Hello lovely readers! AcrossEveryUniverse here and I hope you are all having a wonderful day or night! Never have I actually written something so fast before it actually scares me...no really, I do not know where the sudden urge or impulse to attempt to continue a story or my hobbies came from.

Maybe it is because it is August and I still have classes to finish so I can get my degree. Which start in the latter half of August so my brain went into overdrive and I also (finally) went back to drawing. Hahaha! Oh boy.

So about this chapter and some characters, I took the liberty to add some hobbies, backstories, and whatnot considering that we only got a dose of what they were like in Skullgirls: 2nd Encore and Mobile (for those who have it). I forgot to mention this in the prologue: the cute and wholesome stuff comes later...not sure if this counts as spoilers but I thought that I should let you know. You'll see why.

Without further ado, let's begin!

Disclaimer: I do not own Skullgirls.

It has been about three weeks since Valentine and the stranger had their little love making night. A part of Valentine would like to keep in contact with the stranger. The man did seem genuinely kind and passionate about his goals and ambitious. Albeit he had a dense mentality, although that might have come with the innocence and naivety that he naturally has. In fact, Valentine even checked the television a few times to see that he was quickly rising through the rookie ranks in wrestling. There were even a few fans who were becoming a part of his 'Wulfpack'. She was teased about it by Patty and Easter who were surprised by her sudden interest in wrestling. Valentine merely shrugged it off with an excuse that she wants to pick up more hobbies. After all, there was only so much that one could do outside the ASG Labs. They both sullenly agreed.

As Valentine put on her nurse scrub for work, she thought about how there had been an announcement about coming more early. For what? She wasn't sure. But the sooner she went, the sooner she could make up for lost time by looking over the documents of the Skullheart and Skullgirl. They never ceased to amaze her.

But first, Valentine had to get over there and see what else was putting everyone on edge. She put on a large coat to cover her work attire. Valentine didn't want to draw attention to herself on the way to the Anti-Skullgirl Labs. Once all snug, she left her apartment and headed out on the route that the ASG Labs asked all employees to use.

The ASG Labs were currently walking on eggshells-especially with the Grand War. At first, it was a bunch of stiff war campaigns by King Franz about three years ago. But the Gigan Nation and Chess Kingdom decided to strike while the Canopy Kingdom were "flaunting" their soldiers. Luckily the casualties were minimal but in turn, this also caused uproar from around the three kingdoms. And what seemed to be a petty display of power soon turned into a war between the Canopy Kingdom, the Chess Kingdom, and the Gigan Nation. The result was now three paranoid and proud nations who were going to find an excuse to settle which Kingdom was 'superior.'

As if any more unnecessary casualties were needed in this day and age.

Some people in the canopy Kingdom did not know who to trust and this was especially true for those working in the ASG Labs. The King had already made himself clear that he wanted research done as much as possible. Though not only on the Skullgirl and Skullheart, but also on anything that is advancing their current technology in any way: weapons, vehicles, theonite crystals, medical drugs, and synthetic parasites. Should anyone risk the Labs in any way, they would immediately be dismissed with harsh punishments. With such a ginormous and threatening order from the King, how could they refuse?

That, and adding to the fact that some of the scientists had pressured Drain and their main head, Victor, on making sure security was raised even more. Which was making the work at the ASG Labs more...tedious, for a lack of a word. In a way, this brought some pros and cons. Pros being that the ASG Labs were better hidden than before, everyone could work without worrying about alarms or attacks, and this built trust with the other segments of the ASG labs. Cons were that anyone who lives outside the ASG Labs need to take longer roads, make sure contact with other people are severely limited, to double check that they never leave any important paperwork or documents in their living quarters, and an eye scan and body scan were always needed before entering.

Valentine found the scans annoying, but they did wonders...even with the scrub she was wearing. And it did put some of the more skittish scientists at ease, so she was not going to complain. After all, if they stopped complaining, then that would be one less headache that rises for her and her teammates. Then again, some scientists were already skittish to begin with. Considering that the Labs were also under Renoir supervision, that would make sense.

As she entered the secret entrance, Valentine immediately felt some kind of negative energy. Everyone she saw in the hallways seemed tense as if they were expecting the King himself to arrive. She mentally shrugged, whatever it was that was bugging them was not her issue. Valentine had her own priorities to think about. Easter and Christmas would have scolded her for her current mentality. Both of them say that she needs to 'loosen up'. Whatever that meant.

