Sorry it's taken so long, but the next chapter is finally here! Yay!

Thanks to everyone who waited so patiently, and I'll try not to keep you hanging again. Sorry.

Oh, and I own nothing.

Suspicion

Holly was woken by a rapping on her front door. She looked blearily at the clock. She'd been asleep for all of three hours. She groaned, rolled over and pulled the covers over her head. The person at the door knocked again, most insistently. She threw the duvet off her and stood, groaning.

"Alright, alright. I'm coming."

She opened the door as far as the chain would allow, peering through the gap. Her eyes widened.

"Trouble?"

"Holly. Can I come in?"

"Sure. Hold on…"

She closed the door, released the chain, then opened it wide and stood back to let him enter. He paced around the main room, wringing his hands. She shut the door and leaned against it, frowning.

"Trouble? What's wrong?"

He sighed and stopped in front of her, eyes worried.

"Where were you at midnight last night?"

"In here, watching PPTV reruns. Why?"

"An elf was assaulted last night. His description sounds a lot like you."

Holly's mouth fell open. Was he accusing her?

"How could you think I'd…?"

He stepped up close to her, forcing her back against the door. He looked deep into her mismatched eyes and sighed.

"I don't. I never thought you did, but the council are looking into this, and your name cropped up more than once. I just had to make sure that you were ok."

He touched her cheek with the tip of his fingers. Her eyes widened.

"Trouble…"

She never got any further, because he chose that moment to lean down and kiss her. His lips pressed to hers, familiar and warm. She found herself responding, eyes closing and one hand tracing the top button of his shirt. They realised what was going on at the same time, and pulled away, breathing hard.

"Umm…" Holly muttered. Trouble smiled, brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes and kissed her cheek.

"I'd better go. I'll see you soon, H."

He moved her out of the way, and walked out, leaving a thoroughly confused Holly behind him.

Trouble strode into Police Plaza, unaware of the smirk on his face. He strode past several officers before he realised he was attracting attention. He frowned at the nearest, who happened to be Chix Verbil.

"What?"

"You look, err, happy. Something good happen?"

Trouble laughed.

"Yes, Chix, something good did happen. Something very good."

He continued past the sprite, a spring in his step. Chix watched him go with amazement. He hadn't seen the Commander this happy in…ever. A Retrieval sprite sidled up to him.

"What's up with the Commander?"

Chix shrugged.

"I think he got laid."

Trouble marched into the Ops booth, coming face to face with a gloomy Foaly. His grin faded.

"Foaly? What's up?"

"I just got the CCTV footage from the jewellery store robbery. You need to see this, Troubs."

"Commander Kelp." He corrected automatically, moving to see the screen. What could be bothering the centaur so much? Foaly pressed a button on the keyboard, and the film began to roll. Trouble saw the elf that owned the store lock up, then turn and talk briefly to someone out of shot. Then he went down. There was a brief glimpse of someone in a hood as they broke into the store, and left with a necklace, but that was it. Trouble looked up at Foaly.

"Is that it?"

Foaly sighed and rewound the footage, pausing at a frame when the intruder was just in focus. Trouble frowned. No quip, no nothing. This really was serious. Foaly blew up the section of the screen containing the figure's face. It enlarged, and Trouble gasped and reared back from the screen. There, perfectly visible, was the face of Holly Short.

He turned to Foaly, the last remnants of his smirk disappearing.

"It can't be Holly. She wouldn't do a thing like this…"

"She vanished for three years, Trouble. How well do we really know her?"

I never thought she'd fall for a mud man, either he thought, but didn't say it aloud. Maybe some of Artemis's illegal activities had rubbed off on her. Whatever the cause, the evidence was on the screen before them. Holly had robbed the store.

Trouble sank into the nearest chair. Not Holly. It couldn't have been, especially after what had just happened…

"She was at home" he muttered. Foaly shut down the camera footage and turned to face the elf.

"Can anyone corroborate that?"

Trouble closed his eyes and rubbed the tips of his ears. There had to be some other explanation. Foaly sighed unhappily.

"I hate this just as much as you do, but you have to at least question her, Troubs. If it was anyone other than Holly, you'd yank them in here in a heartbeat."

"But it's not anyone else!" he snapped, jumping out of the chair. "Holly wouldn't do this! I know her!"

"Are you sure about that? Did she tell you about the time travel beforehand, or about her communications with Artemis? Do you know how she feels about the mud boy?"

Foaly cut himself off there, before he could say any more. Trouble was glaring daggers at him, and he didn't want to shred the Commander's heart by telling him Holly's true feelings for Artemis.

Trouble shook his head. He didn't believe it. He wouldn't believe it.

"Holly and Artemis are friends, centaur." Of that, at least, he was sure. He turned and walked towards the door, pausing in the doorway. He spoke softly, his gaze not leaving the door handle.

