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.

16. A Matter of Trust

Nothing will happen, thought Maddie, he wouldn't do that to me.

She watched Tommy's car until it disappeared at the end of the driveway, repeating the same mantra in her head to try and make herself fully believe it. She couldn't understand why she was struggling to put all her faith in him when he'd done nothing to suggest that he was untrustworthy to her. Maybe it was her memories of the stories she'd been told in school about Tommy. It had been constantly repeated that he was a brilliant man, a fact she had learned to be true, but rumours that spread outside of class had been a lot less glowing. Maddie remembered her and her schoolfriends sharing stories of Thomas Shelby that they'd been told by their grandparents. He was a gangster and often acted like one; he was a killer, manipulator, drug user, and had an ability to attract women. Lots of them.

Rumours didn't usually hold much gravitas with Maddie, she knew the majority of them ended up being false. However, in this case she had witnessed Tommy be all those things apart from the fact she was the only woman he'd shown an interest in. But she knew that part of his personality it was in him. That Russian duchess whore had shown her first-hand one of the weaknesses he did possess. He had told her that he had no desire to pursue Tatiana, but he admitted he had been attracted to her in the past. Maddie knew there was still some attraction there between them, she could see it in his eyes when he looked at her, even if he didn't realise it himself. The part that worried her the most was knowing that Tatiana was at this orgy party and there was no doubt that the skanky bitch would try anything to tempt Tommy; she could only hope that he would have the strength of mind to resist her.

Tommy had however shown Maddie on multiple occasions that there was far more to him than what she had heard in her classes and by her friends. He was dedicated and loyal to those he loved and was caring and compassionate, in his own icy cold way. To her especially he showed these qualities every day, even more so since his accident, and she prayed that these attributes would shine through over his darker nature. But that man was flawed, like every human, and Maddie just couldn't bring herself to believe in him all the way for risk of having her heart broken completely.

She blinked herself out of her daydream, realising she was still stood still on the driveway staring into space. She turned on her heel and began toward the stables, trying to distract her mind from her reeling thoughts and focus on getting back out into the countryside where she was most at ease.

However, she found herself thinking about the past three months she had spent in London helping Tommy's recovery and had to angrily wipe away a small tear it drew from her eye. She had cried enough since that day at the fair and she had sworn to herself she wouldn't again because if she did, she was sure her eyes would fall out of their sockets. Maddie had cried her eyes out nearly every night at Ada's during the first couple of weeks of Tommy's recuperation. The mental strain of holding it together for hours every day whilst she watched him do nothing but vomit and screw his face up in agony had caused her to break down as soon as she was out of the hospital doors every night. She had made Ada swear not to tell him about the crying, who had rolled her eyes at her and walked off grumbling about how her and Tommy were just as bad as one another.

Of course, Maddie had never given cause for Tommy to suspect that she was so upset by his condition, and she thought she deserved a bloody Oscar for fooling him, shocked that he didn't suspect a thing the whole time. When he had started to get significantly better and showed progress towards a full recovery, she had breathed a sigh of relief and found that she didn't need to cry as much. When she started to go out patrolling again, her mood had lifted even more, restoring her positivity after beating out her stress into every vampire within a five-mile radius. Nevertheless, the experience had been one she wanted to forget as quickly as possible and had no desire to repeat. But considering the lifestyle the Shelby's had, it was unlikely that would be the last time anyone would get hurt and she felt certain it wouldn't be that last time she would have to show strength like that again. In a situation where super strength and fighting skills had no use and she would be left with nothing but her wits and her will. The lasting positive of the whole experience was that her and Tommy had become even closer than either of them expected. This strengthening of their relationship was what Maddie was relying on to keep Tommy out of trouble at the party of many orgies.

'For fuck sake, Mads, you can trust him!' Maddie grumbled to herself with a huff. 'You're going to drive yourself mad thinking about it.'

She was right, pondering on her doubts would only succeed in making her irritable and moody. So, with some effort, Maddie pushed the thought from her mind as she marched even faster toward the stables. When she walked in, she found Eric already hard at work and eagerly approached him to tap him on the shoulder. He flinched and jumped a foot in the air with the touch and she regretted not being louder as she walked in so as not to give the poor kid a freight.

'Oh! Miss Maddie, it's you,' exclaimed Eric with a sigh.

'Yeah, sorry Eric,' apologised Maddie sheepishly. 'I didn't mean to startle you.'

'Don't worry about it miss,' he smiled. 'Have you come to take Luna out again?'

'Yep,' she nodded. 'Although, I might spend some time grooming her first.'

Eric nodded as Maddie walked over to the where all the horse equipment was kept and fished a brush out of the crate before walking over to Luna's stall. She began to brush Luna's neck, the horse whittering softly with the attention. Despite the soothing calm the act of brushing Luna was giving her, her mind soon wandered back to thinking about Tommy at the Russian's party and she quickly thought of something else to distract herself.

'So, er, Eric,' said Maddie, turning the boy's attention toward her. 'Tell me more about yourself.'

Eric looked back at her baffled, no doubt wondering why she would take a deeper interest in a simple stable hand, but she needed any distraction to keep her mind off Tommy.

'Well… there's not much to know miss,' began Eric. 'I live in the village up the road with me mum and me little sister Nelly. Dad died in the war, he left when mum was pregnant with Nelly. I tell her what I can remember about him, but I was only small. Mum teaches at the Sunday school, and I earn what I can here. It's not much but we're happy.'

Maddie smiled as he finished his brief life story; she was touched to hear that despite the loss of his father, he and his family were happy living a simple life in the countryside. She hoped that in a few years, he would be able to run his own stable one day and have a family of his own.

'I'm sorry about your dad Eric, but your mum and sister sound lovely.'

'Thanks miss,' replied Eric before picking up a pitchfork and beginning to shovel hay into the stalls. 'What about you miss? If you don't mind me saying, I've always thought you were quite unusual.'

Maddie chuckled loudly; she didn't blame him. With the way she spoke and how she acted, anyone would think she was as mad as a hatter.

'I suppose I am,' she laughed. 'Well, I grew up in the city with my mum. I never knew my dad, my mum got pregnant after spending one night with him and didn't realise straight away. She died a few years ago and I've been slay- er… surviving since then.'

Eric gave Maddie a look of shock, evidently not expecting such a gloomy story from her. She had accepted her more than shitty past a long while ago and recounting the tale didn't strike up as many emotions like it once did. She obviously left out the details of all this happening another eighty years in the future but maybe she should have made up a happier story to make him less uncomfortable.

'You are very brave miss, not many people would admit that they were born out of wedlock,' said Eric after a pause. 'I am sorry to hear about you mum's passing though.'

Oh shit, thought Maddie. She had forgotten that being a single mother was seen as taboo in this time, they were so common in the future that she hadn't thought anything of it. She had never felt shame around that part of her past but all of a sudden, she was worried that Eric might tell the other staff about it. Of course, Tommy and the Shelby's already knew, she had spent enough time with them to share that part of her history with them, so there was no fear about what would happen if they found out. Tommy hadn't even blinked when she had told him about her mum, not showing any sign that it should be a source of shame and she realised now that he and his family were not ones to think less of people in that type of situation. She was however worried about Frances finding out as she was sure to spread the gossip around which would cause the staff to act differently around her.

'It's alright,' said Maddie. 'If you don't mind Eric, I'd appreciate if we kept this conversation private.'

Eric smiled and nodded. 'Of course miss.'

Maddie sighed with relief as the two of them went on silently with their tasks. The conversation had settled her mind enough that she was able to focus on Luna silently without worrying about Tommy. She finished grooming the mare before going to get the saddle and tackle and starting to strap them onto Luna. Eric came over to the stall to help her and as they worked, she noticed that he kept looking at her as if he were going to ask something, but he kept looking away and shaking his head. She scrutinised him for a second before questioning him.

'What is it, Eric?' she asked curiously. Helooked at her hesitantly before swallowing to pluck up the courage to speak.

'I know it's not my place to ask but I've been wondering for a while who that man was who came to see you a few months back? The one who Mr Shelby asked us to give a lift to the train station.'

'Oh, he was no one important,' responded Maddie, trying to sound nonchalant.

Maddie felt a sickly knotting in her stomach at the reminder of the watcher who had come to Arrow House what seemed like an age ago. Not because of that particular visit, but because it also reminded her of an interaction she'd had with the watchers just a month or so ago. She recalled the night vividly and hadn't realised how much she had unconsciously tried to forget about it until now.

The night had been pleasantly warm and balmy for May and Maddie had worked up a sweat whilst she had been out on patrol. She and Tommy had spent the afternoon outside on the grounds of the hospital, his first time outside the building since he had arrived and it had cheered him up considerably, having a knock-on effect to her mood as well. She felt particularly lucky that evening and had a feeling she was going to have a successful night's slaying. Indeed, she did slay many vamps that night, but she also overheard two vamps talking about a place called 'The Rotten Horn'. The name screamed demon bar if ever she heard it and she had decided to spare the vamps, for now, in order to follow them to the bar in question. During her time slaying again in London, Maddie had wondered about what information she could find out about Juliet and her gang of vamps who had attacked her back at Arrow House, and a demon bar was always a good place to beat some information out of people. Sure enough, the vamps had lead her straight to 'The Rotten Horn' and she had entered without much hesitation, keeping her head low so as not to arouse suspicion. The place was packed with vamps and demons of every description and a band was playing spooky jazz music on the stage, the combination making the bar deafeningly loud. Maddie scanned the room of the faces to see if there were any weaselly looking individuals that she might be able to get some info out of but concluded that the place was too crowded to make a scene without being battered to a pulp herself. Instead, she decided to try the classic tactic of chatting with the barman, or more accurately bar-demon. She sat at the one vacant stool at the bar and soon enough the large red coloured demon with a long black hair and beard came up to where she was sat.

'What can I get you?' he asked in a thick cockney accent, peering at Maddie suspiciously, no doubt recognising an unfamiliar face.

'A whiskey please,' she asked without thinking.

Fuck, why did I say that? I hate whiskey. She must have spent so much time around Tommy that it was the first thing that came to mind, but Maddie made sure she didn't let her expression falter and the demon nodded and turned to pour her the drink. She handed him the money for the drink once he placed it on the bar and she took a sip, trying her best to look confident. As usual the liquid seared her mouth, but she found it tasted better every time she drank it, no longer able to convincingly say that she detest it.

'You new around ere'?' asked the demon. 'I don't recognise your face. Vampire?'

'Yeah,' replied Maddie, only just managing to keep the stutter from her voice. 'I came down from Birmingham last night.'

The demon peered at her a moment before nodding, seemingly happy with her story.

'And what brings you ere'?' he asked.

'I heard London's good for hunting. And I was actually looking to join a gang for some sport. The ones up north are all idiots,' said Maddie. She could feel herself becoming more confident and getting into her stride, she even put an air of evilness into her voice in order to sound more convincing. The demon chuckled and shook his head, gathering up a few empty glasses from the bar.

'Good luck with that,' he scoffed. 'The one decent gang we had around ere' has gone.'

'Gone?' she asked curiously, glad to finally be getting somewhere.

'Yeah, they were all killed by the slayer,' grumbled the demon. Maddie felt her heart skip a little, although she refused to let her nerve waver.

'The slayer!?' she asked, putting a little shock and fear into her voice.

'That's what I heard. They went up to Birmingham to kill her an' she dusted all of them, including Juliet, never thought I'd live to see that old bitch reach her end. Surprised you never heard about it, being from that way an' all.'

Maddie swallowed nervously but put on a confused look. 'Me too.' The demon looked at her bewildered but shrugged it off. God knows how I got away with that one, she wondered, demons really are dumb. 'So how did they know where to find the slayer?' she asked curiously.

'Well, a week or so before, the slayer appeared in London and ran a rampage across the city one night. Killed several of your kind she did before disappearing. But Juliet heard from some vamp that they were sure they saw what must have been the slayer at a boxing match the night before. Knocked out some massive bloke out in the ring without breaking a sweat. And you'll never guess who was stood in her corner of the ring.'

Maddie's heart was now pumping hard in her chest, and she thanked her lucky stars that the bar was so loud that no-one could notice that she had a heartbeat.

'Who?' she asked, trying to sound intrigued.

'Thomas fucking Shelby,' he said with a guffaw. 'Juliet made the link and made some noise in here before she left about going to kill the slayer and bringing back her head. She must have been right because her and her gang never came back.'

'Shit…' mumbled Maddie. Well, at least now she knew how they found her. They had made the link between her and Tommy and were lucky enough to track her to Arrow House. But now by the sounds of it, the entire demon population of London knew that as well, meaning they were all still in danger. If any of them decided to get revenge, there could be another attack. Ada was in danger especially as she was living alone in London with no protection.

'And you know what the worst part is?' asked the demon, snapping Maddie out of her train of thought.

'What?'

'The slayer is back in London and she's cutting more of us down every night and has got us all scared. No one's caught a good glimpse of her. That's why it's so busy in here, everyone's hiding out in here for fear of bumping into her.'

'Uh huh,' Maddie responded with a slow nod, her pulse now thudding loudly in her ears.

