#awdw

“Knew you were fucking insane” He jibed, giving her a grin to assure her he really was joking - Tommy admired the girl’s brains, but sometimes…

“And here I was thinking that your common sense had left your head” She sighed softly, a smirk playing on her face as she admired his face. God, how was he so pretty? Jamie was ready to self destruct - he was funny, fucking gorgeous, and he had a beautiful baby boy. The only downside was the murder, capitalism and general violence. Then again, who was she to talk? She had more guns than she had friends - the bar was set pretty low to be honest.

“Says the woman running a business to rival mine out of this hell hole” Tommy snarked, looking across the scene set out before him - kids by the ragged school, smoke from the foundries. It was no place to run England’s cocaine supply from.

“But what a beautiful hell hole it is. This whole town knows me, Tommy.” Looking across the same scene, Jamie saw an entirely different situation. She saw lives, she saw a community that worked hard to get what it got and didn’t ask for more, a community that had done its best for her and her sister.

“Everyone knows me in England - your point?” Tommy asked, not understanding how or why she looked out upon the street with as much love and adoration that he would a horse.

“You wouldn’t get it. They look after me, Tommy, because I look after them.” Jamie reminded him - even though her business was on an international scale, she was very much still a small town girl.

“Aight bab? There’s a royce outside your house, you in trouble again? The kids ‘aven’t broken into it, but it’s only a matter a time” Came a voice, loud and burly from the doorstep of one of the back to backs. Jamie recognised it instantly and gave Tommy a look to tell him not to pull away and throw money at her out of fear.

“I’m alright, I’ll get them to move it, thank you. Tell Molly I said ‘Good luck with the baby’” She smiled, running a hand through her hair and nodding at the neighbour.  Being polite to the woman was essential - her four kids were rampant and eager for work, and she ran the gossip of Cradley. Least she needed was rumors about her or Linn going around.

“Will do” She nodded with a yellowed smile and headed back into the house, slamming the door behind her and leaving Jamie and Tommy parked outside the house. Tommy started to drive again, probably fearing that if he was parked too long that the ragged children would come tear his car apart.

“Who was that?” He asked out of interest, recognising the type from around Small Heath when he was a lad.

“Maevis. So, your brothers have left a car unattended outside my offices. Have to ask - are they insane?” Jamie laughed, wincing and grasping her hip. She looked over at him with a hum, waiting for the answer.

“Your sister let them” He pointed out, thinking that he had trumped her statement about his brothers - alas, like most times in his life, he was wrong.

“My sister is a sly devil when she wants to be. That’s her idea of a joke” Jamie told him, sighing softly as they drove towards the row of back to backs. It wasn’t on fire.

“Would have thought that was more your type of joke” He told her, driving through the tiny alleyway that she had instructed him to.

“Nah” Jamie shook her head, opening the car door as Tommy got out himself, gently grasping her hip as she tried to step out.

“Come on” Tommy hummed, offering a hand. He knew she’d struggle, and if she just accepted his help it would make the whole process go so much faster.

“I can get out on my own, Tommy, I’ve got a bad hip - I’m not senile!” Jamie told him, batting at his hand and then trying to get down again to no avail.

“Mhm, come on.” That fucking smirk.

“Fine.” Jamie took his hand begrudgingly, letting him gently lift her down with an arm around her waist and one holding her hand. She dropped his hand to close the car door and subtly turned out of his hold.

“If your brothers have turned my offices into a brummy shit tip already I’ll wring your neck, Thomas” Jamie told him sternly, walking around the back of the offices with him, taking his wrist gently to stop him from wandering.

“Pity, I’m not adverse to choking” Tommy sighed dramatically, adjusting her hold so that they were holding hands. God, he was so desperate for human touch.

“You, Thomas Shelby, are a mess. Can’t believe I’m going to knock on the door of my own fucking offices” She rolled her eyes, linking her fingers with his and knocking on the smal, concealed door. His hands were warm, and Cradley Heath was definitely not.

“When you were dying, it wasn’t a priority to get your keys and your handbag” He snarked, waiting with her happily - Jamie Leanne Pine was willingly holding his hand.

“I don’t have a handbag” Jamie told him with a hiss, the anxiety building up in her. Why wasn’t the fucking door opening?

“Jamie!” The door swung open to reveal the redhead in one of her favourite baby blue dresses, instantly throwing herself at her sister. Linn’s arms wrapped around her neck, holding her close.

“Oh, fucks sake, Linn. You’re alive” Jamie gasped, wrapping her arms around Linn’s waist, holding her close. The scent of her perfume brought her back into herself, making her stand back with a grin and walk in.

