A Formal Response

Summary: Set after the events of the third episode. Lockwood has endangered not only himself, but other people. And he's broken a lot of DEPRAC's rules
Warning(s): Spanking (with a cane); spoilers for the TV series Lockwood & Co; AU; references to violence and character death
Author's Note: This is a more ritualised/formal punishment than those I normally write. Inspector Barnes feels like an authority figure, but also a bit more rigid.
This fic also kind of fits into day two of Spanktember, which is Trying to Avoid a Spanking. I hope you enjoy!

###

The loud knocking on the front door drew Lockwood's attention away from the book he was reading and he glanced towards the library door, thinking about ignoring the knock. George and Lucy were out, and they wouldn't need to be knocking on the door anyway. Of course, maybe it was a potential client. Most of them would call the house, but there'd been the occasional few who had turned up on the doorstep in the past.

When the knock came again, louder this time, Lockwood put his book down, marking his page, and walked out of the library, moving with unhurried steps towards the front door. It wouldn't do to show too much haste. Even though they needed a case and, more importantly, needed the money, he still had his pride.

Opening the front door, Lockwood frowned and then forced a smile to his face when he saw who was standing there. "Inspector Barnes. What a...pleasant surprise," he said, his voice carefully neutral and just the right side of cordial. "What can I do for you?"

"We need to talk." Barnes stared into Lockwood's eyes for a second or two, then looked past him, through the doorway. "Where are your partners?"

"They're both out, researching our next case." Lockwood didn't want to admit to Barnes that they didn't have any cases yet. He didn't want to give the man any ideas that might make him think they were struggling...at least more than he already knew about. "What can I do for you?" he asked.

"Can I come in?"

Lockwood thought about saying no. The Inspector wasn't here on official business. If he was, he would have forced his way into the house, or taken Lockwood in for questioning. But it wasn't as if he had anything to hide. Lucy was safe and wouldn't be forced to leave London. So he merely nodded and took a step back from the door, allowing Barnes to walk into the house. Closing the door, Lockwood then asked, "Would you like a cup of tea?"

"No." Barnes turned fully to face him once more. "I'm here on official business. DEPRAC business."

"What kind of official business?"

Instead of answering with words, Barnes handed over a piece of paper.

Frowning, Lockwood looked the paper over. It was a list of crimes; transgressions, really. Starting with burning down a client's house, through to employing an agent who hadn't cleared her full training...ending with them taking on a case when they'd been told not to.

The list wasn't what bothered Lockwood so much as the words written at the bottom, pronouncing the sentence DEPRAC had decreed should be carried out. Six strokes of the cane.

"This is a mistake." Lockwood held the paper out to Barnes. "Corporal punishment is no longer in use. It hasn't been for years now."

"It isn't often used, but there are certain circumstances where it's considered to be appropriate," Barnes said. "I like to believe I know you fairly well by now. You'd hate being brought in for this punishment to be carried out. And you'd hate it if it was carried out without witnesses."

"And I'm sure you'd hate to actively carry it out," Lockwood countered. "There are only the two of us here. There's no need for you to carry out this archaic form of punishment. Besides." He pointed at the first 'crime' on the list. "We received a fine for this."

"It wasn't a fine," Barnes disagreed. "It was a client claiming damages to the house that you and your team burned down."

"An outcome that wouldn't have been necessary if the client had been honest with us about the presence of a Type Two," Lockwood said. "And need I remind you that the only reason you were able to solve the murder of Annabel Ward was thanks to me and my team? You accused the wrong man."

Barnes' brows drew together and he narrowed his eyes at Lockwood. "That NDA you all had to sign? It wasn't just you and your team. Annabel's murderer is dead, but thanks to higherups, the public is always going to think that her murder has been unsolved."

"The higherups?" Lockwood studied Barnes, wondering if he could get the exact information out of the man about who was protecting Fairfax, even after the man's death, and why.

"Lockwood, I understand that you don't want to be subject to this 'archaic' form of punishment...."

"It's cruel," Lockwood stated. "It's unnecessary. And it's been proven to be ineffective at changing behaviour."

