Sorry, it takes me a while to write things.
But I haven't given up guys.
I wrote you guys a long one this time though, I hope you can forgive me.
Recomended songs of the chapter:
Not about angels - slowed ( /DXmyikAfYvg)
All I want by Kodaline ( /IdROcOGwqQ0)
Anna's POV
Tommy Shelby's manor was filled with people to the brim. Jesse Eden's happiness could be felt across the room and it made Anna smile to see that level of unadulterated excitement for the increasing rights of the working class.
Anna expected to see the sullen faces of other factory owners upset over the concept of slightly more humane work conditions for their employees, she expected Lizzie's eager expression while greeting all the guests, she was even numbed to the drugs making the rounds around the room with barely any attempt of discretion.
The surprising part was Tommy's face.
"I'm impressed." Said Polly behind her. As Anna had come to expect from the Shelby family's matriarch, Polly looked immaculate. Earrings dangling from her earlobes shimmered in silver to compliment her gorgeous dropped-waisted black gown.
"With…?" Anna raised an eyebrow at her.
"Oh don't pretend you don't know what a miracle that is." Polly pointed with her wine glass-filled hand to the man across the hall. "I would like to know your secret." Her dark eyes were stony, in contrast to her smile.
She couldn't say: oh, nothing much, I helped the man through a panic attack a few weeks ago and now he doesn't automatically throw all of my ideas out the window. So she went with a very unconvincing: "I don't have a secret"
Tommy did look remarkably non-murderous on the other side of the ballroom, escorted by Ms. Eden. He wasn't relaxed, of course, Tommy Shelby was religiously against such demonstrations of human nature; but he hadn't antagonized anyone yet and was generally acknowledging Lizzie's existence so… yeah, Anna was just as impressed as Polly was suspicious.
"I told you, when we first met, not to lie to me girl."
Oh crap. For all of the Academy's virtues, Anna would never forgive them for underestimating how fucking hard it was to not cause huge waves in the river of time when the people you were supposed to interact with, were also literal criminal masterminds raised to pick up on bullshit.
"I remember…" She said cautiously. Maybe she could be honest without telling the truth? Anna held Polly's gaze and took hold of her right wrist, squeezing it gently. "Please don't make me lie to you, Ms. Gray. Please."
Before Polly could say anything at all, Tommy motioned Anna to come over. She gave Polly a last look of pleading and walked over to the man. She was absolutely not fleeing from that difficult conversation. Of course not!
Except that, yes she fucking was, and as soon as she could smell Tommy's expensive cologne Anna wanted to keep running, this time out the door. Not because the cologne was bad but because by the time she could smell it on him she could also see his companions.
Tommy was surrounded by a group of people and he introduced all of them to her but Anna could only absorb one name. Mr. Joseph Goebbels. The same man who had once said "Think of the press as a great keyboard on which the government can play." and then subsequently demonstrated such a theory all too well.
Up to that second, he was just another name on her strike list and she really never had too many feelings for the guy but history can't really show your personality. Though she knew that that is usually how it works, it still seemed utterly bizarre to see one of Hitler's best friends charm the group around her.
Goebbels made jokes that people laughed at and laughed at their version of humor as well. He agreed with people's political views enough to make them like him but still maintained his own (disgusting) opinions in such a non-threatening way that by the end, a few of the men around her seemed to agree.
Her tongue felt heavy in her mouth and her heartbeat thrummed all through her. Too fast. She tried to act normal by being a productive member of the following conversation but a very famous image flashed on her mind every time Anna opened her mouth. A photo of the short man with the big nose laughing besides Adolf fucking Hitler.
Would the most infamous dictator of all time be laughing over those same jokes someday? How could a monster look so normal? How could it be that that kind of evil didn't show in somebody's eyes? Didn't rot their teeth?
Her stomach revolted.
Keep it together Strauss! She thought. But clashing images of concentration camps in history books and laughing drunk aristocrats fought for control in her mind. It was hopeless. Her breathing was loud to her own ears, at that point, Anna could only hope to sound natural as she excused herself from their company and fled to Tommy's study to hyperventilate in peace.