She was glad she had built up a reputation for herself, but she had unwittingly walked into the lion's den with nothing but a false pretence of being a vampire. By the sound of it, a large majority of the evil population of London were in that bar, and she had likely killed a fair few of their friends. If they realised who she was, she would quickly find herself without a head and with her blood sucked dry. It was lucky none of them had seen her face or she would have been slaughtered as soon as she stepped through the door.

'Don't worry,' said the demon with a laugh, seeing the worry on her face. 'Even the slayer wouldn't dare come in ere.'

Maddie laughed in response but not with amusement. Well, this was a good idea Mads, now you need to get out of here sharpish before anyone suspects you. Luckily, in that moment the demon was called further down the bar and Maddie went back to being ignored and faded into the background again. Eying up her whiskey briefly, she quickly knocked back the remaining liquid, hoping that it would give her courage. Placing the empty glass on the bar, she got up from her stool and began to weave her way through the bar to the exit. Several faces watched her curiously as she passed and she tried her best to look relaxed as she approached the door, being careful not to catch any eyes in the room. After what seemed like an age, she reached the steps to the exit of the basement bar and quickly climbed them to emerge out onto the dark alleyway outside. Resisting the urge to run, she walked away from the bar and out onto the main street that was better lit and empty. She crossed the road and went around the corner and stopped, leaning against the wall to take a deep breath. That was too close, she thought.

Maddie leant back against the wall and shut her eyes, trying to calm down as much as possible when she heard a car engine approach and stop just in front of her. She looked up to inspect the car which wasn't too dissimilar to Tommy's, and the rear door of the car soon opened and a familiar, yet unwanted face looked out of it to smile at her.

'Good evening Miss Chapman,' greeted Mr Travers. Maddie stiffened in her place as she looked back at him hesitantly.

'How did you know I was here?' she asked suspiciously. Hegave a knowing smile before sitting back in the car and sliding over to the far seat.

'Please get in Miss Chapman, we have something to discuss.'

Maddie hovered next to the car door, unsure of what to do. What do they want now? Maybe they've found out how I can get home. This thought made her feel uncomfortable, as much as she wanted to see her home again, she had made herself a new life here and wasn't sure what she would do if they had found her a way home. Either way, she was curious to know what Mr Travers wanted to talk about. She looked up and down the street to make sure no one was watching and made her decision, quickly climbing into the seat next to him and shutting the car door. The driver of the car immediately pulled away from the curb and began driving up the street at a leisurely pace as they sat there in silence. Maddie looked over at Mr Travers with irritation at his silence, deciding that he must be waiting for her to speak first.

'You didn't answer my question Mr Travers,' she said coolly. Helooked over at her with amusement before looking away again.

'We have someone who watches the entrance to that bar to monitor who goes in and out. They informed me straight away when they saw you enter. I must admit I am impressed at your skill at remaining unseen in such a place.'

Maddie nodded, it wasn't surprising the watchers had an eye on such a large venue for gatherings of demons and vamps.

'So, what was it you needed to discuss with me?' she asked curtly.

'Don't worry. I'm not going to try and convince you to take a watcher. You've made it quite clear where you stand on that,' hummed Mr Travers. Even though it shouldn't have, this made Maddie more wary of him. If they don't want me to be a slayer in their command, then what do they want? As if reading her mind, he chuckled and continued his explanation.

'However, we also don't want to count you amongst our enemies Miss Chapman. The use of your powers in your…activitieswith the Shelby's are not going unnoticed, both in the human and demon worlds, and I wanted to give a warning to you personally.'

'Warn me about what?' asked Maddie tersely.

She made herself sound unbothered by Mr Travers' words but in her head, Maddie was trying to figure out what he meant. Both demons and humans? That didn't sound good. Even though he didn't explicitly say it, the implication that he made suggested that her powers were being noticed by people in Tommy's world. And if that was the case then there was no knowing what his enemies could do with that information.

'That if you're not careful you could be drawing a lot of unwanted attention to yourself and your newfound friends, the attack on you at your house by the vampires is just one example of what might happen' said Mr Travers with an etch of darkness to his voice. 'And… if this behaviour is to carry on, the council will be forced to do something about it sooner or later.'

Maddie tensed and squinted at Mr Travers angrily. Of course, they found out about Juliet's attempt to kill her, every vamp in London was talking about it. She also didn't like the threatening tone that had entered his voice as he said his last sentence and she folded her arms aggressively and swivelled to face him.

'Was that a threat?' she asked dangerously, staring Mr Travers in the eye who gave her an amused grin in return.

'Not at all, Miss Chapman. But you must understand, the watcher's council has a responsibility to control these kinds of scenarios. We can't have the human world finding out too much about the supernatural,' he said calmly.

'Understood,' said Maddie. 'I'll keep that in mind but also remember, I don't take kindly to people interfering with my life. Regardless of the circumstances.'

The two of them held tense eye contact for a while before the driver pulled the car over again and Mr Travers smiled at her.

'It was a pleasure Miss Chapman,' he said, signalling it was time for Maddie to get out of the car.

Maddie stared at Mr Travers a second longer before turning and getting out of the car without a word. As soon as the door was shut the car pulled away and soon disappeared. She looked around to see where they had dumped her and realised they had had the good grace to drop her off at the end of Ada's street. Maybe I should have thanked them for that at least, she thought with a little regret.

In the days following this event, Maddie debated telling Tommy about it. He would no doubt need to know about the information she had learned that night, but he was still concentrating on his recovery as well as trying to manage the company from his hospital room. Adding on the worrying information that her involvement with the blinders was drawing eyes from various unwanted places would have only stressed him out more. So, Maddie decided to keep it to herself for the time being until the time was right. Although, such an opportunity had come up just a few days ago in his office and she had chickened out again. He mentioned the possibility of jail waiting for them after the robbery and it had taken her aback so much that she decided to wait a bit longer to confide in him. She knew she had waited too long; the robbery was only days away and dropping this bomb on Tommy so close to it would no doubt make him angry. But she needed him to know; better late than never.

However, his concern about his family getting arrested had given her an idea. If she could find some way to stop that from happening, that would make up for her withholding information from him. Maddie knew there was likely a way to do it through magic, but her basic knowledge of the mystic arts wasn't enough to think of a specific spell that would work. She needed to find a magic shop. Or maybe visit one she already knew from the future…

Luna whinnied loudly, throwing Maddie out of her long daydream harshly. She hadn't realised she had been stood next to Luna staring into space for a good few minutes and was now suddenly thrown back into the present. She shook her head and blinked a few times before grabbing Luna's reigns and leading her out of the stall. When she reached the doors of the stable, she suddenly stopped, changing her mind on what she wanted to do for the day with the flick of a switch.

'Hey,' said Maddie turning back to Eric. 'I've changed my mind; I'll take Luna out tomorrow.'

Maddie handed Luna's reigns to Eric with an apology and quickly left the stable, making her way back to the house. It was still before midday, if she hurried, she'd be able to make it into Birmingham with enough time to find the magic shop she was thinking of. With Tommy away from home, today was the best opportunity she was going to get to go magic shopping without him asking any questions. She marched into the house through the rear entrance and passed one of the maids in the foyer. She asked the maid to get one of the cars brought around the front of the house for her before running up the stairs to change. Maddie threw on one of her dresses and heels as quickly as she could, checking her reflection briefly in the mirror before grabbing her bag and running back down the stairs and out of the front door. The car was waiting for her with the engine running and she hopped inside, putting the car in gear and pulling away jerkily. She was proud at how her driving skills had improved but she was still not a particularly good, every other gear change making the engine grind deafeningly.

The journey into Birmingham took Maddie longer than what it usually took with Tommy or anyone else at the wheel, but she made it nonetheless, pulling up next to the Bull Ring by about half past one. She got out of the car and looked around the square trying to get her bearings. This part of the city was the part that had changed the most by 2020 and she was struggling to figure out which direction she needed to go in. The church was the main thing that she recognised, and she orientated herself to it and managed to figure out what street she needed and began down it at a brisk pace.

The shop Maddie knew from her time, 'The Top Hat', was the best and one of the only magic shops in Birmingham. She recalled the owner telling her once that the shop had been in his family for a hundred years. If he was telling the truth, that meant that the shop should exist in 1924 and would hopefully have what she was looking for. As Maddie got further down the street, she found she began to recognise the buildings more and knew she was getting close. When she reached the right building, she audibly gasped. It looked exactly the same as it did in her time, the narrow stairs that led down to the discreet entrance below street level and the sign above the door that was written in the same red and blue paint on a black background. It really has been around forever, laughed Maddie to herself as she pushed the door open. The door had one of those bells above it that chimed as you walked in, and it alerted the owner to her entrance. The young-ish man behind the counter looked up at her as she walked in and smiled widely, greeting her into the shop.

'Welcome Miss to the Top Hat!' he called, opening his arms wide. 'The one place in Birmingham that will cater to all your magical needs!'

Maddie smiled back at the man and thanked him before getting a closer look at his face. He was the spitting image of the man who worked here in 2020, only much younger. She concluded that this couldn't have been the same man but was most likely his grandfather.

'Er hi,' began Maddie. 'I'm here looking for something kinda specific.' The man nodded his understanding and indicated for her to go on. 'I need a spell that can get someone, or more accurately many people, out of being arrested… Although I'm not entirely sure what sort of thing would work.'

The man's eyebrows lifted at her request, but he soon made an impressed expression, obviously happy with the challenge and began questioning Maddie further.

'Is it a petty offence?' he asked.

'Not exactly…' she replied as the man looked at her expectantly to elaborate. 'More like jewel robbery and causing an explosion.'

Normally, Maddie would be wary of telling anyone about the Shelby's plans, but she knew that this shop was known for its discretion. Otherwise, they would never get any repeat business if they snitched on everyone who bought dangerous or unethical spells.

'I have to say that is one of the more… unusual requests that I've had. But I'm sure I can find something to suit your needs.'

Maddie smiled gratefully at the man who turned and disappeared between two bookshelves, and she heard him begin to pull books off them. It occurred to her in this moment that this was exactly one of the things that Mr Travers had warned her about. Using magic in this way was sure to leave traces. But she didn't care, she needed to make sure she and the Shelby's didn't end up in prison or on the end of a noose.

She gazed at the various assortments of items on the shelves as the shop owner bustled about behind the bookshelves. The shop sold the same selection of ingredients, mementos, and other magical items that it sold in 2020 but she noticed that the interior of the shop would be refurbished a few times after 1924. Then Maddie spotted a crystal ball on an ornamental gold stand on one of the top shelves which she recognised immediately. That ball was still for sale in 2020! She had no idea that the shop hadn't managed to sell it for nearly a hundred years. I wonder if there is something wrong with it, she pondered.

'I think I've found a few viable options for you,' came the voice of the man from the darkness of the shelves before he emerged from them carrying a small pile of books.

'Great,' said Maddie walking up to the counter where the man was beginning to open one of the books and sift through the pages. He opened all the books to the relevant pages on the counter and skim red over them before speaking again.

'Here we haveTabula Rasa, a spell for forgetting. On the right person, the charges against someone will be… well forgotten. But this spell can be temperamental and have some nasty side effects if not done properly; it's only ideal for an advanced witch or warlock.'

'Ha… yeah that's not me,' admitted Maddie.

'Exactly how much experience do you have with magic?'

'I've done a decent number of spells but only the basic one's by myself,' she said with an awkward look.

Maddie had used magic a lot to help her with her slaying back home, but she had always had her friends there to help her. Not to mention the odd occasion where Giles and even Willow, the most powerful witch since… well... ever, had used their experience to help her out of a pinch. But now she was on her own and she needed a spell that would work with her mediocre mojo.

'Hmm, alright. So, a spell with little chance of mistakes then?' said the man with a sympathetic smile.

'That would be ideal,' nodded Maddie.

'Well…' he mumbled indicating to another book. 'This spell can make you have your will done.'

'Oh, that sounds perfect!'

'It will be, only it will cause everything you really want to happen come to pass. The spell itself is straight forward but getting what you want to happen is a more difficult art. You have to have emotional conviction behind your request so there's a chance it won't work at all, or you could end up making anything happen that makes you emotional.'

Maddie pictured how the spell could work for her, she was certainly passionate about keeping her family out of jail and alive, but she also wanted many other things. She was reminded of where Tommy was in that moment and thought of how she could use the spell to make him loyal to her. She could even will some decent soap and ice cream into existence if she really wanted it. But she was reminded of something Giles told her about magic; it always had consequences. This spell posed too much temptation, she could manipulate reality to her liking, change people's behaviour intrinsically, including Tommy's, and that was power no one should have access to.

'Er, maybe that isn't the best option after all,' said Maddie with a grimace. The man nodded and finally picked up the last book.

'This one is the simplest spell and has a real impact as long as the user maintains eye contact.'

Maddie blinked as a light bulb sparked on in her head. 'What do you have to do?' she asked eagerly.

'Just a few ingredients in a small bag and the words written down on some paper. The wearer will have the power of suggestion with whoever they speak with as long as they hold good eye contact,' he explained.

Maddie pictured Tommy's piercing eyes and stony manner and was reminded of how suggestive and manipulative he could be already, with this spell he could get anyone to do just about anything. The best part was he wouldn't have to do the hard part, Tommy's personality was ideal to pull it off and she suddenly began to feel hope and excitement bubble inside her.

