HELLO EVERYONE! If you aren't alreayd aware this is a SEQUEL to my first story, 'Lending a Helping Hand' and if you have NOT already read this story then DO NOT CONTINUE! This story contains spoilers from the original, and will reference back to it quite a lot, so if you haven't already, read the first story (here's the link: s/8911290/1/Lending-a-Helping-Hand) so go ahead and read that first. And if you've already read the original sotry WELCOME BACK! I would just like to say I am so sorry for the way I ended the last one, but it had been planned for a while, and it was the only ending I could think of that would allow me to make this sequel in particular.

Now, I'm going to leave you with the chapter, but at the bottom I will put some important information, so if you don't want to be seriously confused by this whole story, then I suggest you read that. Until then, enjoy. :)

Stephanie woke up to her alarm clock blaring out an ungodly sound. Smacking the button, she groaned and turned over under the covers.

"Morning already?" The calm quiet voice said from the other side of the bed, half-asleep.

"Mmm, I know. 5 more minutes." Stephanie muttered. She felt a kiss plant itself on her cheek and she opened her eyes, looking up at her husband tiredly.

"I have to get ready for work, and Carol has school today."

"Urgh, I hate Mondays."

"I know," he smiled sympathetically as Stephanie groaned again and sat up, letting the covers fall off her. She stood and wrapped her deep purple dressing gown around her. She had been up 3 times in the night with their youngest child, Lucia. Lucia was already two and a half, but still hated being alone during the night, and Stephanie was paying the price. Her husband, John, rolled over and sat up himself, making his way to the bathroom.

They had been married for 7 years, their wedding day just after Stephanie's twenty-first birthday. It had been one of the best days of John's life. He had finished University and gotten a high rise job in the banking industry, and Stephanie, well, she was Stephanie Edgley, famous author extraordinaire who took people of all ages on tours of magic adventures with both heroes and villains, ups and downs, a continuation of her famous Uncle's famous legacy. John didn't know where she got her inspiration, but he was glad of it. It made her happy. At least, he thought it did.

Stephanie walked into her first daughter Carol's room, to find she was still fast asleep, head buried in the pillow. Stephanie leant against the door frame and smiled a tired smile before walking in, sitting on the edge of the bed and resting a hand on her daughter's shoulder gently.

"Carol honey, it's time to get up. School today." Carol groaned and rolled over. With her father's hair and cheeky grin matched with his mischievous attitude, Carol was the least like Stephanie, even though they shared the same dark, searching eyes. Lucia was much more like Stephanie (during daylight hours at least), with the same features and pale face, same scowl and smile, same attitudes and characteristics. It was almost impossible to think that she wasn't a small clone. Her first word had been 'no'. Sums it up pretty easily.

Stephanie opened the curtains, letting light stream into the room and Carol groaned. She was 5 years old, yet barley acted like it, helping her younger sister as much as possible and acting in a maturity beyond her years, as her mother did. Stephanie moved back to the door.

"You have 15 minutes to get up, washed, dressed and get downstairs for breakfast. Ok? Carol? Do you hear me?" Carol groaned. "Good." Stephanie moved away and walked to Lucia's room, across the hallway. Naturally Lucia was already awake and standing in her crib, grinning expectantly, like she was happy she had deprived at least 5 hours sleep in one night. Stephanie put her hands on her hips.

"So, madam. Come here." Stephanie smiled and picked up the toddler from her crib, resting her on her hip delicately.

"What are we going to do today?" Stephanie asked, in an excited yet mature tone. Lucia giggled before holding her arms out wide.

"Draw!" She exclaimed.

"Draw, ok. Well, first we have to have breakfast, and then we have to take Carol to school, and then we have to put flowers on Aunty Carol's grave. And when we come back, we'll draw, before grandma and grandpa come over with Aunty Alice. Plan?"

"Plan!"

