'Depressed?'

Valkyrie turned, startled. She'd been sitting on her bed in Gordon's spare room with her head in her hands, staring at the floor. She hadn't realised there was someone else in there with her. Fletcher was standing in the doorway.

'No,' she said defensively. 'I'm fine.'

He raised an eyebrow. She looked at the floor, wishing he'd go away.

'It's okay, you know,' he said. 'I get like that sometimes. Everyone does.'

She sighed. 'Why are you being like this?'

'Like what?'

'All... oh, I don't know... nice.'

He looked a bit hurt. 'You think I'm acting?'

She shrugged. 'I'm just confused, that's all. I thought we didn't like each other. I thought you didn't want to be here, I thought you didn't care.'

'Well, I do,' he said. 'Now that I've gotten to know you all and stuff, I kind of want to help. And anyway, it's not like I really have anything else to do.'

She couldn't argue with that.

'But it's okay,' he went on. 'I'll go if you want me to.'

'I don't want you to go,' she said reluctantly. 'We need you to help us find the skull and then open the portal.'

He half-smiled. 'Well, in that case, we might as well make an effort to get along because it's going to be torture otherwise.'

'Fine,' she muttered. 'I'm sorry. Thank you for your concern.'

He seemed satisfied. 'Now are you really okay?'

'I told you, I'm fine,' she insisted, trying to adjust to his new personality. 'There's nothing wrong. Apart from the obvious. So stop asking.'

He held up his hands. 'Okay, okay. Sorry. You just looked upset, that's all.'

She said nothing, just stood up and brushed past him out the door.

'Why are you so determined not to like me?' he called after her.

She didn't answer.

A/N: I know they were getting on much better in the last two chapters, but I felt like there should be a bit of tension... it wasn't all sunshine and roses, after all xD

Thank you so much for all your reviews! Sorry this chapter is so short, next one will be longer. (But not too long.) Please tell me if you think there's any OOCness... I personally think Fletcher is too nice, but whatever...