Many happy returns of the day to the lot of you. Anyway, yes, this story does involve Artemis. I'll do my best to stick to his character, but you people all know my best character is Juliet. And there won't be too much of Foaly, for those of you who find him annoying. And not too much of Sool either. Well, of Sool, but not in his perspective. I hate him too, the slimeball!

I was quite pleased that you all liked it. I'm afraid this will not be updated every day, like Hitting Hard was, nor every few days, like Dead Dreams was. I have nine months to publish this, and I shall take my own ambling time.

You have no idea how lovely it is to be back. Write me if you like, I really enjoy hearing from you.

P.S. Sorry for the blood, and I'm sorry I can't respond to each of you. Just thanks. The librarian is really strict!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything except the things I own. The things I own are the things not owned by Colfer. Colfer owns everything except the things I own. The things Colfer own are the things I do not own. :) Try that one, all you people who think you're the next Artemis Fowl.

Holly didn't move for a moment. She listened. It was not a quiet house silence she heard, it was the sound of someone being quiet, and the house listening, not daring to breathe.

She felt something then. Maybe something touched a strand of her hair, maybe it was a movement in the air. What it was, she didn't know, but she jumped about twice her height, with a slight scream. Not of fear really, just nervousness, and in an effort to break the silence.

Gloved hands closed around her throat, holding her back against the chair, and half suffocating her. She'd been right. Too right. She would have like to have been wrong this time. "You can't go yet!"

A shudder ran through her. There was no way to fight. Not like this, pinned to a chair. She couldn't even see him.

"Hmm… can't get caught, can I? Didn't you get mixed up with Unix B'Lob a while back? Yes. Just got out a few weeks ago too. And he liked to kill bloody. With a knife. I apologize ahead of time for getting your carpet dirty, sweetie, but deal with it."

Holly didn't exactly feel like berating him for referring to her as sweetie. There was a time for that, and now was not. She could hear him pulling a knife out of it's sheaf.

The doorbell rang. Both of them froze.

Then, the man behind her began to move faster, his fingers pattering across her throat until they found her jugular vein.

The doorbell rang again.

Holly felt the knife against her throat, biting into her skin, again and again, until she had no magic left. She was screaming now, mostly curse words, but hoping that whoever it was would hear. There was so much blood. All over her. Trickling down her throat, and staining her white shirt a deep crimson. Beading in sticky droplets in her hair.

So much blood. She couldn't keep her eyes open anymore. She'd lost too much. The knife slashed at her throat, sending a spray of blood across the room, and then stabbed her in the chest, sliding between her ribs, and sending waves of fiery pain over her.

Holly slipped into unconsciousness.

Trouble almost started to turn away, thinking to bring back her jacket at another time, when he heard Holly screaming inside. Horrible curse words. And she sounded half afraid. The police in him, said to break open the door, and go in. The common sense in him, told him to leave or expect to find himself in a body cast for coming in uninvited.

The police in him won.

To his surprise, the door was unlocked. Holly wasn't stupid. This was the city. She always kept her doors locked.

The screaming had stopped.

"Hey Holly?"

No answer. He thought he heard a door shut. The house was too quiet.

Trouble hurried down the hall, glancing into various rooms, and wondering what had happened to make Holly scream like that. At the last door, he stopped, as his eye caught something.

Red. Red, all over the carpet and wall. And then an arm, covered with blood, falling across the arm of the desk chair.

He shoved open the door, and stepped inside, eyes widening. He hadn't seen something this sickening since he'd been assigned to one of Unix B'Lob's murder raps.

It took him a second to process everything. Holly's limp form in the chair. The blood that spattered everything in the room. The deep cuts that covered her body. The knife that was still buried in her chest. The desk with papers spilling over it like it itself had been attacked.

Quickly, he crossed the room to her, careful not to disturb anything, and pulled out his cell phone, dialing Police Plaza. A former member of the LEP being so brutally attacked, if not murdered, was not something to be taken lightly. It meant that someone wanted revenge. And no one knew who was the next one on the list.