But still, Valentine tried, keyword: tried, to be friendly with some of the other scientists despite her usual impatience, "Good morning."

One of the two passing scientists looked up from the reports they were given, "O-oh! Good morning, Miss Valentine."

Their companion merely gave a half-hearted wave, "Mornin'."

Yeah, Valentine could agree on the simple gesture if not missing her dark chocolate coffee as well. Both of the scientists had bags under their eyes and so did every other worker.

Everyone looked...dead.

There have been numerous reports lately that the theonite crystals readings have been going off the charts in response to a crazy energy wave that happened recently, which alerted everyone immediately, and many had been working nonstop trying to figure out what it was.

Maybe it was a good thing that she went out that night three weeks ago. Valentine attempted to hide the growing flush on her face as she recalled her passion with Beowulf that night. But some pink still managed to come on her skin. She didn't notice some of the whispers from people passing by. Looks like she was going to be the latest gossip topic: Nurse Valentine of The Last Hope actually does have feelings, all shrouded in denial. What a shocker.

However, she ignored them and continued to the room she was supposed to go to. A meeting was being held so of course, everyone who is either a Black-Ops employee, a highly-respected and intelligent scientist and doctor, and even the Anti-Skullgirl Soldier Units had to come. It was mandatory, which also means not avoiding it whatsoever. Unless you wanted to stick solely to Lab duties for about a month or more.

Valentine only mentally sighed as she opened the door, Let's just get this over with.

"Oi! Val, yer earl'ee!"

"Good morning, dearie. Did you sleep well?"

"Good morning, Patty and Easter. And can you tell that I had my coffee?"

"Hmm, no. I suppose not."

Two women greeted Valentine as she entered the spacious room. The first one who greeted her was Patty, a young female Feral who was the youngest of their team, The Last Hope. She was a Feral, a humanoid with animal-like aspects, who wore a pink nurse-themed shirt and hat on top of her short blonde hair with black leather shorts to follow. A good sized fanny-pack was resting on her lower back while metal braces protected her wrists and lower calves. The most eye-catching detail about her was her two huge horns and freckles with a side of mischievous but beautiful purple eyes and freckles. The young Feral preferred her own name as her code name as well. Something about confusing people for fun.

The other woman, Easter, had a huge build and was wearing a simple green scrub that went to her lower thighs with a cute little hat to cover her slightly spiked light coffee hair. She was easily the tallest in the room (for now) and had plenty of muscle in her face and body despite her rounded areas. Unlike Patty, she preferred to keep her outfit simple and wore no accessories. She was the oldest in the team.

Patty merely stuck her tongue out as the two other members laughed. She was the only one, along with Hallow, who did not like coffee. So she often got teased for being a lightweight when it came to caffeine. Not her fault that her Feral senses made her despise the drink. Hallow just didn't like it due to it always leaving a bitter taste in her mouth for the rest of the day. Tea for the win, it was more suited for them anyways.

"We're the only ones here? I thought this meeting was urgent," Valentine questioned as she looked around the meeting room. There was only one scientist, Stanley, who is a Dagonian anthropomorphic shark. Though he certainly was not living up to the scary aspect of it, looking more like a friendly neighbor you would have in a decent suburb. But the poor man was asleep over what seemed to be a stack of important papers. Looks like he had to gather information last minute with Dr. Avian.

Speaking of the good doctor, he was not in the meeting room as well. Usually he was one of the first attendees along with Big Band and Ileum, who seemed to be right behind Dr. Avian whenever he was in one of the hallways. This day was getting more and more interesting if not even the oldies were in the room.

As to pass the time, Valentine, Patty and Easter spoke idle chatter. The usual things like weather and whatnot, just trying to find a way to make the meeting happen sooner. Until-

"Val~" Patty started by batting her eyelashes at her friend, a rather playful teasing was coming Valentine could feel it already, "can ye tell me about the night ye went out and met the lovely gentleman please~?"

Valentine merely pinched the bridge of her nose, "For the fiftieth time Patty, no."

Patty attempted to use puppy-eyes, "Awwww, why not? It sounds so romantic! Did ye at least get his number?"

