A/N: Third chapter is up, massive thank you to those of you that have reviewed so far! Hope you all enjoy this chapter, it might be a while until I get the next one out as exams are starting to appear worryingly close now...(I should probablyyyy revise at some point). Anyway let me know what you think, please read and review (it really is appreciated!).
Disclaimer: I do not own Artemis Fowl, no copyright infringement or commercial gain is intended.
Grand Theft Mud Man
LEP Interrogation Room, Haven
So deeply was he buried within the mire of his despondent thoughts that Artemis hardly noticed the beep which signified the door to the interrogation room opening. Assuming that Trouble had returned to torment him and not wishing to give the Commander the satisfaction of seeing the evidence of his grief he chose to remain as he was with his back against the wall, knees drawn up to his chest and face covered within his hands. No doubt they would attribute his behaviour to guilt or fear of the mind wipe but in truth the only emotion that he could feel was a profound sense of loss and grief at the news of Holly's death. Without looking up Artemis could not see his visitor but he did hear as they entered the room; the small part of his rational mind not yet consumed by grief noted that the footfalls were softer than those of either Commander Kelp or Major Darkleaf from his earlier interrogation.
His grief-stricken subconscious conjured an image of Holly standing before him, her characteristic grin fixed firmly upon her place before she punched him jokingly on the arm. Consumed by such thoughts his mind turned unbidden to the words of a poem by Tennyson, 'I had a dream, a lovely dream, of her that in the grave is sleeping. I saw her as 'twas yesterday, the bloom upon her cheek still glowing.' He had critically reviewed the poem once, commenting on the excessive romanticism of the imagery. The words seemed terribly appropriate now as he wrestled with the need to believe that Holly was still alive, to deny the inevitable ending of the poem when the reader must wake from his dream. His mystery visitor had by this point crossed from the doorway and he knew that he must collect himself and face them soon.
"Arty..." The voice which broke the silence was gentle and full of concern but also tense as if nervous, the sound sent shivers down his spine and caused his breath to catch in his throat. Even had she chosen not to use the pet name that only she and his mother had ever called him by there could be no doubt to whom that voice belonged, a voice that he had thought never to hear again. Despite the evidence of his ears Artemis hesitated before opening his eyes for to look and find the speaker to be any other than Holly or to realise that the voice was simply a product of his grief-stricken mind would almost feel like losing her again and he could not bear that. Steeling himself for the disappointment that he felt sure must come Artemis eased his hands gradually from his face. Crouching in front of him and appearing extremely lively for a dead person Holly was smiling anxiously and he belatedly noticed appeared to be wearing what could only be described as a hospital gown, clearly there had been some substance to the story of an attempt on her life.
As his brain accepted that she was indeed real and very much alive he felt all the grief of the last few hours disappear and as it did so Artemis was unable to contain the smile which spread across his tear-strewn face. His voice thick with emotion he found himself reciting the first line from the poem which had only a minute earlier seemed so tragically relevant and now took on a different meaning. "Te Somnia nostra reducunt" he whispered as he raised his eyes to meet Holly's concerned gaze, the beginnings of a wry smile playing on his lips. The line from Tennyson's poem seemed fitting to Artemis and the Latin rolled effortlessly off his tongue although he was momentarily concerned at the extent to which he had just revealed the depth of his feelings; Holly who had no difficulty translating the Latin due to the gift of tongues possessed by all fairies seemed less impressed.
"My dreams bring you back – lovely Arty but unfortunately we don't really have time for sonnets, any minute now the LEP are going to realise what I've done and I am not sacrificing my career so they can just catch us and mind wipe you anyway." Her voice was playful but he had known her long enough to notice the poorly concealed stress beneath the facade of carelessness, once they were safe he would need to discover exactly what had happened today. Holly may be alive now but it was quite apparent that someone had tried to harm her and that same person had presumably attempted to frame Artemis for the deed. You may believe that you hold all the cards now but whoever you are you should know that I pay my debts and before this is over you will regret ever deciding to cross me, Artemis forced such thoughts from his mind for the time being and turned his attention back to Holly.
