12 June 1919

Elizabeth wiped her hands on her apron before removing it, tucking it under the bar and going into the private room. Arthur was stretched out lazily along the bench, a half-drunk bottle of whiskey in front of him, which she'd put there, newly opened, this morning. John was sat in a chair, his gaze unmoving from a spot on the table, not looking up as Elizabeth walked over to him and gave his shoulder a squeeze. She could tell he was nervous.

"You alright John?" She asked, leaning against a spot on the wall between the two brothers.

He nodded, jaw tensed, but didn't say a word. Elizabeth caught Arthur's eye and raised an eyebrow questioningly, but he only shrugged, as clueless as her on the subject of this family meeting.

When John had walked into the Garrison a few minutes ago, he'd rushed straight into the room, head down and eyes averted. He ignored Eliza's greeting, his mind somewhere else entirely. Confused, she'd gone to the bar to get his usual bottle of whiskey, and just as she'd got it down from the shelf, Arthur had knocked the window open and called her inside, explaining John had called a family meeting, his tone of voice hinting at amusement over his brother's demand. Elizabeth had briefly considered protesting, wondering if she had any right to be in the family meeting. Not being blood had never been a problem before the war, but something told her it could be an issue now. Then she rolled her eyes, chastising herself. The only person who would have an issue with her attending the meeting would be Tommy and honestly, she couldn't care less about what he thought at the moment.

It had been over a week since Cheltenham, but they'd still exchanged nothing more than a brief glance at passing, and she had actively avoided any confrontation with him. Polly had insisted she should talk to him about what had happened, Elizabeth had insisted he didn't even deserve her time of day. A part of her though, really wanted an explanation for why he'd done what he had, and yet she also knew that some things are easier left unsaid.

The three of them waited in awkward silence, eyes downcast, until the door opened up again. Polly entered first, gifting Elizabeth a smile as she made herself comfortable in a chair beside John, removing her coat and turning her attention to him. Tommy came in second, shutting the door behind him.

"Alright John, there's only one man guarding the house, so what's troubling you?"

Tommy crossed the room and took his place behind John, leaning back on the shelf that jutted out from the window. And though he focused his attention on his brother, it was clear to Elizabeth what his intentions were. With all the space in the room that he could have chosen to stand in, Tommy had settled right beside her. It seemed he was taking matters into his own hands. He used his position by her side to angle himself against her, the rough fabric of his suit jacket pressing against her bare skin.

She looked briefly at their touching arms and then titled her head up to his face. His blue eyes were focused entirely on John, refusing to meet Elizabeth's gaze, but instead leaning further into her, his way of acknowledging her stare.

She sighed, slumping back against the wall and crossing her arms to bring them away from him. In response to that, Tommy moved his hand slightly, fingers coming up to brush against her elbow, before dropping back down. Elizabeth glared at him. He glanced back, smirking.

John cleared his throat to begin.

"Polly, you know what it's been like- since Martha died."

"God takes the best first." Polly touched his hand gently.

"Truth is, my kids have been running bloody rings around me. Running barefoot with the dogs until all hours." John was struggling to speak, clearly apprehensive about what he had to say.

"Pol," Tommy sighed, "give him ten bob for some shoes. Is that it John?"

Elizabeth couldn't help but jab him with her elbow, giving him a look that said to shut up. Tommy raised his eyebrows at her. She looked away, smiling.

"Tommy, it would be better to do this without you." Polly huffed, glaring at him. She looked back at John, impatient, "now what's your point?"

"What these kids need is a mother... so that's why I'm getting married."

"Fucking hell." Elizabeth whispered under her breath.

The room seemed to freeze a bit. Arthur glanced first at Polly, and then Eliza, a look of alarm on all their faces. Tommy just looked at the ceiling in frustration.

"Does this poor girl know you're going to marry her, or are you going spring it on her all of sudden?" Polly asked with disbelief.

"I've already proposed and she said-" he cleared his throat, "-she said 'yes'."

