Vera ; Thomas Shelby

01 ; An interrupted funeral

1922

I was freezing, but I supposed that was to be expected in dreary London. I had only met Freddie a handful of times, but I liked his passion that so many hated him for and found that his death saddened me to the extent it did when I saw all those close to him like Ada, Karl and even Tommy, despite his lack of emotion in general.

Unlike most, whilst working for Tommy for the past year I had managed to see an entirely different aspect of the infamous peaky blinder. It wasn't often, far and few between, but occasionally I would see a flash of the real Thomas Shelby. I saw it when he finally began to trust me (which I think was as a result of the numerous background checks performed on me) and I saw it when he gifted me a gun on my last birthday (definitely the strangest present I had received that year).

Considering I had barely gotten to know Freddie before his death, I tried to stay out of the way as much as possible, instead trying to reign in all the kids running around, the keyword being trying.

A young man had shuffled towards me, "Miss, there is a phone call for Mr Shelby."

I looked at Tommy talking to Polly and Ada, in a conversation that seemed too important to interrupt and turned back to the man.

"I'll take Mr Shelby's call, come on." Instead of waiting for him to lead the way, I took the lead and directed us to the inside of the small church.

The call was brief and panicked, mumbling the news that was so unwelcome. Retuning, I walked quickly towards Tommy.

"Tommy, something's happened back in Birmingham." I said quietly, not wanting to draw any attention from the burial at hand.

"What is it?" Tommy asked, gruffly.

"The Garrison's been...Tommy, it's been blown up."

"What?" Tommy said in a tone that made me unsure if he was angry or confused.

"I'll go back now and call you when I find out what happened." I suggested, turning to .

"Get the car ready, I'll say goodbye to Ada."

"Are you sure-"

"The car, Vera."

I was used to being cut off, at this point, but it still didn't make any less irritating.

Stood in front of the remains of the pub, I was calculating the expenses the Shelby company were to encounter if they didn't receive any insurance money.

I ignored the policeman who called out a warning about the collapsed building and reached down in order to pick up some of the green confetti littered across the burnt floor. Strange.

I returned to Tommy and showed him my findings, wondering what was going on in that head of his.

When he stalked towards the car, I followed quickly and climbed in before he raced off, which was rather hard considering the heels I had on.

I knew better than to ask where we were going, after countless moments of being ignored in similar situations. Instead I watched as we pulled up in front of the Black Lion and was told to wait in the car as Tommy went off to do god knows what.

After what seemed like forever to me, Tommy came running out of the pub following a scruffy looking young boy. I bolted up, running after the two of them as they went through winding alleyways.

Upon entering some sort of backroom, I felt the barrel of what I assumed to be a gun pressed to the centre of my back and a scratchy bag laced over my head. My first instinct was to put my hands up in surrender, but when my anonymous attackers started to pat me down, I couldn't help but open my mouth.

"Hey buddy, I have no weapons."

I heard the shuffling of feet and retreating steps, causing me to panic.

"Tommy?" I asked, directed nowhere in particular.

I cautiously pulled the fabric off of my head, after a solid five minutes of standing there and turned around, only to see a middle aged man holding a gun to my forehead.

I stood there, just waiting for something to happen when Tommy stormed out and everyone left the room. What the hell was going on?

Tommy came up to me and grabbed my face, twisting it in different angles to see if there was any harm done to me. When he was satisfied that I was okay, he placed all his various weapons back onto his body and together, we returned to the car.

When I tried to ask him what happened, true to the Tommy Shelby fashion, he simply ignored me and carried on looking forward. It wasn't until we were back in the safety of his car that he finally spoke up.

"Vera, why aren't you carrying the gun I gave you."

"I don't know how to use it," I replied sheepishly, "I doubt I'll ever really need to use it."

"Fucking hell, Vee. Don't be stupid," Tommy told me angrily, before calming down ever so slightly. "Look, I'll get someone to teach you. At least carry it around. For my peace of mind, eh?"

I sighed, looking at his sharp side profile now.

"Okay, but don't blame me if I end up shooting you in the foot."

Tommy nodded and I carried on talking, formulating theories on who was behind the Garrison pub, despite knowing that Tommy knew a whole lot more than he told me.