Work Text:
Sophies POV
We somehow managed to get into the dim chamber without any alarms or sudden attacks, we where alone thank god. Our eyes adjusted to the light and noticed the lab like decorations; three long tables filled the large metal building with chairs and storage racks in between. The tables where covered in an assortment of silver- glass flasks, beakers and tubes, Bunsen burners were lit and the flasks contained a variety of bones and what we assumed were sources (including, helmets, watches, teeth, hair, so on and so forth) all in the perfect size container. I think back on it now and I'm fairly sure only me and Anthony could see some of the trapped spirits and the others could only spot the other-light emanating from each object.
" look at all this..." Quill said. he was still wearing the spectacles we got from Combe Carrey Hall (he refused to take them off once we gave them too him, its cute to see him so happy so I let it slide)
George continued roaming," it's like my bedroom". Anthony asked what they where doing here to which George replied," ectoplasm research mainly, they're testing to see how it reacts to extreme temperatures, ooh look this one is suspended in a vacuum!" whilst George continued on his nerdy rant I turned to Lucy who was glancing around aimlessly I assumed she was listening to something so left her be. Quill was just next to me, I looked slightly up too him," have you ever seen anything like this?" he answered whilst investigating a large beaker full of an odd liquid," well we had a lab at Fitts I just wasn't allowed in it, so no," he gave me a quick smile. A few moments later we where at a break in the warehouse that opened up to another similar room but instead of beakers and tubes it was full of storage boxes, Quill spoke over his shoulder to the others," you might want to take a look in here!". I started to look around as the rest of the group joined us, there where neat rows of canisters, firearms, cylinders and some other tools which we had no idea what were. Anthony stepped next to me," weapons room, check out these flares, seen anything that big Kipps?" joining me and Anth Quill took his goggles off and shook his head," we used some pretty hefty stuff at Fitts but these are bigger,"
" these could cause some damage if you chucked them, they're as big as coconuts! take the roof off a place they would," George whistled as we started opening boxes and peering inside. Anthony was stood in front of a tall metal rack," look, its like a basic shotgun but I think its been adapted to shoot out a ghost, don't think DEPRAC would approve," he tutted quietly, I nodded my head to agree. " They wouldn't approve of any of this" Lucy spoke in a small voice as she rose a baton like object with a glass bulb on the end," recognise this?" we stood in silence as realisation struck, that previous autumn when assassins attacked a carnival in central London, with bombs and batons that when broken released a ghost. " Wait, surely it would be too risky for an assassination attempt with the man responsible on the same float, what if one had hit Rotwell?" I couldn't figure out why he would risk so much, Holly agreed with me," yeah Sophie is right they where trying to kill Rotwell too,". We had worked our way into a small circle, Luce spoke next," or did they? I only remember guns aimed at Penelope." Holly was quick to respond," no! what are you saying? he fought against them, he killed one of the attackers!" Lockwood continued explaining why Rotwell did what he did and it all made sense he failed at killing Fitts but he came out as a hero, we stayed where we were for a few seconds before Quill spoke again," we have seen enough we should leave and tell DEPRAC,".
"no not yet," Anthony said. Holly remained were she stood with tears in her eyes," I can't believe I worked for him," whilst Lockwood and Quill argued I walked over to give Holly a hug, she held on tight and I let her. Once she had let go I switched back into Quills words," yes the main event is but so is all of Rotwell's workers, its suicide to try it. we have done what we can." he looked at the rest of us," am I really the only one who thinks so?" I didn't know what to say I loved Quill but Anth is my blood I remained silent, as did everyone else. even though Quills argument couldn't be denied neither could Anthony's. I stared between both of the boys as they continued bickering, Lockwood had decided we where all going to leave him behind so he could explore without risking the rest of us, before me, Lucy, Holly and George could challenge this choice we heard a distant clang and a waft of psychic energy shortly after small voices and footsteps walking towards us. we all dashed. Lockwood went low hiding under the far end of a table, I missed where Holly went, George ran the opposite direction, Lucy stuffed herself under a table and between some boxes, me and Quill dipped behind some boxes where we could still see most of the group but where out of the view of the workers. two middle aged workers, one was a man the other a woman, they wore white lab coats with the Rotwell insignia sewn on.
I can barely remember what those scientist said back then I was too focused on Lockwood's bright smile as he listened, he gave a wave in mine and Lucy's direction then bolted after the scientist as they left into the central warehouse. I began to rise prepared to follow when Quills firm hand grabbed me and pulled me back down and whispered in my ear," no, you can't follow." I fell back into him. barely ten seconds had passed when Lucy looked to all of us then followed Lockwood out of the weapons room. I felt a sliver of relief flow down my spine knowing he wouldn't be completely alone.
We remained silent and still for a little moment longer to ensure we where alone again, I jumped up with Quill right behind me, walking over to the door two of the most important people in my life just ran through," we need to go with them they could be dealing with at least a dozen more workers and agents! they need our help" before I could go through the door Quill pulled me back again (though I wasn't at the time I am now extremely thankful that Quill stopped me running off to my death) he moved himself so we was next to me facing Holly and George," your right they do need help but not ours its too risky, we need to call DEPRAC they are better prepped for this sort of thing," I stepped away amazed that he would just leave my family behind," what is wrong with you!! we can't just leave them!" I spoke probably too loud giving away our position but I needed to get my point across," please Quill I can't lose him," my last words where hardly a whisper so that only Quill could hear. before he could protest any further George spoke," she's right Kipps we can't just leave them, look at all the weapons we have access to right now we can't waste this opportunity," after more attempts of persuasion from all three of us Quill finally agreed and we began grabbing all the tools we could manage. when we were ready I had a belt of salt bombs, a few ghost bombs, a gun and a few smaller pieces of artillery.
