Chapter Text
The concrete walls of the Fittes Agency weren’t a place Lucy Carlyle would describe as home. Was it safe? Sure, if you meant from the ghosts waiting on the streets of London after the sun went down. Impressive? Absolutely, considering the massive size of the agency itself, not including the library, archival system, and furnaces. But Fittes wasn’t a place Lucy felt at home. Even so, Lucy walked through the intricate halls dressed in her uniform and filed into her team's briefing room.
Lucy had been working at Fittes for around six months now as a Listener, already making it to one of the agency's top teams. It was comprised of four other members: Bobby Vernon, Ned Shaw, Kat Goodwin, and supervisor Quill Kipps. They weren’t friends, so to say, but they got along well enough. They made a good team, that’s what mattered.
The briefing room, like so many other rooms at Fittes, was mostly bare, minus the long table placed in the middle of the room and the six chairs placed around it. Kipps and Kat were already seated when Lucy arrived, greeting her with curt “hello”s. Their case file for the day was already placed in front of her but would remain closed until the other members of their team arrived. Every day was the same: Ned would arrive right on time with Bobby coming in a few minutes late, toting a thick file of research for the upcoming case. Today was no different, the three agents watching the clock, waiting for the routine to play out as it always did. Once Ned and Bobby filed in, the meeting finally began.
Kipps stood at the head of the table and opened his case file; the team followed suit with their own files as Kipps began to speak.
“Good morning, everyone. Today's case is going to be a tough one. We’re being called in by a man named Henry Chambers. Mr. Chambers is currently living in a Victorian-era mansion around the heart of the Chelsea outbreak. He has reported a ghost apparently targeting his teenage daughter. Until last week the ghost had been relatively quiet, but now has grown violent, no longer confined to its original haunting of the primary bedroom. Bobby, I’m guessing you have more information?”
Bobby stood as Kipps sat, his large file of research now sitting open on the table. He sifted through a few pages of paperwork before landing on the desired page, setting it on top before sharing what he’d found.
“Alright, so the first haunting in the Chambers’ house is Marissa Alcott. She was an aristocrat in the mid-1800s, married to a man named Robert Alcott. They were married in 1855 after courting for a few years, although that's not too important. What is important is that her husband was having an affair with a younger woman named Abigail Edwards. This led to Marissa attempting to murder the two when Robert thought she was out of town. She succeeded in killing Robert, but Abigail then killed Marissa in self-defense. Apparently, it was quite gory, but that’s beside the point.”
“I’m sorry,” Lucy spoke up, “But did you say first haunting? It says here in the file that this is an incredibly violent Wraith. How are we expected to handle more ghosts on top of this?”
Bobby opened his mouth to reply, but Kipps cut him off before he could get a word out.
“We aren’t. It’d be impossible to fight a Wraith on top of a Stalker and God knows what else is in that house. That is why we’re being paired up with another team.”
The idea of joining teams wasn’t new. It happened all the time internally in agencies. It wasn’t rare for different agencies to work together either, especially now with the Chelsea outbreaks. Still, the idea of having to work with another team made Lucy nervous. She wasn’t exactly great at making new friends, and she didn’t have the patience to work with incompetent team leaders. Kipps may have his weaknesses, but he believed them and did his best to keep them safe, even though that task was becoming increasingly difficult. The point is, Lucy liked her team and their routine, adding another team into the mix regardless of talent was a risk she didn’t like taking.
“So who’s the other team?” Ned asked, voicing the question the others were too weary to ask.
Kipps took a deep breath, preparing himself before speaking, like the words already left a bad taste in his mouth.
“For this case, we’ll be teaming up with Lockwood and Co.”
A series of groans followed the announcement. Kat rolled her eyes aggressively, and Ned and Bobby immediately struck up an argument with Kipps. Lucy, on the other hand, sat in complete silence, watching the scene unfold in front of her.
Lucy had heard of Lockwood and Co before, of course; almost everyone at Fittes had. After the events of Combe Carey and the so-called “Bone Glass”, Lockwood and Co had been on a steady upward climb. She couldn’t help but feel a sort of fascination with the agency. They were the smallest agency in London, yet they kept getting more and more dangerous cases. But other than what she heard from hushed whispers in the Archives or in the hallways, she knew nothing about them.
“I’m sorry, but can someone explain to me why this is so bad?” Lucy asked. The group quieted and turned to look at her, Lucy leaned back in her chair in response, trying to escape the scrutiny of their stares.
“Anthony Lockwood is the most pretentious prick I have ever met in my entire life,” Kat started.
“He punched me in the face one time,” Ned added.
