I Could Smell The Roses

A Big Threat

Trouble, Holly and Artemis made it to LEP headquarters without any hint of threat, but Holly did not let her guard down. The alpha was almost as ingenious as Artemis, he would not simply let their escape slide. In a way, hearing little from the wolf pack was more dangerous than an immediate attack. Artemis understood.
"They let us go." He whispered to Holly as she drove the police van down the busy streets of Haven. "It was too easy." Holly gripped the steering wheel harder.
"I know." She replied. Trouble came from the back of the van, keeping perfect balance despite the bumpy ride, and strapped himself into the seat next to Holly.
"HQ has been contacted. The wolves are still silent, their base has gone silent." Holly glanced back at Artemis. He was frowning. Holly could almost see his brain whirring, trying to come up for a feasible theory. Holly knew they knew so little about the wolves that there was hardly any possible theories to run by - the LEP had no files on their behaviour patterns, and Artemis didn't know the capacity of what the wolves could do. They would just have to wait.
-----
The trio were congratulated on their return to HQ, but Holly just wanted to see Foaly. Pushing through the busy reception with her badge, Holly and Artemis parted ways with Trouble, whom was needed elsewhere, and shot up towards Foaly's lab on the top floor in a glass elevator. Artemis placed a hand on Holly's shoulder. They were being watched by cameras, but his actions spoke a thousand words. Holly could sense his gratitude and relief, mixed with a few other things. They exited the elevator and Holly placed a thumb on Foaly's next-gen thumbprint scanner (which accepted no thumbprint other than Foaly's and Holly's). The doors opened silently and they were welcomed into Foaly's giant lab. The centaur in question was standing at one of his work stations, tinkering with what looked like an old model of the softnose, which probably came from the goblin revolution. Foaly had been ordered to destroy every single last piece of the weapon, but Artemis figured that Foaly couldn't resist a little investigation. Surely enough, Foaly dropped the softnose guiltily as he heard Holly and Artemis's footsteps and muttered to himself.
"I should really make those doors louder." Before turning to the duo with a grin on his face. "Glad you two made it back in one piece."
"Anything on the wolves?" Artemis asked, cutting to the chase. Foaly slurped his tea,
"Nope. Not yet anyway, and we may never." Holly scoffed,
"You think they are going to give up just like that?" Foaly looked at her,
"Of course not. I was being very optimistic." Artemis sat down on a bench,
"I need to know what sort of possible weapons the wolves have in their proximity. Can you do a check for unregistered orders and thefts in the past..." Artemis did some quick calculations, "month?" Foaly nodded and started tapping away at his computer. Holly went to sit down by Artemis. Foaly's paranoia was still sky high, and there were no security cameras or microphones in the lab. Foaly constantly suspected the LEP wanted to have a sneak peak in his lab, so everything that came through the lab doors were scanned for bugs and microphones. The main thing was that Artemis and Holly could talk freely. Artemis smiled at her, a genuine one for once,
"Thanks for saving me." Holly nudged him with her knee in a friendly way,
"It was nothing. You would and have done the same thing for me."
"I captured you once." Replied Artemis with a laugh, Holly smiled,
"I hope those days are long past. I'm glad you have your memories back."
"Me too." Said Artemis, "I hated being all hormonal again."
"You haven't seen the worst of it." Observed Holly, "You're ridiculously mature for a teenager."
"Not a teenager anymore." Artemis looked into the distance, "I'm almost twenty-one."
"Catching me up!" Joked Holly, and Artemis rubbed the back of his neck.
"It's odd, how I was only twelve when I met you-"
"-captured me."
"Captured you. And now I'm almost twenty one and you... You're still the Holly I know from almost a decade ago." Holly punched him lightly,
"Not exactly the same, old boy, but I see where you're getting at."
"Yes," murmured Artemis, leaning towards Holly slightly. "Not exactly the same." Holly suddenly realised how close Artemis was to her. Their knees were touching and Artemis's arm was pressed against her own. His eyes, both pale blue now, we're inches away. Holly felt herself tensing, a feeling rose in her throat, like when she was in a small space. But unlike her claustrophobia, the feeling was almost...enjoyable...
"Artemis!" Called Foaly, from the other side of the room, "The scan is complete." Artemis cleared his throat,
"Excuse me." He said to Holly politely, and rose from the bench. Holly suddenly felt cold under the air cons in the lab.
"Here is the list." Said Foaly, and his slim fingers drew up a holographic file, which was then projected and magnified in the air.
"There has been a case of someone stealing a kettle, unregistered buyer of Frump's Cherry Twists..." Foaly whistled, "If I was buying Cherry Twists, I'd make sure no one knew about it either..."
"Anything on weapons?" Asked Holly, rising after Artemis. Foaly drummed his fingers on the table.
"There are three thousand one hundred and forty nine of these cases, and we'd have to go through every single one." Holly groaned,
"You have to be joking." Foaly shook his head,
"I'll get some officers up here to help. Don't worry, I'll make sure they don't bring a whole security camera network up with them..." As Foaly trailed into thought, Artemis's eyes widened, and he gripped Holly tightly by the arm,
"The cameras," he breathed, "the cameras!"
"What are you talking about?" asked Holly, confused. Suddenly, a beeping noise sounded in the lab, and Foaly's screen read the words, 'incoming call'. Foaly choked on the piece of carrot he was eating,
"I'm guessing that'll be the pack." He said.
----
I'm so sorry for not updating in FOREVER and I know this is a short chapter, but I'm still restarting the cogs in my brain for this story, and I promise there will be longer chapters in the future! All my thanks go to @Leo_Festus_Valdez for the ideas and general help to get the plot up and running again. If you need any help with figuring out what you want to write, just ask him, and I promise he'll sort you out!