Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews, guys! I'm glad you are enjoying the story so far. Thanks go out to GingerDeppHead, linalove, Makrciana, and dionne dance. It makes me happy to see your kind reviews :)

So, guess what? I now have a Facebook page for my fanfiction! Whoo hoo! Now you guys get to have a better idea of when I am updating and which story I am updating! I'm pretty excited! Are you?

Without further ado, here is chapter three!

Disclaimer:Sadly, I do not own From Hell. Just Lucy. But I wish I did…well, most of it anyway, if you know what I mean…


Chapter Three

Godley wasn't sure what to make of Lucy's sudden gesture of affection to the inspector. He wasn't sure if he should break them up, or just let them be. Whatever choice he did decide to make, no one would really know, because a moment later, Helen Godley walked into the entryway.

"Well, dinner is set on the table—what on earth?" she wondered as she gazed upon the site of Frederick and Lucy.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Godley said to his wife.

Realizing that there were others in their presence, Lucy pulled herself away from Frederick. "How is it you are here?" she asked him, wiping at her eyes. She didn't realize that she had released some tears as she was hugging him.

"I told you that I was moving to London," the inspector said, confused by her question.

"Well…I know that. But…how…?"

He smiled, realizing what she was really asking. "I decided to join the force. That's when I met Godley here."

"Yes," Godley remarked. "And we've been friends since then. Gotten him out of many…situations, I have. Some I wouldn't really care to repeat."

Frederick glared at Godley. Lucy couldn't help but giggle at his reaction, causing the inspector to look at her out of the corner of his eye.

That was a sound he had heard in years.

Helen decided it was probably a good time to step in. "Why don't we take this to the dining room?" she suggested. Gently grabbing a hold of Lucy, she added, "Then you can tell us how you and Lucy know each other."

Helen guided Lucy to the dining room, with Godley taking the lead, and Frederick following behind. The young girl couldn't help but take a look behind her.

When they got to the table, she was placed to the older woman's right side, Godley at the opposite end, and then Frederick right across from Lucy. As he sat down, he winked at her. Lucy could feel the heat rising to her cheeks.

Helen began dishing plates with help from the inspector, who took the liberty of cutting the chicken into slices as the older woman was dishing the potatoes. Lucy helped by passing around the plates, while Godley popped open a bottle of wine for the four of them to enjoy. Once everyone was settled, they dug in.

After a few moments, Helen looked to Lucy and asked, "So, how is it you two know each other?"

Lucy swallowed her food and quickly took a sip of her wine. "We grew up together. His parents knew mine, and since meeting we've been friends."

"Ah," Frederick said as he too took a sip of wine. "I remember that day quite well."

"You do?" Godley asked in disbelief.

The inspector ignored him. "I remember…your brother's friend teasing you and pushing you to the ground."

"And I remember a small boy running to my rescue," Lucy said, smiling at the memory.

"You never mentioned that you had a brother," Helen pointed out, recalling their conversation while working on the chores that morning.

"George…he hasn't really been around much for me to mention him. I haven't seen for at least five years. He never writes or visits."

"I'm sorry, dear. Where is he?"

"Last I recall, he was studying to be a doctor at Cambridge," Lucy said, saddened at the idea that her brother hardly communicated.

Frederick straightened at the mention of doctor.

"Well," Helen said hesitantly. "I suppose it's a good thing that he is becoming a man of medicine."

"I suppose."

The four of them continued to eat in silence. As they ate, Lucy could feel as though someone were watching her. She looked away from her plate for but a moment, and saw that the inspector was indeed watching her. When their eyes met, he smiled and then continued to eat, causing her to smile as well. A moment later, he spoke.

"How are your parents doing?" he asked.

Lucy froze at the question, looking up at her friend and then back down at her plate. She was trying to fight back the tears that were beginning to well up. The odds really weren't working in her favor.

She took a deep breath, lowering her silverware. "They…uh…they're…I'm sorry. I can't." She put her eating utensils down on her plate and quickly got up from her chair. She headed for the stairs and up to her room. As soon as she was in the safety of her room, she allowed the tears to flow.

Frederick looked after her, confusion and worry gracing his features. After a moment, confusion became realization and, turning to Helen, he asked her the question he was sure he already knew the answer to. "What's the matter?"

The older woman sighed, and looked to the inspector with saddened eyes. "Frederick, her parents are dead."

xxx

There was a knock on Lucy's door, but she didn't move from her spot on the bed. She didn't want anyone to see her in the state she was in, least of all the inspector.

"Lucy?" came his soft voice, dripping with worry.

