Hi everybody! Wow, this is my third fic! I quite like this story so far actually, so please review and tell me what you think, and merry Christmas! ;)

It was a dry autumn's evening and Captain Holly Short lay back on her bed in a depressed mood. Life was no fun now that Artemis had been mind-wiped and there were none of his next escapades to look forward to. It didn't help that Commander Root had taken a hissy fit that afternoon when he had found out that she hadn't been keeping up to date with paperwork.

"His outbursts never used to bother me (apart from his obvious sexism of course). I wonder what's changed?"

Holly sniffed the air curiously. What under the earth was that smell? "D'arvit! I bet it's my dinner!" Holly wasn't the best of cooks, but no, as she hurried to the oven she saw that the mushroom burgers weren't burning. The smell of smoke was tickling her nose and making her eyes water; as she blinked furiously Holly glanced over to the window where a great wall of red met her rather watery gaze. As soon as she had wiped her eyes Holly could see clearly that noone had obstructed the view from her apartment over uptown Haven by building a giant red-bricked wall, but that the Eleven Wonders apartment building (so named because it had views all the way to the derelict Eleven Wonders Of The World theme park), site of the largest, expensive and most luxurious homes in the whole of Haven was a colossal pillar of fire.

Holly stared and stared at the flames. In a morbid and evil way they were almost beautiful: licking and twirling in a kaleidoscope of black, yellow, orange, and red. Suddenly Holly was shaken from her daydream by the shrill ringing of the phone, she tore herself away to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Holly?" Came Trouble Kelp's voice over the line. "Have you seen it?"

"Yes."

"Well we need you to come in, we're going to need all hands on deck."

"Ok, I'll be right there."

Holly hung up the phone and turned off the oven. Next she hurriedly changed into her LEP suit and rushed out the door. As she jogged to Police Plaza Holly struggled to break free from the crowds which were heading to the scene of the fire with dumbfounded expressions on their faces. Round the corner came a LEP shuttle, its siren screeching and blue lights flashing on its roof. The brakes complained loudly as the shuttle came to an undignified halt in front of Holly.

"Which bargain store did you get your driving license at then?" She yelled rudely, but then shut up when Trouble stuck his head out the window.

"It's an emergency, Short." He replied witheringly, but he was only joking. "Get in then." Holly clambered into the shuttle and sat in the passenger seat.

"So what's Root said?" She asked him as they pulled up.

"His phone keeps ringing out." Holly could tell that Trouble was concerned. "Noone has been able to get in touch with him at home yet." Suddenly it dawned on them as they remembered. They stared at each other in horror.

"But, that's the Commander's home!" Holly gestured to the inferno in front of them.

"Let's go." Trouble had turned a sickly pale colour. The duo jumped out of the shuttle and into the crowds once more, Holly's legs trembling beneath her.

"If anything's happened to Julius…" She thought as she stared at the ground.

A tremendous cheer went through the spectators as two firemen brought a coughing survivor from the building.

"Let me go!" The fiery-faced man was protesting. "I'm perfectly fine!" Trouble and Holly rushed forwards to meet Commander Root –he was cut, a little bruised, and simply covered in ash; but hey! At least he was alive- "Call an emergency meeting at Police Plaza," he ordered. And as Trouble laid a comforting hand on Root's shoulder "get off me!"

Trouble shrugged helplessly at Holly as Root stormed off and returned to the shuttle.

"We can't just leave Root out here, not while he's in this state." Holly thought, she'd never seen Root so upset before and so she scurried after him, through the wake of irritated pedestrians he had left behind him. "Commander?" She called, as the Commander's shadow disappeared down a dark alley. "It's me, Holly!"

"Leave me alone Short!" Came his reply, echoing off the abandoned buildings the lane was lined with. Holly caught up with him and caught his arm, she was shocked at how pale he looked –his eyes glassy and lit up with the light of the fire-

"I'm sorry about your house." The Commander pulled a fungus cigar from his pocket and lit it, inhaling deeply to calm his nerves.

"Stop it Commander! They're disgusting!" Holly plucked the cigar from his grasp and stomped on it, something she'd always wanted to do.

Maybe it was Holly's gesture or something else, but Root straightened up with some of his old fighting spirit displayed on his features. His house had been burned down, so what? Everything he owned was gone, so what? He had much more important things to attend to.

"Come on then!" He said to Holly "We can't be standing around here all night!" Holly followed, a small smile playing on her lips, wishing they could.