Writers comment: Um.. you made it to chapter 3, wow, I really admire you , haha. Um, Artemis and Holly already kissed for the first time, I actually wanted that to wait 'till one of the last chapters but I didn't--it would've gotten a bit boring, I guess, so um… You'll just have to read it if you wanna know more, I think. Success.

Disclamer: I don't own these characters, unfortunately.

A few thank you's:

Thank you HollyBridgetPeppermint for being my beta-reader thank you very much :D

Thank you Jenna for letting me use your name and help with the romantic stuff

Thank you unknown chatbox peepz for giving me inspiration

Thank you Lizzy for helping me with some sentences

Thank you everyone else for… er… just being there

Chapter 3:

Mistakes

"Okay, you scum! Listen up! I, er, we," the short man pointed at himself and the tall, fair man next to him "have command here. You all do as WE say. If you have your own opinion, keep it your own. If not, you'll get shot, or you'll get a whole bunch more money for this job. It's up to you to have good or bad plans." The short one paraded in front of the other elves and humans.

Suddenly the tall man started to talk. "As you all know," he said in perfect English with a little accent, "our goal is to rule this world. It sounds a bit, say, idiotic, and it might be so, but we want to go for the…big money. You do as we say, we'll like you, andyou get treated well. If you don't do as we say… we won't like you, andyou'll get shot. IS THAT CLEAR?"

All the people hummed, like one big 'yes' and then the fat man appeared. He was busy with putting his glasses on again, and one finger stroked his mustache. "I…uh, yeah. I wanted, er, to say something."

"Yeah, what, fat ass?" said the tall, fair man, looking bored.

"I, er, what if you don't like me?" he stammered a bit, but restored his composure quickly.

"I don't like you," said the short man. His auburn hair waved on a breeze just passing by. He pulled the softnose he had from his belt, and pointed it at the fat man. His eyes narrowed and… he shot. Just one time.

Time seemed to have slowed. Fattie couldn't breathe, only think of his…dead future. As quickly as his small mind could think he ran through a list of what he could do. There were only three things on it. Duck, run, or keep standing still. Because his mind was just a bit too slow, he kept standing still. Just a second later the bullet slowly collided with his skull. He felt little pieces of skull bone collapse with his flesh, then his brain material was hit. He didn't feel much pain, just that the back of his head that was blown off. The people behind him must have felt a little sick. Then he fell to the ground. Silence. Sometimes you have a feeling like you're in a movie scene, and you hear that sort of typical movie-music. Most of them had that feeling now.

"Wh…What was that for?" said the tall man. His eyes were big with fear. That wasn't the deal. Not even the least of it.

"I," started the short one, "want to speed things up a little. We can't use any people who can do nothing but complain and only cost unnecessary money. And as you said, if we don't like someone we'll shoot 'em, and so I did." His face showed complete and utter selfishness. "Come on, folks! You know what to do! And guards! You all run a double shift; we are expecting some visitors! Though they might be here just next week or so…"

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"Artemis?" Holly ran after him. After her training with Juliet she had some spare time. "Artemis, wait a minute, please."

Artemis stopped and turned around. Slowly. "Yes, captain?" His blue eyes sparkled with anger

"So we're back to 'captain', are we? Well, um…Artemis, I'm…"

"Sorry? Is that what you wanted to say? You're sorry?" He gazed at her. Trying to break her. She had said that all the time. Maybe there would be a moment that he could 'forgive' her, but at this moment he felt like strangling her.

"I… It's not what you think it was!"

Holly looked so helpless. The feeling of strangling her passed away slowly, but came back doubly when he closed his eyes and saw Trouble and Holly right before his eyes again. That image came back all the time. "It wasn't? I thought you felt something for me, or was that also not what I thought it was?" (A/N: Don't get confused here, it's something we all missed, you'll see it soon enough)

"I…I…I…er…" stammered Holly. She just couldn't find anything to say.

"You know what? I really don't want to hear all your excuses! I don't care! You seem to like Trouble, and he's an elf, so maybe you two just fit more together! Go bore him, I don't even want to know you anymore! I'll find somewhere else to sleep for the rest of the days I have to stay here! I'm so done with you! Actually I always kind of 'liked' you, I can't seem to understand how I could ever do that, but I'm so fed up! Every time you do something to make me hate you again. To see you as a rival! Just… You just get away from me! NOW!" Angry as he was he ran off. Yes, he just ran away. Something a young genius like him shouldn't be doing.

