Author's Note: Big news that I won't drop here, but will say to check my profile for more information!

Chapter 7

Butler was a shade bit concerned when Artemis didn't answer the door immediately, like the young man normally would whenever his presence is requested. Sometimes, Artemis had the door open before Butler had even finished the climb up the stairs to the flat.

So to get no response even after the second ring on the doorbell, and silence for another thirty seconds after that, was troubling. The retired bodyguard rolled his shoulder, working up his body to follow his mind's initiative, gauging the distance and how much force he would need while simultaneously steeling himself for what was no doubt going to hurt...

Only for the door to finally open as he lowered said shoulder to force his way through. Though Artemis finally answering his door didn't serve to allay any concern as much as shift it. Artemis was not dressed normally, first of all; black boxers, black t-shirt, and nothing else. He was also visibly flushed with disheveled hair, and what looked like the beginnings of a nibble mark on his neck.

"Sorry, old friend." Artemis finally said with gasping breath. "I... rather lost track of time..."

"Mmm hmm." The bodyguard confirmed with a neutral, cautious expression, if only for the reason that he suspected no matter how unusual the situation before him already was that it was only go to further down the rabbit hole once he stepped inside.

Artemis nervously shuffled to the aside, allowing the slightly hunched over bodyguard entry into the flat, a doorway that required Butler to slouch even with the bend to his spine. The very first thing he noticed when he entered were two plates on the dining room table, both of them eaten from. One of the chairs had been knocked over, still laying on its side forgotten.

Butler cocked an eyebrow curiously. "Did... you have company this morning?"

Artemis pursed his lips, a tell of his that had developed when he was trying to think of the right words to say. "I'm going to tell you something you aren't going to like, and you'll think I'm mad even considering it."

"It would hardly be the first time I thought you were about to do something insane." Butler retorted. "It would take quite a bit to startle these old bones, I suspect."

Or it would take a woman's voice calling out from Artemis's bedroom.

"Hey! Fowl!" She shouted, "You're paying me a hundred pounds an hour even if you aren't using it, boy!"

Butler's eyebrows just about hit his hairline, dark blue irises turning in his former charge's direction with pupils narrowing in accusation. In Artemis's defense, the young professor looked equally aghast. That said, it was hard to buy that it was a look of disbelief considering the circumstances.

The declaration was followed by a remarkably curvy young woman with copper red hair and carmel skin popping into the hall, clad in a strapless black bra and matching panties. With all the confidence in being seen in her undergarments as one would expect from a... escort... she strode through the hall and into the living room.

The woman gave Butler the once over, and the older man found himself rather at a loss as she said with a hint of displeasure. "What is this now? You didn't say anything about a menage a trois, Mister Fowl. That's going to be extra."

Now fully in the light, Butler now understood what had seemed uncanny about her. The voice... the appearance... had Butler not known better, he would have thought this was...

Artemis had finally manage to form words with his lips, though they weren't many, and didn't offer any explanation to what was happening, "Holly... what are you...?"

The woman then turned to Artemis, and sighed, before laying into him with a frustrated tone. "And what is this 'Holly' nonsense, anyway? When we agreed on our price, you didn't mention anything about roleplay."

Poor Artemis looked like his best friend had betrayed him. "Holly..."

"The name's Amelia, boy." She shot back. "Amelia Ponder. You should know, you demanded to see my ID when I came in."

The woman pointed to a handbag hanging off the coat rack next to the front door. Out of curiosity, Butler crossed the distance, and examined the ID in question, confirming what she had been claiming. There was another something else that caught his attention... but Artemis's well-being was more important at the moment.

Butler knew that Artemis had been very down ever since a talk with Holly that Artemis had refused to talk about, rebuffing any attempts from anyone, be it friend or family, as he began to exhibit signs of a man spiraling into a deep depression. Had he sought comfort in a mistress of a night... or more accurately who he thought was a courtesan?

Butler tucked the second item of interest into his jacket pocket. The most important thing was to get himself between this woman and Artemis, which he did by stepping between them and pushing Artemis back towards the table. The next question he asked wasn't so much because he was disappointed, but more to get a good look at Artemis for any signs of distress or foul play. "Artemis... are you alright?"

His former charge had the look of a man who wasn't even sure himself anymore. "I... but I thought she... we... she told me..."

At that point, the woman erupted into boisterous laughter, starting both men who quickly turned about to regard her. "Oh, Frond... or should I say 'Oh God' now... the look on your faces!"

Butler blinked rapidly, so startled by the change in demeanor that he did not nearly as quickly as his suspicions demanded, because the woman threw her arms around his waist in a warm hug before he even knew it. "Oh, Butler, I'm sorry..." She said with a familiarity that only confused the old bodyguard further. "But you have to admit that was a perfect prank!"

"Am I going mad, old friend?" Artemis asked with an uncertain whimper.

