Holly woke in a room that was strange, yet somehow familiar: her old room at Fowl Manor.

She sat up and looked around. Artemis was nowhere to be seen, but he had to has put her in here, so he was probably around here somewhere... And yet, there was no sign of him.

Then she saw it. Sitting right next to her, on the nightstand, was a small piece of paper: a note. She picked it up gingerly and looked at it. It read:

Going to video conference with Root, and maybe to the store if you're still out when I'm done. Remember, all previous orders still stand.

Artemis II

Like I thought it was anybody else, Holly thought bitterly, crumpling the paper and throwing it on the floor. She stomped on it once for good measure, then ran into the bathroom and locked the door behind her.

Meanwhile, Artemis was down the hall in his study, in the middle of his video conference with Root. The poor commander had to come home to find his wife almost hysterical and sick with worry, and he had to deal with Artemis. Needless to say, he was not in the best of moods.

"What the hell have you done with my officer now, Fowl?" he demanded, as soon as Artemis answered.

The human chuckled. "You really are bad with negotiating, aren't you, Commander?" He paused. "I suppose it's a good thing this negotiation is for something different than the last time."

Root growled and lit a fungus cigar, inhaling deeply. "I see no difference. We're still talking about my officer; you still showed up out of nowhere and snatched her up like she was just another piece of your property. You do realize that she is a real person, right? She has a soul, and feelings, and all that." He stopped and exhaled a lungful of green smoke. "In all honesty, that's probably less than she would say about you, you know. Do you have any idea how many times I've listened to her defend you? And then you have the nerve to come and snatch her back up and start torturing her again!" He ground his teeth around the fungus cigar and gave Artemis a smug grin at his surprised look. "Yeah, I saw that shuttle tape, Fowl."

Artemis ground his teeth in frustration, glaring at him. "I don't care what you saw; everything is not what it seems, you know. And considering this is about Holly's life, I would think you would be a little more careful of what you say."

Root started and tensed momentarily, then relaxed. "You won't kill her," he said. "If you wanted to do that, you would have already."

Artemis smirked evilly. "Maybe you're right. I won't kill her... But that doesn't mean I won't hurt her. Remember that if you think about doing something smart.

The commander stared at him for a minute, then sighed, rubbing his temples. "Fine. What do you want?"

"I want you, and the rest of The People, to leave Holly and I alone. I gave you ten years, out of the goodness of my heart, to have Holly back and keep her in Haven. Now, I brought her back here, with me, where she belongs. I don't mind talking to you, or Foaly, or somebody else over the conputer every once in a while, but I want none of your kind on my property anymore, with the exception of Holly. Later-"

"But Holly-" Root started to say, but Artemis continued speaking over him.

"After I get her settled back in and that kind of thing, perhaps some video conferences can be set up if you want to speak to Captain Short. In the meantime, don't ask, because I get annoyed easily when I have to answer the same question over again, repeatedly, and we wouldn't want Holly to be trapped here with me when I'm in a bad mood, would we?"

Root shook his head, not speaking for a while. Then he finally said, "I'm not going to beg for it, Fowl, but I want to ask just once: please don't hurt Holly. You want her, and you want to keep her up there with no interference from us, then I'll do my best to assure it is so. But Holly is a good person; she doesn't deserve to have to be tortured and miserable the rest of her life. Just... treat her right, alright?"

It was the first time Artemis had seen the Commander so calm, yet worried. Usually, the commander yelled when he was upset. Artemis softened a few degrees. "It was my intention," he agreed softly. "After a few... disagreements, that are sure to pop up as I get things straightened around again, I hope things will run smoothly between her and I from there." He leaned forward. "I want her to be happy as much as you all do. Trust me. I honestly don't want to hurt her anymore."

The commander nodded, his eyes downcast. "I want to believe you, I really do." He looked up, and they locked eyes. "Show me that I can." He paused, then added, "...Artemis."

Artemis gave him a small, yet genuine smile, the first that Root had seen on him. "Yes, sir."

He was about to log off when Root said, "Oh, and Fowl? Watch her head and shoulder. She has a gunshot wound in her left shoulder, and a minor concussion. Got it?"

"Yes. Thank you, Julius. Goodbye."

"Bye," Root sighed, and hit the off button. Artemis sighed, shut his off too, then went to find Holly.

Artemis went to the elf's room, knocking softly on the door before entering quietly. There was no answer, so he figured she was either in the bathroom or in the tunnels, and as the door to the tunnels was still locked up tight, he decided it was likely the former. He sat on the seat by the window and waited for her to come out.

She did, after a while, wearing nothing but a bathrobe. Artemis instantly was on his feet, walking towards her, as soon as the door started to open.

Steam billowed out of the bathroom, surrounding the two as Artemis walked up and grabbed the door from her. She looked up and their eyes locked, and immediately he saw the fear flash in her eyes. She tried to hide it, by turning her head away quickly and blinking rapidly, but he still saw it.

