Hello all! I am sorry if i spell things wrong in this, or say weird stuff and...stuff. yeah. I do not own most of the characters, but some of them i do. you'll probably figure out which ones. Please reveiw!

Valkyrie's laughter died when she saw the figure standing in the room. Valkyrie didn't like it when people randomly turned up, especially in Skullduggery's home. Skullduggery walked in after Valkyrie. There was a long pause, a pause that Valkyrie knew this was between two people who had history.

"Valkyrie, go read in one of the studies will you." Skullduggery said. Valkyrie looked at him, then turned and glared at the figure. Tall, like Tanith kind of tall. Long dark green trench coat, long brown hair, dark blue eyes, a scar along the right jawbone, cool comfy looking boots, a choker necklace that was brown leather. And cold. Cold glare, cold way they stood simply there, not moving except the ever so slight movement of the chest as they breathed.

"Who is she?" Valkyrie asked.

"None of your business, that's who." The girl said. Her voice was cold as well. She was possibly the same age as Valkyrie, but that stare just made Valkyrie want to shrink away. She hadn't felt this kind of shivering fear in a while.

"Don't be rude. This is my partner." Skullduggery said, still not moving, "Who is going to go read in the study. Valkyrie, go."

"Who is she?" Valkyrie asked again.

"I already told you. This has nothing to do with you. I came here to catch Skull alone. I didn't realize he'd tag the annoying brat with him. Now do what dear Skull tells you and go away." That voice. She hadn't even looked away. Valkyrie wanted to hit her, but had a feeling this girl would see it coming. So Valkyrie reluctantly did as she was told and went to the room over. She closed the door behind her, but immediately put her ear to the door.

"Nice try brat. I can see your feet shadow." Valkyrie huffed in annoyance, then went to the room furthest from where Skullduggery and new girl was. If she couldn't hear what they were saying, then she wanted to be as far from them as possible.

"Sophia." Skullduggery said, in the voice that was so familiar. "Why are you here? I couldn't find you." He said, stepping closer. She looked at him, the gaze freezing him in his tracks. She had a way of doing that to people, like a snake hypnotizing you to do her will.

"You wouldn't have wanted to find me, Skull. I was a wreck. I was filled with probably more hatred then you. But I'm not here about that."

"Then why are you here? I'm dying to ask where you've been." The joke sunk in immediately, and she struggled not to smile. "We missed you."

"Well I sure to hell missed all you." There it was. It was coming back. Her old self. That old, always laughing, never upset self. Maybe seeing Skullduggery had brought it back. Maybe her old personality had hidden within his bones, and with her around, were returning to her. "I'm here to warn you. I know you know about Darquesse."

"Too much unfortunately." Skullduggery said, leaning against one of the chairs. Sophia raised an eyebrow.

"It's the girl isn't it?" Skullduggery tilted his head.

"I hate it when you do that."

"Do what? Know you too well? I was very good at avoiding your trouble for a reason Skull."

"You were mostly the reason I lived through a lot of that trouble." He admitted.

"Back to the point. Vince is planning something." Sophia's cold self was back, and Skullduggery just wanted to hit something. Where the devil had she been?! Being his partner for so many years, then as soon as she does something accidently wrong, runs off, then turning up again to warn him.

"I thought you were dead." Skullduggery stated.

"Everyone did. That was the point."

'Why?"

"You know bloody well why, Skull."

"It wasn't your fault what happened."

"Yeah nice one Skull. It's not that easy." Skullduggery sighed, besides the lack of breath his skeleton body possessed.

"So Vince is up to something?" Skullduggery asked, deciding to leave the other conversation in the past.

"Yup. Word is he's attempting to destroy all the prisons walls in the world. How long did it take you to put most of those people in their cells, Skull? A couple of years each? How about if all of them were out?"

"Why are you warning me of this? Of all the things you could have warned me about, it's this."

"Because Maurice is going to be let out with them." Skullduggery stared at her, then flipped out his phone.

"Skullduggery, is anything wrong?" Ghastly asked from the other end.

"My house. Now." End of phone call. Skullduggery sat down on one of the chairs. "But Sophia, seriously. Where…have…you…been?"

"Around. After what happened, I just ran off. You got a new partner hey?" Skullduggery knew that it hurt her. Knew that it hurt to see someone else working with him and not her. Besides, she had been the best of all his partners. Valkyrie must never know that, Skullduggery decided. Must never know how brilliant Sophia had been.

"Valkyrie." Skullduggery said, putting his hat on the arm of the chair. "Probably the most brilliant student I've ever had."

"Don't try and lie Skull. I know I was the best." Sophia said, a sneer on her lips.

"Well let's say she's better at Necromancy than you."

"You hate Necromancy." Sophia said with a laugh. "Even the partner before her, he didn't have much knack for much as getting in the way. Valkyrie at least seems useful. Although I still don't like her." Sophia said, flicking her head towards the door Valkyrie had disappeared behind.

"This unsettles me." Skullduggery said simply. "You were always a good judge of character."

"she's selfish. I heard about the Fletcher boy. And that Vampire. Now she's after a bad man's son. What next, Skull? Making off with a werewolf. And she focuses her energy on two forms of elemental. Just two. She's split her life in two. Getting jealous about how much her reflection is spending time with her little sister, when she's just not around because she's the one with two lives. Not being there when her Mother got beat up, not being there for a lot of things." Skullduggery knew there was another meaning behind that whole speech. He waited for it to click.
Click.

"People can find all this, can't they?" Skullduggery said.

"Skull, if I can find all that about her in a matter of a day, her enemies will know her whole life story. Including that she is Ancient blood. Oh yes Skull, I know about that too." Skullduggery stared at Sophia. There was a moment before she smiled.

"You know that Ghastly isn't going to let you walk away after he gets here." Skullduggery said to her.

"I don't need to be told that. I know."

"He might just cry."

"He might just."