'That just might work,' smiled Maddie. 'I'll take the book and the ingredients I need.'

Five minutes later, Maddie emerged from the shop with a paper bag bundled in her arms with everything she needed for the perfect suggestion spell. Now she needed to get home and try it out, thinking it best to test that she could actually get it to work before telling Tommy about it. She was taking a lot on faith that he would agree to this plan but knowing him and how much he loved her and his family, she was betting that he would agree to it. She walked at a brisk pace back to the car and put her purchase on the passenger seat next to her before beginning the journey home. She was that keen to get home and try the spell that the journey took almost ten minutes less than it did to get to the city. Maddie parked the car on the driveway and hurried into the house with her bag, trying to think of where in the house she would get the most privacy.

Frances was nowhere to be seen as she often was when Maddie turned up at the house without Tommy and for once she was grateful that the old woman's beady eyes wouldn't be watching her suspiciously. The ingredients she had for the spell were known to have a pungent smell so she needed somewhere where the staff wouldn't be able to pick up the scent. Then she recalled the small door on the top floor of the house with a narrow staircase behind it that lead to the attic. She had explored up there once before but hadn't thought much of it but now it seemed like the perfect place for her experiment.

After taking a detour to Tommy's office to add a pen and some paper to her bag, Maddie stealthily made her way to the attic staircase and luckily didn't come across anyone, reaching the small door in the forgotten corner of the house unseen. She made her way up the creaky wooden steps to the attic space, dodging the cobwebs that dangled from the ceiling. This must be the only part of the house that isn't pristine, she thought as she reached the attic room. It was dark and musty in that vast space; she could feel her lungs breathing in the particles of dust that were floating in the air as she looked around. The only light that illuminated the darkness was through the minute gaps in the roof tiles that let cracks of sunlight through. Maddie felt the wall next to her for a light switch and eventually her fingers ran over the cold metal, and she flicked it on. A singular light bulb in the centre of the room lit up and cast a dim glow over her surroundings. The bulb must have been old because the light it emanated was minimal, but it was enough to see what was in the room properly. There were odd items of broken furniture and old suitcases and trunks that were collecting at least an inch of dust dotted around the room but otherwise the attic was empty and there was an old, dog-eared rug spread out in the centre of the room that looked perfect for Maddie's needs.

She settled onto the rug on her knees, brushing away the dust before emptying the out the contents of her bag. She pulled out the book first, opening it to the right page and skim reading the instructions before collecting the other items. Maddie reached into the bag again and pulled out the most valuable item, a small hematite crystal which under the poor light of the attic looked blacker than pitch. Then she pulled out the pen and paper, setting it to one side before laying out a small leather pouch with a long drawstring, pokeroot, aguweed and motherwort next to each other on the rug, their unique smell filling the air around her. She had purchased enough of the herbs to practice the charm multiple times but hoped that she wouldn't need it. She read the instructions again, reading out loud to herself to make sure she was getting it right.

'Add the ingredients to the pouch…' she mumbled to herself. 'Then write the following inscription onto the paper and your enemies will be susceptible to your influence.'

Maddie huffed angrily; she hated these old spell books. She could have sworn the witches who wrote them were often vague on purpose and wanted their readers to fuck up. How much of each herb do I use? Do I put the paper with the spell on in the bag? She was now reminded of why even simple spells were often difficult to get first time, the lack of specificity in the book was infuriating and she conceded that she would have to attempt it more than once to get it to work.

'Well, I'll have to start somewhere,' said Maddie under her breath. She started by breaking off a small and equal amount of each herb from their larger sprigs and stuffing them into the pouch along with the crystal before picking up the paper and copying the inscription from the book on the corner of it using her clearest handwriting. As she wrote she said the words out loud. 'A charm for truth telling, a charm for suggestion. Make thine enemies obey without question.'

Maddie ripped the corner of the paper with the words off and hesitated to put it into the pouch. The book didn't say she needed to do that, so she decided against it and put it into the pocket of her dress instead. She closed the pouch and passed the cord over her head before tucking the pouch down the front of her dress, so it was hidden. Time to test this thing out, she thought. Leaving the spell book and ingredients behind, she made her way back downstairs to find an unsuspecting victim who would be an ideal guinea pig for her first test. She headed straight to the kitchen to find a cook or maid who she could convince to do something fairly simple. She didn't see much point in trying to suggest something that was completely left wing straight away, these types of spells took practice and were mostly about the execution. So, practice will likely be needed if it was going to work effectively.

There weren't many kitchen staff when Maddie walked in, only a couple of staff preparing what would be dinner for Maddie, Charlie and the houses staff as Tommy was away. A lurch in her stomach reminded her of where Tommy and his brothers were, and she quickly brushed it off and approached the maid who was peeling potatoes in the sink. She recalled her name was Betty and stepped up beside her with a smile.

'Hey, Betty,' said Maddie making the poor girl jump and drop the potato she was holding into the sink.

'Oh, Maddie, it's you!' she gasped, placing her hand on her chest. 'Do you need something?'

'I, er, was wondering what was for dinner actually,' replied Maddie.

'Oh, well I think the cook has planned roast rabbit for tonight miss,' smiled Betty. Maddie thought quickly and decided on something odd to suggest but not completely impossible to pull off, remembering what the shopkeeper said about eye contact.

'I actually fancy something else,' started Maddie, grabbing Betty's attention and looking her in the eye. 'You should tell the chef to change it to frog's legs.'

Maddie managed to keep her voice level and maintained eye contact with Betty who looked blanky back at her for a second before quickly blinking a couple of times as if she had something in her eye before smiling awkwardly in confusion.

'What?' laughed Betty. 'You really are a strange girl, Maddie.'

Damn it! She knew she nearly had it, she saw it in Betty's eyes, but something wasn't right with the charm or the conviction of her suggestion. Guess I'll have to try again, regretted Maddie internally.

'I'm only joking with you,' laughed Maddie, brushing off her odd request. 'I'll let you get back to it.'

Betty smiled as Maddie retreated from the kitchen with her tail between her legs. Once she was in the corridor, making her way back to the attic, she pulled the charm out of her dress and took it off with a huff.

'You'd better work out for me,' she said, scowling at the leather pouch like it was sentient. 'I've got a lot resting on you!'

Maddie attempted the charm a couple more times that evening but with no success, only becoming more frustrated which made each attempt worse than the last. On her last try she made her suggestion so simple she was sure it couldn't fail, only asking Eric to swap Luna's and Tommy's favourite horse's stalls but he had immediately rejected it, thinking she had lost her mind. With that humiliating failure, she finally threw in the towel and decided to train in the basement until she was tired enough to sleep.

She took out her frustration on the target in the basement, filling it with arrows, knifes and even a spear, huffing furiously with each throw. Eventually, Maddie realised that she was angry at more than just the failed spell. The longer she trained, the harder it became to not think about Tommy at the Russian's party. It was well into the night by now and the party was probably only just getting started. She couldn't understand why she was angry at him; she didn't even know if he had gotten roped into an orgy or if he even would, but she couldn't stop the emotion from making its presence known. Maddie knew he had to go to the Russian's house for business, he was scoping out their vault to rob it, but she couldn't help wishing that he had tried to find another way around it. Shetrained until nearly midnight before deciding she needed to stop before she punched the stuffing out of the punching bag. She took a deep breath and put her head in her hands and shook her head. Pull yourself together slayer…

Even after a hot shower Maddie's head felt no clearer and no calmer and she eyed up Tommy's bed before deciding she couldn't face lying in it alone; his absence would only remind her of what he could be up to in that moment. So, for the first time in months, she went to her room and slept in her old bed. She remembered how soft and cosy she thought it had been on her first night but compared to Tommy's bed it was hard and cold. She stared at the ceiling and willed any thoughts of Tommy or her poor magic skills out of her mind as she tried to fall asleep, praying to the gods that the night would be over quickly.

Maddie watched the sun rise over the tops of the trees as she sat calmly on the back of Luna, stroking the horse's mane tenderly. She hadn't slept a wink. Her treacherous mind had run in spirals for hours before she eventually gave up and decided to go out riding at three in the morning. Luna had found the darkness frightening and had been very jittery up until sunrise, the warm sunlight now calming her down. Maddie however had found her usual familiarity and comfort in the cold darkness, and it had finally settled her raging thoughts. She was still anxious about what might have happened at the party last night, but she had somehow come to terms with it and was ready to face whatever reality that may come her way. Maddie considered if she could forgive Tommy if he had gone against his word and realised, she wouldn't know until she came to that bridge. There was no use pondering over it any longer however and she tightened her grip on Luna's reigns and turned her around and took off at a gallop back to Arrow House.

After settling Luna back in her stable before Eric had even shown up to work, Maddie bumped into Frances inside who looked considerably shaken to see her up so early.

'Maddie!' she exclaimed. 'Where have you been so early in the morning?'

'Riding,' replied Maddie flatly. 'Couldn't sleep.'

Frances considered her for a moment, and what looked like a sympathetic look crossed the old maid's face before it disappeared again.

'I'll run you a bath, you're filthy, as usual,' stated Frances although there was a definite hint of softness in her tone that Maddie had never heard before.

This odd behaviour made Maddie uneasy again, and just after she had managed to find her inner calm. Frances knew what Tommy was like just as much as anyone and more than likely had the same doubts about him that she did, and it seemed a part of her felt for Maddie.

The bath was hot and soothing, even more so than usual and Maddie wondered how Frances seemed to make simple hot water so damn good. She was beginning to feel fatigue pull at her muscles and eyelids, but she couldn't afford to sleep, even for half an hour. She needed to get the spell to work before Tommy got home if he was going to be convinced it would work and her outing had given her a new determination to get it right. After her bath, Maddie stopped by Charlie's room where Harriet was playing with him. She hadn't spent much time with Charlie over the past few months whist he was looked after by the Shelby's in Birmingham when Tommy was in hospital, and she felt the urge to spend a little time with him before breakfast. Charlie was pleased to see Maddie because as she walked in, he toddled over to her, giggling happily. She lifted him up off the floor and held him above her head, spinning around and making him laugh more. She had been surprised that nothing had happened to him whilst she and Tommy were stuck in London. Tommy had made it sound like Charlie was in serious danger from the group that Father Hughes was a part of… Section D. Or was it the Economic League? Whatever the hell they were called, just the reminder of the weaselly man's face made Maddie want to go find him and break his skull on something hard. Who knows, maybe I might still get the chance, she thought devilishly.

Despite her anxious night of unwanted thoughts and emotions, Maddie still managed to eat a full breakfast in minutes and wasted no time in returning to the attic to where she left her spell ingredients laid out on the rug. She had made small notes in the margin of the spell book the previous evening, highlighting what combinations of ingredients hadn't worked and reminded herself of them before starting on a different ratio of herbs. The majority of the morning was spent testing out a number of new attempts at the charm, some of them almost working before Maddie's subjects were snapped out of their suggestive state. The house's staff were beginning to become suspicious of her and she caught them whispering about how oddly she was behaving before going back to the attic again in defeat.

'For fuck's sake! How hard can it be?!' she hissed angrily to herself as she climbed the creaky attic steps.

She sat down on the rug with a bump and a huff, resting her elbows on her knees and sitting her head in her hands in a sulk. What haven't I tried yet? Maddie had tried every amount of herb from one leaf to as much that could be squashed into the pouch, but nothing had worked. There was a rumour that slayers were no good at magic, maybe there was some truth to that it seemed. She sat there for a long while in silence, wracking her brains to think how Willow, Giles or anyone who was magically minded would make this stupidly simple spell work. Then Maddie remembered the inscription written on the piece of paper and pulled it out of her pocket, reading it again. She had spelled all the words correctly, maybe it was worth writing it again and this time putting it in the pouch as well, she wondered. Maddie prepared all the herbs yet again, deciding to go back to the equal ratio she had tried the first time, carefully fitting them in the pouch before tearing off a fresh strip of paper to re-write the words of the spell on. As she finished the writing, putting a full stop on the end just to be sure, she heard the attic door open and felt her heart jump into her throat. She quickly attempted to gather the ingredients back into the bag so she could hide them as a set of confident loud footsteps echoed up the stairs followed by a familiar voice.

'Maddie?'

'Tommy?' Maddie called back with a sigh, relaxing her body and settling back to sit on the floor.

She had been so engrossed in getting the spell to work all morning that she had forgotten that Tommy was getting back at midday from the party. Maybe her mind had blocked the thought out on purpose, part of her not wanting to hear what had happened last night. Nevertheless, she felt slightly guilty for not going to greet him as he came home as she said she would. Tommy emerged from the floor as he climbed up into the room, casting Maddie a disgruntled look as he paused at the top of the steps. He looked hungover and she felt her stomach drop a little; he never got hangovers, except for the one time he drank his weight in rum and she remembered his self-control hadn't been the best when he was in that state. The thought was bringing bile into her throat, and she decided to pretend she hadn't noticed his tired features.

'What are you doing up here? I've been looking everywhere for you,' he said as he approached her.

Maddie got up onto her feet as he stood in front of her, looking down at her feet guiltily.

'Sorry. I must have lost track of time.'

Tommy searched Maddie's face with confusion, evidently sensing the tension between them. After a pause he put his hand on her cheek softly and she couldn't help but lean into it slightly, not realising how much she had missed its warmth.