"I- I'm going to sit down on the bed," Holly stuttered quickly, starting to move away, but Artemis grabbed her arm.

"You're not going anywhere," he informed her, pulling her away from the door, shutting it, and then pushing her back against it.

Holly swallowed hard, her eyes going wide and fearful as he stepped forward and put his hands on either side of her. Trembling overtook her body as she stared up at him, waiting for him to say something. He didn't, just stared back at her, soaking in her appearance and relishing in the fact that this was actually her, standing before him once again, and completely at his mercy.

"Artemis," Holly implored quietly. "P- Please don't do this. I mean, I haven't-"

She didn't get to finish her sentence, as Artemis leaned down and caught her lips with his. He kissed her slowly and gently, his lips working hers, while his hands cradled her head and his body molded to hers.

He didn't force her to stay there long; he released up on her, his hands dropping and going to her waist. She could have pulled away then, but she didn't, instead staying right there and kissing back.

He was the one who finally broke the kiss, which was rather surprising to both of them, yet neither of them said anything. Instead, Holly sniffed softly and laid her head on his shoulder. "Now we're truly back where we left off," he breathed. "And I finally got that kiss."

"Yeah," Holly murmured. "That was... okay, I guess. Better than what I thought you were going to do."

Artemis nodded, squeezing her once before prodding a little, "Was it good?"

Holly sighed and nodded. "Yes.. it was very good. I.. I sort of liked it," she admitted.

He smiled at her. "Good. And there's plenty more where that came from... later, however. Now..." He pushed her off gently, back against the door. "Now, there's some things we need to talk about."

"Like what?" she asked. Then she realized: how small of a chance was there that this wasn't the conversation that she'd been dreading? She immediately started trying to talk out of it. "Artemis, I really think that before we get into anything, and... a-and you decide whether to punish me or not, I should get a chance to explain, because there really is a logical explanation- ow!" she yelped, cutting off abruptly, because Artemis had just reached over and lightly squeezed her left shoulder, sending thunderbolts of pain down and around the area.

"Did that hurt?" Artemis asked.

She reached up with the hand that wasn't now clutching her shoulder to wipe the tears of pain from her eyes. "Y- yes.. but-"

"Then that's all I need to know," he interrupted. At her confused look, he elaborated, "Your commander told me you were shot. You have a gaping gunshot wound in your left shoulder-"

"It's not gaping," Holly muttered, but he ignored her.

"-and a minor concussion, up here," he said, tapping the side of her head easily. "So, you, my dear elf, are on bed rest until it heals. Got it?"

"Noo," she whined. "That's not fair! I don't want to lay in bed up here! I still have to unpack and everything..."

"There's not that much to unpack. It can wait. Or, later, I can do it for you. Trust me, I really have nothing better to do than sit here with you, and keep you company. Okay? So I'll be here the whole time."

I'm not really sure if that's a good thing, Holly thought, but she didn't say it aloud. She nodded. "Okay.. S- so I'm not in trouble for being gone so long?"

Artemis shook his head. "Nope. I don't really mind... I mean, I have you back now, and that's all that matters. I know you didn't somehow find a way around my orders, so you obviously had a reason to still be down there."

"Yeah," Holly agreed, sighing with relief. "I did. Thank you. You have no idea how afraid I was..."

"I knew you were. And I know what I did on the shuttle didn't help." He started rubbing his hands up and her arms, massaging them gently as he spoke. "Sorry about that, by the way. I honestly didn't plan that..." He paused, locking eyes with her again as he whispered, "I really didn't plan to hurt you... and I really don't want to. So please, don't make me." Then he leaned down and kissed her again, holding her lips there while he reached his hand back to her shoulder, sliding the shoulder of her bathrobe down to expose her wound. Without breaking the kiss, he began gently probing the area with his fingertips, and she whimpered breathlessly.

He finally broke the kiss again, looking down at her with a stern expression. "Where are your bandages?"

"In the trash," she answered.

"Why?"

"I- I took them off, to get in the shower, and they were dirty, so I didn't want to put those bad ones on."

"Then you need more. Come with me." He pulled off her, taking her hand and pulling her along behind him.

He led her out of the room and down the hall, heading towards... Somewhere. It had been so long since she'd walked down these halls, toured them with Artemis, that she didn't remember what more than half the rooms they were passing were.

"Where are we going?" Holly asked nervously.

He didn't answer immediately, walking in silence for a few more minutes until he reached the door he was looking for. Finally, he stopped and looked at her. "My lab," he said simply, and pushed the door open.

One word came to Holly's mind as they entered the room: bright. She looked in and blinked several times at the bright lights, as the room was lit up with lighting panels on the ceiling, that were all turned up to the highest setting. They reflected off the several steel tables that were also around the room.

The tables sat low to the ground and were all about seven feet long and at least five inches wide. Most were made with metal restraints bulid into that them, for the hands, feet, waist, and neck. A few actually had people in them. Looking at them made her shudder, so she looked away quickly.

