Chapter Text
The single, solid knock on her door startled Lucy out of her reverie. Her heart sank. So far, a knock had never proven to be good.
A moment later, the door swung open to reveal Marissa Fittes. Lucy bared her teeth at the woman.
“Oh come now, Lucy darling, don’t be like that,” Marissa practically purred, and Lucy narrowed her eyes. “You don’t even know why I’m here.” She stared at Lucy, clearly waiting for her to ask. Lucy crossed her arms, refusing to give her what she wanted.
Marissa sighed. “Fine, have it your way. It’s time for your first task in our partnership,” she said, and Lucy felt a sense of dread creep over her, but she kept the scowl on her face.
“Your friend, the researcher, went on record earlier saying some incredibly unflattering things about us. I know how dear he is to you, so I’ve decided to be magnanimous; I’ll give you one chance to talk to him and get him to forget about our business for good.”
Lucy’s heart leapt at that. George was here? If anyone could help get her and Lockwood out of this mess that she’d created, it would be George. He’d be insufferable to live with after that ego boost, but she’d buy George a box of donuts from Arif’s every day if it meant not spending another moment with Marissa.
“You’ll need to ensure he understands that he is not welcome here, of course.”
The hope Lucy felt dimmed, but didn’t disappear. “Of course,” she muttered.
Marissa smiled, the smile of a predator that had finally cornered its prey. “Please do understand me, Lucy. You have one chance to speak with George and convince him to leave here and never come back. If you fail, I’ll have to have him killed.”
A spike of fear stabbed through Lucy’s heart at the casual way George’s life had just been threatened. Would Marissa really do that? She didn’t know, but she had the sickening feeling she already knew the answer. Would she be willing to risk George’s life?
As if hearing her thoughts, Marissa’s smile widened. “You’ll do this one little thing for me, Lucy, or it won’t just be George you’ll have to worry about. Did you know they got poor Quill to the hospital? The doctors said that he’ll be okay. That little relic girl that fancies George is sitting there, waiting for him to wake up. It would be a shame if something were to happen to him so soon after being cleared, but that’s the problem with doctors, isn’t it? They’re so often wrong.
“And that gorgeous little Rotwell-cast off secretary that Lockwood hired, Holly, wasn’t it? She’s at Portland Row right now, trying to clean the place up. But you all created a very dangerous environment there with that homemade ghost gate, didn’t you? Hopefully she doesn’t stumble upon any rogue Sources while she’s cleaning.”
Lucy’s blood ran cold. Marissa had just successfully threatened each of her friends. She had no way of knowing if Marissa was lying or not, but it didn’t matter. She couldn’t gamble on their lives like that.
“But I’m sure the fates will smile on them, as long as George is dealt with.”
“What exactly do you want from me?” Lucy asked, flatly. She tried to keep the fear out of her voice, hating the way she was sure she had failed.
Marissa sensed that she had the upper hand, and her smile remained, showing altogether too many teeth to be a real, pleasant smile. “This is a new world now, Lucy, you work for me. You will go to him. You won’t give him any information about what you and little Lockwood agreed to help me with. You’ll make sure that he knows, under no uncertain terms, that he is not welcome here, and that if he ever shows his face again, I’ll have Lockwood kill him. And if it comes to that, well…poor George will never be an issue for anyone again. ”
Lucy’s breath caught in her throat. “Lockwood would never,” she blurted before she could think better of it.
“Ah, you have a lot to learn, my dear,” Marissa said. “I think you’ll find that there’s nothing Lockwood won’t do, as long as the appropriate…encouragement is provided.” She slapped Lucy across the cheek before Lucy’s mind could even comprehend what was happening, and Lucy recoiled backward.
She felt anger flare within her, tempered only by the knowledge Marissa had just shared regarding each of her friends. There was enough uncertainty and dread swirling within her to not completely discredit the thinly veiled threats Marissa had just uttered.
“Where is Lockwood?” she asked instead. “I want to see him.” She hadn’t been allowed to see Lockwood since that fateful day in Marissa’s office, and Lucy felt her anxiety ramp up further with each passing hour.
Marissa’s smile faltered, for just a second. “Lockwood has been…busy.”
Lucy’s heart stopped, and she felt lightheaded. She’d heard screams on multiple occasions since she’d been here, nightmarish horrors that she knew she’d never be able to forget. With a monumental effort, she’d been able to convince herself that they weren’t from Lockwood. But Marissa’s answer didn’t inspire her with confidence.
“I’ll make you a deal,” she said, as Lucy’s world swam. “You get rid of George for good, and I’ll let you see Lockwood.”
He will go into the dark.
Lucy didn’t say anything, but closed her eyes, hoping the world would right itself. She could figure this out. George was the smartest person she knew; he would be able to figure out any code Lucy could put together to let him know what was going on. She could save her friends. She just needed to think.
“I will say,” Marissa started, examining her fingernails in front of her, as if Lucy was no longer worth her time. “Our little Lockwood does love to flirt with death, doesn’t he? He’s so willing to throw his life away, so willing to leave this world. It’s a bit pathetic, but I’d be more than happy to help him along with that wish.”
