Root could hear the clapping and cheering from inside his office. What was going on? He placed his hands flat on his desk, ready to rise. Then the door burst open and Holly Short stumbled in.

She had a huge grin spread right across her face, and her cheeks were flushed. A piece of paper was clutched in her left hand. Holly suddenly seemed to remember that she had just dashed into her commanding officer's room without even knocking, and straightened up. She saluted, trying to look solemn and not coming anywhere close.

"This just arrived for me," she panted. "I thought you might want to see..." She walked the few paces to his desk, holding out the letter.

Root took it, quickly skimming to the important part. Then he stood. "Well done," he said, shaking her hand, "Captain Short."

If it was possible, Holly's grin expanded even further. "Thank you, sir!" She saluted once more. Root sat down again, and handed the letter back.

Holly rushed to the doorway, but then caught hold of the frame and swung herself around. "Uh... May... may I have permission to go and... inform Foaly?" she gabbled excitedly. Root nodded. She was gone in an instant, leaving the door wide open behind her.

It was only then that Root allowed himself a small smile. If anyone deserved a promotion, it was Holly.

"Foaly, Foaly!" called Holly, even though he couldn't hear her in the soundproof Ops booth. She pressed the entry button, and bounced up and down on the balls of her feet while she waited to be buzzed in.

The metal door slid open and Holly skipped inside. Seeing her ecstatic expression, Foaly greeted her with "hello, something interesting happened then?" instead of an eerily paranoid remark - such as the number of different bacteria she had encountered on her way over. He'd save that for next time.

"Yes!" Holly was nearly squealing. "Something very interesting!" And she thrust the sheet of paper at him.

It took Foaly all of five seconds to get to the relevant part. "Holly, that's wonderful!" He flung his arms around her in an impromptu hug, squeezing her tightly.

"Foaly, I can't breathe!" she gasped, and he released her, blushing.

"Sorry," he mumbled. Holly laughed.

"Will you be coming to the ceremony?" she enquired, clasping her hands in front of her.

"When is it?" Foaly began to inspect the letter still in his hand.

"A week from today, at midnight."

Foaly nodded. "As long as you promise nobody will try to hack my system while I'm gone." Holly giggled. "Not that they'd succeed..." He grinned at her.

Holly suddenly gasped. "I've got to go phone my Mum!" She snatched the piece of paper from her friend's hand and dashed away. "Bye, Foaly!" she called.

The hall was full, mostly with Recon agents. Holly, with her chatty yet sincere nature, had made herself a lot of friends in the short time she had been with Recon.

She wasn't the only fairy being awarded a captainancy. She was, however, the only female. The LEP was largely male dominated, which made this promotion that much more of an honour.

Root and Foaly stood together in the crowd at the back of the hall. There weren't enough seats for everyone.

"I wonder if anyone at the front is going to take any photos? I don't think my camera will zoom quite that much..." mused Foaly.

"Probably," replied Root. "They usually have an official photographer at events like these."

"Good, good. I'd hate not to have anything to remember the actual ceremony by." Foaly looked wistfully up at the stage where Holly stood, smiling her face off again.

"You really care about her, don't you?" asked Root suddenly.

"Doesn't everyone?" Foaly turned his head slightly to look at Root.

"I suppose they do..." he began, but then Foaly interrupted.

"Hey, you're about to miss Holly's big moment! Foaly immediately began fiddling with his digital camera, automatic zoom whirring away.

Up on the stage, a tall and imposing fairy was presenting Holly with her captain's badge. A large cheer went up, and Root himself applauded. There was a flash of light as Foaly took his photo.

"Darn, I think she blinked..." muttered the centaur.

Root looked over. "Look, I'm going to take off now." He coughed. "Got a lot of work to do... So, will you congratulate Holly again for me?"

Foaly nodded distractedly, eye stuck up against the camera's viewing-lens. Root turned around and began to push his way through the crowd, making his way towards the exit.

A few moments later, Foaly peered behind himself and then shook his head. "Why won't he just admit he cares?"