It was a long walk back to the hotel. The sun hung high in the sky, and the fact he was walking against foot traffic was the only thing that kept Butler off autopilot.
It had been less than an hour since the "meeting", and Butler would've been cursing the fact that he hadn't forced Artemis to call the whole affair off were he not preoccupied with simply getting from point a to point b. Pouring over the what-ifs would do nothing for him right now. The priority was getting to the com-system to call Holly and explain that Artemis had gotten them into hot water. Again.
Butler could feel a headache coming on.
It was only when he had made it safely to the stairwell that lead to the set of rooms they were staying in that he felt a weight leave his shoulders. The other residents were out making the most of the day, and the only sound Butler could hear was the slight creak the wood of the stairs gave as he made his way up them. The stillness didn't feel oppressive — it felt natural in the same way the stillness of half-empty airports did. The loss of the presence of people, the very thing that made transient spaces transient, left a very palpable hole in places like these.
Shaking his head, Butler frowned, putting a hand up against the cool, rough wallpaper on the side of the stairwell. He let the feeling ground him, and his hand left the wall slowly as he moved to continue to their rooms.
The stickers on the copper keys were labelled with their room numbers in smudged cursive handwriting. 321 and 322.
Letting the other keys fall to one side of the ring, Butler held on to the key to his room. He remembered that woman running the desk downstairs had told him to jiggle the key in the lock before turning it, and he hoped that didn't indicate that the locks throughout the hotel were copies of one another. In his line of work, paranoia and natural intuition seemed to bleed into one another — Juliet would've made fun of him for this suspicion had she been standing next to him as he unlocked the door, and the thought of his younger sister was enough to make Butler smile slightly. She was no fool, but she loved people a bit too much to be good at a job that required facing each situation with the worst in mind.
The door swung open as he pushed inwards, and he surveyed the dim room. The dark green of the curtains made the light filtering in a rich moss color as it splayed over the bed and desk in the corner. Letting his eyes wander over the expanse of the space, his hand moved towards the reading lamp on the dresser at the front of the room. He flicked the switch on, and his eyes squinted slightly as the fluorescent bulb illuminated his room.
The com-link that Holly had given him earlier that year was concealed in a small jump drive. He had only used it once without Artemis; Juliet's 20th birthday had been a few months ago, and he remembered that Holly had promised Juliet a copy of some Haven MMA show before the Fowls and Butlers were mindwiped. Juliet ended up loving the program, and the glee she had been lit up with for hours following unwrapping the disc had been more than worth the awkwardness of explaining to Holly that he and Artemis had already let Juliet back into the loop about the People. Holly hadn't minded — it was difficult to remain frustrated when it came to Juliet. Butler credited the fact that Artemis at least tried to make jokes now and then with growing up around his sister. To be frank, Butler sighed, typing his password into the computer and shoving the USB into a port, he wished she were with them in Barcelona. She would have been able to tell Artemis that this plan was an absolute "hot mess".
His computer blinked to life, the screen displaying a loading bar. Finally, the home screen popped up, and Butler tried to make out where the com-link was listed on the desktop. Holly told him that Foaly wanted the design to be stylish, yet unassuming. Butler wished that Foaly went for a bold and brash look, as it took him damn near five minutes to find where the icon of the communication program was hiding each time he had to make a call.
This time the icon was a flickering curser that was populating the space by the trash on his dock — the only thing that gave it away was the fact that he remembered the icon appearing in a similar location last time. He clicked it, pursing his lips and drumming the fingers on his free hand slightly against his thigh. It was loading.
After what seemed like ages, a white window popped up and filled the screen. Its layout reminded Butler of popular video-chat programs, only with a slight feeling of being off. Foaly might have optimized the app for him, but there was something about the program that was different from any human-designed tech Butler had come across. He paused, scanning the screen for the number Holly had used last call. He clicked on his history, then clicked on the button for video.
A tinny ringing began playing from his computer's speakers almost immediately. He didn't have to listen long, though, as Holly picked up the call on the second cycle.
Butler let himself relax slightly.
"Hello, Butler," Holly grinned from the other side of the call, the audio coming out shakily.
"Holly," Butler started, his eyes flickering towards Foaly, who was sitting in the background in a dour mood. "Something happened."
"So this isn't a social call?" Foaly cut in, moving his chair closer so that he'd be more in view of the camera. There were papers all over the table in front of their computer, and Foaly jostled a few as he shifted his position in the frame.
"Er, no," Butler shook his head, turning his gaze back to Holly. "It's about Artemis."
"Why is he interested in the 8th family's dimension?" Foaly's voice crackled over the communication link, and Butler could hear the displeasure in his voice.
