Holly jolted into awareness. Her first thought was: Opal!

"D'Arvit!" she exclaimed, shooting upright. She immediately regretted it. A searing pain appeared in her left shoulder, and she gasped in pain, falling back down.

The pain must have caused her to black out again, because when she came to, Melissa was standing over her.

"M- Melissa?" Holly croaked.

"Oh, Holly! You're awake!"

"W- where... How did I get back here?" she asked softly, trying to sit up. Melissa pushed her back down.

"Oh no dear, stay there. You will only hurt yourself, and I won't stand for that. And as for you question, Julius brought you here. He didn't figure you'd want to stay in Argon's clinic. Isn't that sweet?"

"Yeah, sweet," Holly said distractedly. "I'm sorry, but my memory is a bit blurry. Why was I in Argon's?"

Melissa gave her a funny look. "I can't believe you don't remember! Well, you did take quite a knock to the head." She leaned down. "Opal shot you, honey. She was aiming for your heart, but she got your left shoulder. Lucky for you, she had a bad shot."

"Yeah, lucky me," Holly murmured.

"Still, the impact was enough to throw you back and make you crack your head. You blacked out on contact. We were afraid you might have brain damage of some kind, but Argon said you didn't. A concussion, for sure, and not to mention the gaping hole in your shoulder, but no brain damage."

"W- why... Why didn't somebody heal me?"

"The doctors were afraid you would go into shock. You already weren't looking too good, and they didn't want to risk it. And besides, you know how dangerous head injuries are..."

"Oh," she murmured. "Okay. So I am supposed to heal up like a human?"

"No dear, you don't have to. We just wanted you to wake up and make sure you were stable before we did. Much less of a risk then. Root was either going to take you back up later, or if they close before he gets back to get you there, heal you himself."

"That makes sense," Holly agreed, closing her eyes again. She loved Melissa dearly, and she was being a huge help, but all this talking and trying to make sense of things was giving her a headache.

Melissa sensed this and patted Holly's good shoulder. "Sorry, hon, I wasn't thinking. You probably want to lay down and rest. You need it, anyways."

"I'm fine, Melissa, just a bit of a headache," Holly whispered. "You're fine, honestly."

"No, no. Rest up, Captain. You'll need it." She pulled the covers back up over Holly, then turned and left.

Holly sighed. She wanted to argue, but Melissa was right; she was exhausted. So she rolled over and went to sleep.

Holly woke again to the sound of a rustling behind her. She groaned softly and lifted her head from the arm of the couch, only to find she couldn't see the culprit because of how she was laying. "Melissa?" she asked quietly.

Her only answer was a soft chuckle. That is not Melissa, Holly thought, feeling sick. "C- commander Root?"

Again, that soft, cold chuckle. She felt she had heard it somewhere before, but nothing came to mind. She didn't really need to think about it anyways, because she would soon get her answer.

Before she could ask anything else, something small and pliable was pushed into her mouth. Too far, it seemed, as she gagged around it. She heard soft swearing and knew immediately this wasn't anyone who was supposed to be here; she didn't think it was late enough for Root to be home, and even if it was, he tried not to swear a lot at home because Melissa detested swearing.

She tried to call for help, but it was too muffled to be distinguishable with her mouth full of fabric. She tried to struggle, but as soon as she tried to sit up, a searing pain ran through her left shoulder; not only from the muscle strain, but because two hands grabbed her shoulders tightly and squeezed, pushing her back down.

Holly screamed. That hurt enough on her right shoulder, without the gunshot wound, but on her left... indescribable, the amount of pain it caused. Even through the gag, it was loud.

More swear words were heard at this, and the person shook her as running footsteps echoed down the hallway. She whimpered, breathless from the scream, but still in major pain. "You couldn't have stayed quiet, could you?" a voice snarled. A very familiar voice. Deeper than when she last heard it so long ago, but definitely the same person's voice. She now realized why that chuckle had sounded so familiar too.

Artemis jerked her roughly off the couch, (by the right arm, thankfully) and bound her arms behind her. He pulled her to her knees, on the couch, and pulled her back to his chest. Cold metal touched her throat.

