Hey! Ok, so CaptainS10 and I have finally decided an ending to the story! So, only like...maybe 10 more chapters (?) before BATB is over!
I know, sad...but we have a lot of exciting news when this story is over. A LOT of big announcements that I think you will like. Plus, I keep referring to this as "The Damn Story" so you can see, we were eager to get on with our next project! (hint hint of big announcements!)
Anyway...onto the story!
WARNING: ON EDGE REFERENCES AND GRAPHIC SCENES, BUT NO M!
Artemis made Holly stay on bed rest for a few weeks after their little expedition to the lab. It didn't make much of a difference; she probably wouldn't have left the room even if she could, judging from the way she acted about the death of the Fowls and Butler.
For a while, he was worried she might get depressed again, but after a few days she came out of the little slump that the news had pushed her into, and she returned to her normal self. At least, how she had been
acting the whole time she was at Fowl Manor before that.
Holly's shoulder healed sufficiently while she was forced into bed rest by the human, and her concussion also cleared up rather fast. It didn't heal completely, but at least the wound in shoulder wasn't gaping, or as sensitive anymore. She could actually sit up and use her shoulder to some extent without sending shooting pains up her arm and down her back.
It was about three weeks after Artemis kidnapped her back that it happened.
Artemis hadn't been lying before; he had nursed their relationship back up, past where they were before, rather quickly. She didn't try to stop him, but the rate they were moving at worried her slightly. It wasn't that she didn't like it, necessarily, but sometimes he would make certain movements, or say things, that would make her uncomfortable, and she would never be sure what to do.
It was late one evening, after dinner (which he'd somehow managed to learn how to cook without burning the manor down). He picked her up, infant-style, and took her up to her bedroom, dropping her on the bed and going to get a shower with only a brief order for her to go get ready for bed as well and a light kiss on the head.
She complied without complaint, going straight into the bathroom and getting into the shower. Her shoulder stung a little when she unwrapped the bandages and let the water run down in the wound, but not near as bad as it would have when the wound was fresh, and certainly not bad enough that she couldn't handle it.
It didn't take long for her to shower and get clean, even though she wasn't rushing; only about twenty minutes. However, Artemis was already done and waiting patiently on the bed for her when she came out.
She padded quietly over to the bed and laid down in his arms, as they'd taken to doing lately, resting her head in the crook of his neck and closing her eyes. She laid there for a while, almost asleep, when suddenly she felt Artemis tap her shoulder lightly. "Don't go to sleep yet," he murmured, in her ear.
She looked up at him, confused. "Why?" she whined, in a weak protest.
"I want to do something, with you. And besides, it's only eight o'clock. You have plenty of time to sleep later." With that, he leaned down and started sucking on her earlobe gently, reaching his hand up to begin stroking the shape of her ear with the tip of his index finger. The other hand slid down and tugged feebly at the knot in her bathrobe.
His words from on the shuttle came back to her, and she gasped softly, immediately realizing what he wanted to do. "Artemis," she hissed, grabbing his hand to stop him from pulling it loose. "Don't."
He paused, releasing her earlobe for a moment as he asked, "why not?"
She closed her eyes. "I don't want to do this, Artemis."
Artemis sighed, rolling so they were no longer laying on their sides, but so Holly's back was flat to the bed and he was over top of her. "Why not?" he repeated, his curiosity doing nothing to dull the hurt that colored his tone. She heard it and sighed, opening her eyes and locking them with his.
"Artemis, please don't be upset. It's not you, exactly, it's just... well, for one, I don't think we're far enough along in a relationship to-"
He cut her off by saying, "you don't trust me." It was a statement, not a question.
She shook her head. "It's not... I mean..." She stopped, biting her lip and looking up at the ceiling, trying to find a way to phrase it. "It's... it's not really you that I don't trust, Artemis, I just.."
"You're lying, Holly...I know you are." Artemis looked down, his eyes filled with shame, sadness, and hurt. "You don't trust me at all, you never did. I can see it in your eyes every time I look at you, you want to leave."
"Well, can you blame me, Artemis? My life isnt here, it's in Haven with Foaly a-and Trouble and Root. You took me against my will again, might I remind you."
"So what have these past few weeks meant for you? Nothing? I thought we were forgetting all about that?"
Holly scoffed, "What do you want me to do?" She said, her voice getting louder, "Forget? Forget the last decade and my life before you kidnapped me the first time? I can't do that Artemis…" The elf pushed him off of her, sitting up and looking at him with disbelief.
"Your life is here, Holly." Artemis growled, "With me." Anger flared through him suddenly at her words and her defiance.
