Thanks for your reviews. Please keep it up. I'm only getting a few for each chapter. Let me know what you think.
Shion20: You figured it out! I think you're the only one that did.
refloc: Good point. I guess I hadn't thought about that. Sorry. I'll have to fix that later.
me, obviously: Don't worry, Lily is coming up in the next chapter. It will be somewhat interesting between her, Artemis and Holly.
And then thanks also to misticjadewolf and Sweetdeath04
Chapter Seven: The Scene of the Crime
Police Plaza, Underground Haven
The cafeteria was practically full now, so Artemis figured it must be one of their meals. He saw a counter where everyone piled their empty trays and dishes. As he began making his way over there, the sprite Artemis had given his watch to, saw him and came over.
"You ate all that already?" He asked, eyes wide.
"Well, I had some help. Thanks…"
"My names Johnny."
"Thank you Johnny. The food was excellent."
"No problem. There's more where it came from, so whenever you get hungry, let me know. Me and the boys will fix you up."
Artemis nodded and set the two trays on the counter and left. He needed to find Foaly but didn't know where the Operations Booth was located. He remembered seeing Holly go off to get the map for him, so he had a general idea of where the booth may be. He went back to his room long enough to grab the map and the profiles and then headed back out. He was walking in the direction he had seen Holly go in earlier when he heard her voice. Curious, he turned the corner and saw her talking to some officer.
"Sorry, can't. I'm working." She said. Artemis stopped a distance away to watch.
"Okay, what about tomorrow night?"
"Working. Root has me doing a bunch of overtime." She said. Even from where he stood, Artemis could tell she was lying. The guy looked disappointed but was not about to give up just yet.
"Well, it doesn't have to be food. We could meet up for coffee before you have to go in."
"Okay, look, the truth is-"
"Captain? Commander Root wishes to speak with you." Artemis had quickly gone up to them and interrupted. Holly looked over surprised but nodded. They started walking away and she turned to him.
"You didn't need to help me."
"I was actually helping that poor chap as well. I have no doubt you were about to tell him that you wanted nothing to do with him and hurt his feelings."
Holly glared at him. "You didn't need to help anyone. I can handle it. I'm used to it."
Artemis smirked. "You can handle it?" Holly was just about to nod when Artemis turned back and walked over to where the elf was still standing. It took Holly's brain a minute to register what he was doing and by then it was too late. She watched as the officer grinned and turned to her.
"I'll pick you up at eight then Holly." He hurried off, leaving Holly standing there. She balled her fists and went up to Artemis.
"Fowl…I should bash you head right now. I'm not going."
"Of course you are. You don't want to hurt the poor guy's feelings, do you? Besides, you could use a nice relaxing meal."
Artemis smirked wider and walked away. Holly stood there fuming, watching him go. Artemis continued in the direction he assumed Foaly would be in. He finally had to stop and ask a fairy cleaning the floors where it was. He followed the directions he had been given and finally reached the booth. He pressed the button on the intercom.
"Foaly?" There was a second of silence.
"Fowl? What do you need?" Foaly's voice came through the speaker.
"Holly and Captain Kelp are going to investigate one of the places where a fairy was kidnapped for me. But I need to be able to talk to them while they're out there."
Foaly hesitated. "Technically, I'm not supposed to let you come in here…I guess just this once. Hang on."
"Thanks Foaly."
Foaly buzzed him in and Artemis walked in to find him sitting in front of a rather large computer. It was just one of many in the room including some other things. There were various gadgets, wings, and other inventions around the booth. Foaly swirled around to face him.
"So, have you found anything out yet?"
"Possibly." Artemis unrolled the map to show him.
"They're all in West Haven." Foaly pointed out immediately.
"Yes and most of these take place in alleys where the only way to get out is the way they came in."
"Except that they aren't coming out." Foaly said.
"Exactly. Which is why I sent them to investigate. However it is they're getting away, will more than likely lead to where the missing fairies are. I doubt they're dead because you would have found bodies if they were."
Foaly nodded. "Did you see any connection between those who are missing?"
"No. My guess it is just random fairies, or else some might have been taken from their homes. Although, whoever it is behind this, may have a grudge against the LEP."
