A/N: Yet again I didn't update quickly. You can get pitchforks and attack me now if you want. I'll type the chapter now, rather than sitting here telling you how I should be typing it. And I'm sorry Holly went really out of character in the last chapter… to my eternal shame. Oh, and a big thanks to ---- for the idea for what can happen in the race. I kind of used it, just changed a little bit. So thanks. It was just so much better than what I had planned, which was a plain euphoric win. I just realise something. I've been writing from male's perspectives in the present tense, and female's perspectives in the past tense. I didn't even notice. Interesting. Now I'm actually going to try and do that, which will probably stuff the whole thing up.

Chapter Fourteen: Have A Nice Trip

Trouble's POV

I'm cheering as loud as I can, while trying to regain breath, for the final runner, a cadet by the name of Bob. I'm screaming his name, cheering for him to run faster, when he sprawls flat on his face. I yell 'ARGH.' I'm becoming inarticulate in the face of my utter frustration. The little wimp is crying. I have a feeling this years Division Four will be equalling our record, not beating it.

The entire Division, First and Fourth years are screaming at him, and he gets shakily to his feet and begins to trot towards the far end, where Holly is still bent over, her hands on her knees, puffing hard, yet still managing to yell at the idiot who tripped over.

My worst fears are confirmed when he is passed by the Division One runner. The other team's runners are still far behind, so it appears we will come second. Who really cares about coming second though? No one remembers you unless you win.

Holly's POV

It was hard to breathe. I couldn't draw in air through my throat; my throat just wouldn't let the air pass.

I was gasping, while still trying to encourage Trouble. I felt my face going hot, but I had to keep encouraging him. I was yelling as loud as my constricted throat would allow, stopping every few seconds to allow myself an attempt at drawing in breaths of air.

Trouble reached the end, adding a few more precious metres to our lead. A few seconds later I began yelling in frustration, forgetting about trying to get enough air into my lungs. The idiot Bob who was our final runner had tripped. The little d'arvitting idiot had gone and tripped. D'arvitting little idiot. I was yelling at him, the baby, the crying baby who had tripped. With tears still streaming down his face he staggered to his feet. He had lost us the lead. He began to stagger towards the finish line. We were still far ahead of the other four teams, but Division One was beating us. Nothing short of a miracle would win us this. I was yelling now out of sheer frustration. I had so wanted to win this relay, and now we wouldn't win. All because the little idiot stumbled.

Trouble's POV

The little… Bob (Blob more like, since he just randomly decided to blob onto the track in the middle of a relay) staggers to his feet and trots towards the finish line in second place. The entire division are still screaming at him, so he speeds up, into a sprint, still with tears running down his face. He isn't going to win, we know that now, but we are still cheering for him. Got to show "team spirit".

Then the most amazing thing happens. I'm not kidding when I say the most amazing thing. It is the most astonishing thing. It is the most astounding thing. It is the most remarkable thing. It is the most wonderful thing. It is the most wonderful thing. It is the most incredible thing. It is the most startling thing. It is the most marvellous thing. It is the most miraculous thing. It is the most surprising thing. It is the most mind-blowing thing. It is the most mind-boggling thing. It is the most staggering thing. It is the most… you get the idea.

The runner from Division One loses his footing. He stumbles. He trips. He falls. He makes a slight expedition to the ground. He ended up flat on his face about two metres from the finish line. It is amazing. It is astonishing. It is astounding. It is… oh forget it I don't have time to start that again. I'm too busy cheering. The sight of his adversary on the ground has given Bob more heart, and he has sped up even more. He is sprinting as fast as he can towards the finish line. His opposition is just staggering up, but nothing is going to beat Bob now, as he streaks across the finish line, his tears gone, a huge grin in their place. I'm not kidding, his grin almost literally goes from eye to eye.

The euphoria of winning is instant; it flows over the entire Division. You can tell from the way everyone is suddenly so amazed, the tiredness forgotten as they sprint to the other end, where Bob is already surrounded by the rest of Division Four. We can't really see what is happening, but it is obvious that Bob is being congratulated and scolded.