"Leave it to you to try and find anything 'romantic' by using my codename against me."

"She's right, dear. That's her business, now please drop it. It's been three weeks already," Easter butted in. The giant of a woman gently grabbed Patty and dragged her back from Valentine's personal space.

Patty merely pouted with a cute angry face, "HMPH! Ye ladies are no fun!"

"Sure, sure, keep telling yourself that," Valentine stated while playfully rolling her eyes while Easter chuckled.

Valentine still remembered how Patty bluntly asked her why she still smelled like she had…'fun' from her night. Along with the Feral noticing that there were...marks on her neck. Needless to say, Easter, Drain, and Christmas were all a little more than shell-shocked. Meanwhile, Hallow was asking for all the details (and Tricks) with Patty adding her two cents to go slowly on said details. Valentine's vain attempts to cover up her story were quickly dismissed when Patty kept prodding her with romantic questions. Was he handsome? How did they meet? Did he sweep her off her feet like a knight in shining armor? Was this why Valentine was late to coming to the labs late that day?

And so on and so forth, luckily Hallow (kinda) dropped it after a week and a half but still teases her about her 'fun night'. Patty refused to give up getting the details from Valentine, being the youngest of the team means she was still a hopeless romantic. Valentine thought about how lucky the Feral was cute, otherwise she might have done a prank or something as horrible.

All those awake turned to hear the door open and a flood of employees rush in the room. Some looked like they woke up last minute, others had a mountain of papers, and the others had a thermo which probably had coffee (or an energy drink of sorts, there were confirmations from some that they would prefer the substance instead of coffee-or a combination of the two. Which was probably dangerous but Valentine was not going to judge). The last ones to enter were Christmas and Drain.

Easter had reached over to Stanely and gently woke him up. To which the shark woke up with a start and small yelp of surprise once seeing the full room.

A...very pale, beautiful, and tall woman with black raven hair came close to where the group of three was sitting. Her color theme mostly consisted of purple with the long scrub coat she was wearing. Bandages covered her arms and legs while two black straps acted as a mask. There was a third one, which was tied around her neck. And though she was not curavous, she definitely had confidence in her modest body. Pale blue eyes graced her neutral expression as she looked around the room before seeing her three teammates and walked over. The name of this young lady was Holly, better known as "Hallow". Like Patty, she preferred to keep it short and sweet. At first, she had enjoyed using the whole "Halloween" and even used it in some of her own jokes. To which, Christmas ordered her to shorten it.

Hallow smoothly sat in the seat next to Valentine, quickly greeting Valentine.

"Mornin', Val."

"Good morning Hallow. How are you doing?"

Her best friend merely shrugged, "Meh, same old same old."

"By that, you mean ogling at your definition of attractive people?"

"Yea-hey!"

Valentine let out a hearty laugh before asking, "By the way, why are you and everyone late?"

Hallow deflated, or at least looked a little more deflated from her usual poker face, "Well, the thing is, some of us were called earlier because-"

It was at this moment that a gargantuan man with slightly curved and pointed ears walked into the room. His attire consists of a red turtleneck and beige pants with a long but old lab coat to remind everyone of his job. His face consisted of slick blonde but graying hair with sharp but rectangular edges on his face. And despite his middle age, he had lively yellow eyes. This man was the Lab Founder himself, Doctor Victor Geiger.

Victor let everyone know that the meeting was starting right away. So Hallow mouthed 'Just listen' when she removed her mask. The beginning was slow to say the least, it was to remind everyone to use the scans that the Labs implemented a while back (lest they want less field work and more paperwork). The second was that some employees and soldiers were called to mix some new theonite supply with chemicals and experiments. This was done so that they could test out what would work against the Skullgirl when she appears (and the War as well, but that went unsaid). Valentine quickly glanced at Hallow, getting the confirmation for why she was late. But it was the third aspect that surprised everyone with good ol' Dr. Avian to give them the best news.

An average-heighted but elderly man who had sharp features to his face thanked the founder before standing in front of everyone. A hair in the middle of his forehead stood straight up tall acting as an actual 'feather'. And despite having red eyes, this man was anything but scary or mean.

