Chapter seventeen: Shadowland

Kate hates this. She hates worrying about someone that she definitely doesn't want to have any feelings for. Mr. Shelby is her employer and she had promised Grace that she'd keep an eye on him. Those were not satisfactory enough reasons to worry about a man who seemed to argue with her daily. However, Kate knew that she didn't stay because of the money or the promise. She stayed because of Charlie. She loved that little boy and she didn't know how she'd cope without him in her life once she was in a position to move out of this house.

When Kate comes down the stairs in the late hours of the morning, she sees Mary coming out of the library. As if sensing Kate's thoughts, Mary states. "Mr. Shelby is back." However, the relief pulsing through her is short lived. "He's hurt. You need to look at him."

Her eyes bulge. "Badly hurt?"

"Yes, but that's not the worst of it. He fired all of the male staff and he gave explicit orders that Charles is to be never left on his own."

Kate frowns as his heart rate speeds up. "Has someone threatened Charlie?"

"I don't know. But, there's men coming from Birmingham…and he won't say why." the nanny comes down with Charlie, who reaches for Kate. Just this once, she does her best to ignore the outstretched arms. But she does squeeze his hand comfortingly as she focuses on Mary. "If you're going to talk with him, do it soon. He's going back to London."

Kate groans. "I think Grace asked me to bite off a bit more than I can chew with him."

"Chess." Charlie states.

She smiles and kisses his nose. "I'll be back soon. I need to talk to your father." Charlie lets out a loud whine as she moves towards the library and pushes the door open.

Thomas is hunched over in a chair, talking to someone on the phone. "Tonight." She can't his face, but his breathing is ragged. "Your place. Ten PM."

Thomas hangs up the phone and Kate steps towards him. "Mr. Shelby?" Thomas suddenly bolts up from his chair, stumbles around behind his desk. Suddenly, he starts vomiting into the bin! Kate pulls out a handkerchief and hurries towards him. "Mr. Shelby!" Kate gets around in front of him as he spits into the bin. She kneels down to his level, holding his hand firmly on the desk as he empties the final contents of his stomach before looking weakly up at her. She gasps as she sees his face. His coloring is terrible, his face looks misshapen and there's a cut on the right side of his face that's still bleeding.

"Oh my God!" She helps him straighten up. "Thomas, what happened?"

"Doesn't matter." She goes to examine his head, but he waves her away. "Don't."

"You're injured, I need to see."

"Later." He pulls away. "I'm going to London."

"No!" She says firmly as she gets in front of him, blocking him from exiting the library. "No, you're not going anywhere. You in no condition."

He exhales. "I've got to go."

"Thomas, you're exhibiting signs of a skull fracture!" She declares. "You need to go to a hospital. Now!"

He shakes his head. "I can't."

"You tell me why you can't and it better be a damn good reason." She states. "It's very dangerous not to go to the hospital."

"I have to." he inhales. "My assassination attempt…failed." Her eyes narrowed. "If I don't get to London…they'll kill my family, including Charlie." Her heart jumped in her chest. "I need to go."

She bites her lip for a long time before nodding. "Alright, give me the car keys."

"What?"

"You've been injured, you're not driving."

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not and the only way I'm letting you walk out of this building without going with you. It's an emergency, which is the only reason why I'm conceding. Now, give me the keys!" this time, he doesn't argue with her. He hands her the keys. "Right, let me go up and get my kit, I've got some morphine which will help with the pain. Alright?"

"Thank you."

The car ride to London was difficult. Kate kept forcing herself to make small talk, just to keep Thomas somewhat awake. Thomas was in extreme pain and it was torture for her to watch him in this condition, but he had to do this. Once he made his two calls, she'd get him to the nearest hospital. His first stop, to her dismay is to the Petrovna house. She parks the car, gets out her kit to give in another small dose of morphine. By the time she's made it around to his side of the car, he's already snorted some cocaine.

She shakes her head as she puts the needle and morphine back in the bag. "Ugh, you bastard." She snaps. "Snorting cocaine. You could have just said something."

"Need to be alert." He's now slurring his words slightly. "So I can make my apology to father Hughes."

