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People don't touch him. The police make like they can, but the petty thieves and the small gangs and the other factory workers and the fat cats sitting in their towers won't dare, no matter how much he stirs the pot, shooting warning shots. Freddie knows why, of course he does.
He always has been, and he always will be -
Tommy's. He's Tommy's now.
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Under those great blue eyes and the razor-sharp smile, when it does appear, Freddie imagines what he could see in Tommy's brain: gun-fights and horses and ideas crashing into each other, because he thinks he's a cowboy, and the worst thing is, Freddie would be inclined to agree.
Because Tommy knows he's clever, knows his family is a city wide, and it itches under Freddie's skin, makes him want to curl his hands around Tommy's throat and push. Makes him want to mar his pretty, pretty face - makes him want to -
Makes him want to raise his city and set his workers ablaze.
(So that when Tommy shuts his eyes and tries to forget he still exists, Freddie Thorne, who took his bullet and is going to take what he's owed one of these days, will still be there, systemically fucking up his best laid plans.)
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All he's ever wanted to be was a Shelby. There's no point pretending that's not how it was (how it is).
Ada's got a smile like the devil, and Freddie thinks she could be just as dangerous as her brothers if she wanted to. She's the snake in the garden, she's a brazen fool, she's such an idiot. What is she doing to him?
Tommy will gouge his eyes out when it finally slips. Oh, he just can't wait.
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(And he's got Tommy up against the wall, and he can finally get his hands pushing against skin, trying to see if he can make Tommy feel - can Freddie Thorne make Tommy Shelby feel something, crack his cool gaze and stone intellect?
And he's trying not to look in his eyes, and he's trying not to feel a puff of warm breath against his cheek, and he's trying not to think of Ada's smile and Tommy's cheekbones, but he's failing, he can't help it.
And Tommy's looking at him, and he's looking like he's finally won.)
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He's trapped between Ada's warm thighs and Tommy's cool stare, and he's not entirely sure if he's going to hell or not.