Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Ripper Street characters. They are copyright their respective owners. All non-Ripper Street characters are mine and made by me. I make no money off this fan fiction, it is written for entertainment purposes only.

To Face the Demon

I had never known Edmund to shy away from physical things, but the emotions he felt tormented him at all waking hours and haunted him in his sleep.

What the Yankees called—his poker face—fooled all those but knew him intimately.

Edmund arrived home early, just minutes before I returned from church. He was still clad in his oversized coat and bowler hat. Privately Edmund griped to me that he did not like the style of bowler hats but it was expected of him to wear them so he did.

Glancing down I could see he held today's mail in his large hands.

"Anything exciting in the mail today?" I questioned in hopes of striking up a conversation.

In response Edmund pursed his lips and shook his head. He was about to speak when he pulled out one letter and studied it. His hands began to tremble causing me to hurry towards him, fearful of what could've upset him.

"What is it?" I asked.

Pursing his lips again Edmund hurriedly shoved the letter into his coat pocket.

"It's nothing," he lied.

Privately I suspected it was a letter regarding our daughter.

Possibly in hopes of distracting me he took off his coat and turned away from me.

I knew to pick my battles but he could not live in his denial any longer. Even a blind man could see it was torturing his very being. Hitching up my skirts so I could keep pace with my husband I followed him. Along the way he pulled off his coat and jacket. He kept them clamped firmly in his hands as he quickened his pace to try to lose me on the way to his bedroom.

Edmund was half way done removing his shirt by the time I arrived. I didn't need to hear him to know that he had heaved a sigh. His shoulders slumped as once again he spoke, "Are you going to follow me everywhere now?"

"Edmund, you need to talk to me," I said as I crept forward as if Edmund were a caged animal.

"Emily..."

Reaching out I felt the muscles in Edmund's arm flex. The same arms attached to my then new husband as he joked about the various ways he could carry me over the threshold of our new home. He had started out with the traditional way only to joke, "That didn't feel right!" followed by him making a basic attempt at carrying me over his shoulder.

The second time the two of us started laughing and by the end of his jokes our faces were red from a combination of laughter and the tears that rolled down our cheeks.

We had received many disapproving looks that day but we did not care. We were young, happy, and so in love.

I wanted to see my husband smile again.

"Emily," Edmund repeated to bring me back to the present.

"Please—" I was cut off when my eyes spotted a dark red stain on his shirt. "What happened to you?!"

"It's only a flesh wound," Edmund replied and pulled back his shirt to reveal an ugly looking cut that darted across the left upper side of his chest.

"What happened?"

"There was a mad man that attacked Drake and I. He kept raving about some dentist trying to harm him! He fought us like the devil but we were able to subdue him. It hardly hurts, really."

"Has it been cleaned? What about iodine—"

"No!" Edmund shrieked and his blue eyes grew wide. "Jackson has already given the me iodine and I'm not going through that again! Having an arm sawed off can't sting as much as that devil's fluid!"

Reaching up I was careful to avoid the cut flesh. My fingertips touched the discolored and puckered skin on his neck and shoulder. I could feel the warmth of his damaged skin that gradually warmed my cool hands. Edmund would never tell me how he was injured but I remember and the sight of his raw skin well...

Edmund's hand reached up to hold mine, "It doesn't hurt anymore."

"That wasn't what I was thinking."

"What then?"

"Don't shut me out, Edmund."