Yay fluff! I own nearly nothing in this chapter.
"What?" Artemis asked.
"She could see me." Holly said again.
"How?"
"Well when she got on her bike she looked at me and smiled. I assumed she was thinking about something funny, human teenagers are weird, but she meet my eyes which was odd." she continued puzzled. "Then she said have a nice day and biked around me."
"Are you sure?" He asked confused himself now.
"As sure as I can be." Holly replied. Hmm. A normal person might freak out in this situation but Artemis's gears were spinning. Then again a normal person wouldn't mess with the People and magic.
"Hmm," he said aloud.
"Hmm what?" Holly asked exasperated.
"Nothing, at the moment. I wonder if it is actually possible." He calculated the likely hood of this ability's existence. Which of depended on wether it was from a human or fairy source. Human mutations were more likely but the people had a larger variety of abilities that could combined or altered, naturally or artificially to create this kind of skill.
"Hellloooo? Earth to Attemis!" Holly waved her hand back in forth in front of his face. "As much as I don't want to leave, I'm gonna miss my shuttle if I don't go now."
"Of corse, i'll walk you out." Artemis said and stood up.
"You look like you already have some theories, do some research and i'll see if I can get free tomorrow night." Holly stepped outside and put on her helmet.
"See ya Arty." She said and flew out into the night. Artemis allowed himself a few seconds before turning away. His thoughts returned to the mysterious girl and her shield piercing sight but instead of wondering how it was possible he instead wondered how she had wound up delivering a package to him? One of the handful of humans in the world who knew of the People. Could she be a spy? Some super villain's new creation? Had she put a bug in the package? Or was her encounter with Holly purely coincidental? I think not, he thought, as he climbed the staircase back to his office, stepping over one of Beckett's action figures. He looked up as the twins raced across the landing.
Beckett was holding his batman toy chasing after Myles who was holding the Joker. Myles never minded playing the villain because, as he had announced at the dinner table a few months ago, though the Joker was certifiably insane, his schemes were well planned if he would stop taunting Batman and just do it already. Artemis senior had broken the silence that followed that statement with,
"Well, well, it looks like we've got another criminal mastermind in the family."
"Myles, Beckett, go brush your teeth, your to old to need me to tell you that!" His mother's voice brought Artemis back to the present. She was right, they were too old, at seven years old Artemis had been perfecting his Mandarin Chinese and getting his master's degree in computer programming. The twins should at least be getting to bed by themselves, then again Artemis really should have moved out by now. He was one of the richest young men in the world and at 19 had barely thought about it. Artemis turned the corner and saw Myles picking the lock to his office. He softened his steps and snuck up behind the boys.
"Would you like to tell me what you are doing?" Artemis asked with a barely suppressed smile.
"Uh... Umm.." Becket stuttered.
"Hiding from Mom." Myles said extracting his lock picks. "It's only 8:30 and we're seven we should be allowed to stay up until at least 9."
"I would have to agree with you." Artemis replied. "But i'm afraid you can't hide in my office. I have work to do." The boys widened their eyes and gave Artemis the puppy dog face. Jeez, i'm going soft, he thought, as his resolve shattered. The twins were his weak spot. He hadn't had a normal or particularly happy childhood and he was determined to give the twins exactly that. Not the normal part, no Fowl's life could be normal but it could be happy.
"Fine, you can watch the monitors. But do not touch anything or ask a single question or I will call for mother." He said.
"Whoohoo!" Beckett cheered and his brother shushed him.
"Shhhh! Do you want Mom to hear?" He quieted and Artemis took out a seemingly normal key. Though it wasn't. It had a circuit in it that would be scanned by the key hole as the plaque on the door' that informed the house hold whose office this was, would scan Artemis's facial features. The door opened and the boys bounced over to the spinning chairs in front of the security monitors. Artemis smiled and shook his head. Children. Ah well, back to work. As it was only a quarter to nine he wrote a quick e-mail to professor Binforn. It said:
Professor,
While I would rather not bother you at this hour, a friend of mine was visiting when your package was delivered and thought she might have recognized your errand girl. Might I inquire about her name?
AF
The reply 4 and a half minutes later was:
Mr. Fowl,
The young lady would be Jennifer McEvoy, my newest student. I hope I'm not getting her into any trouble by telling you this. She's a good kid.
Binforn
Because he simply couldn't help it Artemis replied:
Professor,
Thank you for your swift reply. But why on earth would you think that? Do you think I have no friends?
AF
Goodness did I actually put a joke in an e-mail? Artemis wondered. Well now I know i've changed. He turned to a different monitor opened his fairy files and dove in. Mother came in and dragged the boys to bed, Artemis senior told him he should go to sleep. But Artemis didn't look up until several hours later Butler came in ready to drag his charge away if he had to. Artemis banged his fist on the desk. This was so frustrating. Without knowing wether the girl was human or fairy there were just too many possibilities. Butler was surprised to see such an open display of emotion but once again ignored it.
"Artemis, whatever your doing can wait for morning." He said softly from the door. Artemis sighed but did as his bodyguard asked. Maybe he'd have an idea in the morning.
I love Myles and Beckett! And I love Artemis's new personality! I'm working on chapter five so the next update might not be for a few days. Ideas, suggestions, comments, even flames are welcome!
Sam