Chapter Text
"Why?" Gertrude said flatly.
"Because you have managed to lose all your assistants, Robinson." Elias said, there was little amusement in his tone. "They don't exactly grow on trees. So I am assigning you new ones."
Gertrude didn't say anything, she just settled to glare at Elias.
But she must've figured this wasn't some of Elias' crap jokes for April's Fools which he seemed to believe was funny, but really wasn't. "Very well. Who are they?"
Elias smirked, he never smiled. "I'm glad you asked. Jonathan Sims and Timothy Stoker are from the Research Department. Sasha James is from the Artefact Storage, she asked for a transfer. Oh, and Martin Blackwood from the Library."
Four assistants then? Well, four was better than three, at least. "Where are they then?" Gertrude asked, clearly not in the mood of Elias' usual taste of "being an arse".
"Oh, I sent them waiting for you at the Archives. By the way, young Sims might be a bit of a sceptic, but he is a good secondary in command, in case you're out and sacrificing another poor soul to thwart a ritual. Have fun ~!"
Gertrude wasn't in the mood of the irritant Elias Bouchard, so she headed back to the Archives where three nervous and one rude assistants were waiting for her.
Whether they were good at their work ethic or not...they could be quite useful, Gertrude decided. Besides, it's been quite empty with her original assistants gone.
“So…” Tim started. “Where are you blokes from?”
“Research.” Jon said shortly, straight to the point. He may be the only one who was dressed professionally in a sweater vest, a button up and business slacks.
“Oh, like me then!” Tim said cheerfully, he seemed to believe a grey hoodie with the text “Local Bi-saster” and faded jeans was an appropriate attire.
Sasha was semi-professional, in the least. She wore a dark skirt with black tights and a purple turtleneck sweater. “Artefact Storage.”
“Whoa, sounds spooky!” Tim said. “Wanna talk about it?”
“No, not really.” Sasha said. “I’ve seen you a couple of times, though.”
“I can’t help it, I’m just that popular.” Tim grinned and stretched his arms. “I haven’t seen you around, though.” He said to the fourth one.
“Oh...ah, I’m...Martin. From the library…” Martin mumbled, obviously a little shy. He was short and a bit on the chubby side, but he looked very soft and charming with his freckles, curly ginger hair and a hand-knitted red sweater on a blue plaid shirt with hand-me-down jeans.
Tim grinned. “I’d say he’s too cute for the library, Sasha! How about it, Sash? Polygamy!”
Martin stammered and blushed dark red, making the freckles stand out more. Sasha snickered.
Jon sighed, frustrated.
“Good, you’re all here.” A new voice joined them. It was Gertrude Robinson, the Head Archivist. “I have been meeting with Mr. Bouchard, I gladly accept you lot as my new assistants.”
She didn’t sound that glad over it, Jon thought.
“So, you four are starting today.” Gertrude continued. “Time to get to know you four. State your name and former department.”
“Oh, me first!” Tim said before anyone could object. “Timothy Stoker, research assistant, kayaking expert and London’s most eligible bisexual bachelor-”
“Thank you, Tim.” Gertrude said before he could continue more. “I did said only your name and former department.”
Sasha took it as her turn. “Um, Sasha James, formerly practical researcher from Artefact Storage. I applied for a transfer.”
“Yes, I got the memo.” Gertrude nodded, satisfied with her answer. “Let’s hope these Archives are less...spooky for you. Next?”
“Jonathan Sims, formerly Head Assistant of the Research Department.” Jon started as professionally he could.
Gertrude nodded as she noted everything in her notepad. “Good, good...that means you must be Martin Blackwood.” She looked pointed at Martin, who looked very nervous.
“Ah-um...yes, I’m Martin Blackwood.” Martin stammered. ”I’m, uh...from the Library.”
“Yes, good.” Gertrude said as she finished writing and closed her notebook. “Good, I believe we should all get along. Tim and Sasha are taking the desks on the right side of the working spaces. Jon and Martin, take the desks to the left. The kitchen nook is for everyone’s use. We need a volunteer, responsible for tea duty.”
Jon raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. “Is that even important to the Archives?”
