Thank you for reading last week's chapter. And huge thanks to those who left reviews. I love hearing what you think of the story. I'm sorry about Fred - I remember reading an interview with Steven Knight who said that he would give the Peaky characters some happiness and then rip it from them! So, I've adopted that policy when writing Rose as you probably know by now.

I've always felt season five was an interesting season from Tommy's character's point of view. He's thawing after the PTSD from the war and is feeling more and more like he wants to do more good than bad but it keeps going wrong for him. I've added Rose to that list of things going wrong. She can't see past all the misery Tommy's decisions and actions have brought into her life and so she can't see him as anything but bad. Any attempt on his part to do good won't wash with Rose who has pretty much written him off. But, as you will see, her attempts to get away from Tommy will lead her down a path which will be much much worse.

I'm rambling, sorry! Hope you enjoy the chapter. Let me know what you thing. Wenlock x

As she rushed down the stairs, Rose passed Lizzie and Frances taking the children upstairs. Lizzie shouted after her.

"Rose, don't go down there. Get back to your room. Rose!"

Rose ignored her and continued down, holding fast to the bannister. Her sudden movements had caused a wave of dizziness and she stumbled down the last two steps. Steadying herself against the wall, Rose took a few seconds to find her balance. She could hear voices outside and hurried out through the entrance hall to the front door. Stopping on the front step, she took in the sight in front of her. Johnny on the ground, groaning in pain, Tommy holding his gun defensively as a distraught Aberama confronted him.

"They killed him. My son."

Rose's hands flew to her mouth. Bonnie was dead? She thought of the cocky, young boxer who had once courted her attention as Aberama told a shocked Tommy that he'd been shot and put on a cross. Tommy asked who had killed him and quickly put his weapon ready to fire as Aberama reached into a pocket. Rose put a hand out to the wall to brace herself. Aberama didn't pull out a gun, he took out a piece of screwed up paper and threw it at Tommy. As Tommy reached down to pick it up and read it, Rose heard footsteps running across the gravel. She turned towards the sound, as did Tommy, his gun raised again. Mal appeared, running towards his father, and stopped short as Tommy levelled the weapon at him. Rose rushed forward in front of Mal.

"No, Tommy!"

Both Tommy and Mal looked at her, shocked. Aberama spoke angrily, pointing at Johnny and then Mal.

"Only Johnny Dogs and his kin knew where we were camped."

And then everything moved quickly. Johnny protested against the accusation as Aberama went for him. Tommy put his gun on the ground as he rushed to separate them. Mal put his arms round Rose and pulled her away towards the house. She watched as Tommy tried to calm the grieving father down, telling him his shoulder was shattered and that he needed to get it fixed before he could avenge Bonnie. Aberama's grief was heart-breaking as he lamented his only son. Rose watched him in distress as she pictured Bonnie dead on a cross. She clutched Mal's arm. She could feel his tension as he saw his father in danger. Aberama went still and looked Tommy in the eye. He spoke quietly.

"They crucified my son – for you."

Then he pushed Tommy away, grabbed the gun from the ground and pointed it at Tommy and Johnny. Mal turned his body so that it was in front of Rose and tightened his hold on her. Rose tried to push him away, she had to help Tommy. But before she could do anything else, two gunshots rang out into the night and Rose flinched violently, gripping hold of Mal's jacket and cowering away from the danger. Then she heard Lizzie's voice.

"Get away from my house. All of you! Get away from my child. This is my house – and I don't want you back."

Rose peered over Mal's arm and could see that Lizzie was shaking in anger and fear for her family. She was pointing the gun at Tommy and screamed her words at him now.

"I don't want you back."

Tommy, who had been staring at her in shock, strode towards her and snatched the gun out of her hand, opened the barrel and scattered the bullets on the floor, glaring at his wife. Mal relaxed his hold on Rose and looked at his father who was clearly in pain. Tommy moved to Aberama and took the machine gun from him.

"You wanna take on the Billy Boys?" He leaned close to him. "You need me alive."

Mal, seeing that the danger had passed, rushed over to his father and put an arm round him to support him. Rose felt sick as she heard Tommy declare to Lizzie that everyone needed him. Aberama painfully lowered himself onto a small wall and Rose looked at him. Aberama's anguish was written all over him and Rose felt like she couldn't bear it anymore. So much death, so much sorrow, so much pain. And Tommy, always Tommy in the middle of it all. Tommy told Lizzie sternly to call an ambulance or a man would lose his arm, then moved over to Johnny. As Lizzie went back indoors, Tommy took Johnny from Mal and glared at the young man. He gestured towards Rose with his chin.

"Get her back indoors."

And without a second glance at Rose, he half carried Johnny Dogs to the house, reassuring him that in all the world, of all the people, Johnny alone he knew he could trust. But Rose wasn't paying attention to Tommy, she was looking over at Aberama who had practically collapsed. She was about to go over to him when Mal appeared by her side and took her arm.

