The Darkness Within (Peaky Blinders) Thomas Shelby

42. I Wanted To Do It

They had wanted Kiara there so Tommy didn't try anything, that didn't mean that they weren't allowed to do the same thing. Tommy suspected as much, which was half the reason he had pulled the coppers into it.

Kiara wanted to grab her gun, but Tommy's eyes flicked to meet hers and she knew not yet.

"Make your peace, Mr Shelby." Byrne said. "Say goodbye to your wife. If you don't fight... we'll let her live." Kiara's heart pounded and her stomach turned, but she held her ground, fighting the urge to reach for the weapon.

"I'll make my peace my own way." He said. "And it's not me who you should worry about."

Kiara pulled the gun out, if he didn't have his own weapon pointed at her husband or if the cops had shown up on the 6th chime like they were supposed to, then perhaps she would have done what her husband had initially told her, but she didn't. She fired. A single shot, straight through the man's head that caused even Tommy to jump in surprise.

She quickly re-aimed at Byrne. "Don't!" She warned when the man went to reach for his weapon, causing him to stop. Tommy looked over to her in shock. "They're not here yet." She stated, ignoring his look. "We should kill him."

"Kiara, no." Tommy said back right away.

"They're not fucking here, Tommy!" She argued. "You can't trust anything that man says." She stated, referring to Campbell. "Let me kill him."

"No." He held out his hand to stop her while she kept her eyes on the Irishman who stared down the barrel of her gun.

"You should listen to your wife, Mr Shelby." He started. "It's a lot safer for you if I'm dead."

Tommy glared at him for a moment and then back to his wife. "Kiara..."

Byrne moved fast reaching for his gun, Kiara would have fired had Tommy not been caught by his movement and leapt forward, redirecting the IRA members gun into the air in a struggle. She didn't want to risk hitting Tommy.

Tommy slammed the man's hand down hard on the table, trying to get him to let got of the gun while Kiara came out from behind the bar, keeping it aimed at them, not wanting to miss an opportunity. With another hard slam the gun dropped out of his hand before Tommy kicked him hard and he collapsed to the ground, but Tommy fell with him. The two men were evenly matched in strength and both new how to fight which resulted in a fight that didn't much look like one as they both held on tight and rolled around in a kind of aggressive tackle.

Byrne managed to get the upper hand, winding up on top, but Tommy used his hands to grab his shoulders and push him up at an arms length away while Byrne tried to strangle him.

"Now!" Tommy managed to choke out.

Another gun fire, another single shot to the head and Byrne collapsed dead as Tommy rolled him off, remaining on the ground and out of breath for a moment as Kiara slowly lowered her weapon.

Tommy soon made a move to stand as Kiara walked over to him. He was still out of breath and she was slightly as well, but only because her heart hadn't stopped pounding. Tommy reached for the gun, taking it from her surprisingly steady hands before placing his other hand behind her neck.

"I told you not to shoot." He said, Byrne's blood trickling down his cheek. "Why'd you shoot, Kiara?"

"You said the cops would be here." She whispered and shook his head. "If I didn't kill him he would have killed you." She shook her head and it was now that her hands started to shake as she looked down at them. Tommy followed her gaze down to her hands. He quickly took them in his to stop them shaking.

"It's okay, we're okay." He said.

"I wanted to do it." She whispered. "I wanted them dead."

Tommy nodded, pulling her in for a hug as he buried himself into the side of her neck, catching his breath while she leaned against his shoulder.

Then the door opened and the coppers walked in out of the downpour outside. Tommy pulled back, holding the gun his wife had used in his hand, rage clearly written across his face.

"You were supposed to come on the sixth chime. You were supposed to come on the fucking sixth chime!" He yelled the second time. He took a step back, away from the cop as he looked down at the dead IRA members. Tommy leaned against the bar. "They refused to surrender. They fought well, they were brave men."

"One clean shot to the head each? Must have been quite the struggle... Still. This never happened. They were never here. Who cares?"

"Get the bodies out of here." Tommy stated.

"Ah, right. Are they making the lady uncomfortable? I'll leave you two love birds to it, then, eh?" He turned his back and headed for the door as the other officers came in to collect the bodies.

Neither of them moved until they were gone.

"Lets go home." Tommy moved and placed a hand on Kiara's back, ushering her towards the front door.

Once they were outside Tommy lit a cigarette that he occasionally passed to K as they walked. Neither of them realising that Grace had stayed hidden in the back when she was supposed to leave. With the knowledge that in order to get the guns one would need a shovel. Unknown to Tommy or Kiara, Grace had once again been asking questions of Arthur. She now knew that Danny Whizz-Bang was alive, leaving an empty grave... And now she had a fair idea where the weapons were hidden.

Tommy was quiet along the walk, flashbacks of the war entering his mind. When they finally got home and upstairs, Kiara helped her husband undress, hanging up his clothes. He fell back on the bed in exhaustion as she began to get ready for bed, all the while he watched until she finally crawled over to her side. Kiara ran a hand through Tommy's hair as he turned into her, dreading the nightmare that would come that night.

I had to change it from Grace being the one to save him because honestly... it really pissed me off in the show. Later on Polly says the only reason they were having a civil conversation instead of fighting was because Grace saved Tommy during this fight, but... She fired the gun and started the fight when she wasn't supposed to, got back handed once and sat back and did nothing for the rest while Tommy was being pinned down and suffocated. Tommy saved himself. And also... if it wasn't for Grace, the Irish never would have been after Tommy in the first place.

I understand, like she was doing her job. Tommy is a bad guy and Grace and Campbell are actually the good guys, it's just one of those shows that makes you believe the opposite. Like Sons of Anarchy. The cops are only doing their job, trying to catch the criminals, but the show makes you hate the cops and route for the thieves, the murders, the gamblers etc. The thing that really gets to me about Grace though... is how Tommy forgives her... I personally don't think it's in his character? But everything is okay because it works out in the end despite her initial intentions? No. I hate it. He can let her go, he can not have the heart to kill her, but... accepting her back into his life and once again trusting her and telling her everything? No. Yes he can trust her and we know that he can, but it just didn't seem right? I can't explain it.

But anyway, the fight obviously changed a little to how it played out in the show, because different character and all that, but it had the same ultimate ending.