I just wanted Valkyrie to have a cool brother so I added one. And when I think about Skulduggery I always picture him being cool and being a good to Valkyrie's siblings.

Skulduggery was sitting on a sun lounger in Mr and Mrs Edgley's back garden. Him and Valkyrie were looking after Alice, Valkyrie's little sister, for one night while her parents went away. He was wearing pinstripe blue suit trousers and crisp white shirt his purple tie was undone. Valkyrie was playing with Alice on the grass in front of him. She was wearing shorts and a tank top. Skulduggery looked over his Ray Ban Aviator sunglasses at Valkyrie.

"You know Val you have a nice ass"

"Oi Skul! My parents are still inside getting ready" She turned around "And thanks" He chuckled.

She picked up 5-year-old Alice and sat next to him on the sun lounger.

"Say hi to Uncle Skul" She cooed.

"Uncle Skully" Alice had a nice smile she shared it with her sister. They were alike Valkyrie and Alice. Valkyrie had raven black hair the same with Alice. They both had dark eyes. Alice was just a mini version of Valkyrie.

Valkyrie's 15 year-old brother was the same but he had his mother's blue eyes.. Ryan was a normal teenager. Liked to listen to rock music in his room. He had a girlfriend. He was in a band. And he was protective over both his sisters.

"Hey Steph where are you sleeping?" Ryan walked out the back door.

"Me and Skulduggery are sleeping in my old room"

"Cool. Mum wanted to know" He walked back in.

"He's so stroppy" She commented.

"Teenagers, Val"

"Was I like that?"

"No you and Tanith were too busy messing around and killing monsters" They both smiled.

"Talking about Tanith, she asked me to be made of honor at their wedding"

"Yeah, Ghastly asked me to be best man"

"What did you say?"

"Yeah but i'm not making any speeches. But then he made me" She laughed.

"Arww poor you making a speech at our best friend's wedding"

"Not a funny matter Val! I'm rubbish at making speeches like the one before we took on Vengeous"

"Yeah that was pretty rubbish" She laid back beside him Alice on their lap.

"Uncle Skully?" He pulled his sunglasses on to his head

"Yes?"

"Do you love Stephy?"

He chuckled "I love her very much" He kissed her cheek. She laughed while Alice covered her eyes.

"Come on you, we better go say bye to mum" She picked up her sister and Skulduggery followed into the house.

"Steph we're going" They heard Melissa call. They walked into the hall.

"Okay mum" She kissed her oldest daughter on the cheek then kissed her youngest daughter on the head.

"Bye mummy!"

"Bye Alice" Desmond said

"Bye daddy"

"Bye Ryan" They heard a faint 'bye' from upstairs.

"Try and get him to cheer up while we're away please Skul"

"I'll try Mr Edgley" He laughed.

Melissa and Desmond left and Valkyrie and Skulduggery were left with Alice and Ryan for a day. Skulduggery went and helped Valkyrie do lunch in the kitchen.

"Ryan lunch!" Valkyrie called upstairs.

"Va-Steph?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you put our bag in our room?"

"No, it's still in the car"

"Okay I'll go get it" He left the house to the car. Valkyrie gave Alice her sandwich. Ryan came in and sat down across from Alice at the table.

"Ryan please be happy for once" He just grunted as a response

"When are the band coming round?"

"5. We're playing at a gig"

"Okay what time you going to be back?"

"Steph you sound like mum. You're suppose to be the cool older sister" Valkyrie laughed

"I just need to know. Some of our friends are coming over later to hang out"

"K. I'll be back at 11"

"Okay try to not wake Alice up when you come in" She passed him his sandwich "Because you will be up with her until she goes back to sleep"

"Whatever" Skulduggery walked back in

"Steph, we have a problem" He came up next to her and whispered in her ear "I picked up the gun back instead of our clothes by accident"

"So instead of clothes we have a load of guns and weapons" She whispered back. He nodded. She sighed

"You're rubbish. I'll ask Tanith to pick the other bag up and bring it over tonight" She kissed him

"GRIM!" Ryan shouted and put his head down. Skulduggery chuckled and Valkyrie laughed.

"Haven't you got a girlfriend Ryan?" Skulduggery asked as he sat on the counter

"Yeah, Gemma. She's in my biology class"

"That is how you get girls! Biology class!" Ryan laughed while Valkyrie sighed.

"That is not how to get girls!"

"Yes it is. Smart and fit girls are always in Biology class!"