"Anna!" She heard Tommy's voice a while later. It sounded like it wasn't his first time saying it.
"Yeah?" She slurred a little. Her jaw hurt.
"Is this a… panic attack?" She raised her eyes to his bulging ones. He was crouching in front of the couch she apparently dropped on. Her blue dress was askew and her breathing was still a little fast but the worst of it seemed to have passed.
"Hum… no… that was a Collision." Anna dropped her head back into her hands and groaned. "Would you get me some water?"
He got up and she heard the sound of liquid hitting glass before the smoky scent of whiskey hit her nostrils. Anna raised her head just a little and saw Tommy crouched once again offering her a heavy dose of amber bliss. She drank it fast and set it down, too afraid to drop the glass in shaky hands.
"It looks the same." Tommy's eyes frozen on hers to the point where she wondered if he had ever given her his full attention before this.
"Hum… yeah, probably feels the same too. I don't have anything to compare it to so I'll take your word for it." Anna answered before thinking and he broke eye contact. Tommy hadn't mentioned their time at the races once after it happened and she was supposed to take his lead on this… Too late.
"It happens to time travelers sometimes. It's a biological response to Time catching up to me, I guess… I've never felt it before." She forgot the braid she had put her hair in and messed it all up by trying to run her fingers through it. Tommy sat on the opposite couch and looked at her. More calculating this time.
He said nothing of course. Tommy Shelby asked his questions without actually talking all of the time.
"So… As long as you're prepared for the time period you're landing on, it's not a problem. I was expecting phones to be a sign of extreme wealth and every guy to walk around in a suit, for instance. So the shock wasn't at all hard to handle. I barely even notice it anymore. But then you just casually introduced me to Joseph fucking Goebbels and my brain was forcibly reminded that I am not from here! So it tried to make sense of my surroundings and when it couldn't, it shut down." Anna explained as her hands started frantically unbraiding her hair. "I once heard about a Traveler that took the wrong wormhole and ended up 100 years before the intended date and died from the Collision of it."
"You told me to invite people from the German press!" She couldn't hear frustration in his voice but something told her that it was there nonetheless.
"Yes, well, I wasn't expecting you to be able to reach Hitler's main propaganda man!" Her braid undone now, she ran her hands through it in satisfaction. "The goal was to meet someone who might know him so that…" and she trailed off because the obvious course of action hit her straight in the face. "…So that we could kill him." Her fingers stopped working on her hair and she leaned her head back on the seat. "Fuck"
Silence fell between them, allowing the external sounds of dancing to come in. Anna slumped forward, elbows on her knees and studied the intricate weavings of the carpet beneath her feet, part of her brain trying to decide exactly how much money Tommy had spent on it. A futile attempt to distract herself from the nauseating decision she had just made.
"I'll get Arthur."
She looked up and Tommy's eyes showed no such conflict.
"No... I'll… I'll go get him." Her eyes ran away from his gaze once more. But warmth surrounded her hands slowly and he applied soft pressure until Anna looked up again.
"You will go back into the ballroom, find a nice bloke to dance with, and wait for me to be done." Tommy enunciated every word carefully. It sounded off in his Birmingham drawl.
"I want to at least be there." It was her responsibility, her plan, her vendetta. She shouldn't hide behind the Shelbys like a coward.
"No, you don't." Tommy let go of her hands, stood up, straightened his suit, and then walked out.
Tommy's POV
Arthur was already high. 'Polly is right, you really need to get him away from the snow' his mind reminded him in the back of his head. Say whatever you want about Linda but at least she kept him away from the stuff. 'She also kept him away from you' his mind reminded him and he firmly pushed the thought away for later.
"Excuse my brother please," Tommy said to the equally wasted Asian woman dancing with his brother. Arthur followed him diligently.
"What's the problem, Tommy?" Arthur asked while following Tommy through the party in the direction of the kitchens. Servants jumped out of the Manor's lord and in seconds the kitchen was empty of people. Arthur grabbed a canape from an abandoned trey and stared at Tommy's pacing figure.