“If you want to die by inhaling dust and suffer dehydration, then perish by all means.” Gertrude said sharply.
Jon’s skintone made it hard to see if he could blush, but Martin notices his cheeks did get darker.
“I could do it, I don’t mind.” Martin said hastily, hoping to save Jon from more humiliation.
“Excellent.” Gertrude said. “The main task is following; you four research, follow up and record the statements in here. The ones that aren't possible to record digitally are instantly referred to me, don’t try it on your own until I say so. Understood?”
“Yes, ma'am!” All four of the assistants replied, although none of them understood why. But she has already demonstrated why protesting against her was a bad idea.
“Very well. All of you are working from nine to five, weekends are off. Now, there will be big chances that I will be out researching on the fields a lot and I’m going to appoint one of you four to be the secondary archivist while I’m gone. I’ll give the answer in a week, I want to see your work ethics first.”
Jon straightened on his back, determined to show his best abilities on this.
So the week began and the new assistants got to work. Martin had a hard time adjusting to his new workplace tasks.
Gertrude knew his little secret, of course. It was so obvious that even a blind man would see it. Or it could be because of her perceptiveness. But she said nothing and decided to keep him around. Martin may display another side she yet had to unveil.
Besides, Martin made very fine tea and that was worth keeping around. Oh top of that, he was a very sweet-hearted lad and it reminded her of someone she used to know.
Sasha worked hard with a chipper attitude, Gertrude knew she would do well. She was very social and knew the right words to get the right information. She sat by her desk and talked on the phone with the museum.
“Oh, thank you very much. I’ll come by one and collect them!” Sasha said on the phone, satisfied with another job well done. Sasha should’ve actually been a great choice, but she was a little creeped out of the artefact storage and Gertrude understood it must’ve traumatized whatever the girl might’ve seen.
So Sasha was out, for her own safety.
Tim was...a good man although a little too happy on the pranks and meme references. He needed to grow up a few more inches and take this work seriously.
But he worked well, although Gertrude noticed within the week that he was very good at talking with the police and that was always useful when the force was too difficult with them. He also had a strange fascination with the architect Robert Smirke’s works, that would be useful later.
And there was...Jon. He was, of the four new assistants, the most dedicated worker. He made through research, his penmanship was perfected and he didn’t miss a single detail.
Not to play favorites, but he was the most favorable to be a secondary archivist. The only problem was of course his rude attitude and...
“Ha, got it!” Jon exclaimed when he stood on her toes and pulled out a paper from the highest shelf. “Ah!” He shouted when the box of statements from the seventies fell over and he was ambushed by an avalanche of scattered statements over himself.
Gertrude sipped on her tea. Yes, there it was. Jon was the most ideal, but he did stupid moves at times. He could do better, he wasn’t an idiot.
There were a line between being stupid and doing stupid things.
And Jonathan tended to walk the fine line of that.
Well, there was time so he could do better.
But what made her more than a little irritated was his constant scepticism of the supernatural when it was clear as water in front of him, namely the statements. He tore them to pieces, dismissing them as delusional lies by the mentally unwell and drug users.
Gertrude supposed that beggars couldn’t be choosers.
“All four of you have worked very well this past week.” Gertrude announced to them on Friday afternoon. “But it’s my tedious task to make a choice and Jonathan is the most qualified for secondary archivist.”
Sasha cheered on, not the slightest sad of the semi-competitive week. “Well done, Jon! I think you’ll do great!”
Martin gave a small applause to Jon and shied away when Jon’s dark green eyes looked at him, slightly bashful over the praise. The moment was quickly ruined when Tim wolf-whistled at them.
“Now that’s enough, Tim.” Gertrude said sternly to the tall, handsome lad. “Jonathan, you are a diligent and clever worker. But whenever I’m out on field research, I expect you to withhold the standards of the Archives perfectly.”
“Understood, Gertrude.” Jon said, professional as always. “I will work after my best ability. Thank you.”
“Good. Be a dear and record these statements.” Gertrude said and handed over a smaller stack of statements, along with an old-fashioned tape recorder from the eighties. “You’ll find they’ll be important later. Don’t forget the follow up.”