"Technically it isn't a sonnet but under the circumstances I suppose that doesn't really matter. They told me you were dead Holly, they said that I was responsible...I could never have done that." Artemis mentally scolded himself for the force of emotion contained within the last few words but Holly didn't seem to care, he met her gaze and knew that she believed him entirely and unreservedly. As far as he was concerned the rest of the world could think what they liked, it was enough that she believed him.
"I know and trust me we need to discuss that but this really isn't the time or place." That wasn't what Artemis wanted to hear, it was all he could do to stop himself from pulling her to him and kissing her until he was satisfied that she was truly alive and then never letting her go again. He was only prevented from doing so by the memory of her words, 'your elf kissing days are over' and was struck once more by the realisation of just how much his foolish lack of trust in his friend had cost him. With an effort of will he pushed such thoughts from his mind, the more pragmatic issue of Holly's involvement in any escape still needed to be addressed.
"I can't let you do this Holly, I won't let you throw away your career, your friends and your home…everything for me."
"Seriously Artemis, you choose now of all times to decide to develop a conscience? Considering that I've already had to disobey a direct order and incapacitate two LEP officers in order to get this far, I think we can safely assume that my career is beyond salvageable whether or not we add escaping with a known felon to the list. Anyway you aren't letting me do anything Arty, I'm choosing to do it and there isn't a thing you can do to stop me."
He tried to protest further but by this point Holly was kneeling on the floor beside him and she placed a single finger over his lips which abruptly silenced whatever Artemis had intended to say next. Smiling almost shyly she reminded him of the words she had spoken years before when they had been trapped in the past together.
"I can't do without you, remember?" Holly whispered gently, then more forcefully "Now pull yourself together and let me get those cuffs off before someone notices the missing guard."
How could he argue with her? Holly was right, all they could hope to do now was escape and try to discover who was really behind the attempt on her life and why they had framed Artemis for it. Clearing his name would by extent clear her own. Unable to contradict her reasoning he chose instead to submit his handcuffed wrists for her to unlock. As she leaned in to input the code for the handcuffs he couldn't help but be overwhelmed by her proximity, the scent of grass and citrus, the way her hair tickled his cheek as she leaned over him, the tingling sensation as her fingers brushed against his arm...
The handcuffs disengaged with a faint click which Artemis felt certain must be less audible than the frantic beating of his heart. Before he truly considered what he was doing his recently liberated hand was on Holly's cheek and he found himself staring into her mismatched eyes. One hazel and one blue, whatever else happens we will always be a part of each other. Reflected in those eyes he saw a mix of emotions: surprise, apprehension and dare he hope, desire? The tension between them was palpable, the maelstrom of despair and relief which had built up during the last twenty four hours all came to the fore in that instant and for once Artemis Fowl found himself buoyed along on a tidal wave of emotion with all reason, rationality and caution thrown to the wind.
"Artemis I..." When she spoke, eyes still locked with his own Holly's voice was thick with uncertainty but Artemis was too committed to stop now. Carpe diem he thought wryly as he leant forward, their lips less than an inch apart...
"When you two lovebirds have finished getting reacquainted maybe we could get back to the escaping the heavily guarded police headquarters part of the plan?"
Artemis may not have exactly planned to kiss Holly in the prison cell but in the slight delay between his hormone driven mind arriving at the decision to act and his body actually responding to that decision he had nonetheless considered most potential outcomes of doing so – the most probable being that Holly would punch him in the face. He had most definitely not considered the possibility that the moment could be ruined by the sound of Mulch Diggums' voice emanating from the personal communicator on Holly's wrist. Although internally furious that Mulch had unwittingly interrupted what he calculated had at least a 22.5% probability of being a romantic moment with Holly, Artemis was nonetheless able to appreciate the irony that the dwarf's joke was infinitely closer to the truth than he could possibly realise.
XXX
His hand is on my face anddddd he's staring into my eyes with that insanely gorgeous look that makes my heart feel like it's about to burst out of my chest...No! I am a professional LEP officer, I am not about to kiss a teenage Mud Boy who also happens to be public enemy number one in the middle of Police Plaza during the most critical phase of this operation...Frond, what am I doing?!
In spite of her inhibitions Holly was finding it increasingly difficult to think coherently as his fingers artfully traced the contours of her jaw, his face now mere inches from her own, so close that she could smell the faintly masculine musk of his aftershave, close enough to taste the mint on his breath...
