The Agent, The Ghost And The Wardrobe

I: The Agent

Chapter 4

The sun was quickly setting. It was becoming impatient; not wanting to spend another minute warming the earth filled with ungrateful souls. The chilly air took over, casting a mist like a blanket on the streets of London.

Anthony was just about to suggest that they head home when Emma gripped on to his hand. He bent down to look at her on eye level. The poor girl looked close to tears.

"Maybe your brother found his way home." He smiled reassuringly and gave her a pat on the head. Emma shook her head and showed Lockwood her mobile. It read: 'Emma, sorry to make you worry. I'm fine :) Go home without me.'

"Please?" She clasped her hands and pleaded with Lockwood.

Lockwood glanced at her. He knew what was coming. George flashed him a dangerous look but he ignored it. "Okay, you can come home for the mean time. There might be Ghosts out if we stay here any longer." George looked like he was about to murder Lockwood. All he could do was return a weak smile.

Emma, on the other hand, looked absolutely delighted. She squealed and threw her arms around Lockwood's neck screaming, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

George could feel his temples throbbing.

Four hours and they haven't seen Lucy anywhere. Several times they thought they saw her short dark hair and trademark skirt and leggings but all of them turned out to be the wrong person. And what's worse: they had this annoying girl tailing them everywhere they went. She just wouldn't shut up about Lockwood.

George was looking forward to a quiet night when he could forget her high-pitched voice. But it seemed that it was never going to happen. The chubby blond groaned.

Emma looked right at home on 35 Portland Row. She walked through the iron gates and knocked on the wooden door. Lockwood was past the point of trying to get her to calm down. The two boys knew what it meant when they decided to go home without finding Lucy.

They left her without a rapier and she still had dizzy spells whenever she walked around a crowded place. She doesn't show it, but they notice her slightly swaying side to side or drowning in a sea of people. Like that one day they decided to go out to eat lunch and she nearly collapsed. She was so angry that they thought she was going to faint.

"I can fight Ghosts with nothing but a rapier on me. I can survive a haunted house with my wits still in tact. And I've never given up on a case. I can handle this –whatever this is." She told them one night when they brought it up.

We didn't find Lucy and now we have this girl to take care of. George glared at Lockwood as they stepped inside. Lockwood seemed to get the message.

It's not my fault. Don't look at me like that; you're eyes are almost as bad as Lucy's. And what if Emma couldn't find her way home in time? It's dangerous to stay out after curfew.

George was about to give a mental reply when Lockwood interrupted him. I'm sure Luce can find her way home. She's not stupid, George.

I beg to differ. George scoffed.

She's perfectly capable of taking care of herself. Lockwood replied.

Emma was sitting on the couch holding one of Lockwood's strange artifacts. She immediately ran to Lockwood as soon as he stepped in the sitting room. "It's amazing here!" She clung to his waist. Lockwood smiled and patted her head.

"I'm glad you like it. Just try not to break any of these artifacts. Some of these are priceless; from centuries ago. We wouldn't want any of them to break, would we?" Emma nodded with a solemn look on her face. She stared at the artifacts with wide eyed from where she stood a few feet away from the glass cabinet.

Lockwood nodded and noticed the fireplace cracking with a fire. "Emma, did you start the fire?" Emma only shook her head and replied, "It's been there since I came in."

George looked alert. "Lockwood," He pointed to the scratch marks on the door. "Someone's been here."

Lockwood looked deep in thought. "I don't remember starting the fire before we left. Did you, George?" But the boy only shook his head. Lockwood rubbed his chin and trailed off silently. "Strange..."

For a moment the two boys were silent until Emma's shriek filled the house. In a flash, they stood in the kitchen, wicked rapiers shinning in the light. They scanned the room quickly looking for any sign of danger but only finding Emma with her arms wrapped around a young boy with startlingly similar features.

"Mr. Lockwood! Isn't this wonderful? My brother is here!" Emma was bouncing on the balls of her feet. She still had her arms around the boy's neck. He looked a bit weary of the girl's squealing but otherwise looked happy to see her too.