"Father Hughes?" she helps him out of the car. "Oh, my God, Thomas Shelby! Is that what this is about? Thomas, I would shoot the first person to try to take him!"

He smirks slightly as he adjusts his cap. "Not that easy. Come on."

Kate exhales as she holds tightly onto his waist, helping him up the long gravel walk way. Thomas is winded, sweating hard and shaking. They barely make it into the house and Kate is now getting seriously concerned for him. The two servants inside look stunned by his appearance.

She speaks for him. "Mr. Shelby is here to attend dinner, on behalf of father Hughes."

"I won't be long." Thomas finds some inner strength and pulls himself upright. "See that she's comfortable."

"What? I can't let you walk in like that-

"I have to. I won't be long."

She groans. "Please, don't drink anything alcoholic."

He mutters something as he walks into the dining room. The staff members look on curiously at her as she paces in the small area. It may have been five minutes, but it felt excruciatingly longer. Thomas Shelby truly had a strength and willpower unlike any other man she'd ever met. One of the men finally offers her a chair to sit down in. the moment she sits, is the moment Thomas Shelby come stumbling out of the dining room and she is on her feet again to help him.

"Right, now the hospital?"

"No."

She exhales in exasperation. "Thomas, please."

"Ada's. Then hospital."

"Alright," she holds onto him tightly. "but I really am getting scared for you."

"I'm fine."

She wanted to correct him, but didn't dare. Whatever it was that was keeping him moving, she wasn't going to shatter the illusion. If she did, Thomas could go into a state of shock, or worse. If he had the willpower to fight it, she was going to be there to help hold him upright. Thomas had to direct her to Ada's house; it was a terrifying experience for her. He was in semi-aware of what was going on around him. His slurring was starting to get worse. When they finally pulled in front of Ada's house, she could have burst into tears. Immediately after parking, she ran up to the door and rang the doorbell. She turned back to help him out of the car, to find that he's already out and approaching her!

"Wait a minute." Kate hurries up and catches him as he braces himself against the iron fence. "You could have just waited a minute."

"I'm not an invalid."

"No you're not, but the goal here is keep you from inflicting more damage to yourself."

The door opens and there stands Ada, her face going pale in an instance as Thomas stumbles forward. "Oh my God Tommy."

"Are they here?" he questions as he moves forward, again finding strength from somewhere.

"Yeah." Ada looks to her. "Is he-

He cuts Ada off. "Do you have cocaine?"

No. Tommy?" Kate keeps a hold of Thomas as he moves towards the stairs, breathing heavily. "What's going on?"

"It's bad Ada," Kate says. "it's really bad. But unfortunately," Kate tightens her grip on his waist and helps him up the stairs. "he needs to get through this. Do you have any water?"

"Yes, I'll bring it!"

"I don't need," he rasps. "you babying me."

"I'm not babying, I'm helping you." She retorts sharply. "I'll let you go when we reach the top of the stairs, but, you need help."

"Stop talking." She lets out a hmmm sound. "Not a word."

"I didn't say anything!"

They make it up to the top of the stairs, with Ada hurrying up behind them. "Which room Ada?" he asks as Ada hands Kate the water.

"The one on the right." Thomas moves off towards the room. Ada falls in step beside her. "What's going on?"

"Ada, as soon as this meeting is over, he has to get to a hospital."

"But why is he-

"Charlie." She says quietly.

Ada's eyes widen and she hurries to catch up to Thomas. She passes him to push the door open and allows Thomas to enter. "Tommy, this is the special adviser to the soviet consul."

Thomas makes his way to a chair, sitting down in it. She notices how he spreads his hand on the table, leaning forward slightly. Thomas wastes no time cutting to the heart of the matter. "Members of the British establishment and exiled white Russians are planning to rob armored cars from a factory in Birmingham."

"We know about the robbery," the man says almost flippantly. "we have an informant."

Thomas cuts him off. "No, your informant is working for them. They want you to know about the robbery." Kate and Ada watch him closely as the man translates. Thomas clicks his tongue and shakes his head lightly. "Your informant is working to their instruction."

"Why would they want us to know?" the man inquires, but she can see how he's curious now.