Holly looked away from him, her eyes gleaming with tears as she tried to hide it. He was right, her life was here...forever. It probably wasn't right to make him mad anyway, Butler wasn't here to stop him from doing anything he might regret later anymore. However, Holly couldn't do what he wanted, no matter how much he tortured her.
Artemis sighed, the anger draining out of him as quick as it entered him as he saw tears form in the elf's eyes. He turned the other way, his back to Holly and laid down with a murmur of, "Goodnight."
Holly looked at him, confused by his sudden change of mind and emotion. She put her head down slowly, looking at him with guilt. Guilt of making him so upset. The elf sighed, looking at his back turned to her as she lay next to him, the green sheets wrapping around them both. Why he didn't sleep in his own bed anymore remained a mystery to her. At first, she thought it reminded him too much of his family and everyone who had died...but after his bold actions tonight, there might be more to the equation than what Holly saw.
Hours passed, and Holly found that she couldn't go to sleep for the life of her. She just looked around the room and at Artemis. She could tell he was asleep from the way his body moved when he breathed in and out smoothly.
Holly thought about what Artemis had said before he went to sleep. She questioned her own thoughts, was she really going to be his forever? She would outlive him by centuries...then what? Stay at Fowl Manor until she dies? The elf shook her head, she wouldn't condone to that. She had to get out and she had to get out now.
But how? Even if she did get out of the Manor and somehow got down to Haven, how would she stay down there? Artemis had snuck down there once before, he could most likely do it again. She took a deep breath, her mind reeling as she thought about that. In the end, the elf gave up. Getting out of here was the focus now, she would focus on the rest when the time came.
Holly nodded to herself. She would get out of Fowl Manor and away from Artemis tonight, if possible. She looked at the genius once more before slipping the covers off of her carefully. She kept looking back as she crept to the bedroom door, opening it and flinching as it creaked slightly. Holly looked at Artemis again, to her relief he hadn't woken up from the noise.
Holly crept down the stairs, looking at the front door the entire way and thinking. Was leaving here worth the price of her magic? Because she would certainly lose it if she left the manor under strict orders not to. The air was still and silent as Holly sneaked across the floor. She reached the door, a stretch of relief flooding over her as she twisted the handle and opened the door. Her breath caught in her throat as she was just about to step out when suddenly she was jerked roughly back in the manor at least five feet.
She turned around and came face to face with Artemis. He looked ticked. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he growled at her, right in her face.
Holly's eyes widened, taking in the furious look in his eye and his pocket knife he already had opened in his hand, and she shrank away from him, her courage dissipating. "I was just trying to go out and get some air," she whimpered, flinching when she realized this lie just made his anger flare up more. He shook his head and lifted her, standing up straight and pinning her up at his head height against the wall. He brought the knife up and pressed the tip of it to her throat, and she squealed in fear as he started to pressure it just a little more...
Meanwhile, Trouble was in a shuttle on the way to Fowl Manor. He knew it was late at night, and not only were Fowl and Holly probably asleep, the whole of Haven was too. But that was why he was coming up now; while most of them were asleep in Haven was the only time he had a chance to steal a shuttle, and while Fowl and Holly were asleep would be the time he would have the best chance to break her out.
He had already been in the shuttle for three hours now, and he was just now nearing the surface a few more minutes, he would dock, and be on his way to Fowl Manor.
He couldn't have made it at a more perfect time.
He landed the shuttle and flew over the dark Irish sky, enjoying the surface air and letting his mind wander slightly, although ultimately his focus stayed on his mission. He couldn't let it go too far, lest he start to dawdle, and that wouldn't be good.
Finally, Fowl Manor came into sight, and Trouble sighed with relief as swooped down into a dive and headed for the front doors.
Just as he touched down in front of the front steps, he heard a squeal sound from inside the manor's front hallway, it sounded awfully like Holly, excepted for the fact that Holly never squealed like that... at least, she never used to, but apparently she did now.
Trouble ran as fast as he could up the steps and peeked in through one of the slightly open doors that led into the entry hall, and voila, there they were. Artemis had Holly up against the wall, a few feet off the ground, and the tip of a knife pressed to her throat. That was presumably why she squealed.
It took all the strength he could muster not to run straight in there and shoot the Mud Boy- well, man now- on sight; that would just make a bad situation worse. Then all hope of Holly escaping would be gone. It would make it useless. No, he would first have to find a way to get her safely away from Fowl. He could worry about breaking her out later.
