Diamond rang the bell with two short bursts and a long one. She listened to the sounds echoing through the big old house and waited.
The door swung open.
"Diamond." Skulduggery said. He sounded sincerely surprised, and she could not tell whether it was the fact that she had shown up in general, had shown up at night, or that he had been doing something vastly different beforehand.
"Hey," Diamond said as she held up a case file. "Got something."
He stepped aside quietly, and she entered the dark hallway. Skulduggery seemed to just notice now that she could barely see anything, because he flicked the light switch, and the hall light turned on. It just made Diamond wonder more, what he had been dealing with, before she got here.
"I don't mean to be rude but ... what are you doing here?" Skulduggery asked. In the light she could tell now that he was wearing a black three-piece with a dark grey tie, making him look darker than usual, skinnier, if that was even possible
Diamond turned to him. "I have a lead to our little child-murderers," she said, turning the folder back and forth. "So, I thought, since we both seem to have nothing better to do, who better to tag along, than Mister Skeleton Detective."
Skulduggery nodded curtly. "An excellent choice."
She handed him the file, and he opened it, looking over the first page. "A friend of mine works in the filing department of the English Sanctuary." Diamond explained meanwhile.
"How practical," He noted as he read.
"Definitely." Diamond replied curtly and then began pacing two steps in each direction, back and forth. "She found information about a Mage, a teenager, that could make himself invisible. He told authorities that he had not learned this discipline by himself, that someone had taught it to him but he refused to divulge any information as to whom." She elaborated swiftly. "His parents backed him up, and so the Sanctuary couldn't get it out of him. That was about thirty years ago."
"You think that this teenager, now an adult, was one of the contract killers," Skulduggery inferred, flipping through the file.
She nodded. "I know he was."
"Ah." Skulduggery paused as he found the page with his name. "Euphorio. The one we managed to kill."
"Unfortunately, not the one that got away." Diamond added.
"Hopefully, that one has a better name..." He grumbled.
Diamond continued, "the parents collected a couple of criminal charges, over the period of his childhood. Only smaller offenses, like selling drugs and minor assault. But in the past few years, they have been charged with murder, get this; three times. Though there was never enough evidence to convict them."
Skulduggery slowly nodded along, sounding neither skeptical nor excited at the information. "So, you are assuming that the parents introduced their son to the wonderful world of human trafficking."
Diamond nodded again. "There is an address. It should still be up to date. I want to go there."
Skulduggery lifted his head from the file, to look at her. "And then?"
She looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"What are you hoping to gain from this visit?" He clarified.
"If we can get information from them, about their son, that can lead us to whoever is responsible for the torment of these girls," Diamond replied, making sure to show that she was not fond of this round of questioning.
Skulduggery considered that for a moment. He seemed to be wondering whether it was a good idea to drive her straight to the hornets' nest.
"I'm going either way," Diamond added decisively. "Are you coming, or not?"
"Well," he dragged, handed the file back to her and grabbed his hat from a hook by the door, "I suppose, I cannot really say no to an interrogation double-up."
Diamond nodded and walked ahead, outside, to the Bentley. They got in, buckling up and the motor sprang to life with a powerful roar.
"You would be excellent at good cop." Skulduggery told her as he shifted the car into gear.
"And you are excellent at bad cop." Diamond gave back unamusedly.
She could hear something like mischief in his voice. "That makes two halves of one, then."
Diamond tried adjusting her position on the passenger side. It was strange, sitting in Valkyrie's seat. She literally could not fill in the space, since she was a good bit shorter than Skulduggery's partner. She decided not to adjust it. Valkyrie seemed like someone who would not appreciate that. So, instead, she pulled her legs up and rested her hands on her knees.
They drove for a couple of minutes, leaving the baren neighborhood, and heading to the address in the file.
Skulduggery activated his façade for the ride. It had slicked-back, black hair and a clean-shaven jawline, with stinging, green eyes and sharp features, coincidentally matching his suit very well.
"I wonder..." Skulduggery began, eventually. He fell silent for a moment, as if wondering whether he was allowed to ask.
Diamond looked at him from the side. "You wonder what?"
He tilted his head slightly in her direction. "I wonder, what makes a beautiful young woman like you go on a nightly crime hunt with a Detective, on a Saturday?"
Diamond snorted. "What else should I be doing?"
Skulduggery shrugged. "I don't know, go out with friends? Or on a date with one of your many admirers?"