"Changing behaviour for children too young to understand the consequences of their actions," Barnes replied. "That's not a defence you can claim. You're more than aware of what your actions could cost. What they could cause." He took half a step closer to Lockwood. "Your actions could have cost the lives of your partners. They could have cost your life."

"Removing an embarrassment for DEPRAC, I'm sure." Lockwood eyed Barnes, standing his ground even though he wanted to take a step back. "You could just as easily issue a warrant to force me to come to you. You could take me there now, even if you didn't arrest me. You're here in an unofficial capacity, which means you don't really want to do this. You don't agree..."

"No," Barnes interrupted. "I might not agree with dragging you in for the punishment, to make it a public affair, but I believe you deserve to be punished." He stepped closer to Lockwood, reaching out and placing a hand on his shoulder.

The man's hand felt heavy on Lockwood's shoulder, even though Barnes wasn't really gripping that hard. There was a sense of finality to it, as if he'd already decided what was going to happen and it didn't matter what Lockwood said or did.

Lockwood had never experienced any kind of corporal punishment before. He'd never been punished, period. He'd been hurt, of course. Sometimes during training, other times when fighting ghosts. But spanking...let alone caning? The idea made him nervous, in a way that facing even the worst ghosts hadn't. And he had the awful feeling that Barnes was completely aware of how he felt.

Looking down at the list, Lockwood thought about pointing out that he hadn't even been the one responsible for the fire in the first place. It wasn't him who threw the flare, after all. But the protest wouldn't leave his lips. He'd chosen to hire Lucy, which made him responsible for the actions she'd taken since joining Lockwood & Co.

Abruptly, Lockwood realised that he was being guided into the library by Barnes' hand on his shoulder. He'd followed along without conscious thought...and it was too late to continue arguing.

"Make yourself comfortable," Barnes said, as he released Lockwood's shoulder and removed a long, thin cane from within his coat.

"Comfortable?" Lockwood couldn't make himself move, staring at the cane Barnes now held in his hand. He'd never seen a cane in person before. It appeared to be made out of rattan, although Lockwood had never seen that type of wood outside of books. It was thin, bendy, flexible. And he already knew, from his rapier training, that something thin could hurt more than something that was thick.

Barnes turned to Lockwood, and for a second, he looked sympathetic; as if perhaps he didn't really want to do this after all, and would tell Lockwood this wasn't necessary and that DEPRAC just wanted to make sure he followed the rules.

Instead of saying that, however, Barnes placed one hand on Lockwood's shoulder, squeezing it gently, before guiding him over to the very armchair he'd sat reading in just moments before. "It'll be more comfortable for you to kneel on the seat and bend over," he directed.

"I didn't think my comfort was that important." Lockwood wanted to argue some more; to protest that it wasn't fair, and that he didn't deserve this. But the words died in his throat before he could utter them. He could see that Barnes didn't actually take any joy out of this. He didn't need his sight to see that Barnes was doing this out of a sense of duty, not because he wanted to. DEPRAC could have easily sent someone like Kipps, who would have taken great pleasure in making the punishment as humiliating and painful as possible; not difficult, because Lockwood couldn't have submitted to someone like Kipps in the same way he could to someone like Barnes, who was more of an authority figure.

Giving the cane in Barnes' hand a nervous look, Lockwood moved over to the armchair and knelt on the seat, back facing Barnes. He then leaned up and positioned himself bent over the back of the chair, reaching down and grabbing the sides of the chair to brace himself.

Barnes must have moved to Lockwood's side, because the cane was then resting against the crest of Lockwood's bottom, below his hips. The older man tapped the implement gently a few times, as if taking aim, then lifted the cane and brought it down across Lockwood's backside.

The sting was immediate and intense, even though it didn't feel like Barnes had put too much force behind the stroke. Part of Lockwood thought that maybe he should feel grateful for the layers of his clothing still in place, as they offered some protection from the pain. But that momentary gratitude was gone almost immediately when he felt the cane tapping his bottom again, below where the previous throbbing stripe had been left.

