Hunger Games: Fandom Style

No, Mr. Fowl, I Expect You to Die

Artemis really didn't understand why it had been necessary to hit someone who had already surrendered. They'd tackled him as if he'd been making a run for it, and he had landed hard on the gravel. Dried blood caked one side of his face. It was mildly distracting.
They'd cuffed him too. Another pointless gesture. Even if he could have gotten ahold of a weapon, he couldn't have hit a barn from point blank range, as Holly was so fond of saying. He'd always left the fighting to Butler.
Butler hadn't reported in since the Games had started. Artemis didn't blame him, but he was starting to get concerned for the bodyguard. His connection to the Fowl family wasn't exactly a secret. If Snow had decided to take Artemis down, he might be making a full sweep of it.
At least they hadn't gone after his mother. That was hopeful, at least, although to be brutally honest, there wouldn't have been much point in them taking her in. If she couldn't recognize her own son, she certainly couldn't tell them anything worth knowing.
The hovercraft had arrived at the Capital within two minutes of the time he had estimated,can acceptable margin of error. Now he was being shoved through the door to President Snow's office.
Again with the gratuitous violence. Did he really look like he was putting up a fight?
One eye was too caked with blood to see much of anything, but he could see that it was a tasteful room. The carpet alone would have cost thousands, and the spy cameras were state of the art, although why Snow would spy on his own office, he didn't know. The only detail out of palace was the half dead bouquet on Snow's desk. Half dead was being generous, actually. Three fourths would be more accurate.
"You wanted to see me?" Artemis was careful to sound bored. He'd considered playing the part of the confused innocent, but no one who had seen his records would buy that. Artemis Fowl was a criminal, and he knew that Snow knew it too. He wouldn't play innocent of everything; just this one, capital, charge.
Snow gave a thin smile. "Indeed. You've been a busy boy."
"I don't like to be bored. What's this about, Mr. President? You needn't have spent all this effort if you wanted to see me. My door is always open."
"This," Snow said quietly, "is about the Reaping."
Artemis let a look of confusion cross his face. "Yes?"
"Let's not play any more games with one another, Mr. Fowl. I know what you did. The only reason you're here is that I want to know why you did it."
"I'm afraid I really don't - "
"Your bodyguard told us everything."
"I can't imagine what he would have to say that would be of any interest to you."
"Really? Are you so confident in him? Did you really think that he would endure torture to protect you after what happened to his sister?"
Artemis felt his face slip into an expression it hadn't hosted for a very long time. Not since Opal had died. "There's no secret for him to protect, but if there had been, than no, I don't think he would have protected it. I know he would have." I also know that whatever you've done to him, you will pay for, a thousand times over.
"And do you imagine your computer is similarly loyal?"
Artemis shrugged. "Well guarded, certainly. You'll have to wait until the next upgrade if you want loyal, though. So far I'll have been able to manage is snarky."
"You are stubborn, then, in your refusal to admit what you've done?"
"On the contrary, I'm proud of my accomplishments. This just doesn't happen to be one of them." Whatever happened now, Artemis was prepared for it. He had planned for every eventuality.
Snow smiled. "You'd better hope Mr. Gold is more credulous than I am. I wouldn't count on it."
"Mr. Gold?" Artemis asked sharply.
"That's one of his names. His son was reaped this year. I promised him that when I caught the culprit, I'd let him ask the criminal a few questions. I just hope there's something left of you when he's done."
Every eventuality but that.