How Far We've Come {Lockwood & Co.}

How Far We've Come

How the blazes did I end up here?

Quill Kipps, former Fittes supervisor and agent, was rather startled to find himself still sitting at Lockwood's kitchen table long after the agency's discussion and subsequent vote. He was not surprised that every person in the room, himself included, had agreed that they were most definitely not leaving this problem alone. Lockwood, Cubbins, Carlyle, and, he supposed, Munro were not exactly sticklers for the rules. In fact, the ginger-haired agent doubted that any of them had followed a rule on purpose of it hadn't directly benefitted them.

Well, Quill supposed he was now among that number. He was most definitely not part of the agency (far from it), but he hadn't realized how much he missed the field until he was back in it. Those goggles really were a miraculous invention.

Returning to the present, he cast an appraising eye over the small kitchen in which now bustled Holly Munro and George Cubbins, both of which seemed to be baking some sort of weird cake. The room itself was far from the swanky Fittes buildings and his former lodgings, but somehow it was infinitely more comfortable. It was more like home, if the two pairs of agents running around were anything to judge by. He could hear the grin in Lockwood's voice as he told some story involving a strange Type Two and a clothesline; Quill couldn't make out the details.

The circumstances leading him to 35 Portland Row were rather against the odds; he honestly had no idea how the motley team had managed to survive this long, as he himself had gone on all of one case with them before nearly perishing in Visitor-induced conditions. That was a whole other thing; Rotwell, of all people! But the young man had survived, had gone back to Lockwood & Company's headquarters, and had gained a new insight on the agents he had once considered his enemies. He had also gained some insight on exactly what he valued in this world.

Heaven knew he missed his old team. Kate Godwin and the others had saved him a few times, and he would never forget having them at his side. By no amount was he in the same danger as the others had been, but they were the closest things to friends the man had. He briefly wondered who Fittes had brought in for their supervisor after he had left before realizing that it was useless wondering. It didn't stop the slight ache when he thought about his team and the fate that might have already befallen them, nor did it stop him wishing that he had not been alone when he departed Fittes Agency.

"Tea, Kipps. You look like you could use some," came Lockwood's voice from beside him, paired with that famous grin. He groaned internally; those teeth were far too bright for this time of the morning. Despite this, he gratefully accepted the steaming mug from Lockwood as the teenager slid into the seat beside him. It wasn't long before Lucy joined them, followed by the other two. A strange setup and a stranger group, but it worked. Quill, for the first time in a long while, felt as if he had finally found a cause worth serving. He himself could fight the Problem again, and the other four were some of the best he had ever seen.

So Quill Kipps sat and sipped his tea in the still kitchen, four agents by his side, as the world went to hell around them.