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Lucy hates working closely with Fittes because it always ends with Kipps and Lockwood getting into some unnecessary pissing contest. Normally, she finds it very attractive when her boyfriends are intelligent, quick-witted and effortlessly sarcastic. However, when Lockwood does this it turns into a full-blown competition and Lucy doesn’t get a full night’s sleep for whatever length of time Lockwood has bet on.
So when they turn up to an age-old mansion on the outskirts of London to find Kipps’ team there as well looking mighty pleased with themselves, she is abruptly exhausted and feeling every inch of her age. Instantly, that has Lockwood in his ‘I know better’ mood and George slides closer to Lucy when Kipps’s eyes drift her way.
Ever since the team supervisor asked her out for coffee or dinner or something - Lucy wasn’t really listening because both George and Lockwood were wearing full suits and it was very distracting - and to join his team at Fittes, the boys have been slightly territorial whenever the other team is around. Granted, she was asked in the midst of the early stages of their relationship and she didn’t exactly turn him down so he has made many more advances since then so it kind of makes sense that both of them are a little tense at the idea of leaving her around him.
They have explained already that it’s not that they don’t trust her or that they’re thinking she’ll step out on them it’s more like they want to have her all the time, always, in front of everyone and they very much enjoy showing her off. Kipps is just their main target because he makes her attraction to her so obvious and tries to force himself between the three of them by suggesting that she go with him on joint missions instead of with her partners.
She thought she’d hate it though, feeling like an object that they’re playing keep-away with just to piss off Kipps and stick it to him or something but she definitely does not. She’s never claimed to understand what goes on in men’s heads but she’d like to think she knows her boys pretty well but in this, she’ll never comprehend. Still, she likes the way each of them swaps between bickering with Kipps and his researcher (George finds the researcher too closed-minded for their career and Lucy doesn’t argue with the claim) while keeping her close to them, touching her absentmindedly, their chest to her back or her hand gripped in theirs.
In reality, Lucy likes being desired by them and there’s something about being desired so much that they’re willing to fight over it. She’s had the same ideas when overenthusiastic girls throw themselves at Lockwood after he’s done another interview on TV or when girls sit extra close to George in the archives for no reason.
She will also admit that she is much less subtle about staking her own claim. Oftentimes she just slips into George’s lap and asks him what he’s researching. After that George’s attention is entirely on her and she smirks at the girl when she leaves in a huff. With Lockwood, she attaches herself to his arm (his left one since he’s right-handed and she doesn’t want to leave him impeded if a fight arises) and her touch alone has him focused on her and every word she says after. She knows the boys know and she also knows that they enjoy it as well, they play into it a lot and it commonly ends with all three of them satisfied and covered in mouth-shaped bruises in very obvious places.
She can see very few downsides with these interactions other than when these absolute strangers touch her partners which is when she considers actual homicide. To her, it doesn’t matter where or how they touch them it’s just enough that they are. The boys like that too.
“Lucy,” Kipps greets and Lucy smiles with a nod, clearing her throat when George’s hand tightens on her hip. “How are you?” She manoeuvres slightly so George is closer, his hold tighter and she shivers when his warm fingertips slip beneath her shirt behind her where no one can see. He even ventures a little further down, sliding them beneath the waistband of her shorts and caressing the skin there forcing her to tense her entire body to stop from reacting to the sensation.
“Good, thank you. You?” Lucy manages to force out, taking a deep breath after and sending George a look to stop him only for him to move even lower, touching the curve of her back and the top of her butt. He’s going to get it later, Lucy thinks, trying to show him that with another look only to receive an eyebrow raise from Lockwood who is definitely enjoying the situation more than he should be.
Lucy is also aware that Kipps is doing this on purpose. No one knows explicitly what happens behind closed doors, most conclusions that have been drawn indicate that Lucy and Lockwood are the ones that are dating leaving George as their perpetually awkward third wheel but that conclusion means that she is often used to rile Lockwood up. Hence why George is much more touchy than usual, he’s staking his claim too.
“Very good, gonna clear this up really quick,” Kipps declares and George snorts rudely, Lucy can see the smirk on Lockwood’s face since George very rarely makes his distaste so obvious as he prefers to tear them apart on knowledge alone while Lockwood pokes and pokes until they erupt. It’s what makes them a good team. “Got something to say?”
“You wouldn’t understand it if I did.”
“Are you calling me stupid?”
