Ok, so the total number of chapters still hasnt been decided...but oh well...

Anyway, this chapter is a little sad...it made me cry just writing it, so dont be afraid to let it out.

For the next several days, Artemis and Holly kept their distance from each other. This was because Holly freaked out as soon as Artemis got within ten feet of her. She didn't even let him get near her to bring her meals; when she heard him coming, she would hide in the bathroom until he left again.

Not seeing her was killing him. He was sorry, truly; she had to know that. But he couldn't tell her that if he couldn't even stand in the same room as her... so he decided to do something about it.

About a week after the death of Trouble, Artemis got fed up. Late one night, when he was sure Holly was asleep, he went back to his old room and got the same binds and ribbon strips he'd used to hold her when she was suicidal, then went to her to tie her up again. It would be the best way to keep her in one place long enough for him to talk to her and calm her down, he reasoned.

Artemis crept back up to the elf's room and quietly pushed open the door, then went over and perched on the edge of Holly's bed.

For a minute, he just sat there and watched her sleep, then he finally resigned himself and leaned over to gently grab one of her wrists and pin it against the headboard as he began to wrap the ribbon length around it slowly...

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Holly came around not too long after that.

He finished tying her up, then laid down next to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his head on her stomach and closing his eyes.

He hadn't been lying there for twenty minutes when suddenly a blood curdling scream sounded from right behind his head.

He lifted his head to look at her, and saw Holly was awake, her mouth hanging open and her eyes wide and tearful. He sat up completely and raised his hands, signaling that he wasn't going to hurt her.

"I just came to talk, Holly," Artemis promised.

"Liar," Holly said, her voice trembling. "If you just want to talk, then why am I tied up?"

"Because, otherwise you would have gotten upset and tried to get away from me," Artemis said. "Now, listen. I don't intend to leave you tied up for long, but in order for this to take only a short while, you have to cooperate with me."

She shook her head, tears already following down her face. "I-I can't. You know I can't. Just kill me and get it over with."

"Holly, I told you before. I am not going to kill you, and I'm not going to hurt you either. You have to trust me-"

"Sure." Holly snarled sarcastically, a hint of crazy in her eyes. "Trust you. Especially after you threatened, hurt, and tied me up? Plus the fact that you killed one of the few people that knew I was alive!" By the time she finished, Holly was screaming so loud it reverberated from the walls.

"He was trying to kill you, Holly! What was I suppose to do, open the door and give him permission to?"

Holly just closed her eyes and shook her head, ignoring him. Artemis could see the tears falling freely from her eyes now and decided that maybe screaming back at her wasn't the best option.

"Listen, Holly. I know that I might have…" Artemis trailed off. "I'm sorry, okay? And there is no might about it, I guess; I lost control of my temper. I killed somebody. But..." He tilted her chin up, forcing her to look at him and meet his eyes. "It was him or us, Holly, and even though I feel bad about it, I wouldn't change it even if I could. I know you knew that guy, I could tell by the way you reacted. You didn't want me to kill him, but he wanted to kill you. That's why I killed him. If I could have found another way, then I would have done it, because I really don't like hurting people, whether you believe it or not."

He leaned down, so his face was inches from hers and ignoring her whimper as he said, "I would have really hated to kill you, even in the beginning, though I didn't know it then. And hurting you then, and still hurting you now... the guilt is eating me alive. I wouldn't kill you now, ever... even if it meant sacrificing myself to keep you alive."

Then he closed the distance, leaning down to gently lay his lips over hers. However, Holly just cried into his lips and moved away, shrinking against the headboard. "That's...touching, Artemis. But, I...I can't trust you. Not now, not ever."

Artemis looked down, "Holly, we've said a lot of things we haven't meant. But saying that you don't trust me is-"

"A fact." Holly interrupted.

Artemis took a deep breath, calming his rising nerves. He looked back at Holly, "Can you answer one thing for me?"

Holly looked back up cautiously, curious of what the mud man had to say. "What?" She asked, her voice slightly wavering.

"Do you still love me?" He questioned, looking at her face as the elf's eyes widened and she turned away from him again. The elf just ignored him, pretending like he never said anything in the first place.

A soft and low growl was emitted from the back of his throat. Artemis took hold of Holly's chin, dragging it back so she looked at him in the eyes. "Do you still love me?" He repeated lowly.

Holly gasped, the magic making her answer truthfully, "Artemis... of course I do, b-but it doesn't change anything. I still can't trust you. I want to... but I can't, not after you've given me so much reason not to. And anyhow, how I feel doesn't matter if you don't love me too, a-and I can't even be sure of that from you anymore."

"Let me prove it, then," he said, pulling her head back up to kiss her ferociously again. This time, his tongue forced entrance into her mouth, knowing that she couldn't get away, as he claimed possession of it he released her chin to wrap both of his arms around her waist and press himself tightly to her.

He held her there, like that, for a minute, then unwrapped his arms from her waist and slid them up, under her night shirt and over her back so his hands were holding her shoulders from behind. Then he broke the kiss and pulled him tightly against her that way, leaning down to begin a trail of kisses from her jawline, down her neck, and all the way to the base of her shoulder. There he stopped long enough to bend her back, although still keeping the lower half of her body pressed tightly against his, and slide down to plant kisses along her collarbone too. Then he finished there and slid down the center of her chest, still kissing a trail down where his lips touched, until he hit where the collar of her shirt hung. He could feel Holly breathing fast and shaking as he kissed her skin. She struggled vainly against her bonds, trying to get away. But between those and the fact that Artemis was holding her so tightly, she barely had any room to move, much less the strength anymore.

