I have a review! I have a review! Mirkwoodmage gets a gold star! And a supreme thank you! And this chapter is devoted to you for being my first reviewer!

And also, thanks to gReeNeYedeLfguRL13 for being my second reviewer. I'll try to keep Saoirse from becoming a Mary Sue. So, on with the story

A/N: When I refer to Saoirse as Anna, I'm talking about before, well, before thje instant at the start of this chapter. When I refer to her as Annabel, I'm talking about when she was a little kid.

Disclaimer: Still own nothing. Except- nope, nothing.

Chapter 3: Saoirse

In which tragedy strikes and secrets are revealed

She didn't want to be perfect Annabel.

She didn't want to be rebellious Anna.

All she wanted was to be free. No expectations to live up or down to. That was who she was. Saoirse.

"Hello," Artemis said. "I'm Artemis Fowl."

Panic flooded Saoirse. She remembered that name all too well. She hid her emotions well, keeping her face a blank mask.

"I- I'm Saoirse." She gave no last name, as she didn't want him to find her family. She didn't know if he was a threat or not, but until then, she would play it safe.

Anna was a fairly good hacker, and she had read enough about Artemis Fowl to know he was dangerous.

He had had an active Interpol file at the age of eleven, and now he was sixteen. Who knew what he could be capable of?

"Saoirse. Gaelic for-" Fowl began.

"Freedom. I know," Saoirse finished.

"Look, I should probably get home. My parents are probably very worried," Saoirse just wanted to get away from Fowl as soon as possible.

"Are you sure you don't need anything?"

She pulled away from him. "I- I'm fine."

"I'll have my chauffer drive you home," Fowl offered.

"Maybe I could just call a cab?" She suggested. She really didn't want him to know where she lived.

"My chauffer can get you there faster."

Can't he take a hint? She wondered. But there was no point in arguing. It was clear that he was not going to reason with her. She had no choice but to accept his offer.

Obviously her family would have to move, and it was all her fault. Her parents were going to kill her!

She sighed, giving up. "All right."

He insisted on going with her, to explain things to her parents. She tried to tell him that would only make things worse, but he ignored her.

All her childhood memories, of fairies and magic, were coming back, after being suppressed for so many years. The strange conversations she overheard made sense now, but she had yet to realize the extent of the fairy civilization.

She knew just enough to be afraid.

She got into the limo- wow, he really is loaded!- And scooted as far away from Fowl and his huge bodyguard as she could.

She kept her face expressionless, trying not to scream. This is very, very, bad.

"Where do you live?" Fowl asked her.

She took a deep breath, and disclosed the information. With her address, he could easily find out her real name, and her parents'.

Even if they moved, he could track them down. She would just have to play it cool, and hope he forgot all about her. Fat chance. But it was the only option she had.

I am so screwed. "Um, could you please drop me off about a block from my house?" She asked. Since Fowl was doing her the favor of not holding her for ransom- although if he'd known who she was he might have- she could at least save him from the wrath of the fairies.

They would never believe, given his record, that he hadn't kidnapped her. Or that he's returning me for any reason other than finding out my address and identity.

"I'd rather see you home safely. Also, I can explain things to your parents."

She tensed. That was what she was afraid of. And what if he really did only want to find out her address?

What if he could tell she was a fairy, from her lack of height and ears that weren't quite round?

What if he knew? But there was no point in wasting her time with what ifs. If Fowl knew, then he knew. There was nothing she could do about it.

He was the one with the power here. All she could do was play along.

When they got to her house, it was eerily quiet. Last time she had stayed out all night, her parents had called the police. That had been a fiasco.

Their car was in the driveway, which meant that her parents were home. It was after eleven- hadn't they noticed her disappearance? She frowned.

"What it is?" Fowl asked.

You mean other than the fact that I've gotten myself freakin' kidnapped by a criminal mastermind who will stop at nothing to get gold?

"I don't know. Something's wrong. It's too quiet."

She opened the door and slowly got out. Fowl made as if to come with her, but she stopped him. If he saw her mother she was in such trouble.

Her mother didn't go out much, and when she did, she wore heels and used a complex spell to hide her pointed ears. She wouldn't have activated it for just being around the house.

"I'll go in alone," Saiorse said firmly. Fowl might have won previous arguments, but there was no way she was letting him in that house.

She walked up the path, and rang the doorbell. She waited, but there was no response. That was odd. Since her parents' car was there, and it was after eleven, they should have answered.

Something was very wrong.

Her heart was pounding like a rabbit's as she retrieved the spare key from under the doormat. She opened the door carefully, scanning for anything out of order.

"Mom?" she called. "Dad? Is anyone home?" There was no answer. She shivered. She had a very bad feeling about this.

She slowly walked through the living room, into the kitchen. Then she froze. There was something on the floor of the dining room.