“See?” George waves a hand gracefully and Lucy bites her bottom lip to stop herself from laughing, turning more into his chest to avoid looking at Kipps’s enraged face because the vein on his forehead has always sent her into giggles. Lockwood shuts down the conversation there with a well-placed dig and leads his team into the empty mansion so they can do their own research before nightfall.
“I fucking love you,” Lockwood declares, giving George a smacking kiss on his cheek in delight, already reliving the laissez-faire attitude George had for that entire interaction. “Make sure to touch her more obviously next time, maybe he’ll get the message.” George just hums satisfaction and shrugs it off so they can actually do their jobs before their traverse into the supernatural at sunset.
“Don’t encourage him. How am I meant to concentrate when his hands are in my shorts?”
“Oh, you’d know if they were really in your shorts, love,” Lockwood replies and Lucy glares at him too. Thankfully, they don’t have to be there long, their research half done already at the kitchen table last night with Lockwood attempting to cook, Lucy wrestling the equipment away from him while George read through entire passages of babble that he understood perfectly. “Let’s get the plan done and then we can eat.”
“Who’s cooking?” Lucy asks as they clamber into the taxi with George squished between them and their tools in the footwells.
“I was hoping you would so I can finish this off,” George rests his chin on her shoulder with wide eyes like he even has to beg her to take something off his plate when really she’s always desperate to take some of the weight off. All three of them take on too much responsibility, it’s why she’s grateful for the fact that there are three of them to handle the combined weight of everything they’ve suffered.
“I always offer, I want that to be recognised,” Lockwood chips in and both of them roll their eyes in response.
“Last night you burned toast. The toaster literally tells you when to take it out and it still came out black,” George states, remembering how they had to open the kitchen windows and the back door to let the smoke out because Lockwood had simply forgotten he had put it in there in the first place.
“Maybe I like it better that way,” Lockwood replies magnanimously, his nose in the air and Lucy dissolves into laughter at the haughty look on his face.
“You do not,” George bites back playfully, “Besides, Luce has all the ingredients for that pasta bake.”
“The one that you devoured and Luce and I hardly got a look in on?”
“How dare you! I left you enough.”
“It’s okay, Georgie, I’ll make the pasta… But I will put enough aside for us two before giving you the rest.”
“That’s all I ask.”
She does end up having to divvy up the food before putting it down because George - quite like Lockwood with chocolate cake - kept stealing the chopped ingredients before she even managed to throw together even part of the meal. She cursed him multiple times, smacking him hard enough to leave his hands pink until Lockwood yanked George into his lap and kept him captive there. George silenced and softened under skilled hands and soft presses of lips to his jaw, neck and shoulder, while they watched Lucy dance around the kitchen, practised and perfect.
“You are a menace,” Lucy hisses when George helps her sneak in through the side window of the mansion because the Fittes team is already in through the front door and they apparently need to find the source first. Lucy couldn’t really care less but she will play along for the sake of her boys. The two of them land silently on either side of her, Lockwood shaking out his coat and George clicking on his torch. “I want it stated for the record that this is a bad idea and we’re more likely to get run through with a rapier.”
“Should I be insulted?” Lockwood whispers and Lucy punches his arm, making them both laugh.
“Let’s get this done, I have plans tonight.”
“Oh? Do tell,” Lockwood prompts, turning left towards the back of the house instead of right towards the foyer where they can hear Kipps’ team stomping around like idiots. She is often genuinely surprised that they’ve survived this long though she has chalked a lot of it up to luck rather than skill.
“George is going home for a week tomorrow, want to make sure he remembers to come home,” Lucy says it lightly and smirks in the dark when both of them stumble at the implication.
“God, Luce, how are we meant to concentrate now?” George scolds and Lucy hums amusedly.
“Figure it out.”
Lucy supposes she should be grateful that they managed to figure it out considering how they could’ve died if they had gotten too distracted facing the Type 2 that they swiftly handled within minutes. Kipps’s team don’t find them until the source is successfully contained. “You’re a bit behind,” Lockwood comments, leaning against the wall self-assuredly with his index finger drawing over his bottom lip. He knows exactly what that action does to both of his partners and Lucy notes it as cruelty until she remembers the suggestion she had made only an hour ago and the fact she could’ve gotten them killed.
“For fuck’s sake, Lockwood! We could’ve done it together!” Kipps whines and Lucy moves to adjust her rapier and his attention snaps to her instantly. “Do you not think we could work well together, Luce? This is immature, seriously, you’d be a better fit for Fittes.”
“She’s already said no, Kipps, don’t embarrass yourself again by asking.” George bites out, sliding the silver box into his bag alongside his notes.
