Another one bites the dust.
I apologise for any mistakes, it's very late - or really early - and I've proofread this chapter but can quite possibly have missed mistakes.
Hope you enjoy this one and please enjoy yourselves.
Is anyone going a little crazy in isolation? I think I am and I feel like it's got a hold on my writing. I also feel like it's making Elsie see light in a different way - it might also have to do with the fact she's a hostage. I was also a little emotional writing this chapter as I was watching Avengers: Endgame and I just love that film and there are so many feels in it.
Please enjoy and I do hope you are all staying safe.
Love Comet96 xx
At some point, we must have drifted off to sleep because when I woke it was darker in the warehouse. There was a low hum as the few lights flickered and brought a dim light to the open space and I could make out Graves and two of his men sat at a table.
The more I blinked the more I became aware of the pain in my shoulders and the need to wee. My head hurt and I wasn't sure if it was because I'd been knocked out or because I was in need of a drink. And I felt like Graves was tormenting me as he stared and brought a glass to his lips.
It was selfish of me to notice now that I couldn't see Kyle and I knew he was with us at the park. He'd been running towards me when I was knocked out.
"What happened to the man I was with?" I asked, shifting my head to look at Graves. I hope he didn't do anything to Kyle. From the look in his eyes, I knew there was no hope for that.
"Aye, my boys had some fun with him." It was vague and I couldn't tell if he'd killed him or just beat him up a bit.
The two men that were sitting with him laughed and one went to say something only to be stopped by the door to the warehouse slamming open and a young lad coming in, a crazy look in his eyes.
"Tommy Shelby is 'ere and he's got a lot of men!" he shouted, running over to Graves with a panicked look on his face. There was a rush as they all tried to stand and Graves tried to spit out orders.
The doors opened again, this time hitting against the wall as John and Arthur charged in, their guns up and aimed. John's eyes fell on us and his jaw clenched as he saw Jacob sleeping in my lap. I was surprised he was still asleep through all the noise.
My eyes drifted back to the door as Tommy walked in, followed by Al and Jimmy. I thought the kid said Tommy had a lot of men, this was only four. Tommy's eyes flashed over to me and I could see the anger held within them before he stepped closer to Graves. If I didn't know my husband, I would say that he didn't look bothered that I was tied to a chair.
"Graves," Tommy said, coming to a stop in front of the table Graves was sitting at. He pulled out a cigarette, lit it and took a long smoke before addressing the man again. "I got your message."
Oh, you got his fucking message, did you?
"Took you a while to get here," Graves said, a slight tone of torment in his voice. He was enjoying this. He must have known Tommy was worried and was enjoying how Tommy was reacting.
Tommy let his eyes wander around the warehouse and I could see him taking in each of Graves' men, noting the weapons they had on them. He pulled the cigarette from his mouth and smirked.
What was he up to?
"We've been here before," Tommy said, pointing to Graves and then himself. "You sure you want to do this? The last time we were in this position, my wife shot you." He brought his cigarette back to his lips and that smirk was back in place.
He was definitely up to something and I had a feeling he was baiting Graves. What happened to this agreement they came to? I thought there were papers that had been signed, contracts? Surely this went against the contracts? Graves had his reason for taking me and Tommy had his reason for leaving me here this long.
Unless he didn't know where I was.
"Why do you think she's tied to a chair?" Graves laughed and stood, taking a step from his chair. He looked Tommy over, his eyes running up and down his body and walked forward, his limp more noticeable now. "Remember our deal?"
They held each other's gaze and while I knew Tommy was annoyed he gave a sharp nod to the gloating man opposite him. Graves gave a large smile, one that showed he was happy and made his way to the door. When Al and Jimmy went to stop Graves, Tommy held his hand up and they let the men leave.
The second Graves left the warehouse, John was pulling Jacob from my lap and Arthur was cutting my bindings. I slumped forward in pain as the ropes let me go and was trying to fight the ache in my arms. I could feel them started to tingle and clenched my teeth together as I struggled to bring them in front of me.
Rough hands ran along my cheeks and lifted my face so my eyes could lock with fearful blue eyes. Tommy's eyebrows were furrowed as his lips moved and I tried to focus on what he was saying. Shuffling out of the chair I pushed myself forward until I fell against Tommy and sighed as he wrapped his arms around me.
"Is she okay, Tommy," Arthur asked, casting a shadow over us as he stood behind Tommy. I glanced up to see he was concerned and flicked my eyes to John as he cradled Jacob in his arms.
