// Downton Abbey x Peaky Blinders crossover //

1

She finally got out of here, away from her brothers and sister, sure, but towards freedom. Freedom she had longed for in the green countryside, away from the blood on the streets and the smoke in the air. The boys wouldn't be pleased, but they were Shelby's so what did you expect? If your sister leaves on a train headed for Yorkshire to go work for a load of fucking toffs, and you're a crime boss in Birmingham, how would you feel?

Aunt Polly let out a calming breath, trying to settle her nerves. In her mind she conjured up the boy's faces when she revealed the news to them at the family meeting she had called. Arthur would probably go crazy as he often did, exploding unpredictably.  The man would try to understand it, but Polly knew his free and independent spirit wouldn't be able to comprehend what his sister did was because she wanted to and that would drive him mad. Thomas would try to find her, try to get Polly to reveal where Naomi had gone, but Polly knew she wouldn't crack and give him the location of where his sister had headed to on a train. Polly knew better than that. John would be confused too, he was so much like Arthur in a weird way, except he was softer and kinder. Yet he wouldn't explode and Polly knew she didn't have to worry about him, or baby Finn for that matter, since Finn was only small. Ada would be a little surprised, but Polly wasn't sure why, since she was never shocked from the start. 

Naomi was always eager to be apart of the family business, and she was when the boys went to France, but when they got back and her and Polly got laid off, she got restless again. Aunt Polly always said she had more gypsy in her than the others, and Naomi believed that whole-heartedly. Once every month or so, the Shelby family go out into the country, to a fair if there is one, since Tommy says they have to free their gypsy spirits and Naomi is always the last one to get back into the car when it's all over. 

So, when the girl told Polly what she wanted to do- get into the country for good-, Polly helped her get her plan into action immediately, pulling every string she could and eventually getting her a job as a maid at Downton Abbey. Since she had no previous experience- well she did of pub brawls, murder and horses, but she assumed that wasn't what they were looking for-, Naomi knew she was lucky to get the job and snapped it up.

Arriving at the house, Polly winded through the bookmakers constantly scribbling and moved into what they had called the meeting room to break the news. All of them were there except for Tommy, who, in true Tommy fashion, was late. 

"Morning, Pol." Arthur greeted and she walked around him, sitting in a chair facing the rest of the room and lighting a cigarette hurriedly. "What's got your knickers in a twist, 'ey?" The man laughed, taking a drink of whiskey that never seemed to leave him hand. Taking a long draw from her cigarette, Polly looked at John leant up against the wall, Ada and Finn who always smuggled themselves in even though they weren't supposed to be there, and then back at Arthur.

"You'll find out when Tommy gets here, it's a family meeting." She said in her usual cold tone.

"Speak of the devil." John muttered, taking a sip of his own glass of whiskey and pouring Tommy some, who closed the large green doors behind him, cutting the family off from the workers to chat privately. 

"Where's Naomi?" Tommy asked, whilst he shrugged off his coat and took off his hat, hanging them both up and taking his own seat at the head of the table. John shrugged and Arthur laughed.

"You know how she is, she'll be 'ere, just wait." Arthur assured them, but Polly spoke up.

"Actually, that's what I've assembled you all here for." Polly stood. "Naomi isn't coming back, not soon anyway." All the heads in the room turned to her and she knew then she had their attention. "Our girl is now a maid at a large estate down south, like a good honest girl should be." Polly took a draw from her cigarette and muttered, "didn't think she should've got in the family business anyway."