"As you all know, there have been energy readings that have been escalating as of lately. The theonite crystals that are placed around the labs have been going haywire. Which commonly means that the Skullheart will be active again soon."

Almost at once, there was a deafening silence among the people in the meeting room. However, after five seconds the small murmurs started although not everyone joined in. After all, Dr. Avian had not finished talking. Those who knew him well know that he was letting the information sink in first and then will continue. After all, if you give everything at once how can someone process it fully?

After letting the noise die down, Dr. Avian continued, "And while this usually means that we would send everyone who is capable of defending themselves out to start scouting or gathering information, I advise against it for the time being."

The noise in the room got louder than last time, with half the occupants freaking out, "What do you mean!?"

"Isn't the whole purpose of the labs to destroy the Skullheart?!"

"Yeah! Why the sudden hesitation?!"

"Especially with the war!"

Left and right, everyone else threw as many questions as panic seemed to seep into their consciousness. Patty merely shook her head in confusion like a cat, Easter only blinked in surprise, Valentine and Hallow gave each other a glance, Drain put his hand reassuringly over his wife's hand, while Big Band and Ileum were silent.

Again, Dr. Avian stayed silent to let everyone's panic thoughts out. Once it had mostly settled, he continued once again. "Some of the...scouts that were sent out have been reporting numerous people missing in the last two months. And it is not just in the Canopy Kingdom, King Franz has given us a recent report from all over the Chess Kingdom and the Gigan Nation. These are not War casualties, they are civilian lives."

At the mention of the King himself, there was a shared shudder throughout the room. No one dared to insult him whether it be inside or outside the Labs.

"And it is not just those poor people, some of our scouts who have been missing for a while are now found dead."

The deafening silence came back this time. They all knew the risks that came with working in the Anti-Skullgirl Labs. And even fewer had stayed once the reality had sunk in.

Nevertheless, those who had stayed decided to make up for the loss of staff with even fiercer rigor than before. Was the safety in numbers deteriorating? Sure, but they cut their losses and moved on. Otherwise, how were they going to get anything done or get closer to stopping the Skullheart? …Or keep the King's violent streak satisfied?

"That's why I have requested that all Lab members who were going to scout or go do fieldwork be delayed for about three to four months. Or at least until we can figure out what is causing all of these disappearances and deaths. King Franz was…against it at first but soon agreed."

A few murmurs arose, this time in agreement. Nobody really wanted to risk their lives if it was just going to be in vain later on. It was better to be safe than sorry in these kinds of situations. A question did rise in everyone's minds: who or WHAT the hell out there could cause so many disappearances and deaths in such a short amount of time?

Some immediately thought of the shapeshifter that would be seen whenever it was time for the Skullgirl to make her appearance. But then that was immediately disregarded. Two reasons being that the Shapeshifter would only intervene should it think so and the other being that it always changed form. So there was no way of knowing what or who it was going to play next. Although recent sources have claimed that they saw it disguised as an elf woman with lavender hair, red eyes, and a very disturbing scarf.

And a Gigan was definitely out of the question. Were some of them blood thirsty? Absolutely, but they would never cause this much death in a short amount of time. After all, some Gigans did want peace as well despite their rough exterior and reputation.

As the meeting continued, everyone felt their concerns rise. An unknown knot of dread growing in the back of their brains.

Everyone had left the room with either heavy thoughts or with renewed reason. The last ones to get out were Valentine and her teammates. Patty stretched her arms over her head.

"Finally, I thought the tension was go'ng to kill me."

A beautiful ginger-haired woman merely chopped the top of the young Feral's head, glasses reflecting from the hallway lights, "Now, now Patty. Don't deny that you weren't nervous either."

"Of course not, I just got...shivers."

"Uh-huh. Yeah, sure," Hallow added cheeky as she reached in one of her pockets and pulled out some candies, "Anybody want one? I know I needed one after all the excitement we got from the room."

Christmas and Valentine rolled their eyes from the obvious double meaning joke as the leader replied, "No thank you, Hallow. Maybe later."

"Yes, dearie thank you," Easter said while reaching for one.

Patty didn't need to be told twice as she picked one of Hallow's homemade candy with a 'thank you'. Hallow turned to Valentine, "Val?"

