It's Your Turn

A/N: Hello everybody! This is just some random story I've had in my head for some time. I decided to let the world see it, so please bear with me. This story takes place about six months or so after TTP. I always picture fairies as having the same height as humans, so that's what I had in mind while writing this story. I know that's not true to the books, and I'm so sorry if that annoys anyone, but I just didn't feel like dealing with the height issue.

Disclaimer:

Rosy (me): Honestly, do I even need this disclaimer? I am obviously not Eoin Colfer and I obviously do not own the series, so I obviously do not own the settings, characters, or any other material from the books.

Artemis: Unless you want to be attacked by at least six different lawsuits, yes, you need that disclaimer.

Foaly: *chuckles*

Rosy: Oh, shut up.

Holly: I agree with Artemis.

Rosy: Don't push it, or I'll tell everyone EXACTLY what happened with you and Arty on page 138 of The Time Paradox.

Artemis: Don't call me that.

Holly: What's page 138?

Rosy: You know, that little incident in the gorilla cage?

Holly and Artemis: NO!

Foaly: *whips out recorder* Do tell.

Artemis: Eh, it's nothing.

Holly: Let's just get on with the story, shall we?

Rosy: *angelic smile* Okey dokey.

Chapter 1

Holly walked into the study at Fowl Manor, letting her wings slide back into her Shimmer Suit. Foaly had insisted that both she and Artemis meet him immediately, here in his unofficial Ops Headquarters.

"Foaly, how long before you're below ground again? Because I'm getting tired of being told to fly over here every time one of your stupid gadgets gets a bug."

The centaur looked offended. "My 'stupid gadgets' rarely get bugs, Holly. Besides, it's not my fault. Sool's been temporarily reinstated until Commander Kelp gets back from his extended assignment, and Sool is taking great pleasure in inconveniencing my work in any way possible."

"What?! Sool?" she exclaimed. "Why did they let that idiot back on the force?"

Foaly shrugged. "Politics. Apparently his family has a lot of weight with the Council, and they wanted to make up for his being disgraced by getting kicked out so…publicly. Relax, it's only a fill-in."

"Relax? Foaly, that monster wanted to destroy the entire Eighth Family! "she fumed.

Foaly shifted uncomfortably. "I know, Holly, but…we can't really do anything about it. Not right now, at least."

Holly pushed her anger aside with difficulty. "Whatever. Anyway, what's the glitch this time?"

Foaly hesitated. "Weeeell….it's a little more than a glitch."

Artemis walked in. "What is?" he asked.

"This," Foaly said simply, pointing to the plasma screen he had wasted no time in setting up.

Holly stepped closer, studying it. "Um, Foaly? I just see a bunch of letters and numbers."

He smirked. "Well, it might be a little technical for you."

Holly fingered her buzz baton. "Do NOT mess with me, Foaly. Not today."

Artemis raised an eyebrow.

"Sool," Foaly explained. "Anyway, this is a representation of the time tunnel equation. As you can see, by the time your rescue team was returning, the spell had already started to decay."

"Yes, yes. We know, Foaly. Hybras is already saved, so why is this important now?" Holly said impatiently. The news about Sool had left her in a bad mood.

Foaly was almost hesitant now. "It's…not really…about Hybras…exactly."

"Spit it out, Foaly!" Holly snapped. "I'm out of magic and need to complete the Ritual as soon as I can, so quit wasting my time."

"Okay, okay. The tunnel spell was extremely unstable, and having that many people travel through it at once weakened it even further. This made it even harder to reassemble everything correctly."

Artemis looked interested. "I wondered about that. The atoms would be much easier to move around, wouldn't they?"

Foaly nodded. "And much harder to get back where they belonged."

"ONE of you please explain what you are talking about!" Holly said.

Foaly looked a little nervous. "Some of your and Artemis' atoms got swapped in the time stream. It was only a few, hardly enough to matter, really."

Artemis was looking suspicious. "Then why are you so anxious?"

The centaur took a deep breath. "Because it will affect your aging, Artemis. You will still get older, but at a much slower rate, like a fairy."

Artemis looked surprised. "I'm part fairy now?"

Foaly shook his head. "No, you will only age like one. You are still 100% human."

Holly looked thoughtful. "But if our atoms were switched, wouldn't I be aging like a human now?"

"No. These particular fairy genes are dominant over the human ones. You'll get older exactly the same way as always," Foaly assured her.

"So why am I here?" Holly asked.

Suddenly, Foaly grinned. "Because. You two know what this means, don't you? You're essentially the same age. That means you guys could go out or something. "

This was quite obviously the only reason Foaly had made Holly come along: gleeful mockery.

"Don't make me hurt you, Foaly."

Three days later, just outside Fowl Manor, Holly's POV

"Artemis. NO. This is a bad idea, I can feel it."

"How can this be a bad idea? I am only going to go inside for a few minutes, just long enough to set up a camera with a more powerful light."

Butler and Juliet were only going to be gone for a few hours. They had to acquire some more surveillance equipment, and normally, they would never have left the house and Artemis so unprotected, but they seemed to think that an LEP captain would provide enough protection. They didn't know I was completely out of magic, and they had also neglected to consider the fact that Artemis would almost invariably manage to get himself in a dangerous situation without any help at all.

My pointed ears tingled. I was sure this was dangerous. Artemis had detected an intruder in the manor, one who seemed to be more interested in studying the layout of the house than in stealing any of the valuable objects that filled nearly every room. The intruder had somehow managed to stay out of sight just enough to conceal his face from the camera by hiding in shadows. This coupled with the unusual objective was worrying; whoever it was was obviously a professional, not a common thief. It was a bad idea to go in there without a squad for backup. With his parents and younger brothers gone to the zoo, and with no Butler or Juliet to help if something went wrong, something COULD go wrong. Very easily.

"No, Artemis," I insisted. "This idea is stupid."

"Nonsense," he scoffed. "I don't have stupid ideas."

Idiotic, overconfident Mud Boy! He was too arrogant to listen, and that was clouding his judgment. But I knew I couldn't change his mind.

He headed for the front door. For a few minutes I was tempted to hit him, but instead I sighed and started to follow.

A few feet inside the entrance hall, I froze. Artemis had been going to place the camera in the first floor gallery, since that's what the mysterious intruder seemed to concentrate on. I heard sounds coming from that room. Voices. There wasn't supposed to be anyone here. My ears tingled again. Something was very, very wrong.

I started running. I feared the worst, and that fear gave my feet wings. My thoughts were broken, jumbled. I didn't have a coherent decision, just flashes of memory. My mother. My father. The Commander. So many lost. So many gone. Not Artemis, too. Not him. No, no, no.

I ran into the gallery, and icy terror sped through my body. A dark figure stood there, face covered, pointing a gun at Artemis. I was only a few feet away when I heard the crack. Without stopping, I did the only thing I could think of. I slammed into Artemis, knocking him clear of the bullet. I felt a moment of relief, then I saw the stranger fire a single dart. I felt a sharp pain in my leg. Then nothing. For the longest time.

A/N: Ta-daa!! How did you like the first chapter? Sorry that it's a bit of a cliffie. And sorry for the whole time tunnel conversation, I promise it's relevant! Hopefully the Narrator to Holly POV switch wasn't confusing, it just sounded better from Holly's POV than from the Narrator's. Her thoughts weren't too cheesy, right? Please please please review! It's easy to do, they make my day, and they really encourage me to update

-Rosy