Hello!

Thanks to Valkyrie Jade and crazy. about. books.123 for requesting pairings with Valkyrie and each of the Dead Men.

Val's 18, LSODM pretty much didn't happen, yet the dead men still met up and stuff

Dexter wandered through the gleaming corridors of the Sanctuary. It was his first time visiting since it had been relocated to Roarhaven, and he didn't like it. Firstly, everything was so... Roarhaveny. Yeah, that made better sense in his head. Secondly, it was too damn big. So many corridors, twisting and turning, with one wrong turn taking you somewhere you certainly were not intending to get to. That was what had happened to Dexter.

He was meant to be heading to Erskine's office, as he had been called in for a case, much to his surprise. It had started off fine; the corridor was straight. He had then come across an intersection. Left, right, or continue straight down? He had decided to turn left, and started walking again. He walked. And walked. And walked.

And then the corridors started getting darker, and dirtier, and less gleaming and new. This should've been the point at which Dexter turned back, but he was feeling strangely optimistic today.

And then he found himself in a room with a massive machine in it, which he recognised as the Accelerator. He frowned. "Okay, I think something has gone horribly wrong..." he muttered to himself.

He attempted to go back the way he had come, but he managed to get lost once again. So he had continued trudging through the Sanctuary corridors, hopelessly lost, until, at last, he bumped into another human being. It just so happened to be Tipstaff.

Tipstaff looked at him with an annoyed gaze. "Mr Vex," he said, "Were you not supposed to be meeting Grand Mage Ravel forty-six minutes ago?"

He began tapping his foot impatiently. Dexter scowled. "I got lost. Word of advice, Administrator- signposts. Just an occasional sign here and there to nudge people in the right direction. It would be very much appreciated." Dexter patted his shoulder, and walked off down the corridor.

A few seconds later, he came walking back again, and sheepishly looked at Tipstaff, who was still standing there. "Uh, which way was the office again?"

Tipstaff sighed. "Follow me, Mr Vex." He led Dexter round dozens of corners and down even more corridors. Wow, just how lost did I get? Dexter wondered to himself.

Finally, they came to Erskine's office. Tipstaff gave a small bow, and left him. Dexter knocked on the door.

"Come in," a voice called, and Dexter entered the room.

His first thought was how the hell did Erskine get this job?, and the second was holy crap, Valkyrie Cain looks bloody smokin'.

Dexter walked over to Erskine's desk, where he was sitting opposite Valkyrie. She looked over at his entrance, and grinned her little impish grin. Dexter shook Erskine's hand and smiled at Valkyrie, and took a seat beside her.

"Took your time, Dex," Erskine smiled. Dexter blushed. "Corridors," was all he said, and Valkyrie laughed slightly.

"So, you gonna tell us why you called us in?" Valkyrie asked Erskine, and Dexter nodded in agreement.

Erskine leaned forward. "A small case has arisen, in which, basically, two bad guys have been located, and we need to go in and arrest them. All our other detectives are preoccupied with the murders that have been going on, so Valkyrie, we're sending you. But I'm assuming you want a partner, right?"

Valkyrie nodded eagerly, and glanced hopefully in Dexter's direction, at the sculpted war machine, who's good looks couldn't be resisted.

"As you know," Erskine continued, "Skulduggery has been temporarily discharged from the Sanctuary due to that... uh... incident with Madame Mist. Myself and Ghastly are unable to come with you, unfortunately, due to an abundance of things that we must get started on, such as paperwork and bullying Tipstaff. Anton and Saracen are out of the country, and since Dexter here was in the area..."

Dexter turned to Valkyrie and grinned. "I guess we're partners, then," he smiled. His heart was beating as fast as it always did when he spotted a hot girl, and Valkyrie, in his eyes, was perfect for him. Strong, witty, intelligent, a skilled fighter... Damn, he wanted her.

Valkyrie tried very hard to hide the blush that was growing on her cheeks. Dexter Vex, world's freaking hottest man, was her new partner in crime... She had a feeling she would get very distracted.

"Dexter- duck!" Valkyrie yelled, as she twisted out of a headlock by one of the men they had located. They'd found the hideout the two men were using, and had infiltrated the facility and attacked. That was when it had gone horribly wrong.

They had, in turn, been ambushed by the two, and were now desperately fending them off. The two men were more powerful combined than Valkyrie and Dexter were together, but still- no harm in trying.

Dexter ducked a kick to the head, and turned and swung a series of punches. The man staggered slightly, and Dexter took him off his feet, and straddled him. Punches rained down on the man's head, no matter how hard he tried to defend himself, and soon he was unconscious. Dexter stood up, just as Valkyrie was finishing with her man.

She flipped him over her hip, and did a backflip over him as he scrambled to his feet, catching his head in her hands and slamming it to the ground as she straightened. His brain slammed against the wall of his skull, and he, too, lost consciousness.

Dexter gave a low whistle. "Nicely done," he said. Valkyrie looked over and blushed.

"You too," she smiled.

She bent down to tie her shoelaces, which had come undone during the fight. Dexter, meanwhile, dragged his guy over to the wall, where he let him slump against it.

"Cuffs, please," he called to Valkyrie. She looked up, and with a wave of her hand, the handcuffs from her pocket were flying into Dexter's waiting hand. "Thank you."

He cuffed the man to a metal pipe that was running along the length of the wall, and walked back over to Valkyrie. She straightened, and reached down to start dragging her guy away. Dexter put a gentle hand on her arm.

"Let me," he said, slightly seductively, and Valkyrie stepped back, busying herself with retying her ponytail so he couldn't see her bright red cheeks.

He walked back over. "Now what?"

"Now we wait for the cleavers," she said. "They'll search the place and take the guys in."

Dexter smiled and moved a stray piece of hair away from her eyes. He gazed into those pools of dark chocolate, and Valkyrie found herself gazing back into his handsome, gorgeous face.

Dexter leaned in. "Valkyrie," he murmured. They closed their eyes, and their lips met.

They kissed softly, gently, but were soon so overcome with lust that Dexter had pushed Valkyrie up against the wall, and hands were roaming, exploring. Their tongues battled for dominance.

A short while later, Valkyrie pulled away. She smiled at Dexter, who grinned back.

"I love you, Valkyrie Cain," Dexter said.

"I love you, too, Dexy Vex," she smirked. "You know, the cleavers will be another hour..."

Dexter smiled. "Well, then. We've got time to kill, so..."

He leaned in, and she smiled, and they locked lips once more.

Q19: What is a pairing that you don't like?

Chinduggery- China does not deserve Skulduggery. And it's just wrong; getting together with the person who had your family killed... Also Fletchyrie was a disaster waiting to happen.

Q20: What is your favourite book in the series?

Ummm I love Mortal Coil- the whole concept of no one being who you think they were was really good, but I think it could've been brought out more; like some real trickery for the reader being introduced. Also, I loved the whole 'whodunit' of The Faceless Ones, and the cliffhanger ending was... Wow. The dying of the light, quite honestly, was a bit of a disappointment to me. It seemed a bit like it was made up as Derek went along. LSODM would have been absolutely epic but Valkyrie turned Darquesse too early. So I guess the only other main contender is Death Bringer, which was... Amazing. So yeah that's my favourite. Also that's when we got to meet Dexter Vex! And learn about Vile! :)