The Slayer and the Blinder

by StoryQueen2

Maddie is 2020's current chosen one: The vampire slayer. Until she is pulled through time to 1924 and the world of the infamous Peaky Blinders. Years and dates are an estimation so don't judge me too harshly! Initial slow burn romance with some eventual regular smut so read at own risk.

11. An Honorary Shelby

'Maddie!'

Maddie vaguely registered Tommy shout her name as she ran into the familiar safety of the darkness, kicking up chunks of mud as her heels dug into the wet grass as she sprinted and weaved in between the trees. She just needed to get away. Get away from Tommy, Ada and everything that reminded her of where she was, and of where she wasn't but wanted to be. She felt numb all over and wanted to make her muscles ache and pump with blood so she could feel that they were still working. Her head began to play out memories from her life as she continued to run through the dark park, working the numbness out of her body. She ran through to the other side of the park and out the other side onto a quiet street and continued running without slowing her speed. She ran down back alleyways and small quiet streets so as not to be noticed, anyone she did pass giving her startled looks as she tore past them. Maddie continued like this for as long as she could go, she ran and ran and ran until her lungs burned with the icy cold air penetrating them and begged for her to stop. Her skin began to drip with sweat which soaked into her clothes, making the night air seem even colder. She ran into another park which was much larger than the one by Ada's house and eventually ground to halt in amongst some trees.

Maddie leant against a large oak as she bent forward with her hands on her knees, sucking in more cold air as she caught her breath. She welcomed the searing pain as it turned her focus away from everything that had happened that day and over the previous two weeks. But her slayer stamina meant that she caught her breath within a minute, and she squeezed her eyes shut to will away the images of her friends that jumped into her head. The friends she would never see again. The stinging in her lungs faded to be replaced by a throbbing pain in the skin of her throat and she remembered the bruise the massive vampire had inflicted earlier that day. Maddie rubbed at her neck to get the pain to recede, not wanting anything to remind her of being inside the Watcher's Council. She leant her head back against the rough bark of the tree and blinked rapidly to stifle the tears that were threatening to fall. She didn't know how she had managed not to cry since the watchers had told her they didn't know how to send her home. She supposed it must have been shock, like what you experience after someone you love dies. Only she had lost everyone and everything she had ever known from 2020; she would now be long dead before any of them were born. Maddie cursed herself for not considering the possibility that the watchers wouldn't have the answers she needed. She had been so sure that they would help her and that she would have been home by the end of the day that she now felt unbelievably foolish and stupid.

She pushed away from the tree and began to march through the park to keep her mind occupied and prevent her muscles from freezing up; her sweat doused clothes beginning to cool more and make her shiver. She found a gravel path and began to follow it with no particular destination or direction in mind, her feet making a satisfying crunch on the gravel as she walked. Maddie walked with her head down, focussed on the almost black ground in front of her. She was so focussed that she almost didn't notice the couple that were getting at it against a tree just a few feet away.

Maddie looked up when she heard the moaning from the woman before averting her gaze, planning to move past and leave them to it in privacy. As she got parallel to them, she heard a shrill squeal come from the couple which stopped suddenly after it started. She stopped and whipped her head round to look at them again and saw that the man's head was against the woman's neck, her face screaming silently as the colour began to drain from it. Maddie sighed and began to walk up to them, reaching her hand into the inside pocket of her coat where she kept her stake. The same stake she made the day after she was blasted through time and her life changed forever.

'Hey, lover-boy!' called Maddie, pulling the stake out and hiding it behind her back.

The man went still briefly before withdrawing from the woman's neck and turning to face her. The vamp growled as he noticed her, the woman's blood dripping from his lips onto his jacket. The woman slowly and hazily lifted her hand up to press against her neck where two puncture wounds were still oozing blood.

'You're going to regret coming over here little girl,' taunted the vampire, a smile now appearing on his bumpy face at the prospect of an extra meal.

'I think you're going to be the one regretting bumping into me,' replied Maddie, putting on sweeter tone to her voice. 'You see I've had a really bad day and I'm looking for any excuse to beat something up.'

The vampire looked at her in amusement before laughing heartily, evidently slow only realising who she was. Not being recognised as the slayer was actually quite refreshing, at home in the future every vampire and their sire knew who she was, which often made fights a lot harder. Maddie felt a stab of pain at the memory of her home, the feeling immediately converting to anger directed at the arrogant vampire in front of her.

She started towards the vampire whose laughter halted as she approached him. He went to grab her as soon as she was within arm's length, but she ducked under his arms and kicked him in the ribs causing him to fall and roll onto the ground. She bought the stake out from behind her back and leapt over to him, planning on plunging the wood into his heart for a speedy finish. However, the vampire looked up and spotted the stake just before she was able to bring it down to his chest and he blocked it, kicking Maddie away from him before jumping up to his feet.

'Slayer,' he leered as Maddie also regained her footing.

'I would give you a round of applause but, you know, I'd rather stick this into your chest.'

The vampire growled again and bared its teeth before advancing on her again. The woman he'd been feeding from was now starting to come around only to be paralysed to the spot in terror as she watched Maddie fight with her attacker. She soon bested the vamp, tripping him up with a sweeping kick and burying the stake in his chest, reducing him to dust. The woman made a small scream at the sight of it as Maddie stood up and turned to her.

'You alright?' asked Maddie, probably with a little less sympathy in her voice than she should have had. The woman looked at her wide eyed, still clutching at her neck.

'I… h-he… his face,' she stuttered quietly. Maddie sighed and approached the woman slowly, placing her hands gently on her arms.

'I know. It's okay now,' she soothed. 'You should get yourself home. It's cold out.'

The woman looked at her again before nodding slowly, straightening up and beginning to walk away as fast as she could the way Maddie came, her red heels disappearing into the darkness. Maddie felt the familiar itch she got when out on patrol, the need to find more vamps and bring them to a satisfying dusty end. She resumed her walk through the park, picking up a brisk pace to keep herself warm. Eventually she emerged out of a gate onto another street, not knowing where she was or how far she had walked. She found she liked the feeling of getting lost, it allowed her mind to clear and focus on the task of patrolling.

She began to walk down a street at random, admiring the old houses she passed as she went. As she continued further, she travelled down some roads that were busier; people coming in and out pubs and bars that were open for their nightly custom. Maddie noticed some people regarding her with odd looks as she passed them and remembered that she was still wearing the skirt she's ripped earlier that day. She decided to hurry along and take less populated routes to avoid attention. Maddie carried on like this aimlessly for what must have been hours as her mind began to process the reality that she was stuck there. Stuck in the 1920's. What did this mean for her future? What did this mean for her slaying? Tommy had said that she could continue to stay at Arrow House, and she was glad that meant she had an option for a roof over her head. But the last thing she wanted was to end up bored and without purpose as she had been on and off over the past two weeks. Thoughts came running at Maddie inside her head one after the other, making her head hurt something terrible, so she forced them away and tried to go back to focussing on the pavement ahead of her.

A little while later, Maddie rounded a corner where she looked up to see the spire of a church springing up over a line of rooftops. She made a bee line for the it, soon making it to the spiked iron railings surrounding it. She checked no-one was around before opening the gate and stepping into the churchyard. She sighed with relief at being surrounded by the familiar company of gravestones and the bodies of the dead buried six feet beneath her. She wandered between the grey slabs before finally coming to a stop next to a large stone sarcophagus. Maddie would be the first to admit that having a graveyard as her safe place was as weird and as ironic as it sounded but nevertheless, over the past ten years it was the one place she could rely on to be the same no matter which city she was in. She felt her muscles give in and she slumped against the solid stone of the sarcophagus, sliding down it to sit against it with her knees to her chest.

Before Maddie could stop herself, she rested her forehead against her knees and burst into tears, grabbing handfuls of her hair with both hands. Hot tears poured down her cheeks as she sobbed, the shock finally leaving her so that grief could wash over her instead. The only life she had ever known now lost to her forever. She remembered the people she had back home, the people who were waiting for her to come back from her patrol that she will never return from. She imagined that they would assume the worst, that she was either killed or turned. Then she wondered if a new slayer would be called, or if one already had. Would they replace Maddie with the next slayer and move on just like that? How long would they mourn her? She cried harder at this thought and decided not to think about it, there was no use wondering what was going to happen ninety-six years in the future.

What about the current slayer? Does this mean I don't have to be a slayer anymore? Maddie considered this possibility. Being a slayer was the only thing she knew how to do; she had never had a real job. Having two slayers at the same time was always a recipe for disaster but regardless, a slayer was what she was, and she knew it would be impossible to fully turn her back on that. It was what she was good at, so she would have to find a new purpose. A new reason to carry on slaying and fighting evil. She just didn't know how yet.

Maddie continued to cry into her knees, allowing herself to get it all out of her system now that she'd started, thankful to also be alone to finally let her emotions out. She knew that Ada and Tommy would mean well, but she didn't want to break down in front of them and have them trying to comfort her like a child. After a good half an hour of crying, her eyes had thoroughly run out of tears; she finally calmed to just hiccupping and sniffling, wiping her snotty nose on her sleeve. She huffed and wiped her wet cheeks with her palms, no doubt smearing her face with dirt but not really caring. Maddie had been sat for so long that she had begun to shiver, but luckily for her she soon didn't have to worry about the cold.

