In the early morning, the Shelby brothers went to China Town to collect their suits for the race. Tommy noticed the owner, Mr. Zhang, speak with one of the girls, who was crying and speaking frantically in Chinese. Mr. Zhang walked over to Tommy and sighed. "Want to hear something funny" he said after Tommy paid for the suits. Tommy put down more money and Mr. Zhang told him how the so-called righteous Campbell had upset one of the pleasure girls. Tommy walked to the room Mr. Zhang pointed to and held his gun ready.
"Quite ironic, don't you think" Tommy said. "You come here, to clean the city, and you are right in the middle fucking some whore" Tommy said. "It's simple, Mr. Shelby. It's because you and I are the same." Campbell said. "Men like us will always be alone, and what love we get we have to pay for" Campbell said. "You forget, I have my family" Tommy said, and in his mind, he included Ophelia as well. "Be careful, before the day is over, your heart will be broken" Campbell said, talking about Grace thinking Tommy loved her. Campbell left with those words.
Tommy left for the last family meeting to prepare them for Kimber, and while the family meeting was going on, Ophelia decided to go to the local bakery to get something for the men before they left. While she was walking, she had the odd feeling like she was being watched, and she decided to take another turn than she usually would have. The feeling stayed and when she looked over her shoulder, she saw 2 men. She didn't recognise them, and she knew Tommy's men would always hide themselves from her. Ophelia quickly vanished herself into an alleyway and waited for the men. The men came and before she could react one of them punched her in the face. And like before, her anger rose, and she started to fight back. She didn't scream, because she didn't need the help or the attention.
When she felt someone's hand try and rise up her skirt, she got even angrier. With the heel of her shoe, she stepped on one of their toes and then used her knee to kick someone in the groin hard enough for him to double over. She tangled her fingers through the hair of the other man and knocked his head into the wall a bunch of times until he fell to the ground. The other man seemed angry and finally was able to stand up again only for Ophelia to remove the pin from her hair and punch it into his throat. The two men laid dead on the ground at the feet of Ophelia as she stood in the middle of them. She was covered in dirt and blood and her blouse and skirt were ripped.
Tommy was in the Garrison, serving the men some beer before the big day and Grace was looking shifty. "Can I speak to you" Grace said and dragged him to the back room. "What is it Grace" Tommy said. "I love you, Tommy" she said, and she actually did, which was not something she planned on, and the way he had been acting around her, from asking her to the Cheltenham, to asking her to work for the company, she assumed he loved her back. "And there it goes, Grace. But you have never meant anything to me" Tommy said. Not like her, he thought. "Now, if you know what's good for you, you will leave before we return" Tommy said, and the look on his face didn't make Grace think twice.
When Tommy walked back to the others, Campbell walked in before they left. He had just run into Grace who had told him it was Ophelia Tommy cared about. "What do you want?" Tommy asked as all the men stood behind him. "You know, something about you that always made me question how" Campbell started. "How can people turn out like scum" Campbell said. "But then I figured it out, everybody is a killer, all you need to do is push them far enough" Campbell said. "It's not me you are talking about is it" Tommy said. "Everyone has a weakness, even men like you" Campbell said. "And it surprised me, when I finally found yours" Campbell said.
The Blinders looked at Tommy, waiting for him to dismiss of them, but he didn't. "Because even a man like you has a weakness, and it's one woman" Campbell said. "Ophelia Crawley" he said and both Arthur and John walked a bit closer in a threatening manner. Tommy stood straighter. "That's where you are wrong. She is not my weakness; she is the one who makes me strong" Tommy said which threw Campbell off. He didn't say another word before he left again.
"I need someone to find me Ophelia" Tommy said. "Fuck!" he shouted. "I'll go Tommy" Curly said and left to find her. On his way out, Jeremiah walked in. "What is it?" Tommy asked. "People are saying they saw Kimber's men on Stratford Road" Jeremiah said and looked at Tommy. "Shit, they are coming here?" Arthur asked. "Prepare, I'll warn Polly and Ada" Tommy said and left. His head was a whirlpool.
Ophelia quickly made her way to the Shelby's home after the whole ordeal, a lot of people not even daring to look at her as she walked by. When she knocked on the door Polly opened up. "Holy Shit" she said when she saw Ophelia and dragged her inside. "What the hell happened" Polly asked, looking at the young woman. "Two men attacked me in an alley" Ophelia said. Just as she was inside the door opened. "Ada, get the baby and get into the bullring where there is lots of people" Tommy said. Ophelia and Polly looked at Tommy who didn't even seem to see Ophelia yet. "What happened?" Polly asked. "We've been fucking betrayed" Tommy said.
He looked up and looked at the bloodied and messy state of Ophelia. "Who did this to you?" he asked and walked over to her. "These two men" Ophelia said. "Someone told the cops?" Polly asked and looked at Ophelia. "Who, besides us, did you tell Tommy?" Polly asked. Tommy's eyebrows scrunched together. He looked at Ophelia. "I told the family, and I told Elia" He said looking at her. Polly quickly grabbed the woman's arm. "I didn't tell anyone anything!" Ophelia said when she saw Polly's look. "How can we know?" Polly said. "Why would I come here, of all places if I had betrayed you? I have risked everything" Ophelia said. "I told you mine and my sister's darkest secret which could ruin my family for generations to come, I have made sure I ruined my own, I have suffered for you" Ophelia said.
