Chapter 191

"Ready for our date?" Valkyrie asked, kissing Nadia carefully on the lips.

Her fiancée was wearing a sheath dress in a lovely nude-pink colour that complimented her warm brown skin and dark locks of hair which she had curled to a gorgeous, gentle wave that made her look incredibly sophisticated and womanly. The dress itself, other than being a delightful colour, hugged her from its capped sleeves on her dainty, slightly toned arms, over her pert breasts, tucked in at her little waist, back out at her hips, and then fell to just above her knees. She had chosen very small white heals and her big, white puffy winter coat. The coat didn't quite match but considering the four inches of snow and ice they had to get through, it would at least help keep Nadia warm. Then again, her bare legs might see that she wasn't warm at all.

Nadia smiled up at Valkyrie, reaching up and resting her hands on Valkyrie's shoulders. Her ring glinted in the light, which Valkyrie now noticed she had paired with some beautiful diamond earrings Valkyrie may or may not have bought for her for her fifteenth birthday, but she honestly couldn't remember around all the other gifts. Her makeup was pretty too, very light and shimmery to go with the subtle threads of silver sparkle running through her dress. Her eyes looked even bigger and prettier with the mascara and eyeliner too, and Valkyrie enjoyed that.

"I think so, I just need my bag," Nadia smiled, leaning her head up for another kiss Valkyrie happily gave her. "I wasn't expecting you to wear a suit."

Valkyrie smiled, trying very hard to not immediately move to straighten the jacket like a certain man would do. "Well, I thought I would change it up. Plus I don't have any dresses and didn't want to go shopping."

"But you had time to find a whole tux, huh?" Nadia raised an eyebrow.

"Half a tux," Valkyrie smirked. "I borrowed the rest from Skulduggery."

Nadia smiled. "It looks good on you. Better than him, I dare say."

Valkyrie was grinning now, their bodies pressed together how she liked it. "Don't let him hear you say that. It looks really good though, doesn't it? I already had trousers, it turns out me and Solomon have the same shoe size, and Ghastly had made me a suit jacket for a formal a while ago but I refused to wear it so he didn't finish the whole look. The rest is from Skulduggery's house."

"And your hair looks good," Nadia complimented. Valkyrie had styled it, for almost an hour before she even had any clothes on, to sweep back into a knot at the back. Her whole look was somewhere between masculine and androgynous, mainly due to the painted fingernails and her own makeup that had accidently complimented Nadia's. But Valkyrie was coming around to the look. She still preferred ballgowns and getting a chance to dress up feminine, but she also liked the tux a lot. Plus the bow tie was really cute. Something about looking so different to how she usually did was appealing. "Let me grab my phone and we'll go."

They called out a goodbye to Aine, who saw them for a moment to say how lovely they looked and to wave them out, and then Valkyrie drove them to the cocktail party China had gotten Valkyrie tickets for. They were absolutely gate crashing, but they wouldn't be denied as China had requested for the two of them to be her personal guests.

Valkyrie parked Nadia's car in the racecourse car park and hopped around the car to help Nadia out like a good fiancée, before locking up and making their way over. Valkyrie had to physically pick Nadia up for a part of it and carry her over big patches of ice in the road, thankfully resulting in neither of them falling over.

"Cain and Robin," Valkyrie told the man at the door in his fancy red suit.

He looked up at Valkyrie in surprise, then looked her up and down. "Um, I'll need a form of identification, ma'am." Valkyrie raised an eyebrow but got out her real – sort of – I.D. to be briefly looked at and then returned to her. "Thank you, Miss Cain. Have a wonderful night. Someone will take your coat just inside the door, Miss Robin."

They nodded and went in quickly, happy to be out of the evening chill.

"He thought you were a guy," Nadia whispered to her excitedly.