Maddie heard the vampire before she saw it. The bushes to her left, about a hundred yards away rustled and she looked over at them, now on high alert. The female vamp emerged from the hedge, crouching as she looked around for anyone following her, before making to walk around the rear of the church. Maddie smirked to herself before slowly getting to her feet and making to follow the vamp, keeping low and pulling out her trusty stake yet again. The vamp made her way towards a small mausoleum that was tucked away in the corner of the graveyard. She didn't come across many mausoleums and gave an appreciative nod in recognition, considering how difficult it is for a vamp to snap up such sought-after accommodation. Maddie quickly caught up to the vamp and announced herself in cheery fashion.

'Nice digs!'

The vamp whipped around, snarling in her face but she'd gotten so close that she simply plunged the stake into the vamp's chest before it had chance to take a swipe at her. She disintegrated into dust at Maddie's feet as she wafted the dust out of the air around her. She went up to the mausoleum door and pushed it open. What greeted her was a typical vamp nest, various odds and ends scattered over the interior of the little stone building, some makeshift bedding draped over the stone coffin in the centre. Satisfied that the nest was only home to one vamp, she shut the mausoleum up again and went to do a lap of the graveyard.

She knew that Tommy and Ada would be worrying about her by now. In fact, Maddie was almost positive that Tommy would be beside himself, even though he wouldn't be showing it externally. She wondered how long she had actually been gone for. By the state of the drunk people she passed in the street she imagined that it was past midnight by now and considered heading back to Ada's house and putting them out of their misery. But in truth, she didn't feel ready to go back and face them. She wanted a bit more time to work through her emotions alone and deep down didn't really care what time it was.

Maddie spent the rest of the night on her feet and used those feet to kick a fair bit of vampire ass. It was the most amount of action she'd had since she'd travelled through time and realised that London must have been the centre for vampire and demon activity in the 1920's. She went from church to church and park to park, not stopping even once. She encountered more vampires and even a couple of demons, including a huge chaos demon whose slime got all over her clothes as she pinned it down and snapped its horns off to use to slay it.

After many hours of tireless grinding, Maddie finally ended up in yet another church graveyard, punching yet another vamps face in. This particular vamp was taking great joy in taunting her, throwing jibes at her left right and centre as it circled her like a shark. It soon started a villain monologue, which proved to be the vamp's downfall. Maddie looked up and saw the tell-tale signs of sunrise creeping over the rooftops behind the vamp, the sky gradually becoming a lighter shade of blue and slivers of sunlight creeping in. She smiled but looked at the vamp, pretending to be impressed by whatever it was drabbling on about. She kept the vamp facing her, so it kept its back to the sunrise, nodding and humming to its rambling as she watched the sun begin to rise behind the rooftops.

'I think you've forgotten something,' said Maddie, interjecting in the middle of the vamp's speech.

'Oh, and what's that?' said the vamp, smiling imperiously.

'Sunrise.'

Maddie pointed behind the vampire just as the sun peeked up over the rooftop. The vampire spun around and brought its arms up to shield itself hopelessly as the sun's rays hit it. The vamp burst into flames and screamed before crumbling into a pile of dust. She chuckled to herself and shook her head.

'Imbecile.'

Maddie sighed and took a moment to enjoy the sunlight on her dirty, sweat covered face but soon felt exhaustion tug at her, telling her it was time to sleep. I've been out longer than I wanted, she thought guiltily. Now feeling considerably better about her situation after a night of taking out her emotions on helpless vamps, she now thought about how worried Tommy and Ada must be by now. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to stay out all night. Then Maddie remembered that she still needed to walk back to Ada's, which after the night's expedition would probably take her at least three hours. She was sure she had traversed half of London over the course of the night but luckily, she was sure she knew how to get back.

For the first couple of hours of Maddie's return walk the streets were still empty, and she soon passed a clock on the front of building which told her it was nearly half seven. Then, as if all at once, the residents of London flooded the streets and roads. She kept her head down and tried to avoid detection by the commuters, schoolchildren and other miscellaneous people but failed miserably. They gave her a wide berth, probably assuming she was a beggar considering her tattered state. She felt a rush of relief when she turned onto a road she finally recognised as being a couple of streets away from Ada's. It must have been nearly nine o'clock and she picked up the pace into a casual jog, now more concerned that Tommy and Ada would be fearing the worst by now.

Finally, Ada's house came into view along the street and Maddie slowed to walk up to the steps. She looked up and saw Ada's face in the sitting room window who she gave a shocked look before disappearing from view. Oh, shit, thought Maddie as she stopped in front of the front door as Ada threw it open.

'Maddie!' she cried, throwing her arms around her and hugging her tightly before she pulled back and took Maddie's hands in hers. 'Your hands are freezing love, where have you been?'

'Ah, I'm sorry Ada… I… er,' Maddie fumbled with her words as she was pulled into the warm comforting house by Ada who shut the door behind them. Ada sighed and shook her head at her with a small smile on her lips.

'It's alright Maddie, you're okay and that's all that matters.'

Maddie followed Ada into the sitting room and was ordered by her to sit on the sofa before a piping hot cup of tea was put in her hand, shortly followed by a bacon sandwich. Ada always knew how to make her feel better. However, she was shocked to see that Tommy hadn't appeared and then realised that his car hadn't been out the front of the house.

'Where's Tommy?' asked Maddie before taking her first bite of sandwich.

'He left for Camden half an hour ago,' Ada replied, and Maddie recalled Alfie's parting comment to Tommy at the boxing match. 'He stayed up all night waiting for you to come back. He refused to leave that chair by the window. Eventually he sent out some men to find you and even went out in the car looking for you at one point.'

Maddie felt guilt slice at her gut and suddenly her appetite disappeared, causing her to abandon her last bite of sandwich. She looked down into her lap shamefully, now regretting her little night-time trip, it now all seeming like a toddler's tantrum.

'I'm sorry Ada. I didn't want to make either of you worry I just… I just needed to be alone to think things over by myself.'

Ada waved her hand at Maddie dismissively and scoffed. 'Oh, don't worry about it. It's not like he hasn't stayed out all night to do exactly the same thing.'

Maddie sighed and laughed reluctantly but was glad to hear that she wasn't angry.

'You're absolutely filthy Mads, what happened to you?' questioned Ada, dragging her eyes over her form, no doubt regretting her decision to let Maddie sit on her clean sofa.

'Vampires and more vampires and a chaos demon that covered me in slime,' she replied matter-of-factly, smirking sheepishly. Ada laughed and shook her head at her before getting up from her chair.

'Tommy asked me to call him when you got back,' she announced. Maddie nodded and got up herself, the feeling of food in her tummy exacerbating her exhaustion and followed Ada into the hallway.

'I think I might get some sleep if that's ok?' she asked. Ada nodded but stopped Maddie as she made for the stairs.

'Tommy wants you to stay with him at his house, but I just want you to know that you're welcome to stay here with me for as long as you like if you don't want to go back to Arrow House straight away,' Ada offered, giving her a warm smile. Maddie felt her heart swell at Ada's words and smiled widely in return.

'Thank you, I'll keep that in mind,' she said as she began to climb the stairs.

Maddie heard Ada wait until she had opened her bedroom door before picking up the phone to call Tommy. Maddie winced at what his reaction would be and decided not to try and guess as she shut the door behind her. Her room was toastie and warm from the crackling fire that had been lit for her and she didn't realise just how cold she'd gotten. The heat and the sight of her bed was enough for her to suddenly feel her eyelids begin to droop. Maddie wrestled her boots off and threw them to the floor before collapsing on the bed still in her tatty, grubby clothes. Her eyes closed and sleep took her as soon as her head hit the pillow, and she began to dream for the first time since travelling back through time.

Screaming. Shouting. Voices that Maddie recognised but couldn't pick out reverberated around her head as images flashed by. Faces of people. Of Tommy, Arthur, John, Finn, Polly, Michael and faces of monsters, of vampires. All swirling around together, the image of what was happening blurred from her view, but she knew it was bad.

'Maddie.'

She heard Tommy's voice more clearly now, the scenery of her dream now beginning to wobble and shake around her.

'Maddie, hey.'

Maddie's eyes opened slowly, her room coming into view gradually as she registered a hand gently shaking her shoulder. She rolled over with a groan to see Tommy sat next to her on the bed, looking down at her with a relieved look on his face. She covered her mouth as she yawned, slowly coming up to a sitting position.

'Oh, hi Tommy,' she said, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She looked up to meet his eyes and saw the dark circles under them from the lack of sleep. He sighed and cupped Maddie's face with his hands.

'Are you alright?' he asked with a strained voice.

'I'm fine,' she replied timidly before giving an apologetic smile. 'I'm sorry for running off Tommy.'

He looked into her eyes with a steely stare before shaking his head, removing his hands from her face.

