Again, sorry it's been so long. Trying to catch up AO3 and life in general just getting in the way. I'm trying, I swear.

Also, if for anyone who's interested, I may start using my tumblr to post like snippets and deleted scenes and/or other FF/writing related things. So, feel free to follow me on there if you'd like. My username is capshorty.

So, little bit of everything in this chapter: some smut, some revelations, some talking... so yeah. Anyway, enjoy!

Holly came out a few minutes later, wearing a robe and still toweling furiously at her hair. Artemis looked up at the sound of the door and smiled. "Decided to forgo the clothes, did we?" he teased lightly.

She shrugged, approaching the bed. "Well, all my clothes are kind of out here, so…"

"Don't worry about it. I approve." He sat up, taking the towel from her when she got close and gesturing for her to sit on the edge of the bed. She did, looking slightly confused, until he started drying her hair quick, gentle hands.

She sighed and relaxed into him. "Do you have any idea how strange you are?" she murmured thoughtfully, almost to herself.

Artemis raised an eyebrow. "Well, yes, I do, but… over what precisely?"

"This." She shrugged, waving her hand back at him generally. "It's like you can go from psychotic to dominating to just… loving and caring. It's odd."

"I don't think loving is the right word for it," he told her. "I don't… love things. Or people. I find value in them and I use them. I may like them. But love…" He hissed through his teeth and shook his head, finishing her hair.

Holly sighed. "You always thought that when you were younger, too." She pulled away and took the towel back. She tossed it over the foot of the bed, then turned back to face him. "You were wrong then, too."

"I suppose time will tell," Artemis said, not totally convinced but not wanting to argue. He held his hand out to her. "Now come here. I want to hear some of these stories."

Holly smiled, letting him pull her onto the bed. "And here I'd half expected you to jump me when I came out," she told him, only half teasing.

"I think I'll be alright for the moment, but don't tempt me." He leaned back against the pillows, pulling her with him. She settled against the pillows next to him, both of them facing each other and turned on their sides, only inches away from each other. He trailed his fingers down her jaw gently. "I still have questions you haven't answered."

"Well, I haven't begun to touch on most of your life, so I can imagine why." She leaned into his touch.

"I don't care about most of my life. I care about you. And… about my family." He bit his lip, his blue eyes looking darkly hopeful. "I had a family, right?"

Holly had to laugh quietly despite herself. "Yes. You did. I told you earlier your parents names, but… there was more." She reached up, running his fingers down the shadow creeping along his jaw. "You have your mother and father, very happily married, and two adorable twin brothers. They both look a lot like you. Myles is your twin, almost, and Beckett's not too far off, but he has curly blond hair instead of your dark, feathery type like Myles does." She brushed her fingers through his hair as she said it, and he inhaled softly, catching her hand and starting to toy with her fingers. Bolts of sudden pain struck between his temples intermittently as she spoke, but he'd been trained to take a lot worse, and so didn't react, using the simple touch and motion to distract himself.

"And you also have Butler and Juliet who live in your household," she continued, oblivious to his discomfort. "Butler was your bodyguard. Juliet is his sister, and she guards - or mostly babysits, honestly - your little brothers." Holly paused, lowering her eyes and watching him play with her fingers. "Butler is the reason you're still alive. He protected you with his life… multiple times. And he blamed himself a lot when you disappeared." Almost as much as she did.

Artemis seemed to sense the last unspoken thought. "You blamed yourself a lot, too," he murmured. "Didn't you?"

Holly flinched, pulling her hand away and sitting up. "We're not talking about me. We're talking about you."

"Holly…" Artemis frowned, reaching her and trying to reel her back to him, but she resisted.

"I was going to see them, you know," she blurted, looking back at him when he didn't say anything. "Before. When you caught me."

"You visited my family? Even after I was gone?" He tilted his head, sounding mildly amused.

Holly shrugged and nodded. "You weren't the only one I knew, Artemis. And with you gone, the rest of your family wasn't a threat to my People, so…" she shrugged again. "They didn't stop me."

Artemis propped himself up and ran his fingers through her hair gently. "I was a threat to your People?"

"Well, I didn't think so. A lot of them did, though." She relaxed almost unconsciously against his touch, and this time she let him pull her back down against the pillows with him.

"What did I do?" He looked down at her, still propped up over her and toying with her hair.

"You were a criminal," Holly told him. "A young, smart, and dangerous one. And if that weren't enough… then you kidnapped me."

That was enough to make him actually flinch, both from the thought and from the spike of pain in his head. That memory must have been an important one if it caused that much pain. "I...see," he managed, when he regained his composure. "And why would I do that?"