Lucy tried to call to him, to tell him to leave, but she found that she couldn't. When she tried, she found that her throat was dry all of a sudden. She heard another knock on the door, and prayed that he would head back downstairs.

Please, don't come in, she thought, continuing to sob. Please, don't come in.

To her dismay, he opened the door and walked in. "Lucy?" he asked again. The sound of his footsteps gave away that he was making his way towards her bed.

"Please," Lucy begged through her sobs. "Just…just go."

Frederick smiled a little, remembering the days he would catch her crying and trying to get him to leave. He never did, and he wasn't planning on breaking that habit. He sat down on the bed next to her and put a hand on her shuddering shoulder.

"Lucy," he said with sincerity. "Please don't shut me out. Not like last time."

Lucy turned to face Frederick, her eyes red from crying so much. She sat up so that she could be level with him. He gave her a small smile. To her, it was the same smile he would give her every time her brother would pick on her, the one that said he understood. A few more tears escaped, and she tried to smile, but couldn't. "Oh, Fred," she said.

The inspector opened his arms enough to envelop her in a comforting hug, which she gladly accepted. She continued to sob into his shoulder, tears, staining his shirt. But he didn't mind though. His friend needed him and that was all that mattered. He held her close, his hand petting her hair and running down her back. "Shush," he whispered, trying to calm her down. "It's alright. I'm here. It'll be okay. Helen told me. I'm so sorry."

Lucy put her hands on his chest, fisting up his jacket. She shook her head a little against him. "It's not fair," she mumbled into his chest. "They shouldn't have died that way. They shouldn't have died at all."

Frederick continued to rub her back. "Tell me."

Lucy looked up at him, with a puzzled look. "What?"

"Tell me what happened."

She pulled away from him, drying her eyes as best as she could. "Well, I was just out in the field, in the meadow. I was picking flowers for mother for her birthday." She stopped for a moment, taking a deep breath and calming herself down as much as possible. "I…I should have stayed in the house with them, Frederick."

"What do you mean?" he asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"When I was in the meadow, I could smell smoke. I thought that maybe one of the neighbors had put some kindling out and started a bonfire, but I turned around and…and our cottage…" Lucy's voice became choked. She took another deep breath, and then continued. "Our cottage was on fire."

The inspector's eyes widened. "What?"

"I ran up to see if maybe they had gotten out. Our neighbor was there…he kept me from going into the house. I…I was crying out for my parents. By the time the fire brigade got there, it was too late. They were barely recognizable."

The inspector took a moment to process the information she had given him. After a moment, he asked, "When did this happen, Lucy?"

"Two weeks ago," she sniffed.

Frederick nodded. "Did you notice anything suspicious?"

This time, Lucy furrowed her brow in confusion. "No. Why?"

He looked at her and then shook his head. "Nothing. I'm just curious," he said, pulling her into his embrace once more.

Lucy was still confused, but allowed his gesture. She couldn't help but think over his curious question.

What did he mean by 'anything suspicious'? she wondered. She thought about it a little more, and then it hit her. Does he think this has anything to do with the fires that had been reported?

xxx

-Two weeks later-

"Another bloody fire," Godley commented. "It's almost as if it's the Ripper case again."

Frederick looked at the sergeant with a particular glare. If looks could kill…

"Too soon?"

"You know very well that it's not the same," the inspector said as he looked back down at some of his paperwork. Since his promotion last year, he had acquired a new office and, unfortunately, more paperwork.

Godley looked down at the inspector. "You're not thinking about her again, are you?"

Frederick looked up at him, knowing exactly who his friend was referring to. "A little bit, but really not much since you mentioned Miss Kelly."

"Miss Kelly?"

Another glare.

Godley put his hands up in surrender. Deciding to change the subject, he asked, "So…the fires. Have you seen anything?"

"No. Nothing," Frederick said. He looked back towards his paperwork, and then asked, "Do we still have the file on the Oxfordshire fire?"

"Yes. You need it for anything in particular?"

Frederick opened his mouth to say something, but was stopped by a knock on the door. "Come in," he said.

The door opened, allowing Lucy entrance into the office. Frederick smiled, immediately forgetting a certain Mary Kelly.

"Lucy," Godley said. "This is a pleasant surprise."

The younger smiled at the sergeant. "One of the officers said that you two would be here." She held up a basket. "I brought you lunch, courtesy of Mrs. Godley."

"Did you know? And what, may I ask, has the wife made?" he asked.

"They are mainly left overs. She heated them up a bit, and she also made some potatoes to go with them." Lucy looked to the inspector and asked, "Is there anywhere I can put this?"

