How is everyone? It's almost summer here in the northern hemisphere. I know some of you live in the land down under. Stinks for you in it's own way I suppose. Oh well though. It's still fairly warm in most places.

Disclaimer: Juliet Butler and all references to the Artemis Fowl series are in the sole possession of Eoin Colfer. I do not own anything except everything else.

I know you're all anxious, so I won't take any longer. The story…

Juliet eyed the men approaching her with something close to disgust. Actually, it was a little more harsh than that, but she couldn't think of the right word.

The thing they didn't realize, she reasoned, was that she was at the top of the steps, and they were at the bottom. It gave her a wonderful advantage.

As soon as their heads were in kicking range, she kicked. All in a neat little row. They bounced down the stairs, sputtering and yammering in between the bumps. It was very amusing, and even more satisfying. But she felt sorry for them. They were still pretty young. Only about sixteen to twenty. They'd probably never live it down.

The youngest one sat up, pulling out his gun, face red. Juliet dove on him as he aimed. It was fairly safe. He'd forgotten to pull the safety. The only thing that was dangerous was getting poked in the eye.

As she hit him, the other two landed on top of her. You had to feel sorry for them. If Juliet hadn't been a kinder person, they would have most likely never seen the sun again. As it was, she cracked their heads against the concrete fairly hard. They wouldn't be seeing any light for a few hours.

"Anything else?"

None of them answered her. Juliet unzipped one of her pockets with a grin. So simple. She just wished there was actual some competition. Ah well. It was fun in its own way.

Quickly, she cut of a length of cord, and tied the three together in an unfixable knot. It would slow the others down when they came looking for her. Which they probably would. Just before the attempted attack, they had been talking on the phone with someone.

Quickly, she relieved them of their weapons. It wasn't wise to give matches to a child. Neither was it wise to give guns to fools such as these.

There was nothing, she decided, as she set down her skateboard, more dangerous than myself when I have something to prove. And she had a lot to prove. Men didn't think women were capable of things like that. And it bothered her. A lot.

Justin gritted his teeth, carefully slicing through the rope a few strands at a time. "You said she what?"

Shamefacedly, the youngest repeated what he'd said before. "She jumped down the stairs on me, and took my gun. And then they jumped on her, and she banged our heads on the concrete."

"You had a gun, and there were three of you, and you still managed to get beaten?" Justin glared them, and climbed to his feet. "Go back to the manor, and stay at the manor!"

"But—"

"Understand?"

"Yes sir." Slowly they stood, and trudged back to the car. So much for proving themselves to Justin.

When they were gone, Justin turned back to the rest of the group, who were close to bursting with laughter. "Alright, go ahead ad laugh at them now. They're gone."

They laughed.

Finally Justin said: "I'll take one of the motorcycles. Andre will take the other one. If she has a skateboard, she can go places a car can't. The motorcycles will be best for that chase. Split up between the cars, and drop off at the different stations. We have to be guarding the exits."

"One thing."

"What?"

"Why are we bothering to go after this girl? I mean— it's not that… I don't know."

Justin shifted under their gaze, knowing they were all thinking the same thing. And they were right. It was almost ridiculous to be going to so much trouble. Axel had gotten what he deserved, and she was going to leave, and there was almost no point.

In fact, he would have dropped it if it hadn't been for the call he'd gotten yesterday afternoon. "Because I got a call from Chance yesterday. And he wants us to get her."

"Why?" Chance was the big man, as far as they were concerned. What he said went. But it made no sense.

"Because that girl is the little sister of the Butler. And Chance is smart. If we get a hold of her, then we're safe. The whole hostage thing. The Butlers will leave us alone, and in return, we'll leave them alone. And then we won't have problems for a while."

"What are we going to do with her?" The men were curious now. Particularly Liam, who was asking all the questions.

"Lock her up, and make sure she doesn't get out most likely." Justin shrugged in annoyance. "I don't know. I really don't. Chance is coming back Friday. You can ask him then."

"Why's he coming back?"

Justin scowled, swinging onto the motorcycle. "Ask him then. We're wasting time. Just go. And go fast."

"But—"

"Go!" Justin turned the key, and pressed down, shooting past. "And don't waste time talking!"

"But—" The rest of that sentence was lost in a symphony of glares. "Sorry…"

"Hey, Dom?" Juliet slowed to a stop, holding the phone to her ear.

"What now?"

"They're chasing me. What do I do?"

"Get out of there!"

She glanced around, unconcerned. "Why?"

"Can I ask a question?" Butler sounded rather annoyed all of the sudden.

"What?"

"Why can't you just go to the police?"

Juliet winced. "Because they're looking for me too. Because I beat up Axel and all."

Butler sighed in a rush of static, and she could hear the worry in his voice when he spoke again. "Get out of there any way you can. They're not going to kill you."

"So why am I getting out?" She picked up the skateboard, and sat down on a bench, eyes watching the street in both directions.

