Valkyrie had a nightmare.

In her dream, she could see Skulduggery in the alternate dimension, being chased by a million Faceless Ones. He took out his gun, tried to shoot them, but the bullets went straight through them and they all laughed in unison, a horrible rusty sound that wasn't like laughter at all. Then they swooped down on him like a cat pouncing on a mouse and ripped him apart, tearing his bones away from each other until he was no longer able to scream.

Her eyes flew open and she sat up, shivering even though the room was warm. The previous day's optimism drained out of her and suddenly she wanted to cry. Skulduggery was probably being tortured right now and it could still be months before they found the skull. How much more pain would he have to endure before they finally succeeded?

She washed and dressed on autopilot, her mind somewhere else completely, then trudged downstairs to have breakfast. She stuck some bread in the toaster, then she heard a noise behind her and she whirled. Fletcher was standing there.

'Jesus Christ!' she gasped. 'You nearly gave me a heart attack!'

He grinned. 'Sorry.'

'What are you even doing here?'

'Er, you let me stay here last night? Remember that, Blue Lips?'

'Oh yeah,' she muttered. She turned back to the toaster. 'And shut up about that. It was so not funny.'

'You're right,' he said cheerfully. 'It wasn't funny.'

She frowned. 'You agree with me?'

He nodded. 'It was hilarious.'

She sighed and didn't bother replying, just scraped some butter onto her toast with unnecessary force and took the plate over to the table. She did her best to avoid eye contact with him. She couldn't let him see that she was on the verge of tears.

'Do I get breakfast?' he asked hopefully.

She let her hair fall over face, obscuring it from view. 'You're a Teleporter, if you want breakfast go teleport somewhere else and get it.'

'That's a bit rude,' he said. 'I don't think much of your hospitality, actually. First you forget I'm here, then you say I'm not funny, then you refuse to serve me breakfast? If you were a hotel, you'd be out of business.'

Her lips twitched. Thankfully he couldn't see it.

He sat down opposite her and said more seriously, 'Are you OK?'

'Fine,' she mumbled, embarrassed. The lump in her throat was almost painful.

He looked at her. 'No, you're not.'

A hot tear ran down her cheek and she got up quickly and turned away under the pretext of putting her plate in the dishwasher, but it was too late. He'd seen.

'D'you want me to make you a cup of tea?' he asked quietly, in a tone she'd never heard him use before. He actually sounded sympathetic.

She shrugged, still with her back to him. 'I don't care what you do.'

She heard the kettle being switched on and a teabag dropping in the mug, but she couldn't look around. Her cheeks were wet with tears. She tried to surreptitiously wipe them away, feeling like an idiot. It had been ages since she'd last cried. And all because of a stupid dream.

'We were getting on so well yesterday,' he said lightheartedly, obviously trying to lighten the mood. 'And now look. I think I'm going to have to get you another peace offering. Or maybe you should get me one this time. It's your turn.'

She heard the water pouring into the mug. It was a strangely comforting sound.

'I get that you're upset,' Fletcher said awkwardly. 'I mean, I know you two are good friends, and it's all been a bit...'

'Yeah.'

'But we will get him back,' he went on.

She was suddenly annoyed. 'Oh, what do you know?'

He was silent, and she knew she'd hurt him. A strange mixture of guilt and satisfaction swirled inside her.

'You're right,' he said quietly. 'I don't know much. But can you give me a break? I'm just trying to make you feel better.'

'Right,' she muttered. 'Sorry.'

He added milk to the tea and slid it towards her. She had to turn to take it, and he saw her swollen eyes. His face softened again.

'It's OK,' he said. 'Don't apologize.'

His sympathy just made her want to cry more. She fought hard against the tears and drank some tea, but the lump in her throat nearly made her choke. She wished this uncharacteristic outburst of emotion had come at a more convenient time.

'So when are we meeting Tanith and Ghastly?' he asked in a desperate attempt to steer the conversation into less upsetting waters.

'As soon as I'm finished breakfast,' she said without looking at him. 'And, I don't know...' She glanced at her red-eyed, tear-stained reflection in the window. 'I should probably wash my face or something so I look normal.' She looked away, embarrassed at having to admit that she was crying.

'It's not good to bottle up your feelings,' Fletcher said helpfully. 'I saw that on Jeremy Kyle. Maybe you should just, like, cry it out before we go, get it all out of your system, and then you'll feel better.'

'I don't need to cry it out.'

'I'm not judging.'

She just nodded, turning away from him again and scrunching up her face against the fresh flood of tears she knew was coming. All the pain and worry and grief and despair she'd been suppressing for so long was rising up inside her like a tidal wave. She wanted to sob, to shake, to scream.

Suddenly, she felt a hand on her arm and that was all it took. She burst into tears.

Wordlessly, Fletcher turned her to face him and hugged her, and she sobbed into his shoulder for what seemed like hours while he rubbed her back and shhhed her. Out of stubbornness, she didn't want him to make her feel better - she would rather it was anyone but him - but there was something so comforting about his warmth and his smell and the steady rhythm of his heartbeat that eventually the tears stopped and her sobs subsided.

They parted slowly, reluctantly, Valkyrie secretly thinking about how nice it would be to just stay in his arms forever, but her misery had given way to resolve. She wiped her eyes.

'Better?' he asked.

She nodded, managed a smile. 'This never happened, okay?'

He wiped a tear off her cheek with his thumb, sending something like an electric shock through her system. 'Okay.'

She went into the bathroom, splashed her face with water, got rid of all the evidence, and went back into the kitchen looking transformed. Fletcher smiled and took her hand, and then they vanished.

A/N: Oh, hello, fancy seeing you here. As always, thanks a million to the people who reviewed so far :D And I'm sorry, I know Val's sudden angst attack was a bit... erm... sudden, and also kind of OOC, but c'est la vie. Whatever that means.