"That isn't a good thing," Valkyrie glared down, flicking her eyes between Nadia's face and her chest – her own chest, she wasn't that inappropriate. She was wearing makeup. It wasn't that she thought makeup was only for women, just that she had thought she looked slightly more like a woman than she apparently did.

Nadia giggled, taking her coat off and handing it to a teen about their age to take it, who looked at Valkyrie with barely hidden curiosity but didn't seem to recognise her. "Well I think you're perfect," Nadia continued quietly when they were away from him. "I think I forgot to put on my necklace."

"You look amazing, baby, don't even worry about it," Valkyrie smiled. "Now come on, I need to keep moving or I'll start thinking about how everyone thinks I'm a man and I'll be upset."

"I'd still love you if you were a man."

"That doesn't help me, though," Valkyrie rolled her eyes.

"I don't mind it," Nadia grinned. "I think it's hot."

That did make Valkyrie smile, and she stood poised as she was meant to and led Nadia into the large hall the fancy party was in. It was more of a glorified bar, to be honest, but it was an incredibly fancy one with glass bar tables near the polished bar, barrels of various exotic ales, and there were larger tables for sitting and eating. The food itself was a buffet, but everything looked to be canapés, or close to that, and very expensive. How China had gotten the hosts to give her two extra tickets for someone as young and unimportant as the Dead Men's adopted not-a-child-anymore was a little beyond her, but it looked like they'd enjoy their date at least.

"We should get a drink," Nadia whispered immediately, and they changed course to the bar.

Valkyrie smiled and waved at someone from the Sanctuary she recognised, but they obviously didn't recognise her. There was an opening in the bar and the two young women slipped in, casually waiting. Valkyrie ordered a fruit drink without alcohol and Nadia ordered a small, white sparkling wine, and while that was being made, Valkyrie felt someone walking up behind them and turned.

"Valkyrie, darling," China smiled perfectly, opening her arms and lightly hugging Valkyrie, kissing each other on the cheek. "You look wonderful! And Nadia, I am so glad we get to meet again. You are absolutely stunning."

"Hello, Miss Sorrows," Nadia said shily, a blush creeping up her face.

Valkyrie spoke to cover. "It's good to see you, China. You're beautiful, as always."

China laughed, her voice drawing the attention of the predominantly male party. "You're growing up to be such a charmer. I heard you had some trouble recently."

The switch in conversation was seamless. "Yes, we ran into a few issues on some work I was doing, but it's been supposedly smoothed over," she said with a wry smile, accepting their drinks from the bartender. "I know, I need to visit you and tell you everything."

"Tomorrow," China said, seriously but not too forceful. Valkyrie knew she meant it. "It is nice to see you out being social. You've barely been to any functions in the last two years, I've missed running into you."

"Duty calls," she shrugged. And noticed a few people behind China whispering at the tables and looking at her. "Also, no one knows who I am. They all think I'm a man."

China laughed, really laughed. "Yes, I know. I only realised it was you from your lovely fiancée." Nadia blushed again, sipping her wine. "I think you've grown a good two inches since the last time you were actually working in the Sanctuary, and you've always had such long hair and worn dresses, so you've thrown everyone through a loop. This is probably the most entertaining thing that'll happen tonight," she said quite casually. "Come, let me introduce you to the host, I'm sure he'll let everyone know who you really are."

Valkyrie smiled and put a hand on Nadia's back, following China to a balding man that was slim, somewhat handsome but not massively so, in a very nice suit but not so nice of an expression. He had a deep frown on his face, studying Valkyrie hard. The funny thing was, Valkyrie had met him before, once. Back when she had accompanied Gordon on one of his business ventures when she was a child, on a snow day when her school was closed but her mother had been supporting her cancer ridden sister, so she had to go to work anyway and left little Valkyrie with her uncle. This man was Mr Henning, who worked primarily in stocks but also in a lot of Cleaver distribution. Gordon, or rather she, had money mainly in the Cleavers and Reapers Production directly, but that was anonymous to anyone else. Mr Henning was similar in that way but was involved in the recruitment as well as making the uniforms and weapons needed by the Producers. There was a lot, lot less money involved as Cleaver and Reaper Production was not a very lucrative business, although it certainly had other benefits.

