A/N: I have only a vague idea where this is going ... well, apart from that it's going to be Skul/Val, which will probably be pretty obvious quite early on. Not sure yet if the rating will go up or not ... depends how I will feel about it, I guess. (Posting a WIP is strange. I've never done that before. I'm hoping this will make sure I will actually keep writing, as I've been having writing doubts lately and felt rather blocked.)

Post-Death Bringer, includes spoilers for Death Bringer.

Disclaimer: I am not Derek Landy. Nothing you recognise is mine. I don't make any money from this and I don't own these wonderful characters. Not even Skulduggery. Which is a pity, because I'd love to own Skulduggery, and ... well, yes, as this isn't M-rated yet, I can't really say here what I'd like to do with Skulduggery.

Valkyrie cradled the phone in her hand. Two missed calls from Hansard. And now a text from him, asking her why she hadn't got back to him yet.

A party. Again. Valkyrie sighed. She was … well, not exactly tired of parties, but they were getting a little tedious. And she really didn't want to miss out on yet another evening of training with Skulduggery.

The reflection, who had been busy tidying the room, stopped and looked at her.

'I don't know why you just won't tell him you don't want to see him anymore,' it said.

'But I do want to see him.'

The reflection snorted. Valkyrie frowned. That was new, but then, the reflection was constantly doing new things these days.

'I do,' Valkyrie insisted. 'Hansard is…'

'He's nice. And pretty. And fun to be with,' the reflection finished for her. 'I know. I remember. And that thing he does with his tongue – that is nice.'

Valkyrie blushed. As often as she reminded herself that the reflection was her, it was still embarrassing to think that it knew all that stuff about her.

'See?' she said, trying to sound as nonchalant as she could. 'Of course I want to keep seeing him.'

The reflection shrugged. 'Suit yourself. You're very good at lying to yourself, by the way.'

Valkyrie looked at the phone again. The reflection wasn't making any sense. Was it? She should really ring Hansard and tell him that of course she was up for that party tonight. Parties were fun. Hansard was fun, especially away from his horrible father. Smoochies with Hansard were definitely fun, and she did like that thing he did with his tongue… So why was she so reluctant?

'Why do you think that I want to break up with Hansard?' she asked the reflection.

The reflection shrugged. 'I don't know why, I just know that you do. If you don't know the reason, how could I know it? I suppose it's because he's not Skulduggery.'

'That's just silly.' Valkyrie rolled her eyes at the reflection. 'He doesn't have to be.'

xXx

She took a deep breath and focused on the window above her. Maybe she shouldn't have had that third drink at the party. Or the fourth. Clearing the distance between the ground and the window of her room had become so easy that she hadn't considered what being a bit tipsy – okay, a bit more than a bit – would do to her command of the elements.

She pushed herself up, feeling for the spaces where everything connected, and managed to scramble onto the ledge. Not exactly graceful or completely silent (thank God that her parents were sound sleepers!), but it was better than failing and tumbling back down on the ground. At least the reflection had remembered not to close the window. It had done it once, and that was not an experience she cared to repeat.

As she undressed and climbed under the covers, her earlier conversation with the reflection came back to her. Not surprising, as it had been in the back of her mind all evening.

The party had been okay. And Hansard was a great kisser. And yet…

Valkyrie groaned. This was something she'd have to think about in the morning, with a clear head. Clearer head. Whatever. But she had a niggling feeling that she knew what decision she would come to.

She'd have to tell Hansard. As kindly and tactfully as she could – he was a nice boy, really, and she still remembered, far too well, the mess she'd made of it when breaking up with Fletcher. He'd be hurt, and confused, but she couldn't really help that. It simply wouldn't work out – it wasn't working, hadn't been for a few months now. There was something missing.

It wasn't that Hansard was not Skulduggery. Valkyrie snorted into the pillow. That was such a ridiculous idea. The reflection was out of her mind. Another weird malfunction, probably.

After all, she didn't want Skulduggery like that. Definitely not.

xXx

'I heard that you broke up with Hansard.'

There was a pebble on the ground. Valkyrie gave it a small push with the toe of her boot. The pebble rolled forward, teetered on the edge of the pier for a moment, and splashed into the sea.