“Of course I am - come in, come in. Welcome again Thomas.” Linn smiled, noticing the change in her sister’s persona. Her mum, no, sister was well and truly back.

“You alright Linn?” Finn asked from the backroom, walking through, his cap on the hook in the cloakroom. He would be lying if he said working with Linn wasn’t the easiest thing in the world - she had been his best friend, sympathetic of his illiticism, and one of the smartest in their year.

“All good. Come meet my sister, Jamie” Linn called, turning into the hallway to call Finn through, giving Jamie and Tommy some space to breathe for a second. She heard Jamie close the door, and smiled as Finn stood by her side, instantly confronted by Jamie. Oh, no.

“Nice to meet you - surely Linn has warned you against even thinking about doing anything with the stock?” Jamie asked, shaking his hand with a nod. She had put on her big scary face for the new boy, and it seemed to have worked. She could practically see the piss running down his leg.

“Jamie, I have, so don’t threaten them. They’re okay.” Linn warned her quietly, silently begging Jamie not to do anything drastic.

“Yeah, Jamie, we’re okay” Tommy whispered in her ear with a smirk, having taken the opportunity when it arose.

“You’re on thin fucking ice, Thomas” Jamie told him, turning to him, her face only inches from his, staring him down.

“And she’s back” Linn commented, drawing them out of the situation and draining the uncomfortable levels of sexual tension.

After Jamie had settled back in and Tommy had left - not before he made sure that both Linn and Jamie could sufficiently dress wounds - the two sisters knew that there was something they would have to do. Which is how they ended up knocking on Samson’s door, ready for the ground to swallow them whole.

“Auntie Jamie! Auntie Linnie!” Anna’s voice called, hugging Jamie’s legs and then Linn’s. Linn hoisted her up onto her hip, saving Jamie explaining the wound - this wasn’t about their damages.

“Hello bab. Where’s your mum, eh?”

“In the kitchen! She’s making shepherds pie.” Anna pulled a sour face, resting her head on Linn’s shoulder, her blonde hair clashing against the fiery red that Linn wore so incredibly proudly.

“Alright. Are we allowed in?” Jamie asked softly, running a hand through her hair nervously. It wasn’t often that she was nervous, but Samson and his beautiful family? Yes. She would make sure that the children were looked after sufficiently.

“Yeah! Come on! Linnie, I wanna show you my dolls! One has red hair like you!” Anna beamed, letting Linn carry her through, Jamie walking behind them and closing the door.

“Aaliyah?” Jamie called softly, Linn and Anna going into the living room to play with the dolls so that the child was sufficiently distracted, enough not to hear Jamie and her mum talking about her father.

“Jamie, it’s nice of you to drop by, did I hear Linn as well?” Aaliyah appeared from the kitchen, daffodil print apron tied around her waist in a big bow. Light streamed through the doorway from the kitchen window, making her look ethereal. “I guess we need to talk, don’t we? Mr Shelby, he came to my doorstep, told me he was close to you and was holding my husband’s body in an appropriate funeral home until I decided what I wanted to happen with him. Your business is your business, Jamie, and don’t think I don’t’ respect you, because I do - but please be careful around such a charming man,”

“Mr Shelby hasn’t made me aware that he did that, though he has done everything in his power to help me in my time of vulnerability. I’ll be careful, thank you, Liyah. I know Samson is your only source of income at the minute, and so I’d like to continue that. We will continue to pay his wage in your name so that Anna and yourself can live as you would. I have already taken him from you, to take anything more would be… well, you understand. I hope there’s no bad blood between us?” Jamie asked, sitting at the kitchen table with Aaliyah.

“You have already done more than enough. You warned him this may happen, and God does work in mysterious ways, though this has left me wondering who God favours… to take such a wonderful man away at the hand of merciless killers…” Aaliyah trailed off, looking at the vase on the windowsill, the sunflowers not wilted yet.

“You know my perspective on it all, so I won’t unload it on you. What I will say is that you are still here, and Anna, she is still here. Look after eachother - obviously it will be a little one sided, because Anna is still just a starry eyed babe, but she will return it” Jamie told her “When I was a little younger than Linn, I took her as my own, and although it’s been hard, I do not regret a crust of bread that she had instead of I. You have us, you won’t ever have to worry about putting a roof over her head or food on the table. Let me know when you’ve decided what you want to do with Samson’s body, and we will fulfill it.”

“Of course I will look after her, she is my daughter - you know the feeling. If that’s all…” Aaliyah hummed, eyes watery. Her voice was wavering and Jamie knew when her leave was appreciated.

