Betrayal

Betrayal Part 7

"He's surprisingly heavy for such a scrawny git,'' Kipps huffed. It would have been funny if it wasn't so serious.

Kipps had Lockwood under his arms, while George carried his legs and tried not to trip walking backwards down the stairs.

Lockwood, now sporting what appeared to be an impressive black eye, was cussing them out furiously. Well, Lucy was pretty sure that was what he was doing - it was hard to tell, as his mouth had been taped shut.

His wrists and ankles had also been bound, Flo's handiwork, she assumed. Sure enough Flo followed the odd trio down the stairs, clutching a rapier in one hand and a roll of masking tape in the other. She looked rather pleased with herself.

With a series of grunts the boys settled the writhing Lockwood in the chair, and Holly and Lucy quickly chained him in place.

When they were sure there was no way he could wriggle free, Holly ripped the tape off his mouth and they rejoined their friends the chair circle.

"What the hell are you lot playing at?'' Lockwood spat angrily.

"Is this some kind of joke?''

Lucy felt a rush of rage course through her.

"Give it up, Lister,'' she said coldly. At the use of the name, Lockwood froze.

"That's right, we know who you are and what you're doing. We're going to give you one chance to release Lockwood and disappear. Otherwise, if we have to force you out, it's going to be extremely unpleasant for you.''

There was silence for a moment, and then Lockwood barked a rough, harsh laugh, one that Lucy didn't even know he was capable of.

"You really think I'm going to let a bunch of kids force me out? When I can finally enjoy myself again?'' He smirked nastily. "Yeah right. I'm not leaving this body for anything. Oh sure, he put up a fight at first, I'll give him that. And when his little girlfriend left, he really pushed back then. God, trying to drown out his pathetic inner monologue was exhausting. But when he realised she wasn't coming back, he went real quiet. Gave up the fight. Thanks for that, sweetheart.''

He directed that final comment at Lucy. She took a couple of deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. She could see George doing the same thing to her left.

"Well, if that's the way you want to play it,'' Holly said, her tone all steel.

She stood then, and ignoring Lockwood's protestations, she put a new piece of tape none too gently over his mouth.

"Right,'' she turned back to the group. "Well, we figured that was a long shot. I guess we go to plan B.''

Flo raised her hand. "That would be the plan where we just talk him to death?''

"Er, sort of,'' Holly acknowledged with a little half shrug. "Anyone want to go first?''

Essentially the idea they had come up with was a simple one. They would take it in turns to share their most meaningful memories with Lockwood, hoping like hell they could dredge up enough emotion within him to help him find his way back. Lucy privately felt like the odds of it working were slim, but it was all they had.

As it was, none of them were particularly comfortable with it. It took awhile to get going.

Holly, the most comfortable with expressing her emotions, went first. She talked about how happy she felt when Lockwood had offered her the job as their assistant, and how proud she was when they started letting her go into the field with them. How relieved she was to find a family among them. Remembering the tension between herself and Holly in the early days, Lucy felt a rush of shame.

Kipps went next. Lucy had worried about how Kipps, always so gruff, would handle being vulnerable. But she was pleasantly surprised.

"Tony, when you and your team gave me those goggles, you gave me my purpose back,'' he said quietly, avoiding eye contact with the others. "There were times, after I left Fittes, where I had nothing. I thought I'd be better off throwing myself in the Thames. But being able to work again, becoming part of the team.....You helped give me a future.''

There was silence when he finished speaking. Lucy watched Lockwood's face intently, sure that such a surprising display from Kipps would be enough to trigger some sort of sign. But he simply rolled his eyes, his laughter muffled by the tape.

And so they went on, for hours. They all talked about how they had met Lockwood, how joining the agency or becoming associated with it had changed their lives.

Flo surprised them all as she recounted, with uncharacteristic seriousness, how Lockwood had supported her after the death of her team. He had never given up on her, even when she stopped being an agent altogether.

Hearing the stories about how Lockwood had impacted them only made Lucy's heart ache even more for the boy she had lost.

As much as they tried, as deep as they got, however, it didn't seem to make much difference. Occasionally Lucy would catch a flash of something in his eyes, or twitch of a jaw muscle, that reminded her so much of Lockwood it was painful. But it would be gone quicker than it began, and she could convince herself she had imagined it.

By 8am, the group were drained. They had been talking for hours, and their voices were hoarse with the strain.

Eventually, Holly and George went up to get tea and food. As they came back down the stairs, Lockwood glanced over at them and snorted.

That tiny action was enough for Lucy to finally snap.