“Nothing’s changed, Kipps, I like it where I am,” Lucy replies breezily. “Well, we have to go, other plans. You also owe Lockwood money by the way.” Lucy bounces past the group, waving gleefully and George is quick to follow her while Lockwood collects his wager.
George leaving is strange. They haven’t separated for more than a day in months and that distance was only put in to prevent them from ripping each other’s throats out when they’re too tired to communicate properly.
Neither Lockwood nor Lucy like having to take him to the station knowing that he won’t be back for an entire week. They accosted him several times before they even got him out of the house, hoping their kisses would convince him to stay or cut his trip short by a little but he stayed adamant even as his eyes rolled back and his skin tingled from their efforts. “Be safe, both of you,” George says as they walk him to his platform, the place quiet due to the hour – Lucy did ask why he likes to travel at barely dawn and he just said he likes the views better that way.
“You too,” Lockwood nods and steps into George’s space, snatching the breath from the younger boy’s lungs with a thorough kiss. Lucy chooses instead to layer George’s entire face in butterfly kisses until he’s laughing under her ministrations.
“Come home soon,” Lucy whispers in his ear while they hug and Lockwood pulls her off when they tell everyone to board their train. They trade ‘I love you’s as George backs away from their smothering embrace, leaving the two of them to watch after him like war widows. “We can do this, right?” It’s not like George is most of their impulse control and intelligence, definitely not.
Surprisingly, they make it three days before they have an argument. It’s only a small one, completely ridiculous and based entirely on the fact that they haven’t been sleeping well enough so they messed up on one of their missions. They completed the case, their 100 % success rate pulling through, but it left them fired up and on edge so they took underhanded hits at each other until they forced themselves to separate. Lockwood went to the basement to train and Lucy tucked up in the library in one of George’s shirts to read.
When they came back together two hours later they both apologised, breathing each other in and settling with the fact that they survived another bad situation. They have the day after off which they spend wrapped up with each other, late to wake, trading heady kisses underneath the duvet before taking tea and toast at the dining room table.
“You’re missing one,” Kipps says when they meet again two days before George is due home. Both Lockwood and Lucy are impatient now, the itch spreading under their skin as Kipps babbles stupidly for ten minutes about everything that’s going on and how Barnes has demanded that they all work together under DEPRAC’s guidance as both teams are too small to handle it alone. Lockwood wanted to bring up how his team took down three Type 2s alone but stifles himself when he remembers seeing his partners laid up with injuries that would have been prevented had they had more numbers. He doesn’t have George here and he won’t risk Lucy for something as stupid as his ego, not anymore.
“Where is Cubbins?” Barnes demands when he arrives on the scene, taking in how they’re a man down already and the mission hasn’t even started.
“Away.”
“Did he finally leave you, Lockwood?”
“I’m not in the mood to argue with you right now, Kipps, don’t agitate me if you can avoid it though your voice itself is rather vexing so you should remain silent.” Barnes is quick to corral them, forming pairs and barking orders when Kipps tries to argue that Lucy is better off coming with him instead of with Lockwood, “I suggest you stay in your own lane, Kipps. Lucy is off limits, what do I have to do to prove it?”
“You know you’re just holding her back, she could be amazing.”
“What? In a company where you're a number, not a name? Where your mistakes get you put on trial and fired within minutes of them occurring? Where she’ll be forced into a uniform and into rules that limit her more than I ever could? Don’t act like she can’t make her own decisions just because she didn’t pick you, get over it or I’ll make you.”
“Enough. Lucy goes with Lockwood,” Barnes commands, “You have your entry points, clear the building and report back.”
Kipps and his partner get back to Barnes first, their source tucked away which Kipps is quick to bring up when Lucy tosses theirs to the Inspector with a yawn. Lockwood ignores him, fed up with the way Kipps is attempting to gain Lucy’s favour by bragging. Lockwood does know that sometimes his insecurities catch up to him and Kipps managed to hit many of them in their earlier conversation, he is always terrified that Lucy is just going to be stuck with them forever since she’s never even tried being a part of one of the big, well-known companies. George has already tried it on for size and he hated them, said they were too restrictive, but Lockwood can’t help but linger on the idea that Lucy may be better off there.
“What’s on your mind?” Lucy asks gently, curling against his chest on the sofa once they’re back at the house, showered and changed. He likes her like this, likes both of them like this, soft and warm against him. He knows both of them are powerful and capable in their own right, too intelligent for their own good and endlessly stubborn but having them against him brings forward all of his protective instincts and makes him want to hide them behind his ribs, carry them with him everywhere, guarded and preserved in his chest.