Butler gave him a look of sympathy and answered, "If you are, I'm going with you."

"Butler!" The woman scolded, "I know I've changed a bit, but look at me! It's me! Holly! Holly Short!"

Butler did just that, giving the woman a good long appraising look while exerting all his willpower to tell himself that while this girl was gloriously under-dressed, he was far too old to be entertaining such base thoughts anyway.

A rough hand slid over Holly's cheek. Either Holly's holo-camo had taken several steps forward (because he had always felt that he could tell the difference between real flesh and illusionary, at least when he knew it was fake)... or this was real.

"Holly?" He asked in stupified awe.

"In the flesh!" She chirped, finally breaking away and closing the distance between her and Artemis. She hugged him, kissed him on the chin, then damn near plastered herself onto him until he returned the embrace. "I'm sorry, Arty. It was just a joke. I didn't mean to upset you."

Now convinced of Holly's identity, the affection didn't surprise him, it's not like the two hadn't been dancing around that mutual attraction for years. But he still found that once his blood pressure rose, it was a bit of crash when it came back down... like it was starting to, so he feared that the display would appear to be the reason for him saying, "I think I need to sit down."

He followed it up with a hasty, "No, no... don't stop being friendly on my account. I can make it to the sofa on my own. However, I do suspect I have a lot to be caught up on."

Butler settled himself on the reinforced sofa that Artemis had custom built specifically for the larger man, while Artemis took his leave towards the kitchen, and Holly disappeared momentarily into Artemis's bedroom to put on something more suitable.

She finished first and dropped down onto a chair next to the sofa. She had such a vivid blush going that it was clearly visible even considering her skin tone. "Its real, by the way."

"What is?" Butler asked, "Your body?"

Holly nodded. "I... made myself human."

"To be with Artemis." Butler said, allowing himself a short happy smile for her before he let seriousness settle back in. "I can only imagine your former friends with the LEP aren't too happy about that."

"No. They aren't. It's LEAF that worries me more, though."

"I am only vaguely aware of the changes below. Artemis has kept me as out of the loop as he can since I retired." Butler said. "So pardon me if I don't fully understand the depths of the concern."

"LEAF stands for the Lower Element Armed Forces. They are a military-grade, trained, and operated unit." Holly explained. "Since the entire adventure at the Beserker's Gate, they taken control of all access to the surface, along with nearly 60% of the LEP's previous assets along with the expanded powers they have."

"An armed forces is a definite aggressive tack to take." Butler mused. "The Lower Elements are planning war, then?"

Holly shrugged, "The claim is that they are preparing for the now inevitable discovery of the Lower Elements by humanity, and the inevitable aggression from humanity that would come from it. While I was unaware of any plans for a 'pre-emptive strike' against humans... it wouldn't surprise me, either. The LEAF has done such a good job convincing fairy-kind that war is coming that it wouldn't take much."

"The Lower Elements have always felt that another war with humans would end just as badly for them as the first one." Butler said.

"LEAF has taken such an aggressive stance on getting the Lower Elements geared for war that I fear the Council might decide that if they're going to lose anyway, they might as well take the first punch."

"And this pertains to you becoming human... how?"

Holly exhaled, and her face turned guilty. "LEAF is a military organization, not a civil law-enforcement one. LEAF doesn't have to answer to anyone for utilizing lethal force with all prejudice when it comes to someone who has 'turned traitor'."

"Which you have been labeled, no doubt."

Holly nodded, "If LEAF finds me, there won't be an arrest or trial. I'll be killed on sight, and likely anyone with me."

Butler noted, "And yet here you are in Artemis's home, being intimately involved and playing pranks on him and me."

Holly cringed, "I know that sounds bad, but the Fey... the beings responsible for my transformation... are watching the situation, and they don't want me to make a run for it just yet. I'll receive word when I'm supposed to make a break for it. Artemis and I were going to begin planning our escape when he called you."

Artemis entered with a teapot, a sugar bowl, and three cups as Butler displayed the second item in Holly's handbag that caught his attention. "And that explains why Holly would have Eraser's address. I take it that's where these Fey want you to run to?"

"I told you that it would sound insane." Artemis said, pouring out tea in Butler's cup, then Holly's then his own.

Butler shook his head, both refusing sugar and in response to Artemis's question, "It really doesn't, knowing what I know." Seeing Artemis's betrayed expression, he added, "You're not the only one that's been keeping information from others, my boy. Your father... didn't want you getting involved. Said you've dealt with this sort of adventure enough."

Artemis's hospitality was forgotten, putting down the sugar bowl before finishing the scoop he was going to add to Holly's tea. As he sat back down, both Butler and Holly saw the Artemis of his teenage years return as he folded his hands in front of his mouth and said simply, "Explain yourself this instant."

"Arty..." Holly said warningly.