"That's what I thought too, because most of them were officers."
"Yes and I may have a plan as far as finding out where they're being taken."
"Really? What-" Foaly was interrupted by his intercom.
"Hey Foaly, let us in." They looked over at the screen, viewing outside the booth, and saw Holly and Trouble standing there. Foaly went over and pressed the button to talk back.
"A please would be nice."
"Pony boy, if you don't open this door, my boot is going to connect with your hairy behind." Holly said and smiled sweetly at the camera.
"Now that's not very nice Captain." Artemis said and Holly and Trouble both looked at the speaker box in surprise.
"Fowl? Is that you?" Trouble asked.
"Of course."
"One of you better open this door right now and both of you have some explaining to do." Holly said to the intercom. Foaly kept his finger on the button to talk.
"We are so underappreciated." He said to Artemis.
"Yes, and poorly treated." Artemis agreed.
"Foaly…Fowl…" Holly warned.
Artemis grinned. "Oh alright Captain. But only because it's you."
"Fowl, I'd watch my mouth if I were you. I still owe you." She said dangerously. Foaly turned to Artemis.
"What did you do?"
Artemis smirked. "Nothing, she said she didn't need my help getting rid of some guy who was asking her out. So tonight she has a date."
Foaly grinned. "Holly, what are you going to wear? Can I take pictures?" Holly's face took on a color very similar to Root's own face. Trouble started laughing and Holly turned to him. "Uh oh. I guess we better let them in before Trouble gets hurt." Foaly said and buzzed them in. Artemis stepped aside to allow the two Captains in.
"Foaly, why is Mud Boy in here?"
"Really Holly, I have a name you know."
Holly ignored him. She sat down on the only couch and Trouble sat down next to her. Artemis stood opposite them next to one of the computers.
"If you must know, we were talking." Artemis said to her.
"Oh, so you two are good friends now?" Holly asked sarcastically.
Artemis smirked again. "Jealous Captain?"
Holly ignored him once again. "Foaly, Root's going to have a cow when he finds out you've let him in here." She said and then added, "Which is probably why you did it."
"Artemis said he needed to be able to talk to you two. I thought you were going out to investigate."
"We are, but my helmet isn't working right." Trouble said, handing it over to Foaly.
"What'd you do to it?" Foaly asked.
"Nothing." He said. Foaly looked at him disbelieving. "Fine, I may have spilt some apple juice on it." Trouble admitted. Foaly glared at him and started mumbling about how LEP officers needed to become more responsible.
"I'll fix it later. For now, take this one." He said to Trouble and handed him a different helmet. Trouble studied the new one and Foaly grinned proudly. "It's one of my newer models. You'll be the first to test it out. You'll notice there are a few new additions to it."
Trouble held the helmet up, admiring it. He put it on and grinned. "Holly, you got to see this." He said excitedly.
"No thanks, I'll pass." Holly said and Artemis found he had been watching her. Frustrated with himself, he turned and studied a computer screen. Foaly pulled out another new helmet and handed it to Holly.
"Here, both of you try these out and let me know what you think. I highly doubt you'll find any problems with it." Foaly told them, smugly. Holly shrugged and turned to Artemis, who was now lost in thought.
"So you want us to check the latest one right?" Artemis didn't seem to hear her. She frowned and walked over to him. His eyes were spaced out, not really seeing the screen. "Artemis?" She watched as he looked down at her, surprised. "Weren't you listening?" She asked him.
"Sorry, no, I was lost in thought I guess." He said. He had an unreadable expression and she puzzled over it for a moment.
"I was asking if you wanted us to check out the latest site."
"Oh, yes, that's fine. Any of them will do."
"Okay, then we're going." Holly turned and led Trouble out of the booth. They were on their way out of the building when Holly noticed that Trouble had stopped. She turned and found him talking to the secretary in charge of watching the door. She was a pixie and Trouble was flirting with her. Annoyed, Holly went back and grabbed his arm, none to gently. "Let's go Kelp. We have a mission to complete." She said, dragging him out the door. When they were outside, she let go of him.
