[ Glow ] ~ Anthony Lockwood x OC

XXXV - Let's Make a Deal.

"Locks, please calm down." Daniel whispered up to him. 

"Why did you do that, Dani?" Lockwood sighed, his voice soft and gentle. His hands were on her cheeks. He told himself it was to make sure she was looking at him, listening — but in reality, he just wanted to be as close to her as possible. "Why did you say we'd work with him?" 

"Because, we wouldn't have gotten the job otherwise." Daniel mumbled, but Lockwood could hardly listen when her eyes caught in the light and reflected a near teal color. 

"R- Right." He muttered, his eyes darting away from her eyes and instead to look almost behind her. 

"Besides, we need this job. If not for the money, then for George's sanity- I mean, he's seen the glass thingy for like less than a second and he's already obsessed with the thing." She huffs, her cheeks squished between Lockwood's hands. 

Anthony couldn't help the smirk that crossed his face as he looked down at her. "You're. . ." 

"I'm what?" Daniel smiled back at him, raising her brows, her eyes lighting up a bit as she looked at him. 

"Nothing. . .nothing." He shook his head. "We should get back to Lucy and George. Who knows how long we can leave them in there together before they try to rip each other's heads off." Lockwood gave a tight smile toward Daniel, pulling his hands off her face and turning away from her. 

"Oh please, I'm sure they're fine." Daniel grinned, slipping her hand into his and giving it a light squeeze. "A missing finger or ear at most."

Lockwood smiled, rolling his eyes softly as he looked down at their intertwined hands before he tugged Daniel along with him toward the friends they'd left behind. 

"So, I'm guessing Lockwood's decided to believe you then?" The pair could faintly hear George's voice as they approached the two.

"Maybe, yeah. Yeah I don't expect you to." Lucy returned, looking up at Daniel and Lockwood before turning toward the exit of the mausoleum. 

"Good. Shall we get hot dogs then?" George asked, following her to the doors. 

"George Casper Karim, you bloody genius." Lockwood smirked, patting George on the back. 

"His middle name's Casper? Like. . .the friendly ghost?" Daniel smiled.

"What ghost-"

"The children's book?" Daniel tilted her head. "My mum used to read it to me, I still have her copy. She had it in her office at work so it survived the. . ." She cut herself off, shaking her head. "Never mind that. It's a set of children's books about Casper the Friendly Ghost. He's a friendly ghost, and his name is Casper, hence the name." 

George's brows were knit together as he turned back to Lockwood. "Was that an apology?" 

"Yes. I should never have overlooked your razor-sharp focus." He half joked. "Though, a lot of what I said still stands." 

"This mirror is some kind of clue to understanding the Problem." George mused, excitement in his voice. "I can feel it. We have to get it back." 

"We're not really working with Fittes, are we?" Lucy scoffed at the thought. 

"Lockwood!" Kipps called from behind the team, making them all turn to look at his joyfully annoyed expression. 

"Speak of the devil and the devil shall appear." Daniel grumbled, her shoulders slumping as she let out a sigh.

"What the hell was that?" Kipps demanded. "You stole our commission. This case is way beyond you."

Lockwood smiled, walking closer to Kipps with Daniel's hand still tucked into his own. "You know it isn't, Kipps. That eats you up, doesn't it? We do this job better than anyone. We have four of the best agents in London and two of them I took from your organization because they recognized real talent. You're irrelevant." He stopped at the bottom of the mausoleum stairs, his left foot resting snuggly on the first step. 

"Oh, for God's sake." Lucy huffed. 

"Quill Kipps, the walking appendix." Lockwood quipped, his grin never leaving his face. He dropped Daniel's hand and stepped further up the stairs, only turning away from Kipps for a moment to look behind him. "Someone really ought to cut you out." 

"There is no way I'm working with you on this." Kipps snarled, stepping down a few steps so he and Lockwood were only three from one another.

"I hoped you'd say that." Lockwood said calmly, "Shall we make things a bit more interesting?" 

"Come on boys, let's be adults." Daniel muttered, huffing softly in annoyance at their dispute. Sure, she hated Kipps too, but they could work together on a single case. It wouldn't kill them. 

Lockwood ignored her though, stepping up in line with Kipps and announcing. "A race to find the mirror. Loser has to take out an ad in The Times to congratulate the winner."

"Oh. Full page?" Kipps seemed interested by this, feigning excitement that this childish feud would end in praise. "Grow up, Tony. Here are the terms. The loser quits and never works in this industry again. . .And gets Aiken." 

"What- You can't be serious-" Daniel scoffed. 

"London will be a lot safer with three less amateurs stumbling around. And, Aiken. . ." He directed his words to Daniel, a small grin on his face as he met her eyes. "I'm sure Ms. Fittes would love to watch you come crawling back." Then, with his ever present smirk, Quill Kipps turned back to Anthony with an extended hand. "Do we have a deal?" 

"No-" Daniel huffed. "That's not-" 

But before she could finish her words, Kipps egged Lockwood on more. "What's the matter, Tony? Scared you'll lose?" 

Anthony chuckled lightly before taking Kipps' hand in a firm shake. Daniel's expression of annoyance fell, a blank stare all she could seem to muster as she watched the two's hands. Did he really just. . .give her away? Just like that? To Quill fucking Kipps? 

"Oh, you're kidding me." George huffed.

"Enjoy your last case." Lockwood beamed, chuckling again as he descended the stairs. He stopped for a moment at Daniel, giving her a small smile. But she just scoffed, brushing past him and walking back toward the cemetery gates. "Dani-"

"Shove it, Anthony." She snarled, the gravel under her feet crunching with each heavy step. 

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Word Count - 1,044

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Published - January 9, 2023

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