Hey Guys, I'm sorry it took so long, Im studying for my final exams so Ive been a bit busy, but heres the next chapter.

It's a little slow, and a bit of a filler, but i guess its better than nothing.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, and Id like to give a special thanks to Shnizel who sent me a pm, which reminded to post this, which I finished a few days ago.

Enjoy R&R

Tanith flew along the wet, empty road towards Valkyrie's house, the only sound she could hear the loud roar of her bikes engine being pushed to its limits. She didn't know what was wrong with Valkyrie, Skulduggery wouldn't tell her over the phone, but she could hear in his voice that something bad had happened, and now she was on her bike only a minute or two away from the big house. She was worried about Valkyrie, she got hurt all the time, and Skulduggery never called her like that, and he sounded so worried, she was scared for her best friend.

She tapped the brakes as she approached the turn into the large gates, and turned the handles bars slightly, sliding around the turn, her inside foot out to keep the bike from going out from underneath her. Anybody without her reflexes would have been killed from attempting a turn like that, but she gracefully pulled out of the skid and floored it up the long driveway, skidding to a stop. She dropped the kick stand and hurried up to the door, it was wide open, not a good sign.

"Skulduggery!" She called running into the house, looking around.

"Up here Tanith." He answered her, his voice bare audible.

She jogged up the stairs and went straight to Valkyrie's bedroom. Skulduggery was in the doorway, waiting for her, his head hung low and his hands hanging by his side. He looked up a little as she approached and stood in her way, obviously not wanting her to go in yet. Had it been anyone else Tanith would had pushed them aside and forced her way through, but not with Skulduggery. She had guts, but she wasn't foolish enough to cross Skulduggery when he was protecting Valkyrie.

"What's happened? Is it bad?" She asked the first two things on her mind, trying to look past him. The room was dark, but she thought she could see a lump under the covers on the bed.

"It's bad." He answered after a moment of silence. He reached his hand up and rubbed the back of his skull, glancing over his shoulder into the bedroom. "Sanguine caught us off guard…"

Tanith swallowed a lump in her throat, her worry even worse than before. Sanguine hated Valkyrie, he would do anything to hurt her. Tanith was surprised she was still alive. "Is she okay? I mean, how bad did he hurt her? What did he do?" Her urgency was clear in her voice, and Skulduggery, seemingly incapable of speaking any longer, stepped out her way. She rushed past him into the room and sat on the edge of the bed where Valkyrie was laying under the covers, only her face exposed. Her face which was bruised and bleeding. She had two black eyes, and small cuts covering her face, some still bleeding. Tanith thought her nose could be broken too.

Her eyes were closed, but her fast breathing revealed that she didn't seem to be sleeping. "Val Hun, it's just me. Are you okay?"

Valkyrie's dark eyes opened and looked up at Tanith, and she could see the pain in them.

"What happened Val? Are you okay?" She reached out to put her hand on Valkyrie's shoulder through the blanked, and the dark eyes followed the movement warily.

"I… I'm fine." She whispered, turning her face into her pillow. "I just want to sleep. Please leave." Tanith could hear that she was trying to hold back tears and looked over at Skulduggery, her eyes questioning.

He sighed quietly and walked across the room, rolling his sleeves up to just below his elbows. He sat on the bed next to Tanith, but he made no move to touch Valkyrie.

"Valkyrie," He said her name gently, as though she was so fragile she might break if he spoke to harshly. "You need to let Tanith take a look at your cuts, and then she can help you clean up okay?" She nodded her head slowly but still kept her face hidden.

Skulduggery carefully pulled the blanket down to her face, exposing her top half. His suit jacket was covering her messily, but Tanith could see that she wasn't wearing anything else. He turned away and looked at the opposite wall, an attempt to give her some privacy, and nodded his head for her to continue.

She pulled the blanket off of her and made a small noise of pity. Valkyrie's entire torso was bruised and bleeding, and she could easily see the long gashes on her arms, and the worse one on her stomach. But there were many smaller ones, where the skin had split from being hit. "Oh god Val." She whispered. Valkyrie wrapped her arms around her chest, covering her breasts, and shielding her from the cold air.

