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Disclaimer: Eoin Colfer owns the characters and places.

Chapter 13: Many Meetings

Fowl Manor, Ireland

Holly perched on the ledge outside a window, scanning the room within with her helmet's functions. This was Artemis's study – she had been in there during the time Artemis lost the C Cube to Jon Spiro – and the years between had not changed much of the room. The room's owner seemed to like things remaining as they were.

The only thing that seemed out of place was the fact that there was no laptop or computer on the desk. Holly zoomed in closer for a better look, but there was nothing on the desk besides the neat piles of books and papers. The laptop couldn't be in Artemis's room – she hadn't seen it when she waited in there before taking him to Haven for the interrogation. His mobile phone was locked in his safe, she knew, but the laptop would probably hold more information than his phone might. Besides, with Foaly tracking calls on Sentinel, Artemis wouldn't risk using his phone to communicate with a fairy; he had the fairy phone after all.

He had mentioned that he didn't have it with him...

She took out her Omnitool and manipulated the catch of the window with it. So far so good. She pushed open the window slowly, despite the helmet's view showing that there was no one in the room, and dropped silently to the ground. She scanned the room once again before turning off her shield and taking the mechanical wings off her back.

Now to search the room...start with the desk. Artemis might have locked the laptop in a drawer – she didn't have much time before the Council went ahead with their decision and mind-wiped him for good.

And then you'll lose another friend, the thought whispered, flitting through her distracted mind. Like how you lost Julius.

Concentrate, concentrate on the task at hand. There was no time for her to brood over the loss of another friend. She knew she shouldn't even be here – Root would have prevented her from going above ground if he had been in Trouble's place. Her priority was protecting the People, the fairies in Haven who needed the LEP in this confusing time – she was going against what Root had always stood for, by selfishly leaving Haven to save a friend. A human friend.

Not just any friend, she thought as she rummaged through several drawers, with no success. He's helped us so much.

You're not looking at the big picture, Holly. The odd little voice was back again. Her conscience, it had said. Think about the fairies you can help in Haven, just by doing your duty.

The soft sound of the door closing made her look up from the drawer, before she ducked and rolled under the desk. There was a lady at the door, watching the elf with a strange smile on her face.

'Captain Short?' said Angeline Fowl, approaching the desk cautiously.

Holly laid a hand on her Neutrino, but stayed still, waiting for the lady to continue speaking. She knows my name. What else has Artemis told her?

'If you came here to obtain evidence to prove my son's innocence, I have them with me.' There was the sound of a chair being dragged across the carpet, and Angeline's feet came into view as she took a seat near the desk.

Holly raised her head, slowly, and backed out from under the desk. She stood up hesitantly and raised the visor of her helmet, meeting Angeline's curious gaze.

'How do you know my name?' asked the elf.

'I was forced to look into that insane pixie's memories when she possessed me,' Angeline explained, still watching Holly intently. 'And Artemis has filled in the gaps with what he was willing to tell.'

Holly swallowed, and then her lips curved involuntarily into a reluctant smile. 'You know quite a bit about me then.'

'Quite.' Angeline laid the laptop on the desk between them and gave it a push over the polished surface to Holly. 'I hope this helps.' She paused for a few moments, before taking out a BlackBerry from a pocket and placing it on the laptop. 'He doesn't use this much, but it might help.'

'Thank you.' Holly gathered the laptop and BlackBerry into her arms and dropped them into the backpack she had brought with her.

Angeline continued to watch her in the silence.

'I should be going back,' said Holly. But she made no move to leave.

Angeline leaned towards the elf on the other side of the desk.

'Tell me...Holly,' she said, 'what do you think about my son?'

What do I think about him? 'He's...he's...' Holly stammered, quite unable to think of a suitable response. This was a completely unexpected question from Artemis's mother – she had rather thought that Angeline would demand for her son's immediate release – but not this.

'Quite a handful, isn't he?' Angeline laughed and shook her head ruefully. 'I hardly know what he does these days, and though he tries hard...there's always...I mean to say...'

'...there are still some things he won't tell you about?' Holly finished.

'Yes.' Angeline tilted her head and studied her son's friend before her. 'I take it that I'm not the only one who shares the same fate.'

'I trust him,' Holly said, softly. 'Even though, to be honest, he makes it difficult for me at times.'

'I thought as much.' Angeline rose from her seat. 'Pardon me for my manners, Holly, but I have a feeling that Artemis's time is rather limited, isn't it?'

'Oh – yes. I need to get back now and hand in the evidence.'

They smiled at each other, both understanding the things that the other had not said.

'I only have one thing to ask of you, Holly,' Angeline said, breaking the companionable silence, 'I want my son to return home soon – those years that he was gone was a nightmare. I hope you understand.'

'I promise I'll bring him back as soon as I can, Mrs. Fowl. I promised Butler the same thing too, actually. I'll bring Arty back the moment I can, I give you my word for it,' Holly assured her.

'I have to thank you for all you have done for Arty and my family,' said Angeline, extending a hand to the fairy. 'We owe so much to you and your colleagues.'

