Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Lucy woke up with the sun, just like she did every morning. Jacobs would be calling her soon. 

She splashed water on her face, which really did nothing to cleanse the thick layer of grime that perpetually stained her cheeks, took a drink from the bucket, and went about her morning routine. 

She smoothed out her brown trousers, tying them with a sash, before slipping on a pair of stolen leather boots. The sleeves of her too-big hand-me-down button-up shirt were rolled up, before she grabbed her worn out waistcoat. She made sure the buttons of the vest were done up tight enough that they flattened her chest; giving the false appearance of masculinity. Next came the leather, fingerless gloves that concealed two more blades. They made it harder to pick pockets, but it was worth it for the extra protection. Finally, she pulled on her dark, tattered overcoat. At some point, it might’ve been brown, but it was marred with so much dirt and soot that it covered any of the original colour that remained. 

“Lucas! Time to go work.” 

She nodded as she headed out to the grimy streets of London for her shift. As she left Jacobs’ building, she pulled on her flat cap and pulled it down so that it was difficult to see her eyes. 

She’d been Lucas ever since her mother sold her to fucking Jacobs, and at this point she figured she’d never hear her real name again. Sometimes, in the dark of night from where she slept on the cold dirt floor, she’d whisper her name out loud - just so she could hear what it sounded like.

So she didn’t forget. 

She shook her head. No use in dwelling on the past (or the present for that matter). She had a debt to pay off - a debt she knew she’d never actually be able to outrun because Jacobs constantly added bullshit to her bill. Like lodging and food - despite providing nothing more than a floor and bread if she was lucky. 

She usually wasn’t lucky. Someone in her youth once called her Lucky Lucy. Oh, how wrong they were. 

Fortunately for her, at least, she’d been born with a gift. Her mother called it a curse and told her to never reveal that she had it. Women with magic weren’t treated well in England (or anywhere else in the world, she supposed.) 

Men? Men could use it relatively freely, and they never worried about their skin being burned off. 

But it didn’t matter anyway. As far as Lucy knew, she was the only woman who’d been born with magic in centuries. She’d been told that women had it in the past, but they’d been hunted down and their lines all decimated. Women with magic didn’t exist. 

Until her. 

What was even more strange was that magic, an inherited ability, didn’t exist with anyone else in her family. As far as she knew, no one had ever had any kind of magic.

Until her. 

Until her. 

Until her. 

And now, here she was, walking around the streets of London looking for pockets to pick so that maybe she could eat tonight. 

She didn’t hate her mother for selling her. She knew that it was the only way for the rest of her sisters and her mom to survive after their father passed away. But still, she hated the fact of her indentured service.

Three pocket watches, a few coins, and even a whole muffin were her haul so far. Not bad, but not great either. 

Lucy’s magic was primarily Listening and Touch. Among many other things, her magic made it so that she could sense when others were distracted. Usually, when people used their magic, their eyes changed colours. No one knew why. Some theorised that it had to do with manipulating things at a cellular level. Others said it was the mark of the demons. Frankly, Lucy couldn’t care less what the reason was. All it meant was that she couldn’t actively use her magic. She didn’t need to draw attention to herself, even if she was passing as a boy. 

Someone caught her attention then - a tall, thin man just up the street from her. People didn’t catch her attention. She saw hundreds, if not thousands, of people every day, and they never registered as anything more than a potential mark. But there was something strangely captivating about him. 

It wasn’t that he was beautiful - he was. 

It wasn’t that he was dressed in expensive clothes and a ridiculously long coat - though he was those things, too. 

No, it was more that he felt almost magnetic to her. 

She brushed it off as her magic telling her that he would be an easy target. (Even she knew that was a flimsy lie.) 

He slipped something shiny in his pockets and she wanted . She couldn’t even see for sure what it was, but she honed on it anyway. 

His eyes, which were covered by crimson tinted glass, seemed to narrow in on her, but she must’ve imagined it. She wasn’t doing anything that would attract attention, and there was no reason for him to look at her. 

She waited until his back was turned and then did her usual canvas around him, being sure to blend into the masses. Waiting until she felt his attention focused on something else, she slipped into his pocket and quickly “relieved” him of the shiny object. 

It wasn’t until she was several blocks away that she bothered to look at what she’d taken. It was another pocket watch but instead of the watch telling the time, it seemed to point at things. Currently, it was pointing at her. 

Strange. 

She slipped it into her trousers and went about her day, enjoying the muffin she had stolen earlier. When she went back to Jacobs that night and dumped her haul for him, she made sure to keep the strange pocket watch with her. 

He wasn’t pleased by what she offered him and was reprimanded with a rod on her hands. If she’d given up the golden watch, she’d have escaped the pain - but there was something about it that called to her. She couldn’t let him have it. Wouldn’t let him have it. 

It felt warm in her palms as she looked at it later in the night. 

Strange . 

She drifted off to sleep, ignoring the way the watch seemed to hum with energy. That would be a tomorrow problem. 

Lockwood could see the boy even before his watch showed him that there was someone with magic in the area. His Sight let him see the bits of magic that hovered around magical people, and this boy was bright . Even with his special sunglasses that were designed to dim the glow coming off of magical people, it was still hard to notice anything other than the otherworldly light.

He pulled out the golden scrying watch and, sure enough, the needle was already pointing back at the boy. Slipping it back into his pocket, he scanned around again, finding the unassuming boy looking straight at him. 

Interesting . 

Lockwood closed his eyes and tapped into his Sight. In his mind, time sped up, and he peered a minute or so into the future. Sure enough, just as he suspected, the boy was about to “relieve” him of his scryer. 

Perfect. 

Pretending to be interested in something else, he waited a few minutes until he was sure it was gone before following the boy back to wherever he lived. Unfortunately for Lockwood’s day, the boy had a lot of ‘working’ to do before he returned home. 

He was used to following people - he was a detective, after all. But he had things to do today! Sighing, he continued trailing the boy - which, upon further observation, was likely more of a young man. He just looked young, standing nearly a foot shorter than Lockwood and covered in dirt. 

Finally, the boy/man returned “home” and Lockwood clenched his jaw hard. He was fucking staying at Jacobs’ place. That scum was known to hold people indefinitely. Lockwood needed to go talk to George, but he’d absolutely be back tomorrow. 

If he could, he’d free every single indentured servant in this whole damn city, but even Lockwood wasn’t that rich. So he did the best he could - buying out the contracts of magicals and lobbying hard for everyone else.

Making it back to 35 Portland Row just before the heavens opened up and rain poured down, he made his way to the kitchen where, predictably, George was already cooking. Without turning around, he asked how Lockwood’s day was. 

“Unproductive. But I found a magical. Living with fucking Jacobs .” He saw George’s shoulders tense. George knew as well as anyone what Jacobs’ reputation was. 

“I assume we’re going to fix that tomorrow, then?” Lockwood hummed in affirmation.  “Do you want me to ring Barnes?” 

“Absolutely not.”

“He can help, you know.” 

“Please, Jacobs has most of the authorities bought out. If they busted him, Jacobs would just lie low for a while before going back to business as usual. No, I’m going to quietly buy out the boy’s contract.” 

“Lockwood, you’re eventually going to be poor with how many contracts you’re buying.”

“No, I won’t. If I did, though, it would be worth it. If I could abolish the whole damn industry, I would.” 

George let the matter drop. He knew that it was a losing battle. Lockwood had a ridiculously strong moral compass, which would probably be his downfall one day. But nothing George said would make a difference. Instead, he continued preparing dinner in the comfortable silence that was typical of nights at Portland Row.

The next morning, Lockwood put on his typical all-black suit, black shoes, and long black coat with golden embroidery, and headed out to Jacobs. He waited until after he knew the kids would’ve hit the streets for the day, knowing men like Jacobs did business only without a witness to see them barter.

He knocked on the front door of the building where he’d seen the kids go in and out. Moments later, a disgruntled Jacobs opened the door. 

“Yeah?” 

“Mr. Jacobs? Anthony Lockwood. I’d like to discuss business with you.” 

Jacobs eyed his upper class clothes up and down, before saying sceptically, “I don’t have business with you.” 

“Quite right. Not yet, at least. I’d like to discuss one of your… contracts. A boy whose services I’d like to acquire.” 

“I don’t have any kids under contract. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Lockwood flashed him the same smile he used on politicians’ wives he wanted to charm. “Oh, Mr. Jacobs, we both know that’s not true. Now, we can either do this privately, or I can ring my uncle, an inspector, to have him come investigate. May I come in?” 

Likely sensing that Lockwood wasn’t bluffing, Jacobs grunted and moved aside, letting him inside. Lockwood tried hard not to wince. The building was a half step above squalor. It angered him that anyone was living here, let alone children. 

“Yes, well, I’ll make this quick. I’d like to purchase the contract of one of your workers. He’s about a foot shorter than me, longish brown hair, wears a flat cab and boots. Sound familiar?” 

“He’s not for sale.” 

“Oh, I think he is.” Lockwood began counting out an obscene amount of money, watching Jacobs’ eyes grow ever-wider. He knew he was over-paying, but frankly, he didn’t care. As long as he got the boy out of this hellhole, he’d pay anything he needed to. 

Handing over the stack of bills, he took a quick peek into the future. Jacobs had a hidden blade and was planning to stab him when he handed over the money. 

Lockwood tsk’ed at the man. “If you try to stab me, you’ll be on the floor and bleeding crimson before you ever come close to stabbing me.” He took off his glasses and looked into Jacobs’ eyes, letting him see Lockwood’s eyes turn from dark brown to an unnaturally bright blue. “Do not test me.” 

Jacobs turned white and put his hands up in surrender. “Give me that money and you can take the kid. No funny business.” 

Lockwood put his glasses back on, allowing the red tinted lenses to cover his eyes once again. “Pleasure doing business with you.”           

Chapter Text

Lucy woke up with a start. Her dreams were plagued by visions of the man in the long coat that she’d stolen the pocket watch from yesterday. These dreams weren’t the ones of fear that she sometimes had after stealing from someone who seemed powerful. No, these dreams were just strange . She dreamed of tea and warmth and laughter. She dreamed of home - but not her home. (She had no home.) Somewhere, some when, she was loved. At the centre of it all was the man in the long coat.

The dreams were beautiful. 

She hated her subconscious for teasing her with something she would never have, and she pushed them well out of her mind.

Lucy went about her morning routine and headed out the door before Jacobs bothered to say a word to her. She didn’t have it in her to deal with him today, especially not after sleeping through one of the best, most unrealistic dreams of her life. 

Unfortunately, the life of a thief in London was simply trading one horror for another. Sure, she’d escaped Jacobs and his hellhole of a building for the day, but on the streets she was faced with another kind of terror. 

She was a damn good thief who’d been in this life for quite a while without being caught, but she knew it was likely only a matter of time before she slipped up. If she ever did, the carefully curated lies she’d built around herself would come crumbling down. Either they’d discover she was a girl, and she’d likely be forced into sex work by Jacobs, or they wouldn’t, and she’d be thrown into prison with men - only to be discovered there. She honestly wasn’t sure which one was worse. 

Waiting for the streets to fill up, Lucy fiddled idly with the golden watch tucked into her coat. She’d taken it out for quick peeks, but never held it long enough for it to be noticed by anyone else. She wasn’t daft enough to risk anyone else seeing it. Not to mention, she didn’t fancy a mugging today, thank you very much. 

But still, there was something about it that called to her.

Shaking her head, she looked around at the anonymous faces that passed by her. There were a lot of perks to dressing like a boy, and one of them is that she drew significantly less attention to herself than she would’ve if she was Lucy instead of Lucas. Young boys alone on the street? No one did more than twitch an eyebrow. A young girl all alone? Well, that would certainly turn some heads. 

She’d been distracted today, only managing to lift a small gold chain and a few bills. It wasn’t enough, and at this rate, she wasn’t going to eat tonight. Lucy shook her head and tried to concentrate, when suddenly an obnoxiously long coat caught her eye. 

It was him - the man from yesterday that she’d stolen the strange pocket watch from. 

Oh, shit .    

Lucy began to panic, wondering if he’d somehow discovered that she had stolen his watch and was going to have her arrested - or worse . She ducked her head lower so that her flat cap better covered her face, and turned to walk the opposite way of Long Coat Man (or LCM, as she was now internally calling him). 

Unfortunately for Lucy, LCM was significantly taller than her and caught up to her rather quickly. 

She heard him coming up, and she silently slid her blade from its hiding spot within her glove. Lucy didn’t particularly want to fight, but she would if she had to. 

A hand landed softly on her shoulder. Lucy lowered her voice to her Lucas voice and told him to let go, without turning around. 

“I just want to talk, I promise.” 

She didn’t believe him. If he wanted to talk, he could talk with her blade at his throat. She’d only cut if needed. 

Turning around quickly, she brought up her arm and was quickly caught by LCM. She got the feeling he knew before she even turned around that she was going to do that. The thought unnerved her.

“Ok, well, we can have this conversation with your knife at my throat if it will make you feel better.” 

“It will.” 

He rolled his eyes. “I was not being serious. Put the blade down.” 

She didn’t move.

“Look, I’m not going to tell anyone that you stole my pocket watch - though, I would very much like that back. I have no intention of hurting you or turning you in. Now, can you please put that away?” 

He let go of her arm and she pulled back her arm, but didn’t sheathe the knife. 

LCM let out a long-suffering sigh. “I guess I’ll take that. Look, I just came from Jacobs and –” 

“I don’t know who that is.”

He verbally barrelled past her, ignoring her obvious lie. “I bought out your contract from him.” 

This stopped her short. “What? Why?” 

“Can you put the blade away? I’ll be happy to tell you more if you remove sharp objects from my immediate vicinity.” 

She huffed but tucked it away. “Happy?” 

“Quite.” LCM shot her a smile that was probably meant to be charming, but instead just made him look like every rich man she’s ever met. “Let’s start again, shall we? I’m Anthony Lockwood.” He tipped his head slightly towards her in greeting. 

He stayed silent, and so did she. 

“What’s your name?” 

“Lucas.” She was proud of herself for not even stuttering over the fake name.

“Pleasure to meet you, Lucas. Now, as I was saying, I bought out your contract from Jacobs. If you’d like, you can come to my house and my housemate can cook you dinner, and then tomorrow I’ll give you enough money to go wherever home is.” 

Home? She didn’t have a home. Not any more. Not since her mother sold her like she was a common farm animal. 

The idea of a meal, a true meal that was cooked with care, was too good to ignore, though. If this man wanted to murder her, honestly, at this point she wasn’t sure she cared. As long as she did it with a full stomach. 

“Ok.” 

“Ok?” 

“Yeah, ok. I’ll go home with you or whatever.” 

“Brilliant! Shall we?” 

Lucy shrugged but followed him as he led her away from the busy city centre. 

They walked to 35 Portland Row in tense silence, and Lockwood felt like he was forgetting something vital - but he couldn’t put his finger on what it was.

He’d bought out Lucas’ contract and had freed him, even offering him train fare to anywhere in the country he wanted or needed to go. He was even bringing him home for dinner! And yet, the boy didn’t seem particularly grateful. Not that Lockwood needed a damn parade or something, but a simple thank you would’ve been nice. 

“Ah, here we are. Home sweet home,” Lockwood said as he opened up the gate to the front of the old house. He looked over to see Lucas looking up at the brick townhouse that had once belonged to Lockwood’s parents. The sense of awe was clearly written on the smaller boy’s face, and Lockwood let him stare for a moment before signalling him to come inside.

“George, I’m home.” A grunt of acknowledgement came from the kitchen. Lockwood turned to the boy. “May I take your coat?” 

The boy looked panicked for a moment, and Lockwood hastened to reassure him that he didn’t have to take it off. 

Strange . 

But, he supposed that maybe the coat was all he had, and he was unwilling to part with it, even momentarily. It definitely wouldn’t be the first time he’d brought in a former servant, and they seemed unwilling to part with anything.

“That’s all right, you don’t have to hang it up. Would you like some tea?” Lucas nodded. “Follow me then.” 

Lucas stood awkwardly in the doorway to the kitchen, like he wasn’t sure he was welcome or not. George looked over at him from where he was cooking and sighed. 

“Lockwood, did you forget again?” 

Lockwood furrowed his brows in confusion. “Forget what?” 

“Oh, I don’t know. Did you forget to mention to your newest stray that you forgave his contract and that he was free?” 

“Of course I did!” 

From behind him, Lockwood heard a gasp of surprise. “No, he bloody well didn’t!” 

What?

“Yes I did! I told you we’d have dinner, and then I’d give you money to go home.” 

Lucas gave him a look of exasperation. (And huh, why was that kind of cute?) “I assumed it was just to visit. I know how much my contract was worth. No one spends that much money and then just forgives it.” 

“Huh.” Lockwood scratched his chin thoughtfully. He could’ve sworn he’d told him that the contract was over. He shrugged. “Well, I’m sure you’ve already more than fulfilled the terms of the contract. It’s forgiven. After dinner, we can get you settled for the night, and then you can be on the first train tomorrow - wherever you want to go. Now, how do you take your tea?”

“What’s the catch?” 

Ugh, the tea is going to go cold at this rate.

“I’m sorry?” 

“You heard me.” There was a hint of defiance in Lucas’ voice that Lockwood was impressed by. People rarely stood up to him, especially people from far lower classes. 

He appreciated it. 

He sighed. “Mr. —?” He paused, waiting for him to give him his last name. 

In a quiet voice, he said, “it’s just Lucas. No last name.”   

A clear lie, but not one that was relevant to Lockwood right now. “Well then, Mr. Lucas, I promise there is no catch. The whole bloody business of owning people needs to be abolished, and I will not ever have someone in my employment or my household against their will. You are free. The contract is done.”

“But why me?” 

Lockwood gave up on the tea. “Pardon?”

Lucas stepped into the kitchen for the first time and looked Lockwood square in the eyes. “Why did you buy my contract? There were a dozen other kids at Jacobs’ alone, let alone elsewhere in London. Why me ?” 

“You know that pocket watch I let you borrow ?” 

Lucas took a step back and averted his eyes. Lockwood felt strangely empty with him further away. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

Lockwood rolled his eyes. “Oh for — it’s in your pocket. I know because I can sense it from here. I let you take it so that I could follow you and find out where you were staying. Pull it out and let me show you something.” 

He pulled it out of his pocket and handed it to Lockwood. Lockwood grinned. “Thank you.” 

He opened it up and turned it to show Lucas. “You see, this isn’t actually a pocket watch. It’s a golden scrying watch. And the arrow points to people who are magical. The stronger their magic, the stronger the pull of the needle. Yesterday, it brought me to you. I wish I could save everyone from their contracts - and one day, I will see that this godforsaken practice dies out- but, for now, I do what I can. I free magicals in hope that one day they’ll do the same for others. That is why ‘you.’” 

The boy shook his head. “I’m not magical though.” 

Lockwood actually snorted at this. “Yes, you are. And an incredibly powerful magical at that. Though I honestly think you’re not aware of just how much power you have.”     

Lucas looked petrified. “Please, you can’t tell anyone.” 

What was wrong with him? Magic was nothing to be afraid or ashamed of. 

“Ok, I won’t, but I don’t know why. You should embrace your power.”

“Where I’m from, in the North, well - let’s just say that people like me aren’t readily accepted. It’s dangerous to have power. People can be afraid of you, and fear does strange things to people. No one can know. Please, Mr. Lockwood.” 

“It’s just Lockwood. And alright, I promise I won’t tell anyone.”

The boy nodded, apparently accepting this, and finally sat down at the table.

Lockwood made tea for dinner while George finished cooking. 

Dinner was a fairly quiet affair, with Lucas eating like he hadn’t eaten in weeks. (Which, it occurred to Lockwood, maybe he hadn’t. The thought made him see red.) Afterwards, he showed Lucas up to his old room in the attic and handed him some of his old pyjamas that he’d hoped would fit him.

“Did you have any other clothes at Jacobs? Any that we should go back for?” 

Lucas took the pyjamas delicately and nearly whispered, “no. This… this is all I have.” He shrugged and turned his back to Lockwood, likely hiding his emotions.

“If you want, in the morning, we can go shopping for a new outfit - that way you’ll have something to wear on your way home, yeah?” 

Without turning back around, Lucas answered him. “I can’t have you spending even more money on me. These will be fine. I’ll be fine.”

Lockwood smiled sadly. “Well, maybe we’ll talk about it tomorrow. There’s a bath right in there - hot water and everything. There’s also soap and anything else you might need. Feel free to use it all. Do you need anything else?” Lucas shook his head. “Ok well, good night. George and I are both in the rooms right downstairs if you need anything.” 

With that, he turned and left the room, giving Lucas his privacy. 

He made it down to the library where, predictably, George was waiting for him. 

“So…” George let the word drag out like it was a whole sentence in itself. 

Lockwood sat in his chair in front of the fireplace and picked up the cup of tea George had left for him. “It’s been a very long day, George. Out with it.” 

“Lucas is going to be staying with us for a while, isn’t he?” 

“Of course not. He’s getting a train ticket out of London tomorrow.” 

George stared at him. “You’re not actually that dense, are you?” 

Lockwood rolled his eyes. “For the sake of the headache I feel coming on, let’s just say I am, so we can move this conversation along.” 

“He clearly has nowhere to go. He didn’t want to give you a last name, he avoided the topic every time you brought up where he was going tomorrow, and he said nothing about his family. Face it, Lockwood, you’ve picked up another stray like me.”

Lockwood thought back on all their interactions. Lucas trying to hide his magic, not having other clothes, not wanting to give his last name, looking downright petrified at the thought of going home. How the hell could he have missed it? 

“Oh. Fuck.” 

“Yes, well, now that you’ve caught up, I’m going to bed. Good night, Lockwood.” 

“Night, George.” 

Lockwood dropped his head in his hands. He was an idiot. 

Lucy cradled the pyjamas in her hands and tried hard not to openly weep. She’d eaten a whole dinner, was about to take a proper bath , and was holding the nicest clothes she’d ever touched. Plus, she was going to sleep in a bed by herself. That had never happened. 

And tomorrow, it would be gone. She’d be on a train to somewhere - not home, but maybe somewhere else - somewhere she could get a fresh start. But that was tomorrow’s problem. Today, she was going to enjoy pretending to be someone other than the street rat that she actually was. 

She quickly shucked off her clothes and went into the bathroom - where she realised she’d had no idea how to actually work a damn bath. After several minutes of trial and error, she got the water to flow properly and at a comfortable temperature. She sank into it immediately, not bothering to let it fill up completely. 

Lucy wasn’t sure how long she’d stayed in there, but it was long enough for the water to turn brown, her fingers to wrinkle, and for the chill to start creeping in. She reluctantly rose and dried herself off with the soft, fluffy towels next to the bath before dressing in the pyjamas. 

She wanted to fall immediately into bed, but her practical side won out. If she was going to leave tomorrow, she needed to take a few bits of food from the kitchen - just to make sure she didn’t starve later on. She felt guilty about stealing from them, but she reasoned that they likely wouldn’t even notice, given how much food they had. 

She pulled a blanket over her shoulders, just in case she ran into someone. She didn’t want to put her restrictive vest back on, but she’d quickly give away that she wasn’t really a ‘Lucas’ if someone saw her chest in these loose pyjamas. 

Creeping down the stairs, she tried hard not to squeak any of the steps. She breathed a sigh of relief as she got to the main floor without making too much noise. However, her luck ran out when she heard a voice from behind one of the nearly-shut doors. 

“Lucas, is that you?” 

Shit. 

“Yeah, just, uh… Wanted to get some water.” 

“Come in here for a minute, if you don’t mind. I’d like to talk.” 

She winced but followed the voice all the same. That weird magnetic pull she’d felt the first time she’d seen him was lightly humming, and she felt compelled to follow his request. 

Opening the door, she was greeted by a lit fireplace with two chairs facing it, one of which held Lockwood. Looking around, she noticed they were in a library. She’d never seen so many books, and she wanted to run her fingers along the backs of all of them. 

Instead, she sat in the chair opposite Lockwood.

“So, excited to go home tomorrow?” 

A stone dropped in the pit of her stomach and she felt sick. She swallowed down the bile and plastered on a fake smile. “Yeah, of course.” 

His eyes softened. “Lucas, do you have a home to go back to? Is it safe for you there?” 

“Of course! Of course.” She didn’t even sound convincing to her own ears. 

Lockwood hummed. “Well, that’s too bad. You see, I was thinking about hiring another agent for the detective agency I head - Lockwood & Co. Right now, it’s just me and George, but having someone with far more knowledge of the streets, and who looks less…” 

“Rich?” she offered with a cheeky grin.

He laughed. “I was going to say conspicuous , but sure rich works, too. You’re stealthy, unassuming, and draw little attention to yourself. Plus, you seem to have at least some affinity for a blade weapon. I think you would be a significant asset to our agency. Plus, that bedroom upstairs is lonely without someone staying in it.” 

He shrugged, like he hadn’t just offered her the entire world on a silver platter. 

She didn’t even hesitate or think about the implications of living in a house with two boys (men?). All she knew was that this was a chance at a job, a house, maybe even friends . “Yes, absolutely.”

He grinned. “Brilliant. Welcome to Lockwood & Co.” 

Chapter Text

The next morning, Lucy woke up, fully expecting last night’s discussion with Lockwood to have been a dream. Another cruel trick played by her subconscious. 

She gingerly dressed in her old clothes, nearly weeping as she took off the comfortable pyjamas. After neatly folding them and laying them on the bed, she quietly made her way downstairs - trying not to cry as she said goodbye to the comfortable room. 

About halfway down the stairs to the floor where the boys’ rooms were, the smell from the kitchen hit her. At the very least, she’d get a good meal before she headed off to wherever life was going to dump her next. 

Lucy entered the kitchen, unsurprised to see George cooking. It seemed this was his permanent role in the house. She idly wondered if Lockwood and George were together romantically, but decided not to dwell too much on it since she wouldn't be here for long anyway. 

She sat down at the table and grabbed one of the cups set out. Four, instead of three. 

Hmmm - she wondered who else might be joining them. Maybe someone to take her to the train station? 

She took one of the biscuits from a plate on the table and munched on it absent-mindedly. She noticed the table cloth had been changed since the night before. This one seemed to have words, notes, and sketches written all over it. 

Interesting. 

Looking around the table cloth, she noticed several different lists that seemed to be related to investigative cases. Lists headed by “Suspects,” “Facts,” and “Motives” were scattered about. It didn’t seem like the most efficient way to do business, but she figured if it worked… 

There were also lists that looked like store lists and insults from Lockwood and George. “Lockwood is a meater,” was prominent, along with, “George, don’t be tetchy.” Something about the domesticity of it all made Lucy smile. 

Closest to her, in the same handwriting as the insults to George, it said “Clothes for Lucas - ask Flo?” 

Clothes? Was last night not a dream? She still scarcely believed it. Reaching under the table, she lightly pinched her arm, making sure she was indeed awake.

She was.

Just then, Lockwood entered the kitchen, followed closely by a woman with dark brown skin and curly black hair hidden by a wide brim hat. She seemed to be about their age, maybe a little older. 

George turned and greeted them with a look of adoration on his face. “Morning, Lockwood, Flo.” Lucy tucked this interaction in the file in her mind labelled “George and Lockwood?” 

“Morning, George,” they both chimed back before coming to sit at the table with her, Lockwood to her right and Flo across from her. 

George came and plated their food, while Lucy absently took another biscuit to munch on. 

“Lockwood, did you not tell him about the biscuit rule?” George sounded exasperated. 

Lucy’s head shot up. “The what?” 

“He can’t go taking two at once like that.”

“Oy, I’m right here!” 

Lockwood laughed. “Sorry, Lucas. My mistake for not telling you. Each member of Lockwood and Co can only take one biscuit at a time in strict rotation. Keeps things fair.”

Lucy looked at him then. “So, you were serious about the job offer?” She hated that her voice sounded like a whisper. 

He furrowed his brows. “Of course I was. And about you staying here. Flo here is going to take you to get new clothes today. I’d go myself, but honestly, I’d probably just get in the way. Flo knows all the best places to shop. Wherever you go, you can just add it to my bill - or start a new one. No expense spared.” He shot her a smile that seemed more genuine than the ones she’d seen before now. 

It gave her butterflies. 

Flo was eyeing her with a look in her eyes that made Lucy uncomfortable. It was like she was seeing through her, and that made her nervous. She didn’t know how she was going to get through shopping today and keep her secrets, but she’d figure it out. She always did. 

Breakfast passed quickly and in relative peace. Lucy spent most of it zoned out, trying to figure out how to keep herself hidden at the shops. Unfortunately, by the end of the meal, she wasn’t any closer to finding answers. 

After breakfast, Lockwood shooed them out the door. She and Flo walked in silence for about two blocks before Flo finally spoke up.

“So why does Lockwood think you’re a boy?” 

Lucy felt sick - was everything already crumbling? “Because I am a boy.” She said it as matter-of-factly as possible and hoped it worked. 

“You’re a woman if I’ve ever seen one, love. It’s fine, your secret is safe with me. It would just help if I knew why you were hiding it - so I know the proper clothes to help you get.” 

Lucy figured there was no avoiding it now. Some part of her felt relieved that she wasn’t going to have to continue hiding while getting new clothes. It would make things much easier. Either Flo was going to tell, or she wasn’t. Nothing Lucy did would change her mind. 

“I’m not sure why it matters, but it was just much safer for me to be a boy. Both on the streets, and now. Can we leave it at that?” 

Flo nodded in understanding. “Yes, and I won’t ask any other questions about why. The reason I asked is because if you’re actually a boy born into the wrong body, we’d try for one type of clothing. But since you’re hiding for safety , it’s better to get you different types of clothes. I’m not sure how to explain it really, but I know exactly where to take you. No one will ask questions.” 

Lucy was ready to cry. This was the second person to be kind to her in the last two days. Kindness was a rarity in her life and to have it heaved upon her, well, she frankly didn’t feel like she deserved it. 

Flo took her to an unmarked store that looked like it was more of a costume shop for the theatre than a typical clothing store. Lucy wondered if this was just where rich people shopped. 

A woman in heavy make-up spoke up from behind a counter. “Flo! Lovely to see you.” The woman had a very deep voice, and Lucy realised instantly that this was actually a man.  Or, at least, she was born a man?

It occurred to Lucy that this is what Flo meant about them not asking any questions. They were like her! The thought relieved her and made her smile internally. 

Flo reached the person behind the counter and gave her a quick hug. “Stella, always a pleasure. I’d like you to meet Lucas. He’s staying with Anthony Lockwood and is in desperate need of new clothes. He’s got some areas  of his body, though, that need to be hidden, for safety.”

Stella looked over at Lucas and smiled. “Of course, well you’ve come to the right place. Shall I be adding it to the bill for Mr. Lockwood?” Flo nodded. “Tell that boy he needs to come visit more often. We miss him.” Stella winked at Flo before turning her attention to Lucy. 

“Well, come along, love. Let’s have some fun with Anthony’s money.” 

A few hours, several aborted outfit attempts, and a lot of fussing later, Lucy and Flo were leaving Stella’s and heading back to Portland Row. She was wearing a new outfit, one that properly fit her, hid her femininity, and was clean .

“Flo, can I ask you something?” 

“Sure.” 

“You seem to know Lockwood well, yes?” 

“Well, I’ve known him most of his life, so I’d say yes.” 

“Are he and George…?” 

Flo stopped and turned to look at her. “Are he and George…? Lovers?” 

Lucy felt herself blush and nodded. 

Flo just smiled at her with a cheeky grin that said she knew something Lucy didn’t, burst out laughing, and then continued on her way. 

Lucy had no idea what that meant. 

“Are we going to talk about it?” 

George blessedly had waited until after Flo and Lucas had left the house to bring up whatever it was that he’d been trying to communicate since breakfast. They were still at the table, with Lockwood doodling idly on the thinking cloth. 

“Talk about what?” 

George rolled his eyes. “Oh, I don’t know. The weather? The latest travels of the queen? Maybe, the strange way you’ve been looking at Lucas when you think no one’s watching?” 

Lockwood felt his breath hitch. “The weather has been particularly nice this time of year, wouldn’t you say?” 

Picking up a biscuit, George chucked it at Lockwood’s head. 

“Oy! What the hell was that for? And that counts as your one for this rotation.” 

“You know what? Worth it. Don’t avoid the topic. You’ve been looking at Lucas like he’s a cuppa after a long job.” 

Lockwood felt heat rise up into his cheeks. Was he blushing? He didn’t blush . What the hell was this? “Just looking out for him, that’s all. He needed a place to stay, and I’m just making sure he gets settled in nicely. Nothing else.”

“Well, I hope lying to yourself doesn’t bite you in the ass or something. This was my one attempt at having a heart-to-heart. When you are ready to talk about it, go talk to Flo or Kipps or something.” 

Lockwood would rather run himself through with a rapier than talk to Kipps about this. 

Not that there was any this with him and Lucas. He was just helping Lucas adjust! George clearly had no idea what he was talking about. 

Now in a sour mood, Lockwood excused himself to the library, where he browsed through a recent case file they were working on - and definitely did not think of Lucas. 

Definitely didn’t think about how good he looked wearing Lockwood's old pyjamas, or about how right it felt that Lucas was staying with them. 

He just needed another detective at Lockwood & Co. That’s all. Nothing more. 

Fucking George. 

He tried to go back to reading the files, but his mind kept wandering. 

Sure, Lucas was kind of cute, but he liked women, right? Not that there was anything wrong with liking men. Kipps liked men and that was fine. He doesn’t like Kipps because he’s a prat, not because of who he loves. 

He gave up on trying to read the files and instead just sat in thought.

About an hour later, Lucas and Flo returned. Lockwood jumped up from his seat to go greet them by the front door - purely to see how much their trip had cost him. Nothing more. 

Lucas stood in the front hallway with Flo, hanging up a black flat cap and clearly wearing one of the new outfits they had picked up. He was wearing a cobalt blue waistcoat over a button-up white shirt, covered by an open black peacoat. He had on black trousers (maybe some kind of synthetic leather?) and black boots done up with buckles and ties. On his hands were fingerless blue gloves, the same colour as his waistcoat. Somehow, Lockwood knew that Lucas had gotten clothes and boots that would hide a few of his blades when they went out on jobs. 

He looked… good . 

Lockwood’s mouth ran a little dry and Flo cleared her throat. 

“Well, yes, got Lucas plenty of new clothes and we burned the old ones. Stella has a bill for you and says you need to stop by and see her. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to… well, I’m off.” 

“Thanks, Flo, for everything!” Lucas called out as Flo opened the door to leave. 

Lockwood cleared his throat. “So, have a good time with Flo then?” 

Lucas seemed to blush a little. Interesting. “Yeah. She was really nice and helpful. And um, I’ll pay you back for all of this eventually. 

He waved Lucas off. “Absolute nonsense. Consider it a gift. Why don’t you put those in your room and come back down - I’ll give you a proper tour of the house, yeah?” 

Lucas nodded and headed up to his room, Lockwood watching after him. 

So of course, he didn’t notice George standing in the doorway to the kitchen, watching the whole interaction. “You’ve never gotten me any clothes, Lockwood. I think I’m offended.”

Lockwood rolled his eyes. “If you ever own only one pair of filthy clothes, I’ll buy you some, too. Deal?” George huffed but went back to whatever he was doing in the kitchen. 

Lockwood went up the stairs and met Lucas halfway. 

“Ok so down the stairs, right there is the bathroom I share with George. You can use it, if you want, but um… I wouldn’t recommend it. Sharing with George is an adventure, and not usually a pleasant one.” This got a small chuckle out of Lucas.

Pointing at the door opposite the stairs, Lockwood continued. “My room,” he pointed to the door to their left, “George’s room. Wouldn’t go in without knocking. Walked in on him doing yoga once, totally naked. I’m still a little traumatised.” 

He chuckled and pushed slightly past Lucas, heading back down the stairs, but Lucas didn’t follow. Instead, he looked up at Jessica’s old room and said, “What about that room?”

Lockwood stopped. This was a conversation for another time (never? Never sounded good.) “That’s private, not very interesting. Come, follow me.” 

Down the next set of stairs, he pointed out the library. “The library, as you remember, is through there.” Then he headed down to the kitchen. “And here of course is the most important room - the kitchen.” 

George had gone back to cooking and barely glanced their way as they came in. 

“Oh, I wanted to ask you about the table cloth. It has some… interesting things written on it.” 

Lockwood laughed. “Ah yes, that’s our thinking cloth. We use it to write down anything we need to remember. Use it in cases too, to keep track of suspects, clues, and come up with theories. It’s very useful.” 

From the stove, George chimed in. “When a case goes badly, and we’re not talking to each other, it’s good for exchanging insults, too.” 

“Does that happen often?” Lucas asked with a hint of amusement in his voice. 

“No, no, of course not. Certainly almost never.” Lockwood shot him a grin and opened up the door to the basement. “All right, one more place - the basement. Come.”

He trusted that Lucas was following him as he went down the winding staircase. 

Walking to one end of the basement, he pointed out their office space. “This is our office and our case files. George keeps meticulous records of every case we’ve ever worked on. Which is good because I hate paperwork.” 

Turning around, he walked to his second favourite part of the house. “And here is our training room.” 

“Training room?” Lucas asked, clearly intrigued. 

“Yes, training room. It’s for both physical and magical training. Have you ever used a rapier?” Lucas shook his head. “Well, it’s like your blades but a lot… longer. I’ll teach you how to use one. They’re very handy.” 

He flipped a switch and bursts of steam came from the ceiling in various formations. “Randomised steam jets, simulating attacks. You can use them to learn to attack and defend yourself. For magic training, we have a room in the back that is for magic experimentation. I’ll go over that some other time with…” He turned around and realised that Lucas was no longer behind him. 

Lockwood looked up and saw Lucas over by the window, looking at the plant that sat there.

“Wouldn’t touch that if I was you. Very sharp.” 

Lucas apparently didn’t believe him because he reached out and touched one of the needles. “Ow, what the fuck?!” 

Lockwood chuckled. “I told you it was sharp.” 

“Why do you have a… knife plant in your basement?” 

Lockwood was now laughing so hard that his eyes began to water. “A knife plant?! It’s called a cactus.” 

Lucas was sucking on his now-bleeding finger and mumbled, “this seems like one of those rich people things.” He looked up at Lockwood. “I love it. I’m taking it to my room.” 

“You can’t… you can’t just take my cactus?!” 

He ignored Lockwood and carefully picked it up. “Apparently, I can.” Lucas actually winked at him and took the plant up to his room. 

What the fuck had just happened?

Chapter Text

Lucy couldn’t believe she’d just winked at him. What the fuck ? He probably thought she was mad. She’s supposed to be a boy and she just winked at her male employer that she’s also currently living with .

So, she asked herself again: what the fuck ?

She gently placed the knife plant – sorry, cactus – on her windowsill in the sun. Honestly, something about the prickly plant just called to her. It didn’t deserve to be left in the basement – it deserved to be around people.

Great, now she was identifying with a plant that made her bleed.

She shook her head and went back to her bed, wondering what the hell she was going to do now. Would things be awkward? Would he be uncomfortable?

Even more terrifying – was she starting to develop feelings for him?

No, of course not. That was absurd. Besides, she was pretty sure that he wasn’t with George (at least, that’s what she assumed Flo’s laughter meant), but instead that he was a rake. Probably flirted and slept with everyone who showed him the slightest bit of attention.

She was pulled from her thoughts by a knock at the door.

“Who is it?”

“It’s Lockwood, can I come in?”

She dropped her head in her hands, dreading this conversation. “Yeah, it’s open.”

Lucy heard his heavy footfalls coming up the stairs, waiting for whatever he was about to throw her direction.

“So…” Oh, this was off to a great start. He didn’t even have full sentences for her. “Can I have my cactus back?”

What?

“What?”

“You know, the knife plant that you stole from my basement.” He shot her a disarming smile.

“No.”

“No?”

“No.”

He huffed out an amused breath. “Are you at least going to tell me why you kidnapped it?”

Without thinking, she told the truth. “I know what it’s like to be stored away in a dingy place just because you’re a bit prickly, a bit sharp, a bit… dangerous.”

Whatever he had been expecting, it certainly wasn’t that. His features softened considerably. “Hey, I don’t know what happened to you at Jacobs’ or maybe even before that, but we’ve no intention of storing you away here. You are free to come and go as you please, and anything you need, all you have to do is ask. And you can keep the cactus. Just, take good care of it. It’s unique.” He looked down at the floor and lowered his voice so much that she wasn’t sure she heard him properly. “You both are.”

And oh that made her feel things that she did not want to feel.

“Ok,” she said, almost as quietly. “Is that all you came up here for or…?”

He straightened up and looked like he was back to business-Lockwood. “Oh right – no. I actually came to ask if you wanted to do some magical training today. I was going to ask you when you were already downstairs but then you absconded with my – sorry, your – cactus.”

Lucy started to panic. No, no, no she couldn’t practise her magic. Magic was dangerous for her. Magic would get her killed. Magic –

“Hey, hey! Lucas?” His concerned voice broke her out of her spiralling thoughts. Her face must’ve betrayed her internal struggle because he was quick to try and calm her. “I’m not sure what exactly happened in your past with magic, but this is a safe place to practise. I’m happy to teach you the basics so you can explore your Talents more. You don’t have to do anything you’re uncomfortable with, but practising would make it safer for you when you start coming on jobs with George and me.”

Right. Lucas. She was Lucas . Lucy couldn’t practise magic, but Lucas could. It was safe for him.

Part of her was bitter about that fact but the other part was giddy . She could practise magic! And here was someone to help her.

“Ok! Let’s go.” She practically jumped off the bed and led the way down the stairs, with him chuckling behind her.

In the basement, Lockwood showed her the magical training room. It was encased in iron and seemed to have burn marks on the walls.

“Lockwood… why are there burn marks? Is this… dangerous?”

“Hmm?” He looked around like he was just noticing them for the first time. “Oh no, those are from George. You see, he's not a magical so he’s been experimenting to see if he can somehow awaken whatever it is that makes us magical. I think it’s a useless endeavour, but after he burned down our kitchen the second time, I created this room for him. Now, it’s where I practise too. Mostly just because it’s distraction-free.”

He pulled out some cushions from a storage facility on the wall and handed a few to her and kept a few for himself. Laying them on the ground, he configured them in a practised way that he made seem effortless. “Feel free to use those to make yourself comfortable.”

Lucy awkwardly arranged the pillows for herself, finally finding a position that was passably comfortable. She sat down, facing him.

“Ok, let’s start at the beginning. What do you know about your magic?”

Lucy shrugged. “Honestly, not much. No one in my family was magical that we know of. A Seer when I was little said I had Touch and Listening but all I really know how to do is listen for people’s intentions. It’s why it was easy for me to steal – I knew when people were distracted. Beyond that, I really don’t know because I never had a teacher, and I wasn’t allowed to practise.”

Lockwood looked at her with abject curiosity. “What do you mean, no one else in your family has it. Were you adopted?”

She shook her head. “No. I know it runs in families but as far as we can tell, no one’s ever been magical. No one’s really quite sure how it happened.”

He looked at her curiously. “Huh.” She shifted uncomfortably while he seemed lost in thought for a few minutes. Finally, he seemed to come back to the present. “Well, it is what it is. Let’s just… start at the beginning, yeah?” 

Lucy nodded her head. 

“Ok, so you know that you’re able to sense people’s intentions. Let’s start with that. Can you -”

“Tony!” 

Lucy damn near jumped out of her skin as a voice she didn’t recognize came from the doorway to the room. 

Lockwood looked positively murderous . “Oh for the love of… Kipps, what the fuck are you doing here?”

Looking towards Kipps, Lucy was greeted by the sight of a young man, several years older than her. Mid-20s if she had to guess. He had dirty blonde hair and blue eyes, standing roughly the same height as Lockwood. On his face he held an expression she could only describe as smug .

“Ah ah ah - is that the way to greet one of your oldest, dearest, friends?” 

“I’d run you through with a rapier if I could get away with it, Kipps.”

He turned his attention to Lucy now, as though he’d only just noticed her presence. Which, given his flirting with Lockwood, wasn’t surprising. “Oh, and who might this charming creature be?” 

“No one.” Lockwood ground out. Ouch . Seemingly catching himself, he corrected. “No one who should be of interest to you, Kipps.” 

“Either you introduce us or I’ll do the honours of introducing myself at… some other time.” He winked at her then, and it made her feel… uncomfortable. But she also knew without a shadow of a doubt that this was now entirely for Lockwood’s benefit. 

“Fine. Lucas, this is Quilliam Kipps. Kipps, this is Lucas. He’s staying with us for a while and now works for Lockwood & Co.” 

Kipps’ eyebrows raised slightly at both her name and when Lockwood said “he.” He gave her the same knowing look that Flo had given her and she knew in her bones that Kipps knew . She held her breath.