It's kind of odd, Holly is still breathing heavily, and looks like she is about to punch Bob, and like she is going to faint. She yells angry words at him. They drift over the din.

'You little IDIOT! You could have lost the Division the relay. You should be apologising. Not taking peoples praise. I'm disgusted by you. You clumsy D'ARVITTING IDIOT!'

Holly really was worked up about this. I continued on my way towards them, along with the rest of the Division from the end where I was. She was drawing back her fist as we arrived, ready to hit him, still breathing heavily. I want to yell out to her, to scream at her not to do it; it might draw attention to what she is doing. She might be Commander Root's god-daughter, but that isn't going to stop him expelling her if she hits another Cadet.

Ash (Cadet Vein) chooses that moment to look at me, and I can only assume he sees the worried look on my face, for he grabs Holly's arm and says something to her. I am closer now, so I can hear what he says.

'Short, leave it. You'll get expelled,' he mutters gruffly.

Amazingly Holly drops her fist. She is still breathing heavily, but her breath is only coming in short gasps. This isn't usual; she should have recovered by now. She is swaying, looking as though she is about to drop to the ground. I'm still making my way towards her, yet I can see she won't last for as long as it is going to take me to get to her. Ash mutters something under his breath and grabs Holly's waist to stop her falling over. Normally Holly would clobber him, but she accepts his support willingly. I feel a pang of jealousy, but I know he doesn't like her in that way, and he knows I love her.

Holly's POV

I'm amazed when the Cadet from Division One trips, and we win. I'm euphoric in fact, but the fact that Bob is was accepting congratulations from the rest of the Division, when it was him who nearly lost it for us in the first place, leaves me extremely angry. I officially had enough of him and I staggered up to him (my breath still coming in short gasps, even when I try my best to take deep breaths) and began to yell at him. My mouth was on auto-pilot, I couldn't hear what I was saying. I was barely aware of my actions as I drew back my fist, preparing to punch the little idiot. I was barely aware of Vein grabbing my arm and whispering something in my ear. My fist dropped of its own accord. Breathing was getting harder, my head was spinning. I was about to succumb to the deafening cry of unconsciousness when Vein grabbed my waist, steadying me. My first instinct was to punch him, but I suppressed that. Even being supported by another Cadet was better than collapsing onto the ground.

Trouble's POV

Ash carefully leads Holly across to me. Slowly, gently, making sure no one bumps into her. When he gets to me he pushes her across into my arms, letting me hold her. Holly is pressed up against me, murmuring something, still trying to draw in breath, obviously struggling. I hold onto her tight, not tight enough to constrict her air flow, but tight enough that I feel nothing can hurt her while she is in my arms. Ash is saying something, I look up to hear what he has to say.

'She's your partner, and your girlfriend, you look after her,' he mutters before walking away.

'She's just my mate,' I call after him.

He turns back to face me, a grin on his face. He's looking at Holly. 'Sure,' he calls out in a disbelieving tone.

I look down at her, she is still drawing breaths. She is wrapped in my arms, and she is clutching at my jumpsuit. I sigh, and begin to try and lead her towards the medics. She can't walk, she has no energy, she is on the verge of fainting. I sigh again, and lift her gently, one hand under her knees, one hand under her shoulders. I'm not trying to be all romantic; I'm trying to give her the best chance of being able to breathe.

My jealously at Ash helping her over to me dissipates, considering he gave her to me and I am currently holding the most beautiful elf in all of Haven in my arms. I try to run towards the medics without moving Holly too much, to give her the best chance of being able to breathe. Commander Root chooses that exact moment to rush up to me, demanding to know what is happening.

Commander Root's POV

I enjoy watching the relays, I always find them funny. It is inevitable that one of the Cadets will trip, and it gives me great pleasure when I get the chance to tease them about it later in their Career in the LEP. If they get that far. Usually the useless Cadets who trip don't make it much higher than Private. Corporal, if they are lucky.

I'm technically not supposed to be biased, but Holly is my god-daughter, so I kind of hope Division Four win.

Having watched her run, I must say I am amazed. She is so fast. So quick. So speedy. So rapid. So swift. So high-speed. So hasty. So brisk. It is like she is flying. It is amazing. I knew she was fast when she was little. I didn't know she was this fast.