Holly shook the lady's hand and whispered, 'You're welcome.'

Uncharted chute between Haven City and Atlantis

'Tell me, Fowl,' said Vinyáya, as she steered the shuttle down the chute on the way to Haven City, 'what were you planning to do if the Council had not granted you the pardon?'

'I would have filed for a writ of habeas corpus,' Artemis replied, turning to look at the elf from the co-pilot's seat. 'Fairy law allows that, so I've read.'

Vinyáya shook her head and chuckled. 'They told me you were smart, Fowl, but that was the best you could come up with?'

'That was one of the options. I had several others.'

She shrugged and flicked a few switches on the shuttle's control. 'I suppose with that intelligence of yours, you could come up with quite a few.'

'Thank you. And I have a question to ask you too, Councilwoman Vinyáya.'

'Commander, please. Ask away.'

'It surprises me that you personally came to Atlantis to inform me about the pardon.' He steepled his fingers and observed her closely. 'If I didn't know better, Commander, I would think that the pardon wasn't granted at all in the first place.'

Vinyáya remained silent for several minutes as she navigated the shuttle through a particularly tricky stretch of the chute. Once the shuttle had emerged from the stretch, however, she switched the shuttle on auto-pilot and swiveled her seat around to face the boy.

'So what do you think I did, Fowl?' she asked.

'You were one of the two Council members who voted against my detainment in Atlantis,' he said. 'If I may make a guess, I would say that you acted on your own for my release.' He smiled and added, 'There was no pardon, but you used your authority to secure an early release for me without the Council's knowledge. However, I may be wrong on that.'

'You're not wrong.'

'That is surprising, Commander. Would you care to tell me why?'

Vinyáya's forehead creased into a frown. 'I asked myself if it was right for you to be detained in Atlantis while we sort this mess out, and I came to the conclusion that we've underestimated you by doing that. There's no knowing what you might do once you've been released – you may be a friend to us, Fowl, but by doing this, we may have violated our side of the tacit agreement we have.'

'I see. And I take it that you know who is responsible for the chaos in Haven?'

'Ah, you're quick. Yes, I do know. That's what I need to talk to you about,' said Vinyáya. 'You were dragged unknowingly into it after we got the message from you. A strange one, if I may say so myself, as it went against everything you have done for the People over the years. I looked further into it, not trusting the evidence we have against you, and managed to find out quite a bit on my own. I didn't doubt that you were not guilty, right from the start. But I had my reasons for not telling the Council too much about what I had found out.'

Artemis nodded thoughtfully, processing what the elf had said to him. 'So the Council saw what they wanted to see. A very likely mistake.'

'And a convenient one,' said Vinyáya. 'Before I came to Atlantis, they voted to mind-wipe you, in exchange for your release and amnesty for your supposed involvement in the murders and unrest in Haven. I knew I had to act quickly before they could decide anything more for you.'

'The question I do have to ask, Commander, is why are you doing this for me? Why not take it straight to the Council itself and release me according to the rules?'

'Funny you should say that,' Vinyáya remarked dryly. 'Artemis Fowl doesn't play by the rules all the time, if I remember correctly.'

'Very true,' he said, inclining his head in agreement. 'But it doesn't explain your – shall I say – somewhat baffling actions.'

'You'll find out soon enough,' said Vinyáya, guiding the shuttle to a gradual stop as they entered a terminal. 'I need your co-operation on this, Fowl. I want to see the mess in Haven cleared up before anyone gets hurt, and if that's to happen very soon, you would need to stay a while below ground before I allow you to return home.'

'Fair enough,' he replied.

'Good.' The shuttle finally stopped, and Vinyáya leapt lightly out of her seat. 'With all haste, Fowl. Time waits for no man.' She pressed the switch to open the shuttle doors. 'And no fairy too.'

The terminal was sparsely lit and shabby, unlike the ones Artemis had previously seen in his other journeys below ground. Another unusual thing was the fact that there were no other shuttles in the terminal, besides the one he and Vinyáya had traveled in from Atlantis. The place looked as though it had not been used for quite some time. The cracked columns with peeling paint stretching away into the darkness pointed to the terminal's construction in much earlier days, compared to the more modern ones he had been to. The disused signs suspended above added to the impression – he recognized most of the words in Gnommish, but there were some that he had never encountered before; they looked archaic, long fallen from everyday use among the fairies.

Vinyáya was a dim figure on the stairs leading up to the exit, her silver hair glowing faintly in the gloom. Artemis hurried to keep up with her as she took the steps two at a time.

'Are we in Haven, Commander?' he managed to ask between gasps as he ran up the stairs. Running was – as he was again painfully aware at this moment – definitely not his forte.

Vinyáya hardly slowed as she leapt nimbly up the next flight of steps. 'On the outskirts of Haven,' she said over her shoulder. 'This terminal is in the Old Quarter – you'll see it in a bit. Hurry up, Fowl.'

He nodded and followed her up the stairs, his eyes fixed on the light he could see above him.

A very Merry Christmas to everyone! :D