I'll leave reasons for my absence down below for those who want to know.

Special thanks to Anju Makaa For being the first to review, and Leo for being the second! Also for all those follows/favorites. You've all got me super hyped to write this story. I mean, I was pretty hyped before, but now I'm even more excited! I really hope I don't disappoint anyone.

Origionally, I was going to make this story very gory and stuff, but since this is the first story I've written In more than two years, I decided I'd just go and see what happens :P. Why not. I'll probably continue as I am. There will still be angst, but not so dark and descriptive. I need to get used to writing as is. Maybe I'll make another story full of angst sometime.

Any how, enough of my rambles. Here's the story!

The room was dark, reeking strongly of chemicles (and possibly... blood). An echoing, ever lasting silence filtered through; only interupted by an uncomfortable sigh or shift. There were no windows, and the space was relatively empty except for a certain privileged fellow we all know and love, who was snidely told that they were allowed, "their own room," before being tossed into a dog crate near the corner. Which just happened to be more than a bit far away from the door. This particular person went by the name of Artemis Fowl, who was currently having a darling time in the wonderful establishment that took him here against his will. Read the sarcasm.

Artemis felt exausted as he stared into the erie darkness hovering over him (they had thrown a blanket over the crate, which was actually a bit suffocating, not to mention how cramped this space was). He was well aquainted with situations as dire as these, but he hadn't been expecting this to happen (he should have he was a Fowl after all.) It was almost embarrassing to make such a mistake... There was also a question that he had been pondering; how hadn't he noticed anything?

Opal had obviously been planning this for a while, yet he didn't even spot anything out of the ordinary. He obviously had to be out of practice to make such a mistake; thinking back on things, it was actually quite obvious. His Mother acting strange (she insisted Butler not come- that should have set alarms off), his family going along with everything, and not to mention the trip here or the arrival to a run down house. Come to think of it, Opal most likely combined these factors to torment him further. Really, a ride on a public plane, not even in first class? Mysteriously forgetting directions to the vacation home? It all screamed Opal's influence. Needless to say, Artemis was not happy.

He had been here for... weeks. Perhaps even a month or two. He hadn't found a way to escape, which was mortifying (not horrifying. A Fowl was never afraid) but due to the fact he hadn't actually been lucid that often, or even very long, it was excusable. There had been almost non-stop 'tests' and 'experiments'. Those happened to go by agonizingly slow, just a blur of pain. It kept him too distracted to plot anything (what else could he be doing?). But right now, he could think, block things out, and only look at things from a detached sort of view. It was perfect.

Artemis took a breath, ignoring the pain that shot through his body. He closed his eyes, and felt a calm settle over him after some moments. Usually he got it right away. He could defenitly use some pain killerers at the moment. Pushing that train of thought away, he focused logically on the situation he was currently faced with.

This was obviously a facility of some sort, and most likely what they were working on was illegal. They had lots of high quality gear, but didn't want to waste money on their 'experiments,' and possible items that could be used to make things a lot more comfortable for those here. That meant that whatever this place was supposed to be for, they were funded by someone. Or possibly multiple someones. The military? He hadn't noticed any uniforms. Not that that meant anything. It was more likely that they were being funded by a company of some kind that had an extendable dark side; the company was most likely well off, but not extravagently so. Or maybe they were just being funded by Opal. Neither thought was appealing.

None of that was particulary helpful to the current situation, but Artemis wanted to know what this place was, so he could conduct a plan of revenge for later. (Which there would certainly be a later if he had anything to say about it.) He shifted his gaze to the crate's door -it was starting to feel quite uncomfortable in here- it was very dark, but he could see enough of what he needed to; instead of a classic dog cage lock, there was an actual lock that required a key.

If Artemis had a lockpick or was stronger than he was, he could possibly get the door open with a little bit of effort. However, he did not have anything to pick a lock with, nor was he more bodily strong than the average person. Really, he should have listened to Butler about those lessons while he was still home. He had seen the benefit, but didn't really want to go through the effort. Pushing his mind was something he loved to do. His body? Not so much. That's not to say he didn't know how to fight. There had been other lessons he reluclently gave into, but he just wasn't highly into physical activity.

All the things that happened to Artemis had made him start carrying around hairpins and paper clips. Just in case something like this occured. But it seemed that they had been confiscated or lost. If he could manage to find the right items, an escape plan would be handy, or ready to be used. All he had was to think it over a bit.

A shooting, burning pain through his back interupted his thoughts. For a moment, he couldn't focus, and then, he hissed, grabbing the bars of his prison. Movement only seemed to make it worse, and he clutched his eyes shut, taking deep breaths. After a couple moments, the unexplained pain slowly ebbed away, into a dull ache. He was completely still for a minute, unsure if it would come back. Eventually, he loosened his death grip and took a breath. His head was pounding, and he tried to figure out what the heck that was. His back; he couldn't remember them doing anything to it. With some dread (He was fine, a Fowl always looked at things with cool clarity-) he went over the experiments and other things they had put him through.

They had done something to his bones and stomach. That he was certain of. The strong ache of those areas attested to that; sure he was sore everywhere, but it wasn't just the muscles- if anything, it came directly from the bones themselves. For once, they had injected him with something that knocked him out. Whatever it had been wasn't very strong. If he thought hard enough on it, he could probably figure out what it had been; but that wasn't the point. He remembered waking up a couple times, with scaples scraping at his bones. After waking up entirely, he felt very weak.

The scientists had not been pleased; maybe even a little nervous. And then, what Artemis assumed was his magic, kicked in- strengthing his bones. He felt lighter somehow and still in pain, but not in danger of never being able to walk or move much without breaking something. In fact, his bones felt stronger then they ever had.

His stomach on the other hand, that was an even more obvious point. It was stiched up and would probably scar. It wasn't like he was the kind of person to walk around without his shirt on, but he wouldn't be able to change without looking at it. He wasn't entirely certain what they did, but he didn't want to think about it too much. The thought of someone shuffling his organs around wasn't pleasent, nor was it supposed to be.

There were dozens of other things they had done, but nothing that he could think of that would cause the pain in his back. Perhaps it was because of this cramped space, but he really doubted it. And then, his mind drifted back to the first day he was here, and a more recent event; The injection. They had injected him with something recently and back then. It wasn't a pain killer or anything of the source. A day or so before (it could have been anywhere between a couple days to a single hour. He wasn't certain) he had been brought to the one scientist he kept seeing and he had seemed quite baffled. A person without a trained eye would say he looked concerned or regretful, but Artemis could tell it wasn't that.

He took out a needle, similar to the one from the first day, and injected him with it again; It hurt as much as the first time -Which is to say very much- Perhaps even more than before, it was similar to the pain he had felt in his back. This didn't bode well with him, not at all.

-_-_-_-_-_/

In another part of the building a scientist was studying a blood sample with a frown on his face. This was... an unusual result.

Whew. Sorry guys. I've been having areally crappy time lately. First the charger for my labtop broke, I had lots of tests, studying, visits to the hospital. A relative died. I'm pretty bumbed out. But thanks to all those readers out there who haven't lost interest in this story! I tried to make his chapter long than usual to make up for my absence, but yeah. I'm actually not sure I suceeded. I don't have a word count on my writer thing. At least I tried though. I was actually going to make this even longer, but I wanted to post this tonight. I actually had this started out when things went to the giant fan.

For those of you who ar wondering what up with Artemis's blood, his magic was interfearing with the process of him becoming part birdy lol. The first injection was torn apart like a disease. This time it's going to work though.

Anyway, enjoy! ~SpaceandInfinity