Her arm throbbed in time with her heartbeat as Melissa burst into the room. "Holly!" the woman gasped. "Oh dear."

The hand at her throat wavered a little bit, but didn't drop completely. "You're not who I thought you were," he informed her, the relief sounding in his voice. "I thought Julius would be here."

"My husband is still at work," Melissa said sharply. "He won't be home for a while yet. Now please, put the poor elf down. There's no need for threats; I'm perfectly willing to work something out."

Holly spit out the gag. "He isn't," she whispered, surprising him. He hadn't even realized he'd dropped the gag. "Artemis is here for me, Melissa. Please, just... just let us go in peace so that nobody has to get hurt anymore than it's already happened."

He rolled his eyes. "You make it sound like I hurt you, Holly. Which I haven't. Not yet, anyways."

Before Holly could remark to that, Melissa stepped in. "You're squeezing her shoulder, Mr. Fowl. She has a wound there, that would be why."

"Excuse me?" Artemis demanded suspiciously. "What wound?"

"Melissa, no! Please... he'll only use the knowledge to hurt me," she whispered, sounding broken already.

Melissa sighed and shook her head, covering her eyes. "Look for yourself," she answered.

Artemis did, using the hand the was keeping her tightly pinned to sweep the edge of her shirt off her shoulder. He growled when he saw that it was indeed bandaged, with blood starting to seep through it again. All the tugging and pulling had ripped the stitches Argon had put in, causing it to open up and bleed again.

"What happened?" he demanded. Neither Melissa or Holly spoke up. He sighed. "Fine. I'll find out soon enough. Which reminds me, we'd best be going." He looked at Melissa. "If Root wishes to speak to me, tell him to have Foaly set it up through my computer. If he comes back to my manor, we will be having problems. Got it?"

The woman nodded without looking at him.

"Good." Carefully, he righted her shirt, then slid the knife into his pocket again. He slid his hand under her, lifting her, so he was carrying her infant-style in his arms. "Anything you want to say?" he asked Holly.

"Am I coming back?" was the answer.

He chuckled slightly. "Don't be foolish. Of course not."

"Then yes." She paused. "Is it alright if I take some of my stuff with me then?"

He looked at Melissa, who said, "I'll go get it for her." He nodded as the woman disappeared. They were alone, for the moment.

Artemis's gaze snapped back to her. Holly shook her head and looked down, hiding her face from him. She sniffled softly. "Holly?" Artemis whispered. She didn't answer. He opened his mouth to say something else, but just then Melissa came back in to the room.

"Here," she muttered breathlessly, walking over and handing the bag up to him. He slung it over his shoulder and turned to leave. "W- wait," she said quickly.

"I don't have time for this," Artemis muttered, too low for her to hear. Then he turned back around to address her. "What?"

She was going to ask him a question, but as soon as he turned his glare on her, she lost it. Instead, she merely picked up the gag the Holly had spit out and handed it to him.

"Thanks," he snapped, not exactly sounding thankful. "Have Root contact me when he gets back."

Then he turned and walked out then door, slamming it behind him.

Artemis stopped and locked the door after himself, ensuring that Melissa couldn't follow them. Then he turned and looked down at the frightened elf in his arms. He sighed, then said, "Open your mouth, Holly."

She shook her head, her eyes wide and fearful. "N- no. Please, Artemis, I- I swear I won't scream..."

"And until we get back to the manor, I cannot be assured that you won't without gagging you. Now open," he growled, his voice dangerously low. Holly complied this time, though it was obvious she didn't want to. "Good elf," he praised softly, then pressed the strip of fabric back into her mouth and kept walking.

It was silent the whole rest of the way to the shuttle port. Artemis didn't talk, as to risk somebody hearing him, and Holly couldn't with the gag. She didn't want to, anyways. If she opened her mouth, she felt she might be sick. That wouldn't be a good way to get back on Artemis's good side.

Artemis loaded her into the shuttle silently still. He reclined one of the seats, put her in it, and told her to stay there while he got things situated. It didn't take long; he threw her bag up in the passenger seat, started it up, then set it on autopilot and returned to her.