"Artemis!" cried Holly. But he didn't come back.

"Problems?" Foaly came walking towards Holly. He saw her eyes growing and tears appeared, just started flowing down.

"I…" She couldn't say the reason she cried. It was just too humiliating. "Just…please leave me alone for a while. No offence, but I need some time alone. To think." She walked away, slowly going towards her home. At this moment she really hated herself. Why did she need to flirt with Trouble? It wasn't even serious! Back at her apartment she noticed the door was open. Artemis! Maybe he had returned here. She hoped so. Quietly she entered the room where Artemis was supposed to sleep, and yes, there he was. Sitting with his back towards the door. "Artemis?" No response. "Artemis, please do something. Shout at me, scream, knock me out, or don't, I don't care, but please, don't sit there like…like… that…" There came the tears again. Still no response. "Please…" Like a pile of hopeless rags she sunk down on the floor. Leaning against the door. The tears came, more and more, all at once.

Suddenly Artemis rose to his feet. Everything came back. When he first met Holly until the time they first kissed. First he had felt deep respect for her, nothing more, but it had grown bigger, deeper, more than he had ever felt for someone. It was something he couldn't describe. And now this. He broke. "You know what it is?" he yelled. "You! It's all about you! I NEVER felt anything like love, hope, hate, not even fear! I don't know what this is all about! And then suddenly you appear, you start to kiss me like a madwoman, and I'm supposed to know what you mean! And when I thought I had figured it out you start to, what do you call it, FLIRT with another guy! Then how am I supposed to know what to think! What to feel! I really don't know anymore, Holly." He stopped to get a breath "So, tell me what you really think! Because I don't know, I… I just don't know…" He sunk back on the bed again, helpless.

Holly stood up and walked to that same bed. She flopped down on it next to Artemis, and cried.

"Come here," said Artemis and put his arms around Holly. She laid her head against his chest. His hand ran softly through her short auburn hair. "Er…may I ask you something, Captain Short?" he whispered in her ear.

"Sure," came the answer, "and stop calling me 'Captain Short' when I'm in this state. I really don't feel like a captain at the moment."

Artemis felt warm tears fall on his shirt. They went right through the material that it was made from. "Why, sure, Holly," said Artemis a bit sarcastic. "But, um…Why did you actually flirt with Trouble?" He really shouldn't have asked that, as he realized a moment later.

Holly released herself out of his arms and looked at him with big eyes. "Wh… What? Why are you starting that again? It was nothing! I didn't do a thing! Understand that for once." She punched him on the chest. Hard. Artemis fell backwards. He missed the bed and before he knew he was lying on the ground. Holly pulled him up and slapped him in the face, even harder.

"Hey! What was that for?" Artemis rubbed his cheek. He wouldn't have been surprised if her hand was literally marked on his face.

"For…" Holly started but she was interrupted by the door that opened.

"Hello?" It was Juliet. Suddenly she appeared in the room. "Oh, am I disturbing anything?" she chuckled.

"Yes! Er, no!" Artemis and Holly said in chorus.

"Well, this is actually a bit inconvenient, Juliet, no offence but, what do you want?" said Holly uncomfortably.

"I was sent here by Commander Root," said Juliet,not offended at all.

Foaly has come up with some plan. It's about the shuttle. You two should come, he said."

Holly quickly grinned at Artemis and gave him another punch. Against his shoulder this time. He hadn't expected this, and fell off the bed again. How embarrassing. "And what was that for!" yelled Artemis, kicking her ankle.

"Am I missing something?" said Juliet, interested.

"No," said Artemis quickly "Let's go."

"Yeah," Holly agreed, biting her lower lip. Her ankle was kind of hurting now. "Let's go." She said it and immediately sunk to the ground. Her ankle was really becoming red and swollen. "D'Arvit!" she swore.

"Whoa, did I do that?" asked Artemis almost freaked-out. He hadn't kicked her that hard, had he?

'You idiot! Look what you did!' said a voice in his head. 'She's really gonna kill you for this!'

