Welp! I'm finally out of work experience! Shame, I liked those kids. I'm still a little tired, but thankfully this chapter was written before I started work experience, so it's not dulled down by exhaustion. Enjoy!

Oh, and I think that one-shot series is going to be out soon. In fact, there's two series coming out! One is focused on one particular AU I came up with, and the other is just general one-shots.

Chapter 22 – You're Not Getting Out!

"Skulduggery. Hey, Skull. Skulduggery! Wake up, you lazy bag of bones!"

Skulduggery started awake. "Huh, what?!"

Rolling her eyes, Valkyrie got ready to exit the car. "He's just left the building," she said slowly, talking as if he were five. "I'm going to pursue him and catch him. Wait here. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Yes," Skulduggery muttered, scowling at his partner in annoyance. It was the second full moon since he'd been resurrected, and he was taking cases again, much to his relief. However, tonight wasn't an ideal night. He missed Erskine already, and he'd only been out for a few hours.

"Good. Now wait here, unless you want me to have a new wolf-skin rug, werewolf boy."

Skulduggery refused to answer as Valkyrie exited the car and hid in the shadows, just out of sight of the target; an ugly, unpleasant man with cruel eyes, a bad comb over and a horribly unfashionable jacket. He also needed a shave.

Wait…

Eyes narrowed, Skulduggery observed the man a little more. He looked familiar.

'It's him,' Vile snarled.

Blazing rage burned through Skulduggery's blood. His eyes glowed with feral rage, and before he realised what he was doing, he darted out of the car and charged towards the gaol warden.

"Skulduggery!" Valkyrie shouted as he ran past. "What the fuck?!"

Hardly bothering to heed Valkyrie's call, Skulduggery cannoned into the man with a roar, bringing him down and gripping him by the front of his shirt.

"Why did you do it?!" he screeched, bringing his fist back and bringing it crashing into his face. He punched him again and again, completely ignoring the bastard's cries for mercy and Valkyrie yelling for him to stop. In the back of his mind, Vile was cheering him on and slowly edging towards the gradually degrading bars of his cage. "What the fuck possessed you to do such a thing?!"

Valkyrie moved forward, grabbing Skulduggery's fist and holding it back. Immediately, the detective whipped round to look at her, and she was shocked by the rabid look in his purple eyes. Shadows were creeping from beneath his suit, and his face was twisted into a deranged look of hatred and anger.

"That's enough!" Valkyrie shouted, scowling back at him and hoping her eyes weren't betraying the fear she felt deep down.

Skulduggery continued to glare at her, his breathing laboured, body shaking with adrenaline and forehead sweating. Gradually, the frenzied look in his eyes faded, replaced with fear and horror. Looking down at the shadows, he leapt up and ran from sight. The man that Valkyrie had been intending to take down and escort to the Sanctuary for questioning got up and fled immediately. Great…

Frowning, Valkyrie turned and followed after Skulduggery, eventually finding him collapsed in an alley, shaking and muttering fearfully.

"You're not getting out," he murmured, shaking his head. "You're not. You… you are not getting out."

Immediately, Valkyrie felt concern replacing the annoyance, and she cautiously knelt down beside him. The shadows continued to flicker across his shivering form, and he was still telling Vile he wasn't getting out.

"Skulduggery," she said, shaking his shoulder. "Come on, we need to go. Vile isn't getting out any time soon."

Eventually, Skulduggery stopped shivering, and pulled himself up onto his feet. He looked ill and fatigued; perhaps a little vulnerable; but at least the shadows were gone.

"Let's go. And you're explaining this to China, by the way."

"What the hell were you thinking?!"

Skulduggery sighed. "I wasn't," he said. "I just… saw him, and… I lost it. It was as if Vile had control."

"Why?!" Valkyrie yelled, throwing her hands in the air in frustration. Then she remembered she was driving and quickly returned her hands to the steering wheel.

"He was the one who started putting Erskine through that abuse. I couldn't just let that slide!"

Valkyrie winced, but held her ground. "You could have put him to justice in a trial!" she countered. "Now he's gotten away, and we're no closer to getting him and the rest of those dealers!"

Sighing, Skulduggery slumped back in his seat. "I'm sorry," he murmured.

"You'd better be. Skulduggery, I'm working to get your wages, too, you know."

"I know."

There was a moment of silence. "Shall we get takeaway for dinner?"

"Okay."

"Indian?"

"Sounds good."

Erskine was found in the living room, drawing in a (reasonably) new sketchbook. Clarity had given it to him after remembering how he used to pass the time during the war by drawing. Until now, he hadn't used it. Beside him, scribbling contently in a big pad of A4 paper, was Wolf. Glancing over, Erskine saw that he was drawing a brown dog. Or maybe it was a wolf. Either way, it was cute.

Suddenly, the front door swung open. "We got dinner!" Valkyrie yelled as she marched in. A second set of footsteps told Erskine that Skulduggery was entering as well.

His assumption was confirmed when a dejected-looking Skulduggery trudged in and sat down next to Erskine, immediately curling up and huddling up to him.

"I messed up," he said quietly.

"What do you mean?" Erskine asked, putting down the sketchbook and pencil in his hands.

"We had a shot at catching that… I can't say it around Wolf, someone would hit me; probably Valkyrie or Clarity, maybe you… the warden of that gaol."

Erskine's blood ran cold, and he had to fight to stop himself from shaking.

"But I just had to lose my temper and try battering him," Skulduggery grumbled, nuzzling the crook of Erskine's neck softly. "Now he's still out there, and we're no closer to putting him behind bars. For what he did, and dealing sorcerers' drugs to mortals."

"You'll get him," Erskine whispered. "I know you will."

"If I don't lose it again. Valkyrie was not impressed."

"I bet she wasn't. What did she get for dinner, by the way?"

"Indian, I think. I wasn't listening."

"You are such a good detective."

"And you are wonderfully sarcastic, my love."

A short laugh escaped Erskine, and he rested his head in Skulduggery's shoulder. "I'm hungry, we should go get some food from the kitchen," he said.

"Agreed. I just hope Valkyrie isn't holding a grudge. Come on."