Miko: My first attempt at writing Artemis Fowl! I just reread all the books(up to TAC) in a week, so my eyes are glazed over. Anyway, this is set between Time Paradox and Atlantis Complex, though there are spoilers for Atlantis Complex if you can coun - read between the lines. xD

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Telling the Truth Hurts

"What's wrong, Artemis?" Butler couldn't help but notice how his charge had been stirring his tea for the past ten minutes. Undoubtedly the cup of Earl Gray was cold, but Artemis had not taken a sip and did not seem interested in drinking anyway.

"Hmmm?" The teen genius looked up at the manservant, eyes focusing a moment too late. Now Butler was really worried. It wasn't like Artemis to zone out. Ever.

"I said – Are you feeling alright?" The large man sat down across from the boy.

"Oh. Yes. I'm feeling fine." Said Artemis. And why shouldn't he be? He had just returned from eight years in his past, successfully outsmarting the genius pixie Opal Koboi for the third time. He should be elated. Or at the very least distinctly smug. "Just thinking through the events of the past –" He looked at his watch and smiled wryly. "Fourty-five minutes. Seems more like days, though, doesn't it?"

"If you say so, Artemis." Butler rose, but he didn't take his gaze of his charge, who had gone back to stirring the tea once again. "Did something happen between you and Captain Short?"

"Holly?" Even Artemis, who could control his emotions to textbook perfection, couldn't hide the anxiety in his voice. It vanished just as quickly and only because he had known Artemis so long could Butler recognize it. "Of course not. But…I lied to her. To get her to help me."

"Artemis Fowl upset because he told a lie? One wouldn't recognize you from the boy willing to hold a person ransom." Pain flashed through Artemis' features and Butler realized that something serious was affecting his charge.

"Everything was simpler before this. Perhaps it would be better to just get the memories removed. I'm certain Commander Kelp wouldn't argue if I asked." Butler had to sit again. Had Artemis really just suggested losing his memories? Also, something seemed off in his charge's voice, but Butler couldn't quite place it.

"What happened, Artemis. You aren't acting like yourself. Surely a simple lie isn't enough for this extreme attitude shift." If Butler had dared to question Artemis a few years ago he would have been greeted with harsh words and a dismissal. How drastically things changed.

"I told her the truth." He said. "I deserve her anger but…I think I made a mistake that I can't fix." He set down the spoon and looked passed Butler to the window.

"You seemed to be getting along just fine." Butler hadn't seen a sign of strain between the two when they had returned from the past, but Artemis was good at hiding emotions.

"That is precisely the problem. Everything is normal once again."

"Again?" Butler asked. It was all in the wording with Artemis.

"Something happened in the past." Artemis admitted. "After the gorilla nearly killed me, Holly healed me and then she…Oh, it doesn't matter. I did what I had to do. Didn't I?" Butler decided to ask about the gorilla later. That had been left out of the explanation.

"Holly is your friend. Do you really think she would have said no if you had just asked?"

"She was, until I lied. She wasn't going to help." Artemis wasn't convinced himself. He knew about Holly's mother, and how that had affected her.

"So why did you tell her the truth?"

"Because I…I care about her. I couldn't live with it – knowing I had lied." He ran his hands through her hair and sighed. "It's the puberty again, right?"

"I know this has already occurred to you, but Holly is an elf and you are a human. Maybe it is better this way."

"I am not just human." He said. "Besides, I could never be happy with anyone else. How can I hide such a huge part of myself? No Butler. I have never enjoyed the company of humans, present company excluded. Sometimes I think fate played a cruel joke on me, living above ground."

"You're young." Butler said. "In time you'll see how this turns out. Holy knows you. She knows how hard it is for you to expose a lie like that. Things will work out."

"If you say so friend." He picked up the spoon again. He spun it five times clockwise, then five counterclockwise. Butler had left the room, and didn't see the emerging pattern.