The second stroke wasn't any harder than the first, but it still hurt. Lockwood felt tears spring to his eyes and he had to fight down the urge to fight back; to put a stop to this. Despite his decision to take this punishment bravely, he couldn't help the whimper that escaped him when the cane tapped for a third time, taking aim, before Barnes was bringing it down a third time, leaving a third stripe of fire just below the first two.

The man paused and Lockwood felt a hand rest on his shoulder as Barnes whispered, "We're halfway through."

Breathing heavily, Lockwood freed one hand from the side of the chair and covered Barnes' hand with his own. He didn't trust himself to speak without starting to cry, but he squeezed Barnes' hand and hoped that the man understood he was grateful for the support.

When the fourth stroke landed, the tears that had filled Lockwood's eyes spilled over. He wanted desperately to throw his hand back to halt the painful caning, but he didn't want to seem like he'd lost control. Instead, he gripped Barnes' hand tighter, he gripped the side of the chair harder, and he tried to brace himself.

The fifth stroke from the cane caused a sob to catch in his throat and, despite his best efforts, he half-lifted his hand from the chair. He didn't throw it back to protect himself, instead curling it into a fist as he whispered, "Please."

"We're nearly there, Anthony. One more and then it's over."

Lockwood bit his lip and squeezed his eyes closed...but it did nothing to stop the tears already leaking out. Barnes was holding his hand and he took the strength he needed from that touch; let himself feel that although Barnes believed the punishment was deserved, he'd done his best to mitigate any damage that could be done to his pride.

With the final stroke from the cane, Lockwood lost his battle and broke into quiet sobs. His bottom ached...throbbed...even though he knew it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been.

"It's all right, Anthony. It's over." Barnes squeezed his hand while his other hand rubbed calm, soothing circles over Lockwood's back.

It took a few minutes, but the tears finally slowed and then stopped. Barnes had continued to rub his back and squeeze his hand, talking in a soft tone using words that Lockwood couldn't fully understand...but he didn't need to understand them, because the words weren't important.

When Lockwood finally pushed himself up from the armchair, he felt much calmer, even if his backside still stung horribly. He took the tissue that Barnes offered him and wiped at his eyes. Then, abruptly, he lurched forward and wrapped his arms around Barnes, hugging tight.

Slowly, Barnes' own arms came up to wrap around Lockwood, holding him close and tight in return.

Neither of them said anything. Lockwood wasn't sure about Barnes, but he was reluctant to break the peace that had fallen. Ever since his parents had died, he hadn't really been physically close to anyone. He'd acted as if he didn't need it, even after forming Lockwood & Co with George's help. He'd told himself that he didn't need it. And maybe he'd been right, most of the time. Maybe most of the time, he didn't need the physical comfort.

But he did right now.

Lockwood stayed in Barnes' arms until he heard the front door open. Then, he pulled back and wiped at his eyes once more. "That will be George and Lucy returning home. I would prefer it if they didn't know about this."

Barnes nodded. "There's no need to tell them anything more than you want to."

"Thank you." Lockwood hesitated, because it almost felt like he was thanking Barnes for caning him. Shaking his head, he gave his still stinging backside a quick rub, then led the way out of the library and towards the front door, where both Lucy and George were standing.

"What's he doing here?" George asked, eyeing Barnes suspiciously.

Barnes responded so quickly and smoothly, Lockwood had to wonder if he'd had the story in his head already. "I came to discuss with Lockwood about sending over some cold case files for your team to look at." He turned to Lockwood. "I'll have them sent over for you tomorrow."

"You want us to do your job for you?" George demanded.

"George." Lockwood cleared his throat and then turned a smile onto Barnes. "As we discussed, I am of course willing to allow you to utilise the services of Lockwood & Co. For a fee. I will draw up a contract for you to sign."

Barnes looked at him for a few seconds and then a tiny smile touched his lips before he inclined his head slightly. "Send it to my office once you have it prepared." He nodded to George and Lucy, then brushed past them and slipped out of the house.

Letting his breath out slowly, Lockwood turned to his friends and smiled. "Shall we have some tea and biscuits?"

The End