The True Story of Emily Lockwood / g. karim

𝟠. 𝕌𝕟𝕨𝕖𝕝𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕍𝕚𝕤𝕚𝕥𝕠𝕣

~ / Episode Two- Part One \ ~

"Way down we go"

❀

--The night after Lucy's arrival, Anthony insisted on taking her - alone - to a job they had lined up. Emily and George, as you might expect, were unhappy.

"It's called Lockwood and Co, for a reason, Ant," Emily exclaimed "not just Lockwood!" Anthony rubbed his eyes, irritated.

"I want to see how she does," he explained.

"What if she gets you killed?" George quizzed him, and Anthony groaned.

"We care about you," Emily offered, trying to be kind rather than get angry like she'd have enjoyed. "and want you safe. We don't know if she'll be able to have your back. We can." she stressed, but he wouldn't listen.

"We go alone," he said with finality. "and that's that. Okay? No more of this." Emily sighed angrily.

"I did the research," George added in "but it' still not a good idea. There might be some surprises."

"There won't be. Honestly, George," he stood up abruptly from the sofa, striding out of the room. Emily imagined Lucy knew they were talking about her, and she felt a little bit bad for her.

She cast an apologetic glance at George, and then dashed out to catch him by the arm. "I trust you, okay? Please be safe. If anything - and I mean anything - goes wrong, come straight home." He nodded, before patting her head.

"I swear," he flashed her that grin, before interlocking their pinkies and leaving Emily to watch the duo leave without her.

--They left for their overnight job, leaving Emily to grumble over late-night snacks of tea and cake to George. She trusted her brother, with her life and his own, but something about this didn't feel right.

They hadn't known Lucy for very long, and it scared Emily to think of what might happen if Anthony had to protect them both, because she failed to do so.

"I think they'll be fine," George said, around a mouthful of Emily's latest baking experiment - strawberry shortcake. Judging from how much he ate, it turned out fine. Emily sighed, and put her head onto the table.

"I know," she groaned in annoyance "he's never done this. We've always been a team." George considered this.

"Sometimes, boys do stupid things for pretty girls," he observed, before taking a long drag of his tea. Emily raised her head, waves cascading around her in a sea of dark brown hues.

"I've noticed," she arched an eyebrow, watching him wipe cream from his face with a napkin. "you don't think he-"

"Likes her? Dunno. Maybe," he leaned his elbows on the table and bent his head closer to hers "but I do know, that he never looked at any of those other girls like he did her." Emily scrunched her face up. 

"I couldn't feel anything from him, other than a bit of surprise," she admitted, playing with his fingers "I don't like this, George." He sighed, twirling a stray hair around his finger. 

"Neither do I," he leaned back in his chair "but he's going to be fine. He is your brother, after all." 

Emily smiled a little. "True. Care for a bit of chess?" He pushed his glasses further up his nose and then stood up to offer his hand to her.