Warning: language?

Valkyrie woke again, and this time she was crying. The fabric she was pressed against jabbed into her like hot needle points; she screamed and writhed, arched her back to avoid it.

Then the pain of what had been lost came sweeping back. Valkyrie tried to sob, but ended up choking on her sorrow instead.

"Where is he?!" She didn't have any recollection of speaking, of grinding the words out against the jagged edges of her throat, yet she had.

Where was he? Valkyrie had seen him just that once, before Darquesse had snatched him away. He had been tortured earlier, she could tell. And she had been searching for hours and finally found him. But then Darquesse had come and taken him away and hid him somewhere Valkyrie could never find.

The walls of the maze may have been opaque, but they weren't sound proof. They did nothing to mask his screams.

Valkyrie had sprinted, her lungs protested and burned. Her hand ran along the wall, and she didn't even care that it cut, the tiny pieces of glass shredding her fingers to bits.

There were blood splatters in the room she came to, but they weren't hers.

They were because of her, actually.

Guilt.

How did a skeleton bleed?

Skeletons didn't bleed.

Humans bled.

Who?

And then the maze disappeared.

"Where is he?!" Valkyrie thrashed as arms crashed into her, pulled her, pinned her down. "Please, I have to know! Please!"

"Valkyrie," a woman's voice pleaded, "It's alright! It's okay! It's Tanith! You're okay!"

Darquesse, dragging him away. Blood on the walls.

"So much blood," Valkyrie sobbed, a gurgling sentence obscured by tears. "Why- how- she can't do that! I can't do that!"

There was just Tanith's voice now; it was the only solid thing. Slow and steady and soft. How ironic. "Val, there's no blood. Nobody's hurt. We're all here and we're all okay."

Tanith glanced at Skulduggery and thought that she might have been lying about that last bit.

"Okay, well, Skulduggery will be, once-"

"He's here?" Valkyrie asked, suddenly quiet.

It took Tanith a moment to answer. "Skul? Yeah, he's here."

Things went silent for a count of two heartbeats.

"I'm here, Valkyrie."

"Skulduggery." It was just a breath.

"World's best skeleton detective, that's me."

"World's only."

"That makes me all the better."

Valkyrie wriggled a hand out of Tanith's grip, reached out. A leather-encased hand was there to meet her own.

"Mm," said Valkyrie. She slid out of her friend's grasp and into her own spot again. The hand that currently resided with Skulduggery, however, remained where it was. There was the sensation of something being yanked out of head, through her skull. Valkyrie gasped in shock, her body stiffening. "Ow."

The car had been pulled over ages ago, its passengers focused entirely on their youngest member's state. Which had been getting better, before that small exclamation of 'ow'. Tanith attended her now, aiding in any way she could.

Ghastly glanced at Skulduggery, a worried expression on his face. "It's her isn't it? It's Revenant?"

The detective nodded sadly. "It has to be."

The tailor blinked, absorbing the information. "How can she do this, though? Attack a person's mind from such a distance? It shouldn't be possible."

"I don't know her capabilities. Ravel's told me nothing. Just what I gathered from a quick conversation with China and a peek at my own library."

"So basically nothing."

"That is correct."

"Ungh," Valkyrie groaned, put her head in to her lap, fists clenched. Tanith rubbed soothing circles into her back. The situation wasn't good, but it was better than… Skulduggery flinched at the thought- before.

"Shh," the woman said gently. She looked to the skeleton, eyes sad. "Skulduggery…."

He stood up, or as much as he could, stooping with the low ceiling of the Volkswagen. "Switch."

Tanith obliged him gratefully, albeit with difficulty. The pair stumbled with the lack of space, but eventually made it into their respective seats.

Skulduggery leaned so that his face was as low as Valkyrie's. He figured he probably looked ridiculous, his spine hunched over. He'd had to take his hat off. Somehow, it didn't matter. He put an arm around the curled up girl.

"Valkyrie?" he whispered, "Can you tell me what's wrong? What hurts?"

She didn't answer, gave a curt shake of the head.

His smooth voice became so much lower, taking on a velvet-like quality. "Can you talk?"

There was a silence on her end for a few seconds, before her voice made its way to him, small and hoarse and trembling. "No."

There was that hope, slim as it was. It was a faint trace of everything that Valkyrie should be, all wit and no manners. "Was that an attempt at humour? Because you should really leave that to me."

He couldn't be sure, but he thought he saw a trace of a smile. "Maybe."

"Does it hurt when you talk?"

"Mm."

"Don't talk, then," he took her other hand, let her fingers clasp around his. "Headache, is it?"

A nod.

"Like a knife just withdrew from your head?"

He heard her gasp. "How d-"

"Shyonai!" exclaimed Ghastly. Neither of them had even known he was listening.

Skulduggery didn't look up. "Ghastly," he said, "I'm going to need to talk to you about that."

"Certainly. Do we want Valkyrie to hear?"

"Valkyrie, do you want to hear us discuss the fact that you've been a victim of psychic warfare?"

She gave him the finger.

"I'm sorry, I really am. But it's Revenant, and, well…."

