A couple of hours after Nuce and Diamond had left, Skulduggery stirred on the sofa. Valkyrie ignored it and kept scrolling on her phone. The sun had recently risen and was throwing thin strips of light through the closed curtains.

Skulduggery raised his head slowly and looked at her.

"I won." Valkyrie said, keeping her eyes on the screen.

"Sorry?" He asked confusedly.

"At hide and seek. I won. You sought me out, but I made you surrender. So, that's a win. For moi."

He dropped his head back onto the sofa.

"I just didn't appreciate the chasing part, you know. What was that all about?"

Skulduggery murmured something, resting a wary hand on his forehead.

"What was that?"

"I was trying to stay close."

"Well, that's one way to go about it", Valkyrie sniffed.

He did not reply.

"Also, what on earth did you do to Diamond?"

"Ah." Skulduggery said disappointedly. "I had hoped I had imagined that."

"Nope." Valkyrie said casually. "You put your shadows in her…" She chuckled mischievously. "And she didn't give a single damn. You looked so confused; it was beautiful."

"I'm sure it was fantastic entertainment." He murmured irritably.

Valkyrie sighed and adjusted her seat, to look at him, and put her phone away. She struck a more careful tone. "Look, I meant what I said, in the beginning. I get that you're not at your best right now, and we don't fight often. But… this just seems like a bit of an overreaction, no?"

"Oh, I am very well aware." Skulduggery replied and sat up, swinging one leg over the edge of the couch, resting his hands on the other. "Unfortunately, something in my non-existent brain tells me, the only way to solve an emotional crisis is by short-circuiting. And to be honest? It isn't entirely wrong. It does help. For some time."

"But every time, you go for longer." Valkyrie concluded.

He hesitated. "Yes."

"You know, when I was dealing with Darquesse it was sort of similar."

"I know." Skulduggery said.

"I know you know. That's what I said. Anyway. Eventually, she just… stopped being a phase and became permanent. And I just think we have too much experience with this stuff, at this point, to let that happen again."

"You want to use a Soul Trapper on me?" He guessed.

"No." Valkyrie said, pointing at his head. "No more manipulation. It obviously doesn't work. The thing I learned was that I should have just stopped, ok? Stop doing what I think is fun if it means putting other people in danger."

"Cannot say I have been a great role model in that regard." Skulduggery admitted.

"See, same thing. You're projecting. This isn't about you and me. This is about you, period. You need to figure out a solution. A permanent one."

He looked at her quietly for a moment, then asked flatly; "So, what do you suggest."

She sighed, crossing her legs and leaning back. "I think we should pack our stuff and leave this melting pot of bad memories for a while. We'll go wherever you want. And I will do my best not to complain."

"For how long."

Valkyrie shrugged. "For whoever long it takes for you to stop going around, hunting mortals, like some B-grade DC Comics villain."

Skulduggery sighed but did not argue.

She leaned forward, legs still crossed, now snug up against her belly. "China told me that you went missing, four years ago, for a couple of days."

Another sharp exhale.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?"

"Do I have a choice in the matter?"

Valkyrie pretended to be thinking, looking up ponderingly for a moment. "Let's say… you'll have to tell me enough to satisfy China."

Skulduggery looked up at the ceiling as well, rather annoyedly, but then nodded. "Fine."

"Should I get something soothing for myself? A tea?"

"Absolutely." He said.

She nodded and swung to her feet to get herself some tea.

"Hey, love." Diamond smiled.

Nuce sniffed and lifted his hand off the white sheets of his bed, gesturing vaguely at the sterile hospital room around them, before dropping it heavily. "Here we are again."

She snickered. "Well, I promise, one day I will be the one to lie there, and you'll sit on this uncomfortable chair." She wiggled herself into the plastic folding chair by his bed.

He smiled but closed his eyes tiredly.

"How's your head feeling?"

"Hrm." He grunted.

"Got a pretty heavy blow there." Diamond pointed at the band-aid above his right brow. "Doc Doche says, you'll have a scar for a while."

Nuce grumbled something that could have been about cool battle scars.

"Not a lot of people can say they survived a fight with L dot, V dot." She smirked proudly.

He snorted at the acronym. "He wasn't even fighting me… He was just… playing around."

"There were a lot of moments where he could have escaped or killed one of us." Diamond said.

Nuce opened one eye and peeked over at her. "As much as I hate to say it… I agree."

"Do you, now?" She prodded, raising an impressed brow.

He shrugged. "I was kind of… in and out… couldn't see much through all the blood but…" He frowned as much as possible before hurting the wound on his forehead.

"But what?" Diamond probed amusedly.

"Well, you know… my cousin. My mom's sister's kid?"

"Yeah?"

"He's got autism. And when he would freak out, as a kid, my aunt would wrap him in a constraint blanket and straddle him, until he calmed down."

"You think Skulduggery has autism?" She asked bemusedly.

"Nah, just…" He waved it away lamely. "Just as I was watching, it was like… you and Cain weren't fighting him. You were blanket-straddling him out of the armor."

Diamond laughed.

"I mean it." Nuce said, propping himself up on one elbow, and looking more awake. "You didn't force him out. You calmed him out."

She nodded impressively. "Pretty great observational skills for a head on a shadow-stick."

He snorted humorously, then shrugged, looking smug. "I watch people."

Diamond continued nodding, growing more approving and endeared as she went. "I can see that. I wouldn't mind you sharing more of these observations with me."

"Like… right now?" He frowned, then flinched, and stopped frowning.

"No, silly. I mean, as we go."