At a time before war, like now, it made a lot of sense that Mr Henning was trying to get in with a lot of the 'good' people, and a lot of those 'good' people were trying to get favours and protection through Mr Henning, seeing as how it was practically impossible to hire Cleavers or Reapers otherwise. Mr Henning was one of the only people that knew Valkyrie now had a big hand in the survival of the industry – assuming he remembered.

"Mr Henning," Valkyrie smiled widely, reaching forward and shaking his hand, though he was quite bewildered. "We've met before, Valkyrie Cain. May I introduce my fiancée to you, Nadia Robin."

"Oh, Miss Cain!" He said, the shock lasting as he took a step back to look her up and down critically, getting quite a lot of attention and immediately letting everyone know who she was. Well done, Mr Henning. "Yes I do remember. Miss Sorrow's asked that you could come, and I was quite happy, you see, to get to meet you. You say we've met before?"

"Yes, with my Uncle Gordon Edgley. It was barely hip height at the time," she smiled.

"Oh, yes, yes," he nodded, though he obviously didn't recall. "And you said this is your fiancée?"

"Yes, Nadia Robin," she repeated, and he kissed Nadia's hand like a gentleman.

"I haven't seen Gordon in so long!" He stated. "Tell me, how is he?"

Valkyrie paused. "He's dead."

"Oh," he said, shocked.

"But he lives on through an Echo Stone attached to an energy supply, so he is still around, in a way. He considers himself alive and is writing more novels at the very least," she continued.

"I didn't know," he said, surprising Valkyrie a little. She thought everyone knew about the Dead Men's Skeleton Detective's friend that left them a little girl to raise and then turned out to be living in a rock and considered himself alive. It was sort of a sensational story. "But then, I have been quite busy these last few years, what with the revival of the Cleaver industry in the last twenty years. Good thing too, what with the things going on."

"Yes, but I am forbidden to talk about that," she smiled politely. "Me and Nadia like to get a break from my work."

"Oh, yes, of course, you are a Dead Man in training," he nodded enthusiastically. "Well, here's what I'll do, take my number and call me if you need anything! I'm sure even a girl like you needs help occasionally."

China laughed as Valkyrie accepted the unnecessary business card. "Mr Henning, Valkyrie is hardly a child anymore. Perhaps treat a young woman accordingly, hum?" She simpered, coming to stand on Valkyrie's other side and resting a hand on her arm in an almost flirtatious manner. Mr Henning started spluttering and stumbling on his words. "Come, Valkyrie, Nadia, let me introduce you to some more people and then I'll leave you be."

China kept her word and only introduced them to a few more people and then they were free to get some food and sit at a table, talking quietly for the rest of the night in quiet whispers, only occasionally being interrupted by someone Valkyrie knew from work, someone utterly random she didn't much care about, and a handful of other people who Gordon had money with. It was strange, realising how much of Gordon's money lessons she had really taken in considering how few of them she'd had, but it was nice to see her own progress. It was also nice to find out someone who they had been considering dropping was drunk stupid and blabbing to everyone about how his business was about to go under, so she'd make sure to pull what she could. But really, she got to spend a good four hours with Nadia, barely interrupted, in a gorgeous hall with wonderful food and drinks, Nadia getting progressively more drunk and happy as they went.

At around eleven, Nadia complained once more about being hungry, so Valkyrie decided it was time to slip away. She had prepared for this, being given a heads up from China that the host barely fed his guests even at a three-course dinner, so she drove herself and a giggly, tipsy Nadia to a dessert bar.

"It's so cold and pretty," Nadia grinned up at Valkyrie. "I want your jacket."

"No, wear your coat," Valkyrie said, reaching to grab it out of the car.

