I made a horrible mistake! This is really chapter 13! I'm so sorry!

Artemis was sitting in his study, a bottle of scotch sitting, unopened, on the desk in front of him. He was debating whether or not he should actually drink any. It wasn't as if Holly's word was law, but on the flip side, she'd always wanted the best for him.

Artemis had put Finn to bed an hour earlier, after answering every question the six year old could throw at him. The exhaustion was evident on his face. He didn't know whether the scotch would help, or if it would just make him more tired.

Before he had a chance to answer his own question, a buzzing interrupted his thought process. It was a familiar sound, but he had to dredge it up from his memory to be able to identify it. It was his fairy communicator. Why was Holly calling him now? It hadn't been three days, she had only seen him this afternoon, and he'd expected that she would at least have the courtesy to show up in person.

He picked up the ring and twisted it open. Holly's anxious face was displayed on the screen.

"Artemis," she breathed. "Are you alright?"

"Fine," Artemis replied. "Just tired. Why are you calling me? I thought you'd at least show up in person to turn me down."

Holly slapped her forehead. "D'arvit! Artemis, would you just listen to yourself? Can you maybe try and be positive for once?"

"Positive isn't entirely realistic. If you always expect the worst, you are never disappointed, only ever unsurprised or pleased, whereas, if you are positive, you will always be let down."

Holly glared at him. This was the infuriating Artemis that she had fallen in love with and she hated it as much as ever.

"First of all Artemis, I did not call you to give you an answer. I called you because I have another proposition."

"Carry on," Artemis said quietly, looking thoughtful.

"Foaly suggested to me that you and Finn could come live down here, in Haven."

"As in, leave my brothers as heirs to the manor whilst I leave my family to come down to the Lower Elements and live there with you, so you can continue being an LEP officer?"

Holly sighed. Artemis didn't miss a thing. "Correct."

"And this would be allowed?" Artemis asked skeptically.

"Well, we'd have to get…um…married."

Artemis didn't react, he merely sat in his chair and began to massage his temples after placing the communicator on the desk so that Holly could still see him and he could still see her.

"And Finn? His schooling?" Artemis questioned, his eyes closed.

"Of course he'd go to a fairy school. That way he would learn about his magic and so on, along with the other necessary subjects."

"And you'd be perfectly fine with me getting old and dieing well before you?" Artemis asked, pausing his massage and opening his eyes to see her face.

Holly opened her mouth, but no answer came. She couldn't say yes, because first of all, she wasn't alright with it, and secondly, that would prove that she should just leave Artemis and never come back. On the other hand, if she said no, she would have to do something about her own aging process. She would need hormones or whatever concoctions Foaly had made up so that she would grow old and die with Artemis.

She shook her head. "Not really, but what can I do about it."

"We talked about this Holly. Unless you have something that will slow my aging process, you will have to do something about yours, or leave. It's that simple." Even as he said it though, he didn't agree with the statement of it being simple.

Holly shook her head. "You don't understand Artemis. I…I need you. In some way or another, I need you for however long I live, at the risk of sounding clichéd. When you were still twelve, I never thought I'd say it, but I am now."

Artemis ran his fingers through his hair. "I know. I…well…I need your help and I-I miss you."

Holly smiled faintly. "Thanks Arty. We have to figure out a way to solve this."

"You're right. There's an answer to everything, we just have to look harder for it."

"Especially since I can't leave you on your own with a magical child. You're hardly competent." Holly chuckled.

Artemis smirked. "Maybe more competent than you realize. I've gotten this far, haven't I?"

"And I applaud you for it, but you just found out that Finn has magic, and I doubt you can handle everything that he throws at you." Holly looked thoughtful for a moment. "How long do you think Finn will live? Since he's part fairy?"

"I'm guessing somewhere in between the two. Quite a bit longer than a human, but not as long as a fairy."

Holly snapped her fingers suddenly. "Which reminds me. What did you say before? About slowing your aging process?"

"I said that unless Foaly had something that could do that, you would have to do something about your own. But now that you mention it, if my aging process could be slowed, it would make this all a whole lot easier."

Holly made a mental note to ask Foaly if he had anything like that. "It could just be the answer to all of our problems although I wonder how the rest of the LEP would feel having you roam around for more than your allotted time!"

Artemis rolled his eyes. "I'm not planning any more kidnappings, if that's what you're getting at."

Holly smiled. "I'll talk to you later Arty. And don't get drunk," she said, motioning to the scotch bottle that was just inside the perimeter of the communicator.

Artemis smirked. "I'll try not to." He picked up the communicator. "Good night Holly."

Holly saluted him. "Good night Arty." She smiled once more, then turned off the communicator.

Artemis sighed and closed his as well, abandoning the scotch in the study and going to bed.