A/N: I realize my grasp of Police Plaza's layout is probably incorrect, but I couldn't think of anything else to put on the three floors Colfer mentions being blown out/collapsed. He mentions officers being safe above, but there had to have been significant casualties.
I also admit to taking the idea of Holly coming home to find Artemis in her apartment from Kaori Kisaragi's fic "An Unexpected Turn of Events" (though my version has a very different ending than that visit). I suggest it be read, though warn that it is rated mature for very good reasons. If you don't like smut, read it for the plot. If you like smut, read it for the plot and enjoy the smut along the way.
Several weeks later, Holly was back in Haven. Not long after Artemis had made is recovery, her duties had called her back to the Lower Elements. She was, after all, supposed to be helping with recovery efforts. She felt odd, and it took her a while to realize that Artemis was the cause, as usual. For the last several months, she had had the luxury of visiting him whenever she had time to take a quick jaunt over to Argon's clinic. After his death, she had been so obsessed with resurrecting him that she hadn't had time to process feelings other than guilt for letting him die, pain for the loss, and determination to bring him back. Now that he was alive and mentally sound he was, of course, living on the surface. In the past this had never bothered her, as the meddling genius usually meant trouble, but now she felt strangely empty knowing it would take her the time and complications of a visa and an above ground flight to reach him.
Currently, she was sifting through paperwork. As it turns out, it took a lot more work to bring someone back to life than it did to kill them. After Artemis' death, she had to fill out a single form that, when registered, listed him as KIA in all of the LEP's records. In order to nullify this, she had to fill out a separate form for each area he had been wiped from. Halfway through, she decided she would call him on the communicator she kept at home, unnecessary for months, firstly to sate her need to see him, and secondly to complain about the amount of work he was inadvertently putting her through.
Every so often, burly gnomes would walk past her open office door carrying equipment or furniture. The lower floors of Police Plaza, which had been blown out during Koboi's final attack, had been reconstructed and was now being made fit for work again. The area was mostly recreational, the gym and the firing range, or decoration, such as the large atrium. While this limited casualties, there were still offices and central booking and dispatch on the three floors. Upon seeing the workers, Holly felt a pang of sorrow as she thought of the brave men and women who had been killed, either in the explosions or the resulting collapse.
Several hours later, she made her way home. The area around the Plaza had been pedestrianized long ago, which meant that if she did drive, she would have to park halfway between her house and work anyway. As such, she had elected years ago to walk, and only used the scooter in the car port of her apartment building for recreation, or when she needed to travel across the cavern. It generally took her half an hour to get home, though she took slightly less time on this trip, in anticipation of speaking with Artemis. She was so preoccupied, she didn't notice the person standing in her apartment until she closed the door and taken several steps.
There, sniffing at a jar of herbal tea leaves, was Artemis. He was examining them with something between curiosity and disdain. Finally, he lidded the jar and put it back in its nook, turning to face Holly. She had, upon seeing him in her kitchen, dropped her jaw and entirely failed to pick it up in the few seconds that had passed.
"Hello." he said, simply. He acted as if this was entirely normal and that there was nothing out of the ordinary with him being there. Holly did not.
"What the. . . ? How did you . . . ?" She seemed unable to formulate whole questions as she looked bewildered between him and the door, which had been quite firmly locked when she left, and had been so when she had returned.
"Get in here?" he finished, smiling slightly, "Captain, I'm offended. I've been picking locks since I was five. Granted, the People have far more sophisticated locking mechanisms than humans, but I'm also a far more sophisticated lock pick than when I was five."
This explanation did not seem to help, as she still stood, mouth agape, staring at him.
"Why are you here?" She finally asked, her brain re-engaging after her earlier false starts, "How did you even get to Haven?"
"I am here for a meeting," He said, still talking as if it were all natural, "And I got here the same way you did, via shuttle, from a shuttle port."
"What?!" She blurted in disbelief, "How does a 5'8" human walk through a shuttleport, board a shuttle, and take it all the way to Haven?!"
"The shuttleport was empty," Artemis explained, "and the shuttle was sent for me. My meeting is with the Council. I have a few things to discuss with them, what with my current resurrected status and my services stopping what would have resulted in one extinction level event and one civil war. They mentioned that you would probably be required to give witness, and I asked that I be the one to fetch you."
Holly was still in disbelief when a knock came at the door. Outside was Commander Kelp, who had brought the car that was to take them to the council chamber, as it turned out that, despite Artemis' request, they had only conceded to a few minutes alone to explain the situation before taking them to the meeting. On the way out, Holly noticed Artemis limping slightly, but was too overwhelmed by the events unfolding to ask him about it, saving the question for later.
