I'm baaaaaaaack. Regular updates on Fridays and Sundays hopefully :)

Valkyrie Cain was having a great day.

That's a lie.

It was complete shit.

Sure, she had an early finish to school. Sure, she and her friends were going to go get lunch at one of the fancy cafes in the city and sure, she didn't have to walk much since one of her friends was a teleporter but it was the second they got to the cafe that everything went to absolute shit.

Valkyrie let go of Fletcher Renn's arm, looking out of the alley way to make sure no one was there before stepping into the footpath, "All clear."

"Great, I'm starving," Dinah Loom said with a grin, running a hand through her frizzy hair to make sure it hadn't been upset.

"Me too," Livia Thorne agreed, stuffing her school tie into her bag, "They brought out a new type of burger on the lunch menu- Apparently, it's to die for."

Valkyrie just rolled her eyes and fell into step with Lucas Deal, a purple haired boy that seemed to grow taller every day and was pretty much towering over her. The two led the group towards the cafe at the corner of the street, Valkyrie turning to laugh at Livia and Fletcher who had resumed their earlier argument on the necessity of studying History when-

"Oh my god!" Valkyrie turned to at Dinah's squeal. "What is it?" She asked with a wince at the high pitch.

"Tell me that's not Saracen Rue, Dexter Vex and Satya Eka?!"

Valkyrie blinked before she reacted, lunging forward towards the cafe window and peering in. Sure enough, the three Dead Men were sitting on the far side of the cafe, having lunch.

"For the love of-" She grumbled before cutting herself off, "What's so special about them?"

Livia hid her grin at Valkyrie's blatant attempt at trying to feign ignorance while Fletcher just rolled his eyes, "Come on,Val- I'm hungry," He said with a cheeky smirk before pushing open the cafe door.

Valkyrie grumbled, muttering obscenities as Lucas pointed at a table that was about two metres away from the three 'celebrities'. She simply ignored his choice and walked past towards the three and plonked herself down in the spare next to Dexter, helping herself to some of their fries.

"Valkyrie!" Dinah hissed, aghast at her friend's disrespect towards her idols.

"It's fine," Fletcher told her with a grin and he and Livia took chairs and sat at the table.

"Hey," Saracen greeted them with a grin, "Fancy seeing you here."

"You could have warned me," Valkyrie glared at him, taking the milkshake he offered.

"What fun would that be?"

Satya smiled at Lucas and Dinah who were looking quite shocked, "Hello, I'm Satya," She said pleasantly, "Won't you sit?"

"I-" Lucas' eyes were wide, his eyebrows almost hiding behind his purple fringe, "Um-"

"Help yourself," Dexter told the two that were sitting, "We ordered in advance thanks to Saracen." "And the burgers are coming out in about ten minutes," Saracen added.

Dinah and Lucas hastily pulled up seats and sat down, awkwardly squashed between Livia and Fletcher - who was struggling not to laugh, earning an elbow to the ribs from Valkyrie. He wrinkled his nose at her.

"So, how's it going, Livia?" Satya asked, dipping her fries in her milkshake before throwing them in her mouth.

"Same old," Livia replied, "How's the search going?" She asked curiously, referring to the object of the Dead Men's efforts for the past half-year. She wasn't as familiar with the Dead Men as Fletcher was but still knew them well enough to pry.

"Following up a lead later today," Satya replied, "Kind of why we're here- Val?"

Valkyrie nodded, "Sure, I'm in." She had noticed the woman had stiffened slightly at the question. Clearly, she wasn't being completely truthful.

"Great," Saracen said with a nod, "Then we can go handle that case up north," He said, gesturing to Dexter.

"Anything interesting?" Fletcher asked, leaning back in his seat. His tie was loose and he had an air of casual, messy grace to him, his hair spiked up in the artfully messy way that she had seen Saracen and Erskine try when they were trying to find company. Valkyrie found it slightly annoying that the slightly irritating older boy had managed to pull off the look.

Livia had rested her arm on his shoulder, holding the milkshake the Satya had slid her way.

"Typical murder," Dexter answered with a wry grin, "Business as usual."

Valkyrie quickly looked at Lucas and Dinah, gauging their reactions to the whole conversation. Lucas looked like he was trying to figure out whether he was dreaming or not while Dinah looked like she was deciding on whether to ask for an autograph or run away screaming.

"So," Satya nudged Valkyrie before getting up, "Let's go."

Valkyrie blinked, "Now?"

"Your takeaway is coming," Satya rolled her eyes, "Come on." True to her word, one of the waitresses brought a cardboard container.

"Ta," Valkyrie thanked her before turning to her friends, "Have fun."

"Oh, we will," Dinah spoke for the first time, and as Valkyrie turned, she saw a smile creep up onto the other girl's lips.