The boy stood up and walked towards the two boys who still had similar expressions of disbelief stuck on their face. He held out his hand or was trying to with Emma still holding on to his neck. "My name is Jon. I'm sorry that I suddenly barged into your home like this. Thank you for looking after Emma." He smiled warmly.

Lockwood studied him. Jon was at least two inches taller than he was but while Lockwood looked rested and athletic (George would've scoffed), Jon had a pale complexion with heavy eye bags he tried hiding under a smile. He seemed like a fellow Lockwood could get along with. But it wasn't enough to get him to trust Jon. As the question remains: how did he get in?

George, meanwhile, had a look of utter disbelief mixed with immediate dislike and a hint of detestation. Lockwood noticed this, but was unwilling to say anything in front of Jon. So he went for the friendly approach.

Lockwood flashed his own award-winning smile and shook his hand.

"Anthony Lockwood of Lockwood and Co. This is my deputy, George Cubbins. It's a pleasure to meet you and Emma," "Likewise," "But you must understand that it is not everyday we encounter someone who tries to break into our property; usually our clients call in advance to schedule a meeting."

This boy's smile turned to a panicked look, "Oh I didn't mean to break into your house-" "Oh?" Emma rode on Jon's back spilling out everything that happened to her and how she met Lockwood and George. But to Lockwood, it was only a noise in the background.

Jon looked sheepish. He rubbed the back of his neck and gently placed Emma to the ground. "Yes.. I was invited." Lockwood looked startled. It didn't take long to figure out who invited him.

"I'm sorry that took so long. You can't imagine the mess George made." Lucy walked in drying her hair with a towel around her neck. She hummed happily to herself and sat down opposite of Jon. Lockwood and George could feel their body's go rigid. Jon's bright smile only seemed to intensify upon Lucy entering the kitchen. "It's no problem." He pulled his chair and sat down.

Lucy ruffled her wet hair a bit more and swiped a cookie from the plate in front of her. Emma peered at her with curious eyes, barely a second passed and she screamed. Lucy blew her wet bangs out of her eyes and got up immediately.

"What's happening? Where's the Ghost!" She reached to her side but only finding cold air where her rapier should be. Emma rushed to her and hugged her waist (which was about as high as she could reach).

"You're Lucy Carlyle- the girl with the Brilliant Listening Talent. I've read your cases and I think you're absolutely amazing!" Emma's brown eyes sparkled with excitement. The little brunette tugged at Lucy's skirt and she bent down to hear the girl's whisper, "Don't tell Mr. Anthony, but I think you're my favorite Agent." Lucy looked stunned by the sudden outburst but was clearly pleased with the compliments Emma was showering her.

She was definitely blushing now. Lucy rubbed her nose with a goofy grin on her face. "Wow. You really think so?" It was a new feeling: having a fan.

Emma nodded her head vigorously, Lucy wasn't sure if she was just confused because of all that dizziness in her head. "Of course! You're the only girl and you began Ghost Hunting since you were eight! I want to be just like you when I grow up." She dreamily sighed, putting her hand on her cheek.

From the corner of her eye, Lucy could see Jon smiling and turned to look the other way.

With all the commotion going on and the bubble of happiness bursting in her, she didn't notice her hand moving towards the cookie plate and shoving the cookies in her mouth.

Lockwood's voice snapped her back to reality. "Lucy! How could you break the cookie rule?!" He looked very disappointed. Lucy almost choked on the cookie. Death by cookie was not an ideal way to go. She hacked and coughed for a good minute while Jon and Emma bent down and offered her cold tea.

Gratefully, she took it and downed it in one go. After which she sighed and got up to face George and Lockwood's cold stares.

"You cannot break the cookie rule, Luce. Absolutely under no circumstance are you allowed to break it." Lockwood looked at a loss for words. "And you could've told us you were going to bring company in this late!"

"Where were you? We were looking everywhere for you! Lockwood and I thought you were in trouble!" George's expression looked absolutely murderous. But Lucy had a glare to match his. "I wasn't my fault! And I can take perfect care of myself."

"And I suppose that the fire last night was the perfectexample?"

Lucy looked utterly livid, "Don't you dare bring that up! I was saving your sorry arses from getting burnt to a crisp."