"Shut up Skul!" Skulduggery smirked and winked at Ryan who laughed.

"Skulduggery?"

"Yeah Ryan?"

"How did you two meet?" Valkyrie passed Skulduggery his lunch. She got a smack to her bum earning an 'oi!'

"I saved her life"

"Really?"

"No, I had it covered" She lent on the counter next to Skulduggery.

"No you didn't he was about to stab you!"

"Whatever!" She smiled and kissed him.

"For god sake get a room!" They both laughed as he got up and left the room.

2 hours later Valkyrie and Skulduggery were cuddling on the sofa and Alice was asleep in bed.

"Steph I'm off to the gig with the band"

"Okay be quiet when you come in" They heard the front door shut

"Tanith and Ghastly will be here in an hour" She looked up to Skulduggery who had a mischievous smirk on his face.

"No hun. Not here" He pouted that made her laugh. "No my little sister is upstairs"

"Okay, okay. I'll order some pizza" He got up and went into the kitchen.

The pizza got there in an hour and they shared it with Tanith and Ghastly.

"Thanks for bringing our clothes guys" Valkyrie looked over to Skulduggery.

"I'm sorry we were in a rush" Ghastly and Tanith chuckled.

"Ghastly, when we were young didn't we used to date girls in Biology class?"

"Yeah smart and fit"

"See that is how to get girls!"

"Yeah but you can't say that to my little brother!" They all laughed except Valkyrie who just smiled.

"In school we used to try to get boys from Basketball team" Tanith said

"We didn't have any fit guys in our school. We didn't have any fit guys in Haggard!" They all laughed.

"Let's watch a film" Valkyrie suggested they all agreed. Valkyrie looked through the films on the tv and found Scream 4.

By the end of the film Valkyrie had her face in Skulduggery's shirt. And Tanith was curled up against Ghastly hiding her face behind her hands.

"We better go before Tanith is scared to go outside" Ghastly picked Tanith up and they said their good byes and left.

"Come on better get to bed" Skulduggery turned the tv off and got up. He helped Valkyrie up they were walking passed the door when it opened and Ryan walked in.

"Hey how did your gig go?" Skulduggery asked. Valkyrie was tired so she carried on up to bed.

"Yeah wicked! I got 100 euros!"

"Good"

"Oh is it okay for Gemma to stay over her parents are having a bad time?"

"Yeah but no business" He winked at the boy as Gemma walked up behind.

"Thanks Skul" Gemma had red hair and freckles. She was the same hight as Ryan and was slim.

Skulduggery patted Ryan's arm kindly and walked up the stairs. In Valkyrie's old room she was already in bed and asleep so Skulduggery quietly got changed and slipped in next to her. He could hear Ryan and Gemma walk into Ryan's room next door. He could hear their conversation

"Ryan your sister's boyfriend is cool"

"Yeah he is" Skulduggery smiled as he wrapped his arms around Valkyrie.

"Do you think he'll become your brother-in-law?"

"Hope so" Skulduggery kissed Valkyrie's cheek.

"I hope so too" he whispered. Soon he was asleep the same with Gemma and Ryan.

Next morning...

Valkyrie woke up and turned over to see Skulduggery still asleep. She crawled over him and got up. Her pajamas were warm so she didn't bother to put her robe on. She walked downstairs and into the kitchen everyone was still in bed. She turned on the toaster and put some bread in. It was around 11 o'clock.

"Hey sis" She turned around to see Ryan and a red-haired girl walk in.

"Hey who's this?"

"Steph this is Gemma my girlfriend"

"Hi Steph"

"It's nice to meet you Gemma" Gemma had a warm smile. Nice girl. They sat down and started to eat their toast. The door bell sounded. Valkyrie walked over in her pajama shorts and tank top and opened the door. Stood there 4 teenage boys gawked.

"Hey boys" She lent against the door.

"Hi Steph haven't seen you in years" The boy at the front stepped forward.

"Umm do I know you?"

"Jacob Yuin"

"Oh yeah you came to Ryan's 12th birthday party"

"Yeah so want to hang out some time?" Skulduggery walked up behind Valkyrie and wrapped his arms around her waist

"Sorry boys she's already taken" She kissed him and laughed at the fall of all the boy's smiles.

"Ryan your horny friends are here!" Valkyrie shouted and walked back into the kitchen with Skulduggery.

"Morning Skul"

"Morning any breakfast?"

"Yep toast" She passed him some toast.

"Thanks babe" The four boys walked in behind Ryan.

