her alone," Foaly told Root. "She deserves to rest."
"She can rest in a half hour *after* work!" Root snapped.
Holly shifted so she could watch the two argue.
"Jesus, Root! The elf that killed her sister and almost her was just arrested and you're saying she still has to work? Give her a break!" Foaly yelled.
"I know what's best-"
"Would you two just stop arguing and pick something?" Holly tried to snap, but was too tired. "I don't really care what I do, but you're giving me a headache."
"Go home," Foaly said at the same time Root told her to, "Stay here."
Foaly glared at Root. "How about a compromise. She can leave at five forty- five."
Root sighed and massaged his temples. "Fine," he snapped and stormed off to his office.
Holly smiled slightly at Foaly. "Thanks."
Foaly glanced at his watch. "You're lucky. We spent so much time arguing that you only have to stay for another five minutes."
Holly's smile grew. "And that's just about the time it takes me to get ready," she said and stood up, looking at her desk for anything that she might need and saw the Dragonflies. "What do you suppose I do with these?" she asked.
"Did you get them at that illegal shuttle port?" Foaly asked.
Holly nodded.
"Then I'd give them to Root," Foaly told her and went back to the Ops booth.
Holly sighed and trumped down to Root's office and knocked.
"Come in," he called out.
Holly walked in. "I got these at the illegal shuttle port and Foaly said to give them to you, so here," she said, put them on his desk and left. She glanced at her watch. Two more minutes. "Oh, screw it," she thought and left.
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Wow! That was long! Hope you like it!
A/N: THANK YOU SO MUCH TO MY REVIEWERS!!!
And if you have any ideas, I would still like to hear them.
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Root had been thinking about what to say for the past ten minutes and he still hadn't come to a conclusion. He fully understood what Holly was talking about and why she had done it, but that didn't mean it was acceptable. He also felt the immense relief to have her back safe and didn't want to let it impair his judgement. All in all, he didn't feel like he was qualified to decide what to do with her. But he had to, of course. Because he was the commander.
"Congratulations, Short. You've officially got me stumped," Root finally said. "I have no idea what to do with you."
Holly looked up, her eyes wide with surprise. This isn't what she had been expecting at *all*. "You're not going to fire me?" she asked.
"I don't know," Root repeated. "Believe me, nothing like this has happened before. There's no precedent or anything in the Book to fall back on."
"I find that difficult to believe," Holly replied. "Something like this *has* to have happened before."
Root shook his head. There were a few more minutes of silence before he said, "I'll keep you in Recon, but I wouldn't be expecting a promotion anytime soon."
Holly stared at him in amazement. "You're not going to fire me?" she repeated.
"Apparently not," Root snapped at her. He could quickly feel his usual personality returning and lost the feeling of having Holly back. "Go to the Ops booth. I want you to stay in there."
"Not again!" Holly yelled in exasperation. "How am I supposed to work in the Ops booth? How am I supposed to talk to Frond in the Ops booth?"
"You're *not* supposed to talk to Frond!" Root shouted back. It was almost comforting to have returned to the usual shouting matches with her. "*Nobody* is supposed to talk to Frond!"
Holly glared at him with a mix of anger and fear of what would happen if the terrorist wasn't caught. "Please," she asked and realized that she had almost begged. "Please," she said in her normal voice. "Just talk to her."
Root sighed and rested his head in one of his hands. "Fine. I'll talk to her. But I have no evidence against her and no reason for her to be a suspect."
"Thank you!" Holly said happily, feeling as though a heavy weight had been lifted from her. She left, going as Root had requested the Ops booth.
"Why are you so happy?" Foaly asked sceptically after he had let Holly in. "You've just been confined to the Ops booth . . . again."
"Yeah, but Root is gonna talk to Frond," Holly explained. "I *knew* that if I pestered him enough, he would finally listen to me."
"Shall we watch?" Foaly asked and zoomed in on the camera in Root's office. He added sound and he and Holly settled back to watch.
