Valkyrie was on the floor, and someone kicked her. Her body curled around the heavy boot and the breath left her. She managed to look up; all she saw was a man towering over her, face blurry and vague. He drew his foot back, and Valkyrie struggled to roll away.

Someone moved behind the man kicking her. She saw him strolling away. He wasn't holding paper. Why had she even noticed?

The foot swished over her stomach, she was on her back, covered in dust and looking at a net hanging over the floodlights. Another man fell nearby, and she heard Skulduggery's quick strides as he followed after the paperless man.

"It looks like another vampire did this," she said.

Skulduggery looked to his left, where Valkyrie supposed she was standing. Where she should be standing, but she was on the ground, next to a vampire. It didn't look like a vampire, it looked like a guy who drank tea and read books, and his throat was ripped open.

Valkyrie hopped up and frowned at the vampire.

"I still don't think we're even necessary," Skulduggery said, nudging the vampire with his foot. "No one complains when rats kill other rats."

"Wow, you're grumpy today."

Skulduggery opened his mouth, but the ground disappeared and Valkyrie dropped away from where Skulduggery was standing in thin air. Valkyrie yelled as she fell like a stone towards the water, the blue, blue water. It was suddenly a thousand degrees.

She hit the water and went under. Instead of white sand, there was endless, murky darkness. Hands clamped around her ankles and yanked her downwards. She held her breath as long as she was able, but water flooded her throat and she panicked. She could breathe under water as the stars became more distant.

Whatever was pulling her reached the bottom of the lake, and Valkyrie feet hit the mud. She blinked and she was in Ghastly's shop. Skulduggery was pulling out one of the rolls of fabric, holding it up to where Valkyrie was standing.

"You need to get a maid," Valkyrie heard herself say.

Ghastly's shop had grown a screen in the back, and the fuzzy remake ofCasablanca was playing. Skulduggery stood next to her and watched the actors gather around the piano. She had been asleep for this. A man wandered through the back of the scene, looking like he was illuminated with a stage light.

"You're going to rewatch the original. I know what you're going to do. And you're going to feel empty."

"You're really annoying."

Valkyrie looked over. It was dark, the streetlights playing orange across Skulduggery's façade. Someone in the back let out a muffled curse, and there was the wheezing of broken ribs. A terrible guitar played a note or two on the radio at random intervals.

"How can he look at you?"

The words made Valkyrie want to curl into a ball and cry. Skulduggery tensed next to her, and something about the movement made Valkyrie feel sick.

Skulduggery leaned forward and turned on the lamp on the dashboard. Valkyrie reclined her seat and her head found a pillow. She blinked up Skulduggery sitting at her side, and his head was tilted like he was listening for something.

"I know you don't sleep, but you don't have to mess up my sleep cycle too."

"I was meditating."

"So?"

He didn't answer, but he sagged. Valkyrie sat up, reached out—

The bed lurched violently, and Valkyrie fell awkwardly to her knees as the world rearranged itself around her.

How can he look at you?

The world slipped away and Valkyrie was in the Bentley, but the smell of leather was overpowering and comforting. Something whined in the back seat, but Valkyrie's eyes were on Skulduggery hands.

"Are you sure you want to come back? Not that everyone at the Sanctuary hasn't been clamoring for your presence, but I've grown used to going out on my own. You don't slow me down anymore, you know? And I get punched much less when I don't have to constantly save you."

"The last time we talked on the phone, you offered to fly over and 'pick me up."'

"I didn't expect you to actually want to come back. I thought you would let me save the world without your hindrance."

"You are such a…"

...

Valkyrie's eyes opened and Janet lurched away.

"Oh, God, sorry, sorry!" Janet rubbed her hands on her skirt. "I—"

Skulduggery stepped forward, placed a hand on Valkyrie's shoulder. She blinked up at him, her thoughts muddled like she was drinking on an empty stomach. It took her a moment to drag the last few hours together in her brain.