Elizabeth ran a hand over her face, squeezing the bridge of her nose and shaking her head.

"I think there's a shell about to land and go bang." Tommy muttered, lighting a cigarette.

She couldn't help but agree.

"Did you know about this?" Polly asked, judging eyes that had flitted to Tommy as he spoke, now moving onto Elizabeth.

"Of course not," she scoffed, before asking a question she wasn't sure anyone wanted an answer to: "Who is it John?"

"It's, er.. It's Lizzie Stark."

Laughter filled the room. Elizabeth tipped her head back against the wall, eyes closed and shoulders shaking, before she let it roll to the side so that she could make eye contact with Tommy, any animosity forgotten as John's words sent them back years, to easier times, when sharing laughter over his choices was common place. When Tommy glanced at Elizabeth, both were unable to contain a snort. Arthur and Polly were trying much harder then the other two to keep composed, attempting not to piss John off more than he all ready was.

"John, I have to get back to work, can you please be serious." Elizabeth sighed, positive it must be a joke.

"Why would that be funny, hey?" John shouted, hands slamming on the table, "I'm not fucking joking!"

"All right, calm down!" Polly reprimanded him, still unable to keep the smile from her face, "look, John, Lizzie Stark is a strong woman and I'm sure she provides a fine service for her customers-"

"I won't hear that word. Understand?" He yelled, face distorted in anger, finger pointing at Polly. "Do not use that word!"

"What word is that John?" Tommy grunted, looking up at the ceiling.

"You know what word that is."

"Everyone bloody knows!" Arthur chuckled.

"Everybody can go to hell."

"Whore? That word? Or prostitute?" Tommy asked, anger rising in his voice.

"Lady of the night?" Elizabeth added, catching Polly's eye and having to avert her face to keep from laughing.

Tensions were rising in the room. Polly, Tommy and John were all growing irritated, their anger bouncing off from each other. Elizabeth and Arthur were taking a more immature stance, trying not to laugh but still sharing looks they knew were liable to send each other into fits of laughter that could only make matters worse.

"Right," John's voice was straining from rage, "I want it known that if anyone calls her a whore again, I will push the barrel of my revolver down their throats and blow the word back down into their hearts!"

"Men and their cocks never cease to amaze me!" Polly threw her hands up in exasperation, staring him down, "John, Lizzie Stark never did a days work vertical-"

"She's changed, alright! People change!" John rose from his chair, eyes darting around wildly and settling on Elizabeth, "Eliza, come on, you know her. You talk, and- and you get her a drink sometimes." He had a desperate air to him, "tell them about her, tell them that's she's nice and.. and-"

"Yes, John, Lizzie Stark is a very nice girl." She interrupted, her tone taunting, "she's also got a pretty face, and I'm sure when she's looking up at you with it, it makes you weak at the knees, but-" She broke of laughing, shaking her head and unable to contain herself, "-but don't be a fool! You can't marry a whore, even if she is a nice one!"

"Don't use that word!" He spat, disappointed at her opposition.

"Well it's what she is John! And what exactly will you tell the kids, when they ask about their new mother?"

"This is Lizzie,"Arthur suggested, lifting his glass of whiskey up in a mocking toast to John's achievement, "Dad's new business investment."

"Alright, I'm warning you Arthur-"

"I know you were interested in learning how to ride a horse, Katie," Elizabeth said with a smirk, as she added to Arthur's suggestion, "and believe me, Lizzie's the best at riding that there is-"

"Fuck off Eliza!" John shouted, running a hand through his hair and turning to his brother, trying to calm down, "now listen, Tommy. I won't do it without your blessing, but of all the people in the world, I want you to see it as brave."

"Oh, it's brave alright." Arthur teased.

"Brave is going where no man's gone before,"Polly laughed, head in her hands, "and with Lizzie Stark, John, that is really not what you'll be doing!"

"Listen, Tommy." John pleaded, "welcome her to the family, alright, because I need someone, the kids need someone-"

But before anything else could be said, Finn burst through the door, panic written all over his face.