'Yup.'

'Ah. Do you want to talk about it?'

Valkyrie raised her head. She'd been avoiding meeting his gaze all day, sneaking a glance at him instead every time she figured he was looking somewhere else.

'Not particularly.'

Skulduggery nodded. 'Fair enough.'

She pushed her hands deeper into her pockets. Skulduggery was looking at her, his head tilted at an angle she couldn't quite decipher.

There was something different about him. Not that she could tell what it was. He was still the same old Skulduggery – tall, thin, broad-shouldered, impeccably dressed (a dark blue three-piece suit this time; she had to admit that she liked the way waistcoats looked on him), hat at a jaunty angle, gloved hands, grin fixed firmly in place, voice as smooth and warm as velvet.

They stood quietly for a few moments. He was still looking at her, his skull glittering in the sunlight. The angle of the shadows made his cheekbones more prominent than usual.

He broke the silence first. 'Do you need a hug?'

She shrugged awkwardly, fighting a blush that was threatening to come up. 'Well, not need one, but… If you're offering.' This was ridiculous. Why was he even asking?

It felt so good, having his arms around her. It always had, but she'd never really understood how much comfort she drew from him – had never put it into words, anyway.

She moved in a little closer and buried her nose in the jacket covering his bony shoulder, inhaling deeply. He smelled of starch and gunpowder, with a hint of lavender, probably to keep moths away. The thought made her grin.

His hands were gentle on her back, his fingers slightly spread. Unbidden, a thought rose into her mind, an image of those fingers caressing her back without layers of protective fabric between them, and she pulled away hastily, her cheeks flushed.

'Are you okay?'

'Yeah. Just fine.'

He tilted his head. 'Well, if you're sure…'

'I'm sure. Didn't we have work to do?'

'Work? No, not that I know of.'

'Oh. Training then? I really feel like giving someone a good kicking…'

Skulduggery nodded. 'I know the feeling. Nothing like punching someone in the face, on days like this. Unfortunately, seeing as you'll be training with me, I shall be the one doing most of the punching, but I dare say it will be fun.'

Valkyrie snorted. 'Yeah. You know, one of these days I'm going to kick your bony arse.'

'You're more than welcome to try.'

She could hear the smile in his voice and laughed as he opened the Bentley's door for her. 'I will. Oh, believe me, I will.'

xXx

She tossed and turned in bed restlessly that night, in spite of her body being exhausted and still aching from the training. At least she'd got quite a few kicks and punches in as well this time, and she was pretty certain that Skulduggery hadn't gone easy on her. He didn't do that, not any more.

Skulduggery.

It was almost indecent to have so much fun when being kicked and punched and beaten by him, wasn't it? But she enjoyed it. She did.

Damn it.

At least she didn't enjoy it quite as much as Darquesse had enjoyed her fight with Lord Vile. Now that was a thought that made Valkyrie blush. At least she didn't actually get off on it.

God, that would be so embarrassing. Skulduggery would know. He always seemed to know everything.

… Oh God. Did that mean… Did he know Darquesse…? She tried to think back to that night; it had been nearly a year now, and some of what she'd done as Darquesse was a bit fuzzy in her mind, but she was almost sure that Skulduggery had been in control of Vile for a while before the fight was over.

She winced. Yep. He probably knew.

She twisted and turned around again, trying to find a cooler spot on the pillow and failing. Sleep would be so welcome now, before her thoughts ran away in some really odd direction that she wasn't anywhere close to ready to explore yet.

Damn that reflection! If it hadn't been for the reflection, and that carelessly – or deliberately? For someone that was supposed to be a copy of her, the reflection and its thoughts and actions were an impenetrable mystery to Valkyrie – dropped mention of Skulduggery and how she'd never be happy with anyone who wasn't him…

She'd never thought of him in that way before. Never. Not even back when she was fourteen and had a crush on him – yes, Davina Marr, as horrible as she was, had been right about that; not that she'd have given her the satisfaction of admitting to it – well, it hadn't been that sort of crush. No, that was the sort of crush she'd had on Fletcher. And Erskine Ravel, possibly. For a while anyway. He was terribly good-looking, after all, if ancient.

