A/N: Yes, I'm finally back from the dead! So please, don't snipe me in the head. I really want to continue this story after all. The monster that is college reared up and ate the last month from me...but I wrested some time back to write a quick chapter. A little short but anything is better than nothing at this point. Reviews pointing out strengths and weaknesses are always appreciated and enjoy!

It nagged at him. His peace, his thoughts, his sleep: all disrupted. A brief flicker of moonlight struck the rain-spattered window and Artemis' puzzled face. He hated being puzzled. What does this feeling mean?

Artemis tapped his chin and contemplated the droplets of water sliding down the glass. He knew what the feeling indicated but that couldn't possibly be right. Six obsessive checks on his family members told him either his talent went haywire or mutated somehow. Even though magic no longer could be summoned forth from his fingertips it still left Artemis marked. Those neural pathways blazed open by the blue sparks remained active and granted him an interesting talent. Possibly a curse.

The appropriate memory presented itself for the teen's scrutiny. He had found out on a business trip to Helsinki a year ago. While lecturing Butler on an esoteric topic of physics a screeching noise shattered the peaceful air. Rough hands pushed him away from the devastating car accident but the uncertain dread that plagued him now told Artemis what unfolded then. Two dead, their passing sensed by Artemis. Visceral pain of their passing struck him to the ground as something fled the scene into the air and vanished. That particular mix of dread and hesitation that preceded death's visit remained burned into his memory. Now it was back.

Thankfully it only applied to humans and presumably fairies. Artemis would have been driven insane if he had to live with the feeling for any creature that relinquished life. Three months ago a man was stricken by a heart attack while Artemis walked across the street twenty feet away but the teen hadn't felt anything. His guess placed the range of effect at between fifteen and twenty feet. Artemis could find out for sure but that was one experiment doomed to remain mere theory.

A sudden burst of thunder jolted the raven-haired teen back to the present. What had happened before wasn't the issue here. Artemis needed to figure out why he felt this now. Perhaps the issue isn't the range of effect. Maybe it's who is in danger. An intriguing possibility.

His eyes narrowed and focused their raptor gaze on the darkness outside. Seeing as all his family slept peacefully and the sensation had forced him from the tangled sheets three hours ago they couldn't be the cause. In his previous experience the dread formed only a few minutes or seconds before the incident. Then again this was something completely different.

Artemis sighed and strolled to his computer. A quick glance throughout the surveillance installed in Fowl Manor showed no outward signs of disturbance and his keen eyes picked out the tell-tale signs of breathing in each sleeping occupant. If it's not them then who? With his assumption that the talent affected people who were close to him... Holly.

Panic flared in his chest. He couldn't lose her now…or ever for that matter. To have her die first would be far too much irony for him to handle. His first experience led to death. Would his second also strip another life from this world? A moment of actual fear flicked through Artemis's mind and he blinked at the unaccustomed emotion. The fact that matters of the heart trumped logic hadn't been hammered home until now. A voice nattered in the back of his head that the matters of the heart were really the matters of the brain but the principle remained sound.

Shocked into action, the teen rummaged frantically through the debris on top of his bedside drawer for the fairy communicator he still used to chat to Holly on occasion. Just as his clammy hand grasped the ring, the dread and hesitation fled his body. Artemis stood still as a stone as he stared with redoubled fear at the small device. His hand actually shook as the ring slipped on his finger and he activated it. Wow. All those moments where my friends almost died and yet this gives me the most visible reaction? Interesting… A side track of his brain went on the tangent of what that meant in reference to his feelings for Holly while Artemis brought the communicator to his ear. "Holly?"

Trouble abused his privileges as a LEP officer in his haste to return to Police Plaza. Anytime a bit of complaint rose in his mind from the law-abiding side of his conscience one glance at Holly's prone form erased it from existence. It simply didn't matter. Squeezing through the usual Haven traffic jam was so much easier when your vehicle exuded an aura of extremely important LEP business. Those who didn't move out of the way were moved. Forcibly. The commander could always shell out a few ingots for the two or three dings created by some of his riskier maneuvers.

