Disclaimer: As much as I wish I did I do not sadly own Artemis, Holly or any of Eoin Colfer's genius brain work. So don't rub it in.

Fowl Manor, 2:21am

Dear Foaly,

It has been awhile has it not?

Yours Always,

Artemis Fowl II

Ops Booth, 4:00am

Foaly clopped into the ops booth at four sharp, no Commander would be yelling at him to get in on time today. As he settled in and grabbed the first carrot of the day from his brief case a bleep alerted him to the fact that he had mail. Strange…that email address seemed oddly familiar but Foaly couldn't put his hoof on it. Out of pure curiosity Foaly opened the email right away, the carrot in his mouth dropping to the floor. 'D'Arvit….'

"Damn that mud boy…" Foaly sighed. Two years of peace, if you don't count normal chaos, and now this. 'What did I do to deserve this huh?' That was all Foaly could think as he summoned the courage to tell Root that the great Artemis Fowl had returned. He got up from his specially made swivel chair and exited the ops booth in the direction of the commander's office.

'This is not going to be good…but how in Frond's name did he do it!'

Outside Root's Office, 4:20am

'How about: Hey Root, guess what! Our best friend is back. No that wouldn't work….What about…' Foaly had been standing outside Commander Julius Root's office for a good five minutes trying to think up a way to break the news. It wouldn't be easy no matter how he said it, and Root would give him an ear full no doubt. Just as Foaly was getting cold hooves and turning to sneak back to the ops booth an angry voice rang from the office.

"SHORT!"

'Yea, that was normal.' Foaly looked down the corridor to see his favorite elf dash around the corner and come to, literally, a screeching halt. Straightening up, Captain Holly Short brushed herself off and entered Root's office not looking at all like she had ran there as fast as her legs would carry her.

Inside Root's Office, 4:30am

"Yes Commander." Holly hid her slight out-of-breathness well as she stood at attention in front of the desk. Files and papers and other assorted things were piled high hiding Root from her line of sight.

"Good morning Captain Short, how are you today?" Holly knew that sugar coated tone wasn't good. She was in for it.

"Good morning to you too sir, I'm fine, yourself?" She decided to play along and see if maybe this kindness wasn't just the calm before the storm.

"Well I'm glad YOU'RE fine!" Hey…a girl can dream can't she?

"What do you mean sir, what's happened?" Holly unconsciously took a few steps back as Root appeared from behind his desk, signature beetroot face, fungus cigar, and all.

"FOALY GET YOUR PONY ASS IN HERE I KNOW YOU'RE LISTENING!" Said centaur winced and slowly made his way into the small, cluttered office. 'D'Arvit…busted.'

"Yes Julius?" He looked up with a foolish grin, making the best of a bad situation was Foaly's specialty. The Commander glared at the technical genius but ignored the Julius this time, more important matters were at hand.

"What do you call this Foaly? I like to call it LEP's Worst Nightmare Returns." Root pulled up an email on his computer, it was identical to the one Foaly had received except it was addressed to Root.

"Well Julius, I'd say that that there is a letter from our dear Arty." Foaly attempted another smile but the look on the Commander's face made it shrink into nothingness again. "Uh…Sir, I got one too, I was just about to tell you about it when you called for Captain Short." Foaly pulled Holly in front of him in hopes that Root would focus on her now instead. It worked.

"Short! Do you have any idea how that mud boy got his memories back!" He stared at Holly accusingly, making her squirm under his gaze. "Well Short, say something, did you know about this, or have a hand in triggering his memories?"

Holly straightened up again and looked Root in the eyes. "No Sir, I had no hand in Artemis' recovery, nor did I have any information regarding his return." Holly relaxed slightly as Root looked up again at Foaly; she was off the hook…for now.

Without looking back at Holly, Root spoke with a slight smugness "Well then, since you have the most experience with him and are no doubt the closest to the boy Holly, I want you to go mind wipe him. Don't even try to argue, right now get your wings and the equipment and go. I want you back by no later than midnight and I want the job done." Root's face was plum colored by now and he seemed oddly calm, which only meant he was so mad, he was calm. 'Guess I was wrong about being off the hook…' Captain Holly Short of LEPrecon sighed and walked out of the office after a half hearted "Yes Sir." She grabbed her favorite pair of wings, hummingbirds, and the equipment for a field mind wipe and headed for the shuttles.

Flying over Ireland, 5:45am

After an uneventful ride up to Tara through E1 Holly started up the hummingbirds and began the semi long flight to Fowl Manor. 'I wonder what he looks like now…' Holly's mind was full of questions. Would he really remember her? Was he back to being evil? Would he kidnap her again? And most importantly, would she really be able to take his memories again?

"This just plain sucks…."

As the huge manor came into view Holly felt an odd calm wash over her. As much as she hated to admit it, she had missed Artemis a bit. Before Artemis she had been fine with her normal LEP work, but after their adventures together the everyday LEP seemed so boring. Artemis made things interesting, and dangerous, and Holly Short lived for a little danger.

Fowl Manor, 6:15am

Captain Holly Short landed on the balcony outside of Artemis' second floor bedroom. Removing her helmet, she took a deep breath of fresh air and shook her hair free of its binding. She thought it pointless to shield and so stood there thinking a bit longer.

'It is awfully early…I wonder if maybe I should wait. Nah, knowing Artemis he never went to bed last night.' She slowly leaned in to rest her hands on the glass sliding doors her breath spreading fog over them. Holly scanned the room for movement and found the only source of light was the lap top on Artemis' bedside table, and there asleep in the large bed was none other than Artemis Fowl II. Holly's breath caught for a moment as she watched him sleep…he didn't look evil when he slept…he looked like a normal boy…a normal, sweet boy. 'Whoa! I did not just think that…tell me I didn't think of Artemis FOWL as sweet….ew.' Holly shook her head to clear her thoughts and slowly opened the sliding glass door, padding over to the bed and sitting at the bottom. She looked up at Artemis and involuntarily smiled. She never was for the mind wipe; Artemis had changed because of the People. He deserved to have his mind wiped but still…. It seemed like just yesterday…but Holly knew that she didn't go through a night of heavy depression…she knew full well that it had been nearly two terrible years of crying herself to sleep and wishing she hadn't let them do it. She had only just stopped her self destructive habits a month ago, and some marks were still fresh. 'No, don't think about that, you're not here for a pity party, you're here on a mission.' Her eyes traveled back up to the youth only a few feet away.

He had grown, Artemis was no longer just a kid, and it seemed that he'd put on some muscle. Most likely just from the awakening hormones, Holly doubted he actually worked out. His raven black hair wasn't neat and perfect anymore. The strands lay in messy patterns long enough to cover his eyes slightly. 'Those eyes…' Holly crawled up the edge of the bed and sat next to Artemis' sleeping form. She softly brushed a particularly stray piece of hair to the side and once again a smile graced her features. The Captain sighed lightly and looked out to the balcony, her mission returning to her thoughts. 'I have to do it…they're counting on me.'

"Hello Captain Short…."

Holly started and whipped her head around to face Artemis. For a second she thought she'd gone crazy, hearing voices…the whole nine yards, for Artemis' face was the same, and his eyes still shut.