"Artemis I..." Can't do this? Can't live without this? Really, really wish this was happening anywhere other than here and now?!
In the end Holly was spared the need to complete her sentence by the communicator on her wrist.
"When you two lovebirds have finished getting reacquainted maybe we could get back to the escaping the heavily guarded police headquarters part of the plan?"
Mulch, D'Arvit! The moment was over, irretrievably lost and all things considered that was probably for the best...The thought of Foaly or worse still Trouble walking in and seeing them now caused Holly to sober up extremely quickly, although her voice still shook slightly as she replied to Mulch.
"Copy that Mulch we're on our way, ETA three minutes if everything goes smoothly, over."
"Hey, take your time, what do I care? It's not like I'm having to wait around in a refuge pit while you commit grand theft Mud Boy". From the muffled tone of his voice it was clear that Mulch had found something to eat while he waited for them, wisely Holly chose not to ask what that might be.
Effortlessly hopping back to her feet she watched with poorly concealed amusement as Artemis struggled to his with a great deal less grace. After straightening his shirt and rubbing his wrists which were presumably still sore from the cuffs Artemis turned back to her and grinned in clear amusement at something despite the circumstances.
"Smoothly?" he asked with one eyebrow raised questioningly, "when does anything we do ever go smoothly?"
"Speak for yourself Mud Boy, whenever you aren't involved my reconnaissance missions go just fine."
"Hamburg went just fine, Holly..?" Artemis smiled wickedly. Damn it but I wish he was less cute when he's being irritating!
"That's...Oh never mind! Mulch is right about needing to move, any minute now someone is going to notice us on the cameras even if they haven't missed Chix yet." While she was talking Holly removed the layer of cam foil with which she had been concealing a large (by fairy standards) wheeled container upon which the words 'Contaminated Waste' could clearly be discerned and positioned the container next to Artemis who looking as he was towards the door and clearly deep in thought did not notice the sudden appearance.
"Mulch...Didn't he say he was waiting for us in a refuge pi- oh" turning as he spoke Artemis suddenly noticed the container behind him and immediately ascertained Holly's plan.
"Holly please tell me that you aren't planning on us escaping Police Plaza through the refuge chute?" The mocking tone was now completely absent from his voice. Holly knew precisely how much he wasn't going to like this plan but there really weren't all that many ways to sneak a suspected terrorist out of Police Plaza...the fact that this particular approach involved dumping Artemis in a huge heap of compost was simply a hugely entertaining bonus!
"You didn't seriously expect us to take the front door did you?" Holly tried to sound innocent but could not suppress a mischievous wink as she stepped to one side, putting Artemis between herself and the container and simultaneously unhooking the buzz baton she had taken from Chix Verbil after escaping from the hospital.
"Sorry Arty but this needs to look convincing for the cameras, there can't be any doubt that I chose to break you out of here."
"Holly wait, I'm sure I can…" Holly didn't wait for Artemis to finish his sentence, they had wasted enough time already. Deciding that the kindest way to do this was with as little warning as possible she suddenly lunged forwards catching him completely off-guard and delivering a charge from her buzz baton to the base of his spine, effectively stunning him instantly. As the charge temporarily paralysed his muscles Artemis toppled backwards against the open container behind him, precisely as Holly had planned. Unfortunately what Holly had not planned on was the amount of weight Artemis had gained since she had seen him last. Although still skinny and not particularly tall at roughly 5 feet and 8 inches it still required every ounce of strength that Holly possessed to lift him far enough that his waist tipped over the edge of the container – much to Holly's relief gravity took over from that point. Deciding that if she was going down anyway then she might as well go out in style Holly turned to face the camera that had recorded her incapacitating Artemis and sketched a mock salute then in a final act of rebellion blew a kiss. I wish I could see Trouble's face when he reviews the footage Holly thought, grinning despite the seriousness of the situation.
