A/N: Okay, just to let you know, in my head, Thurid Guild didn't know Ghastly before he turned into a statue. Because Guild is stupid like that, and buys cheap suits. Okay? Just wanted to get that out there. Enjoy!

Chapter 9

Ghastly extended his hand for Tanith to take it, but she was just sitting there, staring at him. God, she was just as beautiful as she had been the last time he saw her, which hadn't even been that long ago for him. It was like in the blink of an eye he went from kneeling on the ground of that alleyway to kneeling in the Sanctuary. He didn't know how long had gone past, or what she was doing here, or who the hell the blonde maniac groaning on the ground was, but Tanith was here. And that was all that mattered. But what was she staring at?

Tanith looked at Ghastly. After all this time, after all those tears and nightmares and wishs, he was here in front of her, the statue she had kissed a little over fifteen minutes ago. He was looking at her anxiously now, maybe wondering if she was mentally stunned or something. She decided to prove him wrong, and took his hand.

Ghastly helped her to her feet, and saw her shiver slightly. He, himself, felt cold. He couldn't remember anything about being a statue, but felt cold and stiff now. Her hand felt wonderfully warm and soft in his. He looked into her hazel eyes, so warm and green and astonished at the moment. Then, finally, she spoke.

"How...how are you..." she began to ask, then she faltered. He chuckled. God, it must have been a long time. Her voice was the same, an East-London accent, but hearing it felt so good.

"How am I here?" he suggested. Tanith nodded in agreement, then hesitated.

"Well...I was going to ask, um, how are you...destoned. But okay, yours is good."

He chuckled again, at the blush on her cheeks as much as at her comment. Then he shrugged.

"I...woke up, I suppose," he replied. "I heard the commotion outside and thought I'd see what was happening."

He smiled at her and Tanith felt her heart flip. A smile that was partly ruined by the blood red scars that carved their way through the flesh of his face. Even now, it was hard to say whether he would have been handsome or not without the scars. But she had faith. Tanith shook head head, to keep her thoughts in perspective.

"But, how..." Again, she struggled. What she was thinking was, how could he have woken up so soon after she had visited him? When she was there she had noticed no sign of him transforming, no change to the stone encasement, no difference to the touch...

She was staring at him again, her eyes confused. Was she disappointed he was back? Was she scared? What was she thinking? Was the guy he had just punched a friend of hers, a 'particular type' of friend, whom she had been playing with? Then she met his eye again, and smiled a gorgeous smile.

"Never mind," she said cheerfully, letting go of the hand she was still holding. "It's good to have you back, Ghastly." And she really meant it. Ghastly beamed at her.

They heard a grunt from a few feet away and suddenly remembered that they were not the only two people in this corridor. They turned to see Sanguine rising to his feet with the stiffness of an eighty year old mortal. He groaned in complaint once more, and then he spotted Ghastly. Aw, crap, Tanith thought as she saw that grin form on his face.

"Well now," he said, his voice brightening up to its usual Texan tone. "Who do we have here?"

He nodded towards Tanith, still looking at Ghastly. "You her protector?"

Anger bubbled inside Tanith. Oh, she did not need this right now.

"Oh you know perfectly well that I don't need protecting," she began, stepping forward to sock him one, but Ghastly held out an arm to block her. He looked Sanguine up and down cautiously, as if wondering what to make of him.

And Ghastly was. This man was blonde, kind of good-looking and Texan, by the sounds of it. Ghastly didn't like him already.

"And, who might be asking?" he asked coldly.

The man straightened up, his chest puffing out. Ghastly almost raised an eyebrow.

"Billy-Ray Sanguine," he announced smugly. "Master of all manner of unpleasant deaths and purveyor of cruel and unusual punishments. I also do some muscle for hire and a nice little sideline in mercenary work. I'm very, very expensive and I'm very, very-"

Full of it, Ghastly thought to himself with a roll of his eyes. And a clench of his fist. Billy-Ray Sanguine was on the floor from Ghastly's punch before he could finish. Tanith was loving this.

Ghastly straightened up from his fighting pose and turned to Tanith. "He talks alot," he stated.

