I know what your thinking. "another chapter? already?" haha. No, I dont actualy know if anyone is really reading this. But I will continue to write it anyway in the hopes I get more readers. Thanks to Yapyap for reviewing, and lending me ideas (which I will give her credit for again further into the story) [by the way sorry if your not a girl and i just assumed]

Enjoy

Valkyrie yawned widely as she wandered slowly down the stairs of her large house. She had found a large shirt to wear, and a pair of boxer shorts which she pulled over her underwear, a new more comfortable pair. When she had woken up alone her heart had sunk, knowing that Skulduggery had left. He wouldn't have let her wake up alone if he was there in the house, but she felt her mood brighten slightly when she noticed the hat on the end of the bed.

She knew this meant he would be back soon, he wouldn't just leave his hat there, and especially not in the place where he had left it first, which was the door handle. Once she'd put her shirt and pants on she'd picked up the hat and wandered down the stairs. Her first destination was to the heater in the living room. The air was freezing, and she was too hung over to bother trying to find a jacket. She pressed the buttons to turn on the heater and sat in front of it for a few minutes as the heat started blowing out, slowly warming up the room. Once she was satisfied with the temperature she stood up, carrying the hat with her into the kitchen.

She was surprised the find a mug sitting on the bench, steam still rising from the warm drink inside. She smiled and placed the hat carefully on the bench, freeing her hands so she could pick up the mug and take a sip of the warm liquid it contained. She smiled as she swallowed the mouthful of hot chocolate. "Forgot the sugar again." She said with a laugh as she put the mug back down. Skulduggery sometimes made her coffee or hot chocolate, but he always seemed to forget the sugar, no matter how many times she reminded him.

She grabbed the sugar and put to spoons into the hot chocolate, to make it a little sweeter. He stood in the kitchen, the warm air finally flowing in from the other room and slowly drunk her drink. When she was done she made her way upstairs and pulled her crime fighting clothes out of the closet. Her newest outfit, which she'd only collected from Ghastly a few days before hand, was made of a pair of blank pants, which hugged her thighs nicely, and flared out a little at the bottom. The shirt was tight and sleeveless, with swirls of dark blood red flowing through it. The jacket was plain black like the pants and came to about the back of her knee's, the sleeves were loose enough so it would be comfortable to fight, but not so loose that they would get away. Once she was dressed she inspected herself in the mirror.

Despite the mess of bed hair on her head she actually looked pretty good. She took the jacket off and inspected the way the clothes highlighted her new curves. Of course there weren't many, she was still tall and thin, but now she had a chest, it wasn't huge, but it was there, and her hips curved just the right amount, not wide enough to look bad but not to slim either. She put the coat back on, and after brushing her hair she wandered back down to the kitchen. She knew that Skulduggery would be here soon, he came almost every day, which made her happy. On some days he didn't show up, but most were good days, and she got to spend the day and some of the night with him.

She eyed his hat on the kitchen counter, curiosity peaking inside her. She glanced around her to make sure Skulduggery was nowhere to be seen, and once she was sure she was alone she picked up the hat, holding it carefully in her hands, feeling the fabric for a moment before she placed it gently on her head. She chuckled and turned to look at her reflection in the window, but it was fogged up and she couldn't see. She wandered through the house to find the the mirror in the living room and covered her mouth to keep her giggling quiet as she looked at her reflection. She looked kind of ridiculous, but in a way the dark hat suited her new outfit. Not the way it suited Skulduggery though.

She had wanted to try on the hat for a while now, just for fun. There was just something mysterious about it, maybe because Skulduggery wore it all the time, he seemed so attached to it. She reached up and shifted the angle that it was sitting on her head, trying to see how it looked hanging low over her face like Skulduggery sometimes wore it.

"I very much prefer the way you had it before." Said a familiar velvet voice from behind her. She spun around and saw Skulduggery leaning against the wall, his gloved hands in his pocket. Oh god, how long had he been standing there? She quickly pulled the hat off of her head and ducked her head to hide the blush.

"I uh…. Sorry." She said, embarrassment clear in her voice. She hadn't expected him to show up so soon, and she wouldn't have tried on the hat if she'd known.

"It is a very good hat. And considering how many times you've seen me wearing it only seems natural that you want to try it on. I am amazing after all." His voice was filled with amusement; obviously he found it funny that he'd caught her trying on his hat. She smoothed down her hair and walked over to hand the hat to him, her cheeks pink.

