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Chapter 4

Shot! He got fucking shot! If I ever saw that bloody 'Golden Blade' again, I'd run him through with his own tacky weapon of choice! I decided to focus on Lockwood as he laid his head in my lap, and ran a hand through his hair. I was pretty sure he was unconscious, as he hadn't stirred since we'd got him on the catafalque

"He'll be okay, Luce" George said, pulling my attention to him

"I know" I whispered and looked back at him. I ran my hand through his hair again, tears stinging at the edge of my eyes. I moved his arm and coat in, as we approached the top. I could hear DEPRAC sirens as the catafalque came to a stop.

After explaining the situation to Barnes, I took a seat on the steps, watching from a distance as the paramedics took care of Lockwood in the back of the ambulance. He was awake now, and his eyes kept darting up to meet mine

"Neither of you are being very subtle" A voice said from behind me, and I jumped, turning my head to see that Kipps had settled on the step above me

"I don't know what you're talking about" I shrugged. We still had yet to have a second to discuss… Well, 'us'…

When Winkman and his thugs appeared, I assumed we'd all fight them off, then head down, but Lockwood was right; somebody had to go down now. Who knew what Joplin was doing to George!

"What are we gonna do?" Bobby asked

"Run" Ned responded. I always knew he was a coward

"Not an option" I saw Lockwood shoot him a side glance of disapproval and silently agreed

"Barricade ourselves inside?" At least Kat had a bit of a better option

"No, we'd be trapped and they'd have the advantage" Lockwood countered, making another decent point

"Then what's your plan?" Kat asked through gritted teeth and I almost knocked her out

"I barricade myself inside, rescue George and Kipps, while you lot fight them off out here

"Fight them off?" I rolled my eyes at Ned. Wimp

"If you'd rather go down to the Catacombs alone, then go for it" Lockwood headed back towards the doors "But, trust me, I'd rather deal with that lot any day"

"No" I said, grabbing everyone's attention "I'll go" The incredulous look Lockwood gave me made me want to shrink back, but I squared my shoulders

"No way, Luce-" He started, but we didn't have time for his bullshit right now

"It has to be me. I've got a secret weapon" I walked up to him, begging him with my eyes to just let me do this

"It's too dangerous" I could see that he knew I was right, but he was reluctant to let me go

"You have to let me do this, Lockwood. For George" I knew I'd won. He couldn't deny that it was the right choice. I walked past him, but turned before I entered the building "And remember; Just reckless enough" I begged him with my eyes to not get himself killed "Okay?" I asked and he nodded. I went to turn to go into the building, but a hand on my arm stopped me. The next thing I knew I was being turned and dragged back. Lockwood pulled me against him and crushed his lips to mine. I could feel an air of finality in his kiss and I didn't like it…

I wasn't sure whether the air of finality was because he wasn't sure whether we would both have made it out alive, or if that was him ending whatever it was between us, before it started. I wouldn't blame him either way…

"I see why you turned me down" Kipps chuckled "The way he's looking at me now, would make anybody else run for the hills" He scoffed and I resisted the urge to look over at him

"You're imagining things" I mumbled and turned from him, looking down at my hands as they fiddled in my lap

"If you say so… Thanks by the way… For not saying anything to anybody" He pretty much whispered

"About what?" I turned back to him in confusion

"About my talent fading?" He looked at me like I was mad

"What? Your talent is fading?" I whispered in shock. He was only, what, 22? 23?

"I thought Karim would have told you" He looked at me in panic

"Hey, don't worry, we won't say anything. Your secret is safe with us" I smiled at him and placed a comforting hand on his knee.

"You can see him now" It was Barnes. I was quick to turn to look at him. He motioned behind him to Lockwood, who was looking past me at Kipps with a very icy look. I rolled my eyes; I never should have mentioned the coffee invitation. I met George half way, and I could hear Kipps' steps behind me, but I picked up the pace. I wanted to throw myself at Lockwood and hold him, but I didn't want to injure him further, so I knelt next to him and took his good hand in mine, but he was quick to turn his hand to grip mine and yank me up on my knees to him. He slipped his hand from mine and held the back of my head

"Just reckless enough" He breathed, before bringing our lips together in a bruising kiss that had the world around us fading. Lockwood snuck his tongue out to meet my lips and I opened my mouth, meeting his tongue with mine. I guess that solved the question I had about 'us'.