Outside, Butler could sense that something was wrong. He tensed, ready for- something. He wasn't sure what.

Saoirse ran to the dining room. She let out a scream when she saw her father, still on the ground, covered in blood.

She tried not to look at his eyes, staring blankly at nothing. She knew even as she took his pulse that she would find none.

She held her face in her hands and cried.

Butler stiffened at the sound of her scream. He ran to the door, and , finding it locked , he knocked it down with his shoulder.

Artemis ran after Butler, trying to stop him. Butler burst into the dining room, where he stopped short at the scene of Saoirse kneeling beside the dead body of her father, bawling her eyes out.

"Look for my mother's-" she stopped short, unable to say body, "Look for my mother."

Butler quietly slipped out, searching the house. When he had been gone for several minutes, Saoirse rose.

"If she's not, here, then she's been taken," she said to Fowl. "Probably for ransom."

He frowned. Saoirse's family didn't seem that rich- what ransom?

At that moment, Butler returned, looking worried. "I didn't find anyone," he told Saoirse. "I'm sorry."

Saoirse nodded, accepting that for now. "I have to get something," she said as she started up the stairs.

::Flashback::

Saoirse listened as her father told her the same thing he did every year. She placed each fingertip on the gel pad implanted in the laptop computer, in the specific order he had made her memorize.

The computer recorded the prints, storing them away for future use. Then she spoke the words, Endyanya lscyanta ia ayrmo dian. The device was programmed to her voice.

Then he went over the passwords with her, making sure she remembered them perfectly. He went over the equipment yet again.

He showed her a pretty ring with a large sappire in it. "this will sweep for bugs, cameras, tracers, and the like. Twist the stone like this," he showed her how, "to activate it. Then do this to turn it off. Do you remember that?"

"Yeah. But, dad, why am I doing this, anyway? You never told me."

"In case something happens to your mom and me, I want you to open the file marked, pictures of Mittens (Mittens was their cat), and read it."

"But why all the super security? I mean, no one has anything this high- tech. The government probably doesn't even have it. Where did you get this stuff?"

"That doesn't matter," her father repeated the same thing he said every year.

"And what does all the other stuff do?" she pointed to the various pieces of jewelry and other stuff.

"The file will explain it. But you have to promise me you won't open that computer unless your mother and I- unless something happens to us. And you can't tell anyone about this. Do you promise?" There was something in her father's eyes, and urgency, a warning.

She closed her eyes for a second, and let out the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. "I promise, dad."

Then he put the black leather bag back in its hiding place deep in the closet, and they left.

::End Flashback::

::Flashback::

Anna got home from school, dreading what she knew was coming.

Her mother held up a white sheet of paper, with blue and green edging. Her school colors. "What is this? You got a C- in history, a C in French, and a C in art? How can you get a C in art?"

Anna took a glance at the paper. "Mom, I got As in math and science."

"Well I wish that you would spend as much energy on your other classes as you do on those. I'm very disappointed in you."

"It's not my fault I have no artistic talent whatsoever! And memorizing dates and conjugating verbs gives me a headache!"

"So take advil! You're grounded, until you bring all your grades up to a B- at least!"

"But mom! That's not fair!"

"Well, that's the way it is. Now go work on your homework."

::End Flashback::

That had been the night Anna snuck out. She realized that those angry words might be the last she ever spoke to her mother.

She tried to hold back her tears. If her mother had been kidnapped, then Saoirse would save her. There was no point in crying- that wouldn't help her mother.

Fowl followed her up the stairs. "You can stay with us if you want to."

It was probably the first completely nice thing he had done for anyone. Of course, he did have his own motives- why would Saoirse suspect her mother was being held for ransom?

"What?" Saoirse was surprised.

"I mean, unless you have any relatives or anyone you can stay with..."

She shook her head. "No, there's- there's no one."

"Then you can stay with me. My parents are away for a few months."

Saoirse weighed the pros and cons of staying with Fowl. On the one hand, she would have someplace to stay, without social services complicating her search for her mother.

On the other hand, who knew what hidden motives Fowl had? He scared her, and that was bad.

But finding her mother outweighed her concerns about her own safety. She would just have to be careful.

"All right. I- I'll come with you. Thank you."

"Won't people wonder where you parents are?"

Saoirse closed her eyes at the reminder. "We- we were about to leave on a trip to the states, for several months. They won't notice."

"All right. Do you need any help packing?"

"Oh, yeah, sure. Thanks." Saoirse was still in a bit of a daze, whenever she thought too hard about what had happened she just wanted to die. And she couldn't stop this sneaking suspicion that Fowl was the one who had taken her mother...
A/N: okay, here it is. I won't be updating from about the 17th through the middle of August, due to family trips. I may get in one of two chapters, but don't count on it. :-( I hope to get in as many updates before then. :-)