I've been so bad - my darlingest Beta, if you're reading this, I NEEDS TO THANK YOU =D For teh encouragement and teh patience. But I no can has cendol, dang.

And to you guys who are still reading this - thank you!

Chapter 5: Pill

Operations Booth, Police Plaza

Things had worsened within the space of a few hours. First there was Merrick's mysterious murder, then the shooting of a goblin on Oak Avenue by an LEP officer…and then this.

Holly and a few other officers were assembled before various computer screens, eyes fixed on the scene unfolding on Oak Avenue. The goblins had swiftly called their gangs after the shooting; the dwarfs had called theirs. Officers – mostly from LEPtraffic – patrolled the area, wary of any sudden fights breaking out between the gangs. LEP medics had taken the injured goblin away half an hour ago, but neither the dwarfs nor the goblins seemed in any way to be leaving.

At present, goblins were shouting indignantly as they milled about one end of the street, while the dwarfs stayed at the other end, watching and waiting for the right moment to strike. Another factor that made the situation worse was that the goblin-dwarf turf wars had broken out about a month ago – tensions were running high between both families; a shooting would be more than enough to spark a major fight.

And yet another mystery had popped up: Foaly couldn't identify the LEP dwarf who had shot the goblin. There were no records, no identification. It could have been an imposter or a rogue LEP operative. There were already too many mysteries for one day.

'You know, I'd hate to say this right now, but that looks familiar,' said Foaly, speaking softly in Holly's ear as she sat watching the events on Oak Avenue.

She turned to look at him, frowning. 'The B'wa Kell rebellion?'

'Just before that – remember how the gangs made one hell of a ruckus in Haven before they had the full-blown rebellion?'

'Is Opal still in her cell?'

'In Atlantis? Yep, secure, not a peep. I'm getting hourly updates from there as we speak.'

'Do we have anything on the other Opal?'

'Unfortunately, no,' replied Foaly glumly. 'It's been a month and we haven't got anything on her. And believe me, we're still not done looking for her in the most unlikely places.'

The scene on the screens exploded into orange and red as goblins lobbed fireballs down the street, breaking shop windows in the process. Figures in LEP uniforms could be glimpsed among the flames and scaly goblin bodies, dispersing the crowd as several others hosed down the burning buildings.

'Foaly,' a voice crackled through the speakers, 'we need back up. Can you send the Retrieval boys over?'

'Roger that,' the centaur replied. 'I'll inform Commander Kelp.'

'Where is Commander Kelp?' asked one Recon officer.

'Council meeting,' said Foaly, calling up the Retrieval squads.

Holly dragged her eyes back to the screens, reluctant to know what would happen next, but unable to stop herself from watching.

The dwarfs had waited enough – she watched, transfixed, as the gangs met midway along Oak Avenue. Fireballs and various mining equipment – trust the dwarfs to bring along their pickaxes and mining tools – clashed and clanged in the fray. Officers pushed their way through the fight, but the dwarfs and goblins soon outnumbered them; the Retrieval boys had better get there soon before the situation got out of hand.

'What's this I hear about a fight?' Commander Kelp strode into the Ops Booth, his face flushed as though he had run all the way from the Council meeting room.

'I've sent Retrieval over for back up. It doesn't look good, Kelp.' Foaly rubbed his chin wearily. 'What are the odds of a murder and a shooting in one day?'

'And what was that message about – the one about Artemis Fowl?' Trouble demanded as he stepped closer to the screens for a better look.

'I think we should send Holly to talk to him,' said Foaly, glancing at the elf beside him.

Trouble caught the glance Foaly had given his captain. 'It could be a trap, Foaly. I'm sending a few other Recon officers with her.'

'No.' Holly stood up hesitantly, her face pale. 'I'll go alone.'

'That's a direct order I gave, and you'd better not disobey it, Captain Short.'

'Please, Trouble.' Her words were steady, but her eyes were pleading. 'Artemis might be in trouble himself.'

'I really don't know why we give him the benefit of the doubt again and again.' The commander sighed and nodded. 'Go now, but I want you to be in constant contact with us, you hear me?'

'Yessir.'

She was sprinting out of the booth before Foaly even had time to speak his mind.

