It's the roaring twenties in Birmingham, the Peaky Blinders exist alongside God but they were much, much closer at hand than Him. Mercedes de Silva, thornless withered rose, petals filled with sorrow. Thomas Shelby, ruthlessly ambitious, conflicted...
"I ain't telling you shit, Thomas," she snorted, it's not like she was going to stay in Birmingham forever. She has to go back to London in a few days, and the last thing she wanted was Thomas tailing behind her.
Thomas let out a sigh of disappointment and ran his calloused fingers through his dark hair, "Were you at least okay?"
"Yeah, I guess. I mean, you weren't there," the words just slipped out of her mouth before she could even realize what she had said. Thomas' mouth twisted into a bitter smile and his jaw tightened, eyes holding contempt.
That shut Thomas out completely, and Mercy now felt somehow guilty. She didn't want to rub it in like adding salt to a wound—like adding fuel to a fire. She scratched the back of her nape, shaking off the cigar's burnt ashes through the window.
That's when a raven-haired man leaning on a lamp post caught her attention, their eyes immediately connected—black to blue and blue to black. He was soaked in the rain and beads of water were trailing down his face. The rain had now stopped pouring, and the clock stopped ticking. Everything moved slowly, she blinked her eyes continuously and licked her lower lip out of habit.
By the time clock starts to run, the man was nowhere to be found. He just vanished off the face of the earth.
Iago.
No.
It wasn't him, it can't be Iago...
It was just another figment of her imagination, another cruel trick her mind has been playing her. At times like this, she can't figure out what's real or what's not. Mercy's heart clenched with the thought of him. Her God knows what she would do and what she would give up to see that man and his smiles again, to hear his voice and laughs again, to feel his arms around her again.
She wished, prayed, and wished to see his face, even for the slightest second.
"Oi! What is it?" Thomas asked the woman who stuck her head out of the car window for the third time, but it appears to be that she cannot hear him as if she fell into a reverie. His eyes still focused on the road, he reached out his free hand and grabbed her shoulder gently.
"Shit! What?" she screamed, jumping on her seat.
"You were spacing out like a mad dog," Thomas removed his hand from her shoulder and placed it back on the steering wheel, glancing at the woman. She just puffed the half-burnt cigar and spoke, "What were you saying?"
"I asked how my sister was," he replied with simple directness. Thomas was a prideful being but not stupid, he knew that Ada hates him—no, everyone in his family hates him, sometimes even himself. But blood was thicker than water, Ada is family and will always be. He was worried about his only sister and her newborn child.
That night, Polly attacked and accused him of ratting Freddie Thorne to the coppers, he also learned of the tragic demise of his nephew. He was disgusted with himself, he felt sick to his stomach. The sudden waves of self-loathe crashed over him and until now, he was struggling to break through it.
"Your sister's broken," Mercy answered, blowing the smoke out of her mouth. "But having her husband beside her would ease the pain she's feeling," she added and glanced at Thomas.
Her situation was almost similar to Ada's, as she would also do everything to have Freddie back in her arms. But this time, she has the upper card—she can help Freddie find his way back to Ada.
"You would do it, right?" the woman asked for assurance.
"I promise," he softly muttered.
"Say, aren't you bored out of your wits staying here?" Mercy tread on thin ice by asking that question to Ada. The mother was rocking her babe in her arms, lulling him into sleep.
"It's lovely here, the food's bloody good," she replied softly, smiling down at her child.
"Polly and..." she swallowed the lump in her throat before saying his name, Ada was already looking at her, "...Thomas, they want you to come back home."
The Thorne woman frowned and stopped moving, she placed Karl on the bed and sat at the table, across Mercy.
"You spoke with Thomas?" she crossed her arms over her chest. Mercy nodded and poured Ada some wine. A little bit of wine won't hurt, and she was sure it won't affect Karl.
"He visited Friedrich," replied Mercy, swirling the red liquid in the glass. "He told me he didn't do it," she stared at Ada's cold eyes. Hoping that she would listen to her.
"And you believed 'im?" Ada scoffed, a frown plastered on her lips. She grabbed the wine and gulped the entire drink down. "I do. Your brother's many things, a liar is not one of them," Mercy stated, her fingertips grazed over the glass, waiting for Ada's rebuttal.
Instead, she received a long sigh from her. "Pol was here earlier," Ada was about to pour another glass but Mercy took away the bottle from her. "Only one glass is recommended for breastfeeding mother," she informed, making Ada's corner of mouth curl downwards.
"And?" Mercy asked, prompting to let Ada continue her story.
"She told me the same thing, that Tommy didn't do it..." she whispered as if she was ashamed of something.
"If you don't believe Thomas enough, you just got to trust Polly's words. She knows what's best for all of you," she tugged a small smile, sipping some red wine.
Ada nodded slightly, "But I need Freddie... I won't be at peace if he'd be left to rot in jail!" Ada felt a burning sensation in her chest, another sigh escaped her lips.
"Thomas will bail him out," guaranteed Mercy, placing her hand over Ada's, gently squeezing it. "He will?" Ada's eyes widened, a surge of excitement washed over the pain she was feeling. Mercy nodded and silently prayed that Thomas would be true to his words.
It was hard for Mercy to believe Thomas because of everything that had happened, but this was one of the risks she was willing to take.
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a/n: clearly, my last update didnt age too well. i think writing is one of my coping mechanisms. i didnt want to mop around so i just write, read, listen to music, and watch.
anyways, WHO'S IAGO? you'll find out v soon. its pronounced as ee-ya-go
anyways pt2. i just found out that many people d word at the same place my cousin's car crashed. like there were at least 6-7 individuals who d word at dillon county sc highway. there's this one person who d word at the same time and same day as my cousin. just straight up creepy. anyways, stay healthy and drive safe.
this is just another filler, we'll be going canon the next chapter yipee.
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