"Come on, let's go back inside."

Rose looked up at him and then back at Aberama. She wanted to say something to him, but couldn't think of anything. Mal read her thoughts.

"It's not your fight, Rose."

And Rose realised he was right. None of this was her fight – what had she to do with the Billy Boys and Aberama Gold and the Irish? She was suddenly angry. She'd been back home barely a few weeks and had experienced nothing but pain. She thought of Lizzie's furious face as she had pointed that gun at Tommy yelling at him that she didn't want him to come back and she understood her completely. Except in her case, there was nothing keeping her at Arrow House. She looked up at Mal and grabbed his arms.

"I have to get away from here, Mal."

"What?"

"I have to leave. Look at all this, I don't want to be here anymore. Will you help me?"

Mal looked at her earnest face and ran a hand though his hair. What she was asking was complex. He agreed that she needed to get away from that house, and especially from her brother, but he knew that to help her leave, he would be risking his own life. Tommy wouldn't care who his kin were if he found out he'd helped Rose to leave. And besides, selfishly, he didn't want her to leave. Rose watched all these thoughts pass over his face and knew she was asking a lot of him, but she also knew she couldn't get away without help, not in her current state.

"I have somewhere to go, I just need help to get away from the house, away from Tommy's reach. Than I can get help from someone else. I just need to be able to do it without him finding out."

"I don't know, Rose. You're not well, it's not the right time. Why don't you wait until you're fully recovered and then we can make a plan together."

She frowned. "Together?"

He paused. "Yeah, or I can help you think of a way that's better than just leaving tonight."

She gave up trying to persuade him. She couldn't quite make out what he was really saying and she had run out of energy. Her head was pounding.

"Ok, Mal. Don't worry. Just help me back in, I have to lie down."

And, whilst Mal knew Rose well enough to know that she hadn't actually changed her mind, he was glad she had backed down tonight at least. He put his arm around her and helped her inside. Rose really did feel tired and was glad to be helped up the stairs to her room. As they reached her bedroom door, Mal let go and turned to face her.

"Don't do anything stupid, Rose."

She scowled. "Why would you say that?"

"Because I know what you're like – you get an idea in your head and you don't think about the consequences." He looked around and lowered his voice. "I'll help you, but it needs time."

Rose didn't think she could cope a minute longer in that house, but she nodded.

"Ok"

Mal put a gentle hand on her cheek and stroked his thumb lightly across it. Rose's heart fluttered and she felt a flush of excitement at his touch.

"You don't have to carry it alone anymore. I want to help you."

Rose put her hand over his and looked into his earnest green eyes. His hair fell across his forehead and she wondered how she'd never before noticed how incredibly handsome he was. They stood looking into each other's eyes for a few moments, leaning slowly towards each other when a door slammed at the far end of the house and they both jumped. Embarrassed at being so close to him, Rose stepped backwards and opened the door of her room.

"Good night, Mal."

"Good night, Rose."

She stepped quickly into the room, closed the door and leant her back against it. What had just happened? She knew full well what was happening - she was falling for Mal. She groaned – she hadn't reckoned with a man in her life for a good while. Her only thought had been to establish herself apart from her family, to be independent. There had been a few young men who had shown an interest whilst she had lived at May's but whilst she had enjoyed the attention and had even flirted with one or two, she hadn't been interested in any more than that. All her experience of relationships within her family were complicated. They were either volatile and full of tension, or they were the real deal and ended in tragedy. She thought of Tommy's grief after Grace had been killed and Ada's loss when Freddie had died. And so, Rose had decided that a romantic relationship was more trouble than it was worth.

Yet, here she was, leaning against her bedroom door, wondering if Mal was still on the other side thinking about her. She smiled and leant her head back on the door, looking up at the ceiling. It was a strangely nice feeling. Her eyes drifted to the window and she remembered everything that had just happened on the driveway. The smile disappeared from her face. How could she even think of bringing Mal into the family? Anyone who came into contact with the Shelbys ended up hurt or dead. She thought of Bonnie again and felt the anger rise inside her again. She could hear Aberama's pain as he told Tommy that his son had been crucified for him. There was no way Rose could allow Mal to face that kind of danger. Pushing herself off the door, she made a firm decision. She would no longer entertain Mal's interest in her. It was the safest thing for him. And besides, she didn't deserve someone as good as him. She had done things in her life which meant she couldn't expect to know happiness.

Moving over to the window, she blinked back the tears which threatened and buried her feelings. She rebuilt the walls around her heart and locked herself down. This was the only way to cope. Looking down at Aberama collapsed still on the wall, she frowned. Was he dead? Where was that ambulance? She looked across Tommy's land at the long road which lead in and saw a pair of headlights in the distance. The ambulance was on its way and she was relieved. Then, as she watched the headlights wind their way through the trees, an idea formed in her head. She looked back at Aberama and made a decision.