"Artemis." She said, her voice racked with sobs and sadness. "Don't...please, don't."

The man sighed, leaning back so he could look at her, yet they were still as close as ever. "I thought you said-"

"I might not have stopped loving you, Artemis, but I told you...I can't trust you. I don't think I ever will…" Holly trailed off, taking in a deep, shuddering, breath. "Ever since I met you a decade ago...it was on and off with your trust, I can't be like that forever, Artemis. Y-You think that I can turn a switch, so every time you mess up, I can just turn around and forgive you. But this," She tugged faintly against her restraints again, "and what has happened over the past few days have been too much…"

"Holly, I understand why you are upset, but I also understand what you are going through." He looked at her, tears gathering his eyes this time.

"You don't understand my position, Artemis, no one can." She whispered, tilting her head down to look at her lap sadly. "I have no one, my friends, my family…"

"Holly, I do understand. And you do have someone."

"Who? The dead person you killed and buried in your garden?" She looked at Artemis' slightly surprised face. "I have a window, Artemis, you haven't taken that away from me yet." She paused again, "And you can't understand, like I said, no one can."

Artemis took his hands off of her, getting up to pace the length of the room while Holly could do nothing but sit there, her back propped against the headboard and her arms restrained in an upheld position. "No one can understand you and your position? How you have lost everyone and everything?" His eyes were downcast as he stopped pacing. "Do you even know what happened when you were gone? My father died right in front of me, because of me and my arrogant thinking, Butler died because of a con I made, Juliet left because it was too painful to just around me. Finally, my last straw was when I decided to kill my mother...I could have invented something, anything to save her…" He finally looked straight at her, tears slipping out of his eyes and rolling down his cheeks slowly, "So don't you dare say I don't understand what you are going through."

"If that's true," Holly said, slowly, still looking at him straight in the eyes, "then you should have at least some idea of the pain that I'm in right now, from this ordeal."

"I just said that, Holly," Artemis barked at her. "So what?"

"So then why are you doing it to me?" Holly asked.

Artemis opened his mouth to answer, then paused, realizing that she had a point. He was the reason she felt alone, and that she had no one, that she was terrified all the time now and couldn't talk to anyone about it. She was feeling the same kind of pain now that he had been for years now, and he had been trying to get rid of, unsuccessfully... and this time, he was the one bringing it down on her.

When he realized this, he froze, looking at her and opening and closing his mouth several times, but nothing came out. Holly took the opportunity to get a few more words in.

"Artemis," she said softly, looking at him with a sad expression. "We're both going through the same thing, although for different reasons, and if you're telling the truth, we should understand each other. And... I really think that, if you truly cared about me, and loved me back, then you shouldn't want to make me feel that kind of pain. And you're right, I didn't know what happened while you were gone before, but now, it really still doesn't make much of a difference. I-I.. I really hate to say this Artemis, but it sure sounds to me like you brought all that down on yourself. But I didn't; instead, now you're bringing it down on me, too... I just don't know what I honestly did to you to deserve this."

"You are the only person I have left."

"That doesn't give you a right to keep me here. You are depriving me of what you want, making me suffer with you! I was just the unlucky fairy ten years ago…" Holly paused to look down at her lap again, starting to struggle against her bonds faintly once more, "and now I have to suffer along with you." Tears welled up in her eyes like they had in Artemis', flooding her cheeks once more for that night.

"Holly-"

"What? What more could you possibly want from me? You think that the men who killed your father, o-or the man you conned and killed Butler were bad?" She gave him an expression that was mixed with horror and disgust, "You're just like them, wanting something so badly that you will hurt anyone for vengeance."

Artemis growled at the comment, his eyes still bloodshot as he strode up to her. For a moment, she thought Artemis was going to slap her like he had so many years ago. Although, as much as his hands were shaking with anger, he never laid a hand on her. "I am nothing like them. They are cold-blooded killers."

"You killed Trouble." Holly countered, only making Artemis more upset.

"He was trying to kill us!"

"You tried to kill me before!"

"I never did...Hell, I've saved you!"

"When I wanted to die!" Holly screamed, "Are you satisfied with yourself? You were so cruel to me that I actually wanted to commit suicide!"

Artemis stopped, sucking in a breath when she realized she was right... again. He took a few more deep breaths in attempt to calm down, but stopped when he realized it wasn't working. It was useless at the moment. Instead, he leaned down and just started working furiously at the bounds on Holly's hands, ripping and tearing at them until they fell off. Then, with some difficulty on making sure he didn't hurt her, he lifted her up and pulled her arms behind her back, using one of the ropes to tie them there.

"What are you doing?" Holly asked. On one hand, she was happy he'd released her from the binds on the bed, but on the other, she was terrified of what he was doing now, especially because he was binding her again.

"You don't trust me. You want to go back to Haven. You want them there, you don't want to be here. You hate me, still, after everything, and you don't believe me when I tell you I love you." His voice was deceivingly calm as spoke, just continuing to list off things that were facts. He starting pulling her out of the room, never pausing, and never looking at her either. "I can't take this anymore. You're right, and I hate it; even if you're bringing the pain down on yourself, I hate seeing you in any pain at all. So I'm done, I'll take you back to Haven. You can forget I existed. I'll go turn myself in to Root too, if it makes you happy.

Maybe after I get executed for killing an LEP officer you'll realize how serious I was."

Dun dun DUH! Ok, dramatic ending! *chews on fingertips nervously*

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