A/N: Hi there, I've finally decided to write a fanfic to my second favorite series Artemis Fowl, the first one being Harry Potter. Why I am doing this? Because I want Holly and Artemis together PERIOD. Here is another version of the possibility of this. Usually it is the other way round, but I decided to make things more interesting. I understand that you must be Eion Colfer or at least half-genius to write a good AF fanfic, I am obviously neither, but I tried to make Artemis as smart as I can. It is for you to judge.

Here it goes!

Against Nature or the Change by Lady Arabella Malfoy

Chapter One: The Long Wait

Five years. Five long years it was silent. A small watch-looking device. For a common person, an average Mud Man, it was just a weird looking watch. But one Mud Man knew exactly what it was – a communicator which connected two utterly different worlds. The worlds of humans and fairies. And it didn't utter a sound for five years. Until one day 'Beep, beep, beep…' A hand with long fingers pressed the needed buttons and a large holographic screen appeared.

"Hello, Arty," came from the screen.

Warmth went through his whole body. He hasn't been called like that for so long. Only two women in the universe had permission to call Artemis Fowl II, Arty – Angeline Fowl and Holly Short. The latter had permission because after constant protest from Artemis she asked for permission officially and it was granted to her. Why? Well…

"Long time, no see, Holly."

"Yeh, five years."

"A very long time."

"Well, it wasn't that long."

"Time for a genius runs much faster than for an average human moreover for a fairy."

"How so?"

"I've managed to do quite a lot in those years."

"Oh, really. Don't want to brag about it?"

"Nothing really outstanding. Another Nobel Prize, Doctoral Degree in psychology, Master Degrees in criminology and law. And other small scientific works, you know what I am talking about."

"So now you have two doctoral degrees. The other one was in Art, right?"

"You remember?"

"Of course, I do. You were seventeen back then! It was quite remarkable even here."

"Well, officially I was twenty, so it wasn't that ingenious of me."

"And when did you become modest, Arty? So how are the others? How are Butler, Juliet, your parents, the twins?"

"Well, my parents and the twins reside mostly in Italy now. They come here in summer when it is too hot there. Juliet… Juliet is on Hawaii Islands on a honeymoon."

"Honeymoon?! She's got married?! To whom?"

"He is quite a catch. A bodyguard form Los Angeles." Seeing Holly's sparkling eyes, he added, "I don't know the details."

"But why did she finally decide to marry? She always said that she wasn't made for marriage."

"Her arguments weren't rational. One day she told us that since the Butlers served the Fowls as bodyguards for generations then the next Fowl generation would be left without protection and it was time for her to do something about it. You know, she is quite a determined young woman. In four months she found herself a boyfriend, and after a year of dating they had a wedding two months go."

"And what Butler thinks about all this?"

"Butler…" Artemis's face visible darkened. "Butler passed away two years ago. His last wish greatly influenced Juliet's decision about finding a suitor."

"Oh, I am so sorry, Arty. Did he… die peacefully?"

"Yes. When he started to have constant heart aches, I made arrangements for him to live in comfort and peace with no further pressure."

"So Juliet is your bodyguard now?"

"No, Juliet and Edward, her husband, are official bodyguards of my parents, but mostly the twins."

"What about you?"

"I do it myself."

"Yourself?!!"

"You say it like it is the most impossible thing in the world."

"Well, it is! You, who - "

"Who what? Who couldn't survive any physical pressure?"

"Well, yeah."

"Let's say than now I don't have these problems."

"So you stay in the manor? All alone?"

"Yes." It wasn't clear from his face expression if the fact that he was alone in the manor with 40 empty rooms disturbed him in any way.

"So you are certain you are okay there? All alone?" Holly asked clearly worried.

"I have been for two years and I'll surely be in the future. Furthermore I have best surveillance equipment in the world, courtesy to the FBI. They gave me it as a payment for several operations I conducted for them."

"FBI? You are flying pretty high now, don't you, Artemis?"

"I did it under a code name so not to attract attention of crowds popular in certain circles."

"You always think everything through."

"Of course."

"So what are you doing now?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, do you have any plans for the nearest future? Any unfinished works or experiments?"

"Why do you ask?"

"And why can't you answer?"