“Well, pleasure to meet you, Lucas.” He turned back to Lockwood. “I came to give you a check-up after your last… magical misadventure. But I see you’re doing well enough to not need my help. So instead, I’m going to stay and watch you and Lucas … do whatever it was that you were going to do. Carry on, pretend I’m not here.” 

“Leave, Kipps.” Lockwood seethed while Kipps sat on the ground. Looking dejected, he turned his attention back to Lucy. “Ok fine, just ignore the prat in the corner. Now, as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, I’d like to have you practise using a skill you already know. I want you to try and feel my emotions.”

“How?” 

He gave her a confused look. “What do you mean ‘how’? You just… do it the same way you do any other magical ability.” 

Very helpful, Lucy thought. Irritated, she spit out, “I don’t know what that means. Nothing I do is intentional. It just… happens.” 

Lockwood’s eyes went wide. “Your powers just… happen? Without you trying at all?” She nodded. “Ok well. Hmm…” He went quiet, clearly deep in thought. “Ok, let’s try this. Close your eyes. Now, feel for your sense of magic. You’ll know it just as you’d know any other of  your senses.”

Lucy searched internally for that feeling that she always got when she noticed people’s intentions. There . She smiled. 

“Got it?” She could actually hear the smile in his voice and she nodded. “Good, now imagine that that feeling is… a well. When you open your eyes, I want you to try and reach my emotions. Keep pulling out that feeling from the well until you’re able to sense me. Ok?” 

She nodded again and opened her eyes. Staring at him, she tried what he asked. 

Nothing. 

She tried again. 

Still nothing. 

Finally, she reached deep and pulled - and something in her snapped . Suddenly, she not only felt Lockwood’s emotions but she was experiencing them as though they were her own. In the forefront was feelings of lust and confusion. Lust towards… a man? 

Oh fuck, Lockwood didn’t like George. He liked Kipps.

Then, she blacked out.

“Tony, what the fuck did you do?” 

“You were here the whole time, Kipps. You know I didn’t do anything!” Lockwood was starting to panic, making his way over to Lucas. 

He carefully turned Lucas on his back, feeling for a pulse. Breathing in relief, he found one. For good measure, he also put his head down by Lucas’ mouth to feel for breath. (It was probably unnecessary but that was besides the point.) 

“Tony, he’s just passed out.” 

Lockwood had almost forgotten that Kipps was there. The reminder of his presence annoyed him. “I know that, Kipps.” 

He stood up, lifting the smaller man into his arms. “If you’re going to be a nuisance, at least open up the doors for me on the way upstairs.”

Kipps opened up the door to the kitchen, letting Lockwood through. He then made his way for the stairs to the first floor.

“Tony, why don’t you just leave him on the couch?” Lockwood felt himself flush because he hadn’t even considered the option. 

“Because, Quilliam , he’d be much more comfortable on a bed.” There. He was satisfied with his quick lie.

Kipps didn’t say anything until he’d laid Lucas out on his own bed. 

“So, why your bed and not Lucas’?” Lockwood could hear the arrogant prick’s tone dripping with self-satisfaction. 

“It was closer.” Kipps had the audacity to laugh at that, but Lockwood just tuned him out.

Kipps pulled up a chair next to where Lockwood was sitting on the bed next to Lucas. He put an elbow on the bed and propped his chin on it. In mock innocence, he asked the question Lockwood had known was on his brain. “What’s going on with you and Lucas?” 

“Nothing. He’s just staying with us.” 

“Lockwood, you’re literally still holding his hand.” 

Huh. Lockwood hadn’t even realised. “I was just making sure his pulse remained strong.” 

“Right… well, whenever you want to talk about it, and admit that I was right all this time, you know where to find me.” With that, Kipps made his way to the door. 

“I don’t like men, Kippie!” 

“Whatever you say, Tony! Enjoy your denial!” And with that, he closed the door to Lockwood’s bedroom and left a flustered Lockwood staring after him, jaw on the floor.

He didn’t like men, right? 

Once again, Lockwood would like it noted that there was nothing wrong with liking men. He just… didn’t. 

He and Kipps had had this conversation many times over the years. Well, Kipps had had the conversation. “I know you like men, Lockwood. It’s ok to admit it.” Lockwood had simply ignored him, especially after the first time Kipps tried to convince him that they were meant to be together. (To this day, he still isn’t sure if Kipps was serious or not. He certainly wasn’t serious now but for a time, he might’ve been.)

No. Lockwood liked women. 

He nodded to himself, satisfied. 

Then, he looked down at Lucas. He really was beautiful. Lockwood brushed Lucas’ hair back on his head - simply to stop it from irritating his eyes, of course. It was silky - far too silky for someone who had lived in squalor for most of his life. His skin, too, was smooth and something like little flames felt like they shot up his fingertips every time he touched Lucas’ skin. 

Hmm, wonder if this is a magic thing , he idly wondered. He hadn’t actually had physical contact with many magicals since his family died. Maybe, he’d just forgotten the interaction between magic made little currents of heat. 

Lockwood idly played with a loose thread on his blanket and thought back on the events that had led to Lucas losing consciousness. 

Lockwood had advised him to pull from a well within himself. It probably didn’t help at all, but Lockwood had never had to teach someone how to just access their magic. The fact that Lucas was doing all of this magic, even simple passive magic, with absolutely no training was both amazing and concerning. He had to be incredibly powerful if he’d been doing all of that just naturally. 

Then, Lockwood told him to go and unleash that power. He should’ve known better. After all, he was the veteran magical - not Lucas. And now he’d possibly endangered Lucas’ life. 

No. No, Lucas was ok. He would be fine. He just overdid it. Kipps would’ve been more concerned if he thought something had actually happened to Lucas. He was, Lockwood grudgingly admitted to himself, an incredibly skilled magical healer. 

Lucas would be fine. 

Which brought Lockwood to the questions he’d been avoiding since he first saw Lucas on the street and felt drawn to him. He’d originally brushed it off as just a curiosity about his incredibly bright magical aura, but Lockwood knew in the back of his mind even then that that was a flimsy lie.

Now, he’s had George, Flo, and even bloody Kipps ask him what was going on between him and Lucas. One was easy to brush off. Two was harder but still possible to ignore. But three? When Lucas hadn’t even been here a whole week? That was worth paying at least a bit of attention to. 

Sure, Lucas was attractive . Objectively attractive. In the same way that pretty people in magazines were attractive. That didn’t mean that he was attracted to Lucas. 

And yes, he was interested in talking with Lucas and getting to know him better, but that’s simply because he was a new employee. Any good employer would want to know their employees better, right? Especially ones living with them! 

But then, none of that explained how Lockwood’s heart had damn near stopped when Lucas passed out in the basement. It didn’t explain why his mouth ran dry when Lucas came home in the new clothes. He couldn’t explain away the pull that he felt towards Lucas. The constant desire to be near him. 

The desire to touch him. 

The butterflies that erupted in his stomach when he picked him up and held him in his arms. 

The reason why he was in Lockwood’s bed when he could’ve left him on the couch or brought him to his own room.

None of these explained everything . 

The only thing that did was… 

Oh fuck. 

He liked Lucas. 

He liked a man . 

Kipps was right . (Nope, dismissing that thought until much later, Lockwood decided.) 

How had he never realised? How could he have made it to his late teens and not notice that he liked men? To be fair, he’d never been with a woman either but he’d at least had crushes on them.

Though, he’d never felt like this with any woman either. 

What… what did it mean? How was he supposed to act around Lucas now that he’d had this revelation? Did he tell him? 

No. Absolutely not. Even if he didn’t fear Lucas pushing him away in disgust, he was Lucas’ employer . That would be inappropriate. Nope, he'd put these emotions inside a box, pack it away in the back of his mind, and would never open it again. 

Right after he stayed with him just a little bit longer. Just to make sure he was ok, of course.

He could do this. He could live with, work with, and generally be around Lucas without falling in love with him. This was just a silly crush - nothing more. 

Looking down at Lucas, he knew that was a lie but he couldn’t allow himself to think of it as anything else. 

Lucas began to stir then and Lockwood jumped off of the bed and onto the chair that Kipps had been sitting in. 

“Lockwood?” Lucas’ voice was raspy with sleep. 

“Hey, how are you feeling?” 

“Fine, I think.” He moved to sit up and Lockwood helped prop him up on his pillows. “What happened?” 

“I think you used too much energy and blacked out. It happens when someone uses too much magical energy at once. You’ll get better at learning your limits.” 

He nodded then, accepting Lockwood’s answer. 

“Hey Lockwood?” 

“Yeah?” 

“Why is the letter opener on your table talking to me?”                      

Chapter Text

“Stupid girl - why’d you have to go and wake me up?” 

Lucy looked around, trying to figure out what was talking to her, before she zeroed in on a faintly glowing letter opener on Lockwood’s desk. 

“Hey Lockwood?” 

“Yeah?” 

“Why is the letter opener on your desk talking to me?”

He looked over at his desk, confused. “It’s… talking to you?” 

Lucy nodded. 

“What’s it saying?” 

Uh… wait, how the hell did that thing know she was a girl? Whatever, not the important part. “Um, it asked why I woke it up.” 

“George! George, get in here.” 

“Oh yes, get the one who has been torturing me, trying to get me to talk to him. Idiot. He couldn’t hear me even if I wanted to talk to him - which I do not.” 

Lucy figured she was hallucinating. She had to be hallucinating. Something must’ve lingered in the magical … whatever had happened, and her brain was scrambled. That’s it. 

“You think you’re hallucinating, don’t you, stupid girl?”   

Yes, but that’s exactly what a hallucination would say. Right? 

“You’re not hallucinating, Lucy. This is real.” 

She closed her eyes, willing it to just shut up. Lucy heard the door open and George’s heavy footsteps came into the room, and she opened her eyes to see his reaction. 

“Well, I’m here. It better be good because I was in the middle of –” 

“The letter opener is talking to Lucas.” 

George pushed his glasses up on his nose, staring at her. “The letter opener is… talking to you…” 

“Yes. Yes, look, I know it sounds insane, but it said you tortured it.” 

“I’m a he, Lucy, not an it. ” It - he - sounded annoyed. A letter opener sounded annoyed at her. 

What the fuck was happening? 

Wait a minute… “How do you know my name?” She just barely caught herself before she said ‘how do you know my real name’. That would be a hard one to explain. 

“Oh, I know a lot of things about you, Lucy Carlyle. Including that you woke me up from what had been a very pleasant sleep.” 

“What do you mean I ‘woke you up’? I haven’t done anything.” 

“You tapped into your power, Lucy. You –” 

He was still talking, but George’s voice interrupted him. “What’s it saying to you, Lucas?” He sounded extremely sceptical about the idea that she was talking to it. Lucy didn’t blame him. 

“He said that I woke him up when I tapped into my power. Lockwood, what the hell is going on?” 

“I have no idea. George?” 

“I’m going to go get us all some tea. This is going to take a while to explain.” With that, he disappeared out of Lockwood’s room, presumably to the kitchen to make them some much-needed tea. 

“Lockwood? What the hell is going on?” 

Lockwood finally rose from the seat he was in and went to retrieve the letter opener. The green glow that she had noticed earlier seemed to be increasing in intensity as it got closer to her. He tried to hand it over to her, but Lucy pulled her hands back. Something told her that touching it would awaken something that she wasn’t ready for. 

“You can hold him for now. I want to know more before I touch him.” 

“Don’t let this posh prick hold me. I want to lay in bed with you.” Lucy swore that if the thing could’ve winked, he would’ve. She blushed. This was ridiculous. 

“Shut up, you stupid thing!” 

“What’s he saying, Lucas?” 

She shook her head. “Nothing important. He wants you to put him down, though.” The letter opener laughed at Lucy, and she glared right back at it while Lockwood set it down on the table by his bed.

George came in then with a tray full of tea. He handed them each their respective cups and pulled up another chair. 

“So, the letter opener.” He took a sip, purposely drawing out his explanation. “It’s a weapon.” 

He smiled like that explained everything. Lockwood looked just as confused as Lucy was. 

“It’s… a letter opener. What do you mean it’s a weapon?” She was glad Lockwood asked because she didn’t even know where to start. 

George took another sip. “Ah yes, right. Well. According to legend, it’s the most powerful weapon in history: Skutxokotyl.” 

“Bless you?” Lucy said, uncertainly. 

“What? No, Skutxokotyl is the name of the… weapon.” 

“But it’s… a letter opener…” Lockwood supplied (less than helpfully). 

George rolled his eyes, like they were missing the most obvious thing in the world. “It’s obviously not a weapon right now. No, the legend is that it basically can become a weapon whenever it wants to. I’ve been experimenting on it for quite a while, trying to get it to become the sword it’s supposed to be. I finally wrote it off as nothing more than a legend and gave it to Lockwood as a present. You’re welcome, by the way.” 

“You just put it on my desk! How was I supposed to know that meant it was a present for me? Besides, you open all the mail.” 

Lucy glared at them both for missing the more obvious dilemma. “But why is it talking to me?” 

“Stop calling me an it. I am a he.” 

“Oh please, shut up!” She spit back at the damned talking letter opener. 

“Well, again, according to legend, it’s -” 

“He.” She cut George off without actually thinking about it. “Sorry, the… he’s very insistent that he’s a ‘he’ and not an ‘it.’”

“Right… well, he is supposedly able to communicate with the one able to wield him. He can choose to become a weapon at any time, but with his wielder, he doesn’t have a choice. If” George drew out the word, clearly indicating that he wasn’t sure whether or not he believed her, “he’s really talking to you, then congratulations, Lucas, you’re the true heir to Skutxokotyl.” 

Lucy opened and closed her mouth several times, trying to form words. It was finally Lockwood who managed to make a sound. “So, what does any of this mean?” 

“Honestly? I really don’t know. Legend material is… disjointed to say the least. Actually… wait a minute, I need to go check something.” George got up and bolted out of the room, leaving Lucy alone with Lockwood. 

“This… this can’t be real, right? I mean, how can I be the heir to some legendary sword?” 

Lockwood shrugged. “I don’t know, but this isn’t the kind of thing George would make up.” 

“Do you believe me?” Lucy didn’t know why, but this moment felt significant. She needed Lockwood to believe her. Not just because he was her employer, but because… well, honestly she  wasn’t sure why. 

Before he could answer, though, George came rushing back in. “Lockwood, I need to talk to Lucas. Alone.” 

“Anything you have to say –” 

Lucy cut Lockwood off. “I’m sure whatever it is, George has a good reason for talking to me alone. If it’s something I think you need to know, I’ll tell you.” 

He clearly wanted to argue, but instead, he clenched his jaw and left the room, pulling the door shut behind him.

George walked over and sat in the seat that Lockwood had just vacated, looking closely at Lucy as though he was seeing her for the first time. It made her uncomfortable and she began to squirm. 

“You’re a very good actor, you know? Well, I guess I should say actress.” 

He looked at her pointedly, and Lucy’s blood ran cold. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

“Oh, come off it. The only reason I didn’t tell Lockwood immediately upon coming in here was that I know what it’s like to not have anywhere to go. But you better tell me the whole truth, immediately, or I’ll call him back in.” 

Lucy looked down at her lap. “How did you figure it out?” She asked, quietly. 

“Skutxokotyl can only be wielded by women, according to legend. I wasn’t positive until you confirmed it just now. Though to be honest, I’ve suspected something was off since the day you came back with Lockwood. I just didn’t think it would be this.” 

She nodded, not quite sure what else to do. Finally, she told him the whole story - how she kept her powers hidden and kept herself disguised as a boy to protect herself both in her hometown and on the streets, and why she’s continuing to pretend to be a boy. It’s how she’s stayed safe all these years, and she can’t let her secret be exposed yet. “Please, please don’t tell Lockwood.” 

George took off his glasses and cleaned the lenses with his shirt, before returning them to his face. “I won’t. It’s not my secret to tell. But you have to know that he would protect you, right?”

She didn’t know that. Not really. And it wasn’t a risk she could take. “Just, please don’t tell him.” 

“Who else knows?” 

“Flo. I think Quilliam might, too.” 

George laughed loudly at that and Lucy didn’t quite understand the joke. “I won’t tell, just as long as you don’t make trouble for Lockwood.” 

“I won’t. I swear. I just want to be safe.” 

Lockwood exited his room, closing the door harder than strictly necessary. He was irritated that George and Lucas were going to discuss something without him; but, he wasn’t sure exactly why he was irritated. They were allowed to have secrets, of course. Even if they were secrets that involved his best friend and his… employee. They were his responsibility! 

He knew he was being unreasonable, but that didn’t stop the dark thoughts swirling around in his mind. The last time someone he loved kept secrets about powerful magical things, well… he looked back at Jessica’s door, trying not to remember. 

No, no, that was ridiculous. This was nothing like that.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts and headed downstairs. He tried to read his trashy magazines to pass the time, but his thoughts kept going back to the men talking upstairs. Lucas was incredibly powerful, but untrained. Lockwood hadn’t realised just how powerful until this afternoon. Now, he was also the legendary wielder of the most dangerous, powerful weapon in history. 

It made Lockwood’s head hurt, and it wasn’t even him that was affected. He had no idea how Lucas was coping with the knowledge that had just been thrust upon. He threw his magazine to the side, having given up on his attempts to read it. 

Lucas was going to wield a sword. Lockwood had training in various swords. Maybe he could help Lucas learn to wield it. Maybe –

“Lockwood?” George’s voice came from the top of the stairs. 

Lockwood would like to say that he calmly made his way up the stairs, but he would be lying. Instead, he jumped up out of his seat and took the stairs two at a time, nearly running into George on the top step. 

George smirked at his enthusiasm, and Lockwood rolled his eyes before pushing past him, reclaiming the seat closest to Lucas by the bed. George followed him, watching Lockwood carefully. 

“Are you ok?” Lockwood asked Lucas, who nodded his head. He wanted to ask more questions, but he knew he owed it to George at least to trust that if he needed to know, they would tell them. 

Didn’t mean he had to like being excluded. 

George cleared his throat. “Right, well, we’re going to do a few tests. Just to see what we’re working with here. Assuming, of course, that’s alright with you, Lucas?”

Lucas nodded his head and grabbed the letter opener from the bedside table where Lockwood had left it. Immediately, Lockwood saw the magical aura that normally shined bright around Lucas growing exponentially. 

Lockwood grabbed his tinted glasses out of his upper pocket and slipped them on, dampening the effect of the bright aura. “Bloody hell, Lucas. Your aura is nearly blinding me. How do you feel?” 

Lucas had a look on his face that could only be described as awe. “I feel… really fucking powerful.” That earned a laugh from both George and Lockwood, causing Lucas to blush slightly. 

“What do I do now?” Lucas asked, but Lockwood wasn’t sure who he was asking. It didn’t matter because Lucas seemed to be having a conversation with the letter opener that they could only hear one side of.

He examined the letter opener carefully in his hands. There was a skull emblem on the handle that he’d never noticed before. 

“Skull.” Lucas’ voice broke Lockwood’s observations of the magical object in Lucas’ hands. 

Lucas smiled. “Skull, I’m going to call him Skull. I can’t say his real name with a straight face, so he’s going to be Skull.” He paused like he was listening to someone. “Well, I don’t bloody well care what you think. I’m not saying a five syllable word every time I want to refer to you. So you’re going to be bloody Skull, got it?” 

Lockwood tried (and failed) to bite back the smile that was threatening to overtake his face. He couldn’t help it, Lucas was adorable when arguing with a letter opener from hell. (Yes, he realised he’d given up lying to himself about how he viewed Lucas. Something about the thought was liberating.) 

“I think… I think I know how to do this. Can you and George move over by the door just in case? I don’t want you to get hurt when I try to make Skull… work.” He seemed unsure of the last word, not quite knowing what it was that he was commanding the Skull to do. 

Lockwood shook his head. “Absolutely not. I’m not moving from this spot. I want to keep you safe.” 

Lucas’ face softened, and he smiled up at Lockwood (who absolutely did not have butterflies because of it). “It’s all right. He’s not going to hurt me. Please?” 

Lockwood nodded and walked over by the door, where George was already waiting. He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest. It occurred to him that he was fucked if Lucas ever discovered the power his smile had over Lockwood. 

“Here we go.” Lucas closed his eyes in concentration, and the aura impossibly became even brighter. Then, Skull transformed. No longer a letter opener, Lucas was now holding what looked like an elaborate rapier. The rapier itself still had the skull emblem on its handle, but other than that, it was nearly unrecognisable. 

Lucas smiled, clearly pleased with himself. “So, it’s a sword.” 

“Well, actually -” George began to explain before he was cut off by Lockwood.

“It’s a rapier. It’s a specific type of sword. Can I come back over?” Lucas nodded, and Lockwood made his way over to the chair. 

He observed the rapier closely, noting the sharp edges on both sides of the blade and the intricately designed handle. 

“How does it feel? What is the weight like?” 

Lucas considered this before deciding to stand up. Lockwood held his breath, nervous about him handling such a sharp blade that he clearly wasn’t used to. He had to remind himself that Lucas had plenty of experience handling blades and that he didn’t need to assist. 

Standing up, Lucas considered the rapier. He held it in various positions, testing the weight of it and feel of it in his hands. He clearly had no idea how to wield a rapier, but Lockwood could help with that. 

“It feels… like it’s an extension of myself. I don’t know how to explain it, but it feels right. I have no idea how to use it though. I know how to use small blades, but definitely not something like this.” 

Now, Lockwood let his smile show - but he slipped on his charming Lockwood smile. “Well, lucky for you, you happen to live with an extremely skilled fencer and swordsman.” 

Lucas turned to George. “You didn’t tell me you could wield swords.” 

George burst out laughing, nearly doubling over with the force of it. Lockwood cleared his throat. 

“While George does have some training in various swords, no - it’s me. I have won several fencing tournaments and have specialised rapier training for combat. I can teach you, if you’d like.”

Lucas looked sceptical. “ You know how to use a rapier?” 

“Why is that surprising?” 

“I just figured that someone like you would have people to fight for them. Didn’t pin you as someone to get their hands dirty. Or, bloody, as the case may be.”

By now, George was wheezing with laughter. 

“I don’t know whether I should be offended or flattered, but no - I don’t allow anyone to fight my battles for me.” Lockwood hadn’t realised that he was gravitating closer to Lucas until he was crowding his space. Seeing how close they were, he took a step back and cleared his throat, unsure how to proceed.  

Luckily, Lucas rescued him from making a bigger fool of himself. “I guess I should learn to use him. Just in case I ever need to protect myself or something.” 

Lockwood bit his tongue. He wanted to tell Lucas that as long as he was with him, he’d never have to worry about anyone getting close enough to hurt him. But Lockwood knew that he couldn’t guarantee that, and it would get far too close to revealing something that he knew he never would. 

Instead, Lockwood smiled and nodded his head. “Excellent. We’ll start training tomorrow then.” 

George had finally recovered and shot Lockwood a look that Lockwood couldn’t quite decipher. It was somehow a warning, but also held hints of amusement. 

Lockwood shook his head, assuming that he was just seeing things. 

Training would probably be interesting at least.  

Chapter Text

Lucy spent the rest of her day just familiarising herself with Skull. She’d learned that he had a nasty sense of humour and was always mocking the people around him - including herself. 

Really, she just wanted to know why the fuck it had chosen her. 

“I didn’t choose you, Lucy. Trust me - if I was going to choose someone, she would at least be pretty.” She’d returned him to his original size and shoved him deep in a drawer after that remark. 

George had told her that it could usually only be awakened by the most powerful magical. In the house? In London? In the world? The records didn’t say. (Lucy thought it was a bunch of crap anyway. She certainly wasn’t very powerful.) 

She also reflected on what had transpired between her and Lockwood. She knew that she was developing some sort of feelings for him but she also knew that he liked men - Quilliam, it seemed though, not George. It would be just her luck that she’d start falling for someone who didn’t like women. 

Oh well. 

She shrugged it off and headed downstairs. Lockwood was waiting in the library, as she knew he would be. Lucy wasn’t sure why she was seeking him out. Despite her better judgement, she felt a pull to him that she couldn’t really explain. Maybe that was just the natural magnetism magical users had for one another. 

Although, she hadn’t felt it for Quilliam. 

Lockwood’s head shot up when he heard her enter the library. “Ah, Lucas, I was just about to go seek you out. Come, sit.” 

Lucy nodded her head and sat in the chair opposite him. She was once again caught by the simple beauty of this room. Her reading abilities were rudimentary as she was forced to drop out of school when she was still young, but she wanted to be able to immerse herself in some of the novels that lined the walls. 

Maybe George or Lockwood would be kind enough to help her. Eventually. 

“I’d like to talk to you more about what we do here at Lockwood & Co. As you know, we’re a detective agency, but it’s more than that. You might’ve figured out by now that we’re actually a magical detective agency. Which just means that we primarily deal with cases that involve magicals. For what are probably obvious reasons, these cases are much more difficult for regular detectives to investigate. That’s where we come in.” 

“So you look for other magicals? Did someone send you after me?” 

“Yes - and no. No one sent me after you. Well, I guess my scryer kind of did but mostly it was just luck that our paths crossed.” 

“I’m still not sure why you freed me.” 

“That’s… a story for another time.” He quickly looked away, almost as though he was trying to hold back from letting her see what secrets hid within his eyes. 

And maybe he was hiding something. She was becoming really irritated by his lack of answers though. It made her wonder if there was a reason why she shouldn’t - couldn’t - trust him. 

“Anyway, I did and you’re here now. As my employee, I can’t very well have you going out in the field without any preparation. We have a case coming up tomorrow night that you’ll be joining us on- if you’re up to it, of course.” 

Lucy nodded. “I’m feeling fine, truly. So… what’s the case?” 

“Oh right. We need to find out who has been robbing tea shops.” 

“Tea shops?” 

“Tea shops.” 

“Why do you think it’s a magical doing it?” 

“Well, there’s no evidence of breaking and entering. And at least one witness claims they saw someone walk through a wall to get out of the building.” 

Lucy nodded. “I guess that sounds unusual.” 

“I certainly don’t know any non-magicals who can walk through walls.” 

“I don’t know, I’ve seen some strange things on the streets.” 

Lockwood’s head snapped up to look at her. “You’ve… seen regular people walk through walls?” 

“Sarcasm is wasted on you, isn’t it?” Lucy wasn’t quite sure where this burst of sassiness came from, but she was enjoying it. Something had shifted between her and Lockwood earlier; that is, between their disastrous training session and the whole incident with the Skull. He had trusted her, a near-complete stranger, and George to speak alone in his room. Plus, he had seemed to genuinely believe that she was talking to Skull even before she had proven that she had power over it. She wasn’t used to being believed, and his faith in her was a balm to her soul. 

Lockwood opened and closed his mouth several times, clearly unsure of what to say. “I… I don’t… I know what sarcasm is!” 

Lucy just hummed in acknowledgement, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. 

“I do!” 

“Anyway, anything else I should know?” 

“I know what sarcasm is!” 

“As you’ve said. Now, the case?” 

“I told you, it’s someone walking through walls and stealing from the tea shop. We’re going to investigate who is doing it and then stop them.” 

“How are we going to do that?” 

“What?” 

Lucy rolled her eyes. She was beginning to think she was working with complete amateurs. “How are we going to investigate and presumably catch whoever is stealing tea?” 

“We just… are?” 

“You’ve never trained someone before, have you?” 

“Of course I have! It’s just normally it’s… on the job training.” 

Lucy blinked at him several times, trying to formulate a response. He really was an absolutely dreadful liar. “Ok, right, well… guess I’ll just wait to get some training tomorrow night.” 

She got up to leave, when Lockwood’s voice stopped her. “Wait! Don’t go.” 

Turning around, she shot him a look. “Did you figure out how to train me?” 

“I told you - we’re doing on the job training. Specifically, tomorrow at the tea shop. No, I want to start your training with Skull.” 

“I am not getting that thing out of the drawer right now. He’s grounded.” 

“You… grounded a legendary weapon slash letter opener?” 

Lucy crossed her arms over her chest in defiance. “He was being a prick. He’s in a drawer while he thinks about how he talked to me.” 

Lockwood burst out laughing and nearly doubled over. 

“What the bloody hell is so funny?” 

He stood up straight, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes. “I’m sorry, it’s just - first, you adopt a plant that made you bleed and now you’re arguing with a letter opener. I’m frankly concerned about the relationships you have with pointy objects.” 

She rolled her eyes in exasperation. “The letter opener talks and he’s a right arsehole.” 

“I believe you. Well, let’s try this then. We can train with the practice rapiers that I have in the basement. At least you can get accustomed to holding a rapier properly, and learn some simple steps.” 

Lucy bit down on her lip in concentration. On the one hand, she really did need to learn how to handle the Skull - physically, at least. On the other hand, spending that much time in close quarters with Lockwood could prove… inconvenient. 

In the end, staying alive won out over any potential embarrassment. “All right. Lead the way.” 

“What, now?” 

“You stopped me from leaving so, yes, I assumed you wanted to practise right now.” 

“Good point. All right, shall we?” 

An hour later and Lucy was ready to run Lockwood through with the first pointy stick she could get her hands on. He had been teaching her the parts of a rapier (and other swords), basic footwork, arm and body positions, and the technical names of movements. She’s even pretty sure he threw in history lessons. 

Her brain was ready to fall out of her ears and she stopped retaining information approximately five minutes after they’d started. 

She finally snapped and slid a blade out from the custom armband that Flo and Stella had fitted her with, and held it up to Lockwood threateningly. His eyes widened in surprise. It was strangely satisfying, Lucy thought, to pull one over on the person who could literally see the future. 

“Lockwood, if you don’t stop trying to cram knowledge into me, I’m going to use this blade on one of us. And frankly, I haven’t decided, nor do I particularly care, which one of us gets poked. Now, you can actually teach me how to fight - how to use Skull - or I’m going to go lay down. Preferably with some of your best brandy.” 

“As you wish. Just… put the blade away. Why are you still carrying them around anyway? You’re safe here.” 

Lucy slid her blade back down into its hidden compartment. “I don’t know. Seems to be pretty useful in certain situations.” 

Lockwood grabbed his practice rapier and stood in the starting stance that he’d shown her not ten minutes before. “Shall we begin?” 

Lockwood absolutely did not think it was hot that Lucas had managed to pull a blade on him. Definitely not. He was just surprised that it happened. It had been literally years since anyone had been able to surprise him. He was always too aware of his surroundings, too tuned into the future subconsciously, that no one had been able to come near him unless he allowed it. 

Until, apparently, right then. 

So yes, he was just surprised.

He assumed the standard starting position and did a cheeky little bow. “Shall we begin?” 

As expected, Lucas was all aggression and no grace. He fought like a street fighter - not surprising considering that he was a street fighter. It was cute, but it was also completely ineffective. Lockwood was easily able to dodge his attacks, moving out of the way before Lucas even got close to him. 

After several dodges, he finally disarmed Lucas quickly with one simple flick of his blade. 

“Not fair!” 

Lockwood laughed. “Very fair. I could’ve disarmed you several times before now, but I figured I’d give you some chance to hit me.” 

Lucas glared at him and Lockwood shot a smile right back. Lucas was clearly unimpressed. Which, frankly, was a bit unfair given how well Lockwood’s smile usually worked on people - men and women alike. 

He came at Lockwood several more times before he once again sent Lucas’ sword clattering to the ground. 

“Fine, tell me what I’m doing wrong.” 

“Well, several things. To start with, you show your moves before you make them. Your foot position is terrible, your arms look like they’re throwing a ball rather than swinging a sword, and you’re so interested in trying to hurt me that you’ve let all traces of good form sail out the front door. Aside from all of that, I’ve been using a sword probably as long as you’ve been alive.”

“Just how old are you, anyway?” 

“Twenty.” 

“Aren’t you going to ask me how old I am?” 

“Would you tell me if I asked?” 

“No.” 

He smiled - a genuine smile that had been making more and more appearances in the last several days. He liked that he’d only known Lucas a short time and yet was already able to predict his answers if Lockwood asked him about anything remotely personal.

Maybe it’s because Lockwood knew what it was like to guard secrets about his past. 

Maybe it’s because he’d had a connection with Lucas since the first meeting. 

He really didn’t know, and frankly, didn’t think it was especially relevant. 

“Fine, here. Stand in your opening stance.” Lockwood waited until Lucas had arranged himself, in what was truly a terrible opening stance. He walked around behind Lucas and considered how to adjust his form. 

“May I?” Lockwood asked, seeking permission to touch him. Some part of his brain was sending off alarm bells but this was strictly professional - at least, that’s what Lockwood kept telling himself. 

He saw Lucas swallow thickly before nodding. 

“You’re leaning in too much. It throws you off balance.” Lockwood lightly pushed on Lucas’ shoulders, guiding him back to a more straight position. “Now legs just a little further apart.” He nudged one of Lucas’ legs with his foot. “And turn your wrist just a little more inward.” Lockwood grabbed his wrist gently and turned it. 

Strictly speaking, he likely didn’t need to touch Lucas to adjust his form, but he wanted to make sure that he was getting into the correct position. 

“Now, I’m going to move your arms in the proper swing - is that ok?” 

Another nod from Lucas and Lockwood moved closer, Lucas’ back nearly flush with Lockwood’s front. Grabbing a wrist in each hand, Lockwood gently guided Lucas slowly through the motions of various different formations. 

It felt like a dance. 

Lockwood had danced with a lot of people over the years - it came as part of the expected social events for those at his economic level. But none of his partners had ever affected him the way that moving Lucas through these motions was. 

Lucas was graceless and klutzy and Lockwood never wanted to let go. 

Unfortunately, Lockwood’s body began to betray him and he released Lucas quickly, taking a significant step back before Lucas could tell just how affected he was. 

Lockwood cleared his throat. “Yes, well, great lesson for today. I’ll just pick up down here and meet you upstairs in a few minutes.” 

Lucas turned around and furrowed his brows in confusion. “Pick up… what? We used two swords, one of which I’m going to put back.” 

“Did I say pick up? I meant uh… do some paperwork. Yes, George has been on me for ages to get some of the paperwork done and well, since I’m down here…” 

Lucas stared at him. “You’re a terrible liar, Lockwood. But that’s fine, I was getting hungry anyway. I’ll see you at dinner.” 

Lockwood waited until Lucas had disappeared up the stairs before sitting down in his chair and dropping his head in his hands. His body was reacting to Lucas’ proximity and it was proving to be rather inconvenient. 

Rather than follow upstairs immediately, he picked up his practice rapier and slashed viciously at the practice dummies. He tried to release the tension in his body through his blade but it only helped a little. By the time his body had finally come back under control, George was calling them both for dinner. 

He just hoped he’d make it through without making a fool of himself. 

Chapter Text

Lucy looked through her clothing options for the night. Flo had helped her acquire more clothes than she’d ever had in her entire life combined , and sometimes it was overwhelming. Like right then. 

She and Lockwood were going on their first case, and he had told her to dress in dark clothes that she didn’t mind getting dirty. Lucy was conflicted about that instruction. On the one hand, until a week or so ago, all of her clothes were always dirty - so theoretically, she should be fine with getting anything dirty. On the other hand, she was afraid to even touch these clothes for fear that they’d never get clean again. 

“Stop being such a girl and just put on some bloody trousers.” 

Lucy rolled her eyes at the sound of Skull’s exasperation. “Look, I’m still mad at you so be careful what you say or you’ll go back in the drawer. Or worse - I’ll give you back to George. And as a reminder, I am a girl.” 

“Could’ve fooled me!” 

She’d never admit it out loud, but Skull’s presence was already starting to grow on her, even if he was a prick. She could banter with him in a way that she wasn’t quite yet ready to do with Lockwood or George - for very different reasons. 

Lucy settled on some tight pants, a long sleeve black shirt, and her normal boots. She buckled her blade holsters to each thigh and slipped on her fingerless gloves. Finally, she pulled on her long black coat with front buttons that further helped to hide her breasts. As a bonus, the coat had a large hood that she could pull up if needed. 

The coat reminded her of Lockwood’s, and she suspected that Flo had done that intentionally. 

She checked herself over in the mirror before turning to Skull. “How do I look?” 

“How the bloody hell should I know? I don’t have eyes!” 

“Ok, back in the drawer –” 

“Wait! No. You look… fine.” 

“Fine?” 

“If you’re looking for a better compliment, prepare to be disappointed.” 

She rolled her eyes. “Whatever. I’m leaving. Enjoy… whatever it is you do when I’m not around.”

Lucy bounded down the stairs, hoping to get some tea and a biscuit before they headed out. Turning into the kitchen, she nearly ran into George. 

“Oh! Sorry.” 

“Not a problem. Ready for the case tonight?” She and George had been growing closer ever since he discovered her secret. As much as it scared her for anyone to learn that she was really a woman, it was nice having someone in the house who knew the truth. 

“I honestly have no idea. Lockwood hasn’t actually told me anything about what we’re meant to be doing. I asked him to train me and he said I would get on the job training.” She rolled her eyes to let George know exactly what she thought about that. 

He chuckled. “That sounds about right. Lockwood has a… unique way of doing things that only makes sense in his own mind.” His expression turned serious. “You need to watch him - to keep him from getting too reckless. He can get so hyper-focused on apprehending the rogue magical that he often forgets about his own safety - his own life, even. Try not to let him be too ambivalent about it.”

“You care for him, don’t you?” 

“Of course I do. He’s my best friend. Took me in when I couldn’t live with my parents anymore. Unlike everyone else I’ve ever met, Lockwood’s never been… put off by my eccentricities. He embraced them and encouraged my interest in magic, even though I’m decidedly not a magical.”

“Ah yes, he said the damage to the training room downstairs was your doing.” They both laughed at that. 

“Have a seat, I’ll make us some tea.” 

Lucy sat down gratefully. She’d very rarely had anyone to take care of her, even in small ways like this. She was soaking up every moment of it, still convinced it wouldn’t last. 

Biting her lip, she made a decision. “George, can I tell you something?” 

He finished up their tea and brought them over to the table before sitting across from her.

“Of course.” 

“Well… when I first got here, I thought that you and Lockwood were together.” 

He furrowed his brows. “Together?” 

“Romantically.” 

George spit out his drink, coughing as he tried to stop choking. Once he’d finally recovered, his choking gasps were replaced by peals of laughter. “You thought Lockwood and I were together ?” 

“I mean, yes? You live together, he flirts with you, you cook for him, and you honestly bicker like a married couple.”    

“Lockwood flirts with everyone.” 

Lucy nodded her head in acquiescence. 

“Alas, no, I do not like men. Even if I did, Lockwood would not be my type.” He stared at her for a moment, as though he was trying to put together a puzzle. “Why exactly are you wondering about Lockwood’s love life?” 

Oh no. 

Lucy felt her cheeks turn bright red as she stammered out a response. “I’m not! It was just… idle curiosity. Nothing more.” 

“Uh huh. Look, I think there’s something you should know about Lockwood. He –” 

“He what ?” Lockwood’s voice cut off whatever George was about to say. 

“Oh nothing. I was just telling Lucas about how you took me in, just like you take in all the strays.” 

“You’re not a stray, Georgie. Heck, I didn’t even have to house train you! If anything, you’re a high class trophy dog.” 

“Ok, well, as amusing as this has been, I’m drawing the line at being referred to as a trophy dog. Do you want a cuppa before you head out?”

Lockwood nodded gratefully and sank down in the chair beside her. 

“Are you ready for tonight, Lucas?” 

Lucy shrugged. “As ready as I can be, I guess. Considering someone has decided that I shouldn’t go into the field with any training.” Her voice was irritated, but at this point, it was mostly for show. Lucy was beginning to be somewhat excited about the prospect of spending time alone with Lockwood. 

Not that she would ever admit that to him. The last thing he needed was even more of an inflated ego. 

After they finished their tea, they packed up the few supplies Lockwood claimed he needed and headed out to the area where the robberies had been taking place. They weren’t sure which shop was going to be targeted, but Lockwood assured her that he had his ways of figuring out precisely which one would get hit next. 

“By the way, Lucas, I must say, this outfit… it’s a good look on you.” 

Lucy felt herself blush. She basked in the compliment, even though she knew he didn’t mean it the way that she wanted him to. “Uh thanks. Flo picked it out for jobs.” 

“I’ll have to thank Flo next time I see her.” He shot her a wink and Lucy couldn’t help the nearly involuntary roll of her eyes. 

They walked in companionable quiet as they made their way to various tea shops. At each one, Lockwood would close his eyes and concentrate for a few minutes, before opening them and looking around the premises. Finally, at the third shop, The White Lotus, he opened his eyes quickly and his face lit up.

“This is the one. They’re going to rob this place tonight.” 

Lucy looked around the shop, trying to figure out how the bloody hell he’d drawn that conclusion. “How do you know?” 

“I just do. Trust the process, Lucas.” 

“What process? All you did was close your eyes.”

He flashed her another grin but said nothing, and instead walked into the shop. 

“What bloody process?!” Her sentence was cut off by the door clunking shut behind him. 

Bloody toff. Lucy rolled her eyes but followed him in. 

Not a half hour later, the shop was closed up, leaving them alone on the inside. The owner had thanked them profusely for their work. Lucy thought the gratitude was premature, but apparently Lockwood had a reputation for catching the culprit. 

“So now what?” Lucy asked, looking around the shop. 

Lockwood shrugged and sat down at one of the tables. “Now we wait.” 

She arched a brow, almost asking if he was serious. “We wait?” 

He nodded.

“Wait for what, exactly?” 

“Someone to come steal tea.” 

“We just… sit here and wait?” 

He nodded again. It was going to be a long night. 

“How about this?” He pulled out a deck of cards from somewhere within his coat. “Want to play poker?” 

Lucy had never actually played poker, but she had seen enough street games to understand the basics. She sat down across from him, prepared to simply stumble her way through. “Sure, why not?” 

She won the first five rounds, before he finally got a lucky hand. Lucy was feeling quite pleased with herself. 

“Want to make this game more interesting?”  

Lockwood spat out the words before he could second guess himself. He’d let Lucas win the first several hands in hopes that it would make him more amenable to Lockwood’s offer. 

“Want to make this game more interesting?” 

Lucas’ head shot up, eyes wide with either surprise or the beginning stages of panic. Before he could get too scared, Lockwood hastily corrected himself. “I just meant, we could add some stakes. Winner of each hand gets to ask the loser a question. It’s just, we know so little about each other that I thought it might be good to get to know each other a little more. Of course, if either of us are uncomfortable answering a question, we can say no.” 

Lockwood watched Lucas mull over his words. He knew he was playing with fire. Lucas was an intensely private person, but Lockwood was desperate for any crumbs of information about the other man’s life. 

“You sure we can skip questions? No need for an explanation?” 

“None at all. Absolutely no pressure.” 

Lucas nodded. “All right then. Deal.” 

Lockwood won the first hand easily. “What’s your last name?” 

“Carlyle.” 

He won the next one. “How old are you?” 

“About 18. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure of my birthday.” 

Lucas threw down the next hand in frustration. “Garbage. What’s your question?” 

“Where are you from?” 

“A little village called Murton, near Scotland.” 

Lucas finally won the next hand, glee lighting up his face. “Do you have any family?” 

Lockwood swallowed, unsure of how to answer. “My parents died when I was 6.” 

Lucas’ face softened, but he didn’t comment further. Lockwood was grateful. 

It was Lockwood’s turn next. “Do you ever want to go back to Murton?” 

“Never.” 

The next several hands went back and forth, with each of them swapping on and off who asked questions. 

“How long have you been in London?” 

“About ten years.” Lockwood’s stomach dropped at the knowledge that Lucas had likely been owned by Jacobs that entire time.

“Why did you decide to become a detective?” 

“My dad did the same thing. It was his company originally and I loved watching him track down other magicals who were using their gifts irresponsibly. The company became mine when he died and I started working full time around the age of 15.” 

“Do you have any siblings?” 

“Six sisters. I’m the youngest.” 

Lockwood laughed. “I bet your parents were happy to get a boy after that many girls.” 

Lucas’ face dropped and Lockwood knew immediately he’d said the wrong thing. He wasn’t sure why though, and simply dealt the cards again to push past the gaffe. 

"Tell me about that ring you always wear."

Lockwood looked down at the ring that always stayed on his right ring finger. “It was my father’s wedding ring. Green was his favourite colour so my mum had it made for him. ‘Love always’ is inscribed on the inside and although they meant it for them, I feel like they are saying it to me whenever I wear it.” 

Lockwood felt his emotions rise up, thinking about his parents, so he quickly started shuffling the deck for the next hand. He hadn’t meant to reveal quite that much to Lucas, but there was something about him that put Lockwood at ease and made him feel like he could be more vulnerable than with anyone else. 

He won the next hand and tried to detour from such emotional topics. “What’s your favourite part about living in London?” 