Jon accepted them, but looked at the tape recorder with disdain. “Wouldn’t recording them on my laptop be better?”
“By all means, try if you manage to.” Gertrude said. “It has never worked on any modern technology down here, as far I know.”
Jon rolled his eyes and went to his desk, preparing himself to work.
“And the rest of you, back to work if you want your little happy hour.” Gertrude told the three others. “Now, chop chop!”
And they went back to work.
For they kept working together as a team for the next past week. Jon tried with everything to record the statements on his laptop, but nothing worked as he were met with significant audio distortion.
He was very annoyed by this.
“Have you tried with Audacity?” Martin asked helpfully while he served everyone their tea.
Jon glared at him. “Yes, Martin! I have tried with Audacity, I have been installing and uninstalling it, I have troubleshooted the program several times and even tried to change microphones-!”
“Whoa, whoa!” Tim exclaimed from across the room, quick to defend Martin who fell silent. “Take it easy, it’s not his fault!”
“No, but he ought to have some common sense since I’d attempt any solution before I have to use this!” He threw out the last word with venom and glared at the tape recorder on his desk. “...Martin, did you turn this on?”
“No? I just came with you tea.” Martin said.
Jon frowned. “I was so sure I didn’t turn it on...hmph, probably a defective flaw in this goddamn recorder.” He scoffed and turned it off.
Sasha just came down the stairs from the library upstairs. “Hey, guys! I think I got some leads on that Anglerfish statement, Jon.” She exclaimed proudly and handed over her notes.
“Oh, well done.” Jon said and took the notes.
Tim snickered from behind his monitor. “Anglerfish?”
“I suggested having some creative names of the statements instead of their reference number, it gets a little confusing at times.” Sasha said. “Where’s Gertrude, by the way?”
“Meeting with Elias. I dunno what they’re talking about, he just came down here and she looked really annoyed.” Tim shrugged.
Jon read the statement and compared the notes, but still followed the discussion. “Gertrude has let me know that she may leave for field research soon.”
“Oh, so our second in command is gonna take over?” Tim smirked.
“Please take this seriously, Tim.” Jon looked up and glared. “Thank you for the tea, Martin.”
“R-right, okay…” Martin said flustered and moved on, placing Tim’s tea cup with a bi icon on his desk. “You liked chai, right?”
“Yup, thanks!” Tim said, chipper as always. “You’re such a great cupcake, Marto!” He praised and winked at Martin who blushed.
Suddenly Jon felt more irritated than before.
Suddenly Gertrude returned back, sporting a pair of reading glasses and paid more attention to the files in her hands. “Martin, tea.” She said and walked past them to her office.
“R-right!” Martin said, he hurried to the the kitchen nook and prepared tea for the head archivist. He quickly returned with a smaller, wooden tray with her cup of tea and a few of the biscuits Tim tried to sneak earlier.
Sasha looked after Martin who entered Gertrude’s office with a gentle knock and heard her affirmative answer.
“She seems in a bad mood…” She whispered to Tim.
“Thank you, Martin.” Gertrude said and sipped on her tea the moment Martin set it down. “You got the biscuits I asked for?”
“Yes, but Tim tried to sneak away some of them earlier despite me saying no.” Martin explained.
“Naughty lad. Well, he’ll learn at some point.” Gertrude said casually. “How are you adjusting to the archives then?”
Martin flushed, reflecting on the past few weeks. “Oh! Well, it’s been...good. I mean, I don’t do a good job as Jon pointed out to me and he’s probably right-”
Gertrude tutted. “Seems like he’s rude again. Someone ought to question his manners. Would you like me to talk to him?”
“N-no!” Martin blanched. “I-it’s not a big deal, I’m just inexperienced and I made mistakes, but don’t talk to him. He hasn’t done anything wrong-”
“So it’s like that, huh?” Gertrude finally set down her files and peered at Martin behind her glasses. She wore a knowing smirk. “You seem to tend to his needs more than anyone else, I’ve noticed. I’d take it as you’re fond of Jonathan then?”
Martin felt exposed, there was no use to lie because it seemed like she would know anyways. “I...yes.” Martin admitted. “He’s not bad. He’s smart, honest and...his voice is nice.”