Tanith grinned, then softened into a smirk and shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah, I think it's because he's in love with his own voice," she replied lightly. Before Ghastly could laugh, Sanguine was on his feet to retort.

"Hey! I don't appreciate that!" he complained. He turned his attention to Ghastly and put his hands on his hips. "An' you've only just met me, Scarface. What the hell happened? You get into a fight with a lawnmower an' lose?"

Ghastly was silent. Tanith looked at him and wondered if he was thinking up a witty retort, or if he was actually insulted by Sanguine's remark. Then he turned to her, with a slightly intrigued look on his face. He gestured at Sanguine with his thumb and leant towards Tanith.

"He has no eyes," he stated in a stage-whisper. Tanith pursed her lips to stop herself from laughing, and shook her head.

"Nope," she answered simply.

"But he can still see?"

"It's a strange world."

"Mmm, full of rats."

"And moles."

"Moles?"

"You'll see..."

"Hey!" Sanguine cried, waving his arms around, aggravated. "Am I still here or what?"

"Nope." Tanith and Ghastly both said, swinging their fists at him and sending him down the corridor. He hit the ground hard and fell silent. Tanith turned to look at Ghastly, a grin on her face. The broken lines that were his eyebrows were furrowed, and he was frowning, somewhat awkwardly. He looked at Tanith, sounding slightly sheepish.

"Um, he wasn't a friend of yours, was he?" he asked. Tanith raised an eyebrow.

"Um, no, Ghastly. He wasn't."

"Okay, just checking. I, uh, got the impression he wasn't anyway..."

"Well I'm glad you got the right impression then." Tanith grinned broadly. Ghastly smiled back his crooked smile. Their smiles dropped slightly as they realised how close and how alone they were. Tanith stared at Ghastly's ruined face, her heart pumping again. She saw his own blue eyes gaze over her own face, then they stopped on her lips. Her heart thumped. She cleared her throat.

"Well, um, we should probably get this guy to the authorities," she suggested, and Ghastly nodded quickly.

"Yep," he said swifly. "Good idea." They walked over to Sanguine together.

A minute later they were hauling him out, semi-consious, lifting an arm each. Ghastly looked over at Tanith. He hair was unbelievably messy, not necessarily because of the fight with this 'master of unpleasant deaths', but it was so golden and precious looking that he forgave her for that. China Sorrows would probably hate it, being the raven-haired, fashion goddess that she was, but Ghastly certainly didn't.

"So, how long was I gone for?" he asked, getting his train of thought back on track.

"Two years," she replied hesitantly.

"Two years," Ghastly repeated, taking that in. He nodded. "That's not so bad."

"It's not so good either," Tanith said, smiling, "You missed alot of fun."

"I'll have to make up for that, then." Ghastly smiled at Tanith and Tanith smiled back. Then, from up the hall came the pounding of leather on carpet. Tanith and Ghastly both looked foward in time to see a herd of grey Cleavers running towards them, scythes out and at the ready. They dropped Sanguine with a thud and put their hands in the air, giving a signal of surrender.

"Ow," Sanguine moaned, then lifted his head and saw the Cleavers.

"Aw, crap," he muttered.

"You said it, Sanguine," Tanith muttered. The Cleavers surrounded them, forming a clustered circle. Two Cleavers came behind Tanith, binding her hands behind her back. She looked over at Ghastly, who was being bound by another pair of Cleavers. He caught her eye and shrugged, as if to say "Just go along with it." Tanith nodded. That was a good plan. Two Cleavers hauled Sanguine up under the arms, and dragged him forward. Tanith and Ghastly were nudged and marched forward, possibly towards the holding cells or to meet the Grand Mage. Things weren't looking very good. Sanguine was the only one who broke the silence as they began being marched up the hall.

"Hey, if someone could just put my shades back on for me, that'd be great..."

GXTXGXTXGXTXGXTXGXTXGXTXGXTXGXTXGXTXGXTXGXTXGXTXGXTXGXTXG

"This is insane! Unthinkable! Unbelievable! Three intruders in one night. Three! God, I'm getting too old for this job. This is a disaster!"