"It sounds like Butler and my father started nosing around in something that I'd have the most experience in dealing with." Artemis said defiantly.

Butler took it in stride, "Your father heeded your warnings. About Broderick. The last few years, I've been trying to gather information on exactly what he and Emerald Technologies has been up to, their rapid expansion, and why they've taken such a dogged lead in the tech world."

The older man shifted into the cushions to get more comfortable. "Most of the information is still highly classified; not even my connections in America's CIA were able to get me much from before, just that Broderick and his squad got back together after something got them honorably discharged from the army. Exactly what that event was has been hard to piece together; as the squad's actions were as much freelance as they were under U.S. auspices."

"Two names came up; Cornelius Grimbor and a geneticist with KGB ties named Vladimir Kirov. Both of them had been working on a top secret project in conjuction with the U.S. Army and the CIA after the fall of the USSR, but what exactly that project was... I still don't know. What I do know was that it was important enough for Broderick and his team to gather up all that information and found InfoTech."

Artemis nodded, "That was in 2003 though. That's more than a decade sitting in the background as an obscure tech company."

"Right. Then they explode on the scene after Opal's little time crisis, and quickly get humanity back on its feet in double time."

Holly's eyes narrowed, "You don't think they... assisted Opal?"

Butler shook his head, "Oh no. Believe me, had Broderick wanted to take control of the tech world and become a multi-national corporate entity with assets rapidly approaching the economies of most first world countries, he wouldn't have needed a complete tech collapse to do it."

Artemis nodded, "Whatever they're up to, they need a tech-rich human civilization to do it, and they don't want the Lower Elements sniffing around, either."

Holly asked Butler, "So this Broderick fellow knows about The People then?"

Butler nodded vigorously, "Oh yeah. If the 'clean' tech wasn't a clue, Broderick outright said as much to Artemis's father during a private meeting. He knows about Artemis's adventures, knows about the connections Artemis formed, and straight up told Artemis's father that fairy-kind does indeed exist and can't be trusted."

Holly thought about this, and wondered out loud, "Could that be what LEAF is afraid of?"

Butler shrugged. "Maybe... but I doubt it. If the picture of LEAF you paint is accurate, and they knew anything about what Broderick and his people are cooking, I can't imagine they would be sitting idle."

Artemis cut in crossly, "What are they cooking?"

"Again, I don't know exactly. But I suspect it's magical."

Holly and Artemis both asked simultaneously, "How do you figure?"

Butler shifted again. His back was getting so bad that he figured surgery would be necessary soon, as much as he disliked going under the knife. "There's been a lot of movement of information going to InfoTech long before they made the name and corporate switch. They weren't just stockpiling tech, they were gathering old legends and fables from around the world, both modern and ancient, though preferably ancient."

"It was carefully hidden through a program that was claimed to simply be a massive information archival, but they were looking for those specific things." Butler said. "Of that, I'm confident."

"There were a couple of events, one in 2005 and one in 2006 that really make me believe in a magical connection, though. The first one involved InfoTech launching their first high altitude satellite. We're talking top of the ionosphere here... any further up and you aren't even in orbit anymore. But I'll tell you right now, it was no satellite, it was a space station."

Artemis blinked. "What on Earth would Broderick need a space station for?"

Butler shook his head, "No idea. All I know is that Broderick and someone else that I have yet to find identification for went up there. Only Broderick came back. And here's where it gets real weird. He was hot."

Holly blinked, "Well, that makes sense. When you're that high up, even fairy technology isn't able to completely shield an interior from solar radiation."

"I'm talking about he was hot to the tune of 300 times higher than he should have been. That level of radiation should kill in a matter of hours. Yet Broderick walks away that night not the least bit the worse for wear. There's no technology on Earth that could accomplish that."

"But magic can..." Holly concluded with concern.

Butler nodded. "Now here's where the story gets even stranger. The doctors who had been called to treat him disappeared. Records pertaining to the treatment were either sealed or destroyed... all on the order of a Major General Wilson Braddock."

"Broderick's direct superior when he was with the Eraser Initiative." Artemis told Holly.

"Yep. You don't get high brass involved, and go to such lengths to cover up a simple case of radiation poisoning. I'd go a step further and say he was radiating magic itself. Which leads to the second incident a year later."

Holly blanched a little. "2006... this incident wouldn't have happened at Carn Goedog, would it?"

Butler nodded. "It did."

Holly explained to Artemis, "Remember how we lost three years during the adventure to Hybras?" When Artemis nodded, "During that time period that we were gone a UMEE, or unexplained magically empowered event, occurred; centered at Carn Goedog in Pembrokeshire. There was a handful of very high intensity bursts of magical energy, well beyond any naturally occurring eruption. But by the time the LEP responded to investigate, there were no signs of anyone save a single unidentified human body... dead for hours. The man carried a lingering electrical charge and was positively glowing with magic, but had not been the source of either. To this day, the LEP had no leads."