Lucy blanched, eyes flying open. “No,” she said, her voice wavering. Although, if those screams were from Lockwood, maybe he’d be better off dead. Even the thought of it sent the world spinning around her again and her breathing rate increased as her pulse skyrocketed.
“I’ll have to ask him what he’d prefer. Slit wrists can be awfully messy. Maybe he’d rather drown? The Thames is lovely this time of year. Or, the Fittes House is a tall building. I know you two have made a habit of jumping off of buildings together, but maybe this time, he’d prefer to jump alone?”
“No,” Lucy repeated, fainter this time. She was shaking now.
Marissa looked at her, pityingly. “Of course, it would be your fault, Lucy. You left once in an attempt to keep him safe, but you just couldn’t stay away, could you? And now look at you. The first hint of danger, and the boy followed you without hesitation. You’re going to get him killed, Lucy.”
He will sacrifice his life for you.
Lucy whimpered as Marissa echoed the thoughts that had been rattling through her head since she watched Lockwood say yes to Marissa, simply because she had. Since that prophecy she’d received during that night with La Belle Dame, she’d known she was going to get Lockwood killed. That was why she had left him in the first place, and it had been nothing but sheer hubris when she’d convinced herself to remain at Portland Row. Hubris and stupidity.
“Of course,” Marissa said, voice smooth as silk, “I told you that I could keep him alive, and I am a woman of my word. As long as you keep your end of our deal as well. You said you would join me in making the world a better place, to unlock the secrets of the Other Side, of immortality. There is no place for George in this, and he needs to be made aware.”
“I…” Lucy realized she had tears on her face. “Please, don’t hurt them.”
Marissa nodded. “I will hold my end of the deal as long as you do,” she said.
When Lucy nodded, haltingly, Marissa flashed her another press-worthy smile. As she outlined to Lucy what she needed to say to George, the tears continued flowing.
— — —
Lucy was led to a large set of double doors, fingers picking at the hem of the light blue dress Marissa had ordered her to wear, then roughly shoved inside. She stumbled inwards, then froze. Leaning against the wall underneath the window was George.
He looked absolutely horrific—Lucy had to stifle a gasp at the sight of him. It had only been a couple of days since she had seen him, but in that time, he had grown paler, gaunter. His hair was a matted mess, and a large bruise blossomed over his left eye. He looked like he hadn’t slept since their fateful trip to the Other Side, an alarmingly dark circle present under his good eye, and Lucy presumed the other as well, although it was masked by the bruise.
His breathing was ragged, and she could tell by the way he was holding himself that he was in pain. Her heart broke at the sight of him, at the knowledge of what she was about to do.
Slowly, he straightened and looked around him. Lucy remained silent. Finally, his gaze landed on her, and his eyes widened.
“Luce,” he finally croaked out, and she flinched at the sound of his voice. “Christ, it’s good to…you look like you’re alright, are you okay? What’s going on? Where is Lockwood? Kipps is in the hospital, but I think he’s going to be fine, but what is going on here? Where did you go? What’s this about working with Marissa?”
A cold ice cube of fear slid down her back as George confirmed one of the things Marissa had told her.
“You need to leave,” she said, voice rough with fear.
George blinked, clearly confused. “What?”
“You need to leave, George, and not come back here.” Please, George, don’t make this difficult.
But of course, George didn’t often do as he was told. He shook his head. “Why would I do that?”
“You have to go,” Lucy said, trying to hide the note of plea there.
He shook his head. “No, Lucy. Not without you, not without Lockwood, and not without an explanation of what’s going on.”
Lucy’s face grew dark. She was doing this to keep him safe, to keep Lockwood safe. For Holly, for Kipps, and for Flo. “You’re not getting any of that, George. You need to leave. Now.”
Again, George shook his head. “What are you not telling me? You both saw what Marissa’s doing on the Other Side. Why are you helping her? What did you two plan without me? Because that’s what this is, right? Just the way you two always operate, making plans and carrying them out without filling me in. It’s fine, it’s whatever. But you’re scaring me, Luce.”
Lucy felt a stab of pain and guilt, remembering what had happened the last time George admitted to feeling left out. “Lockwood and I are working with Marissa now,” she said, keeping her voice as neutral as possible to avoid betraying her. “We’re going to help her with the Fittes Initiative, to continue the fight against the Problem.”
George frowned. “Lucy. You were there on the Other Side, you saw what she’s been up to! She’s making the Problem worse, not helping!”
And Lucy knew that. There was no arguing against what they had seen, the horrific things that Marissa had been working on. George was like a dog with a bone when he latched onto a mystery, but Lucy needed him to drop this topic for good. His life depended on her being convincing enough.
An idea occurred to Lucy, and it made her feel sick. She took a deep breath, steeling herself for what she needed to do next. This was to keep George safe, to keep him out of Marissa’s clutches. She could take whatever Marissa would dish out to her, and she knew Lockwood was the same. But George was too good for this. Not that Lucy believed him to be innocent of how horrific the world could be, but she needed to protect him from it, from her mistakes, anyway.
“We didn’t understand what we were seeing, George.”
George made a noise of disbelief. “Did you hit your head during the fight? Where is Lockwood, anyway?”
