Hopefully this chapter will make up for last time's filler… because something actually happens here.

Well, I watched one little episode of Smallville and got totally hooked. My dad bought all four seasons and so far, I'm on the second season, episode 20. Pretty good, considering I've only been watching a week. Heh. I even started sleeping in front of the couch next to the TV.

Summary: Right after Holly gets a job in the LEP, she cuts her hair. Each auburn lock falling through the floor makes her think about choices, and especially their consequences. What will happen after?

Disclaimer: I don't own Artemis Fowl. Eoin Colfer does.

Haircut

Chapter Fifteen (never really thought I'd get this far)

Apparently, Recon was in big trouble—or something of the sort. After all, it wasn't every day the Commanders gathered in the commons to make an announcement. And it wasn't often that they all wore serious expressions at the same time. Not to mention thirteen officers had already gotten in trouble, which was a little high, even for these Commanders.

They seemed to be arguing, pointing and shouting at each other like children. It seemed like the rest of them had ganged up on Root, by the way he was vehemently shaking his head. Eventually, he sighed and went up to the pedestal that was now set up and waiting.

Holly quickly found Trouble. "What happened? Why aren't you in your office?"

He shrugged. "Got the same call you did, yeah? Drop all stuff and report to the commons. I really have no clue about what's happening."

There was a wide range of emotions throughout the crowd. Some were looking scared, some like they were about to explode from being pulled from their work, some even close to tears. Quite a few were laughing and joking around, obviously thinking it wasn't serious.

"Attention," Root said, and immediately all the LEP workers fell quiet. Call it intuition, but they could tell that this wasn't a time to chit-chat.

"You may have noticed a few strange things happening over the past few days. Commanders missing frequently, some of us more testy then usual."

There was a (slightly scattered) chorus of 'yes'. Almost three-quarters of the LEP population had found themselves in trouble with their Commander more then once. Holly herself had five, with at least one for each of the Commanders.

"Yesterday some robber or robbers, for an unknown reason, was able to break into Garnet Bank."

The Garnet Bank. It was the most high-class, safety-coordinated bank in Haven. Their strategy was to but very few alarms on the entrances. But when criminals tried to escape, they'd find cops alerted to their presences. Fooled by an illusion of safety, the villains would be captured and the money returned.

"I'm afraid to say that the LEP bank account has been robbed of everything."

A shockwave rippled throughout the room—still echoing with a 'D'Arvit!' or two but everyone knew what that meant.

The LEP wasn't a public service—it wasn't paid for by the government. It was founded by one Mr. Mousse a long time ago, and the business prospered and quickly overtook any public police stations.

Without the money in the LEP bank account, they couldn't be paid. Root's voice continued to resonate to the shell-shocked audience.

"We're working on finding the culprit or culprits, but until then, you're all fired. Temporarily."

He said this with all traces of seriousness on his face… rather strange considering they all knew he probably wanted to say that every day of his Commander job life. Without the 'temporarily' part.

They all started to file out. Holly started putting her Traffic equipment back on their shelves angrily. She couldn't believe it. She just couldn't believe it.

Trouble, apparently done with his packing of his office, came up behind her. "You seem angry."

She turned around, annoyed, giving him a look that had 'duh' written all over it. He mumbled something under his breath that sounded like 'knew it'. A little of her anger being replaced by curiosity, she looked up at him. "What?"

He smiled. "We had to take this one class to get into Recon on how to talk to criminals—one technique was empathy. Obviously, it doesn't work very well, as you don't seem to be feeling much better."

Holly snorted. "Right."

"So, what's wrong? Not that everything's fine and dandy with everyone else here, but you seem angrier, if that's possible."

"Well," she sighed, wondering how to explain her feelings, "It's just that I've wanted this job ever since… for a long time. I've been here what—six weeks? and already this is falling apart. Now I have to go back home, and find a new job- not like anything is going to come even close to this."

Trouble nodded hesitantly, seeming to be thinking about something. When he didn't speak, she went on going.

"How'd you pack up your entire office so quickly?"

He looked at her for a second, long and hard, before speaking. "I still have hope that this place will last."

She shook her head slightly, smiling, but couldn't help be a little shaken by his words. "I'm going to see Foaly." She left for the Ops Booth immediately, not wanting to really think about those deep subjects. Better to avoid them all.

Foaly was typing again, not making a move to pack. "Hey, Holly," he said distractedly, the absent-minded greeting the only reaction to her entering.

"Aren't you leaving?" she asked bluntly. She wasn't in the mood for subtleness.

He looked at her incredulously. "Leaving? Of course not! I've still got this whole robbery chain thing to work out!"

Holly stared before the words sunk in. "Robbery chain?"

Foaly nodded. "Big companies have been going down—it was a mission so important, only the Commanders were allowed to work on it. A field break, rather. We just weren't able to work fast enough—they got to us first."

"So what are we going to do?"

He shrugged. "Still keep a few less expensive LEP activities going to encourage people not to completely ditch us. Like Crunchball, all the extracurricular stuff, and the Commanders are going to give up some money out of their own pockets to keep some workers working. We can't have all Haven in chaos 'cause of one simple robbery, right?"

But they both knew it was more then just 'one simple robbery'. And now all Holly had to look forward to was Crunchball.

END OF CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Mr. Mousse? I can't believe my lack of creativity. I'm gagging just looking at it. Hair gel? How dumb…