'No she isn't!' said another voice 'He couldn't have done this! He's waaaaaaaay too weak.'

Nice to know I think about myself like this.

The voices immediately shut up.

"No, this wasn't your fault," said Holly. "It was already a bit painful. And, by the way, you're way too weak to kick me and almost break my ankle." She chuckled.

You usually see in anime comics that a character gets some kind of drip on itshead. Artemis had one at this moment, figuratively of course. "What a mistake to make," (A/N: A la 'Allo, Allo' If you haven't seen it, you really should!) he said, and banged his head against the wall.

What was THAT for!

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"That's quite nasty," said Foaly. He checked Holly's ankle. "As far as I see, and that's quite far, someone has taken DNA from your ankle. And with a huge needle! You're missing a piece of flesh there!"

Artemis had carried her all the way down to Ops Booth. Juliet had offered to help, the nice girl, but Artemis wanted to do this himself. To show that he wasn't as weak as all that.

Holly grimaced. "Is it really that bad? Can I still join the mission?" If it was as bad as Foaly sounded, and it probably was, then she might not be able to go with the rest. And that would be really bad, because she had looked forward to arresting that criminal brother of hers.

"I…think you can't, no. But, maybe if I give you some of that new invented medicine I created… but you have to start with that right now, otherwise it will still be pretty painful when we're about to leave. And I…don't really know if it will work, I haven't tested it yet."

"Wha…?" Said Root. "She can't come?" That would be a true disaster.

"I…" Started Foaly but he was interrupted.

"She can't come along?" muttered Artemis. Everyone was muttering, growling, groaning, grimacing, etc.

"But if she can't…" said Root.

"D'Arvit!" swore Foaly. "Shut up! All of you! Julius, shut your mouth! You all look like a bunch of schoolkids! KEEP QUIET!" shouted Foaly.

"STOP SHOUTING AND DON'T CALL ME JULIUS, CIVILIAN!" Root hollered back. Suddenly everyone stopped gibbering.

"Good," said Foaly "Now that I have your attention, listen to the plan I have come up with, with some help from our ingenious Mud Man, who left the building WAY too early, if you ask me…"

"We didn't ask you anything, donkey-boy," said Root. "Now, continue with your story, you gibbering moron, or you'll be horse-meat at the end of the week!"

"Yeah, sure, Julius."

"STOP CALLING ME JULIUS!" Root yelled at Foaly. His head began to turn blackish again.

"Well, as we know the low-life humans and the elves are in some kind of building. According to the data I received they are staying at Keningston Road, London (A/N: I've only been to London once, so I just picked a street I remembered. I hope that this one makes sense.). But they're under a building. Really, it's pathetic. So what we have to do is go there, sneak into that building, go underground, get those freaking idiots, mind-wipe the humans and we're done. That's all." He stopped for a moment "But…" he continued.

"I knew there was a 'but'!" whispered Vinyáya, nodding at Trouble for some stupid reason.

Mulch grimaced.

"It isn't going to be as simple as it sounds."

"At the risk of sounding clichéd: I was expecting that," said Artemis dryly.

"You really should start coming up with something more original," Root said, strangely enough wearing a slight smile.

"Yeah, maybe I should, and, of course, I could, since I'm such a genius." He glanced at Holly, who was looking a bit absent-minded.

"H-Holly?" said Artemis, a bit weakly. She was looking kind of pale. Her normally coffee-coloured skin was now almost like Artemis's, and that looked quite bad. "Holly?" Artemis bounced off the chair he was sitting on and ran over to Holly. He took her hands in his, and gave her a very soft slap in the face. "Holly!"

"You, know, I really don't feel so well…" she murmured and fainted.

"Whoa, Holly!" said Trouble. "What's that for?" He stood up.

"Don't make that mistake again, Kelp!" said Artemis bitterly. He glared at him, and Trouble quickly sat back, though he didn't have to do that because Vinyáya had already pulled him down. No, he wouldn't make that mistake again.

