Many thanks to A. Thorn for the title of this chapter, have some cookies! Also, thanks to itachi-was-mine for Keth Ael (the name is her, and hers alone). Emerald Magic also deserves a mention, so thanks to you all!
Ok, prize-award-winner-at-the-oscars speech over (sorry it came out that way, not how it was intended). On with the story! Well done to everyone who found the 'error' last chapter, and I'll put you out of your misery about the Kiernan/Holly relationship this time. Also, another cliffie at the end of this. You have been warned!
Disclaimer: Not mine. Belongs to EC, and those described above.

Discovery

Trouble was waiting when the Bentley pulled up outside the fairy fort at Tara. Butler got out of the driver's seat, and opened the back door.

"He's inside, Commander" Butler said, speaking to a point about six feet to Trouble's left. The elf sighed and unshielded. He climbed into the car, and saw Artemis sitting on the leather upholstery, staring into space. He knelt in front of the boy, massaged the tips of his ears and spoke clearly in a mesmeric voice.

"Artemis, wake up."

The boy blinked and shook his head, coming to his senses quickly. He realised what had happened, and spoke to Trouble, ignoring any need he may have felt to be polite.

"It wasn't Holly, on that tape, or in the study."

"We know" Trouble interceded, pulling the boy out of the car by the sleeve. Artemis dutifully followed.

"Tara?" he asked Butler. "How long was I under?"

"Long enough" the manservant replied, gesturing for Artemis to follow Trouble into the fort. The doors clanged shut behind them. Artemis wasn't sure how good an omen that was, then dismissed the thought. Being negative wasn't going to help anyone.

Trouble wasn't happy. Firstly, he'd been forced to close E1 for the second time in four days. The two humans were once again below ground with an invitation, and Holly was missing. To top it all off, Foaly was being...less than civil towards Artemis. The centaur was refusing to meet the boy's eyes, staring at the opposite side of the Ops Booth. Trouble ground his teeth. He wasn't sure how this situation could get any worse. That was when Artemis decided to impart his wisdom.

"The imposter had two hazel eyes. As you know, Holly and I switched in the time tunnel at Hybras. The camera footage may be in black and white, but you can see that the irises are the same colour."

Artemis pointed at the relevant area of the screen as he spoke, illustrating his point. For a second, Foaly forgot that he was mad at the boy.

"By the gods, you're right!"

Artemis shrugged.

"Of course I am. By the way, why is the footage black and white? I thought you had colour security cameras?"

"We, meaning the LEP, do. The jewellery store uses an old system."

Trouble had had enough.

"We still don't know who the imposter is!" he yelled, slamming his hand down onto the counter. Foaly and Artemis both winced as his fist missed the machinery by millimetres. Butler forestalled any debate over computer-care by pulling the knife that the imposter had dropped.

"We have this. Whoever the fairy was, they left this behind. Foaly, can you do that DNA thing again? See who touched it?"

The centaur clopped over to Butler, taking the knife from him by the blade.

"I can try."

Holly groaned as she regained consciousness. Her head was pounding, and she was lying in a very uncomfortable position; her hands were cuffed behind her back, pulling at the muscles in her shoulders.

"Oh," came a voice from somewhere above her. "Waking up, are we?"

Her eyelids flickered open. There was a figure leaning over her. She blinked slowly, trying to get them in focus. She was still half-sedated, so it took a while, but once she figured out who it was, she started to struggle into a sitting position. Kiernan watched her for a few minutes, then pushed her upright against the side of the shuttle. She leaned against it heavily, trying to squirm away from him without falling over, not an easy feat.

"Who are you?" she asked, looking at him to search for any flaws, anything that said it wasn't him. But then, the person in front of her could shape shift, so it might not be. No, she caught herself, could not be. Kiernan was dead.

Her captor smirked and laid a hand on her cheek. She pulled away.

"It's me, Holly. Kiernan. The same elf who stole your LEP acorns the day after you were given them, because it was my birthday and all anyone could talk about was you. Do you remember that?"

Holly's eyes widened. It was Kiernan, it had to be. Only the two of them knew about that incident. She'd kept quiet about it, just like she'd kept quiet about so many other things.

"Kiernan? But, how...?"

He patted her cheek and stood.

"All in good time, Holly. All in good time."

Trouble was pacing as Foaly ran the DNA test.

"Well?" he snapped, when the centaur eventually reappeared. Foaly looked offended.

"Well what? I don't have the results yet, it took ages to extract the DNA. Butler's was all mixed in."

Butler coughed into his fist and stared at the wall. Trouble sent him a glare, which Butler ignored, and turned on Foaly again.

"Get back in there until we have a result, centaur, or else."

Foaly thought about saying 'or else what', but the look on Trouble's face stopped him. He mumbled a meek-sounding "Yes sir" and trotted back to the machine. Artemis tapped the countertop for attention. Trouble rounded on him, remembering just in time not to shout.

"Yes, Artemis?"

"Whilst that is running, perhaps we should come up with a list of possible culprits? Opal, for instance."

Trouble shook his head.

"Opal is locked up tight, I checked. Her past self is back in the past, where she belongs, before you ask."

