Hi everyone! Sorry this took so long! I got really involved with writing one of my other stories, and then I was bad and started writing a small side project. I kept telling myself I needed to get this written so I could get this finished before the movie came out. Well, with the release date getting moved to June 12th, I definitely have time to finish this! After this chapter, there's only one more left in this story.

My plan was to still do a Q&A if you all wanted one, and I have been toying with the idea of a third book. I would love to write one. My problem at this point is finding the right idea plot-wise. I don't want to write something that I don't like or can't get into, you know?

Today is my 6th wedding anniversary (wow is time flying!) so I'm not sure if I'll get to start the next chapter right away or not. I promise to get it done ASAP.

Anyway, hope you all enjoy this!

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Diana opened her eyes to see a white wall. She sat up slowly, the pain in her chest from earlier finally noticeable to her. She realized she was lying on a gurney, presumably in the hospital bay in Haven. Likely the same one she woke up in after the last dangerous adventure with Artemis. Honestly she hoped this was the last time she found herself recovering in a fairy hospital, but somehow she was sure that it wouldn't be. Diana assumed she must have passed out at some point after they had defeated Ortherion, finally crashing from her adrenaline rush.

She was hooked up to an IV bag. Given that the information on the bag was written in what she presumed was Gnommish, she had no idea what was being funneled into her body. She guessed probably fluids and pain medication, but she wasn't certain. Her abdomen had several ice packs resting on top of her hospital gown. She was momentarily embarrassed, knowing someone had undressed her, and then it occurred to her it was probably Foaly or Holly, and they had seen it all last time she had nearly died.

She finally looked to her left and saw Artemis just a few feet away from her. He was reclined in a similar hospital bed to hers, his hands resting gently in his lap. Just like Diana, he was attached to several IV bags. His eyes were closed, and he appeared to be sleeping peacefully. Diana watched his chest, moving slowly with his breathing. She smiled; he was alive, despite all the odds. He was likely going to never be the same in some ways, but Diana knew they would cross that bridge later. All that mattered at this point was that he indeed survived his close encounter with the troll. They would deal with the side effects together, whatever they were.

Diana looked away from him for a moment, turning to her right to see Alex. Her friend was facing the other side of the room, her body curled into a fetal position on her bed, shaking ever so slightly. She was dressed in a gown like she was, and Diana could only assume her leg had been healed from where she had been shot during the latter part of the raid since Alex had wrapped herself tightly in her blanket. Diana assumed Alex was crying, and frowned. She guessed Holly had been right in saying that there was nothing they could do for Sebastian, and that he was in fact dead. Diana couldn't imagine what hell her friend was going through; Diana had a hard enough time with Artemis' injury, she couldn't fathom what kind of wreck she would've been if he had died. Especially in such an instantaneous way like Sebastian had.

She didn't know what else to do, so she reached over and placed a hand on Alex's shoulder.  "It'll be okay," Diana said, trying her best to comfort her friend.   

Alex shrugged her hand off. "No it won't."

Diana frowned. She really wasn't sure how to make her friend feel better. Dealing with death was not something she was used to, and had very little experience with. The only loss she had up until this point in her life were her paternal grandparents, and she was so young when that happened she didn't remember any of it. She decided to let Alex be, as she continued to sob into her pillow. Perhaps saying nothing was the best for now.

She focused her attention back on Artemis, just as she noticed his eyes slowly open. His eyes darted around the room before he looked back at her, the panic on his face subsiding into a small smile as he realized she was there.

"The infirmary, huh?" he guessed.

Diana nodded, afraid to speak.

Artemis nodded slowly. "What the hell happened to me?"   

Diana sighed quietly. She wasn't ready to relive what had happened to him, but she knew she had to tell him the truth as to what happened back at Ortherion's castle. "You were... practically gored to death by a troll," she answered quietly. "When we got to you, you were lying on the floor, bleeding out."

Artemis closed his eyes as he spoke, seemingly trying to recall exactly what happened. "When I entered the room, I saw the troll. I engaged it in a firefight, against my better judgement, and apparently it got the better of me. I don't remember much else. I just remember a piercing pain through my chest, and then blacking out."

She frowned, fearing that was exactly how that played out. "I'm the one who took the troll down," she replied quietly. "I shouldn't have. It could've done a lot more than probably breaking some ribs. But I did."

"Butler will be proud of you, I'm sure," Artemis mused. A small smile appeared on his face as he opened his eyes again to look at her. "You're crazy, you know that?"

"Crazy about you," Diana answered, smiling back at him.

Artemis shook his head, still smiling, but he said nothing to it. He looked at his arm, remembering the graze it took in the hallway fight. There was a thin, line-like scar across his bicep, following the path that the bullet had taken. He huffed, and finally looked down at his chest. It was bare, and there was a large swath of shiny skin. Diana knew that was where he had been impaled, but Artemis was likely lucky enough to have never seen it as an open wound. She was sure he had probably passed out within seconds of it happening. Diana watched as he gently traced the outline with his fingers.

"I'm sure this will be a permanent scar," he stated.

"Just means we'll sort of match," Diana said, shifting slightly so she could touch where her scar was from being shot during the ordeal with Spiro a few years ago. Diana often forgot about it; she wasn't sure Artemis was going to be able to do the same.

Artemis sighed, but continued to smile. "Matching scars. I would've never imagined. Although mine makes yours look rather minuscule."

"Lucky you that I like a man with scars," she replied, a small smile on her face. Diana shifted again, trying to get more comfortable. This caused the bracelet on her wrist to jingle. She glanced down, looking momentarily confused. Diana had forgotten she had even been wearing the piece of jewelry Artemis had gotten her for their first Christmas together a few years ago. She was more impressed that it hadn't broken in all the fighting and chaos she had been through. All of the little charms she had acquired through the years were all still intact. She raised her wrist to show him the bracelet. "We'll have to think of something to add for this adventure."

