Thank you to those of you who have reviewed. Please keep it up. I want to know how I'm doing.
refloc: Thanks. I know the chapters are really long, but I have a hard time breaking them down further. Originally chapters four and five were all one, but that was way to long.
IwuvMyKenshyPoo: Lol, thanks.
Shion20: Thank you.
R.C.C. I agree. I doubt Artemis is capable of turning evil again just so long as he has his memories of the People. When are you going to update your story? I love it and you left it on like a cliff hanger.
Chapter Six: In Haven
Police Plaza, Underground Haven
Root waited impatiently for Foaly to buzz him into Ops. Foaly had told him to come back in ten minutes and he had waited fifteen.
"Foaly, your pay check is going to be docked if you don't open this door right now!" He roared through the intercom, knowing that budget threats always got the centaur to listen. A second later he heard, "Yes sir." Only it didn't come from the intercom speaker or the booth. Root spun around to find the centaur walking up behind him holding a coffee in one hand and a bag of carrots in the other. Root turned an impossible red, mostly from embarrassment.
"Where were you?" He growled. Foaly held up the carrots and the coffee.
"I was hungry. Now what is it you need?" He opened the door to Ops after punching in a series of codes and speaking the password to a specially modified computer that would recognize his voice. Root followed him in.
"I need to know if you've seen or heard from Corporal Kelp today. He was supposed to check in over an hour ago."
"No, I haven't seen or heard from him lately. Have you asked Trouble?"
"Yes and he hasn't talked to him since yesterday. Foaly, get a line to his house and ask his mother if he's there."
Foaly did as he was told. Root sat down to wait. He listened as Foaly asked Mrs. Kelp, thanked her, and disconnected.
"Well?" Root asked, somewhat nervously.
"He's home. He had a headache and didn't want to come in today." Foaly chuckled.
"I'm going to strangle him." Root growled but the tone of voice revealed it was an empty threat. He was to relieved that another name hadn't been added to their missing list.. "I'll tell Trouble then. When he found out his brother hadn't shown up, he looked ready to tear through all of Haven to find him." Root chuckled.
Foaly grinned. "I think he'd do it too." Root got up to leave and Foaly added, "Oh, Holly should be getting here soon. I watched them get off the shuttle before going to get my carrots." Foaly informed the Commander. Root sighed and nodded before exiting the booth. He headed over to where the Captain's cubicles were. Trouble was at his desk, trying to concentrate on getting his paperwork done. He looked up as the Commander reached his desk. "Did you find him?"
Root nodded. "He had a headache so he's at home."
Trouble sighed in relief. "Why didn't he call in?"
Root shrugged. "Foaly didn't ask. I'll give him a warning later on. I wouldn't be surprised if he did try calling but our lines have been so busy." Root said. He knew it was no excuse and any other time he would have done more than just warn him. But he and Trouble were both to relieved. Just then an officer ran over to them.
"Captain Short just got here sir."
Root nodded. "Have her take the humans and the convict to my office and I'll meet them there." The officer took off back in the direction he came from. Root turned to Trouble. "Come on Captain."
Trouble looked at him in surprise. "You want me to go?" Trouble was thinking of Butler and how he had taken on and beat Trouble and his whole team, which was the best on the force.
"Yes, you're going to be working together, so you need to be properly introduced."
Trouble gulped. "Yes sir." He said, trying not to show his discomfort. He did a good job but Root knew him better than that.
"We're on the same side now. You don't have to worry." He told him before turning and leading him to his office. Holly, Artemis, Butler, Juliet, and Mulch were already there. Artemis was sitting calmly while Butler and Juliet stood behind him. Trouble went over and stood next to Holly, who nodded greeting to him.
"Good day Commander." Artemis said politely. Root grunted and lit a cigar. Mulch was sitting next to Artemis and seemed to be enjoying the fact that he could walk around the plaza and not get arrested.
"Okay Fowl, let's get you filled in completely of the situation." Root said.
"Yes. Have any more gone missing?" Artemis asked.
"Thankfully, no. We had a small scare earlier though."
"What do you mean?" Holly asked.
Trouble answered her. "Grub had a headache and didn't come in or call. We finally got a hold of him." Holly rolled her eyes. Root pulled out a clipboard and handed it to Artemis.
"These are all of the one's gone missing."
