Sonfic 1: Never Too Late (Skulduggery)

A/N: I'll be doing two, one from Skulduggery's and one from Echo's. This one is Skulduggery's... Enjoy! <3 

This world will never be 

When Skulduggery had died, he had honestly never expected to see Alison again, or Penelope, or Echo for that matter. He thought he was going to die and gave Serpine his best shot in the hopes of bringing him down with him.

What I expected...

That... hadn't worked out well. At all. He wound up dead and was forced to watch, helpless in all but vision as he went after Echo, nearly killing her... Then she ran out of his sight-line once again and his anguish grew deeper. Serpine killed so many, and Skulduggery had to watch it all, like a man caged. 

And if I don't belong,

When he came back to life, he was not shocked when people were surprised. It was a bit of a comfort to know people were just as confused as he was that he was alive, but what frightened him was Echo's reaction. 

Who would have guessed it...

She had been... Oh, God! It had been there in her eyes: The shock, the guilt, the confusion, the anger, but... She had not thrown herself at him like he expected: The old Echo would have cried and done all sorts of embarrassing things like beg for his forgiveness. That was Echo, it just was the way she had been. 

I will not leave alone

Instead, she had shown him just how much she had changed. Her eyes hardened after a moment, and she glared at him. After that she basically told him that next time he decided to die he should not steal the show and come back to life after, oh, eighty years. She had been pissed at him, and years later he understood why. 

Everything that I own...

He felt a little hurt: She was his best friend, the person he had known almost as long as anyone else, and longer then his wife... And then his temper flared. Years later he understood just how ANGRY he had been, but right then he took it out on Echo. All his rage dumped onto her, when she already had enough to deal with...

To make you feel like it's not too late,

They had not spoken for a week, and after that they had to co-operate, even if it was grudgingly: He had mistaken his anger at her, and she was just pissed off at him because she was Echo and that's what Echo did. 

It's never too late...

Well, China had none of that. They were the best- Over the years Echo had strengthened her powers so she could stay in her "Cleaver" form for as long as she needed, plus her new troops, the Cleavers. He was a Skeleton and thus unafraid of being hit on top of being full of pent up rage. She sent them on several missions together, until she got the fact that they had a non-verbal agreement: Do what was needed as long as was needed, but there was no need for friendship. 

Even if I say
It'll be alright,

Finally a lull that lasted for a century popped open, and Echo disappeared promptly. He found himself quite unsettled without her around: Anger was still there, but now he had no clue who he was angry at, other then Serpine. She was still gone, so he went in search of her. Of course he found her within twenty years, in a bakery in London. When she saw him, he had  seen the things he had seen in her eyes before: But this time it was distilled, like she had finally managed to cool down. 

Still I hear you say
You want to end your life...

Too bad he hadn't. Luckily they were not in public when he started shouting, but then, she yelled back at him, unlike all those times when she just said a few words that made him stop talking pretty quick. 

Now and again we try,
To just stay alive,

"You're so stupid! How could you have just been thinking of yourself all these years?! Alison was my sister too, Skul! She was my sister and I loved her like a sister and I want to kill Serpine for it too but all you seem to do is blame me! Of course I ran, what kind of steel do you think I'm made out of, to stand by you even as you turn into the magical equivalent of an angry drunk!? I'm NOT YOUR WIFE, SKULDUGGERY!"

Maybe we'll turn it all around
'Cause it's not too late,
It's never too late...

No one will ever see...

...She was right. She was right and he knew it. It had taken him five years after that to come to terms with it, and two more after that for her to meet him again... 

This side reflected...

When he had seen her the first though he had was 'Is she still mad?' Well, maybe. He had seen her glare at him once or twice before she talked to China and came over to where he sat... And it wasn't that odd little childish glare she used to use when she was 'just kidding,' either. This was a full-blown ice queen glare.  Shot across a room of people, it was a bit frightening, even for him. 

And if there's something wrong,

When she sat by him she was awkward, shy, a little confused. Good old Echo. Within a few minutes they were laughing over the past several years, a smile upon her face for the first time who knows how long, and he could let everything go for just a few moments, before the party ended and the reality of Serpine and Alison came crashing back down on him.

Who would have guessed it...

Echo saw him the week after that, but this time he wasn't as happy as last time. He mostly listened as she told him about what happened after he disappeared, and after a couple minutes she paused. And asked him what was wrong. Echo had always been way too perceptive. 