*
"You wanted to see me, sir?" Frond said as she walked into Root's office. She was obviously pleased with herself that the commander wanted to see her.
"Sit," Root snapped gruffly. He felt better. This was how life was supposed to work. Him yelling at fairies.
Frond sat, tossing her blonde curls over her shoulder as she did so.
*
"I hate her," Holly mumbled under her breath.
Foaly glanced at Holly. "Why? Because she's flirting with Root?"
Holly shot Foaly a look that could kill. "No, because she's a blonde bimbo and thinks that her looks and money can get her everything."
*
"I'm assuming that you know that Captain Short's apartment was blown up," Root said.
"Of course, sir," Frond replied.
"Are you aware of when it happened?" he asked.
Frond's brow furrowed. "Somewhere around ten, right?"
"Nine forty-five," Root snapped.
"That sounds about right. I probably didn't hear about it until ten," Frond explained.
*
"Hear about it? You did it, you little-"
Foaly put a hand on her arm. "Listen."
Holly grudgingly complied.
*
"Certain fairies think that you might be involved," Root said, carefully omitting Holly's name.
Frond's eyes widened in surprise. "I have no idea they might think that. I was working."
"Would that check out if I asked Rains?" Root asked, referring to the Sprite who worked in the cubicle next to Frond's.
"Yes, of course," she said instantly. Root studied her. Something didn't seem quite right. But maybe Holly was just rubbing off on him.
"That's all," he said and returned to his papers.
"Yessir," Frond said and left, flipping her locks one last time before closing the door behind her.
*
"See?!?" Holly yelled. "I told you so!"
Foaly sighed. "Holly, that proves nothing."
"Call Root! Tell him to question Rains!" Holly said excitedly.
Foaly sighed but complied. After he hung up, he said, "My, my. Isn't this your lucky day? Root's taking your side. He also thinks something might be off."
"Good, but is he going to talk to Rains?" Holly asked.
"Yes," Foaly replied.
*
"Sit," Root snapped at the nervous looking sprite.
The sprite sat. He knew he wasn't going to be brought up into Recon anytime soon, so he had no idea why he was here. That could make anyone nervous.
"Do you remember what you were doing from nine thirty to nine forty-five on April 21st?" Root asked him.
The sprite nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, sir. I was reading writing down my report from the previous night."
"Was Frond there?" Root asked.
The sprite's brow furrowed. "I don't think so. She said she had to go home because she had forgotten something."
*
"See?" Holly yelled as loudly as she could. "I *was* right! It *was* Frond!"
Foaly couldn't argue. There was finally some concrete evidence against her.
*
"Thank you," Root replied. "You can go now."
As soon as the sprite left, Root walked down to the Ops booth.
"See?" Holly yelled for the third time in the past couple of minutes.
"Holly, it doesn't prove anything," Root said wearily. "It's something to go on, but we can't prove anything."
"But can't you at least do *something* about it?" she asked, almost desperately.
"I can do something," Root told her. "But whatever that something is, it will have to be carefully thought through."
"I know that," Holly snapped.
Foaly had been watching this entire exchange with an eyebrow raised. He couldn't help but think that there was *something* between the two, although what he couldn't place. Oh, well. He could bug Holly about it later. It was apparent that she would be spending a lot of time in the Ops booth.
"What do you suggest I do?" Root asked angrily, although it seemed that he was actually curious about what Holly thought. "We can't just go down and accuse her outright of blowing up your apartment. Besides, the little evidence we have only supports out case for this time. We have nothing to connect her to the terrorist attack ten years ago."
Holly's eyes gleamed. "I have an idea, but I'm not sure if you'll like it or not."
"Well?" Root snapped.
Holly told them.
Root felt a slight smile begin to creep across his face. "That might work. That just might work."
*
Trouble Kelp was in the break room pouring himself a cup of coffee when Holly came in. "Hey," he said, smiling slightly. "Did you get my flowers?"
Holly nodded. "Thanks," she replied, also smiling.
"Sorry I didn't have a chance to talk to you before now," he apologized. "I've been really busy."