"Hello?"

"Hi, this is Kelp. Get me a direct line to Sool."

There was a slight pause, a click, and then Sool picked up the line. "Hey Kelp."

"Didn't Unix just get out?" Trouble leaned over Holly, wanting to pull the knife out of her, but afraid of disturbing any evidence. "I think he's on a war path. It looks like his kind of work."

"Yeah, he got out two weeks ago. Why? What is it? Give me that address!"

Trouble rattled it off, waiting impatiently for Sool to send a team over, before explaining further. "It's Short. Holly Short. I don't know if she's still alive. I'm not sure if she'll make it. Should I risk destroying evidence and heal her anyway?"

In his office, Sool started, sitting up straighter. Holly Short. That was a problem. If he said to wait, and made sure she was dead, there might be evidence, and he would be accused to police brutality, and whatever else annoyed civilians thought up. If he said to heal her, she might be able to testify, and he would have to try to get rid of her again.

He had to appear the good guy in this one. It might even throw her off his track. "Alright, Kelp, try to heal her without disturbing anything. Don't do anything that can wait."

"Right."

Sool hung up, gnashing his teeth at Demon. If he'd gone a little earlier, Short would have been dead for sure.

Holly woke up with a groan, to find Trouble leaning over her. "You okay, Holly?"

"No."

"Just hold still. There's a team coming."

"Why're you here?"

"You forgot your jacket, and I came to bring it back to you. I heard you screaming, and I came in. I hope you don't mind?"

A burning pain shot through her chest and Trouble took a step backwards, holding the knife carefully between two fingers. Holly drifted out again before she could answer.

When she woke up again, she was lying in a hospital ward, with several very agitated warlocks standing over her, debating some medical fine point. Behind them, some very impatient police officers were pacing up and down, waiting to question her.

Holly was never one to wait. She grabbed the nearest warlock's hand, and snapped at him to heal her. Without thinking, the warlock started letting his magic flow into her.

Half way through, the others realized what was happening, and made him stop, insisting that they hadn't decided at what point they should heal from. Holly was not pleased with this. They were talking about it as if she wasn't even there, and she could tell the police officers were getting more and more fidgety with every point made.

"Heal me now!"

The warlocks obviously didn't know her. They pretended not to hear. Either that, of they didn't. Holly didn't care.

She sat up straight, ignoring the pain that shot through her, picked up a small lamp, and proceeded to bash all four of their heads in with it, much to the amusement of the LEP who were waiting. Those warlocks had been particularly annoying. They were happy to pretend that they hadn't seen anything, and smiled, and continued talking among themselves.

The warlocks got out without finishing the healing, deciding to come back later, when their patient was more stable.

Holly set the lamp down, and slumped back down, motioning them over. "Alright, go ahead."

Vein started asking questions, the standard first, and then a few more. "Why? Did it have something to do with what happened the other night?"

She shrugged, glancing at Trouble. "Have any magic left, Trouble? Or did you lose it all?"

Trouble set a hand on her shoulder, giving her a jolt of sparks.

"Thanks. It probably had something to do with something I'm working on, Vein, but I have no idea if it had anything to do with the break-in. It wasn't Unix, that I know."

Both of them looked rather startled. "No?" asked Vein finally. "Would you mind explaining?"

"He said he was going to set it up to look like Unix. With the knife and whatnot. Go for a lot of blood. And he didn't have the same accent. Besides, Unix never wears gloves, because he's proud of his raps, and his evasion skills. It wasn't him."

Artemis sat carefully, smoothing invisible wrinkles out of the sleeve of his suit. Appearances were important, as always.

Beside him, Juliet stopped bouncing, and stood still. This was the first time that Butler had actually let her accompany Artemis on a truly dangerous mission, if you wanted to call it one. Actually, this part was just a meeting. They weren't for sure on anything else. But inevitably Artemis's business meetings were dangerous things, that eventually turned into some kind of mission to save the world. In a roundabout sort of way.