'When you weren't in the basement, I was worried you had left,' he said, barely above a whisper. Maddie creased her brow and looked back at him in disbelief.

'Why would you think that?'

Tommy took a breath in through his nose and held his eyes to Maddie's silently again before answering.

'Because you were worried that I slept with the Russian whores at the party last night.'

Maddie blinked and swallowed thickly, taken aback by his head-on approach to the topic. She was worried that he would have tried to avoid talking about the previous night, but he had surprised her by bringing it up without prompt.

'Did you?' she asked, looking down and away from him. She wasn't sure whether she wanted to ask the question, much less hear the answer, but it left her lips anyway before she had made up her mind. She closed her eyes as she waited for his answer but felt his finger under her chin lift her head back up to face him and she was forced to open her eyes to meet his again.

'No,' he said softly before running his thumb along Maddie's bottom lip. Tommy's eyes didn't flicker or waver a millimetre as he said the word and she let the warm rush of relief begin to spread over her skin from head to foot. Now he was stood in front of her, she cursed herself for doubting him in the first place. The rumours she'd heard from home had turned out to be just that, rumours, and he was in fact a loyal man through and through. Maddie smiled widely and sighed a shaky laugh.

'Yeah… of course, I knew that,' she said as an attempt at a joke, giving an unbothered shrug.

Tommy smirked his sexy smirk and Maddie's eyes were drawn to his lips that she now realised she had missed more than she anticipated. She quickly wrapped her arms around his neck and connected her own lips to his firmly but passionately, the two of them soon settling into a deep kiss that made her head spin and gasp for air when they finally broke apart. Almost out of habit, Tommy had begun to gather Maddie's skirt up to her thighs during the kiss and she quirked her eyebrow up at him.

'Here? In the dusty old attic?' she asked.

Tommy dropped her skirt with a smug quirk of his lips and shook his head.

'Later, there's more work to be done,' he replied as he looked down at the floor to scrutinise the items that were scattered on it. 'What's all this?'

Maddie looked down at where he was looking and sighed.

'A project, I suppose,' she answered, kneeling down and beginning to lay out all the ingredients again.

Tommy dropped to one knee beside her and looked at all the items in turn as Maddie found the leather pouch and reopened the book to the correct page. He spotted something by his foot and picked it up to inspect it.

'A charm for truth telling, a char-,' he began to read before she snatched the scrap of paper from his hands. She looked away from him sheepishly and began to fold up the piece of paper so she could add it to the pouch. She had wanted to tell him about the spell in her own time, but he had stumbled across her little experiment before she was ready, and she felt her cheeks blush bright red.

'Magic?' asked Tommy rhetorically and Maddie nodded.

'I wasn't going to tell you until I got the recipe right,' she admitted with a frustrated sigh.

'Hey,' he whispered, turning her head to face him with his finger. 'What's this all about, eh?'

Maddie looked into his eyes and saw the concern there, knowing he must be wondering what had gotten her into such a weird state. She smiled guiltily and decided to present her proposal with confidence, now seeing that he was intrigued as to what she was doing.

'Remember when you told me that we could all end up in prison after the robbery?' she asked. Tommy stared back at her icily for a few seconds, blinking slowly to indicate he knew what she was referring to. 'Er… well I think I've had an idea that'll help stop that from happening.'

Maddie looked back at him with an awkward smile as he continued to look at her, not giving away anything from his blank expression.

'And that idea is?' Tommy prompted after a long pause.

'A suggestion charm,' stated Maddie, pointing to the spell in the book. 'It makes anyone you talk to susceptible to suggestion if you maintain eye contact.'

Tommy's face finally moved as his eyebrow quirked upwards slightly, but he remained silent a moment longer before speaking.

'And who are you going to talk too to use this spell on exactly?'

'Oh, it's not for me! It's for you,' she replied with a smile.

'For me?'

Maddie nodded eagerly before picking up the small pouch and holding it up.

'If you wear this, you with your scary eyes will be able to convince anyone to do anything!'

Tommy took the pouch from Maddie and nodded, his expression becoming impressed and a small smile appearing on his lips.

'This might work. If I talk to the right people,' he said in a low, menacing voice.

'It should, as long as I've got the fucking recipe right,' she grumbled.

A small, huffed laugh escaped Tommy's nose and he took Maddie's hand in his and pulled them up to standing before passing the cord of the charm over his head and tucking it under his collar, making sure the cord was completely hidden underneath.

'There's only one way to find out if you have.'

Tommy led the way back downstairs with Maddie following excitedly beside him, wondering what he had in mind to try out the charm. Part of her was expecting him to just walk up to Frances and tell her to stand on her head in the middle of the garden and she'd obey happily and without question. However, if the ingredients still weren't quite right, Frances would probably look at him in horror; even then she would probably consider doing as he asked for fear of punishment. Either way, with his support, she now felt that she could perfect the recipe for the charm if she hadn't already, his presence making the task seem less daunting.

Once downstairs, Maddie caught the sound of John and Arthur talking loudly from the direction of the kitchen and Tommy didn't hesitate to head towards it. Is he going to try it on his own brothers? She looked up at him inquisitively, but he kept a calm expression as they walked into the kitchen to join John and Arthur. The two of them were talking and laughing animatedly across the table, drinks in hand.

'Honestly, Arthur, she had tits like -,' sniggered John before he was cut off by Tommy clearing his throat gruffly behind him. John was making a suggestive gesture with his hands in front of his chest as he spoke, and he quickly lowered his hands to his sides when he turned and spotted Maddie stood next to Tommy. She decided she didn't want to know what John was talking about, but she now had a good idea of what he had gotten up to the previous night. 'Mads… thought you'd run off on us again,' he said with a smirk.

'No, just tucking myself away indoors for a change,' she replied.

Maddie and Tommy went and joined them at the table, Maddie next to John and Tommy next to Arthur, and Arthur poured them both a drink which Tommy took a swift swig of before turning to face John with his piercing glare. He silently stared down his brother who was still grinning inanely to himself, oblivious to Tommy's gaze.

'I wonder how your wife will feel about the whores you fucked last night John?' asked Tommy in a deep intimidating tone, grabbing John's attention immediately.

Maddie had to turn her head away from John so he wouldn't see her eyes widen and jaw drop at Tommy's frank and forward question. Arthur however couldn't hide his surprise and nearly choked on his drink in shock, looking between Tommy and John in bewilderment. John's grin gradually dropped from his face, and he looked up to stare Tommy back in the eye and a chill set over the table making the hairs on Maddie's arms stand on end.

'And why do you give a shit about what she thinks?' asked John darkly.

Tommy maintained steady eye-contact with him, taking a deep breath in through his nostrils before speaking again in a nonchalant tone.

'You should tell her John, she's your wife, she deserves the truth.'

Arthur was now looking at Tommy like he'd lost his mind, obviously asking for a fight between him and John. However, rather than snapping back at Tommy, John's posture relaxed, his shoulders dropping as he sat up straighter and his face softening.

'Yeah… you're probably right Tom,' he mumbled solemnly.

Maddie had to fight the urge to cheer out loud; it worked! Her charm actually worked! There was no way that Tommy on a normal day could convince John to admit to his wife that he'd been sleeping with prostitutes all night. Arthur now looked beside himself with shock and confusion, staring at John with disbelief, no doubt wondering if he had had too much to drink. With a sigh, John downed the rest of his drink and got up from the table as the rest of them watched him in stunned silence. He trudged out of the room, and they listened to his footsteps fade down the corridor before Tommy cleared his throat again and leant back in his chair, an impressed look on his face. Arthur paused for a few seconds, blinking at the doorway dumbly before turning to him wide-eyed.

'What the fuck was that all about Tom?' he asked gruffly, looking at Tommy apprehensively as if he was going to suggest Arthur do the same thing with Linda. Tommy turned to him and smirked before reaching into his collar and pulling out the charm, holding it up for Arthur to look at.

'That, Arthur, was magic,' replied Tommy, handing the charm to Arthur who inspected it with bafflement.

'It's for Tommy to help keep us all out of trouble, hopefully,' smiled Maddie and Arthur let out a huffed laugh and handed the charm back to Tommy who gave his older brother an amused smile before issuing an order.

'Now, Arthur, go and stop John before he and Esme end up divorced. And get your coat on, we're meeting the clay kickers this afternoon.'

Maddie typed at her typewriter with effort, trying to concentrate on what she was writing but found she couldn't stop herself from flicking her eyes towards Tommy's office door with curiosity. She recalled the dangerous look Polly had on her face as she came out of Michael's office and marched past her desk without a word and into his office before shutting the doors behind her sharply and wondered what on earth they must be talking about. Maddie's instincts told her they were having a tense conversation although she hadn't heard any raised voices, the room seemingly empty from the outside. Huffing to herself, she looked back at the paperwork she was writing and forced out another meagre sentence before looking back at the office door again. Sighing in defeat, she finally got up from her desk quietly and tiptoed over to the door. Luckily, Lizzie had finished for the day, so she was free to eavesdrop without anyone knowing. She crouched down below the glass windows of the doors and got up close to the shiny wood at the bottom, so close that she could smell the pine scent of the polish. She sunk onto her knees and placed her palms on the door followed by her ear. At first Maddie couldn't hear anything but soon managed to hear the deep tone of Tommy's voice.

'And I told him to put a bullet in that fucker's brains,' he said before a pause and Maddie's brow creased as she tried to figure out who they were talking about. 'By order of the Peaky Blinders.'

There was another pause and Maddie managed to make out the choked voice of Polly.

'No.'

The voices inside went to a quiet mumble and Maddie couldn't make out what they were saying despite straining to hear more. Eventually, their voices picked up again and she put her hand over her other ear to be able to block out any interfering sounds.

'…If my son pulls the trigger, I will bring this whole organisation down around your ears,' came Polly's threatening voice before the sound of her heels on the wooden floor began to approach the door.

Maddie quickly and stealthily pulled away from the wood, scuttling back to her desk and sitting on her chair before grabbing a pen and started to pretend write on some paper just before Polly opened the doors to Tommy's office and stalked out past her without acknowledging her. Maddie opened her mouth to say something but faltered, watching Polly go through another set of doors into the betting shop before disappearing. She looked back down blankly at the sheet of paper on her desk, her hand holding the pen still in the air, and tried to process what she had heard. Since Polly had stormed out of Michael's office, Maddie assumed they must have been talking about him. What else could make Polly so emotional? But who was Tommy talking about putting a bullet in? It didn't take long for her to figure out the answer as she remembered the man that was still alive that they all wanted dead. She also remembered the conversation she and Tommy had had about Father Hughes whilst Tommy was still in hospital and the offer she had made to kill the priest. Maddie hadn't been surprised when Tommy had turned her down, and part of her was glad that he had due to the confliction she felt about killing a human, even if he was an evil bastard. After that conversation however, he hadn't mentioned anything more about it and she had assumed he was still mulling it over. However, going off what she had just overheard, Michael was planning on killing Father Hughes, although she had no idea why.

'How much of that did you hear?'

The sound of Tommy's husky voice from next to her desk made Maddie flinch and look up at him panicked. She had been so enclosed in her own thoughts that she hadn't heard him come out of his office to stand next to her. He looked at her sternly for an answer as she blinked dumbly in shock.

'How did-?' Maddie began to ask before Tommy nodded his head toward the sheet of paper in front of her.

'Unless you can understand scribbled lines as a language then you're trying to pretend you didn't hear anything,' he said, his eyes boring into hers with some annoyance. Shelooked at her scribbles and grimaced before deciding she had better come clean.

'Enough,' she said with a sigh. 'Enough to figure out that Michael is planning on killing Father Hughes.'

Maddie watched Tommy's chest rise and fall as he paused and took in her confession before pulling his cigarettes out of his pocket and lighting one and turning to walk back into his office.

'Come on, let's go home,' he said calmly as he walked away.

Maddie swallowed, worried that her eavesdropping might have gotten her into trouble. She got up and got her hat from the stand and wondered whether she would be getting a lecture from Tommy on the way home and concluded it would be likely. He locked up his office and the rest of the shop as they left and he opened the car door for her as he usually did for her to get in, shutting it firmly behind her. Hegot in and started the engine in silence and neither of them spoke for several minutes until they drove out of Birmingham. Maddie peeked over to Tommy in anticipation for an explanation or telling off, but he didn't even look pissed off as he looked straight ahead at the road. After a couple more minutes of neither of them talking, she eventually decided to break the silence between them herself.

'Why Michael?' asked Maddie, figuring she may as well see if he would share this information with her now that she knew. Tommy let out a long sigh before turning to look at her, his face not revealing any emotion as it usually did. He turned back to the road before clearing his throat in preparation for his reply.

'I'll say the same thing to you as I said to Pol; you're better off not knowing.'