Artemis' eyes went wide for a moment. "I am honestly surprised it survived, but yes, we will."

At the mention of the word 'survive,' Alex's crying picked up again. Artemis looked over at her, seemingly noticing she was there for the first time. It was very unobservant and unlike him, but Diana supposed given everything, he was likely out of it a bit.

"Why is she upset?" he asked. Diana almost forgot he hadn't been conscious for the finale. He didn't know.

Diana frowned, wondering how she could even begin to explain what happened. "Well, um... Sebastian...  he didn't make it. He dove after Ortherion, and snatched the gem from him," she started quietly, trying her best to not upset Alex further. "I'm not sure why or how it happened, but it seemed the gem just sucked the life out of him, and he collapsed. The gem fell to the floor and shattered."

Artemis nodded, seemingly understanding exactly what happened. "The gem was a powerful artifact, so judging the evil Ortherion was using to corrupt it, it doesn't shock me it was able to sap Sebastian of his lifeforce," he stated. Artemis shook his head. "Shame it had to be this way."

Before Diana could reply, Holly walked through the door, coming to a stop near the middle of the room. She glanced at all three of the humans, a grim look plastered to her face. Whatever news she had it couldn't have been good.

"Glad to see you're all awake. Well, Ortherion's body has been recovered. He's dead, no way to come back, thank Frond. As for Sebastian... we couldn't save him. His life was drained instantly by the gem, which was destroyed when it fell from his hands," Holly explained, not knowing that Diana had literally just said all of that. She paused as she noticed Alex's sobbing get worse. "You guys will be heading back to school here soon. Your job is done here. Thanks for your help."

Diana sighed a sigh of relief. She was drained both emotionally and physically from this adventure. Nothing would make her happier than going back to school, back to a normal life. But, then again, what was a normal life? She was dating Artemis Fowl, and that meant her life was far from normal on the best of days. She supposed she could live with an abnormal life, so long as it meant she had Artemis by her side. However, she hoped Artemis would abandon his life of crime, as getting kidnapped was getting truly old.

The elf walked up to Alex, and rested her hand on her shoulder. "I am truly sorry for your loss," she started. "As for your leg, we got it healed up, and it should be perfectly fine."

Alex barely nodded as a response. That was more than Diana had been expecting from her friend, given the reaction she got. Alex was surely going to be a wreck for a while, and would likely never be the same again. Diana couldn't say she blamed her.

Holly turned and approached Artemis' bed. The grim expression on her face had been replaced by a stern look. "And you, Artemis! You better stop your stealing! I will not cover for you again!"

"Cover? What do you mean?" he questioned.

"I covered for your ass! I said Ortherion stole the gem all along," the elf yelled back. "Consider yourself lucky, Mud Boy!"

Honestly, Diana felt like it was a miracle that Holly had covered for Artemis, given how upset she had been when she had found out he had stolen the gem. Diana was sure Holly was more than content to let Artemis face the fairy justice system for this, but she was grateful that she had been wrong about that. Artemis would not survive human prison, let alone a fairy one. And then...

The fact that fairies were so heavily involved with their lives meant that she would definitely not have a normal life. Holly and Foaly had become some of her closest friends, and she was glad that they had met, even if the circumstances were far from ideal.

"As for your chest, that took a lot of magic to fix. You are lucky to be alive," she continued. "If we had gotten to you any later than we had, we would not be having this conversation right now."

Artemis nodded, understanding the gravity of the situation. "I appreciate your urgency, and thank you and all those involved for keeping me alive."

Diana silently wondered how many fairies were needed to perform a healing of that magnitude. Surely more than one, and definitely more than Holly, as Diana imagined she had probably used a good portion of her magic during the mission.

Her thoughts were broken as Holly stepped away from Artemis, and put her attention on Diana. She took a few steps and stood beside her bed. "So, you have a few broken ribs. You're very lucky that none of them pierced a lung or other internal organ. You're going to be just fine once you get some rest," she said. She took a deep breath, and shook her head. "You're still one of the craziest people I have ever met. I admire that."

Diana smiled. "That's a huge compliment coming from you."

"You're damn right it is," Holly replied, a smile forming on her face. She looked out at the group as a whole again. "All of you get some rest, and if everyone gets the all clear, in a few hours we'll take you back home."

With that, Holly left the room, leaving the three of them alone once again. The room was silent, other than the quiet sobs coming from Alex. Diana wasn't sure her friend was going to stop crying soon, so she wasn't sure if she was going to get any rest.

Artemis sighed and looked at her. "You heard her. Let us try to get a little more rest before our departure."

Diana nodded. She closed her eyes, trying her best to get comfortable so she could actually get some rest. She wanted to lay on her side, but given her ribs, she thought it was probably best to keep laying on her back. Holly hadn't told her if she was healed enough to move, and she didn't want to risk it. Instead, she extended her left arm, resting it on the nightstand that separated her and Artemis' beds. It wasn't super comfortable, but her arm felt a bit better outstretched than it did resting at her side or on her chest.

A few moments later, she felt someone entwine their fingers with hers. Diana opened her eyes to see Artemis looking back at her, his hand holding hers tightly. He was smiling at her, and she couldn't resist smiling back at him.

"I promise I'll hold you properly once we aren't attached to hospital equipment," he said quietly.

He really was sweet when he wanted to be. "I look forward to it," she replied.

"As do I," Artemis echoed. "Sweet dreams."

"Good night, Arty," Diana said. She closed her eyes again, allowing herself to get comfortable. Within a few minutes, Diana found herself drifting off into a deep sleep.