"Make an effort to behave in a professional manner, Juliet."

"Yes sir."

"And remember that I am referring to you as Butler, now, in your brother's stead." Artemis twisted a small gold ring on his finger. It was made out of the real medallion. The one he had hidden inside a air duct safe before being mind wipes, months before.

He couldn't wear the medallion, so he wore the ring. No one asked. It was gold, and that pretty much said things.

This… meeting would be interesting, to say the least. Artemis wasn't quite sure who would be meeting him. Actually, they were late, which didn't say much for their appreciation of the fact that a Fowl had taken the time to meet with them personally.

From what he'd been told, he understood that someone wanted help devising some kind of plot. Illegal, he was sure, or they wouldn't be meeting this late at night, in this remote of an area, and he would have been told more.

A smile fought to break free of his mouth. Funny. He supposed he could run a consulting business for criminals. If you wanted something, Artemis Fowl would charge a fee, and help you set things up. Nothing was to big. Perhaps you'd like to steal a pyramid?

Juliet tensed suddenly. That was the cue. Someone was approaching.

Artemis straightened his tie, stood up a little straighter, and stepped approximately one foot from the car. No more, and no less. It gave Juliet room to jump in the way of bullets, or push him out of the way of a knife, or whatever else she wanted to do.

The person who approached was quite small. For a moment, Artemis wondered, in a far corner of his mind, if he had found another like himself. Himself at an earlier age. A small, dangerous genius, determined to get what he was after. And if he was anything like Artemis, he most likely would. Artemis always got what he wanted. That was a trademark of his. That, his intelligence, his money, and his dangerousness.

He reached up, pulling the glasses off his face, that he always wore now, and began to polish them. They were controlled by a small remote, much like that of a car, and could mirror when he wished. It would come in handy someday, he was sure. That, and they could detect a fairy, record what they saw on his C-cube (the plans for which he had so kindly left himself on the disk Mulch had given him), play him what he had seen, and perform most all of the tasks that Foaly's special contact lenses could.

One yes, and they were collapsible. An added bonus. Artemis looked up, and was startled to see that the boy was no longer there in front of him. Then warning bells went off in his head. Juliet had heard something, not seen anyone. She wasn't wearing her glasses.

It was a fairy. And a fairy meant trouble. Especially when he was contacted for illegal planning.

Quickly, he put back on the glasses, just in time to see the little man pull a gun. Artemis did the only thing that came to his mind. He jumped behind Juliet, snapping: "Fairy."

There was a low whacking sound, like when a dart hits a dart board. Juliet tottered slightly, and sank to the ground, rolling her eyes at him. "A little late, don't you think?"

The second dark pierced his shoulder, and Artemis quickly joined her. "You know?" He mumbled, fighting the drug, "I think this is starting to happen too often. Do you think I ought to sue?"

Juliet didn't answer, and Artemis didn't bother repeating the question, or pointing out that ignoring your employer's question wasn't polite. He couldn't. He was already asleep.

The next morning, the LEP was in chaos. Foaly was going nuts, proclaiming the end of the world as loudly as possible.

Artemis Fowl had left his home last night, with Juliet, and had not come back. And from the way Butler and his parents were taking things, it had not been a planned trip. To make it worse, Foaly had located the Fowl's Bentley— abandoned on a little used road in the Ireland countryside.

If he was not getting into trouble, he was in trouble, that much was obvious. Neither prospects sounded especially cheerful. Add trouble next the word: Fowl, and next thing you knew, you were out trying to save the world.

A few of the Council members had mentioned Holly Short's name, wanting to 'consult' her. Not ask her back, mind you, but ask her what she thought. After all, she knew Artemis best, and she'd been the one who could either get something out of him, or defeat him. Kind of. No one really defeated Artemis Fowl. Maybe made an exchange.