"Good." Stephanie put her daughter down. "Go on then. Be careful on the stairs, don't go too fast, and hold the railing!" Her daughter bounded away quickly before Stephanie could finish her sentence. She walked back into her own room to find John was already changed in his newly ironed shirt with smart tie and blazer. Stephanie got changed quickly, throwing on a t-shirt and jeans and bushing her long dark hair into a ponytail. She walked back to Carol's room to find her up and dressed with clean face and triple-checked school bag, as it was every week day morning.

"Ready for breakfast honey?"

"Yep!"

"Good, come on then." Her daughter skipped away in front of her down the stairs, to the dining room. Lucia had already managed to climb up onto one of the chairs and was waiting impatiently, squirming in the seat. Carol sat next to her, just as impatiently as Stephanie poured two bowls of cereal and added milk. Spoon-feeding Lucia hers so it didn't end up on the floor, Stephanie smiled at her young family. She had a wonderful husband who kept them both emotionally and financially secure, two beautiful daughters that provided joy like no other, and there had been no signs of anything going wrong with her career as an author either. Everything was going well, far better than expected. Far better than Stephanie could have ever hoped.

John pecked her cheek on his way out, kissing both his daughters on their foreheads.

"I'll be home for five!"

"Have a good day!" Stephanie called after him. He grinned at her as he closed the door, both girls waving and calling out their goodbyes. Carol and Lucia finished their breakfast as Stephanie heard the car leave the driveway. After shoes were buckled and coats were zipped up, the girls were loaded into the other car and Stephanie got behind the wheel. The primary school was no more than 5 minutes away by road, 20 by foot, and had a view of Dublin in the distance. They lived no more than 20 miles away from Dublin's outskirts, in the opposite direction of Haggard, Stephanie's choice rather than John's.

Stephanie had always had a secretive past that her husband didn't pester about. It seemed to bring her pain, and make her sad, and whenever he mentioned it, or asked about it, it was almost certain Stephanie would have nightmares and become quickly stressed and short tempered, sometimes not talking for days, and if she did, it would usually be to argue or hurl insults. John and the children stayed well away from the topic of Stephanie's teenage years. John suspected it had something to do with her cousin, Carol's death, discovered when she was eighteen years old, as he knew they had grown closer as they aged, but beyond that he had no clue. She once mentioned it was to do with a past job she had while she was a teenager, but never mentioned what the job was or what it entailed. The only thing about her past she still participated in would have been the physical combat sessions she attended at the local leisure centre. Not only did she enjoy them, she was good at them. John wasn't sure if that scared him or not. But Stephanie and his daughters seemed happy enough, and that was all that mattered.

Stephanie dropped off Carol at school and made her way to the graveyard with Lucia. On the way they collected flowers, bright red roses. Stephanie placed them on Carol's grave silently, an almost emotionless expression on her face, before squeezing Lucia's hand lightly and returning to the car.

At the house, they had only just begun to set up the drawing equipment (a.k.a colouring book and pencils) when the doorbell rang. Stephanie left Lucia at the table, walking curiously to the door before opening it. She was about to ask 'can I help you?' when she saw the blue eyes, the strong torso, and of course, the scarred head.

"Ghastly," her voice came out as a whisper, let out in a breath. He had a grim expression on his face. For a moment, nothing was said, or done. Stephanie just stared at him.

"May I come in?" He asked, and she jerked back slightly, her trance interrupted, before nodding, and opening the door. He stepped inside, and she closed it behind him, noticing the grey van parked at the kerb. She didn't turn around from the door, her hand still on the handle.

"I'm sorry Valkyrie. I wouldn't have come if I wasn't desperate."

"It's Stephanie. Stephanie now." She couldn't' help but correct him. She hadn't been Valkyrie in years. The name seemed almost alien to her now, so why did she long for it back?

