Okay, so more stuff you'll no doubt hate me for, and some childhood memories! Seriously, I piled in nostalgia towards the end.

Enjoy, and be sure to leave a review!

Chapter 10 – These Scars Remain

Erskine looked at himself in the mirror, taking in the tapestry of scars that littered his upper body. He couldn't remember a time before this when he'd had so many, not even after the war.

Feeling sick to his stomach, he picked up the dark green turtleneck he'd chosen to wear, and slipped it on, making sure the collar obscured the scars on his neck. Funny; how he'd absolutely despised turtlenecks before all this. Probably because they'd made him feel like his air supply was being cut off. Now they provided him with a sense of security and hid away the torturous memories.

He couldn't help but feel ashamed. The others had scars (Ghastly being no exception), but their scars were like trophies, proof they'd suffered hardships to benefit everyone else. His, though… his afflictions were a harsh reminder of how he'd let himself…

Erskine shuddered violently, wrapping his arms around himself and trying to halt the oncoming panic attack. No, he wouldn't think about it. He wouldn't freak out over a memory. Breathe. In. Out. In. Out.

He tried to remember something else. Something that would calm him down and tear his thoughts away from… from that.

Nothing. All his memories were fraught with overwhelming fear, guilt, despair, anger, jealousy, or all of the listed emotions including more. Not even memories of carefree, late-night jaunts to the local tavern with his friends were free of them. There was always something in the back of his head, spiting him, making him resent those around him. It was a wonder he'd gotten this far without snapping completely.

He'd have to make something up. Think of something he'd wanted his whole life, something that… made him feel accomplished, complete and satisfied with himself.

There. There it was. A smile, eyes full of trust and love, untainted innocence throughout. The chance to watch a life grow and blossom, a life he needed in his just as much as they needed him. An opportunity to show them the world, and perhaps find something in himself that he hadn't known was there.

Erskine smiled, and relaxed as the wave of panic broke just short of the shores of his emotions. Crisis averted.

The smile suddenly fell away as he thought of his dream. It was something he'd never achieve. Not any more. Not after what he'd done.

He felt tears coming on. Oh, god, not now…

After a few minutes of rapid blinking and deep breathing, Erskine managed to calm his roiling emotions, and left the RV, putting up a mask of calm that he hoped would stand for the rest of the day.

Skulduggery slept in until midday, and when he finally woke up, he still looked like a zombie with nervous ticks, but there was a light in his eyes that wasn't there before. After managing to eat and hold down two bowls of soup, he spent most of the afternoon sprawled out on the couch and watching Disney movies with the Pups. In reality, he actually just dozed through most of them whilst the Pups watched, and Dexter had the audacity to sing along with Pinocchio.

Valkyrie noticed that he was being more hospitable towards Erskine. Nothing drastic, just simple gestures; a respectful nod, sometimes even a pat on the back.

Later in the afternoon, Clarity was searching through the kitchen cupboards for food when they noticed the substantial lack of it.

"Dammit," they mumbled, closing the cupboards. "I'm going to have to do a supply run."

Writing down a list of what was needed, Clarity pulled their coat on and slipped a pair of sleek, black-framed glasses over the bridge of their nose. Immediately, the symbols etched onto the rims cast an illusion over their eyes that disguised the black sclera as natural white.

"Skulduggery," they called, poking their head round the living room door. Skulduggery was leaning back in a sofa, one arm laid out on the backrest, with Wolf sat next to him. 'Bambi' was playing on the television screen. "I need to go out on a supply run. Mind letting Erskine know once he gets out of the shower?"

"Sure. How long do you think you'll be gone?"

"An hour, maybe? I should get going now, before the shops close. See you later."

"Bye."

The door slammed shut, and Skulduggery waited five minutes for Erskine to come down. When he didn't, Skulduggery stood up off the sofa, yawning and stretching his scrawny legs, grimacing when he felt the tendons pressing against his sallow skin.

Walking up the stairs was a chore. Dizziness swept over him when he reached the top, and his legs ached painfully as usual.

"Why, oh why did I have to be reanimated in this damned state?" he complained as he walked over to Erskine's bedroom door. Not thinking to knock, Skulduggery pushed open the door. "Erskine, Clar-."

"Get out!"

The door immediately slammed back into his face, forced there by a ferocious gust of air. It hit Skulduggery's nose, not hard enough to draw blood, but it hurt all the same.

However, the pain didn't stop Skulduggery from seeing what he had.

Vile was snarling in outrage, and Skulduggery had to lock him up even tighter to prevent any vestige of the maniac getting out and wreaking havoc.