"Tommy!" He gasped, "we've been done over!"

The betting shop had been destroyed. Chairs and tables upturned, papers thrown everywhere and the contents of every box and drawer emptied onto the floor. John and Arthur helped a half-conscious Scudboat into a chair, and as the others went about trying to assess the full extent of the shop's damage, Elizabeth gave him a look over. His injuries detailed nothing more than a cut to the head, but it was bleeding profusely, and so she kept a cloth pressed on the wound whilst he made friends with a bottle of whiskey.

The rag was soaked through before long, and in need of a replacement. Elizabeth made her way into the kitchen to find a clean cloth and wash her hands, her fingers red with blood. She passed Tommy, mulling about the doorway and kicking at paper on the floor, who followed her into the house. She tossed the bloody rag in the sink and turned on the tap, letting the water warm up before scrubbing at her hands. Tommy leant against the table, clearing his throat so that she would look over her shoulder at him.

"Yes?"

"I think there's something we should talk about."

She sighed, drying her hands and passing him to get Scudboat's cloth out the cupboard.

"Is now really the time Tommy?" She asked, turning to face him.

"No," he came closer, "but I don't care."

"No, you don't care." She acknowledged.

"What happened at Cheltenham..." he said quietly, his voice low, his eyes low also, focused on her lips.

"Was unforgivable Tommy." Elizabeth replied bluntly, stepping away from him and going back to the cupboard.

"Liza-"

"Give it up, Tommy, I-" she spun back around to argue with him, but her attention was caught by something on the mantle, her voice fading away.

It was a pair of wire cutters. Wire cutters that had definitely not been there before. Tommy followed her line of sight, and when he noticed what she was looking at, he walked over slowly, picking the metal object up. Elizabeth watched as he inspected them, a dark looking crossing Tommy's face as he wandered back to the open doors.

"They've taken anything they can lay their hands on. Four cash boxes!" She could hear Polly talking, but it felt like background noise. Something wasn't right.

"They left these." Tommy said, holding the cutters up for everyone to see.

She watched as Arthur and John's faces dropped, their bodies tensing.

"Wire cutters? Why would they leave wire cutters?" Polly asked, confused.

"Nobody move!" Arthur's voice was filled with panic.

Alarmed, Elizabeth walked forward, but as she neared him Tommy's hand shot out, pressing against her stomach. She froze, his palm warm against abdomen, her head snapping to the side to look at him. His jaw was clenched, his mind elsewhere, and though her cheeks blushed hot, something cold travelled through her.

"I think our friends are playing the game."

"What's going on?" Polly's voice was loud, agitated, and as she began walking, John held out his hand to stop her.

"Aunt Pol, don't touch anything." He said quickly.

"Erasmus Lee was in France."

"Shit..." Scudboat rose gingerly, terror on his face.

The men in the room weren't in Birmingham anyone.

"Whenever we gave up ground to the Germans, we'd leave behind booby traps, set up with wires." As Tommy began to explain, Elizabeth began to understand, and suddenly she too was very far from this room. "We'd leave wire cutters, as part of the joke."

"Oh.." Her exclamation was soft, but her hands gripped tightly onto the cloth she held.

She had seen what tricks like these did to men. Tommy's hand pressed harder against her stomach.

"Somewhere in here, there's a hand grenade." John explained, looking around.

"Holy Jesus."

"Attached to a wire..." They all started to move slowly as Arthur spoke, turning where they stood, "don't move any chairs, or open any doors..." Elizabeth looked around, eyes wide with panic. "Go easy, John boy, go easy."

"No." Tommy's voiced stopped everyone in their tracks, and they all looked at him. "No,'its not in here. If it was in here it would have blown by now. It was my name, on that bullet that Erasmus sent, he's set up a trap all right, but he's set it up just for me."

Tommy left the room without another word.

