Of Shuttle Parts and Romantic Starts

The abandoned smuggling storage center

"D'Arvit, I can't find a way out! The rocks collapsed in everything!" Trouble Kelp had taken over as pilot while Holly attended to the commander. "Hey Artemis, do you have any LEP communications on this thing?"

The child prodigy entered the pilot room. "I'm afraid they short circuited while we were trying to navigate through the falling rocks."

"We're sitting ducks then until help arrive," commented Butler, who appeared behind Artemis. "If help arrives."

"Wait, what's that?" Trouble squinted through the shuttle window. "What in Frond's name?!" Two battered gremlins were jumping up and down, trying to get the shuttle occupants' attentions. Trouble, grumbling curses under his breath, exited the shuttle to confront the traitorous gremlins. "What the hell do YOU want?!" he yelled in their faces.

"I want to show you a way out, sir!" squeaked one of the gremlins. It was the one they first met, Jook.

"What?!" Trouble look at the gremlin in disbelief, then raised an eyebrow at him. "How stupid do you think I am? Is this some kind of trick?"

"Well I do think you're stupid," spat the other gremlin. This one was the rude one who helped with Root's operation, Rale. "But that's besides the point. We want to help you all get out."

"Yes, help you, sir." chimed in Jook. "No tricks, sir."

"Why in Frond's name would you want to help us?" asked Trouble.

"We help whoever's the strongest," said the other gremlin. "It's a fairy-eat-fairy world out there. We gremlins go with the top dogs. Right now, that's you."

"Yes, sir!" continued Jook. "Will you let us help you, sir?"

Trouble grunted. "Alright fine. But I swear, if you little buggers put so much as one little blue finger out of line, we'll EcoBomb the lot of you."

The gremlins nodded. Jook pointed to a nearly undetectable crack in the rock wall. "You see that, sir? If your shuttle's nose hits that, the entire wall will collapse, sir. The passage to the surface is behind it, sir."

Trouble examined the crack. "That sounds easy enough."

Rale awkwardly extended a hand to Trouble. "Yeah, well, good luck. And sorry for… the stuff."

Trouble gave the gremlin a strange look and took the hand.

Jook took a deep bow. "I too apologize for our actions, sir. As we-"

"For Frond's sake, will you stop saying 'sir?!'"

The aboveground Scottish moors

"Well, Artemis, it's been fun." Holly beamed at the young Irish boy. Trouble had safely navigated the shuttled to the makeshift aboveground dock, located in the unpopulated Scottish moors. She and her fellow fairies were saying goodbye to their human friends. "I really don't think we would have pulled it off with your help." Holly put out a hand, retracted it, and instead pulled the boy into an embrace.

A small gasp escaped Artemis' lips, but he smiled and returned the hug. "I'm hoping this little excursion disqualifies us for a mind-wipe. After all, I think we deserve it." He pulled away with a playful smirk on his face.

"Well, Fowl, I think that's up to the commanders." Holly grinned and glanced over at Root and Trouble, who were talking with Butler.

"Butler, on behalf of the LEP, I cannot thank you enough for helping us." Root peered up at the Eurasian body with admiration. He winced and clutched his stomach for a moment, which was freshly bandaged. "All of the Lower Elements would have been cooked if it wasn't for you."

The bodyguard crouched to the elves' level. "It's been my pleasure. I believe these sorts of… humanitarian adventures… are good for Master Fowl. They're a positive influence on him." He shook the commander's hand. "And good job, by the way."

"On what?"

Butler nodded in the direction of Holly. "I had a feeling you two would end up together."

Trouble nudged his fellow commander in the arm. "See? Even above ground they can see it. You really are bad at keeping your infatuation a secret."

Root waved off the comment, turning slightly pink. "Anyways, Butler, we'll be taking your shuttle back home. As soon as we fix it up, we'll have it delivered back to you."

Foaly emerged from the shuttle. "And I'm guessing all the spares parts are coming out of my budget?" he winced.

"You got that right, pony boy."

After several more goodbyes and a promise of no mind-wipes as long as they stayed straight, Artemis and Butler set off for the Fowl Manor. The four fairies boarded the cruiser and set back for the Lower Elements.

Police Plaza

In no time, the quartet was back in the Police Plaza. With the crisis successful adverted, everything was back to normal.

"Well gang, we've had quite the adventure today!" exclaimed Foaly. "The gremlins turned bad, Sool went crazy, Holly and Julius hooked up, the Mud Men showed up, Holly and Julius hooked up again, I killed a troll, Sool got fried, the gremlins turned good, and I got my budget cut. What a day."

"You got that right, Foaly," replied Trouble. He glanced back at Holly and Root, who were quietly whispering to each other, smiling. He nudged Foaly in the ribs. "Hey, you asked me a few days ago to help you clean your computer hardware, right?"

"What? I already got that-" The centaur followed Trouble's gaze. "Oh yeah. That hardware. Yes I need help with that!" He and Trouble waved goodbye and trotted down towards the Ops Booth.

Root stared after that. "What was that about?"

Holly shrugged her shoulders. "They're both strange like that." She laced her fingers between her commander's and they headed for his office.

"You do know we'll have to keep this a secret from everyone in the Plaza, don't you Holly?" asked Root.

"I know," replied Holly. "And I probably shouldn't call you 'Julius' at work either."

They had arrived at his office. "Yes. And we won't be able to do anything like this." His gazed fell to their entwined fingers. He gently pulled his hand free and opened the door.

Holly closed it behind them. "Yeah, we'll really have to be careful when we're in this building."

Root placed his hands on her waist, pressing her gently against his office door. "Well, maybe not everywhere in this building." He leaned in and kissed her.

Holly smiled and swung her arms around her commander's neck. "I guess not everywhere." She pulled him in for a deeper kiss.

The Ops Booth

"You want popcorn?" Foaly peeked over Trouble's shoulder.

"Is it wrong that we're watching this?" asked Trouble, who was lounging in Foaly's specially made computer chair.

"Nah, I always watch to see what Beetroot is up to in his office. It's fun. And besides, it's great to see all of our hard work paid off."

Trouble laughed, then flicked off the power to the computer. "We should probably give them some privacy."

Foaly nodded. After a moment, he turned, a worried look on his face. "Trubs, I have this oddest feeling that we forgot to do something important."

Near the earth's core

"Hello? Is anyone there? This is Wing Commander Vinyáya. We've been stranded in one of the outer core chamber for almost twenty-four hours. We have adequate food and water provisions, but the men are getting extremely testy. And it's very hot. Hello? Anyone?"

The Ops Booth

Foaly shrugged his shoulders. "Eh, it's probably nothing important."

That's all, folks! A big thanks to everyone who has read this story, especially those who have stuck with me for the past three years as I succumbed to procrastination and rarely updated. It was because of you guys that I pushed myself to finish this story. I would have never dreamed it would become so popular. Thanks for all your comments, encouragement, tips, and suggestions. I really appreciate it! I hope you all continue to enjoy the Artemis Fowl series as much as I have. Who knows? Maybe Root WILL come back some day. We can only hope!