'Don't apologise. I should know better than to worry about you. But I've found that I can't help it,' he said, looking over at Maddie more seriously with the last sentence.

Maddie bit her lip as she watched Tommy turn away and run his hands through his hair and over his face. She looked down at herself and remembered her dishevelled state. She would have been in her clothes for more than twenty-four hours now and she was definitely beginning to smell. She shut her eyes and grimaced at letting herself go to bed in such a gross state. She hastily covered her bare leg with her skirt, conscious of her stockings that were caked in dirt and dried slime. Just then Ada appeared in the doorway and looked at Tommy disapprovingly.

'I told him that you would be asleep, but as usual he didn't listen,' she complained, folding her arms over her chest. Tommy ignored his sister and turned back to Maddie.

'We're driving back home in an hour. And we can't be late.'

The way Tommy said 'home' like Maddie had been living there for years made her smile. He'd already put aside what had happened the previous day and now considered her a permanent member of his family, whether she liked it or not. She felt a rush of hope at the thought that she already had a new family in this new home that she now had to make a life in.

'I told him that you could stay here if you wanted to Maddie,' said Ada, looking at her in encouragement for her to say what she really wanted. Tommy looked to her with a neutral expression although she could see his eyes pleading to her silently.

'Is that what you want, Maddie?' asked Tommy. Maddie thought about it and realised that she missed Arrow House, and Birmingham in general. It may be several decades too early, but it was still her city. She sighed and shook her head.

'Thank you, Ada but I think I'll be okay,' smiled Maddie. Ada smiled back and nodded. 'Can I at least get a wash first?'

Both Ada and Tommy laughed as he stood up to leave, turning back to address Maddie as he stood in the doorway.

'Just be ready in an hour.'

Ada fetched hot water for Maddie's bath as she stripped off yet another set of ruined clothes, scrunching them up into a ball as Ada returned.

'I think I'll just burn these,' laughed Maddie.

'Please do. I didn't want to say anything, but they do have a unique smell,' said Ada, making her even more self-conscious.

Ada also brought Maddie some of her clothes as she had gotten through all the items she'd brought with her for her stay. She submerged herself underwater to soak her pungent hair and scrubbed every inch of her body within an inch of its life so she would resemble a normal human being again. Despite wanting to stay in the soapy water, her hour quickly ebbed away, and she didn't put it past Tommy to burst in to tell her to get a move on. She dragged herself out of the bath and quickly dried off and dressed in the crisp fresh clothes. All evidence of last night was now gone, excluding the bruises she'd acquired from her visit to the watchers, and Maddie got the feeling like she had been reborn. Reborn as a 1920's woman.

Maddie quickly braided her wet hair before gathering up her bag with her modern clothes and Tommy's butterfly knife in it. They were the only two possessions she could say she truly owned, and she was going to treasure them more than anything she'd ever considered valuable back home. She went downstairs and found Tommy waiting in the living room with Ada, they were whispering to each other as she entered and immediately stopped when they noticed her. Maddie looked between the two of them suspiciously, wondering what conversation she had just walked in on.

'I'm ready to go,' she announced with a smile.

'Good. Let's go,' said Tommy, not hesitating as he walked out of the living room. Maddie and Ada rolled their eyes in unison before embracing in a tight hug; Ada rubbing her back soothingly.

'What were you two whispering about when I walked in?' enquired Maddie as she clung onto Ada, wishing that she could come with them back to Birmingham.

'Nothing important,' replied Ada a little too quickly as she pulled back from the hug. 'Now you'd better get going before he starts blowing the horn. The last thing I need is my neighbours complaining again.'

Ada began to shoo Maddie out of the door before she could question her further. Tommy was already in the car with the engine running, looking at his pocket watch impatiently. She put her bag in the back and got into the passenger seat.

'I'll see you soon Mads,' called Ada as Maddie shut the car door. 'I'll be down to visit in a couple of weeks.'

Tommy pulled the car away as Maddie waved to Ada before sitting back into her seat. She turned to Tommy and brought her knees up to her chest. She was glad that she had decided to go back to Arrow House with him, it was now the only familiar place to her, and she realised that she needed some familiarity in her life right now.

'What time is it?' she asked.

'Three,' replied Tommy.

Maddie tossed up the idea of going back to sleep for the journey. Not only would it keep her from getting bored and winding Tommy up again, but she could do with a few more hours kip after her night-time adventure. Then she recalled her dream. She had forgotten about it as soon as she woke up like most dreams but now it came creeping back into her head. She remembered that the Shelby's had been there, that there was screaming and that there were vampires as well. The desire to go back to sleep went away rapidly, the need to not continue the dream quickly replacing it. Maddie had a lot of dreams like that one, which more often than not turned out to predict a whole load of nothing. However, she knew better than to assume the best when it came to slayer dreams.

Whatever her dream was trying to tell her, Maddie knew she needed to stay sharp. She had a feeling that Tommy and the Shelby's were probably going to be in danger and there was no way she was going to let anything happen to her new family. She decided it best not to tell him about her dream. He would only try to figure out what it meant, and they would likely end up rushing to conclusions which would only succeed in putting them all in more danger. So, Maddie kept her mouth shut and decided to try and engage Tommy in conversation. As she opened her mouth to say something, he beat her to it.

'You can come to the office tomorrow if you want. I'll show you the ropes and how the company runs. Then if you like what you see then I'll find you a job in the office.'

Maddie blinked at him, not sure whether he was being serious or not. Did he just offer her a job?

'Wait… you mean like a real job? A job that you do in the daytime?' she asked, the thought of an actual nine to five honest job beginning to excite her.

'Yes. And you can still help out with the work you were doing before if you want to,' Tommy chuckled, a smile hinting at his lips as he saw Maddie's face brighten at the prospect of her own job. She nodded eagerly in agreement, she knew he would try his best to keep her involved in the more illegal side of the business, but she didn't mind. Someone would have to keep an eye on John, Arthur, and the rest of them and stop them getting into trouble.

'Does that mean I get a salary?' she asked, now more interested in earning her own money for the first time. Tommy hummed a small laugh as he looked over at Maddie.

'Yes.'

'Thank you, Tommy,' she said. 'I've never had a real job before, and I'll even have my own money to buy stuff.'

She really wanted to lean over and hug Tommy but realised that they'd probably end up in a ditch if she did, so she settled for leaning over and kissing him on the cheek instead. He looked over at her and gave her a half smile before turning back to the road.

'You're an honorary Shelby now, Maddie. And you'll get the money and reputation to go with it,' he said, making her smile even more.

As much as she was going to miss her home, she was chuffed to know that she had a new one waiting for her here. Maddie would mourn her friends and her old life but eventually she knew she would be able to put it behind her and start a whole new life in a whole new time.

Maddie managed to fill her time on the car journey with thinking about all her fond memories from home. Taking the time to remember what her life was like before all this madness happened. She even shed a tear at one point and hastily wiped it away before Tommy could notice. She wanted to tell him about her life; to share all her life experiences with him but she wasn't sure that it was the right time. But she hoped that one day they might end up sharing more personal parts of themselves with each other.

Now that Maddie was staying, she thought about what that meant for her and Tommy. Even though he hadn't said it, she knew that he must be feeling partly glad that she was still around. When she looked over at him as his cold eyes focussed on the road, she felt her heart flutter and her stomach swirl. She had to fight to draw her eyes away from the hard lines of his face and the roundness of his lips as they pursed around his cigarette. Maddie had fallen in love with him over the past two weeks, there was no denying it. She knew that Tommy also felt something for her, she only hoped that it was love as well.

But what about Lizzie? Maddie recalled her knowledge of Tommy's and the Shelby's future, and now realised that history would definitely be changing with her around. Now that she was in the picture, the course the Shelby Company could change completely and that would also mean that Maddie would no longer know what was going to happen; to them anyway. There was still the matter of the second world war which she would need to be keep unknown to them. Urg, time travel is such a mind fuck, thought Maddie. She felt a knew weight of responsibility on her shoulders. The responsibility to not screw up the future and possibly destroy it by stepping on a butterfly or something. She knew enough about dimensions to know that she couldn't erase her own existence. In fact, Maddie contemplated whether a whole new dimension had been created around her; an alternate version of history where she lived in in the twentieth century instead of the twenty-first. Well it's better than living in the dimension with nothing but shrimp, she decided.

To stop herself from getting to bogged down with dimensional law and technicalities, Maddie chatted with Tommy about his day and whether Alfie was still as insufferable as he had been a couple of days ago. She asked him again whether she could punch him the next time they met, but Tommy refused, although he did chuckle at the idea. He was surprisingly talkative compared to normal and Maddie wondered whether he was feeling alright and even asked him this as a joke, to which he didn't reply.

When Arrow House finally loomed into view, Maddie sat up in her seat to take in the sight. As they pulled up the driveway closer to the house, Arthur and John came out of the front door. She admitted she was glad to see them, their cheeky smiles a welcome sight as she got out of the car.