"That's not all." Skulduggery muttered, his long fingers in fists on his knees. He stood up quickly and walked to the door. "You'll see… I'll go run her a bath." He strode out of the room his hands shaking angrily at his sides.

"What did that sicko do to you Val?" She asked, carefully inspecting the wounds on her arms. "Your covered in cuts and bruises. And I think you have two broken ribs." She added as she ran her fingers lightly over the lump on the side of the girls chest.

Now that Skulduggery was out of the room Valkyrie turned back and looked at Tanith, her eyes filled with tears. She pushed herself up from the bed so she was sitting, wincing as she moved her legs. Tanith steadied her and hugged her gently, still oblivious to the worst of the situation. "I'm so sorry I wasn't there to help you Val." She leaned back and grabbed the edge of the blanket. "Skulduggery said your hurt more Val, but don't worry, I'll get you something for the pain and we can stitch up all your cuts."

She turned her eyes down and pulled the blanket back. Her eyes scanned what she saw for only a second before it sunk in and her hand flew to her mouth to stop herself from swearing. The insides of her legs were covered in blood, some of it fresh, and it was coming from in between her legs. Valkyrie whimpered but stayed otherwise silent.

"I'm going to kill him." She said angrily, pulling the blanket back up to cover her. She looked into her eyes and grabbed her hands. "He won't get away with this Val I promise, I'll make him suffer for doing this to you." She pulled her into another hug and stayed that way until Skulduggery called her from the bathroom. She pulled back and stood up to grab a clean towel from the desk across the room. She brought it back and wrapped it around the bleeding girl to cover her up a little.

"Do you need me to carry you Val?" She asked softly, giving her the option, although she thought it would be for the best if she did let her carry her.

She shook her head. "No… I'll walk." She slid slowly to the edge of the bed and put her feet on the ground. Tanith could tell she was in a lot of pain, but didn't object, and helped her to her feet. They walked slowly down the hall, her arm around Valkyrie to support her as she walked, wincing and groaning in pain if she tried to walk too fast or step too far. Tanith was patient though, and soon enough they were in the bathroom. Skulduggery went to stand outside the door while Tanith helped Valkyrie into the hot bath.

Tanith could see her gritting her teeth as the hot water ran over all of her wounds, soaking into them and washing the blood from her skin. "I'll be back in a minute okay, I'm just going to go speak to Skulduggery, you just relax." Valkyrie nodded and kept her eyes on the water.

"What the hell happened?" Tanith demanded in an angry whisper once the bathroom door was closed and she was standing in front of Skulduggery. "How the hell did that happen to her? How did Sanguine even get her?"

Skulduggery sighed and looked at the door before he walked down the hall a little, out of Valkyrie's hearing range. Tanith followed and stood in front of him again, her arms folded across her chest and a glare on her face. She wasn't going to leave without an answer. "We were watching a movie, and a tree fell on the Bentley, so Valkyrie said I could stay here, so I didn't have to go out in the rain. She went to sleep and I started meditating. I thought we'd be safe, if I thought there was a chance of anything happening…. Well…. I wouldn't have let it happen."

He dropped his hands into his pockets and leaned back against the wall. "I got attacked from behind, I fought my way out of the room and went straight to Valkyrie's, but she wasn't in there. They got me from behind again and bound me." Although he didn't say it Tanith knew he meant they bound his hands and his magic. "And dragged me down to a waiting car, when they put Valkyrie in the car she was unconscious. They took us to some secret room and tied me to a chair, and chained Valkyrie to the wall…."He trailed off. "Do I need to continue?"

Tanith swallowed and shook her head. She could figure out the rest for herself. "What a sicko, I can't believe he raped her. I always knew he wanted to kill her, we all did, but rape her?" Her disgust was clear in her voice. How could this have happened to poor Valkyrie?

"He did it because he wanted to get to me."

"What?"

Skulduggery ran his gloved hands over the front of his skull. "He was hired to torture me, and he knew that the best way to get to me was her. He said that hurting her wasn't enough, she gets beat up every day and he said it wouldn't affect her enough, he wanted to hurt us both." Tanith could hear the pain in his voice, and she rested her hand on his shoulder, but he shrugged it off. "It's my fault it happened. She got hurt because of me."

