A/N: Another chapter that I cut into two, now we're up to ten...crazy. Little surprise at the end, make sure to read the A/Ns

Fowl Manor, Artemis' Room, around noon

Artemis Fowl starred blankly for a moment or two, and then a very unusual thing happened. He laughed and not an evil "I've just taken over the world and outsmarted you" laugh a normal amused, happy, laugh. This strange occurrence continued for a good five minutes, Juliet, Holly and Butler all looking on in shock. Then, as quickly as it had come on, it stopped and Artemis wiped a laughter induced tear from his cheek. He looked at Holly, coldly for a moment before a wide grin cracked his face and he responded to her humorous threat.

"I believe, fairy, that you are the one unfamiliar with the facts."

Butler mumbled something about quoting their first meeting to Juliet, which caused her to squeal in girlish delight interrupting the moment by introducing the others back into Artemis and Holly's little fantasy world. Artemis flushed and Holly ducked under the covers awkwardly with a loud fake cough.

Butler grabbed Juliet's arm and pulled her to the door. "We'll be downstairs Artemis." Artemis nodded, his eyes giving a silent thank you to his dear friend. Holly peeked out from under the covers, her face still rather red.

They sat in awkward silence for a while before Artemis got up the nerve to break it. "Why didn't you give my memories back when we met in the club?"

Holly looked at him a bit puzzled. She hadn't expected him to ask that. "Well…I guess, I sorta wanted you to remember me on your own. And…maybe I was a little scared of what would happen…if you remembered."

Artemis nodded and looked out through the large glass sliding doors that led to his balcony. Another awkward silence swallowed them up and this time Holly broke it.

"Are you alright Artemis? I mean…I passed out once we reached the roof…so I don't know what happened."

Artemis' gaze returned and he smiled softly. "I jumped off the roof. That's about all you really missed."

Holly's eyes widened. "You jumped off the roof! Are you ok, you could have killed yourself?"

Artemis chuckled at her concern and shock and shook his head. "I'm ok Hol. Well, my knees are a tad…well; they're as close to being blown as you can get without actually having them blown. I can't walk more than a few feet at a time, another reason for me not leaving your bedside much."

Holly grimaced and put her hands on Artemis' knees, ready to heal them. "Stupid mud boy…" She grumbled, hiding her smile.

"No, no Holly, leave it. I'll be fine, besides this is your big break. Without me able to walk, you have the spot light for our show in two days."

"Nonsense Artemis, I'm healing you now and you're going to help me with this show. It's our biggest gig and…" she hated having to admit this "I need you." She put her hands lightly on his knees and little blue sparks leapt from her fingers and sunk into Artemis' knees healing the damaged and torn muscles and tendons. "There."

Artemis stood up, shook out his legs and crossed his arms over his chest. "Alright then, we leave tomorrow, Vegas is a long way away." With that he turned and left Holly with her thoughts.

"Tomorrow", 6:00am

Artemis yawned and opened his eyes. It was strange waking up in one of the guest rooms, knowing a fairy was sleeping in your bed. It was ungodly early but their flight left at 8:00 so getting up early was a must.

Artemis heaved himself out of bed and got a quick shower. His hair still wet, and a white towel wrapped around his waist Artemis made his way to his room and opened the door without bothering to knock. He looked over at the bed and saw Holly askew on top of the blankets, her slightly grown out hair messy and a bit of drool forming a wet spot on her hand, which was under her head like a pillow. He smiled and shook his head, getting out a suit and dressing quickly, leaving his hair to air dry.

Holly grumbled a few times in her sleep and rolled over onto her back, as Artemis made his way quietly over to the bed. He gathered up a handful of raven black hair and rung it out, the semi-cold water hitting Holly in the face. She sputtered and screamed, sitting bolt up-right, fists flying. Artemis laughed again and grabbed her hands to keep them from finding his face. "Don't kill your host Holly."

"Artemis you jerk, couldn't you have been a bit nicer about waking me?" She glared over her shoulder at him, wiping water from her forehead.

"So you would prefer I wake you like sleeping beauty?" Artemis cocked his head to one side, truly curious about her answer.

Holly blushed furiously and looked away. "No. I just meant you didn't have to ring your wet hair out on my face. Jerk." She added the jerk for good measure.

Artemis looked slightly disappointed and stood leaving the room quickly. "Get ready, we leave in an hour."

"Artemis…" Holly turned around and looked at the door.

Flight 307 to Las Vegas, Nevada

Flight 307, to Las Vegas, Nevada is now boarding, please file into an orderly line and have your tickets ready, thank you and enjoy your flight.

Artemis and Holly filed into the front of the line and made their way to first class, taking their seats, Holly at the window, Artemis at the aisle. Artemis looked over at Holly, who had been very quiet since they'd reached the airport and was now pale as a sheet. "Holly? Are you afraid of flying?"