The Grand Mage, Thurid Guild, ranted on and on, pacing backwards and forwards in front of the three captives. Ghastly, Tanith and Sanguine sat in a row with their hands bound behind their backs in the dimly lit conference room, two Cleavers either side of each of them. Tanith and Ghastly were on edge because of this and their past experiences with Cleavers, although Sanguine was the one with two scythes crossed in front of his chest, sunglasses back on. As Guild ranted, Ghastly leant left to mutter in Tanith's ear.

"So this is the new Grand Mage?"

Tanith fought the urge to giggle. "Yes. Yes it is."

"Right. And, Brian Cowen's the new Taoiseach?"

"Yup."

"And the country has sunken into a state of depression?"

"Re-cession, but basically, yes."

Ghastly was silent for a moment, then whispered.

"Damn. I mean, the Brian Cowen thing's okay, but this is the magical community's leader? I'm gone for two years and the country goes to pot."

Before Tanith could struggle to contain a laugh, Thurid Guild turned sharply to face them.

"Right, you three," he began, low and menacing, "I hope you all realise the serious trouble you are in."

Tanith almost laughed. It was like being back in school again, in trouble for fighting.

"Brawling in the corridors, staining the carpeting...have, you, no, shame?"

Ghastly was astounded that a guy this ridiculous could get into politics. As soon as he thought this, however, he felt unbelievably naive.

"You there," he spat at Ghastly, stepping toward him. "I don't know who you are or where you've come from, but you were found in the hallways, with this man unconsious and battered-" He pointed at Sanguine who was just sitting there, "-and even if he is a low-life also, you have some explaining to do. So go on! What is your name?"

A spray of spit flew from Guild's mouth as he exclaimed this, causing Ghastly to turn his head away at the last minute, so that the saliva hit his cheek. He stayed in that position, blinking in repulsion for a moment, then with a hint of a smile on his mouth, he turned back to face Guild and replied, politely.

"My name is Ghastly Bespoke, sir, and I have spent the last two years in the Hall of Statues."

"Oh really!" Guild explained again, sarcastically. "Oh-ho, well! I don't believe I've ever even heard of a Ghastly Bespoke, let alone hired him to work in my Hall of Statues!"

"Forgive me, Grand Mage, but I never actually said I worked there."

Guild was about to sneer back some come-back, when he seemed to look at Ghastly for the first time. He looked at his face, his clothing, and pictured him in grey.

"You're the, uh..."

"Yes," Ghastly said with a nod and a smile. "Yes I am."

"The, uh, the statue..."

"Yep, you're correct."

Guild stared at him with wide grey eyes for a moment, and a bright red face, then moved swiftly on. Ghastly chuckled as he turned on Tanith.

"Miss Low," Guild began, injecting a little more sneer into his voice. "What might you, of all people, be doing here, of all places, in the middle of the night like this? Why, might I ask, are you even in the country?"

Tanith blinked at him. Thurid Guild didn't like her. Maybe it was because she was a friend of Skulduggery's, maybe it was because she was English, but he always liked to use her nationality against her. Him being Irish, she could understand that from a historical point of view, but no. That wasn't it. Guild liked to display false patriotism. He just didn't like her.

Tanith's eyes went hard, and she smiled at him sweetly.

"I'm sorry sir, I didn't realise I needed the Grand Mage's permission to enter the country," she answered coldly and firmly. Guild seemed taken back, and stood there, blinking at her, and then moved on, muttering. Then he moved onto Sanguine, who had been unusually quiet.

"And you," Guild sneered "The last of the three amigos."

Sanguine raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"Would you do us the honour of introducing yourself?"

Tanith and Ghastly both cringed, anxiously awaiting the full-blown introduction.

"Billy-Ray Sanguine, sir," was all that came out of Sanguine's trap. Tanith and Ghastly leant in, waiting for more, but Sanguine fell silent. Tanith raised an eyebrow of her own.

"That's it?" she asked. Sanguine turned.

"Yes, ma'am, that's it," he said, and looked forward again. Tanith frowned. What the hell was up with him?

