Chapter 1: Back in Haven

Octagon Square, Haven City

Octagon Square was perhaps one of the more well-to-do suburbs in Haven City, with many fairy dignitaries and ambassadors owning property and living within the area. Situated within a five minutes' ride by shuttle to the heart of Haven itself, this area had become the prime place to live for any fairy that had recently made his money or climbed up the slippery rungs of Haven's society ladder. The old money families – such as those in Principality Hill and Imlad Road – looked down with contempt on those who lived in Octagon Square, but it didn't stop the younger fairies from flocking to the area when they had the money and the opportunity.

It was also a relatively new suburb, with the oldest houses built only a hundred years ago. The houses here were larger and better kept than those within the inner suburbs of Haven, and the streets were considered cleaner than those within the city area itself. It was a respectable suburb, so to speak. You either had to have the money or the influence to live here.

A lone female elf could be seen jogging along the streets, her buzz-cut auburn hair slicked with sweat. This was a safe neighbourhood after all – there was no need for her to worry about potential snatch thieves or troublemakers. Even the LEP had a smaller patrol in Octagon Square, since the crime rate here was low.

Because it's what we do, she thought.

The sun strips overhead had dimmed half an hour ago, bathing the area in orangey twilight. It would be day above ground, but night here. She turned down a smaller street, her mind running through the thoughts that had kept her occupied since she started her jog. Artificial trees flashed past her in brief green flickers, barely registering on her consciousness.

You do the job you have to do.

She slowed to a stop in front of a particular gap in the trees, catching her breath. A path led between the shrubbery and up to a house crouched behind trees and untrimmed bushes. Houses were expensive real estate in this part of Haven City – but then again, this particular owner didn't need to be rich to have this house.

She turned into the path and paused a little way along, her eyes on the house. Were there lights on in there?

'Hello, Holly,' said someone behind her.

She whirled around, surprised. Vinyáya smiled back at her, her long silver hair orange in the light from the sun strips.

'I came for a visit, like I said I would,' said Holly, smiling uncertainly.

Vinyáya had recently been quiet in the LEP, but remained active in the Council. Holly hadn't seen her since her return from Hybras, despite Vinyáya's repeated invitations to come visit. So many things to do; so many people to meet…but Holly had run out of excuses lately, and Trouble had advised her to visit her Wing Commander before Vinyáya lost patience.

'Glad to see you made the time.' Vinyáya had not moved; she remained where she was without any indication that she was going to invite Holly inside.

'Er…yeah, I was out jogging round the area, so thought I'd drop by…'

'Is there anything you'd like to say to me?'

'Not – not really. I came here like you asked me to,' said Holly. What's going on? she wondered. Did Vinyáya forget that she had invited me over?

'I see.' Vinyáya nodded. 'Well, it's late now – you should be home, Short.'

'I – I will.' Holly backed away down the path, grinning at the older elf. 'See you later, Vinyáya. Catch you another time!'

She ran on without a backward glance, feeling Vinyáya's gaze on her back before she turned at the next corner.

Slow down. She came to a halt a few streets away, frowning. What was up with Vinyáya? She had always been friendly with Holly – and she had been so persistent in getting Holly to meet her after her return – so why this sudden coldness? Had things changed far more than she, Holly, had known?

She could ask Foaly, naturally. And Trouble. And there were a few other officers who would only be too glad to tell her about the changes that had taken place when she was gone.

But who could she ask, exactly? You didn't march into the Ops Booth one fine day and demand that Foaly spill out everything that had happened since you left – he would tell you, most of it anyway – but he didn't know everything. The centaur was smart, but there were some things that remained a mystery to him, and there were some things that he just didn't bother to care about. Like people and their relationships with other people who did not concern him, for example.

How about Trouble? As the new commander of Recon, he would know a lot, of course. He was the kind of person who saw that he knew everything that was going on, and a lot more besides. But he wouldn't know everything about someone who wasn't active in the LEP anymore, would he? Someone like Vinyáya would probably escape his notice, wouldn't she?

'You do the job you have to do, Short, and quit worrying over people,' she muttered to herself. Root had been right then, and he was right now. As always.

Wait…there was someone who might know. Granted, he wasn't even in the LEP, but you could count on him to pick up on the things that other people might miss. He had his ear to the ground, as it were…

Ah, Mulch.

Diggums and Day PI firm, Haven City

'Holly!' The dwarf grinned widely at her as she stepped over the threshold. 'I thought you were dead!'

'You don't look disappointed, Mulch,' she said. 'I've just been busy, that's all.'

