Peaky Blinders. One shot and imagines

Angel of the trenches - Part 3 - Tommy x Reader

"You're alive............" Tommy continued, as he came out from behind his desk.

"Well, I was last time I looked....yeah............" (Y/n) replied, suddenly finding herself pulled into the ex-sergeant major's arm. Closing her eyes as she rested her head on his chest.

"I can't believe you made it back............."

"Nobody made it back, Sarge. Anyone that saw, that did what we did........the people we were before the war........those people, they all died over there. What are left, are just the shadows of the people that used to be. That, and I feel that you are underestimating me, Sarge. Even though I say so myself, I think I was quite a good little soldier." (Y/n) replied, as she moved her head from his chest, and looked into those eyes. Eyes that were still as captivating as they had ever been.

There it was. There had been a number of things that had set (Y/n) apart from all the others that he had served with, other than her being a woman; and that was her insight, her way with words and her intelligence were always the things that he remembered the most. Well, that, and the fact that no one else seemed to have noticed that they had a really very beautiful woman in their midst. A fact that Tommy still couldn't believe to this day. The head of the family firm finding a smile pulling at the corners of his lips, as she looked up at him.

"What happened to you............? What are you doing here...........?" Tommy finally continued, as he reluctantly let her go, and led her to the chair at the other side of the desk. The ex-sergeant major, not failing to notice the slight limp in her left leg, as he walked her over.

"It..........its a long story............."

"Take all the time ya need.........." Tommy replied. Taking out a cigarette and offering (Y/n) one, before he sat back in his chair. The ex-corporal taking a deep breath, before she started.

"Do you remember that day........the day that you told me that you didn't want me to go over the top with you and the others. How, when you realised I wasn't going to listen, you told me to stick by your side..........." (Y/n) began. Smiling as Tommy nodded.

"I did what you said. I promise. I was right next to you, all the way. Over the barbed wire, passed the rotting bodies and blown off limbs. Struggling through that thick fuckin mud; but I was with you..........then...........well then, all I can remember was a bright flash and being knocked onto my back. I could feel pain in my left leg and arm, in my side; but I still wanted to get up, I still wanted to follow you. Yet when I tried............I........I just couldn't. I did my best to shout, to call out, but I found I couldn't hear myself. I realised I couldn't hear anything, not the gunfire, the explosions, not the shouting, the screams of the others. Nothing. And after that............everything just went black. The next thing I know, I wake to find myself in a field hospital, surrounded by very shocked doctors and nurses. It obvious that they had discovered my little secret. That even though most everyone else seemed to be blind to my true gender........they were not. They told me that some shrapnel had gone into my arm and thigh; that I had also been shot. That everything had been successfully removed, yet I would need sometime to recover. That now I was awake, they would make arrangements to have me shipped back to England." (Y/n) explained, as she butted out the cigarette that she hadn't touched.

"I asked them if they would keep my secret, but I was informed that the brass had already been told. That they weren't happy about it at all. The next thing I know, I had a general, a colonel, and a couple of captains at my bedside, demanding to know what I thought I was doing. How I had managed to get where I was. I told them about George, about his death; about using his papers. I told them where I had been and what I had done. About how I had ended up in the hospital. For a moment I expected them to court martial me; to be stuck in front of a firing squad.......but then........well then the general told me that he was sad to inform me that my brother had died in battle. That even though I was not his widow, he would ensure that I received the new pension, and that he hoped I would make a full recovery. Then he saluted to me, and left.............After that, they put me on a boat back to Blighty, and I spent some months in the hospital. The day I got out, was the day that I was presented with 'George's" medals..............."

"But why didn't you come and find me sooner.......?" Tommy interrupted, as he reached for another cigarette.

"Well, there were a number of reasons. First, I could never find out whether you were alive or dead; and even though I knew you came from Birmingham, I had no idea where to start looking for you. I remembered you brother's names, but Birmingham is a big place, and who's to say that anyone would have heard of you if I asked. So, it wasn't until I heard stories about a family called the Shelby's in Small Heath that I decided to see if it was your brothers. If it was you..........Second..........I didn't know whether you would want me to find you. I know you had said things in the past about you introducing me to the family; but people say things in times of war, don't they. Things they might not say or mean after it has all ended. That, and I didn't know if you would remember me.............."

"Remember ya..........I am hardly likely to forget...........not too many women in the trenches, (Y/n).............." Tommy commented, making (Y/n) laugh. Her heart thumping violently again, as he reached across the table and took her hand in his.

"Yeah, I still remember that day you caught me trying to bind those strips of sackcloth around my chest. I thought you were gonna have a heart attack.......either that, or I was............." (Y/n) chuckled again. The ex-corporal still not sure whose eyes had been wider that day.

"Well, now you're here, you're staying.......right?" Tommy continued, as his grip on (Y/n)'s hand got a little tighter.

"I........I suppose that's up to you. I was hoping to ask you for a job. It's not easy for an old soldier getting work where I am. And having to come up with stories about the limp all the time, has grown a little tedious............."

"You're good with numbers, right.............?"

"Well, I know two plus two equals four............"

"Perfect. Ya can have a job here. Ya start tomorrow. Now, let's go and introduce ya properly.............." Tommy said, as he got up from his chair, and made his way around to her. Offering (Y/n) his arm and leading her back out of the office.