He looked back in. The human seemed to be having a hard time controlling his anger; his hands were shaking visibly, and he was pressing the knife point so hard against the elf's throat that he could see a small trail of blood running down from beneath, into the collar of her blue bathrobe. It made the blue color turn a mucky brown as it collided with the cloth and Trouble could see the pain in her eyes as she looked at Artemis with a pained expression, trying to breath but choked on her own breath.
Trouble stayed crouched at the doorway, to scared to move. Finally, when he was about to go in and kill the mud man, he let her go and withdrew the knife from the skin of her throat. She fell to the ground, clutching her bleeding throat as she took in huge gulps of air, trying to catch her breath.
Artemis let her go, his hands still quaking as she fell to the ground. He looked away from her, closing his eyes as he tried to gain control of his temper and actions again.
Artemis looked back at Holly and saw the blood dripping from her cut. The cut that he inflicted. Artemis took a deep breath to calm his nerves as he kneeled down next to her.
Holly was trying to stop the bleeding when she saw a movement on the left side of her. The elf lifted her head up slightly, making sure not to make her rupture her cut more, to see that Artemis had kneeled down next to her. She flinched away as he moved his hand to smooth her hair, squeezing her eyes shut as he picked her up from the floor, walking with ease as to not hurt her more than her already had.
Holly kept her eyes closed the entire time he carried her, only opening them when he laid her down on what she thought was the bed in her room. But she was wrong.
Holly opened her eyes to see the red stained concrete walls of the basement. Her eyes widened, and she gasped, jumping upright and scrambling for the edge of the cot.
Artemis grabbed her and pushed her back down. "Holly," he chided, in a low voice, but she cut him off.
"No! Artemis, please, I swear I'll listen! I-I won't complain either! Just please, don't-"
"Holly," Artemis interrupted, looking deeply into her eyes. "Stop."
Holly did, letting her struggles die, although the flood of tears didn't die with them. Artemis sighed and laid her back down flat on the cot before kissing her forehead lightly and pulling turned and headed for the door, and Holly watched him go with a confused look on her face. However, confused as she was, she made no move to stop him.
Trouble watched the human pick Holly up and start to carry her away, and had an internal debate with himself. If he followed, and he didn't deal and make it out quick, he would lose his magic. Not to mention get sick. On the other hand, if he didn't follow and try stop him, who knew what Fowl would do to her before he come back?
Taking a deep breath to brace himself, he threw the door the rest of the way open, and followed Fowl into the manor.
Artemis laid Holly down on the cot and retreated from the basement cell, only to walk into the hall and get slammed to the ground seemingly by thin air.
He hissed in pain and rolled over to the side, starting to get up off the ground as a shot whizzed past his ear. Though he hadn't realized it, the fact that he had rolled when he did just saved his life. Otherwise, the shot that Trouble had just loosed would have hit him right in the center of his back.
Artemis got up and turned, his eyes sweeping over the dark hallway and trying to detect any hint of disturbance in the air. He called out, "fairy. I know you're there. Unshield or suffer the consequences."
A short, mad laugh echoed down to him as Kelp unshielded, leveling the gun on the human again as he responded, "you're the one who's going to face the consequences, Fowl." Then he fired off several more rounds at him.
Artemis dropped to the ground, and the shots whipped past him again. But they would have anyhow. They weren't directed at him. Artemis quickly realized this, as he watched them collide with the cell door that had just barely been slammed shut in time for the little elf who was peeking through the door just moments before to avoid taking the shot to the face. Her yelp echoed into the hallway as Artemis turned back tot Trouble, fury glinting in his eyes.
After Artemis left, Holly sat on the cot for a few minutes, deep in thought. She wasn't sure what exactly what had happened, but then, she wasn't sure she want to find out. So, for a few minutes, she didn't try she just laid there and reflected on everything... until suddenly she heard a gunshot outside.
At first, she wasn't sure if that was actually what she heard. But then, she played the sound over again in her head, and she was sure- that was definitely the sound of a Neutrino 2000 being fired.
Her head spun as she got up and walked cautiously to the door. She knew it wasn't Artemis; he only ever had one of those, the one he'd taken from her when he initially kidnapped her, but he had dismantled that one for experimenting. And that meant... there had to be another fairy in the manor!
Her heart pounded with excitement, and she wanted to just throw the door open and go out and see who it was, but she forced herself to just crack it open a little bit and peek out.
This turned out to be a good thing. She looked out and saw Artemis standing with his back to her, and Trouble Kelp standing across from him in the hallway, gun raised. Suddenly his eyes transferred to her and widened a little, and he shifted the gun in his hand slightly. Her eyes widened as she caught the movement, and she slammed the door closed just in time so the shot hit the door instead of her.