That was the most concern I'd ever seen John have for any of his boys. Did it make me horrible to think that? John didn't worry about his boys much. He loved them and no one could doubt it, but he always had me worrying and caring for them. Or Polly. I think we spent more time parenting John's children than he did. It was nice to see he was worried and even fearful when his children were in danger.
"She'll be fine." We moved and Tommy lifted me as he made his way out of the warehouse. It was cold or maybe I had been cold the whole time and had only realised then. I think I was shivering and I didn't know if it was because we were outside or because Tommy was so warm and I was cold.
I wasn't making much sense to myself and I was tired. And hungry.
"Tommy," I whispered, pushing closer to his warmth as he climbed into a car. I think it was a car. It moved softly like a car.
"Shh, shh, we're going home," he muttered, pressing a kiss to my head as he held me closer. "We're going home."
I could feel him staring at me. No doubt with those stern blue eyes of his as he took a drag on his cigarette. I could smell the smoke as it danced in the room and as the smell reached my nose I was reminded of the pounding my head was doing.
My shoulders hurt and the bottom of my back was aching. My throat was screaming at me and I was fighting the urge to be sick. It was definitely time to wake up.
Shifting in the bed, I hissed out in pain as I pushed myself so I was sitting against the headboard. My shoulders and arms would be hurting for a while. The double vision and pain in my head came to a stop as my eyes settled onto Tommy. He was sitting on a chair by the end of the bed.
The throbbing in my head seemed to pick up as my eyes adjusted to the brightness of the room and I bent my head down and rubbed at the sides.
"Here," Tommy said, rising from his chair and a second later a glass of water was pressing against my lips. "You passed out before we got home and Polly couldn't wake you. I've been trying to get you to drink something all night." I didn't have to look at him to know he was concerned. He wasn't even bothering to keep it out of his voice.
"I think I'm gonna be sick," I mumbled, pushing the water away and leaning over the side of the bed. Tommy moved fast and pushed a bucket into my hands as I coughed up whatever was left in my stomach. I could feel it burn my throat and couldn't help but cry as my stomach squeezed and cramped. I knew there wasn't anything for me to throw up.
The last time I remembered eating was yesterday morning and I knew I was thirsty too. I was being sick because I was hungry. It explained the headache.
"Shh." Tommy shifted onto the bed behind me, easing the bucket out of my hands and setting in on the floor. He brought me back against his chest and ran his fingers through my hair, pressing a kiss to the side of my head. "Polly's making you some toast." He was rocking me gently in his arms. It was unnerving to be wrapped in Tommy 's arms as he tried to comfort me.
It wasn't weird being comforted by my husband, it was just weird because Tommy didn't do this sort of thing. He didn't show his feelings and he didn't cuddle in bed early in the morning.
He was changing.
"I'm sorry," I whispered, turning my face so it was resting against his neck. I knew this was my fault.
"You don't have to say sorry. This is not your fault. I should have never let Graves get to you," he said and the frustration was clear as his throat rumbled against my head. "He's playing dirty."
"Was it part of your plan?" I asked, pushing away from him and taking a good look at his face. I didn't really care if he planned for me to be taken. I was more worried about Jacob. He knew I was out with Jacob and if he meant for the boy to be taken, I would rip his balls off. "For Graves to take me?"
"No."
"I don't care if it was, Tommy, I just wish you wouldn't have involved Jacob. He's too young to be involved in any of your plans and I swear to God, Thomas, if you intended for him to be taken, I will rip your—"
"Ellie, honey, it wasn't part of my plan," Tommy said, taking my head in his hands and locking eyes with me. I trusted him. I knew he would never intentionally put me in harm's way and he would never let any harm come to one of the boys.
"I know," I whispered leaning forward and pressing my lips to his. My chest started to shake and as I brought my hands to his chest, they were trembling. "I was so scared," I sobbed, thankful I was here with him. What would I have done if something happened to Jacob? They could have hurt him and worse things could have happened to me. I shook my head not wanting to think about what could have happened.
"I'm sorry," he mumbled, pulling me closer to him as he pressed a kiss to my hair. "This was never part of the plan."
"I deserve to know your plan, Tommy. You've had proof how dangerous it can be by keeping me in the dark." I pulled away so I could look at his face. If this wasn't enough to prove to him that he couldn't trust me with his secrets I didn't know what was. "I didn't say anything to Graves. I might not have known anything but I would never betray you like that."
Tommy sighed as he brought his hand to his head. Perhaps he had a headache from all the stress. Normally at this point, he'd be downing his stress in whiskey and cigarettes. As he pulled his hand away from his face I took in the dark circles under his eyes and noticed how tired he was. I understood why he was doing this. Digging through the mud of his past, crawling through the hardships of his upbringing, trying to give his family a better life. It was honourable, but it was destroying him.