"Are you done laughing at my expense?" She asked, her arms folded across her chest defiantly. She still felt quite sick and a little tired, but she didn't want to let that weakness show to Skulduggery, especially not after the night before, and the best way to hide it was to act like normal. "I'm sure some evil out there that needs it butt kicked."

He chuckled and pushed off the wall, putting the hat on his head casually. "Lead the way." She turned around without a word and led them outside, closing and locking the door behind them before walking over and climbing into the passenger seat of the Bentley. The car had a nice familiar smell, one she couldn't place, but she liked it. She didn't know if it came from the car itself, or if it was from years of skulduggery riding inside it. Was this his smell? She'd never really had the chance to figure out if he had a smell. Any time she'd been close enough they were in a fight, and she didn't have to time to see. Could a skeleton even have a smell?

They were quiet for the first few minutes of the drive, it wasn't uncomfortable though. She turned her head a little and watched as he drove. It still always surprised her how still he could be. His long, gloved fingers sat on the steering wheel, moving slightly every time he adjusted their direction or turned a corner. His chest didn't rise or fall with breathe, his legs only ever moved when he pushed one down on a pedal, and his head faced forward. Valkyrie was very aware of the small movements she made almost constantly, unable to stay still. He had teased her about it a few times, whenever she got particularly twitchy.

She felt her chest tighten a little as she started studying his frame, something she usually only ever did when he was not looking. She knew that he must have been quite handsome when he was a man. His shoulder were built nicely, even and not too wide, he was very tall and she knew he must have been thin. Even without flesh she still thought his clothes hung nicely from his skeletal frame, making it even harder for her to keep her heart under control while looking at him. She didn't understand why she was attracted to him, something in the back of her mind told her that it was wrong, he was a skeleton after all, and her mentor, and she knew he saw her like a daughter, or a niece or something similar, someone young that needs to be protected and cared for.

"May I ask why you are staring me?" He asked curiously, turning to look at her as they stopped at a red light. "Usually I wouldn't ask… well, okay I would, but I am quite curious, as it has been going on for the past few minutes now."

She cleared her throat and shrugged, looking away. "You do know that I'm old enough to drive now right?"

"Yes, I'm quite aware of that actually."

"And you know I have my license right?"

"Yes."

"So will you let me drive the Bentley?" She asked hopefully.

He stared at her and she knew he thought she was crazy for asking. "I doubt my poor car would last through the day if I trusted you behind the wheel." He stroked the dashboard lovingly, and she wished it was her he touched like that, with affection and love. "I know how you teenagers are, driving too fast, listening to loud obnoxious music, street racing. No, sorry, no teenagers behind the wheel of the Bentley."

She sighed and crossed her arms across her chest. "I'm legally and adult now." She muttered, but she knew she had lost.

"I like your new outfit." He said, changing the subject. "When did you get it, I haven't seen it before."

"I picked it up a few days ago, but didn't want to wear it until I was eighteen. I wanted it to be special… or something like that."

He nodded and didn't say anything else, turning his attention back to the road in front of us. The silence became awkward, although Valkyrie suspected it was only awkward for her. She shifted around uneasily and finally settled for pulling out her i-pod and sticking one of the headphones in. She turned the volume down and chose a song she listened to quite a lot. It was some classical song she'd heard Skulduggery playing in his house one day. They'd gone there after a fight so she could bandage herself up instead of going Kenspeckle, who would have made a bit of a fuss out of the wounds that weren't even big enough for stitches.

While she was in the bathroom she'd heard a soft, peaceful music start playing and after searching for the source, highly confused, she'd found that it was being played from a cd, which was in Skulduggery's living room. She was always boring his stuff, like books and other things, and he'd once told her she could take whatever she liked as long as it was brought back, so she'd borrowed the cd that night and put the song on her i-pod. She didn't think he knew about it, and it wasn't like she thought he'd care, she just kept it to herself. Skulduggery owned lots of books, he even owned a DVD or two, but that was the first time she'd seen a cd in his house, so it felt special to her.

"Who are we going after today?" She asked over the quiet, beautiful music playing in her ears. "Anyone I know? Scapegrace, sanguine, I haven't seen either of them for a while."

"Neither. Just some other murderer, causing a bit of a fuss in a bar nearby."

"And by fuss you mean…?"

"He killed someone."