Maddie gave him a confused look, wondering what Michael's motivation must be for Tommy to not want to divulge it to her. It must be bad, she thought, bad enough that Tommy doesn't want me to know. She wondered whether he was trying to protect her again, this time from something that had already happened, and opened her mouth to protest but stopped herself, realising that his secrecy was probably protecting Michael and not her. Slouching back in her seat, Maddie nodded and settled in to watch the scenery go by as they drove in silence. As much as she tried to forget about it, she couldn't help but ponder the connection between Michael and Father Hughes and why he wanted to be the one to kill him. She found herself going through all the knowledge she had of Michael to see if she could recall a connection and eventually remembered that he had been looked after by the church as a child. She figured this was the most likely connection and didn't think it was much of a stretch to assume that Father Hughes had made a lasting impression on Michael, and not in a good way. She still didn't know what Father Hughes had done exactly, but if she was going off Tommy's warning, it was something she didn't want to think about. Shefinally managed to push more thoughts of Michael aside for the rest of the evening with this realisation and had completely forgotten about it by the time she settled into bed that night.

The next day, Maddie overheard Tommy talking on the phone to Johnny about the progress being made with the tunnel. She had tagged along to meet Tommy's ex-comrades a few days earlier before he went with them down south to oversee the start of the tunnel. They hadn't seemed like anything special at first glance, but the way he acted around them showed that he trusted them with his life, and they trusted him the same way. Maddie decided, when this business was over, she would ask Tommy more about his experience in the war and hopefully his trust of her had grown to equal that he had for these men.

The day after that, he left for Hampton Court with the clay kickers which would be followed by a brief trip to London for a meeting with Churchill and some other ministers he had organised, with the intention to use the charm Maddie had made him. She initially wanted to tag along, hoping she could eavesdrop on the meeting as well as catch a glimpse of the infamous Winston Churchill, but Tommy talked her out of it. Her presence in the Houses of Parliament would only draw unwanted attention and compromise the plan to talk them into keeping the Shelby's out of prison. Besides, he was planning to drive straight back to Birmingham through the night, not wanting to be in London any longer than necessary.

That evening, Maddie had worked out in her training room to the point of exhaustion so that she would be able to sleep and not be kept awake waiting for Tommy to get home. She doused herself in the shower and collapsed into bed, her plan working perfectly as her eyes quickly closed and sleep overtook her. After what only felt like a few minutes later, Maddie was awoken by the feeling of strong arms wrapping around her torso and of soft lips kissing the back of her neck. She groaned and turned over to face Tommy, pulling her eyes open to meet his glowing blue eyes in the darkness as she yawned.

'Did it work?' she whispered. Tommy paused before nodding slowly.

'I got them to agree that keeping us out of jail would be in their best interest. Although that's all I could get them to agree to for now.' Maddie furrowed her brow at him, not sure of what he meant. 'Convictions, or removal of legal licences will most likely occur, although hopefully not permanently,' Tommy explained and shebreathed a sigh of relief and smiled.

'We can deal with that.'

'Are you ready?' called Tommy from the hallway outside Maddie's bedroom door.

'Almost!' she replied as she hastily pinned her hair back in a way that was relatively neat.

Maddie could feel the nervous tingle in the tips of her fingers that she sometimes got when she was about to head into a social situation that was out of her comfort zone. She took a moment to check her reflection and took in a deep calming breath through her nostrils.

Today was the day that Tommy and the Shelby's were going to open the Grace Shelby Institute for Orphaned Children in Birmingham, and many important people were going to be there. He had informed her of the event as soon as the date had been set, giving her plenty of time to know what to expect. Not that the occasion was planned to be anything extravagant.

It took Maddie longer than it should have to figure out why the opening of the orphanage was making her so unsettled. It wasn't really the event itself but more why it was happening, and for who's name it was in remembrance of. TheGraceShelby Institute. Never in a million years did she ever think she would be attending the opening ceremony of what would be the oldest and most well-respected charity in Birmingham. Not to mention one that was named after her lover's late wife. Tommy had discussed his plans for the charity with Maddie a few times and had only briefly mentioned Grace herself and what her ambitions were for the institution before she died. In fact, Maddie now remembered how she had noticed that he had seemed to be pointedly avoiding mentioning Grace around her. It was a topic that Maddie had wanted to talk about with him, often wondering if she should just ask him outright but had decided against it. She knew him well enough by now that he would only open up to her about his past and his anguish if he was ready to do so. So, Maddie decided she would be patient and wait for him to breach the topic himself if he ever would.

However, now that Maddie was getting ready to leave for the ceremony, she wished that Tommy had decided to get the Grace conversation out of the way by now to giver her some reassurance that it was okay for her to be there. She knew that this event would be a significant step for him moving on from Grace's death; many people will be giving their condolences to him and talking about her during the day, and Maddie had no idea what she would do in that situation. But by far the worst thing she would need to negotiate would be being seen more publicly as Tommy's… girlfriend? No that seemed too… adolescent. His new female partner? The fact that Maddie didn't know what she was to Tommy started to make her stomach bubble nervously. She knew people at the event would be astute enough to notice their relationship, and also knew that they would talk about it with their venomous tongues. They would talk about the young woman he brought to his dead wife's charity opening and how her presence was disrespectful to Grace's memory as if Maddie had gone up to her corpse and slapped her in the face.

And what would the Shelby's think? Maddie knew that they all adored her, she would even go as far to say that they loved her as one of them. But that wasn't to say that they wouldn't see her presence there as offensive. They wouldn't say anything of course, Tommy had said that he wanted Maddie to come so they wouldn't dare say anything against it. Although it wasn't his sole reason, he had mentioned how her presence would be useful for keeping an eye on Charlie during the day. His attention was going to be demanded from several people at once, as would all the other Shelby's, so having her there to monitor where Charlie was at all times would be a comforting notion. This extra responsibility should have made her even more uneasy, but Maddie liked it when she had one clear objective to stick to that made her feel more useful than trying her best to make idle conversation. The people there didn't know she was from the year 2020 and would most likely look down their noses at her. It was a task that was well within her skill set and was the only thing that was currently giving her confidence.

'Maddie?' came Tommy's voice after a couple of minutes silence followed by a soft knock at the door before he stepped into the threshold. 'Everything alright?'

Maddie smiled at him in the reflection of the mirror, shaking off her anxiety as best she could so that he wouldn't notice.

'Yeah, I'm fine,' she said as she got up from the dressing table. 'Just nervous about being around loads of people who don't know me and having to make sure I don't act too twenty-first century-ish.'

She and Tommy shared a short laugh and he walked over to her and placed his hands on her shoulders softly.

'Well, not ending your sentences with 'ish' would be a good start,' he jested teasingly, making her roll her eyes at him.

'Well, duh!' she snorted making Tommy smirk again.

'Don't say 'duh' either.'

Maddie laughed properly this time, starting to feel a little less nervous. She poked Tommy sharply in the ribs for his cheek and they began to make their way out of the house. Frances was waiting by the entrance with Harriet who was holding Charlie, all ready and dressed in an adorable little smart outfit with his hair combed. Frances helped them with their coats before Harriet handed Charlie to Maddie who immediately put the toddler on her shoulders making him giggle and grab her hair with his fists making her regret the decision immediately.

'The driver is waiting outside for you sir,' said Frances.

Tommy gave a curt nod in response before leading the way out onto the drive where his car was waiting with the driver at the wheel. Since this was a special occasion, he had gotten a driver to drive them there and back which suited Maddie fine as that meant the three of them could sit in the back of the car and enjoy the journey without him needing to watch the road.

As it turned out, Tommy was just as silent being a passenger as he was as a driver and Maddie ended up entertaining Charlie with his toys and stopping him from crying when they went over harsh bumps in the road for the entire journey. Tommy had that look on his face when he was trying to be emotionally detached, almost certainly because of Grace and the significance of what the day meant for her legacy. There were a few moments when he turned to watch her with Charlie looking like he wanted to say something but didn't. Maddie just smiled back at him sweetly, hoping he would say the words she needed to hear which ultimately never came. When they finally pulled up to the brand-new orphanage, she felt her stomach squeeze into a tight ball, the sight of the imposing brick structure bringing her nerves back and she swallowed down the saliva that rose into her mouth. Tommy must have noticed her sudden unease and turned to face her, taking her hand in his gently.

'Hey. It'll be alright, eh?'

His reassurance was vague, but he tightened his grip on her hand slightly and gave her a silent look which communicated more than he was saying out loud. Maddie let herself breathe and with more confidence nodded her assent. He nodded back to her silently before letting go of her hand and stepping out of the car. She grabbed Charlie and followed him out, Charlie clinging onto his toys for dear life. The rest of the Shelby's were already parked and also got out of their cars to join them. Ada came straight to Maddie, the two of them kissing each other on the cheek before she took Charlie eagerly out of her arms. Ada passed a swift sympathetic look to her as she sat Charlie on her hip, giving her a much-needed smile, letting her know that it was fine that she was there. As Ada walked on ahead, Polly passed Maddie who gave her the exact same smile, placing a motherly hand on her shoulder and giving it a squeeze. This affirmation from the Shelby women was what Maddie needed and she felt a new surge of confidence spread through her, making her hold her head up a little higher as they walked into the orphanage as a family. As they made their way through a corridor towards the chapel, they passed a memorial with gorgeous flowers decorating it with none other than a photo of Grace in the centre and Maddie discreetly nodded to her in a sign of respect.

The ceremony went about as smoothly as it could go with the rowdy Shelby family in attendance. The few awkward silent moments during Tommy's speech made Maddie shift in her chair as she noticed the knowing looks that were passed between the audience members. Arthur's loud warning as well made the audience particularly uncomfortable and she was happy when the hymn started and broke the silence, even if she didn't know the words and Charlie was fidgeting annoyingly in her arms. When the ceremony was over, Ada took Maddie's arm to lead them both to the function room. She looked back over her shoulder to find Tommy and caught sight of him slinking out of the door at the rear of the room where Grace's memorial was.

'Don't worry, he'll join us in a bit,' said Ada on spotting Maddie's hesitance.

'I know, I just… want to know that he's alright.'

'He'll be alright,' smiled Ada. 'Once he's had a minute alone.'

Maddie nodded and let Ada guide them out with the crowd whilst holding Charlie securely in her arm. As they winded through the building, she didn't fail to notice the questioning side glances toward her and the odd hushed whisper from the crowd around them. She had first noticed the same thing when she had been stood with Tommy before the ceremony started and knew that the guests were already talking about her.

Once in the function room, Maddie felt considerably more relaxed in the open space even if it was still crowded. The claustrophobic confines of the narrow stone corridors had made a sheen of sweat appear on her back making her dress stick to it. She accepted a drink from one of the maids and went and sat herself down on a chair by an open window with Charlie on her lap, watching the Shelby's already delve into conversation with various important looking people around the room. Maddie pondered if she would ever get to a position in the Shelby Company where she would be having business conversations at functions like this but realised that if she did it was a long was off from now. As she sipped at her champagne, Charlie reached up and tried to pull the glass toward him, wanting to try the golden liquid that she was drinking.

'No, Charlie!' laughed Maddie. 'Alcohol isn't for babies.'

Charlie pouted at her in annoyance but went back to waving his toy horse around quietly. Maddie had managed to develop a rapport with Charlie that meant that he usually did as she asked, even if he didn't always look happy about it. It wasn't completely lost on her that her relationship with the toddler was becoming more maternal and guessed that he was probably seeing her as a new mother figure and for someone to do as he's told. After five minutes of being sat on her own contently, Maddie spotted Tommy enter the room looking a little ruffled, followed by Michael who looked like he'd seen a ghost. She tensed, sensing something wasn't right and stood up with Charlie as Tommy came over to her.

'What is it?' she asked in a whisper.

'Father Hughes was here. He's upset I didn't invite him.'

'Shit,' hissed Maddie, a mixture of anger and fear churning her stomach.

'He's gone now, but keep Charlie close, eh?'

'Of course.'

At that moment, a portly man with a moustache came over and interrupted them, turning Tommy's attention away and began talking his ear off about some business affairs which The tolerated with grace and patience. Maddie stepped away from them and started to make a beeline for the safety of Ada and Polly but was stopped halfway there by a slender woman in her fifties wearing a salmon pink dress and shawl who smiled falsely at her.

'Hello, my dear,' greeted the woman in a well-spoken accent. 'I don't believe we've met, I'm Dolores.'

Dolores held out her hand to Maddie who shook it hesitantly with her free one, balancing Charlie on her hip who also looked at Dolores suspiciously.

'Maddie,' she responded curtly, withdrawing her hand as quickly as possible without seeming rude.

'I saw you sat with Mr Shelby and his family, but I don't recall ever seeing you before. Are you the new nanny?' Dolores asked, flitting her gaze to Charlie and back to her. Maddie knew this moment was coming, people's curiosity would have gotten the better of them eventually and she needed to try and answer the questions she would be asked without prompting more.

'Er…Not exactly…' she stuttered. Dolores gave her a confused look as she quickly grappled to explain herself. 'I'm a good friend of the family,' she said with a wry smile.

'Oh, really in what way?' came the voice of another woman who joined the conversation in that moment. This lady was about ten years younger than Dolores and more filled out with shiny ginger hair and red lips.

'Ah, Mabel!' said Dolores. 'Let me introduce you to Maddie.'

Mabel shook Maddie's hand as well before looking expectantly at her for an answer to her question.

'I work for Mr Shelby in his company, I've helped them though a busy time lately and they invited me along today,' stammered Maddie, trying her best to think up a viable story. Evidently it hadn't worked and Dolores and Mabel eyed her up and down before speaking again.

