A/N: I don't own Valkyrie, Corrival, Saracen, Erskine, Skulduggery, Anton, Ghastly, Dexter, Larrikin or Hopeless.
The next morning as the men ate Corrival led me away from the others. "I want you two to get married." He said firmly.
"We will, once this is all over." I assured him, showing him the engagement ring.
"No, I mean today. Saracen senses that they've retreated, for now at least. Erskine can marry the two of you. Skulduggery brought the rings, along with whatever that thing is you asked him for. A wedding gift for Anton as well, of course, from you, you'd told him years ago to keep it for you." I nodded dazedly. I had? "It isn't right or fair to expect you two to keep apart for what might be months. Marry him." Corrival said firmly and I nodded, smiling.
""Of course I will." I said and he smiled, then escorted me back to breakfast. He was a stern man, but fair and I could see why the Dead Men had loved him. He was watching over us, doing the best he could to keep us happy. Apparently Anton knew what I'd agreed to. He kissed me tenderly as I sat back down and I smiled at him when we parted.
Ghastly looked over at us. "I have your wedding clothes in the van and don't you dare offer me payment, consider them my wedding present to you." Anton wrapped an arm around me before replying.
"Accepted. And thank you, from both of us." I murmured my own thanks, still slightly dazed. It hurt to think that we'd been that close, that poor Anton knew he had wedding clothes waiting for us. I wracked my memory and it came back to me. Anton and I standing in Ghastly's shop while he told us what he was going to make. I smiled, it was typical of Ghastly to be stubborn and make what he wanted to and convince his customers to take it.
Dexter spoke up next. "After breakfast I'm commandeering the kitchen. Valkyrie, why don't you go find Mr. Weems and give him his reading contraption?" He asked sweetly and I knew it was an excuse to get me out of the kitchen so the men could talk but I nodded and went in search of him. I found him in his room and he was delighted when I set the page-turning device up for him.
"Thank you so very much, Valkyrie! I'm sorry I've been refusing to eat in the kitchen, but the Dead Men frighten me." He said softly and I hugged him gently.
"There really wonderful men, Mr. Weems. Erskine will be marrying Anton and I today and I have feeling they're all planning something. Ghastly brought our wedding clothes. Really, they are sweet men." I said, petting him soothingly. The truth was he'd been terrified after smelling the Gist's blood on the kitchen floor. The hotel was self-cleaning, but he'd still sensed it and arched his back, hissing and spitting in fear. Now the proud scholar-turned-cat was eating in his room.
"Anton would never hurt you, you know." I soothed. "His Gist wouldn't either. Will you come to our wedding, please?" I asked and Mr. Weems purred loudly in response.
Skulduggery smiled at me as he adjusted my veil. "I haven't seen a bride so lovely since the day I was married." He said fondly. "You're very beautiful, you know. Just in case Anton doesn't tell you, you are." He said his voice trembling slightly and I gathered him in a hug.
"Hey now. This doesn't mean were through as partners. You'll always be my best friend. You're going to live here from now on and never be alone again. OK?" I asked and I heard him sniff then he pulled back and was actually crying.
"I know, it's just that- You've grown up so much. And you remember Anton now. And I always cry at weddings." He said, dabbing the tears away from his cheekbones with a hankerchief. "And if you tell the other men I cried, I'll shoot you." He joked, laughing shakily.
Soon enough he was proudly escorting me to Anton. Who looked so handsome as he turned to smile at me that my knees almost buckled. My gown was everything I could have dreamed of, white and lacy and lovely. But Anton's tuxedo made the handsome man look even better. It was the same inky black colour as his long hair, and showed off his tall, muscular build.
Anton's smile was gentle as I stepped up to him, and he took my hand tenderly as we turned to Erksine. Ghastly stood as our best man and the other Dead Men fanned out in a semi-circle behind us. Mr. Weems sat up regal and proud to one side. The ceremony started and we exchanged vows and rings, Anton's gentle gaze never leaving my own. At last he could lift my veil and kiss me, and he did so with infinite tenderness, wrapping his arms around me gently, then deepening the kiss, oh-so-briefly before pulling back to gaze down at me adoringly.
Several of the men had prepared a feast for us. I didn't even remember having chicken left in the house, but they'd managed baked chicken and rice and several other dishes. We happily ate with our friends, our family, Mr. Weems getting to sit down at the makeshift table in the common room along with everyone else. Then Anton was guiding me from the table while the other men pretended not to notice. He walked me back through the office to my room and I felt giddy as he opened the door.
Anton easily scooped me up and carried me over the threshold, setting me down ever so gently once we were inside, then locking the door. He pocketed the key then turned to me with a gentle smile. He walked to me, reaching up a hand to caress my face and I closed my eyes at the sensation of his touch. I blinked them open to run my hands up and down his tuxedo jacket covered chest and his smile widened into a grin. "Mm. That feels good. But I bet this will feel better." He murmured, then brought his lips down to meet mine.