Lucas’ face lit up. “The art! When I had good days and could afford a few hours off the streets, I’d find somewhere that was open and go in to enjoy the art pieces. It’s also somewhat easy to steal supplies from, well, people like you. When I could, I would take paints and scraps of paper and hide them near the Thames. I couldn’t work on art often, but it’s so much fun.” 

Lockwood tried not to stare. That was the most Lucas had ever shared with him, and he was simply in awe. It was clear that art was something that was important to Lucas, and Lockwood vowed to encourage this passion. 

He’d already begun to think of what types of supplies to get for Lucas when the other man seemed to remember where he was and who he was talking to. 

“Sorry - I guess that’s more than you asked for. I know it’s stupid. I won’t bring it up again.” 

“No. Please don’t ever apologise for something like that. It… makes me happy to see you happy.” 

Lockwood ducked his head to hide the blush spreading across his face and began to shuffle the cards. Before he could deal, he noticed the time. It was close to when the thief would arrive. 

“Didn’t realise how late it was. Time to get ready to catch a thief.” He winked at Lucas before he could stop himself. 

Lucas did not look impressed. He crossed his arms over his chest and stared Lockwood down. “And how exactly would you know that?” 

Lockwood shuffled his feet a little bit, trying to think of a plausible lie. When none were forthcoming, he decided on the truth and hoped Lucas wouldn’t be mad at him. “Well, see, you know how my Sight lets me look a little into the future? It actually lets me look a little farther than a few minutes. The farther away an event is, the less certain it becomes, so I use it often. The future is always in flux, you know? So when we were visiting various shops earlier, I was peering into the future to see which one would be robbed and when.”

“So we’ve been sitting here for hours for… no reason?” 

He felt like he was a small child again, being scolded for doing something he knew he wasn’t supposed to do. “Honestly, I just wanted to spend some more time with you, all right?” Lockwood quickly realised what he’d admitted to and hastened to cover up his slip. “I just mean, well, you’re living in my house and my newest employee. I should know you better, right?” 

“Right…” Lucas did not seem at all convinced but didn’t press further. “So how are we catching this thief?” 

“Ah right, yes.” Lockwood dug around in his bag, pulling out a pair of wrist cuffs that had intricately carved runes on them. “These suppress the magical abilities of people when worn. Before you ask, no, I have no idea how they work. George invented them and he told me but honestly, I couldn’t follow. All I know is that it works. We detain him and then turn him over to the proper authorities.” 

Lucas nodded, seemingly accepting Lockwood’s explanation. 

“Get ready then. They’ll be here any minute.” 

“Get ready how , Lockwood? You still haven’t told me a bloody thing.” 

“Oh… right. Sorry, I’m used to working alone. Go ahead and just observe me this time, yeah? It’ll be an easy apprehension anyway.” 

He’s pretty sure Lucas rolled his eyes but he didn’t have time to dwell on it. Not ten seconds later, he saw a person coming through the wall, exactly as he’d foreseen. As soon as he was through the wall, Lockwood tackled him and quickly fastened the cuffs around his wrists. The thief was too surprised by the ambush to even react, and by the time he was detained, fighting back was pointless.

The next hour was wasted on annoying administrative tasks. He’d alerted DEPRAC to the heist earlier in the day, of course, and they were waiting for Lockwood to deliver the thief. Of course, Lockwood still had to file a damned report - which meant, of course, meeting with one of his least favourite people.

He loved his Uncle Barnes, but they had two completely different personalities. Lockwood thought of rules as a suggestion, while Uncle Barnes was as dedicated to the rules as any human could be. 

Yet, he’d been Lockwood’s dad’s best friend and took him in when his family died. He’d taught him how to be a damn good detective, even if their methods were decidedly quite different. 

“Anthony, how are you, my boy?” 

Lockwood rolled his eyes affectionately. “Doing great, Uncle Barnes. Let me introduce you to my newest hire, Lucas. Lucas, this is my Uncle Barnes.” 

Lucas looked back and forth between Lockwood and Barnes. “Uncle?” 

Occasionally, Lockwood forgot that they probably looked an odd sight - Lockwood, extremely pale, contrasted with Barnes’ very dark complexion. “Ah, not by blood. But in every other way that matters.” 

Nodding, Lucas held out his hand to Barnes. “Pleasure to meet you.” 

“Likewise. You’re keeping my nephew out of trouble, I hope?” 

Lucas’ eyes shot back to Lockwood, clearly unsure of what to say. 

“We’re doing fine, Uncle. It’s been a long night though so I think we’re going to head home.” 

“Wait, Anthony. I’d been meaning to stop by your place anyway, but you’ve now saved me a trip. The DEPRAC Ball is coming up and I’d like to invite you and George, and now Lucas too, of course. You’ve been doing great work on behalf of the magical community - it’s time we acknowledge it with an invite.” 

Lockwood was sincerely touched. An invite to the DEPRAC Ball was a sign that you’d reached the upper tiers of magical organisations. He’d been trying to get Lockwood and Co there for years.     

“Thank you, Uncle Barnes. We’ll be there, of course!” 

He noticed that Lucas looked a little panicked, but brushed it off as being nervous around posh society. He gave his shoulder a little squeeze, hoping it would calm his nerves. 

“Let’s head home, Lucas.” 

Chapter Text

Lucy was already panicking over the DEPRAC Ball. Which was silly, of course, since Lockwood hadn’t actually asked her to go. (Yet, her mind supplied, unhelpfully.) 

One of the reasons she’d been able to keep her secret, well, a secret, for so long was that no one really paid attention to her. In public, people’s eyes slid over her - either out of disinterest or because they pretended not to notice the poor, dirty kids on the streets. Jacobs only ever paid enough attention to get his payment or to reprimand her - neither of which required him looking at her for too long. 

Flo and Quilliam had noticed almost immediately that something was off about “Lucas.” George had noticed something too, though hadn’t come to the correct conclusion. Her disguise wasn’t as good as it was when she was younger. Despite her best efforts, her body had developed into one that, unless she was making a conscious effort to hide it, betrayed her true identity. 

Now she might have to hide in formal wear? Lucy was panicking. 

A knock at her bedroom door pulled her out of her thoughts. 

“Who is it?” 

“It’s me. It’s Lockwood.” 

Lucy did a quick look around her room to make sure there was nothing incriminating. “Come in.” 

Lockwood’s footsteps came slowly, deliberately up the steps. Odd, she thought. Normally he just bounded up the steps like the overactive puppy that he was. 

When he reached the top of the stairs, he stood there awkwardly holding a wooden box. She waited for him to say something, and when he didn’t, she broke the silence. “What do you have there?” 

“Oh.” He looked down at the box like he’d forgotten he had it. “It’s a present.” 

“A present?” 

“For you.” 

Lucy felt her face instantly heat. “Why?” 

It’s not what she meant to say, but once the word was out, she couldn’t take it back. “I just mean… it’s not my birthday, I don’t think, or Christmas or…” She trailed off, unsure how to continue. Honestly, she wasn’t sure whether or not there were more occasions throughout the year where people received presents. She hadn’t received one in over ten years. 

He sent her a soft smile. “I just wanted to get it for you. No occasion. Here.” He walked the short distance between the stairs and her bed before setting down the box next to her and retreating to the chair a few metres away. 

Lucy simply stared at the box. It was gorgeous up close, with delicate but intricately carved patterns along the sides and a silver latch holding it closed. 

“Well, go on. Aren’t you going to open it?” 

Honestly, Lucy was afraid to. She’d never had nice things before a week ago, and she still didn’t know how to convince herself that this was her life, these were her things. The only time her fingers ever got close to something this precious was when she was stealing - and she didn’t want to steal from Lockwood. 

But, she also knew he was waiting, so she very carefully opened the latch. Opening it up knocked the wind out of her. If she thought the outside was beautiful, it was nothing compared to the inside. 

It was filled with art supplies. Paints, coloured pencils, paintbrushes, and various other supplies she didn’t know the names of. 

“Lockwood, I can’t accept this. It must’ve cost a fortune.” 

“You can and you will. Please. You told me yesterday that you like art, but you’ve never been able to really do it because you haven’t had supplies. Well, now you do.” 

Lucy tried very hard not to let out the tears threatening to fall. “Thank you, Lockwood.” Her voice was too small, too soft, too much like her real voice, and it scared her. Luckily, he didn’t seem to notice. 

“If you want, you can repay me in pictures. This house has been looking a little too drab lately.” He winked at her before getting up and heading towards the stairs.

“Oh, and there’s paper and canvas and anything else you might need downstairs.” 

With that, he disappeared. 

Lucy looked through the box. She didn’t know the names for most of the supplies that were in there, but she knew some of the basics. Getting an idea, she picked up the box and ran down after Lockwood. 

“Do you have paper?” 

His smile could’ve lit up a moonless night. “Of course!” He brought her to the library, where the rest of the supplies were held. She grabbed the pad of paper and took her supplies out to the garden. 

The garden at 35 Portland Row was gorgeous. It was one of the first things she noticed, once she officially moved in and allowed herself to explore. She didn’t know the names of most of the flowers, but they were blue, yellow, red, orange, purple - nearly every colour of the rainbow. 

She brought out the coloured pencils and began to draw. Lucy wasn’t a trained artist, of course, and she knew that her sketches would be rough and probably not very pretty, but the feeling of transferring the colours from her mind to the paper was simply euphoric. 

Lucy didn’t try to recreate the garden in any lifelike way. Instead, she took the colours and tried to capture what she felt. She wanted the paper to reflect the sheer joy that she felt in her soul when she spent time outside. 

She didn’t know how much time had passed, but when she was finally satisfied with what she saw, she packed up the supplies. As she was getting ready to make her way back inside, she saw a note sticking out from underneath the paint in the box. 

Confused, she pulled it out and realised it was a letter. The outside was inscribed with her name, or, well, the fake name that everyone knew: Lucas. 

She instantly recognized Lockwood’s handwriting from the thinking cloth. Her stomach did a flip, and she very seriously considered not opening it - tucking it away and pretending she never saw it. But, she knew she owed it to both herself and to Lockwood not to do that. She had to read it, no matter what. 

Taking a deep breath, she opened the letter. 

Dearest Lucas, 

I wish I could say this to you directly, but I find myself unable to find the words. I hope you enjoy these art supplies - that they bring you true happiness. 

I do not know how to say this, so I shall say it plainly: I have come to care for you a great deal in the short time we have known each other. Your happiness is my happiness and your pain is my pain. To see your smile, hear your laughter, and simply be in your presence brings me a great deal of joy. 

Do you feel it, Lucas? The pull between us? The fire when our skin touches? The connection that feels as though we’ve known each other for years? 

I have never felt this for anyone else, and, if I am being honest, the feeling scares me. All I know is that I constantly want you by my side, or at least in my presence, and I hope you feel the same for me. 

Lucas Carlyle, would you do me the honour of allowing me to be your escort to the DEPRAC Ball? 

Even if you do not share my feelings, your friendship to me has been invaluable. I treasure it above anything else. The invitation to the Ball is open as a friend or, as I hope, more. 

Sincerely yours, 

Anthony Lockwood 

Lucy couldn’t stop the tears this time. Truthfully, she thought she felt the same for him, but while her feelings for him were real, his were based on a lie. 

He loved Lucas. 

She was Lucy. 

He loved someone that simply didn’t exist. She couldn’t tell him the truth, not yet, but she also couldn’t let him continue falling for her - to continue feeling for her. No, she had to put a stop to this immediately, and simply hope that he didn’t hate her. 

Slowly, she picked up all her supplies and the drawing that she had made for him. Thinking quickly, she grabbed a pencil and signed her initials - her real initials - in the bottom right-hand corner:  LJC

She found him on his chair in the library, exactly where she knew he would be. As always, he felt her presence immediately once she came into the room, and he turned around and looked at her with that damned soft smile on his face. 

“I brought you a drawing. I know it’s not very good, but you said —” 

“I’m sure it’s beautiful, Lucas. Let me see.” 

She handed it over before she could lose her nerve. Immediately, his eyes went wide. 

“Like I said, I’ve never had training so –” 

“Please, stop speaking so negatively of yourself, Lucas. I was right - it’s gorgeous. I can’t believe you haven’t had training. This rivals some of the drawings I’ve seen by older art students. Honestly, it’s… amazing. I’ll have it framed and hung up.” 

Lucy felt her cheeks go hot. “You don’t have to do that…” 

He smiled - not a Lockwood smile, but a true smile. “I want to.” 

She needed to tell him. 

Mentally preparing herself, she forced out the words that wanted so desperately to stay buried deep in her soul. 

“I saw your letter.” 

“I want to.” 

Lockwood wasn’t lying. The drawing was absolutely gorgeous. Lucas had an immense amount of talent, and Lockwood couldn’t believe he’d never had formal training. He started thinking of other ways he could encourage the younger man’s artistic talents. 

“I saw your letter.” 

His heart stopped. Lockwood tried to gauge Lucas’ feelings by his facial expressions, but it was impossible. He was too stoic, face carefully blank, and Lockwood wasn’t optimistic about what was coming next. 

“Oh… that. Yes, well, do you want to sit?” 

Lucas nodded and headed over to the seat across from Lockwood.  

Before Lucas could say anything, Lockwood’s nerves got the better of him. “It’s alright if you don’t feel the same way. I know that we haven’t known each other for very long, but I thought you deserved to know the truth - about how I feel.” 

He tried to smile at Lucas, but he thought it probably came off as more of a grimace. He tried to stop his leg from bouncing - a nervous habit he’d never quite rid himself of. 

“Lockwood, the letter was very… kind. It’s just… I don’t know how you can have feelings for me. You barely know me.”

“I know plenty about you, Lucas. I know that you’re kind, fierce, brave, smart, and that your favourite colour is blue.” 

This pulled a small, but genuine, chuckle out of Lucas. 

“I don’t think I’m most of those things, but even if I was… Lockwood, it would never work. I have too many secrets. Too many secrets that would hurt you. I’m not… I’m not what you want.” 

“So tell me your secrets, Lucas. Let me in.” 

Lucas’ face reflected the anguish that Lockwood felt. “I can’t, Lockwood. I’m so sorry.” His voice was soft, apologetic. 

Lockwood nodded. “I understand.” 

Lucas shot him a grateful smile. 

Truly, Lockwood knew it would be ok in the end. But, that didn’t soften the pain already taking root in his heart. 

“I’ll move out tomorrow.” 

Wait what? 

“What?!” 

“I just assumed –” 

“Lucas, no. Absolutely not. This is your home. This is already your home as much as it is mine or George’s. You belong here - even if it’s just as my friend, my family. Moving out is the last thing I want.” 

“Are you sure?” 

“Yes.” 

And really, he was. He’d take Lucas in his life however he could have him - even if it meant as a friend living a floor above him. The mere idea of Lucas leaving made him feel sick to his stomach. Now that the younger man was in his life, he couldn’t imagine a future without him there in some way. 

“Yes, Lucas, I promise. I want you here. George wants you here. And the invitation to the Ball still stands - if you want it. As a colleague, and maybe as a friend.” Lockwood smiled at Lucas, a question sitting on his lips. Are we friends? 

“I’d… I’d like that, Lockwood. Of course, I’ve never actually been to a Ball or anything like that, but I’d like to go as part of Lockwood and Co.” 

With the discussion seemingly over, an awkward silence fell over them. 

“I’m going to go…” Lucas nodded at his art supplies, letting his statement trail off. 

“Yes, yes, of course. I’ll see you at dinner?” 

Lucas nodded and headed upstairs with his art supplies in tow. 

Lockwood let his head drop into his hands. It wasn’t the outcome he’d wanted, of course, but he knew it was a possibility. If he was being honest with himself, it was the most likely possibility. 

Lucas didn’t want him, didn’t feel the same way he did. At least he’d let him down softly. He’d taken a considerable risk telling another man that he had feelings for him, and Lucas had handled it with grace and compassion. Lockwood was incredibly grateful and realised, not for the first time, that Lucas was probably far too good for him. 

Deciding not to dwell too much on it, he went to join George in the kitchen. 

George took one look at him and raised an eyebrow in question. “What’s wrong with you?” 

“Delicate as always, George.” 

Turning back to his stove, George simply shrugged.

“I told Lucas how I feel.” 

George’s head whipped around so quickly that it would’ve been comical in any other circumstance. “You what?! First off, congratulations on getting your head out of your arse and admitting your feelings to yourself. Second, you what?!” 

Lockwood shrugged. “I gave him the art supplies. He loved them, by the way, I’ll have to thank Flo for helping me pick them out. I left a note in there that told him how I felt, and asked him to go to the Ball with me.” 

“And…?” 

“And what, George? Look at me. How do you think it went?” 

George hummed in response. Lockwood knew that look on George’s face - the one that said he was trying to figure out a particularly complex puzzle. 

“What exactly did Lucas say?” 

Lockwood dropped his head onto the table. “Why, George? What does it matter?” 

“Did he actually say that he didn’t have feelings for you?”

“Yes.” Wait a minute. Lockwood thought back on it and realised that he’d never actually said he didn’t care for him. “Well… no, I guess not. Not exactly. He said we barely knew each other and that he had too many secrets - that he wasn’t what I wanted. I don’t know, my brain didn’t absorb it all.” 

“Well, Lockwood, you have only known him a week or so. Maybe he has a point. How could you possibly know that you’re in love with him?” 

Lockwood shot up and stared at him. “I didn’t say I was in love with him.” 

George rolled his eyes so hard that Lockwood idly wondered if he saw his own brain. “You didn’t have to, Lockwood. You’re not nearly as good at hiding your emotions as you think you are.” 

“I can’t explain it, George. There’s just this… pull between us. I’ve never felt this way about anyone before.” 

“You’ve also never been in a relationship before.” 

Lockwood conceded the point. “I just… George, I don’t believe in soulmates, but if soulmates did exist, Lucas would be mine. It’s not a feeling I can put into words.” 

George momentarily paused the conversation to ensure that dinner wasn’t burning, before turning back around to Lockwood, a look on his face that told Lockwood he’d figured something out. “Maybe… maybe Lucas needs time. I mean, for Christ’s sake, Lockwood, you literally just rescued him from being owned by someone else. He didn’t say he didn’t feel the same way about you - he said that he had a lot of secrets.” 

Before Lockwood could respond, George continued. “Think of this from his point of view. You bought him a week ago. I know, I know, you don’t see it that way, but that’s literally what it was. This is the first time Lucas has had a stable house, in maybe his entire life. You're his employer. And before you protest, I know that’s not how you see it. But maybe he does. Maybe he needs time. Maybe you need to get to know each other better.” 

Lockwood felt so fucking stupid. “I’m an idiot, George. How can I… you’re right, we’re all he has. He told me as much yesterday at The White Lotus. And I came in with… I’m so stupid.” 

George smiled in amusement. “Yeah, you’re an idiot. But, for what it’s worth, I don’t think Lucas felt pressured by you. I think he knows you well enough already to know that you’re not here to own him. He’s smart. He knows you’re a good person, I just don’t think he knows how to trust yet.” 

“Thank you, Georgie. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” 

“I take appreciation in the form of a raise.” 

“Not going to happen.” 

George shrugged and turned back to his dinner. 

Lockwood felt significantly lighter than he had when he entered the kitchen. Yes, the rejection stung, but George was right. Lucas hadn’t said that he didn’t care for him. Instead, he’d said that he had a lot of secrets. Maybe something could still grow between them, eventually. Even if it didn’t, Lucas planned on staying - and that would have to be enough. 

“Oh, by the way, we got a new case.” 

Perfect, just what Lockwood needed to get his mind off of the Lucas debacle. 

“Oh?” 

“Yeah… but you’re not going to like it.”  

Chapter Text

Lucy sat at the table with George and Lockwood, an uncomfortable tension hanging between her and her boss. 

He had been perfectly nice to her, of course - she hadn’t expected anything different. But it didn’t dispel the awkwardness. She could tell that George knew, too, because he kept shooting questioning glances between her and Lockwood. 

She wanted to sink into the floor. 

Finally, George spoke up. “Well, as fun as this” he looked at both of them again, pointedly this time, “has been, we have a job to do.” 

Lockwood gripped his tea cup just a little tighter. “Get on with it, Georgie.” 

George pushed his glasses up on his nose. “The Lindens are back.” 

Across the table, Lockwood groaned, and let his head fall to the table. “Why?!” 

“Who are the Lindens?” 

George seemed to be waiting for Lockwood to take the lead, but when he stayed silent, he answered. “They’re a married couple - magicals, of course. Rowan and Ryan Linden. They are known for being ruthless and going on crime sprees. No one is quite sure what their abilities are, other than they can alter memories. When people come into contact with them, it’s like their memories are partially wiped clean.” 

“And we’re supposed to go after them?” 

This time Lockwood answered. He picked up his head and looked a bit sheepish. “Ah, yeah, well… if we don’t, they’ll probably come after us.” He rubbed the back of his neck, a nervous habit she’d noticed. 

“Why? What did you do?” 

“Why do you assume I did something?” 

George shot him a glare, and they seemed to have a silent conversation. Finally, George seemed to win and Lockwood spoke up. 

“Okay, I did, but for once I wasn’t being reckless. The Lindens are dealers of dangerous magical objects - we call them relic-men - and they endangered Flo’s life because she was trying to stop them. I was assisting her, and I may have cut one of them with a rapier before they got away. But I also saved Flo’s life.” 

Lucy’s irritation softened considerably. She’d already figured out that he could be reckless, but he was also incredibly loyal and protective. She also knew Flo meant a great deal to him and if he really did save her life, she couldn’t fault him. 

Too much, at least.

 “So, are they back for revenge?” 

“Honestly, I’m not sure. Barnes rang us and told us that they were back, but that he wasn’t sure what their plans were. Lockwood is about the only person though who could track them down. Not many people have the ability to see into the future like he does. If they’re back, it’s because they’re planning something big - big enough that Lockwood’s Talents don’t scare them. I think we need to stop them before they have the chance to put their plans into place.” George shrugged like he was simply reading the latest headlines, instead of telling them about an incredibly risky job that they were meant to undertake. 

Lucy tried to process this information, but it felt like her brain didn’t know what to latch on to first. “What do we know about them?” 

“They’re a married couple. Rowan makes all the decisions, it seems. They’re definitely the more terrifying of the two. Ryan has stronger magical talents. I’m not positive, but I think he is the one who alters memories. Rowan relies more on physical attacks than magical. If they’re back, it’s because they’re trying to steal something extremely valuable.” 

Lucy nodded. “What’s the plan then?” 

**** 

A few hours later, Lucy, George, Flo, and Lockwood were waiting for them at the docks that Lockwood had seen in his visions. They were meant to ambush the couple as soon as they saw them, with DEPRAC waiting quite a bit away so they weren’t spotted. Of course, that also meant that DEPRAC couldn’t be there to assist them if anything went wrong. 

After about twenty minutes, they saw two figures in a boat pulling up to the dock. Lucy and the others waited for them to come closer before revealing themselves. 

Before they came close enough, though, a voice rang out in the air. “Come out, come out, Locky. We know you’re here with your little… friends.” 

Lucy gulped and looked at Lockwood. How the hell had they known they were there?

Lockwood motioned for them to back away slowly. He knew when they were beaten, and there was no easy way to win without the element of surprise. 

This time, a different voice rang out. “Ah, ah, ah! Don’t bother running. We see you.” 

The last part was almost sung, and Lucy felt herself go cold. She had only been on a few magical cases, of course, but she’d heard stories of heists gone wrong and this was definitely one of those that was going wrong - fast. 

She felt Lockwood squeeze her hand in what she assumed was meant to be a reassuring gesture. 

When he let go, she felt him move from beside her. The next thing she knew, he was several metres in front of them with his hands raised. “Ah, Rowan and Ryan - how lovely to see you both on this fine evening. I hope you’re both well.” 

“Give it up, Lockwood. We know you’re here for us - and we know that you have three more people hidden back there.” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m alone. A Lockwood stupidity special.” 

Lucy felt something cold press against her neck and a body press up against her back. Someone was holding a knife to her throat. 

She felt like an idiot for not sensing them. She had been too focused on Lockwood and missed the three figures coming up behind them. Now, she now honed in on them and realised they were uncertain, scared. They didn’t want to be there. 

Lucy put on her most authoritative, dangerous voice. “You don’t have to do this, you know. You can walk away right now. We’ll let you.” 

“Shut up!” 

She felt his hesitancy but decided not to push her luck. Lucy knew that scared people do desperate things. Instead, she focused back on Lockwood, who had been carrying on with the Lindens.

“Why don’t we settle this between you and me? Two on one? C’mon, I’m even at a disadvantage.” 

One of them scoffed. “We’re not falling for that again. Not this time. No, this time we’re going to use some leverage, aren’t we darling?” 

The other one chimed in. “Absolutely, love. In fact… Burt, why don’t you bring out his little boyfriend?” 

Lucy tried hard not to snort at the name. It was probably the nerves, but something about a villain named Burt made her want to chuckle. 

“Up!” The assailant, Burt apparently, was forcing her to her feet. 

Wait. SHE was the little boyfriend? 

Oh, fuck. 

Burt forced her over near the Lindens, so Lockwood could see her. 

Lockwood avoided her gaze. “I have no idea who that is.” 

“Oh really? Well then you won’t mind if we…” Lucy recognized this one as Rowan, based on Lockwood’s description of them. They pointed their knife at Lucy’s throat. “... have a little fun then?” 

She tried not to look at Lockwood, but her eyes were drawn to him, like always. She saw his throat bob and fear - real, genuine fear - entered his eyes. “Let him go. You can do whatever you want with me, just… let him go. He’s not involved in any of this.” 

Rowan laughed, but took their blade away. “Darling, what should we do with them?” 

Ryan shook his head, a maniacal grin on his face. “I don’t know, love. A street rat and a toff? I’m betting on a lovers’ suicide pact. They’d never be accepted by society.” 

Lucy felt a weight settle in her stomach. Ryan was right, even if he was taunting her. They never would be accepted - even if Lockwood could love her as a person, once he knew the truth, they came from two different worlds. The knowledge made her sick. 

Lockwood’s voice washed over her. The steel in it made her shiver - she’d never heard anything like it before. “I’m giving you one chance to walk away. Walk away before you sign your own death warrants.” 

The Lindens laughed, but she felt Burt stiffen beside her. He didn’t want to be part of this. Lowly, Lucy whispered for him to walk away. 

Luckily, this time, he listened. 

After that, all hell broke loose. She saw Lockwood’s eyes change colour as he ran forward. The numbers were even now, two-on-two, and she vaguely heard Flo and George fighting in the distance. She quickly moved to grab Skull out of her pocket now that Burt had his blade away from her throat. 

Before she could get it, though, Rowan held her in a death grip. “Oh Locky, baby. Look who I have.” 

Lockwood froze, but it didn’t matter. By that time, Rowan had her knife buried in Lucy’s side. 

They pulled it out and Lucy vaguely felt the blood pouring down her side, before everything went black. 

—-

The blade was in Lucas’ side before Lockwood could even react. Lucas fell forward, and Lockwood felt like his world was crashing down to the ground with Lucas. 

Immediately, his fury took over and his Sight affected Rowan and Ryan’s vision, making them think it was pitch black. With the two of them momentarily blinded, he quickly stabbed them, letting them fall to the ground. He didn’t know if they were dead, and frankly he didn’t care. DEPRAC could arrest them or bury them - he just needed to get to Lucas. 

Dropping to his knees next to Lucas’ prone form, he quickly felt for a pulse. On his neck there was a weak, uneven pulse, but a pulse nonetheless. He scooped the smaller man up into his arms and whispered for him to hold on. 

Running over to Flo and George, he breathed a sigh of relief that they had managed to subdue and bind their attackers. 

“A horse! I need a horse. I need to get Lucas to Quilliam - he was stabbed.” 

Flo nodded and took off, arriving only a few minutes later astride a beautiful, chestnut mare. 

“Stole her from the pub. Don’t think they’ll miss her for a little while.” 

Lockwood nodded and placed Lucas gently into the saddle, freeing up his arms, so he could climb up. Once situated, he quickly arranged Lucas in his arms and held him close, grabbing the reins and taking off as fast as he could while keeping Lucas secure. 

When he arrived at Quilliam’s house, he gently balanced Lucas on the saddle again, while he climbed down. As soon as he was on the ground, he lifted up Lucas as gently as he could and took off to Quilliam’s door. He knocked frantically and soon Oliver, Quilliam’s boyfriend, was opening up. 

“Lockwood?” 

“It’s Lucas - please, I need Quilliam.” 

Oliver nodded and called for Quilliam, who came rushing up behind him. 

“He was stabbed. I don’t… I don’t…” 

“Follow me. Ollie, can you take care of the horse? Lockwood, is anyone else coming?” 

“George and Flo know where I am. I’m sure they’ll be by.” 

Lockwood held Lucas secure in his arms as he followed Quilliam through the house to the spare bedroom. 

“Put him on the bed, gently.” 

Lockwood resisted the urge to roll his eyes - as though he wouldn’t be gentle with the man cradled in his arms. But, he knew that Quilliam was just doing his duty as a healer, so he bit back any remarks that threatened to escape his tongue. 

He laid Lucas down gently on top of the covers, cringing when he saw how pale the other man had become. He could see the slow rise and fall of Lucas’ chest, but he still felt for his pulse anyway - just to reassure himself. 

“Lockwood, I need you to move, so I can examine him.” 

He didn’t want to be parted from Lucas’ side, but he also knew that Quilliam needed space. Reluctantly, they swapped places. 

“Where is he hurt?” 

“Rowan Linden stabbed him in the chest - on his right side. He collapsed almost immediately.” 

Quilliam swore under his breath. “If it was Rowan, the knife would likely be enchanted. I’m going to need to undress him, so I can get a better look at the wound. Lockwood, I need you to go and wait with Ollie.” 

“I’m not leaving him.” Lockwood gritted his teeth and planted his feet, as though Quilliam would try to forcibly remove him. 

The other man turned and looked at him. “He is going to bleed out if you argue with me. You can be pissed at me later, but right now I need you to leave.” 

Lockwood turned on his heel and left. He would’ve argued more, but he wouldn’t risk Lucas’ life by being stubborn. Instead, he went to the front door to wait for George and Flo, who he was sure wouldn’t be too far behind him. 

Sure enough, not ten minutes later, his two closest friends were coming up the pathway to Quilliam’s house. 

Flo asked where the horse was and offered to take her back to the pub. Lockwood nodded gratefully and asked Ollie to show Flo where he’d tied up the mare. 

Lockwood and George retired to the kitchen while Ollie prepared a cuppa for them. 

Quietly, George told them that DEPRAC had taken over at the scene, but didn’t give Lockwood any further details. Lockwood didn’t care about the Lindens’ status anyway. 

An hour later, Quilliam appeared in the kitchen looking exhausted, but relieved. 

“He’s going to be fine. The wound itself was mostly superficial, though it was bleeding rather profusely. I was right though - there was something on the blade that embedded itself into his body and that’s what made him pass out. I managed to remove most of it and heal up the wound. I’m going to have to sleep for the next few days, though.” Quilliam tried to chuckle at that last part, but it was clear that he really was exhausted. 

“I’ll pay you whatever –” 

“I don’t want your money, Lockwood. Believe it or not, I’ve already grown to care for Lucas.” 

“Thank you, Quilliam. Truly. Can I go see him?” 

Quilliam nodded and Lockwood went back into the room. 

Lucas was laying on the bed where Lockwood had left him, but was now dressed in a large shirt and covered by a blanket. He sat in the chair next to the bed and reached for Lucas’ hand. 

When he felt the pulse thrumming strong and steady in Lucas’ wrist, Lockwood began to openly weep. It wasn’t until that very moment that Lockwood admitted to himself that he could have lost Lucas. He knew that he was falling deeply in love with this man, who had blown into his life like a hurricane. Even if his feelings weren’t reciprocated, it didn’t dampen his feelings at all. 

He was still deeply connected to Lucas and thought he always would be. 

After what could have been three minutes or thirty, his tears began to dry, and he opened up the door to Lucas’ room, silently indicating to the others that they could come in. He knew that Lucas would want to see them, too. 

Flo must’ve returned at some point while Lockwood was in there, as she was the first to come in. George, Quilliam, and Ollie followed, silently standing at the back of the room. 

A few minutes later, Lucas began to stir. 

“Lockwood? What happened?” 

His voice was hoarse, and Quilliam quickly brought him a cup of water, helping the smaller man to sit up and take small sips. 

“You were stabbed by Rowan.” 

“Lockwood’s quick thinking likely saved your life. He brought you here, and we were able to heal you.” 

Suddenly, Lucas’ face took on a look of pure horror. 

“Lockwood, I’m so, so sorry. Please, I can explain everything.” 

Lockwood felt his brows draw together in confusion. What was he talking about? 

“Lucas, explain what? Nothing that happened was your fault. You couldn’t have known that they were going to stab you.” 

“I mean… you must know by now. You must’ve seen… or felt… or…”

What on earth was he talking about? Lockwood wondered to himself. He wondered if maybe there was still some poison in Lucas’ system, causing his thoughts to muddy. 

“Well, you must know I’m –” 

Quilliam cleared his throat, cutting off Lucas’ ramble.

“No, Lucas, he doesn’t. We managed to shield you.” 

“Shield me from what? What the bloody hell is going on here?” Lockwood felt the anger rise up within him. He wasn’t angry that Lucas was keeping secrets from him, which of course did sting but wasn’t anything that he didn’t already know, but that Quilliam of all people knew and he didn’t. 

“Love, I think you should tell him.” Flo’s voice came from behind him, a soothing tone that he wasn’t accustomed to hearing from her. 

Did Flo know, too? 

“Lucas?” Lockwood looked at Lucas with a plea in his eyes. Please tell me. Please trust me. 

“I… My name isn’t Lucas, Lockwood. It’s Lucy.” 

“Lucy?” 

“Lucy.” He hadn’t noticed until that moment that Lucas’ – Lucy’s voice has become significantly higher than he was used to. 

“But Lucy is a girl’s name…” 

Lucy stared at him, but said nothing. 

“You’re… you’re a girl?” 

“A woman, but yes. Please, don’t be mad.” 

Lockwood was spiralling. He didn’t even know how to process what was happening. 

Lucas - Lucy - had lied to him. 

He was in love with a woman, not a man. 

Was he even in love with her, though? Did he even know her enough to be in love with her? 

“When you said… when you said you had too many secrets, this is what you were referring to, wasn’t it?” 

He, no she, nodded. 

“And Quilliam and Flo knew?” 

George cleared his throat. “And me.” 

Lockwood shot a look at Ollie, who nodded his head, too. 

“So was I the only one who didn’t know?” 

George spoke up again. “To be fair, she didn’t tell any of us. We all just figured it out on our own.” 

It was too much. 

Everything was too much. 

Lockwood stood up - and he ran. 

Chapter Text

Lucy watched, frozen, as Lockwood bolted out the door. She didn’t know what to say. What could she say? She’d lied to him and he had every right to hate her. 

“Oh, honey.” Quilliam enveloped her in a side hug and for the first time, she noticed the tears streaming silently down her face. 

“Do you think he hates me?” 

This time, it was George who spoke up. “I don’t think it’s possible for him to hate you. I think it was just a lot at once. He’ll come round.” 

“What if he doesn’t?” 

“Well, then I’ll kick his arse for being a prick.” Lucy laughed at Flo’s deadpan declaration. She hadn’t known Flo for very long but she absolutely believed that she would.

Lucy looked around at the people gathered around her - a group that had quickly become her friends, her family, and she was simply grateful . 

She just hoped Lockwood remained part of this newfound family. 

Lockwood ran without a destination in mind. 

He just knew he had to get away . 

But before he knew it, he was standing in front of Uncle Barnes’ house. 

Of course this is where his feet would take him. Despite their differences, Barnes’ house was always a safe place he could stay - both when he was young and now as an adult. It was where he and Jessica went after their parents died, where he went after Jess died, and where he could simply appear without being asked too many questions. Usually. 

He went to knock on the front door, but before he could, it swung open, revealing his slightly scowling uncle. 

“Was wondering when you’d show up.” 

“How’d you know?” 

“George rang. Come on in.” He moved aside, letting Lockwood enter. 

He moved to Barnes’ sofa, locked in his own mind. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” 

Lockwood weighed his options. He hadn’t told Barnes that Lucas/Lucy was living with them, only that she was a new hire. Truthfully, he’d figure it out soon anyway, and he could use a mostly objective opinion about the situation. 

He sighed. “Do you remember my new hire, Lucas?” 

“Of course, why?” 

“Well, Lucas is actually Lucy . She lied about being a man. I found out tonight and I…” he rubbed his hand down his face. “I didn’t take it very well.” 

“You ran away, you mean.” 

“Did George tell you?” 

“Didn’t have to, Anthony. I know you.” Barnes stared at him pointedly, a look that told him he’s known him his entire life and not to bother with his usual Lockwood bullshit.

Lockwood let his head fall against the back of the sofa. “I just feel so lied to, you know? Can I ever trust her again?” 

Barnes sat in silence for a few moments, clearly trying to work through some thoughts. Lockwood recognised that face - it was the same one his uncle wore when he was on the cusp of a major breakthrough in one of his cases. 

“Why did she lie to you?” 

“What?” 

“ Why did she lie to you?” 

“She…” Lockwood paused. Why had she lied to him? To them? He… he didn’t know. 

Fuck . He had left before she ever got the chance to explain. 

Barnes wore an infuriatingly knowing smirk. “You have no idea do you?”

“No.” 

“Ran out before she could explain?” 

“It’s annoying when you do this.” 

“No it’s not. You just hate being wrong.” 

Lockwood groaned, annoyed at how easily the older man could read him. 

“Fine, yes, you’re right. Happy?” 

“No. Believe it or not, Anthony, I want you to be happy. And you, like your dad, sometimes let your emotions overrule logic. I’m simply here to point out the obvious.” 

“Okay, infinitely wise Uncle, why would she lie to me?” 

Barnes blew out a breath. “Tell me about her history. How did she come to work for you?” 

Lockwood told him what he knew - she was an indentured servant to Jacobs and when her contract was complete (leaving out that he was the one who bought her out), she came to work for him. 

“Okay, so think of this from her perspective. She was owned by a man, essentially lived on the streets of London, and then went to work for a different, powerful man. As much as you and I respect women, this is not an easy place for her to live. It’s often dangerous for women to be anywhere other than her own home - and even that’s not always safe. She has been at risk of being hurt, used, abandoned, even killed simply for existing. Add to that the fact that she was an indentured servant and she had virtually no rights. Now tell me, do you blame her for lying?” 

Lockwood felt like the prick that he was often accused of being. 

“But why didn’t she tell me ?” He could hear the whine in his own voice - and he hated it. 

“Do you really want me to answer that or do you just want to sit here and think about all the ways you’ve screwed up?” 

“No, I’ve pretty much got it.” 

“Well, excellent. I’ll go make us both a cuppa, yeah? You’re welcome to stay on the couch but honestly, you look like shit and I can smell the blood still on your clothes. You should go home.” 

Home . Would she be there? Or did he scare her away? Would she live with Quilliam now? 

He wouldn’t blame her if she did. 

Lockwood shook his head. Now that Uncle Barnes had pointed it out, he realised how sticky and gross he felt. He had Lucy’s blood still clinging to his clothes and his body. He needed it off. 

Barnes came back a few moments later with his tea - perfectly prepared, like always. 

“Thanks, Uncle.” 

“You’re welcome. Do you want to know about the Lindens?” 

“Honestly? No. I just want to know if we have to fear them anymore.” 

“I can say that they’ll never be a problem for you or Flo again.” 

Lockwood nodded in thanks. Barnes had all but confirmed that they were dead, but as long as he’d never said the words, Lockwood could convince himself that they were simply in prison for the rest of their lives. 

He didn’t relish taking lives - but he also didn’t feel an ounce of remorse. He would do it again to protect the people he lo– cared for.

“But there is something we need to talk about. From what I gathered from George and Flo, your powers went… beyond what you normally do with them. They both said they saw your eyes change - but neither knows exactly what you did.” 

“It’s true. My Sight did something I… wasn’t expecting.” 

“Do you want to talk about it?” 

“I have a feeling that isn’t actually a request , Uncle.” 

“Your feelings are spot-on. Tell me what happened.” 

Lockwood shrugged. “I made it so all they could see was black. It was just long enough that I could get them away from Lucy. They had stabbed her, Uncle Barnes. And she’s… she’s my employee. My responsibility. I don’t regret it.” 

“I know you don’t, and I don’t think you should.” 

He nodded, thankful that his uncle understood. “That’s… That’s not all though. I didn’t do it consciously . I just knew that I needed them to get away from her, and my powers acted without me consciously telling them to do so.” 

Barnes leaned forward, considering the young man in front of him. “You didn’t do it intentionally?” 

Lockwood shook his head. 

“Huh.” Barnes leaned back in his seat and scratched his chin. “It’s not unusual for powers to grow as you age, but for that to happen without a conscious decision on your part is quite a development. Does anything else feel different about your Talent?” 

“Not really.” 

“Well, provided that it doesn’t happen again, we’ll just assume it had something to do with the heat of the moment. Just be careful, Anthony.” 

“I know, uncle. Thank you, for everything.” 

“You’re welcome. Go home, kid. I’m sure George is worried about you.” 

If he is, he shouldn’t be. Lockwood thought to himself, bitterly. 

He had fucked up. He didn’t deserve George’s concern. 

After he’d finished his tea, he started the walk home. Barnes had offered to let him take a horse, but Lockwood wanted to walk. He needed to clear his head. 

He had lied to his uncle, not wanting to worry him more. His powers did feel different. Not usually, but when he was near Lucy, he felt more powerful. 

He had noticed it before, but never as much as he had earlier in the night. When he was worried about her specifically, and close to her, his power surged. Lockwood wanted to ask George if he had ever heard of something like that, but he didn’t even know how to ask a question like that. 

Lockwood was also confused about what Lucy’s revelation meant to him - to them . Uncle Barnes was right - her lies were logical. They were a form of survival, and damned if he didn’t understand packing a part of yourself away to keep yourself safe. His hidden part was his emotions, his love - hers was her identity. Both of these secrets and hidden parts of themselves had been revealed as their lives crossed paths. 

He’d been selfish. He’d been an idiot. She was the same person she was yesterday, just with a different name. 

But what did that mean for him ? Not for his feelings - which he knew hadn’t really changed. Instead, did that mean he didn’t actually like men? 

No. He thought back on all the times that Quilliam had called him out on being attracted to men, and realised with sudden clarity that Lucas had simply allowed him to admit what he’d always known. That he liked both men and women. 

Something about the realisation was liberating, even if it wasn’t particularly relevant to his future. He was in love with Lucy Carlyle, and he knew that he would never so much as look at another, even if Lucy wanted to only be his friend. 

Before he knew it, he was standing in front of 35 Portland Row. 

He took a deep breath and turned the knob.  

Quilliam had taken Lucy and George back to 35 Portland Row in his carriage. Lucy was more than capable of walking now, but he told them that they’d had a rough enough day without the added trek home. 

She and George were grateful, of course, but Lucy had been locked in her own thoughts since everyone had comforted her. 

Part of her was angry. For someone who allegedly had feelings for her, he sure took off quickly - before she could even begin to explain. It was like he didn’t want an explanation. 

The other part of her, though, understood. She knew what it was like to be lied to, and how bad it could hurt. 

But still. 

But still . 

The least the prick could have done is let her say something instead of running away .

She arrived back at her - their - home, and, for the first time since her secret came out, she  wondered if she’d even be allowed to stay.

George made them a late snack and they ate in companionable silence, both lost in their own thoughts. He turned in after their small meal, clearly exhausted. Lucy wanted nothing more than to follow George to sleep, but her thoughts were running too wild. 

Instead, she made herself a cuppa and retired to the library - the same place where it seemed so many twists and turns had occurred in her life in such a short period of time. 

She must’ve gotten lost in her own thoughts because the next thing she knew, the front door was opening. Before she could react, Lockwood had walked into the library and startled at the sight of her. 

“Oh, hello. I didn’t… I didn’t know anyone would still be awake. I can…” Lockwood pointed to the stairs, indicating that he could leave.

“Don’t be silly, if anyone should leave, it should be me.” She tried to quickly slip past him, but he lightly caught her wrist. 

She definitely did not feel sparks shoot from where his fingertips touched her bare skin. Absolutely not. 

“No, stay. Please?” 

He sounded almost pleading and Lucy figured she owed it to him to listen. 

“All right,” she said softly before sitting in the seat she had just vacated. He sat in the chair across from her, looking absolutely exhausted . 

“I… need to apologise. You didn’t deserve for me to run off like that. Not before you at least had a chance to explain.” 

“No, I didn’t. But, I need to apologise to you too, for lying. I –” 

He cut her off. “You don’t need to apologise for anything. I was an idiot. I didn’t stop to consider even for a second why you might have done it.” He scratched the back of his neck - that damned adorable nervous habit. “Uncle Barnes talked some sense into me.” 