'Yeah, busy saving some Mud Boy eh?' He winked at her. 'Don't think you can get involved in your old hijinks and not have me know what you've been up to.'

'Do you and Foaly have weekly chats or what?' she snorted. 'I've been busy. With LEP. In case you've forgotten, I've recently been reinstated.'

'Yeah yeah.' Mulch waved a hairy hand dismissively. 'Busy with LEP business, she says. Does LEP business always involve a certain person by the name of Fowl?'

'It'll be better for you to keep a lid on that, Diggums,' she said. 'If you know what's good for you.'

'Ooo,' Mulch groaned, pretending to clutch at his cheeks in terror, 'I feel so threatened.'

'Quit it, funny man.' She settled in the only other chair in the room, noting that it was smaller than she was used to. This must be Day's personal chair, she thought idly. 'How's the firm doing?'

'Not too bad, Holly, not too bad.' Mulch's fingers clattered over the keyboard beside him as graphs scrolled on the computer screen. 'Our profits are on the up and up, and we're gaining a good reputation as I sit here doing nothing. We're the unbeatable pair in this business – Diggums and Day, ha.'

'Haven't tried to kill each other yet, both of you? I'm astounded.'

'We have our best interests at heart,' said Mulch, wagging a finger at Holly. 'Co-operation and communication, that's the key; you can't run a firm when you're trying to do each other in all the time.'

'If I recall correctly, you weren't so buddy-buddy with Day before I left.'

'Three years can work wonders, Holly,' said the dwarf. 'A lot has changed since you left.'

I don't need you to remind me of that, Mulch.

'Oh yes…there is something I have to ask you.'

Mulch shook his head in amusement. 'Why am I not surprised?' He leaned back in his seat and produced a carrot from the stash beneath his desk. 'Carrot?' he offered.

'No, thank you.'

'Suit yourself.' He bit on the carrot and looked expectantly at her. 'So what's the problem?'

'See…it's about…Vinyáya.'

'Ah.' Mulch nodded thoughtfully as he crunched on more carrot. 'What about her?'

'I heard she's been quiet in the LEP lately – there've been rumors that she might have an early retirement,' said Holly.

Mulch shrugged. 'I'm not in LEP – why don't you ask Foaly or your friend Commander Kelp? They would know more about her than little old me.'

'Come on, Mulch. Have you heard anything about Vinyáya? Some little bit of information? A passing rumor?'

'I might.' Mulch scratched his beard and finished his carrot. 'I might.'

'Mulch. Come on. Tell me what you know,' she snapped, her patience running out.

'And why would I know what the old elf is up to, Holly? I'm just running a firm here,' said Mulch.

'You've found out something about her that you don't think I should know – is that it?' she guessed.

I hope not.

'I might…'

'Mulch!' she cried, grabbing the second carrot out of his hand. 'Tell me now!'

He looked at her indignantly and let out a sigh of exasperation. 'Calm down, Holly. You want to get a heart attack or something?'

'I'm not Julius,' she said, laughing mirthlessly.

He stared at her for several moments. 'Did the time displacement do something to you, Short?'

'No – not – just tell me what you know about Vinyáya, Mulch.'

'You won't like it.'

'Just say it, Mulch, and I won't have to make you.'

He told her. He was right. She didn't like it.

Operations Booth, Police Plaza

'Knock, D'Arvit!' Foaly yelled from where he was half-buried beneath a pile of wires.

Holly stared at the centaur's rump, nonplussed. Huh, this was the welcome she got these days, was it? Come to visit an old friend and he shows you his bum. And then he tells you to knock when you didn't bother to knock before and he didn't care about it.

'What?' Foaly extricated his upper body from under the table and turned to look at her. 'Oh, it's you! I should've known you wouldn't knock.'

'Am I required to knock these days then?' she complained.

'New rules, Holly, for the new recruits,' said Foaly. 'I can't have everyone barging in here without me knowing.'

'I'm not a new recruit,' she pointed out.

'Oh don't get touchy on me, miss. I'm just saying.' He shrugged and smiled at her in welcome. 'So how have you been doing? Haven't seen you around here.'

'Busy with LEP, the usual,' she replied. 'Trouble's been sending me out on solo missions now. As you well know.'

Foaly frowned at her. 'What's up with you today, Holly? Kelp giving you trouble?' He snorted at the joke, but Holly was not amused.

'Okay, okay,' he said, sitting down in his specially modified swivel chair. 'One thing at a time. I've been your guide on your missions – of course I know how busy you've been. Even on that solo mission you did with the time jaunt.' He raised an eyebrow at her questioningly. 'There are some gaps to your story, Holly. Some parts don't fit. You can't fool me.'