Someone cleared their throats beside us, and we pulled back to see Barnes standing there awkwardly. I pretended not to notice the smug look Lockwood sent Kipps over my shoulder.

"If you don't mind waiting a second before a happy reunion, I was hoping you could help me…"

I stared at myself in the mirror. I couldn't believe we'd survived an experience like that! After a quick shower and clothes change, I felt a hell of a lot better. Achey, but better. The house was quiet, so I assumed that everyone had decided to sleep off the excitement, but I couldn't even begin to switch my mind off, so I decided to sneak downstairs for a cup of tea. It was kind of a tradition in the house. Tea and biscuits.

I was right, the house was dead quiet, so I was met with no resistance as I put the kettle to boil. I decided to set up the teapot because I couldn't see myself being tired any time soon. I placed it on the table with a sigh. I had a lot to think about; There was this whole thing with Lockwood to talk about, but I also had thing niggling feeling of guilt and dread in the back of my mind when I thought about George. Was he okay? The boneglass was gone, but would it have left any long term effects on him? I felt guilty because whatever was between Lockwood and me had been consuming me since the kiss in the library, and I couldn't help but think that maybe if we hadn't been wrapped up in our own bullshit, we might have noticed that George wasn't himself. We could have helped him, and maybe Joplin wouldn't have gotten her hooks in him quite so deep…

"I could hear you thinking from the floor above" I jumped and turned to the doorway. I hadn't even heard it open

"I-I'm sorry George, I didn't mean to wake you" I wrapped my hands around my warm mug and brought it to my lips

"I wasn't asleep, I- I couldn't sleep" George sighed and quietly closed the door behind him "I heard you come down here, but when I realised that you weren't leaving, I thought it might be okay to join you" I nodded at his request and he grabbed him mug off the draining board and took the seat opposite me, filling his mug from the teapot

"I'm glad, actually. I want to make sure you're okay" I looked at him, trying to remove the pity from my face, but he'd been through so much, I couldn't help but feel for him

"If I'm honest… I'm not okay" George sighed and blew on his tea to cool it

"I can't imagine you are" I agreed and waited to see if he would elaborate. I wasn't going to force him to talk, but I wanted him to know that I was there for him

"If we're sharing, we might as well share with the whole class" A snarky voice said from the doorway. Seriously, did someone oil that thing?

"Why did I know you'd join us at some point. It's like you can sense when you're not the centre of a conversation" George joked, but I was worried he would be less likely to share what was bothering him, now that Lockwood was pulling up a chair at the head of the table, beside us. It's a guy thing I presumed. Girls are easier to talk to, I guess?

"Actually, I heard you both sneak in here separately and thought I might have been missing out on tea" His eyes glistened, but the mischief was greatly taken away when he moved awkwardly as he sat, and ended up wincing as he knocked his bad arm on the table

"Are you okay?" I rushed to offer my assistance. It was partially my fault that he had come down anyway. It'd taken too long to get George safe

"Fine, but would you mind…" He trailed off and motioned to the teapot with his good hand. I rolled my eyes; maybe I'd known I would be joined in the kitchen and that was the real reason I had filled the teapot up. I grabbed his mug from the draining board and filled it, making it the way he liked it; Milk, sugar, and honey "Now, what did I miss?" He resembled a woman out for gossip!

"All we have established, is that I'm not okay" George admitted, and Lockwood's face turned serious

"Well, that's what we're here for, mate" He sent him a reassuring smile, and I found myself oddly attracted to this new found mature and caring side he's mysteriously grown towards other people… Not just me… He'd always looked out for me

"What about you, Luce?" George turned to me and I shrugged

"I'm getting there" I said, hoping to keep it vague, but of course…

"Don't hide from us, Lucy" Lockwood turned his serious side on me "If you're not okay, you can tell us" His eyes were pleading

"Are any of us really okay? George, you were basically possessed, Lockwood, you were shot, and I… I…" I couldn't bring myself to say much else. What did happen to me?