No, the crush she'd had on Skulduggery then was the sort of crush that fourteen-year-old girls have on their older mentor figures. The sort of crush that didn't involve imagining his long, graceful, flexible, skilled, experienced fingers on her—

She snarled and pulled her hand back from where it had been crawling, quite of its own volition. This was getting so ridiculous. She had to get some sleep. In the morning, she would think back at this and laugh at herself, for being so silly.

xXx

When she climbed into her room after another day well spent on training and lounging around in Skulduggery's house – he'd insisted on watching some horrible old black-and-white movie with her after teaching her some new moves that left her pleasantly achy all over again – the reflection raised its eyes from the maths homework it was doing.

'So, did you finally tell him?' it asked.

Valkyrie dropped her coat on the floor and concentrated on pulling off the tunic. 'Tell who what?'

'Skulduggery. That you want him.'

'What?'

The reflection sighed. 'We both know what you've been doing in bed every night for the last two weeks.'

Valkyrie shook her head. 'Look, I know that you're me, sort of, and I know that you know these things, but could you please not talk to me about this? Some things are meant to remain private! I'd like to pretend so, at least.'

The reflection shrugged. 'Whatever. I'd like to know what he's like in bed, though, so it would be nice if you didn't put it off much longer.'

'What?'

The reflection rolled its eyes and turned back to the homework.

'You're so gross.'

The reflection didn't look up from the notes. 'I'm only reflecting your curiosity, remember. Besides, remember those visions? You might be dead in a year. Why not spend that time with the one man you don't need to lie to all the time?'

'I don't even know if he likes me that way! I don't know if he likes anyone that way. If he can like anyone that way.'

'I'd think so. But you can always ask someone, can't you?'

'Like who? I'm not going to ask Ghastly!' Valkyrie shuddered. No way. She was still only starting to come to terms with accepting that yes, maybe, just maybe she was a tiny – a very tiny – bit attracted to Skulduggery, or at the very least curious about that possibility, but she was not ready to talk to his friends about it. Least of all Ghastly, who would be certain to disapprove. Probably.

'What about China?'

'China?'

'Yes, China. She'd know.'

Valkyrie considered this. She'd seen China only a few times since the day her secret was revealed and the library destroyed. She missed her at times, but… It was hard for her to get over the fact that China, whom she'd started to consider a friend, had been so instrumental in getting Skulduggery's family murdered. Even though it wasn't really all that much different, or worse, than the things Skulduggery himself had done, and she'd made up with him easily enough.

They were still on speaking terms, though, and she'd visited China a couple of times in her countryside hideaway where she spent most of her time. China had hidden it well, but she could tell both times how eager – how hungry – she had been for company.

Perhaps it was time to pay China another visit. She'd enjoyed girl talk with her. And with Tanith still gone…

xXx

'Valkyrie! What a lovely surprise. Do come in.'

China looked as gorgeous as always, although there was a certain tiredness about her. Even her clothes, finely tailored as they were, looked a little rumpled. And from the slight mess about the living room – even China's messes managed to look alluring, somehow – Valkyrie guessed that she hadn't expected visitors. Or that she didn't get too many these days.

She felt a little guilty. China had been a friend to her. And in spite of everything, once she had chosen her name, China had always proved herself trustworthy. She'd never let her down, anyway, no matter what she'd done in her past.

And she really wasn't in the position to judge China. Not with her own secrets, and not with knowing enough of Skulduggery's past, now.

Valkyrie realised the irony. Here she was, still finding it hard to forgive China for what she'd done centuries ago, and yet she was eager to talk to her about Skulduggery's love life, of all things. Something she wouldn't even be in a position to consider, were Skulduggery's family still alive. In fact – if something did eventually happen between her and Skulduggery… in an odd, and extremely creepy way, would she owe China?

'Tea?'

'Oh. Yes, thanks.'

China poured tea into two delicate cups and handed one to Valkyrie.

'It's lovely to see you again, dear.' She smiled, and Valkyrie swallowed, suddenly feeling clumsy and average and not at all beautiful, before she managed to shake it off. 'Now, as much as I'd like to believe that you're here because you've missed my company, I'm quite sure you had a better reason than that for coming all this way.'

