Chapter Two

Dexter led the way through the Sanctuary, pausing only to tie his shoelace. As they burst out into the cool air, four people in ski-masks were being led in by one of the less accomplished of the Sanctuaries detectives and three Cleavers.

"Hey, Clover." Valkyrie said in greeting when they walked past. She disapproved of his name; it was just so stereotypical that it hurt. He nodded at her but didn't smile. He never really smiled.

The turned the corner and walked about ten meters before opening the door to 'The Dark and Stormy Knight', Vaurien Scapegrace's pub, and stepping inside.

It wasn't a very good pub. It was a place where the lowest of the low went to get cheap drink and some eye-candy.

The eye-candy almost squealed when he saw Valkyrie. He came running up to her and gave her a weird, excited hug.

"Valkyrie, it is just so great to see you." He said, his woman voice and woman body making it hard for her to remember it was actually Scapegrace.

"Yeah, you too. You serve food here, right?" She said, stepping away from his arms.

Thrasher poked his big, handsome head out from behind the bar. "We sure do. I make the finest mac n'…"

"Shut up, Thrasher." Scapegrace frowned, and then turned back to Valkyrie and Dexter. "What do you want to drink?"

They ordered their drinks then went to sit in the corner of the pub, where they could see the whole pub. Thrasher came back with two glasses and two menus.

"Today's specials are… actually, we don't have any specials. What can I get you?"

"Um… I'll have the steak." Dexter said, squinting at the menu.

"Yeah, so will I actually." Valkyrie wasn't very impressed with the food they served but Thrasher knew how to cook a stake.

He went away again and Dexter rolled his eyes. "Honestly. They practically worship you. So… how was your day?"

"Yeah, it was good. We ended up getting chased by this big monster thing but I kicked it in the head a few times and everyone was okay. We weren't sure what to do with it so we tied it to the tree for China to deal with."

"Cool. Sounds fun." Dexter always gets a wistful look when she talked about fighting things. Because of his injuries fighting Darquesse, he walked with a limp and wasn't allowed to do anything that might bring it back on again. China was very firm when she told him that he wasn't to go out punching things.

"Hey." Valkyrie reached over and touched his hand. "You're not missing much. Honest. So… have you got anything planned over Christmas?"

"Yeah, I'm working." He replied bitterly.

"Good. My parents want to meet you. They said you're welcome to come for Christmas, but you'll have to deal with Beryl and Fergus, so I'll understand if you don't want to."

"No, it sounds good." He said, but not before hesitating.

"You hesitated."

"What, no I didn't."

"Yeah, you did. You don't have to, it was just an idea."

Thrasher came then with the food. "Here you go. Oh… damn, I forgot cutlery." He rushed away again.

"No, I will. It's either with you or alone, and I much prefer the idea of being with you."

"And my scary family. Okay, I'll tell them you said yes. By the way, there is no getting out of it now."

Thrasher came back with knives and forks and they started eating.

"God, I'm hungry. I haven't eaten all day." Dexter said, practically inhaling the meat.

Valkyrie laughed and he blushed. "Sorry."

She tucked in and after about ten minutes, Scapegrace came bustling over. "Is everything alright over here?" He asked. The both look up and nod and he smiled, but didn't go away.

"So, Valkyrie, have you done anything exciting recently? Any new cases you might need help with?"

"Yeah, actually, I'm trying to solve the case of the waiter who won't get lost." She muttered and Scapegrace's whole face dropped.

"Oh! Sorry. I was just offering help." He ran away and three wolf-whistles from other customers.

"That was harsh… and not very funny." Dexter raised an eyebrow. Normally, Valkyrie was much funnier when she was bullying people into doing things.

"Yeah, sorry. Just remembering that time he threw me off that tower."

"God, remind me not to ever piss you off, you'll never let it go."

After they had finished and Scapegrace had insisted that their meal was on the house, they made their way to Dexter's mini apartment. It really was tiny. All he ever did here was sleep though, so it didn't need anything else.

"Welcome to Castle de la Dexter." He said, pushing open the door.

"I can tell you are fluent in French." Valkyrie grinned, following him through to the living room.

"Yup, how did you guess?" He sank down on the sofa and Valkyrie sat next to him.

"Oh, I don't know." She said, flicking her hair out of her eyes. "It must've been the accent."

This made Dexter grin. He was about to say something else, but Valkyrie was too quick and had already closed his mouth with hers.

At that moment, Valkyrie felt completely happy. Dexter adjusted himself on the sofa and pulled her onto his lap. She sighed and pushed her hands into his hair. After his 'accident', he had let it grow out. It was now floppy and got in his eyes, but Valkyrie liked it like that.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close. He had never felt something quite like what he felt for her. Kissing her was like seeing the sun after years of darkness. It just felt so good, almost like relief.

"Dexter?" She said after a few minutes.

"Shh…" He groaned, kissing her again.

She pulled away again. "No, seriously. Can I ask you something?"

He muttered something but looked at her. "It depends. Is it going to dampen the mood?"

"Probably."

"Oh, well, no you may not."

She ignored him. "It just that… doesn't it bother you that I used to be the most powerful, evil supervillain that there has ever been?"

"Um… no, not really."

"Like, it is technically my fault you're not allowed to go out on cases anymore."

He thought about that. "Look, if I wanted to go out punching people, I could. I don't have to work for the Sanctuary. I chose to, okay."

"Yeah… but I still ruined your leg."

"No, you didn't, Darquesse did."

"But it was technically me."

"No it wasn't."

"Yeah, it was."

"Valkyrie, I am telling you that I don't care, okay. I really, honestly don't. Can you drop it? I was enjoying myself."

"Right, sorry. I just had to know."

"Do you want some tea?"

"Well… not really. And I bet you've run out of tea bags."

"That's true, I have. How did you know?"

"You never go the shop." Valkyrie grinned, kissing his chin. She liked his chin; it was like what she imagined Batman's chin would look like.

"Oh, you know me so well." He kissed her again and he felt her relax. "Okay?"

"Okay." She moved her hands down to the hem of his t-shirt and pulled it up over his head. He was wearing a vest underneath. "Seriously?" She laughed.

"It's starting to get colder. You have to be prepared." He grinned and she pulled the vest off too.

"Mmm…" She sighed as she ran her hands across his back. His skin was smooth, except for the occasional scar.

And just as Dexter was about to take her top off too, the doorbell rang.

Valkyrie went to answer it while Dexter put his top back on. Outside, Fletcher Renn stood, blood pouring from a wound in his shoulder.