Thanks to...

fowlfan, Readergirl99, Steinbock, Victoriarty197, Yuul and CherryBerryB, nekodreamstealer and slightlyso for faving etc.

And to...

CieloCrimisi, shauny, fowlfan, Kida Ookami, Slim Shady, CherryBerryB, slightlyso, rupzydaisy and Ghostwizard

for the reviews.

Specially to you, if your name is on both lists or if you reviewed more than once :)

It's not an enormously long chapter but hopefully it ties everything up nice and good for you all.

Here we go then.

The real end.

It didn't take too long to clear Butler of all charges. Mr. Fowl simply threatened to sue the constabulary for life-endangerment and false accusation and The Major simply threatened them.

The agreement reached in the end, was that Butler was never there. A fight had broken out amongst the group of pirates and the children had been rescued during the confusion.

And the boat had sunk because?

Well... they left the police to think of an excuse for that one.

After a few arguments Butler had reluctantly allowed himself to be dropped of at the hospital and used the good old excuse of 'I was in a really nasty bar-fight, please believe me - or else' in order to get treated for the various lacerations he had, and to remove the bullets still lodged in his bicep.

It was early evening as he walked back to the hotel, since The Major was busy guarding the Fowls and he wasn't supposed to be driving with his busted arm.

The empty pavement cast wobbly heat-hazes in the late afternoon sun and despite having spent the last 4 hours in a crowded A&E room surrounded by puking infants, screaming children and several passed-out drunks, Butler felt good.

It had been worth it really - his shoulder hardly hurt at all now. Although that could have been because of the copious amount of local anaesthetic the doctors had assumed he needed for them to dig the metal lumps out of his muscle. His whole arm was still numb because of it, but at least he wouldn't have to worry about showing up on a metal detector.

He felt oddly at ease, dressed as he was, in casual clothes. Or at least he would have done, had he been fully armed. His body was weirdly light without his Kevlar vest and various concealed weaponry, but he had been forced to look and act like a normal person in order to fit in at the hospital - to Juliet's delight as she had been allowed to chose the outfit he was wearing for him.

He was just considering throwing the pain medication he'd been given into the gutter, when a movement to his right caught his attention. In the shadow of an alleyway someone had moved. And it hadn't been your average 'I'm walking down the street' motion. His hand twitched automatically to the Sig Sauer that wasn't there.

Probably nothing, he assured himself. But he already knew he was kidding himself. Changing his pace, he stepped closer to the road to give himself a little more time to react if someone did appear from the side-passage.

Which - of course - they did.

He caught the knife on his forearm, which although was much better than on his chest, as the attacker had intended, was a disappointment for a fighter of his standard. The second time, he caught the wrist properly, twisting it so that the fingers wrapped around the handle spasmed and the ruby spattered blade clattered to the pavement, glinting evilly in the setting sun.

The man's other fist punched him in the face, although it wasn't Butler who cried out in pain.

Butler used the distraction to wrench the assailant's arm up his back, managing to grab his right hand and clamp them both together. The hand was wrapped in a dirty, blood-soaked rag and it was then that Butler realised who this man actually was.

"Fenter, wasn't it?" he growled, lifting the pirate awkwardly and slamming his face against the building beside them.

"You ruined everything." The man spat, struggling wildly, albeit futilely.

"You hit my sister." Butler justified, pushing the man's arm to breaking point, putting pressure on his injured hand at the same time. The smaller man screamed.

"They left me behind because of you!"

"What? They don't need a 'Captain Hook' on the crew?"

The man tried to headbutt Butler who calmly held him at arms reach and waited for him to wear himself out.

"Alright stop it!" he panted after a while. "The little bitch deserved a slap, alright? Argh!"

Obviously this man was a complete idiot and Butler felt little satisfaction in breaking his wrist, but he had hurt Juliet and there was no way he was getting away lightly with that.

"Give me one reason..." He snarled. The knife was right there. He could reach it without even letting go of this 'Fenter' guy.

The pirate whimpered pathetically.

Butler dropped him in disgust. This coward wasn't worth the trouble.

Once on the floor, Fenter scooted away, holding his broken hand and moaning

"Just stay away from us." Butler growled sinisterly. "Or I'll make sure you do."

He'd barely walked five paces when he heard the clink of metal and the rustle of clothing. Others might have missed it. Butler had to admit the guy was fast on his feet, but he wasn't so in awe that he missed the kick to the pirate's stomach and punishing blow to the jaw when he span round in time to stop the assault. The man fell unconscious on the floor. Butler considered leaving him there. The pirate wasn't bleeding to death or anything.