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"How fun," said the auburn-haired man. "So my sister has fainted, has she? Nice." He half-smiled unnaturally. He didn't really care. All he had needed was her DNA and the DNA of that irritating, all-knowing, Mud Man. With a part of both his sister and the Mud-Man he could make the ultimate defence system. He, or actually his crew, were working on a childYes, a child. Half human, half fairy. When their enemies saw the poor little thing they wouldn't attack him and his group. And once they had taken it with them, he would be finished with them. All of them. Yes, that little child had a sensor in her head. There was only one way to get it out, and there were only a few people who could do that. The four people who created it, and the centaur. Foaly. And to make sure he wouldn't do that, he would be the first to be killed. How nice. He glanced at Yenna, who was standing in front of him.

"So that was the news?" He raised an eyebrow. "Oh, how I loveto act like our young ingenious Fowl!" He sneered.

He's really mad! Why am I actually working for this geek? He's pathetic!

"Yes, commander, sir. That was it." She made a slight bow and left the room.

"Let's see," muttered the short man. His 's' sound was long and snakelike. He wandered into the lab. "How are we getting on?" he yelled. He walked around something that looked like a bath. The liquidy stuff in it was bubbling heavily and glowed blue. A vague outline of something that might be a person was floating inside it. The short man was about to stick a finger in the liquidwhen a young man who looked much like a professor came hopping towards him and quickly pulled his hand back.

"Don't you dare do that, Man, sir!" he yelled. "That liquid is deadly, Man, and you would have disturbed the growing process of the girl, Man, sir!" The poor man really should not have said such things, because suddenly he felt a cold iron-like thing against his head.

"That was a very indiscreet move, sonny," he said and his auburn hair swayed again, affectedly. The softnose that was pointing at the professor's head hung there, perfectly still--or at least his hand wasn't shaking it. "Tell me what the heck is floating in there, and I might not kill you." He took the softnose away from the man's head and put it in its holster again. The look on his face was just… inexpressible. Like he didn't feel a thing.

"Er…y-y-yes, s-s-sir. This is the 'child' of Fowl and your… sister, s-sir." His stammering voice was filled with resentment. "The liquid in it is just hydrogen but it's mixed with troll venom, which is very deadly. There's also a bit of hydrochloric acid. That bites through your very skin, and with the troll venom it's extra fatal, Man, sir." "So…" started the commander. "Why is the damn girl in that deadly stuff without… er…dying and why the heck would you put someone in troll venom and hydro…hydrolic…hydrochlic…"

"Hydrochloric acid?" said the professor semi-helpfully.

"Yeah, hydro acid something, if it's so deadly? And what makes her grow like that?"

"Well actually we have discovered…" but at that point he was interrupted.

"Yes! The growing process is done!" The other commander of this facility, a tall, fair human, laughed savagely. "Finally! Let's lift her!" He pressed a huge red button. Suddenly the liquid stopped bubbling and the platform the girl appeared to lie on rose up in the air. "Bring the clothes!" shouted the man. A few female professors took some clothes from a pile.

The girl rose higher and higher until she was at the edge of the bath. When she broke through the liquid the bath lit completely blue. Suddenly the rest of the liquid disappeared, as if someone had pulled the plug out. "Where am I?" asked the girl disdainfully. "Give me some damn clothes, you idiots! I really dislike being seen naked!" The female professors came towards her and passed her some clothes and a hairbrush. . She quickly dressed and brushed her long, dark brown hair.

The first thing the commander noticed was that she looked exactly like a mixture of Holly and Artemis. She was about 145 cm. She had the big eyes of her mother, except that they weren't hazel but sapphire-blue, like her father's. She had pointy ears but they were shorter than Holly's. Her features were like her mother's in that they were beautiful and slim, but also like her father's, slender and crafty, but pretty. She had put on a pair of skate-trousers and a black tank top. It was just perfect.

"Why are you staring at me, little man? Bring me back to my parents, or I'll kick your small fairy ass!" she scoffed.

The man'seyes narrowed. How could she know that he was a fairy? "So, who are your parents then?" Just a little test to see what she knew.

"Duh!" She said "My mother is Holly Short, she was the first female LEPrecon unit officer EVER! You would never accomplish something great like that. And my dad… He's a Mud Man. But not JUST a Mud Man. No, he is the best criminal genius who ever existed. That's something I'm really proud of. He's okay, for a Mud Man." She paused for a moment. "Oh, and I know who you are, of course." She turned around, looking around the lab. "What a freaked-out boring place you've got here. Can't you bring me to my parents or to a computer?"