Artemis began going through each of the twelve profiles. They consisted of pictures, general information, and when and where they were last seen. "I'll go through these and see if there could be any connections between them." Artemis said, closing the folders.
"Okay, you four are going to be staying here in this building. We can't risk you leaving for a few reasons. Only the council and the LEP know you're down here and it's going to stay that way. We had a few empty conference and storage rooms that we cleaned out and prepared for you to sleep in." Root said, referring to Mulch, Artemis and the two Butler siblings. Root gestured to Trouble. "This is Captain Trouble Kelp. Him and Holly are to help you with anything as far as solving this thing. Kelp, this is Artemis Fowl. You've met Butler before." Butler gave them a curious look.
"You took out him and his team six years ago during the siege." They all turned around and found Foaly walking in. Realization dawned on Butler's face.
"Sorry about that." He said to Trouble, who nodded that it was fine. Artemis turned to Foaly.
"Foaly." He greeted him and put out his hand which Foaly shook.
"Hey Artemis. Hi Butler, Mulch." Foaly said, somewhat cheerfully. Root puffed on his cigar impatiently.
"Kelp, this is Juliet, Butler's sister, and Diggums." He finished the introductions. Trouble said 'Hello' to all of them. Root turned to Foaly. "What do you need?"
"I have some papers for you to sign and I just wanted to say Hi to everyone." Root took the papers from Foaly and quickly signed them. By now the Commander's office was pretty full and Root was anxious to get everyone out.
"Short, Kelp, take them to where they'll be staying. Kelp knows where it is. You two can show them around on the way."
Holly and Trouble nodded. Artemis got up, still holding the clipboard with all the profiles, and followed the two captains. Mulch, Butler, and Juliet followed too. Mulch was still dark red and had been begging Holly to heal him ever since boarding the shuttle. Her reply was the same each time, that it was his own problem for forfeiting his magic. Artemis walked silently, while observing everything around him. All of the officers were eyeing him suspiciously. They all knew why he was here, but some still looked at him nervously and others defiantly. Artemis kept his cool composure and merely concentrated on memorizing the way they had come from and were going.
"Okay, here we are." Trouble announced. They had come to an empty hallway with three doors on each side. Trouble opened one and gestured to Mulch. It was a rather small room with a few pieces of furniture arranged. Mulch glanced in.
"That's it? No master suit?"
"Not for convicts such as yourself. Consider yourself lucky that it isn't a cell." Holly said pointedly.
"Ex-Convict." Mulch lied.
Holly snorted. "Not from what I hear. You just stay out of trouble. We're going to keep an eye on you and the Commander gave us permission to check your room occasionally in case you've been stealing anything."
Mulch tried to look innocent but disappointment still showed. The next room was a bit bigger and Juliet got that one. Across from Mulch's room was Butler's and right next to Butler was Artemis.
"Why does he get the big, nice room?" Mulch complained when he looked into the room for Artemis. It was bigger than Mulch's and decorated nicer. The bed was an actual bed and not a cot. He also had a large desk along with some chairs scattered around. Artemis smirked at Mulch before dragging his two bags into the room. Holly turned to Trouble.
"Why did he get such a nice room?" From the look on her voice, it seemed like she thought Artemis should be in a cell too. Trouble shrugged.
"The Commander put a few officers in charge of getting these rooms ready and Corporal Frond was one of them." Holly's face screwed up in disgust, but before she could say anything, Artemis came back. Everybody else had gone into their new temporary rooms to unpack. Trouble spoke up. "Let us know if you need anything. Our desks are back the way we came and to the left right before the Commander's office. The cafeteria is right down the hallway, take a right at the drinking fountain and the entrance is on your left." Artemis nodded.
"What about the restrooms?" Juliet asked as she poked her head out of her room.
"We don't keep ours in our houses, but for this building it's in the back in a small section." Holly explained. Juliet looked at her, shocked.
"You go to the bathroom outside? I thought you guys had more advanced technology?"
Holly glared. "We do, but don't you find it disgusting that you do your business in your home?"
"No, not really. We flush it so it doesn't stay in our homes."