'Oh, there must be more to it than that!' exclaimed Mabel with a faux laugh.

'Indeed, I find that hard to believe my dear,' agreed Dolores. By now the conversation had attracted the attention of more women that were stood close by who had started to gradually join the group, giving Maddie a larger audience.

'I… er…' stuttered Maddie, now beginning to panic, her heart thudding loudly in her ears. She flittered her gaze around the room frantically for Tommy in the hope he would come and save her. When she spotted him, he was stood on the other side of the room with his back to her, now talking to a larger group of men and women who were listening to him intently. Shit! What do I do now?

'You sound like you're from Birmingham. Who are your parents? Perhaps I know them?' asked Dolores, noticing that Maddie wasn't going to elaborate on her previous answer.

'They… um… are no longer with us. They died when I was very young,' she lied, hoping it would deter their questioning.

'I'm sorry to hear that, where abouts was it you lived?'

'Kings Norton,' replied Maddie, saying the first place that popped into her head.

'Really?' said another woman with mousy blond hair. 'I live there, and I don't recall seeing you before.'

Fuck, fuck, fuck! Maddie tried to keep her breathing level as she debated whether or not to make a run for it, eying up the exit with desire when another new but welcome voice entered the fold.

'Ah, Maddie! I see you've met thelovelywomen of the Moseley War Widow's Institute,' came Ada's glorious voice. Ada stepped up beside her and placed a hand on her arm as the women all greeted Ada courteously.

'Sorry to interrupt the conversation ladies but John said he wanted a word with you Maddie. I'll take Charlie off your hands for a while,' smiled Ada, holding out her arms for Charlie. Maddie mouthed the words 'Thank you!' to Ada discreetly as she handed Charlie to her before turning back to the women, remembering her manners.

'If you'll excuse me.'

Maddie didn't hesitate to turn away and squeeze past the people around her to get away, spotting John stood with Esme next to the drinks table and hurried over to them.

'Alright Mads?' asked John as she snatched a full glass of champagne from the table and downed it in one go, sighing with relief.

'I am now.'

'I saw you chatting to them widows over there. Better you than me,' sniggered John, Esme laughing along as well. Maddie squinted at them both with irritation. Evidently, they had watched the interaction she'd just had and found it greatly amusing.

'You could have bloody warned me about them!' she complained under her breath.

'Sorry Mads, we didn't think they'd swoop down on you so fast,' said Esme apologetically.

Maddie turned and saw that Ada had managed to get away from the widows already, far more efficiently than she had and she found she envied Ada's skills in getting out of unwanted conversations. She hung around John and Esme for a while, watching Charlie be passed from Ada to Polly briefly who then brought him over for Esme to hold. Charlie was in Esme's arms all of two seconds before he began stretching his arms out toward Maddie and gurgling desperately for her.

'He's really become fond of you,' said Polly with a smile as Esme passed Charlie to Maddie, ending her little break from having to hold the toddler.

'Yeah, I suppose we've been around each other a lot since Tommy got out of hospital.'

Maddie managed to successfully dodge most of the guests at the party and their anxiety inducing questions for the next hour or so before Tommy finally got away long enough to check up on her.

'You alright?' he asked, placing one hand protectively on her shoulder and ruffling Charlie's hair with the other. 'Ada said that the war widows cornered you.'

'That's a nice way of putting it,' snorted Maddie. 'But I'm fine now.'

Tommy nodded and shared a small smile with her before Arthur and John came over to chat to them.

'Tommy,' said John, grabbing his attention. 'I just got off the phone with Johnny Dogs. Says they've hit heavy clay.'

'How long?' responded Tommy.

'Two days before they hit the wall.'

This was the first Maddie had heard of the progress with the tunnel since Tommy had met with his old comrades from the war and listened intently as he suggested they dig a sinkhole and John informing him that they wanted Tommy to go down himself to help. Just then their private talk was interrupted by one of the widows, Maddie quickly avoiding her gaze, who pulled Tommy away briefly. She heard the widow say something about wishing she'd met Grace before she passed, and she felt an uncomfortable lurch in her belly. Tommy quickly directed the woman away to Lizzie when she started talking about charity stuff, making her smirk as she imagined Lizzie's face when faced with the irritating woman, before returning to join them again. His face was neutral as always, but she could see the subtle stress lines on his face and the tension in his jaw that let her know he was beginning to become tired of the boring idle chit chat and constant interruptions.

'Fuck me, Tom, I don't know how you do it,' mumbled Arthur as John and Maddie sniggered together at Tommy's expense so that he shot a disdainful glare at them both. Maddie then spotted Dolores walking up to them with intent and widened her eyes before turning to Tommy.

'Oh no, here she comes,' she warned.

Tommy briefly shut his eyes to ready himself before turning to greet Dolores with a forced smile who immediately took his arm and began to walk him away. As soon as he was a few steps away, Charlie began to squirm in Maddie's arms and reach himself towards his father. She attempted to shush him sweetly, but he soon began to cry, his little voice gaining volume and attracting the attention of some of the guests. She didn't want to burden him more, but the last thing she wanted was to draw undue attention to herself. Making her decision, she followed Tommy over to the widows, making sure not to catch eye contact with any of them.

'I'm sorry but I think he wants you for a bit,' apologised Maddie with a wry smile.

'Hello, Charlie,' cooed Tommy as he took Charlie into his arms, giving her a small nod to indicate it was alright.

As swiftly as she could, Maddie backed out of the crowd and laughed discreetly as she watched Tommy try his best not to lose his wits with the war widows as they praised him for holding his son in public. In that moment, she caught the scent of the food table behind her, and her tummy immediately started rumbling. She had resisted the urge to stuff her face all afternoon for fear of coming across like a pig, but now the hunger was too distracting, and she decided to give herself a little break and grab a quick snack whilst Tommy had Charlie. She turned away from the scene in front of her and approached the buffet table and soon spotted the little pastries and fruits. She discreetly wolfed down a cheese filled tart as she picked up a handful of grapes, turning just in time to see the widows scuttling around Tommy to take a photo with him and a model horse.

Maddie smirked at the sight of Tommy holding up the brass horse with both hands and with a forced photo- ready smile. Then she realised who he wasn't holding, and the smile dropped from her face as the grapes tumbled out of her hand onto the floor. Her insides felt as though they were about to fall out and she frantically scanned the room for Charlie, spotting all the Shelby's in a flash and saw that none of them were holding him. As the light of the camera flashed blindingly, Maddie spotted a woman's skirt whip out of the doorway on the other side of the room. Without hesitating, she dashed out into the corridor through the door nearest to her and caught the sight of a woman running around the corner at the end holding Charlie in her arms. Oh, fuck, no! Maddie took off at a sprint down the corridor after them, her heart already racing with panic.

'Oi!' she shouted after the woman. 'Bring him back!'

Maddie turned the corner at speed, skidding around it, her heels scratching the wood. There was no sign of the woman, but she figured that she must be heading toward the exit. Without slowing, she pelted toward what she guessed was the back door which soon came into view, and spotted the woman hurrying out of it toward a car that was parked a few yards away.

'Come back here or I swear to god I'll fucking kill you!' yelled Maddie as she flew out of the door, now on the woman's heels.

But, just as Maddie was about to grab hold of the woman, Charlie now crying earnestly in her arms, she was stopped dead in her tracks by something grabbing onto the back of her dress. The force of her sudden stop was so jarring that it nearly ripped the buttons at the front of her dress clean off. A split-second later she was thrown backwards several feet and skidded across the gravel on her back. She looked up in confusion, wondering what the hell had happened and was met by what looked like a huge seven-foot man wearing a smart men's suit. Maddie squinted up at him and noticed that his skin had a slight purple hue to it, and he had two small bumps protruding from his bald head that looked like horns. A demon. What the hell is a demon doing here? She had been so focussed on catching the woman that she had completely missed the huge monster. Then she heard the doors she just ran out of being slammed shut and locked from the outside and she turned to see two human men stood by it, looking at the scene in front of them with hesitation. By now, the woman had made it to the car and was looking back at the demon with fear but also with expectancy. The purple demon looked up at the men and pointed toward the car.

'Go, get the child out of here. I'll take care of the slayer.'

Maddie's eyes widened in shock at the demon knowing who she was and announcing it so freely; then the realisation hit her. He was working for them, the Economic League. They know. They know I'm the slayer, and they've sent a demon in order to even out the playing field. A flashback of what Mr Traver's had told her back in London skipped through her mind and she cursed herself for not taking his warning more seriously. She swallowed shakily but managed to rise to her feet as the two men began to run toward the car.

'No!' yelled Maddie, starting to make after them.

However, the demon was faster than he looked, and he quickly intercepted her, landing a hard punch to the side of her face. She felt her tooth crack with the impact and stumbled to the side and almost lost her balance. She heard the heavy footfalls of the demon approaching her again and she turned as he lifted his leg up to kick her. Reflexively, Maddie crossed her arms in front of her to block his foot just before it connected with her chest. Despite this, the kick was so hard that she was knocked over backwards and tumbled over. She looked up at the massive demon again, who was looking back at her victoriously, when the sound of the car engine starting pulled her gaze over to it. No, I can't let them take Charlie.

Maddie leapt up and the demon made a grab for her, but she somersaulted under his arms as he snatched at mid-air before regaining her feet again and running at the car as fast as she could. The car window opened as she dashed toward it but by the time she had registered the gun in the man's hand it was too late. A shot sounded followed by an excruciating ripping pain in her right calf. The injury didn't register fully until her weight landed on her right leg and she collapsed to the ground heavily, the searing pain making her yelp. She looked back up to see the car begin to pull away and spotted Charlie's little face looking out the back widow, his face scrunched up in terror.

'No! Please!' Maddie screamed after them.

She heaved her weight up onto her good leg and began stumbling after them desperately, tears beginning to spill over onto her cheeks as the vehicle began to get further away from her. She only made it a few feet before she felt the large hand of the demon clutch at her throat. Maddie angrily threw her elbow back which connected the demon but seemed to have no effect. Struggling against his grasp and screaming after Charlie frantically, she caught her last sight of the car before the demon turned her around and grabbed her upper arms and lifted her off the ground. Maddie writhed in his grasp helplessly, trying to kick his stomach as he held her at arm's length as she struggled.

'Let me go!' she screamed.

The demon chuckled and gave Maddie a pitiful look. The next thing she felt was the demon's forehead colliding with hers before her world went black.

'Fuck! Mads, wake up! Arthur! Mads has been shot!' Maddie dragged her eyes open and saw John kneeling over her, his face contorted with stress and panic. It took a couple of seconds for everything to come back to her and when it did her eyes shot open and she sat bolt upright, searching the area around her. It was no good however, there was no sight of the car or of the demon, both were long gone. 'Mads? Fuck, you alright?' exclaimed John.

'They took him, John,' whimpered Maddie, the realisation of what had happened now hitting her. 'They took Charlie, and I couldn't stop them!'

'Who took him?' he asked, helping her to her feet.

'A woman and two men took him in a car. They had a demon with them, he stopped me from getting him back.'

John looked back at Maddie speechless, he also realising that this meant they knew about her and her abilities.

'Come on, we need to tell Tommy,' he said, putting his arm around her waist to support her.

Oh, God, Tommy. Maddie bit back more tears as she imagined what his reaction would be. His son was gone, and the woman he had trusted to protect him had failed to stop it from happening. A woman with superpowers who should have beat them all to a pulp in seconds for laying a finger on Charlie. Maddie and John shuffled their way toward the front of the building and met Arthur on the way around who ran up to them red faced.

'What the fuck's happened?' he asked, his arms outstretched for an answer.

'They've taken him,' said John. 'They shot and knocked Mads out and drove off with Charlie.'

Arthur looked at Maddie dumbfounded, and the feeling of shame quickly began pull at her. She looked away from his shocked face as they carried on toward the front of the building. After a couple of seconds, she heard the sound of Tommy's voice echoing through the air.

'Charlie!?'

The sound made Maddie shiver and more tears escaped her eyes before she could stop them. They soon made it to the front of the orphanage and Maddie looked up to see Tommy looking around frantically, clutching his head in desperation. As they got closer, he turned and spotted them approaching and began toward them immediately.

'Arthur. Where is he?' he demanded with his arms open. As he got closer, he spotted Maddie being supported by John and stopped in his tracks, a scarily empty look painting his features before he hurried over to her. She tried to keep her expression calm but by the time he made it to her and took her into his arms she began to sob uncontrollably.

'They took him Tommy,' she choked, tears dripping into her mouth. 'They drove off with him. I tried to stop them but-.'

'They had… some kind of demon with them,' interjected John. 'I found Maddie unconscious around the back.'

Maddie looked up at Tommy and was met by his blue eyes staring glassily into the distance, like his mind was trying to shut down. She reached up and put her hand on his cheek and he looked down at her hollowly, making her skin crawl sickeningly.

'Tom,' said Arthur, grabbing him around the back of the head and leaning in close. 'We need to get you to a phone, whoever took him is going to call.'

As Arthur spoke about setting up roadblocks, Tommy began to nod his agreement and his wits seemed to return to him in that moment and he turned back to Maddie and looked down at her leg.