"I need you to do something for me, no questions asked." Tommy stopped his pacing and pinned down his brother with a look.
"Yeah, what else is new?" Arthur shot for levity but landed on bitterness. Tommy couldn't blame him.
"I'm serious Arthur. Can you fucking do this?" His voice was as still as the dead but his heart hammered inside his chest. This was a bad idea. This was necessary.
"You know you can trust me brother!" Arthur's voice was somewhere between hurt and angry.
Fuck he needed to plan. Tommy started pacing again. It was one thing to kill another gangster in his own party. Gangsters don't call coppers for that kind of thing. He couldn't have an international politician killed in his own party without facing the most dangerous kind of gossip.
He also couldn't miss this opportunity.
"I have a plan." Tommy started to walk back into the party and threw over his shoulder a rushed "be ready!" before the door swung closed.
The party was in full bloom. Drunk couples spun around under the chandelier Grace died under, groups of mothers and wallflowers watched them with mild disapproval and the fathers entertained themselves in the closest smoke-filled drawing-room. Mr. Gobbles was there, and so was Mr. Blake.
Tommy slowed down his steps when he walked into the drawing-room. He smiled at the guests helping themselves to his cigars and mingled with them superficially while on his way to Mr. Blake in the back.
"Mr. Shelby!" Mr. Blake slurred slightly when he saw Tommy when he got close enough to hear. "What a lovely estate you have here."
"Thank you very much, Mr. Blake" Tommy forced a smile and extended his hand to shake the other man's hand in front of him. "I'm glad you're enjoying yourself."
"Quite so. For a gypsy, you have exceptional taste in brandy." The man raised his glass slightly.
"Oh, us gypsies know a lot about alcohol Mr. Blake," Tommy responded with narrowed eyes that the man didn't seem to notice. "You know," he added in a conspiratorial tone, "I keep the best in my study. Would you like some?" He added an insincere smile to the end of the sentence.
Mr. Blake followed easily. Not being nobly born himself, you could always count on Elijah Blake to enjoy an opportunity to feel powerful. At that thought, Anna's voice played in his head:
"White, rich men were raised to believe that they are above that. Whether or not you agree, Tommy. They will act accordingly."
Yeah, I know.
Anna wasn't in his study anymore, but he also hadn't seen her on the dance floor. Mr. Blake took an unoffered seat in front of Tommy's desk and waited patiently for Tommy to retrieve the fictitious 'better brandy' from his small bar at the corner of the room. Really, the brandy in the party was of way higher quality seeing as he drank mostly whiskey, but very few men would be able to tell the difference if they were at the same level of drunkenness as Mr. Blake.
Tommy offered the short, balding man a drink and sat himself down behind his desk. He watched Elijah's performance of appreciating the mediocre drink without the usual amusement, merely waiting for the right time to say:
"We have a problem."
"Whatever do you mean Mr. Shelby?" The man slurred.
Tommy took a key out of his pocket and leaned forward to unlock the last drawer and took an equally locked wooden box from it.
"I recently got a letter from Mr. Churchill himself," he unlocked the box and took from it one of the opened letters that were inside. "He cautioned me about the possibility of my new bill attracting a specific kind of German politician." Tommy extended the paper to Mr. Blake.
"Is this…" Mr. Blake's eyes got larger as he read. "That's Churchill's seal." The man went a little pale.
"Yes, well, Mr. Churchill and I have a mutual understanding and he trusts me to make the right decision for my country." Tommy didn't have to feign the serious look that overtook his face. Fuck Churchill, but somebody else trusted him to do this and she was worried about more than England.
"But I... we… Are you telling me that he knew about our… association?" The redness from all the alcohol was definitely leaving his face.
Tommy leaned forward a little. He did his best to look earnest while his insides churned with the urge to laugh at such a predictable reaction.
"He knows about your influence with the papers and what they publish, but Mr. Churchill likes to turn a blind eye to... incriminating details."
