...Don't ask.
This probably isn't the chapter you really want, but it is the one that's been in my drive and what I planned on being next. I went through a deep dive of my email and found so many reviews left on this story, and it sparked a new inspiration for me to finish this. I think I have an angle for it to go, and I want to finish this story.
Also, sorry for any continuity errors. I tried reading through all past chapters before to relearn what I wrote.
Root sat back in a chair in Foaly's office. Even though the annoying centaur wasn't there, having gone to the surface to get the help of Butler at Fowl Manor, he found that his lab was a great place to hide out. Especially from Hilder and the other Council People.
He puffed a fungus cigar for a few seconds before pulling it out of his mouth and looking at it. Foaly would never let him do this in his lab. Root chuckled. Good thing he wasn't there. He blew out the smoke from the cigar before placing it back in his mouth.
With a sigh, Root reveled in the quietness. He should force Foaly to go to the surface more often.
"Figured I'd find you here." He heard a voice from the door. Root glanced over there, looking at Trouble with a hologram tablet screen in front of him.
"Damn. And here I thought I found an actual good hiding spot." He muttered.
"If you want a good hiding spot, talk to Holly. She's been avoiding desk work for years." Trouble walked down the short white staircase to the floor of Foaly's lab. His footsteps echoed on the linoleum plastic floors as he came up to Root. "There's more paperwork for you to look through and sign."
Root sighed again, sitting up on the bench and taking the wristwatch that was projecting the screen from Trouble. "There always is." He breathed, flicking through the files on the screen. "And I'll ask...If she gets back."
"When she does," Trouble corrected, sliding onto the other side of the bench. "I'm sure that tall one and Foaly will figure this out on the surface."
The Commander nodded, taking off the wrist device and putting it on the bench. He walked over to the desk and pulled up Holly's last stats before she went quiet. "I shouldn't have let her do that mission. Then we wouldn't be in this mess."
Trouble scoffed and rolled his eyes, getting up. "This was a routine mission. A grunt could have done it." He reminded, maybe himself more than his superior. "There was no evidence to make us think she would go off on her own and then disappear."
"Except we know Holly." Root sighed, bowing his head. "She's been off desk work for years and when she did go on missions years ago something always went wrong."
Trouble was silent, not having anything else to say for a while until his tablet in his hands went off. "Frond.."
"What?" Root turned his eyes off the vitals to turn to him.
"Hilder is on the move." Trouble tapped at the screen, looking at footage from his house. "He must have either gotten bored or realized after a few days of sneaking out that I'm not there anymore. One way or the other, he's probably about 5 minutes away."
Root closed Holly's vitals and mission, stippling out his cigar against a horseshoe decoration on Foaly's desk and throwing it in the can next to it. "It's been a few days. I'm surprised it took this long."
"It's not like he's the brightest bulb in the greenhouse. He has the brain the size of a goblin…" Trouble trailed off, flicking through files on his tablet.
"Hey, don't underestimate him." His superior admonished. "The minute you start to do that is the minute he will come out from under us and get the best of a bad situation."
Trouble sighed, leaning against the corner of one of Foaly's chrome desks but not taking his eyes of the tablet screen in his hands. "You're right. But what are we going to tell him when he gets here and Holly and Foaly aren't here?" Root started to pace fast, his face getting red. Trouble finally glanced up, wondering if he could see the smoke coming out of his ears because of how fast his brain was going. Julius was definitely cooking something. "...Well?"
"Foaly is on vacation. We have paperwork to back that up, so that shouldn't be a problem." Root started, rubbing his chin as he continued pacing. "Is it the same time that Holly is gone?"
"Yes." Trouble interrupted, busying himself with his tablet again. He had an idea, but wanted to look for something before saying anything about it.
"Does that seem suspicious?"
"Sure."
Root paused, glaring at the elf a few meters away from him. "Kelp…" He said warningly.
Trouble glanced up, his eyes wide and innocent as he looked around. "What? Is he here?' He looked around the room for Hilder, based on Root's tone.
