Bloody Pardon
Summary: Anthony Lockwood x Fe!Reader ~ Despite your feelings towards Anthony Lockwood, you're starting to think that nightmare you had about locking him in a trunk chest might have actually been a dream.
Disclaimer: no idea on legally binding marriages but we'll ignore that for this fic. Quill Kipps platonic relationship with the reader (frenemies + his crush on Lucy)
You laughed nervously. “What?”
Lucy stood up from her corner of the sofa to look at the wide-eyed George. “George? Please, please tell me this is an April Fools.”
“Given that it’s the middle of November, this is definitely not an April Fools.” George replied.
“George!”
You hadn’t meant to call his name so loudly, but the information he’d just given you pardoned your reaction.
“What if you just ask him about it? Maybe he’ll have an explanation.”
“An explanation?” you questioned before laughing. “Oh, he better. Or else, I’ll kill him.”
Lucy jumped in front of you and pulled you back. “Wait, no. Don’t. Not yet. Look, we don’t even know if he knows yet.”
“How can he not know?”
“You didn’t.”
“He’s the one who probably signed the papers in the first place, Lucy!”
“Look, why doesn’t one of us just go and ask him?”
“Great!” you forced a smile. “I’ll go.”
“Absolutely not.” Lucy pulled you back again. “George, you go.”
“But-”
“George.”
“Fine.”
George disappeared from the doorway and made his way upstairs towards Lockwood’s room. He’d been up there most of the day running through multiple papers on the business and the cases that had come through in the past couple of days.
“Lucy?”
Lucy turned around and found you slumped against the arm of the sofa.
“Hey,”
Pulling your hands from your face, Lucy held onto your wrists and knelt down. “Look at me.”
“How could this have happened?”
“I don’t know. But I do know Lockwood.”
Lucy paused for a moment. “I don’t think he will even know what this is about.”
“But if he has…”
“Then we’ll deal with it and I’ll help you bury his body in the back garden. You’ll get through this. We all will.”
“I don’t even know how this could have happened.”
Lucy pulled you in for a hug, tightly. “How about I pop the kettle on? Make us some tea? Two sugars?”
You nodded. “Thanks.”
“Come on.”
However, before either of you could get out of the living room, Lockwood came running down the stairs, George quick on his tail. “Lockwood?”
Lucy called his name but there was no breaking his concentration from the paper in his hand that had both his own handwriting on and somebody else’s. He rushed around the place before making his way into the kitchen.
Luckily, you managed to catch the door before it slammed behind him and you made your way inside.
“Lockwood?”
“Something’s not right.”
“You’re telling me.”
“Saint’s would have said something. Surely, he would have-”
He was talking about the case.
“Lockwood? Did you not hear anything George told you?” Lucy asked before turning to her left. “You did tell him, didn’t you?”
“Yes! Whether he listened or not, I don’t really know.”
“Lockwood!” you called his name again, but still nothing.
“Tony!”
Oh, boy.
You took the paper from his hand and slammed it onto the counter top.
“My- what? Am I in trouble?”
“Trouble? Have you not listened to a word George told you?”
“When? Oh, no. But I think I’ve almost solved-”
“We’re married, Tony!”
Lockwood’s face went from a smile to a confused and nervous look of curiosity. “What?”
“Surely, you would have known? After all, you were the one who was left alone in the courthouse three months ago.”
“Courthouse? What are you talking about?”
Sighing, you made your way to George who handed you the three pieces of paper he’d found when down at the CourtHouse himself.
“Mr and Mrs Lockwood.” you read the first letter. “Congratulations on your marriage, enclosed you will find another copy of your marriage certificate…” you continued to read the rest of the letter before shoving it into his chest and reading aloud the next two.
“A letter, sent to me by your Great-Aunt. Welcome to the Family. Now, as much as I love all of you as my family, I would have liked to at least be made aware that I was suddenly in need of changing my last name.”
The final piece of paper was a letter from Mark Smith-Kensington.
“We have recently been made aware of your nuptials. In this case, you are in need of updating all of your personal information for the Post Office, as well as medical forms and driving license.”
You pushed the final letter against his chest. “What did you do Lockwood?”
Lockwood’s head was spinning. How could this have- oh.
“Lockwood?”
Lockwood turned to both Lucy and George. He knew something. Maybe not what they suspected he knew, but he definitely knew something.
“Please don’t be mad.”
“Mad? Ooh, Lockwood.” you had to laugh, or else you might have cried. “I am so far past mad. We are married and you didn’t even bother to, I don’t know, ask me? Tell me, even, that you’d decided to use my name for a marriage certificate.”
“It was meant to be fake-”
“I beg your bloody pardon?”
“It was meant to be fake. Remember how I told you I managed to get into Jameson’s Club so we could prove Harold was the murderer. Well, they didn’t exactly let single people in.”
“Oh, my god.”
“I swear, I thought it was fake.”
“Well, it’s very, very real Lockwood. Very real.”