Sool had fought this for a few hours, not wanting Holly where she had more access to info on him, or where she could get into trouble. Then, however, he realized that it was almost… perfect. If he was careful, the trail wouldn't lead to him, but away, and would distract Holly from his case. Pretending to be reluctant on the grounds that she was a little unstable, and tended to cause trouble, he finally relented.

Holly was working on her computer, when an email from Foaly popped up. She opened it, and was surprised to read that the Council would be calling and asking her to join them for a session. Apparently Artemis had disappeared, and things were happening too fast to be kept up with. The Council wanted her advice on 'things'.

The phone rang. It was Cahartez. "Holly Short. I hear you had an accident yesterday." His voice had an artificial ring, that told Holly she was on a room speaker.

"A slight one," said Holly calmly. The kind of voice that said she was examining her nails.

"There's been a problem."

Holly slipped out of the bed, and picked up a set of clothing that someone had brought for when she got out of the hospital. "Yes I know. I'm on my way over. Give me half an hour."

"You know… what's happened?"

With a slight laugh, Holly pulled her jeans on. "I don't think you understand, Cahartez. I'm a detective, and I know Artemis. I don't trust him, and I keep close tabs on him. I knew before Foaly did. Unfortunately, I was not allowed to communicate with the outside world, in case I got agitated, until this morning. And then you already knew."

"How did you find out?"

"A text message. But the nurse took it away, and I was too tired to hit her. And she was pretty nice otherwise."

There was a grating sound that could only be frustrated teeth. "Who told you?"

"That's classified." Actually, Holly had gotten everything from Foaly's email. But he would think it was funny, and he was getting plenty of carrots and beetle juice, so he had nothing to complain about. Besides, it made her look a lot better.

Someone smashed something. There were a few swear words muttered, from whom she was sure was Sool. "You're speaking to the Council. Surely you trust us?"

"No," said Holly cheerfully. "I certainly don't. I don't trust anyone who deals with Sool. Much less makes him Active Commander. But enough said. I can hear him bashing his head on the wall. I'm on my way over."

"The nerve!" exclaimed a newer Council member. One who hadn't dealt with Holly.

"It's Holly Short," came the glum response. "You get used to it."

There was only a little trouble. Holly threatened the warlock with a fist, however, and he got out of the way. The four who had first seen her, were still wearing Band-Aid turbans around their heads.

On the way over, Holly got a lot more details from Foaly, and talked with Mulch.

Mulch volunteered to investigate the area where the car had been for her, eager to do something against the law, and got reluctant permission, so long as he stole nothing, entered no human dwellings, came right back, didn't get caught, and gave her a steady stream of information.

Holly carefully inserted the tiny speakers into her ear that Foaly had made for her and Mulch, and patted on a speaker patch. They were really quite good. Almost instant, and through the earth too. Mulch's supposed watch was really a video communicator that broadcasted to hers. A protected frequency. Only Foaly had access to it. He'd done it mostly because he hated Sool. That, and for quite a few crates of carrots.

She straightened her hair in the mirror, stepped out of the car, and ambled into the LEP building.

When she entered the Council room, there was a very loud silence. No one else under the planet, except for Foaly, perhaps, would come to an exclusive Council meeting invite wearing jeans, flip-flops, and a halter-top. None of which Foaly wore anyways. Holly didn't seem to know that though. She strolled across the room to the advisor's chair with confidence, and sat down, casually checking her 'watch'. Mulch was tunneling, and there wasn't much to see but dirt.

"Right. You want help. Ask."

"We want your opinion," said Sool, in a strangled voice.

"Same thing." Holly gave him a smile. One she'd been practicing for months. Just for him. It was Artemis's vampire smile. She'd seen it enough times. It was burned into her head.

Sool shuddered, and looked away, as did most of the Council members, except for Vinyáya who didn't like Sool either, and appreciated it.