Fowl Manor

It all seemed so normal in the morning.

Artemis sat in his bedroom, his ears strained to catch any sounds that might drift through the locked door. His family was up by now – it was ten o'clock, after all – but he couldn't bring himself to meet them. The incident the night before had shaken him somewhat, and he was at a loss to explain it to his parents or even Butler.

How was he to explain to them that they had been so close to being murdered in their beds by hostile fairies?

And then there was the matter of the bump under the skin on his forearm. It had not been there the day before – there was a fresh cut on it, as Artemis discovered after examining it. It could be nothing; it could be something. Like bombs or trackers, for example. There was no knowing what new technology had been invented during his absence for three years.

He couldn't call Holly because…well, the fairy phone was missing. Whoever had threatened him in the night knew enough to take it along when he left.

'Arty?' His mother knocked at the door, sounding concerned. 'Are you awake?'

He took a deep breath before replying, 'Can I sleep in for another hour, Mum?'

'Are you all right?'

'I'm fine. I'm just a bit tired, that's all,' he said.

He heard his mother walk away with a lump in his throat.

Think, Artemis. How do you get out of here and tell them without putting their lives in danger?

His eyes fell on the sheets of paper he had left on his desk before going to bed last night.

It's worth a try.

There were three loud taps at the window.

Holly flew closer to the window, watching the boy in the room through her helmet's visor.

'Careful, Holly,' said Foaly in her ear. 'We don't know what Artemis is planning.'

'I'm going in,' she said, raising her fist to knock on the glass.

'Holly.'

She ignored the centaur, rapping her knuckles on the window instead.

Artemis looked up, suspicion replacing the anxiety on his face. She watched in growing surprise as he scribbled something on a sheet of paper and held it up in her direction.

'UNSHIELD, FAIRY.'

She shimmered into visibility, hoping that no Mud Man was watching this particular window.

'Holly!' barked Foaly, right in her ear. 'What in Frond's name do you think you're doing?'

Artemis had hurried over and opened the window. She flew in, dropping to the ground at once. The boy held a finger to his lips, indicating that she should stay silent.

She pressed the button on her helmet to release the seals before taking it off. Artemis stared back at her, his eyes wide with unspoken fear.

I haven't seen him look this scared before, she thought, disturbed.

'What – ' she began, forgetting that he had asked her to be quiet.

Artemis clapped a hand over her mouth and jerked his head in the direction of the bedroom door. She nodded and gently took his hand away. He went to his desk and started scribbling again.

'HOSTILE FAIRY LAST NIGHT. THREATENED FAMILY. MADE ME SPEAK A PREPARED MESSAGE. NO TRACE THIS MORNING.'

She read the words on the paper and looked up to meet his searching gaze.

'I know about the message,' she mouthed in reply.

He nodded and scribbled some more. 'THERE'S SOMETHING PLANTED UNDER MY SKIN. FOREARM.' He held out his left arm and gingerly touched a fingertip to the bump in his pale skin.

She held up one finger. One minute. She replaced the helmet on her head, scrolling through the options for X-ray. Foaly had upgraded the LEP helmets a year ago to include X-ray in the vision filters.

'Holly.' It was Trouble. 'What are you doing?'

'Artemis needs our help, Commander. There was a hostile party last night who threatened to harm his family and planted something under his skin. He wants me to help him get it out.'

'What about the call he made?'

'They made him speak a prepared message – he had to do it or they would harm his family.'

'Holly.' Foaly this time. 'Are you sure this isn't a trap?'

'I trust Artemis, Foaly,' she said, selecting the X-ray option. The helmet scanned the spot Artemis had indicated on his skin and displayed the result on her visor.

It appeared to be a tracker, resembling those that had been created during her time away in Limbo. It was the size of a small pill and completely undetectable when swallowed; once it was within a body, the outer casing would dissolve as a normal pill would and allow the nano tracker to navigate the bloodstream unharmed. The one on Artemis's arm had been inserted just below the epidermis, causing a visible bump.

'What do you make of this?' she asked, sending the file over to Foaly.

There was a pause on the other end. 'That's a nano tracker. With sound capability.' Foaly cleared his throat, not liking the next thing he had to say. 'I filed a patent for it last month. LEP doesn't even have it yet because the Council couldn't agree on it.'

