Only Time Will Tell - A Peaky Blinders Story

Chapter 21 - Worried for nothing

"I've just seen Arthur down by the docks." Cass says to Alfie as she enters his office. "Did you, love? That's nice." Alfie replies, almost sounding sarcastic since he doesn't even bother to look up from his paperwork. "I didn't realise Tommy was going through with this so quickly. I mean, I understand the urgency, but this is what Sabini's expecting. Surely he's going to be prepared for the take over." Cass says, nervously pacing around the room and biting her lower lip. "Everything's under control, love." Alfie says bluntly, angering Cass slightly. "Fine." She says before leaving the room in a huff.

~

"Arthur!" Cass whisper shouts as she catches up with her brother. "Cassie! I was hoping to see you. Are you joining us?" Arthur says with a giddy smile. "No, no. I just wanted to wish you luck. If you get yourself killed, I'll bring you back just to kill you again. Ok?" Cass then says, pointing her index finger in his face. "You have nothing to worry about. I promise." Arthur says, pulling her in for a hug before following the rest of his group towards the Eden Club.

Cass watches as they all disappear into the night, dreading the thought of them all coming back in body bags. For now, she has to push those thoughts away and focus on the matter at hand. She has to keep Alfie occupied so he doesn't feel the need to get involved with everything. Although Sabini knows what side the Peaky Blinders are on, that doesn't mean that Alfie should be pushing himself to the front of the battle. Some things need to be sorted before Alfie can go charging in as if he's done all of the work. That will come soon enough.

~

"Cass!" A far away voice yells, echoing in Cass's ears. Gun shots can be heard far away. She looks around the empty field that she is stood in, manically searching for the owner of the voice. "Casandra!" The voice then yells, sounding pained. That's when the blurry figure staggering towards her becomes clearer. "Tommy?!" Cass yells as she sprints over to him, only now seeing the numerous bullet holes on his body.

"Tommy, what happened?" She asks as she tries to stop the bleeding on his chest and stomach. "You could have fucking saved us." Tommy replies in a strained tone. "W-what?" Cass whispers, pulling her hands away from her brother's injuries. "You've killed us all." Tommy then says before taking his last breath. Cass screams and sobs at the sight of her brother being dead.

Two sets of hands lift her under her arms and drag her away. "No!" She screams, trying her best to fight against her capturers. "Fucking stop Cassie!" John's voice yells in her ear. "Tie her up." Arthur's voice commands as they lean her against a post. "What the fuck is going on?" Cass asks breathlessly, her head darting between the familiar faces of her siblings. "You chose Mr Solomons over your own brother. You betrayed us, and now you're going to pay." Polly says as she walks around her niece. "No, I didn't. It was Tommy's idea for me to move down to London. I swear." Cass pleads for them to understand. "We don't care." Ada says, lifting a pistol towards her sister's head and pulling the trigger.

Cass sits up with a yelp. She wipes her forehead, which is sodden with sweat, as Alfie groans at the sudden jolt she had caused. After cooking for Alfie and him showing his gratitude in his 'unique' physical way, Cass couldn't help but fall asleep in his arms. It was literally like she had passed out from everything that was on her mind. Until now.

"Everything alright, love?" Alfie grunts as Cass tries to calm her breathing. Her hands start to shake as she holds her head in the heels of her palms. At the sound of her sobs, Alfie instantly becomes more aware of what's going on. "Cass, what's wrong?" He asks, now sitting up and wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into his chest. Cass doesn't reply. She just cries as she pulls him closer by his vest. Alfie rocks her back and forth, letting her release everything she needs to, and carefully folding his fingers through her hair.

"I can't save them, Alfie." Cass whispers after eventually calming down. Alfie's sure that she's been crying for at least an hour, so decides to leave her statement floating in the cool air of the room. "What if they're all dead already?" Cass then asks, looking into his eyes after somehow managing to find them in the darkness. "No one's dead, love. Tonight went without a hitch and Arthur and the boys are all out celebrating." Alfie replies, watching in confusion as Cass's shoulders relax.

"I'm sorry." Cass says, more tears springing to her eyes as she looks away from him. "It's ok." Alfie says, hoping it will reassure her enough to go back to sleep. All she does is nod before laying back down. Her head rests on the plump pillow as she stares up at the ceiling. Alfie lays next to her, in the same position, and holds her hand.

The couple stay like this for the rest of the night. Alfie managed to get some sleep whereas Cass couldn't even close her eyes for more than a second without being haunted by her dreams. She wasn't just haunted with her most recent horror, but every single one of them. If her mind made her see one of them, she had seen a hundred. It's just the way her mind worked.

~AN~ I wish to apologise for this chapter. I really didn't like it but couldn't be bothered to re-write it.