"Because… you wanted ransom." Her brow furrowed slightly at the memory, and he winced slightly again.

"Why?"

"Good question." She sighed and looked up at him. "I never found out the answer to that before you were mind wiped, and then you supposedly died..."

"I see." Artemis stared at her contemplatively for a moment until she flushed and looked away, then reached for the sash of her robe. "And...you blamed yourself for that. Why?"

"Why wouldn't I? I was basically responsible for what happened to you, and I-… what are you doing?" She stopped when she felt him undoing the robe, her eyes flicking back to him.

"You'll see. Keep going." He swiftly pulled the sash free of the robe.

Holly blinked. "Okay… well, I just… I could have stopped them." Her voice was quiet, hushed, as if she was ashamed to admit it. "All it would have took was for me to push, and tell them I didn't believe you were a threat to us, and after all my involvement… they would have had to listen." She closed her eyes. "I could have saved you, and I didn't."

Artemis took the sash, holding it in one hand and pushing open the robe with the other. He licked his lips, running his hand lightly down the front of her body, his fingers ghosting from her collarbone to where her legs were crossed beside his. "You still think you could have saved me?" he murmured. "You're wrong. Even if I could have called you for help, I wouldn't have. Do you know why?"

"No," she murmured, still not opening her eyes.

"Because." He stroked his thumb over the top of her slit, watching her shudder slightly but not uncross her legs. "I would have known then, just as I do now, what a stubborn, fiery little elf you were, and I would have known just how far you would have gone to protect me." He leaned down, putting his lips right by her ear, letting them brush the tip as he spoke. "And I… would have never allowed it to happen." He nipped at the tip of her ear. "Now spread your legs."

Holly gasped, her eyes fluttering open and compulsively doing as he said without thinking. He scraped his thumb down the full length of her slit, pushing just a little to feel the wetness at her entrance. He hummed softly, licking the shell of her ear once. "Now… arms above your head."

"Why?" she murmured, already doing as he said.

"Because I told you to. And I'm going to show you what I can do to a pretty little elf like you." He smirked against her neck, straightening over her enough to draw her arms up tight and bind them to the headboard with the sash.

Holly whimpered softly. "Show me...what? How?"

"Demonstration, of course." He smiled, leaning over her and kissing her hair. "How much I control you. What I would have had to do to you eventually if you hadn't cracked," he murmured against her hair. "Except this time you'll have a mind-blowing orgasm waiting for you at the end of all these denials you'll have to endure."

"Oh, gods…" Holly moaned a little and squirmed. "How many are we talking about?"

"As many as I can elicit from your pretty little body with just my own." He smirked darkly down at her.

"Estimate?" she pleaded softly. His smirk grew as he leaned down, putting his lips by her ear.

"It's hard to say," he whispered, his voice low and sultry enough to make her tremble just listening to him. "Truth be told, I'm going for at least five, but hoping for upwards of ten." He licked the shell of her ear.

"Oh gods…" Holly moaned again, straining against her bonds as he started to attend to her ear. It was the only thing she could do, with him holding her head in place by her hair.

He nipped and licked and suckled at all the right spots, making her keen and writhe against him. While her ears were especially sensitive, it wasn't quite enough to bring her to orgasm, not without that one spot he couldn't possibly know about-

"Ah! Oh Frond, please!" Holly cried, writhing wildly under him as his mouth dropped to just below her earlobe, finding that sweet spot that was almost as good as rubbing her little bud and sucking it tenderly while still rubbing the tip of her ear. "Artemis!" she gasped desperately.

He pulled away, nuzzling her hair as she whined and bucked, her high fading slowly. "Shh…" he soothed, just above her wet ear. "What's the matter, darling? You didn't think I knew about that spot? About how to stimulate you? I warned you I did." He ghosted his fingers over the shell of her ear, watching her hips convulse in response. "One down, little one. Count." Then he moved to the other side, repeating the whole process on her other ear.

Holly was panting heavily and whimpering when he finished the second time, leaning back and watching her. She had closed her eyes, her small form still twitching involuntarily. "Two," she moaned softly.

"Good girl." He stroked her hair once, gently, then leaned down and kissed her deeply. "I'm going to make you all mine," he whispered against her lips, and he received a breathy moan as agreement.

He kissed down her neck, slowly, with open-mouthed kisses, holding her head still under him. When he reached her collarbone, he paused, grinding his still-covered cock against her entrance as he kissed down the other side. She cried out and strained against his hand.

"Don't make me order you to take this all completely still," he warned in a whisper, dusting kisses across her collarbone before lowering himself to her breasts.

