From The Ashes We Rise: Chapter 9...

Hey guys. I'm not sure how the format of this chapter will go, new laptop, new program so it might screw up. Hopefully it'll be okay though! Anyways I've missed this very muchly! :') Trying to bring back a bit of the old Val/Skul humour over the next few chapters, make it a bit lighter now everybody's safe :) Also I'm trying to add more description, thanks for the R&R, it's much appreciated! Boiz, I'm back in my groove :P

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Skulduggery's first reaction when he saw Alice was to hug her, which he did. His second reaction was ground her, which he also did.

"Alice, you are grounded, until you die."

"It's not like I got kidnapped on purpose Skulduggery."

"While that may be true, you were still outside when you were meant to be in the attic. Had you not been outside, you wouldn't have been..." Skulduggery stopped, his head tilting to the left a little. "Alice, who is that?"

"Skulduggery, this is Art. Art, meet Skul, my brother-in-law. Art saved my life."

"While I thank you for saving my wife's sister, Art, I also feel the need to point out that she wasn't meant to be outside in the first place. In fact, like I said earlier, if you hadn't been outside, we wouldn't be here now, out in the open, with vampires and Underlings and God only knows what else wandering around out here. I'd be at home, with Valkyrie, probably trying on a particularly dashing new suit, or polishing my gun."

"Skulduggery, that was possibly the worst 'thank you' I've ever heard anyone give. You're a rude man."

"I'm not inclined to care at the moment, I'm busy daydreaming about the new suit I'll never wear."

"Where's your hat?" Alice asked suddenly, grasping for something, anything, to change the subject. Art watched the exchange in silence, not quite sure what to make of it. They were an odd pair, extremely odd, and he couldn't understand how the skeleton knew where to look when it had no eyes.

"Gone. The demons ate it. I loved that hat, it was the one Valkyrie took hostage the day she attached herself to me, now those fond, annoying memories of her twelve-year-old hero worship are gone. Also it matched my favourite tie," Skulduggery said forlornly, then drew his gun. "Continue to stare at me, random boy, and I'll be forced to shoot you." Art blinked and backed away from the barrel aimed at his forehead, blushing; he hadn't realised he'd been staring. Skulduggery hid his amusement well, but Alice saw it in the set of his shoulders, and she scowled at his rotten joke.

Art didn't see it as a joke, he saw at as the barrel of a loaded gun pointing at his face. He looked away quickly, out to Haggard pier, where the sea crashed against the splintered wood, the colour of cobalt, and angry as a cornered lion. Spray exploded upwards like a watery volcano, pattering down on the ruined buildings and twisted corpses of old cars rusting away in the streets. The tide barriers had collapsed during the Reckoning, leaving the sea to claim the entirity of Haggard beach and crash upwards onto the streets and roads behind.

"You're in a bad mood today," Alice was saying with a sigh when Art decided it was safe to listen to the conversation again.

"I'd be in a much better mood if I wasn't chasing you all over Haggard. It doesn't help that I finally manage to get Valkyrie back after fifteen years, and she ends up shouting at me because you don't do as asked." His tone was laced with a subtle annoyance. To anyone who didn't know him, Skulduggery's tone would seem light and amicable, but Alice knew she was in trouble. Big trouble. In fact, if he ever let her pick up a Katana again, it'd be a miracle. She decided to change tactics, brushing a subject she knew would be equally as touchy with Skulduggery in such a black mood.

"Skuuuul..."

"Whatever you are about to ask, the answer is no."

"But you haven't-"

"No."

"You didn't even let me-"

"No."

"Skulduggery! Will you please listen?"

"I will listen to you as much as you listened to me when I told you to stay inside, which, incidentally, was not at all."

"Can Art stay at the house with us?" she blurted before Skulduggery could make another smart reply.

"No."

"Why not?"

"He's a complete stranger, Alice. We don't know where he's from, what he can do, or why he bothered to save you. We have no reason to trust him, other than he corrected your mistake."

"But he's on his own. He'll be killed if we leave him out here for the night, and I do owe him for saving me."

"Then you can settle your debt with him yourself. The answer is still no."

"Pleeeaaaaaseee?" she begged, making her brown eyes large and sparkly. They were so like Valkyrie's that for a moment it caught Skulduggery off guard. His resolve weakened, temper fading from a furnace to a candle flame. Impossibly, she made her eyes even wider, so innocent that he couldn't bear to look at her.

"Oh for pity's sake! Fine." Alice's answering grin was smug as Skulduggery dug out his phone, tucking his gun back into his jacket. It was picked up after two rings.

"Yello?" said a familiar voice at the other end, faded and crackling.

"Fletcher, where are you?"

"Canada with Erskine, it's a Hell hole over here. Why?"

"Alice got kidnapped. I've found her, she's safe now, and she's with the person that saved her. We need to get back to Gordon's house, but it's getting dark and the streets are teeming with vampires and Underlings. I'm willing to bet that a second kidnapping probably wouldn't be a good thing to run into."

"Sometimes I swear you only keep me around for the taxi service and my rugged good looks," Fletcher muttered.

"I keep you around because, as annoying as you are, you're useful."

"Where are you?" Fletcher muttered.

"We're nearby whatever remains of Haggard pier." The phone disconnected as the signal struggled to compensate for Fletcher's sudden change in location. He stepped out of the air beside Skulduggery with a gentle 'pop', and the skeleton put the phone back in his pocket.

"Erskine's gonna be really annoyed when he figures out that I'm not there to get him out of any sticky situations." Skulduggery chose not to answer.

Fletcher had grown out of the lanky teenage stage a while ago; he was an adult, and an attractive one at that, Alice thought dryly. The childish roundness in his jaw was gone, his once wild blonde hair shorter and soft, the fringe stuck up at the front. The wiry muscles of his arms and chest had broadened and thickened, making him stocky rather than skinny. The only thing that hadn't changed was how cute he was. And the fact that he was still a jerk. But he was a hot jerk.

"Hi Fletch," Alice said.

"Hey gorgeous," he winked. She rolled her eyes and held out a hand, fighting a smile. He took it and waited for Skulduggery to link up. The skeleton placed a gloved hand on Fletcher's shoulder, and the other on Art's, before they disappeared, the air rushing in to fill the space they vacated.

oO0Oo

Valkyrie was pacing the floor of the living room when they appeared, a worried frown creasing her smooth face. Fletcher snorted, and she stopped abruptly, her head flicking up to look at them.

"Don't stop your pacing on our account, the trail you're wearing into the floor isn't quite finished yet," he said, but she didn't seem to hear him; she launched herself at Alice, folding her into a tight hug. Alice jerked in surprise, but soon wrapped her arms around her sister.

"I'm sorry, Val. I should've listened to Skulduggery." Alice stepped back and looked at the skeleton, who appeared to be looking at the ground. Guilt bit down on her as she watched; he was upset because Valkyrie had blamed him for her being kidnapped. He'd been upset so much, for such a long time, and she just kept making it worse. Well now it was time to at least try to fix things. "He found me. He found us," she corrected herself, gesturing to Art, who nodded awkwardly.

"Us?" Valkyrie looked at Art for a minute, before sticking out a hand. "I'm Valkyrie Pleasant," she said.

"I'm Art?"

"And that's short for...?"

"Artemis."

"Artemis what?" she asked warily, unease prickling through her. The silver gauntlet encasing her fingers thrummed with cold energy.

"Artemis Grimm." Once again, Art found himself staring down the barrel of Skulduggery's hand gun.