"No!" Nadia whined loudly. "I only want yours."

"You are getting so drunk," Valkyrie said, as if that would tell her off, and took her suit jacket off, wrapping it around a giggling Nadia. She loosened her bow and let it hang like Dexter would, undoing her top button. "Come on, it's fucking freezing."

Nadia laughed meanly and they rushed into the bar, Nadia almost slipping three times. "Two please!" Nadia said immediately to the waitress at the front. Valkyrie smiled at her apologetically, but the lady just smiled and led them in, asking about their night. Nadia regaled her with a shortened version of the fancy party they went to as a date, but how the food was lacking so they bailed. They ordered quickly, Nadia choosing a lemon glazed tart, and Valkyrie choosing a white chocolate and raspberry cheesecake.

"I'm so hungry," Nadia complained again.

"It'll be here in five minutes, calm down," Valkyrie soothed. "Have you heard from your friends recently?"

"Fleet was texting me earlier," she said, a smirk in her eyes. "She wants to meet us and get drunk again."

"Why do I feel like that's going to go well?" She said drily. "What plans have you two made? Anything I should be worried about?"

Nadia dipped her head and looked up at her through her eyelashes prettily. "That depends on how much you like Fleet."

A smile pulled at her mouth. "You realise I'm dating you, right?"

"Yes. And you'll continue to do that. With a little bit of Fleet."

"I'm not dating Fleet."

"But you kiss her."

"Once."

"You enjoyed it."

"So did you," Valkyrie raised her eyebrow. "Apparently more than I thought."

"I'm just saying, it's kind of hot seeing you make her blush is all," Nadia said very quietly so no one would hear them. "I wanted to ask you before but you were all worried about the other stuff, and there's been actual stuff on both our minds, so I didn't. But it might be nice to think about. Would you consider it, at least for one day in the future? I'm not saying we'd go all the way with her. I prefer you to myself."

Valkyrie laughed softly, sipping her lemonade she had just been served. Nadia sipped her wine through a straw like a soft drink. "I would be willing to consider it, yes."

Nadia giggled. "Heee, a kissy threesome," she said, and then laughed into her hand.

Valkyrie sighed but grinned, loving her drunk fiancée too much. Fleet was cute, and as long as they all wanted it… Valkyrie would be willing to consider the possibility. After talking with sober Nadia. "Shh, calm down Nadia, kids are here."

Nadia laughed some more but settled before their desserts came, and they enjoyed them happily, Nadia chatting her head off about the wedding and that she'd been looking at dresses and venues online for fun, and showed a few to Valkyrie on her phone. They were all gorgeous and Valkyrie knew she'd be happy with any of them, but none of them could possibly hold all of Nadia's family which apparently had to come.

"I just don't get it," Valkyrie said eventually. "If you barely know half of these people, and a lot of them you don't get on with even without factoring me into the equation, why invite them?"

"Because it's tradition and I have to!" Nadia repeated. "Look, in reality, I might not care, but in terms of family dynamics, it would be like if I invited Anton, Erskine and Ghastly, but none of the rest of your brothers. It just wouldn't work! To me, those three could be my favourite people in the world, but to them, their favourite people are Dexter and Solomon, so if I don't invite them, Anton, Erskine and Ghastly might be upset. And Dexter and Solomon's favourite people are Skulduggery and Saracen, so I have to invite them so Dexter and Solomon aren't upset, because if they're upset, Anton, Erskine and Ghastly would be upset. And it's not like I can invite no one from my family because I don't hate all my family. I just don't enjoy being around a few of them, and since I can cope for one day to keep the peace with people I do like, I should invite them. And if I'm inviting this person, I have to invite their sister, or their mother, or their kids, and suddenly it's the whole freaking family. It's just how it works."

"No it isn't."