Lucy felt the world tilt beneath her chair. “Barnes… Barnes knows?” 

“Not about you living here! Just that you are my employee and that you’re really Lucy. He helped me see it from your perspective - about why you wouldn’t want anyone to know you’re a woman. I, admittedly, often forget how dangerous it can be to be a woman here in London. I should know better considering I’m a bloody detective, but...” 

She let his words wash over her. She was relieved that he did understand - or at least, that he was starting to, but she also thought that he was missing the bigger danger. 

“Lockwood, being a woman in London is dangerous, yes, but that’s not why I’ve been hidden my entire life.” 

His brows furrowed in obvious confusion. “Well then, why?” 

She stared at him, willing him to understand. When it was clear that he wasn’t going to, she rolled her eyes. “Lockwood, I’m a magical woman. Being a woman in London is nothing compared to the danger I’ll be in if anyone ever finds out that I am magical.” 

Lockwood’s eyes went wide. “Oh, fuck .” He stood up and ran his fingers through his hair, pacing in front of the fireplace. 

“Lucy, I…” 

“I know.” 

“What now ?” 

Now it was her turn to look confused. “What do you mean?” 

“How do I, how do we , keep you safe?” 

“That’s not… that’s not your responsibility, Lockwood.” 

He turned and dropped to his knees in front of her, looking the most serious she’d ever seen him. “Lucy, it is my fault that you were… revealed at all. If you hadn’t crossed paths with me, no one would ever know.” 

“Maybe, maybe not. But even if I could continue to hide, I’d still be a street rat living on a dirt floor, and stealing for a living. I think that’s a pretty fair trade, all things considered. Besides, Quilliam and Flo were able to figure it out immediately. George took a little longer but he got there. It’s been harder and harder to hide… well, me, as I’ve gotten older. When I was a child, it was easy. Now…” She looked down at her body, hoping she didn’t need to elaborate.

“Now?” 

She gave him a deadpan look until his cheeks turned red and he let out an “oh…” 

“Yeah…”

They sat in awkward silence for a few moments before she continued. 

“And, Lockwood…” She bit the inside of her cheek, embarrassed about what she needed to ask. 

“Yes…?” He gently prompted her, when it was clear she wasn’t going to continue. 

“Well, I just mean… Look, I understand that you probably don’t want me staying here now that you know the truth, but could I continue working for Lockwood and Co? At least until I find a place to stay and…” She was desperately fighting against the tears threatening to escape. 

“Lucy, I don’t want you to leave. Did… did you think I was going to ask you to leave?” 

She nervously fiddled with the hem of her shirt. “I know it’s not exactly proper for you and George to live with a woman you’re not related to, and I don’t want to do anything to sully your reputation.” 

Lockwood let out an actual snort. “Trust me, Luce, if my reputation is still intact after years of, well, being me , living with a woman isn’t going to be the thing that sullies it. I don’t want you to leave. Please, please stay.” 

“Luce?” 

“Hmm?” 

“You called me ‘Luce.’” 

He tilted his head like he was trying to remember something. “Did I? Is that… is that ok?” 

“Yeah, yeah that’s ok. Just… I don’t think anyone has ever given me a nickname before. At least not one that was… nice.” 

“I’m sorry that I ran out. And I’m sorry that you’ve had so much to fear in your life. But, Luce, you’re one of us now. We will protect you. George, Flo, Quilliam, Ollie, Barnes, and… and even me. Especially me.”

Lucy looked at him trying to puzzle out what he meant by that last bit. 

Maybe he felt responsible for her - because he believed that it was his fault that her identity was compromised.  

Whatever the reason, this was the first time anyone had ever offered to protect her. A part of her soul felt like it was beginning to heal just by being recognised as someone who deserved to be protected. 

Like she mattered.

“Thank you, Lockwood. I’d really like to stay. Portland Row has become the only true home I’ve ever known.” 

He stood up. “Then, it’s settled. Oh, and I’ll have Flo take you shopping again tomorrow.” 

“For what? I can still wear the same clothes –” 

“Be that as it may, I want you to have the option to wear women’s clothes - if you want, of course. I don’t mean to presume, but you did say that… well, it was getting harder to hide . Plus…” there was that neck rub again. He really was adorable when he was embarrassed. “I’d still really like you to accompany us to the DEPRAC Ball. You are part of Lockwood and Co, after all. And you deserve a beautiful dress - if you want.” 

A dress ? A beautiful dress? She’d never really cared what clothes she wore. They were functional more than anything else, but she would be lying if she said she’d never imagined herself dressed up in a gorgeous dress. 

“I’d… I’d love that, Lockwood.” 

“Well then, it’s decided. Flo will come by tomorrow and take you shopping!” 

**** 

True to his word, Flo was there bright and early the next morning. 

“No expenses spared, Flo.” 

“Oh don’t worry, Locky. With you paying, I never hold back.” She turned to Lucy. “Ready to go?” 

“I think so,” Lucy said with a massive smile on her face. 

She and Flo arrived soon after at the same clothing shop that they’d been to just a week or so before. 

Instead of Stella, another woman with bright red hair stood behind the counter. She had on a gorgeous blue dress with a wide hoop skirt and Lucy was instantly in awe of it. 

“Flo!” 

“Hannah!” 

The two women exchanged cheek kisses in greeting. 

“Hannah, this is Lucy. She’s living with Anthony Lockwood and we need some new clothes for her. Especially something for the DEPRAC Ball.” 

Lucy saw Hannah’s eyes twinkle. “Oh the DEPRAC Ball? And she is going with our lovely Locky?” 

Flo answered before Lucy could. “Yes, as his associate .” 

Lucy never thought words could sound like an eye roll, but somehow, Flo managed it. She tried hard not to think about what the other woman was trying to imply. 

“Hmm… well, let’s see. Liz, love, come over here. Lucy, this is my wife Liz. Liz, this is Lucy, one of Mr. Lockwood’s associates .” 

Lucy hadn’t noticed the other woman tucked into the corner reading a novel until Hannah called her over. She wore a purple top that looked more like a corset than a shirt and tight black trousers. Lucy only noticed what Hannah and Liz were wearing because they were so different from what she was accustomed to women wearing. 

When Liz came over, she looked thoroughly bored with Lucy already. 

“Can you get Flo and Lucy some tea?” 

“Sure, Hannah. How do you take it?” Despite her stoic demeanour, Liz seemed pleasant. They both told her and she quickly disappeared into another room.   

“Well then, Lucy, let’s find you a dress!”

**** 

What felt like hours later, Lucy was finally leaving the shop, pleased with her selections. The DEPRAC Ball was tomorrow and for the first time, Lucy felt excited . 

Chapter Text

Lucy was nervous. 

She didn’t know the first thing about dancing and now she had to go to a fucking Ball? What the hell did she get herself into? 

“Oh my god, calm down. I can hear your thoughts from here and it’s ruining my beauty sleep.” 

“You’re a letter opener - how the hell… you know what? Never mind. I’m not arguing with you today.” 

“That dress looks horrible by the way.” 

Lucy turned around and stared at Skull. “Aw, that’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me.” 

She turned back and looked at herself in the mirror, for once, pleased with what she saw. 

Hannah had picked out a great dress for her. It was teal and flowed down just past her knees. There were two layers to the skirt, both the same colour - the top one a sheer fabric and the bottom one silky. She had what looked like a black corset around her torso that tied in the front. Above that, black lace covered the outside the front of the silk dress all the way up to her neck and black straps formed an x behind her. The whole thing was tied together at the top by a black silk bow. 

It was modest - she was covered up to her neck and down past her knees - but at the same time, she’d never felt so exposed. This was her first time in memory entering the world as a woman and she felt as though she had so much skin on display - despite the reassurances from everyone who had helped her that she was quite covered. 

On her feet, she wore comfortable laced up black boots that went to her knees. She, of course, wore her thigh sheaths that held a blade on each side. 

Just because I’m going to a Ball, doesn’t mean I should be unprepared, she thought to herself. 

Ollie had come over to help her get ready and she was incredibly grateful. She’d taken a liking to Quilliam’s boyfriend, and finally got to appreciate him without bleeding all over his house. 

Ollie was warm with a kind face to match. He had dark brown wavy hair, long enough to tuck behind his ears, and piercing blue eyes. He wasn’t tall - Lucy came up to his chin and she was fairly short, even for a woman. She’d found out that he was a librarian but had been an actor in his younger years, hence his knowledge of hair and makeup. 

He combed her hair and pinned it back, leaving most of her still-short hair flowing down, but pinning it back to keep it out of her face. He applied a light layer of makeup - just a hint of colour on her eyes (blue) and cheeks (red). She’d never worn makeup before and even just this light layer was making her a bit itchy so Ollie kept it simple. 

Before he’d left to go get ready himself, she told him to thank Quilliam again. She still couldn’t believe she’d been stabbed not even two days ago and she felt like it had never happened. There wasn’t even a line left to indicate where she had been injured. He assured her that he would, gave her a big hug, and wished her good luck. 

Which meant she now had far too much time to obsess over every perceived flaw she found. Small scars littered her arms and upper back, which were exposed to the world. Those ones didn’t bother her. Her mom and Jacobs had preferred to leave marks on her upper legs, lower back, and rear end, and Hannah had made sure to help her with a dress that hid anything she wanted hidden. 

“Like it even matters what you look like.” 

Lucy whipped around and stared at Skull. “What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“Please. That boy is so under your thumb, you could walk around in boys’ clothes and he’d still – oh wait. He did!” Skull cackled in laughter. Lucy rolled her eyes. He wasn’t nearly as funny as he thought he was. 

“Come off it. He liked Lucas, not Lucy. Lockwood doesn’t even like women.” 

In response, the Skull just cackled and went mercifully quiet. 

A knock came at her door a few moments later. 

“Come in!” 

“Stop fidgeting, Lockwood!”

“I do not fidget, George.” 

George looked about ready to stab Lockwood with the closest sharp object. He was absolutely not fidgeting. Merely… adjusting his suit. Repeatedly. 

“I’m not sure why you’re so nervous. You’ve already poured your heart out to her. It’s not really like this is a typical first date.” 

He spun on his heel to face George. “It’s not a date, George. It’s business. Besides, you’re going with us. Can’t be much of a date if you’re tagging along.” 

“Fine, I’m going to get ready. Stop fidgeting!” 

Lockwood looked back at himself in the mirror. He looked good. He knew he looked good. He wore a crisp white button down shirt, teal waistcoat and matching tie, black trousers, and shiny black shoes. Over his waist coat, he wore a long jacket that matched the waistcoat. It had an ornately beaded collar and clasp that closed the coat over his chest. 

It wasn’t a colour he normally wore, but Flo came back yesterday with it and told him to wear it. He knew she was up to something, but also knew better than to question it or fight her on it. 

He knew this wasn’t a date. He wasn’t sure that Lucy was interested in him at all. They didn’t really have time to talk about that in the chaos of the last two days. But since she hadn’t said anything, despite the truth coming out, he assumed his feelings were one-sided and she was just letting him down gently. 

Just then, he was struck by a sudden idea. He raced up the stairs to Jessica’s room, hesitating only briefly at the door. Coming into this room was always pain, but today the pain was overridden by a sense of giddiness. He knew just the perfect piece to  complete Lucy’s outfit. 

He entered the room and quickly grabbed the necklace, thanking Jess for still being there for him. He took a deep breath and knocked on Lucy’s attic door. 

“Come in!” 

Slowly, he walked up the stairs, and felt the air leave his lungs in a woosh. She was breathtaking. Even as a man, she was pretty - but now… now, she put the works of history’s greatest artists to shame. Words couldn’t describe the beauty standing in front of him. 

He also understood why Flo had picked out this outfit for him. They matched. They looked like a couple. 

He wasn’t going to survive the night. 

“Wow.” Real articulate. 

“Thank you.” She hung her head, but Lockwood didn’t miss the blush that creeped up her cheeks. 

“Oh… I thought you might like this. To go with your outfit. It belonged to someone… someone very important to me, but she’d want you to have it.” 

Lockwood handed over the necklace, both of them lingering too long before pulling their hands away. She held it up examining it. It was a glowing teal orb surrounded by an egg-shaped locket,  ornately decorated with black vine-like swirls and affixed to a black chain. 

“It’s beautiful.” 

“It’s yours, if you want it.” 

Lucy’s head snapped up, eyes meeting his. “Lockwood, I can’t… I can’t take this.” 

He chuckled. “Oh come on Luce, don’t you know it’s rude to refuse gifts.” He winked, hoping he didn’t come off as demanding. “Do you want me to put it on?” 

She nodded and turned around, lifting up her short hair. Lockwood took back the necklace, laying it on her chest and bringing the ends back and clasping them together. He wanted to lean in and taste her skin, learn what she would feel like under his lips. 

Instead, he let the chain fall against her neck and took a big step back. Clearing his throat, he told her the carriage would arrive shortly and she should come downstairs when she was ready and took off down the stairs. 

He needed to get away before he did or said something that he couldn’t take back. At the bottom of the stairs, he nearly collided with George. 

Lockwood took in George’s appearance. He wore a simple black suit with a white button up shirt. 

“I see you went all out, Georgie.” 

George pushed his glasses up his nose. “You’re lucky I’m wearing trousers.” 

“Fair enough. The world thanks you.” 

He went to check for the carriage while Lockwood waited by the stairs for Lucy. 

Just as George announced the carriage's arrival, Lucy came down the stairs. The sight of his sister’s protective charm necklace made his breath hitch, even if he had seen it just a few moments ago. For the first time in a long time, something reminded him of Jess and he felt happy instead of sad or hollow. 

He smiled at her. “Ready?” 

She shrugged. “As I’ll ever be.” 

He draped her black shawl over her shoulders and opened the door, leading them both out into the night. 

Lucy accepted the shawl gratefully and headed out to the carriage. She’d seen carriages, of course, but had never been in one herself. 

Unsurprisingly, this one seemed fancier than the average carriage being pulled through the streets of London. It had a covered wooden top, with a glass window to peer out of upon its door, and plush seating within the space’s dark red interior. Two large horses stood in front, ready to take them to their destination. 

George was already in there, a bag set next to him taking up the rest of his bench. She sat facing him, moving over to allow Lockwood to follow her in. Once the door was closed, Lockwood slipped on what she recognised as his business face. 

“So, this Ball isn’t just for fun. It’s a job.” 

“Trust me, Lockwood, no one thinks this is going to be fun except you,” George deadpanned at Lockwood. 

Lockwood brushed by it as though he’d said nothing. “Luce, I’m going to point out and introduce you to a lot of people. I apologise in advance, but these are all people you’re going to meet a lot through DEPRAC so you should start to familiarise yourself with their names and faces.” 

“Well that doesn’t seem much like work - though I’m not great with names and faces.” 

“That’s not the job part, Luce.” Lockwood looked slightly apologetic and suddenly Lucy felt nervous. “We meant to talk to you about this last night, but… well, it got a bit lost in… everything.” He grimaced, and she wanted to comfort him, remind him that it was okay, but she refrained. 

“Anyway. The Ball is being held in a museum that just happens to have a book of runes that we’ve been trying to find for a long time. Unfortunately, they don’t let non-magical academics see it -”

“Which is discriminatory if you ask me!” George added, clearly bitter about being shut out from the research. 

“I agree, Georgie. Which is why we’re going to… borrow it. It has some things in there that George wants. I don’t pretend to understand, but you and me, Luce, are going to sneak in and grab it. Should be easy, considering everyone will be at the Ball.”

Lucy had her doubts about how easy this job was going to be, but she trusted his lead. 

Before she could voice any doubts, they came to a stop and the driver called back, letting them know they’d arrived. Lockwood helped her down from the carriage, and led her inside with their arms intertwined. 

Lucy wasn’t sure what she expected, but the ballroom was far more subdued than she anticipated. It was simply a very large open space with wooden floors, white walls, and snacks and drinks lined up along the back wall. 

What the room lacked in decoration, it more than made up for with colourful humans. She saw Ollie, Quilliam, Liz, and Hannah dancing closely amongst other couples. Hannah was wearing a high necked floor length black lace dress and Liz wore a lower cut, but still floor-length, purple dress with a black lace top. They both waved to her as they twirled each other elegantly across the dance floor. 

Quilliam and Ollie quickly spotted them and headed over. Lucy had to smile at their outfits. They wore nearly matching vests. Quilliam had a black button down underneath a blue and black vest and Ollie wore a white button down underneath a dark blue and silver vest. Both vests had the same designs and they wore the same black slacks and shoes. 

“You look great, Lucy,” Quilliam said before pulling her into a quick hug. 

“I agree, but then again - I helped put her together.” Ollie shot her a quick wink and she felt herself relax marginally. 

“Let’s dance, Ollie!” And with that, they were gone. 

Two women, both in purple dresses, approached us next. Lucy didn’t recognize them. 

One of them, a woman in a pretty sheer, off the shoulder pale purple dress pulled Lockwood into a hug. “Aw, Locky, how good to see you! Who’s your date?” 

“This is Lucy, my new associate. Lucy, this is Lindsey, an old friend of the family. And this,” he nodded at the other woman, “is Fiona, another family friend.” 

Fiona was wearing a beautiful white dress with elaborate purple swirls decorating it. Lucy noticed they both looked incredibly beautiful and she began to feel a bit self conscious. 

“Well, we’ll let you get back to your associate.” Fiona shot a wink at Lucy, who promptly blushed. The two women took their leave with a small curtsey. 

Another woman in an emerald green suit followed quickly after, grabbing George’s hand. “Dance with me Georgie!” George sputtered but followed her anyway. 

“And that was Lily,” Lockwood said with a chuckle. 

“Does she have a… thing for George?” 

“Not really, no. She just likes to flirt with him and make him splutter. She’s one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet though. I hope you get to talk to her at some point.” 

Lucy already felt like her head was spinning with how many people he’d introduced, and she had a feeling he wasn’t even close to done. 

“The men dancing over there,” he nodded to two men who looked a little too young to actually be called men, “sometimes work for us. In the black suit with teal tie is Vee and the one dancing with him in the other… outfit… is Simon.” 

“You mean the red dress?” 

“Sure we’ll call it a dress.” She laughed - it certainly wasn’t like any dress she’d ever seen. 

“Okay, now these people are important so remember them. Do you see the people with Quilliam?” She nodded. “Kat and Bobby. They work with Quilliam sometimes so you’ll likely see them around. Kat is wearing the silver and black dress, and she’s dancing with Lena in the black suit. Next to them, in the vest that is clearly a less-impressive green version of mine, is Bobby, and dancing with him in the deep green dress is Megan.”

“And who is that dancing with Quilliam? In the dark blue dress?” 

“Jenny. Honestly, I don’t know much about her - just that she’s friends with him and Ollie.” 

“There are way too many people to remember.” 

Lockwood squeezed her hand. “It’s ok. I’ve been coming to these things for years and I still don’t know most of the people here. Come on, let’s dance.” 

“I have no idea how to dance.” 

He winked at her. “Luckily for you, I do!” Pulling her out onto the dance floor, he arranged them so they mimicked the other dancing couples. He patiently taught her the steps for a very simple waltz. Eventually, she even stopped stepping on his toes, but just barely. Just when she was getting comfortable and beginning to enjoy herself, two women came and asked them each for a dance. 

A woman in another beautiful, floor-length teal dress, asked if she could borrow Lockwood for a dance. “Lucy, this is Bianca, an old friend of mine. Do you mind if I steal a quick dance with her?” 

Lucy felt a lump rise up in her throat, but she bit it down and put on an unconvincing smile. “Of course not.” 

“Don’t worry, I’ve got her!” The other woman, this one in a baby blue dress covered in flowers, called after them as Biance dragged Lockwood away. 

“Hi! I’m Fey. Can we dance?” 

“I’m Lucy and… I’m not a good dancer.” 

“Me neither!” 

This drew a genuine chuckle out of Lucy and she mimicked what Lockwood had just taught her. She tried to pay attention to Fey, but her eyes kept getting drawn back to Lockwood.

“You don’t need to be jealous, you know.” 

“I’m not –” 

“Oh come on, you’re staring daggers at Bianca.” Lucy felt herself blush, because it was probably true. “You should see the way he was staring at you while you two were dancing. It’s clear he’s head over heels for you.” 

“He’s not –” Lucy’s denials died in her throat. It was possible but he looked at everyone that way. Didn’t he? 

Fey shot her a knowing glance before looking over Lucy’s shoulder. 

Lockwood caught Lucy’s dance partner looking at him over her shoulder and he ducked his head back to Bianca to avoid being caught.

“She’s beautiful.” 

“Who?” 

Bianca rolled her eyes at him. “Oh I don’t know, the woman you’ve been drooling over since you got here.” 

“I was not –” 

“Oh come on, Lockwood. I’ve known you too long for your bullshit. I pulled you over to ask what was going on with you two.” 

“Nothing. She’s my associate.” 

“Uh huh. Does your heart know that?” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Lockwood took the opportunity to twirl Bianca away from him so he could sneak another quick peek at Lucy. 

“It’s rude to ignore your dance partner, you know.” 

“It’s her first Ball, I’m just –” 

“I’m kidding! Sheesh. Look, have you told her?” 

“It’s… complicated.” 

“So? Uncomplicate it. You deserve to be happy.” 

The song drew to a close and Bianca flitted away - as though she hadn’t just tilted his world on its axis. 

Uncomplicate it? He wished he had the first idea how to do that. Trying to put it out of his mind, he went to find Lucy. He was relieved to find her laughing with her new friend, and took a moment to just watch her be happy. The other woman caught his eye and winked before kissing Lucy’s cheek in farewell. 

“I see you’re fitting in.” 

“Hardly. But Fey was very nice.”  

He grabbed Lucy’s hand, hoping it came off as casual. Leaning in close, he whispered that it was about time to head out for their job. To everyone else, he hoped it looked like he was leaning in to whisper in his lover’s ear. (For cover purposes, of course.) 

“I just need you to meet a few more people so that no one notices us slip away because they were waiting for an introduction.” 

He walked up to a group of his old school friends who were all dancing together. He had to laugh at Sanvi who was dancing by themself in the middle of the group. They always had some interesting dance choices, and their all-pink tuxedo made them stand out even more than usual.

The group turned and looked at them, and nearly in unison yelled out, “Anthony!”   

“I told you all, it’s Lockwood now.” He definitely saw Sanvi roll their eyes at that. “Anyway, I wanted to introduce you to my new associate, Lucy.” 

“Associate, hm?” Of course it was Sanvi. 

“That’s Sanvi. You can ignore them.” 

“Rude, Lockwood!” 

“All right, next to each other in the plum coloured dresses are sisters Acacia and Kelley. Then we have Lana next to her wearing the red and black dress. Jenna is next in yet another purple dress and next to her is Bue in the short blue and black dress.” 

Jenna shrugged. “What can I say? All the best people are wearing purple and teal!”

“And finally in the red vest and black poofy shirt is –”

“JJ! Hi, I’m JJ. Lockwood’s never brought a date to a Ball before!” 

Lockwood felt his cheeks heat and wanted to kick JJ. “Ignore him, he’s clearly hit the wine a little too hard already. And no, she’s my associate.” 

JJ, that insufferable bastard, winked at Lucy. “Uh huh. Well, enjoy your date.” 

“It’s not a date!” Lockwood blew out an exasperated breath before plastering on a charming smile. “Unfortunately though, we do have to leave early. Lucy is feeling a bit under the weather.” Lucy shot a glare at him - which he probably deserved. “But we wanted to come say hello before we left.” 

The smirk on JJ’s face was far too knowing. “It was nice to meet you, Lucy. Have fun on your definitely not a date with our dear Lockwood!” 

Lockwood turned and pulled a laughing Lucy towards the door. He was going to kill JJ.

Lucy laughed at JJ’s closing remark, clearly thrown out just to irritate Lockwood. 

“Sorry about… all that.” 

She put her hand on Lockwood’s arm and turned to him fully. “Lockwood, that is by far the most fun I’ve had in my entire life. They accepted me. Everyone treated me with warmth and kindness. Do you know how little of both of those things I’ve had in my life? This was perfect.” 

Before she could second-guess herself, she stood on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his cheek. 

“Now, let’s go get Georgie his book.”

Chapter Text

Oh no. 

She had kissed him. Well, only his cheek - but still . 

As she walked away, she began to panic and second guess every interaction they had that night. Was it too much? Did she make him uncomfortable? 

She turned around to face Lockwood who was still standing where she left him, his hand cupping his cheek. 

“Lockwood, I’m so sorry I did that. It didn’t mean – I mean… I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable.” She had almost told him that it didn’t mean anything, but that would have been a lie. She didn’t want to lie to him anymore unless she absolutely needed to. 

Something she said seemed to snap Lockwood out of his stupor. “Lucy, it’s fine. You’re… you’re already one of my best friends. There’s not much you can do to make me uncomfortable. It’s fine .” 

He smiled at her and she melted. 

“Shall we continue?” 

She kissed me! Lockwood felt like his entire world stopped when her lips brushed against his cheek. 

As she walked away, his hand involuntarily went up to his face, trying to brand the feel of her lips into his subconscious forever. 

If there was any remaining doubt, that kiss wiped it out. He was completely and irrevocably in love with Lucy Carlyle. No matter what name or clothes she wore. 

Lucy’s voice broke his trance. “Lockwood, I’m so sorry I did that. It didn’t mean – I mean… I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable.” 

Oh. Of course she regrets it. 

“Lucy, it’s fine. You’re… you’re already one of my best friends. There’s not much you can do to make me uncomfortable. It’s fine .” He smiled at her, hoping that he had calmed her fears. 

It was true though. She was, second to George, already his best friend. Of course, he hoped she would be more, eventually, but she seemed to make it clear once again that she didn’t feel the same way. Her panic over the kiss told him that she hoped he didn’t misinterpret it as more than a gesture between friends. 

He tried to push through his disappointment. They had a job to do after all. “Shall we continue?” 

She nodded and Lockwood grabbed her hand, leading her to the side of the building with the library’s entrance. 

As expected, the door was locked but a quick Sight check showed no one guarding it. He also did a quick peek into the future to make sure no one would come by any time soon. Seeing that the coast was clear, he proceeded to pick the lock and pulled Lucy in behind him, before relocking the door. 

“You can pick locks?” 

He winked at her. “I’m a man of many hidden talents.” 

It was probably just a trick of the light, but he could’ve sworn he saw a light dusting of pink over her cheeks. 

“Let’s just get on with it. I’d like to not get caught in a restricted area.” 

“Relax, Luce. Everyone is at the Ball.” 

She shot him a glare that told him to stop being cheeky. He naturally ignored it and led her to the section of the library where George suspected the book was being held. 

He found the sign that read Restricted Section: Special Permission Required to Enter and assumed it was the correct place. George had never been in this library, of course, so it was a bit of a guess as to where it was being held.  

“Found it! Ok, we’re looking for a book called the Transcribed Journal of Agatha Silvermoon .” 

“A woman? I thought all works by women magicals were destroyed.” 

“Not all of them. It’s likely part of why it’s hidden in the restricted section. No one wants to admit that a woman discovered some of the most powerful runes in history. A lot of the ones we use, like the ones on the cuffs that George made, came from Silvermoon.”

She hummed in acknowledgement and they both began to browse. 

“Lockwood, most of these are written by women.” 

He had begun to notice the same thing. “I knew some of them were but I had no idea that most of them would be. This is… interesting.” 

“Do you even know why women were hunted down in the first place?” 

 “A little. But I think that’s a conversation for another time. Ah! Found it!” 

And sure enough, he found the weathered book. He had expected it to be covered in dust and untouched. This one though, this one was clearly used - and used often . 

“All right, let’s get out of here.” 

As they were turning to leave, they heard footsteps coming toward the door they had entered through, and what they knew to be the only exit to the library.

Fuck . 

Lucy heard the footsteps just a moment before Lockwood stiffened, indicating he too had heard them. They both looked around quickly. Hiding was her speciality, but there were very few places to hide in a room that had nothing but a few bookcases. 

She noticed an especially darkened corner behind one of the back shelves and figured it would have to do. Silently, she took Lockwood’s hand and pulled them both towards the corner. 

He took the hint and they arranged themselves so they were hidden in the shadows as much as possible. 

As quietly as she could, she hissed: “Stand in front of me. Your suit is darker than my bare skin and it’ll hide us better.” 

He immediately moved to do as she had asked, caging her in against the wall. Her heart rate sped up considerably, and she tried to tell herself that it was simply because they were at risk of being caught, but even she knew that was a lie. She had been almost caught many times before and she prided herself on her ability to be calm. Her reaction was due to Lockwood’s proximity and she was tired of denying it. 

She tried to get a read on his feelings, to see how he was faring without needing to ask him out loud, but all she felt was protectiveness and nerves - though nerves about what, she couldn’t pinpoint. But she didn’t feel panic and she counted it as a win. 

They both tried to stay as still and quiet as possible, listening to the footsteps of the person - no, people - walking around the room. She heard them getting closer and realised that this was too suspicious - to just be standing in a corner. 

Thinking quickly, she got an idea. A terrible, inconvenient idea that her traitorous heart and body wanted very badly. 

She pulled Lockwood’s head down so she could whisper in his ear. “Please don’t be mad.” Pushing him back slightly, she angled their faces so they were in front of each other, placed one hand on the back of his head, and pulled him forward. 

Their mouths collided. 

“Please don’t be mad.” 

Lockwood was confused, but he trusted Lucy. 

Trusted her, but absolutely did not expect what she did next. 

She grabbed the back of his head, pulled his face down toward hers and the next thing he knew - her lips were on his. 

It was messy, unpracticed, surprising, and by far the best kiss he’d ever had in his entire life. 

The rush that he associated with using his Sight flared within him, but he brushed it off as the thrill of Lucy kissing him. 

She still tasted vaguely like the wine they had sipped earlier and the biscuits they shared. Her lips were chapped and slightly sticky from whatever remained of the makeup Ollie had lightly painted her face with. 

He must have hesitated too long because he felt her body language shift and she began to pull back. Thinking this might be the only opportunity he might ever have for this experience, he grabbed her waist and moved even closer, holding their bodies flush. Her back was to the wall and he slipped a thigh between her legs, supporting her as she stayed on her tiptoes while kissing him. 

Feeling bold, his tongue gently touched the seam of her lips. To his surprise, she opened to him eagerly. She had absolutely no technique and it occurred to him that this was likely her first kiss. Their tongues battled for dominance while her hand lightly grabbed the hair at the nape of his neck. 

She let out a soft moan, and that brought him crashing back to reality. They were doing this in case they got caught - so they had a plausible excuse. 

Detaching himself from the feel of her, he listened to the room and heard nothing. He pulled back and whispered against her lips that he thought they were gone. 

“Nah, pretty sure I still hear them.” 

“Ah, right.” She was a Listener after all. Maybe she could hear what he couldn’t, so he dove back in. 

For cover, of course. 

They may have stood there for thirty seconds or thirty minutes, lost in the feel of each other. Unfortunately, it was becoming more and more difficult to hide his body’s reaction to Lucy and her touch. He reluctantly pulled away. The sight of Lucy’s mussed hair, swollen lips, and heaving chest would be permanently burned on his brain. 

“Luce… your eyes.” 

Her eyes went wide in fear. They were glowing. 

“Yours too.” 

Was he? He hadn’t noticed. Again . 

At once, it seemed the reality of the situation caught up to both of them and he stepped back at the same time she pointedly looked away and began to fuss with her dress. 

“Uh yeah - they’re definitely gone. Can’t hear them at all. Let’s get going. Are my eyes back to normal?” He nodded and she pushed past him and waited by the door for him to follow. 

He willed his body to calm down and followed her moments later. 

Lucy couldn’t help but stare at Lockwood’s thoroughly unravelled state. It made her feel powerful to know that she had caused that, even if he was acting. ( No one’s that good of an actor , a voice that sounded suspiciously like Flo’s whispered in her brain.) 

“Luce… your eyes.”

Oh no. Were they glowing? She hadn’t realised she was using her magic. “Yours too.”

He looked confused. Had they both been using their magic without realising it? 

The reality of where they were and what they were doing snapped her back to the present. Lockwood took a step away at the same time that she looked away to try and get her breathing under control. 

She took a quick listen, extending her hearing beyond the norm and lightly tapping into her Talent. It was silent. 

“Uh yeah - they’re definitely gone. Can’t hear them at all. Let’s get going. Are my eyes back to normal?” He nodded and she “calmly” bolted to the door, waiting for him to catch up. A few moments later, he did and they exited the building, looking for their carriage. 

They found it and stealthily ran to it and climbed up. George was already inside, waiting for them. But he wasn’t alone. Flo sat next to him on the carriage’s bench, as though she had been there the whole time.

“Was wondering when you two would show up.” He pushed his glasses up further onto his nose and stared at them. “Should’ve guessed that you were up to… something.” 

Lockwood rolled his eyes. “We were stealing your book. Hi Flo, nice to see you.”

“Evening, Locky.” 

“Not that I don’t love seeing you, but why exactly are you here, Flo? You weren’t at the Ball.” 

“Went to Portland Row first, to see the book that you lot had collected. No one was home so I made my way over here. Knowing you, figured there was a good chance you’d gotten yourselves into trouble. Wanted to come watch the show.” 

“And when she got here, I was waiting for you two by the carriage. Flo said she would sneak in and look for you two, to make sure you weren’t in trouble or something.”

“Went in and looked for you two and didn’t see ya. Figured you were off somewhere by yourselves.” She shot him a wink that was more mocking than playful.  

Lockwood gave an irritated huff. “We almost got caught. Lucy and I had to hide. We were in the back corner.” 

“Don’t insult me, Locky. I looked everywhere in there. You weren’t in any of the corners. Anyway, did you at least retrieve the book before you went off to do whatever else?” 

Lockwood rolled his eyes again and pulled the book out from under his coat. He tossed it to George with an irritated you’re welcome before signalling to the driver that they were ready to go. 

The ride back was filled with tense silence, but Lucy couldn’t quite pinpoint why . They had succeeded in their mission, hadn’t been caught, and the Ball seemed to have been a success. She shrugged it off as high emotions and fatigue. 

They arrived back at 35 Portland Row and enjoyed a quiet bit of tea and some of the bread that George had made earlier in the day before they each trudged off to their respective bedrooms with Flo taking the couch. 

Lucy barely made it to the top of the attic stairs before Skull’s voice hit her. 

“Well it’s about time you got home, young lady. What happened to your clothes? Did that Lockwood get handsy ? Do I need to cut them off? Because I’d be happy to.” 

“Leave him alone.” She came over and stared at Skull, debating whether or not to throw him back in the drawer.

"Gah, I thought you looked terrible before but with that thing on your face, you're horrifying"

"Thing on my – my smile?! Did you just spend the whole night –” 

“Not finished. Please tell me you didn't let that overinflated self important Lockwood shove his tongue down your throat. A young lady needs standards."

Lucy rolled her eyes. “That’s none of your business.” 

“You didn’t deny it! So you did let him defile your mouth. I thought you were better than that, Lucy.”

“I’m not having this conversation with you.” 

“All I’m saying is that I’m not ready to be an uncle yet –” 

“Into the drawer you go.” She unceremoniously tossed Skull into the back of a drawer, muffling his protests. 

Lucy carefully took off her boots and her dress, and slipped on her chemise. She debated taking off the necklace Lockwood had given her, but it was already a comforting weight around her neck. 

She scrubbed the rest of the makeup off her face and took out the pins that hadn’t yet fallen out of her hair. Before she crawled into bed, she looked at herself in the mirror and sighed at the image staring back at her. She was back to plain old Lucy, and she wondered if Lockwood found her attractive still. Sure, she had felt a reaction when they were snogging, but it could have easily been a physical reaction and nothing more. 

Shaking her head, she tried to clear those thoughts and crawled into bed. Within minutes, she was asleep. 

Lockwood was just so fucking confused. 

He laid awake in his bed running over the events of the night. The Ball had been fun, even with the insinuating comments from his friends and acquaintances. It made him wonder if he really was that painfully obvious or if they simply knew him too well. Both possibilities were problematic and he didn’t know which one he preferred. 

And then stealing the book. He and Lucy both knew damn well that whoever was in the room with them had long since left, and yet… and yet… she leaned back in. She kissed him - continued kissing him - because she wanted to. Not because they were in danger. 

But then afterwards, the carriage ride had been uncomfortable and tea had been consumed in awkward silence. He wondered if he had overstepped somehow and scared her away. 

He thought back to what George had said - about him being Lucy’s employer, landlord, and now one of her few friends. He felt a sinking feeling when he realised everything that Lucy had been through in the last several days. Her identity was revealed, she entered the world as a woman for the first time, and then there was the fear that was so evident about her magic. 

Of course she was having a hard time processing everything - his head hurt just thinking about it. He shook his head and vowed to try and be more comforting tomorrow. He needed to be her friend first and foremost. 

He must’ve drifted off to sleep because the next thing he knew, he heard blood curdling screams coming from above him. Lockwood bolted out of bed, not thinking to grab a shirt or his slippers.

At Lucy’s door, he didn’t hesitate to throw it open, thankful that she didn’t keep it locked. He looked around, prepared to see an intruder. Instead, his eyes fell upon her thrashing form upon the bed. 

A nightmare. 

Seconds later, he was kneeling at her bedside. “Luce… Lucy.” He called her name repeatedly while trying to lightly shake her. 

While he was trying to wake her gently, she began fighting against him - or against whoever she saw in her dream. He held her hands, to protect both of them, and gave one last big shake. It finally worked and Lucy woke up with a start.

Her eyes flew around wildly until they landed on him. “Lockwood?” 

“Yeah, it’s me.” 

She threw herself into his arms and he only managed to keep himself upright because he was leaning forward against the bed. His arms immediately wrapped around her tiny frame and he tucked her head under his chin. “It’s okay. You’re safe. It’s safe. I’ve got you.”

Her voice was choked with emotion when she spoke next. “It was horrible, Lockwood. They knew. Everyone knew . And they came… and they took me. They were going to kill me.” 

“It was just a nightmare, Luce.” 

She shook her head. “No, it’s a possibility. It’s what will happen if anyone finds out that I’m a magical woman. I thought… I thought I was doing okay, but I’m scared, Lockwood. I’m so scared.” 

Lockwood pulled away slightly so he could look her in the eyes. “Lucy, nothing will happen to you –” he shook his head, realising he couldn’t promise that. “I will do everything  I can to protect you. Do you understand?” He willed her to understand that he would do anything -  stop doing magic, stop being a detective, leave London, or even die - all to protect her. Her life was the most important thing in the world to him.

“I.. I think so.” 

“Good, do you think you can get back to sleep?” 

She clung tighter to him. “Please don’t leave me.” 

Never . 

“Come on.” He detangled himself from her and stood up, taking hold of her hand instead.

“Where are we going?” 

“You’re going to sleep in my bed. Don’t worry, I’ve got a sofa in my room. But that’s more comfortable than me sleeping on the floor in here.” 

In what was likely a sign of just how tired and scared she was, she followed him without protest. As they entered the hallway before his room, he heard a slight gasp behind him. 

“Everything okay?” 

“Yeah I just… I didn’t realise you weren’t wearing a shirt.” 

He looked down at himself, having not considered it. “Oh.” He rubbed the back of his neck, a nervous habit he’d long tried to rid himself of. “I don’t sleep in one. I didn’t think to throw one on when I heard you screaming.” 

“You… you have tattoos?” 

He laughed at the note of surprise in her voice but didn’t comment further, merely pulled her into his room. 

“Take the bed, I’ll be right over there on the sofa.” 

“I can’t kick you out of your own bed.” 

“And I can’t let you sleep on a sofa. Take the bed, Luce. It’s not the first or last time I’ve slept on the sofa in here.” 

He let go of her hand and grabbed a blanket for the sofa, but she remained standing where he left her. 

“Can you… can you lay next to me? Just until I fall asleep.I’m just… I’m so scared, Lockwood.” 

He dropped the blanket on the sofa and crawled into the side of the bed he normally slept on. “Of course, come on.” 

She climbed in next to him and laid her head on his chest. His heart felt like it was going to beat out of his chest. He really hoped she didn’t notice. 

“Can you talk to me, Lockwood?” 

He chuckled lightly. “Sure, Luce. About what?” 

“Tell me about your tattoos.” 

“I can’t believe you didn’t notice I had them.” 

“You have almost every inch of skin covered at all times, Lockwood. When exactly would I see these?” He bit back a laugh. He could almost hear the eye roll through her words. 

“Okay that’s fair. Most of them are actually runes or covering runes. They help strengthen or focus my Talent. This one,” he pointed to the raven on his forearm, “is a reminder that death can be close, especially when you use your magic too much or get too confident. And this dragonfly over my heart, was for someone I loved very much.” 

“Is it the same person who used to have this necklace?”

“Yeah.” 

“Will you tell me about her some time?” 

He smiled, a genuine smile. The thought of telling Lucy about Jessica made him happy . “Yeah, Luce. I will, I promise. Just not tonight.” He felt her smile against his chest as she tucked herself in closer. 

“This clock on my other forearm is related to my Sight, of course. George added runes behind it and I’m honestly not sure what they do, but I trust him.”

He noticed Lucy had fallen asleep so he continued to talk about nothing. Just until she was fast asleep, of course. 

The next morning, Lucy woke up with a start after having a vivid, intense dream about Lockwood. Her eyes found his, and she briefly wondered if he could somehow sense that she had dreamt of him. But before she could really process what she had experienced, the reality of where they were and what they were doing sunk in. 

She was in bed. With Lockwood. He hadn’t made it to the sofa. This was entirely inappropriate and she was mortified. But before either of them could properly react, the door to Lockwood’s bedroom opened and they heard Barnes’ voice. 

“Oh what the fu—”  

Chapter Text

Lockwood took a deep breath before sitting up. “Good morning, Uncle Barnes.”

The older man spluttered indignantly, before gritting out that he wanted them downstairs in three minutes. 

Lucy cleared her throat awkwardly. “Umm…” 

He shook his head. “Look, it’s fine, don’t worry about him. Are you okay? I’m so sorry, I fell asleep. I –” 

She placed a hand on his arm, cutting him off. “I’m not mad, Lockwood. Honestly, that was the best night of sleep I’ve had… maybe ever. Thank you - for being there for me.” 

Lockwood gave her a small, but genuine smile. “I will always be there for you, Luce. Now we should get up before he thinks we’re doing something we shouldn’t be doing.”

Lucy’s cheeks went bright red and she covered her face with her hands. She let out a muffled, “I have to go get dressed but I’ll meet you downstairs,” before heading out of his room.  

He heard her footsteps on the stairs while he threw on a shirt and prepared to go face his dear uncle. 

Downstairs, Uncle Barnes was joined by George and Flo - who he expected - but also Quilliam and Ollie - who he, of course, did not expect. “Good morning everyone. Not that I'm unhappy to see you all, but why are you here, exactly?” 

“Ollie and I came to check on Lucy, to make sure her wound wasn’t bothering her.” 

“George invited me to stay for breakfast.” 

“And I’m… actually, the reason I’m here isn’t important right now. What is important, is what I just… walked in on.” 

Lockwood scrubbed a hand down his face wearily. It was far too early for this conversation - especially before his morning cup of tea. “You didn’t walk in on anything, Uncle Barnes. Can we have this conversation literally anywhere else?” 

“It wasn’t what it looked like!” Lucy’s voice came from the landing at the top of the flight of stairs. “We were just – oh.” 

“Morning, Luce. Yes, it seems everyone has decided that my sitting room is the place for entertainment today.” 

“Right… well… um…” Lucy looked at him, clearly flustered, with a look on her face that begged for help. Unfortunately, he felt just as lost as she looked. 

Barnes broke the uncomfortable silence. “Yes, we should definitely discuss this in private.” 

Lockwood sighed. “Honestly, they’re all going to find out eventually anyway. Everyone we know is too curious for their own good. And since nothing was going on, they might as well just hear it all first hand. If that’s okay with you, Luce, of course.”

Lucy shrugged. “Yeah,  don’t see us getting out of telling them anyway, so might as well save me a story.” 

He wondered what else she had told them, but decided to tuck that away for another time. “Barnes… walked in on us in bed together.” 

Flo let out a bark of laughter while Quilliam choked on his tea.  

Lockwood groaned. “We were just sleeping. Lucy had a nightmare, and…” he trailed off, realising that what had seemed logical in the dead of night seemed very untoward in the light of day. 

“And you decided that your bed would drive the nightmares away?” George was barely keeping the humour out of his voice. 

“I know how it sounds, okay? But Lucy and I were just sleeping. I was supposed to move to the sofa in my room once she dozed off but I fell asleep next to her. That’s all.”

All four of his so-called friends looked at him with varying levels of disbelief and amusement on their faces. 

