*Modern Day Peaky Blinders AU inspired by @chellestrash on Tumblr from a character ask session they'd done between exams that were tied to their modern-day Peaky Blinders Social Media AU series. I LOVE IT!! You should check it out!*
No one noticed her waltz inside the Garrison behind a pack of a few younger Blinders. Hardly an eye glanced up as she ordered a shot she promptly swallowed back and a pint from the bartender. She wasn't exactly hiding her presence nor ready to announce it just yet. The Garrison was loud and rowdy. Men in raucous laughter telling one vulgar joke after another. Women who hung on their arms like trophies giving fake smiles and playing coy. She eyed the closed door of the tiny room next to the bar. They'd be in there her father told her so.
She sipped her pint making her way towards the jukebox, an ancient piece of musical history that made her smile. It was brightly lit and polished as if someone took great care in its appearance. Glancing over all the music it held. Reading albums and song titles that sent her reminiscing of summers past with her sister on the lake. Music loudly wafting out of the house and down to the beach where they bathed in the hot rays of the summer sun. She sighed heavily knowing those days were long gone and could never be again.
"Do you want to avenge your sister Y/n?" Her father asked from behind his desk as he watched her staring out the window at his expansive empire below.
"You know I do," she whispered.
It'd been years since she'd spoken louder than a whisper reserving her anger for the man who took her sister. The man who absconded with her in the night with the promises of riches and all the love she could ever want, only to use and abuse her up until he killed her in a drunken rage.
The moment the news had reached her and her father she dove back into the gym. Training harder and more ruthless than she ever had, she'd become something even his toughest enforcers refused to tangle with. Silent promises made to the picture of her sister that sat on her nightstand. Promises that she'd end his life so her sister could rest in peace.
"Then I need you to go to Birmingham and meet with Thomas Shelby, apparently his enemy is ours." He knew she'd get the job done and cement allies overseas known as the Peaky Blinders.
The thick fog of their signature cologne hit her nose before she heard the sounds of their voices. She knew them all too well, her nose scrunched in disgust and a sneer slid over her painted lips. The pint held high and knocked back in a few swigs if she learned one thing from her father it was how to hold her liquor. She saw it, the perfect song. Ignoring the sign above the jukebox warning it was for Blinder's use only. Her hand dove into her pocket pulling out a few coins and quietly shoved them into the coin slot. Her ears picked up their footsteps closing in on her, even from behind Changretta's men knew her, knew who her father was.
"Your father ain't here to protect you." A deep voice gloated in a hearty laugh. They were all the same, all of Changretta's men blended in one giant stereotype.
"And who says I need my father's protection... from you?" Her laughter was cold as ice, a cold that would send a shiver down the spine of a normal man. She stood tall rolling her shoulders and tossing her head side to side making a cracking sound.
She could hear a silence fall over the bar, chairs sliding across the floor. Bodies that didn't belong to Blinders were scattering and leaving through both exits. She could hear a door creaking open from across the bar and muffled voices inspecting the commotion. Blinders littered all over the bar awaiting orders from the man in charge before they jumped in. The record she'd chosen whirling itself into place inside the jukebox. The bartender pleading with the Shelby's to intervene, but one with an air of authority only chuckled.
"Wait and see if she needs it, stand down," he spoke with a slight buzz, the strike of a match and a heavy puff on his cigarette.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," she chided, her back still to the small group of men as she rested her pint glass atop the jukebox.
The goon that stood behind her put his massive hand on her shoulder, but he couldn't do a thing before Patsy Cline's Crazy her sister's favorite song began to wail through the speakers. She turned without warning grabbing onto his arm with her hands and bringing her knee up swiftly shattering his arm at the elbow. He screamed and bellowed as he fell to the floor, his three sidekicks stunned. They weren't expecting her to fight.
The taller of the bunch lunged forward hands out to wrap around her neck only to be met with the sharpened metal spiked heel of her boot in his face jabbing into his eye. His hands raced to his face covering his eyes shrieking in agony.
The other two looked at each thinking they could double team her from each side. She only laughed at the attempt, the thrill of the fight. A flick of her wrist and the dagger slid in her palm from the sheath hidden beneath her jacket sleeve. A quick slash, faster than most eyes could capture and one of the goons fell to the floor hands clutched around his neck. Blood spurting out between his fingers and down his shirt, spilling onto the floor as he fell. The last man stood still afraid to move. He held his hands up in surrender and took a step backward away from her.
"Mercy," he whimpered, the stench of vinegar hung in the air as the urine flowed down his legs and pooled around his feet. She only flashed a sinister grin and took a step closer.
"Did Changretta offer mercy to my sister before he beat her? Did he grant her mercy each time he raped her? Or did mercy cross his mind as he slit her throat and watched her bleed out in front of him?" Her anger seething, coursing through her veins as she twirled the dagger in her fingers.
She tilted her head to the side seeing a group of men and one solitary woman huddled around the door she'd eyed earlier in the night. The Shelby's she assumed though she'd never seen pictures, she could gather who they were by how they held themselves. One, in particular, caught her eye. Tall, lanky build, a scrappy look to him like a boxer. Long dark locks framed his face already adorned with a beard. Her tongue wet her bottom lip staring at the man she assumed was Thomas. Forever a sucker for a stunning beard on a man. The last words her father spoke as she boarded the plane running amuck in her head.
'Don't fall in love with Thomas Shelby,' he spoke sternly. 'An alliance is one thing, bringing two families together in a fucking harmonious working atmosphere is a nightmare.'