"Holly?" It was Mulch.

"What?" she asked silently. The patch would make up for it, and enhance the sound.

Cahartez began to go over things, just in case Holly hadn't gotten it all. Holly hit the record and script button on her computer, and gave her attention back to Mulch.

"I'm at the surface. What do you want me to do?"

She almost sighed aloud, and then stopped. If Mulch was already there, he'd been getting into trouble, or found out about it before she'd told him, and anticipated what she'd want him to do. The officer in her wanted to arrest him, even though he was doing it for the good of the People. "I'min a Council meeting. Try not to bother me. Just go over the area, and look for any clue. Show me things on the video feed. It's hooked up to my computer so it'll record if I want it later. Be thorough."

"Miss Short?" Cahartez paused in his dialogue. "You are listening, aren't you?"

"No," said Holly with supposed sarcasm. "Do go on though." She glanced over the script on her screen, catching a few details Foaly had not bothered to inform her of.

Then, she turned on her video again, and watched.

The Fowl Bentley was still there, as the humans hadn't discovered it, and in the light of the setting sun, Holly caught sight of a rock shaped like a fist. The cave where Butler and Mulch had entered the chutes…

Something glittered. "Over there, Mulch! In the dirt by the front tire." The camera came closer, and Mulch's hand crossed in front, grubby fingers carefully picking up a jade ring, half buried in the dirt.

"Is it Juliet's?"

"Yes! Keep looking, and keep that. Can you get in the car without leaving any trace?"

"What do you think?"

"Then do it!" Holly glanced through the information that Cahartez had given her. They didn't know who'd accompanied Artemis, since it obviously wasn't Butler. And the Fowl's weren't giving any information, and the police knew nothing more than the LEP did.

Then, she looked back at the video, waiting impatiently for Mulch to pick the lock.

"Miss Short?"

Holly looked up reluctantly. "What now?"

"What can you possibly find more interesting in that watch, than listening? Fowl is public enemy number one, if he goes back to his old ways, which he very well may be doing. May I ask why you are so interested in that watch?"

"I'm not," snapped Holly. "It's just that it's face is a lot more beautiful than yours." She was still a little angry with Cahartez for backing Sool like he had and still did.

"I don't think you understand, Miss Short—"

Holly stood up, glancing at the video, as Mulch began running papers he'd found on the front seat under it. "Take the papers. I'll look at them later. Keep going Mulch, and then get out of there. The humans will find it soon. Then look in the cave. That's where they got in."

"Miss Short!"

Holly slipped her computer in her pocket. She had all the information she needed, and she'd already got a shot of all the technical maps and info charts with her camera. "You know what? I'm really wasting my time here. Sool has turned the LEP into a truly pathetic group. I'll do better on my own, with or without clearance."

"But—"

"If you would really like my cooperation, give me a visa, and write me up an investigation pass as a temporary. My license hasn't expired yet, though I'm not authorized to do anything."

Sool scowled. "And what if we don't?"

He got another vampire smile. "If you don't," said Holly sweetly, "then I will not cooperate with the LEP in any way, and stop Artemis Fowl myself. Be it legal, or illegal. I have done all that before Sool. I've saved the world three times, and I'm getting good at it. I'm well prepared to do it again."

Slowly, slowly, Cahartez stood. "You cannot possibly stop him without any help."

Holly moved to the door, and opened it. "Oh, I have help. As much as I want. It's not legal, but I've gone criminal before. And it worked. The world's still spinning."

No one answered. "I'm assuming that's your answer then," said Holly curtly. "Good luck, and don't get in my way. Have a nice morning."

Vinyáya swallowed a grin, and tried to look stern. She'd talk to Foaly about getting Holly the equipment she would need.

Outside, Holly began to reprimand Mulch for his giggling, and told him to hurry up. Mulch had finished the car, and no doubt stripped it clean of everything of value. At the moment, he was scouring the ground for any other clues. "Hey Holly?"