Before Lockwood could dig himself a deeper hole, Barnes cut in. “Why was she even here, Lockwood?” 

“Because I am living in the attic. I really did have a nightmare and Lockwood came up because I was screaming.” 

This was clearly the wrong thing for her to say because a vein in Barnes’ forehead started throbbing. “Lucy is living here?!” 

“She had nowhere else to go, Uncle.” 

“That’s unacceptable, Anthony, and you know it.”

“I’m not worried about my reputation –” Lockwood’s defence was cut short before he could repeat what he had told Lucy the other day. 

“Neither am I. I’m worried about hers.” 

Now Lockwood was confused. “What about her reputation?” 

Barnes took a deep breath, likely wondering how he found himself in the middle of this mess. “Not everything is about you, Anthony. Lucy is now living here with two men while unmarried. Sure, neighbours will look askance at you - but Lucy? They’ll gossip. She’ll never be able to marry because she’ll be branded a scarlet woman.” 

Oh. Lockwood felt sick to his stomach. He had never considered what it might be like for Lucy to live with them. He had selfishly only thought about what it might do to his own reputation. 

He turned to Lucy. “Lucy, I’m so sorry. I never meant –” 

She held up her hand, stopping his mumbling. “I knew the risks when I moved in. You don’t have to apologise.” Then, she turned to Barnes. “Mr. Barnes, thank you for your concern. But honestly, I didn’t have marriage prospects anyway. I’m not exactly in a position to attract suitors, and I know that.” 

“Be that as it may, you may not always feel like that. I can’t have any of you three, because yes, this involves George too, putting yourselves in such a vulnerable position like this. Lucy must move out.” 

“She has nowhere else to go, Uncle. I will not put her back on the streets.” 

“We can put her up in a boarding house –” 

“She could be killed in a boarding house. You know as well as I do how dangerous they are. How often do we see the bodies of murdered women from there?” 

“Why not marry her?” Five heads whipped around at the sound of Quilliam’s voice. Truthfully, Lockwood had forgotten he was there at all. 

It was Lucy that broke the silence. “Excuse me?” 

Quilliam shrugged, like he hadn’t just suggested that Lockwood marry the woman he was madly in unrequited love with. “Why doesn’t Lucy just get married? I can even officiate the marriage.” 

Lockwood didn’t know how to respond to that so he grasped on the easier part of what Quilliam had just said. “You’re not a minister. How can you officiate a marriage?” 

“It’s a long story, involving Scotland and some questionable decisions. Anyway, not important. The point is that I can.” 

“I could marry George.” 

What?!  

Lockwood turned to Lucy who looked as surprised as anyone that she had just offered to marry George. “Look, if I’m going to have to marry someone, it shouldn’t be Lockwood. I haven’t the first clue how to be a… posh wife. I can’t care for a house or be a host or anything like that. If I’m going to marry either of you, I’d rather marry George.” 

“No offence, Lucy, but I’d rather marry the letter opener from hell that you’ve adopted. It’s nothing against you. I’m just not getting in the middle of -” he gestured vaguely between Lucy and Lockwood. 

“Ok, Anthony, you’re coming with me. We need to talk in private.” He threw Lockwood a look that said this was not a request. 

“Oh now you want to talk in private?” He grumbled, but he followed Barnes back up to his bedroom anyway. 

The door to his room had barely shut before Barnes turned on him, a look of pure irritation on his face. “You are being incredibly selfish, Anthony.” 

“Wait, what?!” 

“You need to marry Lucy. For her sake and yours.” 

“I can’t marry her, Uncle Barnes!” Lockwood was desperate for his uncle to understand. He lowered his voice and fought  to keep the emotion out of it. “Not… not like this at least. Not because she is forced to, to protect her reputation or...” he trailed off, because he knew that while it would protect her, he wanted her to marry him for love, not obligation.

Barnes studied him for a moment before putting his hand on Lockwood’s shoulder. “You really care for her, don’t you?” 

Lockwood shook his head. Fighting back tears, he looked into the eyes of the man he considered to be his second father. “I’m in love with her, Uncle. She is the only person I ever want to marry. Not that it matters - you heard her. She doesn’t want to marry me.”

“Sit down.” 

Lockwood nodded, sitting on the bed while Barnes sat on the sofa, facing him. 

“She’s scared - just like you. I don’t think she doesn’t want to marry you. I think George just seemed like the more practical option at the moment. But Lockwood, I have a feeling there’s more to Lucy’s story than you’re telling me. And that’s okay — I don’t want to, nor do I need to, know. Believe it or not, I do trust you. And if you love her like you say you do, you need to marry her. To protect her. Whatever is going on with her, there are very few people who could protect her without being someone with your status and Talent. Other than you, she would never be able to marry someone with the protection that comes with the Lockwood name and money, because she doesn’t come from a wealthy family. If you want to protect her, you need to do this. At least be married in public. What you do in your own home, between yourselves, is your business. But Lucy Lockwood would be far better protected than Lucy Carlyle.” 

Lucy Lockwood. He had never considered his name attached to hers, but now that he had, he realised how much he wanted. He also knew his uncle was right. If Lucy was in as much danger as she thought by being a magical woman, there really wasn’t a better person to protect her. 

“Okay. Okay, I’ll ask her.” 

Lucy knew she shouldn’t listen, but she couldn’t help it. They were only talking about her fucking future. So she closed her eyes and Listened. From a floor above her and through a closed door, she caught part of the conversation. 

“-her sake and yours.” 

“I can’t marry her, Uncle Barnes!” Her eyes flew open and she felt her stomach drop. She stood up and ran. 

She heard her name being called by her friends, but she didn’t stop. 

Lucy only made it as far  as the garden before she realised she wasn’t wearing any shoes. Not wanting to go back inside, but not willing to risk going further barefoot, she sat down by the very flowers she had drawn for Lockwood just days before. Folding her legs, she pulled them close to herself so she could put her forehead on her knees. The tears began to flow freely, without her permission. 

“Lucy? Lucy! There you are. George, she’s out here!” 

She registered Quilliam’s voice but couldn’t bring herself to look up at him. 

“Lucy, what happened?” George’s voice was full of soft concern, a tone she wasn’t sure she had ever heard from him before. 

She shook her head, unable to bring herself to say the words. 

Quilliam sat down next to her and began rubbing her back gently. She leaned into him, grateful for his touch. “Tell us what happened, Luce.” 

Luce. The name was like a dagger into her fragile heart. 

“He… he said he couldn’t marry me.” 

“Lucy, I think you may have misunderstood or misheard something.” 

She looked at George, shaking her head. “It’s part of my Talent - I can hear that far away if I try. I heard him tell Mr. Barnes that he couldn’t marry me. I don’t blame him, you know? I come from nothing. I would bring nothing to a marriage. He deserves someone who can –”

“I promise he doesn’t care about that shit. I have lived with him a long time, you know? He doesn’t care about money or power - at least not acquiring any more than he can earn himself. Trust me, if there was any reason he didn’t want to marry you, that wouldn't be it.” 

Lucy mulled this over. He had been ready to confess his love when she was Lucas - who was also a street rat - and she’d deluded herself into thinking that maybe he could care for her as Lucy, too. 

She sat up, wiping her tears. “So, it’s true then - it’s because he doesn’t like women.” 

Lucy felt Quilliam freeze next to her. Was she not supposed to say it out loud? “Excuse me?” 

“Well, when I was pretending to be Lucas, he said he had feelings for me. As Lucy, he doesn’t want to marry me. So he clearly just doesn’t fancy women. Which is fine, I just… I just thought maybe -” 

Her sentence was cut off by Quilliam’s laughter. She looked up to see him beginning to clutch his stomach, nearly doubled over in mirth. George was just barely holding it together. 

She flushed. They didn’t need to laugh at her. 

“It’s not funny!” 

George chimed in this time. “No, it really is.” 

“Look, it’s clear he’s not attracted to me anymore –” George was now laughing so hard that it sounded like he was choking. Quilliam leaned over and slapped him on the back. 

“Oh my god, this is more entertaining than I could’ve anticipated. Look, Luce, I promise that Lockwood isn’t unattracted to you.” 

“Then why –” 

“You need to talk to Lockwood.” George seemed to have recovered, though he still chuckled between sentences. “ Really talk to him. I think you both have some… incorrect assumptions about the other. I swear on our friendship that something is getting lost here. Please, please just talk. Come on, I’ll make some tea for your conversation.” 

George stood up and extended a hand towards her. She took it and began to follow him and Quilliam inside when she noticed Flo standing by the door.

“Did you hear everything?” 

“Every word, love. These two boys -” “Men!” “ boys are right though. I’m not sure what’s getting lost here, but that boy is absolutely attracted to women and you in particular. This will all work out, okay?” 

Lucy nodded and Flo pulled her into a hug. She really wasn’t sure what she did to deserve friends like this, but not for the first time, she was grateful to have them. Together, they walked inside to where George was finishing up making tea. 

Lockwood was already sitting at the table and Lucy suddenly felt nervous. He stood up and faced her. “Luce –” 

Neither of them seemed to have any idea what to say. 

“Please, sit down.” She nodded and sat in the seat next to him. George put the tea tray on the table and sat across from them. 

“I’m only here for a minute, don’t worry. Lockwood, Lucy, I love you both. Lucy, you’ve quickly become the little sister I never had, and Lockwood, you know you’re like a brother to me. So I’m going to say some difficult things but they’re for your own good. You need to talk to each other. Really talk. Lockwood, Lucy thinks that you don’t like women, and that you don’t want to marry her. Lucy, Lockwood thinks you don’t have romantic feelings for him. All right then, enjoy the tea.” 

And with that, he left, leaving Lockwood and Lucy to deal with the fallout of everything he’d just laid out.  

“You think I don’t like women? Did… did you not feel how I reacted to you when we kissed?” 

Lucy ducked her head, feeling her cheeks heat up. “I mean, it’s just a natural reaction, right?” 

He let out a small laugh. “Yeah, a natural reaction to you, Luce.” 

“Oh.” 

“Yeah…” 

“Well, how could you think I don’t have feelings for you, Lockwood?” 

He gave a small shrug and nervously rubbed the back of his neck. “You… you never said.” 

Of course she had - hadn’t she? Lucy searched through her memories and realised that she couldn’t recall ever telling him how she felt.

Oh. 

She turned and looked at him, taking one of his hands in both of hers. “Lockwood, I do care about you. I care about you very much. It’s just…” She took a deep breath, trying to figure out where to start. “You know a little bit about my past, yeah? My mum barely paid any attention to me, and when she did, it was to beat me. My dad died when I was little. I barely remember him, but the few memories I do have are… painful. My mum, she only saw me as a way to make money. She was so bitter when she realised that she was getting yet another girl. Anyway, my sisters moved out as soon as they could get married and I barely remember them, too. Then I was sold to Jacobs and well, you know the story after that. Lockwood, I don’t think anyone has ever loved me. Not until… not until I came here. I have no idea what love is supposed to feel like - but I do know I care about you. I care about George and the others too, but I care about you in a different way. Is that love? I don’t know. I just… I just don’t know if I know how to love, or be loved.” 

Lucy was pretty sure that was the most she had ever said to anyone, and was certainly the most she had ever told anyone about her past. She held her breath, waiting to see how Lockwood would respond. 

Lockwood listened to everything Lucy said with increasing horror. He knew that her life had been hard but he had no idea just how much she had been through. He had never been a particularly violent person, but at that moment he wanted to kill her mother. Or at least put her through a fraction of the pain she had caused her daughter.

But that wasn’t what Lucy needed right now. What she needed was a friend. “Can I hug you?” 

Lucy looked up at him and nodded. He moved his chair closer to hers and enveloped her in the most protective hug he could manage. 

“Lucy… Luce, I am so sorry you went through that. I will do everything in my power to never, ever let you feel unloved again. Thank you for telling me. And Luce, I do want to marry you. I don’t know why you think I don’t, but I do - more than anything. I just… I didn’t want it to be like this. I wanted to ask you properly - because we were in love. Not because Barnes walked in on us in bed.” 

She chuckled and said something into his chest, but it was too muffled for him to understand. He pulled back and asked her to repeat herself. 

Lucy looked up at him with tear tracks running down her face. “I said - really?” 

He gently wiped the stray tears away. “Yeah, Luce. Really. I know we haven’t known each other for very long, but I’ve felt connected to you since I first saw you on the street, and I’m pretty sure I have been half in love with you since you stole my scryer. Every day that you’ve been here, whether it’s been as Lucas or Lucy, I have fallen that much deeper in love with you.” 

She looked at him and bit her lip. “So what now?” 

“That is entirely up to you. I would never ask you to move out and I do very much want to marry you, but only if you want to marry me. But, Luce, some things Uncle Barnes said really did get me thinking. I don’t give a damn what anyone thinks of me, but I worry what they think about you. I haven’t been thinking about this from your point of view because I have been a selfish bastard. I am worried about what neighbours think because having a woman living here, that neither George nor I are married to, is going to draw attention to you. Far more attention than it would if I simply married outside my class. And, correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure the last thing you want is more attention.” 

Lucy’s eyes were wide. It seemed she hadn’t considered that possibility either. “No. No I don’t. Any attention is dangerous, Lockwood. And it seems… it seems that my Talent is not under my complete control and I’m scared of what may happen if someone sees.” 

He nodded, understanding. “By being my wife, at least in title… well, the Lockwood name and money carries a lot of protection that you wouldn’t have without it. I told you last night that there is nothing more important to me than keeping you safe - and I meant it. This… this just seems to be one more way to do it.” 

“Lockwood, I have no idea how to be a wife - let alone the wife of someone like you.” 

“Me neither!” 

She glared at him. “It’s not funny.” 

“It is a little. Look, I don’t want whatever it is that you think you need to be. I was fine without a wife before you and I’ll be fine without a posh wife going forward. You are the only person I’m ever going to want to marry, Luce. I want to be with you as you are, not as whatever you or anyone else thinks you should be. And I’m not going to pressure you –” 

“Let’s do it.” 

“What?” 

“Let’s get married.” 

“But –” 

“You’re right, Lockwood. You can protect me. You make me feel safe. I don’t want to leave, and if being your wife means staying and being better protected, then I’ll happily do it. But before we do this, I need you to know that I’m not ready for… I’m not ready to be a wife, but I think one day I could be. I do care for you - I just need to learn what it’s like to be with you. To love and be loved. So, we can let Quilliam marry us, but I want us to start over. No secrets. I want us to get to know each other, and for me to understand what love is. So let’s do it. Let’s get married, as long as it’s okay with you that we will still sleep in separate beds.” 

Lockwood couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He didn’t care what conditions she put on the marriage, the fact that she would stay with him and be with him was more than he could’ve ever asked for. 

“Nothing would make me happier, Lucy.” 

Chapter Text

Lucy and Lockwood walked hand in hand back to the library, where the rest of their friends had retreated to while they had their conversation. 

Lucy couldn’t quite wrap her head around the fact that she was getting married. 

Getting married to Lockwood. 

She was going to be the wife of a very wealthy man. She had absolutely no idea what she was doing. 

Lockwood must have become aware of her growing panic, and used his hold on her hand to bring her to a stop before they reached the library.

“Talk to me, Lucy. What’s wrong?” 

“I’m just so scared, Lockwood. I have no idea what I’m supposed to do as a wife. It’s easy for you to brush aside because you’re allowed to be someone outside of being my husband. I’m not supposed to be anything other than your wife from now on and I–-”

“Lucy.” His voice cut off her thoughts and he pulled her into a tight hug. She allowed herself to melt into his chest, wrapping her arms around his thin frame. “Lucy, love. I told you - I want nothing to change. I am not interested in society parties or hosting stuffy aristocrats. If I was, do you think I’d be working at a detective’s agency or, as George so delicately put it, ‘taking in strays’? I want you to be Lucy. Lucy is the only type of wife I want. I don’t want you to change. Do you understand?” 

Lucy tried to dry the tears that had escaped. Pulling back slightly, she looked up into his eyes. She needed to see for herself if he was sincere or just speaking pretty words to calm her down. But what she saw was not only sincerity but absolute adoration. He truly meant it. 

It was the balm her soul needed. 

“Okay. Okay, Lockwood. But I’m warning you - I’m going to probably panic at least ten more times before the wedding - not to mention afterwards.” 

He let out a chuckle and placed a light kiss on her forehead. “I would expect nothing less from you, my darling. Now, are you ready to go face everyone?”

She nodded and he wiped her remaining tears with soft fingers before clasping her hand in his. 

This time, when they made it to the threshold of the library they didn’t hesitate. 

Everyone was sitting or standing around the room, looking far too casual. 

“Do you want us to pretend like you weren’t spying on us, or should we skip the theatre and go straight to you all threatening me with death if I hurt Lucy?” 

They all exchanged glances with each other, as though silently deciding whether or not to continue with the charade. It was Ollie that broke first. 

“Mazel tov!” He came over and threw his arms around Lucy and gave her a peck on the cheek before enveloping Lockwood in a hug that he seemed distinctly uncomfortable receiving. 

George was next, grabbing them both in a hug. “Welcome to the family — officially, Luce.” 

Flo followed, threatening Lockwood with a painful death if he ever dared to try and run out again. “And you - we’re going shopping.” 

Lucy nodded, not sure how to respond. 

Barnes followed, congratulating them both with awkward hugs. 

Finally, Quilliam walked up to them, face unreadable. Lucy felt nervous - hadn’t this been all his idea in the first place? 

“Well, Tony, if you’re not going to marry me, I guess me marrying you two isn’t a bad alternative.” He winked at them and Lucy huffed out a small laugh. 

“That said, if you hurt her, I’ll help Flo hide your body.” He pulled them both in for quick hugs and went back to standing by Ollie’s side. 

Lockwood cleared his throat. “Since you’re all still here, we would love for you  to be there for the wedding. Quilliam, of course we would love for you to officiate. And we plan on getting married…” he trailed off and looked at Lucy. 

It wasn’t until then that she realised they hadn’t set any dates or other plans. 

“Sunday?” she offered hesitantly. If they were going to do this, they might as well get it done quickly. They didn’t need to make too many preparations since everyone she wanted there was already in the room, waiting for their answer. 

Lockwood sent her a grateful smile. “Sunday sounds perfect.” He looked back at their friends and added, “if that’s okay with you all, of course.” 

One by one, they all nodded until Flo spoke up. “Well, that gives us four days. Guess we’d best get a move on. Lucy, we’re going to get your dress. Quilliam, take Lockwood to get a suit. George, can you be on ring duty?” 

Quilliam and George nodded so she continued. “Ollie, can you get the house ready for a wedding? And Mr. Barnes, can you get the licence and any other legal documents they need?” Two more nods. 

“Well, what’s everyone waiting for? Get a move on, we have a wedding to plan!” 

Everyone scrambled in their respective directions but Lockwood held firm to Lucy’s hand. “Luce, hang on, there’s… there’s something I want to give you. Can you wait a few minutes?” 

“Of course, Lockwood.” 

He brought her hand up to his lips, brushing a soft kiss to her knuckles before he turned and ran up the stairs. 

Quilliam and George walked up to Lucy once Lockwood had disappeared. They both looked… almost bashful. 

Quilliam rubbed the back of his neck, mimicking Lockwood’s nervous habit. “We… wanted to apologise for laughing at you in the garden.”

“Why did you laugh at me?” 

“It wasn’t your fault. It was entirely my problem. You see, I used to have a bit of a crush on Anthony and then we went back and forth for years about whether or not he fancied men. He was always adamant that he didn’t. So when you said he fancied Lucas and not you, well, the irony just hit me. I apologise profusely. I’m very happy for you two.” 

Lucy nodded, accepting his explanation. “And George? What’s your excuse?” 

George shrugged. “Lockwood has been gone on you since the day he brought Lucas home. So when you thought that he wasn’t attracted to or in love with you, well, I couldn’t hold it in - especially since this one was practically choking on his tongue in laughter.” 

She still wasn’t thrilled, but she felt much better now that she knew they weren’t laughing at her. “Just don’t do it again, yeah? You’re forgiven.” 

“Love you, Luce.” Quilliam said before pulling her into one more hug. George gave her an awkward nod before they both disappeared.

Lockwood’s footsteps came down the stairs not a moment later. He came and grabbed her left hand, holding it up. 

“This was my mother’s engagement ring. She and my father… well, they had a marriage I could only hope to emulate. They truly loved each other deeply and were in a partnership of equals. I would be honoured if you wore her ring, to symbolise the same for our marriage. Of course, I plan on getting us both wedding rings too, but until then.” 

Lucy felt her eyes watering up again. “Yes, Lock- Anthony. I’d be honoured.” 

She felt his breath hitch when she said his given name, and then he slipped the ring onto her finger. It was gorgeous. There was an oval sapphire nestled between two small white diamonds. On the delicate gold band there were two more white diamonds on either side. It was much smaller than she had anticipated, and that was perfect for her. She didn’t want the attention a ring dripping in jewels would bring to her. 

“It’s beautiful.” He kissed her cheek lightly before Flo cleared her throat. 

“Let’s get going, love. Locky’s got his own work to do.” 

*** 

Unsurprisingly, Flo took Lucy to Stella’s shop. Lucy was beginning to think this was the only place Flo ever bought clothes. 

When they entered, Lucy recognised Liz standing behind the counter. Without looking up from her book, she let them know Hannah would be out shortly. 

Sure enough, Hannah came flitting out of the back room with a measuring tape across her neck and a pin in her mouth. She went to hug Flo before Flo gestured to the pin poking precariously from between her lips. After a brief moment of confusion, she reached up and pulled it out before poking it into a pin cushion attached to her wrist.

“Flo and Lucy! What brings you lovely creatures ‘round again so soon?” She kissed both of their cheeks before hopping up to sit on the counter near Liz. 

“Lucy here is getting married.” 

Hannah’s eyes went wide. “Just an associate, hm?” she said with a knowing look.

Lucy felt herself blush and was at a loss for words. Thankfully, Flo stepped in. 

“It was all very quiet. Didn’t want to be the talk of society pages - you know the deal.” Lucy had never been so grateful for her friend. 

Hannah seemed to take it all in stride. “Not my business anyway. Now, what kind of dress were you looking for? Long, short, white, off-white, with a corset or without? A-line, mermaid, princess? Empire waistline? Puff sleeves or not?”

Lucy didn’t understand half of the words the cheerful woman sent her way. “I… can I just look?”

Hannah nodded and hopped off the counter, leading her towards the dress section. Sure enough, there was every cut, colour, and style of dress Lucy could ever imagine. She immediately felt overwhelmed. How was she ever supposed to pick? 

Flo must have seen the look of panic on her face, because she pulled her gently to where the blue dresses hung. “I know blue’s not exactly traditional, but nothing you and Locky are doing is traditional. And I know you love blue. Why don’t we start here, hm?” 

Lucy nodded and began to walk around the extensive selection of blue dresses. Behind the hanging dresses, one stood out on display. It was gorgeous . Without consciously making the decision to move towards it, Lucy found herself reaching out to touch the beautiful dress. It was a deep blue with a curved neckline  and a full skirt that puffed out and dragged behind it. The fabric seemed to shimmer in the light, as if the night sky had been captured into the netting of the dress, and a long, sheer blue cape fastened around the neck, draping over the shoulders. 

It was perfect. 

It was far too much. 

Hannah came up behind her. “Ah, I see you have found the fairy dress? It’s one of my personal favourites.” 

“I… do, but I couldn’t. It’s too much. It’s –” 

“It’s your wedding day, love.” Flo had appeared on her other side, encouraging her. “Locky would want you to get whatever makes you happy. In fact, he’d probably be upset if you passed up on something you liked.” 

“But –” 

“No buts, love. Do you like it?” 

“Yes, I love it.” 

Now, Hannah interjected. “Wonderful. When’s the wedding?” 

Lucy looked down at her feet, suddenly a bit embarrassed. “Sunday.”          

“This Sunday?” 

Lucy nodded. 

Hannah, a professional through and through, clapped her hands together. “Well, guess I’ve got my work cut out for me. Lockwood’s lucky I’ve got a soft spot for him. All right, clothes off. Let’s get you pinned up.” 

As soon as Lucy left, Lockwood was ambushed by Quilliam and George. 

Lockwood held up his hand. “Yes, I know. If I hurt her, you’ll kill me. Blah, blah, blah. You can save it. For one, I love her. Two, if I did hurt her, she has enough blades on her at any one time to slit my throat before I can even apologise. So can we skip that part?” 

George and Quilliam looked at each other and both gave a little shrug. 

Pushing up his glasses, George spoke first. “Do you have ring requests?” 

“Not really. I’d like our rings to match, but beyond that - I trust you.”

“Do you want regular rings or do you want magical rings?” 

Lockwood let out a short huff. “What do you think? Just don’t burn the house down in the process.” 

George got a glint in his eyes that often spelled trouble, nodded, and disappeared into the basement. 

Quilliam nodded toward the door. “Shall we?” 

Lockwood nodded and the two of them headed to the shop where he normally bought his suits. 

On the way, they went over the details of the wedding ceremony. 

“I want a handfasting ceremony, George will tie us together. Beyond that, I really have no preferences. I just want a short ceremony in the garden. Lucy wants simple - the less attention on her, the better.” 

Quilliam nodded along with Lockwood. “Okay, I think I know what I’m going to do. Do you want me to run it by you and Lucy first, or are you just going to let me design it?” 

Lockwood shook his head. “I’ll check with her later but I think we’re fine with anything. Oh - and this is important.” He stopped, and turned Quilliam to face him. “I don’t want anything about her obeying me or being subservient to me. We’re partners, and I want that very clear in our vows.” 

Quilliam’s face lit up. “I know exactly the script for you two. I picked it up when I was in Scotland.”

“How - and why - did you get cleared to officiate?” Quilliam waived him off and Lockwood was now more curious than ever, but it seemed that he wasn’t giving him the story today. 

At the store, Lockwood knew exactly where he was going. He had an idea of what he wanted, he just needed to pick out the perfect style. He had already decided on plain black slacks, a white button down, and black shoes - all he needed was the tie, tailcoat, and waistcoat. He assumed Lucy was going to dress in a fairly subtle dress and he wanted to be similarly subdued.

But, he was still Lockwood so he needed a bit of a dramatic flare. 

Within minutes, he found something that he deemed perfect. It was a black tailcoat  with blue stylized trim on the cuffs and along the chest area. The same swirled pattern was on the waistcoat underneath. He picked out a blue tie with a similar pattern, and was good to go. 

He tried it on to ensure it fit without tailoring. Sure enough, it hugged his frame perfectly. Lockwood walked out for a final approval from Quilliam, who let out a low whistle upon seeing Lockwood. Lockwood took that as approval and made his purchases. 

After they left, Lockwood turned to the older man. “Now what?” 

Quilliam shrugged. “Now, you and Lucy get to know each other in the fewer than 100 hours you have until you’re married.” 

Lockwood had never done well with waiting, but he figured this was now mostly out of his hands. 

***

The next few days passed by in a rush of preparations. 

Thankfully, Uncle Barnes was able to acquire a last minute licence. “This is my wedding gift to you. I had to call in a few favours. You’re welcome.” 

Lockwood knew him well enough to know this was his own form of giving this whole marriage his stamp of approval, and for that he truly was grateful.

George had been hidden away in the basement for the better part of the last several days, emerging only to eat. Finally, on the morning of the wedding, he knocked on Lockwood’s door and showed him the two wedding rings. They were beautiful - two black rings with bands running through both of them that looked like the night sky. 

“George, these are… perfect.”

“Well, duh. I made them, didn’t I?” They both let out a small laugh at this. “But seriously, I engraved tiny runes inside. They’re for health, happiness, and love. I hadn’t actually expected them to start glowing in their respective colours, but, well…” he gestured towards the rings. 

There was nothing more to be said, so instead they held each other in what was probably the longest embrace of their entire friendship. 

“Okie dokie, that’s enough touchy feely stuff for me. Time for me to go get ready.” 

“George, wait. There’s one last thing.” Lockwood pulled out three ribbons - blue, green, and white - and handed them to George. “I would like you to bind mine and Lucy’s hands during the ceremony, if that’s all right?” 

“Of course, Lockwood, I would be honoured.” He carefully took the ribbons and left the room, leaving Lockwood to finish getting ready. 

Taking one last look in the mirror, Lockwood took a deep breath and headed down to the garden. Ollie had done a magnificent job preparing it. There were chairs for the few guests, rose petals along the aisle, and a wooden arch draped with white fabric for he and Lucy to stand under. 

Quilliam was already waiting for him at the arch, and Lockwood took the extra few minutes to greet Flo, Ollie, and Uncle Barnes, before joining him. 

“Are you ready, Tony?” 

Lockwood took a deep breath and thought about it. “Yeah, yeah I am, Kippy. Lucy is… she’s everything I have ever wanted. Truly, I don’t know why she picked me.”

“Me neither. So don’t do anything to screw it up.” 

From the side, Ollie began to sing a soft song, signalling Lucy was on her way out. As soon as Lockwood saw her, his heart skipped a beat and momentarily forgot how to breathe. 

He thought that she would wear a simple dress, and he had never been so glad to be proven wrong. She stood swimming in blue, with gems on her dress that caught the sun. Her hair was simply pinned back and she had the lightest layer of make-up, no doubt Ollie’s doing. 

She was the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen. And soon, she would be tied to him forever. 

When she finally stood before him, he could see the nerves in her eyes. He took her hands and whispered to her that she was beautiful. Lucy turned a pretty shade of pink as Ollie’s song drew to a close. 

Quilliam cleared his throat and began the ceremony. 

“Welcome, friends. Today, Anthony and Lucy come before us to enter into the sacred covenant of marriage, vowing to be partners through the trials and triumphs of their shared life.

“They are declaring to each other and to all of us present that they will be by each other's side, no matter what life brings their way.

“We have thousands of important moments that happen throughout our lives, but this one is regarded as one so meaningful that we acknowledge its special status by sharing it with others.”

“Why this moment?” Quilliam asked the small crowd.

“Because, despite all of our unique differences, love is what we all share. Love is the great unifier — our one universal truth. No matter who we are, where we have come from, what we believe,
we know this one thing . . . love is what we're doing right.”

He looked at Lucy and Lockwood now.

“Love is why you both are standing here. That's why you all have been invited to watch them stand up here at this moment and be reminded that the ability to love or to be loved unconditionally is the most precious gift a person can give or receive from someone.” 

Quilliam looked back at the audience. “As you all know, the circumstances that brought us all here today were unique, but Anthony and Lucy’s love is as deep and pure as any I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing. These vows reflect what they want in their marriage. George, if you wouldn’t mind bringing the rings.”

George brought the rings up to both Lockwood and Lucy, gracing them both with smiles.  

“Anthony, you’re up first. Place the ring on Lucy’s finger and repeat each line after me.”  

You cannot possess me, for I belong to myself,

But while we both wish it, I give you that which is mine to give.

You cannot command me, for I am a free person,

But I shall serve you in those ways you require.

And the honeycomb will taste sweeter coming from my hand.

I pledge to you that yours will be the name I cry aloud in the night.

And the eyes into which I smile in the morning.

I pledge to you my living and dying, equally in your care,

And tell no strangers our grievances.

This is my wedding vow to you.

This is a marriage of equals.

After he finished, he slipped the ring the rest of the way on. Lucy had been crying since Quilliam’s opening remarks but it hadn’t diminished her beauty in the slightest. The smile that graced her face when the ring was on her hand took his breath away. 

“Lucy, if you’ll take his ring and place it on his finger. We’re going to do the same vows.” 

When Lucy and Quilliam were finished, she mirrored Lockwood and slid the ring the rest of the way onto his finger. 

Quilliam spoke to their friends again. “Finally, Lockwood requested a handfasting ceremony. George, if you please.” 

George brought the three ribbons up, ready to tie them together.

“These ribbons symbolise the joining of two individual paths merging into one, and the start of a journey they will continue on together. The blue ribbon represents Lucy, the green represents Anthony, and the white represents their future together - a future that is yet unwritten.” 

Lucy and Lockwood clasped their right hands together, ready for the ribbons. 

“With each wrap of these ribbons, you deepen your commitment to each other, vowing to respect and support one another, to grow with each other, to offer each other compassion and understanding, and to take each new challenge and adventure as it comes, together.”

After Quilliam was done speaking, their ribbons and hands were bound together, though loosely enough that they could slip their hands out when the ceremony was over.

“By the power granted to me by the country of Scotland, I now declare you - married. You may now kiss.” 

Lockwood and Lucy leaned together and pressed a chaste kiss on each other’s lips. As their friends let out a loud cheer, Lockwood leaned down by Lucy’s ear and whispered that he loved her.

“For the first time, it is my great honour to present - Anthony and Lucy Lockwood.” 

Another round of applause and Lucy and Lockwood slipped off the still-bound ribbons and handed them to Quilliam. They walked down the aisle again, this time joined in marriage. 

Lockwood had never felt happier, and he hoped Lucy felt the same way. 

Chapter Text

Three Months Later 

Sweat dripped down Lucy’s brow as she continued to drive Lockwood back towards the wall. 

“You’re getting much better, Luce. Soon I won’t even have to go easy on you.” 

She smirked. “Same. When are you going to let me use my blades? Still scared, Lockwood?” 

He advanced on her, using the added advantage of his long limbs. “Never. I simply don’t want you to rely on your blades. How would Skull feel if you deserted him?” 

“Don’t use me as an excuse, pretty boy. Lucy would never abandon me, right, partner ?” 

“I would dump you in a ditch if I thought there was even a chance you wouldn’t figure out a way to get back to me.” 

“Aw, you wound me.” 

“What’s he saying, Luce?” 

The sound of blades crossing reverberated through the basement as he pinned her to a wall. “He thinks you’re pretty.” 

Lockwood’s hesitation lasted just long enough for her to kick out one of his legs, causing him to topple over. He had the grace to knock Skull out of her hand on the way down, but by the time they hit the floor, she had pulled out a knife and had it pressed to his throat while she straddled his torso. 

He grinned up at her. “We’ve been here before.” 

She leaned down by his ear, keeping her blade from digging into his pretty little neck. She felt him shiver as her breath fanned the shell of his ear. “I should’ve sliced your throat back then.” 

He had the nerve to chuckle. “Oh please. You love me.” 

“STOP, STOP! My innocent ears can’t be exposed to this!” 

Lucy rolled her eyes at Skull’s antics but still rolled off of Lockwood and laid next to him on her back, the both of them panting.

“You really are getting good, Luce.” 

“Well, I’d hope so. We’ve only been practising a few hours a day for weeks.” 

Lockwood stood up and offered her a hand. She took it, and he pulled her up so quickly that she crashed into his chest with their hands still clasped between them. 

Lucy felt her breath hitch. They may have been married for three months now, but their relationship hadn’t progressed physically as much as she would have expected. It was her decision and Lockwood had been nothing but respectful, never once pushing her and completely following her lead. She was incredibly grateful that he was giving her the space she asked for to learn how to love. 

In that time, and given that space, she had fallen more and more in love with him each day but hadn’t been able to bring herself to say it out loud - yet. She still felt like she was living in a dream, about to wake up and be back on the floor in Jacobs’ building. 

Logically, she knew that was not true, but she was just so scared to let herself feel. Her heart hadn’t got the same message though, as every single day, the words fought to escape her lips. 

Lately, she had moved from denial to what’s the worst that could happen? She isn’t sure which one scared her more. 

“Luce, you okay?” 

She’d been silent for too long and Lockwood was looking at her with concern in his eyes. She shook her head and took a step back. “Yeah, yeah, of course. I guess… I’m probably just tired from practising.” 

He smiled. “Why don’t you go rest for a bit? We have a job tonight, remember?” 

Lucy nodded and sent him a grateful smile. “Sleep does sound pretty good right now.” 

She heaved herself up to the attic and ran a bath, hoping to soak her sore muscles for a bit before laying down. 

Unfortunately, she forgot to put Skull in a drawer before getting into the bath, so she forced herself to endure his mostly one-sided conversation as she refused to stand until she finished. 

“The two of you are so painful to watch and listen to, you know? Honestly, you should just leave him. Run off with me and we’ll start our own agency. Who needs Lockwood and George?” 

She rolled her eyes, even though he couldn’t see her. “We do - or did you forget that I’m a woman and am not supposed to be a magical? Can’t very well run a magical agency if you’re not a magical.”  

“I don’t understand this time. Where - when I come from, women could be magicals, just like men. Stupid that there’s none left, if you ask me - not that anyone ever does.” He sounded almost petulant at the end of his lament. 

This piqued Lucy’s attention. She vaguely knew that Skull had been around for a long time, but he never offered many details about his past, and she never asked. “Oh? Women were magicals, just like men?” 

“Yup. Better than men, too, - and always more powerful. It’s why you should leave those two and we can start our own company.” 

Lucy huffed. “Maybe if we were living in your time, but here and now, we can’t. Besides, even if we could… well, I care for them. I don’t want to leave.” 

“Care so much that you still haven’t told the posh boy how you feel? I also notice you don’t sleep in his bed. Not very married of you two.” Skull made a noise that sounded like a disapproving mother clucking at her children. 

Skull’s words sunk into her mind and forced her to confront some truths she had thus far been successful in avoiding (thank you very much). Namely, he was right. She was hiding, and she wanted to share a bed with Lockwood. Not because she was ready to advance their physical relationship, but because she still thought about that night with the nightmares right before they were married. It was the best night of sleep she had ever had, and she longed to return to it. 

It was silly. They were married. There was absolutely no reason they couldn’t - shouldn’t share a bed. 

“You’re right, Skull.” 

“Of course I am. Wait! About what?” 

Lucy stood up, wrapped a towel around herself, and stepped out of the bath. “It’s ridiculous that we’re not sleeping together. Thanks for pointing it out.” 

“That’s what you took away from all that? Not the running off part?” 

But she wasn’t listening anymore. Instead, she quickly dressed and took off down the stairs - ignoring Skull’s protests behind her. 

Standing in front of Lockwood’s door, she hesitated for the first time. Would he even want to share his bed with her? Would he expect more than sleeping? Would…

An opening door interrupted her thoughts. “Hey, Luce. I could feel you thinking from in here. Something wrong?” 

He rested casually against the doorjamb with his arms crossed in front of his chest. It was honestly unfair how good he made simply standing there look. 

“Can I sleep with you?” She blurted out and immediately turned red at the implication. Lockwood must have thought the same thing since his eyebrows damn near disappeared into his hair with how high he raised them. 

“I mean… can I… sleep in your bed? I just feel better when I’m near you…” She looked down at her feet, suddenly feeling like a child seeking their favourite comfort toy, rather than a woman asking to share a bed with her own damned husband. 

His fingers came up below her chin and gently lifted her face until she was looking at him. “Of course, Luce. My bed is always open.” 

“I’m not.. I’m not ready for…” 

“I know, love. I assume you will let me know if you ever are. You know I meant what I said before we wed - if you’re never ready, I’m okay with that. I just need you - your presence in my life. Anything beyond that is just a bonus. Okay?” 

Lucy nodded and felt both relieved and silly for ever doubting that he would be there for her in whichever capacity she needed him. She squeezed past him and crawled onto the same side of the bed she had taken months ago after her nightmare. 

Lockwood watched Lucy climb into his bed and felt a sense of peace he hadn’t expected. He would be lying if he said that he hadn’t wanted her in his bed since the night she last slept there. Probably even before that, if he was being fully honest (he wasn’t). 

She simply looked like she belonged there - tucked under his deep red comforter, head on his fluffy pillows. 

“Are you going to join me or just stare?” 

He laughed. Leave it to Lucy to call him out on simply admiring her. Lockwood walked around and slid in next to her. “I wasn’t actually planning on sleeping, you know.” 

“Too bad.” She threw her arm around his middle and rested her head on his chest. He hadn’t expected her to be this demanding - using him as she pleased. Not that he would ever deny her, especially not over something that he wanted even more than she probably did - that is, her in his bed. 

“You make a convincing case for sleeping.” 

“Shh. Sleep now.” Her breathing quickly evened out, and he felt her limbs relax even further. Waiting a few more minutes, just to make sure she was really asleep, he dropped a light kiss to the top of her head and allowed sleep to pull him under as well. 

***

“Oi! You two! Get up.” The door muffled George’s voice, but the irritation in it was clear. Lockwood checked the clock near his bed and realised they only had an hour until they needed to leave for the night’s job. That meant that, most likely, everyone had been waiting for them downstairs for quite some time.

George’s call hadn’t roused Lucy. She was usually a light sleeper, but when she was next to him, she seemed to sleep more soundly. He hoped it was because of him.

“Lucy…” he shook her shoulder, trying to wake her gently. “Luce, time to get up.”

“No,” she murmured before burying her face deeper in his chest.

This pulled a laugh out of him. “Sorry, love. We’ve gotta get up and get going.”

“Fine!” she flopped over dramatically, making her displeasure known. “Are you sure we need to even go tonight? We could just… stay here.”

He didn’t think she was trying to be seductive or use innuendo, but that’s how it came across to him. And, once again, he became convinced that she was trying to kill him. “A tempting offer, but unfortunately, we have to pay bills.”

“What was the bloody point of marrying someone so posh if I still have to work?”

He grabbed her hand and laced their fingers together. “Technically, you don’t have to work. Only I do. But the last time I suggested that…”

She cut him off. “Yes, yes, I know. I threatened to cut off a semi-important body part.”

“I’d argue that it’s more than semi- important, but yes. And I learned my lesson.”

“Fine. Let’s go.” She pulled her hand away and the loss of warmth was instantaneous. He hated how he craved every single touch and smart lash of her tongue that she graced him with. She had become more tactile and bolder in the months since they married, and it pleased him to no end.

She left the room, he assumed, to go get ready on her own. He quickly pulled on the dark, slightly less-formal clothes that he preferred to wear on jobs. After checking himself in the mirror for any remaining evidence that he had been sleeping, he headed downstairs. Sure enough, George, Flo, and Quilliam were all enjoying tea while waiting for him in the kitchen.

“Oh look, he’s alive.”

“Hello to you, too, Quilliam. Flo, pleasure as always.” Lockwood nodded at both of them before grabbing his own tea.  

He saw the glances between all of them, mirth barely concealed behind their eyes.

“You have about thirty seconds to say whatever you want to say to me before Lucy comes downstairs.”

“We’re just wondering if you had guesses on whether the baby would have a Talent more like yours or Lucy’s.” Flo casually sipped her tea while Lockwood fought not to choke on his.

“There will be no babies any time soon, Flo. We’re not even sharing bedrooms, for Christ’s sake. She just fell asleep today in my bed. Nothing happened.”

Both Flo and Quilliam look unconvinced, but George looked relieved.

Lucy’s footsteps put any further conversation to rest. She came into the kitchen wearing her own usual work outfit – black trousers and a long sleeve black shirt, blades tucked into various holsters around her body and her boots. Skull was secure in her hand. She had taken to fidgeting with him when he was in letter opener form. He suspected it was partially her nerves and partially a desire to annoy the ancient weapon.

Her gaze flicked between all of them. “Am I interrupting something?”

“Of course not. Here’s your tea, Luce.” She didn’t look convinced, but she accepted the tea from Lockwood and chose not to comment further.

George cleared his throat and pushed his glasses up on his nose. “This seems like a fairly straightforward case, but something about it makes me uneasy – which is why I’ve brought everyone in today. I can’t find any information on the magical relics that this gang is supposed to be moving. Nor can I find any information about the gang itself. It seems like they just appeared a few years ago and have been operating quietly just outside of DEPRAC’s reach. DEPRAC turned it over to us because they couldn’t pin them down either.”

“What are we supposed to do, exactly?” Lucy’s voice held just a hint of concern that was probably only noticeable to him. He reached over and grabbed her hand, squeezing it lightly.

“Flo heard that there’s going to be an auction tonight. We’re going to have Lucy and Lockwood infiltrate it while the rest of us are nearby, waiting to back you up if anything goes wrong. You don’t have to do anything – just confirm that they’re selling relics and come back out. DEPRAC will do the rest.”

Lucy nodded. “Seems simple enough.”

“It does – too simple. That’s why we’re,” Flo pointed to Quilliam and herself, “here. The fact that none of my contacts have heard about this group or know where they might have come from doesn’t sit right with me. No one comes out of nowhere. If it wasn’t a personal favour to Barnes, I would tell you to walk away from the case.”

A knot formed in Lockwood’s stomach. He had never, ever heard Flo talk about walking away from a challenge or seen the nervous glint in her eyes that was there now. Pushing past his own developing anxiety, he set his tea down on the counter and tried to project an air of nonchalance. “Well, we’ve never been known for making the most intelligent decisions. What’s one more reckless one? Besides, I would love for DEPRAC to owe us for once.”

His light tone seemed to calm the room just a little, and for that, he was grateful. “Let’s get on with it then, shall we?”