They all fell quiet and looked at the young woman. "Everything you know about me is a story you can sell to ruin me, why would I betray you, and why would I even want to betray the man I love" she said. "You have a secret, another one" Polly said, grabbing Ophelia's face looking at her. Ada and Tommy also looked at her, waiting for what Ophelia would say.
Ophelia's eyes started to fill with tears, as she remembered the one thing, she hadn't told anyone but Mary, and by extend Barrow and Clarkson. "I—" she said and took a deep breath. "A year ago, after I spend a month with Tommy in London, I suffered a miscarriage" Ophelia said. Polly looked at Ophelia, and she believed her. She believed it wasn't Ophelia who betrayed Tommy. Polly turned around and grabbed Ada to let the two talk. "You don't have time, I know." Ophelia said. "I wish you told me" Tommy said. "I know, I'm sorry" Ophelia said. "Don't be" Tommy said. "We'll talk later" he said. "The men who did this" he said, touching her red cheek.
"Dead" she said. "Perhaps I have tainted you with my darkness" Tommy said. "No, you just showed me who I actually was" she said. "Stay with Ada, stay safe" he said. "I will, you come back to me" Ophelia said. "I will, it's you and me, darling" Tommy said before he walked to the other men. "Wash your face and change into something black" Ada said. "You have an idea" Ophelia said. "I do, now, let's go" Ada said.
Ophelia quickly washed up and got dressed in one of Ada's black dresses. The two young women, who had been friends for almost a decade, walked out of the house and walked over to the place where they would all be meeting. Kimber's men stood with their backs to them. "Move!" Ophelia yelled. As she and Ada walked into the middle of the two gangs. "What are you doing?" Freddie asked when he saw Ada walk into the middle with Karl in his stroller. "We used to call this "no man's land" Ophelia said referring to the space the two of them stood. "Ada!" Freddie tried again. "Shut up and listen" Ada said to him. "Have you lost your mind?" he asked. "I said shut up!" Ada said.
"Now, most of you were in France, including Ophelia here. So, you all know what happens next" Ada said. "I've got brothers here" Ada said. "And men we love" Ophelia said looking at Tommy. "But you've all got somebody waiting for you" Ada said. "Now, we're wearing black in preparation" Ophelia said looking at them. "I want you to look at us, I want you all to look at us!" Ada said. "Who'll be wearing black for you? Think about them, think about them right now" Ada said. "And fight if you want to, but that baby ain't moving anywhere" Ada said as she and Ophelia took a step away. "And neither are we" Ophelia said.
"They are right you know. Why would all you men die? It should be them whose caused it" Kimber said and pointed his gun at Tommy and shot. Only he got his shoulder and Danny Whiz-Bang ran into the middle, blocking Tommy which caused Kimber to shoot Danny. "Tommy, come here!" Arthur yelled and dragged Tommy away from Kimber's line of fire. "Don't shoot! You're all right, son" Freddie said, who had run over to his son. "You're all right" Arthur told Tommy. "Ada, move away!" Freddie said but both women were stubborn.
Kimber started to turn and pointed his gun towards Tommy again. But this time, Tommy was faster and shot Kimber in the middle of his forehead, making him drop to the ground like a bag of potatoes. "Don't shoot!" Arthur said as the Blinders started to point their guns at the Kimber men. "Hold your guns up!" John yelled. "Enough, Kimber and me fought this battle one-on-one. It's over. Go home to your families" Tommy said, and Kimber's men decided that was the best thing to do right now.
Ophelia ran over to Tommy as Ada walked towards Freddie. "Scudboat, Curly, take him away" Arthur said, pointing at Danny. "Tommy, we need to get this out now" Ophelia said when she reached him. "No hospitals" Tommy said. "To the Garrison then" she said and walked in with the men. "I need you all to hold him down as well as you can" Ophelia said. She had found a first aid kit which she grabbed the tweezers. "I got this, miss" Jeremiah said, who had also been working with the medical staff during the war. "Hold him" Ophelia said, and she stood on Tommy's left as Arthur held Tommy.
Jeremiah used the tweezers the try and get the bullet out, but it was deeper than they first thought. "Anyone have a pocketknife?" she asked. "Here" John said, and she used it to make the hole slightly bigger for more easy access. Tommy screamed out in pain and Arthur tried to hold him down. "Thank you" Jeremiah said and was now able to get the bullet out. "I still got it!" he laughed as he dropped the bullet in a glass of alcohol. Ophelia grabbed one of the bottles and poured it into the wound. "I need to stitch it now, drink" she said handing Tommy the bottle as she washed the needle in the alcohol before making 5 stitches easily. Most of the men started to back away as Ophelia worked. "There, this should help it heal" she said and bandaged his shoulder. "Thank you" he said, keeping his eye on her.
Everything had gone so well; he didn't want something to go wrong now. "My pocket" Tommy said and nodded towards his coat. As Ophelia grabbed it, she expected to find cigarettes but instead she found her necklace. "I thought I lost this in France" Ophelia said. "I found it, and I have been carrying it with me ever since. Every time I did something, an important decision or a fight, and I had it on me, I would win" Tommy said. Ophelia looked at him. She placed it back in his pocket and put his coat on. "Then keep it on you at all times, or God help me Thomas" she said. "I will" he said, and they walked to the booth where they placed Danny.
They all held a moment of silence. "May everyone die twice" Tommy said and watched his sister be happy with Freddie while he had Ophelia next to him.
...
you can find edit for this story on my tt @/wishtherebestars i'm posting them after i upload a chapter
also started another tommy story called all for us if you're interested