Chapter Five
Disclaimer: I do not own Artemis Fowl. sighs I seem to have said that far too often…
A/N: Thanks to RaevanDawn for forcing me write faster!
Trouble checked his moonometer; he put down his knife. A flash of lightening lit up the sky just as called to the others; "I'm going to look for Holly."
Thunder rolled across the sky, almost drowning his words. Robert got to his feet, "I'm coming with you."
Trouble shook his head, "Nuh uh, you can't leave Sapphire here alone." He lowered his voice so Sapphire, who was collecting fallen logs on the other side of the tents, wouldn't be able to hear. "She's just a kid Robert, there's no way I'm prepared to leave her by herself."
Robert nodded, it made sense, "Ok, but you can't go by yourself, take her with you, in case, in case something awful has happened."
Trouble opened his mouth to protest, but Robert hadn't finished, "Look, I'm quite capable of looking after myself, isn't it Holly we should be worrying about?"
"Short can manage perfectly fine by herself, but we need the firewood. I doubt she'll even be grateful if we find her in some state of peril. She never is."
Trouble walked deeper and deeper into the woods, followed by Sapphire, who was getting more and more nervous after every clap of thunder.
The rain poured down, literally dampening their situation. Trouble panned his flash light, searching in the darkness.
"Can you see anything?" He called over his shoulder.
"Nope." Sapphire replied sullenly. She was drenched and was beginning to think that maybe this line of work wasn't for her after all.
"Ok, no worries. Keep looking."
They proceeded in silence, eyes peeled for any sign of the female captain. Then Sapphire stopped in her tracks. "Trouble," she muttered, but the rain must've prevented Trouble from hearing, as he kept on going. "Trouble!" She shouted.
He stopped, turning around, "Yes?"
Sapphire flicked a strand of hair from her eyes, she pointed at the ground, several roots had been disturbed, causing the ground and the fallen leaves to have been churned up and strewn out of place.
"It was probably just the weather." Trouble stated, but he'd lost the pixies attention. Sapphire had walked to a slope and was peering down. "Oh my god." She breathed, "Holly!"
Trouble was by her side in a flash, "SHORT!" He yelled, straining his eyes in the gloom and searching with the flash light. Then he saw her.
"Is she…" Sapphire didn't want to say it, "…dead?" She was hoping Trouble would say, "No of course not, she's fine, don't overreact."
But he didn't. He was already making his way down the slope, dodging rocks until he reached Holly's body, crumpled in a heap, soaked through, with a large cut in her leg, but unless his eyes were playing tricks, it looked like her chest was moving. He placed two fingers on her neck, struggling to find a pulse.
One second, two. The wait was agonising. There it was. He was certain. It was weak yes, but it was there.
"She's unconscious." He said, for Sapphire's sake. He knelt beside the Captain, pulling of his jacket, it was a lined waterproof so although the outside was wet, the inside was dry, and had been warmed by Trouble's body heat. He scooped her slim frame gently into his arms, cradling her to his chest to keep her warm. He had no idea how long she'd been there, but he knew it had been too long.
Robert was pacing the camp. He'd stocked the fire with they wood they'd managed to gather before the downpour, and it was getting pretty cosy. Only a few drops of rain had managed to seep through the tree canopy, so everything was still dry. It was like an oasis in the middle of the desert. He flopped down by the fire, getting ready for a long wait…
Sapphire had run ahead, so she'd reached camp before Trouble did. Robert looked at her as if she was crazy. "It's Holly." She gasped, "There's been an accident." That was all she had time to say before Trouble strode into the clearing, still carrying Holly. He set her down by the fire, to give her a chance to warm through.
He peeled up her trouser leg, placing his index finger on the rip in her skin. "Heal." He breathed, watching the blue sparks knit the gash together.
He looked at Sapphire, "Can you do me a favour?"
She nodded, "Sure."
"If I take Holly into your tent, do you think you could take her out of these wet clothes and put her into something warm and dry? I think she'd have a heart attack if she woke up to find me dressing her."
Sapphire grinned, "You're probably right. Ok, she's safe in my hands."
Trouble crouched next to the still unconscious form of Captain Short. Sapphire had done a great job and dressed her in the warmest clothes she could find, and she'd also wrapped her in a sleeping bag.
Trouble felt Holly's forehead. She was cold. Things were not good, but he wasn't going to let on to the others.
"Look, you two go and get some food, then have an early night ok? And wrap up warm, my magic cope with any more disasters, got that?" He paused, watching the pair exit the tent. Then a thought struck him, "There's been a change of plan. Instead of you sharing with Holly, Sapphire, take my tent, I need to be on hand to heal Holly if and when she needs it, ok?"
They nodded, closing the tent flap. When Trouble was alone with Holly, he gave her another shot of blue sparks. Nothing happened, no external reaction, no nothing. He sighed. "Holly," he whispered, "If you can hear me, I want you to know that you're going to be fine. Trust me." He knew that talking to people in comas could help relax them, so that's what he decided to do with Holly, although he fervently hoped she wasn't in a coma. "Holly, I know you can't stand me, for reasons I don't think I'll ever understand, but I just want you to know that I don't feel the same way about you. I respect you as an officer; you're loyal and moral…" He paused, unsure of how to put it, "Holly, I want you to get better, I don't just want you to get better, I need you to." He swallowed, half hoping she couldn't hear him, "Holly, I think you're an amazing person, and being utterly truthful here, you're also incredibly pretty, but please don't tell my brother I said that; I think he has a crush on you himself…" He was rambling, he knew that, but Holly flickered an eyelid.
"Holly?" He gripped her hand.
She opened her right eye, sighing softly. Her head was throbbing. She looked up at Trouble; this was the second time in as many days that she'd woken up to see him standing over her. Except this time he looked relieved, rather than annoyed.
"Can you let go of my hand?" She murmured.
Trouble dropped it like a red hot poker. "Sorry."
She opened her other eye, staring up at him, "My head," she groaned, "It's killing, what happened?" She tried to sit up, but Trouble pushed her down.
"I'm not too sure; there was an accident in the storm. Just lay still." He crawled into his own sleeping bag, he was exhausted.
Holly shivered. "It's so cold."
Trouble pulled her close, she tried to wriggle away, "Let me go!"
Trouble held her firm. "Share my body heat; you'll get warm this way."
Holly sighed again, "I am quite capable of looking after myself you know." But she didn't pull away, she was glad of his warmth.
"Of course you are. But just get some rest hmm?"
Holly shut her eyes, exhaustion washing over her. She breathed deeply, "Yeah yeah. Whatever you say." Her eyes closed and she was asleep in seconds.
Trouble listened to the sound of her steady breathing; he was so glad that she was alive. Then he realised that his arms were still wrapped around her. He didn't move them, partly because he didn't want to wake her, and partly because he just didn't want to. He felt as if just holding her slender frame in his arms was going to keep her from danger, it made him feel secure, and he hoped it made Holly feel the same.
A/N: Please review, gives a wide-eyed-puppy-dog-look I sacrificed 42 reviews by taking this down and re-writing it, so I would like more than 42 by the time this is finished. Please!