She turned around again and looked him straight in the eyes. Her eyes were even more icy and cold than his. If that was possible.

"Who do you think I am?"

"Logic! You're my idiotic so-called 'criminal uncle.' Damien Short." She looked at him challengingly. "Nerd," she muttered. Suddenly she felt cold iron against her head. "Wow, relax, you geek!" she sneered. "You could hurt yourself. Try not to shoot yourself in the foot!" He was distracted only for a few seconds, but that was too long. She grabbed his wrist and turned it around with all the force she could give it. With her other hand she grabbed the gun and pointed it at him. She grabbed his neck in a strange, painful way. "You've got to be quicker than that to beat me!" she said scornfully.

Her hand was still holding his neck and agony struck him. Must have been some stupid tendon. "Could…you…please…let…go…of …me…?" He almost couldn't breathe so he was forced to stammer. How humiliating.

"Sure," she said, sneering, "but only if you order your people to draw back, get a laptop for me and bring me back to my parents after that. AND HURRY UP, YOU WIMP!" She grinned. "Or I might break your neck after all."

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"Holly, you're finally back with us!" Artemis had never been so relieved. He hugged her. Suddenly he let go and they looked at each other, baffled. Their cheeks turned tomato-red.

"Ahum." Holly's cough sounded very fake. "What have you done to your hand?" she asked anxiously.

Yes, his hand looked a little strange. It was red and swollen and painful. Very painful. "Er… I don't know, actually." How dumb.

"I'll take a look at that," said Foaly and he chuckled. "It looks like the same thing Holly has."

"Oh, how nice," said Root. "First one of our best officers is down, and now our genius too. Can it get any worse?" He sighed.

"Come here, Mud Man," said Foaly, tapping on the table.

Artemis walked towards him and laid his hand on the table. Now it felt like his hand was burning.

"Yes," said Foaly. He held a magnifying glass above Artemis's hand "They took your DNA too. I wonder…" He sighted then continued "I want everyone to be examined. It might be a trap—like…er… maybe they are replicating us to use as spies…" He wanted to say more but Root interrupted.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, relax, pony-friend!" he said coercively. "Stop dawdling and tell me how they could ever infiltrate this building!" He gazed at Foaly, who was looking very nervous.

"Er…just as you say, Julius. Infiltrate. If you know the definition of that."

"D'Arvit! Foaly! Stop calling me Julius, and start being serious! If we aren't careful we could lose our whole squad! We only have the best of the best here, donkey-boy, and we need them all to survive!" His head turned black again. Foaly really had to adjust the colour match on the hologram.

"Okay, er, well…" stammered Foaly "Do you remember that a while ago, there was a new officer in the LEP? Well… he hasn't shown up for a couple of days now, I think that's how he got here…" This wasn't good. Root could fire him for holding back such information.

"He what? WHY THE HECK DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THIS, HORSE-MEAT-GUY! I COULD FIRE YOU FOR THIS!"

"Hey! Stop talking rubbish and listen!" said Artemis loudly. "There's no doubt that that moron is behind this, probably together with Holly's brother. So we have to go there. Holly says she can go, and I can too. It's just my hand, which is slightly disturbed. I think I can manage to make a device that helps human bodies vibrate so quickly that we can shield too. I only need to use some things in Foaly's lab. Secondly, I have some ideas for wings that can be used by humans too. And, at risk of sounding clichéd again, I think Mister Short is expecting us. So we have to do this very carefully." He stopped and looked around the Ops Booth.

"Soooooooo," said Root. "Go ahead. But… make it useful!" A snigger slipped out of his mouth. "Hum." He cleared his throat. "Shoo! Go! Quick! Hurry! Off you go!" Unnecessary to say, but he had always wanted to do that.

"Holly?" asked Artemis, forgetting that he used to say Captain Short.

"Yeah, Mud Boy?" Holly grinned.

"I could use some help with the wings. No one knows more about wings than you do."

"Hey! Look at this!" Mulch shouted, his voice echoing throughout the room. He had turned the TV on. "Isn't that the human we are all talking about? He sat down on a chair, eating some popcorn he found on Foaly's desk.