Once Artemis was securely ensconced within the container it was a simple matter for Holly to cover it once more with the cam foil, concealing herself would however be another matter. She had been able to enter Police Plaza inconspicuously enough through a combination of shielding and using her LEP ID to bypass the various security doors but her tank had been running low even before the attack in the park earlier and in truth she was surprised she had managed to get to the interrogation room without dropping her shield. More concerning however was the fact that her current apparel consisted of a thin hospital gown which had already been severely shaken from her previous shielding, civilian clothing was never designed for prolonged shielding and Holly reckoned the gown had a couple of minutes left at best, after that she would be wearing her birthday suit and if her shield should fail then Artemis or anyone else that happened to be in the area would certainly be getting an eyeful. Unfortunately procuring a LEP suit was out of the question, it would be almost impossible to gain access to the equipment lockers without being detected and even if she did it would quickly be noticed that the suit was missing. Avoiding detection by the LEP once above surface would be hard enough as it was without painting a highly detectable and remotely destructible figurative bullseye on her chest for them.
Frond...I'm really doing this, if I walk out of that door with Artemis then there is no going back, I'll be on the run from the LEP. With an effort of will Holly forced herself to put aside the potential repercussions of escaping with Artemis for the time being and allowed her training to take over – when attempting to escape hostile territory set yourself goals and focus on the immediate task in front of you, worry about the next step when you get there. Abandoning Artemis had never really been an option anyway, she had cried herself to sleep every night for weeks following his death and there wasn't a force on or under the Earth that could compel her to go through grief like that again if there was anything that she could do to avoid it.
As she skilfully manoeuvred the concealed container through the corridors of Police Plaza, carefully dodging the occasional police officer in the process, it occurred to Holly that the words her adolescent self had spoken so flippantly to Artemis in the past were terrifyingly true – she really couldn't do without him. She had already broken just about every regulation worth breaking for Artemis, trusted him with her life when she would never have trusted anyone else and would have given her life in his place at the Berserker Gate had he not outwitted her; now she was about to turn her back on everything and everyone that she had ever known for him. Admittedly this wasn't technically the first time that she had been on the run from the LEP but she had been the one framed when Julius was murdered and had little choice in the matter, this time her exile would be entirely voluntary. If we both survive this then I'm going to take a really long holiday Holly thought as she struggled to maintain control of the container and her rapidly deteriorating shield at the same time. Just as she was convinced that she wouldn't be able to hold her shield any longer and would have to streak for the remaining distance (in which case it would probably be preferable to remain in exile indefinitely anyway) they finally arrived at the main organic recycling chute for Police Plaza, from the mildly perturbed sounds emanating from within the container it seemed that Artemis had also woken up at last, just in time she thought wickedly.
It was the work of seconds to deactivate the recycling mechanism effectively turning the chute into a tunnel connecting the main building of Police Plaza to the vast cave which served as a compost pit below. With that task completed Holly turned her attention to Artemis and prized open the lid of the concealed container to reveal an extremely disgruntled teenage genius.
"Please Holly" Artemis grumbled as he struggled from the container, "Tell me that the next phase of this truly masterful plan does not involve any further physical harm to my person because honestly a mind wipe might be preferable." Holly reasoned that actually stunning Artemis may in hindsight have been slightly excessive but it had seemed like the best idea at the time. Unfortunately it seemed pretty unlikely that he was going to like phase two of the great escape any better.
"Sorry Arty but it had to be done, if it makes you feel any better then I'm pretty sure you're going to be the last person I'm allowed to stun for a very long time." As her words sunk in Artemis' expression changed from one of indignation to one of guilt.
"Of course, your career. It isn't too late to hand me in Holly; you could plausibly claim that I compelled you to help me somehow, I imagine Trouble will believe whatever you tell him."
"It is too late Artemis, I made my choice." I made that choice when I disobeyed every rule ever written to bring you back...I'm hardly going to let you go now you stupid genius.
Artemis was facing the chute and despite his exceptional poker face Holly knew him well enough to tell that he was locked in a battle between conflicting emotions. Any second now the alarm would be raised and her shield would fail and however conflicted her feelings for the Mud Boy might be right now she certainly wasn't ready for that. Being caught would also be fairly inconvenient.
"I do believe that I have a say in this as well Holly...Has it occurred to you that I might want to sacrifice myself for you for a change?"