'Uh.' Valkyrie took a careful sip of the tea, determined that it needed more sugar and busied herself with that for a moment. 'Well. I have missed you, actually, so I suppose it's sort of a… what do you call it, a social call?'

China raised a beautifully sculpted eyebrow. 'I see.'

Valkyrie took another sip. Better.

'Well… Actually, there was something I was wondering about. And I didn't know who else to turn to.'

'I'm afraid I've been quite out of the loop lately.' China took a sip from her own cup. 'So if it's current affairs that interest you, I'm afraid you and… You will need to ask someone else.'

Valkyrie hesitated. Suddenly, this whole idea didn't seem so good. Still, she'd come all the way out here, and she had a few hours until the next bus back home.

'It's not really current affairs. It's, um, personal stuff.'

China raised an eyebrow. 'Girl talk?'

'Sort of, yes.'

'Do tell.'

Valkyrie squirmed in her seat. 'There's not all that much to tell at the moment. There was someone, but I broke it off with him a few weeks ago.'

China nodded. 'Hansard Kray. Oh, don't look so surprised – I do still hear some things!'

Valkyrie gave her a half-smile. 'Yeah. Anyway, it sort of occurred to me, that maybe I'm just wasting my time with all those boys…'

'…and you'd rather turn to girls?' China tilted her head, her smile playful.

Valkyrie gulped and squeezed her eyes shut. She did not – not! – need to get her already confusing feelings even more confusing. Which meant no looking at China, not when she was turning the charm on even more so than usual.

'Uh, no.'

'Pity.'

Valkyrie risked opening her eyes again and saw, to her relief, that China had reverted to her normal, if still far too alluring self.

'Anyway, if it's not boys you're interested in…'

'There is someone.' Valkyrie twisted the cup in her hands. 'The problem is that I don't know if he's interested. If he's interested in this sort of thing at all, that is. In, um, women. And relationships. I mean, I know – I think anyway – that if he was, he would be interested in women, but…'

China sighed. 'Skulduggery.'

Valkyrie looked up. 'How did you know?'

'I've been waiting for that to happen.' China smiled, a little sadly. 'To answer your question, yes. Go for it. It's not going to be easy to convince him, but he's worth the effort. Take it from someone who knows.'

'You— You and Skulduggery…?'

'Oh yes.'

'Oh.'

The playful smile was back, although a bit more like a smirk this time. 'I've had my choice of lovers through the centuries – with my gift, I've always been able to get anyone I wanted, and there was a time I was greedy – and I can honestly say that Skulduggery Pleasant was one of the very best. There is something to be said for a man who is far more interested in giving than in receiving, you know.'

Valkyrie's cheeks were burning, but if they were already discussing this… 'Uh, but… I mean, he's, you know…'

'A skeleton?' China laughed. 'Yes, he is. But he's also a man, and he has hands, and there are toys – oh, don't blush, Valkyrie, you're more than old enough for this! In any case, we had a passionate affair, on and off, over a period of time in the nineteenth century – that was when I'd already given up on the Faceless Ones, of course, but he still had a war to fight, so we had to make do with snatching the moments we had.'

'But… he told me, before I first met you, to never trust you.'

China's smile faded. 'He had his reasons. And he was right, of course.'

'I just… Since I've known you, you seemed to get on well again, though. I mean, until…'

'Until last year, yes.' China stood up. 'More tea? I could certainly use another cup.'

Valkyrie followed her to the large, airy, tastefully furnished kitchen. 'Thanks.'

China put the kettle on. 'We did get on well again for a few years. Very well, in fact.'

There was something in the way she said that… 'Oh.'

'Yes.'

'I never knew.'

'You weren't supposed to know. He's a gentleman, you know. We were discreet.'

Valkyrie hesitated. 'Did you… Do you love him?'

'Now that is a complicated question.'

Valkyrie shrugged. 'I know. You don't need to answer, if you don't want to.'

'But you'd like to know.'

'Well, yes.'

China poured out the tea. 'Here you go. As I said, it's a complicated question, and I'm not used to giving honest answers to complicated questions, so allow me a moment to gather my thoughts.'