Kitty was at Downton for nearly two weeks before she saw any of Thomas's nastiness as described to her by others. She was heading to the kitchen to help Mrs Patmore make tea for the servants when she heard Thomas's voice. At first she brightened, wanting to talk to him, but then she heard his tone. It was leering and vicious. Stopping to listen, she could here the feeble attempts of one of the kitchen maids to defend herself.

"You stupid girl, look what you've gone and done," Thomas snarled, "Clean it up!"

"It wasn't my fault! You did that on purpose!" the maid returned meekly.

"I am your superior, that makes it your fault," Thomas's voice was dangerous now, "Come on, it's not going to clean itself up!" Kitty had heard enough; she had to do something about this blatant bullying. She strode into the kitchen determinedly.

"Thomas?" Her voice was quiet and soft, but no less dangerous than his. She really didn't have the ranking to do this but somehow she knew she'd have an effect. He spun at the sound of her voice. At his feet was a puddle of spilt soup and Kitty recognised the kitchen maid quivering nearby as Sarah, employed only shortly before herself.

"Uh, Kitty...what are you doing here?" Thomas mumbled, caught off-guard.

She raised an eyebrow threateningly at him. "I'm a maid, Thomas. The kitchen is where I work," her voice was becoming cold now, "It would be more appropriate, I feel, to direct that question at you."

"I was-"

She cut him off. "I didn't ask, Thomas. I merely pointed out the misplacement of your query," she glared at him fiercely, "I know exactly what you were doing here." Her eyes flicked to Sarah and she softened immediately. Sarah's face was jumping between the two of them in astonishment. It seemed the poor kitchen maid was having trouble understanding why a new, young maid with little authority should manage to intimidate a seasoned – if also young – valet.

"Are you alright, Sarah?" Kitty asked gently. "This bully"– she gestured to Thomas – "didn't hurt you at all?"

Sarah cleared her throat. Shaking her head, she spoke hesitantly in a small voice, "No. He just knocked the soup for the servants dinner from my hands, on purpose."

Thomas growled. "You lying little wench-"

"I had hoped that what everyone was telling me about you was wrong, Thomas," Kitty cut him off again, "I didn't want to believe it...but it seems as though they were right..."

He stared at her defiantly for a few seconds. Then his expression changed, became almost pained, and he looked down ashamedly. Sarah was now openly gaping between the two of them. It seemed that Kitty had not only intimidated Thomas in an argument, but she had also won.

"That's what I thought," Kitty said, coldly. She actually looked fairly scary for an instant, then she sighed in exasperation. "Go away, Thomas. I'm not sure I can talk to you without biting your head off just now."

Meeting Kitty's eyes once again, Thomas looked – to Sarah's complete disbelief – upset and regretful. Kitty held his eyes for a moment but then she looked away and Thomas stormed from the room. Once he had gone, Kitty took a couple of deep breaths to calm herself before smiling at Sarah.

"Shall we clean this up? It wasn't all of the soup, was it? We can make enough for supper?" The two of them worked together to clean-up the soup on the floor and make some more before Mrs Patmore noticed. It didn't take long and when they were finished, Kitty busied herself with getting the servant's tea things together. After a while, she noticed that Sarah was watching her.

Kitty sighed, putting the tray down, and asked, "What's the matter?"

Sarah blinked, realising she'd been caught staring. She shook her head. "Nothing...it's just...how did you make him do that?"

"Do what?" Kitty frowned.

"Well...stop. He actually looked kind of sorry for it once you showed up. Not even Mrs Hughes makes him do that."

Kitty laughed. "Don't be silly – Mrs Hughes does that every time she threatens his wages." She laughed some more, to cover up her own confusion, Sarah joining her after a slight hesitation. Finishing the tea, Kitty took it to the servant's hall.

What she didn't know, was that Mrs Hughes had seen the entire thing. She had come out of her office once she heard the commotion, prepared to give Thomas a thorough dressing-down, when Kitty had walked in. She had watched in amazement as Kitty did her job for her and was still standing in the doorway when Kitty came through with the tea.

"Oh, sorry, Mrs Hughes," she laughed breathlessly, "I nearly ran into you! How long have you been standing there?" Kitty was being cheerful until she noticed the serious expression Mrs Hughes was wearing. Her smile slowly slid from her face.

"Long enough to question what my job here is if I've got someone to do the telling off for me," Mrs Hughes seemed to have picked up Kitty's discarded smile and it grew at the same rate as Kitty's had shrank."That was quite a show, Kitty. Can I ask what your secret is? It could be useful in future."

Kitty looked down, still unsmiling. "I'm sorry, Mrs Hughes. It wasn't my place, I know, but-"

"Anyone that can stop Thomas bullying has a place when it comes to telling him off," Mrs Hughes interrupted. "There aren't many who can do that, you know."

"So I've heard..." Kitty replied hesitantly, "Mrs Hughes, I know you said that he doesn't...well," Mrs Hughes nodded, knowing what she meant, "but do you think – I mean, could it be possible, that he...likes me?"

"Before you came, I would have said that no girl could possibly have that effect on Thomas Barrow," Mrs Hughes replied seriously, "Before a few moments ago, I still had some doubts on that score. But now, I think that there is no other explanation for his behaviour."

Kitty nodded, biting her lip nervously. "I thought so too. I don't know whether that's a bad thing or a good one, to be honest."

Mrs Hughes weighed her next words carefully; it was very important that she said the right thing here. It seemed that Kitty had a power over Thomas that no-one else did, but Mrs Hughes wasn't about to encourage any kind of relationship between Thomas and one of her maids without being absolutely sure it was the best course.

"Do you think you like him then, Kitty?" she began cautiously.

"Well right now I couldn't be more angry with him than any other man ever," Kitty replied, her anger quickly resurfacing. It receded at the same pace, however, as she thought about her feelings for Thomas. "But, yes. I think I do, Mrs Hughes. And I think that scares me more than him liking me."

Mrs Hughes reached for the younger woman's shoulder. "Well, I'm sure I don't need to advise you to be careful, my dear, but I will say this: know that you can come to me if you need to." Kitty smiled at her gratefully.

Giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze, Mrs Hughes said, "Now, don't be letting that tea get cold. Off with you." With one last smile, Kitty headed off to the servant's hall, where all the servants were gathering for tea. Both women parted with a lot to think about.

A/N: So know Kitty has seen Thomas's nasty side, but she has also come to the startling realisation that she has a hold over him. What will she do with all this information, I wonder? DUN DUN DUUUUN! XD