Another complaint voiced itself in the form of Trouble's abandonment of his mission. He smirked coldly to himself; looked like he'd be grilled by Internal Affairs along with Holly. About time she had some company in that regard. As far as her company in romantic matters went, it sucked to be Trouble. He'd get over it soon enough…or so he hoped. A vehicle blared angrily at the commander as he slipped through with barely a centimeter to spare.

The commander breathed a sigh of relief and raced into the docking bay of Police Plaza. Other officers stopped to stare at the limp form carried in his arms as Trouble ran to the medical ward at a dead run. He knew he was probably overreacting just a tad but damnit, this was Holly receiving the short end of the stick here. The force wouldn't be quite the same without her scathing wit and admittedly volcanic personality.

Rushing through the halls with Holly in his arms wasn't going to do much for his reputation. He could already see the well-tended gossip vines throughout Police Plaza growing epileptic trees. A bet would probably arise from this fiasco, even if he couldn't possibly think of how. Focus! Trouble shook off the random thoughts and burst into the small medic ward in the back of the building.

The elfin warlock blinked in surprise as the door burst open. He immediately narrowed his eyes at the elf in Trouble's arms. "What happened here Commander?" he asked while rushing over. Before the commander could explain the warlock placed his hands on Holly's forehead and probed with a lancet of his magic. Trouble's words poured out of his mouth in a jumbled rush.

"Captain Short got hit by a softnose cannon. Luckily we had a medic on hand to heal the injuries but I thought it would be prudent to have another warlock full of magic to examine her. The fellow who healed her collapsed to the ground unconscious afterwards." He replied while the warlock finished his examination and motioned for Trouble to set her down. He complied and gently laid Holly onto the soft covers of the nearest bed.

A glint of light caught the Commander's eye. Through the shredded pieces of Holly's gloves Trouble saw a small ring around an unblemished finger. Against regulations, that. Deciding that Holly didn't need any more trouble, Kelp glanced at the medic to make sure he was still focused on examining Holly and quickly snatched the ring off her hand. A cough masked the motion of his hand slipping the object into a pocket.

"Well, obviously her physical injuries were taken care of. The amount of magic lingering implies she's lucky to be alive though. Nothing seems wrong mentally from what I can tell; we'll just have to wait until she wakes up. With something this serious, could be a few hours or even a couple days." The warlock shook his head at the foolhardiness of the officers under his care. A softnose cannon? He idly wondered how much luck Holly Short had. From what he heard about her previous adventures, it clearly was a stupendous amount.

"Thanks. Alert me when she wakes." Trouble said. The warlock nodded absentmindedly and watched the commander disappear through the door. Not often I get a patient to look after…especially one escorted by the Commander himself. The elf shrugged his surprise away and contemplated the small figure resting on the bed.

Trouble didn't even need to ask Foaly to let him into the Ops Booth. The worried elf marveled at the lack of paranoia from the centaur but quickly plunged into concern as the reason claimed the surface of his mind. One glance at the inhabitant roaming nervous eyes over the multitude of computers told Trouble that Foaly was lost in worry as well. "She's alright as near as I can make out. Physically she's good as new and the warlock didn't find any obvious signs of mental damage," Trouble said quietly while taking a seat.

A sigh of relief filled the air. Foaly's shoulders slumped and he swiveled around to face Trouble. "Whew, that's a relief. I think you're going to be getting a call from Internal Affairs on your driving skills though. The footage wasn't pretty." Trouble cracked a much-needed grin and shrugged. The worst that could happen was reprimand along with a fine. Mitigating circumstances would prevent anything beyond that. Besides, Internal Affairs would relish the opportunity to be going after someone besides Holly for once. A rumor said that her file in their offices took up an entire drawer.

