[ Glow ] ~ Anthony Lockwood x OC

XLIX - Ghost Alarm

Daniel found Lockwood just as he was coming up to Lucy and. . .Penelope Fittes, who was just leaving. How did she find them first? "I see you managed to mingle after all." Anthony smiled, stopping next to the girl in blue. "What did she want? What did she say?" Daniel stepped up beside their boss. 

"Oh, just. . .small talk. Now, come on. We've got a job to do."

The group of three walked out of the ball room, heading down a back corridor. "Did she offer you a job?" Lockwood asked, his attention pointed at Lucy. 

"How did you know that?" 

"What I would've done if I were her, and if I were you, I'd have bitten her hand off."

"Why?"

"'Cause I can't compete with this." Anthony huffed, their voices growing agitated.

"I never asked you to." She had a slight, irritated chuckle to her voice. 

"Well- W- What's going on, then?" Lockwood shook her head. Daniel struggled to keep a normal pace and walk alongside the two as they sped up their walking with each sputtered sentence. 

"Sorry, but, I've got no idea what you're talking about."

"Look, I saw you talking to Kipps earlier outside." Lockwood rounded, stopping. Lucy followed suit and Daniel, unaware that they were taking a pause, ran right into his shoulder.

"Oh." 

There was a heavy pause. "Yeah. So?"

"Well, he offered me a job too."

Daniel paused, staying quiet for just a moment. "They both offered me jobs as well. . ."

Lockwood looked at Daniel, completely blind sighted. Why hadn't she told him before? 

"And asked me out for coffee." Lucy added. 

"Coffee?"

"You know, like what normal people do. Hanging out."

"Like a date. . ."

"Is that so hard to believe?" 

"Daniel told me about it earlier."

"I turned him down. . .You know I could never work in a place like this. Too much concrete, and no smell of burnt toast." Lucy quipped. Lockwood gave a gentle laugh. "Portland Row is my home. You two and George. I'm not going anywhere. Now come on." Lucy walked past the pair. Lockwood sucked in a deep breath. 

Daniel took his hand in hers, giving it a soft, reassuring squeeze, and then led him to follow Lucy down the stairs. At the bottom they reached a service elevator where Daniel punched the code in with practiced ease. 

"How exactly do you know the code, Daniel?" Lucy questioned as she pressed in the 1-8-8-8. 

"My parents were Fittes agents. . .part of the secret high end group Fittes pretends doesn't exist. That courtesy was extended to me when I worked here." The elevator chimed and the doors slid open. "I declined."

"Nice work." Lockwood smiled, stepping into the metal machine alongside Lucy and Daniel. The elevator took them down a level into the relic chamber where Fittes kept all the most powerful sources they found in trophy cases.

"Pick a place to start." Lockwood urged. "I'll check the index." 

Daniel ran her hand along the glass cases that she hadn't seen in months. One of the most dangerous rooms in all of England housed under the biggest party of the year. 

"I got it. C four five two." Lockwood read out. "Check the numbers on the spines." Daniel paused on a pristine tea set, not listening to Lockwood's order on the job. There was a picture of her parents with it in the Fittes hall of remembrance. They'd found the source in an abandoned hotel that was haunted by hundreds of sources. No other team dared to go into the hotel, knowing it would surely be a suicide mission, but the Aikens had convinced their team to do it. The tea pot contained more haunted energy than anything else in the building, yet Jordan Aiken picked it up with her bare hands and walked it out, knowing she didn't have any means left of securing it. Daniel's dad said that she had phantom burns on her palms for months because the apparitions kept trying to break free, but Jordan's silver rings halted their attempts. The spirit's attempts were so strong that the rings melted down to a liquid. Over the years, Daniel realized her father probably embellished the story a little to make it more intriguing for the four year old. But she kept the blobs of hardened silver in her jewelry box anyways, always remembering how strong her mother was.