Talking of which... He checked his own arm. It would probably need stitches. Dammit.

Deciding that he could hand in the fugitive to the law at the same time as handing him over to the medics, Butler sighed at the stupidity of what he was doing and slung the guy over his shoulder, picking up the knife as evidence.

The A&E staff were quite surprised to see the scary guy they thought they'd got rid of, returning with a man over his shoulder and a knife in his hand.

After he had convinced them all to stop panicking and that he hadn't done any stabbing, Butler dropped off the last member of the defeated pirate crew and slipped out a fire exit under the pretence of using the bathroom before the police arrived. Police who recognised his rather unique description and didn't even bother trying to pursue him.

When he finally reached the hotel, without another attempted murder or other distraction occurring, The Major was waiting for him outside the room they were sharing with Juliet.

"What took you?" he grunted. Butler mentally winced. He probably should have texted about the delay.

"This." He heaved a sigh, raising his arm and peeling back the bloodily blotched pillowcase he had stolen from the laundry trolley during his getaway from the hospital, to reveal the four inch gash.

"What the..." The Major grabbed his wrist, and, although there was a good chance he would have been able to break the hold, Butler submitted to the prodding, slightly surprised his uncle seemed concerned at all. "Could do with a couple of stitches." Came the verdict.

"Thought so."

"Why didn't you go back and get it sorted then?"

Butler shifted slightly, guiltily, before muttering. "Didn't fancy hanging around for the police at the hospital."

"Explain." The Major said, raising an accusing eyebrow at him.

Half an hour later, story told and arm stitched Butler sat on the edge of his bed, waiting for his uncle's reaction.

"Can't bloody well send you anywhere without you causing some sort of trouble." He grumbled, packing away the first aid kit.

Butler smirked, taking it as the veiled compliment it was. It was expected. It was how his uncle worked - hiding his emotions in gruff criticism. The next thing to happen was less predictable.

"Here."

Butler looked up from his stitch inspecting. The Major was holding out a gun.

"Lifted it from the station." He explained, handing it over. Butler smiled, running a thumb affectionately over the familiarly scratched black metal.

"Thanks."

His uncle 'humphed'.

"Be more careful next time." He said, brusquely clapping his nephew on the shoulder before heading back to the Fowl couple's room.

Butler watched him go. In those few words and actions, The Major had shown how concerned he'd been and that family really did matter to him after all.

"Yes uncle."

The Major grunted in response. "And take your meds."

And that was the closest to affection he was going to get.

The Proper Epilogue

By the next day The Major was flying them all back to Ireland in the Lear Jet and Butler had already thrown away the sling he was supposed to be wearing and was sat moodily in the co-pilot chair, having been banned from flying due to the painkillers the hospital staff had given him when he'd already said he hadn't wanted any anyway. The same ones his uncle had practically threatened to ram down his throat if he refused to take.

"I need you as close to 100% as possible if you're going to be any help." He'd said.

"And I'd be more help drugged and dopy?" Butler had pointed out.

To which the no-nonsense reply had been along the lines of "Just shut-up and do as I say."

Now, Juliet was babbling away excitedly and trying to re-enact the fight in the cell with two of her wrestling figures ("It was like a proper WWE cage fight!" Or so she claimed).

Artemis was typing away furiously on his laptop, no doubt writing the experience down in his virtual diary for further reference and analysis the sequence of events, trying to work out if there could have been a better version of proceedings had he thought of something else quicker. Trying to find a way to a better outcome.

For Butler, there could be little better outcomes. They were all alive and relatively well and they weren't under any threat at this particular moment.

Yes, there was only one thing that could make the ending of this particular little adventure any better.

And that was if Mr and Mrs Fowl weren't currently sat, heads together, at the fold out table of the jet, fervently planning the next family holiday.

Well that was it.

Kinda got a bit longer than an epilogue but it would have meant posting that last "Proper Epilogue" bit as a whole chapter of itself, which is kinda pointless really.

I got pretty into writing this fic.

Like "Whoops-it's-2-o'clock-in-the-morning-when-did-that-happen?" kinda into writing it.

I chopped and changed it, read it to my editor (little sister) and changed some more and I'm happy with it.

So I hope you liked it - hopefully enough to tell me that you did.

Oh and if you didn't like it, feel free to tell me anyway - if you feel like it.

And hey, while you're all at it, you might as well tell me why.

Thanks to all of you for reading,

Wolfy

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