"I don't feel like you're listening to me," Nadia said, frowning over her plate. "It's not really up for debate, Val. It's not even up for debate for me! I can't choose this. It's a family tradition that all my family see me get married. I'm happy to do it in Ireland but it would be such a faff it isn't even worth it. So we may as well go to India, have our crazy, big fat Indian wedding over the course of a few days and have a good time and think of it as a big holiday, and then we'll have the real thing. India can just be our fun holiday before the day, everyone will treat us like princesses. And you said that by then you'd be friends with my parents, so it'll go really nice, and it would mean a lot to them to have this wedding."

Valkyrie put her hands up. "Alright. I'm convinced. Two weddings. One for your family, one for us. Is there anything I have to do for the Indian wedding?"

"I don't know. I don't know how it all works, honestly, but I've been to a few and it's all very extravagant. I doubt we'll get much say in it anyway. We might as well forget about it and do what we want in Ireland," she shrugged.

"Well, no, that will be our first ever time getting married," she frowned. "I know it's not the official wedding in our eyes, but it's still real."

"I know," she smiled indulgently. "But what can we do? I don't want to organise two weddings a week apart. I know you don't! So we have to let something give, and I'd rather let the whole Indian wedding go to my family to do what they want than get only half of what I want at two weddings, leading to being really stressed and not fully getting any of what I want in the end. It just works out like this."

"I guess it does," Valkyrie nodded. "Come on, let's get some cake for tomorrow and get going."

They ordered three more cakes to go, so Aine could have one with them, making sure to pick a low fat one to respect her serious diet efforts she'd been going to, and started out of the restaurant, only for Nadia to practically fall on top of someone as they pushed their chair out.

"Sorry!" Valkyrie gasped, pulling Nadia to her chest. Nadia kept repeating "shit" which was very helpful. "She's had a bit to drink, I'm so sorry."

"It's okay," the girl said, laughing.

Valkyrie steadied Nadia and picked up the girls' coat which had fallen, putting back on the back of her chair as Nadia finally apologised, but then caught a look at the girls face and paused. She looked around the table at each of the girls and something felt familiar. "Hey, have we met before? Did we go to school together?"

The girls looked around at each other, and the parents looked at the girls. "Um, I'm not sure. We've not been in a – um, a traditional school. For a while," the girl they bumped into stuttered. "Um, what's your name though, maybe we went to school together before we left?"

"Stephanie," Valkyrie said, almost stumbling on her Chosen Name.

The girl's eyes widened and she went pale. "Oh."

"What?" Valkyrie asked, looking between them. "What school did you go to?"

"We didn't go to school together," another girl said, looking down at her plate.

One of the parents, a father, got up. "I don't think now is a good time, honey," he said lowly, pushing Nadia quite forcibly.

"Don't put your hands on her," Valkyrie immediately told him, putting a hand on Nadia's back. They stepped back, Valkyrie confused and glanced one last time at the first girl before she went to leave.

"Wait!" The last one practically shouted. They got a few looks from around and all the parents immediately tried to quieten the girl, one of them gripping her arm tightly. Valkyrie waited, not sure what else to do now. "I – I'm sorry."

"What?" Valkyrie asked. "Look, I'm sort of confused, I don't know if you have me mistaken for someone. I'm not really sure why this is such a… I don't know, thing for you guys."

"We met at the swimming competition when we were younger," she got out, looking pale but obviously trying to be strong. Valkyrie froze entirely, looking at the girl closely and turning to see her properly. What were their names?

"Oh," Valkyrie shook her head.

All of the table looked sombre. Only the last girl spoke, moving out of her parents grasp and going to stand in front of Valkyrie. She noticed, now, that the girl looked thin with long, mousy hair, was short and had an awkward posture. She looked incredibly self-conscious and it showed in every move. Only years of training going towards literally not backing down made her keep a straight face and not take a step away. "I wanted to say I'm really sorry. We all are. We never should have done what we did. I – I wanted to send you a letter, when I was younger and realised what I did was wrong, but they wouldn't let me. I – I really am."