"Ah, I thought so." She said, slipping her i-pod into her pocket, but leaving the headphones in as Skulduggery pulled over to the car and stopped the engine. They got out of the car and walked casually down the street, but not before skulduggery put on his bandana and dark sunglasses. She was surprised he was using his old disguise again, but he did every now and then. Valkyrie suspected he preferred the dramatic entrance he could make by pulling down his bandana and revealing a skull. It was just a theory though.

He turned off the street and headed down a side alley, stopping at an old dingy door, the wood stained and disgusting, its metal hand slightly disfigured and bent. She debated taking her headphones out but after a moment's thought she instead started the song again and turned out the volume. The song was mostly peaceful in slow, but in some parts the instruments got loud and she figured that seeing as it helped her train, it couldn't hurt to fight while listening.

She nodded and skulduggery opened the door, they ran inside and almost immediately she had to dodge a piece of broken wood that came flying across the room at her head. She dodged to the side and when the second piece came she thrust her hands forward, manipulating the air to send it flying back at the man across the room. He was very tall, taller than Skulduggery even, and he was very muscled, his big arms looking quite scary as he came running across the room at her. He swung at her head and she quickly dropped down to the ground before kicking upwards, hitting him hard in the chin, all the while listening to the classical music playing in her ears.

He stumbled back a little and with another thrust of her hands she displaced the air and he went flying backwards. Skulduggery went after him and hit him hard in the jaw with a jab as soon as he was on his feet. Valkyrie jumped up from the ground and ran over to the fighting men. Skulduggery may have been only a skeleton, but he was a lot faster, and the large man was landing nearly no punches, but the ones that did hit, hit hard. She ducked around behind him and kicked the backs of his legs hard, causing him to drop to his knees. Once he was down skulduggery kneed him in the side of the head, and he dropped down, unconscious.

Valkyrie laughed breathlessly, the thrill of the fight still coursing through her veins. She finally pulled the headphones out of her ears and shoved them into her pocket, her breathing still a little fast because of the fight. "That was a little easier than I thought it would be." She said with a smile. She nudged the large man with the toe of her boot and chuckled. "And I didn't even get hit this time."

"Speak for yourself." Skulduggery said, rubbing the top of his arm through his suit jacket. "That man has a very large fists, and I think he bruised the bone."

She rolled her eyes. "You always say that, and your bones are never bruised." Skulduggery ignored her and pulled a pair of handcuffs out his pocket, cuffing the man's hands behind his back. "Now I have no idea how we are going to get him out of here. He's huge, and I mean, your strong, but not that strong. And there's no way I can lift him."

"We'll leave him and I'll call the sanctuary to come get him. He's their problem now." Skulduggery shrugged and walked away, pulling out his phone. Valkyrie sat down and concentrated her energy, clicking her fingers to summon a small flame into her hand. She smiled and started playing around with it, making it grow large and then flow back down to smaller size. She focused it into a ball and passed it into the opposite hand, something she had learnt recently and had enjoyed mucking around with.

"Okay, ready to go?" Skulduggery asked when he walked back over, slipping his phone into his pocket again.

"Shouldn't we wait until someone gets here to collect him?" she asked, kicking the limp body, not to softly.

"No, just leave him. Have you eaten today? Or did you feel to sick to eat when you got out of bed?"

Valkyrie suddenly realised just how hungry she was and stood from the table she was sitting on. "I didn't eat. I didn't want to risk it." She replied, following him out the door and into the alley. "Can we go get some lunch?" Of course, by we she meant me, skulduggery never ate, and usually just tended to watch her when she ate. It was a little awkward and embarrassing, but she understood, so she never really complained. Not like Tanith had the first time he'd done it to her. It wasn't like he stared or anything, just sometimes he would turn and watch, probably missing eating himself.

He nodded and they walked down the street to a small café witch served lunches as well. When they walked in the door she felt around in her pockets and stopped. "I didn't bring my purse. Maybe we should just go back to mine, I can make lunch there anyway."

"Nonsense." He said, shaking his head. He had activated his disguise as they left the bar, and he currently had blonde hair and brown eyes. Most of the bone structure was the same, but it still didn't look like him. "I'll buy you lunch. You deserve it." She resisted the urge to smile, always a gentlemen.

"But you got me lunch two days ago. I hate you spending all of your money on me." He raised his eye brows, something she knew he would do quite a lot if he had a face all of the time.