“It is. You know where we are if you should ever need or want anything. I have a feeling that Anna will have roped Linn into a complex game about killing the monarchy again,” Jamie laughed softly, lightening the mood with Anna’s tendency to fantasize about manslaughter.

“God knows where she gets that from, eh? Wants to be just like her aunties.” Aaliyah groaned jovially, standing and walking through to the living room.

“Well, you remind her that her Aunties only drink on occasion and never do any narcotics.” Jamie chided, following her through the hallway.

“Jamie! Jamie, go! Run!” Came Samson’s voice like a panic siren, and then, like a staple through the worst accords, there was a gunshot. Jamie knew, then, that Samson was dead. Her first thought was not to go run for him, his family, his life. Her first thought was a curtain of ginger hair. Dashing through one of the doorways, she grabbed her guns and barrelled into Linn’s office.

She caught Linn getting her guns and barricaded the door. “Linn. Get the fuck out of the window, get home. Don’t stop driving. Go. Now” Jamie urged, the sound of countless gunshots making tears well as they came closer. She could lose everything, everything in the world, but she couldn’t have Linn gone. “Go! Linn, fucking go!”

Linn shook her head, aiming at the door “Jamie. I’m not a fucking child, and you can’t do this alone. We can’t risk what we’ve got”

“I can’t risk you, Linn Pine, now go” Jamie begged, her voice hearse with stress as she looked desperately at her sister.

The gunshot didn’t register until Linn’s accompanied it.

Linn had managed to shoot the man who had opened the door only a few seconds late. Jamie fell to the ground, clutching her hip, then staggered up with the gun, running out into the hallway after Linn.

Her vision was blurry as she clasped the side of her head. It was so loud. So loud. Everything was so loud. She could see Linn running towards the assailants, and she wished she could see anything but.

“Jamie! Jamie, stay awake!” Linn hollered through her haze, not taking her eyes off the people in front of her.

Jamie wished she’d stayed awake.

The room she woke up in was hardly a room, but a ward. Her head was ringing and her hip fucking ached - she peeled back the light covers and winced. Oh, no. She was definitely in hospital, and she definitely didn’t need to be there.

“Let me in there - I am incredibly close to the patient now let me fucking in there!” Ah, Tommy. Definitely Tommy. That coarse Birmingham accent that could cool and light parts of her simultaneously.

Tommy. That fucker. Her offices had been attacked - where was Linn? Where the fuck was Linn? She was distracted by Tommy and left herself open for attack. It was the Peaky Blinders. Tommy had killed her sister.

Tommy was let through, and he walked towards her - no, ran. He sat by her side, taking off his cap “Jamie, how do you feel?”

“I don’t know, how many of your men did my sister manage to kill, Tommy? Did she get the one that got me?” Jamie exploded, glaring at him with an intensity that still burnt even though they’d tied her hair up painfully messily and she was in the ugliest hospital gown going.

“What? Jamie - it was Sabini. Linn killed them all. I would never do that to you! Jamie, fucks sake... “ Tommy sighed, chuckling weakly “I have sorted Sabini, though I assume you’ll pay him a visit soon enough. Had a feeling his life wasn’t mine to take”

“It wasn’t. Thank you, Tommy. Where is Linn? Is she safe? Why isn’t she here?” Jamie was frantic once again. Her baby was gone.

“Linn is at the office, with John and Finn. I asked her which one of my brothers she wanted to shadow her until you were back, just to keep you safe, and she chose Finn - they know eachother. I made John go along for extra safety. She’s okay, alright? It’s all okay. I’ve got you” Tommy told her softly, only letting the gentle part of himself out when he knew it was vital.

Jamie relaxed into the hospital bed slightly, looking over at him “Why are you doing this, Tommy? You could have easily ignored it.” She asked, her hand resting on the end of the bed, there for Tommy to take if he was brave enough.

“And let my only real competition fall because of someone inconsequential?” Tommy chuckled, his fingers brushing hers before he took the jump and actually held her hand “I was also wondering if you wanted to go for dinner again? Maybe you could come and see the horses?”

“I’d love to, Tommy. Has anyone said what actually happened? When can I get back to the offices? I need to up the security in there, it’s vital… fancy getting me out now? If they say no, we can just… go”

“You were shot in the hip, narrowly missing your vital organs. Any further right and you could have been dead, apparently. You’ve only been under for a day. You should stay, it’s going to be alright without you for a while” Tommy told her, running his thumb gently over her knuckles, noticing the flickery scars on her hands.