'Bloody hell Mads! I thought we'd seen the back of you!' shouted John with a grin. Maddie gave them a rueful smile as she approached them, shrugging her shoulders.

'Sorry to disappoint,' she replied.

'What happened eh? Tommy wouldn't tell us anything,' said Arthur, throwing Tommy an annoyed look as he joined them. Maddie wasn't keen on recounting the story, but she saw Arthur and John's confused looks and decided to fill them in.

'In a nutshell, we got there, and they didn't know how to send me home,' sighed Maddie. John and Arthur exchanged looks.

'But I thought these watcher blokes knew almost everything?' said John.

'Emphasis on thealmost. They're about as much use as a fucking chocolate teapot,' she grumbled.

The three brothers laughed at her bizarre turn of phrase and Maddie found that she could get used to be being the odd girl from the future if she could make the Shelby's laugh so easily.

'So, does this mean you're staying then?' asked Arthur with a smile.

'Yeah, looks like it,' nodded Maddie.

'Well I for one am glad you're staying,' said John before pushing her playfully, making her take a step back. He went to start tickling her and she shook her head at him.

'Don't even think about it, John!'

He didn't listen and attempted to tickle her waist but she dodged him and jumped on his back and wrapped her arm around his neck, the two of them giggling and wrestling like children as Arthur laughed and Tommy shook his head in disdain. She jumped off John's back and pushed him away before they all headed inside and Frances greeted them who gave Maddie a sour look as she walked in.

'Nice to see you back again, Miss,' said Frances with a fake smile. Well, Maddie couldn't expect everyone to be happy that she was still around.

'Frances, please inform the kitchen to start preparations for dinner,' ordered Tommy as he handed her his coat and hat.

'Oh… er Tom, that job you asked us to do. It's ready downstairs,' said John, avoiding Maddie's gaze as she looked at them inquisitively.

'What job?' asked Maddie. First Ada, and now John. Why were they acting so strangely?

Tommy looked at John with irritation and sighed. 'Yes, John. Thank you.'

John nodded and smiled cluelessly and he and Arthur went into the drawing room leaving Maddie to cock her eyebrow at Tommy expectantly.

'What are you lot hiding?' she asked. Tommy let a smile hint at the corners of his lips before turning away to follow Arthur and John.

'Come on, let's have a drink.'

They joined Arthur and John in the drawing room where Maddie sat and drank a pint of beer that John had brought up from the cellar in preparation for her return. They asked her about what happened at the Watcher's Council and she retold the story about her battle with the huge vampire and instinctively rubbed the bruise on her neck as she recounted the battle. John and Arthur listened to her captivated, asking for details about the fight like little boys talking about superheroes.

'I heard you went on a little walkabout around London last night,' said Arthur once she had finished her thrilling tale. Tommy, who had been stood in the corner of the room looking bored suddenly stood straighter and looked over at her. She smiled at him apologetically, still feeling guilty for keeping him awake the whole night with worry.

'Er yeah… I suppose I did,' said Maddie bashfully.

She proceeded to tell them about her impromptu patrol through London, describing all the baddies she'd slain through the night. She grew more enthusiastic in telling her second story when her audience gave shocked and impressed looks to each other, and she started miming her fights to illicit laughter from Arthur and John and an amused smirk from Tommy. John nearly rolled on the floor from laughter when Maddie finished telling them about the vamp that forgot about the sunrise. She spotted Tommy walk over to her as she laughed with John and finished off her pint, enjoying the taste of the golden liquid. He put the glass of whiskey he had on the table and held his hand out to her. She looked at him in confusion before slowly putting her hand in his.

'I think it's time to show Maddie what we've been working on, eh?' he said as she stood up and looked between the brothers questioningly. Arthur clapping his hands and rubbing his palms together.

'Finally.'

Tommy led Maddie out of the drawing room and through the house to the door that lead to the cellar. Maddie gave it a sceptical look before Tommy opened it and led them down the stairs to a musty smelling, damp corridor where he stopped and turned back to her.

'Close your eyes,' he said with a smug smile tugging at his lips. Arthur and John sniggered and shuffled around behind her and he threw them a warning look.

'Okay, what the hell is going on? You do know that this is weird right?' huffed Maddie, racking her brains trying to figure out what they were up to.

'Close your eyes,' repeated Tommy. Maddie searched his eyes for signs of trickery before sighing in defeat and shutting her eyelids.

She felt him put his hands on her shoulders lightly before hearing him walk around to stand behind her and lifting his hands to cover her eyes.

'Good. Now, no peeking.'

Tommy began to guide Maddie forward, keeping her eyes covered as she held her arms out in front of her comically. She heard either John or Arthur walk on ahead and open a door a few feet in front of her. She laughed at the ridiculousness of the fact that Tommy was covering her eyes, she didn't expect him to engage in something so silly and immature. He continued to guide her forward and she felt the floor beneath her feet change from stone to wood, realising that she must have walked into a large room as their footsteps started to echo.

'Keep them closed,' Tommy said, removing his hands from her face. She could almost hear the smile on his face as he spoke. Right, now she really wanted to know what was going on. 'Alright, you can open them now.'

Maddie opened her eyes and looked at the picture before her, although her brain took a few seconds to work out what she was looking at. She scanned the room around her and took inventory of the items in it. A punching bag hanging from the ceiling, vaulting platforms, a springboard, a high bar, dumbbells and weights and an archery target and a number of what looked like crash and floor mats scattered around the room. Was this a training room? Then she realised what the surprise was. They'd made the basement into her own personal training room. She could feel Tommy, Arthur and John staring at her to assess her reaction, but Maddie couldn't help but let her mouth drop open when she realised what she was looking at.

'Is this… for me?' she asked dumbly as she took a few steps further into the room, the shock stopping her from being able to use longer words.

'Yes,' said Tommy. 'I thought bringing you something you had at home would help you to feel better. And keep you busy in your spare time.'

Maddie turned to look at him in disbelief. Was he serious? She couldn't believe that he would do something so thoughtful, and so perfect for her. He gave her a small smile before John spoke up and started walking around all the equipment.

'We got all the stuff from the local boxing and gymnastics clubs,' he said. 'Stayed up all night getting it ready for ya.'

'Thank you,' she said with a chuckle, still not quite believing what she was looking at.

Maddie went over to the barbell which was loaded with about sixty kilograms and picked it up with one hand, testing the balance of it before dropping it back on the floor. They watched her with fascination as they usually did, and she realised that they would probably never tire of watching her show off her powers.

'But we haven't shown you the best bit!' chirped Arthur suddenly.

He walked over to a large wooden cabinet against the wall and opened it. Inside was a selection of weapons including a mixture of swords, throwing knives, axes, bows and crossbows. Maddie gasped and ran over to the cabinet to get a closer look. It wasn't the arsenal that the watchers had, she remembered feeling like a kid in a sweet shop seeing that wall of death and mayhem. But these weapons were still impressive, and all hers, to train and go patrolling with as much as she liked.

'Where the hell did you get these from?' asked Maddie. Old weapons like these couldn't have been easy to come by, even for people with as many resources as the Peaky Blinders.

'We… convinced the museum in Birmingham to make a charitable donation. They were reluctant but anything is available to us with a little persuasion,' said Arthur with an edge of menace in his voice.

Maddie sincerely hoped that they hadn't cut anyone to get all these weapons and gym equipment but found she didn't much care once she picked up the crossbow. It was the perfect weight and the wood was polished and strong.

'Give it a go then Mads,' chuckled John, looking at her eagerly to show off the weapon.

Maddie smiled cheekily at them before grabbing a crossbow bolt from the cabinet and walking to stand in line with the target on the other side of the room. She loaded the crossbow before taking aim; she squeezed the trigger and the bolt released and buried itself in the centre of the target. Her onlookers clapped raucously as she examined the crossbow more closely. The trigger was a little stiff and she realised that it probably hadn't been used as a weapon in many years. She would need to do a little tinkering to get it up to scratch but otherwise it was perfect. She put the crossbow back in the cabinet before taking a walk around all the other things in the room, stopping next to the punching bag and smiling as she felt the thick leather under her fingers. She looked up to see that the bag was attached to a hook on the ceiling with thin rope and smirked as she turned to the men who had been watching her walk around the room with amused looks on their faces.

'We're going to have to sort this out though,' said Maddie, indicating to the punching bag.

Tommy and his brothers looked at each other in confusion.

'How so?' asked Tommy.

Maddie pursed her lips to stifle a laugh before taking a slight step back from the bag. She whipped around and swung her leg out to plant a hard kick to the punching bag with a grunt. The rope holding the bag up snapped and the bag flew the few feet between it and the wall. It smacked into the wall with a thud followed by another as it fell to the ground. She looked back to Tommy apologetically but with a playful grin as he, Arthur and John stared at the her with their eyebrows raised.

'Well, we'll be sure to chain it to the ceiling next time,' said Tommy with an amused smile, walking over to Maddie and putting his hand on her arm and squeezing it gently. 'So, how did we do?'