"It's going around fast. Everyone knows what's going on, at least to some extent. Chance has been waiting for something like this for years. We all know it. If they can get a hold of you, we won't be able to fight them in any way. They'll keep you for a hostage."

"What now?"

There was silence for a moment, as Butler thought. "Get out, Juliet. Unless you want to end up married to one of them."

"What?"

"I'm serious. Once… we won't be able to take you back, and we'll have to agree to any terms they name, really. There's not much we can do about it. You know that."

"Just tell them no."

"I can't. You're my sister, Juliet. I care about you. A lot. And Chance knows it. Everyone knows it."

"Fine. Promise me something else then." Juliet glanced down the street again. They would be coming soon. She knew they would. It had been long enough to untie the three who'd assaulted her earlier.

"What?"

"If they catch me, Dom, and I've tried my best. You aren't going to agree to anything. That's all I care about. They won't be able to do anything to me. I can kill myself if I need to. Really. It'll be fine. But I don't want them to get anything out of it."

"But… yeah. Okay. But if you can't kill yourself, I'm going to agree until you can. And you've got to promise to try to get out first. Because I'll agree until you have."

"But you promise if I promise?" Juliet squinted at an approaching motorcycle.

"I promise."

"So do I." She studied the face of the man. He looked almost like one of them. Maybe. She wasn't sure. Not quite. Still though, she might be wise to get out of the area.

"Hey Dom?"

"What? What's the matter?"

"They're coming after me. They have motorcycles. And probably cars too. Tyler said they were guarding all the exits when he fitted me out. I assume that means the airport."

"Then get out!"

Juliet stood, dropping her board again. "I love you, Dom. I'll call in a while. I promise."

"Love you too, little sister."

"Yeah. Remember what you promised me." Juliet hung up, and stepped onto the board, pulling one of the knives out. It made her feel better, holding a weapon. And she couldn't draw a gun. That wouldn't fit up her sleeve, and anyone close by would have a heart attack if they saw it.

In fact, she could just hear the quote now… "She looked like such a nice little girl!"

The motorcycle was slowing now. Not good. She waited though. It would give her more time. Once he was completely stopped, then she would start. The time would be good. She needed the time.

"Hey, girl!" He was older, and had very black hair. Juliet watched him turn the motor to almost off, but not quite, with annoyance. So this one was smarter. Now she had to work harder to get past him. "We're not going to hurt you. I just want to talk with you for a moment."

"I'm not stupid."

"I know you're not." He paused a moment. "I'm not going to turn the motor off, in case you're wondering, so you can take off now, or not, whichever you like. Or you can listen."

"To what?" She held the knife tighter against her side, glancing down the street again.

"We just want to make sure you aren't going to bring the whole family back here. I know what Axel said to you. And I'm glad you beat him up for it. He deserved it. But he got punished. The rest of us don't need to be. Don't go complaining to your brother. Please."

Juliet studied the end of the street in silence, watching approaching cars closely.

"They're not coming."

"Pardon?" She fingered the knife again.

"I haven't sent out the call. They'll come when I press the button. Not until then. No one else knows where you are right now."

"So that's all you wanted to say?" Juliet didn't believe him. She'd seen a phone in his hand as he'd come towards her a few moments ago.

"That's all."

"Then I'm leaving."

"Why?"

"Why should I not? That's all you wanted say, isn't it?" She glanced around one more time, studying where things were, so she'd have plenty of room to move once she'd started.

"Well… I guess. No one's going to stop you."

"You're a bloody liar," she spat. "You think I didn't see you calling them before you drove up? I know what you want me for. I know why Chance told you to get me. And you're not going to catch me. You'll have to shoot me. That, or let me go."

"And what if we do get a hold of you?"

"Then I will kill myself. Isn't that obvious? Besides, I had a long talk with my brother. We have everything worked out. It won't happen. Whatever you do, it won't."

"You'll be treated alright."

Juliet stepped closer. "Do you think I care? Do you think I want to damn marry one of you?"

He shrugged. "It wasn't my idea."

Juliet heard something. Another motorcycle. And then it stopped. It stopped just around the corner. He pretended not to have heard it, but she knew he had. She knew.

A car stopped at the corner of the street a few blocks down, and five men climbed out, coming straight towards the park.

They were coming.

Juliet spat out the dirtiest word she knew, and smashed a fist into his face at top speed.

Heh, heh. Isn't she naughty? Aren't I naughty? Yes, I know, you can't wait to find out what happens next, can you? Ah well, that is the price you pay for reading my stories, you know.

The sooner you write me, the sooner I will post another chapter. I promise. And if anyone knows squat about martial arts, let me know, and I'll be sure to incorporate something in.

If any of you are wondering, (I just thought of this) Artemis will not be in this story, unless Butler mentions him. I don't think he will though. I just like writing the Juliet part. With the hitting and kicking, and whatnot. That's my favorite part. Besides, how would you fit Artemis into a story like this? He just doesn't seem right for it.