"Yes. Yes, of course it is." Ghastly said quietly. A gurgled laugh came from the kitchen, and Stephanie looked up worriedly with wide eyes before she realised it was merely Lucia. Ghastly glanced to her, and she glanced back slightly before walking further into the house. She moved into the kitchen and picked Lucia up from the table.

"Go and play upstairs for a few minutes ok? Find your colouring books." Lucia giggled and ran past Ghastly's feet towards the staircase, not even acknowledging he was there. She rested her hand on the table as Ghastly's gaze lingered at the bottom of the staircase.

"Yours?" He asked.

"My youngest." She said, nodding slightly "The oldest is at school."

"That age already?" Ghastly said, looking around the room. She could tell he was anxious, he didn't want to make small talk, he wanted to get straight to the matter, whatever it was. He was only talking for her sake.

"Where's the lucky man?" He asked.

"Work." She muttered "Ghastly, it, it's good to see you again, it is, but, why are you here? I – I'm retired, you know that. Nothing's changed."

"Unfortunately. It has." He replied, and she looked up at him. The cheery smile she'd seen as a teenager had been replaced by a long grim line. Ghastly sighed. "Things, haven't been right since you left. With Skulduggery I mean. He misses you." Stephanie tapped her fingers on the table.

"I know that. I've missed him too. I've missed all of you. Why should that matter?"

"You know how he is, you probably knew him best."

"That's not true. You fought with him in the war, you're best friends. Surely you know him better than I do."

"You'd be surprised." Ghastly responded bluntly "Stephanie, I can't really tell you much unless I have your word that you'll come in on this. I know it's not what you want, believe me, you were the last resort, but we can't do this without you." Stephanie stopped drumming her fingers, noting the almost plea-like tone of his voice that sounded completely different to the Ghastly Bespoke she had known. This thing, whatever it was, must have really affected him. As he said, they were 'desperate'.

"I couldn't say yes or no without knowing what I was letting myself in for." She muttered. Ghastly ran a hand over his scarred head.

"Skulduggery… since you've left he's become quite, unstable. 2 weeks ago, he disappeared."

"Disappeared?" But, but, Skulduggery couldn't disappear. He had to go somewhere, do something. Surely he was just on the trail of some master-criminal or something? Ghastly nodded.

"A few days later, we get word that a man in black armour 'made of shadows' has attacked a magic community. Next day, this same shadowed man attacks another group. Then another. Then another."
"Lord Vile." Stephanie whispered. Slowly, Ghastly nodded.

"We need you to come back and help us find Skulduggery. Convince him that if you're prepared to help, he should be too. Then we can take down Vile." No. No no no no no no. Nope.

"I'll think about it." What! What are you doing! Are you trying to get yourself killed! You have a family now! Two young girls who need you! Ghastly pulled out a card. Say no – the rational part of Stephanie's mind told her – say no and have done with it. You swore you'd give this up. She took the car from him and looked at him.

"Call me on that number in the next 24 hours if you're in. If you don't call, we'll assume we can't count on your help. If you do… we'll sort things out from there." She nodded passively. He sighed.

"I really am sorry, Stephanie. You're free to say no, if you want. We just thought it was worth a try." He took a step, about to leave.

"What, what will happen, if I say no?" She asked quietly. Ghastly didn't look at her, but instead stared at the closed door.

"If you say no, well, we're pretty much all screwed."

When John got home that evening he found both of Stephanie's parents and his sister-in-law sitting in the living room, playing with the two children.

"Hey John!" Alice exclaimed, hugging him.

"Hi Alice, Melissa, Desmond."

"Hi John!" Melissa and Desmond responded simultaneously.

"Where's Stephanie?" John asked.

"She's in the kitchen, making coffee. John," Alice said "I think there's something wrong with her."

"What do you mean 'wrong'? What's happened?"

"Well, she won't say. But she's gone really quiet and she seems really distanced. Did you have an argument or something?"
"No, she was fine when I left this morning." John said worriedly, turning his head towards the kitchen.

"I'll go and talk to her."

