Chapter 44

Tara

RECAP:

I did so not and felt darkness slowly descending on me. The last thought I had was that Butler had been in love with a woman once. Zelda Hershall. She was the last thing that I saw before my eyes shut for the night and I gave way to the darkness.

Artemis' POV:

"Butler, I am quite capable of driving myself around," I argued from the passenger seat of the Bentley.

"I am aware," Butler said, never taking his eyes from the road. We had been having this arguement since the day that I first got my driver's liscence. He didn't doubt my idea, but he did think that it was his job. And if I got hurt then he could never forgive himself. I understand that, but I have presented him with the facts numerous times, but he is not one to take a chance. "But someone needed to bring the Bentley back and protect you."

When it comes to my safety, Butler will do anything. I both acknowledged and accept that. Though, sometimes I am a bit childlish and resent it.

"Of course," I agreed.

"We'll be there in about two minutes," he told me. "Are you excited?"

I felt like rolling my eyes. Of course I am excited, though I'll never admit it. "Of course," I replied sarcastically.

My manservant chuckled as he pulled up. He was as close to Tara as he could possibly get in the Bentley. "Would you like me to take your bag, Artemis?"

"No, Butler. I'll be quite alright on my own," I assured him. After all, it was only one suitcase. How hard could it be to carry?

"Are you sure?" he asked again.

"Quite. We don't want to scare the fairies." They had always been terrified by the 'mountain man'. Mulch, Holly, and Foaly were the only one that did not mind his large size.

"Fine," he conceeded. "I guess that you should be going then."

"Yes, I should," And I opened the door, and climbed out.

"Artemis?" he called, just as I was about to shut the door.

"Yes?" I asked, knowing that I was going to miss my old friend.

"D- Have fun," he said. I looked at him quizzically. He had been about to say something else, but I wondered what it was.

"What were you originally going to say?" I demanded.

"Sorry, Arty. You need to hurry," he replied, rushing me away. Ha, he should know better than that.

I sighed, knowing that when Butler won't speak then he won't speak. "Of course," I sighed, wishing that I had time to find out what Butler had wanted to say. Ah well, there's always next time.

He opened tthe truck and I grabbed my suitcase. Thankfully, it had wheels so I was able to drag it along. Unfortunately, the ground was somewhat rocky and uneven. Though, I am thankful for the hours in the gym and on my horse that helped to develop my current musuclature.

Soon enough, I saw the enterance to Tara. I quickly walked across the threshold. The plush seats, the metal detectors (though most likely not used for metal), the couter, adn the board with arrivals and departures It reminded me of most human airports. Though, I suppose this predates airports by a few centuries.

. I was still looking around when I thought that I saw something... or perhaps someone. "Hello Holly," I said with a patented vampire smirk. She always got enjoyment out of that.

"D'arvit!" she huffed, shimmering into view on my right. "How do you always know where I am?" she demanded punching me on the arm. I think that she believed that it was a soft punch, but it was rather harder than what is polite.

"Trade secret," I smirked, not realizing how much I had really missed my fairy friend.

I glanced back down at Holly, who was looking annoyed. "I told you to dress casually." Of course. I knew that this was coming. Hopefully, she would refrain from any more violence or I would end up black and blue by the end of my trip.

"I am dressed casually," I protested. "I'm not wearing a jacket, am I?" And that is about as casual as I ever decide to be. Any more so is just uncomfortable.

"Aaarrrttttyy," she sighed. "Jeans are what I meant by casual."

"Well, I'm sorry. I didn't know," I lied.

"I bet. There's not much that you don't know," she snorted. Well, at least she's getting better at knowing when I'm telling the truth. Though that last statement wasn't really a lie. "Okay, this is getting annoying." And just like that she switched the topic.

"What is?" I asked, gbladd that we had gotten off of the topic of my wardrobe.

"We've been standing there for the minutes and you still haven't given me a hug yet." I smiled a bit as I blushed. She wanted a hug. I am not good at giving hugs, but I suppose that I may as well try it.

Holly's POV:

I have no idea what I was thinking. We went from arguing about his wardrobe to me asking him to hug me.

He stepped towards me with his arms outstretched like an infant that was walking for the very first time. I smiled to myself as he hugged me close. For a second, I was consumed by the masculinity of his scent and how strong and warm he was.

All too soon, he deposited me back unto the floor. My head seemed to be spinning, but I quickly brought myself back to earth. "Come on," I said, leading him off to the shuttle. "Let's go, mud boy."

Artemis sighed deeply. "I would have thought that you had stopped calling me that by now."

I giggled loudly. Yeah right. I had been calling him 'mud boy' since the day that we met, and I wouldn't stop now. "Force of habit?"

"Of course," he smirked. Obviously, he did not believe me. Ah well, neither did I.

I rolled my eyes as we walked through the large metal doors. Then, we went straight through to the shuttle. I keyed in my code, knowing that Artemis was right behind me and taking it all in. I should probably be worried, but Artemis couldn't fly a shuttle to save his life.

The doors whooshed open and, of course, I led the way in. "Sooo...," I hedged.