He reached over her and was going to stroke her hair, but she jumped when he touched her. He scowled. You'd think I abuse her, he thought. Then he smirked deviously. Well, of she's going to overreact and be afraid anyways, I might as well give her something to be scared of...

He made his voice as cold as he could manage and ordered, "Holly. Stay still."

She bit her lip, wanting to argue, but holding back because she didn't think it was smart to back-talk right now. Maybe when we get back to the manor, and Butler is there... she thought.

He reached back over and laid one hand on her throat, and felt her tense beneath him. Agonizingly slowly, he began to rub soft circles over her Adam's apple and windpipe. It was a subtle threat, albeit a clear one. He slowly took off her gag with the other hand.

She closed her eyes and waited for him to tighten his hand around her neck, but it didn't come. Instead, he continued to rub her neck, with increasing pressure.

At first, his touch was so light and gentle that she didn't even feel it. But after a while, he was pressing so hard that just the pressure of his finger on her throat, unmoving, sent sharp pains up her neck. When it moved, continuing in those painstakingly slow circles, it was almost triple that, and that was when she wasn't flexing either of them...

Some time during this, the pain, both mental and physical, had gotten to her, and tears started to leak out of her eyes. She kept quiet, of course, so Artemis didn't catch her... at least right off the bat. Her ragged breathing gave her away eventually, though.

Artemis scowled when he felt something warm land on his hand. And then, a few minutes later, another something just like it. He dismissed it at first... Then he noticed the elf's shuddering and loud breathing.

No, he thought suddenly. Holly wouldn't break that easy; not after so long. She couldn't actually be...

He looked over her shoulder, at the elf's face, and sure enough, tears were running down her face. He clucked softly and bent down by her ear, laying his head against hers as he slowly released the pressure on her throat and stilled his hand, dropping it around her waist. "Holly," he breathed in her ear.

"What?" she whispered, her voice cracking. "Are you done with your little mini torture session? Have I suffered enough now that the rest can wait until we get to the manor? Or are you just checking to make sure I'm in enough pain to satisfy you? Well, I don't know if it's enough for you, but I'm definitely in pain; you've taken everything away from me, once again. We haven't even made it off the shuttle yet and the physical torture has already started as well as the mental. Forgive me if I say that I can wait to get to the manor.." She paused, taking a few deep breaths to hold herself together. "You know, you don't seem at all like the boy I remembered... I thought you were actually going to kiss me that day, a-and now-"

She was cut off as Artemis slammed a hand angrily over her mouth. "Don't talk about it! In due time, we'll get to that." He nuzzled her neck affectionately, although still rather hard in her opinion. "I'll nurse our relationship back up to that point quickly, when we get to the manor, and get the bedroom ready for us.."

"Ew! That will never happen, Fowl," Holly snapped, catching the hint in his words. Then she paled, realizing what she'd done.

He growled lowly, nipping her neck repeatedly, hard enough to draw blood. Then he said, "we shall see, Miss Short..." A shiver went down her spin, but she didn't speak, realizing she'd ticked him off and it wouldn't be wise at the moment. He continued talking, either not realizing or not caring. "Besides, the whole point of this was to get you back, take you back to your proper home, and pick up where we left off. And thats where we were headed anyways." He paused to kiss her head. "You have no idea how alone I've been without you, Holly."

She rolled over to look at him. Her shoulder throbbed, but she ignored it, instead focusing solely on the man in front of her. Then she played a dangerous card: "If you want things to go back to the way they were before," Holly asked slowly, seriously, "then why are you being such a jerk? I thought we were past the torture and you acting so mean and cold and being so bossy?"

Artemis stared at her for a moment. She stared back. For a while, neither spoke, then he finally said, "you're right."

"Really?"

"Yes." He reached over and started untying her hands. "I am being a jerk. This isn't how we left off." he leaned closer, putting his lips by her ear, and spoke in a voice that was barely audible. "We'll talk about this at the manor. In the mean time," he pulled something out of his coat pocket — a syringe of thick liquid, "sleep, Holly."

Then he stuck the needle in her arm, before she could protest, and everything went black.

830 GO!