The ride to the council chambers was uneventful. Holly eventually recovered enough to ask Artemis about his limp, fearing he had somehow been injured during some scheme. She was relieved to find that it was merely tenderness left over from the surgery correcting the number of digits on his foot, as he had taken Foaly's advice on finding a doctor on the surface to solve the issue.
Once in the council chamber, Holly tensed unconsciously. To many times had she been called in front of the council for tribunals, as her efforts to save the world often wound up with her being blamed for something. Even when she had been kidnapped by the boy who would later prove himself more than a match for the People, they had blamed it on an inability to function properly due to her being female! As if he could read her mind (and she was thinking this was true more and more), Artemis spoke up.
"Relax Captain," He said calmly, "You're not here to be prosecuted, just to testify. Hopefully in my favor."
Holly saw an opportunity. "Well . . . I don't know, there was the kidnapping, and the lying, and the whole lemur incident." she was looking at the ceiling, as if trying to remember more dirt against him. Artemis, on the other hand, looked at her with disdain.
"Captain!" he said, with mock pain, "Surely you didn't spend six months poring over a hot chrysalis so you could have me tossed in jail!"
"Of course not," Holly said, laughing, "The Artemis who pulled all of that would never have been able to crack jokes about it. He's long gone."
At this point, the council chamber filled with people as the various council members took their seats. Artemis and Holly followed suit and sat at the table in the focal point of the half-circle chamber. The council asked a series of questions about the causes of Artemis' death, the circumstances of his revival, and whether or not a second chance at something like life was within Holly and Foaly's judgment to make.
At this point, Foaly was brought in and gave his testimony, explaining how he felt that after all of Artemis' contributions to the People and the world in general, he deserved more than a death at the hands of a crazed pixie bent on destroying an entire species. Afterward, he took a seat next to Artemis and Holly. It was now Holly's turn to speak.
"Several years ago, I was kidnapped by a young boy." Holly started, "He held me ransom for fairy gold and, for the first time in fairy history, he was successful. He was the only human to ever keep gold taken from the LEP ransom fund. As much as Foaly hates to admit it, he outsmarted his time stop and survived a blue rinse and even a troll attack."
"A year later, the same boy offered help with a goblin rebellion in exchange for help rescuing his long-lost father. This boy was slightly different, going so far as to crawl through a tube of weapons-grade plasma using an appropriated LEP helmet in order to take down Opal Koboi, in what would later prove to be his first showdown with the pixie."
she continued through Artemis' adventures, the incident with Spiro, the second showdown with Koboi, saving the island of Hybras (briefly touching on the swapping of their eyes and Artemis' brief experience with magic) and the time travel ordeal (noting that it was his third bout with the lunatic Koboi). She discussed his encounter with the Atlantis Complex and the emergence and subsequent removal of the Orion personality. She ended with the details leading up to and including Artemis' death.
"After everything I've been through with Artemis Fowl," She said, bringing her argument to a close, "I look back and realize something. If you were to ask me to point out the person who kidnapped me all those years ago, I would be able to look around this room and say, with no uncertainty or deception, that the person in question is not in attendance."
Councilman Lope spoke first, "Now that the character witnesses have spoken, I believe you have some . . . 'favors' you would like to ask of the council?"
Artemis stood, "I would ask that the witnesses be removed from the chamber for this portion of the meeting, as I would like what I ask to remain between myself and this council for the time being."
At this, Holly looked at Artemis with disbelief. "Artemis? What do you mean? You can't honestly have anything to say to them you can't say in front of Foaly and I!"
Before Artemis said anything, Foaly stepped in, "Come on Holly, it's no big deal. We'll just wait outside and ask him when he comes out, it's not like he can avoid us."
Holly shot him a glare. She realized Artemis was planning something and wanted her specifically out of the loop. There was no other explanation for Foaly willing letting the mud boy keep a secret. Deciding she wouldn't let it drop, but that it was pointless to make a scene, Holly stormed out of the chamber, throwing herself into a seat on the benches outside.
After Foaly had followed her exit, Artemis turned to the council. "I have a few requests to ask, some for my benefit, and some for the benefit of both of our respective peoples. The first being permission to live in Haven. While I realize you will be reluctant to let a human live in your city, I am legally dead in my world, complete with buried body. Only my family knows the truth in my continued existence. This brings me to my second request. I as that Captain Holly Short and I be given permanent visas to visit Fowl manor when we wish. I am willing to pay the council the cost of a shuttle to accommodate this, with Holly serving as pilot. Lastly, I ask a purely selfish favor."