Artemis frowned.

"Well then, if not Opal, then who? They took Holly, you said?"

Trouble nodded mutely. If he opened his mouth right then, he'd start yelling. Artemis's stomach churned, but he forced himself to think with his head. Getting emotional wouldn't help to get Holly back.

"Then someone with a grudge. She mentioned an old boyfriend to me, said it ended badly...?"

Trouble frowned.

"There's only one that I know of. His name was Keth something. Eel? Ael? Something like that."

"Keth Ael" came Foaly's tone from out of sight. "And badly is an understatement. His mother threw a plate at her. She had a bruise for weeks. The magic wouldn't heal it because of the way the plate was manufactured."

Artemis nodded, wondering why everyone seemed to know about Holly's love life.

"That's the one."

Trouble pulled out his communicator and dialled a number from memory.

"Captain Vein? I want you to bring in one Keth Ael for questioning. Now, Captain."

He hung up, frowning at the look on Artemis's face.

"What's wrong now, mud boy?"

"If he did abduct Holy, I hardly think he's going to be sitting at home."

"Leave the police work to me, human" Trouble growled, unable to dispute the teenager's logic. D'Arvit, he hated it when humans were right.

Kiernan paced in front of Holly, his eyes not leaving her bound form. She got bored of this very quickly, plus it was making her dizzy.

"What do you want, Kiernan? If you wanted a reunion, you should have picked up the phone."

"I want my vengeance, Holly. I want to hurt you as much as you've hurt me. I was going to kill that human you spend so much time with..."

At this, Holly snarled.

"Stay away from Artemis, you..."

Kiernan slapped her, preventing her from uttering the string of curses forming on the tip of her tongue.

"Watch your language, Holly. I don't like it when you swear at me. And I'll do what I like."

He stood, and Holly resisted the urge to spit at him. He'd only do something even more vicious.

"Just stay away from Artemis."

Kiernan smirked at her.

"The human is safe enough...for now. He's already belowground. It's only a matter of time before I have a clear shot. It's a pity the last attempt failed..."

"Last attempt? What did you do?" Holly tugged at her restraints, but only managed to cut herself on the handcuffs. They were LEP issue, however, so no chance of melting them with her magic like she'd done at the Paradizo estate.

"Nothing much. I mesmerised him, but that giant of a mud man stopped me from killing him. However, I did find out something interesting..."

Holly glared at him. If she swore at him, she'd only regret it later. He knelt in front of her, looking into her eyes from inches away.

"The boy is in love with you" he whispered.

Captain Vein entered the Ops Booth, dragging a protesting elf behind him. He nodded at Trouble, sat the elf down in a chair and left the room. Trouble knelt in front of the 'guest'.

"So, Keth."

"Yes?" asked the elf warily. He didn't appreciate being hauled out of his home.

"When was the last time you saw Holly?"

Keth frowned.

"Who?"

"Holly Short" Artemis interceded, before Trouble could start shouting again. Either he was channelling Julius Root, or the pressure of the job had this effect on all commanders. "Around 1 metre tall, red hair, hazel eyes, pretty?"

Keth smiled as he recalled.

"Oh, yeah. Holly. Hey, how is she? Still single?"

From the earful Keth received from Trouble, Artemis surmised that the elf was somewhat of a ladies' man, and when Holly had broken it off with him, his mother had gotten very angry and thrown her out of the house. Trouble drew in a deep breath to yell some more, but was interrupted by Foaly sticking his head around the door.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I have the results of the test."

Trouble hollered for Captain Vein, and demanded that Keth be returned home. When the two had left the Booth, Ael threatening to sue, Foaly trotted over to the computer and pulled up the results on the screen. A long, complicated string of letters came up. Foaly gestured at the board.

"So?" Trouble asked, his voice dangerously calm. Foaly recognised the tone. It was the one Julius used to use right before he threatened budget cuts. He swallowed and got to the point.

"This is the DNA code from the knife. Not all of it, just the important bit. It's not Holly's. It's not even female."

Artemis moved forward, interested.

"How is that possible?"

"Who cares?" Trouble interrupted. "Just tell us who it is. You know, right?"

"Right. The DNA is male, but very similar to Holly's. Most of the identifying features are the same. Which means it's a relative. A close relative."

Artemis frowned.

"But her father died, didn't he?"

Foaly nodded.

"He did, but it's not her father's DNA."

"But then who..."

"Kiernan" breathed Trouble. Foaly nodded.

"I'm afraid so."

Artemis was feeling left out, and he didn't like it. He wasn't used to not knowing things.

"Who's Kiernan?"

Trouble sighed and rubbed the tips of his ears.

"This isn't possible. He died, years ago."

"That's who it is commander, I'm certain. Kiernan Short."

"Short?" Artemis asked. He didn't like being ignored either. Trouble turned to him. He'd forgotten that the boy was there.

"Short, yes. Holly's brother."

I told you there was a cliffie. I'm also aware that it goes a bit fast in places, but I was trying to updatebefore I go away, so if you want I'll fine-tune it when I get back. Let me know what you think, and chocolate to all who review! Thanks to you all for reading this, and much love!

Liris
xxx