"What?"

"There's a little gold ring here. And it has fairy symbols on it. But it doesn't say anything I understand. Except the inside looks like it has a mint number, and there's a hole in it."

"Well take it, and go investigate the cave!" Holly brushed past a sprite, and ran into Foaly.

He touched her shoulder, and leaned in. "Well done in the Council room. I have some stuff for you at my house if you want to come over this evening. Some info. Supplies. Say… seven?"

Holly nodded, and continued on, ignoring a gnome's protests about her not having any badge.

"I think it was made out of the medallion."

"Whatever. Now go to the cave!"

At seven, Holly rang Foaly's doorbell, scolding Mulch, as he pulled a beetle out of his beard, and began to munch on it.

Foaly opened it, and motioned them in with a hand full of wires to some gadget or other. "Hi Holly. Hey Stinker. What were you doing earlier, that Holly was so intent on watching?"

"Are we secure?" as Mulch with a sly grin.

"I'll let you in on a little secret," mumbled Foaly through his full mouth. "This is the safest building on or in the entire planet. Let me guess, you were on site, gathering data."

"What else?" Mulch plopped down on a couch, pulling another beetle out of his beard.

Foaly motioned to a huge pile of what appeared to be junk. "You can take your pick from that a little later. Right now, are there any questions you would like me to answer, your worshipful majesties?

"Tell me what this says." Holly handed him the ring. "On front. It's not in code. Or not one that I can break."

Tutting to himself, as though amused, Foaly pulled up a program, and entered the symbols. "Watch and learn, child. Watch and learn. Not everything is as it appears."

After a few seconds of processing, the computer blinked it's answer. Foaly frowned.

"What?"

"Nothing. I just don't understand. It was a clever substitution code, granted, but the only answer it's giving me is a Latin word for: the flame, or sometimes: the spark."

Holly bit her tongue. "It makes sense to me. That was Artemis's ring, at any rate."

"Whatever." Foaly turned around, closing the program, and began to explain what was in the pile. Most of it was stuff that no one had seen yet. Prototype things. Stuff that Foaly had made using money he had shaved off the edges of LEP funds, and from designs he had sold for commercial uses.

Holly took a few guns she liked, and a suit. Even better than the model she had received a few months ago along with Julius. It was peppered with surprises, in various pockets, and buttons and such. There was also a wonderful helmet, and an even better set of wings. They were a lot faster than any other model out there. The computer in the helmet had all kinds of special gadgets, and a direct line to Foaly's phone.

Carefully, Holly arranged the things, looking up in surprise, as Foaly handed her a blank access chip. "What is that?"

"The override. I have three. That's one of them. Anything LEP, and you got it. Security, transportation, the computer information. It'll be a big help in getting you places fast. It even works on my prototype fighters, which don't have any chips yet. They're going to be down at the port in the next few hours probably."

Holly was about to scold him for having them, when her phone rang. With a sigh, she fished it out, and opened it. It was a text message.

Hi Holly. Sool is having you watched

24-7. You'll be arrested on the slightest

pretense. 4 hour shifts. I have you for

about 3 more hours. Then Newt. The

Council's angry too. Be very careful. Try

to lose me, and make it look real. If you

need help, tell Foaly. I'll do my best.

Trouble.

Holly took a deep breath. "I've got three hours to get out of here. You want to help, Foaly?"

Heh heh. I just could not resist the face jibe. It was a horrible pun, but my dad and sister make them all the time. I must hear over fifty a day, even as little contact as I make with them. More of Artemis next chapter.

I must tell you, I have a picture up in my closet that I drew of Arty's eyes. (the upper part of his face) Eye, to be more correct. It was for a school project, and he's just gorgeous. I'll called it: The Aforesight. Black and white, except for the iris, which of course, is ice blue, and determined. Don't forget determined. :)

You who do not review: Your evils will condemn you on the day of judgment. :)