Holly was just about to retort when Artemis interrupted. "As much as I would love to continue listening to this conversation," he said sarcastically, "I think I'll go and get to work." He said and then turned and closed the door. He walked over to the bed where he had left his bags and opened up one of them and pulled out his laptop. He set it up on the desk and began going through all of the profiles. He spread them out across the desk and began taking notes. After about an hour, he got up and left the room. He headed down the hallway, passing by Butler's open door. Without looking back, Artemis said, "It's okay Butler. I'm just going to find Holly."
Butler smiled and went back into his room to keep reading his book. Artemis followed Trouble's instructions and found Holly sitting at her desk, doodling pictures. She didn't see him come up, so when he spoke, she jumped.
"So this is what LEP captains do at work?" When Holly saw it was just him, she relaxed. "Haven must sleep great at night knowing the LEP are so dedicated to keeping them safe." He continued. Holly grinned.
"Did you come here just to pick on me?"
"As tempting as it seems, no. I actually came to see if you have a map of Haven I can borrow."
"A map? I don't have one but I'm sure Foaly does. Wait here and I'll be right back."
"I can go with you."
"Artemis, all of Haven is controlled in that booth. I don't think it's wise to let you in there just yet."
Artemis grinned. "There's that trust issue again, Captain. We're going to have to get over that."
Holly chuckled and headed off in the direction of Ops. Artemis didn't want to sit down in her chair, fearing he may break it. Instead, he examined Holly's desk. It was somewhat organized but still messy. She had half finished reports scattered around, notebooks with notes and sketches of various things, an empty energy drink, with energy bar wrappers, and even a third of a sandwich sitting near her computer. Curious, Artemis picked up a notebook to read it. It was filled with reminders for all sorts of things, including when her rent was due, needed to go to the store, when reports were due, and when her scheduled overtime was. There were also sketches of shuttles, that Artemis thought were quite good. Artemis jumped slightly when he heard someone clear their throat. He turned and found Holly standing there with her arms crossed, watching him. His cheeks turned a slight pink, realizing he had been caught.
"Sorry, I was curious." He handed the notebook back to her. "Those drawings are good, by the way."
"Thank you. It's always been a hobby. I would get in trouble at school because I would get caught doodling instead of doing my math." Holly admitted.
"If you promise not to tell anyone, I have never been good at drawing. I believe the last picture I attempted to draw consisted of stick figures. It takes quite some time whenever I'm working on plans for a new invention." He said, surprised that he had just confessed that to her. He figured that now she would rub it into his face that he wasn't perfect. But Holly just smiled, not a teasing smile but a genuine one.
"I used to be the same way. My teacher finally got frustrated and said if I was going to draw, then it might as well be good, so she stuck me in an art class to get good at it."
Surprised, Artemis grinned. Their eyes met again, only this time in lasted longer. She really is sort of pretty, Artemis thought as he stared into her hazel eyes. Embarrassed, he dropped his gaze. Had he really thought that? He supposed he had always thought that about her, but it had always been a dangerous sort of pretty. But lately he found he enjoyed being around her. They were constantly arguing and sarcastic with each other, but occasionally, like just a second ago, they got a long really well. Holly coughed and he saw that her cheeks were pink. She held out a rolled up map and he took it.
"Foaly said you could keep it. He's got plenty." She said, avoiding eye contact now.
"Okay, thank him for me. I suppose I should get back to work." He said and she nodded. He walked quickly around her and back the way he had come. He suddenly realized his throat had gone dry. Recalling Trouble's instructions, he headed to the cafeteria. There were a few elves and sprites sitting around eating and chatting. They glanced up as he walked in, but went right back to their meals and conversations. Artemis walked over to where there were a few old vending machines. He frowned when he realized that he had no way of paying for anything. He definitely didn't want to go back and ask Holly.
"Hey, you that Artemis Fowl?" A voice called. Artemis looked down and saw a sprite in an apron waving his spatula at him. Artemis had to refrain from laughing at the peculiar sight.
"Yes, I am."
The sprite continued. "Commander Root said you and your friends are to get free food and drink." He informed him and Artemis could see that the sprite did not enjoy that one bit.
"Oh, well, I would pay you except that I'm afraid what money I have won't do you any good."
The sprite thought about it and then smiled. "Tell you what? How about you give me that watch of yours and you and your friends can have all the free food you want and no hard feelings."