"Sure, why not?" Valentine was grateful that her best friend could cook and bake. It did wonders for their team whenever they were too busy. And if Hallow didn't bring anything, Drain or Easter would bring something for 'Team Morale'. Hey, it was much better than constantly eating instant noodles, frozen packets, or just tea with a small piece of pastry. Valentine had tried cooking but something would always go wrong: measurements being off, incorrect ingredients, leaving the oven on by accident, too much oil (she shivered slightly), sugar instead of salt, and so on and so forth. Needless to say, Valentine had long given up on cooking for herself. So she happily accepted the homemade sweet.

Valentine brought down her mask and quickly popped the small sweet in her mouth. Suddenly, Valentine started to feel her stomach curl onto itself, immediately feeling like she had to vomit. The taste was not the same delectable as it used to be, and it took everything in her not to gag or spit it out. However, she put up a brave front and forcefully swallowed the candy. Her stomach settled...for now. Time to cover up her almost gag-reflex.

"Thank you, Holly. By the way, do you have any dark chocolate?"

Valentine quickly asked her, hoping that if they saw her slight reaction nobody would bring it up. What was up? She didn't eat anything bad, Valentine always double checked the expiration date on all the foods she ate at her apartment. Luckily, no one noticed.

Said woman looked surprised, "You're asking me already? Val, you just finished the batch I made two days ago!"

Valentine lightly jested back, "Yeah, well maybe I just want to have an entire pantry just for myself."

Hallow backed up, hands up in a mock-surrender, "Alright, alright, I get it. It's time for your monthly cycle again. I'll see what Tricks I can pull, no promises though. In the meantime, try not to let your hormones run wild~ See you later~!"

As Hallow left with Christmas chastising her for openingly stating a woman's privacy while she just shrugged, stating that most of the staff were adults anyway. Easter and Patty went to go follow them to their own labs. Not realizing that Valentine was left there with her emotions running wild. Said woman turned more pale with each minute. She realized that her menstrual cycle should have started a while ago. She never missed a day.

"Valentine?" A soft voice snapped her out of her confused stupor. "Are you alright? You look pale, well, paler than usual."

She turned to see Brian Drain, a young man around his mid-twenties who had a modest but firm muscular body. Two huge scars ran from the top of his hairline all the way down past his throat and lab collar and shirt into his chest. Said pieces of hair were missing where the scar was but around it there was a beautiful cafe brown hair that stopped around the ears. His face had soft features and edges that made him look much younger despite his horrifying disfigurement. Oh, and he was slightly shorter than Valentine.

Valentine replayed his question before answering, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little...shaken by the news we got."

Brian gave a small chuckle, "You're telling me. I remember the look on poor Avian's face after he found out that more than half of the victims were children. You know how the old man has a soft spot for kids."

Valentine gave him a hard stare, "That's not funny."

He sighed, looking smaller, "I know, it was a poor attempt at trying to make the situation lighter. But the kingdoms are getting more and more tense because of the kidnappings and deaths. It might not be long before they start pointing even more fingers at each other out of panic, spite, or parental rage."

Valentine knew that he didn't need to add anything else to that statement. If this continues there will be a continuous war and even more unnecessary casualties will be added to the list. They both understood the Doc's concerns but perhaps the sooner they go investigate the cause the sooner everyone can relax.

Brian once again spoke up in his soft tone, "But if you aren't feeling too good Valentine, you could just go home for the day. I'll even let Christine know in advance."

Valentine shook her head almost immediately, "Thank you, but I am feeling pretty good now."

Brian let out a small sigh, "Okay. Well if you need anything, just tell Christine or I."

"Heh, yeah..." Valentine half-heartedly answered as she left for her duties. Maybe it was all the stress or even the test enhancement drugs she and the team needed to take. There was no way that it was something else?

Right?

It definitely was something else.

Valentine didn't know why or what could possibly be besides her gut instinct telling her that it was not her period. Or any foods she has ingested in the last 72 hours. Hell, she never even bothers putting on any makeup for crying out loud! The symptoms were...recognizable but the more she felt them during the day, the more she felt her mind going haywire and her stomach dropping.

First, she got cramps all day and it was not just the usual muscle cramps from daily life. Her boobs, back, thighs, and ankles would throb every now and then. Sometimes mild and sometimes more moderate. It made concentrating on her work a little more difficult. And it was just paperwork!

