Two months later
"Why exactly do we have to be against them, again?" Tom asked, reloading his gun. The popping sounds were surrounding him, Thomas, and Alfred. Jimmy and William had disappeared into the line of fire, but had sent a message saying they were okay.
"They're a rival family. Back in the day when the Strallans and Crawleos founded New Ripon, the Maronis tried to take over. Ever since then, we've been against them," Thomas replied, cigarette between his teeth. He sucked in as much smoke as he could, then leaned out the window, releasing a stream of bullets.
"Must you always smoke when we go on raids?" Alfred asked, annoyed. Thomas gave him a cheeky smile and leaned back out the window. Tom did the same and aimed at a man who was aiming at them, shooting his right shoulder cleanly.
"What is that, Thomas? Four for me, one for you?" Tom held out his hand, and Thomas rolled his eyes, rummaging through his pocket. He pulled out another quarter and handed it to Tom, who grinned and put it in his pocket.
"Good thing you only bet quarters, huh?" Alfred asked, leaning against the wall.
"I only let you come with us because I'm friends with your aunt. So be quiet and shoot someone,"
"Matthew picked me," Alfred grumbled, making Tom laugh. This mission is pointless, he thought, and the amount of men who have been out is too many. Matthew, Thomas, Alfred, Jimmy, William, and Tom. If the Crawleos want to kill themselves, let them, he thought. The only reason so many Maronis were being injured was because of the Stewarts. To get rid of the Crawleos, they had to beat the primary enemy. It wasn't really that hard, since the Maronis paraded around their so-called "territory" in plain sight.
The door burst open, and Jimmy stood before them, panting. William pushed him into the room and slammed the door behind them.
"Jimmy was too busy checking out a Maroni girl to realize he was about to be shot. Lucky for him I was there," William said, taking his hat off.
"I actually agree with William, Jimmy. You need to be more careful," Thomas said, causing Alfred to snort.
"More than one reason why," he mumbled, and Tom raised an eyebrow. If there was dirt against Thomas, he was going to find it. Tom was going to find and exploit all their secrets so he could bring them down. The door opened again and Matthew walked in, sweaty and carrying a Tommy gun.
"We're going back, it was a successful raid. Head out," he turned on his heel and they followed, Thomas making a mocking face before leaving the room.
Sybil Crawleo tucked her feet under herself and leaned forward, on the verge of having a good hand. She grinned and put down a 6, 7, 8, and 9 of spades.
"I play that off of yours, Mamma. I'm out of cards, too, so game over, right?" she said, looking at the others playing with her.
"It's not your first game, Sybil, don't act like you don't know when the end of the game is. Besides, we all knew you won, you're just bragging," Mary said condescendingly. Sybil rolled her eyes and leaned back in her chair, glancing over at Edith, who was talking quietly with Anthony Strallan. The two kept gesturing to his lame arm, and Strallan was visibly uncomfortable.
The door banged open and Robert, who was speaking with Violet and Charles, stood up to greet Matthew. Charles rushed over and closed the door, putting the extra lock on, and Robert closed the curtains.
"Successful mission, I assume?" he asked as Matthew poured himself a glass of whiskey. Charles sat back down next to Violet, who sat up a bit to hear the conversation better. Robert and Matthew sat down across the coffee table from each other, Matthew unbuttoning his suit jacket and taking a sip of the alcohol. Mary joined him, and he put an arm around her, but she shrugged it off.
"You assume correctly. No fatalities or injuries on our side. It's a miracle, really, but Daniel helped me get the papers," Matthew pulled a thick orange envelope out of the inner pocket of his jacket, and slid it across the table to Robert. Robert checked behind himself to make sure the curtains were closed again, then pulled the plastic bag out of the envelope. It contained vials and test tubes filled with odd liquids, smaller bags containing labeled hairs, and more.
"Is that a vial of blood?" Edith asked, horrified, and Mary sent her a look to silence her.
"Perfect. Being the good man you are, I assume you'll pay your men fairly." Robert pulled a smaller, but equally thick envelope out of the inner pocket of his suit jacket, and slid it across the table. Matthew lifted the flap, leafed through the bills, and shoved it into his pocket.
"Of course. Thank you, Robert. I'll be waiting," he stood up, finished his whiskey, and held out a hand to Robert, who stood up to shake it. Charles opened the door and Matthew left, leaving everyone staring at the bag.
"Is that supposed to be a supplementary to the chemistry set you bought as a boy?" Violet asked, and Mary stifled a laugh.
"Private business. You'll have to excuse me," Robert stood up and left the room, most likely heading for his study, which only Charles and Violet were allowed to enter.
"So, are we playing another game of cards?" Edith asked from where she was sitting with Anthony.
"Come to think of it, I'm getting bored with cards. I'm going to bed, goodnight," Sybil said, standing up abruptly and leaving.
"I should be leaving anyways," Violet said, and Cora shrugged. Edith, defeated, turned back to Anthony, who smiled.