Valkyrie nodded automatically, looking at her like she might explode. "Which one are you?" She asked.

The girl hesitated. "What do you mean?"

"Your name."

"Oh. I'm Megan," she said quietly, clutching at her hands anxiously.

Valkyrie thought back to that day, so long ago, and it took a moment to recall. Three girls, an older, ugly one, her competitor, and the youngest called Megan. Megan was the only one whose name she knew. She'd also been the only one Valkyrie had successfully fought against, having dislocated her knee quite horribly and then being thrown on top of her by the ugly one, which Valkyrie doubted had been nice.

"I remember," she said. Nadia put a hand on her back. "How's the knee?"

Megan let out a pained laugh. "Yes, it's okay. It only took a few weeks to get better."

"I'd think so. I've had my knee dislocated a few times. Mostly my shoulders though," she said, not entirely certain why. Inside, she felt like she was freaking out. She had had nightmares about these girls, imagining all the horrible things they had done, hadn't done, could have done when she was passed out. They had, in a way, violated her. But on the outside, she saw a very timid girl that was trying to make atonement for what she had done. And that upset her more because Valkyrie suddenly realised the young teen Megan, at the least, had been… was a normal girl. Not a monster. She had just made a very, very stupid mistake. It was human and she really didn't like that. "I was never told what happened."

"With the – the case?" Megan whispered. "Um-"

"I'm sorry, girls," one of the adults said. "But maybe could we sit for this discussion?"

Valkyrie looked at Nadia, who didn't look happy, but they sat anyway. Valkyrie drew to chairs over so they wouldn't have to sit at the booths with anyone. Nadia sat quiet and still as a rock, refusing to look at anyone. Of course, this was the main place Nadia's anxieties over holding hands in public came from. If these girls hadn't attacked her, Nadia wouldn't be nearly as timid about public expression.

"Um, well, after what happened, we stayed in prison for a while, and then our parents got to take us home," Megan explained. "I was younger, so I didn't have as much time as Abigail and Natali, but we all went to the same prison after the court date. I remember, your family was there, but I think your dad stayed home with you or something."

"Yes, Skulduggery would have had to," she said blankly, trying to understand what was happening.

"I don't really remember it, I was really upset and didn't understand what was happening. I was only twelve, but Abigail and Natali were sixteen, so they got a little longer. I had three months, and they had to do five, and then we all went to a behavioural school. It wasn't – well, I mean, I didn't like it, but we deserved it. We all became friends though, and our parents like to meet every year, so that's what we do."

Valkyrie nodded slowly. "So you've been out for quite a while."

"Yes, but we had to do other things, like see a behavioural specialist and stuff. It took a long time for me to understand, but when I turned fifteen two years ago, it sort of clicked how bad it was. I really wanted to tell you how sorry I was for hurting you and saying what we did, but I couldn't."

Valkyrie took a breath and looked at her. "Do you mean that? Really?"

The girl flinched, looking barely thirteen instead of sixteen, still small and petite, unlike her two stockier friends. She nodded though. "I do. I actually joined an LBGT plus group as a volunteer to help them with setting up events, and I did all my counselling and things, and I'm trying to catch up in my studies to be a lawyer to specialising in helping to fight against hate crime, especially against the LGBT community. I know I've made some big mistakes, but I am trying."

Valkyrie nodded again. "Okay. I mean, this is really weird, but you have a really good goal you're working towards and… I'm happy for you."

The girl broke into a beaming smile. "Thank you! It means a lot, from you."

"Well, everyone can change, I guess," she said, leaning back in her chair and almost rubbing her eyes before remembering the makeup. "Oh. This is my girlfriend, Nadia. We're still together still, I don't know if you remember I was dating her when those things happened."

"Oh, that's so sweet!" Megan immediately said.