“Tommy, I’m going to escape this hospital and you’re going to get me out” Jamie told him, overpowering him easily.

“Jamie…” Tommy looked taken aback, something strange flashing behind his eyes and suddenly he was struggling not to comply. He did his best though, bless his heart.

“No. We’re going. Where’s my suit?” Jamie bit back, maintaining the dominance over the situation that she loved having.

“In the cupboard, as are your shoes” Tommy told her honestly, not understanding why he was so quick to submit.

“Right. You’re going to hand me my clothes. Then you’re going to stand out in the hallway, then I’m going to walk out, and I’m going to go under the alias of being your sister. Good? Good” Jamie ordered, letting her hair down and running a hand through it. She needed to get out, she needed a drink, and she needed, most importantly, to see her sister. Linn would be freaking out, and the world will have gone to chaos.

“I’ll see you outside then” Tommy told her, laying her suit on the end of her bed and setting the shoes next to them. He took a fleeting glance at her before walking out and closing the white door behind him.

Jamie nodded, waiting till he was gone before swinging her legs out of the bed carefully, a loud yelp escaping her as she turned on her injured hip. “Fuck” She muttered, biting her lip so hard that she drew blood. Hobbling round to the end of the bed, she took the undershirt in her hands, slowly undoing the gown and hissing slightly at the feel of biting cold air on her bare skin. She pulled it over her shoulders, buttoning it up slowly, regretting sending Tommy out. Getting trousers, socks and shoes on would be hard. He couldn’t see her naked though. That would be bad.

She put on the shirt and buttoned it, pulling on her waistcoat afterwards. So good so far, though if the waistcoat had been anywhere lower, it would have been a massive issue. Picking up the trousers, she realised that it could be more of a challenge than she originally expected.

After a few attempts, she sat on the bed in her underwear and full upper suit. Jamie pulled the blanket over her legs to hide their nudity, and called out.

“Tommy? You still there?” Jamie called, not too loud - she didn’t want to alert anyone but him. A nurse coming in would be the worst possible outcome.

“Yeah.” He replied, obviously only inches from the door.

“I can’t fucking bend.” She told him, exasperated. Jamie was stressed out, and seconds she was wasting here meant seconds that Linn was left alone.

“Your hip does have a hole in it” The brummie remarked sarcastically, leaning against the opposite side door, smirk eminent in his voice.

“Tommy, I can’t get my fucking trousers on” Jamie reminded him, frustrated and getting angry “Unless you can get your trousers on without bending, you should see why”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, oh. What the fuck do I do?” She followed up, knowing there was one thing he was bound to suggest.

“Want me to help?” He asked, the doorknob twitching slightly as if he was turning it.

“Fucks sake” Jamie groaned, the moral dilemma too much for her morphined brain to handle.

“I’ll be seeing your legs either way” He reminded her, already having opened the door a crack to hear her better.

“Fucking fine.” She huffed, rolling her eyes. The only person except from Linn that she would allow to see her in her underwear with no sexual subcontext was Sams- “Wait, Tommy, where’s Samson?”

“Your assistant?” Tommy checked as he closed the door behind him, walking towards her.

“Th- Tommy, is he dead?” Jamie asked as she peeled back the covers from her legs, gratefully taking them from where he had gently slid them up her legs and zipping up the fly.

“He died.” Tommy confirmed, rolling her socks up halfway her calves, doing his very best to pay attention to her mournful emotions whilst just having slid her trousers all the way up her legs. He had just dressed the girl he had been trying to get into bed with since he met her, and his mind was blown.

“Fuck. He had kids - beautiful kids, and his wife… oh, my god. I’ve widowed someone, Tommy” Jamie came to the heart crushing realisation just as he was lacing up her left shoe. “Fuck.” She willed herself not to cry, but everything was so much, and the morphine was making her have less control over herself.

“Sabini killed him, alright? Sabini, and Sabini’s men. Not you. You were shot trying to save your sister, and she lived. She lived, and wasn’t injured.” Tommy told her, tying up her right shoe and standing up “You did well” He grabbed her jacket and draped it over her shoulders, holding the lapels, holding her close.

“Alright. Thank you, Tommy. Now, let’s go to the offices, yes? Did Linn say how much they took?” Jamie asked - now the heart had had it’s way, the head could take over. What brought her heart back was the realisation that they were close. So close. Fuck - how many cigarettes did that man smoke? He practically eminated the smell. His warm breath fanned the bottom of her nose, and she swore her breath hitched.

Then, like the cocky bastard he was, Tommy stood straight, offering out his arm as if nothing had happened “They didn’t take anything. Are you ready to go?”