She grabbed a small bag and put a few items in it, put her coat on and opened her door quietly. The landing outside was empty and, once again, Rose hurried to the stairs and down to the front door. It was still open and Frances was on the doorstep, having been dispatched to make sure the ambulance arrived. She was clearly nervous watching the injured man, her hands clasping and unclasping in front of her. She looked at Rose in surprise.

"Miss Shelby, are you well enough to be outside?"

"Yes, Frances, I'm fine. Mr Shelby sent me to sit with Aberama. He thought he should have a friendly face with him."

Frances was unconvinced. "Really?"

"Oh yes, he's a family friend. It wouldn't do to have him on his own. Mr Shelby has asked that you check on the children."

Frances didn't think it was a good idea to leave a young woman with concussion to look after a man who had been shot, but she had learned many years ago not to try and make sense of this family's decisions. And besides, she wasn't comfortable stood on the doorstep after there had been weapons on display in the driveway.

"Very well, Miss Shelby. Mr Shelby said to tell the ambulance driver to take him to the foundation hospital."

"I will. Thank you, Frances."

Rose watched the housekeeper return into the house. She knew that Lizzie would have shut herself away and hoped that Tommy was busy with Johnny and that Mal had gone to help. She moved over to Aberama and sat down next to him. He was in a bad way and barely conscious. She picked up his head and put it in her lap. She whispered to him.

"It's ok, Abarama. The ambulance is almost here."

He groaned and kept his eyes closed but seemed grateful for the company. The ambulance arrived within a couple of minutes and Rose watched as it parked next to them. She hoped against hope that no one would appear from the house. The driver and his colleague jumped out and hurried to the injured man. Rose looked at them desperately.

"Please help him, he's been shot. You have to take him to the hospital straight away."

One of the men crouched down in front of Aberama and had a look at him. He glanced up at the other man.

"Aye, it's a gunshot wound to the shoulder. Get the stretcher, Ken."

Ken rushed off to do as he had been asked and the man continued to look at the wound.

"It's gone clean through, which is good, but that shoulder's in a bad way. Is he your father?"

Rose didn't miss a beat. "Yes, he's my dad. Two men came to rob the house and they shot him. They ran off into the woods. Please help him, please get him some help."

"We will, Miss, don't worry."

By this time, Ken had arrived back with the stretcher and the two men carefully lifted Aberama onto it. He moaned in pain. Rose played the worried daughter, wringing her hands, hovering close, a few tears on her cheeks. The men lifted the stretcher and carried it to the ambulance where they pushed him in. Rose quickly climbed in beside him, not even asking if she could. The first man got in beside her and Ken moved to close the door. Rose called out to him before he did.

"Can you take him to the Royal Birmingham Infirmary?"

"That's on the other side of the city, it's too far."

Rose turned on the waterworks. "Please, sir. My sister's a nurse there and I don't have any other family and I know she'd want him there."

Ken looked at his colleague who nodded. "Ok, Miss, then that's where we'll go."

He pushed the door closed and hurried round to the driver's seat. The man next to her nudged her.

"You'd better hold his hand, this journey's going to be very uncomfortable for him, especially as we're going even further now."

Rose reached out and held Aberama's hand. The ambulance started off and Aberama groaned as the vehicle drove quickly over uneven ground. He grasped Rose's hand tightly and she gasped at the strength of his grip. She felt bad that she was causing him a long, painful journey, but she knew that the Royal Birmingham was outside of Tommy's territory and the phones there were unlikely to be manned by girls whom he paid to give him information. She looked up and out of the back window as Arrow House grew smaller and smaller. Her head was pounding and she felt extremely nauseous but she was determined to get away. She didn't want anything more to do with Tommy and his cursed business. She tried not to think about Mal or the rest of the family whom she was also leaving behind. This was her chance to get away and she had to take it.

After a long and uncomfortable journey, the ambulance finally arrived at the Royal Birmingham Infirmary. Ken and his partner, whose name Rose never did find out, lifted Aberama out of the ambulance and hurried into the emergency department with him. Rose followed after them until Ken nodded his head towards a room full of chairs.

"You can't come any further, bab. That's the waiting room, the doctor will come out and let you know how he is when he's examined him. Oh, and what's his name?"

"It's Aberama Gold."

Ken frowned at the unusual name. "And what's yours?"

Rose stopped outside the door to the waiting room and clasped her hands to her chest. "Please take care of him."

"We will." And so, with his question unanswered, Ken had no choice but to continue on to the examination room. Rose watched them go and, relieved that Aberama was in good hands, put phase two of her plan into action. She moved through the waiting room to the door at the far end and pushed it open. As she had hoped, it opened into the main lobby of the hospital. There were some public payphones in the corner and she made her way to them. She had some money with her and picked up the receiver, ready push the coin in when the operator answered. Giving her the number she wanted to be connected with, her heart was pounding as the phone rang and was then answered by a member of the household staff.