Frederick pointed over to a night stand next to the door. "You can put it there, that's fine."

Lucy placed the basket on the stand, and opened it to double check that everything was in order: a loaf of bread, a few slices of steak meat, and a few carrots. She looked to the two men, and then said, "I took the liberty of making you each a small fruit pie as a dessert. I made you an apple pie, Mr. Godley."

"And for me?" Frederick asked, looking hopeful.

She smiled. "Peach."

"My favorite."

Lucy nodded. "Do you gentlemen need anything while I'm here? I'm just going to be going back to the house."

"No," the inspector said, walking up to Lucy and grabbed his pie out of the basket. "Thank you, Lucy." He gave her a playful grin and took a whiff of the pie to make sure that it was indeed peach before he made to take a bite.

Lucy quickly took the pie out of his hand, giving him a playful pout. "That's for after you finish your meal!" she reprimanded him, placing it back into the basket.

"Yes, mother," he jested as she made her way towards the door. She turned and stuck her tongue out at him. This caused him to chuckled.

A sound that, surprisingly, and alarmingly, to her, caused Lucy's heart to flutter.

She quickly looked to Godley. "Do you need anything sir?"

"No, Lucy," he said. "Just let Helen know that I will be late coming home."

"I will, sir." With that, she turned and left, quickly closing the door behind her.

Frederick stared after the door for a moment, and then turned toward the basket of food. Out of the blue, he said, "Thank you for not mentioning the fire."

"No trouble at all," Godley said, joining his friend near the basket. "But…uh…may I ask why?"

Frederick grabbed a couple of carrots from the basket and then headed for his desk. Ignoring his friend's last question, he asked, "Will you get me that file?"

"Yes, but why…?" Sergeant Godley cut off his own train of thought as he looked from the inspector to the door, and then back again.

The inspector continued to look through his paperwork as he was chewing on a bit of carrot.

"You don't seriously believe that the Oxfordshire fire was the fire that killed her family, do you?"

"What am I supposed to believe, sergeant?"

"It's got to be a coincidence. It was most likely an accident."

"There was only one reported fire in that county. Lucy told me herself that the fire brigade was on the scene. Which means that they had to report to the police within that district."

Godley took a deep breath, and considered the evidence. After a moment, he asked, "Are you going to tell her?"

Frederick stopped what he was doing and then looked towards the basket. "Not yet."

xxx

Fire. That was all that Frederick could see as he walked down the streets of Whitechapel. Fire through the windows of houses, shops, apartments. The flames were licking at his form, trying to engulf him. He quickened his pace, making his way through the twists and turns of every alleyway. Eventually, he came to a dead end.

At that end, he saw the form of a woman lying on the ground. He walked closer and closer, until he felt shock, pain, and fear overcome him.

It was Lucy.

The scenery changed. They were in an unfamiliar room, and Lucy was lying on a bed, asleep. Frederick looked around to get a better look at where they were, but saw nothing. Nothing but the darkness surrounding them. He heard something move in the room and squinted to see what else—or who else—was in the room with them. He still couldn't see anything, but he did hear something that he wished he had not heard.

The scream of a woman. Frederick turned around and saw the shadow of a man standing above his friend, their hands around her throat. He saw that her clothes were in complete disarray, and her legs were covered in blood.

The inspector tried to stop the shadow, but found he couldn't. The more he tried to stop him, the further away he seemed to be. He ran and ran, coming closer to their forms, little by little. But by the time he got to them, it was too late.

At that moment, the entire room was enveloped by flames. Frederick looked at Lucy's still form, covered in blood and bruises. In a matter of seconds, she too was engulfed in flame.

"Lucy!" the inspector screamed.

"Lucy!" the inspector shouted again as he woke from the nightmare, sitting up straight in his bed. He was covered in sweat, with his hair plastered to his face. He looked around, and relaxed when he saw that there were no fires. He took as many deep breaths as he could to calm himself down.

Frederick got up from the bed and got dressed, pulling on his coat and hat as well. He grabbed his keys and headed out of his house. As he walked down the streets towards the Ten Bells, only one thought was running through his mind.

I'm not going to let that happen to you, Lucy, he thought. Never.


A/N: There you have it. I hope you enjoyed. And I do hope that I'm not speeding things up between Lucy and Frederick. Right now, I am aiming to establish/re-establish the friendship that they had before...things happened (almost let information slip, oops!). I'm just putting that out there since I was thinking about that. Anyway, please don't forget to review since you went through all of that trouble to read it. It keeps me happy and motivated. And don't forget to join me on Facebook!

~Xanthe :3