Quill:

It was only by coincidence I was even home when the call came. We had finished our assignment surprisingly early, but it wasn't without cost. I was filthy. The Source was buried at Vauxhall City Farm and I had spent an hour digging for it while Kate and Bobby were fending off an angry Victorian lady complete with petticoat and enormous hat. She hadn't been happy about the way her final resting place had been turned into a goat pen. Neither was I, seeing as a goat tried to eat my hair. We really did draw the shortest straw amongst the assignments these days.

On my way home, I saw a familiar face.

Florence Bonnard was keeping to the shadows as she generally did, but she was easy to recognise in her straw hat and blue jacket. We exchanged a quick hello, but I didn't ask where she was going. I assumed the Thames nearby. Either way, she wasn't likely to tell me. She made fun of my sorry state and said something about fitting right in. With the dirt on my face and the stiffness of my hair from goat saliva, I had even less desire to know the place she was going, where that would be the dress code.

Despite my dirtiness, I had no issue finding a night cab willing to take me. Maybe because I'd had the sense to at least take off my jacket before I started digging. Never being rejected was the sort of respect the Fittes uniform provided, that I would sorely miss if I ever left the agency, but the level of disrespect I received from the management was hardly worth it. My hair was an attest to that.

Once I came home, I went directly to the bathroom, showered for almost an hour and I still didn't feel clean.

It was half past midnight when the phone rang. I had only just lowered myself into an armchair, intent on reading something my mother had dropped off, giving me strict instructions to read it before the end of the week. I had one day left and 627 pages to go.

I was tempted to just let it ring. With my luck it would be the agency, ready with another assignment because we had finished early. Probably in a sewer again.

Turned out it was worse. A lot worse.

Of all people, it was Florence Bonnard who I had seen earlier. I'd had some doubts if she even knew how to use a telephone, but I had given her my number anyway in case she was ever in trouble.

Turned out that it wasn't her who was in trouble, but her precious Locky and the girl whose skirt was still hanging on the clothesline in my garden, Lucy Carlyle.

I made five phone calls. One to Kate, one to Bobby, one to Cubbins and one to Inspector Montagu Barnes at DEPRAC. The last one was for a night cab. I took full advantage of my position as Fittes division leader to jump the line. For all I knew the night cab driver had been forced to kick out his passengers so I could get where I needed to go. Fast.

Not more than twenty minutes later, I met with Inspector Barnes, half a dozen DEPRAC agents, Kate and Bobby. I had told Florence to go and hide. It was no good for her to go and get swept up with the rest of the relic-men. Lucy and Tony were easier to get out of trouble – it would take a hell of a lot of fibbing, and I was efficiently flushing my career down the toilet.

But who cared at this point? I was going to quit anyway. At least, this way I got to go down in a spectacular fashion, rather than finishing my last case being wooed by a goat .

"Now, Mr. Kipps. Tell us more about what to expect." Barnes demanded.

I cleared my throat, got ready to lie through my teeth, and put on my best leadership-tone, speaking loudly in order to be heard by the entire group. This was my element, I hadn't risen through the ranks because of my pretty face.

"Right. This is a joint venture, not unlike the Aickmere case -" I started but was interrupted by Barnes

"The one where you destroyed an entire department store?"

I decided to ignore that. "We received some intel from a reliable source that an organised black-market ring, dealing in Sources had been formed with Adelaide Winkman and her son at the head. We decided that before we alerted DEPRAC, we wanted to confirm the existence of said ring. For this reason, we have two operatives undercover down there doing reconnaissance; Anthony Lockwood and Lucy Carlyle."

God, I hoped they bought it.

"Our source has informed me half an hour ago that the situation has devolved and at least one Source has been released down there. The plan is that our team will contain the Source while DEPRAC takes down and detain as many of the relic-men as possible. Things have already gone pear-shaped and we don't have a clear overview of the situation, so be careful!"

The DEPRAC agents got ready. In the meantime, my team turned to me. Kate's face was close to unreadable as ever. Bobby was close to losing it.

"So, we're here to save your girlfriend." Was Kate's dry comment.

"She's not - we're here to take down an illegal trading ring and save Tony and... and Lucy."

Bobby frowned at me. "Why didn't you tell us about the trading ring before?" he asked me, clearly hurt by being kept out of the supposed loop.

"Because I didn't actually know about it until half an hour ago." I hissed.

His eyes widened "So this isn't authorised." Bobby pointed out in horror.

I nodded "But don't worry, I'll make sure your backs are clear."

Kate put a hand on my shoulder "But Quill," her forehead was creased with worry. "You'll be-"

"I know," I cut her off, impatient to get moving.

Cubbins and Munroe chose that moment to show up, out of breath. I was impressed at how fast Cubbins had been. He wasn't exactly the fastest, but credit where credit was due, he was nothing if not loyal. Both were bringing two rapiers, I assumed for Tony and Lucy.

"Ready?" I assumed they knew what we were walking into.