"It was Broderick... or at least, he was there when whatever happened happened." Butler explained. "Him and a woman named Rachel Doe, a diagnosed schizophrenic released to Broderick under very suspicious reasons under the order of General Braddock. Wanna know her story? You're gonna love it."

Artemis and Holly nodded.

"Girl claimed that she could see monsters from a place called the Grey Lands. And that she had been born to be the key that ripped open something called the Grey Veil, that would allow her father, the Grey King to return to the Earth and destroy everything."

The blood drained from Holly's face. "The Grey King... it was a legend from the time before the Great War between humans and fairy. It was said that Frond was just a figurehead; that he was actually ruled by a shadow monach named The Grey King. There's no evidence that such a person existed, at least no records that fairies have... but... how would a human know about that legend?"

"Good question." Butler replied. "And I don't know the answer. But what I do know is that Broderick and this Rachel Doe were at Carn Goedog at the exact time this UMEE you speak of occurred, and that the CIA has reason to believe this unidentified man was a mass-murderer known as the Zodiac Killer."

"That's impossible." Holly said with a shake of her head. "The man in question was probably in his thirties."

"And the Zodiac Killer would have been much older than that in 2006." Artemis added.

Butler shook his head, "You're forgetting magic is involved here... and there's reason to believe that this man found wasn't human, at least, not completely."

"And what reason is this?"

Butler smiled deviously. "I'm going to need access to a clean computer. I trust Artemis has one."

Butler wasn't exactly tech-savvy... but he had to learn some things over the last handful of years in order to fulfill Artemis Senior's requests. Once in front of Artemis's second laptop, Butler began chicken pecking out an address. "This archive is where Artemis's father and I had been compiling information we found on Broderick and his friends, away from both Broderick and the People's prying eyes."

"What I'm about to show you is something that was no doubt supposed to be destroyed in 2006. It certainly wasn't from lack of trying by Broderick and the CIA. A medical examiner's assistant in Wales snapped this photo of the victim in Carn Goedog hours after the LEP likely abandoned the scene. She then went into hiding when it became clear that the CIA was looking to keep it under wraps. She wasn't successful... but this lone copy of the photo she took managed to slip through Broderick's fingers."

At that point, the image loaded, and Holly gasped in shock.

It wasn't a particularly good photo, nor was it a particularly good angle... but it was enough for Holly to see the victim's coal black eyes.

"That's a Fey!"

That proved to be news to Butler. "Oh?"

"That's the connection!" Holly exclaimed. "That's how the Fey know about Broderick when the Lower Elements don't! That's why they think I'll be safe there! The Fey are working with Emerald Technologies!"

Butler put a hand to his chin thoughtfully, "Yes... that would explain a great deal. Especially Emerald's latest project."

Artemis asked, "And what is that?"

Butler sighed, "Again... don't know much at all. Just that there is something going on deep in Emerald Technologies, and that at most twenty people in the corporation knows what it is, all of them part of Broderick's old squad and inner circle. There's a lot of resources moving to the Washington facility, and not a lot going out. It's so top secret that they aren't even bringing in engineers with the company to work on it. It's all being done by those twenty people. A lot of tech... a lot of those ancient legends... and only a few hands touching all of it."

The retired bodyguard offered his conclusion. "If I had to make a guess, I'd be betting that Broderick is trying to use tech to harness magic. For what purpose... I haven't the slightest idea, but that's my best guess."

Holly and Artemis looked at each other despondently, and Holly began, "Why do I get the feeling that going there wouldn't be finding sanctuary..."

"... and instead would just be an entirely different fire to burn us." Artemis finished.

Butler closed the laptop, and said sternly, "You both really don't have any other option." He looked up at them both. "There's no way that you would be able to escape LEAF forever on your own, and if there is one entity that could give the Lower Elements pause, it would be Emerald Technologies."

Artemis nodded. "You're right, old friend. Should I arrange a call with Broderick to tell them what is happening then?"

Butler shook his head rapidly, "Yes, but I would be wary. As much as Broderick's life has changed over the years, he is still a highly trained killer. If he decides you are a threat, do not doubt for one moment that he will hunt you down and end your life. Tell him what has happened, what the Fey told you and Holly to do, and nothing else. Do not commit to anything until you and I can go over it first."

Holly asked, "Go over it with you?"

Butler sighed, "Broderick is not going to want me present. He didn't want me in the same room when he had his talk with Artemis's father, and he's not going to want me around when he talks to Artemis. I suspect he knows that I've been digging around about him, and doesn't like it, but isn't bothered enough by it to do something overt about it."

After a moment's thought, Butler added, "Besides, I was a bodyguard. He was an assassin. We weren't going to like each other on general principle."