Tommy had been gone for barely a minute when the knock on the door echoed through the betting shop. Everyone had jumped at the noise, still tense from the recent events, and confused- even fearful- looks were shared. Perhaps it was that horrible atmosphere that cursed that knock, perhaps it was just all cursed from the beginning. But whatever the reason:

That was the knock that changed everything.

"Who the fuck is that?" John snapped, kicking at a table leg and glaring at the door.

Polly shrugged, and everyone payed little attention the caller, amused at whoever felt the need to knock.

Another knock.

"Open the door, Shelby's, we know you're in there." It was Sergeant Moss.

Elizabeth was sat in a chair, leafing through files and checking they were all there. She glanced up when the policeman's voice was heard, looking apprehensively at Polly, the two of them wondering what shit the boys had got themselves in.

"Let us in and we won't need to make this worse than it is." He shouted again, knocking on the door.

Arthur walked over to the window slowly, flicking open the curtain and looking outside. He cursed loudly, and dropped the curtain.

"There's loads of them."

"Fucking Coppers," John muttered, reaching for his gun, "someone needs to go out the back and find Tommy."

"John." Polly warned, putting her hand up to stop him grabbing his weapon, "don't do anything foolish. Arthur, ask them why they're here."

Nodding, Arthur cleared his throat and went back over to the door. Nobody even dared to breath, just sharing looks of apprehension at what Moss would reply with.

"What do you want?" Arthur called out to the door, shifting his feet from side to side.

"Just let us come in and do what we've come to do, Arthur." Moss replied, "if you keep hiding her it just makes things difficult."

"Her?" Arthur hesitated, looking back at Polly and Eliza, "What the fuck are you on about?"

There was silence, no one seemed to know what to do.

"We're here for Miss Scott."

More silence. Arthur and John drew their guns. Elizabeth rose from her seat slowly. Polly looked at her with tears in her eyes.

"Let's not make this di-"

"You take one step in here and I'll blow your fucking brains out." Arthur roared, aiming his gun at the door. John walked over to his brother, their backs blocking her view.

"Shut up, Arthur, or we'll have to talk you in as well," Moss shouted back, "we went to the Garrison and they told us you'd all come here, so we could already arrest everyone in there for obstruction of justice. Just let us in."

"No."

There were muffled voices, and then the sound of something slamming against the door, making the wood rattle in its frame. Scudboat had found himself a gun as well, and Polly had reached her side, one arm stretched out across Elizabeth's chest, trying to push her behind her.

"Wait," she said quietly, finding her voice, "Wait!"

She called out loudly, stepping around Polly, and walking to the boys.

"Put your guns down, I don't want anyone getting killed." She put her hand in John's wrist, pushing his hands down. "We can go out the back, help me to the station and I can get a train back to London, I know someone I can-"

The door burst open before she could finish her sentence. Having lowered their guns on her request, the boys couldn't get them up fast enough again once the police came running into the betting shop. John and Scudboat were tackled, two policemen to one, the first slammed against the wall and the other bent over onto a table, head smacking on the wood. Arthur managed to pull the trigger of his gun, the bang exploding through the room. Whatever he was aiming at, however, he missed, and for his actions he got a fist in the face and three policemen wrestling him against the wall.

She stop dumbly as her arms were pressed against her back, as Sergeant Moss' voice filtered through her ears, unable to concentrate. Polly was shouting, maybe even crying, though the tears may have been her own. It all happened very slowly, like time was grinding to a halt, and the only distinct sound she managed to hear, before being dragged out the betting shop, was the word "murder".

The outside air sent her hurtling back to reality, and what was happening suddenly felt sickeningly real. Elizabeth looked behind her, desperately searching for Polly. The woman was being held back by a policeman, but her shouts and screams still reached Eliza.

"Let her go! Let go of her! She can't have killed anyone- are you mad- what fucking proof have you got of murder?- let her go!" Her pitch was high, screechy and desperate, and Elizabeth's heart began to beat faster with every word Polly uttered.