They nodded grimly and with hands on our rapiers, accompanied by DEPRAC agents, we stormed down the stairs.

As it turned out, no one could have known what we were walking into.

I didn't have words for what I saw. The pandemonium was so immense that any type of description fell short. Barnes immediately sent one of the agents back upstairs to call for reinforcements.

About a hundred people in various degrees of dirtiness were scrambling around in confused panic.

Kate informed me that no less than three spirits were loose, all of them type two's it seemed, but I didn't hear her because as soon as I had reached the bottom, I saw something I never wanted to see again.

Lucy was running unsteadily along the edge of the platform, her ankle probably giving her trouble still. She had no business being here. Then, out of the blue, a large easily recognisable figure slammed into her from the side. Time seemed to slow down as I watched Lucy falling. Under normal circumstances, she might have been able to withstand the hit, but her injured ankle couldn't take her full weight and counter the force she was pushed with. Her leg seemed to disappear beneath her, and she was sent flying. She twisted slightly in the air and fell. The back of her head bounced off one of the rails and she lay completely still.

I might have shouted her name, but that didn't make sense to me because I was sure I wasn't even able to breathe.

I took off in a sprint and jumped down next to her. She was unconscious. Alive, but unconscious.

I was close to calling for a medic before I remembered that I was the medic and my training kicked in. I couldn't allow myself to panic.

Under normal circumstances, I would stabilise her neck and wait for transportation to the hospital, but I didn't have that luxury. A chaotic battle between DEPRAC agents, relic-men, Visitors and agents was going on around us and it was only a matter of time before we were either ghost-touched or otherwise attacked.

I didn't have a choice. I picked her up, eerily reminiscent of the other night, except this time it was so much worse.

I slid her up onto the platform behind where Kat was fending off something invisible, creating a small safe space for us. I jumped up myself, picked her up and made my way towards the exit. I felt a spirit coming closer even though I couldn't see it. It was a terrifying feeling, amplified by the fact that I wasn't just responsible for my own life, but Lucy's too.

Help, in the form of Tony who came from the side, wearing the strangest outfit I had ever seen. He seemed to be dressed as a bird and I couldn't help the idle thought that he really was taking his idiotic disguises a bit too far.

He covered Lucy with a similar type of material and while I didn't get the point, I let him. At least she would be warm when we got outside.

I didn't have time to yell at him because before I knew it, he had gotten a rapier probably from Cubbins or Munro and was working with Kat to take down the spirit that had been going for us.

I wanted to take the steps two at a time, but I had to move as fluently as possible. I couldn't jostle her too much. I had no idea how severe her injury was, and if any complications arose because of me, I would never forgive myself.

When I finally reached the top, two extra teams of DEPRAC agents were already on their way down. I almost cried in relief when I saw that someone had been smart enough to call for an ambulance as a precaution. That extra few minutes of waiting time could potentially be devastating.

"Trauma to the back of the head!" I shouted to the paramedics who stood near the ambulance. They looked at Lucy's clothes with a sneer and lazily started gathering the things for stabilising the head and neck.

I didn't have patience for their stupid discrimination.

"Lucy Carlyle has been undercover on this reconnaissance mission and is one of the best agents this city has ever seen! I suggest you get a bloody move on!" I snapped.

That speeded things up. "Why did you move her?" one of the paramedics asked, now full of concern. His question was answered though, when DEPRAC agents started pulling cuffed relic-men up the stairs and sat them down on the pavement in large numbers who all looked like they had been in fistfights.

One of the agents came jogging towards us as the paramedics worked on Lucy. Apparently, there was a frighteningly large amount of ghost-touches, broken limbs and other serious injuries. That's what panic does. Like DEPRAC, the paramedics hurriedly radioed for reinforcements.

Soon after, they drove away with Lucy. I desperately wanted to go with her, to make sure she was going to be okay, but I was needed here. I might have issues with fighting ghosts without my Talents, but nothing could stop me from taking down Leopold Winkman. The only question was who got there first – Me or Tony.

…

Lucy:

I woke up to the sound of raised voices. I felt sluggish, like my brain wasn't quite in contact with my body. I was lying on my side, and several things felt wrong. The first thing that hit me was the smell. That antiseptic mixed with heavy amounts of lavender coming from stiff sheets. The next was the very air of the room which was somehow charged but stale. Neither helped the pounding headache I had.

The scratchiness of the gown I was wearing, confirmed that I was in the hospital. A warm hand was holding mine. Raised voices were coming from the hall.

It took me a while to reach a level of consciousness where I was able to discern who was speaking. I heard George and Lockwood being part of the argument, but the thing that cut through the loudest was the furious yelling of Quill Kipps

"- were you thinking?! Of all the irresponsible hare-brained things you have ever done, this really outshines the rest!"

"That's none of your-" I heard Lockwood protest.

"Considering that I just saved your arse at the cost of my own, I'd say it is my business."

Someone kicked a chair. I assumed it was Lockwood. "How did you even know where we were? Did Lucy tell you?" he demanded.