"Valkyrie, I'm hardly spending all my money by buying you lunch. I don't have to buy food, so I have plenty of money." He turned to the woman at the counter who was waiting to take their order. "She'll have burger, everything but tomato, and some fries with a chocolate milkshake." Valkyrie felt her heart go a little faster when he told the woman her order. It was what she usually ordered, but most of the time he wandered off to find a table or didn't appear to be listening, so she was surprised, and a little happy that he knew what she would eat.

"Anything for you?" The woman asked, giving a smile that seemed a little too friendly. Valkyrie glared at her.

"No thank you, but I will let you know If I need anything." He answered with a charming smile. She handed him little number and he led the way to a table by the window. Valkyrie sat down opposite him, a small frown on her face as she looked back at the woman. She turned back and did her best to smile before Skulduggery noticed.

"How do you know my order, I didn't think you ever paid much attention."

"Valkyrie, I have known you for six years, and every time we come to place like this you have ordered the same thing. I'm actualy quite surprised you haven't gotten sick of it by now."

"Hey it's good food." She retorted. "And, I never thought you listened when I ordered. You always seem like you're off in that little world in your head, the one where everybody loves you as much as you think they do." She smirked and leaned back in her chair.

"I'll have you know that plenty of people love me in this world. If you are incapable of seeing my brilliance then it is not my fault." She snorted and turned as a different waitress placed her chocolate milkshake on the table in front of her. "Thank you." She said as the woman walked away.

Soon someone carried out her food and they sat quietly while she ate, sometimes exchanging simple chat about something Tanith or Ghastly said, or what was happening in some other country. Skulduggery still didn't know they Valkyrie had broken up with Fletcher a few weeks before, and she hadn't been planning to tell him yet, but she didn't have much of a choice because he brought it up on the way back to the car.

"I didn't see Fletcher at your party last night." He said, glancing sideways at her, curiosity on his face. "Did he have something else planned, or did I just miss him." They stopped at the car and climbed in. Skulduggery tapped his shoulder blades and the disguise fell away instantly, leaving him with his skull, like normal. "You'd think your boyfriend would show up at your birthday party though. Would you like me to punch him?"

Usually Valkyrie would have made a witty joke, but instead she busied herself with doing up her seat belt, giving her an excuse not to look at him. She felt bad for Fletcher, she really did, but she just couldn't stay in relationship with him when she felt more for Skulduggery, even if she knew nothing would ever come of it. "I uh… we aren't going out anymore." She said, glancing at him sideways. "We broke up."

Skulduggery's posture changed a little, and she could tell that he was no longer joking. "Are you okay? I really would punch him if you like." Although his mood didn't show on his skeletal face, she could hear it in his voice that he was concerned about her. He cared about her, and he had since she started working with him. He always looked out for her and made sure she was okay, and it seemed that breakups would be no different.

"No. It's okay. I-" She stopped and cleared her throat. "I broke up with him. I couldn't be with him anymore."

He reached over and rested his hand on her shoulder, and she felt her stomach tighten and her heart jump. "Valkyrie… did he hurt you? Is that why you broke up with him?"

This conversation was really quite awkward, and she really didn't want him to misunderstand what had happened. If he though Fletcher had done anything to hurt her then he would hunt him down and make him regret it. "Oh no. I promise, he didn't do anything. He was actually really respectable, didn't try to force me into anything… sexual." She blushed a little on the last word. "I just didn't feel like it was working for us I guess… I just don't feel that way for him anymore."

She could feel Skulduggery relax beside her, and he drew his hand away, making her fell a little cold, though his gloved hand had provided no warmth. "As long as you're okay." He said as he started the car and pulled out onto the road.

She assured him that everything was okay and they drove in silence back to her house. It had already been afternoon when they left her house, and now it was getting dark as they pulled up in front of her house. She opened the door and looked back at him. "Do you want to come in?" She asked, expecting him to say no. She offered nearly every day, and most of the time he said he couldn't because he things to take care of, but still she liked to offer.

He considered for a moment before he nodded and stepped out of the car, locking it once they were both out and walking to the front door. She smiled slightly as she unlocked the door and let him in, closing the door behind them. Now she had a few hours to just relax and spend some time with Skulduggery alone. What could go wrong?

So, did you enjoy it, I hope so. I worked pretty hard on it. And used valuable homework time (ha). Please review and tell me what you think.