The man looked at the handwriting on the paper for a few more minutes and Tommy stared at the clock. Barely past midnight, so he had time, but he was still impatiently counting the seconds until Elijah looked up, squared his shoulders, and said:
"What can I do for my country Sergeant?"
Tommy cringed.
Two minutes after Elijah left his study, Anna came in. Tommy was still sitting behind his desk, leaning back his head in intense machination. Like the first time he ever saw her, Anna was close to him before he even blinked once, she snatched the letter from the desk and examined it.
"This is a fake!" She stated.
"Obviously" He didn't bother getting his head up from the chair's headrest. From that angle, he could only see her frown lines and her dark hair.
"How many?" Came her terse reply.
"Enough" He could be terse too.
"This is dangerous Tommy." Exasperation and worry coated her voice. As if he didn't know.
"More dangerous than somebody catching you with your ears glued to my study's door?" He raised his head and stared at her dark eyes.
"I didn't." She threw him a superior smile that was clearly meant to incite a reaction in him. He would not yield but… he did wonder.
"Let's call it… futuristic magic," Anna said as she walked behind his desk and tapped his shoulder indicating that she wanted access to the first drawer. From there she took a palm-sized… thing . It was thin, slick, and black, almost like a random piece of metal except it… glowed? Only briefly and then it was hidden in her purse.
This time he couldn't stop himself and looked up at her, question ready on his lips but halted by the sight of Anna removing a small, white… stick? from her left ear. It had a rounded tip but it was all he had time to see before it also went into her purse.
"What..?" He started.
"Focus Tommy, one Collision is enough for one night." Her voice was stern but there was a twinkle of victory in her eyes that made a long-forgotten urge stir inside him. Maybe he should focus.
"It pays to be prepared." He took the letter from her hands and put it back inside the box. "Finn has a school buddy with really… versatile, handwriting. Quite artistic really. He can even imitate the royal seal." He locked the drawer with the box inside it and got up.
"Versatile hun?" Anna chuckled and shook her head a little. There was mirth there, but there was also pain. She looked at her feet for a second and he was acutely aware of how close they were to each other. He could almost taste the salt of her unshed tears. Her lips pressed in determination she asked:
"Well then, where is Arthur? We should get going." She took two steps back but Tommy held her back by the arm before she got out of reach.
"He's already on his way."
"Well we need to hurry then, let go!" she struggled against his hold with her arms but her feet stayed in place.
"We're not going" Tommy tried his best to maintain eye contact with her while he said it. Didn't she know what he was protecting her from?
" Let me go, Thomas!" She pulled harder, engaging her whole body this time. Anna was strong but he didn't move.
"This is my share of the deal Anna"
"I should be there!" She said through gritted teeth.
"No." Tommy insisted.
"You don't own me, Tommy!" Anger boiled deep in her voice. Burned through the heat of her fingers.
"Why come and bother me in the first place then, Anna?" He wanted to shout but murmured instead.
The pressure of her resistance was growing too strong for him to ignore, so he gave into it. Tommy stepped forward and Anna lost her balance. He grabbed her by the waist and they were too close to each other again. It felt good to have her leaning on him.
"Why?" He allowed the sound to rumble deep in his chest.
"Because I needed help, but I will not be as much of a coward as he is, Tommy!" Her voice was more despair than determination now. "I won't just send somebody in my name to… to kill a man." her voice broke.
"Save your bravery for a death that is worth your presence Anna," he murmured again and adjusted their stance. They were both standing now in what might be called an embrace. She smelled like roses dipped in whiskey.
" Trust me ." The words came up, burning from deep within him. Even if a tiny voice inside laughed at the idea. Tommy Shelby could not be trusted.
Time stretched and bent around them, measured only by frantic heartbeats and racing thoughts. Minutes only mattered again when Anna wrapped her arms around him, tight. Tommy could no longer tell who was holding who.
Thank you again to Stephanie, Juh, and Gigi for being my beautiful beta-readers.
plz tell me your thoughts in the comments.
See you in the next one ya'll.