"Well Mr Sanguine," Guild proclaimed dramatically. "If that's even your real name..."

"You have my word, good sir, it is," Sanguine replied, in a way that made it sound as though he'd be rolling his eyes if he had any.

"Right, well, Mr Sanguine, can you give any explanation as to the cause of such a grizzly, shameless fight as the one that took place in my..." Guild stopped suddenly and stared at Sanguine, as if a new thought had occurred to him. Then he asked, slowly,

"Why are you wearing sunglasses, in the middle of the night?"

Sanguine smirked. "'Cause I need them."

"Oh really," Guild said with that same old arrogance. He stepped forward "Well, we'll just see about-"

Guild whipped off Sanguine's glasses then dropped them on the floor and yelped as he saw the two, blank holes where his eyes should have been.

"Where are your-" Guild was about to squeak, then stopped himself just in time.

"My what?"

"N-nothing..."

Sanguine slowly stuck his right hand out, and seemed to feel around in the air for a moment. Tanith was about to ask him what the hell he was doing when his hand grasped her left knee suddenly. Tanith yelped.

"Oh, I'm sorry ma'am," he said, turning to her slightly as she gazed at him in horror, "I was just checkin' to see if you was still there."

Tanith stared at him in disbelief, mouth open wide enough to catch some flies. "Yes, of course I'm still here, you freak!" she blurted out.

"Miss Low!" Guild cried out.

Tanith turned to him sharply. "What!"

"Don't you have any sense of decency?"

"Huh?"

"How could you fight a man in his...condition?"

Tanith stared at Guild, stared at the eyeless wonder, and realised. She ducked her head and smirked as she realised Sanguine's game. Holy shit, men were so stupid...

Ghastly got the blind gag at the same time as Tanith, and struggled not to smile. "Um, actually, Grand Mage, he does have some fighting ability. You know, for someone of his...condition." He turned to mutter in Tanith's ear "Not that I've seen much."

Tanith laughed aloud and shook her head, addressing the Grand Mage. "But actually sir, he is quite a fighter, even for someone of his...condition."

"Tch, well!" Sanguine scoffed, flicking his hair. "Shucks, I mean, I guess I'm okay."

"Shut the fuck up, Sanguine," Tanith replied bluntly.

"You shut the fuck up, blondie!"

"Who are you calling blondie, old Yellow Hair?" Ghastly sniped angrily.

"'Custer of the West' quotes aside, I'm the poor unfortunate blind Texan, ain't I?"

"Wait, then how can you tell if she's blonde or not?" Guild asked, puzzled.

"Tch, well you've heard her speak, havn't ya? It's obvious..."

"Oh my God..."

"Shush up, blondie, ya here?"

"Watch your mouth and quit calling her blondie if you know what's good for you Sanguine!"

"You do realise that you just told a guy without eyes to watch his mouth, right?"

The Cleavers behind the three squabblers didn't know what to do except look at each other through their visored helmets. Guild didn't know what to do either, as the three were becoming ever more ridiculous and were now laughing together. He stood there, helpless, looking from Low to Sanguine to Bespoke. Just in time, through the mahogany doors of the conference hall, came Mr Bliss, tall, broad and elegant. Guild whipped around, saved. If anyone could put a stop to this nonsense, it was Bliss.

"Mr Bliss," Guild greeted, stepping over to take his colleagues hand. Bliss just looked down at Guild's outstretched chubby fingers.

"I was called in because there was some crisis, Grand Mage," Bliss said calmly, looking at the three captives. They were laughing so hard for some reason that they were almost falling on top of each other. A scar-faced Irishman, a blonde Londoner and visually-impaired Texan. This wasn't a crisis, it was a recipe for world peace.

"Yes, there is, sir," Guild replied, again treating Bliss as if he were the boss. He gestured to the captives and they walked over.

"These three were found in the hallways by our Cleavers, fighting like a pack of wild animals.

"Alley-cat," Sanguine muttered, turning slightly to Tanith.

"Ground-hog," she replied saucily.

"Ooh, feisty. But think you mean gopher." They looked at each other strangely, then burst out laughing again. Bliss looked at them all, feeling slightly amused despite himself, then cleared his throat.