Even though the statement was meant to be somewhat flattering, she shook her head at him. "No, thanks."
He turned his head further to her without taking his gaze off the road. "To what, specifically?"
Diamond pulled a bit of a face, finding herself stalling uncharacteristically. "I, um, don't really... do… dates."
"Oh?" Skulduggery made, sounding curious now.
"Yeah, it's no big deal," she said, trying to shrug it off as which as possible.
"Not your… thing?" He probed casually, his head moving along to the term, but his fake eyes remaining on the road.
Diamond sniffed. "No, actually, totally my thing. In fact, I love going on dates."
"But…?" Skulduggery prompted on, now looking confused.
"But…" She started, drawing the word out for more stalling time. "Well, the dating part, itself, is fun. The flirting part, especially. It's just that, after a couple of meetings, the other person usually starts expressing interest to go… further."
"Ah." he said and steered the Bentley onto the highway.
"And I don't really…" Diamond swayed her head uncertainly, trying to find the best phrasing for it. "That's not really my thing."
She could not tell what Skulduggery's reaction might have been. "I see." He just said.
Diamond sighed, having yet to find a response to this topic that did not make her feel like an oddity. But then, she also knew who she was talking to, so she tried to swallow the embarrassment and focus on the trees and street signs passing them.
"You know…" He started, and Diamond felt a sense of dread coming, over whatever advice he had for her. "There are lots of other people like you, out there."
"Maybe," she said.
Skulduggery opened his jaw, seemingly starting another sentence, and Diamond glanced at him with uncomfortably affliction, waiting for the next question. He caught her look and closed his jaw again. "Dropping it?"
Diamond smiled uncomfortably. "Yes, please."
"Alright…" he drew out, looking for a different topic. "In that case; why do you really want to go to this address?"
She shrugged puzzledly. "Question them? Isn't that how it works?"
"Alright, and then what are you hoping to find out?" Skulduggery probed.
Another shrug. "Two people of the same discipline, working together? They know each other. This one might have been nuked by Nuce and you, but they might know his buddy, aka. Stabby."
"That is quite close to a far stretch," he argued. "We don't even know, if they know anything about her son's affairs, let alone his friend's."
She snorted snidely. "They, obviously, got him involved in this organization."
Skulduggery made a disagreeable face. "Not necessarily. A child, which grows up in a criminal environment, can later become a criminal in other places, with other people. In fact, it's even more likely that the parents wouldn't know anything at all."
"And why is that?" Diamond wanted to know, not sure what the point of this discussion was.
He lifted a flat hand up from the steering wheel. "Well, he might want to protect them from certain people, who might want to question them. Like, oh, I don't know… us?"
She sniffed coolly. "They know something. At this point, any piece of information is helpful."
There was a short silence, then; "be honest. What, exactly, are you going to do, once we get to this address?" Skulduggery asked, instead of a reply.
Diamond frowned irritably. "Well, as I already said..."
"That wasn't what I meant," he interrupted.
"What did you mean, then?" She prodded snidely.
"I mean, if they won't tell you anything, are you going to beat it out of them?"
Diamond turned to him with a derogatively raised eyebrow. "Do you have a problem with that?"
"I might," Skulduggery replied casually. "That depends on your motive."
She looked him up and down, and then out of the windshield, ahead onto the road passing underneath them. "Whoever captured and hurt the girls, ordered them murdered right in front of us, and almost got me killed; is still out there. Yet no one knows what's going on, no one is actually looking for them, so they think they can just... I can't just let them get away with this."
"So, it's about revenge."
She shrugged nonchalantly. "Maybe."
The Bentley jumped. Startled, Diamond clung to the dashboard as Skulduggery jerked the steering wheel to the side, and drove onto the roadside. He braked, and they came to a harsh standstill.Diamond looked at him in irritation, shock, and confusion.
His eyes were fixed sternly on the street and his hands were still on the steering wheel. "I am not doing this."
"Not doing what?" She probed with bewilderment.
"I won't accompany you on a revenge spree."
She laughed bitterly and incredulously. "I beg your pardon?"
"I won't help you with this," Skulduggery repeated.
Diamond stared at him with wide eyes. "You can't be serious." She found her voice sounding angrier than expected.
He did not reply.
She gave an insulted sound. "So, you're the Zen master now? Is that it?"
Skulduggery just stared on straight ahead.
"Are you going to say anything more!?" Diamond pressed angrily.