Lucy knew immediately upon entering the empty factory where the auction was allegedly being held that something was amiss. It was silent inside. It was exactly what Lockwood had seen with his Sight, but it still wasn’t making sense. Were they wrong? Had DEPRAC, Flo, and George all had faulty information?

They waited at the back of the room for several minutes and she could feel Lockwood getting more anxious beside her. He had looked as far into the future as he could without it becoming too fuzzy to be reliable, and the whole time it had just been the two of them. They both thought it was odd, but they had no way of knowing why no one was appearing - just that it probably wasn’t dangerous since they were alone. All they could do was wait and see if anything else happened.

Lucy knew they were coming to the end of the future that he had been able to see. She was just about to suggest that they leave when she suddenly felt a surge of her magic. After not sensing anybody except Lockwood since even before they came into the building, there were now clearly several people around her - and it sounded like they were yelling.

She grabbed Skull by instinct, and he transformed into his weapon form. The voices were closing in, but it was clear Lockwood couldn’t hear them. He looked confused and worried. She could tell he was talking to her, or at least trying to talk to her, but she could only see his mouth moving, not hear his words.

“Lockwood, behind you!”

A person suddenly became visible - as though they had appeared out of thin air - and reached for Lockwood, who ducked just in time to avoid being hit. He pulled out his rapier and engaged the person in combat while Lucy turned towards the people that she could hear behind her. She quickly disarmed one of them and turned her attention to the other, driving them back towards a door that would lead them outside. If she could just get outside, DEPRAC and the others would see her and come help.

Before she could get to the door, she heard a deep voice behind her.

Must grab the girl!

No, it wasn’t coming from behind her. It was… in her mind. She didn’t - couldn’t dwell on it. Instead, she grabbed one of her blades from her thigh holster and drove it into the stomach of the person who had just grabbed her from behind. The person - a man, she assumed - let out a choking noise, and she heard him fall to the ground.

The other person she had driven towards the door turned and ran outside. Lucy followed and she could feel Lockwood coming up behind her.

Her eyes. Her eyes! Another unfamiliar, masculine voice echoed in her mind and she knew it belonged to the person who was getting away. As they were running, they disappeared again – back into thin air and just as quickly as they had all appeared minutes before.

Lockwood caught up to her then. “Are you okay?”

She nodded. “Yeah, of course. Are you?”

“Just a minor cut – I’ll be fine. Where the bloody hell is DEPRAC? And what the fuck just happened back there?”

“I have no idea. But Lockwood… the one who got away – he knows.” He. He was a magical. Lucy knew it deep within her bones. 

Lockwood’s brows furrowed in confusion. “Knows what, Luce?”

“About me.”

Horror replaced the confusion on Lockwood's face as he finally understood what she meant.

They knew Lucy was a magical.

It was their worst fear come true. 

Chapter Text

“Can you go over it one more time?” George was diligently taking notes as Lockwood and Lucy recounted the night’s events.

The others had long since returned to their own homes, leaving the trio to puzzle out exactly what had occurred earlier. Lucy rubbed her temples, exhausted by repeating this story so many times. Lockwood placed his hand on her shoulder and quietly took over.

“Three people – we’re assuming they were magicals – literally came out of thin air. There was nobody in the room with us, and then suddenly there were three people were only a few steps away. They didn’t sneak up on us – they just appeared. We didn’t sense them until just before they began attacking.”

“Actually…” Lucy’s voice was soft, but cut through the room like a knife. “I heard them before I saw them. That’s how I knew to warn you, Lockwood.”

Lockwood seemed confused. “What do you mean, you heard them? Your Listening is brilliant, but that close, even I should have heard them sneaking up on us.”

She shook her head. “Not like that. They were… they were in my head. It’s like how I can feel people’s intentions, but instead of feeling them, I heard them. I’m… I’m pretty sure I was hearing their thoughts. That’s how I know they’re aware of my existence. The last thing I heard before he vanished was ‘her eyes, her eyes.’”  

George set his pen down and looked contemplative, steepling his fingers and looking over them at Lucy. “Hearing thoughts is possible. We’ve read of it happening before.”

Lockwood turned to look at him. “We have?”

George nodded. “You remember that book from the library – the one by Agatha Silvermoon? It was one of her Talents. She was a Listener, like Lucy. It’s not surprising that Lucy is continuing to develop her Talents. She was never trained, after all. Not like Agatha and the other women in her time were.”

The memory of Skull’s words came back to her. “So there truly was a time when women magicals were free to simply… exist?”

He nodded again. “I don’t know a lot about it – the archives and history books were almost entirely wiped clean of women magicals. I don’t think there’s too many people anywhere who know more than the same basic history we do – that women were murdered in large numbers over the years and are now presumed extinct.”

“When Lockwood and I were in that library, we encountered rows of books - all written by women. So someone is keeping the knowledge alive, even if it hides in the restricted sections.”

Lockwood and George shared a look that Lucy could not decipher. They seemed to have a silent conversation until Lockwood nodded and opted to fill her in. “That library belongs to DEPRAC. When we were looking for Agatha’s book, I thought it was strange that the library housed so many magical books written by women, but we both assumed they collected them from various raids over the years. But now…”

Lucy waited a moment for him to continue, but when it was clear that he wasn’t going to, she tried to prompt him. “But now?”

Lockwood shook his head. “Now… I’m not sure. There’s just so many pieces to various puzzles, all of which make little sense. Every time it feels like one puzzle piece slots into place, an even more complicated puzzle appears.”

Lucy didn’t follow – but she figured that was likely because she was emotionally and mentally drained. The larger mystery of women magicals seemed like a less pressing issue than one particular woman magical. “Okay, so now what? Someone knows me – what do we do now?”

Her husband looked scared. “I don’t know, Luce. We’ll keep you safe – whatever it takes, we’re going to keep you safe. In the morning, we’ll talk to Flo about possibly going away. Hopefully, to somewhere safer than London.”

George cleared his throat, interrupting their moment. “I’m going to head to bed. I suggest you two try to sleep as well. Who knows what tomorrow is going to bring?”

“Night, George,” both Lockwood and Lucy called after him.

Lucy bit her lip, trying to decide what to do next. She wanted to ask Lockwood if she could sleep in the bed with him again, but she waged a battle against the voice in her mind telling her that she couldn’t – shouldn’t – rely on anyone else.

Luckily, Lockwood seemed to notice. Either that or he was simply that in-tuned with her thoughts. “Hey, Luce? Would you like to share my bed tonight? I would sleep much better with you close by.”

She let out a breath she wasn’t aware she had been holding. “Yeah, I’d love that. Let me get ready for bed and I’ll be right down.”

Lockwood grabbed her hand, squeezing lightly. “See you in a few.”

Lockwood paced his room, overthinking every decision he made. Should he sleep in a shirt? Change his sheets? Would Lucy prefer more pillows? Should he open a window?

A tentative knock on the door pulled him from his thoughts, and Lockwood shook his head. He was being ridiculous. They were married. Furthermore, they had shared a bed before – more than once!

Opening the door, his breath hitched at Lucy’s sleep clothes. She wore just a simple white slip dress, but it exposed more of her skin than he had ever seen outside of his dreams.

Lucy arched a brow at him. “No shirt?”

He looked down, having forgotten what he was – or wasn’t – wearing. “Um, I rarely wear one to bed… I can put one on…”

She let out a soft laugh and laid her hand on his arm. “Anthony, it’s okay. I know how you sleep, remember?”

Lockwood felt his heat both at the use of his given name and the realisation that she was joking. “Oh sorry – come in, come in.” She slipped in and he closed the door gently behind her. She made her way to her side and slipped under the covers.

Now it was his turn to raise a brow, but he wisely chose not to say a word. He extinguished the lights around the room, leaving only the soft glow of the lamp on his side of the bed, and slid into bed next to Lucy.

She turned on her side to face him, tucking her hands between her cheek and the pillow. He mirrored her on his side, but kept his head propped up on his arm.

“Hi,” she murmured.

“Hello,” he echoed, voice rougher than expected.

“How are you?”

He let out a soft breath that could almost have been mistaken for a laugh. “Well, my wife’s darkest, most dangerous secret was revealed to people who, quite literally, popped out of the air and tried to kill us. I’ve had better days.”

She lifted her hand to his cheek, and he placed his hand on the other side of hers, holding it there and leaning into her touch. “We’ll be okay, Anthony. I’m scared, but I also know that I have people around me who will help protect me. I’m not alone like I’ve been the rest of my life. It’s not just me running scared anymore. At least now, if I have to flee, I’ll have someone with me.”

“You’d have several of us. We will let nothing happen to you if there’s any way we can prevent it.”

She shook her head. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore. Not tonight. We’ll talk about it tomorrow.”

He nodded, relieved, because he too didn’t want to dwell on it any longer. Not when his wife was so close to him in his – their bed. He tilted his head slightly to drop a kiss on the inside of Lucy’s wrist. “Good night, love.”

Lockwood turned and flipped off his lamp before dropping to his back. He expected Lucy to either stay on her side or, he dared hope, use his chest as a pillow again. Instead, he felt her hand move across his bare chest, barely touching him and yet still causing him to shiver. He could see her go to hover over him in the moonlight that streamed through the window. Her hair was getting longer and now the longest pieces brushed his face as her face came close to his. He held his breath, unsure of what was happening.

“Anthony? Can I kiss you?”

He didn’t trust his voice, so instead he nodded. She tenderly brought her lips down on his, missing his mouth slightly. She readjusted, bringing their mouths into better alignment, and cautiously slipped her tongue along the seam of his lips. He groaned, opening his mouth at her request.

This kiss was far more cautious than the kiss that they shared in the library. She seemed uncertain, almost timid, but continued kissing him. Taking a chance, he gently flipped them, so he was on top.

“Is this okay, Lucy?”

She emphatically nodded. “I… this is all I’m ready for tonight, but I have wanted to kiss you for a while, and this seemed like as good a time as any.”

Lockwood understood. It was already more than he had expected tonight – or ever. He adored the pieces of herself that she gifted to him in quiet moments like this.

They lazily explored each other with their mouths and hands, going slowly, carefully, until both were fighting to stay awake – the night’s adrenaline long since worn off.

Lucy whispered a “good night,” just before her breathing evened out and she began to snore softly. Lockwood took a few moments simply to look at his wife – his beautiful, feisty, brave wife. He was still in awe of the fact that she had chosen him.

“Good night, Lucy. I love you more than I will ever be able to put into words.”

And then, with his hand clasped in hers, he drifted off.

***

“Lockwood, get up.” The incessant knocking on his door pulled him reluctantly out of a deep sleep.

“Just a second, George.” He looked down at Lucy, who had wrapped herself around Lockwood while they slept. Carefully, he slipped out from under her, being sure to not disturb her. He quickly dressed and headed downstairs, unsure of why George had woken him up on a day without any planned cases.

The reason became apparent as Uncle Barnes came into view, sitting in their front room. “Uncle Barnes? Is everything all right?”

He stood up, looking more formal than Lockwood had seen him in some time. “Unfortunately, this is not a social visit, Anthony. I’m here on behalf of DEPRAC. As of this morning, Lockwood and Co is officially suspended from doing any psychical-related work, pending an investigation.”

Lockwood furrowed his brows in confusion, taking the paper that Barnes held out for him. “What?”

“DEPRAC is concerned about the risks that Lockwood and Co took on the case yesterday – and then, to make matters worse, you lost control of your powers again. DEPRAC can’t risk a rogue magical or magical company causing problems.”

Lockwood’s head was spinning in confusion. “We were there on behalf of DEPRAC! And what the bloody hell are you talking about? I didn’t lose control of my powers at all!”

Barnes shook his head. “There’s no record of this case ever getting approval from DEPRAC. And as for your powers –“ he looked up and cut himself off, having noticed something behind Lockwood. Lockwood turned around to see Lucy standing there, clearly having woken up and dressed before coming down.

“Lockwood, what’s going on?”

“Mr Barnes,” Lockwood sneered, and he could’ve sworn he saw his uncle flinch minutely, “has just informed us that DEPRAC has suspended Lockwood and Co.”

“What?! Why?”

“He claims DEPRAC didn’t sanction our case last night, and that I lost control of my powers.”

Barnes cleared his throat. “The man that Lucy stabbed is conscious and in custody. He claims he saw Lucy’s eyes glow, and that she was doing other things that were impossible to do without magic. So, as best we can figure, you, Anthony, lost control of your powers again and made him hallucinate – perhaps so much that he’s been driven a bit mad. Now, it’s either you lost control, or you drove him insane on purpose, which I remind you is quite illegal.”

Lockwood cringed, knowing that the truth was that Lucy was a magical, which was a crime with a penalty far more severe than losing the agency or Lockwood being imprisoned for abusing magic on someone.

So instead, he nodded his head. “I understand, Mr Barnes.”

Barnes nodded his head. “Good. DEPRAC agents will be by later to take further statements and clearly spell out the terms of your suspension. I’ve already made the rounds to tell Flo and Quilliam that DEPRAC needs their statements as well, so they should be here shortly. Make sure you read the paperwork carefully beforehand. Good luck, Anthony, and goodbye.”

Barnes let himself out and Lockwood, George, and Lucy all stood there dumbfounded.

Lockwood was ready to throw the piece of paper in the fireplace without a second thought when he hesitated. He figured he should at least read exactly what charges DEPRAC levelled against them, so he could lie and keep Lucy safe.

He unfolded it, and to his surprise there was nothing more than a short-handwritten note, written in his Uncle Barnes’ neat penmanship.

DEPRAC knows & they’re watching.

Get out – now. Flo and Quilliam will help.

Don’t let this be the last time I see the three of you alive.

Burn this letter immediately.

Love,

Uncle Barnes

“Right, well. We’re not bloody waiting around for DEPRAC. Luce, George, why don’t we go pack and go on that holiday we’ve been wanting to take? Here George, you can read this as well, so we know what to fight when we return, and then pack up yourself, yeah?” He handed the note over to George and took Lucy’s hand, leading her towards the stairs.

At the last second, he spun her around and pinned her to the wall, much like he had months ago in the library. He leaned in and trailed kisses down her jaw until he reached her ear. “DEPRAC knows. We have to leave immediately.” A little louder he said, “just think, Luce, it’s the honeymoon we’ve been hoping to take for a while now. Guess we really should thank DEPRAC for the forced holiday.”

Lucy could see the fear in Lockwood’s eyes, but she giggled in a way that she hoped appeared flirtatious and ran up to her room in the attic. She quickly grabbed two small bags and threw as many clothes in them as she could.

While Lucy still didn’t have many possessions that she cared about losing, her sketchbook and art supplies were now almost as precious to her as her blades. She changed her clothes into her least conspicuous but easiest to travel in and threw on her boots. Just as she was tucking her blades into her boots, she heard the front door crash open.

“Where’s the girl?”

She didn’t hear an answer, but she heard Lockwood’s steps coming up the stairs and Lucy grabbed Skull.

“Ready to go, love?” Lockwood had a bag slung over his back and his rapier ready.

“Yes. Exactly the sort of beginning I always pictured for my honeymoon.”

He came and stood by her, mirroring her fighting position. “Thought you never dreamed of getting married.”

Lucy barely refrained from rolling her eyes. “That was the joke, darling.”

The door to her attic crashed open and several men flooded in. They were saying something, but Lucy blocked it all out to concentrate on fighting. With the help of Skull, she easily took down the two who came to grab her. Lockwood was fighting off three and seemed to be just barely staying upright. She couldn’t risk running over to him and leaving her back exposed, so she looked around for something – anything to throw.

Her beloved cactus was sitting in the window and she picked him up, whispering a quick apology before yelling “catch” at the man running up the stairs and throwing it directly at his face. He looked up, and she saw the cactus latch on to his face as he went tumbling backwards. She ran over and used Skull to subdue one of Lockwood’s attackers while he fought off the other two.

In her mind, she heard Lockwood’s voice. Luce, if you can hear me, I need you to distract them for just a minute so I can use my Sight.

“Hey, looking for me?” She called as she took off down the stairs. They hesitated for only a moment before chasing her. Lucy didn’t look back until she heard their blood-curdling screams behind her and could hear them drop to the floor. She risked a glance over her shoulder and saw them writhing on the floor, screaming in agony.

Lockwood followed a moment later with her bags, tossing the smaller one to her and keeping his and her larger one. They ran downstairs only to be greeted by Flo and Quilliam, along with George, and three DEPRAC agents lying around them, either dead or unconscious.

They looked at one another for just a moment before Quilliam broke the silence. “Right then, Ollie’s out front with the carriage. Suppose it’s time we get going.”

They ran outside and into the unassuming carriage, quite different from the one that had taken them to the DEPRAC ball. As soon as they piled in, Quilliam signalled to Ollie that they were ready to leave.

None of them said a word until they were quite a distance away from 35 Portland Row. After several tense minutes, Flo started laughing, followed by George, then Quilliam, and finally Lockwood and Lucy. Soon, the five of them had tears in their eyes from laughing so hard.

They weren’t safe, not yet, but they were alive and moving away from London.

They hoped they were moving towards something better, rather than just away from something worse.

Chapter Text

“So, uh, where exactly are we going?” They had been travelling about an hour when Lucy finally asked the question burning on everyone’s minds. 

Flo held up an ancient-looking key and smirked. “One of my safe houses. It’s best if you don’t know where it is, love, just in case anything happens. I tasked Ollie with taking us on a winding path though, in case anyone followed us.” 

Lucy nodded and settled her head back on Lockwood’s shoulder. She was tired and her mind hadn’t even begun to process everything that happened at 35 Portland Row. She was glad that Skull was with her, but she would mourn the loss of her beloved knife plant. In some ways, that prickly plant was the first real friend she ever had. 

She shook her head. Maybe she was going mad - thinking of a cactus as a friend. 

Lucy turned her head towards Lockwood, looking up at him. “Do you think Uncle Barnes will be okay?”

“Oh, he’s Uncle Barnes now?” He smirked, but Lucy could tell he was hiding behind his own pain. “Yeah, Luce, I think he’ll be okay. He’s smart and knows how to cover his tracks. He did a good job of acting like a prick this morning - in fact, I almost burned his note instead of reading it. George, you made sure it burned before we left, right?” 

“Of course.” 

Lucy looked towards her friends and, for the first time, noticed how close George and Flo sat. She let out a small smile, hopeful that something was blooming between her two close friends. 

Her two close friends. 

A pang of worry and hurt soared through her - everyone was there because of her. 

She broke the silence with a quiet, choked voice. “I’m so sorry, everyone. You’re all here because of me. You’re all on the run because of me. I’m so –” 

“Lucy, we wouldn’t be here if we didn’t want to be. Ollie or I could’ve turned you in at any point, because I’ve known you were a woman with magic since the day we met.” Quilliam’s words were kind, but firm. 

George nodded in agreement. “You’re my sister, Lucy. You are family and family takes care of each other, no matter what.” 

Flo, however, looked uncharacteristically indecisive before she spoke up. “You’re not… we’re not just doing this for you, Luce.” 

“What do you mean?” 

The older woman looked off into the distance before a look of resolve crossed her face. “You’re not the only one with secrets. I’m not magical, no, but only by an accident of birth. My mother was a magical, and her mother before her. Most of my aunts were too. They’ve lived in hiding their whole lives. When my father discovered mother was magical, he turned her in. The authorities, I’m now guessing it was DEPRAC, killed her. I barely remember her, and then they practically wiped her very existence from all records. I don’t even know if any of my aunts are alive. They all left when it became clear I wasn’t magical and they didn’t need to protect me. The place we’re going… it’s a family home and I’m hoping we find answers there.”  

“Are… are you not scared your dad will be there waiting for you?” Lucy suddenly felt unsure about this entire escape plan. What if they were escaping one danger just to be greeted by another?  

Flo shook her head. “None of the men in my family know about the house. These boys -” 

“Oy, we’re men!” Lockwood said in mock indignation. 

“ boys are the first non-women to have knowledge of this place. I’ve seen how they protected you, trusted you, and I don’t think they’ll ever betray us. Besides, we need their help.” 

Lucy let out a sigh of relief and grabbed Lockwood’s hand. “I’m tired, Lockwood.” 

“Rest, my love, and I’ll wake you if anything happens.” 

She nodded and drifted off.

Lockwood felt a smile slip onto his face as he looked down at Lucy sleeping on his shoulder. 

“You’re lucky to have her.” Flo was watching them, expression serious. 

“I know. Trust me, I know.” 

Flo nodded, evidently satisfied with his answer. 

He checked back in to make sure Lucy was snoring quietly, a sign that she was deep asleep. “I’m so scared.” 

George pushed his glasses up a little and looked between Lockwood and Lucy. “If anyone is going to survive this, it’s her. We only know a small fraction of everything she went through to survive as long as she did. Between her so-called parents, being owned by Jacobs, and being a magical - especially one as powerful as she is - it’s damn near a miracle no one has killed her yet. She’s a survivor, Lockwood.” 

Lockwood nodded in agreement, the lump in his throat preventing a more vocal answer. 

“I think… I think I spoke to her with my mind.” 

George cocked his head, intrigued. “What do you mean?” 

“When DEPRAC attacked us in the attic, I thought directly at her that she needed to distract them so I could fight. Sure enough, she immediately distracted them so I could… So I could subdue them. Either it was a very lucky guess or she heard me. And since she had already heard the people yesterday, I’m betting on the latter.” 

“Fascinating.” From anyone else, it might have sounded sarcastic, but with George, it was a genuine expression of his interest. This was a new revelation and George was always curious about everything he didn’t know. 

“There’s… there’s more.” Lockwood took a deep breath, dreading what he was about to say. “I… made them hallucinate and that’s how we got away.” 

“That’s not the first time you’ve done that, Lockwood.” 

“It was different this time, Georgie. I didn’t just make images appear and cloud their vision… instead, I was in their minds, making them see things. If they survived my attack, they will lock away those agents away in an institution for the rest of their lives. I felt the madness overtake them and I’ve never been able to do anything like that before - at least, definitely not to that level.” 

He hadn’t noticed that George took out his notebook and was diligently scribbling down notes. 

“Anything else?” 

Lockwood nodded. “Since Lucy arrived, my Talent has become even more powerful than before. I’ve lost control of it once - which I hadn’t done since I was very young. I’m doing things I’ve never done. For Christ’s sake, I made us invisible in the library and Lucy made it so no one could hear us. How is that even possible?” 

“I… don’t know. Flo said that there are a lot of magical books at the cottage. - maybe they’ll have something in there we can find that can help explain this.” 

“Flo, are there protections around the cottage? Will we be fully in hiding or can we be outside without risk of being seen?” 

“There are wards. I don’t know how powerful they are, but magic completely protects the house itself. Only those in contact with the key can see it.” 

“I want to explore our new Talents - Lucy and me. There’s a bigger fight coming, I can feel it, and we need to be prepared.” 

George, Flo, and Quilliam all nodded their heads in agreement. 

Quilliam spoke up next. “Whatever you need - we will be there. All of us. We meant what we said to Lucy. You are our family, and if there’s any way to prevent the next Lucy or Flo’s mum from happening, we owe it our best fight. They shouldn’t have to live in fear - no one should.” 

Lockwood knew Quilliam was speaking from experience. While Lockwood had no qualms about Quilliam and Ollie’s love, they still faced judgement and scorn from far too many in London and beyond. Unfortunately, they knew more than almost any other men about what it meant to have to hide yourself. 

Looking around, Lockwood realised how grateful he was for this group. His friends, no - his family - who would do everything in their power to keep them safe. The last thought he had before he drifted off was simply how lucky he was. 

“Lucy, Lockwood, wake up.” Lucy slowly woke up and panicked when she didn’t immediately recognise where she was. Before the memories of the last few days came back to her, Lockwood’s unique scent of soap and cologne hit her. It calmed her immediately while her mind caught up to where they were and how they got there.

“Are we there?” Her voice was hoarse, and she wasn’t sure where there was, but she hoped that was the reason they had stopped. 

“Yeah. Not-so-home sweet home.” Flo’s voice sounded far away and Lucy assumed she was outside of the carriage waiting for them. 

The rest of them scrambled out of the carriage, bags in hand. Lucy looked around the countryside, but all she could see were hills. “Erm - where exactly?” 

Flo laughed and grabbed onto her hand. Immediately, a house appeared before her - a rather large cottage surrounded by a well-tended garden. It was dark, but Lucy thought she saw a pond off to the side of the house, too. 

“Wow.” 

“Oy, everyone - form a line and hold hands. You’ve gotta be connected to the key to see the house until you go inside, so we’re all going in together.” 

At Flo’s command, the six of them formed a line, each one letting out a noise of shock when the house appeared before them. When everyone was holding hands, Flo led the way and unlocked the door, leading them all inside. 

The inside was even bigger, with a kitchen, a sitting room, and what looked like several bedrooms off down a hallway. There were other rooms too, but she couldn’t see what was inside. What surprised her the most though was - “There’s food?!” 

Flo chuckled. “Yeah, no one’s been here for years as far as I know, but the house is somehow kept fully stocked. There’s two water closets and a bath too with hot water. I know it’s magic, but I have no idea how my foremothers did it. I choose to just enjoy the fruits of their labour, no pun intended.” Explanation complete, she went over to the kitchen and started heating a kettle for tea. 

Lucy grabbed an apple and some bread, digging into both ravenously. She didn’t realise until just then that she hadn’t eaten since the previous night. The others followed her lead, grabbing their own fruit and other assorted foodstuffs. But no matter how much they ate, the supply of food never seemed to dwindle. It made Lucy’s head hurt, and she chose not to dwell on it. 

Flo brought over some tea, and they drank it in comfortable silence. 

“So what now?” Lucy looked at all of them, wondering what was supposed to happen next. 

George shrugged. “Don’t know. I say we all get some sleep tonight and then we’ll figure out what our next steps are tomorrow. I think we’re all mentally exhausted, yeah?” There were tired nods around the table, especially from Ollie, who had been in charge of getting them all there safe. 

Lucy reached over and squeezed Ollie’s hand slightly, sending him a grateful smile. “Thank you, Ollie. Thank you, everyone. I know I’ve said it before, but… I’m grateful for all of you. I love you all, and you’re the best family I could’ve ever asked for.” 

She could have sworn she heard Quilliam sniffle a little, but when he spoke, his voice was strong. “Don’t go getting soft on us, Carlyle. Why don’t you and Tony go to bed while the rest of us take care of everything out here?” 

“It’s Lockwood now, Kipps,” she teased back at him. She knew that this was a ploy to get her away so that they could talk about their plans without worrying her, but she took the opportunity anyway. “But I think that’s an excellent idea.” She turned to Lockwood and held out her hand. “Shall we, Anthony?” 

She had never called him that around anyone else, and the reaction was immediate from both Lockwood and the others. Lockwood looked dazed and their friends let out whistles and whoops of approval. He nearly tripped over the chair in his attempt to get up and follow Lucy. 

She pulled him by the hand into the furthest bedroom, a cosy one at the end of the hallway with an enormous bed covered by a blue blanket and sheets. The last few days had made something abundantly clear to Lucy: she was deeply in love with her husband and she wanted - no, needed him to know. 

They could have died today and she never would have had the chance to tell him how she felt. That was an injustice she couldn’t bear and a fate he didn’t deserve. So, she pushed him back until his knees hit the bed, and then kept pushing, causing him to fall backwards. It was reminiscent of their last sparring session, and it gave her an idea. 

“Move back to the pillows.” Lockwood scrambled to kick off his shoes and follow her orders, laying down with his head on the pillows, looking up at her with awe.

She kicked off her own shoes and crawled up after him, straddling his chest just like she had a week ago in the Portland Row basement. She grabbed his face with both of her hands and leaned down, giving him a sweet, chaste kiss. 

When she pulled back to look at him, he looked dazed but happy. "Not that I'm complaining, but is everything ok, Luce?"

She smiled and whispered a yes. "I've been scared, Anthony. I was scared for so long that these last few months had just been a dream and that I was going to wake up any second back on Jacobs’ floor. But it’s not true. This is real, isn't it?"

He nodded. 

“Good. In that case, Anthony Lockwood, I need you to know something and it’s very important.”

She looked at him then, just as she had many times over the last several months. Lucy took in his dark brown eyes that seemed to stare into her soul and his brown hair that was softer than it had any right to be. And his face - one that held nothing but adoration for her. He was her Anthony and had been since the day they met. She knew that, somewhere deep in her soul. She had known it for a long time, but she had refused to allow herself to really feel and understand just how deep her love ran. Until now. Lucy reached out with her senses, letting Lockwood’s love flow through her until his and hers were indistinguishable. 

Lucy was happy. Indescribably happy. 

“I need you to know, Anthony, that I love you. That I am stupidly, deeply in love with you and I can't go on any longer being afraid to say it. Honestly, I have probably been in love with you since the day I stole your scrying watch. Yes, even as I held my blade to your neck. You saved my life, my soul, and have given me everything - a family, a home, a last name that I don’t want to run away from - everything.” 

The light from the smile that broke across his face put the glow of the moon outside to shame. "You love me?"

She nodded, letting out a relieved laugh that sounded suspiciously like a giggle.

"I do. I love you so much, Anthony, and I'm proud to be your partner, your wife. I still live in disbelief that you chose me.” 

“Lucy, you have to know that I am the lucky one. I can’t believe you chose me.” 

She laughed at that. “I guess we’re both lucky, but I wasn’t finished. I also... I'd also really like to explore the other benefits of being married. If that's alright with you?"

His voice came out hoarse, strangled. "Like in general or right now?"

"Right now would be great."

Lockwood damn near growled. "Fuck, Luce. You're gonna kill me one day." 

*** 

Later, before they drifted off to sleep, Lucy looked up at Lockwood with concern in her eyes. “We’re going to be okay, right? This… this wasn’t our goodbye?” 

Lockwood held her even tighter. “No, Lucy. Not goodbye - never goodbye. This is just the start. I will burn DEPRAC to the ground, or we can run and live out our days in peace, somewhere far away. But this? This wasn’t goodbye.” 

Lucy nodded and laid back down with her head on his chest. They both drifted off to sleep hoping that Lockwood was right. 

Chapter Text

Lockwood woke up with Lucy wrapped around him, clutching him like he would disappear. He smiled, remembering last night. Not the sex, though of course that was incredible, but the confessions. They had bared their souls to each other, and it was more than he could have ever hoped. 

It took me a long time to build that armour around myself, and an embarrassingly short time for you to shatter it. I just needed time to let the pieces fall away.

Lucy was the strongest person he had ever met, and the fact that she had allowed him to pierce her armour - it was everything .

Lucy, I would let you cover every inch of me in ink if it made you happy.

His tattoos reflected his past and present, but with Lucy — and hopefully her art — her brands on his skin would be the future. She asked if she could draw something for him, as if his body wasn’t hers to use however she pleased - including as a canvas. 

Especially not when I’m near you. Have you noticed - that our Talents are stronger when we’re together?

He needed to talk to Lucy more about this — but later. Right now, he really needed to get to the water closet. Carefully, Lockwood slipped out from underneath Lucy, making sure not to wake her. 

Once he cleaned up and dressed, he prepared himself to face the rest of their friends-turned-family. With any luck, they would take the piss out of him before Lucy stirred. Taking a deep breath, he walked into the kitchen, where everyone else was already gathered. 

The room went silent.  

Choosing to ignore the heavy silence and the pointed stares, he set about preparing his tea and grabbing some fruit. When his tea was finished, he sat down at the table and finally looked at the group gathered around. 

“Alright, out with it. Have your fun before Lucy wakes up.” 

Flo blinked at him with too-innocent eyes. “Whatever could you be talking about, Locky?”

Quilliam chimed in next: “Yes, Tony, what could we possibly want to address? Is there something you want to tell us?” 

They sat in silence until George apparently couldn’t hold it back any longer. “Why, Lockwood? Lucy literally has the power to make it so we can’t hear you. I never needed to know what either of you sounded like when… you know… and now I can never not know.” 

The others, except Lockwood, burst out laughing at George’s obvious distress. Lockwood felt his ears go hot.

“I…” He tried to explain, excuse, anything, but found himself without words. 

It was Flo that thankfully took pity on him. “Look, Locky, we’ll let it go this one time because, frankly, the tension was becoming unbearable for all of us. We’re happy for you, really.” She patted his hand in an uncharacteristically sisterly move. 

Lockwood nodded, grateful. 

George cleared his throat, switching into business mode. “Now that that’s out of the way, we need to figure out what the hell we’re in the middle of. I was in the library here earlier and Flo was right — it’s extensive. I was hoping we could all spend some of today going through the books and looking for information that will help us with… whatever this is.” 

Lockwood nodded. “Sounds good to me. Should I go get Lucy?” 

“I’m awake.” Lucy’s still-sleepy voice came from the hallway. He turned to see her leaning against the archway that separated the kitchen from the hallway, clearly not yet fully awake. “Just let me get some tea and I’ll join you in the library.” 

Flo, George, Quilliam, and Ollie bid Lucy their good mornings as they made their way towards the library. Lucy made her tea while Lockwood buttered some bread for her, sliding it in front of her when she sat down. 

“Thanks,” she said, suddenly looking shy.

He leaned over and pressed a quick kiss to her lips, earning a small, but genuine smile. 

“Lockwood… there’s something you should know.” 

He felt a ball of anxiety form in his stomach, unsure of where this was going. Lucy must have noticed, because she moved quickly to clarify. “Oh no! It’s nothing bad. It’s more… embarrassing?”

Lucy took a sip of her tea. She knew she was going to have to tell Lockwood about this eventually, she just hoped it wouldn’t be so soon. It was silly, really. She knew he wouldn’t judge her. Still…

“Well, you know how I had been… working… for Jacobs since I was young? Obviously, he didn’t let me go to school, and..” She took a breath, fortifying her nerves. “I can’t really read. I mean I can read - obviously I was able to read your letter and I’m able to read words but books? Journals like Agatha Silvermoon’s? It’s really hard for me. One day, I was going to ask you or George to help me so I could read the books in Portland Row’s library, but I think the time to learn has come sooner than expected.” 

“Is that all?” Lockwood sounded relieved, and Lucy nodded her head. He gathered her in his arms and dropped a kiss to the top of her head. “Love, the fact that you can read at all is amazing. Of course we can teach you - if you want to learn, of course.” 

Lucy’s cheeks felt warm, but she wasn’t as embarrassed as she thought she would be. In fact, the only thing embarrassing was that she ever thought Lockwood would judge her for something - especially something like this.

“I do.” She did, she really did. She wanted to be able to lose herself in stories when the memories of her past became too much. Speaking of the past… “Also, I can talk about what you felt on my back yesterday now, if you want.” 

Lockwood’s jaw twitched. “I’m always here to listen, you know that, but I don’t want you to feel like you have to tell me.” 

She shook her head. “No more secrets. I want you to know.” She took a deep breath — she’d never told anyone this, of course. Who could she have ever told before Lockwood and George came into her life? 

 “Well, you know about some of the parts of my childhood. The scars are from beatings from my mum and from Jacobs. They’d hit me,” she took a shaky breath, pushing through the years of silence, “with their fists, belts, whatever they could get their hands on, especially when I didn’t bring enough money home or…” a sob cut off her story and Lockwood grabbed the hands that had been nervously twisting in her lap. 

“You don’t have to tell me anything else.” 

Lucy shook her said. “I want to. They would beat me whenever someone got too close to me. My mum, because she was hiding that I was a girl, and Jacobs because he was hiding that he owned me. And, well, the scars are from when they hit too hard.” 

Lucy shrugged, unsure of how to finish her story. 

Lockwood pulled her over into his lap, tucking her head under his chin. “I want to kill them both for what they did to you, Luce.” 

“No, Anthony. They’re not worth it.” 

He nodded. “If that’s what you want.” 

“It is. I just wanted you to know about my scars — the ones you can see and the ones you can’t. But they’re my past — and you, you’re my future. I don’t want to think about them ever again. I just wanted to tell you. To give you a piece of myself that no one else even knew existed, let alone knew the story behind.”  She drew back and cupped his jaw, pulling him into a sweet kiss. “Now, let’s go help our friends, yeah?” 

**** 

Several hours later, they thought they had the story more or less pieced together. At least from the bits and pieces the library had to offer. Lockwood had kept his word and sat patiently while she read some of the easier books in the library. He helped her with unfamiliar words and asked her questions along the way, to see if she was understanding what she read. By the end, she was exhausted, but couldn’t keep the smile off her face. She was on her way to be able to truly read, just like she had always wanted! 

Everyone gathered around the table, a dinner spread out before them. George had compiled all their notes and was sifting through them while people filled their plates. 

George continued to sort and read while the rest of the group ate in a tense quiet. Finally, he jotted down some final notes and cleared his throat. “So here’s what we’ve learned: the timeline is hazy, but at least several hundred years ago, women and men were both magicals. Then, women began to be hunted down by DEPRAC. DEPRAC still seems to control things, but beyond that, we don’t know much. We also know from Flo that Lucy clearly isn’t the only magical girl or woman still left — everyone is just in hiding. The other thing we know is that Skull really is the most powerful weapon, and that he’s connected to this history somehow.” 

He looked dejected. They hadn’t learned as much as they had hoped. For Lucy, though, his summary opened up a new path. She jumped up and ran to her bags, pulling Skull out. 

“Skull, wake up.”

“No.” 

Lucy rolled her eyes at his petulant tone. “Are you mad at me?” 

“Yes. You kept me stuffed in that bag for DAYS, Lucy.” 

“It hasn’t even been a day, Skull. I assume you heard everything?” 

“Of course I did. You’re all so bloody loud. Never let a Skull enjoy his free time.” 

“Do you know about the history we were talking about? DEPRAC and why they’re hunting us down?” 

Skull was uncharacteristically quiet. When he spoke, he was more serious than Lucy had ever heard him. “Yes, I do. But, before you learn anything else, you have to make a decision. If you learn more, this centuries-long battle becomes yours. Many have died before, and there is a very good chance you will, too. You can learn more and take up the fight, or I can tell you how to live out the rest of your life in peace and safety. The choice is yours.” 

Lucy bit her lip and Lockwood waited patiently to hear what she had to say. “He says he can tell me the history and we can fight, or he can tell us how to live out our lives safely and peacefully. The choice is ours.” 

Lockwood grabbed her hands. “It’s your choice, Lucy. I will support you no matter what you choose. We all will.” They both looked at their friends, who nodded their agreement. 

She had already made up her mind. “Lockwood, we can’t run. I want to live a long, safe life with you - but it’s not just about us. Not really. Even before we found out that there were likely other women and girls in hiding, I thought about our future. What if we have a magical daughter, Anthony? We owe it to her and everyone else to fight. I wish someone would’ve fought for me, and I won’t run when we have the chance to do something.” 

Lockwood looked surprised, and Lucy thought she had said something wrong. Before she could ask though, Lockwood spoke up. “Our… our daughter?” 

George let out a snort that he clearly had been trying to suppress. “Oi, mate, I’m happy for you, but that’s not the important part here. Though while we’re on the topic: I am not changing any nappies!” 

Lucy bit her lip, suddenly nervous that Lockwood hadn’t even wanted kids. It’s not like it was something they had really talked about before. She just assumed he would want them. “Is… do you not want children?”

A blinding smile broke across his face. “Lucy, there is nothing in this world I would love more than to have children with you someday. Well, my first priority is growing old with you — but yes, yes, I’d love kids.” 

“So, then we’ll fight?” 

Lockwood nodded. “Yes, Luce. We’ll fight — for our kids, for Flo’s family, for everyone else’s.” 

Lucy looked back at Skull. “Tell me, Skull.” 

“Oh, bloody finally! Touch the Skull on the pen and hang on.” 

She was confused, but did as he said. Suddenly, the room fell away from her. She thought her eyes were closed, but she tried opening them only to find they were already wide open. Everything around her was so dark that she couldn’t even see down her nose. Then, a light appeared in the distance and she could see an ethereal figure heading towards her. Lucy thought she should have felt scared, but she didn’t. She felt... peaceful. 

As the person came into view, Lucy could see it was a beautiful woman, probably around her mother's age. She had bright blue eyes, long dark hair, and wore a blue gown that seemed to shimmer like the night sky. The woman smiled at her and Lucy felt like this woman was familiar somehow, though she thought she would have remembered meeting someone this beautiful. 

“Hello, Lucy.” 

“You know my name?” 

“Of course, darling. I’ve been keeping an eye on you your whole life.” 

Lucy started at this. “Who are you?” 

“My name is Agatha Silvermoon. I believe you found my journal. Thank you, by the way, for rescuing it from that wretched place.” 

“You’re… welcome?” Agatha couldn’t have pulled her here just to thank her, right? 

“Oh, I’m sorry - this all must be terribly confusing to you. You’ll excuse me - I’ve been here for a long time without someone to talk to. It seems my conversational skills have become a bit rusty. Yes, well, let’s get to it, shall we?” 

The room fell away and Lucy was suddenly in what looked like a kitchen, and the Agatha she had been talking to had disappeared. There was another version of Agatha there - one who seemed to look straight through her. This Agatha was writing in a much newer version of the journal that Lucy and Lockwood had stolen. 

She stood in the centre of the room but the edges of the room were hazy, and suddenly she realised that she wasn’t really in this kitchen. Instead, it felt to Lucy like was a spectator in a dream. 

Close - these are my memories you’re seeing. Agatha’s voice was in her head. That’s me, of course, when I was alive. And that - a large man with blonde hair and green eyes walked into the room - is my husband, Gregory Carlyle. 

Lucy’s breath hitched. It had to be a coincidence, right? 

Afraid not, darling. We are your great- great- something grandparents. That’s why you can see and hear me. It’s part of why you’re so powerful. You’ll see. 

Lucy watched Agatha as her eyes closed and she stilled. When she opened them, they had changed colours, indicating that she was using magic. “You’re using magic? With others around?” 

Yes. At the time, women and men both used their magic openly. I was a Listener, just like you are, and I was trying to Listen for some women who had gone missing in the next village over. Women magicals had been disappearing for a while, but no one realised how widespread it was until much later than this memory. News didn’t travel quickly back then, so almost no one was aware that our numbers were decreasing rapidly.

I wanted you to see us though - before I learned the truth.

The scene shifted and suddenly memory-Agatha was in what was most likely a cave, desperately drawing runes on the floor and chanting - though Lucy couldn’t make out what she was saying. 

Too late, I realised that we were being hunted. A group called DEPRAC had arisen among men in England and beyond - mostly magical men who were jealous of the magic their wives, sisters, mothers, and daughters wielded. You see, women in general were more powerful than men. No one knows why, but over time, the men grew jealous and they believed we would challenge their place as leaders - of families, villages, even whole countries. Their jealousy poisoned them, and soon they decided that the only way to ensure they kept their power was to hunt us down like rabid animals. 

So they did. At first, we thought they were isolated incidents. It wasn’t unusual for women to go missing or die under questionable circumstances, especially women magicals. When we finally realised that the problem was widespread, we turned to our husbands and other male family members to investigate what was happening. Never did we imagine that they were the ones hunting us all along. 

Gregory walked into the room where Agatha was still chanting. “Give up, Aggie. You’ve lost.” 

And at the head of it all, was my dear husband , Gregory. He founded DEPRAC. When I discovered this , I knew my time was up and I ran away. Too many women were gone - there were only a handful of us left around the world, and we were being hunted down. But, before I died, I trapped myself here, embedding myself into my beloved weapon - the one you call Skull. Through a bit of magic, he’s managed to find himself in the hands of the most powerful magical woman of each generation, waiting for ones who would accept the chance to fight. 

You, Lucy, accepted that challenge. Others have, of course, but they failed. It wasn’t until later that I figured out why. I needed someone who was not only powerful, but also had the ability to time travel. 

Lucy spun around, looking for Agatha before remembering that she was just in her head. “Time travel?! I can’t time travel. No one can time travel.” 

Yes, you can, but we’ll come back to that. First, you need the rest of the story.

Memory-Agatha was speaking again. “You’re right, Gregory. I have. I was lost as soon as I chose you. I had your children, Gregory. How could you do this to me? To us?” 

Gregory sneered and pulled out what looked like a mirror, though Lucy couldn’t see it well. “Always thinking too small, Aggie. That’s why I had to do this. You see, women weren’t just killed. I’m not cruel. No, instead we trapped their magic in here - a weapon powerful enough to take on your weapon.” He sneered at the last word, as though it had personally offended him. “No woman should be allowed that much power, so we had to fight back. You understand, right, love?” 

“Don’t you ever call me that again.” With a flourish and a bright light, memory-Agatha disappeared and Lucy was immediately back to facing the real Agatha once again. 

Lucy felt tears streaming down her face. “Your own husband, he killed you?” 

“Technically, I sacrificed myself. I did it so that one of my descendants could pick up the fight - someone stronger, someone who had support on their side. I knew it had to be someone in the future, someone who chose this fight freely, but I didn’t know everything. Not like I do now. You were who I was waiting for, Lucy.” 