'So you're saying that this tracker can pick up sound too?' said Holly incredulously.

'Yes. Brilliant, isn't it?' The centaur didn't sound too smug about this like he would on other occasions.

'I'm going to get it out, and then destroy the damn thing.' Holly raised the visor of her helmet after turning off the helmet's speakers. Artemis's arm was still extended toward her.

'Tracker,' she mouthed to the teenager. 'Picks up sound.'

Artemis's eyes went wide for a moment before he remembered that he needed to find a solution to the problem before him. He picked up his pen again and wrote down what he needed to say.

'I NEED YOUR HELP TO MAKE A CUT.'

Holly shook her head, thinking. They couldn't leave the room, not now, while the tracker remained in Artemis's arm. They needed something with a sharp edge, just to break the skin, and then she could take the pill out…

Artemis pulled open a desk drawer and took out a penknife. She raised her eyebrows at him and held out her hand. He slid one of the blades of the Swiss Army knife out of its groove and handed the knife to her.

Holly placed the knife's edge against the bump in the skin, waiting for Artemis's signal to begin. He nodded once.

There. A clean cut. The pill lay within the skin as blood welled up around it, a small blue circle. Holly maneuvered the tip of the knife within the cut, levering the pill out as carefully as possible without breaking more skin than was necessary. Artemis handed her a sheet of paper to drop the bloodied pill onto it.

'Now stand back,' she said silently, placing the sheet on the floor. The teenager backed away as the elf took out the Neutrino from its holster on her hip. Holly manipulated the settings with her thumb; the lowest setting should be enough to destroy the pill and the tracker it contained.

The pill glowed red for a moment before falling to ashes under the concentrated beam of the Neutrino. The beam had also, most unfortunately, burnt a hole through the paper and ignited a minuscule bit of the carpet beneath.

'We might have to hide that,' Artemis remarked wryly, pointing to the hole in the carpet.

'Come here,' said Holly, taking his arm and placing her fingers over the cut. Heal. Blue sparks of magic scurried down her fingertips and buried themselves in the cut, sealing it and healing the skin within seconds.

'Thank you.' He grinned at her, relief washing over him. 'I was afraid you thought I was guilty.'

'I didn't say you're innocent.' She had not returned the Neutrino to its holster. 'I need to ask you a few questions, Artemis.'

The grin slid off the boy's face as quickly as it had appeared. 'What is it, Holly?'

She switched on her helmet's speakers and turned her back on Artemis. 'Foaly. He says he's innocent.'

'We've been through this before.' She heard a few clicks in the background, and someone speaking nearby. 'Does he have an alibi?'

'I lost the fairy phone you gave me, Holly,' said Artemis, coming to stand before her. 'I lost it last night.'

'It's not sufficient proof that you're innocent,' she retorted.

'What happened?' said Artemis. 'What's happening in Haven?'

'A murder, a shooting and gangs fighting in the streets.' Artemis's mouth opened to speak, but she cut him off. 'Does that sound familiar to you?'

'Are you saying that Opal Koboi's back?' he said.

'We don't know. And we don't know if you're involved this time, Artemis.'

'I fought with her to save my mother,' said Artemis, his voice rising with every syllable. 'Opal is the last person I would work with for anything. I thought you knew me better, Holly.'

'I know, I know.' She dropped her face into her hands, tired out with the events that had taken place earlier. 'But you lied to me before, Artemis.'

'You forgave me, didn't you?'

'I want to, but you lied to me.' And I don't know whether I can trust you this time.

Artemis's blue and hazel eyes – fearful and relieved minutes earlier – had gone blank. 'I did it to save my mother.'

'This isn't about your mother anymore, Artemis.'

'I would never betray the fairies and you know that, Holly. Why do you insist on doubting me?'

'Artemis, would you betray us if it meant that someone else would not harm your family?'

They held each other's gaze for several long moments, both unable to speak.

'I don't know the answer to that,' the boy finally said.

A/N: I'm trying to update regularly - whoop, hope I can get this done in time. Truth be told, I've written most of this long fic. Just needs to be edited...so if you have any constructive criticism, don't hesitate to tell me and I'll get my Inner Editor to make the necessary changes :)