Endurance

Chapter two

Disclaimer: I do not own any Artemis Fowl related thing in this fic OK?

A/N: Just a note to say, this is NOT based on any TV show, it is entirely my own work (except for the characters and setting etc, they belong to Colfer), and if this is based on anything, it's a holiday I went on with my mum, Jane, Robert and Claire. Rock on people!

Holly's apartment

Holly awoke to the sound of a horn blaring. She sat up and rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. Then it clicked.

The vehicle. Endurance Challenge thing. 9:30. She looked at the moonometer on her table and groaned. 9:32. She was late.

"D'arvit!" she swore.

Root had been right to suspect it. She lost no time musing, and leapt off her futon, throwing on her nearest item of clothing. One of her swimsuits. Not a good idea, she told herself. Wasting even more time, she changed, grabbed her case and left the apartment, pausing briefly to swipe the lock with her security card.

It was then she noticed who was seated in the driving seat of the car. Captain Trouble Kelp, in all his glory. Wearing, a short sleeved black shirt, and black tinted glasses balanced on the top of his blonde head. What a poser.

"Captain get in, you're late."

As Trouble stated the obvious, Holly walked around to the side of the jeep and got in. She could've sworn she'd heard Trouble mutter some snide comment about her lateness, but she pretended not to care. Well she didn't care. Why would she let some jumped up Retrieval jock bother her? She wouldn't.

As she pulled the door shut, the electronic safety seat-belt system clicked into place. It was one of Foaly's fail safe inventions. Well, it had never failed yet…

A thought occurred to her while Trouble was driving to Chix's apartment. Why was Trouble here at all? After all, wasn't he supposed to be the Lep's finest? The icing on the cake? The… Her train of thought was interrupted by the arrival of Chix. He was on time, which only irritated Holly more.

"Hey Trouble!" He greeted the Captain as he climbed up into the seat next to Holly. "Hey gorgeous. Isn't it great that fate has thrown us together like this?" He positively batted his eyelashes at the female officer.

She glared back. "Please keep you're personal opinions to yourself, because I for one, am not interested in what you think off me. Got that? And it wasn't fate that forced us together, it was Root. You are not my type. Deal with it."

Trouble smirked to himself. He caught Holly's eye in the rear-view mirror. He raised an eyebrow, she rolled her eyes. That was a first. She rarely communicated with Trouble without an argument. This moment should be treasured. Tara Shuttle Port, Haven City

Trouble expertly parked the jeep in a practically non existent parking space. The minute the car was stationary, the seat belts released, and the three fairies left the car. Trouble locked it with a flick of his wrist. Holly had no idea how he could be so, so perfect. Not perfect in a good way, but perfect in a way nothing he did was ever wrong. It was infuriating.

Holly was not pleased to see Commandment Terryl at the entrance to the shuttle port. She'd had dealings with him before. It wasn't pleasant.

The queue for visa collection was longer than Holly had ever seen it, but then again, it was the rush hour. Fairies tended to get the urge to travel at a very similar time.

As it was, she was stuck in between Trouble, and Chix. Getting uncomfortably close to both of them.

There had been an incident when Holly had stood in front of Chix, and Chix in front of Trouble, but Trouble kept catching Chix attempting to grope the female Captain, and insisted Holly switched places with Chix.

As they neared the front of the queue, Holly could pick out Commandment Terryl's irritating tone above the rest of the chatter in the port entrance.

"Move along! How am I meant to issue you visas if you're standing in my way?" he carried on complaining until he reached Holly. "Ahh. It's the crazy, girly captain, is it? Going on a nice little holiday are we?" He said testing Holly to the limit. He soon stopped when he noticed the stony glare she was giving him.

When they'd all passed through customs and boarded the shuttle, Holly paid some attention to fairies around her.

One had shiny blonde hair and looked like a mini Lili Frond. Another was a rather red faced dwarf. This surprised Holly because dwarves don't make very good L.E.P officers. She decided he must be a trainee, like many others who came on these camps.

Chix Verbil rudely interrupted her thoughts. He was asking her if the seat next to her was free. Holly said a hasty "No!" she had been forced to sit next to Chix in shuttles before. He always seemed to be travelsick. A disappointed Chix wandered off and Holly's peace was restored. Until Captain Kelp sat next to her, that was.

Holly was not pleased. Why couldn't Trouble just leave her alone? He knew she wasn't one of his adoring fans, so why was he sticking to like glue? Or was she just being paranoid? Probably.

Quarter of an hour into the journey, and Holly had had enough of the silence. She decided to ask Trouble just why he'd come on this Endurance Course. Was he not quite as good as he made out he was.

"Trouble,"

He turned to face her, raising his eyebrows inquiringly, "Uh huh."

"Why are you here? Surely you don't need to renew your training."

Trouble flicked a lock of blond hair from his eyes, "Well neither do you, Short. But I'm not here to renew my training. I'm here to offer my support as a team leader. Root shouldered me into it, the other day."

"Oh." Holly was secretly disappointed. She wouldn't have minded if Trouble was in the same boat as her, but, as usual, he was superior to her. "I guess it'll be a nice break from your screaming fans." She said, her voice layered with sarcasm.

"Very funny, I'm sure. I can't help being a celebrity face of the LEP."

Holly glowered at him, although she knew he was winding her up.

"You're not to unknown yourself, you know. Being the only female in the squad. You should be proud."

Holly hadn't thought of it like that. "I guess. But I don't have a host of fans. I have Chix. It's not quite the same is it?"

Well, Trouble thought, when you put it like that, she had a point.

A/N: Well what do you think? Is it an improvement? Give me your comments in your reviews.

Keep Smiling.