“But why me? Why now? And what about time travel? Time travel isn’t real.”

Agatha chuckled lightly. “You’ll learn, love, that there aren’t too many things that aren’t real - and time travel is no exception. But as for you, well, as I said before, you are powerful. You are my descendant and you are the seventh of seven girls.” 

Lucy felt her forehead scrunch in confusion. Of all the things she had expected Agatha to say, coming from a large family certainly wasn’t on the list. “What does that have to do with anything?” 

“Honestly, have they let all the old stories fade? The seventh of seven daughters or the seventh of seven sons is always especially gifted. For men, they are healers. For women, we are fighters.” 

Somewhere in Lucy’s mind, she remembered the story of the seventh of seven sons being healers, but she had certainly never heard it about women.

“Another thing they took from us, I’m afraid. The point is - you are incredibly powerful. But that’s not enough. No, more than that, I need someone to go back in time and find where Gregory hid that mirror that you saw - it’s called the Bone Glass. It’s what gives DEPRAC their power and it’s the reason no one has been able to fight them. You need to find it and destroy it, but unfortunately he hid it in my time and no one knows where it is. I suspect he hid it in a type of pocket dimension, but I don’t know for sure. That’s why you need to find out and figure out where he stored it, and then come back to the present and destroy it. That will weaken DEPRAC enough that you and Skull can take them down.” 

“But how the bloody hell can I time travel? I’ve never heard of it!” 

“Ah, now that is why the others before you failed. They didn’t know how to find the Bone Glass. But you are the first one of my descendents who can go back and find it. You see, time travel exists, but your world has nearly forgotten all about it. Technically, anyone can go through time, but you can only return to your given time if part of your soul is still there. Pieces of the soul always find each other. So one part of your soul has to remain in the present while the other wanders through time. Then, the soul pieces reunite in their original time - which for you is now - and you can track down the Bone Glass once you’ve returned from the past.” 

Lucy felt like she was going to be sick. “You want me to split my soul?” 

Agatha waved her hands frantically. “Oh no, you misunderstand. Your soul is already split. You and Anthony Lockwood - you each have one part of the same soul. I believe you might know the term ‘soulmates’? You and he are soulmates.” 

“Soulmates aren’t real.” 

The older woman laughed. “Neither are women magicals, time travel, mirrors that can trap power, talking swords, or a woman who can talk to you hundreds of years after she died, and yet, here we are. Soulmates are real, and even in my time, they were extremely rare. Only magicals can be soulmates - it’s tied to our magic, after all. So with women in hiding, soulmates finding each other became nearly nonexistent. With fewer women magicals being born, we’re lucky if one set of soulmates in a generation is born - and they almost never meet because the girl is killed at a young age. Of course, men can be soulmates with other men and women with other women, but the women never find each other and men can’t wield Skull. You and Lockwood, though, survived the odds - and found each other.” 

Lucy’s head hurt. This wasn’t real. There was no way this was real. 

“Of course it’s real, dear, and if you’re honest with yourself, you already know it’s real. You felt a connection with him immediately. Your powers are stronger when you’re near each other - that is something that only happens with soulmates. Tell me, haven’t you wondered why you share dreams?” 

“We share dreams?” Lucy knew exactly which dream Agatha was referring to and she felt her cheeks heat. 

The other woman laughed. “Oh dear, you really do live deep in denial, don’t you? I assumed the both of you were just too embarrassed to talk about it. I didn’t realise you hadn’t put the pieces together. Anyway, yes, you two are soulmates, you share dreams, and you are the two most powerful magicals of your generation - and your power is unstoppable together. But only you can wield Skull - and he will be necessary for taking down DEPRAC. My time is running out. Here’s what you need to do…” 

Lockwood had been sobbing over Lucy’s limp body for an hour. She was alive, but she wasn’t waking up and he was terrified. The last thing he heard was her talking to the Skull and then her body went limp. He barely managed to catch her before she crashed to the ground. 

She hadn’t woken up since, and Quilliam’s attempts to heal her were in vain. 

“There’s nothing wrong with her, Tony, at least nothing fixable. I’m sorry.” 

“Then why isn’t she waking up?” 

Quilliam shook his head sadly. “I wish I knew. She’ll be okay. She’s strong.” 

Lockwood nodded and continued to hold her, hoping he could somehow wish her eyes open. 

“Lucy, please. You can’t… you can’t leave me here. Not like this. I love you. Now that you’ve put the idea of children in my mind, I can almost picture them. My dark hair, your light eyes, Uncle George’s sarcasm, and Uncle Ollie’s soft ways. Please, come back to me. I can’t do this without you.” 

Suddenly, Lucy’s eyes flew open, and she sat up so quickly that she nearly collided with Lockwood’s head. 

Lockwood felt an enormous amount of relief and hugged her, holding her closely. 

“I’m okay, Anthony. I promise.” Her words were muffled by her face buried in his front, but he didn’t care. She was here, and she was awake. That was all that mattered. 

She pulled back gently, and he reluctantly loosened his hold. “I’m okay. I’m right here.” She grabbed his hand and held it to her chest, letting him feel her heartbeat. 

It calmed him considerably. When his eyes were dry and his breathing had returned to normal, she stood up and brought him to the kitchen table where the rest of their friends had been watching. They immediately bombarded her with hugs and Lockwood sat down, letting their friends show their own form of relief. 

Finally, Lucy came and joined him at the table. “I know what to do, but none of you are going to like it.” 

Chapter Text

“I’m sorry you want to what?” Lucy was becoming increasingly frustrated as Lockwood continued to dismiss her. “Lucy, I think you may have hallucinated while you were passed out.” 

She was sitting on the couch next to him, while George and Flo looked on from the chairs across from them. Quilliam and Ollie were off doing who knows what. They disappeared shortly after she had regained consciousness. She had given everyone a brief overview of what she experienced, what Agatha had told her, and they shared a meaningful look before heading out.

Lucy was trying to keep her voice even. She knew she sounded irritated as she retold the tale to Lockwood yet again, but she also knew what she saw - what she experienced. “I know how it sounds, Anthony. But it was real. I saw it. I heard it. Think about it - everything makes sense.” 

Lockwood dropped his head in his hands, rubbing his temples. Lucy looked at Flo and George, who were watching the scene play out in front of them with barely concealed amusement. “Do you mind if I talk to Anthony alone?” 

Flo and George nodded and headed outside, leaving the two of them blissfully alone. Lucy took Lockwood’s hands in her own. “Look at me, please?” 

He raised his head and looked positively miserable. His eyes were bloodshot, and he looked terrified. 

She lowered her voice, making it as gentle as possible. “You believe me, don’t you?” 

He sighed, heavily. “I do. I do and it scares the shit out of me, Luce. I mean come on - time travel? She wants you to time travel? How is that even possible? How do I know you’ll come home?” 

She dropped his hands, only to cup his face and hold it firm, so that he had no choice but to stare straight at her. “I will always come back to you, Anthony. Always. Nothing - absolutely nothing - can keep us apart. Not now that we’ve found each other, okay? There was something else that Agatha told me - something that the others didn’t need to hear before I could tell you.” She took a deep breath and ploughed ahead. “You are my soulmate - the other half of me. It’s why we can time travel. It’s why we’re more powerful together, how I heard you when DEPRAC attacked us, and why… why we have shared dreams.” She heard his sharp intake of breath and knew immediately he was thinking of the same dreams that she had when she learned of the connection. 

“We’re soulmates, which means we are the only ones who can do this. Now you just have to trust me to come back.” She leaned forward and pressed her lips softly to his. He reciprocated the kiss, and she tasted salt. Tears - his, hers, theirs? She didn’t know, and it wasn’t important. She felt his acceptance in every movement of his lips against hers. No, he didn’t like it, but he also knew she had to do this.

No. They had to do this. 

Lockwood and Lucy shared the rest of what had happened in her vision with everyone when Ollie and Quilliam returned. He still wasn’t sure where they had gone, but they asked them to trust them and they did. The two of them had never given him and Lucy a reason to doubt their loyalty, and he knew they would tell them when the time was right.  

“So you two… are soulmates?” George was the first to ask a question after Lucy had explained the rest of her vision and knowledge. She nodded and George stared at them over the top of his lenses. “That explains so much.” 

What? 

“What?” Lockwood looked at Lucy, whose expression was as confused as he sounded. 

George rolled his eyes. “The two of you have been pulled together like magnets since before you even met. We still don’t know why the Scrying watch sought Lucy. Sure, we assumed it was because she was powerful, but that was a guess. Maybe it’s because the watch is connected to you, Lockwood, and it was seeking out Lucy the same way it would seek you out if you were separated. Or something, I’m not sure, but then there’s the fact that your magic goes haywire around each other. Both of you are doing things that others have long thought impossible. And then you communicated telepathically. There is no type of magical that does that, at least not without significant training. You two? You two practically fell into it by accident.” 

Lockwood and Lucy were both uncharacteristically silent after George’s speech. His litany of evidence in favour of them being soulmates was hard to deny, even if they hadn’t already believed it. 

Lockwood took a deep breath, looking at Lucy and then at their friends. “Okay, let’s assume everything we think we know is actually true. Lucy and I are soulmates. She needs to time travel to save a magical mirror, which we can then use to bring down the most powerful agency in the world. Why can’t we just destroy the mirror in Agatha’s time?” 

“Time paradox.” 

All five people turned around to look at George, who had said that like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Time… what?” It was Kipps that finally asked it, every single person with the same question on the tip of their tongue.

“Time paradox. You can’t change the past, because you don’t know how it would change the present. If Lucy went back in time and destroyed the Bone Glass, the history of the last several hundred years would change. Probably to the point where Lucy would never have been born. Thus, she never would have been able to go back in time to destroy the Bone Glass. It’s a paradox - a time paradox.” 

“How do you even know that?” 

George waved off Lucy’s question. “Please. Time travel has always theoretically been possible. Theoretically possible is always enough for scholars and artists to ponder questions of ‘what if.’ Anyway, the point is, we cannot alter the past by destroying the Bone Glass there. We have to destroy it in the present. Or the future, I guess, but that seems like an unnecessary complication.” 

Lockwood looked over at Lucy. “You sure I can’t talk you out of this?” 

She sent him a rueful smile. “Not a chance.” 

He sighed and looked back at George. “Alright, what’s your plan?” 

“Why on earth would you just assume I have a -” 

“George!” Lockwood’s voice was both exhausted and unamused when he cut off George’s ramble. 

“Yeah, okay. You two need to train. Here’s what I think you need to know.” 

****

Just under a month later, George had decided that they were as ready as they were ever going to be. Lockwood didn’t think they had nearly enough time to train, but he suspected that even if Lucy had devoted her entire life to training, he still wouldn’t think she was ready. 

It was too risky. There were too many things that could go wrong. It was - 

- her choice. As she had reminded him at least once a day since they started training. Everyone in Lucy’s life had made decisions for her. He refused to be another one who took away her agency, but damn if he didn’t want to. Not because he thought she was weak or couldn’t succeed, but because he didn’t want to watch her have to take the weight of the world onto her shoulders. 

“I can hear you think from over here, love.” Lucy looked up from where she had been sketching, something she had been doing more of over the last few weeks. He was itching to see what she was drawing, but she would just smile and tell him it wasn’t time yet. “What’s on your mind?” 

Lockwood sighed and stood up, moving to sit beside Lucy on the sofa. She immediately closed her sketchpad and curled into his side, and he once again marvelled at how perfectly her body moulded to his. He began playing with her hair, never ceasing to be amazed at just how beautiful it was. It was always beautiful, of course, but now especially because it was growing longer. It wasn’t the length that made it beautiful. Rather, it was because Lucy wanted to have long hair, and for the first time in her life, she had control over her bloody hair. The fact that it was a hairstyle that she wanted made it that much more gorgeous. 

“Did you know that I told George before we were married - or even engaged - that I thought you were my soulmate?” 

Lucy sat up at this, turning to face him fully. “No! I thought you didn’t believe in soulmates.” 

“I didn’t. I don’t. I…” he sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face, flustered. “I didn’t believe in soulmates, but I said that if they did exist, you would be mine.” 

She took his hand, holding it in her lap. It was a habit she had developed a while ago. She noticed he would nervously fidget with his hands if he wasn’t holding something, so she began taking them in hers when he started showing his nerves. “When did you say this?” 

He looked at their joined hands. “It was when I still thought you were Lucas. Do you remember the day I gave you the art supplies? And I had tucked that letter inside of them?” She nodded. “That day. I knew even then that we were meant to be together, and I was so frustrated that you didn’t see it too.” 

“I did -” 

He cut her off. “I was an idiot. I still am, but about other things now. No, George set me straight. Told me that I was moving too fast and that if I wanted even a chance at being with you, I needed to give you space. But I was impatient and told him you were my soulmate. Anyway, he helped me to see that I was being unreasonable. I wasn’t wrong, of course. You are my soulmate,” he shot her a cheeky smile, and she rolled her eyes. “But he was also right. You needed time, and it was selfish of me to expect you to do anything on my schedule.” 

Lucy hummed in contentment and curled back up into his side. 

“I realised that day, though, that no matter what, I needed you in my life. It could be as my lover, my best friend, or even just an employee, but I couldn’t lose you. I had known it, deep down, since I first met you - a dirty, scrawny street rat -” she pushed him and he chuckled lightly, “- who stole my watch and pulled a blade on me when I tried to retrieve it. But that’s when I admitted it. And Luce, that was when I barely knew you. Now? Now…” 

“I know, Anthony. I know. I couldn’t live without you, either. Which is why nothing is happening to either of us. When we said our vows, we said that our future was unwritten. That’s as true today as it was months ago. We picked a long ribbon because our future was just beginning, and now I refuse to let this be our ending. Not when our story is meant to rival Camelot and Robin Hood. Here, I want to show you something.” 

She leaned over and grabbed her sketchpad, before settling back into his side. “I’ve been making something for you. For us, really.” She flipped through some pages and Lockwood tried hard not to look, knowing she would show him what she wanted when she was ready to. Finally, she settled on a relatively simple sketch with some circles and gears overlaying a green plant leaf. 

It was beautiful - simple and elegant, but… “It’s lovely, Luce, but what is it?” 

“It’s a tattoo. One I thought we could both get once we make it out of this safe and alive. Because we will. It’s you and me. I took your existing tattoos as inspiration, incorporating time and simple lines, but also added me in the middle of it. I tried a cactus at first,” Lockwood laughed, remembering how she bonded with his cactus on her first day in their home, “but it didn’t really work. So, I used evergreen needles.”

“Why?” 

“Because they’re stubborn and bloody hard to kill.” She shot him a smug grin. Ever since Lockwood and George had begun helping her with learning to read, she had been drawn to books about plants. He should’ve known she would begin to identify with more of them. 

He laughed at her expression. “All right. As soon as we’re safe in London, we’ll go.” 

It was a promise, and Lockwood didn’t break promises. 

Lucy knew it was time. She and Lockwood had been training for a month, while George and Flo searched the cabin and prepared for the spell that Agatha had told her she would need to use.

She still couldn’t believe it was real, but she couldn’t deny the truth of Agatha’s words.

“My time is running out. Here’s what you need to do. Everything you need is in Flo’s house.”

“Wait – how do you know whose house I’m in?”

“Haven’t you been paying attention, Lucy? I’ve been watching you. Besides, the house that you’re in – it belonged to a dear friend of mine, Isabelle Trémaux. She’s Flo’s ancestor, just as I am yours.”

Lucy was sceptical. “That seems like too much of a coincidence.”

Agatha sent her an amused look. “No such thing as coincidences, dear. The universe wants balance in magic and having it all in the Bone Glass disturbs that balance. You and Flo meeting was fated just as much as you and Anthony meeting.”

“So, this was all predestined? I never had a choice?”

“Of course you did. You still do. The universe puts people in your path, but it is up to you to make the choice to embrace them or not. Now listen carefully. All the ritual ingredients you need for the time travel spell are in Flo’s house. You’ll need crystals that represent earth, fire, water, and air. Find Isabelle’s book. It’ll have the spell that you need. Your friend George knows the basics of spell work and how to draw runes that will magnify your magic and protect you and Lockwood. It’s one of the things he’s been studying as he tried to unlock the secret to magic. Listen closely because this is important. Your soul goes through time, not your body. You and Lockwood must stay connected and within the circle the entire time you’re gone. This sounds simple, but as soon as you cast this spell, it’ll be like a beacon to other magicals. They will recognise soulmate magic and there is a very good chance that they’ll come find you. I pray that Isabelle’s wards hold up, but you must be prepared for them to fail. Do you understand?”

Lucy nodded. She was scared but resolved.

“Good. Trust Anthony. Trust your friends. And know that I am with you, even if you can’t see or hear me. Now go!”

****

Ollie and Quilliam's secretive trips had focused on how to strengthen the wards. Each trip took them further and further away to gather ingredients to not draw suspicion to themselves. This was the reason they hadn’t told Lucy what they were doing: they hadn’t wanted to worry her. But finally, there was nothing more they could do to protect this house and their family, other than hope the universe was on their side.

George had prepared the circle where Lucy and Lockwood would cast their spell. A green crystal, representing earth, was placed at the north of the circle; yellow, representing air, to the east; red, representing fire, to the south; and blue, representing water, to the west. A purple crystal for spirit was placed in the centre, along with a mixture of herbs as prescribed by Isabelle. George had strengthened each of the elemental crystals with runes and drawn various protection runes around the outside of the circle. Lucy wasn’t sure what most of them were, but she trusted George.

“Ready?” George asked them, not that any of them really had a choice at that point.

“As we’ll ever be,” Lucy said, her right hand grabbing Lockwood’s left.

George nodded. “Remember, do not break your hands from this point forward. Now, repeat after me: Water, Fire, Air and Earth, elements of astral birth, I call to thee to attend my rite, by the light of the sun and beneath moon’s light.” They did, and George told them to walk clockwise around the circle three times with their smudge stick, each time saying “I call upon you oh powers of fire and air, to protect and consecrate this circle, may the ground be pure and clean, free from negativity and harm.”

They placed the smudge stick within the circle and grabbed the vial with earth charged water. Lucy sprinkled water around the circle as they walked in three counter-clockwise circles, each time saying “I call upon you, oh powers of earth and water, to protect and consecrate this circle. May the ground be pure and clean, free from negativity and harm.”

Finally, they walked around the circle three more times, each time saying their protection spell: “May this circle be a meeting place of truth and trust, a rampart of protection for those who stand herein. Never for ill, always for right, I ask that I’m shielded by love and by light. This circle is cast, safe and secure, sacred space created for all that is pure. So mote it be!”

They entered the circle. From here on out, it was just Lucy and Lockwood. Isabelle’s instructions said that there wasn’t an exact spell for the time travel, just that there would be words that felt right to the person who was travelling, in this case: Lucy. They were using Skull as a grounding object, an object that would direct her spirit when to go. She was going back to when Agatha’s spirit was bound to Skull.

She and Lockwood sat apart from each other within the circle, Skull clasped between their joined hands. “Ready?” She whispered, more a warning than a question, but Lockwood nodded all the same.

“I call upon the spirits and magic of my ancestors, both by blood and spirit. Protect me, protect us, and guide me on my journey. Lend me your strength and your power and send me back to when Agatha and Skull became one.”

Wind began to whip all around them, and suddenly, Lucy was no longer in a circle facing Lockwood, but in a cave facing a group of angry men.

It had worked.

Fuck – it had worked. 

Chapter Text

Lockwood watched in horror as Lucy fell forward into his arms. He knew she was going - that she would be gone - but somehow, the theoretical knowledge hadn’t prepared him for once again holding Lucy’s limp body. He knew this time she wasn’t dying - he wasn’t covered in her blood while watching the life fade out of her, but that didn’t make it any easier to hold her as her spirit, or whatever it was that was travelling, went out of her. It was as though whatever made her Lucy was gone.

He told himself it would be okay this time because they were connected. For reassurance, he reached out through the link between them, trying to find her. Every time they had done this before, the thread had stayed strong, a clear tether between the two of them.

But this time, he could feel it getting stretched, stretched, stretched - until suddenly – nothing.

Silence.

There had been no warning that this was even a possibility. They were soulmates. They could time travel precisely because their connection spanned space and time.

And yet… there was silence. He hadn't realised how loud her presence was, both in his mind and in his soul, until it was gone.

“Lucy! Lucy!” He called her name, hearing the ragged edge to his voice as he desperately grasped for her both through their link and for her physical body as it fell into him.

He carefully lowered the both of them to the ground, heeding George’s calls to not let go of her hand, no matter what.

Lockwood carefully turned her around, so that she was on her back and pulled their joined hands across her body, an almost cruel imitation of an embrace. He gently kissed the top of her head, praying to a deity that he didn't believe in that she was okay.

That the silence was simply because she was travelling too far back in time, and not…

And not…

He couldn’t even finish the thought.

—

Lucy looked up at the men surrounding her. She wasn't sure if they could see her, so she stayed as still as possible, not that her stillness would have made a difference. She hadn’t thought about what people in the past could do if they saw her. Could they kill her? Can you kill a person if their body wasn’t around to break? She didn’t particularly want to find out.

The man that she recognised as Agatha’s husband seemed to look directly at her, and Lucy felt her blood run cold. His lack of a reaction and the fact that his eyes never quite caught hers told her that he probably couldn’t see her. Rather, it was like he knew someone was there, but just out of reach. Did he have Sight? Could he tap into his magic and find her?

She held her breath, waiting for him to either leave or find and hurt her. Finally, after what seemed like forever, but was probably only a few minutes, Gregory Carlyle and the rest of his men left. But before she could fully relax, he turned around at the entrance of the cave.

"I know someone's in here. If that's you, Agatha, just remember, your power is nearly depleted. If you come after me, all you're doing is hurting the children." He gave one final sneer in her general direction before leaving, and Lucy finally let out her breath. Now that she was here, she realised she wasn't entirely sure what to do.

Despite her fear of the man, especially knowing that he could likely sense her, she knew he was the key to learning about the Bone Glass. Hoping her luck would hold out, she silently took a deep breath and began to follow Gregory and his men. They walked to a house that she recognised as Agatha and Gregory’s. Part of her felt sick that he had just watched his wife disappear, likely died, and here he was going on like nothing had happened. And then it occurred to her and maybe to him nothing had happened. Perhaps Agatha was nothing more than another obstacle that needed to be overcome.

She wondered what he would tell their children about their mother. Would he say she abandoned them? Would he tell them she was dead, and that her body was lost somehow? Lucy hoped she wasn’t around long enough to find out.

In fact, she wanted nothing more than to return immediately to her own time. She didn’t want to be here spying on these men who had caused centuries' worth of untold suffering. But she owed it to Agatha, Lockwood, and, most importantly, herself, to stick around and see what he did with the Bone Glass.

Apparently, Lucy wasn't the only one thinking about the children. She heard a man's voice speak up, asking Gregory what he planned to tell them.

Gregory's voice was serious, pulling on a sorrowful tone as he replied with a clearly practised speech. “Poor Agatha was a victim of her own magic. She tried the wrong spell and simply disappeared, in body and soul.” Returning to his usual voice, he was bitter when he explained what Agatha had done before disappearing. “She bound Mathilde and Henry’s magic and then sent them who knows where to hide. When all this is over, I’ll find them so I can wipe Mathilde’s memory, just in case Agatha thought it wise to tell her anything. Then I’ll work on restoring Henry’s magic. Thankfully, he’s too young to remember anything about his mother.”

Lucy tried not to gasp. How could a man, any man, any person, do that? He was going to erase one child’s memory of her mother and lie to the other.

She knew how this story ended, though. He assumed Gregory would find Henry at least, given that the family name made it down to her, but that his magic would never be restored. Agatha’s spell was too powerful, and the Carlyle magic would remain bound through the centuries - until it reached her.

Lucy shuddered trying to imagine the anger and disgust Gregory would develop towards Henry once he realised that his son’s magic would not be returning. She had already witnessed glimpses of the cruelty that had permeated the Carlyle line for centuries to come, and she tried not to think about it.

She wondered, not for the first time, whether cruelty was learned or inherited. Lucy knew she wasn't like her father, and she wasn't like her mother either. Her sisters were cruel, too, and life had not been kind to her. But she also knew that she wasn’t like them. It almost made her wonder how she escaped this fate. Whatever it was that was different within her, she once again resolved to never let her children experience the same type of cruelty and abandonment that she did.

Lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice that the meeting was wrapping up. Men were standing and shaking hands with Gregory and each other. She overheard one asking Gregory if tomorrow was the day, and, if so, if he had everything he needed.

“I do believe so, Mr Cooper. Agatha was the last barrier, and now we are ready.”

Mr Cooper smiled at Gregory - a cruel smile that made her skin prickle. “Excellent! In that case, I shall bring the supplies and you bring the mirror.”

“Perfect!” Gregory said in a voice that was far too excited.

Lucy let out a sigh of relief. Sitting through the meeting that made her skin crawl and her stomach clench had at least garnered one bit of news: that tomorrow was the day and in the meantime, she just had to wait. She wasn't looking forward to it, but it didn't seem like there was much she could do. She didn't have another artefact that would allow her to go back to the present and then return tomorrow. Really, she should be grateful the ceremony was happening so quickly and that she wouldn’t be stuck in the past for longer.

Lucy wasn’t sure if she needed food and shelter in her current form, but just in case, she had to find a semi-protected place to hide until the time came. If she needed food, well, it wouldn’t be the first time she’d gone hungry.

As the men filed out, there was one who caught her attention. He seemed almost… familiar to her. There was just something about his black eyes and dark hair that tugged at her mind, but she couldn't make the puzzle pieces fit together. Not that it quite mattered - it was most likely just her brain playing tricks on her. No one from this time could possibly look familiar to her outside of her own family. Right?

She shook her head to clear it, but when she opened her eyes, the man was staring straight back at her. Lucy froze, hoping that she had just imagined it. She moved slightly to the side, watching his eyes track her. There was no mistaking it, he could See her.

But for some reason, the fear that should have coursed through her veins never materialised. Part of her wondered if this was his magic. Was he someone who had the ability to put anyone at ease? She really hoped that wasn't the case, and that it was just her instincts pushing her in the right direction. Or maybe even Agatha had her hand in this.

Whatever the reason, it didn't explain why he was staring at her; nor did it explain why he hadn't told anyone else. But as she stared back, he ever so slightly indicated with his head for her to follow him. Her brain was screaming at her to stay where she was, and yet… and yet something in her heart told her that this was okay.

So she followed him.

He didn't acknowledge her while they walked, which she supposed made sense given that to everyone else it would look like he was talking to himself, but he did glance back a couple of times to make sure she was still following him. It wasn't exactly a threatening look. Rather, it was more reminiscent of a father leading his child through the busy streets of London.

Even if they were on a tiny pathway of this even tinier town.

Finally, they seemed to arrive at his home, if the casual nature of his entrance was anything to go by. He left the door open long enough for Lucy to sneak in before closing it behind her.

“Well, I'd offer you some tea- but I don't think you can drink anything.” The man barely acknowledged that she wasn't actually there. He almost acted like he came across people no one else could see all the time, and she honestly wasn't sure what to make of that.

Maybe he did. Maybe he thought she was a ghost, and that his magic was one that allowed him to see her.

Did that mean she was a ghost? Did that mean other people were routinely travelling through time?

While she was spiralling down this mental rabbit hole, the man let out a slight chuckle. “You can have a seat. I don't know exactly how the rules work, but I do know that you can sit on the chair.”

Finally, Lucy found her voice. “You can see me?”

This time, the man laughed in earnest. “Of course I can see you. If I couldn’t, I would’ve spent the last few minutes talking to the air - something I don’t make a habit of. And conveniently I, now know I can hear you as well.”

Lucy felt her cheeks heat. “Okay… I guess the better question is, how can you see me? Or hear me, for that matter.”

“Oh, that's quite simple, my dear. I have Sight. I see lots of things that people either can't or choose not to, including time travellers.”

“Right. Well, I…” she trailed off, not quite sure what she was supposed to say. She honestly hadn't anticipated needing to talk to anyone in this time.

“Sorry, this all must be very confusing to you. Aggie was never the best at giving details. I swear she thought everyone could see right into her brain and understand everything that was going on up there.”

Lucy nodded and finally took the seat that he had offered.

The man began sipping at his tea, as though he had been waiting for her to sit down all along. “Right then, let's start at the beginning. My name is Milo and I'm a friend of Aggie’s. Or– Agatha, as you might know her.”

“I’m…” She hesitated, her instinct not to trust anyone fighting against what she knew logically - this man could have revealed her existence to Gregory. “I'm Lucy.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Lucy. I assume you're here because Agatha sent you?”

“I…” she started, but hesitated again. “Yes, she did.”

“And I assume Agatha told you next to nothing about me or what our plan was?”

They had a plan? And Agatha didn't tell her? Lucy wanted to be angry, but then she remembered that Agatha had been in a sort of limbo for hundreds of years. She couldn't be faulted for forgetting some of the details that she and Milo seemed to have planned.

Though Lucy hadn’t said a word, Milo nodded in understanding. “Well then, it seems we need to start at the beginning. I assume you know about Gregory stealing magic, otherwise Agatha wouldn't have sent you at all.”

Lucy nodded.

“Great, so then you know about the Bone Glass?”

“I know it exists and that it's a mirror. I know I need to see where they hid it so that I can find it in my time.”

Milo let out a genuine smile. “A very reasonable objective, Lucy. The truth is, you should have no reason to trust me. But I can tell you why Agatha did. Aggie and I were friends practically from the moment we entered this world. We bonded over our shared magic, and later on in life, our children became very close friends, too. In fact, if it weren't for everything that has happened, I have a feeling that Mathilde would have married my oldest son. Alas…”

Milo looked off to the side, and Lucy could see the sadness in his eyes. He cleared his throat and continued on. “When women started disappearing, I sent my wife and children away, hoping that she would find somewhere she and our daughters wouldn't have to worry. Of course, at the time I didn't realise who was behind it or how far it had spread. Obviously, I didn’t know what Gregory was doing until it was too late– if I had, I never would have let it get as far as it did.”

Lucy couldn’t help it. She interrupted with an incredulous snort. “Then why were you with him today? I didn’t see any attempts to slow or stop him.”

Milo calmly fixed himself another cup of tea. “Patience. You really are Agatha’s descendent. She never had any patience, either. Anyway, Gregory knows that I have Sight. He knew I was dangerous, because he knew that as soon as I realised something was happening and that our village was involved, I’d use my Sight to put the pieces together. Unfortunately, I was too blinded by concerns about my own family to notice what my neighbours were doing. By the time I realised that they were the cause of the missing women and girls, they had accumulated too much power to be stopped by just myself, and I didn’t know who I could trust to rally against Gregory. So instead, I made them believe I was one of them. But I wasn't - I’m not.” He practically spat the end of his speech, as though the words were vile on his tongue. “I hoped to find a weakness, something that I could use to end his reign, but it was too late. There was nothing I could do to stop him.”

The sadness that Lucy had seen in his eyes just a few moments ago was swiftly replaced by a burning fire that she recognised as anger. It was at that moment she realised who he reminded her of - Anthony. It was an identical look to the one that had come over Lockwood’s face when she told him about her life growing up and what Jacobs had done to her. Whatever hesitancy Lucy still held within her was quickly banished.

He let out a deep sigh - one that Lucy felt in her soul and her bones. “I just want my family back.”

“And I want to get back to mine,” Lucy found herself saying without consciously thinking about it.

“Tell me what you know, and I’ll fill in the gaps with everything Agatha told me and left behind.”

Lucy spent the next several minutes telling him everything. A few months ago, Lucy never would have told anyone this much, this readily. She didn't trust anyone then. No, she couldn’t trust anyone. But now she realised that often people could be trusted, and that sometimes, people needed to be trusted.

Milo nodded along diligently, asking questions occasionally and absorbing the rest. In return, he offered what Agatha had left for him.

“She hoped it would never come to this, but she left behind a potion that would make her children forget who they were, who their parents were, and the connection they had to magic. I know that it killed her to even have to make it, but the safety of her children was the most important thing to her.”

Lucy nodded. “Well, her children were safe. I'm proof of that. We never knew of magic in the family though, so either that knowledge was lost over time or you successfully wiped his memory. And Agatha’s binding worked, because no one knew where my magic came from. But whatever happened - will happen? - Henry grew up and passed on his name - son after son after son until it got to us. Me and my six sisters.”

“Ah! So that’s why Agatha chose you. The 7th daughter, which as you know, makes you even more powerful.” He seemed to miss her entire declaration that he succeeded, but perhaps he didn’t want to dwell on that.

She shook her head. “I've heard that recently, but where I come from - when I come from - that knowledge has either been lost or is confined to certain circles that I wasn’t a part of.”

“Oh yes, I keep forgetting that you are proof that Gregory also succeeded. Which begs the question, how far are you willing to go to find the Bone Glass?”

Lucy thought about this for several moments. The Bone Glass had ruined her life centuries before she was even born. If she didn’t stop it now, it would continue to destroy lives, families, and whole communities for centuries to come. This knowledge steeled her resolve. “I will do anything, and I mean anything, to stop this. It has ruined too much, caused so much bloodshed, and I will do everything in my power to make sure that it never takes another life, and never forces another into hiding.”

Milo looked pleased. “All right. The ceremony during which he plans to hide it is tomorrow, very early in the morning. He needs to wait until the bridge between worlds is the thinnest.”

Lucy felt her brows furrowed in confusion. “The bridge between worlds?”

Milo nodded, as though what he’d said made perfect sense. “Yes, between worlds.”

She shook her head. “What worlds? Like other planets?”

“No, not like…” He huffed out a breath that might have been a laugh or a sigh. “Exactly how far in the future are you from? And have they already lost knowledge of other worlds?” He said this almost to himself, and she wasn't sure if she was meant to respond. His next words, though, were clearly for her. “Where exactly do you think magic comes from?”

“Honestly? I spent most of my life trying to hide my magic, not trying to learn more about it. As far as I'm aware, no one from my time knows where magic comes from or why some people have it and others don’t.”

Milo bent forward and rubbed his temples, as though he was trying to stave off a headache. “Goodness, history really has treated our people poorly, hasn't it? Magic comes from all around us. It’s the force that binds us together.”

Lucy didn't understand, but she tried to nod along like she did.

He looked at her and must have sensed her continued confusion, because he tried to explain it in a different way. “Think of it this way: every single creature on this planet is connected to either the water or the air, right? Either living in it, existing with it, needing it?” Lucy nodded, actually following along now. “Well, magic is another element - one that we can’t see or touch, but that we know exists because it’s how we are able to wield it. We’re able to pull upon the strings that bind everything together and bend it - somewhat - to our will. With enough training, we can even bend it enough to open a bridge between worlds. And that is what Gregory is planning on doing tomorrow.”

“Okay, but I still don't understand what these other worlds are.”

Milo smiled in a way that felt almost placating. “Neither do we, my child. Just because we use it doesn't mean we understand it - not fully. Do you understand every single thing that you use every day? Do you really understand how night turns into day? How food grows? How water becomes rain? probably not, or at least not entirely, but you still use these every single day. You eat the food, drink the water, and still rise and sleep with the changing day. Magic is much the same way. There are people out there who know how it works, but most of us just use it. Some of us more astutely than others. Agatha was one of those people.”

For the first time, Lucy noticed how much Milo's voice caught every time he said Agatha. It was a stark reminder to Lucy that he had lost someone he loved very much. She couldn't imagine losing Quilliam or Ollie or any of her other new found family, and then immediately having to help a stranger save the future. He was stronger than she thought she'd ever be.

“Anyway,” he put on a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, “that's quite enough of that. The point is that there are places where Magic concentrates more than in other places. Think of it as the difference between a stream and an ocean. We normally live within the stream of magic, but there are times when there is an ocean of magic at our fingertips. The ceremony that Gregory and the others are planning on doing, will bring that ocean to their fingertips and allow them to form just enough of a bridge to another world to hide the Bone Glass.”

“But why would they hide it? Don't they need to use it?”

“That is a piece of the puzzle and I never could quite figure out. As best I can tell, there is a group of men that are in his inner circle, that run DEPRAC, that have a magical connection with the Bone Glass. I don't know how it works. All I know is that if you destroy the Bone Glass, the connection is severed. That's why Gregory wants - no, needs to hide it somewhere that it can never be found.”

Lucy let this information settle in her mind, trying to sort through it all to find the most pertinent pieces. She wanted to know the why and the how behind everything, but the more practical side of her knew that she didn’t have time for that. At least not here, but she made a note to talk to George about it when she was back home.

“So all we have to do is find out where he's hiding the Bone Glass, yeah? Well, that shouldn't be too hard, considering no one can see me.”

Milo inclined his head, as though he was thinking. "Yes, that would make things easier, wouldn't it? Unfortunately, it's not going to be that simple."

Of course not. Why would it ever be that simple? Lucy wanted to stomp in frustration like a child. Instead, she took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. None of this was Milo's fault. In fact, he was probably the only reason she had even a chance of succeeding. "Okay. Why not?"

"Remember earlier when I told you that the reason they could open the bridge was because they were essentially calling up in the ocean of magic? Well, remember, that means that their magic is far more powerful than usual. Gregory could sense that you were there earlier, even if he couldn't see you. With his heightened magic, he will most likely know you're there; and if he doesn't, one of his other men might. It's a risk, and one I don't think we should take."

Lucy knew he was being sensible, but that didn't mean she had to like it. "So, what now, then?"

“Now, I have a plan, and we need to be ready to implement it.”

***

Lucy didn't like the plan, not one little bit - but it wasn't like she had much choice. Essentially, she was going to be there and Gregory was going to use his Sight magic to hide her. But it meant that he had to focus more on that task than shielding Gregory from the fact that he was plotting against him and didn’t believe in “the cause.” This lowering of his shields left him at risk, but it didn't matter. He was planning on leaving the village immediately after the ceremony.

All he had to do was survive tonight.

There was something more - something he wasn't telling her, but she wasn't going to pry.

They spent the next several hours making sure everything was in place. Gregory packed up the few things that he needed, including the potions that Agatha had made. When he finished, he stood by what looked like a workbench, and Lucy could see him fiddling with something metallic.

She went to investigate and let out a gasp. It was a watch - but not just any watch. It was a watch that she had been studying for the last several weeks.

It was a watch she had drawn into a tattoo.

In a quiet voice, she asked what it was – even though she was already quite certain of the answer.

"Oh, this?" Milo's voice sounded sad, but she couldn't tell why. "It's a scryer that I've been making ever since my family left. I'm imbuing it with my magic so that it can seek out my family. Unfortunately, I can't get it to work."

"You’re a Lockwood."

Milo looked up at her, confusion written on his face. "I'm sorry?"

Lucy smiled, the first genuine smile she had let escape since she arrived in this time. "You're a Lockwood. I know that watch. It belongs to someone I love very much. This watch found me on the streets of London. This watch probably saved my life."

He let out a soft chuckle. "Well then, I guess that means I succeeded at some point."

"May I see it?" Lucy wasn't sure if she could hold it, but something told her she had to try. It was almost like it was calling to her.

Maybe had always been calling to her and that's why it found her that day.

He nodded his head and very carefully attempted to place it in her outstretched hand. Immediately, she felt the weight of the watch - of the scryer, settle in her palm.

"In my time, I really liked to draw it. The way the gears all clicked together and moved in tandem fascinated me. And that's why…" She carefully moved two of the gears to another position - recreating exactly the scrying watch that she knew.

It began clicking and instead of the second hand clicking around the face of the watch, it immediately pointed at her. Now it was her turn to chuckle. "I guess it was always meant to find its way to me."

Milo had a pensive look on his face as he watched her with the scryer. "Earlier, you called me something. Lock… Lock…"

"Lockwood," she supplied.

"Ah right, Lockwood! I think I quite like that name. If we're going to live in London, we're going to need a family name. And I think Lockwood would do just fine."

He winked at her, and it was such a Lockwood wink that she wondered how she hadn't seen it before. Of course she was destined to run into a Lockwood. Hadn't Agatha said they had always been fated to meet? She wondered if Agatha knew just how true that statement was.

***

Something occurred to Lucy as Milo was packing the last of his things onto a cart that would serve as his getaway vehicle. This something, Lucy realised, should have occurred to her much sooner.

"Milo?"

He looked up from where he was securing a pack on to the cart. "Yes?"

"I just realised something… I don't actually have a way home."

He looked at her with confusion clearly written on his face. "Don't you have your tether your soulmate?"

Lucy wanted to ask how he could possibly know that, but she just assumed it was one of those things that they knew in the past but had forgotten. "Well, that's the thing… Ever since I arrived here, I haven't been able to feel him on the other end. It's almost like the tether was broken."

"The tether may be stretched, and stretched so far that you cannot hear the other end, but I promise you it is not broken. That said, if you can't feel it, you can't use it to get home."

Lucy felt her heart sink. There's no way she could be stuck in the past, is there? What would happen to her body in the present?

"Lucy… Lucy!" Milo's voice cut into her imagination. "It'll be okay. You had to use something to get here. What was that?"

"Oh! I used Agatha's sword. We had in my time and knew where she left it in this time. So I used it as my guidepost to get here."

A relieved smile broke across his face. "Well, as long as your soulmate was smart enough not to let go of the sword in your time, you should be just fine. Just as you willed the sword to take you here, you'll will it to take you back home."

Lucy felt the knot release in her stomach. “Skull was in the cave when I left. So I suppose he should still be there.”

"Skull?"

She laughed. "That's what I call the sword. I couldn't pronounce his real name, so I call him Skull."

“Well, all right then. I always thought Aggie had a peculiar relationship with her sword. So honestly, it makes a lot of sense that it's a ‘he’ and he talks and has a personality.”

"Oh, he's definitely got a personality all right," she said, as much to herself as to Milo.

Milo snorted as he pulled the rope tight across the cart. "I have to hide my horse and cart anyway, to avoid suspicion. We'll just head over to the cave, grab Skull, and leave the cart there for a quick escape. All right now, hop on. We need to be quick if we are going to run by the cave and double back in time for the ceremony."

She climbed aboard the back of the cart and heard Milo climb onto the front. He clicked his tongue, and the horse began to move.

Lucy spent the ride over mentally going through a checklist of what she needed to do. Gregory was going to go through the ritual, as intended, while shielding her presence. Her job was to pay attention to the ceremony, and figure out how he opens the bridge, so she can replicate it in her time. After it was done, they were to meet back at the cart, while he went off to find his family and she travelled home.

It seemed so deceptively simple, and Lucy couldn't shake the feeling that something was about to go wrong. She tried to ignore the feeling, assuming it was just nerves. After all, this is what all of them had been working towards. This was her chance to save the future.

No pressure.

Lucy heard voices from up ahead, near where the cave should be, and felt the cart slow down.

“What is that?”

Milo shook his head and motioned for her to be quiet. He jumped down from the cart and signalled for her to stay there as he took off silently towards the voices.

Lucy waited anxiously for his return, but when he did, he looked ashen.

“What’s wrong?”

“They’re meeting at the cave. This wasn’t the plan - we were supposed to meet by the water.”

He ran a hand through his hair in such a familiar gesture that it made her heart clench. Standing between her and home was now a group of genocidal men who may or may not be able to see her.

Once again: no pressure.

“So now what?”

Milo grabbed a satchel off the cart and pulled it over his head. “Now, we improvise.”

As much as Lucy disliked the original plan, she liked this idea considerably less. “You want to… improvise.”

“Just do your best to keep yourself hidden and I’ll do the rest. There will be a moment where you need to go grab Skull. You’ll know when it happens. Grab it and meet me back on the cart as quickly as you can.”

“That’s it?!” Lucy hissed at him. “You just expect me to know when I’m supposed to run in the middle of all of them? Are you mad?”

Milo shrugged. “Probably. But I also know without a doubt that you will know when to go. It’s not going to be subtle.”

With that, Milo took off on foot towards the men. She scrambled to follow him, afraid if he got too far ahead of her that she would lose him in the dark night.

Wait, wasn’t there supposed to be a moon? Lucy looked up and realised for the first time that the sky was far too dark. It was almost like there was a blanket between the sky and them. The wrongness of it sank into her bones and filled her with dread.

When the men came into view, she noticed that they were actually in the cave. Their torch light cast an eerie glow that made the entire scene feel surreal. If Lucy wasn’t hyper aware of every single sensation assaulting her senses, she could almost believe that she was dreaming. She wondered if this was what it felt like to have an ocean of magic pooling around them.

Staying out of sight, she ducked behind a boulder near the entrance. Close enough that she could observe the ceremony but far enough away so that - hopefully - she wouldn’t be seen.

“Ah, Milo, how nice of you to join us.” Gregory’s voice didn’t sound the slightest bit pleased, but Milo either didn’t notice or chose to ignore it completely.

“Well, I wasn’t aware that there was a venue change. Why are we here, by the way?”