She snapped out of her daze at the sound of her name and locked eyes with Artemis. "No. I flew the shuttles all the time, why would I be afraid of flying in this…what did you call it? An airplane?"

Artemis was not at all convinced. "I think you're scared. Don't be ashamed, everyone is a little nervous their first time on a plane. Even an experienced pilot like yourself." He added hastily at the killing look in her eyes. "You controlled the shuttles; it's understandable to be nervous about flying when someone else is in control."

Holly pondered this idea and accepted it. "Fine…I'm nervous because I'm not the one flying this contraption. But I'm not scared."

"Fair enough."

As the plane started up Holly jumped and grabbed Artemis' hand, holding it tightly until lift off had past and they were steadily flying through the air. Artemis was starring from Holly's petrified face to their interlocked hands, his stomach doing more flips then normal for take off. "Erm…Hols?"

Holly looked over at him again, her face returning to its normal color and her grip loosening. 'Wait…grip loosening.' Holly's eyes followed Artemis' and found her fingers tightly interlocked with his, she blushed and pulled her hand away, thrusting it into her lap with the other and looking out the window at the puffy clouds. "Sorry." She mumbled quietly.

"It's fine." He mumbled back.

The rest of the flight was spent in relative silence, Artemis reading and doing minor tricks that he needed to brush up on, while Holly listened to some human rock music and stared out the window. 'Flying is boring the mud man way.' She sighed and saw a few sea birds far off in the distance. "Artemis…where's Holly?" He looked up from his book and pointed down.

"She's in the pet compartment…despite my influence and money they wouldn't allow me to have her up here. They say birds, no matter how well trained, can't be trusted un-caged, and her cage would take up a whole seat, which they won't sell to a bird, if the other buyer of the seat is human." He looked sour and glared at an innocent stewardess.

Holly frowned and thought that was unfair, Artemis would pay full adult ticket for his bird…what's the difference? "Oh." Was all she could say though.

The flight drug on and on, Artemis' nose buried in a book, Holly fighting sleep. She was tired, even with her magic back she was still slightly wiped. As the hours past, Holly found it harder and harder to keep her head up and her eyes awake. Finally, she gave up and dozed off, the ever spiteful gravity, causing her slight lean toward Artemis to turn into her head resting on his shoulder.

He froze at first, but realizing she was asleep Artemis relaxed, letting a gentle smile pull the corners of his lips up. The flight lasted another hour and a half, Holly slept soundly on his shoulder the entire time.

When the captain announced that they would be landing soon, Artemis awoke Holly and offered his hand to her a smug grin on his face.

"Jerk."

A/N: I'm gunna leave it there, it should be understood that they got a hotel and blah blah blah. Now on to more important matters. I have a little experiment here, read it and tell me if you'd like to see the rest of it. Ask any questions you'd like, especially if you're unsure what her knew job is going to be. Look up the lyrics to Billy Talent's Standing in the Rain before asking about her new job though, it might help you realize. Yea…Ja ne.

Summary: Oh Pretty Baby…how could you? Standing in the Rain…even the strongest lose their way.

A/N: Well, while listening to all of my amazing Billy Talent, the song Standing in the Rain started playing and low and behold a plot bunny hopped into my head. Now I know this is a totally crazy idea, and massively OOC, BUT I thought I'd try the first chapter out on you guys, tell me if you'd like to see the rest. Who knows it might pluck your fancy, or interest. Thanks to me-obviously for catching my mix up of Cudgeon and Sool...:hates them both:

Rain Drops for Tears

Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock. On and on, just tick, tock, tick, tock. The clock's hands moved slowly around its lifeless face, the sands of time slipping through their fingers.

"This….is useless. I'm out." Mulch Diggums stretched and got up, leaving through the door of the Short and Diggums P.I. business.

He left with good reason too. The biz had tanked, and wasting the days away hungry and bored just wasn't appealing. Lucky Mulch had somewhere to go though, he could go back to crime, build up his cash, get an apartment, and he'd be all good. However his partner wasn't nearly as lucky.

Ex- LEP captain Holly Short had no family, no job and no where to go. Her home had become the P.I. business, she slept on the same couch that her would be clients sat on. But…she never had any clients. At least having Mulch for company had made dealing with her failing business livable…but now he was gone too. She didn't blame him, never would, she blamed herself. Holly couldn't go back to the LEP she knew that, her father figure was dead and she just refused to give in and work for Sool.

'But what do I do now?' That's the question she was always asking herself. Holly's stomach growled all the time, she couldn't find another job…no one would hire an ex- LEPrecon jock, especially with her record of…going against orders. Money…well that had become a foreign substance to Holly and she wouldn't ask for help. Too stubborn.

Holly refused to contact Foaly, or Trouble, or even Chix, she just wouldn't admit that she'd messed up. And she certainly wasn't going to ask Fowl for help. So that must be where the story really starts, with Holly's new job. God help her.

"Even the strongest lose their way sometimes."