Chapter twenty-six: Deeper understanding
That night,
Kate couldn't sleep. It was almost midnight and her mind was going a thousand thoughts a second. After tossing and turning she'd finally come downstairs to polish the tables, which always calmed her down. Except, the note Thomas had sent to her via Finn was burning a hole in her pocket.
Dear Kate,
Something has come up and I can't come to you. I'll see you tomorrow once I've gotten this business taken care of.
Thomas
Kate groaned. She appreciated that he was keeping her out of it, but she hoped that he was safe. She'd pulled out that note every fifteen minutes it seemed.
BANG!
The sound of a gun going off next door caused her to jump. BANG! Kate gripped her robe and hurried towards the little window that separated the pub and restaurant. BANG! Kate opened the window to see Thomas wrestling with a man holding a gun! Both men were trying to get control over the gun and Grace was pointing a gun at the other man.
Without thinking, Kate ran to the hostess table and grabbed the loaded gun she kept under there. Since she was attacked, she made sure that several loaded guns were stored in various places. She unlocked the door of her restaurant and ran into the pub. She burst in, gun raised as she took in the scene.
Grace was lying on the ground in the back; her forehead was bleeding. Thomas and the other man were now wrestling on the ground. "Grace?" She calls as she attempts to get past the two men thrashing about on the floor. "Are you shot?"
"I'm fine!" Kate manages to get to her and pulls her into an upright position.
"Here, you're bleeding, let me help you." The sounds from the struggle change and Kate glances up to see Thomas is being suffocated and strangled by the other man! Heart in her throat, Kate leaves Grace and heads towards the man. "Let him go!" the man ignores her and she can hear Thomas gasping for breath. She cocked the pistol causing him to look up at her as it's pressed to the crown of his head. "Let him go or I'll blow off your head!"
The man instantly loosens his grip and Thomas elbows him hard in the balls several times! Kate steps back as Thomas breaks free and gets on top of the man, head butting him hard in the face. Thomas head buts the man again, causing something to break. The man gags before spitting blood into Thomas's face. Kate stands up, intending to go back to Grace, until Thomas grabs the bronze spittoon and begins smashing the man in the face!
Kate is stunned, without words as Thomas begins pummeling the man to death with it. It's the first time Kate truly sees the savagery inside of Thomas. As the man's face disintegrates into a mass of blood and broken bones, Kate can't stand by anymore.
"Thomas! Thomas!" Kate shouts, causing him to look up from the body. "He's dead!" she leaves the gun on the table as she keels beside him and places a hand over his. Her other hand covers the blood covered spittoon as she lowers her voice. "He's gone."
He exhales raggedly and looks up at her, his breathing deep and violent. This is the first time she sees that bit to him that he's kept hidden. The soldier, the will and fight to survive. The wild look in his eyes informs her that he still has his demons from the war and this event triggered it. She should be frightened, but not with him.
"Breathe." He casts the spittoon to the side, but she keeps her hand over his as he pulls himself up from the ground. He inhales deeply, fighting for control, then, he pulls her up from the ground. She reaches up and gently wipes some of the blood of his face. He's still breathing quite hard as she gently turns him away from the body. "I'll be back, go see to Grace."
Thomas begrudgingly heads towards her. Kate goes calmly into the backroom to get a basin filled with water and a few rags. Grace is crying, causing Kate to feel some sympathy for her, knowing she's not ready for this lifestyle. Had Kate not gone to the war, she wouldn't have been ready for this lifestyle or for that man.
Kate comes out of the room, to find Grace hugging Thomas. He looks at her, his eyes silently begging her to believe him that this wasn't his fault. Kate simply offers him a faint smile. Grace had a traumatic moment; she can allow her to hold onto Thomas for a moment.
Kate checks the one body seated. Grace had shot him through the heart. After closing the man's eyes, Kate kneels by the second man's face…or what was left of it. She dips the cloth in the water and begins to wipe away as much of the blood as she can.
The door opening causes her to look up as several police officers enter the pub. The blood chills in Kate's body as Thomas turns towards the men. "It was supposed to be the sixth chime!" Thomas steps towards the one man, Kate remembers from her visit to the station, and shouts in his face. "You were supposed to come on the f**king sixth chime!" the man says nothing; he just looks down at her, disdain on his face.
"What the f**k are you doing?" the officer demanded.
"I'm washing his face." She said calmly. "Old habit, if you'll pardon me. I was nurse during the war."
He looks to Thomas, who straightens and looks outwards. "I refused to surrender." Again, Kate sees the soldier in him. She wonders if he's aware that he's drawn himself up to stand at attention. "They fought well and were brave men."
