𝐆𝐔𝐍𝐏𝐎𝐖𝐃𝐄𝐑 » thomas shelby

three

The door to the Shelby house opens and a injured Arthur solwly stumbles into the kitchen. Dorothy jumps almost immediatly to her feet, and runs to Arthur to help him to a chair that Polly has pulled out for him.

Just seconds ago Dora and Polly sat at the table drinking tea and talking about whatever they thought about. Polly seemed a bit off to Dorothy, but she didn't ask the older woman, respecting her privacy.

"Fuck Arthur, what happened?" Asks Dora the man as she helps him sit down. Arthur hisses in pain as an answer. Dorothy looks at Polly concerned. "Could you go and get Tommy, tell him to get some alcohol from the Garrison."

Polly nods at Dora and opens the doors to the betting shop to get Tommy. Dorothy looks over Arthur bloody face, before she runs to the sink and fills a bowl with water, and takes a cloth. The woman gently wipes Arthurs face while Polly returns, Ada following behind her. Soon John joins too. "Bloody hell, Arthur."

Polly grabs a few bandages and pieces of wood to handle Arthur's broken finger. The man hisses in pain while Polly bandages his finger. Ada walks closer to her brother and Dorothy as the woman continues to wipe the blood off of Arthur's face. "Wipe the blood out of his eye."

"Since when did you give orders?" Asks John smirking.

"I'm a trained nurse." Retords Ada, making Dora and Arthur chuckle. "Don't make me laugh, it hurts me face."

"I bloody am." John laughs. "You went to one first aid class in the church hall and got thrown out for giggling. At least Dora, was a nurse in France for a year, before they sent her home."

Dorothy points laughing a finger at the man. "That doesn't mean anything, they took almost everybody who volunteered, even if they had no fucking clue."

It is true though. Dorothy was in France to help out with the wounded soldiers, but they sent her home after an incident. When they sent her 1915 into the field once to help a few soldiers, she endet up having a argumet with a few injured men, so the generals sent her home, because they didn't need soembody who would argure in life threatning situations that could cost lifes.

"Not before I learned to stop somebody from chocking." Answers Ada.

"Well, I'm not bloody chocking, am I?" Asks Arthur. Dora looks at John and shares a smirk, before she looks back to Arthur's face and continues cleaning it.

"You will be when I wrap this cloth around your neck."

In that moment Tommy returns with a bottle of Rum in his hand and a cigarette between his lips.

"Let me see him. We'll have this." He gives the bottle to Arthur who takes a big sip from it, before Tommy gently takes the wet cloth out of Dora's hands.

"Give me that." He takes the bottle out of Arthur's hands. He wets the cloth with the rum and presses the cloth against a cut on Arthur's face. The man hisses in pain, and grabs Tommy's wrist.

"You're alright." Tells Tommy his brother.

"He said Mr. Chruchill sent him to Birmingham. National interest, he said. Something about a robbery." Dorothy forrows her eyebrows, looking at Arthur, but doesn't misses the glare that Polly send Tommy, a new curiosity sparks within her. What is Tommy hiding?

"He said he wants us to help him." Continues Arthur.

"We don't help coppers." Protests John.

Dorothy nods agreeing at John's words, while Arthur points a finger at his younger brother. "He knew all about our war records. He said we're patriots like him. He wants us to be his eyes and ears."

Dora looks from Arthur to Tommy's concered face. "I said... I said that we'd have a family meeting and take a vote."

Tommy stays quiet at Arthurs words, even though they are directed to him. Arthur continues after a few seconds of silence. "Well, why not? Mhm? We have no truck with Fenians or communists."

Tommy keeps quiet, and Polly sends him another look. Neither Arthur nor Dorothy understand Tommy's sudden quietness.

"What's wrong with you?" Arthur asks and then turns to his aunt. "What the fuck is wrong with him lately?"

"If I knew, I'd buy the cure from Compton's chemists." Answers Polly him, her eys locked on Tommy.

After a few more seconds of silence, Tommy leaves the house. The front door shuts and Arthur looks at Dorothy. "Do you know what is bloody wrong with him?"

"No, but I'm gonna find out." With these words she walks to the front door of the Shelby house and out to the streets of Small Heath. Determinate walks to the place she knows that Tommy will be at.

Dorothy approaches Tommy slowly, in the stables on his uncle's yard, as he softly strockes the horse. "Tommy."

The dark haired man runs around slowly and looks at the woman warily. "What are you doing here?"

"I've come to talk. What is going on with you, lately, and don't fucking lie to me, you know that I know when you lie." Tommy slowly moves away from the horse in her direction, with the stoned expression, that usually sits on his face. His eyes, though, show a certain look of guilt.

"Dora..." Starts Tommy hesitantly. "Oh don't you 'Dora' me, I know that you are hiding something, and I saw the looks that Polly gave you when Arthur talked about that bloody copper, so tell me the truth Thomas."

Tommy sighs and stays quiet for a few seconds before he starts. "It was supposed to be routine. I had a buyer in London for some motorcycles. I asked my men to steal me four bikes with some petrol engines. I'm guessing my men were drunk. There's a still inside the factory makes tram lines gin. They picked up the wrong fucking crate. The boys dropped it to Charlie's yard as agreed. They must have taken it from the proofing bay instead of the export bay."

"Inside we found 25 Lewis machine guns, 10,000 rounds of ammunition, 50 semi-automatic rifles, 200 pistols with shells. All bound for Libya. Sitting right there in Charlie Strong's yard." Ends Tommy his speech towards her, his stone face breaking, making him look a lot more vulnerable.

Dorothy closes her eyes and rubs her face, stressed out. "Bloody hell, Thomas. So that is why the bloddy copper is here, to get the guns that you stole?"

Tommy doesn't say anything, instead he stares at his shoes. "Well, where are they now?"

He still doesn't answer, but points towards a buch of wodden boxes at the end of the stables, hidden underneath some hay. "We'll move them soon, don't worry."

Dora sighs not knowing what else to say. "I sure hope that you know what you are doing Tommy."

Tommy nods agreeing. "That'll make two of us."

Dora nods once again before she looks at Tommy's sunken figure. "Come here."

He looks at her confused, but quickly realises what she wants and walks closer to the smaller woman. She wraps her arms around him, when he is close enough. Tommy loosens himself a bit and melts into the embrace. These times are rare, the times, when Thomas Shelby shows vulnerability. "We are gonna do this together like we always have, alright."

Tommy doesn't respond and just hugs her thighter. She couldn't stay mad at him, never could, but she sure hopes that he is going to make everything right.