“Do you ever feel like I’m holding you back?” Lucy makes a surprised sound before following it with a disgruntled one. Her face is so expressive, her eyebrows and eyes most of all and Lockwood loves being able to read her so effortlessly. He allows his fingers to follow the line of her furrowed eyebrows, down the slope of her nose and over her pink lips - she presses kisses there when he does before snatching his hand and holding it between her own, drawing patterns against his skin.
“Is this about what Kipps said earlier?” Lockwood nods in confirmation and Lucy accepts that moving Lockwood’s hand to slip their fingers together and then apart, liking the way they fit and catch against each other. “No, I don’t think you’re holding me back. I love it here. It’s home. I’ve done the whole big business thing where they don’t care, where mentors leave you for dead and the trials turn everyone against you. I’ve been a number for them and a pay cheque for my mum but here… Lockwood, I’m a person here. I’m loved. You both worry about me, whether I’m hurt or hungry or sad and I can do the same for you. Here, I’m known. Here, I’m appreciated even if I’m acting like a feral animal or being extra stubborn. Also, their uniforms are hideous.”
Lockwood laughs delightedly, leaning down to kiss her and accepting her answer as gospel. “I love you a lot, Luce,” Lockwood promises, brushing their noses together reminiscent of their first kiss all that time ago.
“I love you,” Lucy whispers back, grinning when he knocks their heads together before pulling back to grab the book they’ve been reading together during the week so they don’t mess up where they are in the book that they’re reading with George since he’s really into it.
When it finally comes to the time to pick up George from the train station, Lucy sprints ahead of Lockwood and almost takes out three children and an old lady to get to the platform to wait impatiently. She bounces on the balls of her feet, trying to see over the tall people and once again wishing for Lockwood’s height.
She relaxes the instant his arms slide around her waist from behind, recognising his touch and lighting up after a week without it. “George,” She sighs and spins around to grab him around the neck to give him a proper hug.
Lockwood is standing just behind him looking breathless with his ‘I’ve just been kissed’ hair since George loves to touch it every time. Looks like despite Lucy’s speed, Lockwood still found him first. “Missed you too.” Lucy squeals when he lifts her and starts backing up so Lockwood’s chest is pressed to his back, Lockwood leaning down to rest the three of their heads together. “Glad to see you both made it out alive.”
“It was a bit touch and go there,” Lockwood says brightly with an edge of pride, “We’ll tell you everything once we’re home.” Lucy gets her kiss while Lockwood wrangles a taxi and George is happy to oblige her endless questions about his family since they’ve never really spoken about them at length. She knew that he has three sisters and his dad left when he was young but she knew nothing about them.
“I told them about us,” George tells them when they’re unpacking his stuff. Lucy happily places his things back where they belong. His books restacked on the bedside table, his spare glasses once again tucked into the bathroom cabinet, his toothbrush in the pot between theirs, all signs that he’ll be back to stay for a while. Back home.
“They’re okay with it?” Lockwood asks, leaning against the doorframe as George changes with Lucy’s completely useless help because she ends up pressing herself against his bare chest, her head over his heart instead of giving him the clean shirt she grabbed from the wardrobe.
“Yeah, they’re very happy. I think they thought I’d be alone forever so when they found out I have both a girlfriend and a boyfriend… well, it definitely blew their minds. They want to come down and meet you both soon, they said next month.”
“We’ll take some time off for them.” George smiles gently at Lockwood, glad that he understands how important this is for him, to have both of his families together and close.
“So, tell me everything I missed.”
The month between George coming home and his family coming to visit is spent completing as many cases as they could cram into their weeks. Challenges arise and arguments appear in the midst of their mess. George is the one that calls it quits, and decides that they have to drop back on how many cases they take because their reputation and money will never be as important as what they have. Obviously, the other two are quick to agree and quick to solidify that idea with kisses to make up for their lack of contact during their fraught week where they were all about to snap and bite each other’s heads off.
They separate to different places in the house a lot that week and it scared them all differently. For Lucy it felt like the first month all over again where she would disappear the minute they were finished planning, she was terrified that she had lost the only family she’s ever really had. George’s dad walked out on him years ago so his fear was based entirely on the idea that he would wake up to an empty house with a note on the table detailing that he was the reason they left, that he caused it. Lockwood had his whole family die so he doesn’t want to be alone again in the house where he had to fight his parents’ ghosts, not when he knows that the place can be warm and it can be a real home for the three of them.