"Nothing in particular right now. I planned to visit several museums during next months. And it is spring…"

'What does that suppose to mean? Spring, hmph. What Mud Men do in spring? Of course!' "So you are going to have romantic rendezvous and what not?" Holly asked with giggling.

"What gave you this ridiculous idea?"

"Well, you said it was spring. Doesn't it mean in your world that it is time for love and other sappy crap?"

"You may say so, but in my case spring means traveling to places I consider perfect examples of wild nature."

"Oh." 'That was quite a surprise. I've never thought that Artemis would be so sensitive towards nature.' "And what about the next generation? Aren't you old enough to marry?"

"The new Fowls' generation will be produced by my siblings. I won't have children."

The resolution in his voice made her shudder. "Why?"

"Did you call me after five years to discuss my love life?" Artemis snapped. "And you haven't given me at least one single reason why did you just block the connection without even saying good bye!"

"I am sorry, Arty. Truly sorry." Holly was taken aback by his outburst. 'I didn't have the slightest idea about how he would react to the disconnection. I mean, I couldn't hurt his feelings, right? On the other hand, we are friends.' "Five years ago the People were on the edge of being discovered."

"I wasn't at fault," Artemis interrupted defensively.

"No, you wasn't. The guilty one was from our side. After this almost tragic incident the Council forbade any aboveground contact. You can't even imagine what lecture I received about you being - "

"People's enemy number one?"

"Well, not exactly. They all know how many times you had helped the People and me personally. Still the Council order was firm – no contact whatsoever. I defended you but all was in vain. I understand that disappearing like that wasn't polite. And I am sorry."

"Were you notified that I had made an investigation?"

"What investigation?"

"Investigation of your disappearance. If happens something that I don't like then I can't just leave it be. I thought something had happened to you."

Holly took her glance away, noticing uncovered sorrow in his mismatching eyes. "Nobody told me anything. What did you do?"

"I hacked into Foaly's files. Tried to find anything that explained the situation. Frankly speaking, I was really angry and did quite a large damage. Strange that the Council didn't bring you that fact as the proof of my unreliability."

"I know nothing about any of this but I'll surely find out," Holly said through clenched teeth.

"Still the question of the day is why are you calling me now, Holly? What help do you need?"

"Why do you think I need help? I said nothing about it."

"Because you call me only when you need help."

"Name one."

"Well, the first time you called me after we returned from the Hybras, you asked me to help Mulch with a mass murder case, then your water supply was polluted, then I had to negotiate with a group of archeologists who were making excavations near one of your bases, then -"

"Okay, stop it, Arty, I get it. Yes, you are right, as always. I really need your help. The People need your help. But I'd better show you."

The picture on the display changed and the view that appeared shook Artemis to the bones. "Oh my God, what is it?" He saw utterly destroyed houses, buried under rocks.

"This is the Western part of Heaven. And this is not all. Strong earthquakes are absolutely unpredictable, thus any possible casualties can't be prevented. Right now the town is being evacuated, but the problem must be solved and quickly."

Still being in shock, Artemis breathed out, "And what does Foaly think about all this?"

"This is the next big problem – Foaly is unreachable."

"Why?"

"The pony boy is on honeymoon. He told the Council that he had the right to have a vacation at least once in his life. He didn't leave any coordinates, even for emergencies. Who could've thought that this would happen?"

"Can these events be connected?"

"How?"

"Can anybody abduct Foaly to organize this?"

"Impossible."

"Are you 300 sure?"

"300? Why not 100?"

"I think the context demands it."

"I am positive."

"Then who works in the Operation Booth?"

"His four apprentices."

"And they are absolutely trustworthy."

"Well, yes."

"I don't know if I must be honored to be asked to replace Foaly. As I understood that was what you basically had asked me to do."

"I don't have the authority to give you so much power, even if I have the authority to talk to you right now."

"Authority, hah? Do I have the honor to speak to Commander Short, right now?" Holly blushed, but nodded. "I'll be surely honored to work under you, Commander. During the next two days I'll do research and sysmiotic analysis in the area around Heaven. I'll arrive at Tara in three days at 13 o'clock. I'll be looking forward to meeting you there, Commander." With that Artemis finished the transmission.

"So who is giving orders here?" Holly mused, looking at the black display. "What am I getting myself into? And how does he know Heaven coordinates?"

A/N: Okay, I understand that it was more a teaser than a chapter, but hopefully you are teased enough to read more.