"Ok, we'll keep those two in here." Alice said, glancing behind her at the children. Although she was only fourteen, Alice was every bit as mature as Stephanie and her parents, and was growing up, fast.

John frowned concernedly and made his way to the kitchen to see Stephanie slowly stirring three cups of coffee by the kettle, twirling a card in her fingers.

"Steph, honey?" Stephanie paused and turned around.

"Hi love. Would you like some coffee, I just put the kettle on."

"No, I'm fine. What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong." She said quietly, turning back to the coffee and putting the kettle on again.

"Yes there is."

"No there's not."

"Steph..." John said, moving closer and putting his arms around her waist, pulling her into a hug. "You know you can talk to me, about anything." She placed her hands on his arms and moved them away before turning around.

"It's nothing, really. Just… just something I have to think about." He looked at the card in her hand.

"What's that?"

"What's what?"

"That card." She stiffly put the card in the pocket of her jeans.
"What card?"

"You seriously think I didn't just see you put the card in your pocket?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." She muttered, turning from him and pouring the boiled water into the extra cup, even though John hadn't asked for one.

She picked up the cups and took the coffee through to the living room without saying anything, then returned quickly for her own cup, but John stopped her.

"Steph, I'm with you, for better or worse. Tell me what's wrong." Stephanie looked away.

"It's nothing you have to concern yourself with." She said bluntly "I'm fine."

"You're a really bad liar, did I ever tell you that?"

"You may have mentioned it a few times. How was work?"

"Don't change the subject. I'm not dropping this until you tell me what's wrong."

"An old friend just came by, ok? It's nothing important, just kind of shocked me a little, but I'm fine." She moved quickly, ducking under his arm that was blocking her way and escaped into the living room.

"Stephanie-"

"Just drop it. Ok?" Melissa looked up from her grandchildren to her oldest daughter and son-in-law, and frowned.

"Steph? Are you alright?"

"God, I'm fine!" Stephanie snapped, and then put her fingers to the bridge of her nose, scrunching up her eyes, as if she had a migraine. "I'm going upstairs." She muttered, and left quickly. They looked to John, and he shrugged, looking towards the staircase.

"Wonder what's wrong." Desmond said, looking to John.

"She won't tell me anything." He sighed.

"Wonder where she gets that from." Desmond muttered. Melissa smacked him.

Stephanie paced across the bedroom, threw open the windows, paced across the bedroom again, closed the windows, paced again. What do I do? She swept her hands through her dark hair, sat on the bed, stood up again, paced some more, and then sat down again and rested her elbows on her knees. She put her hands to her face, cupping them around her mouth. Skulduggery had gone back. Back to Lord Vile. He'd lost the will to be Skulduggery. He'd lost the fight. But… he still might be in there. Like she was still in there when, when she took over. An old feeling stirred in her chest and Stephanie began to panic. She hadn't thought about her in years, not outside of nightmares and irrational thought. Not consciously. She couldn't even say her name anymore without it hurting, memories flashing back. Her parents first house…the fire…

She covered her eyes with her hands and choked on the air slightly, as if it were difficult to breathe. She was a young woman now, an adult, a wife, a mother. If anything, she had made it worse for herself, having a family, living the most ordinary of ordinary lifestyles, in the most ordinary of an ordinary house. She was relatively normal, and to be normal was to be inconspicuous, unsuspicious. That was how she wanted it to be. But, Skulduggery was her friend. Ghastly was her friend. Tanith (the only person from her past life she'd seen since she'd quit) was her friend. And now they needed her. Otherwise Lord Vile would destroy everything in the sorcerer world. And once he was through with that world, he'd moved onto this one. This normal one, full of unsuspecting mortals, with no sorcerers to protect them. And Skulduggery would definitely be gone by then.