Artemis narrowed his eyes at the sprite, whose expression became less cocky. After considering it, Artemis decided to just give him the watch. Luckily he hadn't worn his more expensive one. This one was considerable cheaper but still a nice watch. He figured it was a small price to pay if he was going to get along with the fairies. "I don't think the Commander would approve of this, but I'm the type to handle these things on my own." He began taking off his watch and grumbled, "It better be good food."
The sprite grinned as he took the watch and examined it. "Maybe you're not that bad after all kid. Don't you worry, we'll get you the best food in the house." He turned and Artemis followed him over to the kitchens. Artemis waited outside the door and a few minutes later the sprite and another one came back out with two trays full of all different kinds of food. Artemis' eyes widened when he saw them.
"Where do you want it?" The sprite asked.
Artemis was still looking at all the food and mumbled, "I'll eat in my room." The two sprites let Artemis lead the way. When they reached his room, they put the two trays on his desk and left. The second sprite returned a minute later with the drinks. It was only then that Artemis felt his stomach growling. He hadn't eaten since breakfast and the food looked good. He sat down and began trying a little of each thing. He didn't like the pizza, but then he never had. The fruit and vegetables were excellent though, as was the chicken and roast beef. He was just about try some of the pumpkin pie when there was a knock on the door.
"Come in." He said, using his fork to cut a piece of the pie. He was putting it into his mouth when Mulch came in.
"Hey Arty, I...You've been holding out on us!" Mulch walked over to the desk and Artemis grinned.
"You should try the pie, it's superb." He said, going back for another bite. Mulch took a fork and began eating too.
"Mmm, this is good. I've eaten here before and it tasted horrible. How did you manage to get good food?"
"Well, we're supposed to get free food while staying here but I ended up having to give up my watch to some sprite."
"And he hooked you up with all this?" Mulch asked. Artemis nodded. He then decided he was going to try some of the juice. It looked to be berry, so he poured himself a glass and tasted it. It was berry, but it had a sweeter taste than normal, making it taste really good. There was another knock at the door.
"Don't let them in." Mulch whispered. "More for us."
Artemis chuckled. Without waiting for an answer, the door opened anyways. Trouble came in carrying something, but stopped when he saw all the food.
"Holy Frond. Where did you get all that? I thought you weren't supposed to leave the building." He moved over to the desk.
"Cafeteria." Artemis replied simply.
"The cafeteria here? I didn't even know they had pie. How is it you get all this when we're stuck with bean burritos?" He asked. Artemis smiled and held up the plate of pie for him.
"Arty's already friends with the chef." Mulch said happily.
"What did you do, threaten him?" Holly stood in the doorway. Her eyes were wide too.
"Well, whatever he did, I'm eating with him from now on." Trouble said, sitting down on the bed with the pie. Holly took the plate of chicken and found a spot on the floor. Artemis poured himself a glass of the wine that had been delivered too.
"I suppose I should go get Butler and Juliet. It would be cruel to not let them try some of it." Artemis said and got up.
"It's not like cruelty is some foreign thing to you." Holly said. Artemis glared at her.
"You're right. Maybe you would like to go back to your bean burritos?" He said and Holly grinned and shook her head.
"That's alright. Go and get them."
Artemis walked toward the door, mumbling, "Ungrateful little fairy." Fairies had more sensitive hearing, so she heard him. She through a pillow at his back, but he had seen her from the corner of his eye and ducked out of the way. He smirked triumphantly and was rewarded with a different pillow in the face. Artemis picked up the new one that she had just thrown as Holly, Trouble and Mulch all laughed. He glowered at her before leaving the room. He knocked on Butler's door and then Juliet's. They both came out and he gestured for them to follow him.
"Oh, food!" Juliet exclaimed. Holly was still laughing and Artemis glared at her again.
"It's not that funny." He said to her.
Wiping the tears from her eyes, she said, "I know, but it felt so good to laugh. I haven't laughed that hard in awhile."
Artemis softened his expression and even smiled. Holly had her arm on her ribs now because they were beginning to hurt. Juliet looked at the two of them while taking a bite of pizza.
"What happened?" She asked. Artemis had no intention of answering but Trouble did, who was already finishing the pumpkin pie.
"Holly hit him in the face with a pillow."
Juliet snickered and Artemis threw the pillow he was still holding, at her. "Hey!" It hit her in the stomach. She went to throw it back at him but he ducked and it hit Holly. Artemis started laughing along with Trouble. Holly threw it back and it hit Artemis.
