Hold Me

Chapter 5: In The Dungeon...

Foaly: Hi, all you eager Mud People! I'm here to give the intro because Artemis and Holly are off doing their punishment. Haha, they deserve it, after all those mean things they did to me. :sniff: One special thing about this chapter is, there are two versions! Yes, you heard me. Please vote in a review whether you like the original or the alternate better. Thank you! Anyways, the typical stuff, the authoress doesn't own Artemis Fowl, please review her fics, enjoy the latest chapter of Hold Me, blah blah blah. Oh yeah, and in this chapter the romance starts! Anyways, let's get on with it::snicker:

"Your punishment is firstly, you have to spend a night in a locked lightless room for a night and a day, handcuffed to each other. The second punishment is that you must be servant to Foaly for a week." Vinyaya finished.

Artemis and Holly gasped. "But that's not fair!" they said in unison!

"Be glad you weren't booted out of the LEP. The council was all for it, until Julius managed to convince them after an hour of arguing not to." Vinyaya snapped sharply at them.

Artemis and Holly sighed. They would just have to stick it out.

In the Dungeon

"This is all your fault!" Holly yelled at Artemis.

"How is it my fault? You're the one who said we had to get revenge on Foaly."

"Well you're the one who came up with the plan! If it wasn't so drastic we wouldn't be in this situation! D'Arvit, I can't see, I'm cold, hungry, I'm bored, and worst of all I'm chained to my former WORST ENEMY for a day and night! If I ..." Holly went on ranting like this for almost an hour. Frankly, Artemis was surprised at her energy. Unfortunately he was getting annoyed. He had already tried various methods to get her to shut up. Holly, could you please be quiet. Holly if you'll be quiet I'll do all the servant duties for you. Holly, Shut UP! SHUT THE HELL UP! Even, SHUT THE FUCKING HELL UP! He had even tried punching her, dragging her around, he even went so far as to offering her all the ransom gold he had gotten in his first caper with the fairies. Finally he couldn't stand it anymore. He would have to go to drastic measures. Of course he didn't want to but when he was that desperate, he decided to do it. He sighed. He really didn't want to but he'd have to. If he wanted Holly to shut up. He got her by kissing her. On the lips.

"What the-FOWL YOU FUCKING BASTARD! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!" Holly screamed.

"Getting you to shut up,' Artemis replied calmly, even though his heart was beating at around ten thousand beats per second. He couldn't believe it. He'd kissed Captain Holly Short. But that wasn't the worst of it. Oh no. The point was that he'd kissed Holly, and he'd actually enjoyed it.

Holly was in shock. Her nerves were fried when Artemis kissed her. All her system was capable of was that one sentence. Well, okay, technically it was 2 sentences but who really cares. And, just like Artemis, she found that she actually enjoyed it. She shook her head furiously. An elf and a Mud Boy. It would never work. Besides, she was almost a century older than him. She almost laughed. But finally, she decided, she did owe him an apology. She was just as much to blame as Artemis was for the prank. '"Sorry."

Artemis was surprised. "For what?'

"For rambling on like that. It wasn't totally your fault. It was both of ours."

"Apology accepted."

They both sat in silence for a while. Then Holly said, "Well, what do you want to do?"

Artemis shrugged. "At the risk of sounding unlike myself I'd say, I dunno."

A/N: and now you have a choice. You can either read the original ending of this chapter, or you can read the alternate ending because I got some reviews telling me the original wasn't very...shall we say, plausible. Of course, you could also do the thing that I would probably do, read both. Whatever you do though, please vote for one or the other in a review!

Original:

Then Artemis remembered something. All those times he got punched by Holly. He smirked. Time to get back at her. And he knew that he'd enjoy it a lot. Moving silently, careful not to tug Holly's hand with the handcuffs as he crept closer, he completely dumbfounded her by sitting in her lap and, would you believe it, even cuddled her. Most unlike the previous Artemis Fowl. Holly, of course, was speechless. Then she decided to play along. Might as well have her revenge and also have some fun too. (A/N I know this is really uncharacteristic of them but just go along with it okay?) She entwined her arms in his and kissed him. Artemis was completely surprised. He smiled devilishly. So, she wanted to play, did she? Fine then. He slowly got off her lap, gently picked her up, and placed her in his. Then he kissed her back. On the lips. And all the while hugging her to him too. Holly couldn't help it. She let out a soft sigh. Artemis was shocked. Was she actually enjoying it? "Short, are you actually enjoying this? Do you like me or something?"

Holly turned red as a tomato. She was relieved Vinyaya had put them in a completely dark room. Do I like Artemis? The Mud Boy? All of a sudden she wasn't so sure that they were only friends. What about after the mind-wipe? a little voice in her head asked. What about the time you gave him the medallion? What about when Foaly asked you if you would miss him? Shut up! Holly thought fiercely to the voice. You know you like him, the voice whispered before leaving. Holy decided to answer questions with questions. "Do you? Why are you kissing me in the first place?"