"You could have left me for one more minute. I think she was actually going to say yes for a date." He whined.
"You can flirt with her when we get back. We have a mission."
Trouble snickered and raised an eyebrow. "So, you're taking orders from a Mud Boy now?" He asked teasingly.
"I don't take orders from anyone, except Root." She stated, then added, "Besides, he didn't order us, he asked me to go and look. I could have said no if I wanted."
"But you didn't" Trouble pointed out, still smirking. Holly glared at him.
"Is this pick on Holly day? He's a genius. He gives us the plans and we carry them out, like we always do."
Trouble knew all this, but was purposely trying to antagonize her. "So basically, he makes you do all the dirty work?"
Holly growled at him. "Kelp, you're getting on my last nerve right now. For your information, he does not leave all the dirty work to us all the time."
Trouble looked genuinely shocked. "Really?" Holly nodded and turned to keep walking. Trouble ran to catch up. "Okay, give me an example."
Holly was silent, and then said, "Well, when he helped us with the goblin uprising, he snuck into the room where all the goblin generals, Koboi and Cudgeon were and was able to save everyone. Then, when we had to get that C Cube from Spiro, Artemis let himself be captured so we could get in." Holly had told Trouble a long tome ago about all of her adventures with Artemis. Very few people knew about the C Cube incident, but Holly and Trouble were good friends and told each other almost everything.
"Okay, so he doesn't leave all the dirty work for you. But now you're defending him." Trouble was really enjoying this. Holly bristled.
"He's my friend. I defend all of my friends, including you, although at the moment, I'd say you would be on your own." Holly stated and then realized what she had said. She did consider Artemis a friend. She thought she always had, but had lately been questioning it. Trouble smiled at her.
"Okay." He said and kept going. Holly stopped dumbfounded.
"That's it? You pick on me and argue all the way here and you just drop it like that?" She asked incredulously.
"Yup." He said simply. Holly sighed.
"I need a holiday. A long holiday." She said. Trouble laughed and they continued on. A few minutes later they reached the area where Chix Virgil had been taken. They both put their helmets on and walked into the alley. "Okay, we're looking for an alternate escape route." Holly told Trouble, who nodded.
"See if you can find any clues as well." Artemis said in the speakers.
"Alright." Holly and Trouble split up, combing through every inch of the alley. It was a dead end, but they already knew that. After awhile, Holly and Trouble had looked everywhere but found nothing. "Sorry Artemis, but there's nothing here." Holly said into her helmet.
"There's got to be something. The exit will be hidden." Artemis paused and fell silent, and Holly knew he was thinking.
"There's only a bunch of junk here." Trouble said, kicking a bag of garbage.
"Wait, do that again." Artemis said to Trouble. Trouble looked confused, but shrugged and kicked the bag again. This time, the bag moved a few feet, revealing a metal disc in the ground. Holly gasped and then grinned. Together, her and Trouble lifted it up and looked down into the darkness. Holly turned on her high beam. It was a sewer entrance and there was a drop of about six feet to the bottom. Holly was just about to jump down but Artemis stopped her. "Holly, wait! Don't go down there just yet."
"Why not?"
"Because it may not be safe and we don't know which direction they went in. They could have set a trap in case anyone tried to follow." Holly frowned. He was right. She hadn't been thinking and almost made a costly mistake.
"Okay, so what now?" She asked.
"You two can come back. I need to do some research." Artemis said and Foaly's voice came through next.
"Yeah, and Holly, you need to get ready for your date." Holly didn't even bother to retort, she just cut the connection. Trouble didn't and could still hear the two geniuses.
"Artemis said that wasn't very nice." Trouble told her. Holly glared at him and he chuckled. They were in the process of putting the lid back over the sewer entrance when they were shot at. The first shot hit the wall near Holly's head, but the second one hit Trouble in the leg. They both dropped the lid, as Trouble collapsed, holding his leg. Holly immediately grabbed him and pulled him behind one of the larger boxes. She pulled out her gun and began shooting at the entrance of the alley. There was a single fairy, firing at them. Holly had to keep ducking as the shots came extremely close to hitting her. She managed to hit his gun, knocking it out of his hand. The fairy yelped and grabbed the gun before taking off. Holly jumped out from behind the box and ran after him but by the time she got out of the alley, he was already lost in the crowds. Cursing, she walked back to where Trouble lay.
