My first submitted Fanfiction. I've written lots before, but this will be the first one i've submitted.

Also,

This will be a really quick one. I was bored and this is more or less practice for my bigger fan-fictions that are currently in progress. This is a cutesy one so don't go thinking it's going to be hard-core, full on romance or anything. Skulduggery is dead. There's not much I can do other then cutesy romance stuff.

Anyway, enjoy!

Valkyrie Cain sat in the Bentley silently. The traffic was heavy and they had gotten caught in it. The seats of the car were nice and warm, which Valkyrie appreciated immensely. Skulduggery's car was always nice and warm whenever she got in.

Skulduggery Pleasant was sitting right there in the driver's seat, the scarf covering the bottom half of his skull, his dark sunglasses doing the rest. He could have used the façade China gave him, but he thought he would skip using it in public until he made sure it was working. Last time he had used it the skin had begun to sag a bit too much. It made him look 80 instead of 30 like he was supposed to. It had made Valkyrie laugh. But that look of him sitting in the driver's seat was comforting and it made her smile. It was just like old times, but more stuck in traffic.

The young elemental's gaze was fixed on a small bug-like car across from the Bentley. The painter must have been color blind because the shade of yellow-y-pea-green was so blindingly hideous it made Valkyrie's eyes burn.

Skulduggery tapped the steering wheel with his fingers impatiently. The silence was beginning to annoy him. He looks over at Valkyrie through his dark glasses and stares for a moment before speaking. "So… What are you staring at?"

Valkyrie looks back over at the skeleton. "That ugly car. It's just so…. Ugly." She motioned to the ugly pea-green-yellow car with her hand.

"Oh my…. That is ugly." Skulduggery says, his voice barely masking that hint of disgust. "I wonder what they were thinking when they bought it."

"My thoughts exactly."

"Well great minds do think alike… or at least people with a sense of style." He looks back at the road as the cars ahead slowly begin to move forward. The Bentley inches forward also, Skulduggery making sure he wasn't too close to the car ahead of him.

She shrugs a little and stares at him for a while. Feeling the eyes on him, Skulduggery turns and stares back. He spoke softly. "Is something wrong, Valkyrie? You're not smiling at my joke. Meaning something must be wrong."

"Your detective skills exceed my expectations. But, no nothing is wrong. I'm just tired or something…" Her voice was a little bitter. Valkyrie really had lost a lot of sleep that night. The nightmares of Darquesse had kept her up for most of the night. That and the necromancer prophecy…

"Or something? At least make up your mind as to why you're mad at me." He says in a slightly mocking tone.

"I'm not mad at you! I'm just… irritable today. I was up all night." Her tone was bitter.

"Up all night? That hasn't bothered you before. What's different about this time?" The skeleton was interested now.

"N… Nothing! Nothing is different!"

"My superior detective-ing skills are telling me that you're lying. Does it have something to do with Darquesse?" His tone was normal again, as well as soft. He knew this subject was delicate. The car was edging forward once again, coming closer to the intersection where they could escape from the jam.

Valkyrie fell silent and she looks down at her lap. "…Yeah." She couldn't lie to Skulduggery. It made her uneasy. Besides, he could always tell when she was lying anyway.

Skulduggery nods slowly and looks back through the windshield. "Ah." The Bentley was coming closer and closer to the intersection and Skulduggery was becoming irritated that they had been stuck this long.

A quick nod back and Valkyrie looks back out the window. The ugly car was still sitting there; its driver had long shaggy hair and a short, square cropped beard. He looked like a hippie.

After a few moments of silence, the Bentley is finally free from traffic. A sharp right turn and the detective and his partner were speeding down the street. That is until Skulduggery pulls over into an empty parking lot. The car stops and the detective turns all the way around to face Valkyrie.

"Valkyrie… The future is never set. We can change it. I know you're worried and you have every reason to be. But I'll be right here every step of the way to make sure we change that future. Darquesse will be stopped. We've stopped her before, and we'll do it again. Alright?"

She turns to face him too. Tears had begun to gather in her eyes, which startled her. She never cried - never in front of Skulduggery. She had always been afraid that he would see it as weakness. Now he would laugh at her or tell her she's weak or… or… A tear streams down her cheek.

Skulduggery was taken a-back. Valkyrie Cain was crying. It baffled him and he didn't really know what to do. Handling emotional people was absolutely no problem for Skulduggery, but this was Valkyrie, She never cried. He didn't know whether to give her space or comfort her. He remembered when they first met, that twelve year old girl sitting in the passenger seat, smiling at him and asking so many questions. Now she was sixteen. She had grown so fast Skulduggery hadn't even noticed. Her dark hair was longer and she had begun to wear make-up, which was now running with her tear, making it look black. He hesitates for only a moment, then reaches across and wipes the tear off her cheek with his white gloved thumb, his hand resting on her cheek. "Alright?"

She hicks once and nods, speaking a little hoarsely. "A-alright." She raises a hand to put it over Skulduggery's, holding it there so he wouldn't pull it away. "…Every step, Skulduggery."

Skulduggery leans over and puts his forehead against hers. "Every. Single. Step. I promise you Valkyrie Cain."