"So have I," Holly replied. "Trouble, could you do me a huge favour?"
"That depends on what it is," Trouble replied, taking a sip from his coffee.
"Well, I have an idea that might help capture the terrorist and I need your help," Holly replied.
"Then, yeah, sure. What is it?" Trouble asked.
"All you have to do is . . ."
*
Trouble walked down the hall to Lili's cubicle telling himself over and over again that this was for the good of all. He knew why he had to do it and not some other fairy, but he still didn't want to.
"Hey, Lili," he said, leaning against the doorway of her cubicle.
Lili spun around in her chair and when she saw who it was, a slight blush started to creep up her neck. "Hi," she replied.
Trouble walked into the cubicle and perched himself on her desk. "Did you hear about Short's apartment being blown up?"
"Yes . . ." Lili said carefully. "Why?"
"Well, whoever did that has a lot of guts," Trouble told her. "And is pretty brilliant since they haven't been caught."
"Yes . . ." Lili replied.
"I was just wondering if you knew who the elf was," Trouble asked.
"I might. Why?" Lili asked.
*
"Bull's-eye," Holly whispered from the Ops booth.
*
"Well," Trouble replied, now being careful himself. If he screwed this up, he'd be in some serious trouble. "I'd really like to get to know somebody that brave and smart."
Lili perked up. This was a chance that she had been waiting for since she met Trouble. She stood up so she was directly in front of him. "Well, what if I told you that *I* was the one who blew up Short's apartment?" she asked him.
Using all of his self-discipline to stay in character, he reached out and stroked Lili's cheek. "Then I'd ask you if you wanted to be my girlfriend."
"I did it," she whispered. "And if I had the chance to do it again, then I would."
*
Back in the Ops booth, Holly let out a triumphant shout. "I knew it!" she yelled. She turned around and started poking Root emphatically in the chest. "I told you so! I was right!"
*
Trouble slipped off the desk and, still struggling to stay in character, pulled Lili into an embrace. He ran his hands along her arms and brought them around to her back while kissing her, willing her not to try and deepen it. But, of course, she did. So, while frenching Lili Frond, trying not to push her away in disgust, with lightning speed he reached into his own pocked, flipped out the handcuffs that he always kept handy, put them on Frond and stood in front of the doorway, preventing her escape.
Frond stared at him in shock. Then she regained the power of speech. "I HATE HER!" she yelled in Trouble's face. "I DID IT AND I'D DO IT AGAIN IF I COULD!"
Trouble stared at the elf in front of him in amazement. Even though he hated Frond, she had always seemed so cool and pulled together. Now she was the opposite. She was yelling as loud as she could about how much she hated Holly and deserved her position. Her normally perfect curls were quickly becoming frizzy and jumbled. Her blue eyes were filled with hatred and, frankly, Trouble welcomed the sight of Root, Holly and Foaly.
"You did it!" Holly said, her voice happy but filled with a satisfaction stronger than Trouble had ever seen before. Then again, the fairy who had killed her sister and almost herself was finally caught, so he reasoned that she deserved it.
He didn't notice that Frond had fallen silent until he saw that Holly's gaze was no longer directed at him. Instead she was staring at Frond, who was matching her gaze. There seemed to be a sort of electricity in the air and if anyone broke the silence, something unnameable would occur. He wasn't the only one who realized it, though. The growing crowd was silent, something unheard of in the LEP.
After almost five minutes, Holly left without ever having said anything to Frond.
"Alright, that's it. Break it up," Root finally said, breaking the silence. When nobody listened to him, he roared, "I said get out!" Everybody except for Trouble, Foaly and Frond left.
"I oughta go talk to Holly," Foaly said and left.
"Well, let's take her down," Trouble said, grabbing Frond by the arm. She opened her mouth to start yelling again, but Root glared at her with enough venom to shut her up. Trouble practically dragged Frond down to the few cells that were in the basement of headquarters for emergencies such as this one with Root following, hand resting noticeably on the triblaster hanging from his hip. Trouble closed the doors of the cell and turned to Root. "Glad that's over."