"I already said, exactly, what I meant to say," he replied calmly, "so, my suggestion is; I take the next exit and drive right back."
Diamond snorted indignantly, anger circling her chest in waves. She unbuckled herself with vigor. "You do that."
She opened the car door and, although she heard him call her name, she slammed it shut behind herself. Her shoes sank into the damp grass of the roadside, but she stomped on in the direction they had been driving.
Diamond knew this was a nonsensical act. But maybe, she could find a gas station somewhere, a trucker, someone to take her the rest of the way.
She heard the door of the Bentley open.
"Diamond!" Skulduggery called from behind her.
She ignored him and walked on.
A couple seconds went by, in which her shoes got stuck in the grass, making every step create a sucking noise.
Then, her wrist was gripped, and Diamond was turned around. Outraged, she ripped her hand away from his grip, moving on backwards. Pain shot through her midsection at the sharp movement.
"Diamond, wait..." Skulduggery tried.
"Leave me alone!" Diamond snarled and tried to turn away again.
Instead of backing away, Skulduggery quickly grabbed both of her wrists. "Listen to me."
It just made her even madder. "Let go of me!" She tried to pull herself free, but his hard fingers were much stronger than her, making the attempt nothing but fickle. All her struggle accomplished were punishing stabs into the wound in her belly with every pull.
Diamond stopped fighting him but glared into his eyes. Skulduggery flinched a little but did not let go.
Suddenly, she noticed how much hatred her face must have been expressing, to surprise him that way. It made her pause, stunned her a bit more.
Wait. What was going on? What on earth was she doing?
Diamond felt the anger fall from her face and she looked down at the ground anxiously.
"Look at me." Skulduggery said softly, and something in his voice made her look up. It was hard to read, but she thought she saw something like... worry. "I won't accompany you on a revenge spree..."
She snorted sourly.
"...because it won't help you," he continued. "It will feel good for a day, a week, maybe even a year. But then you realize that that didn't make the anger go away. You just destroyed the thing to take it out on. It's pointless, and it only gets worse from there. This organization will continue to exist, and abduct, and murder, and in return, you have thrown your own soul overboard."
Diamond mustered him bitterly. "Those are ironic words, coming from you."
He pointed a finger at her face. "Exactly. And see where it got me. Where it got us. You are better than this."
She snorted defeatedly.
"Diamond," Skulduggery said again and this time he gently took her chin and made her look at him. She met his eyes that were carefully examining her. "You have the ability to set aside your own feelings and views, and just do the right thing." He sniffed in disbelief. "Do you have any idea; how many people wish they could just put an end to their prejudices and fears?"
She shook her head. "I don't. I didn't. I didn't just put an end to it, yeah? There's no way to end prejudice and fear over someone I can't even tell is right in front of me!"
"I disagree," Skulduggery replied calmly, "otherwise, we wouldn't be on our way to find one of them."
Another headshake. She felt her voice becoming thick, her throat closing up against her best efforts. "I let them down."
She expected him to tell her now that it wasn't her fault, but he just shook his head and took her hands, this time carefully and without force. "This might be a bit of a standard advice but… we all make mistakes. That is what the job entails, and sometimes, they are fatal."
Diamond ceased replying, knowing that any other word from her mouth would trigger the tears waiting anxiously behind her eyes.
Skulduggery seemed to be watching her quietly, for a moment, before speaking on. "We are going to find out who is behind this and we are going to make sure they go to prison for it. But you don't have to corrupt yourself to do that. Don't just throw this away."
She pressed shut her eyes and held her breath, shaking her head. Unfortunately, the attempt at keeping her face dry failed miserably, when thin, hard arms wrapped themselves around her shoulders. She held her own arms tightly against her chest but let herself be held.
"I'm scared," Diamond breathed and started crying.
Skulduggery did not reply, just kept holding on, and she buried her face in his blazer. But she did not sob, just shivered and sniffed along despairingly to her own confusion. Yet, it took a good while for her to calm herself down again, in which he barely moved.
Eventually, her breath settled but she stayed in her posture, just focusing on the comfort of the hug, no matter how little cushion there really was between her and hard bone. But her body felt heavy with purged tension, and so they stayed still for a while, listening to the sound of fast cars passing them on the road. One of the drivers honked at them, warning them to get off the roadside and into the safety of the car again.
"You know what?" Skulduggery said softly and in an encouraging tone.
"Hm?" Diamond made.