"But I recall there wouldn't have been a fire if you hadn't left that candle out. That's a mistake even an amateur couldn't make." George let the words roll of his tongue and immediately felt bad. If there was one thing Lucy took pride in, it was in being a good Agent despite not completing the Fourth Grade. But he couldn't take his words back, not now anyway.

He could see the flash of hurt in her eyes but she started shouting again, "I was tired! And if I recall, you kept me awake the other night, trying to figure out what the connection with the creepy skull was."

George looked taken aback. "Oh, so it's my fault now?"

"You kept me awake until 3 AM! You knew we had a case. But you didn't want to stop your stupid experiments!"

All the while, Lockwood was trying to get Lucy and George to calm down.
"Hey now, Luce. Come one, George. Let's all calm down and have a nice cuppa, eh?" But Lockwood might as well've been a television set to mute.

"This has nothing to do with getting lost in the city!"

"You know Agents are discouraged from using mobiles." Lucy said.

"But did you know how worried we were?" George's voice continued to rise. All he could hear was a beating in his ears.

Lockwood could see the trouble approaching. "George.."

"We spent our whole day with that girl dragging us around London while you were just hanging around with this arsehole!" George pointed to Jon.

Lucy snapped. "Take that back." She whispered.

George was startled by the sudden quiet of her voice. He looked down, unwilling to face Jon.

"Sorry.." But Jon just waved the apology away. "Already forgotten." He said with an understanding smile.

Lockwood tried warning George again. He put a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Oh? And I thought you were setting up shifts to babysit me. Was I too much to handle? Is that it? I'm not a child, George." Lucy spat the words with venom. Making Lockwood wince.

"What?" Lockwood this time.

"Oh you know what I mean!" Lucy crossed her arms. "Please explain, because I really don't." His tone shifted as he sensed George becoming more and more agitated. "Don't pretend you don't-"

"We've spent our entire day looking for you, Lucy! Did you consider what we went through? What if we found you collapsed on the street because of your dizzy spells?" George burst out with a face that was flushed pink.

"How did you know about my dizzy spells…" Lucy took a step back. "You'd have to be an idiot not to notice." George said. Jon and Emma watched them, turning their heads following the shouting match like a tennis rally.

Finally the shouting subsided. George was out of breath and Lucy stood with her hair still dripping wet.

The air was thick with tension. Jon didn't want to be a bother. Especially not at this time. But he couldn't excuse himself; he still had to take Lucy up on her offer. And they couldn't go out this time at night. He had Emma with him and he couldn't let her go out alone.

Instead he coughed once and twice. All heads turned to him, "Excuse me,"

"Lucy invited me here because we have a big Problem and we need it solved." He glanced at Emma and she seemed to get the message. She stood taller, mimicking the air of authority she always saw her mother doing when talking to clients and employees. Jon was grateful his sister continued for him, "We would like Lockwood and Co. to inquire into the Problem at Domus Ignis."

Despite the situation now, Lucy couldn't help but feel the jolt of excitement rushing through her spine. This would be a good case, she knew it. Lucy turned to Lockwood and could see the similar gleam of excitement in his eyes.

Domus Ignis...

The very name of the place sparked the same curiosity that made her want to jump into a haunted mansion.

Lockwood clasped his hands and smiled again, "Cup of tea, anyone?"

Author's Note:

Hellow :)

I'm sorry if it seems like it dragged on. I was hoping to give a bit of justice to George since (Though I do love Lockwood and Lucy! I promise, it's my absolute favorite ship.) I suspect that he does really care for Lucy. He just has his own way of showing it.

And to be honest, I was feeling a bit down this week. It was really confusing because at first I was extremely happy and so energetic and stuff then some bad news came and I felt as dead as a pan (pun intended). Then I felt bad because of some friend problems and I thought I would break down and cry but idk. It's that time of the month again.

So I will make this story move a bit faster :) because I'm so excited for what I've thought of. I hope you are too.

Again, just tell me if there are any mistakes I've missed and tell me if you like my writing style. Basically anything.

Thanks!

P.S. I love Percabeth and Jonlock hihihi