My first Artemis Fowl fanfic:D Can you guess who this person is? Probably, but I'm only keeping it in suspension for him.

If I look like I'm getting slack with this story, BUG ME by private message. I mean slack as in longer than a week. ;)

Read and Review, but NO FLAMES. I can't tolerate disrespectful rudeness. Constructive criticism (helping me get better, as opposed to downright insulting) is VERY welcome, though, feel free to point out mistakes nicely. ;)

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Two hazel eyes, in a void of black, widened in shock, laced with horror, reflecting concern. An explosion of pain. A large, disbelieving cry.

The eyes disappeared in a flurry of dust.

---

He admitted it. He, the lowly, disrespected janitor of a boarding school, was probably the shortest human being for his age. At forty two years old, Jeffery Leland was just over one metre tall. Because of his obvious difference, new students stared at him for weeks before they were used to him. Small children never became used to him. They would never stop staring at him until the worker glared icily back. Stupid parents, did they never teach their children anything about manners? Jeffery had been working at the academy for ten years, after a housefire, destroying everything including his birth certificate and not once had he seen a child rebuked by a parent.

Today, he was up earlier than usual. The eighth graders were going on a school camp far away from Dublin. This year, full of thirteen and fourteen year olds, were probably the noisiest every year. It was tradition to shriek at them at least ten times a day for them to shut the hell up. Now he would be in it – hell – alright.

Jeff's broom closet was neat and tidy for the next janitor, though the replacement would probably notice the empty hooks were always the highest. Jeff would kick him. A pale man, his face would tinge red when he was angry, an emotion which he experienced often. He became irritated at the slightest thing nowadays. He rolled his eyes as he remembered a teacher commenting about anger management. Screw them. Screw them all. Jeff resisted from kicking the wall in another spurt of anger.

He checked his watch, the tick vibrating loudly in the quiet dawn. Time to go, now, the bus would be at the school gates at any minute. Jeff searched the closet briefly and found his bag, a small one, packed only the night before at the last minute. He didn't own many clothes except for his uniform, which he was wearing now. The kids could put up with it, he didn't give a stuff.

The janitor slammed the closet door shut, one strap of the pack draped across his shoulder, holding the heavy load, full of repellent and today's lunch and breakfast, the latter of which he would eat on the bus, like everyone else.

Jeff Leland walked away from his home – he had slept in there, after all – for the past ten years. Belinda had been the one to suggest him getting this job. Since then Jeff wished he had shoved it in the girl's face.

He didn't look back.

---

The stench of the pollution the bus gave off was disgusting – Jeff had no idea how the students could take it, but perhaps his nose was sensitive. After all, he was a rare nature lover, and rather than hypocritically using cardboard signs to protest tree destruction he enjoyed brief walks in the bush during the weekend, especially after rain. The puddles, despite being laced with air pollutants, felt like bliss under his fingers in comparison to the tap water, almost made of pure chemicals. Pfft.

At lunchtime, the day was surprisingly hot, which was shown by the two hazes on the road, having a concentrated dose of heat as the bus reflected the sun onto the patches.

They stopped at a park, an oak tree by a river bend. The kids immediately spilled out of the bus like water out of a leak, the janitor and teachers shortly following. Despite an urge to sit apart, Jeff sat near the talking students and listened to their conversations as he consumed his sandwich hungrily. Boring. They all talked about the same thing, were they all so shallow? Where was the appreciation for the shade of the tree, the complaints about the chemicals into the river? Jeff sighed irritably, almost crushing the acorn he was rolling in his hands. Perhaps the gardener would like it, he thought after remembering its existence. Jeff would like to see a sapling in the flat, boring school grounds. He slipped it into his pocket.

Only a few minutes later did the teachers call the students back into the bus. Jeff followed them, unaware that the two hazes, which had crept and crouched behind him, followed.

---

More than hazel eyes this time – this time he saw a face, and surroundings, just as terrified as the eyes. He saw an eye close as a gun was aimed towards him. It shot. Pain erupted. His heart fluttered as he saw her distraught face – no, don't get her upset, he loved her.

The cavern disappeared in a flurry of dust.

---

That night was full of campfires in the forest clearing, with eighth graders cooking their own dinner. They couldn't cook to save their lives, Jeff gruffly acknowledged. They would get food poisoning later, he was willing to bet his job on. The night was full of stars, spilt across the sky in a band that was the Milky Way, the moon nearby. It was beautiful, Jeff thought. He heard some girls mention this, and he smiled briefly. He made to sit down, but then something bumped into him.

He whirled around, only to find nothing except for two faint hazes. Jeff blinked. What - ?

He felt something underneath his boot as he took a step forward. Removing it to another patch of ground, the janitor saw an acorn in a patch of dirt. It must have fallen out of his pocket when he was bumped.

'Bury it.'

He looked up sharply, frowning. Did one of the hazes just speak? He felt an inclination to obey, but he ignored it, staring into the haze. He blinked, startled. He could swear he saw a brief vision of a face, at his eye level.

'You heard me. Bury it.'

'Uh, Trouble, there are some mud children around, don't you think they'd notice this guy being refilled?'

As Jeff bent to the ground, abiding the instructions, he heard the two hazes bickering.

'Verbil, it's Kelp to you. And, if you look around, you'll see the mud men unconscious.'

'Oh.'

'That's right. Oh. Now, Verbil, we'll see if this guy's a fairy, and if he is we'll haul him back to Haven. I wonder how long – there he goes!'

The blue sparks rushing up his arm shocked Leland enough to make him faint.

---

'Do you know why you're here?'

Jeffery Leland swatted at the palm pressing to his forehead, his eyes shut, sleep gluing them together.

'Don't do that!' barked the voice. 'You're here because you're under arrest for endangering the discovery of the People! Do you have any idea how many mind wipes we'll have to do? Hundreds! Thousands! How dare you associate yourself with mud men without permission! You're looking at a few hundred years in Howler's Peak for this!'

The janitor opened his eyes, to come face to face with someone short. Really short.

Just as short as him.