"Yes Arty it has and that's precisely why I'm not letting you have a say." Holly's supply of magic was virtually completely exhausted and despite her best efforts small parts of her were begin to wink into existence as her shield failed. Deciding that there was no time left for further discussion she placed both hands firmly on the small of Artemis' back and shoved with as much force as her slight frame could muster. Her shield finally failed at the same instant that Artemis tipped over the edge into the chute.
XXXX
For the second time that day Artemis found himself shoved off balance and falling, however this time he hadn't been electrocuted and the fall was considerably longer. Even whilst plummeting headfirst down a chute designed for rubbish his rational brain was calculating; a fall of this distance onto any hard surface would almost certainly be fatal and as it was unlikely that Holly would have rescued him only to murder him immediately afterwards the logical conclusion was that something soft would break his fall. Unfortunately the 'something soft' in this instance transpired to be a large pile of what could only be described as compost. My shirt is ruined he thought sardonically, I doubt even Butler could get this stain out. Mentally chastising himself Artemis realised that he had not considered the bodyguard until now, Butler was certain to be out of his mind with worry given the nature of Artemis' departure and the time that had subsequently elapsed. His thoughts on this matter were however cut short seconds later when Holly shot out of the chute above and collided with him. Despite the fact that Holly was now much lighter than Artemis she still impacted with sufficient force to drive the air from his lungs and render him temporarily incapable of speech.
In the second that it took it took for his brain to process that he was in fact trapped beneath a very naked elf Holly had already rolled away and when he caught sight of her again she appeared to be entirely invisible with the exception of her head. She must be wearing the cam foil Artemis correctly deduced before quickly deciding that he needed to look elsewhere when he noticed the glare that Holly was giving him. Incredible he thought to himself as he fought to control the sudden rush of hormones threatening to eclipse all rational thought. Even covered in compost, angry and wrapped in cam foil she is still the most heart-stoppingly beautiful creature I have ever seen.
Fortunately for all involved any further awkwardness between the two was prevented by the sudden appearance of a previously cloaked shuttle from behind the veritable mountain of compost. As the cockpit door slid open Artemis immediately recognised his old friend and partner in crime Mulch Diggums, frustratingly he found that he could not however recall the identity of the pixie piloting the shuttle although he was certain that they had met before. Probably residual amnesia from the resurrection he reasoned.
"s'about time you two got here" Mulch grunted as he clambered down from the shuttle with all the grace that would be expected from a troll ballerina, 'my bum was going numb we spent long sat in that cockpit and when a dwarf gets a numb bum…"
"I'm sure we can imagine, thank you Mulch. I assume that this…thing is supposed to be our 'getaway vehicle'." The 'thing' in question appeared to Artemis to be a large black shuttle, easily twice the size of the fast LEP shuttles with which he had become familiar with the shuttle parked in front of them would have looked more at home in a scrapheap than the LEP garage. The sprite that Artemis was still struggling to identify had by this point followed Mulch out of the shuttle and joined the conversation.
"This 'thing' might not look like much Mud Boy but she's faster than she looks and there's not a single thing in here that the D'Arviting LEP can track – err no offence intended Captain!"
Holly waved her hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it Doodah, in case you hadn't noticed the LEP and I aren't exactly the best of friends right now."
Doodah…Artemis thought, he had a vague recollection of the pixie driving a rocket-powered toy car but the gap in his memory persisted frustratingly. Before he could give the matter further consideration he was distracted by the unmistakable sound of alarms emanating from the LEP headquarters above them.
"D'Arvit!" Holly swore emphatically before jumping (as gracefully as it is possible to jump whilst wrapped in cam foil) into the recently vacated cockpit and promptly disappearing from sight. When she appeared again less than a minute later the cam foil had been abandoned and she was wearing a moss green t-shirt and khaki trousers, the civilian clothes were a far cry from the LEP uniform that Artemis was used to seeing her in.
"Thanks Mulch, glad you got my message about the clothes, did you have any trouble getting them? Artemis hurry up and get in!" Artemis scrambled to obey, motivated by the alarm which if anything seemed to have increased in volume.
Mulch laughed as he watched Artemis practically fall into the cockpit and attempt to strap himself in next to Holly who was already rapidly performing pre-flight checks.