She allowed herself to become distracted by the gorgeously bearded Shelby across the bar and the goon took his opportunity. He landed a punch square on her nose. Blinding pain and flashes of white filled her eyes. A savage growl fled her lips and filled the room. A commotion broke out amongst the Shelby's and a few hurriedly crossed the room taking ahold of the last Changretta minion dragging him out back behind the bar.
She could hear the rabid beating he was getting and grinned. Lightheaded she found herself falling backward, hardly the best way to introduce herself to the Shelby's then again the slight embarrassment from her landing on her rump could be forgiven after proving herself, but the fall to the floor never happened. Her backside never met the cold hard wooden floor. Her eyes still trying to adjust, everything was still a blur. She felt arms steady her and a soft but gruff voice as she held onto his arms.
"Easy there Love," he lifted her carefully depositing her on the nearest chair. A woman's perfume hung in the air next to her and a cool wet cloth held gingerly over her nose. "Jus' lean your head back a bit, there ya go Love. Thanks, Pol."
He pulled a chair beside her watching, waiting for her sight to clear as he held the cloth against her nose to stem the bleeding. He'd seen a lot of fights in his time, but none like one she'd just shown the family. Beyond impressed and a little turned on he hated to admit. It'd been a year since his divorce from Linda, the harpy that wouldn't leave him be, always wanting more money. He hadn't so much as looked at another woman in all that time. Too afraid to see yet another bloodsucking harpy in their faces, but there was something about this one.
There in front of him sat a woman with a set of stunningly haunting eyes, even that smile when she sneered at Changretta's men was enough to make his heart flutter. A rapid beat that picked up its pace the longer she had looked at him. The unassuming way she moved, fluid and yet so fiercely. There wasn't any fear in her face, only stone-cold determination that he understood.
"Y/n Capone, Mr. Shelby," she held out her hand to him, a faint smile hidden behind the bar towel as she tried to sit up straight. Soft, strong and like home her hand felt in his. He felt a jolt, a tiny shock that sprinted up and down his spine making him smile.
"Arthur," he chuckled. "No need to be so formal like Love." He watched baffled as her eyes grew big.
"Huh, I was told the attractive one would be Thomas," a softly embarrassed laugh fled her mouth.
"Oi! She just called Arthur hot!" A blonde yelled out and doubled over in deep laughter.
"Shut your trap John," Pol snickered and turned toward Y/n and Arthur glancing between the two of them. A knowing smile clung heavy on her lips as she walked to the bar for a drink whispering to Michael.
"I think he hit your head jus' a bit harder than I thought Love," Arthur chuckled with a little blush. He wasn't sure what to think about that and ran his fingers through his hair pulling it out of his face.
"My father warned me not to fall in love with Thomas Shelby, he never said anything about the other Shelby's." She gave Arthur a wink and a faint laugh before standing up. She watched the rest of the Blinders removing the mess she'd made of Changretta's men.
Her eyes scanning the room and found what she was looking for, a mirror hung near the jukebox. Arthur watched her crossing the room, his head tilting to the side entranced by the sway of her hips. The side to side sashay as they moved. He swallowed hard, a large gulp of air feeling the effect she had over him in such a short time. The need to know more about her, to hear that laugh again, see that smile the way it sat upon her face. He wanted to see that glint in her eye again when she realized he wasn't Tommy. Arthur was beyond smitten and not once in his lifetime had a woman made him feel this way.
Y/n stood examining her face in the mirror, eyes scrunched annoyed at the damage done. It wasn't the first time her nose had been broken and probably not the last. A few deep breaths to psych herself up for the pain. Her hands steady on either side of her nose, fingers poised ready to push it back into place. A sickening crunch and a guttural moan echoed out in the bar causing all to stand still and watch in admiration. Arthur was up and behind her, hands poised on her back to steady her incase she fell from the sharpness of the pain. He knew all too well what she'd just done had felt like.
"Alright Love?" He grinned seeing her smiling in the mirror, the slight hue of pink on her cheeks as she watched him in the mirror.
"Just peachy. Hell of a way to announce my arrival huh?" That melodic laughter of hers filled his ears, his chest tightening as his heartbeat a mile a minute.
"No better way in my book," he chuckled watching the way she tucked her hair behind her ear. "Say, you uh... you wanna join me for a drink?" Arthur hadn't felt the kind of nerves coursing through him in ages.
"Are you asking me on a date?" Her bottom lip sucked in her lip watching the nervousness in his eyes.
"Well, that all depends on what you say really. If it's a no then it's jus' a business meetin', if it's a yes then I guess we'll see where the night takes us." It wasn't often that Arthur felt that cockiness, that suave swagger like his other brothers had, but looking at her made it come out and swinging.
"I'd love to Arthur," she grinned ducking her head down at a failed attempt to hide the blush that was on full display.
Arthur led her with his hand on her back to a booth across the bar, stepping away only long enough to grab two glasses and a bottle of scotch from behind the bar. Even his walk seemed more confident than it had been in some time. He slid in the booth across from pouring their drinks and smiled. The ease at which the conversation came took him by surprise, but he'd sit there across from her for as long as she wanted.
"Do you believe in love at first sight Tommy?" Pol asked grinning as he sat beside her at the bar watching the exchange between Y/n and Arthur.
"Not in the slightest," he scoffed through a tiny smile curled at the corner of his mouth seeing what Pol was angling at. He hadn't seen Arthur that relaxed and at ease, or comfortable in too many years to remember.
"Well," she inhaled a deep drag of her cigarette with a smug smile. "You're watching it playing out live right in front of our very eyes."
"I see an expansion in our family's future," Tommy grinned.