At this point Artemis paused, both for dramatic effect and to study the behavior of the council thus far. While a few members looked aghast at his suggestions, several members, including Lope, were looking at him with complete understanding. After a few seconds, he continued.
"Holly Short spoke of an incident that resulted in our eyes being swapped, resulting in both of us having one eye each from the other. Due to my body being cloned from my DNA only, I have lost that eye and frankly speaking, I miss it. I have been informed that the People have the technology to change eye colour through cosmetic surgery and I would like to have it performed, to return my eyes to a heterochromatic state."
Having said all he wanted, Artemis left into a side chamber while the Council deliberated. After what seemed like an eternity, they sent for him.
As Artemis walked in, he noticed that only councilman Lope was left in the chamber, and that he now stood down in the main area at what could be described as parade rest, feet apart and both hands behind his back.
"The council has decided." he said, matter-of-factly, "You will be granted citizenship in Haven, on a probationary basis. If you cause any problems, this will be rescinded and you will be left to explain your existence on the surface. Due to you services, this will not extend to acts against you by citizens of Haven, as your presence should not be considered a problem in the aforementioned manner. You will be allowed one weekend of every four on the surface with your family, and you will be allowed one guest on each visit. Transportation in this case will be provided by the council. Furthermore, the council will be willing to fund a single procedure to change your eye colour, in light of your extensive services to the People."
At this point, Lope walked up to him and brought her hands forward. In his hands was a flat black box, with a seam down the middle and hinges on one side. "Lastly, in light of your actions and continued efforts to protect the People above and beyond your duties as a citizen of Haven, you have been awarded a citizen's medal of honor." At this point he opened the box and handed it to him, displaying the small but detailed medal, which took the shape of a relief of a small hemisphere with a tiny cityscape inside, flanked by brass wings. Artemis knew from Mulch that this was the highest civilian honor the council could bestow. Judging by his slight smile, Artemis suspected that this was Lope's addition to the concessions. This was confirmed by his next comment:
"I tried to establish a 'Raine Vinyaya memorial rule-breaker' award, but they wouldn't buy it. I figured it would be appropriate considering your new home and your way of coming to be in this situation."
Artemis appreciated the joke, but felt a pang of sorrow for the late Wing Commander. She had met her fate a year previously during his brief encounter with insanity, and he always felt responsible for it.
After Artemis left the chamber, Holly ambushed him. Quite literally. As soon as she heard the door opening she had climbed atop her bench and waited. When Artemis passed her position she yelled and jumped on his back.
Artemis cried out and immediately began trying to dislodge the tiny captain. Despite his every attempt, Holly stayed latched on his back. Finally she spoke.
"I'm not letting go of you until you explain what it was you said in the room!" Her speech was interspersed with sounds of exertion from Artemis' wild struggles. Finally, he gave up. With a tired sigh, he began walking from the building to the car Trouble had left for them.
When she realized he wasn't trying to remove her anymore, Holly got curious.
"What are you doing?" She asked, cocking her head.
"The council has conceded to most of my concessions, I'm going to accept the one of them now."
"Hello? Elf on your back? You're supposed tell me everything in a last ditch effort to remove me!" Holly seemed truly upset that her brilliant plan had failed.
"I'm sorry Holly, but you're not that heavy, and frankly I quite enjoy being this close to you."
Holly was so surprised to hear this that she quite forgot to hang on, and fell to the sidewalk, wincing as she landed on the hard concrete. Artemis smirked as he accepted victory, though Holly internally vowed revenge.
She scrambled to follow him into the car, just missing the directions he had given to the council-appointed chauffeur. She tried to be nonchalant about the situation, but slowly her curiosity got the better of her.
"Where are we going?" she demanded, fixing Artemis with a determined look.
Artemis' only reaction was to reach into the inside pocket of his suit and hand her a sheaf of papers. She studied them for a second, but couldn't quite bring herself to comprehend it.
"This address is a council safe house," she said, dots slowly connecting, "This is a title deed, but that means . . ." She looked from the papers to Artemis several times, looking for some indication. When nothing was forthcoming, she blurted forth the connection she'd made.
"They gave you a house?! Here in Haven?!" She was surprised to find herself incredibly happy at the news. I won't have to get a visa to see him. I would just need to go visit. She sat there, considering this, until they pulled up at the modest house previously owned by the Council. While it appeared small, Holly knew that it went down quite a ways into a bunker, and that it was equipped with state-of-the art technology for those stationed inside. Even in Haven he has the coolest house She thought as they walked up the path. When they reached the door, Artemis pulled out a keyring with several identical keys on it. He took one off, looking at it contemplatively for a few moments. Finally, he spoke.
"Holly, would you do me the honor of moving in with me?"