"Are you kidding Holly? A blind goblin could have broken into your apartment! Maybe you should invest in some proper security when you two get back from your honeymoon." Mulch clearly thought this joke was amusing but the glare he received from Holly in reply was enough to make him think twice about his follow up line involving a human rhyme about golden carriages.
"I may not be LEP right now Mulch but so help me Frond…You two need to get out of here anyway, it isn't going to be long before the LEP realise how we escaped and send a squad down here." Artemis watched from the cockpit window as Mulch, still laughing, led the sprite away from the main shuttle towards a dwarf sized tunnel in the side of the cave which appeared to have been recently constructed.
As their helpers retreated from view Holly sealed the cockpit door and eased the throttle on causing the shuttle to lift off the cave floor.
"Ok Arty, there is an old disused tunnel connecting this cave to chute E20, from there we should have a clear run to the surface. There's no way to avoid tripping Foaly's sensors when we enter the chute but the LEP shouldn't be able to track us after that."
"And when we get to the surface, what then Holly? Fowl Manor is out of the question as it's sure to be the first place the LEP will check."
"I have a place in mind." Holly smiled tentatively but Artemis could see the difference in her body language, the way her shoulders tensed ever so slightly and her fingers flexed subconsciously on the controls...Clearly wherever their destination may be it held some personal significance for Holly, Artemis filed the information for later.
"Hold on to your breakfast Arty, this ride is going to get pretty wild!" All semblance of nerves now gone Holly grinned as she steered the illegal shuttle over the precipice and dropped into the magma chute.
XXX
Mulch paused at the mouth of the tunnel and watched as his friends disappeared from view into the magma chute and laughed again, shaking his head slightly in quiet disbelief. Doodah shot him a quizzical look "what's so funny?"
"You don't see it?" Mulch grunted in reply "they're blatantly crazy about each other, it's written all over their faces, the way they look at each other…Doesn't take a centaur to work it out." Shaking his head again and smiling despite himself Mulch dived headfirst into the tunnel, leaving a very confused Doodah Day to follow in his wake. Interspecies romance might be completely weird and wrong on just about every level Mulch could imagine but if any two individuals could make it work then it would be those two.
XXXX
Ops Booth Police Plaza, Haven
"Give me good news Foaly, are we ready to mind wipe that little Mud Whelp? I've got a really nice spot picked out for his relocation." Commander Trouble Kelp's mood had improved immeasurably since Foaly had seen him last at the interrogation of Artemis, clearly the Commander was more than a little pleased to have the opportunity to finally remove the Mud Boy from the picture. Trouble could claim what he liked about the greater good of The People but personally Foaly was convinced that he had it in mind to be more than simply friends and colleagues with Holly and secretly resented how close she and Artemis evidently were, not that Artemis is exactly competition for Trouble he thought with more than a little amusement even Holly isn't crazy enough to fall for a Mud Man!
"It does take time to get something like this prepared Trouble, I know you Retrieval types like to imagine that I can just press a big button and wham! things magically happen but-"
"Foaly, I really don't care about how complicated it is, just get it done before I decide to stop feeling so generous and just shoot the little brat instead and take the clean-up bill out of your budget."
Foaly pawed the floor nervously at the last remark, it was extremely unlikely that Trouble would make good on the threat but the centaur did not appreciate threats to his budget – or his friends for that matter and as much as it had surprised him to realise it he really did count Artemis Fowl as a friend. At least Fowl appreciated his genius, unlike some fairies he could think of...
To Foaly's relief Trouble seemed willing to leave him in peace until the mind wipe was ready, unfortunately it was at that precise moment that Chix Verbil appeared on the comm screen causing Trouble to pause on his way out of the Ops Booth, probably hoping for an apology from Holly Foaly thought irritably dream on Commander.
"Verbil! How is the Captain doing? Has she seen the error of her ways?"
Eugh Foaly thought pass me the bucket!
"Yeahhhh, about that, Commander...She erm, well, you see, she, it's just that, I mean..." Chix was visibly distraught and unable to control his wings resulting in intermittent hovering, suffice it to say that Trouble was not impressed.
"Verbil cut the crap and report NOW! Has something happened to Holly?!"
"Gone, she's gone! I'm sorry Commander!" All pretence at self-control had now disappeared entirely and Chix appeared to be hovering against the ceiling of Haven General Hospital, the colour visibly disappeared from Trouble's face as he processed Chix's message.