"Foaly was telling the truth. This really is a new shuttle," he nodded in approval. Obviously it must be a big deal if he actually liked it and had no corrective comments to make.

The new shuttle was silver and black. It's nose was pointed for speed and the body was stream-lined. It was invisible to any human technology and programmed to go extremely fast. Not to mention that it was actually luxuriously on the inside. There was a bathroom, a galley-like area, large comfy pilot and passenger seats, and even a small rest area.

"Oooh, so the great Artemis Fowl is giving Foaly a compliment?" I gasped in shock.

"I'll admit that it's impressive though the door could be a bit higher," he said when he had to duck down to enter. I just rolled my eyes and sat down in the pilot's seat. Arty stored his bag in a compartment that was under the control panel.

"Attention passenger. Please take your seat and buckled your safety belt. I hope that you enjoy your trip to the Lower Elements. Thank you," I announced in my best, cutesy, flight attendant voice.

Arty complied, but couldn't resist making a comment. "You enjoy that a bit too much," he chuckled.

"Not nearly as much as I enjoy this." A mischevious grin stretched across my face as I gunned the engine, opened the throttle, and pressed my foot to the proverbial gas. The grin turned from mischevious to pure satisfaction as I watched him crash back into the seat and clasp the sides as tightly as he could.

"Slow...down...please," I heard Artemis say from between his rippling lips.

"What's that? You want me to go faster?" I asked and accelerated even more.

"Holly, slow down!" he begged.

I had to feel bad for the guy. Even I''m not that cold hearted. My grin grew even wider if possible. "Oh slow down." So, I did as he had nicely asked.

I glanced over at Arty who was panting and still grasping the sides of the seat. "Are you okay, Artemis?" I asked trying not to giggle at the way that he looked.

"Oh perfectly fine. Never better." Obviously, sarcastically. He was well... green. I finally couldn't resist giggling anymore. It just burst out of me.

"And they callme a criminal?" he demanded. "Anyone who does obviously hasn't met you, Holly Short."

"Okay, Artemis. I'm sorry." And I almost seemed sincere. Almost.

"Somehow I don't believe you." Genius. You can't beat it.

"Oh please. I'm offended," I huffed.

"Wonderful. Low crime rate, ton of free time, getting annoyed by Mulch. The usual."

"Sounds enjoyable," he said. "Have you been up to anything else?"

"Well, I did make a new friend." I smiled. Knowing that Arty would be concerned about who may be around me.

"And who would that be?" he asked, swiveling in the chair so that he was looking at me.

"Lili Frond," I admitted. I had been talking about her for years, so I was expecting some comments.

"The same Lili Frond thta you used to call and complain about? The same Lili Frond that you always call a blond bimbo?"

"Yes, the same Lili," I replied, keeping my eyes forward though I could feel his eyes boaring into me. "What? She's not as bad as I had thought that she would be. In fact, she's really sweet."

Artemis burst out laughing. It was so unexpected that it made me jump about a foot into the air. "What was that about?"

"You don't have very good first opinions of people, do you?" he chuckled.

I felt my stubborn side coming out. "And just what is that supposed to mean?"

Needless to say, he sobered up rather quickly. "If you think back then you'll recall that you had a very bad opinion of me at first." And at this, I snorted. 'Very bad opinion' indedd. It's more like I really hated him. "But that opinion was reformed."

"Now, you've done the same thing with Lili. Very Interesting."

"Not really," I shrugged.

"If you say so," he muttered, his eyes still boaring into me.

"So," I said, changing the subject. "How has life been for you?"

"As you said, 'the usual'. Life is so...monotonous. Though I have started on a new investigation. And of course, I've been spending time with the boys and my father. So, I suppose I would say that life has been going well for me."

"That's great," I smiled. "But your investigation, it's not illegal, is it?"

"No, he chortled. "I assure you that it is not illegal." And I believed him.

"It better not be. I'm going to have to watch you more closely now."

"I would expect nothing less."

We sat there in silence enjoying the other's prescence. "We'll be there in about an hour," I told him.

"Okay," he murmered, his mind obviously someone else.

"Hmm, you know. I made a new fried too, or rather an old one."

"Really?" I asked. Maybe he had connected with someone he knew from a while ago. I just hoped that they weren't a criminal. "What did you mean by that?"

Artemis smirked at me, his eyes shining brightly with the thrill of a well executed plan. "I think that you know exactly what I meant, Hollinda."

A/N:

Whoo-hoo! Another Chapter down. Okay, so I hoped you enjoyed that one, because the next few chapters will be in Holly's POV and in diary form.

Anyway, I plan on updating soon. Note that this is my main focus at the moment and that I have a ton of stuff all ready written for it. Yes, the Haven parts are almost done at the moment.

So, yeah, thanks to all of my reviewers and people who added me or this story to favorites. I love you reading and I'll keep writing. Oh and remember to review. Flames are welcome. They're what keep me warm and toasty at night. ;)

Remember: Reviews = happy camper. Happy camper = quicker updates. Quicker updates = you reading more. It's a cycle. Keep it going!

Yours truly, madly, and deeply,

Einstinette