Only Time Will Tell - A Peaky Blinders Story

Chapter 1 - Readjusting

Cass was sure that she had welded her eyes shut she was squeezing them that hard. She tried her best to take calm breaths through her nose, as the hand over her mouth had restricted her abilities. "Shh, ok?" she manages to hear through the ringing of her ears. "I need you to be quiet, alright? The fucking cunt's right above us." The voice whispers again, making her frantically nod into the person's hand.

Barely any seconds pass before her 'capturer' draws his weapon and shoots the German soldier through the floor. When the pair both hear a grunt and then a thump, they start to relax slightly. Cass pulls herself away from the captain's hands and quickly crawls through the debris of the building in search for survivors. After all, she is a nurse. She stares at all of the dead bodies in the room, knowing she can't do anything to save them. Except for one. The man who helped to save her, who was now following her path through the debris of the recently bombed hospital.

"Fuckin' hell, sweetheart. Your head's bleeding." The captain says as he gestures towards her. "Don't worry about me, captain." Cass replies with a small chuckle, barely being able to tear her eyes away from his face. She's never seen someone so strong yet seemingly caring in her life. It's a little bit of light in the midst of the war. She catches the slight glint in his eye as he sends her a crooked smile. He takes in a breath to speak; "I'm-"

That's when the second grenade hits the rubble in front of her.

Cass sits up in a panic, frantically brushing her sweaty hair out of her face as she tries to catch her breath. Her state of panic prevents her from intaking the breath that she needs, prompting her to choke on literally nothing. She tries to hit her chest a few times to kick start her lungs, but it doesn't happen.

Suddenly, her door is flung open to reveal Tommy looking just as concerned as she is. "Cass, Cass, breathe. Come on, head between your legs. Focus, Cass. Breathe." He says quietly as he helps her to lean off the side of her bed. The siblings start to relax as Cassandra starts to breathe normally again.

"I'm sorry if I woke you, Tom." Cass says with a small cough that was still lingering in her throat, trying her best to calm her mind. "It's alright, I wasn't asleep." Tommy replies bluntly, offering his sister a smoke from his pocket which she gratefully accepts. "You get the dreams, too?" Cass says nervously as she lights her cigarette with one of the matches from beside her bed. "Yeah, Cass. Something like that." Her brother replies with a sigh, blowing smoke out into the room.

They sit in silence whilst they smoke, knowing that there are no words to make either of them feel better. Cass carefully rests her head on Tommy's shoulder, relishing in the fact that they're actually together again. Anyone would think that they got back yesterday, when in actual fact they've been home for almost two months. It's been hard to readjust.

"Why don't you try and get a few more hours kip, Cass? It's only 4 o'clock. You don't have to walk the kids to school until 8." Tommy says gently, lifting his sister's head off his shoulder. "Only if you stay with me. You could do with some rest too, brother." Cassandra negotiates, knowing that even the new version of Tommy can't say no to her. She smiles slightly as he sighs in defeat before laying beside her. "Anything to keep you fucking happy." He mumbles into her hair as he pulls her closer.

The siblings fall asleep quickly, knowing that the family won't question anything if they were to walk in. Tommy and Cassandra have been sharing beds for years. This instance is nothing new, except for the circumstance. When Cass was younger, she used to beg Tommy to read her stories before going to sleep, meaning he wouldn't have to deal with their father stumbling into the house and taking a beating. Back then, Cass was protecting Tommy from the horrors they were dealing with thinking Tommy had no idea what she was doing. This time, however, is the opposite. Tommy feels the need to protect Cass from her own mind. The war was a horrifying place, and he knows that she may never fully open up about what happened, just like himself. This is the only way he can help her, or at least that's what he thinks anyway.