Coraline Murphy

31.

They finally docked in London, and Tommy helped a shaky Coraline from the boat, grasping her hand tightly in his as he lifted her from the deck onto dry land.

She was still running warm, he noticed, though she'd wrapped herself in her thin jumper and had borrowed his own at some point. They bid Curly farewell, who once again set off on a long journey. 

"Where are we going, Tommy?" Coraline asked, as she walked along side him.

"I'm visiting a new associate of mine," Tommy replied. "It'll be my first time meeting him."

"Are you feeling up to it?"

"I feel fine," he reassured her. "I'm going to take you to Ada's."

"You're fucking not," she quipped back. "I'm coming with you."

"Coraline..." he sighed, but she would not have any of it.

"I said I would look after you, and I will."

"I don't need looking after, you do!" His voice came out harsher than he'd intended it to, and he immediately regretted it, seeing the look of hurt flicker across her face. "Coraline..." He began.

"You're right, forget about it." 

"I don't want you coming with me. It might be dangerous."

"I'm not a pathetic, feeble woman, Tommy. We've been through this before! I've survived more than most men have - I've survived more than you!"

She wasn't wrong, but he still wasn't happy about it. "I don't know, Cora..." 

"Please..." Her voice was lower now, and a tone he hadn't heard for a long time. She was frightened. "I... I don't want to be apart from you right now. You getting beaten up... it's made me think... what if something happened to you?"

Tommy stopped walking and she almost bumped into the back of him. He turned to look at her, resting a large gently hand on her cheek, stroking her cheekbone softly with his thumb, lost of words. "Coraline..."

"I don't know what I'd do, Tommy. I... I can't lose you."

He rested his forehead against hers, closing his eyes and relishing the closeness. "You're not going to lose me, love," he said softly, not sure she'd even hear him.

"I could have done." 

He didn't say anything, realising suddenly that she understood - she understood the innate fear he'd felt every time he didn't hear from her for a while, each time he'd carried her from her father's house, broken and bleeding, when he and Arthur had found her in the Garrison, lifeless, not breathing. 

Without hesitation, he moved a second hand to her face, cupping it up towards him and pressed his lips against hers. For an instant, she froze, taken aback by the sudden movement, before she melted into him, just as she had all that time ago, just as she had that sunny day in Spring before she'd been taken from him, and for a moment, all was peaceful in Thomas Shelby's mind. 

She pulled away first, her blue eyes searching his desperately.

"Tommy, I..."

"Shh," he soothed her. "I understand, Cora, I understand." He kissed her again. "You'll come with, alright? But at any sign of danger, you will leave. Do you promise me?"

Coraline nodded, her big eyes welling with tears and a smile starting to form on her face. Tommy took her by the hand and carried on walking. "Think I'll introduce you as my advisor, rather than my nurse though," he teased. 

-------------------

Coraline was quite out of breath by the time they reached the building Tommy stopped outside. 

"Give me a second," she rasped, as she stopped to get her breath back whilst he watched her, worried. 

"I can still take you to Ada's," he offered, not liking the sound of her cough.

"No, I'll be fine, just give me a moment," she insisted, her breathing starting to ease. He stepped towards her and put the back of his hand against her forehead, frowning as he felt the heat radiating from her.

"You're still feverish," he commented. "We'll keep this meeting short and get you home."

She didn't argue, following him into the building where they were stopped by a tall man. 

Tommy spoke in hushed tones to him, speaking words that Coraline couldn't hear. The place smelt odd to her, the odour strong and one she couldn't quite put her finger on. Tommy beckoned at her to follow him, and she did so, down long winding corridors and through seemingly endless sets of doors. 

Finally, the tall man stopped outside a smart looking door, and knocked. A gruff voice called for them to enter, and the man opened the door for them.

Stepping inside, Coraline caught sight of the man sat behind a huge wooden desk, her eyes widening in amazement as she took in the person in front of her, his own doing the same before morphing into a toothy grin.

"Coraline fucking Murphy? The fuck you doing here then, eh?"