The next hour passed with agonising slowness. As Saoirse sat in the back of the car, the tension was palpable. Her leg bobbed up and down nervously and Tommy had still said not a word to her since his explosion after the phone call from Joe. She wished with everything inside of her that he would tell her everything was going to be alright, but she knew he couldn't. She wished with all of her heart that he could somehow come with her because she knew that without a shadow of a doubt he would be able to keep her safe and get Dylan back.

Clutching his little teddy bear in her hands, she tried to bank her fears about coming face to face with Joe after what he had done to her. She was terrified that he would do it again and this time she wouldn't fight him, not if it meant she was going to get her baby back. However, even as she thought about his hands on her and his breath against her skin, she swallowed down the urge to vomit and her eyes welled up.

The car came to a stop about a five-minute walk away from the location, and once the engine was silenced nobody moved or spoke for a moment. It was Tommy who broke the quiet first when he let go of the steering wheel that he had been clutching for dear life along the drive, and turned to look at his wife.

"I want you to take this," he murmured, and Saoirse looked down at the gun in his hand with trepidation.

"I can't," she shook her head. " I don't know how to use it. "

Tommy showed her patiently the basics of using the gun but Saoirse wasn't really paying attention to it, rather she was paying attention to her husband who she knew felt helpless in the situation. She knew that he was used to being in control and when that was taken from him he didn't know how to react, almost like a caged animal who was so stressed that they couldn't see the open door right in front of them. Saoirse herself was terrified of what she faced but she couldn't let Tommy see that otherwise he would never let her go, and then they might never get Dylan back.

"Tuck it in your pocket so you can get to it quickly," Tommy suggested. " With any luck he won't think to check that you've got anything on your person. "

Saoirse nodded, concealing the gun in her coat pocket and just as she was about to tell Tommy everything would be alright, he grabbed her hand and spoke first.

"Be safe, ok?" his voice cracked. " I love you. "

"I love you too," she whispered, blinking back tears.

The rain had become a light drizzle as Saoirse walked the short walk to the warehouse, and she welcomed the way it soaked through her clothes. It reminded her that she needed to keep her wits about her. Each step she took closer towards the warehouse felt heavier than the last until she almost couldn't go any further. But go further she did because all she could think about was her son. She pushed open the door and was assaulted by a surprising amount of warmth and the faint light of a lantern. Her heart pounded wildly and she swallowed, unable to think of anything other than the feel of Joe's hands around her throat and his fingers against her skin. Dylan, she reminded herself. This was for her Dylan and she would face Joe a hundred times again if it meant getting her son back.

"So, you came then."

She turned at the sound of his voice and forced herself to meet his eyes. They were not angry like she had expected; instead, they were soft and warm like the Joe she had first met. No. He wasn't anything like the Joe she had first met. He was a monster and she should have expected he would try and lull her into a false sense of security with a kind smile, but it wouldn't last.

"Don't move a single step closer," he ordered her and without warning he began patting her down, shaking his head and tutting when he found the barely concealed firearm. "Oh Saoirse, I can't decide if I'm disappointed or impressed."

"Where's my son?" she asked, standing upright. She wouldn't cower down to him again. Never again.

"He's fine, I told you," Joe smiled.

"I want him, give him to me now," she demanded.

"In due course," Joe smiled that sickly sweet smile again. " Come and sit down. Let ' s talk and catch up first, eh? "

"Catch up?" she scoffed. " You must be out of your mind if you think I'm going to sit here and play all happy with you. I came here for my son and you will give him to me now. "

"My, my," Joe smirked. " Sweet little Saoirse has finally grown a backbone. I wonder if you're actually as brave as you really think you are."

His hand reached out and wrapped itself gently around her throat, squeezing slightly as if testing her for a reaction. Defying every instinct that she had to scream and cry and beg him not to hurt her, she stood as still as a statue and let her eyes stare into his with no reaction. It seemed she had done the right thing because Joe dropped his hand and grinned.

"He's over here," he nodded to another room behind them.

She followed him without a second thought and when she saw a little crate stuffed with blankets, she ran to it, bursting into tears of relief when she saw those sweet little pouting lips and that button nose.