"Oh well. No major harm done and I don't spend my ingots anyway. Might as well contribute to the continued investigations Internal Affairs needs to justify its existence," Trouble replied offhandedly. Foaly rolled his eyes and felt a pang of pity for the LEP's interior policing group. No one liked them at all. "Actually, I'm just curious as to what rumors and bets spring up from this. Knowing the current group of gambling addicts, there's going to be some fun stuff to laugh at."

"I'd have to agree. Maybe our favorite Mud Boy can win again," Foaly muttered and looked out of the corner of his eye at the Commander. As he suspected, Trouble stiffened and frowned at the thought of Artemis. There's some competition there. Too bad Artemis has it in the bag. "Oh dear, we do have to tell him don't we. That's not going to be a fun conversation," Foaly moaned and dropped his head into his hands.

"True, but it'll be nice to see him rattled for once in his life. Artemis has too much ice surrounding him," Trouble replied. Foaly pondered that statement. The Mud Man did exude a veritable layer of ice to those around him but the people closest to the genius saw through that. It was guaranteed that Holly melted the icy shell when she was around. If it ever thawed all the way…Foaly grinned at the image of a sociable and charming Artemis. Nah. That requires a miracle.

"Holly?" a voice said into the room. The elf and centaur jumped into the air and both stared at Trouble's crotch. The Commander looked up and raised an eyebrow at Foaly's shocked stare.

"Do you have Artemis stuffed down your pants?" Foaly blurted without thinking. Trouble laughed and a few dry chuckles emanated from his pants.

"A better question, Foaly, would be why Holly's communicator is in Trouble's pants if I have deduced who laughed correctly. Is she alright?" Artemis asked with a slight tremor of worry underlying his voice. Trouble sighed and pulled out the blinking ring and set it on the table. He wanted the inevitable bad jokes kept to a minimum. At least Holly wasn't here to ensure embarrassment. On second thought, he'd prefer embarrassment over the reason that he had the ring.

"Holly is alright...now," Foaly replied. Artemis heard the pause and groaned. So something had happened but that realization faded before the sheer relief that ripped through him. Holly lived. That's all that mattered.

"What kind of trouble did she get herself into this time?" Artemis asked. Holly's luck was going to run out sometime. Death had to be very annoyed at how many times she'd avoided the void.

"Goblin and softnose trouble. Holly took a softnose cannon shot to the face and lived to tell the tale. Her luck can't exist after that," Trouble said flatly. Foaly and Artemis nodded their heads in agreement.

"That figures. There's no power-hungry super villain trying to kill Holly so she picks the next best thing. She's going to be the death of me…" Artemis replied softly and blinked as he realized what he said. Oops. That second part wasn't supposed to slip out.

"Knowing Captain Short, she'll be the death of you in a more literal sense," Trouble said smugly. Artemis couldn't help but wince at the truth in those words. Making Holly angry was always a gamble on whether he'd survive her eruptions.

"Very true, Commander. You'll find out if she skins me alive at some point in the future. Now for a more pertinent thread of conversation. I'm assuming my chances are slim to none but I have to try anyway. Could I acquire a visa to visit Holly? The Council is still dead set against me but you two do have some influence and allies." Artemis let a calculated note of pleading enter his voice.

Foaly and Trouble shared glances. That visa would never happen anytime soon. "Sorry Artemis. There's nothing we can do immediately. It'll still be weeks before the Council comes to a decision," the centaur replied with a note of guilt threaded around his words. "We'll let you know immediately when she wakes up of course. Just know for now that she's safe and sound."

Artemis' eyes hardened as a peal of thunder shook his window. He wouldn't be denied by a squabbling bunch of bureaucrats. Holly needed him and he was going to be by her side when she woke up. He didn't care if Koboi showed up to stop him; Artemis would figure out something. "Thank you and watch over her," he said coldly.

Foaly groaned. He'd been on enough adventures with the Mud Man to know when Artemis had a plan. "Artemis? Whatever you're planning, be careful. For the sake of my conscience and career I don't want to know. We will let you know if anything changes with Holly's condition." There was no response and the ring's light faded. The two souls in the Operations Booth shared a glance of concern and sat in silence.

