So... I'd intended to post this at Christmas, got distracted with the accident story and some other things and never got that far. But here it is now! Happy New Year everyone!

1.

"You don't have to do this, you know."

Holly snapped back to reality, tearing her gaze from the police academy outside her window and back to her father in the driver's seat. He was looking at her with concern. "I know," she told him quietly. "But I want to." I think, she added in her head.

Christopher sighed. "If you insist. But you've missed a lot. There's only so much you can keep up with online."

"I just have to get back into the physical routine. Give me a week or two to get back into the swing of things and I'll be able to make up all my physical exams easily." She got out, carrying her almost-too-big-to-carry pup in her arms. Her father followed.

"You think living off campus with all the extra time you have to put in is a good idea?"

"I don't have much of a choice. It's halfway through the year and I couldn't keep Casper in there even if there was space available." They were headed towards an apartment building nearby. Her side twinged occasionally, but she didn't pay much attention to it anymore.

"You could have left him at home." Her father opened the door, gesturing her in.

Holly walked in and looked through the listings to find what floor she was on. "When you hate him? No thanks."

"I don't hate him," he protested, walking over and hitting the elevator button. Holly found the floor listing and went in with him.

"You don't like him. Besides, I'd miss him too much." She scratched between Casper's ears, and he licked her chin.

"Fine. Whatever you'd like." He sighed, and Holly flinched slightly, as she did every time someone managed to say anything that reminded her of the month she'd spent with a certain criminal. No one ever meant to, and no one ever noticed, but that didn't mean it didn't sting.

She'd been home - and out of school - for over a month after what happened. She was healed up well, fully capable of going back - she'd just hesitated for a while. After her experience with last month, she questioned whether she was actually cut out for this. But she had spent her whole life preparing to do this, and she had decided to go on with it after all. If she didn't, she wasn't sure what she would do with herself.

Besides, she could hardly blame herself for how things had went down. She was lacking in experience at that point, and hadn't even finished school, and she had had next to no help at all. She was actually set up to fail, if she was being honest with herself.

Her new apartment was small, built for utility and not comfort, but she liked it that way. Spacious wasn't really her style. She didn't have much to put in it anyway.

She set Casper down to let him explore and took one of the bags from her dad, walking around. She'd only been inside here once before, with the manager of the building, to make a final decision and get her key. The kitchen area and the living space were all one room; the only other two spaces were the bedroom and bathroom on opposite sides. She took her bags in the bedroom and dropped them off, then went back out into the living area.

They stood there for a moment, looking around. Chris, who wasn't here before and was seeing it for the first time, was walking around, checking things out. He met her back in the kitchen/living space.

"It looks good and safe." He shrugged. "Are you okay if I leave now? I'm late enough as is."

Holly nodded, giving him a hug and sighing. "I'm going to change and head over, so my phone will be off. I'll call you tonight though."

Chris flashed her an okay sign and headed out. Holly sighed, looking around again before heading in her room to change.

It was strange, being on her own again. It felt like she hadn't been in so long. But it was a good feeling. It felt like a fresh start, in a way, even though she was simply coming back to the same place she'd started.

She changed into training clothes and pulled her hair up, then headed out. She wasn't set to start again officially until the beginning of the second semester, which was still a few weeks out. But she knew she needed to get back in shape before that time, back into routine, and she needed to make up all her physical tests before she could be back with everyone else, so she had some work to do before that time came.

It was the middle of the day, and class was in session, so she was the only one in her unit's training room when she entered. She looked around, taking in the familiar sight, smell, and feeling. She took a deep breath, walking up to the case on the wall and opening it.

The first thing that struck her was the sight of the wooden staffs in the back of the cabinet. She stared at them for a long moment, biting her lip, struggling to force down her memories. She took a deep breath again, steadying herself, then snatched the smallest one and slammed the cabinet shut.

She weighed it in her hand, fighting down the familiar feeling, the emotions threatening to rise in her chest. She twirled it between her hands, then turned on a dummy, starting to thrash it. Her side twinged occasionally, but she didn't stop, banging the staff off the dummy, dancing around it and hitting it again and again.

Finally she had to stop and take a breather. As soon as she stopped moving, she hit the ground, clutching the staff and gasping for air.

"Alright there, Short?"

Holly looked up, blinking the sweat from her eyes. Julius stood in the doorway. She pulled herself to her feet painfully, using the staff as leverage. "Yes, sir."

"I knew you were coming back, but I didn't expect you to be back so soon. You know there's still three weeks until the new semester starts, right?"

"I need to get back into the routine of things, and I want to be able to deal with any weakness from my side before it puts me behind." Holly leaned against the staff, wincing slightly at another twinge.