"Erskine," Skulduggery said, knocking on the door loudly. "Erskine let me in."

"J-just a minute!" Erskine stressed.

Despite the constant nagging of Vile telling him to charge in, demand to know what happened and then murder whoever did this to Erskine, he waited.

When Erskine finally opened the door, a thick, light blue turtleneck covered his previously bare chest, and his golden eyes refused to meet Skulduggery's, despite the annoyance plastered on his face.

"Make sure to knock first," he said sourly. "Honestly, you have no idea what I could have been doing in there!"

"Who hurt you?" Skulduggery deadpanned.

"What're you-?"

"The scars, Erskine. You've never had that many before, so it's obvious where you got them. Who did it?"

Painfully haunted eyes met his, and Skulduggery felt Vile snarling with mixed emotions. Mostly anger.

"The warden," Erskine said quietly. "I stepped out of line, he'd beat me, and at some point – I can't remember when – he just… just started doing it all the time. Then the other prisoners…"

Skulduggery noticed the tremors in Erskine's voice, and he quickly stopped him.

"I see. And… the lack of access to your magic. That's why the scars are still there."

A nod.

Tentatively, Skulduggery opened his arms for a hug, which Erskine hesitantly returned. He was shaking beneath Skulduggery's arms. Vile's angered threats quietened as he laid back and growled in contentment. Jesus, what had gotten into the psychopath lately? And why was he feeling tingly? There had better not be something else wrong with him.

Assured that Erskine had calmed down enough that he wouldn't have an emotional breakdown, Skulduggery broke away and patted him on the shoulder, giving him a reassuring smile.

"Clarity's gone to the shops, they'll be back in an hour," he said.

"Right. Have the others got back?"

"No. Hopefully Dexter and Saracen haven't lost Husky and Dingo in Roarhaven."

"Oh, come on. They're not that bad."

"Are you willing to test that theory?"

Erskine rolled his eyes in exasperation as he followed Skulduggery downstairs. Wolf was still fixated by the movie, and only looked away from the screen when Erskine sat down and ruffled his hair gently.

"Hey, Pup," Erskine greeted cheerfully. "You enjoying the movie?"

Wolf didn't reply, but he eagerly clambered onto Erskine's lap, settling down to watch the movie once again. Content with his answer, Erskine smiled and turned his attention to the screen. He'd never taken much interest in Disney movies, but he quite liked the look of 'Bambi'. When had he first seen advertisements for it? The 40s? However long ago it was, it was ages ago. It was amazing how something so old still had such an appeal to this day. And the fact that mortals of all people had come up with this was astounding.

When the 'twitterpated' scene came up, a curious question wormed its way into Erskine's head. He tried to ignore it, but it just kept nagging and nagging at him with such urgency that he knew if he didn't ask now, he'd be left feeling twisted and confused on the inside until he did.

"Do you think you'll ever, um… you know… get together with someone?" he ventured carefully whilst Flower was literally being smitten pink by a female skunk. "Maybe try to rebuild what you had before?"

Skulduggery; who'd been staring at the screen blankly; looked up in surprise. "I… It never crossed my mind," he admitted. "Why'd you ask?"

"I think you deserve to have someone you can spend the rest of your life with. After everything you've done, you've honestly received very little in return. The most you've ever asked for is repairs for the Bentley."

Skulduggery gave him an odd look, which was quickly replaced with a saddened smile. "I don't ask for anything in return because I've already received what I want," he explained, only succeeding in confusing Erskine more.

"I don't understand. How can-?"

"I've done things I regret. The deeds I commit allow me to redeem myself for them."

Erskine just tilted his head in confusion. "What are you talking about? All you've ever done is to benefit others. The only one who has anything to regret here is me."

A frown was his only answer. "I… I don't want to talk about it," Skulduggery murmured. "Let's just watch the movie.

By the time Clarity got back, Saracen and Dexter had returned to the house, along with Valkyrie, Ghastly, Tanith and Fletcher. Apparently, Anton was due to arrive later on in the evening.

"I got beer, too," Dexter announced. "Once the Pups are in bed, then we can treat ourselves; celebrate our first successful week looking after them."

Skulduggery rolled his eyes. "Things never turn out well when you go near alcohol," he said bluntly.

"Don't think you're getting out of it, Skull," Saracen reprimanded. "Admit it, you miss the taste of alcohol."

Frowning, Skulduggery narrowed his eyes. "If I get sick tonight, I'm blaming you."

"Oh, come on. What's the worst that could happen?"

Dexter? Dexter, no. Bad Dexter!

I do believe that those will be some very famous last words.