And I have left alone

With reluctance, he told her that it felt like betraying Alison, every time he talked to someone he enjoyed talking to, every time he felt like laughing or even stopped thinking about her it was like he died all over again when the thoughts of her came back. 

Everything that I own,

Echo had nothing to say for about a minute after that, just looking at him like he was crazy. Then she informed him that her sister would not have wanted to see him like this, because she loved him and no matter what happened after she died Alison would have wanted him to keep on going. Everything had the ring of truth even through their age-old aura of 'bad pun.' 

To make you feel like
It's not too late,
It's never too late...

And for the first time he could look at her as someone wise, not someone angry or childish or just his friend. He really realized for the first time that she had, in fact, lived as long as him, thank you very much. She just aged much more gracefully and gleaned much more from her years then him, because technically she was a good eighty years old then him because of his time in limbo. 

Even if I say
It'll be alright,

She had smiled at him, and a few weeks later she disappeared. Where had he gone wrong? Had he said something, or not said enough? He was like a ship at sea without an anchor: He felt too light, and he kept thinking that something was missing... 

Still I hear you say
You want to end your life...

When he found her again he had promptly told her off for it. She had replied with a laugh and a comment he really, REALLY wished now she hadn't said. 

Now and again we try,
To just stay alive,

"You're not my Aunt, Skul." She teased him about that for the next, oh, four centuries. 

Maybe we'll turn it all around,
'Cause it's not too late,
It's never too late...

The world we knew...

After that it was a chase across continents with several years in between each, where they would be friends for a bit before she ran again and he started thinking about WHY, but then he found her and they laughed and talked and reminisced and as soon as the topic of Alison came up (which it did) she smiled and laughed like before but right about when he started spilling all his thoughts about his late wife to her she packed up and was gone again. 

Won't come back....

He figured that out only recently, and even then only because Sanguine practically held it up for him on a golden platter while they fought. But was it really possible that she... Could she? No, impossible! 

The time we've lost...

That would require her to have hidden how she felt for over 2000 years! In pain all that time, because of his choice to have her sister instead of her, grieving those eighty years not because of only her sister and niece and best friend but her lover as well... 

Can't get back...

Even as she attacked him and tried to strike him down, this time he was careful- Valkyrie was to hold back, to not reveal herself no matter what, while he 'took care' of her and made sure she hurt neither himself nor herself and she still ended up with a broken wrist and oh God why hadn't she told him! 

The life we had...

When she woke up at home he had been there the entire time, following her through the house as she ran, and finally to the library where she broke down- But why?! He knew for a fact she could not be in that much discomfort- His own arm had the exact same wound. When she called him a Butt-smear he really had no clue what to say, but... She had been worried for his safety?

Won't be ours again.

He had been shocked even more so when she hugged him, relief going through her system while his brain broke in silence. It was true, then, she actually did... Did... 

This world will never be
What I expected,
And if I don't belong...

She loved him. 

Even if I say
It'll be alright,

He watched her very, very closely from then on, cuing in on her movements and the things that showed what she thought, even though he knew them like the back of his hand already. It was unspeakable how much he worried about her day and night, especially when for the final time she refused to stay on the side-lines, making sure she was in the middle of the battle. 

Still I hear you say
You want to end your life...

What was it with women and suicide runs? Tanith, Valkyrie, China, Echo, they all insisted upon self-sacrifice. When Echo threw herself in front of him to block the blow from the God, he had believed the would both die, for real this time. He had been ready to grab her and hold her close, but the next thing he remembered...

Now and again we try...
To just stay alive...

...Whiteness. Echo was there, somewhere, he could hear her (wind chimes and a ticking clock), as well as Valkyrie (drum-beats and hail against a roof), and he thought Tanith was around there somewhere but could not remember what it was like. He couldn't see past the whiteness, though, but got the vague feeling Echo was struggling... 

Maybe we'll turn it all around,
'Cause it's not too late,
It's never too late,

And then he was on the ground, his jacket too heavy- Oh wait, what? Echo! She was lying on top of him, barely breathing, far too still...

Maybe we'll turn it all around,

'Cause it's not too late
It's never too late (It's never too late)

When she woke up next he didn't care who saw- He hugged her right there, and she seemed shocked, surprised, fragile, hesitant... And then disbelief and then joy, when she hugged him back. 

It's not too late,
It's never too late...

"Maybe I chose the wrong sister..."

A/N: OMG. THREE FREAKING HOURS. Maybe I won't be doing an Echo to this one... D: