A/N: So, this is the longest chapter I've written (6 pages on Word) out of all my fics. WHOO for inspiration!

Thanks, as always to Eleni_pixie :-)

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Jesse "Hunter" Slater was really regretting his decision. Sure, it paid well, this whole acting-as-a-double-to-steal-money-and-other-possessions-from-rich-people-gig he was doing. It paid extremely well. However, his employer (technically there were apparently two, but he'd only ever dealt with the boy) was crazy. A fifteen year old genius hell bent on becoming the richest teenager on the planet. Normally, his job was straight forward: record whatever message his boss wanted him to record, send it to him, and wait for the unlucky bastard to hand over whatever was being asked of him. But this new assignment? Well, this new job was not what he'd signed up to do.

The buzzing of the phone alerted him to his employer's arrival. He passed a tanned hand over the phone, extending a finger and pressing down on the number '1.' There was a faint buzzing – both doors unlocking – and then he heard the distant footsteps of his boss. Less than two minutes later, there was a soft knock on his door.

His employer, Imerial (a name which Jesse knew was an alias), struck an impressive figure for a fifteen year old. His Armani suit was dry-cleaned and pressed. His black tie was tied elegantly and perfectly around his neck. His shoes were custom made and polished. His pale face and contact lensed eyes gave away nothing. Altogether, he was a very intimidating sight.

"We have a problem," he began in a low voice, "a very large problem."

Jesse nodded. "Yeah, I heard about Chelsea."

They boy shook his head. "The commander wasn't supposed to have let that happen. No matter, I shall deal with her soon enough." He picked some imaginary lint off his sleeve. "Unfortunately, my dear friend, that is not our biggest issue."

Jesse swallowed thickly. "It's not?"

Imerial shook his head. "No. Our biggest issue is that, now that we've gone 'public,' it will be even more difficult to get Alex alone. Holly Short is living in an apartment not far from the house with Butler, Trouble, Mulch, and Vinyaya. It will be almost impossible to finish the job with them nearby. We need to stage a fight between Alex and Artemis. Something big, but believable. I was thinking that we could begin it during the video chat tonight."

The blond nodded. "All right, I'll see what I can come up with."

The pale teen smiled toothily. "Perfect."

***

Foaly was getting frustrated. Never, in all his life, could he remember a child giving him this much trouble! Even Artemis Fowl had been easier to dig up than this boy.

He sighed heavily. There was just one more continent left: Germany. Hopefully, his live satellites would find something. His nimble fingers tapped rapidly at the keys, pulling up the area he wanted. It was a large area - 137,847 square miles to be exact – with more than 300 million people to sift through. Luckily, Alex had received another, clearer, video message. It should be simple to compare Hunter to the database of people in the country.

Seven minutes later, he'd found what was he was looking for. He'd also found something he had not expected to see: Artemis Fowl.

Or, rather, someone who looked very much like Artemis.

The live-video showed two boys in a very small apartment. One was, undoubtedly, Hunter and the other was a fifteen year old boy, with pale skin and icy blue eyes. Foaly froze the video and zoomed in on the image, concentrating especially on the eyes. He peered closely, even going as far as to lean close to the screen. Contacts. The boy was wearing contacts to make his eyes that shade of blue.

He shook his head, muttering, "That's not possible."

He pulled up the intercom and deliberated. Holly would be the most pertinent choice – after all, she was in England with Fowl – but Butler knew Artemis better than anyone. More importantly, he knew Artemis' history better than the boy himself.

"Hello?" the bodyguard's gravelly tones grumbled.

"Butler, it's Foaly. Um, I've found . . . something, but I need a few questions answered before I can put together a hypothesis of what's going on." Before Butler could say anything, Foaly blurted, "Does Artemis have a twin?"

There was pause on the other end. "No," he answered, sounding confused. "Why would you ask?"

The centaur swallowed thickly. "I've found Hunter. He's in a small hotel in Germany . . ."

"What does that have to do with Artemis?" The bodyguard was on high alert now.

"Well, he was talking to a boy who, in every way, looks like Artemis. Same height, same build, same hair cut, same eyes, same skin tone."

"His eyes? Foaly, Artemis' – "

"Eyes are two different colors: I know," Foaly finished gravely. "I can't say for certain that they were hazel and blue as they were covered by contacts, but everything else is the same."