"You alright?" She asked, kneeling beside him.
"Yeah. Just give me a second." His magic was already healing the wound on his leg and after a minute he was able to walk. They began making their way back to the station, each keeping an eye on those around them. Holly connected back to Ops.
"Foaly? Artemis? Did you two see that?"
"Yes. I'm assuming that when you lifted that lid to the sewer, you triggered some sort of alarm or motion sensor. Otherwise someone has just been keeping an eye on that alley." Artemis told her.
"Great." She muttered. When they got back to the station, Trouble went back to the secretary's desk and Holly made her way to Ops. She found Foaly alone in there.
"He went back to his room a second ago." Foaly explained when she came in.
"I didn't ask where he was." Holly said.
"You were wondering it."
"What are you? A mind reader?" Holly asked sarcastically.
"No, I just happen to know you really well."
Holly didn't reply to that. She knew it was true. About wondering where Artemis was and about Foaly knowing her real well. Foaly and Trouble had been her first two friends when she had joined the LEP. She didn't have too many friends, but those two had always been there for her. Not sure if it was a good thing or not, she knew that Foaly and Trouble both knew her better than anyone else.
Foaly watched her and then said, "Shouldn't you be going home? It's almost time for your date."
Holly glared at him. "This really is pick on Holly day." She muttered. "I'm not going home. If I'm not there, he can't pick me up." Out of the corner of her eye she saw Foaly grin, but when she looked up, the smile was gone.
"Don't you think that's a little mean?" He asked.
"Hey, I didn't ask to go out. I was tricked."
Foaly shrugged. "Who is it?"
Holly's face scrunched up in thought. "I think his name is Steven."
Foaly raised his eyebrows. "You think? You're going out on a date with him and you don't even know his name?"
Holly rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, like I said, it's not like I asked to go out." She snapped at him. "I can't possibly know every officer's name. The problem is they all seem to know me." She told him.
Foaly nodded. "I don't think there's a fairy in Haven who hasn't heard of you now." he smirked and Holly grimaced.
"I think the Council still blames me for loosing all that gold to Artemis."
Foaly chuckled. "It was a lot of gold." He agreed. Seeing Holly's grim expression, he added, "But it's not your fault. You didn't ask to be kidnapped."
"Yeah, I know, but the Council doesn't see it that way. They see it as them having to pay all of that just to save me." Holly said. Foaly nodded, feeling sorry for his friend. He wasn't too fond of the Council. They were too concerned with gold for his liking.
"But you've sort of made up for it by stopping the goblin uprising." He pointed out.
Holly shrugged. "Maybe. I think I'll go get something to eat now, since I won't be leaving yet." She said as she got up. She glanced over and saw Foaly grin again. He quickly covered it with his hairy hand. She looked at him curiously before walking to the door. She was only a foot out of Ops when she heard someone calling her name. She turned and saw Steven smiling and waving at her. Foaly's voice came from behind her.
"Oops, did I forget to mention he was picking you up here?" Holly whirled around to face the centaur. "Artemis knew you wouldn't go home yet, so he had told him to pick you up here." Foaly explained and Holly turned red with anger and embarrassment. She had let herself play right into Artemis' hands. Was she really that predictable? She didn't think so but somehow that Mud Boy knew her too well or at least anticipated her. Steven came up to her and asked if she was ready.
"I guess so." She said, shooting Foaly an annoyed and helpless look.
"Have her home by twelve!" Foaly called after them and then laughed. Holly rolled her eyes and turned even redder. As Steven led her away, she quietly vowed that she would find a way to get Artemis back. The only problem was, he seemed to have everyone warming up to him, including Foaly. Well, she thought, if he expects me to have a miserable time tonight, which I probably will, I won't give him the pleasure of knowing that. Tomorrow, when she went in, she would tell him that she had a good time. It would give her some satisfaction to watch his reaction when he thinks his plan failed. Feeling considerably better, she walked with Steven out of the Police Plaza.