A FEW CALLS
AN: Just realized I never put a disclaimer up 0.0 Oops… Okay, so I own nothing except the general idea and Viola Sommers. Phew. Now that's done with, I won't be repeating it
Oh, and thanks so much to everyone who followed/reviewed! You guys make me feel all warm and fuzzy. Hope this lives up to your expectations!
It took approximately eight minutes to get from the cafeteria to St. Bartleby's well groomed courtyard, and in Artemis's opinion that was seven and a half minutes too long. This girl knew about fairies, knew that he was in contact with them, and he had no idea what she planned to do with that knowledge. It was a variable he was not at all comfortable with.
"You sure this is a good place?" Viola asked as she seated herself gingerly on the edge of a currently disused stone fountain. She shivered, bringing her arms up to hug herself. "A little nippy, isn't it?"
Considering it was December, that wasn't exactly surprising. He nodded sharply. "That was rather the point. No will be out here, so it's 'somewhere a bit more private'. Now." He folded his arms and narrowed his eyes at her. "Talk, Miss Sommers."
She sighed, rolling her eyes. "Well aren't you intimidating. And would it kill you to call me Viola?"
He didn't say anything, but he did drop his arms without quite realizing that he was doing so. They stared at each other for a moment, warring for control of the situation. Then Viola let out a sharp breath and dropped her gaze. "Fine," she muttered, hugging herself more tightly. "What do you want to know?"
"How do you know about fairies?" he replied instantly. "And how did you know I have the communicator?"
"Well, the second one is easy." She shrugged, giving him a small half smile. "I saw you check your pocket earlier and I knew what it was- that kind of technology is pretty easy to recognize if you've seen it before."
"So how have you seen it before?" he pressed. She shivered again, violently, and he suddenly felt a little guilty. He was cold himself, but he was so intent on solving this situation that he'd barely noticed. Obviously Viola was not so distracted. With a small sigh, he shrugged his blazer off and leaned forward to drape it around her shoulders. She blinked, surprised, and looked up at him. For an instant they were close enough that he could feel her breath on his cheek. Then he pulled away and crossed his arms again, trying to ignore the strange swooping sensation in his stomach.
"Thanks," she murmured, smiling in a way that was a bit more genuine. Then she looked down at her knees and let out a long, slow breath. "Okay," she began quietly, "the brief version: a few years ago my family had a bit of a run-in with the People. Through a series of unpredicted events, I ended up in the custody of the LEP. Section Eight, if you want to be exact." A sardonic smile tugged at her mouth. "Apparently they dealt with all sorts of strange things, not just demons. Anyway, I was below ground for a few months before…well, things got cleared up. After that, they wiped me and sent me off, and I became a Ward of the State."
"Then how do you remember all this?" Artemis asked, intrigued now. If the girl was telling the truth, and there was nothing in her behavior to indicate a lie, her story was very interesting. "What triggered recall?"
She shrugged again. "Nothing," she said simply, meeting his eyes. "The wipe didn't take. I woke up in a hospital bed and I remembered everything. Well-" she amended, "at least I think I remember everything. But there's no way for me to really check that right?" She chuckled softly. After another moment where neither of them said anything, she added, "I've been trying to figure it out, these last few years. What happened, why the mind wipe didn't work on me… That's why I've been trying so hard to get your attention." She grimaced. "Sorry about that, by the way. I think I made you a bit uncomfortable. Ah well, subtly has never been my strong suit." She grinned sheepishly.
Ah. That explained some of her behavior at least. "You knew I had the communicator, that's why you kept insisting on engaging me." He nodded. Finally, some sense.
"Well, that's hardly the only reason," she said, standing. He blinked at her, confused, and a teasing sort of smile replaced the abashed one. "My God, you really haven't noticed, have you?" she giggled.
He frowned at her. "Noticed what?" There she went again, raising questions he couldn't answer.
The giggle turned into a laugh, infuriatingly charming, and she shook her head. "Nothing, it's nothing," she managed after a moment, still chuckling. She shrugged off his blazer and held it out to him as she walked passed, saying over her shoulder, "I'll give you some time to think on this, shall I? Get back to me when you've decided what to do."
He took the jacket from her and turned to watch her go, still bewildered. It was not a state he found himself in often, and he did not care for it. "Get back to you?" he asked as she reached for the door back into the school.
She tilted her head to look at him. "My number's in the left pocket. Call me if you want to talk about this stuff. Or you know, just call me." She winked, then disappeared in a whirl of chocolate hair.
Call her? The little- he reached into the pocket of his blazer and his fingers came into contact with a thin slip of paper. Pulling it out, he saw a phone number scrawled across it in barely legible handwriting. He shook his head, a smile twitching at the corners of his mouth in spite of himself. He hadn't even seen her put it in. "Oh, she's good," he murmured, feeling the thrill of a new challenge rise in his chest. "She is very good."
The first thing he did upon arriving at his dorm room that evening was call Holly. She'd barely finished her "Hello?" before he jumped into the story of the strange girl and her supposed connection with the People. "You should check Section Eight's records," he finished after almost a solid ten minutes of talking. "If she's telling the truth they must have something on her. I'm sure Foaly can get the information."
"I'm sure you're right," Holly answered quickly. On the screen, her eyes were serious, but at the same time bright with excitement. He knew his best friend felt the same thrill he did at this possibility of a new adventure (even if it was not quite on a world saving scale). "I'll call him right now. He'll be mad I'm interrupting dinner, but I'm sure he'll think this is worth it." She moved as if to disconnect, then hesitated. A rueful smile twisted her mouth. "Is it bad that I'm hoping she's telling the truth? I need some excitement."
He smiled his vampire smile. It had been too long since he'd had the opportunity to do so. "Believe me, I understand how you feel."