There was another pause and then Butler asked, in an eerily calm voice, "You think Artemis is involved in this?" Foaly didn't answer and Butler continued, still calm, "Foaly, think. I know you think Artemis is ruthless, and, maybe in some ways he is, but he's never put himself in danger. Not willingly anyway and never for nothing. What would he get out of summoning demons to attack a boy he's never met, posses his own mother to stab said boy, so that he can turn around and save him? What would he get out of hiring someone to harass himself? That doesn't even make sense!"

Foaly hesitated. "Well, it sort of does. MI6 wanted to look into him, remember? Alex is their top spy; putting him in danger threw them off his trail completely. He's a genius. He knew he would need something big to cover his tracks. By hiring someone to, seemingly, target himself, he proved himself innocent."

Butler growled, "He's in England, Foaly, living with Alex. Holly's in that house every day, keeping an eye on him. Trouble, Mulch, Vinyaya and myself are just a few blocks away. How do you propose he snuck all the way to Germany with no one noticing?"

The centaur paused. It was a good question. It wasn't like Fowl could have a SIM in England . . . "It's a SIM," he announced, more to himself than to the man on the other end, "in Germany. He sent a SIM and he's controlling to from England."

"With no one noticing?"

"It's not that difficult, honestly," Foaly said with a shrug, forgetting, momentarily, that Butler could not see him. "He could have programmed it with instructions beforehand."

"No," Butler said forcefully. "You're wrong, Foaly. Artemis is different now. He wouldn't willingly put those he cares about in danger, much less try to get them killed."

"Didn't Alex say he's been acting strange?" Foaly asked. "Maybe the strange behavior is the guilt gnawing at him?"

"You're seeing what you want to, Foaly. You want Artemis to be the bad guy because it's convenient and easy for you to deal with because, if it is Artemis you know what you're up against, you know what to expect and how to handle it."

"That's not –" Foaly objected.

"Oh, yes it is. You've wanted him mind wiped again, for this whole time, in spite of everything he's done. You're blaming him because, if you do, you get what you want. There are other explanations, Foaly. You and I both know that. You're not even looking for them."

Foaly was silent for a moment, stunned and hurt by the accusations. "What are they then, Butler? If you believe he's so innocent, find another option."

"What if he's being framed? The fairies aren't the only ones who've had a grudge against him over the years, what if someone is out to make it seem like he's doing this?"

"Someone who just happens to look like him?"

"It could be make-up," Butler reasoned.

Foaly sighed. "All right, I'll keep looking. In the meantime, I wouldn't tell your employer about this."

"Why? He can help."

Foaly nodded. "Yes, he can. However, I'm trying to look out for everyone's safety at once. If this isn't Artemis, then this impostor is not going to like us figuring this out. I can guarantee that he will know if Artemis finds out about this. Also," he paused, trying to phrase his answer as best not to offend the giant again, "if it is Artemis, he won't be too happy that we found out. Either way, if we tell Artemis someone will get hurt. Agreed?"

Butler sighed heavily. "I can't guarantee that Artemis won't find out: I can't lie to him and I'm sure he'll figure out that I'm keeping something from him."

"Do your best," Foaly advised. "This isn't just about proving him innocent, it's about keeping him, and everyone involved, safe."

"I'll try."

***

"You have to tell him, Artemis," Holly argued. "He can't tell Jack: he doesn't know that. He doesn't know why. You need to tell him."

Holly Short was very confused as to why she was having this argument with her friend in the first place. It wasn't like him to put the People's existence, or anyone else's, in jeopardy.

"He trusts her, Holly," Artemis explained wearily from his perch on the bed. He was, again, sitting with his arms around his knees, his back pressed up against the head board. "He doesn't think she'll tell anyone about the People. She hasn't said anything about his spy work, why would she say anything about this?"

Holly frowned and studied the boy on the bed. Alex had pressed his concern for the genius several times over the past few days. At first, Holly had shrugged it off but now, she had to admit, Alex had a point. It wasn't that she and Artemis were arguing over telling Jack, it was the fact that Artemis wasn't coming up with any clever comments or fantastic revelations to swoon her to his side. He could have convinced her in less than a minute but, after nearly twenty minutes, all he'd done was make her realize there was something very, very wrong.