She pulled it tightly closed, listening to the loud sounds of the rounds hitting the concrete door. One actually escaped into the crack as it closed, and she yelped and jumped back, falling on her bottom away from the beam of heat. For a moment, she just sat there, one thought running through her mind: Trouble just tried to shoot me...
She was stunned, to say the least, but she was brought back to reality when suddenly a soft clicking sound echoed through the door. Then she jumped up and ran back to the door, peeking out cautiously again.
She looked out to see Trouble Kelp laying on the ground, a knife sticking out of his chest, and Artemis standing over him with his own gun in his hand. He aimed it at his head and fired two shots into it and then shot him twice again into the heart.
Holly watched her old friend's brains splatter the floor, and his blood, and screamed, falling to her knees with her hands over her mouth. She had to fight the urge to puke as she looked from Trouble's dead, mangled body, to Artemis, who was still standing over him and looking at him with a contented look on his face. Holly saw it and sobbed aloud, realizing that that look wasn't even is mild as contentment. It was happiness. He'd just taken a man's life, yet was he horrified at himself? Did he even feel remorse? No. He was happy. At least it looked that way.
In truth, he was horrified at himself, especially after he heard Holly's terrified scream and sobs. But he wasn't remorseful, and he was happy. He wasn't glad that he'd killed him, however, he was happy that it was one less nuisance, one less person trying to keep him from his elf, and take her away from him, as he had no doubt in his mind that that was initially what the elf had intended to do.
Which reminded him... He turned to see Holly sitting in the doorway to the basement, sobbing. She had her face in her hands, and her whole body was quaking. Artemis knew she'd just watched him kill Trouble Kelp, and that he would have to proceed with caution from here; she was even more terrified of him now, no doubt.
"Holls," he said, his voice soft and soothing as he started to walk towards her. "I-"
"No!" she squealed, looking up at him with wide eyes as she scrambled away on her hands and knees. "Please! I didn't do anything! I- I mean, I know what I did earlier, but it won't happen again, I- I swear! Please don't kill me! Please..." Her back hit the wall, so she could retreat no further, and she stopped trying to get away, instead finally just curling up in the corner and sobbing again.
"Holly, please just breathe. I won't hurt you... I promise." He dropped the gun, getting down and crawling over to her, not caring that he was ruining his suit by soaking it in blood and brains. He was just thinking about Holly. "Holly... Holly, shh, shh..." He leaned down and picked her up, squeezing her gently as he started to cradle her against his chest. She screamed and rolled out of his arms though, shaking, and gasping when she rolled right into Trouble. She shook her head rapidly and got up to her feet, barely supported by her weak knees, and started retreating down the hallway as quick as she could without falling. It wasn't very fast; it was easy for Artemis to walk up behind her and catch her.
She started struggling immediately when he knelt down and used his arms to encase her and pull her to him. He turned her around and gently pulled her into him, making soothing noises in her ear as he held her against him. After a few minutes, she gave up her struggles, although she continued to shake extremely hard against him and sob in his neck.
Artemis sighed and lifted her up, holding her tightly as he carried her back upstairs to her bedroom. Lowering her carefully on the bed, he kissed her forehead and released her. She didn't react except to burrow beneath the blankets, hiding herself from him.
He shook his head and went down the hall to the lab, filling a syringe with some leftover tranquilizer and then returning to the elf's room.
She was still cowering under the blankets when he came back in, never having moved. He went over and gently pried the blankets from her grip, perching beside her and meeting her gaze. She was looking up at him with a mixture of fear, sadness, and drowsiness. She took in the syringe in his hand and the look on his face, then whispered, "a-are you going to kill me now? Is that what that's for? Or is it to torture me more?" Her voice broke as she spoke the last sentence, and he could see her lower lip trembling as she fought the urge to sob again.
"No more torture, and no more death, Holly," he said softly, his voice soothing. "I won't hurt you, whether you believe it or not. I'm just going to make you go to sleep, because you need it. Nothing more, okay?"
She just nodded and wiped away her tears again, then stretched her arm out to him without compulsion. He took it and pushed away the sleeve of her bathrobe, injecting the liquid in her arm and watching her eyes flutter closed with a sad look. Then he kissed her one last time, murmured, "Sleep, Holly," and left the room.
Ok, a little gruesome death scene...whatevs, ya know?
So I think 900 is a little harsh so...890? Please/thank you? I seriously dont get how there are 90 followers, over 400 views everyday...yet it takes forever to get 20 reviews.
Braaaaaains )