"I can't just- stay still," she whispered, panting softly. She moaned as he suckled her left nipple, rubbing his thumb around the other.

After a moment he pulled back, ignoring her whine of displeasure as he switched sides. "You can. You should. And you will, if you want to orgasm anytime soon." He suckled her other nipple, biting it gently as she gasped and squirmed.

"Artemis! That's no fair!" she whined, breathily, her hips squirming under him.

"It's entirely fair. And even if it's not, it hardly matters. You're giving yourself to me, to do with as I please, whether it's fair or not." He glanced up at her for a moment, then began kissing down the front of her body again. "Right?"

"Ye-es, but…" she strained against her bonds as his tongue swirled around her navel, making her stomach muscles clench and her hips try to twist.

He pinned them down. "But nothing. You're mine now. And we both know you don't legitimately have a problem with this." He kissed across her hips. "Do you?"

"No," she whispered, sighing a little. He was right. And she really could hold still; she just didn't want to.

"I know. Good girl." He nipped at her inner thigh, nuzzling her sex and inhaling softly. "Fuck, you smell amazing. I think I'll eat you at least once a day as long as we're still alive and together." He licked the full length of her slit, holding her hips still as he began to pry into her with his tongue.

She moaned, both from the action and his words, tilting her head back. "Artemis, gods… Please-"

He hummed into her, rewarding the plea with a swipe at her clit that made her gasp before continuing to explore her, tasting every inch of her labia before slowly pushing his tongue into her entrance. The feeling made her moans increase in volume and her toes curl, but it just wasn't enough for her to finish on, as he well knew.

He pulled away after a moment, kissing up her slit and watching her settle again, slower than before. "Artemis!" she whined desperately. "Please! You know I need more than that!"

"Hm…" He nuzzled the inside of her thigh. "Do you? Tell me what you need then."

She groaned and strained against her bonds again, arching and squirming as best she could. "My clit. Your tongue, fingers, anything! Please-"

"You know what I need?" He kissed up her leg. "I need you to answer my questions and tell me the truth."

"What?" she gasped. "Of course I will! I'd tell you anything! But gods…" She writhed against him.

"Do you still blame yourself?" he murmured.

"What? Yes. Of course I do." She closed her eyes. "I've always blamed myself for what happened to you, and I always will."

"You shouldn't. You need to stop. I've told you what would have happened - the same thing. It would have been unsatisfying as this pleasure - a great build up, but really did nothing for you or I in the end. No rescue, no stopping it, and no orgasm." He kissed down the other side.

"So that's it? You're not going to let me come until I say I don't blame myself?" She squeezed her eyes shut tight, panting a little at just the thought.

"No. I'm just not going to let you come until you tell me the real reason why you feel that way," he said simply. Then he turned back to her clit, parting her folds with his tongue again. "So you'd better talk," he whispered against her before starting to suck her clit, slowly, almost tenderly.

"Because- I-I-" she stopped and groaned, having trouble finding the right words as the pressure began to build and pleasure overruled most of her senses. "I-I've always felt that way! I've always been responsible for everything! It's my fault I'm such… trash… and just… not good enough. I never have been. I could never save anyone. Not you, or my parents, or…anyone." Her voice trembled by the end, both from strain and from emotion. "Gods, please, just… let me…"

Artemis decided he'd heard enough, and this time he kept sucking, teasing her little bud with the tip of his tongue until she came apart under him. He lapped up her juices softly and then pulled away, releasing her arms from the sash and drawing her until his lap, holding her until the tremors from her orgasm passed and she slowly came back to.

When she shifted and whined softly against him and he could tell she'd settled, he lowered his head to murmur in her ear. "How can someone who is so beautiful and selfless and skilled hate themselves so much?"

Holly flushed, looking down and hiding her face in his chest. "I...don't know," she whispered. "It's not all the time. But a lot of the time. I just…" She sighed and closed her eyes. "I have a history of depression," she admitted quietly. "Like, major depression. And when you disappeared…"

"I know," he cut in softly. He ran his fingers through her hair, pushing it away from her face. "How bad is major? Do I need to have you on suicide watch?"

Holly flinched. "N-no. Well, maybe before, but not now." She looked down. "I admit I didn't cope well. I never have. I usually managed by using work as a distraction. I've practically lived at the plaza lately. The only time I've taken any real breaks was…"

"Visiting my family," he completed. He sighed. "I'm sorry I stopped you. But you did really bring it on yourself, scaring and lying to an assassin."

"I didn't know you were an assassin. I didn't even know you were...well, you, until I got close enough." She shrugged, still not looking at him.

