Ticking

'Happy Christmas, Skulduggery,' Valkyrie Cain said, sitting beside the detective skeleton. 'I didn't think we'd get a chance to celebrate this year,' she continued.

'Nope,' Skulduggery agreed. 'Dynamiteo has been very inconsiderate, trying to kill us.'

'He's a villain, it's what he does,' pointed out Valkyrie. Skulduggery shrugged.

'I just think it's plain rude how people always try to kill us. Very inconsiderate.'

'Hmm,' Valkyrie shrugged. 'Anyway, here's your present. You're lucky you're getting this. Bumped into someone on my way here and dropped it.'

'Did it break?' Skulduggery asked, accepting the gift and shaking it.

'It can't break, Skulduggery.'

'Oh. That's good then. A broken present would have been a bit of a let down.' Valkyrie raised her eyebrows at this.

'I don't have to get you anything,' she pointed out.

''Course you do.' He examined the box, lifting it up to his ear. 'Is it meant to tick?' he asked.

'Tick?'

'It's ticking.'

'It is?'

'Here.' He held out the present to Valkyrie, who accepted it back and held it up to her ear. A frown crossed her face. The box was indeed ticking.

Funny, since when has a scarf ticked?

'Maybe I picked up the wrong thing?' she mused. 'The guy I crashed into had a package the same size.'

She pulled the ribbon off the present, ready to peek inside and check its content when Skulduggery realized something.

'Valkyrie, don't open the box!' he cried. Valkyrie looked up, surprised, before her gaze was drawn back down at the sound of the ticking quickening. Her eyes grew wide in realization and she jumped to her feet, box still in hands.

'What are you doing?' Skulduggery demanded, but Valkyrie ignored him and hurried from the house, box in hands. Skulduggery followed her, realizing her intention. 'Valkyrie, give it here…' he started. He was a little behind the girl and she either did not hear him, or ignored him. She chucked the package away from them and everything else it could damage severely, but not quite in time. It exploded before it hit the ground, not far from Valkyrie. She dived to the ground from the explosion, but from where Skulduggery had frozen, he saw that she had been caught in the blast.

'Valkyrie!' he shouted.

He ran towards her, glad to see she wasn't as badly injured as he had expected. Her right arm was slightly burnt and her hair singed. Blood poured out from a cut in her forehead, but she appeared otherwise unharmed.

She groaned and pulled herself up.

'Well,' Skulduggery said, helping her up. 'That was close.' Valkyrie glared at him before unconsciousness claimed her and she collapsed into his awaiting arms.

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A/N: Not my best, but ah well. This is the Christmas before the last one.

I am so going to have to introduce Dynamiteo. He will be pure awesomeness (hopefully) lol.

Thanks for the reviews so far.

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