She seems to have a bit of trouble catching her breath after her first race, but after she has a drink she seems fine, so I do not pursue it.

Division Four are in the final, and, having watched all the other relays, I conclude that their only real competition is Division One. They should have no problem winning, they have Holly.

Division Four do win. But only thanks to an awful lot of dumb luck, when their final runner trips, only to pass the Division One runner who passes him because the Division One runner tripped.

Holly appears to be having difficulty breathing. She is finding it tricky, complicated, tough, challenging, demanding, arduous, tiring, strenuous and gruelling, just to breathe.

I concur with her feelings, or at least with what I think she is feeling, as she staggers up to the Cadet that tripped (I don't know his name) and starts yelling at him. Then she draws back her fist. I pray that she doesn't hit him, because I do not want to have to punish her, but I will be forced to if she hits him. In fact, I'd have to expel her. I really don't want to have to do that.

I breathe a sigh of relief when Vein manages to persuade her not to punch him, but this immediately turns to worry as Holly almost collapses, only to be caught by Vein, who guides her over to Trouble, where she collapses onto him. Trouble mutters something, then ends up picking her up in his arms. This more than anything set the alarm bells going off in my head. Holly would never let anyone carry her, unless there was not another possibility. Trouble sets off to the medics. He actually looks quite comical, trying to get there as quickly as possible, yet moving Holly as little as possible. I get up, besides the fact Holly is my god daughter, it is my duty to show concern for any of the Cadets that are seriously injured.

I rush to Cadet Kelp.

'What's wrong with her?'

'With all due respect sir, if I knew that I wouldn't be taking her to the medic to find out.'

The cheek, the insubordination. If he hadn't said that with all due respect thing he would be out of here so quickly his behind would be smoking. I decide to let the comment slide, for Holly's sake. It appears she is hardly even taking in any air now.

'Well don't just stand there. D'Arvit. Get her to the medics.'

Something appeared to click in Trouble's head. 'Yessir,' he muttered, continuing at the same pace as he was before, looking even funnier that he did when I was further away from him. I would have chuckled, if the situation hadn't been so desperate. Actually, I wouldn't have. Chuckling is bad for discipline. If anyone has heard me chuckling, I want their name and rank.

Trouble finally reaches the medics tent, and lays Holly down on one of their beds. I hate medical facilities. They're all the same, the thin blankets that are supposedly warm, on the beds with metal frames. Everything is so white, the sheets, the blankets, even the pillows and the pillow cases. Everything white, except for the little blue strips with the word hospital printed inside them. Declaring to everyone, in case they happened to no have noticed, that someone they knew, or someone they intended to see, or even they, were in a hospital. Declaring they are sick, or injured, has something incurable by magic.

Holly is instantly surrounded by a horde of warlocks. One of the junior warlocks hurries up to Trouble and I and begins to shoo us towards the door.

'Please sirs, you must wait outside, we need a sterile environment.'

He obviously didn't know who he was talking to. That or he hadn't heard my reputation. A good thing, having a reputation; people tend not to be as annoying as they would normally be. The bad thing about having a reputation is that some people are more annoying than they would normally be. A win-lose situation really.

Trouble's POV

I notice the pending eruption from Commander Root and step backwards. A wise idea as it happens. All too soon Commander Root lets fly his explosion of words.

'Do you know who you are talking to?' he asks the warlock in a deceptively calm voice.

'No, sir, but I have to ask you to move away now.' The warlock obviously doesn't know when to quit. I desperately want to block my ears, but I don't think the Commander would be happy with that; and I certainly don't want to be on the receiving end of one of his yelling fits.

'You WILL NOT tell me what to do,' yelled Commander Root. He was steadily building in volume now, getting ready to let go of all restraints. He obviously hadn't had a good yell in a few hours.

'Would you move away now sir?' The medic obviously doesn't know what is good for his pay-packet. Or his ear drums.

Commander Root, having obviously given all the chances he was going to give, blew up. Almost literally, it was amazing he didn't keel over from burst blood vessels at that exact moment.