"Steph we're going to have rehearsals in the garage"

"Yeah cool" Alice came running into the kitchen. Valkyrie picked her up.

"Hey want some breakfast?" Alice nodded. She put her down at the table and gave her some cereal.

"Are you guys going to stand there and look stupid all day? Not you Gemma" Gemma laughed and they all went into the garage.

1 hour later the boys and Gemma were in the kitchen on a break. Valkyrie was still in her pajamas but Skulduggery and Alice were dressed. Tanith knocked on the door and walked into the kitchen with Valkyrie. Tanith was in her leathers. Ghastly was locking his car .

"Hey Tanith"

"Hey Ryan"

"So Tanith is it?" On of the boys asked

"Yeah"

"Can I have your number?"

"Engaged" She held up her left hand to show him the ring.

"So?"

"To him" She pointed Ghastly as he walked in. He was on the phone

"Oh" The boy sat back down Tanith and Valkyrie were laughing. Ghastly kissed Tanith's cheek and hugged Valkyrie 'Where's Skul?' He mouthed

"Upstairs"

"Thanks" He turned around "Carry on Ravel-" He walked upstairs.

"Stephanie do you have any 'girl' friends that are hot and single?" Jacob asked.

Tanith and Valkyrie looked at each other and smiled

"Well there is China"

"Oh yeah you would love her literally!"

"Really can I have her number?" He had hope written all over his face.

"I'm sorry she would hate you"

"I'll give it a try"

"Okay" Valkyrie wrote a number down "But don't say you know us"

"Okay" He confused. Tanith was trying to not laugh.

"Hey Tany"

"Hey Alice" She picked her up and started to tickle her. Ghastly and Skulduggery walked in.

"Guys can't you go back to rehearsing or something?" Valkyrie asked .They all moaned and went back to the garage. Ghastly chuckled.

"Teenagers are so moody"

Valkyrie smiled "Yep"

20 minutes later Skulduggery walked into the garage to get some beers from the fridge. The band was hanging around on the sofas in the garage.

"Hey Skul?"

"Yeah Ryan?"

"Can we have a beer?"

"Ummmm only one" He passed them all one beer. One boy was trying to get a tune right on the electric guitar. Skulduggery looked over at the teen.

"Give it here. Look" He took the guitar and played the tune right it was amazing! All the guy's jaws dropped.

"Wow" Ryan stood up "You are so cool!" Skulduggery laughed and put the guitar down. He walked back into the living room and gave Ghastly a beer.

"Your brother thinks I'm cool" He looked at Valkyrie. And smiled. Valkyrie smiled but shook her head.

"So Ghastly whats this new case?" Ghastly stopped talking to Tanith from beside him and passed Skulduggery his phone.

"Email from Erskine. 3 assaults in Dublin..."

In the garage...

"Hey Ryan what does your sister do?" Jacob asked

"She's a detective, her boyfriend and her are partners" He had an arm draped over Gemma's shoulders

"Cool. I'm going call this China" He picked up his phone.

"Hi China?...hi my name is Jacob Yuin I was just thinking do you want to go out for a drink someti-" He pulled the phone away and frowned.

"She put the phone down" Everyone laughed at him. Alice came running in, Ryan picked her up.

"Hey what's up?"

"I'm hungry" He laughed.

"Guys, I'll be back in a min" He walked into the kitchen.

"Apple?" She shook her head "Frube?" She nodded. He took one of the yogurt packets out of the box and passed it to his little sister. He knocked on the living room door. A faint 'come in' came from the other side. He turned the handle and opened the door.

"Sis, can you look after Alice for a minute?" Valkyrie was looking through a folder with Skulduggery. Ghastly was sitting on the sofa Tanith next to him on his phone.

"Yeah pass her here" Valkyrie put out her arms to receive the 5-year-old. Ryan obliged.

"Mum and Dad will be home soon, so you better get your annoying friends out before mum finds out I let you guys hang out here"

Ryan groaned "Really?"

"Yep"

"Okay but can Gemma stay?"

"Yeah whatever. I just want them boys out before mum and dad get back"

"You not my mum!"

"Yeah but I'm your older sister now do it!" Ryan grunted and walked out the room. Tanith looked up from Ghastly's phone.

"Wow Val someone has grown up"

She shrugged "He gets on my nerves"

"He's your younger brother they're supposed to"

Valkyrie looked at Alice "Your not annoying are you?"

"No Stephy, I love you" She brought her older sister into a hug. They all laughed.