His kiss sent electricity running though me and I gasped, drawing soft laughter from him. Then his lips were on mine again, sweetly insistent and I gave in to his demands, wrapping my arms around his neck as I opened my lips to him. Anton sighed happily, indulging us both with his explorations, encouraging me to make my own and at last I could. I remembered once, just once, doing this during the war and I shivered at the memory. Anton pulled back, concerned. "Are you all right, Valkyrie? Did I hurt you somehow?" I shook my head and drew him back down into another kiss, but he pulled back, fear clouding his eyes.
"Anton, I'm all right. I just remembered something, that's all." The same memory must have passed through his mind because a wicked grin came to his face.
"Oh, you did, did you? Then do you remember this?" He asked, drawing me back in to another kiss, exploring my mouth with his while his hands roamed eagerly. I managed to undo the buttons of is jacket and snaked my hands inside, a thousand memories coming back to me. I knew each sculpted muscle, each toned and tight area that he liked to be touched best and suddenly his arms wrapped around me tightly, ceasing my explorations and I looked up to find him crying happy tears. "You remembered." He whispered and I nodded, then showed him just how much I did remember.
Later Anton held me to him, safe and warm in what was now our bed. "It must have been hard on you, all these memories coming back." He murmured gently as he stoked my hair.
"It is, but only because I know what you've lived without for so long now. Anton, I am so sorry, I love you. I'd never willingly hurt you, you know that."
"I know." He said, drawing me into a lingering kiss. "Why don't we get dressed and join our brothers, hmm? There's plenty of good food left and you know they miss us by now." I nodded and grinned. Some couples might have hid themselves away for days or weeks, but we had been lovers during the war and now that I remembered I knew we had time to hide away together later. Anton being a rather resourceful man about such things.
Erskine was the first to look up and greeted us cheerfully. "I was about to send a search party." He teased, then looked at his watch. "Shortest honeymoon on record, Val, Anton." He grinned and we both laughed. I noticed the was a table laden with sweets now and looked at Dexter as he handed me coffee.
"We didn't have time for dessert before, but these are the finest store bought delights money can buy. At least I think we paid for them." He grinned and I laughed and thanked him for the coffee and effort.
"Thanks to all of you, and I mean that." I said and our brothers grinned at us. "You too, Corrival." I said settling in beside him on the couch with my coffee and pastry and he smiled.
"You're one of us, Val. You aren't the cute team mascot or tagalong no matter what you may think. I saw to your happiness like I would for any of my men. Speaking of which, you new recruits are getting prettier all the time. The rest of my men are dog ugly." He teased and we all laughed.
Anton and I circulated, seeing to our brothers and snagging tidbits as the spirit moved us. This downtime was wonderful but I was still on high alert. Skulduggery looked over at me and nodded slightly showing me they all were. Because if the Dead Men had mastered one thing it was relaxing while remaining ready to fight. Larrikin and Hopeless came over, both insisting they needed to congratulate me with a hug and I obliged them. Thy both watched over me like a little sister and I guessed it came from them being so young. "We helped with getting the desserts." Larrikin said proudly and Hopeless nodded a happy agreement.
"Thank you, that was sweet of you both. You're not bad as older brothers go."
"Older than you by a handful of years." Saracen said and I turned to look at him. "Hopeless was a baby, far too young to be in war, so was Larrikin who has a decade or two on you, no more." Both my brothers blushed.
"Then they're very brave men indeed to fight so young." I said. "Don't you think so Mr. Weems?" I asked as he joined us and he purred mightily.
"Very brave and noble men, Valkyrie." He assured me. "They've been feeding me choice morsels. They think I'm very clever for being able to talk." I heard the wink in his voice and smiled. "You could introduce me to all of your brothers though." He said hopefully and I did as Mr. Weems nestled into my arms.
Mr. Weems had a surprise for us. "I want to help. I don't know if they know about me, but as long as there is something printed on in their camp I could be our eyes and ears. I'm small, I'm fast, I've still got my Elemental skills. Please say you'll accept." We all looked to Skulduggery who nodded.
"You can start now, Valkyrie's wedding gift to Anton seems to have activated itself and we'd like to know what it is." He led us to the snack room where something that looked like a steampunk coffee machine sat on the table. Gears whirred and a small screen currently showed different rooms of the hotel.
"Thank you, Valkyrie." Anton said and in answered to Mr. Weems puzzled mew he explained the device. "This device acts like an additional security system for the hotel. It will track and possible intruders, like our dopplegangers, or scan rooms like a security system. If it activated it has more or less adopted the hotel. It won't work anywhere else."
Skulduggery nodded. "Then, Mr. Weems, I elect you to be the one to watch the screen. You ability as a cat to sit patiently for hours will help here." Mr. Weems purred proudly and nodded and I exchanged glances with Anton. What kind of trouble had I been expecting if this was they type of gift I'd give him?
Gracious and Donegan joined Mr. Weems, bickering as usual. We left them to it and Anton and I walked away from the others and back to our room. Corrival felt it was safe enough for us to have the night alone together, something I was grateful for. Anton smiled as he got the door for me. "It's truly a lovely gift, Valkyrie. It will provide an additional edge if they come back. But I think they'll remain scarce. At least for tonight." He drew me into a lingering kiss and I couldn't agree more.
OK, not so much action this time, but the idea of marrying them under wartime conditions has been with me for a while. As always, let me know if you want more.