I Could Smell The Roses

Father

Holly POV

As I led a very confused Artemis home, I got a call from a certain commanding officer.
"Hey, Trouble." I say into the communicator.
"Hey Holly, I was wondering if you'd like to go out for dinner tonight." I frown into the phone. My first instinct is to refuse, so I say,
"What about Artemis? He's priority number one at the moment." I could almost see Trouble frowning,
"Just put him to bed with a sedative or something..." I stare at the phone,
"Trouble, he's not a child. Well sure, he only has memories up until when he's twelve or thirteen, but even then, he doesn't behave like twelve or thirteen!"
"Wouldn't it hurt, Holly, just to get away from work for a night?"
"It would." I say shortly, and hang up.
"Who was that?" Asks Artemis' voice from behind me.
"None of your business." I say.
"Is it your boyfriend?" I turn and look in his face for signs of teasing. There is none. The boy's being serious. Of course he's being serious.
"No." I say. Artemis frowns and casts a suspicious eye over me. I'm far to familiar to Artemis' incredible emotion reading, so I adopt a relaxed posture and continue walking.
"Hmmmm." Says Artemis from behind me, but says no more all the way home.
When we arrive, I head to the sofa and check my watch. We stayed in the coffee shop for hours. It's three in the afternoon. Should I go out with Trouble tonight? Artemis interrupts by sliding into a chair opposite me. I look up.
"What do you want?" Artemis frowns. He's doing a lot of that lately. I'm not that surprised, though. Regaining memories wouldn't be the most pleasant thing I could imagine.
"I just wanted to say...sorry. For the Fowl siege. For capturing you. For stealing your gold. For everything. And I know I'm not your favourite person on the planet..." I whistle.
"Mud Boy you have no idea."
"But thank you for helping me regain my memory. But I don't know why you're helping me?" I look down again and wonder how to put it in words.
"Because you...saved me. You saved us all. And...I couldn't let you go on without me repaying that debt. I owed you big time. And what a better time to help you." Artemis stares into the distance, uncharacteristically glassy eyed,
"After all I've done to you? I must have done something nothing short of a miracle." I chuckle through tears I don't even know I was crying.
"Oh it was Mud Boy. And about that Fowl siege. Let's just put it past us. Let's make a truce. No Attacks. Emotionally or physically." Artemis holds out his hand,
"Deal." And I shake it. And so we sit there talking about what Artemis knows and doesn't. Once I'm sure we're up to date and he doesn't know too much that it's dangerous, it's dinner time. I can't possibly leave Artemis here, so I put the cooker on and cook vegetarian lasagna. Artemis looks over my shoulder with a mixture of amusement and sadness.
"Butler likes vegetarian lasagna. Right?"
"Right." When we sit and eat, Artemis asks me questions about himself. For example he said to me.
"Juliet is Butler's...sister? Right?"
"Right.
"Butler is family. Right?"
"No, Mud Boy, bodyguard."
"Oh." This is the most trust we've put in each other for seven months. Artemis looks at the clock and gets up.
"Going to bed." He explains shortly and walks out the room. I decide to do some work and write Artemis' health report. My eyes itch for sleep, but before I decide to hit the sack, I have a strange idea. I go into my room and rummage around in my drawer and rummage around for the communicator Artemis and I had. I want to re-reread his emails. Maybe they'll help me. My finger close around a rectangular plastic card. I frown and pull it out. It's a picture of Artemis, before the Atlantis Complex, before the last fight. He's smiling. Actually smiling. I think Butler gave me the picture. I sit down hard on my bed. My fingers caress the image. I start to cry for the third time today. Nice going. But I can't stop. Seeing him back then leaves me feeling like I'm in the wrong time. Why, I think, why did you sacrifice yourself?
"I knew it." My head snaps upwards. Artemis is at the door.
"You became friends with him. You trusted him. You want me to be him. But I'll never be him. I know, don't worry. Don't mind me."
"Artemis..." I say. Because it's not like that, I want to say. But I know deep down I'll never accept new Artemis as much as the old Artemis. But it's too late. The damage has been done.
"Goodnight." Says Artemis in a way that I know he wants to shut me off. And he leaves back to his room. I flop back on my bed. Well done, Holly. I tell myself. Smooth, real smooth. Then I fall asleep.