His voice sounded bemused and somewhat daring. "I'm taking you on a date now."
She looked up at him in confused surprise. "Excuse me?"
"A date," he repeated clearly, then tilted his head at her jokingly. "I promise, I won't suggest anything else."
She had to snicker at that. "You're not serious."
"One hundred percent." He said, a smirk playing at the corner of his facade lips.
Diamond could not help but smile back.
Skulduggery pulled some wet hair strands from the area around her eyes before lifting two expectant eyebrows. "Yes?"
She nodded, feeling a mixture of amusement, curiosity, and flattery, and he stepped away from the hug, taking one of her hands, to pull her back to the Bentley.
Diamond sighed out some anxiety, using her sleeves to get rid of the remaining tears on her face. The rest ride went by quickly and in a comfortable silence, until a sign passed them, telling them the distance to the next pit stop.
A short discussion had him turn the car onto the highway exit, to the next gas station.
Since this spontaneous decision was not really fulfilling the standard an actual date, Diamond gathered, this would do. After all, she did not necessarily fancy being seen in this state in public, let alone while being watched for hanging out with Skulduggery Pleasant.
They stopped on the parking lot of the gas station, parked the car, and got out to walk to the canteen section of the building. They both ordered cups of coffee; Skulduggery only for appearances, naturally.
They found a small cot and sat across from each other. Diamond sipped the hot coffee, and even if it did not taste particularly good, the warmth helped settle her chaotic thoughts.
"This discipline. Complete invisibility. Have you ever heard of that being a real thing?" Diamond asked, eventually.
Skulduggery shook his head. "Not from any reliable source."
"But they aren't Neoteric..." She murmured.
Another headshake. "Unlikely, if there is plural of them in one spot. As your file said, there must be someone teaching them."
"It's… extraordinary," Diamond said, almost in wonder. "I have never met anyone that could surprise me like that."
"They are invisible, after all."
She frowned thoughtfully. "Yes, but not just visually or audibly."
Skulduggery looked curious, nodding to her. "Go on."
Diamond hesitated at divulging more information about her discipline but then, she guessed, it was only fair. "Well, I can usually tell when danger is coming my way, so that I can shift before any threat actually arrives with me."
His brows furrowed lightly. "Nuce surprised you, as well, when he was still under Wells' influence."
She nodded. "Yeah, because I didn't consider him a threat until he was actively attacking me."
That seemed to make Skulduggery more curious. "Yet, in the Sanctuary, he wasn't actively attacking you either, right?"
"No." She confirmed. "The explosion was, though."
"So, how much time do you get, before you notice something is up?"
She shrugged. "It's always different. My theory is," she waved a dismissive hand. "And this really is just a theory; I sense it the moment the person has decided to attack, decided to... do the act."
He nodded along slowly.
"So, in the Sanctuary, I knew, once Nuce had found the center of the building. But in my house, I knew once he held his hand in my face. Because before that, he didn't want to attack me. He was forced to, by his True Name. But once he raised his hand, that hand became a threat."
"Huh," Skulduggery made interestingly.
"People killing clients in front of me, should more than raise the alarms. I should have felt that knife coming," Diamond concluded.
She expected him to ask more questions regarding that specific ability, which she would have rather not discussed in any more detail, but Skulduggery just continued nodding along. "I couldn't sense them move in the air either. It was as if they didn't exist."
"Exactly," Diamond affirmed, "but we know they existed because we have the body of one, and the knife of the other. It wasn't a ghost."
"So, we should prepare ourselves for the possibility that there will be issues with finding these assailants," Skulduggery followed, "even with the help of Sensitives, or magic technology."
"That was my theory, as well."
When there was not much else to say on that topic, neutral silence fell over them. They sat quietly for a while, in which his façade eyes were flicking over the empty gas station canteen. Diamond kept drinking her coffee, working herself up to saying aloud the appropriate words.
"Skulduggery?" Diamond said, at some point.
He blinked lightly, returning his gaze to her. "Yes?"
Diamond returned his look with steady eyes. "Thank you."
He mustered her, then sniffed lightly. "You are welcome. It was a truly great feat, since I am not particularly versed at denying beautiful women a wish."
She sniffed, feeling some awkwardness at that, which seemed to be one-sided.
"I let Valkyrie go, then. I should never have let her go that far. I won't make the mistake again," he said evenly, "even if you don't like me, afterwards."
Diamond smiled. "I still like you," she said.