“Did you deserve it?” Lucy asked with a slight smirk.
“That’s not important,” he rushed out. “What is important is that he’s going to get us killed. He’s way too reckless; even his own team can’t keep him under control!”
“Did he actually get shot during the bone glass case?” Lucy asked, trying to hide her intrigue.
“Yeah, and he’s lucky he didn’t die down there. He probably would have if Kipps wasn’t there,” Kat said.
“Okay so he’s reckless and pretentious, but why do we hate him and his team for that?” Lucy asked. Sure, they seemed like they probably weren’t the best agency to handle this job, but could it really be as bad as everyone was saying?
“Listen, Lucy,” Kipps said sternly. “Lockwood isn’t someone you want to be friends with, or even know for that matter. He’s dangerous and everyone around him gets hurt because of it. There’s a reason their agency is so small, and it’s that everyone with even the slightest bit of sense or self-preservation has left. They cut corners and people get hurt. So we stick to our plans and we get this case over as soon as we can. Do you all understand?”
Lucy swallowed, nodding along with the rest of her team. She would force her fascination with the tiny agency in Marylebone to the back of her mind. They were dangerous, she just had to make it through this job and then she’d never have to see them again. She remembered all too well the last time her team leader was too reckless, and the rest of her team paid for it, now dead or ghost-locked somewhere in the countryside. Lucy Carlyle wouldn’t get close to Anthony Lockwood, and that was a vow she intended to keep.
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The rest of the briefing passed in a blur, Bobby going over the second ghost they were expecting and their plan of attack for the case. Since they were dealing with a Wraith and a Stalker on opposite ends of the house, they decided that splitting into teams would be the most effective way of finding the sources. Kipps didn’t trust Lockwood and Co to not go off and “royally fuck something up,” so he decided that they'd all be divided into pairs, with Lucy staying with Kipps. Of course, they had to go over the plan with the other team, but as Fittes was the agency in charge of the case, there wasn’t much room for complaints. They then broke off to prepare for the case individually until they were to meet at 5 o’clock that night. Lucy decided to do some rapier training with Kat; Ned and Kipps would prepare their kits while Bobby went to the Archives to try and find any more information he may have missed. They’d meet Lockwood and his team at the Chambers’ mansion and go forward from there. Now all that was left to do was distract herself for a few hours until the sun began to set.
The ride to the Chambers’ mansion was quiet and filled with unease. No one spoke up as the cab passed through the deserted streets of Chelsea. Before the outbreak, the curfew was strongly enforced but now, with the sun only beginning to set, the streets were completely empty. Slight glimmers of Shades or Lurkers could be seen faintly in parks or alone on the side of the street. It was clear the night would only get more dangerous as the moon rose. After what felt like ages they arrived at the mansion, seemingly the first ones there. The team filed out of the cab, leaving Kipps to pay as the other four brought their kit bags to the entrance of the mansion. The house was larger than any other house she had seen in central London. It was composed of three stories, a large garden, eight bedrooms, and four large reception rooms, all protected by iron gates. It certainly didn’t look haunted, but Lucy and the rest of her team knew better than to assume that appearances made them safe. Not less than a minute after they arrived at the gates, Kipps joined them, checking his watch before addressing the group.
“Okay team, we have 30 minutes until the sun goes down. Mr. Chambers left the house unlocked, so as soon as Lockwood turns up, we’re ready to go in.”
“Awe, are you telling your team about me, Kipps? I’m flattered, really.”
A voice broke out from behind Kipps. Everyone's attention shifted towards the trio walking up to the house, led by who Lucy could only assume was Anthony Lockwood. Plastered on his face was a casual smirk, his dark brown eyes glinting under the ghost lights. He was tall and slender with slightly spiked brown hair, his clothes clinging to his frame. He wore a dress shirt and pants with a dark blue knitted tie, his long black trench coat flowing as he walked. He oozed a careless confidence that immediately pulled Lucy in, something that would cause her trouble if she wasn’t careful.
To his left was George Karim, a shorter boy with dark curly hair and a mischievous grin of his own. He wore glasses and a black puffy jacket paired with jeans and a t-shirt, his outfit much more casual in comparison to his team leader.
On Lockwood’s right was Holly Munro, a girl not much shorter than herself with chocolate skin and curly dark brown hair. She was clearly the most serious of the group, her outfit composed of patterned trousers, a black blouse, and a dense trench coat, clearly more for warmth than fashion, unlike Lockwood’s. As the trio approached, Lucy looked to the rest of her team. Kat stood with her arms crossed, looking disinterested – as usual. Ned had a smirk of his own, similar to the one Lockwood wore, although Lucy thought Lockwood’s looked better (not like she’d ever say that). Bobby already looked irritated, attempting to stare daggers at Karim but failing, too young to be intimidating. Kipps plastered on his own fake grin as he turned to face the trio, Lucy now slightly shielded behind Kipps.
