The Tailor's Daughter - Tommy Shelby

8: Cut

//Just a heads up, I'm going to be messing around with the timeline of season 2 a bit. So don't worry if things seem a little out of order.

            After going out to The Garrison, Marcie felt a little more comfortable being out in Small Heath. She spent more time with Esme. Now that John's wife was pregnant, Marcie offered to help her with everyday tasks. It helped pass the time between the hours of sewing razors into caps and putting together Tommy's first suit.

She ran errands for Esme, which led to Marcie becoming more familiar with the area. The shop owners were a bit skeptical of her, but it seemed they knew she was under Tommy's employ and kept their mouths shut.

If there was news about Darby Sabini, Marcie was completely unaware of it. She had learned to leave that to Tommy to take care of.

As for Tommy, Marcie had kept her distance. But she often found herself in bed, staring up at the ceiling and replaying the night on the roof over and over again. It dawned on her that she had seen a completely different side to the man. Dealing with her family's betrayal led to a lesson that not everyone was what they seemed on the surface level. It wasn't impossible that Tommy was kind underneath the layers of ice that he seemed to protect himself with.

Tossing and turning, Marcie wondered if it even mattered. If he was a good person, that didn't change her situation. All she had to do was keep her head down and work off her debt while she kept her brothers safe.

But she couldn't stop thinking about how he looked at her. The warmth of his hand. It made her feel weak and a little light-headed.

~~~~

The careful balance trembled one afternoon. Marcie had finished Tommy's suit and went to the betting shop to see if he was in so he could try it on. But when she stepped into the shop, she found chaos.

A group of Blinders were crowded around one table. Tommy was rushing out of his office. "Back up!" He shouted, causing them to scatter.

When they moved aside, she could see Nico holding a hand to his face. Blood was seeping through his fingers.

Marcie stifled a scream as she ran to her brother. She shoved John and Tommy away. "Nico!" She gasped.

The boy was pale and looked like he was going into shock.

"Easy, alright? Just a cut." Tommy stepped in again and moved Nico's hand away.

Although there was a lot of blood, the slice low on his cheek didn't seem very deep.

"Here," Esme appeared with a cloth.

Marcie took it and pressed it to her brother's face. "What happened? Who did this?" She demanded in Italian.

Nico shook his head. "Don't know..." He moaned in pain.

Marcie held his face in her hands, doing her best to stop the bleeding. "Don't lie."

Tears welled up in his eyes but it was clear he was doing his best to stay brave in front of the others. "They spoke to me in Italian. They called me a traitor."

Marcie was shaking, watching as the blood slowly stained the cloth. "What happened next?"

"They attacked me." Nico's voice caught in his throat as he recounted what happened mere minutes ago. "One of them cut me. But I scared them off."