Kiss Me, I'm Irish {An Artemis Fowl Fan Fiction}

Chapter 22: Rash Decisions

Hello everyone! =) Finally got this chapter done! It was... interesting to write, to say the least. And if you think this chapter is bad, well... wait until the next chapter. ;) Hope you all enjoy this! <3

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Artemis stood in the elevator, heading up towards the floor that contained Spiro's office where they would do the exchange. He had Butler and Juliet standing on either side of him, along with Holly shielded a few feet away. Even with all the protection, Artemis did not feel very safe. He was walking straight into the home of the enemy, not entirely sure what was awaiting them on the other side of the elevator door. As far as Artemis knew, he could be walking into an ambush. Admittedly, the boy was upset with himself for not putting more thought into what could happen to them once they arrived. He was beginning to wonder if his judgment was clouded.

Artemis glanced up at the floor counter, watching it steadily go up as they scaled the Spiro Needle. He just as quickly looked away; watching the numbers go up was only making his anxiety rise. Artemis felt his grip on the metallic briefcase tighten, but immediately corrected it as he forced himself to relax. Being tense wasn't going to help him now; if anything, it would just going to get him hurt.

Before Artemis could get too involved with his thoughts, the elevator came to a stop. A ding! signaled the door opening. Artemis was the first to step out onto the floor, his companions following close behind him. He began his walk through the hallway and towards Spiro's office with single-minded determination, although a bit nervous. Artemis walked with his head high, hoping that looking confident would cover up his already shot nerves. All he wanted to do was get Diana, go home, and move on with life, but he was beginning to believe that was not likely.

He reached the closed door emblemized with Spiro's name. Artemis stopped there, hesitantly placing his hand on the golden door knob. He took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself for what could be awaiting him on the other side of the mahogany door.

Artemis turned the door knob and pushed the door open. He stepped inside the lavish office, with Butler, Juliet, and a nearly invisible Holly flanking him. Almost immediately, his eyes interlocked with the brown ones of his friend. Diana was seated in a chair not too far away from the desk, Arno Blunt holding her firmly in place by her arm. Artemis was relieved to see Diana completely unscathed; they weren't out of the woods yet though. Artemis knew if he wanted Diana to remain unharmed he needed to tread carefully around Spiro for the next few minutes. Diana gave him a weak smile, something that in itself calmed him down slightly.

"Ah, hello Artemis," Spiro greeted from his desk. Honestly, Artemis hadn't even noticed the man sitting there.

"Evening Spiro," Artemis almost hissed. Before he spoke again, Artemis did his best to correct his tone. "Shall we get this over with then?"

Spiro snickered, obviously believing that he was about to get what he wanted. "I trust you brought the C Cube like I requested? With the eternity code on it broken?"

"I did," Artemis answered. He handed the case to Butler before opening it, being smart enough to block the view of the contents of the briefcase; Artemis couldn't afford to have Spiro discover that there were two Cubes. He carefully plucked the fake C Cube from its spot in the protective foam. While very similar to the real C Cube, the imposter had a few subtle changes that only Artemis himself would notice, or at least that's what he hoped. The Irish boy swiftly shut the case before turning to present the false Cube to his foe. "Here it is, the C Cube- code broken and all," he announced. "Although I admittedly have no clue as to why you would still want this piece of mediocre technology."