"Good raid, boys, here's each of your pay," Matthew handed out the money to each man in envelopes at their table in the back of the speakeasy. It was nowhere near closing time, but it seemed like Matthew had no intention of staying. Tom opened his envelope and glanced in to see one hundred dollars. His eyes bugged at the amount of money and he folded the envelope, pushing it into the pocket of his pants.
"I'll contact you when I need you next," Matthew continued, then turned around and left. Jimmy waited until he was far enough away, then turned back to the others.
"Think there'll be any ladies here?" Jimmy asked, and Alfred rolled his eyes.
"It's not a bawdy house," William said, "and I have a girlfriend, so I wouldn't want to see that anyways," William walked over to the bar, where a pretty young girl with dark hair and big eyes was standing. He leaned down to kiss her on the cheek and promptly called over the bartender.
"Who's the girlfriend?" Tom asked Thomas, who was smoking a cigarette.
"My sister Daisy. I have to get along because they abso-fucking-lutely love each other. It's sickening," as his cigarette became only ash, Thomas popped another into his mouth and lit it quickly.
"That's disgusting," Alfred said, staring at the cigarettes.
"Then don't watch!" only Tom, Thomas, and Jimmy remained at the table now. Thomas was staring at Jimmy with an expression Tom could only describe as lust, and Jimmy looked uncomfortable.
"I'm meeting someone, so I'll see you chaps later," Tom said, pushing his chair back and getting up. He walked across the bar to a table where Kieran sat, a cigar in his mouth and a girl in a fringed dress on his lap. Tom sat down and cleared his mouth, but the intimate conversation and passing of the cigar didn't stop.
"Get rid of the slut and we can talk," Tom said, and Kieran glared at him.
"We'll talk in a bit, alright, Nora?" he said, and the girl stood up, giving Tom a nasty look. He rolled his eyes and signaled the bartender over, ordering a Guinness.
"So?" Kieran asked.
"One hundred dollars. I could buy a Ford on credit, at this rate," Tom's Guinness arrived and he took a long drink of it, letting Kieran think.
"I meant what the mission was for. You didn't specify when you called me about it,"
"Oh. Not sure. They don't tell us this stuff, and I don't have access to the Downton Mansion yet. Once I do, I'll be everywhere," Kieran rolled his eyes.
"Don't get too ahead of yourself, Tommy. We all knew you were picked for the job because I got tuberculosis last year and the rest of them are too suspicious,"
"Bollocks. You're just jealous. It's not like it even matters, Kieran."
"That's what you say, but it does!"
"Fine, fine," Tom glanced over to where Thomas and Jimmy had been sitting, but Thomas was there with a woman who seemed much older than him now. Jimmy was sitting at the bar with three girls, all of them taking brightly colored shots. William and Daisy were still at the bar together, but Alfred had joined them with a blond girl.
"What, you jealous because all of your friends have girls?"
"Maybe. I'm twenty-four. Shouldn't I have a girlfriend by now?"
"Yeah, you should. Now, if you'll excuse me, I actually have Nora to go back to," Kieran stood up and walked away, leaving Tom at the table.
The next morning, Sybil sat with her mother in the family room, both of them reading. Sybil was reading Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis, while Cora was reading the newest Vogue magazine.
"You know, I hear Larry Grey wanted to take you on a date,"
"Mamma. I'm not interested in Larry, he's foul,"
"If you'd give him a chance, I think you'd find he's a nice boy,"
"You only say that because his dad is a Lord in England. You're so rooted in your English past,"
"He's very good looking,"
"Good-looking? Ha! Larry looks like a rat. No, I'm not going on a date with him, that's it,"
"You're so stubborn sometimes. You know your Nonna just wants you married,"
"I'm eighteen! I have my whole life ahead of me, why settle down now? It's not the old days anymore, it's the twentieth century. I'd like to wait a little before I get married, like everyone else,"
"It's funny how unlike your sisters you are. Mary and Edith are competing over how many boyfriends they can get."
"And they pick the most ghastly men to fancy!"
"I thought you liked Matthew,"
"I do, but Mary doesn't really fancy him. She's toying with him- she did last night! I feel bad for Matthew. He really does like her, you can tell. He's nice,"
"Larry is very much like Matthew, Sybil,"
"No, he's not. You won't persuade me, Mamma." Sybil stood up with her book and left the room, in a worse mood than she had been.
A/N: I felt like parts of this were slightly filler, but the next chapter will be more interesting, I promise! Anyways, sorry for the delay in posting this and Silent Ardor- I had midterms week last week and it took two days for my brain to finish writing/editing this chapter. Also, I don't think I mentioned that this takes place in Cleveland around 1927. I really wanted it to take place in Cincinnati, where Cora is from, but the mafia was more prevalent in Cleveland than most places in Ohio. Cora is from England, while Robert is Italian-American. Hope you enjoyed! :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Downton Abbey or any of its characters.