Tanith didn't know what to say. She knew what he was thinking, he was thinking about his wife and child, who had died in front of him. He blamed himself for that too, and she knew there was nothing she could say that would make him feel better about this. "It's not your fault." She said quietly before she turned to walk back to the bathroom.

Valkyrie sat quietly in the hot water of the bath while Tanith and Skulduggery spoke out in the hall. She could hear small snippets their conversation, but she already knew what they were talking about, so she didn't listen, and just started washing herself clean, scrubbing the sweat and blood off her skin, turning the water and ugly colour somewhere between red and brown. The water was a little bit too hot, it burnt her skin and hurt her cuts, but she thought Skulduggery had done pretty good for someone who couldn't really tell how hot the water was, and what was an appropriate temperature for her bath.

She picked up a face washer and cleaned her top half first, the sensible part of her mind telling her to do it first while the water was still kind of clean. The cuts from Sanguine's razor were already going to scar, and she didn't need them getting infected. By the time Tanith came back she had cleaned all of her front, being extra careful with the wounds that had finally stopped bleeding, and had also cleaned herself down there as much as she could without herself too much. Tanith didn't say anything, and neither did Valkyrie. They just both stayed silent while Tanith took the cloth from Valkyrie and cleaned her back for her.

Tanith pulled out some of that funny smelling yellow rock from her pocket and broke some up and dropped it into the bath, telling Valkyrie to lie down a little more so the water could reach all of her. The bath was huge, and she could sink down until only her neck and head were above water. Tanith washed her hair while she closed her eyes and let the yellow rock work its magic. When her hair was clean Tanith went to her room and found her some pyjamas, warm ones with long sleeves and full length pants, and sat them on the sink.

"Do you need me to stay tonight Val?" She asked, looking worried and tired. It was obvious that she'd been up for a while, and it was pretty late. Valkyrie felt guilty for keeping her friend here like this, when she was quite capable of bathing herself, even if it hurt and she had appreciated the help.

"No, you can go home and sleep." She said her eyes on Tanith, her face empty. She was upset, hurt and scared, but she didn't want Tanith to know that, she didn't want anyone to know that. She didn't want to let what Sanguine did to her break her like he wanted it to.

"It's okay Val, I'll stay if you want me to, I know you've been through a lot." She grabbed a towel out of the cupboard and handed it to Valkyrie who climbed carefully over the edge of the bath. Most of the bruises were less intense, looking a few days old instead of a few hours old, though the worse ones hadn't been affected. The smaller cuts were now healing scabs, but the two on her arms and the one on her stomach were not scabbed over yet, and barely closing.

"No, go home and sleep, you can come back tomorrow." She was surprised by how small her voice was, but at least it didn't shake.

"Okay." She said after a few moments, though she didn't sound too happy about it. "I'll come back in the morning and check those cuts. If they haven't healed more by then we might have to give you some stitches." Valkyrie cringed at the thought of stitches. Before Kenspeckle had died she'd never needed stitches, he'd always fixed things up without scaring and without needles and thread. But now that he was dead Valkyrie had gotten stitches many times, and she hated them.

"If I have to." She mumbled, fidgeting with the edge of the towel as she slowly dried herself, not able to bend over and dry her legs, but she didn't want Tanith to do it for her, so she busied herself drying her torso, hoping the blond would leave before she realised Valkyrie actually needed the help.

"Okay, I'll see you in the morning Val." She patted her gently on the shoulder before she hurried from the room, and Valkyrie knew she wouldn't be sleeping when she got home. She'd be calling everyone she knew to try and hunt down Sanguine.

He dried herself as much as she could without reaching up or down, and carefully pulled on the long sleeved shirt, hissing in pain as her cuts pulled from stretching. She sat down on the edge of the bath to pull on the pants, and struggled to push herself back up again. But she managed, and soon she was opening the door to the hall. Skulduggery was leaning against the wall opposite the door, hands in his pockets, the sleeves of his shirt rolled up, showing his Ulna and radius.

