Buried Within (Lockwood & Co Fanfic)

Distrust

The feeling of being seriously screwed didn't go away upon meeting Lockwood & Co. Instead, the feeling Maisie felt intensified.

Upon realizing Maisie was actually correct, her mother quickly found a newspaper, for something told Maisie her mother hadn't bought the paper to peruse for agency adverts. Nor was Maisie surprised her mother jumped all over an advert for an agency claiming they weren't like the other reputable agencies. Her mother quickly declared they were reputable, while Maisie felt the exact opposite.

She was also quite sore that no reputable paranormal agency that dealt with The Problem would, in fact, be run by someone who was likely only a year or two older than her, reminding her that she could have joined an agency for training had her mother not been in such denial of Maisie being a Sensitive, nor did she like the look the girl gave her when inquiring into whether Maisie actually used her gifts.

It stung, knowing she'd never gotten the chance to tell her father that she might actually be interested in becoming an Agent, mainly when Maisie knew her mother would never sign a contract allowing her to do something with her gift. However, there was always the chance of getting regulated to Night Watch instead. Given the sudden upheaval in her family, she still wasn't sure if that was what she wanted.

So she stared out the window, wondering what kind of trick her mother would fall for now when the supposed head of the agency called her mother out for assuming the law would prevent her from being misled. Still, then her mother made a lot of unsound assumptions in front of three teens around Maisie's age, but the head ended up refuting them each and everyone, so there was a slight inkling that they might be legit.

At least until Lockwood mentioned the naked yoga one of his associates liked doing, and looking at her mother, Maisie was sure even she realized what kind of mess they were in.

And yet, there they were, with George helping her mother haul every one of their belongings from the car to the front parlor as if her mother had already forgotten what Lockwood said about George doing naked yoga in his room, or even worse, her mother was treating that as if it were a perfectly normal thing for a teenage boy to be doing. She followed Lucy and Lockwood upstairs so that Lockwood could clear out a few of his things while Lucy showed Maisie to her room when they passed by the room on the first landing.

"Wait," Maisie said.

Lockwood turned. "You're a Sensitive. You probably don't want to stay in there. As for your mother, not sure I trust her."

"Well, that's brutally honest," Maisie said.

"Forgive Lockwood. He doesn't know how to be anything but blunt," Lucy said. "My room is in the attic, but it's home."

Maisie frowned, wondering who would force someone to stay in the attic when there was a perfectly good room on the landing, but then her mind wandered to Lockwood, saying she wouldn't want to stay in there, being a Sensitive as she was. She shook her head and followed Lockwood up as he went into his room to temporarily clear things out.

"We're similar yet dissimilar to each other," Lucy said, opening the door to her room. "There's only one bed, by the way."

Maisie blinked. "Sharing a bed is better than sleeping in the car with ghosts all around while my mother snores in the seat beside me. It's also, I think, better than having to share a room with her." She paused a few feet before the door, turning to look at Lucy. "What do you mean we're dissimilar."

"We have awful mothers," Lucy said. "But where your mom is in denial of your ability, mine wanted to use mine."

Maisie frowned, heading over to the window to look out, her eyes blinking back the tired feeling of having slept one too many nights in the car rather than at home. "If you're saying I'm lucky, I'm not. We actually have a home, but she refuses to live in it. Won't take a penny from my dad despite the fact he was more than willing when she kicked him out to provide a roof over our head and walls to protect us from the ghosts."

"Mine probably would be thrilled to get a single penny from my father," Lucy said. "So, do you want to become an Agent? Or Night Watch."

"I'd hope I'd not end up on Night Watch, and it would be nice to know how to protect myself from ghosts rather than just getting the crap scared out of me every time I see one. I don't know, though," Maisie said, looking out at the street. "It's kind of an unfinished conversation with my dad before he left."

"Have you seen him?"

"Once or twice," Maisie said. "I doubt he knows we left, or maybe he does. I don't know what her problem is because I didn't see any signs of him cheating on her, but she insists he was the problem."

"It kind of seems like your mom is the problem," Lucy said.

Maisie turned, frowning. "Look. Are you truly reputable or not? Because it's really weird to see an agency without any adults."

Lucy sat on the bed. "To be honest, I thought the same. And we are different. Even a bit," Lucy paused, tilting her head slightly. "Eccentric, I guess? But that's why we don't have any adults. That, and adults tend not always to be trustworthy, if you know what I mean."

"Is that," Maisie said, sucking in her breath.

"A reference to your mum?" Lucy said, letting an eyebrow rise. "Only if you want it to be. Let's just say I prefer this to my old agency. As for us being reputable, we've been complimented by Fittes."

"The Fittes agents?"

"Actually, they took a bit to warm up to us. I was referring to Penelope Fittes, although," Lucy said, what she was saying stopping short. She shook her head. "Her taking an interest in us, I'm not sure if it's a good or bad thing beyond the fact she considers us quite talented. Even said George was quite a loss for Fittes."

"Wait? The one who does naked yoga?" Maisie said.

"We're not a normal agency, no, but we do take pride in our work and set out to get the job done," Lucy said. "Did your mother really think there is nothing wrong with staying the night in a house where you found a potential source?"

"No. She knows The Problem exists," Maisie said, "But she doesn't care to think it is our problem. And I'd rather be living with my dad, talking about whether I try my hand at Agency work, hold off for a year, or what I should do. I'm not sure how strong my gift is beyond the fact that seeing ghosts isn't enjoyable, particularly if you're trying to sleep."

"You know what?" Lucy said. "Why don't I head downstairs to see if Lockwood or George need help? You look like you could sleep." And Lucy left her there, to sleep which seemed like a dream come true with how they'd been living out of the car, although in some ways it wasn't.