'I didn't try to,' she protested. 'I did tell you everything.'

'I'll believe you when the Fowl boy tells me the same thing.' He smirked. 'You both are thick as thieves these days.'

'Yes, yes,' she said. How much does he know? 'You and your paranoia again, Foaly.'

'I'm not paranoid and you know it.' He took off his tin-foil hat to scratch his head. 'But you're not going to tell me about it, I can tell.'

'Genius,' said Holly.

'Thank you.' Foaly winked at her. 'Watch your mouth, Holly. I might have to tell the commander more than he should know.'

'You're not the only one who can play dirty, centaur,' she retorted. It felt like old times again – the useless banter, the friendly insults they threw at each other. Had Foaly missed this while she was away? She had not even asked him about it, maybe she couldn't bring herself to. And he had been busy with his new life with Caballine.

'So what seems to be the matter?' asked Foaly. 'Does it involve a certain Mud Boy we have come to expect?'

'His name is Artemis, Foaly,' she said, rolling her eyes. 'We're his friends now, aren't we?'

'I still don't like the fact that he calls us whenever he needs help,' grumbled Foaly. 'We're not his personal secret service and he needs to learn that.'

'But the last one was to save his mother,' she protested.

'But he did lie to you, didn't he, Holly?' said Foaly sharply. 'Don't think I missed that part. He lied to you to get what he wanted.'

We'll always have doubts about each other. She hauled herself up to sit on the edge of a worktable, her eyes on the ground. Foaly would still be looking at her, she knew, but she couldn't meet his eyes, not just yet. I told you that and we both know it's true. But now it's not only about us, is it? What have you done, Artemis?

'Yes, he did,' she said softly. 'But he's sorry for it.'

Foaly let out a snort of disbelief. 'He has changed, granted, but there are some people you can't trust all the way, Holly.'

And I trusted him, she thought. I trusted him with my job, even with my life. Was I wrong to do that?

'Aww, look at you.' Foaly clopped over to her with a can of beetle juice. 'Have this, my treat. Cheer up, Holly, it's not so bad. It's not like you to get so glum over this. The happy shots are still available if you want them – the LEP psych was in here yesterday talking to me about time displacement.'

'Happy shots,' she scoffed, taking the beetle juice and grinning. 'The psych can have his happy shots if he wants. I told him no!'

'Fair enough.' Foaly leaned on the worktable, his expression curious. 'So what brings you here today, really, Holly?'

'Vinyáya,' she replied, before taking a swig of the juice. 'What has she been up to?'

'Oh nothing much, she's been pretty quiet. The Council voted to absorb Section Eight into the LEP, since we don't need a secret organization to study a known family any longer. The demons are doing all right, but Vinyáya's not directly involved in the efforts to get them integrated into Haven society. She's still Wing Commander, but has less duties now – something about it being only a matter of time before she steps down from the LEP to make way for the younger officers.' Foaly paused, catching the grimace that had flitted across the elf's face. 'What happened?'

'I went to visit her just now,' Holly explained. 'She's invited me over so many times, and it's been rude of me not to see her sooner. So I went…and she seemed so…odd. Unfriendly. Not her usual self.'

'Did you ask her why?'

'Not really – she didn't seem all that keen to talk.'

'I can't help you out on that, I'm afraid,' said Foaly, shrugging. 'I'm not in much contact with her.'

'Well…thing is…I did ask Mulch before coming here.'

'Oh? And what did he say?'

'He's seen her around Haven, meeting up with ex-LEP members. And a few current LEP officers as well.'

'And what's worrying about that?'

'Vinyáya's not exactly a social person, is she?' Holly gulped down the last of the juice and handed the can to Foaly, who tossed it into the recycling bin.

'I can't say, Holly.'

'I do know her…' Holly stretched her legs out, thinking, thinking about Vinyáya's odd behaviour. 'And she meets these people in out of the way places too, according to Mulch. Not the usual hang outs of LEP senior officers, if you know what I mean.'

'I suggest you take it up with the commander, if you want to know more,' said Foaly. 'In the meantime, I'll see what I can look up for you. However –,' he paused, giving Holly a warning look, 'I wouldn't look too much into it if I were you. Maybe she just has her personal reason for this.'

'Yeah, maybe.' The elf jumped off the worktable and headed to the door. 'Thanks, Foaly.'

Reviews, please! I haven't written anything with chapters before, so I'm really nervous about this.

A/N: The line 'you do the job you have to do' is taken from Terry Pratchett's Night Watch. I was reading the book when I started this - so if you see anything that might look familiar, it probably came from there. *sheepish grin*