Second, she felt more moody. It was not her usual 'Valerie dealing with and tired of everyone's bullshit' kind of moody. This kind of moody was much more than whatever estrogen hormones her menstrual cycle usually gives her. She had to start controlling her emotions because she ended up snapping at Christmas and Easter when they asked her a simple question. Both women blinked in surprise, realizing that Hallow was right after all. Or was she?

Third, Valentine could not keep her stomach down even when she was offered tea by Patty. The Feral nurse offered her some after seeing Valentine look nauseous and run to the bathroom the first time she felt sick. Not even an hour and a half later, she was seen by several coworkers speeding down the hallway to the nearest bathroom. She ended up cutting the line, much to everyone's annoyance. But she didn't care as she emptied the contents. About five minutes later (maybe more, Valentine was not sure), the complaints and annoyed faces died once they saw how terrible Valentine looked. To which, she only gave out a half-hearted apology before rushing back to her work station.

No one dared discuss this, least they want a few sawblades thrown at them as target practice later.

At any rate, Valentine did not think the symptoms were a one day to a week thing. If they were, they would not all be happening at once or follow up shortly after another. Valentine had decided to inform Victor that she was going to stay late at the labs tonight. Her reason being that she wanted to make up for lost time from today and some nights she went home early. He saw no reason to object besides reminding her that she should not over exert herself. And with that, Valentine shortly returned to her duties with another chore added to her list of to-do's.

When most of the people had gone, sans her teammates and a few others, it was at that moment Valentine had decided to take a break. She took a sip of the tea Patty offered while looking outside and noticed that the sun was almost completely gone. The sky was bathed in beautiful splashes of purple, navy blue, and even a tint of pink. The moon was barely visible but it gave way to the night. It's appearance seemed to calm Valerie's nerves for just a bit.

If she...if Valentine really did come to the conclusion that she had hypothesized earlier. Then...no it was too early.

"-tine."

After all, it could be the practice enhancement drugs or something else within her body. Her body wasn't acting like this a week ago.

"-entine."

Or maybe she got exposed to too much of the theonite crystal supply they had in one of the storage rooms. She did hear that they tend to leave some unwanted side effects to a few unfortunate souls.

"Valentine?"

There is also that slim possibility that she-

"VALERIE!"

Valentine jumped, snapping her head in the direction of the yell. Right behind her was Christmas, she had replaced her usual tight cross-circle braid with a ponytail and she was wearing some casual clothing. Which mostly consisted of a short sleeved shirt and denim shorts. The fair-skinned woman was giving an unamused look to Valentine with her beautiful magenta eyes. Her scar over her left eye would have given more of a fierce appearance if Valentine wasn't used to it by now. Behind her with the door open was her husband, Brian who aimed a sheepish look of apology towards her.

"Valentine, this is the sixth attempt it took to get your attention. What is it that is bothering you so much?"

Valentine immediately snapped into attention, "Oh, apologies. I was just thinking of some possible theories about the connection between the Skullheart and the Skullgirl."

Christmas didn't look convinced one bit, "Well, if you have time to space out about theories. Then you definitely have time to start on your nightly duties."

A sigh escaped Valentine's mouth, "Yes, ma'am."

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow, Valerie. Good night."

"G'night you two." Valentine stood up and started walking over to her station. A list of the supplies that she will need is already forming in her head. And while quickly calculating the supplies she needed, it did little to control the growing knot of fear growing in the pits of her stomach.

Hallow blinked in surprise, "Wha? Val's staying? I thought she was complaining about too much paperwork since the meeting."

"Well, may'be she changed 'er mind", Patty brought her two cents as Easter looked between the two and then back to their leader. Who had told them that their team's second-in-command had decided to stay the night at the lab.

Needless to say, this left Valentine's best friend confused. Midway through the day she and Valentine were conversing (and somewhat complaining). Mostly about how these next three to four months were going to be repetitive and dull rather quickly. With and without the intense sparring practices and Treats they try out.

So why did she stay? There was not really much to look over besides the old documents hanging around and gathering dust in the old Lab cabinets. And most of the hypotheses that get discussed often have some loopholes or leave more questions than answers.

