°•°FIREFLY°•° (Thomas Shelby x Male Reader)

part 7- Horses and Nightmares

"Good night Lorry", "I hope you get some sleep Ian" Ian chuckled at this as he walked up the stairs like most men after the war he didn't sleep well anymore but then again he hardly did before
When he went into his room he took off his clothes to sleep, as he did his fingers grazed over the four lines on his chest some smaller in his head he counted 'one...two...three...four' he always counted them as if someday they would disappear but they won't, he briefly touched the smaller scar on the side of his stomach he sighed and shook his head trying to free himself from the memories a little longer before having them disturb him in his unconscious state as they always do, he laid on his bed with the blank over his body, it had been a long and slow day so it didn't take much for him to fall asleep into the realm he dreaded every night

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It was dark for a moment but from the sounds of the leaf's rustling and some twigs snapping he knew he was running from the man and dog again

Slowly his sight came, at first for a moment it was fuzzy like when you squint so hard everything becomes a little blurry soon became clear with every bark that came from behind him
He was 16 and running in the woods as the man that was hunting him used his dog to find his trail in the dark

After a while of running Ian paused to catch his breath his body was shaking from being out of breath, cold and scared for his life but he didn't have time to rest
Ian heard a dog growl, he looked up and saw it for a brief second before it jumped at him instantly he was on the ground, he could hardly register the grass and dirt as he struggled against the dog his left hand between the dog's teeth as he tried to push it away the adrenaline making him not fully acknowledge the pain in his hand or feel the claws of the dog digging through his shirt and the skin on his chest easily, his other hand was on its neck he couldn't really push it back much only holding it from away from himself, he looked to his side and saw a rock

As he grabbed it with the hand that was holding its neck and he didn't think about anything nothing was crowding his mind as he smashed it against the dogs head as hard as he could, he felt nothing as he continued until it was no longer moving he could only feel himself breathing as if he ran a mile, his heart rattling in his chest, the need to live...
He liked dogs before that moment, he always saw them as fluffy friendly beasts that he could befriend...but now whenever he even heard one he feared for my life and wanted to hide his existence from them

As he sat there next to the now dead..thing.. that tried to kill him just moments ago he heard someone step on some grass behind him he slowly turned and was met with the barrel of a hunting rifle "stay right there boy, so that you may repent for what you have taken from me"

He didn't want to give the man a chance to actually kill him this time so with barely any strength left in his legs he moved as quickly as he could with pain finally coming through Ian grabbed the barrel of the gun with his hands he winced at the pain in his left hand as he stood up half way weakly and moved it as much as he could away from himself
The man took his shot but instead of Ian's chest it went into the side of his stomach making a line the width of the bullet and the length of the wound his own, everything happening within a second, Ian's breath hitched at the sudden painful impact and staggered a little in place

Ian struggled with the man for his gun and with as much force he could muster Ian kicked him in his stomach the mans grip loosened on the gun a little Ian took the chance to pull the weapon away making him let go completely of the hunting rifle, he turned it around and aimed it at him
"Wai-"
He didn't give him time to speak before Iab shot him in the chest he fell down and he ran past the now dead man not noticing him change into a German enemy