"Battle wounds aren't a weakness, Holly." Root crossed his arms, leaning against the wall by the door. "And you definitely aren't weak."

"I wouldn't exactly call that a battle wound, Commander." She straightened completely, hefting the staff again. "What are you doing here anyway?"

He watched her. "Drilling classes. Guest speaking. The norm." He nodded at the staff. "Where did you learn to use that?"

Holly pressed her lips together. "You don't want me to answer that."

"If I didn't I wouldn't have asked." He met her eyes.

She bit the inside of her jaw, holding his eyes for a long minute before turning away. "Why do I get the feeling you already know the answer?"

"Because I do. I just wanted you to admit it." He paused. "What you learned with them isn't a crime, Short. I expected you to learn things; some good, some bad. It's unavoidable, and it's also incredibly valuable."

Holly nodded. She'd heard this lecture before, although she'd never actually been on a field mission before at the time. She walked over to put the staff away, but stopped dead in her tracks when he spoke again.

"I just hope you learned something from being involved with Fowl," he continued when she turned away.

She whirled around, almost dropping the staff. "Excuse me?"

"I didn't get where I am by being an idiot, Short." Root quirked an eyebrow at her. "I realize there was more going on than with that whole situation than what meets the eye. The only one who refuses to see it is Chris, and even he sees the signs; he's just in denial. " He frowned slightly. "And while I don't know what he told you, it's obvious that whatever it was wasn't enough to keep him from hurting you."

"He did what he had to," Holly snapped, thrusting the staff back in the case and closing it. If this conversation went on any longer, she might just be tempted to use it. "And he told me a lot more than any of you were ever willing to."

"It's not me you have to convince of that, Holly." The tender undercurrent in his gruff voice irritated her more than anything else. She huffed.

"So what? I did what you wanted me to do, didn't I? Why are we having this conversation now?"

Root shrugged. "Because it needed to happen at some point, and now was the best opportunity. And because we both know that he will be back, and I need to know if you're prepared for that."

Holly gritted her teeth, not saying anything for a moment. Was she prepared to face him? She wanted to see him, and she didn't, at the same time. She really wasn't prepared to go against him, but she wasn't going to help him go against the LEP, either. "If this is your thinly veiled way of asking me where my loyalties lie, I have no answer for you."

"I don't expect you to now. But I want you to consider it. That's why we're having this conversation." Root met her eyes. "Because when he comes back, he's going to want you. And we're going to need you. One way or another, you're going to have to figure it out."

Holly looked away, unable to hold his eyes. "I don't know, Commander. Honestly. I… well, you know I had a thing with him. And you don't spend over a month with a group of people and live and learn with them and not bond some. I couldn't, at least." She bit her lip. "I don't want them to get hurt, I admit. But I would never let them hurt any of you either."

Root nodded, his face unreadable. "Just think about it, Short." He sighed. "I'll let you get back to training. Just do me a favor."

"What?"

He smirked at her. "Try to find someone else to occupy yourself with, okay? As choices go, a criminal in your house and your line of work is about the worst one you could make. Trust me." He left before she could think of a response to that.

Holly clenched her jaw, glaring after him, then grabbed a different weapon and went back to training.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Days past. Holly trained ferociously every free minute she could. The semester was three weeks away, but she had to get into good enough shape to pass all her physical exams by then in order to be able to start on time.

So she trained and trained, sharpening her skills with every weapon available to her that she could possibly be tested over. She ran around the track for hours, rebuilding her endurance.

The last week before the end of the semester came, and she had to report in to finally take all the physical exams she'd missed. She had two per day the whole week. It was exhausting stuff, but she passed everything. What she couldn't quite understand was why all of her instructors and the commander showed up to every test. So she'd been on a mission. Why did that suddenly make her so interesting?

Eventually she realized it had less to do with the fact she'd been on a mission and more to do with what the mission had to do with. Fowl was still a hot-button topic, especially with what little details had been released about what happened in Paris and his disappearance. Everyone knew it was him, and that he'd escaped, but they had yet to figure out what the point in being in the museum was and exactly how much money he'd stolen from the bank. It would have been easier to say had he cleaned it out, but he hadn't, and so they had to go back through everything. As for the museum, they had no idea what he'd touched, and Holly didn't offer up any information.

He'd made a clean escape, that was for certain. And whether everyone was so interested in her now because she'd been close to him or because they thought she had more information, she didn't know, and she didn't really care because she didn't intend to cough up anymore information anyway. There was only one thing that really mattered to her now, and with passing and getting back to the only thing in her life she was sure of anymore. And that happened when she passed her tests with flying colors.

She was back.

Some reviews would be a great way to bring in the new year, no? ;) Anyway, let me know what you guys think! Any guesses as to what will happen this time around? Any resolutions you want to share? I'm all ears!