Lockwood & CO. abroad "Shadows Over London" (fan fiction)

The Director.

My walk was fast and unyielding. Gabby struggled to keep up, her boots scurrying behind me, a look of panic in her face. I had turned on my heel in the cafe and exited through the double doors, shoving aside a small group of Nightwatch agents. I was on my way to speak with the director, Alissa Mcgrath. 

There was no way my first assignment was going to go down this way. Freshly new agents? I was a top agent here at PND the disrespect was too much to handle. Had I not proven myself to this agency? risked my life? This sort of thing could get me and Gabby killed, new agents were a liability in our line of work. They needed exposure before they were tossed into a full-fledged investigation one mishap and it would all go sideways. Newer agents were meant to clean up type 1s or in my opinion a ghost of a dead cat, not possibly malicious type twos.

I reached the end of the hallway jamming my finger into the elevator button, there were 3 floors at the PND agency, the ground floor was the cafe the equipment room, and the receptionist waiting area where potential clients sought help with their visitor issues. 2nd floor was the dorm and facilities where agents lived. and the third was for corporate, lavish offices and living quarters where higher-ups sat and collected the fruits of our labor. Right at the top of it all was the Director Mcgrath.

The elevator doors opened. Gabby and I squeezed into the purple-lighted lift. a gentle song played in the background. I repeatedly jabbed at the 3rd floor button cursing under my breath.

"Jericho.." Gabby said quietly. I didn't respond

"Please don't ruin this, you and I are more than capable of handling this, even with new agents, you don't want to piss off Mcgrath any more than you've..."

"She did this on purpose gabby and you know it." I snarled.
None of us said a word after that. Gabby quietly hummed to the tune of the elevator music.

Mcgrath had always disliked me. in her opinion, I was a zealous Punk who didn't follow the command and put the entire agency at risk, because I had once disregarded her direct command to bar the doors to a quite notorious Prison, and leave my team at the mercy of a very aggressive type 2. Her reason for this? my supervisor at the time was her nephew. a gangling waste of space by the name of Lucas Mcgrath. he had run out of the entrance to the prison the minute we came in contact with the visitor, fearing for his life he knocked an agent to the floor as a sacrifice while he ran to safety, I had followed close behind and grabbed hold of the weasel just as Mcgrath radioed the director who told him to have us seal the entrance to keep her nephew safe, while my team fought the visitor.

 It was Gabriella's first night she had scurried to the young agent's aid helping him up and throwing magnesium flares at the haunting presence. As I stood in the doorway of the prison my hands clutching the collar of the worthless Lucas we locked eyes, I threw Lucas to the ground and sprinted towards my team to help. Gabby has never left my side since.

"I like this song," Gabby said smiling at me

I broke out of my trance and glanced sideways at her I knew she was trying to break the tension but I was so riled up that I couldn't seem to get a grip on my emotions. I took a deep breath just as the elevator halted to a stop. the door opened to a brightly lit corridor decorated with pictures of old directors and founders, large purple flags ruffled dully in the central air. at the far end of the corridor, a large purple owl stared back at us. there were multiple doors along the sides of the long hallway, each with a small purple plaque announcing the names of the inhabitants, it was deathly silent being that it was evening and all the corporate pigs were most likely unwinding for the night.. we marched on to the last door on the left, A single word stared back at me. Director. I knocked loudly.

After a moment The door swung open and I was face to face with a curt dirty blonde woman, she wasn't very tall but you could tell that she held herself in high regard, her pale skin showed a reclusive nature someone who hadn't seen sunlight in months, despite the lack of color her skin radiated a beautiful glow. her eyes were electric blue and the robe she wore was a deep purple, her hair was wet, clearly, she had just gotten out of the bath a look of annoyance plastered her face.

"Jericho Cross, Gabriella Monae," her voice was airy yet sharp as if she were a snake dancing to entice you until it decided to strike.
"To what do I owe this disturbance, Should you be gearing up for the night at hand?" she glared at the two of us, Gabby averted her eyes but I glared back.

"What are you playing director?" my voice was shaky but sure.

"new recruits? a high profile contract like this is going to require a little experience there's room for error.. for death.."

Her unblinking eyes looked at me thoughtfully. "come inside"

She led us into a dimly lit living room pointing at two pairs of armchairs. it was nothing impressive, quite gloomy actually. the smell of lavender filled the small living room, past the faint glow of a lantern a dark hallway loomed behind us giving me a sense of unease, you see the director was a private person no one knew much about her other than she was in charge, no one was called to her quarters and if they were they saw nothing but this tiny dimly lit space.

Gabby and I took a seat and the director sprawled out on a grey couch, a glass of whiskey in her hand. She took a large sip and looked at me.

"Jericho I know what you're thinking but I've specifically hand-picked these agents going out with you tonight, they had top marks, were best in the class, and despite what happened last year, I am confident that your knowledge of the job will keep these agents safe" she smiled a wolfish grin.

"And of course, Miss Monae will be accompanying you she's quite talented herself."

"Thank you, director," Gabby said dully.
I wasn't one to believe the hype this was revenge she wanted me to lose a team member to be killed in action myself, I knew that despite her compliments the director had nothing but hatred for me, I could see it in her eyes, they way she said my name, the way she glared at me. she wanted me to fail and I wouldn't give her the satisfaction.
I cleared my throat.

"Miss director, with all due respect, if these agents are not equipt for the task and something goes wrong, you will be responsible, I know you don't like me, and there's nothing I can do considering," I stood up and turned away, gesturing for gabby to follow.

 "We will get it done" Without a word I headed to the door

The director let out a small chuckle "Good luck out there"