"He looks like he was killed by a wild f**king animal." The officer growls at Thomas. Again, he doesn't react, just gazes ahead of him. "Still…this never happened. They were never here. Who cares?"
"Get these bodies out of here." Thomas states quietly.
"Alrighty then? Making the lady uncomfortable?" he glances at Kate. "I'll leave you two lovebirds to it, eh?"
Kate straightens up, holding firmly onto the bowl, having cleaned the man's 'face' to the best of her ability. The officers pick up the bodies of the two men and carry them out of the pub. Kate sets the bowl on the counter as Thomas's face drops, his eyes tightly closed. Grace shares a worried glance in his direction as well.
"Thomas?" she says softly, causing him to bring his head up and look wearily at her. Kate knows that dark expression in his eyes all too well. "Why don't you walk Grace home?" he shakes his head. "She's been hit in the head. I want you to make sure that she makes it home alright."
"Can't leave you alone."
"I'll be fine." she assures him. "I have a gun and once I've cleaned up this blood," he shakes his head. "I'll go back to my place. The blood will set in the wood if I wait until morning. And Grace, helped you, it's the least I can do for her." She leans forward and kisses him, the taste of blood on his lips. He cringes as she breaks the brief kiss, possibly because the blood on him has transferred over to her. He uses the back of his hand to wipe the blood off her lips. "Thank you, now, go on." she encouraged. "I'll be alright."
He turned to Grace, his expression telling Kate that he is thousands of miles away. On a bloody battlefield that never could completely walk away from. She hopes that given time, he'll be able to walk away from it.
"You didn't lock the door." Kate spins around from where she's scrubbing her robe in the kitchen sink. She shivers as Thomas stands in the doorway, looking at her.
"I think," she wrings out her robe. "part of me knew that you'd be back to check on me." She drains the water from the sink and leaves her robe on the other side of the sink. She reaches for a towel and dries her hands. "I just wasn't expecting you back this soon. Are you alright?"
"I'm fine." he exhales deeply. He's still shaken, but a lot calmer than the last time she saw him. "I'm sorry."
She places the towel on the counter as she steps towards him. "For what?"
"You having to see that."
"I saw a war Thomas." she says gently. "As awful as it is for me to admit it, I've seen a lot worse than that."
"Now, you've seen me."
He sounds upset because she's seen that side of him. Almost as if he's afraid, that she can't accept that side of him. However, she has accepted that side of him. What she'd seen tonight he'd taken care to hide it from her. But seeing it had finally given her the complete picture of what kind of a man Thomas Shelby really was. It hadn't pushed her away from him through, it drew her closer to him. She'd never seen him more vulnerable than tonight.
Kate nods. "Yes, but…I've always known that side of you was there."
"I need to know something." He exhaled. "Why did you put the gun to his head Kate? You got right into the fight."
Kate exhaled. "Don't you know the answer to that? Surely you knew that I wasn't going to lose another man that I love, not while there was something I could do."
He looks up at her, life, slowly coming back into his weary blue eyes. "What did you say?"
She steps towards him, placing her hand on his heart. "I said that I love you, Thomas Shelby."
"You do?" she nods as he places his hands on her shoulders. "In spite of what you saw?"
"I told you once before, you don't scare me Thomas." he cocks a brow. "I can take you as you are, all of you."
With that, he leans forward and kisses her gently. She wraps her arms around his neck, stretching upwards to meet his kisses. Kate trembles as he holds onto her like a man holding onto the one thing nailed to the ground as his world turns upside down. Kate does become aware that she is in her nightdress only and there's not much separating them.
Surprisingly, Thomas's hands stay around her shoulders. He kissed her several more times, with a thirst that needs to be quenched, but he does pull away. He buries his face in her neck, causing her to exhale as she feels his lips on her bare shoulder. They stand there for a good minute, just holding onto each other. It's Thomas, who pulls apart first.
He smiles at her, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I'll be going now." He steps away from her towards the door. She nods as she follows him towards the front door. He picks up his hat and turns towards her. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yes." She says nothing until he steps out onto the porch. "And Thomas?" he turns towards her as she stretches up to kiss him on the mouth. He stands still, hardly daring to move for that moment.
He frowns as she steps away, placing her hand on the door. "What was that for?"
"For passing the test." He looks slightly confused for a second before nodding his head. She smiles at him as she starts to close the door. "Goodnight Thomas."
"Goodnight Kate." Kate closes the door and securely locks it behind him. In spite of it being a dark evening, she can't keep the smile off her face. For the first time in a long time, she was deeply in love.
Idcam: Yes, she did, but these two are working through their emotions, especially since we know the pot's about to boil over! Not her father, but Thomas will be having a word with him in the next chapter.
MeriemDjez: Not in this chapter, but he's coming soon.