'You've been shot,' he said, his voice worried but more level. Shelooked down at her calf and assessed the wound properly for the first time. The bullet had gone straight through the muscle, missing her bone. Her stocking and shoe were stained with blood, but the wound had already stopped bleeding.

'It'll be fine,' said Maddie, trying to put more weight on her leg and finding it already less painful. 'Tommy, we need to get Charlie back, it's all my fault.'

Tommy looked into Maddie's eyes for a moment, as if deciding if he agreed with her conclusion, but eventually shook his head.

'No, you did everything you could,' he said. 'There was no way for us to know that they'd found out about you.'

Maddie's heart sunk as she remembered what she knew and was now experiencing the consequences of not mentioning it to Tommy earlier. If they had been more prepared, Charlie would still be there. She opened her mouth, ready to admit her failing to them when Polly joined them, and Arthur began to usher them toward the car and Tommy began listing orders to John and Arthur. Maddie managed to limp over to the rear of the car and settled into it as Polly settled next to her. Tommy started the engine and pulled the car away at such speed that Maddie and Polly were thrown back into their seats. He sped away from the orphanage and onto the main road, making towards Small Heath with his eyes focussed on the road.

'Give me your leg,' said Polly, drawing Maddie's gaze away from Tommy.

She nodded and lifted her leg onto the seat next to her. Polly pulled a scarf out of her bag and wrapped it around Maddie's wound. It wasn't completely necessary at this point, but she took some brief comfort in the action, nonetheless.

She needed to tell them. The guilt and the shame were already becoming too much. She had known that their enemies knew she was a slayer and she had forgotten to warn Tommy. Yes, it was mostly due to her forgetting about the incident and being so caught up in the plans for the robbery, not an intentional withholding of information. But the information was crucial for the plan being successful, and she had failed Tommy in the worst way for not telling him as soon as it had happened.

'I knew they knew I was the slayer,' said Maddie quietly before she could change her mind. Polly stopped what she was doing and looked up at her as if she was hearing things, the car going deafeningly quiet apart from the strained roar of the engine. Maddie looked at Tommy for a reaction and saw the muscles of his neck and jaw tense dangerously as his brow furrowed furiously.

'What?' he asked, his voice frighteningly quiet.

'When I was patrolling in London. Mr Travers found me and warned me that I was drawing attention to myself from the human and demon worlds,' Maddie explained.

'And you tell me about this now?' questioned Tommy, his voice beginning to gain volume.

'I-I was waiting for the right time to tell you. And with all the stuff going on, I forgot. I'm sorry,' she admitted, barely above a whisper. Tommy rubbed his face with his palm slowly as he digested what Maddie had confessed. Polly leant back in the seat and sighed before finishing off her makeshift bandage. There was a long pause that followed, the tension in the air heavy and suffocating. 'Please, say some-,' began Maddie before she was cut short by Tommy.

'They took my son!' shouted Tommy, the sound reverberating around the car it was that loud, making her jump in her seat. 'Don't you understand that?! How could you forget to tell me something that important when you were supposed to protect him?!'

The barrage of angry questions made Maddie's mouth drop open in shock. Tommy hadn't raised his voice like this to her before. His fury was evident in his voice and she felt her eyes begin to sting again as she tried to find the words to reply to him.

'Thomas!' snapped Polly as she reached over and held onto Maddie's arm comfortingly. 'That's enough. She wasn't to know that it was the priest that knew about her. And we all let our guard down today; Maddie isn't the only one to blame.'

Maddie swallowed back her tears as her hands began to shake with fear. Fear that Tommy blamed her for Charlie's abduction and that this would end their relationship and that he would cut her from the family entirely. She looked up at him again and saw him breathing deeply after hearing Polly's reasoning, considering what his aunt had said before giving a defeated nod.

'I know,' he said, his voice now back to its usual even monotone.

Nothing more was said until they made it to the Shelby Company Office, the journey seeming like an age to Maddie. Tommy leapt from the car followed swiftly by her and Polly, who limped her way after them as fast as she could into the office. She passed a mirror in the corridor and caught a glimpse of herself, new dark purple bruises covering her cheek and forehead. However, Maddie couldn't bring herself to care about her appearance and continued to follow Tommy and Polly into the betting shop, Tommy talking about contacting Michael and Sergeant Moss. He picked up the phone and asked for Moss as Maddie and Polly sat down at the table.

'Gone where?' asked Tommy down the receiver. Maddie looked at Polly nervously before Tommy slammed the phone onto the table before quickly picking it up again and throwing it at the wall making them flinch. He paced over to the window and back in an attempt to control his temper.

'You broke the phone,' stated Polly in exasperation as Tommy came and leant on the table to look at Maddie.

'What happened that night in London?' he asked sternly, piercing her with his dagger eyes.

Maddie swallowed thickly as she gathered her words, blinking nervously back at him as he waited. She recounted the events of that night to them, including her little visit to the demon bar and how the demon world knew about her and the Shelby's, not that it was news to any of them. As she recounted the discussion with Mr Travers in more detail, Tommy pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed at the realisation that Section D had likely known about Maddie since the fair, if not before.

'There's no point going over the details of this now,' complained Polly. 'We need to get you on the phone to them.' She got up from her seat and went over to the smashed phone and confirmed it was broken. Just then, the sound of the front door opening echoed through the building and Ada appeared around the corner. 'It's alright, we've got another phone,' dismissed Polly, as Ada made her way toward Tommy.

'Tommy, there's a man outside, a priest,' she said. Maddie stood up quickly from her chair, knocking it over to the floor and went over to Tommy and Ada, ready to storm outside with him to batter the man senseless.

'No, Maddie wait here,' instructed Tommy. 'You too Pol, don't do anything.'

'But-,' protested Maddie.

'I said wait here,' he repeated more forcefully, glaring her in the eye and making her stop reluctantly in her tracks. Tommy turned and marched out of the front door into the rain which had begun to lash down since they arrived at the office, the door slamming shut behind him. Maddie stared after him for a minute, panting nervously at what could be happening on the other side of the door. Was Charlie out there? What did Father Hughes want in return for him?

'Maddie,' said Ada, coming up to put her hand on her shoulder. 'Come and sit down.'

Maddie let Ada lead her to the table, the two of them sitting down before she immediately put her face in her hands. Polly filled Ada in on what Maddie had told her and Tommy as Maddie tried her best not to cry again. She may be feeling immeasurably responsible for Charlie's abduction, but she was still the slayer. She can't just break down and give up because of her failure. She was still the strongest and most skilled fighter Tommy had and there was no way she way going to take a back seat in getting Charlie back.

'I fucked up,' announced Maddie once Polly had finished talking. 'But I'm not going to let anything else happen to Charlie.'

Ada and Polly looked at Maddie in unison before Ada gave a small smile and a nod, taking Maddie's hand in hers.

'We know,' she said.

'And Tommy will see that too once he's calmed down,' added Polly.

Maddie breathed a sigh and let herself be reassured by Ada and Polly. If she had their support, Tommy and everyone else would hopefully forgive her as well. They sat at the table silently for what felt like an age as they waited for him to come back, the three of them wringing their hands nervously to keep themselves occupied. The door on the other side of the building to where Tommy went out of opened a couple of minutes later, making Maddie sit up to inspect who had entered but saw it was only Arthur, looking particularly sodden, and she slouched back in her chair again. He went over to the cabinet where the whiskey was kept and brought out glasses for everyone.

'Where's Tommy?' he asked.

'Outside talking to the priest,' said Maddie, the two of them sharing a silent look before he started to pour the drinks.

'Linda's with Esme, her waters have broken,' announced Arthur, making everyone look at him in shock. 'John will be here once he's made sure she's alright.'

Great, as if today couldn't get any better, thought Maddie sarcastically to herself. Hopefully, Linda would take care of her, everyone else was going to be needed here if they wanted to get Charlie back soon. She picked up her whiskey that Arthur placed in front of her and knocked it back, actually wanting to feel the searing sensation for once, now understanding why everyone drank so much of it.

Finally, Tommy returned a minute later, marching back into the betting shop soaking wet, the longer section of his hair sticking to his forehead. His expression was emotionless and didn't give anything away as to what had just happened, but his posture was rigid, the only hint as to the stress he was under. John appeared a second later, looking out of breath and accepted his drink without hesitation. Tommy looked around the room and questioned where the absent members of the family were before taking a breath and inspecting the group again. Polly and Maddie were still sat at the table whilst Arthur, John and Ada were stood around the table near the walls.

'I need to know who spoke,' began Tommy, capturing everyone's attention immediately. 'Our enemies know everything. Everything. I need to know who spoke.'

Everyone looked from Tommy to the other members of the group in disbelief, looking for confirmation of what he was suggesting; that one of them had given up the information about the plans for the robbery. Maddie looked over to Polly and saw that the woman's face had gone white. Ada looked perplexed and a little offended at Tommy's implied accusation. John and Arthur just remained silent. Maddie looked at Tommy with concern, realising that the events of the day were leading him to suspect his own family. He turned from one person to another with his piercing gaze. First accusing Linda and Esme of giving up the information, eliciting terse looks and words from John and Arthur. He questioned Ada's motives to return to the family business as she stared back at him silently before he went on to implicate Polly's painter friend who Maddie now remembered Ada telling her about. Maddie watched on dumbstruck at what Tommy was saying. She had never expected him to act this way, even under this kind of stress and it was beginning to make her feel sick. Then, he turned to look at her, the two of them locking eyes making her stomach somersault in anticipation for what he was going to say.

'Then there's you Maddie,' began Tommy. 'You come into my life all of a sudden and literally out of nowhere. So full of mystery with all your connections to the supernatural world, eh? And all your nightly trips out in demon bars and meetings with men in tweed suits who we know we can't trust.'

Maddie stared back at him speechless, feeling all the eyes in the room on her as she tried to think of a response. Was all that trust they'd worked so hard to build gone just like that? No, she refused to believe it. Not after everything she and Tommy had experienced over the last few months. He was scared, panicked. The longer she looked into his eyes the more she could see how frightened he was, and she wasn't going to let his fear push her and his family away. She drew herself up straighter and took a deep breath in as the words came to her.

'I made a mistake Tommy, and I'm sorry. But have I ever given you any other cause not to trust me?'

Tommy blinked back at her but didn't reply, holding her eyes a second longer before turning away from her to address the group as a whole.

'If anyone has talked about the tunnel to anyone else, I need to know and I need to know this second!' demanded Tommy, his teeth clenched as he gesticulated his hand around aggressively.

'What about your clay kickers?' asked John bitterly, supported by a hum from Arthur. 'Drunk in a pub?'

'I trust those men with my life.'

'More than you trust us?' asked Arthur.

'Yeah,' sighed Tommy. 'As of now I do, yes.'

Maddie felt her heart sink to the pit of her stomach. How could he say that? Had he really lost all faith in his own family? If she were being objective, she could understand Tommy's doubts about her despite their relationship, they had only known each other for a few months, but to not trust his aunt and his siblings was another thing entirely. She put her face in her hands as her brain tried to process what she was hearing. A high-pitched ringing started in her ears, and she could only vaguely register the argument that broke out about Michael until her hearing returned to her as Tommy mentioned the Lilies of the Valley, prompting her to look back up at him again.

'The only people I told about the Fabergé egg are in this room,' stated Tommy, silencing everyone again.

Maddie remembered Tommy describing the fancy Russian egg thing to her the night he got back from the orgy party and how it constituted the vast majority of the value of the jewels they were going to steal. He hadn't divulged to her who he had informed about it, but he had no reason to lie about them being the only ones who knew. Except for one person. Alfie. He was Tommy's jeweller and was the only person outside of the family who knew about the robbery. Maddie gave a small intake of breath at her realisation and tried to catch Tommy's eye, but he was pointedly looking away from her. She thought about saying Alfie's name out loud but realised he might be intentionally keeping it quiet so as not to cause a fully-fledged argument.

After an awkward silence, Ada, John and Arthur all said their piece to Tommy before going to leave. He stopped John and Arthur on their way out and handed them a file. Maddie couldn't make out what he said to them as she watched the exchange inquisitively. When he returned, she got up from her seat and limped over to him, indicating after John and Arthur.

'What was in that file?' she asked. Tommy looked down at her sternly, his cold eyes searching hers. She guessed he was debating whether he did truly trust her or not. Weighing up the argument in his head for a few seconds before his features softened slightly.

'Documents Hughes gave me to spread in the train wreckage. He's using the explosion to break the ties between Britain and Russia,' he said.

'Should I go with them? Aren't I supposed to be helping with that anyway?' Maddie asked cautiously.

'No,' said Tommy with a shake of his head. 'Change of plan. Go and find Michael and bring him back here. I need him.'

Maddie furrowed her brow at him, wanting a further explanation but he didn't give it. She sighed and nodded before agreeing to his request. She went to turn to leave the building but was stopped by him putting his hands on her shoulders gently. She looked back up at Tommy who was now looking back at her with the softness he used to have. She felt her skin suddenly become hot and tingle where he was holding her, and her breath hitched like he was looking at her for the first time.

'I do trust you Maddie,' he whispered, lifting his hand to her face to brush her hair back and run a finger over the bruises on her face. 'I'm sorry I doubted you.'