"Mhm." He tilted her head up, making her meet his eyes. She was trying to divert from the original topic, but he wasn't going to let her. "Holly. Were you suicidal? Before? Did you try to kill yourself?"

Holly flinched again, pulling away. "How is that relevant when I said I'm not now? Why can't we just move on?"

"Because I need to know this stuff. And frankly, because I'm not entirely convinced." He pulled her back. "Did you?"

Holly sighed. "A long time ago, yes. Before you went missing. Can we please move on now?"

"If I wasn't missing, where was I?"

"Mindwiped!" Holly snapped, exasperated. "Now please-"

"Fine! Fine." He pulled her back into his chest, holding her close. "We won't talk about it anymore."

"Good." She leaned into him, snuggling into his chest. It was silent for a few minutes as he held her, stroking her hair while she laid against him, before she blurted, "Can I ask you something?"

"Hm?" He was staring into space, his mind spinning with a million thoughts - of her, of his family, their options, their chances of living. He shook them away. "Ask me what?"

"Why'd you stop?" She glanced up at him. "You said upwards of ten, but that was more like four."

He chuckled softly when he realized she was talking about the denials, then shrugged. "Honestly? I had intended to, but we veered to more important things. Besides, I don't know if you're ready for all that. Or deserve it. Right now, anyway."

"Ready for it?" She scoffed a little. "I could handle it. I'm not a baby. I may whine when I don't get what I want, sometimes, but I've had some training of my own. I like it rough sometimes." She kissed his jaw.

"Training, have you?" He raised an eyebrow down at her. "I doubt it."

"I don't." She crossed her arms.

"And who, may I ask, trained you?" He put emphasis on the word to show he wasn't taking it entirely seriously.

Holly punched him lightly in the chest. "I've had a boyfriend before, Mud Man. And he was no pushover, if I do say so myself. He was...pretty amazing, actually." She looked down.

"Then why were you not with said boyfriend?" He raised an eyebrow, then stopped. Was she still with him? She'd said "was", not "is", so he'd assumed not, but…

She seemed to read his face and shook her head. "I wasn't with him. He lived in Atlantis, primarily, and I lived in Haven, so it just… didn't work out." She shrugged helplessly, then yawned suddenly, covering her mouth and turning away.

"I see," he said, after a moment's pause. Then he shrugged as well, letting it drop when she yawned. "Well, we can delve deeper into that another time. I'd like to hear more about this training, certainly," he smirked, kissing her softly before continuing, "But right now you should sleep. Get some rest." He started to pull away.

"By myself?" She caught his arm before he could shift completely away, looking at him with pleading eyes.

Artemis stopped. "I really need to shower, Holly. And we shouldn't sleep at the same time, just in case-"

"Then don't! Just stay with me until I fall asleep. Please." She bit her lip. "I have nightmares."

He sighed. "Alright. Fine." He settled back down next to her, letting her curl into his side and rest her head against his chest. "I'll lay with you. Just until you fall asleep."

"Okay. Night, Arty," she murmured, wholly unconcerned with his words, sounding half asleep already.

"Goodnight, Holly." He kissed her head, stroking her hair as she dozed off against him. He watched her for a while after she'd fallen asleep, deep in thought. Of course he'd noticed she had nightmares. She'd mumbled and whined and tossed and turned while she was sleeping a multitude of times. But what was he supposed to do about it?

And her history… He shook his head. He couldn't change it, but he wasn't going to let her hurt herself on his watch. He wasn't sure she was being entirely truthful - she was omitting things, he was certain. But he wasn't going to pressure her about it; not yet. Not until it became an issue.

But now… He pulled back, disentangling her from him gently, careful not to wake her. Very lightly, he angled her onto her back, brushing open the robe he'd never actually taken off gently.

They both had yet to get fully undressed around each other, and perhaps that was why he hadn't noticed her scars. But now that he looked, he was almost disappointed in himself he hadn't noticed earlier.

Her body was littered with scars, from the smallest of dots on her hip and her shoulder to the larger scars clearly from slices or burns she'd endured throughout the years. Her arms, particularly, were littered with so many light, interlacing scars that they were almost a shade lighter in spots than the rest of her skin. It almost hurt him to see it.

He closed her robe again gently and covered her up with the blankets again. It may have been an invasion of privacy, but it wasn't like he wouldn't see them or find out eventually, and he really needed to know.

He sighed and got up, kissing her hair. One thing was for sure; he was going to have his hands full with her. But he intended to enjoy every minute of it while it lasted.

He looked at her for a minute longer, then turned and left her alone to go get a shower.