"They want you to…they want you to stop the robbery." He inhales as he brings his head upright. That's when Kate sees the blood has again started dripping down to his collar. "They want you to commit a violent act on British soil.

"Tommy," Ada asks as she leans forward. "do you want water?"

Kate hands Thomas the glass of water, but he pushes it aside. She exhales and reaches into her handkerchief, before dipping it in the water. "A violent act on British soil," he collapses forward slightly, pulling himself up. His face is now covered in sweat. "to force the British government to break off diplomatic relations." He sniffs deeply as Kate wipes his neck, he shudders slightly and she tries to keep her touch light. "That's the game." He nods his head forwards slightly. The robbery in Birmingham is just the bait."

Why are you telling us this?

"Because my family are the ones who will be sacrificed if you decide to blow up the train."

Thomas now begins shaking; now her panic level has hit the top. She takes his hand in hers and flips over so she can take his pulse. His skin, though sweaty, is cold and clammy. In addition, his pulse is fast. "Thomas, I need you to look at me." he can't bring his head up. She kneels down on the floor and looks up at him. "Thomas, can you open your eyes?" he can't. She stands and looks at Ada. "We need to go, now. He's going into shock."

"The consult wants to know who you are." The man inquires.

Thomas is too gone to answer, so Ada speaks for him. "He's Tommy Shelby." both men turn towards her in acknowledgement. "You can take his word."

"Ada?" Thomas slumps forward slightly and Ada is out of her chair.

"He's also been badly injured and he should be in a hospital right now, or he will die. He's risking his life to bring you this information!"

"Tommy." Ada says as she grips a hold of his left side to help him out of the chair.

"I'll help Ada." She says as she grips his right side, she allows Thomas the freedom of his arm so he can see his way. She hopes that it's because his eyes are too swollen and he can't see out of them.

However, when they make it halfway down the stairs, it becomes clear that Thomas's body has had too much. "Stop, stop, Ada, Ada, stop." Thomas starts to go down and Kate goes down with him, as does Ada, carefully watching his head.

"Okay, okay." Ada looks to her. "What's the matter with him Kate?"

"A lot."

"Drive me to a hospital Ada." Thomas interjects. "If I'm not conscious when I get there, tell them I have a fractured skull, concussion and internal bleeding." Kate gasps and very carefully removes his hat. "I think I may have hemorrhaged."

"Tommy."

"Ada, go on. Be quick, because I can't see."

"ok." Ada nods and stands up, fighting back tears, shooting Kate a worried look as she gently examines his face. Now, that his cap is off, Kate can finally see the damage that's been done to his face and Kate now begins checking for anything that could be controlled now.

"I can't f**king see." He slurs slightly.

"That's because your eyes are closed, Thomas." she says calmly. "You can't see with your eyes closed."

"Except for you dad." Kate stiffens slightly. "I can see you."

She looks up just as his head lolls back against the wall. "Thomas, I need you to look at me." His eyes close again. "Don't you dare go unconscious on me! You need to stay awake until we make it to the hospital."

"I can't see, Kate."

"Thomas, I need you to talk to me," she says firmly. "tell me what you see."

"Why?"

"Because of Charlie." That works. "I know it's hard and it's painful, but Thomas, you have to be there for Charlie. He lost his mother, he can't lose you too."

He groans and attempts to sit up. "F**k, I can't move Kate."

"That's alright. I'm not asking you to move, Thomas. Just to stay awake. Can you do that?" he shakes his head. "Thomas, you're seeing your father. Don't go anywhere unless you see Grace." That makes him opens his eyes and his eyes are glazed over. "That's it. Stay with me."

"I can't see you."

"Here." Kate takes his hands and places them on the side of her face. "I'm right here. I'm not leaving you Thomas. I'll stay with you until you're better. I promise."

When Ada helped Kate get Thomas into the car, Kate would later recall that this was the exact moment that things between the two of them changed. And it was fortunately a change for the better.

Idcam: Well, she still did not get the answer that she wanted to know about where she stands, but things are slowly changing between the two of them. This chapter took a while to type up because it was so long.

MeriemDjez: That little boy has the two of them tied around his little finger. Her father will be making an appearance, but this story will have to deal with drama.