AC Syndicate: Isolated Files [OS]

Menace [Crossover]

[Assassin's Creed Syndicate / Peaky Blinders - 2/5] Continuation of "Kiss it" from a dream.

It had been several weeks since the first interaction with the Shelby brothers at the Garrison. Amy still had some way to go to get closer to them in order to pursue her mission, which was to turn the Peaky Blinders into allies of the Brotherhood. She couldn't get any closer to Thomas, always having to deal with John or Arthur – whom she never stopped provoking. But one day, in the pub, that was provocation enough. Well, that depended on your point of view. For Amy, it was calculated, but for Arthur, it was time to hit a woman.

– You really are reckless, Amy. Arthur's killed kids in fights before! You won't even stand up to him.

– Don't worry, Henry. Where I come from, women know how to fight. Besides... why should fighting be just a man's sport?

Although important to Amy and others, society's questioning of women and their rights was a perfect way to deflect the conversation, to avoid talking about or implying the existence of the Brotherhood. Henry didn't want to dwell on that. He didn't want to upset himself again and risk getting Amy hysterical about it. He just sighed and went back to work. So she could finish her shift in peace, before heading off to the rendezvous point for the fight with Arthur Shelby.

The combat arena was completely improvised in a factory, in an open space under the office and meeting room floor. The ring was bounded by a thirty-metre rope, encircling four poles, each with a single turn. Workers, members of the Peaky Blinders and the men of the Shelby family were there, waiting for the waitress to arrive. Arthur, shirtless and wearing his boxing gloves, was already ready and punching the air to practise. Between two grunts, or whistles, he muttered that the waitress was going to see what he was capable of.

– She won't get too smart with me.

But he greatly underestimated the descendant of a line of Assassins. The audience was becoming impatient, and some people were even wondering if Arthur's opponent had given up on the idea of fighting him.

– She'll see what she'll see, the moustachioed man promised through gritted teeth as he landed a right jab.

The young woman entered the factory and made her way to the area where the fight would take place. She changed her outfit for the day for one more suited to combat. She removed her coat and shirt to make way for a blouse yellowed by time and soiled by past training sessions and fights. She bandaged her hands. While she was getting ready, there was a knock at the door. Amy frowned, wondering who could be visiting. It couldn't be the Shelbys. She allowed her visitor in anyway. With her back to him while she got ready, she tended to her hair. She wanted to tie it up in a sloppy bun – an unfinished ponytail.

– Have you come to wish me good luck, Mr. Shelby?" she joked, gathering her hair between her fingers.

– No, I've come to warn you, replied a woman's voice damaged by cigarettes.

Amy had never heard this voice before. She turned towards her interlocutor. She saw a dark-haired woman with wavy, unkempt hair. Her eyes and the wrinkles in her face bore witness to the years and also to worry, grief and suffering. She put the butt of her cigarette in her mouth and looked the fighter up and down. She released the smoke just as quickly. The Assassin knew who was standing in front of her. It was Elizabeth Pollyanna, better known as Polly. She was the aunt of the four brothers and sister Shelby. She was a woman her mother had warned her about. It was a well-known fact that behind every great man there was always a woman. As far as Amy and Victoria Reid were concerned, it was her aunt who was behind Thomas.

– Against what? asked the Assassin as he finished his hair.

– It's not against something, it's against someone, she corrected before turning to Amy.