Lucy felt her desperation turning into anger. “He’s not here. He doesn’t want to see you.”
George took a step back, away from her, and Lucy’s heart clenched. She couldn’t do this. She needed to do this. “What do you mean?”
Doing her best to hide her trembling, Lucy sent a quick prayer to whoever might be listening that George would be okay without her and Lockwood.
“I mean he doesn’t want to see you, George,” she said, struggling to keep her voice level. “I’m only here to talk to you because the other option was having security throw you out on your arse, but you’re like a cockroach. You’ll just keep coming back.” She bit the inside of her cheek to keep her resolve as she watched George flinch.
“But we don’t need you here. Fittes has all the books and research that we could need, and the manpower to get the research done in half the time that you do,” Lucy said, looking at him with cold eyes. “Your Talents are mediocre at best; we kept you around at Lockwood & Co. so we wouldn’t have to bother with the Archives. There are other researchers here, and not even your Talents are useful to us. You’re better off just giving up on agent life altogether. Go work in the Archives, or follow your brothers and become an engineer. You’re smart enough for that, at least.”
She hated herself more with each word that passed her lips.
“You don’t mean that,” George said, face stricken. “Lucy, where is Lockwood?”
She shook her head, desperately. “It doesn’t matter, George! He won’t be coming to see you, and you need to leave! You need to leave, and you need to never come back!”
George froze. “Fuck you, Luce,” he spat. “You don’t get to spend years trying to convince me that I’m actually worth something only to throw that back in my face when someone better comes along. Seriously, do you hear yourself right now? I don’t know what’s going on here, but I don’t like it. Is this some kind of test? Do I need to prove myself to you?”
Lucy felt herself getting exasperated, but she couldn’t help the bubble of fondness that rose in her chest, making this charade even more difficult to continue. “A test, yeah. Of course you’d think it was a test. Always looking for the academic way out. Whatever you can do to remain logical and keep everything categorized into a neat little box. But sometimes life is messy, George. Sometimes things don’t make sense, and you just have to deal with it.”
There was a nugget of truth to that, and Lucy didn’t want to examine it.
She ached to tell George everything. To beg him to leave, to plead for his help and forgiveness. But Marissa’s threats still rang in her ears, and she tamped down the impulse. She looked away, disgusted with herself, unable to meet George’s eyes.
After a moment, she returned her gaze back to him, knowing she had no choice.
“I’m telling you what we should have told you a long time ago. We don’t want you here and we don’t need you here. Lockwood and I pitied you, so we let you stay with us. It was convenient, having someone to cook and spend the hours looking through dusty books that were better spent doing real agent work. You were convenient, George. Now, you’re not.”
“I don’t…Lucy, I don’t understand,” George said, and the tears Lucy saw in his eyes filled her throat with bile. “I thought we were family…”
Lucy wanted to scream. She wanted to cry, to throw up, to run, to crawl into a deep hole and never surface. Instead, she looked at George with the most pity she could muster. “You were wrong. We were never even friends, George.”
Before George could respond to that, Lucy continued. “Go,” she said, tiredly. “Leave, and don’t come back. We don’t need you here and we don’t want you here. You never fit in with me and Lockwood, and it’s past time that we move on. You should do the same.”
George’s mouth hung open. “Luce…” he said, voice strangled.
Lucy couldn’t do this anymore. She had to hope that this would be enough to convince George to do as Marissa commanded and disappear; she was too emotionally exhausted to form any other coherent thoughts. She shook her head and snapped her fingers. Two large men with rapiers strapped to their hips, far too old to still be agents, entered the room. They moved to flank George on either side, directing him out of the room.
Lucy watched as George let himself be led out the grand ballroom doors, her heart no longer hurting. It was already too broken to accept more hurt.
“Goodbye, George,” Lucy said softly as the doors swung closed behind him, cutting her off from the second largest piece of her life.
She stood, frozen, until the two men came back. They escorted her to the elevator that would lead to Marissa’s office, and Lucy went silently, without a fight.
The elevator slid open, and Lucy kept her eyes downcast, focused on the floor.
“That was excellent, darling,” Marissa said, and Lucy had to fight off the shiver that ran down her spine. “And you know, I’m sure Lockwood will love to hear the recording I had made.”
Lucy’s gaze shot up, her eyes wide in horror. It was bad enough that she and George would now have to live with the memories of what she’d said and done. Lockwood didn’t need that.
“Please, don’t,” she said, frustrated at how small her voice sounded.
Marissa smiled, a smile that seemed reassuring until Lucy looked deeper, to the malice behind it. “I have no more use of you today. You can go.”
With a wave of Marissa’s hand, Lucy was dismissed.
“Wait!” Lucy called as she was pushed back into the elevator by the men who had escorted her there. “You promised you wouldn’t hurt them now!” She needed to hear Marissa confirm it, that her sacrifice was worth it, would keep her friends alive.
“Oh, Lucy,” Marissa said, looking for all the world like an adult lightly scolding a small child. “I promised you that I would keep Lockwood alive. I never said anything about your other friends.”
And with that, the elevator door slid shut, cutting off Lucy’s scream.