"It's okay, Luce" Lockwood placed a hand on the top of my mug, as I realised that I had been shaking

"I'm scared more than anything… There's a lot of uncertainty; What if there's other type three's out there? What if they all start talking to me? What if any of them are as messed up as-" I shot a look towards the jar which still held the skull

"Has he said anything?" George asked, turning to look at the jar on the table in the corner of the room

"Nothing yet… I don't know whether he's upset with me for making him look in the boneglass, or if something's happened to him… What if he's not there at all anymore? What if I killed a ghost?" I sighed and looked away from the plain old jar

"All we can do is wait and see, I guess" Lockwood shrugged, but sent an uncomfortable glance at the skull

"I don't even think research could help with it. Lockwood's right, we just wait and see" George agreed and sipped at his tea

"It's just so… Quiet now" I stood and walked over to it, tapping lightly on the glass, but got nothing back, not even a snarky comment

"Let's leave it on the backburner, shall we?" Lockwood encouraged, and I sat back down at the table, resuming my tea sipping

"Why don't we talk about Kipps" I was glad George brought it up, I knew we'd have to tell Lockwood

"Yeah… He told me" I admitted and George raised an eyebrow at me, but said nothing

"Told you what?" Lockwood frowned at me, and I resisted rolling my eyes at his jealous nature "Did he ask you out again?" I could see the anger rising in him and scoffed

"Again?" George frowned at me. Right, he didn't know

"Yeah, he cornered me before the ball and offered me a job, and asked me out for coffee" I explained

"Like a date?" George frowned

"Oh, for God sake. Yes. A date. But I turned him and his job offer down… The job offer was actually from Penelope" I supposed George should know everything he missed

"Well… I certainly missed a lot…" His eyes flickered between us and I knew what he was going to ask "Speaking of… What's this?" He motioned between Lockwood and myself, and I felt my cheeks heat up "I mean, you kissed. Three times that I know of. Kat told me" He continued, shooting us a smug smile of his own

"Five times if you're counting" Lockwood mumbled into his tea, and I almost spat mine out, just stopping myself from hitting him in the shoulder

"Really?" I asked through gritted teeth. We couldn't just have kept that to ourselves, could we?

"Okay, so five times. I'd say that definitely accounts for more than a one time thing, then. I've also never seen you look at anybody quite like you looked at Kipps when he was sitting on the steps with Lucy earlier. I thought he was going to drop dead" George scoffed and Lockwood didn't even look embarrassed, just stupid and smug

"One could only have hoped" He snorted

"And then you've got to add in the little secretive looks…" He trailed off as his eyes met my raging ones

"Well, between almost getting murdered by a prick with a tacky blade, jumping from the roof of a very high building, almost getting killed by a mad woman, getting shot, and recovering, we haven't exactly had the chance to say more than a few words to each other recently" I knew I was being short, but my doubts were creeping in. What if, after all of that, Lockwood just decides he doesn't want me? What if it was all a game to him? Just a bit of fun to pass the time? What was special about me; Lucy, the girl. Not Lucy, the agent. Talent aside; What could someone like me even bring to Anthony Lockwood's life? I felt tears start to brim in my eyes and I was quick to look down and avoid their eyes. I wasn't usually bothered by my own self critiquing, but this one hit a little closer to the surface; My insecurity in whatever this was between me and Lockwood. It was so up in the air, that I didn't know which way was up, and which way was down.

"Luce?" I was pulled out of my thoughts and looked up at George. He looked towards the door and I looked over with a frown. When had Lockwood got up? He was standing in the doorway with his hand outstretched towards me

"What?" I was flabbergasted. Did he want to talk now?

"Come on" I stood and was quick to make my way over to him. I put my hand in his and allowed him to lead me out of the Kitchen, and up the stairs to his room. He closed the door behind him and motioned for me to sit on his bed.

I plan on updating this very soon, but I don't think there will be many more chapters before I bring this to a close. I don't want to drag it out. But I am working on a couple of other one shots to try and fill out the catagory a bit! :D

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