"Mr Bespoke, Miss Low, Mr Sanguine," he projected to them. They finally looked up and noticed him.

"Hey Blissie!" Sanguine greeted first, dropping the blind charade "Good ta see ya!"

"Mr Sanguine," Bliss replied with a curt nod, "I'm afraid I can't really say the same."

"Well, I shouldn't be able to say it at all, now should I?"

Bliss chose to ignore him and looked at Ghastly.

"Mr Bespoke," he greeted, bowing his head.

"Bliss," Ghastly greeted coldly. Tanith turned to him and whispered.

"It's okay, he's with us now."

"Oh," Ghastly said, looking from Tanith to Bliss. He hesitated then bowed his own head. "How are you, Mr Bliss?"

"Hmm, well," was all Bliss had to say, although almost smiling. "I see you're up and about."

"Well, I would be," Ghastly said, nodding at the Cleavers that were guarding him. "I just broke out of the Hall of Statues tonight."

"Just down the hall from where the hall commenced," Guild added.

Sanguine glanced at Ghastly at Tanith, and his mouth formed a small 'o' as he realised. The real reason that Tanith was in the Sanctuary tonight. Everything about tonight, now made sense. He said nothing.

"Well, it's good to have you back Mr Bespoke," Bliss said, adding, "I will be in touch, I'm in need of a new suit."

"As soon as I'm back in business, I'll get right on it," Ghastly replied with a smirk. Bliss signalled to the Cleavers and they unbound him. Guild looked at Bliss incredulously.

"That's it?" he whined "You're letting him go? Without even questionning him?"

Bliss nodded. "Yes."

"Why?"

"Because I'm sure Miss Low here will tell us what we need to know."

Tanith felt herself flush. Ghastly, now standing and rubbing his wrists, looked down at her. Tanith glanced at him, then found herself looking into the striking blue eyes of Mr Bliss.

"Why were you here tonight, Miss Low?"

Tanith hesitated. She more than hesitated, she was absolutely shitting herself and had no idea what to say. What could she tell him? The truth? That she had been visiting Ghastly in the Hall of Statues and crying over his stone encasement, then was attacked by Sanguine, taken totally by surprize? That would be embaressing to admit, as well as possibly getting her into serious trouble. As she tried to stare Bliss out, she had no idea what to say...

"The pretty darlin' here found me breakin' in, Mr Bliss, sir," Sanguine suddenly blurted out. Everyone turned to him.

"She decided to take it upon herself to stop me, so she stuck in, hopin' to corner me off and, well, take me down." He glanced at Tanith, then grinned and turned to Bliss. "She's funny like that."

"Mm, quite," Bliss commented, looking at Tanith warily. "Miss Low, is this true?"

Tanith looked at Sanguine with her mouth hanging open. Why was he defending her? Why was he lying for her?

"Miss Low?"

Tanith looked up at Bliss and nodded.

"She saw me trying to break in, so she followed me." Sanguine continued, then muttered and added "Interferin' Brit."

Tanith smirked and closed her eyes.

"Shut up, Tex," she muttered, then looked up at Bliss. "I apologize, Mr Bliss, for breaking in. But I had to, really. I suspected that Mr Sanguine was up to no good, and I had to stop him."

"Huh, I wasn't up to anythin' that bad, pretty darlin'," Sanguine said, "I was just sent here to kill him."

And with that he nodded at Guild, who turned green.

"Me?" Guild squeaked.

"Yeah you. You're the Grand Mage, ain't ya? Sorry buddy, but a job's a job. And I got paid a whole lotta money for this one." Sanguine looked down at the Cleaver's scythes that were crossed in front of his chest and sighed. "Ain't gettin' paid now though."

"Well, it's settled," Mr Bliss said with a nod. "Miss Low, you are free to go. Mr Sanguine, you will be brought to the holding cells. Cleavers!"

The Cleavers behind Tanith unbound her arms and she was free to go. She glanced at Sanguine. He was staring back at her, and smiled. If he had had eyes, she swore he would have winked. Ghastly stepped forward, taking her hand and helping her up, and they smiled at each other.