Maddie looked around the room again at her very own training room and began to feel tears sting her eyes as she covered her mouth with her hands and sighed. It was perfect. She was afraid that if she said this out loud however that she would end up crying and hiccupping over her words. She turned to look up into Tommy's eyes briefly and instead of crying threw her arms around his neck and collided her lips with his. Tommy inhaled sharply before wrapping his arms around her waist to hug her to him. She heard Arthur and John snigger somewhere to her right, but she didn't care, beginning to kiss him with more enthusiasm which he returned.

'We'll er… leave you two alone,' Arthur said, and Maddie heard their footsteps walk out of the room, stifling their laughter as they walked away before she heard the door shut behind them.

As soon the door was shut, Tommy began to run his hands over Maddie's body eagerly, grasping at her hips as she moaned and gasped hazily against his lips. Her head was swimming, all the sexual tension that had been building since they met now beginning to boil over. Only now there was nothing to stop them from going all the way.

On hearing her pleasured whines Tommy broke their mouths apart only to start assaulting her neck with his lips. He kissed and nipped at the sensitive skin as his hands wandered further downwards, pulling her dress up to run his hand up her leg and to her ass while the other hand pressed into her back to keep her against him. Maddie, determined not to let Tommy have all the fun, caressed the cropped hair on the back of his head before moving up and grasping at the longer locks on top. She tilted his head further into her neck and he hummed deeply against her clavicle, the sensation making her whole body vibrate and her pussy throb. She started to kiss his cheek and jaw to match his actions before planting teasing kisses to the soft area of skin under his ear. It earned the reaction she wanted as he began to breathe deeper and to pull her collar back over her shoulder so he could kiss along her collar bone.

Maddie smiled into his neck before running her lips up again to start kissing and nibbling his ear lobe. Tommy froze for a split second before growling devilishly into her ear. He lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist as he used one hand to hold onto the underside of her upper thigh and the other to fist a handful of her hair. Tommy walked forward until her back hit the cold stone wall, grunting as the weight of Tommy's solid body trapped her there. Their lips met again, and Maddie whined as she felt his erection press against her pelvis as he pushed his hips against hers. He gathered her dress up to her waist and she became aware of the dampness of her underwear as the cold air struck the bare skin of her upper thighs and creeped up under her knickers. He grasped her hip bones roughly as she grabbed at his waistcoat, so overwhelmed by her arousal that she didn't know what else to do with her hands. Tommy moved his hips away slightly and Maddie felt his hand slowly slide across her stomach along the top of her underwear. He then started to move his hand down under her knickers and her breath hitched in her throat, causing her to stop moving her lips against his and to moan into his mouth. He let out a deep gravelly rumble from within his chest and began to kiss along her jaw and neck again. He ran his palm unbearably slowly down her stomach towards the apex of her thighs, her skin buzzing uncontrollably. She could feel the wetness practically dripping from her as he inched his fingers closer to her pussy.

Then the door flung open and Maddie snapped her eyes open to see Finn stride into the room, not immediately noticing them.

'Hey Mads, do you like -.'

He stopped mid-sentence as his eyes landed on her and Tommy, those eyes widening as he became frozen to the spot as he stared dumbly at them. Tommy's hand was gone from between her legs in a flash, although he continued to pin her against the wall as he turned his head to the side and pointed at Finn furiously.

'Fuck off, now!' he yelled as Maddie began to giggle quietly as Finn averted his gaze before turning and hastily stumbling back out of the room. The rest of the family must have arrived, and she imagined Arthur and John had sent Finn downstairs as an idea of a practical joke which she admitted was quite funny. However, Tommy was clearly done with their heated make out sessions ending prematurely and wasn't going to let this one end the same way.

He turned back to face her, staring into her eyes making her silly giggling cease instantaneously. His pupils were so blown that his eyes looked black like a shark's, desire and lust making his face look even sexier than ususal as he raked his eyes down Maddie's body before suddenly pressing his hand to her pussy over her underwear causing a strained gasp to escape her lips. His eyes were back on hers again as he began to rub the heel of his hand into her clit slowly, watching her as she closed her eyes and let her head fall against the wall as she struggled to contain her whining.

'Fuck,' Tommy mumbled into her neck as he began to nuzzle and kiss it again.

Spurred on by his exclamation, Maddie pushed her hips forward to trap is hand between them before fisting his hair and forcing his head back up so she could kiss him properly. She ground her hips against his hand as she kissed him more aggressively, bringing his bottom lip into her mouth to bite it teasingly. Tommy fought back and tried to move his head back to her neck, but she held him fast to her lips. They struggled playfully like this for a while, Maddie winding him up more by laughing breathily in between kisses and making him growl with frustration.

Tommy eventually grasped Maddie around the waist and moved them away from the wall and carried her across the room as they continued to kiss passionately. All of a sudden, she felt herself falling backwards and she landed on her back on one of the crash mats with him on top of her. His cock felt marble hard through his trousers as it pressed against her clit torturously. They writhed against each other lustily as they pawed at each other's clothes but not actually removing them. He probably thought that he had her trapped now that all his weight was on top of her and she laughed internally at his naivety. She was getting thoroughly bored of their clothes still being on, especially Tommy's. He'd gotten to see her in her underwear or without much fabric on her body a few times now where she had seen exactly nothing in return. She pushed on his chest, creating a small gap between them, and proceeded to grab the front of his vest and rip it open, the buttons flying off in different directions. She would be damned if she was going to fumble around undoing the buttons like last time.

Tommy chuckled as Maddie pulled the vest off his shoulders along with his suspenders before he shook them all the way off as she undid his tie, tossing it to one side and ripping his shirt open also, only to find an undershirt underneath. How many layers did the man wear? Huffing in frustration, she decided to tease him as he had done to her by running her hands down his torso until she reached his trousers, continuing her course over the rough fabric until she felt the hardness of his cock under her palm. He hissed as he leant his head against her neck and moaned when she grasped his erection and began to move her hand up and down. She began to nibble his earlobe again making him swear inaudibly into her shoulder and he grabbed her wrist to stop her rubbing. Tommy sat up on his heels and looked down at Maddie from above. His hair was sticking up messily and his shirt was half hanging off. She licked her lips at the sight, it was the first time she had seen him looking anyway short of pristine. She saw his eyes follow her lips and smiled seductively at him as he began to run his hands along her calves that were resting on either side of his hips. He caressed them up and down a few times before removing Maddie's shoes gently and running his hands back up her legs, this time passing her knees and stroking up her thighs to where her dress was pooled on her pelvis. Tommy's hands went under her underwear and he brought the tips of his fingers torturously close to her pussy before pulling back, making her sigh with frustration. She sat up, grabbing his shoulders so she could straddle his lap and kissed him angrily before speaking.

'Take the dress off,' she ordered huskily, looking into his dark eyes as she spoke.

Tommy raised an eyebrow at her before smirking smugly and quickly undoing the buttons at the back of her dress with surprising dexterity.

'At least I won't ruin your clothes when I take them off,' he taunted, whispering into her ear seductively as he reached around to undo the buttons. She could hear the devious smile on his lips and bristled at his cheek.

'Shut up,' she replied with a huff, lifting her arms up to allow Tommy to lift the dress over her head. As soon as it was off, Maddie finally yanked his shirt off as well, followed swiftly by his stupid undershirt.

Finally able to see the skin of his bare torso, Maddie dragged her eyes over Tommy's toned chest and arms, her gaze lingering on the small scars and tattoos. She ran her hands over his chest and felt the solid muscle and felt her skin tingle feverishly. The sensation spread down to her clit which throbbed more, begging to be touched. She barely registered his hands caressing their way up her back until he reached the clasp of her bra. She held her breath involuntarily as he undid it with one hand before pulling the straps down her arms, the cold air hitting her breasts and rapidly making her nipples harden. Maddie watched as Tommy moved his gaze down to her chest and gently slid his hands around her ribs to cup her breasts with both hands. Their lips met again as he began to draw slow circles around her nipples with his thumbs, eliciting more moans from her and leading to her grinding up against his cock to gain some friction. He tried to still her hips with one of his hands, deserting her breast pull her hips tightly against him but it proved pointless. She continued to roll her hips against his more forcefully now that she knew he wanted her to stop.

'Stop that,' Tommy growled against Maddie's lips before pinching her nipple between his thumb and index finger as a warning, although all it achieved was a high-pitched gasp of pleasure from her lips. She shook her head and smiled; she would keep annoying him like this all night it if this was the consequence.

'Nuh-uh,' she hummed naughtily.