"Why, yes! You're right!" Foaly said enthusiastically. He jumped up and ran over to the big screen.

"I've discovered a material that can make humans grow very fast," said the man on TV. The poor guy was clearly mesmerized.

"And what is that material?" someone said. Probably the interviewer.

"It's hydrogen mixed with troll venom. Of course it's not real troll venom, since we all know that trolls don't exist. It's actually liquid from a strange plant I found in Africa. And this mixed with hydrochloric acid makes the perfect growing sequence. Strangely enough, it's deadly for us."

"So what have you grown in there?" said the interviewer.

"A girl."

The interviewer gasped. "Er… a girl, Mister Archelor?"

"Yes, here she is." Someone pushed a girl about 13 years old forward.

"And what is her name?" asked the interviewer breathlessly. He couldn't believe it.

"Well, actually, I can't really choose her surname," said Mr. Archelor. "One of her parents is called Short, the other Fowl." Holly and Artemis both gasped.

"You mean from the famous Fowl Manor?" said the interviewer.

"Yes, I do." His face was so serious that it just couldn't be a joke, and if it was, it wasn't meant to be funny anyway.

"And what about her first name?" The interviewer looked at her strange ears. Pointy.

"She's called Dawn. But she has more names. Dawn Willow Jesse Lee Keira Charlotte. And because the father is Fowl I'll call her Dawn Fowl." Artemis could only stare. Just like Holly, Root, Foaly, Juliet. Trouble, Vinyáya, and Mulch. Than he looked at Holly, and she looked back. "So that's what the DNA was for…" muttered Artemis. "I hope they don't disturb my parents…"

"And what about the pointy ears?" asked the interviewer. "Was that a mistake in the program?"

"Er…" For a moment Archelor didn't know what to say. He looked at someone who stood behind him, so no one could see the person. He nodded at them and said, "Yes, that was a slight mistake. As you can see," he pointed at the bathtub-like thing, "you can establish the way you want to let the person grow and how long. I think we made a mistake with the ears."

"So, can she talk?" said the interviewer.

Suddenly the girl started to talk. "Of course I can, you idiot! What do you think I am? Some wimp whose brain cells are dying? You are more of that kind, by the look of you."

The interviewer was astonished. "Er… yeah. This was Hans Clockenburough right out of London, in an interview with Mister Richie Archelor Junior."

Artemis glanced at Holly to see what she was doing. She glanced back.

"Can anyone explain this?" yelled Root. His head went black again.

Silence.

"I… can't," said Artemis finally. He, the genius, couldn't declare the fact that he had produced a child that he didn't even know of.

"Me neither," said Holly.

"Okay," said Root. "We are going to do this quickly. You, Fowl! Go on with your human-shield and the human-wings. Holly, you go and help him. Trouble, Vinyáya, you go get some people, teach them how to kick ass." (He blushed—he hadn't thought he would ever say that.) We will need them, and make sure the pods are ready for launch. Foaly, you go make a plan to get to that building, unseen, unheard, as soon as possible. Juliet, you go help Foaly, you know how to disarm those men in that building. Quickly and efficiently. Mulch, you go train your jaws or something. We're going to need those too. And don't you even TRY to escape, convict, or you'll get 200 years extra jail time."

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"You're making a big mistake, there, Mister Julius Root Hologram. A biiiiiiiiiiiig mistake."

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Writers Comment: Phew, finally done. The next one is going to take some time because my school is about to begin and I really have to buy more stuff.

Some explanations:

Juliet has dyed her hair blonde because: Domovoi Butler is Eurasian and Eurasians have a tanned skin and black/dark-brown hair. Juliet is his sister so she's Eurasian too, which means she had black hair too.

Everyone has probably already found out that 'the unknown commander' is Damien Short. So why do I keep calling him 'the commander'? Because the surprise for his sis would be bigger then (how dumb, as she's just a character).

Why does Root turn blackish every time he gets mad? Because Foaly hasn't set the colors right.

Also the question: Why does Artemis use such slang language is simple to be answered: Because he's 23 now, and he might have added some words to his vocabulary…

Hope that made some things clear : )

Thanks again everyone, my beta-reader, my inspirations and all my other useful helpers. : D