She looked at him for a moment and leaned against the door frame, all of her muscles aching and her cuts stinging. She was to awake to go back to sleep, but she had no motivation to do anything other than curl in a little ball and cry. She felt quite childish for it, but suddenly she wanted her mother. She wanted to put her head in her mother's lap and go to sleep feeling safe and warm. In the normal world where she didn't have to worry about crazy American men with no eyes and forever scarring razor blades.

Skulduggery pulled his left hand out of his pocket and twisted his fingers, and Valkyrie felt the water lifting out of her dripping hair. "Thanks." She muttered when her hair was dry and the water was running down the sink in the bathroom. She started walking down the hall slowly and Skulduggery followed beside her, walking silently. She reached the top of the stairs and looked down, debating whether she would be able to make it down or not.

"Do you need me to carry you?' Skulduggery asked softly.

"No." She said, shaking her head. She stepped down and winced at the pain that shot through her, but made no sounds of pain. "I'll manage, it's just stairs." She didn't want him to see the pain she was feeling. She wanted to cry and scream, a huge tsunami of emotions boiling inside her, but for both their sakes she stayed quite. Tears blurring her vision and threatening to spill, but not once leaving her eyes. She knew if she cried she would feel worse, and Skulduggery would feel guiltier. She didn't think either of them could take it.

Just as she was reaching the bottom few stairs the phone started ringing, the loud noise sounding loud and shrill, echoing off the walls of the silent house. She gritted her teeth and forced herself down the stairs quicker than she would have liked and rushed to the phone, a few tears running down her cheeks at the pain. She kept her face away from Skulduggery's view so he wouldn't notice. "Hello?"

"Stephanie, I'm sorry did I wake you?" Stephanie was surprised to hear her mother's voice on the other end of the phone. She glanced at the clock on the wall across the room. It was about 4 in the morning.

"No, I was awake… couldn't sleep. What's up?" Her voice sounded un caring even to herself.

Her mother didn't even seem to notice though. "Oh that's good. Are you busy today? I was wondering if you could do me a favour?"

"What favour?"

"I have to go to London for the day, and maybe a night, and I was wondering if you could watch your sister while I was gone?"

Valkyrie frowned. Bring her sister here? That sounded more dangerous than leaving her in the middle of a shopping centre alone. "I don't know mum, I might be busy later tonight, isn't there anywhere else she can go? What about Beryl?"

"They are out town."

"Why are you going to London?"

"My uncle Patrick died, and I have to go to the funeral. Please Steph? Nobody else can take her."

Valkyrie turned her had to glance at Skulduggery who was watching curiously, obviously trying to figure out what was going on the conversation. "Yeah okay mum." She said, finally giving in. She didn't have the energy or will or argue any longer. And she knew her mother was close to her uncle.

"Thanks sweetie, I'll bring her over now." Valkyrie didn't have a chance to say anything else because her mother hung up the phone.

She walked into the kitchen and sat on one of the stools at the bench, wincing but otherwise okay. "Well?" She asked when Skulduggery followed her in.

"Well what?"

"I know you want to ask me, so just do it."

"I don't want to ask you anything."

"Yes you do."

"Okay I do."

"So?"

"What's happening?"

"Mums bringing Sarah over for the night, she has to go to London."

Skulduggery who was currently holding the kettle, stopped and turned to look at her. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"I don't see why not." Okay that was a lie, and both of them knew it.

"Valkyrie… I don't even think you're okay to look after yourself yet, and you want to look after your little sister as well?" He turned back around and poured the hot water in the cup in front of him. Her eyes followed him as he poured in some milk and even remembered to put in two spoons of sugar before he stirred it and placed it in front of her. "I just don't think it's a good idea."

"Well she is already on her way so it's too late." She took a sip of the well-made hot chocolate, enjoying the warmth that spread through her as she swallowed. "And I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I'm a little bit cut up but that's it… I'm fine." Another lie.