He'd spent four years fighting in France. Four years of his life in hell and now he wanted to bring the fight to Birmingham. This plan with Graves was only the beginning, he already told me he had his sights on Billy Kimber. This had only just started, when did he plan for it to end?
"Graves signed a contract stating I'd get to run one of my horses every race day and in return, we'll give him a profit of twenty per cent on any money we make."
"What else?" I knew that wasn't the only thing Graves would demand. Twenty per cent was nothing. There had to be something else.
"On occasion, we'll help him out by giving him protection or moving things for him." He said it with such confidence that I wanted to stop and believe that was all Graves asked for.
"Thomas Shelby, if you think I'm naive enough to believe a man like Graves is using you for your manpower then you are seriously thick in the head," I snapped, grabbing his chin in my hand and forcing him to keep his eyes on mine. "What. Else."
He rolled his eyes before answering.
"There's this man he needs me to deal with."
"And by deal you mean kill, right? He's asked you to kill someone?" At the slight nod, I scrambled off him and clenched my fists. "For fuck sake, Tommy!"
"Ellie, listen," he started, rising from the bed only to stop at the glare I was giving him.
"Why are you doing this?" I ran my hands over my face in frustration. This was the sort of thing Tommy would do and he was a fool to get it written and bound in a contract. "You're going to be the death of me, Thomas Shelby."
"You asked to know my plan," he said and for a minute I wanted to smack him because he was wearing that stupid smirk of his.
"I can't speak to you about this right now." I frowned at him as I made my way over to my wardrobe and pulled out a clean dress. "You drive me crazy," I grumbled, pulling my nightdress off thankful that someone had thought to change me before putting me to bed last night.
Tommy's fingers against my shoulder stopped me from pulling on my dress as he turned me to face him. His thumb brushed over my shoulder and I knew he wasn't happy about the bruise.
"It's nothing, Tommy," I said, taking his hand in mine and pressing a kiss to his knuckles. "We have more important things to deal with."
"Yeah? What's that then?" he asked, letting his hand run down my arm until it ran over my wedding ring.
"Do you think any of your horses are ready to be in the races?" The slight twitch of Tommy's jaw was answer enough. "Yeah, I thought so. Who do you have in mind?"
As I looked over the horse, I was sure Tommy had hit his head. It had barely been training for four weeks and he wanted to send him out for a race.
"When's your first race?"
"February," he said and I knew he was holding back. I snapped my head to him and crossed my arms over my chest as I tried to resist hitting him. "The fifteenth," he added, shuffling away from me as I tried to hit him.
"Jesus Christ, Tommy. There's no way he's gonna win. How do you think I can train him when his first race is in three weeks?" There were times I wished I'd never married him and we'd only been married for twenty days.
"He doesn't need to win, he just needs to race." Tommy pulled out a cigarette, rolling it in his fingers as he glanced at Dusty as Maddox went through his training. "I don't need them to win yet."
"Has this got something to do with Billy Kimber?"
"We go after him when we've finished with Graves. We don't need to bother him yet." Tommy stepped closer to me as I bit my lip and turned away from him. "What is it?"
"It's Prince Alfred's first race on Saturday," I said, remembering that Tommy said he'd go with me.
"And?"
"It's at Cheltenham and Kimber's going to be there." I paused, turning back to face him and scrunched up my nose. "Do you want to risk going?"
"Aye, I'll go. Don't you worry about Kimber, I'll have it sorted," he said, leaning down and pressing a kiss to my lips. "I'm gonna head off to the Garrison."
"I'll come with you." I followed after him only to bump into his chest as he spun to face me. Stepping back I flashed him a small smile knowing what was about to come out of his mouth.
"Why?"
"Don't worry, Tommy, I'm not following you because I don't trust you with the barmaid," I teased, pressing my hand against his chest. My smile widened at the furrow between his brows.
"The Garrison doesn't have a barmaid," he said, slipping his cigarette in between his lips and lighting it.
"Oh, did I not tell you that I decided to help Harry out again until all this shit blows over with Graves?"
"Elsie," Tommy warned, blowing out smoke and his annoyance as he frowned at me. Patting him on the chest, I pressed on my tiptoes and placed a kiss on his cheek before walking around him and over to his car. "Elsie, you're not going back to work there. It's not happening."
"Don't you remember, Tommy? I'm telling you what's going to happen."
Thank you for reading xx
What did you think of the scene between Tommy and Elsie after she wakes up?