Besides the strange personality change, there was a physical change in the boy was well. His skin, which was never the darkest, seemed sallow now: as if he was sick with the flu. There were large, dark shadows under his eyes (which seemed very lifeless). The most startling change, however, was his weight loss. As Artemis didn't have many pounds to lose in the first place, the effect was scary. He looked almost skeletal.

"Artemis," she said calmly, "it's not just about the People. You said it yourself, at the airport: Jack is in enough danger as it is. The more information we give her, the more trouble she gets into."

Artemis closed his eyes and Holly, after several moments, feared that he'd fallen asleep. "Telling her the truth won't put her in anymore danger, Holly. Either Hunter will assume we told her, even if we didn't, and hurt her to get information or he'd assume we didn't tell her and hurt her to hurt us."

"Not up to your usual par, mud boy," she said. "Look, Alex is worried about you; I'm worried about you. Hell, by now I'd be willing to bet that Butler's worried about you. You're not okay, Arty. It's obvious something is bothering you. Why don't you just be honest about it? And don't give me that crap about being afraid. We've faced worse than this. If both a pack of hungry trolls and a furious demon tribe didn't terrify you, I doubt a human boy would."

Artemis wiped a hand over his mouth and refused to meet her gaze. "I was afraid those times, Holly," he said quietly. "I just never showed it."

Holly paused, not entirely believing what she was hearing. "So," she asked, still confused about his point, "what makes this time any different? Why does he bother you?"

Artemis closed his eyes. "I don't know, Holly," he answered resignedly. He wet his lips. "I do believe we've gotten off topic."

She nodded, but made a note to bring the conversation up again later. "My answer's not going to change, Arty. I know Alex trusts her, and maybe she wouldn't say anything, but I can't risk her life for that."

Artemis glanced up and Holly was surprised at the anger she saw there. "What happened to the reckless captain I knew?" he demanded. "The one who never really followed the rules? Who did what she thought was right, no matter the consequences?"

Holly's eyes narrowed. "I am doing what I think is right! It's dangerous, Artemis, you know that. If you won't tell Alex, I will."

The boy refused to answer and Holly marched out of the room. She knew that part of her anger had come from the fact that she was bothered by his attitude. He'd always been stubborn, entirely convinced that he was right, but he also loved to prove it. To him, there was nothing more thrilling than winning an argument. His lack of energy was, to coin a phrase, "creeping her out."

Alex was sprawled out on the bed, surrounded by giant piles of homework. He looked relieved when she walked in.

"I probably should have checked my e-mail more," he explained, gesturing to the piles. "I have about seven months worth of homework to catch-up on."

The elf captain nodded sympathetically. Although it had been years since she'd been in school, she could completely sympathize with his unfortunate circumstance.

"Alex," she began formally, "we need to talk."

The boy nodded. "I know. I've wanted to talk to you, but you can go first."

She smiled slightly, feeling uncomfortable. "All right. Alex . . . you can't tell Jack about me. Indeed, you can't tell her about the fairy people at all." He frowned and she continued, "I understand you trust her, I do, but this isn't just about whether she'd tell. Not anymore. By telling her, you could be putting her in more danger."

Alex stared at her levelly. "I can't lie to her, Holly," he said. "I already promised to tell her the truth."

"I know, Alex," she said gently. "However this is for her safety."

"Then she should have a say," he argued stubbornly.

The elf sighed. "I understand, Alex, but right now its way too dangerous for everyone." She paused. "You said you wanted to talk to me?"

Alex wasn't fooled by the change of subject, but he played along anyway. Artemis' behavior was far more pertinent than fighting with Holly. "Artemis. I'm worried about Artemis . . . "

***

Jack pressed a few buttons on the microwave. Although she'd gotten into the habit of scrubbing the house, she hadn't gotten into the habit of really cooking food. Frozen dinners were still a staple at the Rider house.

"Jack?" a voice sounded behind her and she turned to look at Alex. He had a nervous, yet determined look on his face. "I think we need to talk."

Jack smiled sadly. Alex should not, as a sixteen year old boy, be speaking so formally. "Are you going to tell me what happened?"

He winced. "Well, that's what we need to talk about. You see, Artemis – and the others involved – think me telling you will put you in too much danger . . ." he trailed off uncertainly.

"And that's stopped me before?" She looked at him questioningly.

Alex smiled, instantly relaxing. "Very true." He took a deep breath and then began; "You're not going to believe me . . ." He took another deep breath and then told her everything.

He was right; she didn't believe him.