"But you're right. I do have to bring her in."

He sighed and clenched one fist.

"Call Captain Vein. Tell him to escort her to Police Plaza. I'm going to my office, and I don't want to be disturbed until she gets here."

Foaly watched the Commander go, disturbed. He never thought he'd see the day that he was going after Holly. She was his best friend, but she'd broken into a store and she was going to break Trouble's heart. He sighed and called Captain Vein. There was an arrest to be made.

Holly stood in the living room in her pyjamas for several minutes after Trouble left, attempting to process what had just happened. He'd kissed her – and she kissed him back? What was going on? She loved Artemis, hell, she'd told the boy as much! She couldn't still have feelings for Trouble, could she?

It's just because he surprised you she told herself. You weren't expecting it, so you reacted without thinking. One problem with that, though. If that had been anyone else, she'd have punched then so hard they'd have seen stars. Maybe it was just because he was familiar.

She groaned and ran a hand through her hair.

"D'Arvit" she muttered. Gods, she was confused. What was going on with her?

She shook herself, and went to get dressed. She picked the longest t-shirt she could find in her wardrobe and pulled it on. It covered her scars. Good.

There was another knock at the door, but this was less aggressive, less sure of itself. Holly opened it warily. If it was Trouble again, she'd have to tell him that they were just friends. Maybe it would ease her confusion if she knew it wasn't going to happen again.

It wasn't Trouble. Two LEP officers stood at her door, faces sombre behind their raised visors. Holly frowned.

"Captain Vein?"

"Short. Let us in."

She closed the door and unlatched the chain. The two officers walked in stiffly. Holly analysed the situation in a second. He'd called her 'Short', demanded to be let in, and the junior officer was clutching a piece of paper in his hand. Her eyes widened in shock.

"You're here to arrest me?"

Vein inclined his head slightly. Holly could see doubt in his eyes. He didn't like doing this, but he had to follow orders. He attempted to smile at her encouragingly. It didn't work.

"Should I bother reading you your rights?"

Holly shook her head mutely. He sighed, and pulled a pair of cuffs from his belt.

"Hands out, Short."

For a second, Holly considered disobeying, running. But then it would look like she was guilty. She sighed and held her arms out, wrists up. He zipped the cuffs on, and walked her to the police cruiser sitting in front of her house. He opened the door for her, and she thought she heard a muttered 'Sorry' as he slammed it behind her.

Holly had been sitting in the cell for half an hour before Trouble plucked up the courage to go and see her. He studied her for several long moments via the in-cell camera. She was sitting on the floor, hands resting on knees, staring a hole in the opposite wall. He sighed and opened the door.

Holly glared at the stones of the wall as if they could give her answers. Why was she locked up in here? Surely, the council couldn't actually believe she was guilty? She rubbed her wrists, feeling angry more than anything else. She'd done the routine several times, putting the cuffs on the perp, reading them their rights, etc. She'd never been on the receiving end though, never realised how humiliating the whole experience was. She shouldn't be finding out now. She'd done nothing wrong!

Suddenly the cell door opened, and Trouble waked in. She spared him a glance before returning her glare to the opposite wall. How could he have let them do this to her?

"Holly. Are you alright?"

She laughed a little at that, but didn't answer him. He knelt by her side, looked at her familiar features, and sighed. It was Holly on the CCTV footage, no doubt. She looked at him, read the thought in his eyes.

"I didn't do it, Trouble."

He looked into her eyes, trying to detect a lie. Nothing, no flicker, just a determined stare. So either she was telling the truth, or she was so good at lying he couldn't detect it.

"What's going on here, Holly?"

"I wish I knew" she replied stiffly. He reached out to touch her hand, but she flinched away. He pulled his hand back in to his side, stood and left without another word. Holly didn't watch him go. He didn't believe her. He thought she'd done it. How could he?

Trouble left the cell, locking the door behind him. Which was it? Was she telling the truth, or was she lying? He watched the monitor again, as she lowered her head onto her arms. She was crying. Trouble touched the screen gently, then his resolve snapped back into place, and he strode out of the cells, determined to talk to the council. Surely he could make them see sense. The guilty party did not wait until they were alone to cry, they bawled their eyes out in public, trying to show fear or remorse. Holly was innocent. Now, he just had to convince the council to let her go. It was going to be hard. On the one hand, there was CCTV footage showing her robbing the store. Not her he reminded himself. Just someone who looks like her.

So, irrefutable evidence verses his gut instinct. Impossible odds, but he had to try.

I kind of feel sorry for Trouble in this chapter (not how I planned it), but oh well. Please, review and tell me what you think! Also, on my profile there is a poll on the best pairings in the world of AF. If you go and vote, I'll write a story about the winning one. Thanks, everyone who's reading this. Love you all!

Liris