Artemis also turned a beetroot colour. All of a sudden he thought, do I? I mean, we are friends, that's for sure but does it go farther then that? He decided to remain silent.

After a loooooong while, holly decided to speak up. "Artemis the truth is..." Holly started, not knowing how to say this. She sighed. This would not be easy. Hopefully Artemis felt the same way.

She sighed again, and decided. Just stick it out Holly. You can do this. "Artemis, I just want to tell you-"

Artemis held up a hand. "I know." He strongly hoped Holly was about to say what he thought she was going to say. "Me too."

Holly let out a sigh of relief. "So, should we get back to snogging?" She said deviously, with a glint in her eyes.

Artemis smiled. "Yes." And you know what ensued.

Alternate:

Then Artemis remembered something. He had a 500 milliliter emergency bottle of pure alcohol. Artemis smirked. Time to have some fun. "Hey Holly," he said casually, tapping her on the shoulder.

Holly turned around, suspicious. Why was Artemis being so sociable all of a sudden? "What?"

"Do you want any water? I have an extra flask in my pocket..."

Holly lost all thoughts and immediately grabbed it. She was incredibly thirsty, she hadn't drank anything since before they pulled the prank, and all the ranting had made her throat dry. She downed most of it in one gulp, then passed the 3/4ths empty bottle back to Artemis, who stared at it. Who knew female elves could be so...thirsty?

Holly started to feel dizzy. The alcohol was intoxicating her. Holly started to giggle uncontrollably. "Hey Arty, wanna make out?" she said in a seductive voice. Her eyelids were already half closed. Artemis was very freaked out. He hadn't expected this, this wasn't supposed to happen! Holly was just supposed to act stupid and foolish...then again, she was acting stupid and foolish right now. Then Holly did something that made his heart skip a beat. She sat on his lap. And-

She put her face an inch away from his.

Now Artemis was extremely freaked out. He couldn't see Holly but he knew she was there because of the weight on his legs and her hot breath on his face. Then Holly almost made his heart stop. She kissed him.

Artemis was past freaked by now. He was ultimately scared. And obviously it takes a lot to get Artemis Fowl the Second scared. He slowly pushed Holly off his lap and backed away. Get away from the drunk, he thought. Get away from the drunk. Holly heard his movement and followed him. Unfortunately Artemis finally backed into the wall and Holly promptly sat back on his lap. Artemis sighed, his brain racing. Yes, he would have to do it. There was no other way out. He pulled out the wine, looked at it in disgust, and quickly polished off what was left of it. Soon, he figured, he would be dead drunk too and at least he wouldn't have any memory of what would probably happen. Thankfully.

Artemis was correct. In a few minutes he was out flat. As drunk as a guy in a bar. Now that Artemis was drunk too, he didn't resist Holly's motions. Not even when she started to kiss him-in the style of the French. (No offence to any people who are French here.)

Ah yes, and what a brilliant time they had... (interpret as you like but no it's not that you perverts)

They had both fell asleep sometime in the middle of it, and Vinaya, Foaly, and Root discovered them asleep with Holly in Artemis' lap, a very disturbing picture to Root. Especially considering the fact that they were snoring like sailors. And there was an empty wine bottle on the floor, as Artemis had neglected to put the vessel back inside his jacket... Root kicked them unceremoniously to wake them up. Both of them had hangovers.

"Uuuhhhhhh..." Holly groaned. "What just happened?" Then she realized she was sitting in Artemis' lap and woke up with a start. Holly quickly jumped off his lap as her mind raced trying to remember what had happened. She remembered Artemis offering her water and then... Holly groaned again. That Fowl tricked her! He must have given her a highly alcoholic beverage since she had been knocked out almost immediately. She hurriedly tried to explain to Root but to no avail. Julius was turning steadily redder with each word.

"Holly Short," the Commander growled, obviously very mad. Holly gulped. This did not sound good. "You idiot, falling for his tricks! He's done it before, why shouldn't he do it again. You are now serving double your punishment. Instead of one week, you will be serving two weeks." He then immediately turned to Artemis. "Mud Boy. You are a disgrace. We fairies have taken you in, helped you live, helped you survive, and this is how you repay us? Tell me, why should we help you? No, don't answer, that was a rhetorical question. Luckily for you, I have attributed your sudden craziness to the loss of your family and closest friends. Almost anyone could have gone crazy with that. But that still does not rescue you from punishment. You will be serving two weeks to Foaly and one week to Holly. No buts. I am truly disappointed at your behaviour, both of you."

Vinyaya then stepped forward and unlocked their hand cuffs, and then walked out, followed by Root. Foaly looked at them, and said quietly, "Follow me."