A warm wave of relief spread through Maddie, and she sighed a shaky sigh before smiling back at him thankfully, a tear forming in the corner of her eye. She covered the hand on her face with hers and laced her fingers through his, giving it a light squeeze before letting go. She didn't see the need to say anything back, the look they were sharing was enough to know he forgave her.

'What about Alfie?' whispered Maddie, changing the subject. 'He knows about everything.'

Tommy sighed and nodded his agreement. 'It could be him, but odds are it isn't.'

Tommy glanced over at Polly who was dragging on a cigarette hungrily at the table, silently informing Maddie that his main suspect was Polly's painter although she wasn't convinced.

'Tommy,' she said more forcefully. 'My gut is telling me Alfie has something to do with this.' Tommy looked from her to Polly and back again before pinching the bridge of his nose, sighing frustratedly. Maddie could sense he was still making up his mind as to where the leak came from and decided she needed to let him think about it. 'I'll be back with Michael soon,' she said with a smile of encouragement. 'You'll figure out who it was.'

Tommy nodded his assent, still looking unsure of that fact as Maddie turned and grabbed her hat from the table and limped as quickly as she could out of the betting shop to find Michael.

Well… that could have gone better.

This was the only thing Maddie was capable of thinking as she and Tommy turned their backs on Alfie and his dead henchman. Tommy was lucky the henchman hadn't shot him before Michael killed the henchman. She wished she had intervened before Tommy pounced on Alfie, but she had been rooted to the spot in shock from hearing that it was indeed Alfie who had betrayed them. Even though it wasn't said, the lack of surprise from Alfie at seeing Maddie at the meeting told her, and most likely Tommy, that he was also the one who told the Oddfellows about her. Looking back now, she concluded that he probably knew that she was a slayer for a long time, probably since the boxing match and had been keeping that information so he could deal the right blow at the right time. I knew there was a reason I hated him, cursed Maddie.

Despite her hatred for the man, she and Michael managed to prevent Alfie becoming another victim, holding Tommy back long enough before he fucked up business with the London outfits. And, as much of a scoundrel as Alfie was, she believed him when he said he didn't know they would take Charlie. His grand speech about crossing lines and dying by the sword had made her blood boil but she had to admit that was because she knew he was right. As much as a slayer was supposed to be good, she had done her fair share of shameful and despicable things in order fight her battle against evil, so it would be wrong for her to expect her enemies to not do the same to her.

'What now?' asked Maddie, looking up at Tommy as they headed back toward the cars. Her wound had almost fully healed over the past few hours, and she was no longer limping, the pain completely gone allowing her to keep up with him easily as he marched forward.

'Wait here for Michael to get off the phone with Moss. Then go with him to find Hughes, he has Charlie,' replied Tommy, before pulling a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiping the blood off his face. They stopped by the cars to wait for Michael and Maddie looked at Tommy questioningly.

'But I thought Michael was going to kill Hughes. Why do you need me there?'

Tommy made sure he got all the blood off his face before looking at her with a reserved expression and sighing, pulling his cigarettes out of his pocket.

'The demon you fought. He was outside the betting shop guarding the car Hughes was in which means he'll be guarding him now. You need to take care of him whilst Michael deals with Hughes.'

Maddie couldn't stop her eyes from going wide and her body from stiffening up. She hadn't realised it or really had time to think about it, but her humiliating and costly loss to that demon had shook her more than she realised. She had faced many demons more terrifying than him many times before, but the desperation to get Charlie back and the fear of him being lost forever had impacted her fighting significantly. Even someone who didn't know her would have said her performance had been poor at best and now faced with the prospect of a rematch, nerves started to quickly fill her body and she had to fold her arms over her chest to hide her shaking hands.

'You can do it, Maddie,' said Tommy, noticing her hesitation. 'I've seen you beat worse.'

He came and stood before her and lifted her chin up with his finger and cupped her cheek with the other hand. He leant down and placed a soft kiss to her lips, a kiss that Maddie didn't want to end as his soft lips caressed hers. Tommy was right, if she could beat Juliet and her gang of thugs, she could beat one oversized demon. Yeah, she may have barely survived the fight with Juliet, but she quickly decided it would probably be best for her not to think too hard about that.

'What are you going to do?' asked Maddie after they broke the kiss, realising he hadn't mentioned what his part was in this new plan.

'I'm going to the tunnel. Make sure we get the jewels in time; just in case everything else fails.'

Maddie blinked once but quickly nodded her understanding as Tommy climbed into his car and started the engine. Of all the things she thought he would say, that wasn't one of them. She knew how the tunnels had affected him during the war; he often mumbled about them in his sleep, and she knew he was having nightmares about them. Having to go back down under the earth she knew would be traumatic for him, even if he would never show it, and she hoped that he would have the strength to endure it.

'When it's done, take Charlie back to the office and wait for me to call,' instructed Tommy before slamming the door shut and pulling the car away, down the street and out of sight.

As the Blinder driving the car pulled Maddie and Michael up outside the address John had given them, she looked over at him nervously as he turned the gun over in his hands. The same one he had used to shoot Alfie's henchman. She didn't want to admit it, but she had her doubts about Michael being able to kill Hughes. When they met up with John and Arthur, she had agreed with them that letting the Blinders who were driving them there do the dirty work would be for the best, but he had insisted on doing it, nonetheless. From the look on Michael's face and the tear that trickled down his cheek, Maddie felt she had a good idea of what the priest had done to him to make him so frightfully determined and she had to fight hard to push the idea from her mind. Not only was she nervous for him, but she was still trying to settle her own nerves at facing the demon again. Something she needed to do quickly if she had any hope of defeating him. It wasn't going to be easy. They hadn't had time to make a detour home to pick up a weapon for her to use so all she would have to rely on were her own two fists and whatever she could lay her hands on in the building. Maddie closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath through her nose. You've faced worser odds slayer, you can do this! She opened her eyes again and turned to Michael with her game face on.

'You ready?' she asked. Michael looked back at her and nodded before addressing the two Blinders in the front seats.

'You wait here. Me and Maddie will do the killing. That's a fucking order.'

Maddie raised her eyebrow at Michael, pleasantly surprised at his sudden display of confidence and balls. Although, his eyes still had the hollowness to them that they'd had since the meeting with Alfie, and she had to swallow back any more doubts about him as they got out of the car and headed into the building together.

She followed Michael through the dark, dank building, listening for any signs of life as he checked around any corners with his gun. She was surprised that there were no guards outside or inside the building; Arthur was right when he said they weren't expecting anyone. The building was more silent than a graveyard and Maddie began to doubt that Hughes was even there at all. Then, just as this thought crossed her mind, they heard a sound echo through the corridor that was unmistakably Charlie crying somewhere up ahead. Michael instinctively began to advance faster, causing her to wince after him.

'Michael, not so fast!' she hissed after him just before she spotted a large shadow move in a doorway to Michael's right which he didn't notice.

Maddie reacted quickly and ran forward just as the purple demon emerged from doorway with his fist drawn back ready to punch Michael. A hit that would no doubt kill him instantly. She got to him just in time and kicked the demon hard in the side with as much force as she possessed. The force was enough to throw the demon back against the wall where he slid down it to the floor, momentarily stunned. Michael swivelled around, aiming his gun at the demon with a look of terror.

'Go Michael!' shouted Maddie. 'Find Charlie, I'll take care of this!'

Michael hesitated but finally nodded before turning quickly on his heel and disappearing around the corner at the end of the corridor.

'Guess it's just you and me again, big boy,' said Maddie with a confident smirk, trying her best to seem relaxed. The demon scoffed as he picked himself up off the floor, soon towering above her to look straight down at her.

'And I'll beat you again. Only this time I'll finish the job,' he taunted.

Already bored of the quip battle, Maddie decided she wanted to get the first blow and began by back kicking the demon in the stomach, making him recoil slightly. She followed with several punches to his chest which felt like it was made of solid steel. The demon soon blocked her fist and countered with a hard punch to her nose, a loud cracking sound signalling that he had broken it. She stumbled back and held her nose in pain but didn't lose her concentration completely and quickly side stepped a kick from the demon and kicked him in the back in return, hard enough to bring him to his hands and knees. Maddie took the opportunity and leapt on the demon's back and wrapped her arm around his neck in a choke hold. The demons neck was so thick that her arm barely wrapped all the way around it, but she managed to use her other arm to apply more pressure to his windpipe. The demon stood up violently with her on his back and began to thrash from side to side in an attempt to throw her off, but she kept her grip firmly on him. He threw his fists up to try and hit her in the face, but she managed to dodge them narrowly and kept up the pressure on the demon's neck as he continued to struggle.

However, just as Maddie thought he was beginning to tire, the demon reached up over his head with both hands, grabbing a fistful of her hair with one hand and her dress with the other. She let out a pained scream as the demon pulled on her hair and dress as he gave a great heave and threw her over his head, releasing her grip on his neck. She soared through the air and collided with a brick wall with enough force to break through into a large room, the wall collapsing in a pile of bricks as she tumbled over them painfully and came to a stop on her stomach.

A cloud of brick dust filled the air and Maddie coughed and groaned as she struggled to get back up. She heard the demon coughing as well before she heard his footsteps kicking fallen bricks across the floor and she knew he was coming for her again. Then she heard another sound coming from further into the building, a sound of someone scuffling and fighting in a room up ahead and felt her heart skip.

'Shit, Michael,' she chocked before heaving herself up onto her feet.

The demon closed the gap between them just as Maddie lifted her head up and went to grab her, but she ducked out of the way and swiftly came back to standing. They brawled again much as they had before, Maddie struggling to gain an advantage on the demon due to his superior height and power. She sustained several hits all over her body and knew she would be covered in bruises yet again. But once the demon managed to clip her in the jaw, causing her to stumble into a stack of wooden pallets, burying splinters into her hands, she decided she had had enough.

'Why can't you just die already?' Maddie growled.

The demon growled back at her, baring his teeth disgustingly and she finally snapped. She combat rolled toward the demon, snatching a brick from the floor mid roll before coming up to kneel in front of him with her arm drawn behind her holding the brick. Maddie swung and smashed the brick against the inside of the demon's knee with all of her supernatural strength. The brick shattered into dust, but she definitely felt the demon's knee crack and he howled in pain. Without hesitating, she followed up with three tight powerful punches to the same place until there was a sickly crunch as the demon's leg bent outwards into an unnatural position as his knee joint finally gave way. The demon howled again and collapsed onto his other knee, clutching at his bad leg in agony. Maddie stood up rapidly on one leg and with the other, kneed the demon in the face as hard as possible as he was looking down. There was another satisfying crack as his nose broke before he flew backwards and landed on his back amongst the bricks with a grunt. He was knocked-out and incapacitated, but not for long.

Maddie heard more banging and shouting coming from up ahead just as the two Blinders from the car ran past the hole in the wall, stopping to look at Maddie and the scene around her aghast.

'Go and help Michael!' she called to them, pointing them further up the corridor as the sound of Michael screaming echoed through the building.

The two Blinders nodded and ran off up the corridor and Maddie quickly looked around her for a weapon, noticing the demon was beginning to come around. Then she spotted a thick metal rod under the window a few feet away and dashed toward it. That'll do. She snatched up the rod, which probably weighed as much as she did and returned to loom over the demon who was still on the ground. He opened his eyes wider and looked up at Maddie who began lift the rod above her head and gave her one last look of terror before she swung the bar down onto his face. His skull was thicker than a human's and wasn't crushed despite the force she put into it. She raised the bar up and swung it down again, his skull still not breaking as he groaned in agony. Maddie repeatedly smashed the demon's skull with the rod over and over until sweat began to pour from her face with the effort. Gradually, the demon's groans ceased, and his face caved in on itself as a pool of blood spread out over the floor, mixing with the dust. Maddie finally stopped, dropping the metal rod to the floor with a deafening clang. She paused there for a second panting, looking up at the ceiling before a shout rang out from the corridor.

'This bastard's mine! Go call Finn!'

Fuck! Maddie took off at a sprint up the corridor towards Michael's voice and soon passed the Blinders on their way back out of the building.

'The boy's safe!' they called as the hurried past to call Finn.

Maddie carried on and emerged into another room, skidding to a halt when she saw the scene in front of her. Hughes was lying dead on the floor with a knife buried in his throat, his skin ashen and eyes lifeless. The bastard's finally dead. Then she spotted Michael sat on the floor, his back against the wall, with what she assumed was Hughes' blood all over his face. He barely noticed her entrance into the room, just stared straight in front of him blankly. Maddie hovered on the spot, unsure of whether to approach him to comfort him but she was distracted by the sound of Charlie's little voice coming from a doorway next to where he was sat.

'Charlie!' she called, hurrying over to the doorway.

As she entered the small room, she spotted Charlie sat on the floor unharmed, still wearing his smart clothes and playing with some odds and ends on the floor contently. He looked up at Maddie and smiled happily once he recognised her through the dust and bruises, reaching up for her eagerly with a giggle. She threw herself to the floor and scooped the child up into her arms, squeezing him tightly to her chest as tears began to fall from her eyes and down her cheeks. He was safe. They'd done it; they'd saved him. She pulled Charlie back slightly to look down into his little face, a half laugh, half cry erupting from her throat before she leant in to whisper to him.

'Let's get you home, eh?'