Tommy growled again before leaning forward and returning them to a lying position with Maddie beneath him before starting to kiss and bite at her neck again as she continued to try and grind her hips up. Soon, his lips slowed and became gentler as he brushed his lips down over her skin, ending up between her breasts. She stopped moving and she felt him smile against the soft skin of her chest. She began to breathe faster still as he slowly ran his lips over one breast and drew her nipple into his mouth, sucking on it gently. Pleasure rippled through her body and she arched her back, lifting off the mat and placing her hand on the back of Tommy's head as he began to flick her nipple with his tongue. Electric shocks of arousal surged over her skin and between her legs and Maddie let out her loudest moan yet, swept away with the feeling of Tommy's lips on her body. He responded by moving to the other breast and repeating the same process, as if playing her like an instrument to try and get her to make new sounds. When she stopped arching her back and relaxed, enjoying the feeling of his mouth on her breasts, he grazed her nipple with his teeth before beginning to kiss down her stomach. She focussed on a point on the ceiling and bit her lip to keep herself from moaning too loudly as Tommy approached the top of her underwear. He planted kisses down her abdomen, across her hip and then up her inner thigh. Maddie lifted her head up to look down and met his eyes which were fixed on her, watching her face as he explored her body and found her sweet spots. He moved his hands under her hips and undid the button on her underwear before slowly dragging them down her legs, kissing her knees as she bent her legs so he could get them over her feet. She couldn't take her eyes of Tommy as he softly nudged her legs apart to open them again and rest them on either side of his legs. Maddie's breath began to shake, and she realised how nervous she was, it had been a while since she had been in this position with a man she loved touching her like this. He immediately noticed the change and came down to place a soft kiss to her lips, tenderly stroking her cheek with the back of his hand.

'You alright?' he asked soothingly.

'Yeah,' Maddie whispered back, swallowing her nervousness away.

Tommy seemed happy with her response and began to move back down her body as she shut her eyes in anticipation. He stroked the inside of her thighs teasingly and her breath hitched again when he finally ran a finger up her wetness. Her pussy throbbed and sent shocks through her body with the intimate contact. Maddie didn't know what to do with her hands and decided to dig her nails into the leather of the mat so she could feel more grounded. He massaged her expertly with his fingers a few times before pushing a finger inside her. Maddie inhaled sharply and pushed her head back with the sudden feeling of ecstasy and Tommy responded by pushing another finger inside and curling them into the spot that made her see stars. How did he know that was what she liked? She felt a rush of annoyance at his luck at getting her hot and flustered but soon forgot about it when his fingers were suddenly gone only to be replaced by his tongue licking a long stripe up her pussy.

'Oh, fuck!' cried Maddie, her back arching up again and her hips pressing down into the mat. She clamped her lips shut again to try and not to cry out in pleasure.

Tommy didn't hesitate and took her outburst as a signal to immediately start liking and sucking eagerly between her legs. He started by dragging his tongue up and down her folds before he began to draw circles around her clit, flicking it once and making her cry out again, more waves of pleasure crashing up her body and making the pit of her stomach begin to tighten. Her hands flew to Tommy's hair and gripped it tightly, but she let him continue his ministrations. After a minute of this she felt herself beginning to flush and the fire in her stomach beginning to build, the tell-tale signs of her orgasm approaching fast. She began to pant rapidly, whining uncontrollably as she pushed her hips upwards, her eyes rolling back as her release came closer.

Then Tommy's mouth was gone from between her legs and Maddie opened her eyes to see him rise back up to kiss her, her orgasm receding angrily making her feel almost dizzy. She could taste herself on his mouth and she moaned helplessly, her body aching for its release. She wanted to slap him for denying her of her release so cruelly.

Now losing all her patience, Maddie reached down and unbuttoned Tommy's trousers, shimmying them down and he kicked them off with his shoes that he still had on, followed swiftly by his underwear. She immediately wrapped her hand around his cock and began to stroke it rhythmically, determined to get her own back for her denied orgasm. It felt impossibly hard in her hand and she could tell that it was a sizeable length making her grin excitedly against his lips. He began to moan deeply as she worked him, the sound making her even wetter and she decided that she couldn't wait any longer.

'Fuck me, Tommy,' pleaded Maddie desperately, releasing her hold of Tommy's cock and hooking her feet together at the small of his back and pulling his hips down so it rubbed against her clit making her groan.

Tommy looked into Maddie's eyes; his face contorted with hedonistic pleasure before connecting his lips to hers once again. He kissed her tenderly before moving his hips to position the head of his cock to her entrance. She held her breath as he continued to kiss her, waiting for him to push himself inside her like she so desperately wanted. Finally, he thrust his hips forward and the familiar feeling of fullness sent ripples of euphoria through her body. The two of them sighed and moaned simultaneously as Tommy began to move in and out at an initially slow pace, pressing his hips flush against hers with each careful thrust. Maddie gripped onto his shoulder with one hand and gripped his hair with the other as he gripped her hip and her face as he pushed in and out of her with experienced precision.

They moved against each other seamlessly and blissfully for a while, Tommy picking up the pace gradually as they rolled their hips together. Despite the pleasure, Maddie got the sudden mischievous urge to change their position and hooked her leg around his before rolling to the side and flipping them over in one smooth motion. Their lips broke apart and he gave an initially displeased look; but his eyes quickly closed, and his mouth opened in pleasure as she began to grind on him as she straddled him. She picked up a faster pace than he had, and he suddenly sat up and hugged her body tightly to him in an attempt to get her to slow down. Tommy cursed into Maddie's shoulder as she continued to lift herself up and down on top of him.

'Fuck, Maddie slow down.'

She ignored him as she could feel her orgasm building again in her belly and proceeded grind even faster, her clit rubbing against his stomach sending shockwaves of pleasure through her body. Tommy groaned loudly and Maddie could tell that he was getting close to climax as well which explained why he was trying to slow her down. She held his face in her hands, slowing momentarily to look into his eyes before kissing him passionately. She increased her rhythm again, Tommy holding onto her waist and lifting her weight up as she ground onto him. She felt her heart ramming against her chest and sweat begin to bead on her skin as her climax approached again. She kept up her pace, the two of them grunting with effort, until the blood surging rush flooded her veins and her mind went blank as her orgasm crashed over her. She came hard, calling Tommy's name uncontrollably as she came undone in his arms. The sound and feel of her orgasm bringing him to the edge too, his hips bucking upwards and Romani words spilling from his mouth as he came inside her before they both went still, panting breathlessly into each other's necks.

Tommy slowly lay backwards onto the mat with Maddie still in his arms and she rested on his chest for a few seconds before she rolled off him and stared at the ceiling to try and regain her focus. She smiled gleefully to herself after a few seconds of catching her breath; she had just had sex with Thomas Shelby. And fucking hell was it good, she thought to herself as she started giggling. Tommy turned his head to look at her inquisitively, eyeing her up as she tried to stifle her laughter with the back of her hand.

'What's so funny?'

'Sorry,' she said between giggles. 'I just can't believe we finally did that.' Tommy smirked before sitting up and grabbing Maddie's dress which he dropped onto her stomach.

'Well, you'd better get used to it because I plan on doing it again more than once before bed.'

Maddie felt her arousal stir again at the prospect and began to gather her clothes together as Tommy pulled his underwear back on. Then the door opened suddenly again, Maddie covering herself with her dress as Polly took a step into the room, spotting them and rolling her eyes disapprovingly.

'If you are done fucking in here, we would all quite like to eat at some point tonight.'

Tommy threw her an unbothered glance before she left the room and the two of them began to get dressed. He picked up his shirt and vest and they remembered that Maddie had ruined them in the course of getting them off. She gave him an apologetic smile and he chuckled as he hung the shirt and vest over his forearm.

'You can be the one to explain to them why I've had to go and change my suit.'

Maddie tried to think of a convincing excuse to tell everyone as to why Tommy had gone upstairs to change as she walked to where they were all waiting in the dining room. The afterglow of her orgasm was still making her skin tingle and the hairs on her arms stand up on end, as well as making her head a little hazy. The harder she tried to think up a convenient story the worse they sounded in her head. She found it especially difficult to focus as her underwear still felt damp with her arousal mixed with Tommy's cum which only succeeded in turning her on again. Being a slayer meant having almost infinite stamina, and infinite libido once the waters began to flow, metaphorically speaking. Maddie's one saving grace was her stomach which was now growling angrily at her to eat, providing something other than sex for her to focus on. Although, it didn't help her think of what words to say once she opened the dining room door.

She walked into the dining room to see the entire Shelby family sat waiting at the table impatiently. They all turned to look at her as she entered and most of them smirked and snickered quietly as she walked down the long table towards the seat they had saved for her. She sat on the chair in the space that would be to Tommy's right hand side and looked down to try and hide her blush as everyone's eyes lingered on her.

'Er… Tommy will be down in a minute, he had to go and change his suit,' said Maddie, smiling sheepishly. John's snickers became more like laughter and he looked around the table with a mischievous look on his face and she began to glare him down, warning him not to ask but of course it was John.

'Oh, and why's that?' he asked with a snort, eliciting laughter from Finn, Michael, Arthur and Isiah as Polly and all the women shook their heads at them unimpressed. They knew damn well why, but John seemed to be getting a kick out of teasing Maddie about it. So, she sat up straighter and sighed, deciding she didn't much care for stupid excuses anyway.

'I ripped his vest and shirt off cos I couldn't wait to fuck him,' she blurted, like she had just said the most mundane sentence in the world.

The table went momentarily silent before everyone raised their eyebrows, smiled and nodded in appreciation of her blunt honesty.