"Valkyrie, are you okay? You do remember you're Valkyrie, right? If you don't, I'm Skulduggery, and you're my combat accessory, and you need me to help you figure things out, because you're rather—"

Valkyrie laughed. "What, rather slow? You need a new joke."

"You might not remember right now, but you find me hilarious."

Valkyrie focused on Janet. She was still wiping her hands on her skirt, looking between Skulduggery and Valkyrie like she expected them to bite her head off. When she caught Valkyrie looking at her, Janet stilled her hands.

"I'm sorry."

A headache was starting to spread from her temples. Valkyrie grimaced. "How far deep in my head did you go?"

"I—I didn't mean to. I was, well, I was going back through your memories and then I…" She looked at Skulduggery quickly. "Well, I panicked, and your brain sort of took over, and I pushed it a little further than I meant to get away from the memory and…" Janet took a quick breath.

Skulduggery's hand hadn't moved from her shoulder. "What is this memory we're all dancing around?"

"It's when you had a nightmare that one time." Valkyrie looked back at Janet. "Was there anything unusual? Out of place? Janet, focus."

Janet opened her mouth and then shut it. She squeezed her fingers in one hand; Valkyrie wanted to tie her hands together. Maybe it would help the girl calm down. Skulduggery seemed to be having the same thought, and he snapped his fingers.

Janet blinked. "Okay, well, I don't think so? Everything seemed normal. The details on the memories from the prisoners match up to your timeline. There was the expected amount of detail loss with a fight."

Valkyrie raised an eyebrow. "But…?"

"Well, it's just that it… it felt jumpy." Janet frowned. "If I could get another poke around, I might be able to tell more. But it felt like you were missing something. Something big, but you—you were just missing something." And almost to her self, "And you seemed so sad…"

"Sad?" Skulduggery asked.

Janet blinked. "I don't know why. But the further back I got. And Alice?"

Valkyrie's stomach lurched. "What about Alice?"

"I, I mean I don't know. You were thinking about Alice. In the pool?"

"I thought we told you to only look around the cases," Valkyrie snapped, impatience getting the better of her. Janet recoiled "Sorry. Thank you, for doing that."

Janet smiled uneasily. "Did I help?"

Valkyrie stood. "We'll see. We'll give you a call if we need anything else."

China met them back at her throne room. She seemed annoyed as she ordered people in and out. There seemed to be endless groups of people who huddled at the doorway and sent in representatives to speak quickly with China. Finally, when the rush died down, she turned to Skulduggery and Valkyrie.

She smiled. "Any more good news?"

Skulduggery straightened. "Not at all. Convivial the Sensitive has looked through Valkyrie's mind, and according to her memories, there were in fact prisoners brought here. Since Valkyrie and I share the same memories, I can't help but think it's the Sanctuary that's been tampered with."

"That's a little egotistical, even for you. It's you two against just about everyone else."

Skulduggery shrugged. "I have a fancy brain. No one I've encountered has been able to influence my thoughts, so I'm working off of that assumption. Has anyone corroborated with our version of events?"

China leaned back slightly in her chair, and Valkyrie watched the way she forcibly relaxed her posture. "No one. I have people making calls to those on vacation or who weren't in the past few days, but no one seems to remember your string of adventures."

"And the lockdown?"

China sighed, ever so slightly. "There's no need. Whoever it was you brought in is long gone. All confidential material has been restricted to those only essential and who I have the upmost faith in."

Skulduggery tilted his head.

"And by faith, I mean sigils binding them to me." China smiled. "Solve this mystery for me, if you would, detectives."

Valkyrie led the way through the Sanctuary, not really thinking about where she was going. Skulduggery kept pace with her, eventually touching her elbow and gesturing towards a hallway. Valkyrie grunted and turned down it.

It was one of the numerous exits out of the Sanctuary, tucked away and probably hidden when foreign dignitaries visited. Valkyrie opened it and walked out into an oven. She let out a groan and slowed her walk.

"You're upset," Skulduggery commented, leading slowly back to the Bentley.