The others at the table nodded too, but Valkyrie noticed the other girls still looked incredibly uncomfortable. Valkyrie sighed and sat up. "Look, we'll get going. I'm sorry for running into you like that, literally. I'm really happy for you Megan, I hope you all the best. Hopefully, one day, the rest of you might not be as uncomfortable about all this."

There were some quick looks from around the table. Whether it was them, that being the other two girls or the parents, being homophobic or just very uncomfortable with meeting the victim after all this time, she wasn't sure, but it was making her uncomfortable so she wasn't interested. She gave Megan a hug, almost bring her to happy tears, and then she led a sobered Nadia out of the building.

They were almost at the car when the other two girls came out and ran up to them in their tall, stilt-like heels. "Wait!" They called.

Valkyrie sighed, standing with Nadia protectively. "Hey guys, look, I understand this is all really weird, but I'm–"

"No, wait," one of them said. "Look, we're really sorry. My names Abigail by the way. I don't want to be rude, we're just not quite as, you know, open about all this stuff as Megan is, but we are sorry. We were really jealous of you beating me in the race, and we took it out on you in a really horrible way."

"We didn't understand at the time," Natali said, "that we could disagree with something and still tolerate it. What we did, with attacking you, was really wrong, and we're sorry about that. You didn't deserve to be physically attacked, called names, or made to feel like you can't be who you are openly just because we didn't like the idea of it. The whole idea of tolerance is something we never knew about, and we're sorry."

"I appreciate your honesty," she said seriously. "I admit, I'm a bit disappointed that you came out to tell me you only tolerate my relationship, but that's great, I guess. God, this so a fucking weird night."

She got some awkward laughs from Abigail and Natali. "Yeah," they said together, and laughed again.

"Look, I should get going," she said quietly. "Thanks for coming out though."

They nodded, and a moment went past as Nadia got herself halfway into the car and Valkyrie left her to finish and went to the other side.

"Wait, is that it?" Abigail asked, wide eyed.

Valkyrie's stomach lurched, but she plastered a smile on her face. "Yep, it's midnight. I need to get home."

"But – aren't you going to forgive us?" She asked desperately.

"Mate, you beat me unconscious for being gay and coming first in a swimming competition, you need to get over yourselves. Leave it how it is. I appreciate your honesty, that's going to have to be it," she said, crossing her arms. Her muscles bulged under the shirt. They had to be as big as Tanith's by now.

"But you forgave Megan!"

"Megan was younger and more easily influenced to follow a path that wasn't right. She's since fully accepted what she did and she's gone above and beyond to make up for it, supporting the gay community and trying to work towards being a lawyer to help get equal right for everyone and to fight against the exact thing she did. That is far more commendable and deserving of my forgiveness. You tolerate me having a girlfriend and have possibly gotten over me winning a dumb race. The fact you're demanding forgiveness proves you don't deserve it. Please just go inside," Valkyrie grit out, feeling herself getting far more angry as she went.

"That's not true, we've changed a lot!" Natali cried.

"Yeah, it's been four and a half years, you grew up. So will everyone. I'm not saying that learning tolerance is bad, I'm just saying that your part in the crime and your ages made you so much more of a worse person that the way you've changed hasn't really made enough of an impact on me personally to forgive you. Acceptance and tolerance are entirely different things. Maybe one day I can forgive that, and we'll run into each other and I'll tell you. But right now, I'm not happy about it. Please leave us alone now."

"No! No, this isn't fair!" Abigail whined, stamping her foot. Valkyrie raised both eyebrows at her.

She cut her tantrum off. "Look, I've tried to be nice. Go inside or I'll be forced to ask the police for help. I don't want anything to do with you right now."

"What?!" Natali screeched. "You're being totally unfair!"

"You're a twenty-two year old adult, act like it!" Valkyrie snarled. "Leave us alone or I'll ask Nadia to phone the police. Last warning."