Gregory let out a cold laugh that cut straight through Lucy. It reminded her far too much of a laugh she heard in her nightmares that she was now sure belonged to her father. “It seems that Agatha left us one last gift. When she performed her final spell, she pulled enough magic in to nearly open the bridge for us. It’s concentrated on that stupid sword of hers. I guess it’s going to be useful for men, whether it wants to be or not.”

Lucy felt indignant on Skull’s behalf. Sure, she wouldn’t think twice about throwing him in a drawer or subjecting him to some of George’s mostly harmless experimentation, but to use him for this? It was vile.

She watched Milo fall into place in a circle around the Skull, close to Gregory. She wondered if he was already shielding her, forming a barrier so they couldn’t see her. There was no way to check and she wouldn’t even if she could.

“Well, men, we all know why we’re here. Now that the Bone Glass has enough magic to form a permanent link between worlds, there’s no reason for it to exist in this one. Those of you who need one have been given a direct link to the mirror.”

There was something about the way Gregory stressed the word ‘need’ that let Lucy know that Milo wasn’t included in that. It suddenly made sense to her why he didn’t know more about the finer points of how it worked - he had been purposefully excluded.

She was suddenly quite sure that Gregory was more suspicious of Milo than he had guessed. It also meant that the stakes were just raised considerably, and she hoped that he would be just reckless enough to succeed. Far more than just his life and her way home depended on their success.

It suddenly went quiet and Lucy risked a peek over the boulder. She could see Gregory take a blade to the palm of his hand and what was presumably blood trickle out onto something laying next to Skull on an altar.

“And finally, with my blood, I open this bridge.” Lucy wasn’t sure what this ‘bridge’ was going to look like, but what appeared before Gregory and the men looked like the air in the cave wasn’t air at all, but rather a piece of cloth that had been ripped open. Lucy saw Gregory place the Bone Glass inside the rip as it disappeared from her sight.

“And with my blood, I close it. May no one open this bridge unless my blood runs through their veins.” As suddenly as it appeared, the rip disappeared like it had never been there at all.

She saw Gregory pick up whatever he had dropped his blood on and slip it into his pocket before she could get a clear look at it.

“Time to celebrate!” There was a roar of cheers and she watched as a decanter of wine was opened and poured into a handful of goblets. It was clear that not everyone was meant to celebrate, and sure enough, Milo wasn’t one of the lucky recipients.

Subtly, Milo sent her a signal to continue to wait - so she did. She watched the men become progressively more drunk on the wine that flowed freely until finally she saw Milo approach Gregory.

Was this it? She thought to herself. Lucy braced her legs, ready to run, but to her disappointment, Milo just walked away after a quick embrace.

Just as she was about to sit back down, she heard a commotion from the cave. In moments, there was screaming and chaos and Lucy assumed (hoped) that was her cue. Gregory collapsed and attention was focused on him, so Lucy quietly slipped into the cave and grabbed Skull. Thankfully, the men were drunk and distracted enough that she was able to slip out without anyone noticing a free-floating sword.

Lucy had almost made it back to the cart when she heard Milo’s name being yelled along with “poison” and “get him.” She turned back to see him racing up behind her and she quickly threw herself into the cart, followed moments later by Milo.

She knew the moment he cast his cloaking spell because a dozen sets of eyes that had been watching them were suddenly looking in their direction but not directly at them. Lucy could still see where Gregory lay on the ground, clutching the goblet that Milo had presumably poisoned, while he stared straight at her. She wondered idly if he could see her in his death throes. She didn’t feel a single ounce of sympathy for her dying ancestor.

Lucy watched the scene unfold from the back of the cart as Milo sped away. She covered their tracks by silencing the sound of the horse and the rickety wheels. When they were far enough away, she turned back to Milo.

“Thank you - for everything. Go to London… I believe your family is in London. But also, please find Henry and Mathilde and send them somewhere so they can be safe - somewhere no one knows who they are.”

Milo nodded. “I have family in the North. They’ll protect them. And thank you for everything.”

Lucy picked up Skull and looked at him. “As for Skull… you can hide him in plain sight. He’ll transform into something that is much less suspicious than a sword, won’t you, Skull?”

“You know, I hate that nickname no matter what year it is.”

She chuckled at his grumping. “Take me home, Skull.”

A familiar wind kicked up around them and Lucy was suddenly aware of her body in a way she hadn’t been in what felt like forever. She could feel a heat at her back, and a gentle weight on her chest.

Her favourite voice in the world was screaming her name. She wanted so badly to answer him - his voice was afraid. Her Anthony shouldn’t be afraid of anything.

The last thing she heard as the world went black was a ragged, “don’t leave me!”

Chapter Text

“Why isn’t she waking up, George?” Lockwood was desperately clutching an unconscious Lucy in his lap. He knew that she had come back - he had felt her soul travel closer and closer to him until it seemed to snap back into place.

He could feel her through their link, knew that she was still alive, so why wouldn’t she wake up? Kipps had tried healing her. George had tried a few simple smelling salts. Nothing worked.

Meanwhile, Lockwood was trying to parse through the images that had assaulted his mind as Lucy travelled back to her body, before she lost consciousness completely. He caught glimpses - an old man, some old houses, a fire - but nothing concrete enough to pin down and analyse.

There was, however, one impression that kept sticking in his mind, even though he couldn’t associate it with any specific image: blood. But not blood from an injury. Blood from… something else.

“George, do you know why Lucy would have sent me images of blood before she lost consciousness? I know she was trying to tell me that it was important, but I couldn’t figure out anything beyond that. All I know is that it wasn't related to an injury.”

George took off his glasses and cleaned the lenses, a telltale sign that he was carefully considering Lockwood’s words. He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as he repositioned his glasses. “There was… something in one of Agatha’s books. In one of her last entries, she briefly wrote that she suspected the disappearances were somehow related to blood magic. Since she didn’t mention it when Lucy saw her, I dismissed it; but, if Agatha didn’t know… well, it would make sense.”

“What the bloody hell is blood magic? And it would make what make sense?” Lockwood had studied magic for many years and never once had he heard of blood magic. It simply wasn’t one of the magics that existed.

“I only know a little bit - just bits and pieces I’ve encountered in archives and very, very old magic books. It was banned millenia ago because while it is very powerful, it is tied directly into life forces. Just one spell can kill someone or corrupt them, blacken their soul. When people do survive, it can curse many, many generations of the person whose blood was used. As for how it makes sense…” George stood up and began to pace - a rather un-George-like move. “Well, whatever magic Gregory used to help DEPRAC must have been incredibly powerful. Honestly, I’m surprised I didn’t make the connection before now. Blood magic might be the only way that the spell could have lasted as long as it has. It also means…”

George looked at Lucy before looking back to Lockwood, who finished George’s sentence for him. “It means Lucy is the only one who can break it. Right?”

He nodded solemnly and Lockwood let out a pained breath. He knew that Lucy was going to have to be the one that ended DEPRAC’s reign, but knowing it and hearing it confirmed out loud, making it undeniably real, were two very different things.

“So now what?”

“Now, we wait for Lucy to wake up. There’s nothing we can do until that happens, but in the meantime, I’ll have Flo, Ollie, and Quilliam help me research this type of magic. We’re going to need to know everything we can before Lucy wakes up.”

“And what about me?”

George smiled at his best friend, probably the first genuine smile Lockwood had seen him have since they decided to send Lucy back in time. “You work on keeping our secret weapon alive.”

Lucy had been trapped in vivid dreams for what felt like years. Some of them were nonsensical, like speaking with ghosts or watching boxes with moving pictures and sounds. Others were simply replays of her time in the past, her brain seeming to draw attention to details she had missed before.

The scene in the cave seemed to loop over and over in her mind, as though trying to draw her attention to something she’d missed but she couldn’t quite figure out what it was. She saw Gregory slicing his palm over and over, dripping blood on to the altar. No, that wasn't right - on to something on the altar. Was that it? Was she supposed to see what it was dripping onto? She thought about it, and it made sense.

Lucy almost wanted to laugh at how obvious it was. In the moment, she was more worried about not being discovered, but now that she had time to reflect on it, she realised how critical that thing on the altar was to defeating the modern day DEPRAC. The problem, she wanted to yell, was that she hadn’t seen it. She hadn’t seen what was on the damn altar!

You’re thinking too narrowly, Lucy. You just travelled back in time - are you going to let your dreams dictate what you see?

Agatha’s voice echoed in her head, and she just wished she would tell her for once what the hell she wanted Lucy to do. Dreams are fixed - right? Then again, until a few months ago, she thought time travel was impossible.

Tentatively, Lucy tried to stand up from her crouch on the forest floor. Apparently, she was in control of her dreams. She wondered idly if whatever she saw was true, or if it was just her mind filling in details. Either way she hoped she'd find useful information that she remembered when she woke up.

Lucy wasn't sure if anyone would be able to see her, or if she could be hurt in her dreams so she approached carefully. She found a secluded alcove in the cave, where she had a pretty good view of the altar, but was also hidden enough from the men around the altar that no one would be able to see her unless they were really looking.

She remembered this part of the ceremony, it was right before Gregory cut a hole in the fabric of their universe. But this time, when he cut his palm, she was able to see what he was dripping his blood on to. It looked like a Talisman or a necklace of some kind, and she realised she had seen it before but she couldn't place it. Looking around she noticed that many of the men were wearing the same Talisman, and she quickly realised that that was how they wielded the power of the Bone Glass. Somehow those talismans were tied to its power.

The ceremony was coming to a close, and she knew this meant they were going to start moving around and her hiding place might be revealed. She quietly but quickly went back to her safe spot in the forest, and waited for the dream to change again.

Sure enough, within a few minutes (or maybe it was hours, time didn't seem to work the same here), she was transported into another dream. This time she was back at Portland Row, but it wasn't the same house. It was still 35 Portland Row, but things were different. It wasn't the mess that they had left behind, but rather it was restored and there were all sorts of new additions that hadn't been there before. She took in the pictures on the walls, but she couldn't see them clearly. All she knew was that there were people in them. She just couldn't see who they were.

Suddenly, she heard her own voice talking in a soothing tone, as though she was trying to comfort someone. She looked around but couldn't find the source, but she knew that it was coming from the couch. She could see a mist almost as though it was a spectre of herself, but nothing was clear. Lucy idly wondered if this is what Lockwood saw when he looked far into the future.

Either way, what really drew her attention was the smaller shape that looked like it was sitting in the spectre’s lap. Somehow, she knew that this version of Lucy was trying to calm down what was likely a child.

She felt her emotions rise up within her, wondering if this was a vision of the future or just a desire that her brain was projecting. She fervently hoped that it was the former. Lucy so badly wanted to survive this, and grow her family with Lockwood - however they could.

“Lucy? Lucy, love, it’s time to wake up.” Lockwood's voice echoed around her head, but she couldn't place him once again. She tried walking around the house looking for the source, but she never seemed to be getting further or closer away. It was as though the voice was travelling with her, and she realised that this voice wasn't in the house with her, but from somewhere outside of her.

The dream shifted again. This time she was back on the floor in Jacobs’ warehouse. She panicked for a few moments, thinking that she had finally woken up and that everything had been a dream. But before she could work herself into a full panic attack, Agatha appeared to her.

“This isn't real, you're still dreaming. I'm not sure why your mind is sending you back here, but there must be something you need to remember.”

Lucy felt the tears running down her face. “There is nothing I want to remember about this place.”

Agatha grabbed her hand and squeezed gently. It felt so real, like she was there with her in flesh and blood. “I can't tell you what you're supposed to find or remember, but you'll be here until you do. Don't take too long, your young man is waiting for you.”

Lucy finally let herself feel just how much she missed Lockwood. It threatened to break open her chest, and she tried to cram the pain back down so that she could concentrate on the task at hand.

“I have to go now, but remember I am always with you. I am so proud of you, Lucy.”

The sobs came back in earnest now. It was the first time anyone in her birth family had ever told her that they were proud of her, and she hadn't realised how much she needed to hear praise and acceptance until she finally had it. Somehow those few words had started to heal the broken pieces of Lucy's heart that she had glued together so poorly as a child.

Agatha disappeared, and Lucy allowed herself a few minutes to collect herself. She knew she needed to get up and figure out why her subconscious had sent her here, but she just wanted to sit and process for a minute. Unfortunately, it looked like her subconscious had other ideas. Unlike her previous dreams, she didn't seem to have complete control of her body in this one. Every time she sat down, her body forced her up. Too tired to fight, she gave in and started looking around the room. Calling it a room was generous. It was more like a closet with a dirt floor, but it had been her home for most of her life.

Even though she had only lived with Lockwood for a few months, she marvelled at just how far away this life felt, and yet was only a single choice away. She knew of course that Lockwood would never throw her out of the house, even if their relationship were to fall apart. That's just not the kind of man he was.

Thinking about Lockwood sent yet another pain to her heart. She needed to get back to him, to everyone.

“What am I looking for?” she cried, knowing that no one was going to answer her. She slowly walked around the small room, trying to think of anything that she was overlooking. But nothing stood out.

The person who slept on these floors, seemed to be a completely different person from who she was now. The little girl who spent cold, hungry nights hoping that she would wake up in the morning. The girl who dreaded growing up because it would become harder for her to hide that she wasn’t really Lucas.

The little girl who wanted her name back and a family.

But then she saw a pencil she had found on the road, one she used to draw pictures on whatever scraps of paper she could find. And suddenly, it struck her that this version of her was still her. This dirt room had shaped her, made her who she was now. This wasn’t another lifetime, and it wasn't a different person. It was her.

She's not sure why that revelation hit her so hard, but it did. Now, when she cried, she didn't cry for the little girl who was pretending to be a boy sleeping on the floor. Instead, she was crying for herself, crying for the generations of her family that were cursed because of a decision that Gregory had made in his jealousy.

Suddenly, she was no longer sad. She was furious. How dare this one man and his decisions damn their family for centuries. How dare DEPRAC slaughter innocent girls and women, tear apart families, and destroy whole communities because of their fear of a woman having power over them.

Her rage felt like it was burning through her. She had been upset before, of course, but nothing like she was feeling now. Somehow, travelling back in time had really thrown in her face just how much DEPRAC had destroyed.

She wanted to fight.

If she was being honest, she wanted to kill.

The thought scared her, but didn't surprise her. They weren't innocent, and while she had never considered killing before, she realised with a start that she was ready if she had to.

When she opened her eyes, she was no longer at Jacobs’. Instead, she was in her room at Portland Row, sitting on her bed. She felt a weight next to her, and when she looked over Lockwood was sitting there. He took her hand, and lightly kissed her knuckles.

“It's time to wake up, Luce.”

“Oh, Anthony.” She went to reach for him, but her hand passed right through him.

“I'm not here. You need to wake up to see me. You can do it, I believe in you.”

And with that, he disappeared. She desperately called his name, knowing that it was futile. Instead, she looked within herself, willing herself back to the world of the living.

The last thing she remembered were the walls crumbling around her.

Three days. It took Lucy three days to wake up. In that time, Lockwood barely slept more than an hour at a time, no matter how much his friends encouraged him and told him that Lucy would want him to take care of himself. She had been kept alive through spells that would give her hydration and nutrition, but beyond that there was nothing they could do.

Then, on the third day, Lucy opened her eyes. “An… An…”

Lockwood immediately leaned in close to her, brushing hair from her face so she could see better. “Shh… Lucy, I’m here. You’re okay, love, but try not to talk. You haven’t eaten or drank anything in several days.”

Their friends all came running at the sound of Lockwood’s sobs, fearing the worst. Instead, they found Lockwood holding an awakened Lucy. His back was to them, but Lucy’s eyes were open and the life in them was evident.

Small gasps, deep breaths, and even a quiet sob worked its way through the group of friends. Ollie quickly brought a cup of water for Lucy, which Lockwood accepted gratefully and gingerly helped her drink some small sips.

Lockwood looked back at their friends who were standing around awkwardly. He realised that they weren’t sure whether or not they could intrude on this moment, so he smiled and waved them over. Lockwood knew they had been almost as worried as him, though they were fighting to keep Lockwood from seeing their fear. One day, he’d show them how much their support meant to him (to them).

But for now… Ollie, Kipps, George, and even Flo enveloped them in a group hug that nearly smothered Lucy and Lockwood in love and relief. Though a few of them would never admit it, there was not a dry eye in the house.

***

Lucy immediately wanted to get to work, no matter how much Lockwood protested that she needed to rest. She managed to wait a few hours, until she got her voice back and was able to eat a little bit of real food, before she became too impatient.

“I’ve been resting for days, Anthony. I’m done wasting time.”

Lockwood knew that there was no arguing with her. He recognised the determined glint in her eye that told him she had made up her mind.

George filled her in on the bits and pieces he was able to collect from the library, comparing it to what she had learned in the past. Soon, George and Lucy disappeared into the library, presumably to look at more of Agatha’s notes and make sense of them.

“You doing okay, Locky?”

Flo’s voice jerked him out of his thoughts. He hadn’t even heard her come into the room. “Of course.”

“You sure?” Flo sounded unconvinced.

“I’m sure. Why do you ask?”

“Well, because you’ve been buttering that piece of bread for over five minutes and staring at the wall. You’re lucky this house has a never-ending supply of food, because I’m pretty sure you just used an entire cow’s worth of butter.”

Lockwood looked down and realised that there was, indeed, an obscene amount of butter on the bread he was holding. He felt his face flush a little as he scraped some of it off.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

He knew he should - he really did. Lockwood just didn’t know what he was feeling. “I’m just scared, Flo. I’ve almost lost her so many times and one day she’s not going to wake up. And I… I can’t live without her.” He heard the tears in his voice before he felt them falling down his face.

“Oh, Locky…” Flo wrapped him in a tight hug and Lockwood took comfort in the embrace of one of his oldest friends. They didn’t need more words. They both loved Lucy and knew the danger that she and the rest of the group faced. No one had said it out loud, but they all knew there was a significant chance of one or more of them dying in a confrontation with DEPRAC.

They also all knew and silently accepted that the risk was worth it. Risking their lives so that people like Lucy didn’t have to live in constant fear? Worth it.

That didn’t make it any less terrifying.

Lucy spent the next few days with George, going over everything that had happened in the past. Everything she saw, learned, did - even if she thought it wasn’t relevant. George took notes and asked questions that made Lucy think he was finding connections she never considered.

She was right.

After three days holed up in the library, George called everyone around and relayed his theories. He told them that the heads of DEPRAC were connected to the Bone Glass and they needed to figure out how to destroy it if they had any chance of taking down DEPRAC. The only problem was that they had no idea how they were connected to the Bone Glass if it wasn’t even on this plane of existence.

Unfortunately, they were running out of time. Ollie and Quilliam’s trips turned out to be a way for them to correspond with Barnes. They were travelling to a town a day’s journey away in order to keep their location a secret. While Barnes was in hiding after the raid on Portland Row, he still had a few friends on the inside who were relaying information to him as they were able.

They hadn’t told the rest of the group because they didn’t want any of Barnes’ news to be a distraction until it was absolutely necessary. The most recent letter, however, fell into the realm of absolutely necessary. After George filled them in on what he knew, it was time to hear from Barnes.

Dear Ollie,

I am running out of time, and I’m not sure that this letter will find its way to you. All I can do is hope.

DEPRAC knows about Lucy. They found her name on her marriage registration and put some of the pieces together. They know that you’re doing something but I’m not sure they know what. DEPRAC’s strongest were sent away when they felt a burst of power. Somehow they knew it was connected to a Carlyle - to Lucy.

I don't know where they're going, and I don't know when I'll be able to contact you again. I hope this is helpful, and I hope I see you all soon.

Please send my love to my nephew.

-Montague Barnes

There was a tense silence after Ollie read the letter. It was clear that no one knew where to start or what to say, but somehow they knew that this was the start of the end. The end of the fight, or the end of their lives, they weren't sure. All they knew is that there is no going back.

It was Quilliam who finally broke the silence. “So when do we leave?”

***

The next several hours were spent packing and trying to decide where to go from here. They knew that Lucy had to go to the cave where she had seen her ancestor hide the Bone Glass. The problem was, that she didn't know exactly where the cave was or even if it still existed. For all they knew, it could have collapsed in the centuries since Gregory Carlyle existed.

“We’re assuming that the DEPRAC people went to the cave, right?” George asked suddenly in the midst of helping Flo pack food.

“Yes,” Lockwood said.

“So why don't we follow them?”

Lockwood scoffed. “They left days ago, George. How on earth would we be able to follow them now? We don't know where they went.”

George levelled a glare at Lockwood, who continued to look perplexed.

“Anthony,” Lucy said, “you can see into the past.”

Lockwood’s cheeks grew a little pink, and Lucy had to hold back a small chuckle. He was always good at seeing the big picture, but sometimes the small details eluded him. It was endearing.

***

They took off that very night, hoping to reach London while it was dark. Lucy didn't know how far they were from London, or how long it would take to get there, but part of her selfishly hoped it was a long ride.

She simply couldn’t shake the feeling that she was a prisoner marching to her own execution, and she wanted to delay the inevitable for as long as possible.

“What are you thinking about?” Lockwood’s voice broke her out of her morose thoughts.

“Nothing,” she lied.

Lockwood chuckled and she felt it in her bones. “Come on, Luce, Talk to me.”

“I…” she started, unsure where her thoughts would take her. “You know when I was asleep, after I came back?”

“Of course.”

“Well, when I was there… I was dreaming. But it wasn't a dream, really. I'm pretty sure… I'm pretty sure that I saw our future.” She wasn't sure why she was telling him this, especially because their survival now was so uncertain, but something told her that he needed to know. “Just a glimpse of it, almost like a shadow.” She shook her head. “A shadow of the future – that doesn’t even make sense. I don’t know –“

Lockwood cut her off. “Don't do that. Don't doubt yourself. I think I know exactly what you mean. It’s like a glimpse - almost like something you see out of the corner of your eye, and you're not sure if it's real or not. Right?”

She nodded. Of course he knew exactly what she meant. Somehow, he always knew.

“What did you see?”

Lucy hesitated, not sure if she should get his hopes up. “I think.. I think we had a child. A daughter.” She felt Lockwood sharply suck in a breath behind her, but he stayed quiet. “I don't know what she looked like, and I don't know if it was just my hopes manifesting. But it felt real. But Anthony… I -- I don't think I'm going to make it out of this alive.”

She felt Lockwood’s arms hug her that much more tightly. Almost like if he held on hard enough, he could keep her there – keep her safe. A little piece of her heart broke, thinking about leaving him behind.

“You have to promise me that if anything happens, you will move on. I don’t want –“

“It’s not going to happen, Lucy.” He shifted a little and turned her head to the side so she was forced to stare into his eyes. “Nothing is going to happen to you. And even if it does… Lucy, I will never love someone again. I can’t. My heart is yours forever and I can’t do that to someone else. I can’t be with someone I don’t love.”

“Anthony –“

“No.” The vehemence in his voice caught her off guard. “No, Lucy. You can ask me almost anything, but not this. And nothing is going to happen to you.”

The conviction behind his words almost made her believe him.

Almost.

Lockwood was able to disguise himself just enough to follow the shadow of the DEPRAC agents from downtown London to the outskirts where George and Lucy waited for him. From there, it was easy to follow their trail.

Ollie, Quilliam, and Flo elected to stay behind and fight DEPRAC once the Bone Glass was destroyed. Ollie had told them that he had a way to get in contact with Barnes, but didn’t elaborate and no one asked him to explain. Barnes would know how to get them into the heart of DEPRAC, once the spell was broken.

Hopefully.

Lockwood tried to put the what-ifs out of his mind as he navigated George, stopping occasionally to check and make sure they were still going the right way. He was trying to balance not exhausting himself by continuously using his magic with making sure that they didn’t lose the trail.

"So I may have given your family the name Lockwood."

Lockwood jumped, not realising that Lucy was awake. “Hmm?”

“In the past - your… well, one of your ancestors helped me. His name was Milo. I obviously didn’t know that he was your ancestor, though I felt immediately like I could trust him. Milo was the only one who could see me. I guess Sight runs in your family. Anyway, he was working on something that he said he was going to use to find his family, when everything was over. I knew immediately what it was - your Scryer. I’ve drawn it so many times that I knew it even when it wasn’t together. I asked him if he was a Lockwood, and he didn’t recognise the name. Apparently, they didn’t have a family name yet. He said he couldn’t make it work and I helped him put together the final pieces. When it started working again, he asked me what I had called him earlier. I told him and he said that he liked it. So, I think I started the family name.”

Lockwood absorbed her words, slowly. He had always thought it was strange that he had never heard the name Lockwood before, outside of his family. It made sense. Something about it just made sense. "So you started the Lockwood family. It seems almost fitting after everything we've gone through."

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know how to explain it. It just feel like I’ve been looking for you my entire life - and everything was complete once I met you. Which is absurd, considering that I couldn’t possibly know something was missing. I had never met you! And yet… anyway, we also don’t know how soulmates even form - maybe our souls are always destined to find each other, no matter what time we’re in. Since I wasn’t in Agatha’s time, your soul connected with the closest thing to it - my ancestor.”

Lucy hummed. “Maybe.”

Eventually, she burrowed into Lockwood’s lap and began to softly snore. He looked outside to make sure he could still see the DEPRAC agents’ trail. They had been travelling straight for hours, and he let himself relax before unwittingly drifting off himself.

***

“Lockwood!” George’s whispered shout woke him, and he immediately noticed that they weren’t moving.

“Is everything okay?”

“Keep your voice down! I think we’re almost there. Wake up Lucy to make sure she thinks we’re in the right place.”

Lockwood nodded and gently shook Lucy awake.

“Hey,” he whispered, trying not to alarm her. “Can you sit up and see if you recognise where we’re at?”

Lucy nodded and sat up slowly. “This is it. I don’t even need to look outside - it feels the same. It’s… familiar. I can’t explain it.”

Lockwood nodded, not quite understanding but trusting her all the same.

“What’s the plan?” Lucy asked, looking towards George.

“Why do you just assume -”

“George!” Lockwood cut him off with a chuckle.

“Yeah all right, all right. While you two were relaxing, I did come up with a plan. We’re not sure what exactly we’re going to face when we get in there, right?” Lockwood and Lucy both nodded. “But we know that we can’t fight them. At the very least, they outnumber us and I’m neither magical nor particularly strong. We will lose any head-to-head fight.”

Lockwood opened his mouth to protest, but George held up a hand before any words could escape. “We’ll lose. Lucy knows it, I know it, and even you know it, even if your pride won’t let you admit it.” Lucy covered her mouth, likely trying to cover a laugh at Lockwood’s expression. “So, we don’t fight. We contain them.”

“And how, exactly, do we do that without fighting them?”

George held up Agatha’s journal as though that was an answer.

Lockwood’s face must have mirrored Lucy’s, as he saw the confusion he was feeling etched into her features.

George rolled his eyes. “Just make it so they can’t see or hear me and I’ll do the rest.”

***

Lucy and Lockwood hid the three of them from view as they advanced on the cave that still stood, centuries later. Not that it mattered - even if they didn’t know exactly which cave it was, the sheer number of DEPRAC agents gathered in the cave alerted them to the correct one.

Stopping shortly before the cave, George got to work. He built a circle similar to the one that Lucy and Lockwood stood in during Lucy’s journey to the past. Neither Lucy nor Lockwood recognised the runes or spices he was using, but were content to let George work in his element.

Lockwood lost track of time, but eventually George was done and came back to meet them, leaving the shield in place so that the agents couldn’t see the circle.

“All right,” George said, keeping his voice low despite the dome of silence they were in thanks to Lucy’s magic. “Now, we just need to get them into the circle. When they’re in there, you need to place this final stone right where there’s an empty spot in the circle, keeping them locked inside.”

“How do I do that?”

George pushed his glasses up his nose, levelling Lockwood with an annoyed stare. “I swear, do you even know your own abilities? You have Sight, Lockwood! Figure it out.”

Oh. Right.

Lucy gently grabbed his face, pulling him down to her height and kissing him firmly, but chastely. Vaguely, he heard George let out a noise - either of surprise or embarrassment, he wasn’t sure and he didn’t particularly care. Not when Lucy’s mouth was on his.

She pulled away slightly and he leaned his forehead into hers. “What was that for?”

“Luck. And.. just in case.”

Lockwood’s eyes flew open. “Luce. Nothing is going to -”

She cut him off with one more kiss. “Just in case, Anthony.”

He wanted to argue, but knew that he needed to work quickly. So instead, he nodded and Lucy grabbed George’s hand and pulled him to the other side of the cave. Lockwood knew he would need to drop the shield keeping all of them invisible to focus on creating a reason for them to enter the circle George had just made.

He took a deep breath, and waited for Lucy and George to vanish from sight.

Stay safe, Luce. I can’t lose you.

Lucy wasn’t sure what Lockwood’s plan was, but not even a minute after she and George had disappeared, she heard someone scream “Fire!” and what sounded like a stampede running out of the cave.

When the cries of fear changed to cries of protest, Lucy snuck a peak around the cave wall, trying to see if they could come out. She caught Lockwood’s gaze and he nodded, clearing the way for her and George to hide.

George ran to the circle while Lockwood followed after Lucy. He was going to stay there and make sure the circle held while Lucy and Lockwood worked on destroying the Bone Glass.

Not wanting to waste any time, Lucy stood approximately where her Gregory had stood, and cut open her palm, letting some blood spill out on the cave floor. They weren’t sure what exactly her blood was supposed to hit, but George figured that it just needed to touch something in the cave.

Lucy hoped he was right.

“With my blood, I open this bridge.” Suddenly, the air shimmered and once again looked like a cloth, same as it had in the past. The rip opened and she could see into space, the Bone Glass seemingly floating amongst nothingness. She quickly grabbed it and pulled it out into their world.

Without thinking, she dropped it in hopes that the mirror would smash.

She watched it fall…

Fall…

Hit the ground…

And nothing happened. The cave’s floor was hard and should have caused the mirror to shatter.

One of the men sneered from where George had him contained. “You didn’t think it would be that easy, did you girlie?” Lucy put up a barrier silencing the men without even looking back at them.

Of course it wasn’t that easy. Nothing had ever been that easy.

“Lucy!” Lockwood’s voice pulled her out of her spiralling thoughts, clearly having been calling her name for a few moments. Her eyes snapped to his and he yelled one simple word: “Skull!”

Of course!

She laid the Bone Glass flat on the floor and raised Skull high above her head.

This is for Agatha, she thought as she brought Skull down the first time and formed a crack.

This is for my family, another strike and it cracked further.

This is for all the girls and women whose lives you ruined, a spider web of cracks formed.

And this? This is for me. Skull came down and the Bone Glass shattered.

Lockwood watched the Bone Glass shatter and a brilliant light burst out of it, momentarily blinding him. When he could see again, he looked around desperately for Lucy, only to find her lying on the ground with shards of the mirror clinging to her face and body.

Carefully, he brushed the pieces away, trying to listen for a heartbeat or signs of her breathing. There was nothing. She was still - so still.

I don’t think I’m going to make it out of this alive. Her words echoed in his head, taunting him.

“Lucy. Lucy, please wake up. Open your eyes. Please, Lucy, look at me. We won. We won. I need you to wake up. Please.”

His broken sobs echoed through the silent cave, making the cave sound like it was mourning with him.

“We won?”

Lockwood’s head snapped up at the sound of a voice - Lucy’s voice. But he couldn’t open his eyes, afraid that it was her voice in his mind, or maybe even her ghost, speaking to him. He couldn’t open his eyes to see her lifeless body again, so instead he kept them tightly closed, holding on to her voice.

A small hand lightly brushed the tears off his face, and he’d know that touch anywhere. It was simply too real to be his imagination. Opening his eyes, he saw her tired, but very much alive, eyes staring back at her.

Lucy was alive. His Lucy was alive.

They’d really won.

“We won,” he choked out between sobs.

“Not quite,” came a voice from behind him, and Lockwood quickly turned around.

Lucy sat up at the voice, trying to get a look at who was standing behind Lockwood. Unfortunately, sitting up too quickly caused her to become lightheaded and she grabbed for Lockwood’s shirt to hold herself up.

“Flo?” Lockwood’s voice was grounding for Lucy, even if she was confused by this new development.

It was definitely Flo’s voice, but how could Flo be there? They weren’t anywhere near DEPRAC. Had something gone wrong?

How did Flo even find them?

“You just - how did you -” George was apparently just as confused as Lockwood and Lucy were, a surprisingly comforting thought given that George was usually the one who knew what was going on, long before he was told.

“It’s a long story,” Flo said with a definite edge of impatience to her voice. “I can explain it later. Right now, can everyone stand? We need Lucy to come with us to DEPRAC.”

Lockwood helped Lucy to her feet.

“I can stand,” she said with more conviction than she felt.

“She’s weak.”

“I’m fine,” Lucy said, trying to fight down irritation and just remember that Lockwood was just trying to care for her.

Flo looked her over with a critical eye and nodded. “Is Skull okay?”

Lucy looked down at where she had dropped Skull, feeling a bit guilty that she hadn’t spared a thought to it.

“I’m fine too, thanks for asking, Flo. No one else bothered to check on me. I just saved the world and what do I get for my trouble? Dropped!”

Lucy rolled her eyes at his theatrics. “Oh give it up. No one can even hear you.”

“Actually…” came George’s voice, still a bit confused but more like regular George, “we can.”

She opened her mouth to ask what was going on, but Flo cut her off. “There’s no time. Grab him and let’s go.”

Lucy did what Flo asked, grabbing Skull and sparing a glance to where the men were yelling behind the silent wall that she had erected. “What do we do about them?”

Everyone turned to look at the DEPRAC heads. “Their magical glow has dimmed considerably, but it’s still there - brighter than most.”

“Their talismans! We assumed they’d be useless after the Bone Glass shattered, but maybe there’s still a little power in there.”

Lockwood nodded and stepped forward. “You have two options, and very little time to make your decision. I assume you all know what happened to the agents who survived your attack on Portland Row.” No one acknowledged him, but the way that several of them stiffened answered the question all the same. “Excellent. Toss your talismans outside of the circle, and we’ll let you go. Or, keep it and I’ll make you see nightmares worse than you can possibly imagine. And when you’re writhing on the ground in agony, we’ll take your talismans anyway and leave you to be tortured by your own mind. The choice is yours. You have ten seconds to decide.”

Lucy was impressed by the threat. She forgot that Lockwood could be terrifying when his loved ones were threatened. She also knew that he would make good on his threats. They had tortured people like Lucy for years and he wouldn’t feel an ounce of guilt for driving them mad.

After about five seconds, talismans started flying and the group gathered them up and began smashing them - these ones shattered without needing the help of Skull.

When George shattered his first talisman, he let out a small chuckle. “Sand. I should’ve guessed.”

Lucy raised an eyebrow.

“Sand. Glass is made from sand. That’s how the Bone Glass was connected to the talismans.”

When the final talismans were all accounted for and shattered, the group gathered back around Flo. “Alright, everyone. Grab each other’s hands and form a circle.”

“Flo,” Lockwood said. “What exactly are we doing?”

“Going to DEPRAC,” she said as though it should have been obvious.

“Well… yes, but how?”

“Oh right! Well, I guess when you smashed the Bone Glass, it did something. I’m not sure exactly what happened, but I suddenly felt something course through me, and Ollie said that my eyes were glowing. We assumed that was our cue to fight our way in. We were only in the building for a moment before DEPRAC was attacking us. We got split up and Ollie was telling me that we needed help - we needed you lot. I didn’t have time for what he said to even sink in before Quilliam was screaming for help. I thought about running to him and then suddenly I was next to him, in a completely different part of the building. I helped Quilliam fight off his attacker and he told me to go and find you. I told him that I had no idea where you all even were and he told me to think about George, and imagine myself next to George. So I closed my eyes, pictured George, and when I opened them, I was here.”

Flo waited a few moments for her words to sink in, before she let out an impatient huff. “Now, grab hands and form a circle. We’re going back to DEPRAC.”

“How do you know this will work?” Lockwood asked, while grabbing George and Lucy’s hands.

Flo shrugged as her eyes began to glow. “Oh I have no idea if it will.”

Lucy didn't even have a moment to process the fact that another woman's eyes were glowing because she was using magic before Lockwood spoke again. 

“Well is this at least safe?” There was a hint of panic in Lockwood’s voice and Lucy felt his grip tighten.

“Maybe!”

And then suddenly, Lucy felt a familiar wind whipping around her before it felt like the ground fell out from beneath her. It was exactly how it felt to time travel, but almost immediately, she was back on solid ground.

She opened her eyes and recognised her surroundings. They were back in London, at DEPRAC.

“See? Told you it was safe!”

“You said no such thing!” Lockwood bit out indignantly.

“Oi! Argue later. We have some people to save and a battle to win, yeah?”

***

The battle was short-lived. Lucy led the way with Skull and after watching him destroy anyone who dared to fight against them, the remaining agents with talismans dropped them and ran.

Apparently, everyone had sensed that the fight was over and no one wanted to be on the losing side, especially against Lucy’s legendary weapon. Someone had made the connection to the stories that had been handed down from the very first DEPRAC head, Gregory Carlyle, and no one who remained wanted to lay down their lives for an organisation in ruins.

Lucy smashed the last talisman, and suddenly Agatha appeared to her. “You did it, Lucy. You’ve set us all free. Thank you.”

Before Lucy could respond, Agatha was gone. And somehow, Lucy knew that was the end - she would never see her ancestor again. At least, not in this lifetime.

Ollie, Quilliam, Barnes, George, Flo, and Lockwood joined her in the central DEPRAC office. She looked around at her family. Quilliam was bruised and had cuts along his face and arms, but he was still standing. Ollie, Barnes, and Flo were dirty and bruised, but otherwise seemed okay. George seemed to have made it through unscathed, and for that she was grateful.

She turned to Lockwood and smiled. They were tired and Lucy was sore, but they were alive. “It’s over, Anthony. It’s finally over.”

A tired, but relieved, smile broke out over Lockwood’s face. “Now what?”

Lucy grabbed his hand and laced their fingers together, relishing in the fact that they’d won. They were free.

“Let’s go home.”

Lockwood kissed her forehead. “Sounds good, love.”

Home.

Yeah, home sounded really damn good.

Chapter Text

"So what happened next?" Lena looked up at her dad with her big chocolate-coloured eyes, identical to his. Though she had heard this story more than a hundred times before, she still loved listening to how her parents “saved the world.”

Every time her dad told the story, he made sure everyone knew that Lucy saved the world.

“We didn’t save the world, Lena,” her mom would tell her while shooting a significant look at her dad. “We made it a little better, but your dad is exaggerating.”

“Don’t listen to her, Lena, she did save the world,” her dad would correct, once mom was out of hearing range. It made little Lena giggle every time - like she and her dad shared a secret only the two of them knew.

It wasn’t until she grew older, however, that she learned her dad was right. They weren’t just stories. Her mom, Lucy Lockwood, had truly saved at least a very important part of the world.

(Much of England looked at her as a hero, but she was adamant that she was just correcting what her family did all those generations ago. It was a duty, not a heroic deed. All the magicals who couldn’t or wouldn’t pass as boys or men steadfastly disagreed. She was their hero.)

It took time, of course, but London eventually moved into a new age. One of progress and inclusion, replacing centuries of DEPRAC's oppression.

It wasn’t without struggles. There were numerous small uprisings throughout England, pockets of resistance that wanted to re-establish DEPRAC or a similar organisation to control half the population of magicals. However, these were quickly squashed as no one could seriously challenge Lucy and Skull or her supporters.

Laws changed quickly but entrenched ideas were harder to root out. Misogyny and hatred from centuries of oppression and fear of magical women didn’t just disappear because DEPRAC fell. Girl magicals were still often mistreated and abandoned and women magicals were shunned by many communities.

After the fall of DEPRAC, many called for Lucy to become the head of a new institution of unified magicals, but she refused. The Lockwoods had played their part and were content to leave the politicking up to others.

Barnes and Ollie, it turned out, had just the knack for strategizing and smooth talking skills necessary to lead. Quilliam argued that anyone who could tolerate raising Lockwood would have no trouble leading the most powerful organisation in the world.

(Lucy agreed.)

Barnes became the head of the DEPRAC replacement: UM (United Magicals - yes, the name needed work but they’d get to that eventually.)

Oh and speaking of Barnes, don’t worry. He saved the cactus and cared for it as best as he could in the midst of the war. He gave it back to Lucy as soon as she returned. Lucy hadn't realised how much she missed her stabby companion until it was safely back in her room. Unfortunately, it wasn’t unscathed from its use as a weapon, but we’ll come back to that.

Lucy and Lockwood went on to live a quiet life full of absolutely no adventure whatsoever.

(Just kidding, obviously.)

Over time, 35 Portland Row accidentally became a refuge for kids who had nowhere else to go. It started one day when a young girl picked Lockwood's pocket and then disappeared. Luckily, Lockwood had a tracker spell on his wallet and followed it to her home on the streets.

He learned from other kids that her name was Jasmine and she trusted no one. She had been shunned from her community and moved to London for a chance to be accepted. Unfortunately, the opportunities were still lacking for a young girl.

Lockwood began to visit her regularly. At first, she completely ignored him, but there was just something about her that pulled Lockwood in and made him want to protect her.

She didn’t trust him (she was adamant that she didn’t trust anyone), but after several visits from Lockwood and Lucy, Jasmine found herself living in Jessica's old bedroom.

Jessica. She would've been so proud of Lockwood. It wasn't until after everything had settled that he finally told Lucy Jessica’s story.

Jessica had been a magical, too, but refused to hide. Until Lucy, Jessica was the bravest person Lockwood had ever known and after her death, he tried to carry on her mission of helping other magicals.

Uncle Barnes helped the Lockwoods convert Jessica’s bedroom into one for Jasmine, finally cleaning it out years after her death. “She would have been so proud of you, Anthony. You were her world and I’m sure she’s smiling down on you. Your parents would’ve been proud, too. And I am so, so proud of everything you’ve done and the man you’ve become.”

After Jasmine came the twins: Emery and Irene. Lucy found them one day selling flowers on a street corner, filthy and scared of adults. Lucy recognised that look only too well, and she slowly built up trust with Irene and her twin, even bringing the cactus to show them. Emery was the first to show Lucy their magic. The cactus had been doing poorly since its use as a projectile, but a quick whisper from Emery and a change of eye colours later, the cactus was healthy as it had ever been. Lucy later found out that they had run away because of Irene’s magic. She had the power of persuasion over all living creatures and cruel people used her against their enemies. They escaped and she vowed to only use her magic on plants for the rest of her life.

Lucy brought them home and Jasmine quickly fell into the role of big sister.

After the twins came Kamatayan, whose real name was Gene, but she was called Kamatayan by everyone who knew him because death followed him like a shadow. Kamatayan had the power to sense who would live and who would die, a magic that some confused for causing death and others wanted to exploit.

She escaped from Manila to London to start a new life where no one knew her, but unfortunately, his magic followed her wherever she went and the reputation as a harbinger of death was never far behind. Not even running to the other side of the world provided a reprieve. But then, he and Lockwood found each other, and she finally, finally had someone who understood what it was like to know who was marked for death. Once he entered 35 Portland Row, she never felt the need to run again.

Due to the growing Lockwood clan, their close friend Liz from the clothes shop became a fixture in their lives. Turns out, she was a dormant magical and her powers awakened when the bone glass shattered. She was able to take thread and spin clothes from it - an incredibly helpful magic for the Lockwoods.

Oh, and the Lockwoods must have rubbed off on her, because she accidentally adopted Eleanora, a shapeshifter who had been thrown out of her family when her own powers awakened. How does one accidentally adopt someone? Or accidentally get adopted? Well, that’s a story for another time.

George and Flo were happy to be the uncle and aunt, watching in amusement as the Lockwoods kept taking in “strays”. They were constantly on the go, travelling around the world with Flo’s instant travelling abilities.

But then Jenna came into their lives. She was a traveller like Flo, and quite literally landed on top of Flo during one of her “blinks”.. After a lot of yelling and a quick intervention by George, Flo agreed to teach Jenna how to get control over her magic. Before George and Flo knew it, their duo had become a trio. Now, the Lockwood clan had a travelling cousin in Jenna, and greatly looked forward to her visits since she always brought goodies for her cousins.

Finally, the Lockwoods rounded out their family with siblings Drea and Sammy. They both animated inanimate objects. Drea moved objects with her mind while Sammy was able to bring pictures to life. Lucy spent countless days teaching art to young people in the streets - kids just like her. When Sammy and Drea joined the family, Lucy would take them with her and they would bring the kids’ art to life, much to the delight of Londoners.

Of course, all of the Lockwood kids had Lockwood’s love of dramatics rub off on them. They were constantly putting on shows and making up stories to entertain each other.

But their favourite story? The one about a boy who took in a girl who was pretending to be a boy, and their epic love story that changed the world.