Artemis, grumbling incoherently, did as he was told. He made his way back down to the basement reluctantly, fuming the whole way.
When he got to the door, he stopped for a minute and did his best to pull his temper back into check. Maybe if I can just get through one (mostly) nice conversation, Butler will get off my back, he thought.
But any rein he had over his temper was gone when he opened the cell door again.
The little elf was nowhere in sight.
"Captain Short," he growled, his temper heating up again, "hiding from me is not going to do you any good. Get over here, now."
"I'm not hiding," she whispered. "And I'm right here."
He looked down. She was sitting right beside the door, by his feet, curled up in a ball. Her arms were wrapped around her knees, and her face was buried in them.
Seeing her like that, so small and scared looking, made his icy composure crack a little bit.
He scowled a little, fighting the unwelcome sympathy for the elf before him as he asked, "are you alright down there?"
"I'm fine," she said stubbornly. "Why don't you just leave me alone?"
"No."
"Coming down here and harassing me every fifteen minutes is going to get boring, you know."
She never lifted her head to look at him once while she was speaking, and it was starting to bother him. "Look at me, Holly."
She didn't move.
"Now."
"I don't want to."
"I don't care."
She made a low sound, almost like a growl, and raised her head to look at him. "There, are you happy now?"
He said nothing, studying her face in silence for a moment. Her eyes were slightly red-rimmed, as if she'd been crying, and her shoulders were rolled forward. She didn't even really look like the officer he'd met that first night in the field any longer, aside from the uniform. She still had the attitude though, and that was going to be the problem.
"Come with me," he said finally, turning and walking out the door. He left it open behind him for her.
"Why?"
"Do you want to stay in the cell?" he demanded, turning back to face her. She had stopped in the doorway, looking at him hesitantly. She bit her lip and shook her head. "Then come on, before I change my mind."
She still hesitated slightly, but eventually nodded and followed him out, as he knew she would. Not that she really had a choice in the matter anyways.
He led her up a few staircases, and down too many hallways for her to count before finally stopping in front of one door. He opened it silently and gestured for her to go in.
She stepped forward hesitantly, looking in for a moment before stepping forward over the threshold.
Artemis rolled his eyes; this was taking to long for his liking. He put his hand on the small of her back and pushed her completely into the room.
"Go on," he muttered. "Nothing in there is going to jump out and bite you."
She nodded, but on the inside she was thinking, well, that's not what I'm worried about anyways, so I don't really care. But she didn't say that out loud.
"Why did you bring me up here?"
He snorted. "Isn't it obvious? Since you're probably going to be staying here permanently, and I figure you don't want to stay in the basement forever, I brought you up here. I'm sure its more comfortable."
"I'd almost rather be uncomfortable than have to accept any of your hospitality," she muttered, realizing a second too late that she probably shouldn't have voiced those thoughts aloud.
Artemis's eyes narrowed, and he fixed her with one of his signature glares that had Holly thinking how true the phrase 'if looks could kill' was.
"Fine, then," he spat. "You can go back to the basement right now and hide down there until you rot for all I care. If I had my way, you probably would be barely alive right now, if at all. Lucky for you, Butler is going soft as he gets older."
"Yeah, lucky me," the elf muttered numbly.
"You know, he won't keep defending you forever," he hissed at her. "And I certainly won't keep restraining from hurting you for much longer if you keep it up, you little ingrate. God, I don't even know why I bothered now." He shook his head once, throwing one last glance at her. Then he stomped from the room, his body shaking with barely contained anger.
Artemis was still shaking when he arrived back at the kitchen. Butler was standing at the stove, cooking dinner.
He looked up when Artemis entered. He took in the boy's shaking form and asked, "what happened?"
"Nothing," he growled.
"Really? It doesn't seem like nothing." When he didn't answer, Butler continued. "What did she say? What did you say?"
"Well, first I went down there and she tried to hide from me," Artemis said. His anger was still clearly evident in his voice, though it had subsided a little now that he was no longer in the elf's presence. "Then she had the nerve to contradict me and disobey me several times."
Butler nodded. "Anything else?"
"Yes. Then the little ingrate told me she'd rather be uncomfortable than have to accept any of my hospitality. God, all I did was try to get her out of the basement! What is her problem?" He growled again, frustrated, and smacked his fist down on the table.
"Artemis, you should know that she's not just going to automatically trust you and listen to you without complaint. You have to take her side into account too." When Artemis opened his mouth, Butler held up a hand. "Now, hold on a minute. Finish first. What did you say when she said that?"
Artemis didn't answer at first, his jaw clenched tightly. After a moment he finally spoke, "I called her a little ingrate, as she is, and told her that she could go back to the basement and stay there until she rots for all I care."
"Anything else?"
"No," the boy lied smoothly. "Nothing of importance, anyways. Why?"
"I'm going to go talk to her. Perhaps somebody with a cool head can get her to come around. Watch the food for me, will you? When it starts to boil give it five minutes and then turn it off."