"Juliet was the one that hit you!" He protested.
"Yeah, but she was aiming for you." Holly pointed out.
"Hey Arty, you want to go get us some more food?" Mulch asked. Artemis turned and saw that mostly all of the food was now gone. Butler was eating the roast beef and Juliet was eating the pizza.
"You already ate it all?" He asked incredulously. Mulch grinned. "I think you've had enough then." Artemis said. He was still hungry and was looking for any remaining food. Holly was still eating the chicken and there was still quite a bit more left. Mulch pouted and poured himself a glass of water. Butler and Juliet finished off their food. Trouble had finished the pie and was licking the crumbs off the fork. Artemis was still eyeing the chicken that Holly was slowly eating. Artemis then turned his attention to Holly as she tore a piece of the chicken ad put it into her mouth and then sucked the juice off the tip of her fingers. Artemis blushed and quickly looked away. His eyes met Juliet's whose was filled with amusement. Still blushing, he turned his attention on something else. His eyes fell on a rolled up piece of parchment, the thing that Trouble had brought. Trouble saw him looking.
"Oh, I forgot. Foaly asked me to give this to you. He said to tell you that he found a more detailed map than the one he gave you before."
"Excellent. Tell him thank you."
"Sure. Well, thanks for the food. I need to get back to finishing some paperwork." He said as he got up. He left the room and Butler and Juliet got up as well.
"Yeah, we'll go too, that way you can get back to your work." Juliet said and nudged Mulch on the way by. The three of them left leaving just Artemis and Holly. She was still eating but went to get up.
"No, you're fine, keep eating." Artemis said and she sat back down. Artemis piled all the plates back onto the trays and put them by the door. He then took the two maps and sat down at the desk. He unrolled each of them and picked the one Trouble had brought. Holly got up, still eating, and walked over to watch. After a minute, Artemis felt and heard his stomach growl. He tried to ignore it and hoped Holly hadn't heard. No such luck.
"Here, want some?" She asked, holding out the plate of chicken. Artemis shook his head. "Come on, I heard your stomach." She said, smiling.
"You can eat. I had some pie earlier." He said. He was very tempted to take some anyway, but wanted her to eat. Then his stomach growled again and he smiled sheepishly. Holly grinned and took a piece of chicken and handed it to him. He took it and ate it, surprised that it was still warm. "Thank you."
"It's the least I can do since we ate all your food." Holly watched him take another piece of chicken and then started sorting through the files. He looked at something in each one and then would mark an X on a spot on the map. After he had eleven X's, Holly had to ask. "What are you doing?"
Artemis waited until he had one more X before replying. "I'm marking all the places where there were kidnappings. That way I can see if I can find some sort of connection that way."
Holly nodded. She stayed silent while he studied the map. After a few minutes, she heard him say "Hmm."
"What?"
"Well, do you notice anything about where all the kidnappings have taken place?"
Holly studied the map. "No, not really. They're all just scattered around." She looked again. "They're all in that one area though." All of the X's were on the left side of the map. Artemis nodded and smiled at her.
"Maybe there's hope for you yet."
Holly narrowed her eyes at him. "What's that supposed to mean Mud Boy?" Artemis grinned and turned back to the map. "So…what does it mean when they're all over there?" She asked.
""Well, I'm not entirely certain yet. Do you happen to know if anyone was sent to investigate these areas?"
"Yeah, the Commander sent a team each time but found nothing."
"Were there any witnesses for any of these?" Artemis asked.
"Sort of. Like for the latest one, there were two who saw two cloaked figures go up to Chix and took him into an alley."
"Did anyone see anybody come out?"
"No."
"That's what I thought. Okay, do you think you and Captain Kelp can go there and see if you can find anything?"
"Sure, but what are we looking for?"
"Well, the three of them had to have gone somewhere."
"So, see if we can find some hidden exit?"
Artemis nodded. "Since I can't go with you, I'll see if I can get Foaly to let me talk to you through your radios. I'll need to see everything too."
"Okay, I'll go get Trouble and tell the Commander." Holly let the room and Artemis watched her go. He then gathered up the profiles and the map and was about to head out the door when he saw the trays. Frowning, he put the profiles and the maps down and picked up the trays making sure he had all the dishes. There was one last piece of chicken, which Artemis ate. He left the room and headed to the cafeteria.