Holly rolled her eyes and chuckled. "Oh, yes, I'll bet this girl is exciting to you," she muttered, eye glinting.
He frowned at her, not quite grasping her meaning. "Excuse me?"
Holly's grin widened. "You said she was pretty, didn't you?"
Had he? He didn't remember the words leaving his mouth, but he supposed they must have. Oh. Now Holly's meaning was very clear and he glowered at her, opening his mouth to retort. Before he could, she laughed and disconnected.
"Women," he muttered, ignoring how like an old man he sounded, and put the communicator securely away. He wasn't taking risks with that technology; despite how careful he'd been, Viola had noticed it. He wasn't overly concerned of what his classmates might think- they'd probably assume it was some sort of tablet- but if that girl had noticed, someone else might too. Someone not so friendly.
Opal is dead, a small part of his brain reminded him. But that doesn't mean there aren't other potential enemies out there, he retorted, then mentally rolled his eyes. Wonderful. He was arguing with himself. If he kept this up, it'd be Atlantis Complex all over again. Shaking his head to rid himself of such thoughts, he pulled out his phone (the one that only Butler and his parents had the number to) and hit speed dial 1.
There was only one ring before the call was answered with a deep, "Artemis. Is something wrong?"
Ah, Butler. Ever cautious. "I don't think so, old friend," Artemis assured him. As quickly and concisely as he could (no need to mention how Viola looked) he explained the situation.
"Hm." Butler said as soon as his charge paused to take a breath. Then, "I'm heading to the school."
Artemis bit back on a sigh. "I appreciate what you are trying to do, but-"
"But nothing," the manservant cut him off. Artemis blinked. It wasn't often that Butler was so sharp. "What I am trying to do, Artemis, is protect you. Which is in fact my job, you may recall. And I say this girl is a potential threat."
Artemis sighed, knowing when it was futile to argue. He was many things, but foolish had never been one of them. "Very well. When shall I expect you?"
"Maybe an hour."
He frowned. "Where are you? You're supposed to be at the manner." It would take more than an hour to get from Dublin to St. Bartleby's.
Butler let out a noise that was almost an exasperated sigh. "Juliet is in town. I was picking her up from a friend's place."
"Hey, Arty!" That was Juliet. She must have been in the car with her brother.
A fond, if slightly rueful, smile tugged at his lips. "Tell her I said hello. The boys will be excited to see her."
"Will do. Be careful until I get there." Butler ended the call.
With nothing to do but wait for Holly to call him back, Artemis sat on the bed with a sharp sigh. "Viola Sommers," he muttered, tapping his fingers on his leg and frowning slightly. A true puzzle. What had she meant that her family had "run in" to the People? And if she really had been in the custody of Section Eight, why hadn't she been properly monitored after her wipe to make sure it would take? And why hadn't it taken? Artemis knew there was always a rare chance, but it was miniscule. Microscopic. And if she really had been with Section Eight when she said, that would have been after Foaly was working as their technical consultant. Much as he loved to goad the centaur, his technology was rarely faulty… Most intriguing.
The fairy communicator buzzed, bringing him back to the present. In a flash he answered the call. "Holly? Have you found anything?"
"Oh, we found something." It was Foaly himself who answered, rather than the elf. He seemed to have snatched the communicator and squeezed Holly out of the screen. "Unbelievably, this mud girl is telling the truth. I never would have thought it, but the records are all here; Viola Sommers, under custody of Section Eight due to "unusual circumstances". That's all there is about why she was there, but there is some extensive stuff about her stay. Apparently she was under Vinyáya's jurisdiction. I can't believe I didn't know about this, Artemis."
"I can't believe no one knew," Holly interjected, shoving her way back into view. "According to what Foaly found, just Vinyáya and two other officers even knew she was in Haven."
"And it wasn't easy finding those records, believe me," Foaly jumped in again. "After Vinyáya's death, no one had access. Well, officially at any rate." He gritted his teeth, making Holly wince.
"But why isn't she under surveillance now?" Artemis asked. "That's protocol isn't it? And she's been walking around with fairy knowledge in her head for years. That's a huge security threat, Foaly."
"Don't we know it." Holly again. She seemed to have wrested control of the communicator back. "Apparently, there was a bit of a crisis around the time she was released back to the surface. Something about an island dropping back into this time." She raised an eyebrow meaningfully and Artemis couldn't stop the smile that flashed across his face in response. "Anyway, once things had calmed down enough to get an agent on her, she seemed to have completely assimilated. No sign of residual memories at all. That's what the report says anyway."
Artemis sucked in a breath. "Clever," he murmured, "very clever. She knew blabbing would only get her a straightjacket, or worse, so she decided to keep her mouth shut and see where that got her."
"Is that- admiration in your tone?" Foaly asked, eyes going wide.
Holly chuckled. "You should have heard him earlier. Apparently this Viola is "quite pretty"."
Artemis felt his ears grow hot and scowled, clearing his throat. "Anway," he said pointedly over his friends' chortling. "What do you suggest we do about her?"
Foaly sobered. "I suggest you find a way to get her somewhere I can talk to her. Maybe run a few tests. See why the wipe didn't take. And of course, we can get more information out of her at the same time?"
Artemis frowned. "Run a few tests? She's not a lab rat, centaur."
"Of course not," Holly said quickly before a quarrel could start. "But we need to figure this out, Artemis. You said it yourself, she's a security risk."
He sighed, rubbing his hand over his face. "Then what do you propose I do? Invite her home for the holidays?" he said sarcastically.
Silence. Holly and Foaly exchanged a look that said Not a bad idea, when you think about it. Holly turned back to the screen. Her one blue eye glinted. "Actually…"