"Dylan," she whispered, scooping him up into her arms and breathing in his comforting baby scent. "Oh my sweet boy, I'm so sorry my darling."

"I told you he was fine," Joe said. " I would never hurt a wean. "

"You said you would never hurt me, but you did," she hissed.

"That was… unfortunate," he sighed. " You can't honestly blame me for the way I behaved back then. I had my suspicions that Tommy Shelby was going to try and get his claws into you from the second you took that job and I was right, eh? He turned your head with these fancy ideas but he doesn't love you like I do. No one could love you like I do."

"You don't know the meaning of love," she spat, her bottom lip wobbling. " The things you did to me , you're worse than a monster. You're evil."

"I'll let that slide because you're emotional about having your boy back," Joe narrowed his eyes and she saw a tiny glimpse of his real persona in them. " But you have to understand that I didn't want to do those things, Saoirse. I just couldn't help it. When I saw his hands and his mouth on you, I was enraged. He was touchin' what belonged to me and I couldn't have that."

"I didn't belong to you!" she shouted angrily. " I'm not something to be owned, I'm a person. "

"That's where you're wrong, Saoirse," he said sadly, lifting his hand to trace his fingers down the scar on her face. " This means you belong to me. "

"No," she shook her head.

"Yes, Saoirse. You belong to me and you always will."

Saoirse closed her eyes as bile rose in her throat when her mind flashed back to that night. He was trying to get inside her head. He was trying to manipulate her just like he had done so many times during their relationship.

" He looks like his father, doesn't he?" he said suddenly, his breath warm upon her cheek.

She opened her eyes to find him stroking Dylan's head gently and she wanted to scream at him. She wanted to tear off his hand so he could never touch her son again. But she didn't. She just watched him like one watches a predator, trying to suss out its next move in the hopes of surviving. She would survive him. She had done it once and she would do it again.

"I think I will be able to overlook that in time."

"What do you mean?" she eyed him warily.

"Put the baby down and we'll talk."

"No," she shook her head firmly. " He stays right here with me. "

"And I'm sayin' that you'll put him down and we'll talk," Joe's nostrils flared ever so slightly.

"I said no," she gritted her teeth.

Joe let out a sigh and she could see the inner turmoil he had to refrain from losing his temper. It was palpable. The palm of his hand met with her face before she could even begin to process the movement, and Joe took the opportunity to snatch Dylan from her grasp.

"I didn't want to do that, Saoirse," he shook his head sadly, moving back when she reached her arms out for the baby. " But hopefully now you'll listen to me, eh? "

"Alright," she agreed. " Just don't hurt him. "

"I already told you I'd never hurt a child."

Her eyes didn't leave Joe's broad form for even a moment as he lay Dylan gently in his make-shift crib. That was the only thing about this situation that Saoirse could find a positive in. Dylan was unharmed and clearly unaffected by the ordeal, and if she had her way he would remain so. When Joe stood back up and turned to face her, she forced herself to look him in the eye.

"I've really missed you," he murmured, cupping her face and running his thumb across her bottom lip. " I've missed everything about you, and I know you think you're in love with Tommy fuckin ' Shelby but you're not. He's brainwashed you into thinkin' that he's saved you, but really he's just imprisoned you in the same way that you accused me of doin'."

"You raped me," she spat. " And you beat me. You sliced open my cheek with a fucking knife. "

"I've already explained to you why I did those things."

"And that makes it alright? Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to carry on living after what you did to me? If it wasn't for Tommy, I would have ended my life just so I didn't have to feel the pain you inflicted on me for the rest of my life."

"What do you want me to say, Saoirse?" Joe huffed. " That I'm sorry and that I wish I could take it back? Because you know what? I don't. I'm glad I did it. I'm glad that I made you hurt because I hurt. I did nothin' but love you and you repaid me by kissin' another man, but it's possible for us to start again and get past this."

"You what?" she scoffed.

"Let's leave this shitty place and start again, far away," he whispered excitedly, grabbing her face with both hands now, his eyes wide with excitement. " Me, you, and the baby. I'll be a good dad to him, I promise you that. I'll love him like he's my own. "

"He doesn't need you; he's already got a dad who adores him," she snarled. " And you're truly deranged if you think I would go anywhere with you and most certainly not with my child. "

"You don't mean that, Saoirse," Joe closed his eyes in pain, taking a long deep breath through his nose. "We can be a real family, the three of us. And if we can't be together in this life then we will in the next."