Thankfully, by the time George’s family arrive for a long weekend, they have found a better regime that works much better for them. The arguments had died down, they had a long conversation about the reasons they were so wound up about simple things, about how they felt about the reactions they had and how they could make it easier on each other in the future. Most of it came down to telling each other that they love each other but that they need to be alone, that they need to calm down before they hurt each other without really wanting to. Eventually, George came to the conclusion that they were doing too much work and it was draining them so they couldn’t maintain the relationship the way that they should’ve been both communication and intimacy-wise.
Since all three of them draw the touch-starvation card, if their needs aren’t fed it made the lack of sleep combined with the overworked brain make a train crash that left them all raw and achy so to have finally found a solution had brought about the ease again. Something they were all grateful for.
The impending arrival of George’s family had sent both Lockwood and Lucy into a little bit of a frenzy. Lucy had cleaned the house from top to bottom and baked way too many cookies while Lockwood had reorganised the basement to make sure all the sources were properly secured and cleaned up the garden out front like he even cared about it. George watched on in amusement, drawing his own conclusions on why his partners had gone absolutely feral over something so simple. The main one is that they just want to impress and be accepted to make life better and easier for George.
George loves them incandescently.
So, they have successfully prepared the house for guests. Something it hasn’t had in a long time. “Religiously, mothers do not like me. Mine didn’t even like me and that’s literally what they’re programmed to do,” Lucy hisses to Lockwood in distress as George tells them that he’s going to pick up his family from the station while they wait at the house.
“Darling,” Lockwood drawls and Lucy pouts, “She will love you. Okay? You are incredible and strong and beautiful and you love her son. You’re all she could ever want.”
“You’re biased.”
“And you’re not? You didn’t say pretty much the same thing two days ago when I had my own freak out about his family?”
“Okay, I get it. Do you think George understands our freakouts or do you think he thinks we hate his family and don’t want to do this?”
“I promise you he doesn’t think that. Besides, you don’t have a hate bone in your body… Your unfairly attractive and distracting body, by the way. Did you have to wear the jeans?” Lucy grins up at him, remembering the first time she wore the jeans after she bought them last month and how they hadn’t lasted more than two minutes after she entered the kitchen that morning. It was a good thing that they didn’t have to be on-site for their case that day until noon because they would not have made it before since they barely made it then.
“They’re comfy,” She says innocently and Lockwood bites his bottom lip in the way he knows drives her mad, “Hey! You’re doing the thing.”
“I can do the thing as often as I like when you’re wearing those.”
“George is going to kill us.”
“I’m sure he’ll be fine as long as I don’t jump you in front of his family.”
“I’m not sure I have such restraint.”
“Must you torment me so?” Their brief flirtation is interrupted by the sound of the front door and Lucy takes a few steps back so she can calm herself before greeting their guests. “Best behaviour, Luce.”
“I can say the same for you.”
The first meeting goes brilliantly well. Lucy hits it off with George’s sisters so easily that she feels like family almost immediately, they talk for hours in the library while George’s mum accosts Lockwood in the lounge under George’s watchful eyes. None of the other Cubbins has any talent, all of them so splendidly normal but happy to listen to all of their crazy cases as they head into the kitchen. George and Lucy make dinner together with the others talking around the table with tea Lockwood made only inches from their hands. George’s mum, Harriet, watches the way the three of them move around the kitchen like a well-oiled machine.
Lockwood is doing dishes and making sure Lucy doesn’t hit her head on cabinets while George cooks at the hob and Lucy prepares the oven dishes, keeping Lockwood’s thieving paws away from their uncooked food. The three sisters turn to Harriet with blissful smiles as they watch the baby of the family find such ease with those he loves. “Never thought I’d see him like this,” The middle sister whispers and Harriet grins.
“I did, though perhaps not like this. Still, love from two is better than anything I could’ve ever wished for.” George was the closest with his father being the only boy in the house, his dad only left because he started showing talent and the man didn’t want anything to do with that ‘freakshow’ so to see George fully trusting people outside of his family not to leave him is incredible.
Though they can see why he would trust them so completely. They can see the way Lucy matches her every movement and her pace with him when they’re together. How Lockwood touches him so gently, so carefully like he’s scared he may break such a precious treasure. How both of them listen to him babble for hours without getting bored. Harriet can feel every inch of their love, it’s pressed into the walls, spoken softly over books and prayed between cups of tea and meals made deliberately.
Yes, Harriet thinks, perfect.