OK. No boring long author's note this time. I'll get on with it already.

THANKS TO : -

CieloCrimisi for my first review (and being a Badass-Butler fan)

And to shauny for the amazing comment. It's only been 900 or so words yet so I hope this next chapter lives up to your praise!

Oh and thanks to fowlfan for favouriting.

"Just promise me you'll be careful." Angeline fussed, kissing her husband's cheek. In fact she was so flustered that she almost kissed The Major too. He looked quite alarmed and backed away quicker than he would have done from a grenade with the pin pulled.

"Keep an eye on her," he muttered to his nephew, who almost rolled his eyes. What did he think he was going to do? Walk round with his eyes closed and let them all get killed? "Call me if there's any... issues."

"Same to you."

The Major escorted his charge to their second rental car, checking it for bombs and tracking devices before he allowed him to enter.

They drove the short way to a high-rise building that glittered, as though encrusted with diamonds, in the mid-morning sun. The tail end of rush hour traffic could have been an avoidable frustration. But then again, the large, blacked-out vehicle afforded an air of menace about it and was considerably better for protection. Besides, walking was for commoners and locals after all.

Pulling into a specially prepared parking space, close to the main entrance, the bodyguard double-checked the skyscrapers for snipers and opened the door. A path cleared like magic in the thriving pavement before them. Or maybe it was just the scowls The Major was dishing out to anyone who dared to get close enough to accidently jostle his charge.

Heading inside, Artemis Senior spoke to the security man on the front desk.

"Good morning. I'm meeting one Mr. Jace today at ten o'clock. Could you inform me when he arrives?"

"Certainly, sir. Your name, please."

Mr. Fowl gave him the necessary information and the security guard flicked through a thick appointment book with a wary look at The Major, who was staring at him as though the man might jump up and pull a gun on them at any moment. Which, judging from their last experience, was entirely plausible. The front-desk employee quietly sighed in relief when he found the correct boardroom and quickly directed the strange company from his presence.

They walked the long identical corridors until they found the number they were looking for. The head of the Fowl Empire keyed in the code they had been given and they were inside, waiting, long before the men they were meeting had even arrived. Both of them preferred it this way. Artemis could prepare himself for the serious business of negotiating a deal and The Major could check for planted bombs and bugs or anything else he was concerned about. Which was - quite frankly - a lot.

In less than a quarter of an hour they were joined by a suited man with slicked back black hair, flanked by two chunks of clothed muscle.

Two, The Major thought. Easy.

He allowed himself to relax slightly. Very slightly.

Back at the hotel the younger Butler was doing the same. If one could call protecting three people who all wanted to go in separate directions relaxing.

Artemis had point blank refused to go swimming so Juliet, too, was banned from the pool on the grounds that her brother couldn't split himself in half to keep an eye on both of them. So, naturally, she was sulking. And, more surprisingly, so was Artemis. His excuse being that Angeline had found out about the children's little tiff and decided that they would all go swimming once his father and The Major returned.

Butler would have yawned had it not have been unprofessional. It would also have meant closing his eyes for a fraction of a second, in which it was entirely possible, with the people he was watching, that something drastic would happen. He wondered whether his uncle's job was currently any more interesting.

It was. Or rather more dangerous. After an hour of debating the deal was going nowhere.

"I'm afraid I'm not happy to take no for an answer." drawled the man, tracing a finger lazily around the recent coffee-ring his mug had left on the glass table.

"Apologies, Mr. Jace. However, your unhappiness is not my quandary, I'm afraid." Artemis sneered back.

Jace visibly stiffened. Irritated. The Major tensed too, hand resting just a little less than casually on the handgun in his waistband.

"That's not good enough." Mr. Jace leaned forward on the table, rising slightly out of his plush office seat.

Mr. Fowl re-did the solid gold cufflink on his shirt with a certain air of aloof nonchalance. He laced his fingers together and rested backwards in his own chair. The perfect image of serene professionalism. The mirror image of his opponent. "That doesn't concern me."

It was concerning his bodyguard. His charge had a tendency to taunt his enemies that was likely to get him hurt. Glad he was already standing, The Major shifted slightly so as to have a better chance of blocking anything if the exchange became more than assaults of words.

"If we cannot reach an agreement, this meeting will not end well for you." Jace hissed.

Fowl raised a long, thin eyebrow. "Resorting to idle threats will not increase your chances of a sale, you understand, Mr. Jace."

"Oh I assure you Mr. Fowl, my threats are anything but idle." He clicked his fingers and the men either side of him stood up.

For a second, Fowl was slightly worried. Then The Major stepped forward. This was his area.

"We're leaving." He put it bluntly. "Do not attempt to stop us."

"And what, pray tell, do you suppose to do if I do?" smirked Jace as they started towards the exit. He clicked his fingers again and one of his henchmen blocked the door.

"Move out of the way."

"Make me." The lackey drew a gun and pointed it at the larger man's chest. His partner sniggered and stood back to watch the show.

The Major could have sighed. Amateurs. At least his nephew wasn't as dumb as these two.

In a movement so fast the inexperienced gunman didn't even have time to blink, never mind pull the trigger, the older Fowl bodyguard had brought an arm up, knocking the pistol and attached enemy arm to one side in a swift in a sweep and forced four rigid fingers from the other hand into the man's windpipe. In one sharp step he had disarmed and floored him. Then his buddy brought out another gun. Without thinking Artemis stepped closer to his bodyguard and visa-versa. Three and a half decades of working together had them acting as though on instinct.

"Don't force me to leave bodies, Jace." Artemis said from behind the safety of his manservant. With The Major's gun firmly aimed at his forehead and one of his tough nuts face down and gasping on the floor, Jace had little other choice.

"Fine. Out." He muttered. They did indeed 'out' very quickly.

"Ah... Let's not tell Angeline about this." Artemis breezed as they walked past the security guard. He looked like he was about to pass comment until The Major winked at him. The man was left wondering what was meant by the gesture and sat confused until the mysterious pair were long gone. "I have a feeling she wouldn't approve."

Checking no one was following for the umpteenth time before they stepped out into the street, The Major finally stowed his gun.

"Agreed." He muttered whole-heartedly.

Bit short again?

Yeah... call it...erm... building up the tension.

Next one's longer.

Honest.