“I see.” Gertrude said slowly, but she didn’t lose her knowing smirk.
Jon started to record the statements Gertrude assigned him and he begrudgingly had to use the tape recorder, despite his efforts to use modern technology which failed miserably.
Today was one of those days. Gertrude was out on field research and no one really knew what she did, but after the fifth time for that month she returned with some blood stains which she reassured it wasn’t her, they stopped asking.
Perhaps they were better off not knowing, after all.
Martin couldn’t exactly put his finger on it, but he has caught the head archivist's expression when she was researching her files (which she never let anyone else read) and there was a cold, calculating gaze in her eyes.
He had the feeling that Gertrude was much more than what appearances could tell. Such for that time he found a book without a title in a storage box and before he could open it to read, Gertrude had asked him, firmly, to hand it over.
“It’s just a book, what harm could it do?” Martin had asked, curious why Gertrude would take care of a seemingly useless book with tattered covers.
Gertrude tutted. “Never judge a book of it’s cover, Martin. That’s lesson one for you.”
So he let it drop.
Martin prepared tea for Jon, he had gotten used to recording the statements but that couldn’t be healthy to his voice. So he made some warm Earl Grey with exactly two sugars, no cream. Just the way Jon preferred it.
“Statement ends. While I am certain that Mr. Cavanaugh has good state of mind, I am more inclined that what he might’ve seen in the so-called mirror was a hallucination of a lost love and the guilt of not checking up on her fueled on his paranoia-”
Martin tuned out what Jon was speaking in the tape recorder, he set down Jon’s cup with it’s saucer on his desk, quietly and sneaked out of the office Jon was borrowing while Gertrude was out.
It was actually frustrating about how Jon was so quick to dismiss the statements he recorded. Tim usually rolled his eyes at that with a humous smirk and Sasha, although she was more prone to believe in realistic reason, could tell something shady was going on in those statements.
But Jon always tore the suspicions to pieces, as if he was thick into a state of denial.
Suddenly it made sense why Gertrude rolled her eyes over his scepticism, like a grandmother who was asked a very obvious question by her adult grandchild.
Martin closed the door silently and went back to his desk, continuing to work on his assignment of the week. Nothing made any sense about the Vittery case, he had a good knowledge of spiders and despite what Jon said, there was nothing reasonable in finding the poor guy encased in web.
Martin got the feeling that maybe his research wasn't good enough, despite Gertrude telling him that it was most important he did his best and he could leave it at that. She was pretty good at setting Jon’s ridiculously high expectations at ease, reminding him that they’re not expert detectives to solve a mysterious case and asked him to stop acting high and mighty.
But Martin had the itching feeling that this was something else, something more they might have been overseen. He stared at his screen, although not focusing on his notes. Then he made up his mind.
Tonight, he was going back to Vittery’s place. He was going to bring his torch and he was going to investigate more thoroughly, he wanted to find out what was going on.
Gertrude would have agreed to that plan, she always said that she believed in more practical solutions in research (which Jon had protested against, claiming that the academic research was far more trustworthy).
But he never realized he really should’ve told someone of his plan until afterwards.
Martin had been sick for a little more than ten days when Gertrude returned from her “field research” and she instantly noticed his absence.
“Where is Martin?” She asked instead for a greeting, staring at his empty desk.
“Sick with the flu.” Tim said from his desk, eyes focused on his computer monitor while his hands typed fast on the keyboard. “Poor lad, he wasn’t feeling good.”
“Hm...has Martin told you this?” Gertrude asked while Sasha handed her over the finished following up research of her task. “Ah, thank you. Very well done.”
Tim shrugged. “Not really, Jon told us. He got a text from Martin a week ago or so.”
Gertrude frowned, something was very wrong in here. “And no one has actually seen him?”
Tim finally looked up from his screen, he looked mildly surprised. “It’s just the flu, Gertrude…” He said slowly. “Martin will be back maybe tomorrow or so.”
“We haven’t actually visited him or seen him in person.” Sasha admitted. “We would’ve, but Jon said that he was told Martin didn’t want that.”
“Hm…” Gertrude said. “I want to speak with Jonathan.” She said, suddenly very stern and firm.