"What are you talking about?" Saoirse felt her stomach drop suddenly.

"This whole place is covered in petrol," he grinned menacingly, pulling a packet of matches out of his trouser pocket. "I was willing to give you a chance, Saoirse but you've ruined it for yourself and for us. I promise though that wherever we end up after this, I'll look after the two of you."

"Joe, please," she sobbed, trying to wrestle the packet from him. He snatched them away easily but she didn't give up. " I didn't mean it, ok. I do want you. I do want us to be together, but I'm just scared of what Tommy will do. Please, please don't do this, I'm begging you."

"You're just sayin' that."

"I'm not," she shook her head, desperately clutching at his cheeks in an attempt to force him to believe her. " Joe, I love you. I've never stopped loving you. Please, put the matches away and don't do this. Put them away and I promise you that me and Dylan will go anywhere you want. Please."

Joe's eyes bore into hers and his jaw clenched as he thought about it. Saoirse tried to smile reassuringly and rubbed her thumbs across his cheeks. Anything to try and make him believe what she was saying. She almost fell to her knees with relief when he slipped the box back into his pocket and smiled at her.

"I knew you still loved me," he murmured, bending down to kiss her.

Saoirse wanted to bite him, kick, slap, anything to get him off her, but the soft cooing noises of Dylan coming from behind Joe made her go along with this disgusting pretence. Just a little while longer. She could do it. She wound her trembling arms around his neck and his lips moved to kiss her neck at the same time as his hands brushed against her breasts. She closed her eyes and knew it was now or never. Taking a deep breath, she pulled the tiny penknife out of her sleeve and plunged it into Joe's neck before she lost her nerve. And again. And again. He fell to his knees, dragging her down with him as his hands grasped at her throat; squeezing until she couldn't breathe. She gasped for air like a fish out of water and stars began to swim around her peripheral vision as his hands continued to crush the life out of her. She could hear Dylan start to cry and she reached her hand out towards the little crate, trying with all her might to reach him. Everything was going black and she knew she wasn't going to make it. But no sooner had that torturous thought crossed her mind did those hands loosen and she felt Joe's dead weight upon her body. She pushed him off her and just stared at his corpse lying on the dirty ground.

She had killed him. She had killed a man. Remorse wasn't something she felt though. Instead, all she felt was relief. He could never hurt her again. Scrambling up to her feet, she gathered Dylan up to her chest, tears of relief and adrenaline dripping onto his soft head. Then she ran. She ran as fast her legs could carry her.

"Saoirse!" Tommy was out of the car and down the road the second he saw her in the rearview mirror.

She was covered in blood and he had never felt such terror in all his life; not even the night he had found her in the flat after Joe had assaulted her.

"It's not mine, it's not mine," she sobbed as she all but knocked him over in her haste to get to him. " It ' s not mine, Tommy. "

"Dylan?" Oh God, please let Dylan be alright, he prayed.

"Dylan's fine," Saoirse promised, shifting the blanket around the baby so Tommy could see that his son was completely unharmed. "I'm fine. We're both fine. He's not going to hurt us again, Tommy. I couldn't let him hurt us again."

"Saoirse, what have you done?" Tommy breathed, cupping her face, still unable to believe she was alive and uninjured, standing in front of him like a vision.

"He's dead," she croaked. " I killed him. "

"It's alright. It's alright. Arthur'll go to the warehouse and get rid of the body," Tommy spoke to himself more than to her, before turning his attention back to his amazingly strong wife. "I thought I was going to lose you."

"I told you you wouldn't," she whispered, pressing her cheek to his. " You ' re never going to lose either of us. I love you Tommy, and I want to enjoy the rest of our lives now without worrying about the past. The past is over for good and our future is all I care about."

"The future," Tommy let out a shaky breath, his hands stroking his son's fluffy hair as his wobbling lip's met Saoirse's.

The future was theirs and they were going to grasp it with both hands.