Counters and boxes lined the walls, and there were two trays of both tools and some strange looking liquid in glass bottles in one corner of the room, but she barely noticed these. Even though she didn't want to, her eyes involuntarily kept flicking back to the tables.

Artemis noticed this and sighed. He laid a hand on her shoulder, and she jumped, pulling away quickly. He raised his hands, and she whimpered, her fear suddenly returning as fast as it had went away. He smiled gently at her. "Holly, listen to me. I'm not going to hurt you. You know that. I know what you think you see, but it's not what it looks like, I promise you."

"What is it then?"

"Come here, and I'll show you." He held out his hand, and she flinched. "Its okay, Holly," he soothed. "Take my hand."

She did, hesitantly, and Artemis pulled her over to him. "Most of these, aren't even real people, Holls," Artemis told her.

She was surprised by the name, but she didn't say anything, just listened... mostly. "Most?" she asked.

"Yes, most. The rest dedicated themselves to science, for things like cancer research. That's why they're here; they were given to me to experiment on for research. Okay? Its not as bad as it seemed, was it?"

Holly shook her head. "I guess not, I-I just... I thought..." Se took a deep breath. "Nevermind. But you can see why it scared me, right?"

"Of course. But just so you know..." he leaned down and put his lips by her ear. "I haven't kidnapped anybody since I met you. I don't plan to. I won't say I haven't hurt anybody, however... I can say that I didn't want to." He pressed his lips down, just below her earlobe, and traced them up around the outside of her ear. Holly shuddered at the feeling of his lips moving across her sensitive skin.

"What about me?"

He pulled back and looked down at her strangely, cocking his head. "What about you?"

"Are you going to hurt me?" she asked. She looked up at him, her eyes wide. To him, she looked like a scared little child, asking for reassurance from him. He sighed, taking his hand and cupping her cheek, stroking it gently.

"I... can't tell you that, for I don't have a sure answer. I don't want to, but I suppose if it came down to it, I would."

She flinched as if she'd been slapped, drawing away from him. "Oh," Holly murmured. "Okay..."

He squeezed her good shoulder. "Holls," he started to say, bending towards her, but she shook her head and stepped away. He reached for her again, latching desperately onto her arm. "Listen! I-"

She pulled away. "Artemis... Just get the bandages. I- I'll just go sit over here..."

She quickly scrambled away, and Artemis sighed, watching her with a pained expression. At first, it started to go well, and then... This happened. I shouldn't have brought her to the lab, he thought with another sigh, shaking his head and heading towards the cabinets.

He walked over an knelt down, digging through the cupboard and grabbing a box of bandages and some peroxide. Then he walked back over to her.

Holly was laying down on one of the tables, staring at the ceiling, and she didn't look at him when he perched next to her on the edge, though it was obvious she knew he was there because she flinched. He sighed. She didn't speak. "Holly. You have to sit up."

She nodded and sat up, wincing at the pain in her shoulder. Turning towards him, she asked, "d- do you need me to take the robe off?"

Artemis shook his head. "You're fine, Holly. Unless you are comfortable with it, and I don't think you would be, just slip your left arm out of the sleeve."

"Okay," Holly murmured. She pulled her arm out carefully, and Artemis helped her, making sure she didn't hurt herself, and helped her situate the robe so she remained completely covered. He gave her a small smile and said, "I'm going to clean it out before I bandage it again, so we know for sure it won't get infected. It might sting a little." She nodded, and he carefully started cleaning the wound.

"You're getting peroxide all over the floor," Holly told him softly, looking sideways at the man's head, which was tucked in her shoulder so he could study the injury closer.

He poured a teaspoon more peroxide on her shoulder, then lifted his head up to look at her. He rested his forehead against hers and whispered, "I don't care. You're being taken care of. That's what matters. I'll clean it up later."

"O-okay. I-it's your choice, I mean, you have to clean it up," Holly said, quirking her right shoulder. "I was just trying warn you, I didn't know if you noticed..."

"Yes, and it was nice of you, but if I was worried about it then I would of brought a tub over or put you over the sink. It's okay."

"Okay," Holly said again, pulling away. He sighed, sliding down to finish cleaning and bandaging the wound. Then he jumped up, helped her put her arm back in the sleeve, and gently put her down on the floor.

As he took her hand and started to lead her back toward her room, he said, "If you're not completely healed before the next full moon, I'll take you to perform the ritual."

"O- okay. Thank you," she said, a slight quiver in her voice.

"No problem. Now, like I said before, you are on bed rest. Do not leave your room again unless I tell you." He was in front of her door again by now, and he released her to hold open the door for her. "Go lay down. I'll be back in in a few minutes," he told her, pushing her in. Then he quickly pulled the door closed, locked it, and started back down the hall.

845 GO!

And people wondered how we would put A/H in this...

Ok! So the poll for the AF Story of The Year is OVER! Go check to see who won on my profile!