“Where are you going?” Lockwood called after you as you made your way out of the kitchen, grabbing your jacket that lay on the back of the kitchen chair.
“Out. Don’t follow me.”
You didn’t know how far you had travelled but eventually you came to a stop at a small, quiet park. You sat down on an old wooden bench that was donated by Harriet Smith - some wealthy heiress from New York who had spent her childhood in the park.
After a while, you heard a voice. And it definitely wasn’t the voice you were expecting.
“Hello.”
You sat up straight for a moment and looked around you before you found Quill Kipps standing behind you in a pair of jeans, a shirt and a grey woollen coat.
“Oh, hi.”
“Mind if I-”
“Sure.” you smiled before he made his way around and sat next to you, leaving enough of a space between the both of you.
“What are you doing this far away from the house?”
“I needed a break.”
“From…”
“Look, if you want me to shit-talk Lockwood, you can go and find someone else to do that with.”
Quill studied your face for a short moment as you looked at him before turning back to look at the trees in the park.
“What’s happened?”
“What?”
“No offence, but you’re not the best at hiding your emotions when it comes to Lockwood. What’s happened between the both of you?”
“Nothing.”
Kipps called your name in a soft tone. Despite your feelings towards him, you’d each found yourself in each other’s company in the time of need. And from that, a small friendship blossomed - despite the fact that both of you disliked it greatly.
After all, you were both still rivals.
You sighed. “Fine. You are looking at the new Mrs Anthony Lockwood.”
“What?”
You turned to look at him, “Lockwood and I are married. Apparently, the form he made me sign to get into Jameson’s was a marriage certificate.”
Kipps didn’t know where to put himself. He knew Lockwood could be reckless and stupid at times, but he didn’t think he would be that reckless and stupid.
“I’d offer to kill him but I’d wager you already have that planned.”
“Death certificate is signed, sealed and delivered to the Grim Reaper.”
“Need a clean up crew?” Kipps offered.
You laughed, “Thanks.”
“So that’s why you’re out here? Escaping your husband? I have to hand it to you, it’s a good alibi.”
You smiled again, keeping your arms folded across your middle. “Honestly, I…I don’t know whether to be mad and kill him or just…”
“Sit here forever?”
“Yeah.”
“Mind if I stick with you, for a while?”
“You don’t have your own surprise marriage, do you?”
Kipps laughed. “No. I just…I-I’m thinking about asking out a girl.”
“Is she cute?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you like her?”
“A lot.”
“Is she kind?”
“Yeah.”
“She Lucy?”
Kipps half answered you before turning his head to you where he found you with a smug smile on your face.
“How did you-”
“Oh, please. I see you when you’re around her. You’re either blushing like an embarrassed toddler or you’re as speechless as a toddler.”
“Do you think she knows?”
“No. Or, if she has, she hasn't said anything.”
“Oh.”
Kipps seemed a little defeated at first. “But you should ask her out for a coffee at least. I have a feeling she’ll say yes.”
He smiled. “Great.”
“At least someone in that house will feel good about their love life.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know.” you shrugged. “But once he reads that letter, he’ll realise that his Great-Aunt Violet is coming for a visit to officially meet her new great-niece. So, that’ll be fun.”
“Well, I’m here if you need any back-up.”
“Thank you, Quill.”
“Anytime.”
Eventually, Quill helped you up from the bench and you both made your way back to Portland Row. On the way, you both stopped inside a small cafe for some food and a tea, making sure to pick Lucy up a loaf of bread and some doughnuts for George.
Unlocking the door, Lucy met you at the bottom of the stairs where Quill called for her to talk.
“Are you okay?”
“I will be.”
Making your way into the kitchen, you placed the packet of doughnuts onto the table for George.
“Oh, thank you.”
“Where’s Lockwood?”
“In his room. He’s been on the phone to the marriage people since you left.”
You nodded your head and popped the kettle on, managing to make two cups of tea before Lockwood even thought to leave his room.
Knocking on the door, you entered and found him with the phone and the back of his hand pressed to his head, his eyes shut closed.
“Thought you might fancy a cup.”
Lockwood jumped at your voice but quickly tried to recover.
“T-Thanks. Thank you.”
Pulling up a chair, you sat beside his desk, crossing one leg over the other.
“I’m really sorry,” Lockwood began. “I - I know it was stupid. A completely stupid idea. And, I don’t want to just make an excuse.”
“But it was for the case.”
“I should have still thought. But, I swear. I swear to you, I really thought it was fake. If I’d have known-”
You nodded. “I know. I know you would have done. But…Tony, what are we going to do?”
“I’ve been trying to find out how to get a divorce but they keep sending me round the houses.”
“Did you read your Aunt’s letter?”
“Not fully.”
“She’s coming up to visit us in a week. Apparently wants to officially meet her niece.”
“That’ll be something.”
You nodded and the pair of you sat in a quiet silence for a few moments. “I’ll figure it out. I promise.”
“Thank you, Tony.”
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