Artemis clenched a hand into a fist and let the maelstrom of suppressed emotions within him have their way. For a moment. He regained control and looked around his room while plans and options flitted through his mind. Better dress warmly and call up an old friend. Artemis shrugged on his usual suit and threw on an elegant, ridiculously expensive jacket for some protection against the elements raging outside.

Butler and the others didn't need to be involved. This mission was for Artemis and the person he'd need to enter Haven. Good thing he knew just the fairy for the job. A twist of the fairy communicator and Artemis had a link to his accomplice. "Mulch! I need you."

How much longer must I wait? A low tapping sound filled the kitchen as Artemis stared at the wall. An untouched and previously steaming cup of tea hunkered forlornly on the mahogany table in front of the genius. His fingers continued to drum on the beautiful wood while seconds ticked by in infinite slowness. Time was always against him. It was nearing morning; the family would be up and about within the hour. A faint tinge of red bled across the sky.

A short, wild-haired figure walked into the kitchen and immediately opened the refrigerator. Artemis chuckled and grinned at the dwarf busily inspecting the fully-stocked larder. "Have you ever not been hungry Mulch?"

"Don't think so. I think I'll take care of this roasted chicken. You don't need it," The dwarf replied and made good on his promise. One unhinging of his jaw and the poor morsel vanished down Mulch's gullet. Artemis imagined he heard the chicken screaming in fear as it fell into the bottomless pit of the dwarf's stomach.

"True, I don't need that chicken. But I do need your talents and your help," Artemis said forcefully.

"When don't you need my talents and help? Every time you get in a scrape I'm there to save your hide. I should be getting paid. So, what is it this time?" Mulch asked in between throwing another sandwich into his mouth.

"You've already been paid in food, clearly. I need you to get me to Haven. Simple as that," Artemis replied dryly. The dwarf rolled his eyes and grunted. Whenever Artemis said simple Mulch could count on a harrowing adventure that would nearly kill him. Never a dull day with these Mud Men.

"Dare I ask why you want to flout the Council and invade Haven?" Mulch finally sat down at the table and shredded apart an apple tart.

"Holly was hurt and I must be there for her. That's the sole reason and nothing is going to stop me," Artemis said. Mulch flinched at the icy tone those words were delivered in. The human meant it when nothing was going to stop him.

"Judging by your use of the past tense, I'm assuming Holly nearly died again but was healed in time." Artemis nodded. "Well in that case, two things. One, how much luck does Holly possibly have? Two, I'm in. Provided I get a little compensation. I could be doing my job right now after all," Mulch stated with a grin. Artemis' return smile lifted some of the somber atmosphere in the room.

"Agreed. I have just the thing," Artemis said and pulled out a small bag from his pocket. Mulch snatched the small bag and looked inside at the glint of gold.

"That will do. So, what's the plan?" Mulch asked as he stowed the bag away somewhere on his person. Artemis grabbed a sheet of paper and wrote a letter for Butler to find in the morning. He didn't want to cause too much worry after all.

"The plan is simple. Get into Tara, steal a shuttle, and off we go to Haven," Artemis said and stood up from the chair with a scraping sound. He groaned at the mess of food everywhere and made a mental note to apologize to Butler for the chaos later.

"You already know I have just the way to get in and I can steal a shuttle no problem. But what about the guards and the guaranteed police reception that will be waiting for you in Haven?" Mulch asked, expecting an answer. He got his wish.

"Let's just say that Foaly's upgrades will harm him in this instance. The guards will be easily incapacitated if my theory works out. Which it will." Artemis' smile grew into a sadistic grin. "I'm counting on the police reception. I'll get the supplies and off we go," Artemis replied with a steely glint shining in his eyes. Holly waited for him and he was going to go to her no matter the cost. Mulch grinned at the thought of being on yet another mission. He did love breaking and entering after all.