In the video window, Holly rolled her eyes. "Foaly, that's not the point of this call,"
Foaly moved back into view of the call, holding his hands up placatingly. "Sorry,"
Butler cleared his throat, and the elf and centaur on the other end of line looked back at him. Holly nudged her companion, and Foaly's eyes widened suddenly as he remembered the reason for Butler's call.
"He's fine, by the way," Foaly explained, grinning in a way that suggested he was quite proud of the way he read the situation. "Popped back into our dimension about half an hour ago."
Holly nodded, looking back at Foaly. "That probably would've been good to open with," she admitted, shifting her weight onto her arm as she leaned back. "Artemis is currently in the med-bay with our top psychologist and doctor."
Butler frowned. "Your singular doctor and psyche?"
Foaly leaned in front of Holly so that he could better make eye contact with the other man. "Well, we only need one. Professor Diggums is quite well regarded in the medical community."
Blinking, Butler stared at the screen.
Foaly did a good job of maintaining his composure for all of ten seconds. "I'm absolutely kidding. Mulch has no credentials, medical or otherwise," he laughed, slapping the desk.
Finally processing what had just been said, Butler looked at the two incredulously. "Excuse me— he's back? What?" he frowned, shaking his head in disbelief.
Holly shrugged. "It was the silver cufflinks.
"Silver is one of the least magically conducive materials out there — he was thrown out of the time stream before he could get too far away, thankfully. Why he ended up getting spat out into Haven is anyone's guess, though," Holly finished, and Foaly nodded in agreement.
"— I do not want to help you reach into vending machines and steal, Mulch, for the last time!"
Just outside the office Foaly and Holly were sitting in, Butler could hear the sound of Artemis becoming increasingly exasperated with Diggums. Butler shifted in his seat slightly, opening his mouth to ask Holly to let him get a visual confirmation that Artemis was back and (relatively) unharmed, when he heard the door to the room swing open.
Foaly crossed his arms, letting out a fake sigh of annoyance. "Please don't disrespect our medical staff, Artemis. They work far too hard as it is."
Butler could almost hear the frown on Artemis' face deepening. "Mulch doesn't even have magic. If you're going to pretend to give him a job around your department, at least give him one that makes sense. Head of espionage, perhaps."
The meandering footsteps that echoed slightly across the call's audio indicated that Mulch had made his way towards the commotion inside the office.
"I'm very sensitive about the fact I can't do magic," Butler heard Mulch's voice become louder as he got closer. "It's really hindered my promising career as a medical warlock."
"Mulch, Foaly, you're dragging out our medical-staff joke out beyond its shelf life. We really need to move on to business now," Holly said pointedly, looking off-screen to where Mulch was presumably standing.
"Fine, fine — I can tell when I'm not wanted. Arty, tell Jules I said hi, okay?" Mulch's voice echoed over the com-link, and Butler didn't have time to respond before he heard Mulch wander back off into the hall of their office.
The dull clack of men's formal shoes approached the computer, and Butler saw Artemis peak into view.
"Artemis," Butler sighed, slumping in his chair. "What happened?"
"Just now? Frankly, I worry for us all if this office represents the Earth's best chance," Artemis side-eyed the door through which Mulch had just exited.
"What? No — no."
"Oh," Artemis straightened, moving to sit between Foaly and Holly. "You mean about the demon, Nº1, of course,"
"He… has a name," Butler began slowly, trying to remain composed. "Actually," he said, turning to look at Holly. "This seems like a conversation we could have aboveground. Could you get Artemis on the next shuttle to Barcelona?"
Holly nodded, clapping Artemis on the shoulder. "Not that I don't enjoy our talks outside of life-or-death situations, but I agree that it's best to get you back topside."
Artemis inclined his head slightly. "I'm not exactly the People's favorite person, true. I won't outstay my welcome, if," he shot Foaly a glance, "you get me up to date with Section 8's understanding of the Hybras crisis,"
Grinning, Holly leveled her gaze towards Foaly. "Sure. Foaly, if you could email him your findings, I'll cover verbal debriefing."
Foaly merely grunted.
Artemis smiled, his eyes crinkling slightly in amusement. "I'll see you in a few hours, old friend," Artemis said, a tad apologetically.
Butler tried to smile back. "Alright."
The com-link cut out, the screen of his computer dimming.
—-
Across the city of Barcelona, a young girl pushed her glasses back up the bridge of her nose. This would be the place, she thought, looking absentmindedly at her notes. She was going to find magic.
AN: Sorry that this took so long! It's exam season, folks, and it is extraordinary that I have not metamorphosed into a ball of clay — however, I think the next chapter will be up before Halloween. Thank you for all the kind reviews, by the way! I love your feedback + messages a whole dang lot :')