I heard Quill huffing a humourless laugh. "You're not the only one Florence talks to, you know. She called me when things started going sideways."

"We were doing fine until you showed up! We could've managed!"

"Oh really? Because Lucy was falling onto the train tracks when I showed up! She could have died!" Quill cut him off in a roar. "She's still recovering from a serious injury she gained only a few days ago and already, you're pulling her with you into one of your idiotic stunts! Lucy might be one of the most competent agent I have ever seen, but no matter their Talent or skills, pushing an injured agent into the field too soon is signing their execution order!" He shouted.

"She was the only one who could–" Lockwood started

"I don't care!" Quill thundered "I don't care whatever the hell you think you were doing or what you were trying to achieve! What I care about is Lucy and the way that you're taking advantage of the fact that she doesn't know how to say no to you!"

This was met with absolute silence. Holly had said something similar once and I started wondering if maybe it had some truth to it.

"It was her idea to come with." George provided eventually. He said so in a normal voice, so I almost didn't hear it. It was a big contrast to the yelling coming from the others.

"I don't care if it was the bloody Queen's idea." I could practically hear the sneer in Quills voice. "I sent Lucy to Portland Row because I mistakenly thought you people would keep her safe. Your stupid ambition is not worth her life. One would think you had an interest in not losing any more people you care about, Lockwood" He spat.

Even though I knew that Lockwood preferred being called by his last name, I couldn't help but get the feeling that coming from Quill, the name 'Lockwood' was designed to hurt a lot more than when he called him 'Tony'.

"Now, I need to go. I need to DEPRAC to clean up the mess you made." He finished. I heard the sound of his boots stomping down the hall.

I finally managed to open my eyes to see Holly sitting near my bedside, her face streaked with tears. Her make-up was completely ruined, and her hairstyle was all crooked. I hadn't seen her so dishevelled since Aickmere.

She sniffled and wiped her eyes and nose with a delicate looking handkerchief. She hadn't seen that I was awake.

"Hey Holly," I whispered.

She jumped a little in the chair. "Oh, Lucy!" she whispered back wetly. Her chin wobbled and she started crying in earnest. "I was so scared!" she sobbed.

The door opened slowly, and George rushed inside, probably because of Holly's sounds of distress.

Trailing behind him came Lockwood but he hung back. Whatever fight he had been full of when he was arguing with Quill had clearly left him now. He was looking at his feet and his shoulders were hunched. He was back in his neat suit. They probably wouldn't have let him into the hospital dressed as a relic-man. It wouldn't have been sanitary. Where his suit was looking pristine, the rest of him wasn't. His hair that was usually styled just so was in disarray, sticking out in odd angles as if he'd been running his hands through it repeatedly.

"We'll go get some tea," George mumbled and patted my arm. "It's good to see you awake Luce," He helped Holly, who was still crying softly, out of the chair.

"Wait," I whispered. "Did you get the skull? It was in my bag,"

George shook his head. "We couldn't find your bag anywhere."

They left and George patted Lockwood's arm when they passed him, but he didn't react. The door closed with a soft click behind them.

When Lockwood finally looked at me, I saw that he had washed his face of the make-up, but his eyes were red rimmed. He reached my bedside in three long strides. I tried to give him a reassuring smile. He put his hands on either side of my face and before I knew it, he kissed me.

It was a desperate thing. His hands were trembling, and it tasted like salty tears.

He finally kissed me. I had my doubts if he liked me like that or not, but here he was, kissing me. The curious thing was that I didn't know how I felt about it. Maybe I had thought about it and imagined how it would be too much over the last couple of days and my expectations had become too high. Maybe it was because my head hurt the way he held it or maybe it was because of the salty taste, but it wasn't the toe-curling experience a had thought it would be. The bird-sized butterflies I had imagined would flutter around in my stomach, didn't show.

He drew back but rested his forehead against mine "I'm so sorry, Luce." He whispered. "I'm so, so sorry."

"It's okay, Lockwood. It was an accident. It wasn't your fault." I tried.

He leaned back a little so I could look properly in his eyes. "I thought I'd lost you." Tears spilled over and ran down his cheeks. "Kipps is right. I shouldn't have brought you along."

I tried to shake my head, but it sent spikes of pain through my skull. "It was my own choice."

"It was my idea in the first place, and it was a horrible one. We should have waited, or we could have found some other way, but I pushed it because I was just so excited to have you back, Lucy. I missed you so much. I missed the rush of facing danger with you. Us against the world." He gave me a small lopsided smile and squeezed my hand.

What could I say to that? I had missed the adrenaline I had missed the rush of fighting alongside him. But more than that, I had missed the way he smiled. I had missed his hand in mine, the looks he sent me across a room and the way he sounded when he was excited about something. I missed the way he made tea, his silly disguises and his faith in me.

The one thing I hadn't missed was the reckless danger we seemed to face at every turn. The danger that he hunted on purpose.