"What gave it away?"

"You didn't have that same skip in your step."

"Why did you ask her?" Valkyrie muttered. "She's petrified of going into people's heads. We couldn't have asked, I don't know, anyone else?" She reached up and touched her forehead. "My head's pounding."

Skulduggery shrugged. "She's powerful. Finbar and Cassandra specialize in other areas. Convivial—"

"Janet."

"Is one of the best potentials in her field."

Valkyrie scowled. "She hurt my head."

"I'm sure you'll recover. Of course, now we know that you might also be compromised. So we begin the fun process of screening you to make sure you're actually Valkyrie Cain, and not an imposter."

"I'm still grumpy."

"I'm still hilarious. What memories did she go over?"

Valkyrie opened the Bentley's door and sat down. She closed her eyes and concentrated, gritted her teeth. Skulduggery started the car and moved it smoothly out of the parking lot. Valkyrie turned on the air conditioner and aimed the vents at her face, hoping the cold would drive away the headache.

"The cave, the vampire, the Bahamas, Ghastly, the movie…" Valkyrie opened her eyes, glanced at Skulduggery. "Did I miss any? Is that chronological?"

Skulduggery tilted his head back and forth. "Yes. At least according to—"

"Oh, wait." Valkyrie chewed her lip. "That guy in the cave didn't bring the paper with him. All that paper on the desk? It was there when we started fighting, but the guy left it."

Skulduggery glanced over at her. "You interrupted me."

Valkyrie couldn't help the corner of her mouth that rose. "Yeah?"

"So, you are compromised."

"Just because I didn't see him bring the paper with him doesn't mean it wasn't there. Maybe my memory just altered it because you said you didn't see any paper." Valkyrie wiggled her fingers.

"And there was something else Janet wasn't telling us. We'll figure out what that is later, but what it means is that we have to go on my memory of events alone. You can help, of course, but we have to take everything you remember with a grain of salt." He considered. "You could hold things for me."

"What?"

"Like a helpful table that can walk after me. And punch people."

Valkyrie smiled. "Thanks." Valkyrie sank down in the seat, sweating despite her clothes. "I wonder what else she saw in my head."

"It scared her."

"It did? I don't think I'm that scary. We didn't even punch anyone in the…" Valkyrie ran over the resurfaced memories. "I… don't think. I don't know when some of these are from." Her head throbbed. "God, why do I feel like we've been through this already?"

"In what way?"

"I'm not sure. Déjà vu. Happened this morning, too."

Skulduggery shook his head sadly. "Compromised."

"Ugh. More people with their fingers in my head. Everyone's heads. Is there even a Sensitive powerful enough to wipe the whole Sanctuary's memory? That's… That's pretty crazy."

"Considering they also got to the paperwork without anyone noticing them, and they also managed to bypass the Cleavers' helmets, we're looking at a group of very coordinated people with intent unknown. Possibly powerful Sensitives."

"But what's the point? They aren't stealing anything, and they aren't killing anyone really, they're just, like, messing with us." Valkyrie sighed. "So, what, we're checking the cave, China is checking the Sanctuary. What if nothing turns up?"

Skulduggery turned on the radio. "We work the case."

"I guess we could cross-reference everyone's memories, check to see if Tanith or Fletcher remember things differently. See if Tanith gets any information. But even then, everyone might just not remember." Valkyrie changed the radio station before Skulduggery could stop her. "This is annoying."

"Very."

"How far back do you think it goes? Can we even figure that out?"

Skulduggery didn't answer for a moment. "We'll call Finbar."

...

Valkyrie opened her eyes and cursed. She had fallen asleep, and Skulduggery had abandoned her with the car. She ripped off her jacket and threw it in the backseat. She opened the door and slid out, scowling when the air was no cooler.

She trudged over to Skulduggery, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. She opened her mouth to say something but froze.

"You're kidding me."

The cave was gone.

Thoughts, theories, and comments welcome! :D

They help me write faster, and I love seeing what you guys have to say. ^^