If You Can't Save Me, Save Yourself.

The Grand Plan

"You let them go?" Vivian asked. "What about their...what's the word I'm looking for here...? Condition?"

Tanith's grin was positively sinister as she uttered, "Skulduggery is missing a few important parts. Dr. Nye will be the only one to fix him so don't expect him to be all sunshine and rainbows once you meet them. Valkyrie is on the mend, but as long as Skulduggery is shitty Valkyrie is shitty. You get used to their swings though. You just kind of hold onto something and enjoy the ride."

They continued their walk, talking about Vivian's great plan.

"I hope you're right, Low." She finally told her.

"Oh, don't worry. She's ready."

**(o)(o)**

After an hour of searching, Valkyrie found a few of Skulduggery's missing bones as he called the Sanctuary. Once they were in Ghastly's van heading back, Cleavers were told to search the place from top to bottom for any pieces of Skulduggery Valkyrie might've missed.

"So how did you guys manage to get into trouble this time?" He asked.

"Well," Valkyrie started, ready to defend herself. "It's the only place that sells the ice cream that I like. And Skulduggery was on his period or something."

"We were on a case, Valkyrie," Skulduggery cut in. "We were looking for Sanguine, he'd been sighted around the area."

She told Ghastly how she had run into Tanith, while Skulduggery sulked in the Bentley. "We were having a good chat, and I told her about my training when Sanguine came out of nowhere and stabbed me in my ribs." She pulled up her shirt, the bandages that Tanith applied soaked through with blood, "hence this."

Ghastly winced, "Ouch." He muttered. "Who fixed you up?"

"Tanith." Valkyrie stated and continued at Ghastly's raising eyebrow. "She wants me to... I don't know." Valkyrie chewed her lip, her eyes darting to Skulduggery for assistance. "I couldn't really concentrate on what she was saying," she said softly, hating the fact that she was lying.

"It's okay, Val." Ghastly told her, sensing her unease. "What happened to Sanguine?"

"Tanith said she killed him."

"What? I mean, not that that isn't the greatest thing ever, but she just killed him?"

"Yeah."

"Wow," Ghastly breathed. "Hey, did he stab you with his razor?"

"Oh. Yep. It's gonna be quite the scar."

"And how do you feel about this?"

"What are you, Ghastly?" She laughed, "My therapist?"

He smiled at her, "Sorry."

The rest of the ride was silent.

Once they arrived back at the Sanctuary, the first thing Skulduggery did was ask for his beloved car.