"That's it?" Guild exclaimed, glaring at Bliss, "You're letting another intruder go and you're not even going to kill the other one?"

"Why would I do that?" Bliss asked, looking away from the happy couple and looking at Guild instead, who was turning crimson and who's eyes looked ready to pop from his head.

"He tried to murder me!"

Bliss made a point of blinking. "And?"

Guild glared at Bliss, and his mouth opened and closed randomly without any real words comig out. A door opened to the far left of the room and they all turned to see China Sorrows stride into the conference hall, a coy smile on her painted pink lips.

"Hello, Brother," she greeted simply, stepping up to Bliss.

"China?" Bliss said with a frown, wondering what his sister could be doing here.

Ghastly cleared his throat. Tanith looked at him.

"I see she's as appealing as ever," Ghastly muttered. China stood there, raven hair trailing down her back, her porcelain face serene. Tanith looked at the ground, angry despite her better intentions.

"She sure is, alright," Tanith mumbled. Ghastly chuckled, and Tanith looked up to see him smiling.

"Not at all my type," he told her, with a crooked smile.

Tanith raised and eyebrow. "What? Appealing?"

"Dark," was all he replied, and Tanith's heart pounded. China stood there, her pale blue eyes staring out her brother's.

"I came to see the captives," she told him with a shrug.

"How did you know about that?"

"It's a small city. Word travels fast. Also I so wanted to see Mr Bespoke again." She turned to Ghastly and gave him a radiant smile.

"Hello Ghastly. Long time no see."

"It dosn't feel that long ago to me, China," Ghastly replied with a restrained nod. "But it's a delight to see you all the same."

"Thank you." China looked at Tanith. "You'll have to take him home soon, Tanith," she added, giving her another type of smile. Tanith flushed.

"I'm so sure, China," she replied in a strained voice.

China let out a laugh and then met Sanguine's gaze.

"Oh. You." was all she had to say.

Sanguine gave her a grin. "Hey there, pretty lady."

"Mr Sanguine came here to assassinate the Grand Mage," Bliss informed her with a nod at Guild. "We shall have to put him into custody."

"Though he was sent here to kill me!" Guild exclaimed. "Shouldn't the punishment fit the crime?"

"Well, he didn't actually kill you, Grand Mage," Bliss pointed out.

"We could, however, try to kill him and then let him get away," China added with a sweet smile. "If that would make you happy, Grand Mage."

Guild went purple and Bliss, despite his better intentions, actually smiled at his sister. The smile dropped as quickly as it appeared but it didn't escape China's gaze. She smiled back.

"I'm assuming you didn't just come here on a visit, China," Mr Bliss prompted, getting back to business.

"Oh, no, that's not all," China said with a grin. "Actually I came here with friends." She looked over her shoulder towards the double doors. "Come on in, you two."

With that everyone turned to see Skulduggery Pleasant and Valkyrie Cain enter the conference room.

"Pleasant? Cain?" Guild began furiously "What are you doing he-" But the detecting duo paid him no attention and headed straight for Ghastly and Tanith. Skulduggery stood in front of his old friend and they took each other in for a moment.

"Ghastly," Skulduggery greeted with a nod, then gripped him in a tight bear hug. Tanith watched the touching scene with a grin as the two friends embraced. As soon as Skulduggery let go Valkyrie pushed him out of the way with an even bigger grin on her face.

"Hey big fella!" she greeted, on a sudden high, wrapping her arms around Ghastly's waist and almost knocking him backwards. Ghastly grunted, but then hugged her back.

"Hey Valkyrie," he murmered softly into her dark brown hair.

"Aww, now that is cute," Sanguine commented, causing Tanith to turn around, suddenly remembering that he was there. He looked at her and grinned.

"Am I getting any of that?" Tanith gave him a strange look, then smiled. She was just so happy, that she could put up with his flirting for a little while. She turned back to the others.

"So," Ghastly began, somewhat awkward. "I see that you two are alive and well. Well....figuritively speaking with you, Skul."