'You will let us in to see her now! You will tell us what is wrong with her now!'

The warlock now looked thoroughly spooked, yet he made one last brave attempt to do his job. I almost felt sorry for him. No one stood in the way of Commander Root for too long (in fact, if you knew what was good for you, you would never stand in the way of Commander Root); this medic had to know that sometime, if he was going to be in LEP employ.

'I'm sorry sir, I can't do that.'

'I am Commander Root of the LEP, you are obstructing Police business. If you do not stop immediately I remove the obstruction, in this case you, and proceed to the next in command. Got it? I can make sure you never rise higher than a trainee.'

That did it. The warlock wilted before us, and Commander Root stepped into the tent. I made to follow him, by the turned around and put out his hand to stop me.

'You wait outside Cadet.'

'But sir…' I began to protest, but the protest died on my lips when the Commander got that glint in his eye. I nodded, and reluctantly stepped outside the tent. Normally I would argue it out with him, even though he was my superior, but I had just witnessed what he had done to the medic. I decide not to argue today, even though I am desperately worried about Holly.

I wait outside for what seems like millenniums, though when I look at my watch it is barely ten minutes, until Commander Root emerges. I hurriedly get to my feet, having slid onto the ground, having nothing better to do.

'How is she?'

A/N: I don't know what I'm going to do to Holly. So I'm stopping there. Sorry. Does anyone think I'm sticking her in situations of being sick to often. It seems like that to me. You have no idea how long this took me to write. I officially have writers block, or something along those lines. I have no idea what to write. I wrote six versions of this chapter until I got this one, which, incidentally, is the longest of the chapter fourteens I wrote. Any suggestions for getting over writers block please email me. This isn't my longest chapter ever for this story… but it is the second longest ever. Please review.

Review Replies:

sergeantstan: Thanks.

Lutefa: Charming. I wouldn't live without my hair straightener. It is an extremely important possession. Highlights, I think I have them, natural ones, blond, I think. At least that's what my friend says. But I can't see them for looking. I can't run fast without shoes. A habit developed from years of playing a certain sport where it can be extremely detrimental to the health of ones feet to not wear shoes. Not even mentioning the fact it's against the rules not to.

----: A great big thank you for the wonderful idea. I used it in this version of the chapter, it was much better than some of the euphoric wins in my other chapters. I agree, thinking about it, much too mushy. I'm thinking of doing a rewrite on some of the chapters, once I finish, so I might just fix that too. Thanks, I really am honoured.

maddisonavenue: Another believer in the HollyTrouble pairing. I welcome you… um, I'll work out what I'm welcoming you to one day. Let's just say I'm happy someone else likes HollyTrouble. Thanks for reviewing.

lalalalalala: Holly didn't exactly embarrass herself, did she?

KTezla: Trouble Kelp is now officially my favourite character too. I decided that a few weeks ago, and I only just noticed I have he is my second favourite character on my profile. Must change that. You're welcome. I ship TroubleHolly. Always have, always will. HollyRoot is good too, not in this context though; I would be worried if I had written this story as HollyRoot, but in the right circumstances… I'm rambling again. I agree that ArtemisHolly is sick and wrong. Thanks for reviewing.

KTezla: hmmm, that's basically what you said in your other review, except for a few words, so see above reply. And thanks for reviewing. I am very grateful.

refloc: oh right, I forgot you were on holiday. Whoops. I hate timed internet, used to have limited hours. Now I have the joys of jetstream. It is amazing, about 90x faster than dial-up. Sorry, rambling, we only got jetstream a short while ago, so it is still somewhat of a novelty. Thanks for reviewing.

Summer Raindrop: Thanks. But I do update this slow, compared to one of my other stories, which is weekly. I might just email you sometime. But knowing me I'll forget to. No I'll go and do that just as soon as I post this chapter so I don't forget.

Niffler41: Thanks. That is really nice of you to say that. Niffler - Harry Potter, right? Those little things obsessed with shiny stuff? I want one of those, they are so cute.

Wing Pikepaw: They probably could. I'm going to rewrite chapter one, one day, and make it longer. Thanks for reviewing.

Thanks to everyone who bothers to read this.