'Thank you for asking for that much needed clarification, John,' said Polly sarcastically before turning to Maddie. 'You're a Shelby at heart Maddie, that's for sure.'

The table immediately began to engage in chatter as they waited for Tommy, forgetting about their absence like it was old news. Michael who was sat next to Maddie turned to her with a friendly smile.

'Tommy asked me on the phone this morning to find a role for you in the company,' he said.

'He did? But I don't even know if I'll be able to do any of the work yet.'

'There's a few things you could do that are straight forward enough. You can decide what you like the sound of when we show you around tomorrow,' said Michael with an encouraging smile.

Just then the door opened, and Tommy strode in in a fresh grey suit, already minus the jacket with his shirt sleeves rolled up. Maddie felt her skin flush at the sight of him freshly dressed and bit her lip to subdue the heat rippling under her skin again. She wondered how the fuck she was going to get through the whole evening if just seeing him fully dressed was making her horny. The men all clapped and whooped as he walked in and Tommy held his hand up to quieten them as he walked to his chair and sat down next to her. He gave her small smile which she returned as he lit up a cigarette. The maids came in and began putting plates of food in front of everyone as soon as Tommy had sat down, the smell of the meat catching Maddie's attention and she snatched up her knife and fork and began to wolf down what was in front of her. She was always hungry, but fucking was one thing that never failed to make her ravenous.

As they ate, everyone engaged in their own little conversations and Maddie made a conscious effort to listen more closely to the goings on of the company. If she was going to be a part of it now, she needed to look like she knew what was going on. However, this was easier said than done as they discussed many different topics, jumping back and forward between them randomly and using words and terms she didn't understand. She felt her attention begin to falter as Polly began talking about their monthly finances, looking at her lips move but not actually taking in her words. It also didn't help that Maddie could feel Tommy's eyes watching her as she tried to pay attention. He had interjected with only one-word answers to any questions that had been asked of him, but he had mostly spent his time smoking and listening to the conversations with a bored expression. However, he was now making her task even harder by glancing at her and she made extra effort to turn her head away from him to listen to Michael speak, and pretend like his gaze wasn't making her skin hot. She debated getting up and moving to sit a few chairs down next to Esme but knew it would be too conspicuous.

As Michael and Arthur started a more casual conversation about horse racing and betting Maddie had to stifle a yawn by clenching her teeth together and inhaling through her nose. Living and working with the Shelby's was going to be harder that she thought if this was what they spent their time talking about at meetings and stuff. Her stomach grumbled, the effort she was making to follow the conversations making her hungry again. Then Maddie felt something touch her leg. A gentle caress of the area in the crook of her knee that was so soft she initially thought she imagined it, but she soon realised what it was. Tommy's hand stroked the sensitive skin on the back of her knee and calf, making her skin tingle with the tickling sensation. She inhaled steadily through her nose to stop herself from gasping. She dared not turn to look at him, afraid that if she did, she would lose her composure and draw attention to herself. When Maddie didn't react, getting used to the feeling of him caressing her leg, Tommy began to move his hand up to her thigh and under her dress. She stiffened in her seat as his fingers approached her garter, pursing her lips as she desperately tried to ignore him.

Maddie was usually one for playing games and wondered whether Tommy was getting his own back for all the times she had wound him up. Well it was bloody working. She imagined that he was getting a right kick out of making her squirm and the thought irritated her. He hooked his finger into her garter, running along it teasingly and her mouth dropped open with a little gasp before she grabbed his wrist to stop his movement. His wrist was held fast in her hand, but his finger remained hooked around her garter, pulling it taught so if he let it go it would snap against her leg. She cursed to herself in her head as she held his hand still under the table in a stalemate. She was looking at Arthur who was speaking but she had stopped listening all together as her mind was focussed on what was happening under the table.

'Maddie can help with that, eh Mads?'

The sound of her name from Arthur startled Maddie, making her blink and jerk her hand that was gripping Tommy's wrist. Her garter snapped against her leg with a loud clap causing her to jump slightly. Everyone looked at her with a creased brow when they heard the odd sound and scrutinised her with amused looks as she released Tommy's wrist and stumbled over her words.

'What? What was that, Arthur?' she asked, feeling her cheeks blush scarlet red as Arthur and the rest of the table chuckled at her awkwardness.

'Extra muscle for the betting pitches, Mads,' he said. 'Show you what we do at the races. You should go to Kempton Park with Isiah and Finn next week; don't you think Tom?'

Maddie finally turned to look at Tommy and saw that he had an insufferable smug grin turning the corners of his mouth up as he looked from her to Arthur.

'Yes,' he said. 'If that's what you'd like to do Maddie?'

Tommy looked Maddie in the eyes as he asked the question as his hand returned to her thigh, only higher this time and squeezed, a devilish glint passing over his blue eyes as he did so. She jumped again as she turned back to Arthur with a strained smile.

'Ah- yeah sure, that sounds… great,' replied Maddie, punctuating her last word with a sharp kick to Tommy's shin.

Tommy inhaled sharply with the impact and removed his hand from her leg before quickly clearing his throat to conceal his sudden display of discomfort. She looked back at him and saw him tensing his jaw from the pain as he lit another cigarette. Serves you right, thought Maddie.

After another five minutes of boring chatter Tommy stood up suddenly and announced for them to all move into the sitting room for stronger drinks, to which everyone agreed to with much relief. As they all walked out together through to the corridor Maddie tried to avoid Tommy, but as they turned the corner leading to the sitting room she felt his hand grasp her arm to hold her back as the group kept on walking. He pushed her back gently so her back was against the wall, putting his hands on the wall on either side of her head.

'That kick hurt,' he said menacingly, holding eye contact with her in a show of dominance. Was he really still playing this game? Maddie scoffed and rolled her eyes at him. She could see how much he was enjoying taking a leaf out of her book and pushing her buttons for the fun of it.

'Well if you weren't messing around under the table then I wouldn't have kicked you,' she said cockily, raising her eyebrow at him in expectation for his witty response.

Instead his gaze moved downwards to land on her lips before leaning down kiss her roughly, pushing her head back against the wood of the wall. He began to bite at her bottom lip almost immediately making her gasp and she heard a chuckle vibrate in his throat; there was no way she was going to stand for that. She pushed Tommy on the chest, forcing him to step backwards and break their kiss and to look at her with annoyance. Obviously, them having sex for the first time just before dinner was a bad idea; instead of dampening their desire and horniness it had in fact made it worse. Maddie was tempted to push him into the nearest room and fuck him again, but she was sure that the Shelby's would just walk in on them unashamedly this time. So, she went to continue her path to the sitting room, looking back over her shoulder at him.

'If that's the game you want to play, then so be it,' she said seductively as she stomped away from him.

She heard him make to follow her as she walked into the living room and went to sit next to Polly and Lizzie. Lizzie gave Maddie a hellish glare as she sat down but she ignored her. So Lizzie was pissed off, not exactly anything new. Tommy walked in and gave Maddie an indifferent look, as if he wasn't at all enjoying the little game they'd decided to play. Polly started a conversation about some office gossip to do with a couple of the women that worked at the office and she listened enthusiastically, asking for details about these people she had never met; although the news about one of them being caught kissing her boyfriend in the office last night proved to be quite entertaining.

Frances soon came in with a variety of drinks for the room and Maddie nabbed herself a pint of beer and gulped on it hungrily as she heard John call to her from across the room.

'Oi Mads, come over ere' he called, beckoning her over with a wave of his hand.

Maddie got up and joined John, Michael, Isiah and Tommy by the window and gave John and Isiah a questioning look as they laughed about some joke they had been talking about as Michael shook his head at them. Tommy looked indifferent to them and looked down at her as she stood next to him.

'What's all this about then?' she asked with a chuckle.

'So, we were wondering right,' started John, gesturing comically in front of him with his hands. 'If you were to get into a fist fight with a bear, would you win?'

Maddie looked at them momentarily speechless, dumbfounded by the immaturity of the conversations of supposedly adult men.

'How much have you had to drink?' asked Maddie with a laugh.

'Is that a no?' probed John cheekily.

Maddie scoffed and folded her arms over her chest. 'I wouldn't put my money on the bear. But for the love of god John please don't go and get a bear to make me prove it.'

They all laughed at John as he raised his palms up in a defeated gesture before Michael asked Maddie to tell them a story about her most difficult fight. She indulged them in a recount of the battle with a huge hellmouth tentacle demon as part of the successful prevention of her first apocalypse. As she babbled away, she felt Tommy put his hand on the small of her back, his fingers lightly pressing into her skin. Maddie didn't let herself show any reaction, ignoring the touch and focussing wholly on her dramatic narrative. Just as she got onto describing the creature's twelve tentacles and forty eyes, he began to run his hand up and down her spine, making her falter over one of her words but she quickly recovered the train of her story before her listeners could notice. Oh, he will be in so much trouble after this.

Maddie finally reached the pinnacle of her tale, describing how she jumped onto the demon and stabbed several of its eyes with her sword before plunging the blade through the top of its skull to kill it. Meanwhile, Tommy moved his hand down her back again and kept going to glide his hand over the curve of her bum and between her legs to gently squeeze the flesh at the top of her thigh.