She stood, picked up the phone, sat back down again. She cradled it in one hand, the other moving to her pocket and pulling out the card. She hadn't even realised she was hyperventilating. She had the sudden urge to throw the phone across the room, chuck it out of the window, smash it with a hammer. Instead, she dialled the number. Ghastly picked up the phone almost immediately, only 2 rings in.

"Hello?"

"It's Stephanie." She replied quietly. "What time do you want me in?"

"I'll pick you up at 9 in the morning. There's a meeting at 10 with the Elders and the few others who are in on the whole thing. Tanith and me included."

"Ok," she found herself muttering.

"I'll bring you some new protective clothing too – you'll have grown out of your old ones."

"Ok," she muttered again.

"We'll see you tomorrow. 9 o'clock."

"9 o'clock. Got it." She was still muttering, and then she pushed the 'end call' button, and realised her hands were trembling. She threw the phone down and suddenly stood, almost with new purpose, pulling travel bags down from the wardrobe.

She strode into Carol's room with one of the bags, opened the wardrobe doors and threw as many clothes as possible into the bag. She put in all the school books Carol would need, the spare uniforms, the weekend clothes, the underwear, everything. She strode with the same purposed stride into Lucia's room, and did exactly the same thing, adding cuddly toys in with the mix. She put them on the landing and returned to their room. She paused a moment, then shook her thoughts away and packed John's bags too. She took extra care folding his shirts and suits for work, but apart from that, everything went in a mess. She barely noticed him walk in the doorway and freeze, until his quiet voice split the air.

"What are you doing?" He asked, and she turned, whirling around to him, half a shirt in her arms, part-way folded. He was pale, wide eyed.

"It's not what you think." Stephanie said slowly, putting the shirt down on the bed.

"I saw the bags on the landing." She looked away, putting the shirt away and zipping up the bag. "Steph, if there's a problem with us then we can work it out."

"I'm not leaving you John." She said, picking up the bag by the handles and walking past him out of the room.

"Oh you're not? What's all this for then?" His voice was getting slightly louder.

"I'm not leaving you. You and the kids are leaving me. You're going to go to my parents' house, and you're going to live there for a few days."

"What are you talking about?" He said, before he grabbed her forearm and turned her around to face him.

"Stephanie, we're not going anywhere."

"You are. I won't be here either. This house is going to be empty. Completely empty."

"You're joking. Stephanie please tell me you're joking."

"Do I look like I'm joking?" She snapped before squeezing her eyes shut again, her hand going to the bridge of her nose. She was getting a headache. "I'm not going to argue with you about this John. This isn't about me, and this isn't about you, ok? This is about being safe."

"Safe? What, the house isn't safe anymore? Stephanie, what are you talking about?" His anger had dissipated. Now he was just confused and concerned.

"Just, please. Please, do this for me." She opened her eyes and looked at him. He was watching her with curiosity, and sighed.

"This better be important."

"Trust me, it is."

"Trust you? You won't even tell me what's going on."

"Maybe… maybe that's for your own good." There was a moment of silence between them.

"So. You're not coming with us?"

"No."

"Where are you going?"

"A friend is coming to pick me up tomorrow morning. I'll probably be staying with him and his fiancé until everything's sorted."

"And what exactly is 'everything'?" She picked up the children's bags without answering his question, and walked away.

HELLO AGAIN! Ok, so here is your important information:

. This story will be SPLIT into two sections. Section 1 will be at most 10 chapters long, and then section 2 will be (hopefully) significantly longer.

. At the break between sections I will probably put up a compliation of one-shots from the time jump between Lending a Helping Hand, and this story, so I will let you know when that's up.

. I actually forgot what I was going to call this story (Oops XD), so the title may or may not change, but the content will be the same.

. The update rate might not be as good as it was in the other story as the first section of chapters are going to be longer than they were before, so will take longer to write, but I'll try my best to be consistent with the updates.

. Remember to leave a review, PM me if you have any questions, and leave a favourite, all that good stuff :)

I hope you enjoy this next installment. :)