"That bitch," Valkyrie grumbled, "And I was having such a nice day."

"Oh, good, you can talk!" Tanith said, overly cheery.

Skulduggery looked at Ghastly. The tailor shrugged.

The other girl gave a weak chuckle, slowly raising her head. "Yeah, if you could maybe all be more like… er… something very quiet, that would be great. I just hallucinated my worst fears, and now I have a migraine. Shut up."

"It was the same thing last night, wasn't it?" Skulduggery said, ignoring her request.

"A bit more mild on the aftermath side of things, but yeah. Not so fun."

"I know it's not," he sounded stricken.

Valkyrie forced herself to laugh. "Yeah, you really don't."

"I do."

She jerked her head upright, causing waves of pain rippling down her neck. Her eyes sought his, expecting them to be untouched by the kind of horrors she had experienced. Instead, she found a storm.

"You too?" Valkyrie didn't know why her dreams hadn't included that scenario. To have Skulduggery go through that… she would give anything for Shyonai to leave him unscathed.

Maybe next time.

"Part of being a skeleton is that you always have a great poker face."

"But… only us?" Valkyrie skimmed her gaze over Tanith and Ghastly. "Have either of you…?"

"No, thank God," Tanith sighed.

Ghastly was less optimistic. "Not yet."

"So what does this mean? Targeting me and… Skulduggery, what's she trying to do?"

"True names," Skulduggery muttered.

"Huh?" Valkyrie scrunched her face in confusion.

"Think about it, Val," Tanith said, "Which of us have the potential to be the most powerful beings in the world? Because it's not me and Ghastly."

"But Darquesse only comes out when I'm dying or-"

"She comes out when you need her to, Val," Tanith said, "When just being you won't cut it. She'll escape when you're at your lowest point. When you're dying, sure, but also when your own mind can't handle something."

"When I'm scared."

Tanith gulped.

Valkyrie's eyes glistened. She hated being out in the open like this, with all her secrets laid out to read. She'd never talked about Darquesse, not even really with Skulduggery. "Shyonai wants me to be so afraid that my only choice is to let Darquesse out. That's her plan."

The dread was seeping in now.

"Valkyrie," Skulduggery began.

She cut him off, taking hitching breaths. "It'll work."

"It won't," Skulduggery insisted. "I won't let it!"

Valkyrie shook her head. "You don't know what I saw. Any more of that, yes, and it'll work."

"Valkyrie-" He was loud.

"It's not fair!" She was louder.

"Valkyrie-"

"I wish I'd never asked to be your-"

"Valkyrie!"

She was back in reality again, her anger fading. The car was empty, save for them; Ghastly and Tanith must have gone off. Skulduggery was holding her wrists, his grip tight.

"What?" she murmured and felt him slacken in relief.

He spoke slowly, pronouncing each syllable with caution. "I will not let you become Darquesse. I promise you that will never happen."

"You can't promise things like that."

"I can if they're true."

She smiled.

"Come on," Skulduggery said, tapped at the symbols on his collarbone. A gooey composition of skin and hair morphed into place. A face. Valkyrie wasn't quite sure what to make of this one. It was blond. That was kind of weird. "We have to bring Tanith and Ghastly back from whatever place they've managed to escape to."

Valkyrie was giggling. Skulduggery's façade scowled. "What is it?" he asked.

"It's just," she laughed. Sky blue eyes and a delicate complexion really didn't suit him. That mop of cherub style corkscrews didn't do the dark and brooding Skulduggery Pleasant any favours either. "Your façade! It's ridiculous!"

"It's only for when we're in the city!" He protested, "Why, what do I look like?"

"You're blond! You look like cupid!"

"Still not a ginger, then? Guess red hair is the rarest colour," he paused, "Well, I was getting sick of brown."

"Hey!" Valkyrie pouted, gestured to her own dark locks. "That was rude!"

"No, your hair is lovely. Don't worry. I'll never get sick of it."

"I would hope not, because I'm not dyeing it."

"Well, that's settled then. Valkyrie Cain is not dyeing her hair."

"Nope. I'm perfect as I am."

They shared a moment of mirth, miraculous, maybe, considering the situation earlier. Skulduggery was the one to break it, hand reaching the back of his partner's head, fingers threading her curls. He leaned in close.

"Valkyrie Cain, you are perfect."

Lips, soft pink lips, pressed to her forehead. She held her breath as Skulduggery drew near, heart racing her brain to see who could be dizziest.

Then he kissed her, and she forgot to keep score.

"Right then," he said, withdrawing, "best get Ghastly."

Valkyrie blinked the surprise away, and when she looked up, he was gone.

AN: So here's a lovely filler chapter that perfectly embodies the true definition of H/C. Turns out I can't write plot for shit, but can drag out a psychological scene like there's no tomorrow. Oh, and you'll never guess where I've been for the past five (?) days! Turns out Montreal is even more awesome than I thought. If you ever have a chance to visit, GO! That and Vancouver, of course.

To the people that have requested stuff. Hope this helps. To McAbbyGirl4Life: I'm working on it. Edits will be done soon. Merci beaucoup!