It took nearly 10 minutes for us to suit up and start heading through to the central warehouse, we took it slower that I was appreciating but I knew it was necessary to keep ourselves safe. once we were a few meters away from the main room we could see a small platform that led to a metal staircase we had hid ourselves behind some boxes and tables as we stared at the large tower of light. I slipped my sunglasses on to prevent getting a headache from the bright light glowing in the centre of the room contained by large iron chains, I exchanged a look with George as he was next too me," it looks like there's sources scattered at the bottom it must be filled to the brim with ghosts." he nodded as I spoke," yeah your right I can't think of what they would use it for though, maybe its another experiment, one to see how quickly thousands of ghosts can kill a man?" he gave a nervous chuckle. without paying George any more attention I continued our pursuit to find my cousin and Lucy. Georges words stayed at the forefront of my mind until I reached the platform.
I was the first to spot them, two figured one was shorter with light brown hair the other taller, black hair, pale, Lockwood! they where entering the ghost ring, what were they doing! a small gasp left me as the others looked at what I was seeing. They were gone, no one could survive that they would die instantly neither Lucy or Anth had any protective equipment with them not even a measly salt bomb, I couldn't breath it couldn't have been them they wouldn't be that stupid!. tears filled my eyes, the others thinking the same thing as me. I was gripping the cold metal hard enough to turn my knuckles white, Quill wrapped an arm around me and I let the tears flow, my knees gave way as I sobbed heavily into his arms, I could vaguely hear Holly crying as well, why did I let him go in there I should have stopped him. I continued to sob loudly alerting everyone in the facility that we where here but I didn't care I lost my final relative, my best friend since birth I didn't know how to live without him, what was I going to do?
" Guys Rotwell's crew is coming back." George spoke breaking me out of the haze," personally I vote we kick their asses for what they have done," I stood up wiping my eyes with my sleeve, clearing my throat I responded," yeah we can't let them get away with this." Holly, her eyes all red and puffy, agreed as did Quill who kept his hand rubbing small circles on my lower back.
Not even 3 minutes later we had moved to our positions just as Rotwell's team arrived. Holly had placed herself in between some crates and was holding a huge capsule gun, it looked far to large in her hands. George was darting out from more crates at the top of the platform and begun throwing magnesium flares strait at Steve Rotwell, his glasses a blinding red reflecting the fire within the room; it really was a sight to see. Me and Quill where at a vantage point next to a wall he was throwing salt bombs at a quick pace managing to hit the armoured man directly in the head causing his helmet to fall off and tumble backwards. I knelt a few meters away behind a metal storage container joining Quill in his salt bomb parade, I had also thrown a few decent magnesium flares at a larger group of scientists causing them to yell out and run for the hills before they caught aflame.
This barrage continued for what felt like four hours but in reality it was only about 10 minutes before I spotted two cloaked figures emerge from the glowing cylinder in the middle of the warehouse. They threw themselves out and lay flat on their stomachs for a few seconds before they realised what was happening. Holding each others hands they slowly stood up and took in their surroundings, I couldn't hear what they were saying over Georges maniacal laughter and salt bombs going off, but I couldn't take my eyes off them, surely they aren't back they wouldn't survive that? Holly had recognised that my assault had stopped and turned to see what I was looking at, her eyes instantly welled with tears. Anthony turned to start walking towards us whilst Lucy went to grab something off a shelf, I watched his every move carefully too see if anything had changed, he looked slightly more pale than before and colder too his lips where a dark shade of blue, he wore an feathery cape (now I remember what it was but back then I was too concerned and confused to care about his fashion choices).
Anth had taken about 3 steps before I bolted down the metal stairs towards him, I didn't even care about the possible harm the scientists could cause I just wanted to make sure he was real, George and Quill hadn't noticed the pair return to the land of the living and Quill let out a mighty yell of my name as I stared running, until he noticed who I was running towards and stood gobsmacked for a second until resuming his attack on the Rotwell team.
" ANTH!!" I screamed as loud as I could manage whilst running, he looked so confused but held me tight when I ran into him, tears started flowing again no matter how hard I tried to stop them," your meant to be dead" this was hardly a whisper, he pulled away slightly," do I look dead?" I let out a little chuckle," yeah but you always do so not much of a change there." this was followed by a small gasp and Anth hanging his mouth open," wowww I see how it is, so what's happening right now?" I turned back towards the platform to see Holly hugging Lucy, me and Lockwood started walking quickly back up the stairs to George who was far too into this chaos and destruction so him interaction with Anthony was surprisingly brief but still genuine. I walked back over to Quill now knowing Anth was safe we continued to throw salt and ghost bombs down the hall at the scattering crew. Lockwood joined George throwing small or not so small flares and bombs until most of Rotwell's workers had dissipated.
After discussing the basics of what happened in the ten minutes that Lockwood and Lucy were MIA we continued fighting Rotwell. Quill and George were shouting across the platform when Steve Rotwell tossed himself over a trolly and swung his sword at Quill. A small gasp left me as another slice of metal met the first, Anth! he still had his rapier. he was protecting Quill?? that's rare. the two swordsmen where locked together with Quills pale form wriggled from underneath keeping well clear of the metal. with one large stride he reached me, I grabbed him so tight but still couldn't take my eyes away from the duel occurring not even two meters away from me.