This chapter was, as always, beta'd by Eleni-pixie. Enjoy!

***

Alex's muscles tensed as he slowly dragged himself from his slumber. He had the eerie sensation that he was not alone and that someone was watching him while he slept. He opened his eyes, looking straight into the mismatched gaze of Artemis. At first, it didn't seem like Artemis had realized that Alex was awake –indeed, he was staring off into space, lost in his own mind's digressions.

"Good morning," Alex greeted cheerily, causing the boy to jump. "I want to cut straight to the chase: What the hell happened to me?"

"Um," the normally confident genius looked, just like he had yesterday, like he wanted nothing more than to flee the room. He reached out as he spoke, pouring Alex a glass of water. The young spy figured it was more for something to do with his hands than a generous gesture. "I'm not quite sure. I've gotten several threatening e-mails, including another claiming responsibility for this whole mess, from a 'youregoingtodieasshole gofuckyourself . com.'.'"

Alex choked on his water and just about fell out of the bed laughing at hearing Artemis Fowl – pompous, proper Artemis Fowl – say 'fuck' and 'asshole.' The sudden spasm shot pins and needles into Alex's stomach. The stitches, and the wound itself, were still raw but the pain only tweaked at him: he'd had much worse.

"Foaly has run several checks," Artemis continued as if he hadn't heard Alex laughing, "but he's hitting dead-ends. Whoever this is keeps using public computers. He's tried to catch this person on camera, but there's never the same person: either they're going in disguise or there are a fair few people involved in this."

"What about your mother? Is she OK? Have they mentioned her at all in these e-mails? What about Minerva?"

Artemis held up a hand, holding off Alex's questions. "My mother is fine, albeit extremely angry at being possessed again and no, they haven't made any mention of her in the letters. It seems she was just a pawn." He paused, his facial features slowly becoming cloudy, unreadable.

"As for Minerva – I am not sure. She boarded her plane well enough, and several of the flight attendants and passengers remember seeing her there. The pilot said they landed as planned and she left the plane alone. However, there are several things that do not add up. Like myself, Minerva owns her own plane: it doesn't make sense that she traveled public, especially since she was so adamant about getting here as quickly as possible. It would have been considerably faster to travel on a private jet. Also, no one in the Dublin airport recalls seeing her – she doesn't even show up on camera – but her bags were collected."

Alex swallowed thickly. "Could she –" he broke off, unsure of how to voice his next question. Artemis and Minerva were friends. It wouldn't make sense that she'd attack him.

Artemis sighed, his face still a blank slate. As a genius, he'd already considered the option that Minerva was a player in this deadly game. "It's possible she's a part of this. It's also possible they threatened her and kidnapped her after she left the plane. Unfortunately, it has been three weeks since I last spoke to her. If they kidnapped her, I'm certain that they would have asked for ransom by now." He paused, frowning. "Either that or they would have asked for whatever it is they want."

There was a tentative knock on the door. Both boys' eyes instantly swiveled to the source of the noise. The door opened slowly and a young, male doctor slowly ambled in. His eyes had a glazed look to them, as if he wasn't really focused on anything.

"G-Good morning, Alex. Mr. Rider," the doctor stuttered. "We have recent – just received your test results. Everything is peachy – just fine. Fine. You can leave anytime you want." He turned stiffly and walked back out of the room, leaving the door wide open.

Alex raised an eyebrow, his brown eyes searching out his friend's. Artemis looked a bit sheepish. "I had Holly mesmerize the doctor. He was more difficult than most and her powers are wearing thin," he admitted. He cleared his throat and Alex felt his eyebrow arch higher. He'd never seen the genius so uncomfortable. Obviously, there was something he was hiding, something he was purposely not telling the spy. "Well, I'll leave you to get dressed. Butler is waiting outside with the Bentley and the fairies are arriving at the Manor as we speak." With one last, ill-at-ease, glance at his new friend, the raven-haired teen left the room.