"Stop it! You're not even listening to us! We're trying to say we're sorry!" Abigail shouted. She paused like this was a big revolution that changed everything. "Don't we deserve our forgiveness too?! We went to prison and therapy and we're doing our best! And you don't even care!"

"Nadia, get in the car," Valkyrie demanded, glaring at the girls as she got her phone out.

But Nadia didn't. She had gotten out of the car as the girls ranted, and now that Valkyrie was at the point of calling someone, she had gotten it into her drunk head to take on the girls herself.

"I hate you," she said to them suddenly, getting all their attention. Nadia swayed slightly and put a hand on the short bonnet to steady herself. "You really hurt my baby, and now you think you're entitled to forgiveness? Seriously? You are disgusting, nasty little girls that deserve every moment you had in prison."

"We were–"

"I don't care what happened to you!" Nadia screeched. "You're a horrible human being for even thinking you deserve forgiveness, let alone trying to get us alone in a car park to force one from us! You're evil!"

"Nadia, hon," Valkyrie tried.

"No! I remember you crying through the night, talking to me on the phone crying at night months after it happened!" She repeated in her drunken haze. The girl's parents and Megan were coming out of the restaurant and running to them, others watching in the window of the building. "I cleaned you up in that shower stall! I saw what they did to you! You were covered in blood and bruises! How is that fair, Val? How is it fair that they get to come out here and corner you, and demand you forgive them because they don't want to beat you up for existing anymore?! It's not fair! I hate them!"

"Baby, you need to calm down," she said much more calmly than she felt, going around the car and holding Nadia tightly. "Don't let them get to you. Let it go."

"No! I don't want to let it go, I want them to – to – I want them to go fuck themselves!" Nadia finished dramatically, now sobbing.

"Yeah, I know," Valkyrie whispered, kissing the top of Nadia's head. "Let's just go home."

Nadia glared at Valkyrie for a moment but then nodded and turned on her heel, throwing herself into the car with violent sobs.

Valkyrie sighed, glancing at the girls. Their families and Megan were staying far behind them. Megan was crying, and so were Abigail and Natali, but in a different way. She got out her phone quickly. "Megan," she called, getting her attention. "What's your number?"

She got it from the sixteen year old quickly.

"Alright. When you get your grades back, tell me. I want to see you be a lawyer," she said determinedly, knowing how keeping in touch with her would make the other girls that much more upset. She could have a little petty revenge, she supposed. Megan nodded and smiled through her silent tears.

Abigail started crying so hard she fell to the floor and started spitting insults at Valkyrie – none of them homophobic, but that wasn't the point – despite the adults trying to stop her. Valkyrie ignored it and got into the car, only to suddenly see Nadia storm up to Natali and slap her in the face.

"Nadia!" Valkyrie cried, running towards her. "What the fuck?!"

Natali backed away, refusing to hit Nadia back, which was probably smart. Abigail apparently wasn't because she got up and screamed "Don't hit my friend!" and tried to punch Nadia.

Nadia dodged the hand, somehow – likely accidentally as she stumbled a lot – and punched Abigail in the nose, knocking her into her father's arms. Nadia immediately turned and stomped back into the car, slamming the door and crossing her arms like a child. "I want to go home!"

Valkyrie sighed and closed her eyes. This was going to be ugly, she thought as the parents went off on her. She locked Nadia in the car this time.

I can't express how much I love Nadia Robin.

Valkyrie Harmony: Me too, Fletcher is baby and deserves so much better. I want to make sure he gets something good before the end of this fanfiction. You're welcome to submit ideas of who he can date!

Guest: No worries my man, I am right here with an update for you! I have been editing all the old chapters and posting the whole thing to AooO and Wattpad to reach more people which is why I've been gone, I upload multiple a day and am up to 134 I believe so very soon I'll continue to update. I know I'm being a pain, but there were a few details I wrote two years ago that I no longer liked/agreed with so I took the chance to change it! I'm a lot happier now :)