"No. You are being withholding." Root crossed his arms over his chest. He knew when his officer had an idea but wasn't sharing yet. "Out with it, what's on your mind?"
"We could get in trouble for Holly being sent on a mission about something new…" Trouble trailed off, furiously flipping through files. His eyes darted back and forth, swiping the screen again. "But what about an older mission she was on that got reopened?"
"An old recon mission?" Root lit up another fungus cigar, waving it in the air after he inhaled a puff. "That might work."
"Got any ideas of which one?" Trouble glanced up at him briefly. It wasn't as though they had the luxury of time. Hilder would be back and on the hunt for any of them soon.
Root exhaled deeply, narrowing his eyes as he looked at the door of the Ops Booth like it was going to open any minute. To be fair, it probably was. "What about Diggums? The last time she apprehended him."
Trouble nodded thoughtfully, tapping furiously on the screen. "Finally make use of that dwarf." He mumbled, finding the last file that Holly filled out trying to find Mulch and opening it back up. "I'll make it look like she got a trail last week from a detail years ago and went up to investigate with her vacation time."
Root took another drag of his cigar, nodding. He opened his mouth to say something, but the whoosh of the hydraulic doors stopped him dead in his tracks. "What's going on here?" Hilder's voice cut through the room sharply as he stalked in. "Kelp, I thought you were at home."
Trouble whirled around, the tablet going to his side calmly. He seemed collected enough that Root didn't doubt he finished doctoring the paperwork. "No, sir. I left home this morning for work. Lili said I was driving her mad. Why?" Trouble didn't mention that he knew Hilder was monitoring their house, probably to see if the council member would fess up to it.
He didn't, though, instead shaking his head. "Does not matter, Major. What I'm more concerned about is why you both are loitering in the Ops Booth while the centaur is on vacation."
Root turned his head, going over to Foaly's computer. "It's not as though Foaly is replaceable." He started, turning on the system. "Foaly wanted us to try and get some information for Holly."
"Ah, yes. Is the Major back from her little vacation with the centaur?" Hilder strided next to Root. "Where is she? I'm itching to chat with her."
"Still on the surface, sir." Trouble answered. "She received new information on where the dwarf Mulch Diggums could be hiding. Given how valuable he is to the LEP, she went undercover in an attempt to go undetected."
Hilder faced him, his face going red. Obviously, that wasn't the answer he wanted. "On whose orders? Her own?"
"Mine." Root said sternly, standing up straight. "I am her Commander, and after deliberating the information she already knew on Diggums, she would be invaluable on the mission to find and arrest him."
"You knew I wanted to speak with her." Hilder said lowly, getting into his face. "This mission could have waited. Diggums has been on the run for over a decade now! Even then, Short is a Major now and has strict orders to stay behind a desk at all times."
Root stood firm, raising an eyebrow and setting his cigar on Foaly's table. The centaur was going to go berserk when he got back. "I completely understand the punishment the council has given Major Short. I understand how you all stifled her because of her dedication and courage."
Root glared at the elf before him. "I also understand now that it has gone on long enough, and I haven't done enough to stop it because of the politics of the council. I am the Commander of the LEP. These are my officers, and if you want to bully and stomp on someone, you will do so with someone of your stature." Root took a step forward, getting right in Hilder's face. "Someone like me."
Hilder took a slow, deep breath, probably debating whether or not to punch him. Finally, he got his composure together and smirked, his eyes narrowing. "You're brave…And stupid. You'll regret this, 'Commander.'" He finished his sentence mockingly, backing away and walking out of the Ops Booth.
Trouble let go of a breath he didn't know he was holding in. "What do we do now, sir?" He asked after a moment.
"I want to hack into the cameras around the area Holly disappeared again." He turned to face Foaly's computer, hoping it wasn't as complicated to work as it looked.
"We already did that." Trouble sighed, leaning against the desk and crossing his arms. "No one grabbed her. She just ran off and we weren't able to follow her for long."
Root shook his head, pulling up the footage. "I want a wider circle of surveillance cameras." He murmured distractedly, his mind working through a few theories at the same time. "I'm not looking for where she went. I want to know what made her run in the first place."