"Oh." Nuce nodded. "Right. Sure, why not."

She snorted in bemusement and light disbelief but wafted the topic away by crossing over a leg and leaning back further. "So. What's the verdict, then? Are we going to Grand Mage Penn with this?"

Nuce sighed and laid back down on his back to stare at the ceiling.

"You were the one that suggested it." Diamond reminded him.

"I know, I know." He waved annoyedly. "I just don't want to deal with it, yeah? I have enough stuff going on."

"So, you want me to deal with it for both of us."

He sighed again, sharply this time. "Well, that doesn't sound fair either, said out loud."

"Not if you give me the decision power." Diamond suggested bemusedly.

Nuce looked at her, unimpressed yet not disagreeable. "You're already the boss. Do whatever you want."

She threw him a taunting look. "I am not your boss."

"But you make the decisions."

"Because you don't challenge me on them!" Diamond called with amused exasperation. She snickered at his face dropping. "Even if I critiqued you on your logic, I still did appreciate you speaking up. It's not like I don't agree with you, you know."

"So, then, why are you going about this so… softly?" Nuce asked, making a face at the word as if it were dicey.

Diamond made an unimpressed face at him. "You've met Dexter."

He frowned carefully. "Yes?"

"You've met Valkyrie."

"Yes…"

"You've heard of Grand Mage Sorrows."

Nuce seemed to start catching up with her point. "Yes."

"Do any of these people seem like someone you would want to talk to, about blanket-straddling?"

He snorted abstrusely at the choice of words, closing his eyes at the pain but snickering on. "No. Not even remotely."

"Exactly." Diamond nodded contently. "So, maybe a soft approach is worth a try, huh?"

"Alright." Said China immediately, once she picked up the phone on the other end. "Where are we?"

"Hey," Valkyrie said, and started walking up and down the gravel path through her garden. "I got him. We're at my place."

"Well, there are some positive news today." She replied contently.

She kept her head low to avoid the morning sun hanging low above the horizon. "Last night, actually. I just needed some time to sort things out."

"How did you accomplish this, may I ask?"

Valkyrie sighed. "I had help."

There was skepticism in her voice, as if China were raising an eyebrow. "By whom?"

"Nuce Evans and his partner Diamond Irie. They spotted us in Dublin."

A sigh. "Do I need to deal with them?"

Valkyrie shook her head. "They seem trustworthy, so far. Diamond said she will contact us."

"And you believe her?"

"I'll have to." She shrugged, still walking in snake lines over the crunchy gravel, watching her own steps. "If we suspect anything is off and send you after her, they might change their minds, and not in our favor. If she wants to let it go, she will have to convince Nuce. And neither of them responds well to offensive approaches."

"Very well. And have you been able to find out what is going on?"

"Yeah", Valkyrie exhaled. "Those days he went missing, apparently, he was captured by a small Necromancer cult. They were the ones replying to your text messages."

Another sigh.

She nodded to the unspoken notion. "They saw him fight me, back then, and decided to 'unlock' him."

"Of course, they did." China said coolly.

"So, they used a Surge Trapper on him. There were nine mortals locked in the same room, another number of them in the rooms around, he estimates maybe another five. And they brought in more of them as sacrifice killings for the Trapper, that was another nine."

There was a silence and then a sour sniff. "How did we not notice these many mortals disappearing at the hands of Mages?"

Valkyrie shrugged bitterly. "Not sure. But they had years to prepare. Who knows when they started kidnapping them, and where." She replied. "He says they probably all spoke native English, but that's all he could find out about them. Also, there were five Necromancers he could see, and he has names."

She heard rustling of paper and the click of an ink pen being pulled from its holder. "Go on."

"Cleric Dillìs Ferrum. He was the leader of the group."

"Ah, that does not surprise me."

Valkyrie slowed her steps. "Did you know him?"

"Not personally, no." China replied factually. "But a Cleric went missing, also four years ago, and the name sounds familiar. He was described to me as 'a man with many enemies'. No one was surprised he disappeared, and no one felt the need to look for him."

"Sounds like a guy who might come up with a torture chamber." She agreed.

"It does. Anyone else?"

"Yes, one Evelyn Bathory, she was doing most of the torture and killing. The other three had their faces covered and didn't talk."

"I will assume everyone is dead?" She asked nonchalantly.

Valkyrie pulled her lips to the side with discontent. "Yes."

There was a short break, then; "Surge Trappers are illegal and the vast majority of them have been confiscated. Does he know where they got it from?"

She shook her head again. "No, but Ferrum told him that it was the skull of a Necromancer Priest called McMan. They used a heavy metal base for it, probably made in a Necromancy furnace."

Something that could have been a nod and the scratching of a pen. "Any idea where this happened?"

"Somewhere on the countryside, underground, south of Dublin. But he's not sure where exactly."

"I will make sure they find it."

Valkyrie sighed once again. "Must be a horror show down there."

"I will tell you; I am not going to see it in person."

She nodded. "Neither should he."

"Agreed."

Valkyrie exhaled at some of the weight falling off her. "Thank you, China." She said.

"How about you return the favor, by telling me what you plan on doing now?" She just replied.

"I'm getting him out of here. We'll go somewhere far away."

China's voice grew flat. "For how long."

"For however long it takes, for you two to stop asking." Valkyrie replied coolly. "Do you want me to figure this out, or not?"

"I do." She said, with some sass. "I expect updates."

"Aye", Valkyrie affirmed. "Talk to you later."

"Goodbye." China said.

A click, and then it was only the silence from her phone and the air around.