A/N: here's chapter two! Thanks for waiting an entire day!!
Chapter two
Haven
"Can I have your autograph? Please?"
"I want a lock of your hair!"
"Will you marry me?"
Captain Chase Oak flashed a particularly pretty brunette pixie a stunning smile. Tearing desperate manicured fingers from his uniform, he said, "Thank you, ladies, but I really must be getting to work right now. Commander Kelp will have my hide, then there won't be any me to marry. See you later, girls."
He gave one last wink at a blond sprite then shut the Police Plaza doors behind him. He laughed quietly to himself. "That blond sprite...I think I'll find her after work. Wonder what she's doing tonight..."
Straightening his uniform, he cleared his throat and fixed his hair.
"Fan girls worse than usual?"
Captain Oak turned to see a familiar face and cropped auburn hair. "It's pretty sweet having access to so many girls."
"That's disgusting," Holly said.
"What is it, Holly?" he said.
"What do you mean by that?"
"You know what I mean," Captain Oak said. "You wouldn't be talking to me if it wasn't something important."
Holly smiled as if to a toddler. "Okay, then. Trouble wants to see you."
Captain Oak rolled his eyes. "That's a surprise."
"You'd better hurry," Holly said. "That man's becoming the next Julius."
Captain Oak nodded. "Thanks, Holly," he said.
"Captain Short," Holly said. "We're not all of a sudden best buds." She turned sharply.
"Hey, Holly," Chase said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "What are you doing tonight? You want to...come over?" He winked.
Holly shook off his hand. "I have no intention of becoming one of your bimbos, Captain. I have work to do." With that she turned and left.
Chase looked after her. She was the only girl who never looked at him twice. Usually he would stop trying after rejection (which didn't actually happen often). Why did he keep trying with her? He shrugged and went the other way.
He knocked on Commander Kelp's office door. "Hurry up and come in," the Commander said. "I don't have all day.
"Oh," he said when Chase went in. "It's you."
"You wanted me?"
"Yeah, I did." The Commander leaned back in his chair. "You're a good cop, Captain," the Commander said. "You've got talent."
Captain Oak nodded cautiously, not sure where this was going. Trouble rarely praised his officers. Whenever he did, it was usually either before he fired them, or before sending them on a mission that would be considered suicide.
"You came here from Section 8 only three months ago, and already you've been a major improvement." He looked hard at the captain. Chase's mouth was open. "You think I'm joking."
"No," Chase said quickly. "No, no. Not at all."
Commander Kelp leaned forward again and put his elbows on his desk. "Well, like I said, you've done well so far. And that's why I'm giving you this assignment."
He knew it! It was a suicide mission. Chase knew he would be lucky if he came back alive. "What assignment?"
"There's a fugitive dwarf on the loose. Bobb, his name is. He worked for Turnball Root some years ago."
Captain Oak raised his eyebrows. "You want me to track down the dwarf? That sounds kind of..."
"Easy?" Commander Kelp said. "I know it does. That's because I'm not finished! In the future you will wait till I'm done speaking to talk, soldier! Am I clear?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good," the Commander said. "Anyway, the very night Bobb escaped, all of Foaly's equipment went dead. Every single computer, device, whatchamacallit, everything. I find this mighty suspicious, don't you?"
Captain Oak nodded. "You want me to find out why."
"I'm counting on you, Oak."
"Just me?"
Commander Kelp looked intently at the captain. Chase winced. Why did he have to open his big mouth? Now Trouble would probably take the assignment away and give it to some other officer. Then he turned on the intercom and said, "Captain Short, please come to my office immediately."
He would give it to Holly? Chase stepped forward. "Why did you—"
"You called me, sir?" Holly said, stepping into the room.
"D'arvit, that was fast," Chase breathed.
Commander Kelp ignored Captain Oak and explained the situation. "You'll be working with Captain Oak here," he said.
Holly remained expressionless. "Yes, sir."
"You both are dismissed." With that he returned to his paperwork while both captains left the office.
"Well," Chase said when they were outside the office, "we're partners now."
"Don't let it get to your head, moron," Holly said. "I'm only doing this because Trouble told me too. There is nothing...nothing...between us."
Chase's jaw dropped. He didn't even remember the last time a female said that to him. "W...What?" He regained his posture and winked. "You sure you're busy tonight?"
Holly glowered at him. He could feel the heat radiating from her eyes. "Leave me alone."
And she left.
San Francisco, California
"So why were you so desperate to get out of the house today?"
Ettie groaned, and shot the ball towards the hoop. It bounced off the backboard and Yvonne caught the rebound. "My 'cousin' is so annoying. He thinks he's all that just because his dad is super rich."
"Cousin?" Yvonne said. "But your only uncle doesn't have any kids."
"Yeah, well," Ettie said, "he's not actually my cousin. He's my dad's second cousin's husband's cousin's son. Our parents met at my dad's second cousin's thirtieth birthday party and became, like, best friends. Whenever my parents refer to the Fowls they say 'Uncle Artemis' or 'Aunt Angeline' and stuff like that."
Yvonne shot the ball and it fell through the hoop without touching the rim or backboard. "Yes!" Yvonne said. "Swish!" She cleared her throat. "Yeah, so anyway...What makes him so annoying?"
"He thinks he's so smart. He's always correcting everybody and being a jerk. Oh, and get a load of this! He's reading DSM-IV."
Yvonne almost dropped the ball. "Seriously?" she said. "How old is he?"
Ettie shrugged. "Seventeen or eighteen I think. But he looks young for his age."
Yvonne laughed. "Wow. If he really is reading DSM-IV, maybe he is as smart as he thinks he is."
"I doubt it," Ettie said. "No one is."
"What about that kid at school...What's his name again? The Chinese kid in biology. Brian? Bryant?"
Ettie shot the ball. "Byron."
"Yeah, him. He's smart. He knows he is, too."
"Sure, he's smart. Nerdy smart. Not like Artemis. Artemis is more...stuck-up smart."
"I guess. But the point is that some people are as smart as they think they are."
Ettie looked at her with an eyebrow raised. "Maybe some people, like Byron. Not Artemis."
Ettie walked home slowly, dribbling the ball way up to her chest so she was forced to walk. She took the long way home, through the park to another entrance then another five or so blocks. She could wait to be home.
She smiled, remembering her David Bowie underwear remark. Artemis had acted so surprised. He'd known it was coming. If he was nearly as smart as he said he was, he would probably have put in a colored contact lens in one or the other eye to avoid attention. He deserved whatever he got.
She passed the playground. Little children played on the play structure and seesaws and swings. She smiled. Then something hit her head. It hurt.
A/N: thanks for reading! If you liked it, please review. If not, please review anyway to tell me what I should fix so my writing will get better. That will make everybody happy!!
-Demented Cookies