“Ah Tony, good to see you again. Burn down any houses recently?” Kipps shot back, Lockwood's smile only flickering for a millisecond. Not that Lucy was staring at him or anything.
“Not yet, but there’s no time like the present. How about you, Kipps, lost any more agents? Or do they know to stay away from you by now?
Ned, Kat, Bobby, and Lucy all shared a glance. They all knew about Kipps’s history, how he had the highest mortality rate of any team leader. It was a clear sore point for their team leader and now here Lockwood was, using it as some sort of childish dig. Pretentious prick really was a good descriptor.
“I could say the same thing about you, Lockwood. Have you visited your dear Mom and Dad lately? Or how’s your sister doing?”
Lucy didn’t know anything about Lockwood or his family, but she knew from the way Lockwood’s face dropped that Kipps had made a mistake. Lockwood took a step forward like he was preparing for a fight, his once casual grin now long gone. Tension filled the air, the two team leaders staring each other down with similar darkness in their gaze. Thankfully Kat and Holly stepped between the two, separating them before any real damage could be done.
Lockwood took a step back, his jaw clenched as he let out a sharp laugh laced with venom. George took a step towards Lockwood, presumably to check in with him; but Lockwood shut him down before the other boy could get a word out. Kipps was clearly upset but took a few deep breaths before trying to restore the peace.
“Look, I’m sorry, Tony. Can we just get on with this case so we don’t have to see each other longer than necessary?”
Lockwood huffed before agreeing, taking a few moments before his previous casual demeanor was restored. The teams relaxed, giving brief introductions before they’d make their way into the house.
“Nice to see you, Bobby,” George said, a shit-eating grin on his face as Bobby stared back at him through glaring eyes. Lucy heard Kat and Holly say their hellos, knowing the two could at least have the decency to be professional. She played with the charms on her rapier hilt, watching the teams before realizing Lockwood was walking up to her, the background chatter slowly dwindling out.
“I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Anthony Lockwood.” His voice was smooth like honey, his London accent coming out as posh as ever. He sounded like a prick. He wore a shining smile that caused a sensation in her stomach Lucy could only describe as butterflies. She quickly shut that down, pushing the airy feeling away as fast as it came.
“Lucy Carlyle,” she replied. She did her best to speak loud and clear, refusing to show any of her intrigues. He’s a self-absorbed jerk, Lucy reminded herself. Kipps’ words from earlier echoed in her mind.
He’s dangerous and everyone around him gets hurt because of it.
The reminder immediately dampened her mood. Any butterflies or similar feelings she might have harbored for Lockwood quickly evaporated. She didn’t care how charming he might be, she wasn’t about to get hurt because of a reckless boy with a pretty smile.
“How long have you been at Fittes? I don’t remember seeing you around, at least not with Kipps,” Lockwood said, with what she could already tell was his ‘signature grin’ plastered on his face.
“Long enough to know I should avoid you,” Lucy said curtly before turning on her heel, picking up her kit bag, and following Kat and Holly into the house.
Soon enough the rest of the two teams staggered inside the house, meeting in the foyer. Once everyone dropped their bags and got settled, Kipps walked in front of the group to go over the course of action for the night.
“Okay everyone, here’s the plan. Since we know we have at least two hauntings happening inside the house, we’re going to divide up into pairs. This way no one should be stuck alone. If you see or hear anything that you think can lead us to the source, you report back to me, got it?”
Everyone nodded and mumbled confirmations before Kipps moved on.
“Alright. So, for pairings, we have Bobby and George,” which received two groans of annoyance.
“Kat and Holly, and then Lockwood and-”
“I’ll go with Lucy,” Lockwood interjected. The room fell quiet for a moment before Kipps spoke up.
“That’s not a part of the plan.”
“Oh, come on, it's not that big of a deal. It’d be fun, right, Luce?”
“Do not call me that,” Lucy frowned, immediately shooting Lockwood down.
“Too late, it’s already been spoken into existence, we’re a pair now,” Lockwood said, moving to stand next to Lucy. She rolled her eyes in response, taking a small step away from him so they weren’t as close. Clearly giving up or taking a hint wasn’t something in his vocabulary.
“Are you always this annoying?” she asked, looking up at the boy.
“No, I think you just bring it out of me,” he said with a wink.
“Lucky me,” Lucy said sarcastically. It was going to be a very long night.