He nodded, and then let his eyes drift across the room again.
"Do you love her?" She finally asked.
Skulduggery sighed, crossed his arms and leaned back. He smiled at her oddly. "Naturally."
Something in his voice sounded uncertain. Diamond looked at him with raised eyebrows.
He thoughtfully stared at his full coffee. "Valkyrie's and my relationship is… not like one I have ever had. It's sometimes difficult to tell what actually is between us."
Diamond shrugged. "That's usually what happens, when the relationship is special."
He smiled at her again. Then, he shook his head. "It isn't… romantic. We are too similar."
"So, what?" She shrugged on.
Skulduggery shook his head hesitantly. "We… bounce off each other; challenging, competing. We understand each other. It makes us good partners…"
"But?" Diamond probed. "You know, apart from her age."
Another hesitation. "Apart from that… There are simply… things, that we cannot fulfill for each other. She needs more than I can give her, and she can't always keep up with me... Does that make any sense?" Skulduggery asked with bemused uncertainty.
"A lot," she said. It reminded her a little of Dexter and herself. They were not as close as Valkyrie and Skulduggery but she, too, could never imagine feeling complete with Dexter as a romantic partner. In fact, they were not even work partners. He was too jumpy for her; she was too settled for him
"Hm." Skulduggery made, sounding a bit surprised.
"Hm, what?" Diamond smirked bemusedly.
"I have never said that out loud." He realized.
Her smirk became truer. "I tend to have that effect on people, sometimes."
The expression on his façade adapted to hers. "You don't say."
Diamond kept her eyes amused and friendly but decided to switch the topic again. "So? Are you currently working on a case?"
"Not apart from the same as yours." Skulduggery went along. "There is a lot of catching-up to do and there are stacks; stacks, I am telling you, of paperwork galore. Fortunately for me, mostly Valkyrie's paperwork, however."
Diamond chuckled but listened on.
"It's about as boring as you can imagine. However, on the upside; we arrested one of the guests of Geoffrey Perock's event, today. No one influential, so I'm not getting my hopes up, but maybe, he'll have something useful to spill."
She raised a surprised brow. "You won't question him today?"
"I'm letting him simmer in his dread for a night. Makes the interrogation tomorrow much quicker." He told her smugly.
She shook her head with an equally amused and disapproving smile. "Alright." Diamond said and propped her elbows onto the table, leaning forward. "Humor me. Interrogation techniques; give me the list."
Skulduggery raised a surprised brow. "The list?"
"Yeah, the list. You don't have one?"
He threw her a disappointed look. "Of course, I have a list. I have a list of virtually anything."
"Well, there you go." Diamond waved bemusedly. "Shoot."
"Are we talking alphabetical order...? Chronological order...?"
She snickered. "Chronological."
"Time of invention or time I used it for the first time? I mean... most of those are the same, if we're being honest here..."
Diamond snorted a laugh. "Yeah, nevermind, let's do alphabetical."
Skulduggery paused uncertainly. "Why, exactly, do you want to do this?"
She shrugged. "Might come handy, if we ever do end up in a bad-cop-good-cop situation."
"Alright," he said and cleared his throat exasperatedly, "ahem. A as in..." Skulduggery looked up for a moment, then picked, "abductors."
Diamond nodded approvingly.
It took about an hour before the conversation faded out. Diamond contently looked at her wristwatch, as comfortable silence fell over them.
When she looked up, Diamond noticed Skulduggery watching her with a smile. Was she just imagining it because of the facade, or was he smiling a lot this evening?
They mustered at each other carefully but before either could say anything, a voice came from the side of the booth. "Are you gonna' get anything else?"
Diamond jumped just a bit when a person suddenly appeared next to them. The cashier was standing by the table, hand on her hips.
"Sorry?" She asked perplexedly.
"You've been here for almost two hours. Either you buy something else, or you'll have to go somewhere else," the cashier explained coolly.
"Do not worry, good woman," Skulduggery said before Diamond could reply, "we are already on our way."
The cashier looked slightly confused and maybe a bit disgusted at his language but moved back to her register without another word.
They got up to move outside and Diamond stretched extensively in the fresh night air, as they walked. The caffeine had worn off, at this point, but she still felt no more ready for bed than during the entire day before.
"Should I drop you off somewhere?" Skulduggery asked as they arrived by the Bentley.
"Gladly," she said and yawned out the rest of her stretch.