"D'Arvit! Foaly bring up the security feed for the interrogation room, Verbil get yourself back to Police Plaza asap, I'll deal with you later."
Foaly felt pretty confident about what the security feed from the interrogation room would show and he seriously doubted that it would do anything to improve the Commander's mood, nonetheless there was only one way to be sure...
As soon as the live camera feed appeared on the screen Foaly knew that his fears had been entirely justified, the room was clearly completely vacant, Fowl was gone. If Foaly was worried (and secretly quite relieved) to see that Artemis had escaped then Trouble looked as if he was liable to spontaneously combust. When he spoke his voice was deadly quiet and Foaly thought, resigned.
"Rewind the footage Foaly."
"Commander we know Fowl is gone, surely we don't need to…"
"I said rewind the footage Foaly, I don't expect to ask twice." They both knew what the footage would show and Foaly had no desire to incriminate Holly but with Trouble stood next to him he had no option other than to obey the command and rewind the camera feed back to the last point at which Artemis had been within the interrogation room. As he watched the footage the Commander's shoulders visibly drooped and for a second the fight seemed to leave him.
"I want retrieval one suited up and prepped for a surface pursuit asap, all ports out of Haven are on full lockdown effective immediately and I want you to review all cameras within Police Plaza. I need to know how the hell Short got in and out without us noticing." Trouble hesitated, clearly torn over the decision to give the next order and looked back at the paused screenshot of Holly sketching a mock salute to the camera. He exhaled deeply before continuing, the anger previously present in his voice now replaced with something that sounded an awful lot like sadness to Foaly.
"Put an arrest warrant out for Holly Short for aiding and abetting a known criminal and treason against the People, all LEP access is to be revoked forthwith." Foaly wanted to argue but knew that Trouble could not be swayed on this, the Commander looked ready to kill.
"Somehow this is all Fowl's doing and I will ensure that he regrets it. Damn it but we will bring her back Foaly, whatever it takes. I expect you to inform me the instant you have a lead on where they're going, is that clear?"
"Sure Commander, will do." Trouble grunted non-commitally and spared the screen a last glance before exiting the Ops Booth, leaving Foaly alone once more with his thoughts. As soon as the security door closed behind Trouble Foaly returned his attention to the video recording of Holly escaping with Artemis. The centaur carefully reviewed the footage as he rewound back from the point of escape to Holly's initial appearance in the room, searching for anything that could help him to understand why all of this was happening. Trouble could give all the orders he liked, Foaly knew that his friends were innocent and if he could do anything to help them then he would. Pausing the footage with a deft stroke of his virtual keyboard Foaly stared in horror at what he saw on the screen before him. Maybe the camera is faulty was Foaly's initial reaction, immediately followed by impossible, I designed that camera. Of course this meant that unless he was hallucinating then he had to accept that in the footage he was currently watching Artemis looked for all the world as if he was about to kiss Holly and worse still, infinitely worse, if Foaly didn't know better then he would have sworn that Holly looked like she wanted him to! Oh Holly he thought anxiously, I really hope you know what you're doing...
A/N: Hope you all enjoyed that (it took me forever to write), as usual if you've read this far then please let me know what you thought with a review (especially if you want to read more, reviews really help to combat writers block, FACT!). I have exams until the 10th of June now so no promises on the next update unfortunately, sorry if anyone is following this :(
Really hope you don't all think Artemis is really OOC in this, given his reaction when Butler died (and he was convinced that he could reverse that) I thought it was reasonable to portray him as being quite emotional at the news that Holly is dead, even if he wouldn't show it much outwardly. Also if anyone is interested then the poem by Tennyson is 'Ask ye why these sad tears stream' and is well worth checking out if you haven't read it before.
Response to reviews:
ShaddiaThePrincessOfWeird: Of course Holly can't die, what do you take me for!? Hope you're still enjoying it, as you're currently accounting for 50% of total reviews I'm awarding you number one fan status ;)
Liris: Thanks, that's really nice of you to say, although I know that I can still develop my writing. Hope you like the new chapter :)
Fanster: Thanks! You don't know how motivating it is to hear that!