Her breathing quickened and she started twisting, trying to escape the hold they kept her in. She called back at Polly, eyes wide and filled with tears, shouting her name, pleading for her help. But soon she was half way up the road, and nothing she did could get her out the Coppers' grip. Sergeant Moss was walking beside her, and when she heard him curse, her head twisted back around, eyesight moving from Polly to someone advancing towards them. It was Tommy. Running down the road, shouting something, Finn by his side.

"What the fuck is going on?" He demanded as they all meet.

He walked backwards, hands held up in front of him, though whether it was pleadingly, or to try and stop them moving, Eliza wasn't quite sure.

"Look, Tom, your brothers have already caused enough trouble-"

"Just tell me what the fuck you're taking her in for, ey?"

"Tommy..." she whispered, tears beginning to fall.

"I have arrested Elizabeth Scott for the murder of Mr Ryan Byrne, Thomas, on the 25th of May" Moss spat impatiently, "Now unless you want us to take you in as well, I suggest you move out the way."

"Tommy, help me," Elizabeth pleaded suddenly, tears falling down her cheeks, "Tommy- I don't even know who that is! I haven't killed anyone- I can't have killed anyone- I promise!"

She took a deep, trembling breath, looking at him with wide and desperate eyes. She tried again to pull herself from the grip she was held in, struggling again the tight hold of the hands on her arms. Tommy continued walking backwards, reaching out to her so that his fingertips brushed against her shoulder.

"I know, Liza," he replied sincerely, looking her in the eye with such conviction she was sure it might free her of all accusations on the spot, "I know you didn't kill him."

They had rounded the corner and were outside the Garrison, the Coppers pulling her to a halt. Moss was waiting for something. The lightness of Tommy's fingertips turned into a hand squeezing her shoulder, the other one resting on her cheek.

"You need to calm down," Tommy said, trying to reason with her, his thumb brushing tears of her cheekbone.

"And you need to let go of her." Moss replied, though his order was ignored.

"You have to get me out, Tommy. I didn't do anything, I haven't done anything- please!" She was rambling on, unable to stop the words that kept falling from her mouth, endless sentences of nothing, until someone emerged from the Garrison. A policeman, holding her bag.

"Is it in there? Is it the right one?" Moss asked, looking at this new copper, who nodded once and pulled John's gun out her bag, the one Tommy told her to keep.

"The bullets match, sir." The young policeman said, handing the weapon to the Sergeant.

Elizabeth turned to look at Tommy, whose face had grown slack at the sight of the pistol. Moss nodded at the men who held her, and then they were moving again, back past the Garrison and to the top of Watery Lane. She looked down it, seeing the family gathered half-way up the street, still all held back by police. Polly was still shouting, holding onto Finn's shoulders and Arthur and John, with bloody faces, were still fighting the Coppers. Moss only kept going, however, past the lane and to the next street down, where a police truck was parked out of sight. Someone opened the back doors. Her heart beat faster.

Tommy stopped moving suddenly, when he saw it, and stood to the side, his face still as sorrowful and slack as when they'd pulled the gun from Elizabeth's bag. He did nothing to stop them as they forced her into the back, only looking on sadly as she shouted for him, for his help. His blue eyes pierced hers, but it was like he couldn't even see her.

Seated on the wooden bench, his face was the last thing she could focus on before they shut the doors, plunging her into darkness. Elizabeth remembered suddenly something she had said to him at Cheltenham, words spat with such venom and certainty.

I don't need you to fucking save me

But, looking at his face as they locked her in and feeling the bumps of the road as they drove away, Elizabeth felt there was nothing more she wanted then but for Tommy to save her, to keep her safe.

And yet, it was too late.

Plot twist! Maybe? I've been trying to hint at this in previous chapters, but its been so long you've probably all forgotten by now! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, I really liked writing this chapter and rewatching John's scene, its probably my favourite in all the series. Things will start getting more original now, and swaying a bit from the tv show story.

e x

(03/01/2021)