Skulduggery laughed and there was a loud, rather annoying cough from behind them.

"Excuse me!" cried an irritated Guild. "Am I invisible?"

"Might as well be," both China and Sanguine seemed to mutter at the same time. Guild turned to them and glared at everyone in the room.

"I am the Grand Mage. I am the one in charge. I am the one person who could order all of you to be arrested right this minute and I demandyour respect and attention right this instant-"

Guild's rant was abruptly interrupted by Mr Bliss coming up behind him, wrapping his forearm around the Grand Mage's neck and pressing into his throat, blocking off his air passage. After about half a second of struggle Bliss let go of Guild and he slumped to the floor, unconsious. Everyone stared at Bliss in awe, except China, who merely smirked.

"Cleavers," Bliss ordered "Escort Mr Sanguine to the holding cells until the time of his trial comes. Also, bring the Grand Mage to his quarters and leave him there for the evening."

The four Cleavers who had been standing either side of Tanith and Ghastly looked at Guild blankly, looked at each other, then shrugged. They marched over to Guild and picked him up together. The Cleavers behind Sanguine unbound him, and made him stand, scythes still crossed in front of him. Sanguine pouted. He looked over his shoulder as he was behind marched from the room.

"Y'all have fun," he called, sounding upset. "Y'all have a real nice time with your lil' reunion, while I rot in a damned jail cell for the night!"

"Go dig yourself a hole and lie in it, Sanguine," Tanith called, smirking at his whining. Skulduggery grunted from behind her. "As if I don't find that offensive."

Sanguine flashed a grin at her, "Oh, I plan to, pretty darlin'." And then with that grin, he was marched from the room.

With Sanguine and Guild gone, the others focused their attention on each other again.

"So, what now," Valkyrie asked, looking at the adults. Bliss and China, the fueding brother and sister, were standing side by side. Skulduggery was obviously glad to have his old friend back, and Tanith and Ghastly looked as though they couldn't be happier. Valkyrie smiled. It was beautiful.

"Well, I think we should take Ghastly home," Skulduggery answered, looking at his friend. "That sound good?"

"That sounds fantastic," Ghastly replied. Tanith grinned, and tore her eyes off him to look at Bliss.

"Thank you, Bliss," Tanith said, nodding at him. "For getting us out of trouble."

"No thanks is necessary, Miss Low," Bliss said, with a tiny smile and a wave of his hand.

"Even so," the hyper Tanith said slowly, with that little grin. "Thank you." With that she bounced up to Bliss and kissed him on the cheek. Ghastly and China let out laughs, Skulduggery tutted and Valkyrie howled. Bliss looked at Tanith, blinking. The expression on his face, was far from bliss indeed. It was priceless.

Tanith grinned, grabbed Ghastly's hand, and bounced out of the mahogany doors. Skulduggery and Valkyrie, who was still laughing, followed suit. Bliss and China stood there for a moment, then China turned slightly to mutter in her brother's ear.

"And I thought she was only dear Gordon's fangirl." Bliss turned to glare at her, but she shot him a smile and bounced from the room in her own, graceful way. Bliss was about to wipe his cheek, but then decided not to, and actually laughed.

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The Cleaver's yanked open the cell door, and tossed Sanguine inside.

"Hey watch the suit!" he exclaimed, reclaiming his balance, and rubbing himself down.

"It's suede." He grinned at the Cleavers and they merely cocked their heads. He pursed his lips and put his hands in his pockets.

"I havta say, fellas...or, fillies, or, whatever you guys are. I've never been trapped in a jail cell before. Really! Honestly, tonight has been a night full of new experiences. I got to break into your lil' ol' Sanctuary, I got to kiss Tanith Low, an' I got to lie to get someone out of trouble, that wasn't myself! Ain't that somethin'?"

He stepped away and grinned that cheeky grin again.

"Yup. Today, has bin' a good day, all things considered. An' now it's about to get even better. See ya, fellas."

And with that, Billy-Ray Sanguine put his feet together, grinned at the Cleavers, and sunk through the floor before they knew what was happening.

A/N: N-yah! What did you think? Read and review! Love K x