As the group started to go back to their homes, Hallow's walking pace was slow and unsure. She looked back at the ASG Labs over her shoulders, her eyes slightly crunched in uneasiness before hesitantly following the ladies.

Valentine did not waste time, she gathered the necessary equipment and headed to her work station. Less than ten people decided to stay at the labs tonight which she took great advantage of. She wasn't going to waste a single second. The few co-workers that she saw gave a wave which she quickly returned half-heartedly.

Once she entered her personal lab, Valentine locked the door and set the supplies on the medical table. The first few things that she grabbed were a small syringe, some cleaning alcohol, and small sample disks.

Valentine did a second count before taking care to clean the needle. Afterwards, she wiped her own arm and found a good vein to gather a good amount of blood. She didn't even feel the pinch once she was done, those practice enhancement drugs really were something else. Then she grabbed the small sample disks and filled varying amounts of her own blood. Being absolutely careful not to spill a drop.

Valentine reached for one of her blood samples before she stopped, hand hovering over the tiny container. Hesitation was growing at the bottom of her belly making ugly knots of uncertainty. She was pretty sure that another feeling that was developing was guilt. Though it has been a while since she felt that emotion. Victor and Christmas had not known any better when she said to them that she wanted to do additional research for the night before going home.

That was not the whole truth. All day Valentine had recognized the symptoms that she had. Sure she was testing some new enhancement drugs and a few of Hallow's new Treats-though it didn't add up. The enhancement drug effects never lasted all day, most were minor instances that only lasted a few minutes-twenty minutes at best. Everyone in Lab 7 was told to go easy and only ingest or test small doses to see the effects. Last time Valentine checked, she tried about fifteen enhancement drugs with Hallow. Along with a small and light sparring session with said woman. While it could be...that, it might be something in one of the practice enhancement drugs she and her team made. But if it was what she thinks it is. Then-

Valentine lightly shook her head, You are Valerie 'Valentine', second in command of The Last Hope. You are not going to let whatever this is scare you!

Enough hesitation and thoughts forming, Valentine grabbed two of the small samples she had grabbed and placed it near a microscope. Then she grabbed the rest and placed it near the chemicals she had mixed earlier with Hallow. Firstly, she poured some chemicals into one of the small samples and left the other sample alone. Hesitation started to seep into her brain and stomach again so she let the blood settle with the chemicals.

Valentine mentally berated herself as she tested her own blood with varying chemicals but refused to look at the first sample. Why was she hesitating? Was she afraid of the answer she was going to get? Maybe she was only doing tonight's research to distract herself from her possible hypothesis? If so, why did she even bother staying at the Labs? Was she jumping to conclusions?

It took about two hours before Valentine had enough courage to face the music. Normally, she wouldn't procrastinate this long on a subject that was bugging her. But...but this didn't seem that important. Or at least, that is what she kept telling herself as she worked on the other samples but the untouched blood.

Valentine rapidly tapped her foot against the floor, her fingers even joined the rhythm game by tapping after one after another. She peeked her only good eye in the microscope lens and slowly took in the information. From what she learned, women develop a higher human chorionic gonadotropin when they are...expecting. Considering that she studied all that she could about nursing and whatnot. She pushed herself to even see the slightest difference in a patient's health just by observation. So when she saw that her blood had a slight increase of hCG her heart stopped for two seconds. It was-

Positive...

Slowly backing away from the microscope, all Valentine could do was press her back against the wall and gently slide down to the floor. At that moment, she wasn't sure if she should cry or let out a shaky breath. All she could do was tilt her head upwards and stare blankly at the ceiling.

It was the only thing that comforted her at the moment.

And that was chapter 2! Let's wrap it up for now!

Valentine finds out that she is pregnant! Dun dun dun! Okay, maybe this reveal is a bit too soon. But with her being an ASG soldier/ninja/nurse, this is serious in many aspects. I feel like in the Skullgirls, there are consequences no matter your good, bad, or morally gray intentions. Or maybe it is just me.

Anyways, I hoped you enjoyed the story! Let me know what you think and leave a review!

I...do not know when the third chapter is going to be done. I am trying to figure that one out. Granted, I do have something of an outline to follow. But it is going to take me more time because I feel like I rushed on this chapter a bit. It does feel a little off to me.

I'm just going to stop rambling and bid you all a good day or night!