'So, I was stood on it's back and ah-!' she yelped as Tommy pinched the sensitive area of skin. She fidgeted uncomfortably on the spot before laughing and making out her little scream was part of the story. 'Ah! One of it's huge tentacles whacks me off and I go flying through a window!'

Maddie was thankful that her and Tommy had their backs to the wall as he went to squeeze her ass tightly. She hurried to finish her story before he could do anything else, her audience giving her a clap of appreciation for her thrilling tale. Luckily none of them seemed to have noticed that anything had been amiss, and they soon all moved off to join other conversations in the room. She removed his hand from her backside as soon as she was sure no one was looking before turning around to look out of the window, Tommy turning with her. She glanced up at him as he brought his glass of whiskey to his smug lips, humming out a laugh as he did so.

'Enjoying your little game?' she asked pointedly.

Maddie couldn't deny she was annoyed that it was considerably easier for him to tease her without anyone noticing than it was for her to do the same. Tommy looked down at her with a victorious expression, his eyes piercing and dangerous.

'Absolutely.'

Maddie sneered before she licked her lips, tilting her gaze up to watch Tommy as she moved her own hand over to place it on his thigh. He didn't react, keeping his eyes on the window so she began to slide her palm up his leg towards his crotch. When she reached his cock and palmed it, he closed his eyes and tensed his jaw, his body stiffening as she squeezed it firmly. She grinned happily at getting a reaction out of him, keeping her hand wrapped around his cock so he couldn't move.

'Well, now I'm not taking any prisoners,' she whispered dangerously before releasing him and walking away abruptly. Ha, that aught to drive him crazy.

Maddie spotted Arthur stood by himself next to the whiskey and stalked over to him. He was rolling his glass in circles in his hands, watching the amber liquid swirl around with a distant look on his face.

'Why the long face Arthur?' asked Maddie as she went to stand next to him. Arthur blinked and looked up and her, straightening up and putting on a meek smile.

'Ah, it' nothin' Mads,' he mumbled, taking a sip from his glass. 'I'm just thinkin' about Linda and the baby.'

Maddie recalled Linda talking about her pregnancy with the other women in one of the many conversations she'd sat in on and remembered laughing at the thought of Arthur being a dad. Not that he wasn't loving, he was just not all there in the head. Then again neither was Tommy, and he was doing a well enough job with Charlie. She had cottoned on pretty quickly that the Shelby brothers were suffering from PTSD in the worst way; she'd recognised the signs that she had herself when she thought too long about the awful things she'd seen over the course of her life. The only difference was, in this time period, their condition didn't have a name and more importantly the ways in which to cope with it weren't known. Maddie wished she could help them and take away the horrific memories, but she knew it wasn't that simple; hers were etched into her brain like an ancient mural carved into marble.

'You'll be a good dad Arthur. You don't need to worry y'know,' said Maddie, deciding that being supportive was the best way to help him cheer up.

'Yeah…' replied Arthur, trailing off and not sounding particularity convinced. 'Linda wants us to move away from Birmingham when it's born.'

Maddie swallowed and nodded sympathetically, deciding to play along with this idea. She knew Arthur never moved away from Birmingham so she knew that this idea wouldn't come to fruition, although she wasn't sure why.

'Oh, well if you two do move away, I'll come and visit and annoy you and Linda as much as I can,' laughed Maddie.

Arthur finally smiled in return and seemed to have been cheered up by her encouragement. They chatted idly for a while, Maddie leaning on the cabinet to face the room as she listened to Arthur recount a story from his youth which she only half listened to. She watched everyone else engage in similar conversations around the room and spotted Tommy stood at the opposite side of the room by himself. He was eying her up a ususal and looking infuriatingly sexy as he did so, smoking silently as she watched his eyes travel up and down her frame from across the room. She met his gaze and lifted her eyebrow up at him and widened her eyes, smirking at him as he licked his lips in response. She made sure to keep her head tilted toward Arthur and hummed at the appropriate moments so he wouldn't notice that her mind was elsewhere. She admitted she was enjoying their competition, the added risk of being noticed or caught making it all the more exciting and competitive and a unbelievably arousing. Maddie bit her lip seductively in Tommy's direction before sipping on her drink and she watched him inhale deeply before picking up his glass and strolling across the room to where her and Arthur were stood.

'Eh, Tom. Do you remember when we were kids and we jumped into the cut to race across it?' questioned Arthur as Tommy walked up to stand with them.

'Yes. If I remember right you nearly drowned brother,' said Tommy.

'So did you,' laughed Arthur and Maddie giggled at the thought of baby versions of the Shelby brothers flailing around in the canal.

Just then, Polly's voice beckoned them over to join the rest of the group. Arthur went and sat next to Linda whilst Maddie and Tommy took a few steps to stand behind the large sofa side by side. The back of the sofa was about waist height, so their lower bodies were hidden behind it. A devious idea sprouted in her mind as Polly asked Tommy to enlighten the family on what the plan for the upcoming month was.

'And maybe you could tell us all about this robbery you're planning as well, Thomas,' added Polly with pursed lips, sharpened eyes and a considerable amount of displeasure.

Maddie's ears were pricked at the wordrobberyand she turned to look inquisitively at Tommy who ignored her look and stared Polly down stoically. She wasn't surprised that he would be involved in something grand like this, but the news made her slightly anxious as she didn't know about it from her history. It made sense that business like this wouldn't be made widely known, but she realised that up until that point she had found some security in knowing what was going on to a certain extent.

'I'm not discussing the robbery, you will all be informed about that in due course,' said Tommy, making several members of the group huff and roll their eyes in response. He didn't let that deter him however, and he began talking about more boring business-related chatter that Maddie soon lost interest in listening to.

She took this ideal opportunity to execute her revenge for Tommy's earlier behaviour. She bent her left leg and twisted her foot behind her to touch the toe of her shoe to the inside of his ankle. Of course, he didn't react and continued his speech, Polly and some of the others intermittently interjecting to ask him questions. Slowly, Maddie began to run her foot up the back of Tommy's calf reaching his knee before sliding it back down again as she peered up at him to assess his reaction. She watched him swallow once, a twitch rippling across his jaw rapidly as he listened to Michael's contribution to the conversation. She tried not to smirk as she continued her caress of his leg, the signs of its effect gradually appearing subtly on his face and in his hands; his fingers tapping and rubbing his whiskey glass in order to distract himself.

Maddie carried on like this for a couple of minutes before deciding she needed to step it up a notch. Just like earlier, she moved her hand across to Tommy's thigh and scraped her nails over the wool of his trousers, tickling the skin underneath. He cleared his throat quietly as he continued to talk to the rest of his family, still not letting his voice falter despite her assault. Feeling even more mischievous, she dragged her fingers up to his groin, creeping along until her little finger met the bulge of his cock. As she did this Tommy had begun speaking again and as her hand started to grasp his crotch he stumbled over his words before turning quickly away from Maddie to walk around the sofa. She snatched the air with her hand where his cock had been and clenched her teeth in irritation. He managed to escape, damn him!

However, Tommy went around the sofa and sat in the spot that was directly in front of Maddie, the back of his head sitting just in front of her stomach. She could work with this, she thought, he may think he's safe, but he'd be wrong. He had started to sound inpatient and unamused by the conversation at this point and she hoped she would be able to end this game victorious and for the love of god lead to them going to bed at some point soon. She placed her hand on the back of the sofa behind Tommy's head before gently running the pads of her fingers over the warm skin at the nape of his neck and up into his shaved hair. She remembered the reactions she had gotten out of him when she had caressed that area before and she smiled to herself as Tommy sucked a sharp breath in through his nose as he realised what she was doing. She stroked his head affectionately as she tried to think of what else to do when she remembered the other place that got a strong reaction out of him earlier.

Maddie pushed her index finger along the back of Tommy's head towards his ear and with the lightest touch possible, tickled the sensitive skin behind it. His reaction was just what she wanted. Tommy froze in place as he fixed his gaze on John who was now babbling away about something or other. His jaw muscles clenched and flexed repeatedly, the only sign of movement in his body other than the slow blink of his eyelids. She reckoned he was beginning to regret playing this game by now as he struggled to ignore her ongoing torture.

Just when Maddie thought Tommy had gotten used to her stroking, he suddenly clapped his hands together loudly causing her to withdraw her hand instinctively.

'I think that we can discuss this tomorrow,' he huffed evenly before standing up sharply and marching around the sofa.

Maddie quirked her eyebrow at him in confusion as he approached her, but he didn't stop. Instead he snatched her by the wrist as he walked past and yanked her away and out of the door as everyone else watched and sniggered at his sudden aggressive display. She could hear their giggling as she was dragged along the corridor and she feared that the Shelby's hadn't been so oblivious to their silly game as she believed. By the end of the night however, she had completely forgotten about that as she fell asleep exhausted next to Tommy in his bed with every inch of her skin humming delectably.