He rested his hand on her shoulder lightly, and she could feel his bony fingers through his gloves. "This isn't something that people get over in a few hours Valkyrie." He said quietly, and she had to swallow the tears that wanted so desperately to escape. She didn't want to talk about this, she wanted to pretend it never happened and do her best to get over it alone. But she knew Skulduggery cared to much to let her do that, he was probably worried she would blame herself. Which in some ways she did. "I know your trying to be brave, it's who you are, but your allowed to be upset."

She lifted the cup to her lips again and sipped, her eyes on the bench in front of her. Skulduggery let his hand fall away and moved to sit opposite her on one of the other stools, his hands resting lightly on the surface. "Thankyou… for getting me out…" She said eventually, her mind travelling and thinking of things she didn't want to see, remembering the feeling of his hands on her body, his blade cutting her open, his fists hitting her over and over. "I just…. I feel so dirty."

She wrapped her arms around her chest, feeling exactly as she said she did. She felt like no matter how hard she scrubbed it would never go away, and she was tempted to try. Before she even realised she was doing it she moved to the sink, scrubbing her hands under the running water to try and get rid of the filth she could feel. Only a moment later Skulduggery's gloved hand turned off the taps and pulled her back firmly. She tried to continue scrubbing, but he quickly plucked the sponge from her hands, dropping it in the sink. "Valkyrie stop."

"No… I can't, I need to get rid of it." He gripped her hands tightly in his and she struggled uselessly to get them back, but he wouldn't let them go until she calmed down. She felt a sob break through her chest, making her whole body shake, and for a moment Skulduggery seemed unsure of what to do, but only for a moment, and then he was pulling her against his hard frame, his skeletal arms wrapped around her tightly, supporting her as she sobbed into his shirt, her fingers clinging desperately to the thin material.

He picked her up and carried her to the lounge where he sat, cradling her in his arms as she cried. He listened quietly as she kept trying to force herself to stop, succeeding for a second before the sobs would come back and the tears continued flowing. She was just starting to calm down when there was a knock at the door. She breathed deeply but didn't move, and Skulduggery wasn't sure she even could. He shifted her off his lap and put her on the couch gently, tapping the marks on his shoulder blades to make a false face appear. Dark brown hair and brown eyes, he noticed as he walked past the mirror in the hall. The disadvantage to having a different face every time he activated the façade was that he had to pretend to be a different person every time he spoke to Valkyrie's parents.

He opened the door and smiled at his partners mother, who looked surprised to see him. "Hello, you must be Mrs Edgley." He said politely, offering his hand. She shook it, looking past him into the house. "I'm Mark." He continued, using the first name that popped into his head.

"It's nice to meet you Mark. Can I ask how you know Stephanie?" The woman asked, sounding both curious and suspicious about why this man was at her daughters house at this time in the morning, obviously having not just arrived.

"I'm a friend." He answered, and knew immediately that she didn't believe him. He felt himself blush a little when he realised what she was thinking. "Stephanie's just gone to have a shower, she said you were in a rush though. Would you like me to take Sarah so you don't have to wait around?"

Valkyrie's mother seemed a bit hesitant to leave her daughter with a stranger, but after an unnoticed twist of Skulduggery's fingers she could hear the water start in the downstairs bathroom. "Okay, I am in a rush." She shifted the toddler in her arms and handed the sleeping girl to Skulduggery. "Tell Stephanie I said thank you."

He nodded and closed the door awkwardly, holding little Sarah in on arm as he carried her into the lounge room. He sat her on the other couch and turned back to Valkyrie, who was sitting up now, her eyes red rimmed but free of tears. She stood up and walked over to him, giving him a quick hug and after a moment of hesitating she stretched onto her toes and kissed his cold cheek bone. "Thanks." She said quietly. "I'm going to go and have a shower." She'd already had a bath, but Skulduggery didn't argue, just let her wander into the bathroom, closing the door behind herself.

He pressed his gloved fingers against his cheek bone lightly, where he could still feel the warmth of her lips touching him. Why had she done that? Of all the years they had been working together, and even after all the things he had done for her, she had never kissed him on the cheek before. His mind wandering he turned his attention to the small girl beside him who was waking up.

Hope you enjoyed it. Please review. Im a little unsure about where i will take this before I get to the end, so any suggestions would be good. Perhaps things you'd like to see happen? I could add them in.