Root nodded. "Me, too."
*
Foaly found Holly sitting at her desk, head in her arms, most likely crying.
"She's finally caught," Foaly said gently, going up next to her. "You won't have to think about her anymore."
Holly looked up and Foaly saw that he was right. "She killed my sister and tried to kill me," Holly said, wiping her tears away. "How am I supposed to look at her again?"
"You won't have to," Foaly pointed out. "She's going to jail, most likely Howler's Peak."
"There'll be a hearing," Holly said. "And I'll have to go to testify against her."
"But don't you *want* to send her to jail?" Foaly asked.
"Yes, but I feel sorry for her in a way. If she was driven to murder so she would get a higher position in the LEP . . ." Holly sighed. "I *do* feel bad for her, even though I know I shouldn't."
"You should feel whatever you want," Foaly told her. "After everything that's happened, I'd be happy with any sort of reaction. If you didn't feel *anything*, then I'd be worried."
Holly smiled at him. "Yeah, I guess."
"I know I'm not Root, and I'm glad that I'm not, but I'd say you can go home if you want," Foaly said.
Holly looked surprised. "Why would I want to do that? The terrorist has been caught; there's no reason to leave. I still have to work."
Foaly looked at his watch. "It's almost time to go anyways."
Again, Holly was surprised. "It is? What time is it?"
"Five thirty," Foaly replied.
"Wow . . ." Holly trailed off. "It seems much earlier."
"I know," Foaly replied. "But if you think about it, it doesn't. You were in Fowl Manor, did the Ritual, Root came to get you, you and Root and a lengthy meeting where neither of you said anything, Root talked to Frond, then Rains, then you got your idea, Trouble did it and it worked. A lot has happened."
"Mmm . . ." Holly replied and yawned. She almost laughed. "I guess my body realized it, even if my brain didn't."
"Then go home," Foaly told her gently. "You need the rest."
"You aren't allowed to give orders," a gruff voice said from behind Foaly.
Holly and Foaly both turned around to see Commander Root standing in the doorway.
"She needs the rest," Foaly said.
"Be as it may, Holly leaves in a half hour anyways, so it doesn't make a big difference," Root pointed out.
"But-"
"He's right, Foaly," Holly said, leaning her head on folded arms that were resting on the desk. "I can sleep here just fine."
Foaly snorted and looked at Root for a reaction. He was slowly turning purple.
"Short-" he started, but was interrupted by Foaly.
"Leave her alone," Foaly told Root. "She deserves to rest."
"She can rest in a half hour *after* work!" Root snapped.
Holly shifted so she could watch the two argue.
"Jesus, Root! The elf that killed her sister and almost her was just arrested and you're saying she still has to work? Give her a break!" Foaly yelled.
"I know what's best-"
"Would you two just stop arguing and pick something?" Holly tried to snap, but was too tired. "I don't really care what I do, but you're giving me a headache."
"Go home," Foaly said at the same time Root told her to, "Stay here."
Foaly glared at Root. "How about a compromise. She can leave at five forty- five."
Root sighed and massaged his temples. "Fine," he snapped and stormed off to his office.
Holly smiled slightly at Foaly. "Thanks."
Foaly glanced at his watch. "You're lucky. We spent so much time arguing that you only have to stay for another five minutes."
Holly's smile grew. "And that's just about the time it takes me to get ready," she said and stood up, looking at her desk for anything that she might need and saw the Dragonflies. "What do you suppose I do with these?" she asked.
"Did you get them at that illegal shuttle port?" Foaly asked.
Holly nodded.
"Then I'd give them to Root," Foaly told her and went back to the Ops booth.
Holly sighed and trumped down to Root's office and knocked.
"Come in," he called out.
Holly walked in. "I got these at the illegal shuttle port and Foaly said to give them to you, so here," she said, put them on his desk and left. She glanced at her watch. Two more minutes. "Oh, screw it," she thought and left.
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Wow! That was long! Hope you like it!