"Moseley residence."

Half an hour later, Rose was on a train to London. It was the last one of the day and she was relieved she'd managed to catch it. Sir Oswald had been delighted to hear from her and concerned to hear that she was in need of a place to stay.

"Yes, of course you can come and stay with me, my dear. My wife will be ever so pleased to meet you. Whatever is the matter?"

Rose told him she'd explain when she arrived and she made it very clear that no one was to know where she was.

"Ah, you mean, your brother cannot know. I see. Well, well, mum's the word – my lips are sealed. Now, you make your way here as fast as you can and I'll have a man waiting at the station for you."

Rose closed her eyes as the train's rhythmic movement soothed her slightly. Her head was nothing but pain and she felt permanently sick. Just a few more hours and she could rest. She wondered if her absence had been discovered yet. Normally, she would have been confident that it wouldn't be discovered until the morning, but since her accident, Tommy had checked on her before he went to bed. He stood in her doorway, listening to her breathing before quietly closing the door again. Maybe he'd be too occupied with the night's events to do that this time but Rose doubted it. He'd be furious when he found out.

The next thing Rose knew, she was being shaken awake by the train conductor.

"Train has stopped, Miss. Paddington Station."

Rose blinked and furrowed her brow as she tried to work out what was happening.

"Are you alright, Miss? You look ever so pale."

Rose pulled herself together. "Yes, I'm fine. Thank you for waking me."

She stood up and made her way to the door, climbing down onto the platform. She saw a man in a chauffeur's uniform who held a hand up to her and walked towards him.

"Miss Rose?"

She nodded, grateful he hadn't used her surname in such a public space. Following him to the car, she realised that she was seeing double. She felt awful now and wasn't sure that she could make even the next step. She breathed in deeply and concentrated on putting one foot in front to the other. Miraculously, she made it to the car and sank into the leather seats in the back. She clung onto the door handle and clenched her jaw, willing herself to stay conscious. After what seemed like an endless journey, the car pulled up in front of an enormous townhouse.

The driver came round and opened the door for Rose to get out. She found that she couldn't move. Blinking down at her hands on her lap, she could see four of them. The driver bent down and looked at her, confused.

"Miss?"

Rose still didn't move, she couldn't. The driver held out a hand to help her out and Rose saw two. She reached out and grabbed the wrong one. Concerned, the driver took her arm and wrist and gently guided her out of the car. As Rose struggled to swing her legs round, the door of the house opened and Moseley appeared on the top step. He flung out his arms and declared cheerfully.

"Rose, my dear girl. It's wonderful to see you."

He noticed immediately that she was in distress and skipped lightly down the stairs.

"Rose, my darling, you're unwell."

By this time, Rose had forced herself to stand up but by the time she lifted her head to look at him, it was too late. She fainted and slumped towards the pavement. Moseley quickly caught her and lifted her up in his arms. Turning round and climbing back up the steps, he called to his driver.

"James, tell Mrs Clark to phone for the doctor."

The driver hurried up the steps behind him and headed off to find the housekeeper as Moseley carried Rose up the vast, sweeping staircase to the bedroom he'd had made ready for her. He laid her on the bed as his wife arrived in the room, looking flustered.

"Oswald, whatever has happened?"

"It would seem, Cimmie, that our young guest has been through the wars."

Lady Cynthia Mosely made her way to the bed and looked down at the unconscious young woman. She turned to her husband.

"Who is she, Oswald? Another of your pets? Why have you brought her into our house?"

"Oh no, Cimmie, not at all. This precious young thing is a gift to us. You have no idea what power and possibility have just dropped into my hands. You'll see."

Lady Cynthia had no idea what he was talking about and had no interest. She shook her head and turned to him.

"I don't know what you're up, Oswald, and I don't want to. But I will not have any part of it. You've humiliated me enough with your carrying on and I won't stay here to see it happening in my house."

Moseley took her hand. "My darling, I promise you that nothing will happen in your house. I will nurse poor Rose back to health and then she will repay me many times over. Oh, not the way you're thinking, Cimmie, that would much too coarse. No, the lovely Miss Shelby here will deliver to me a prize of great value – the most ruthless and powerful ally I could hope to have."

Lady Cynthia didn't bother to respond. She walked swiftly past him out of the room, her intention to leave for their country house and let her husband play whatever sly games he wanted to. Moseley let her go. It would be better if she left. He stepped softly to the bed and looked down at a clearly unwell Rose. He reached out a finger and ran it down the back of her hand, a grin slowly forming on his face. He whispered.

"Yes, what a gift you are, Rose. A most welcome gift I can't wait to unwrap."