It took Eddie a few days to get the staff on board with his plan, and that was before he even thought to start on the governors and members of the LEA. He made sure to keep it brief with them about why they needed a meeting- he was sure that Rachel and her job had been a topic of conversation for the days since the fire, and that thought alone made him feel uneasy. He didn't want them to have made their minds up already, not without hearing that he needed to say. So with a determination in his step, he kissed her goodbye at the door and waved her off as she headed out with Melissa, who showed him her crossed fingers whilst Rachel was busy getting herself settled in the car. He followed them out not long after, heading to the school and setting up in a room that was far away from where the builders were repairing the damage caused by the fire.

He waited for the room to be full, expectant eyes looked at him as they wondered what this meeting entailed. "What do we need to do Eddie?" Steph asked, and Eddie really was shocked to see her there. He knew they'd had their differences, so was grateful to have her support and knew the extra body would look good when their visitors arrived.

"Just sit here, show that you're all here to support Rachel."

"Is this the right thing?"

"What? Making sure Rachel is still running the school?" Eddie asked in disbelief, shaking his head as he looked around at all of the faces of his staff. He couldn't believe the question had come from Matt, after all the support Rachel had given him over the musical.

"She's going on maternity isn't she?"

"Why does that matter?"

"I'm just saying.."

Eddie could feel himself getting more and more annoyed, wanting to just ask Matt to leave and anyone else who felt the same. Why they'd even bothered to come during the summer holidays, he had no idea. "She wants to come back after summer. She loves this place so much that she's willing to work until 37 weeks pregnant, with twins let's not forget." He knew him comments would shock some of them, some wondering how anyone could give up their maternity leave and return knowing how uncomfortable it was going to be. He received looks of sympathy from some of the female teachers who had children, and was grateful they understood what Rachel was offering. "Did you not all watch as she dragged her way out of a burning building to make sure everyone was safe?"

"We don't mean that Eddie, we don't. But the kids all heard..."

"And they all saw." He interrupted, not needing anyone to repeat what it was the kids had heard from Stuart. "They clapped when she left before they all saw her wait until the very end of the fire. Most of them saw her stay at the hospital until the early hours too, the only one still on her feet even though she was practically asleep already."

"Eddie-"

"No. If you're not here to say you want her here, as the head of this school, then leave. The others are arriving in half an hour and I only want her support."

"What can we do Eddie? I'm staying." Tom spoke up, and Eddie showed his gratitude with his smile. Luckily, Davina was on the road to recovery and had sent a text to say that both him and Rachel had her support.

"Stay. Tell the truth. Until Hordley burst into the hall, did anyone doubt Rachel's ability to be headteacher?" His eyes flashed in challenge, and got several head shakes in return. "I don't know what you were all doing at seventeen years old, but I was certainly no angel. What I did then shouldn't impact my job now, and what Rachel was doing shouldn't impact hers."

There was a long silence, and he was beginning to wonder exactly what he'd said wrong, when Tom spoke up in a pained voice. "She was seventeen?"

Oh. "Yes," Eddie confirmed quietly, saw a stunned look on many faces.

"That's younger than some of our kids," Faye Scott murmured.

"That's what I'm saying." Eddie looked at them desperately. "This is something that was done to her when she was still a kid, when she had nothing and no one. And I'm not just saying this because of who she is to me, it's the truth."

"I have one question," Steph said. "Why isn't Rachel here herself?"

To her surprise, Eddie looked sheepish. "She… doesn't actually know this is happening."

"You didn't tell her?"

He shrugged, painfully aware of the precious minutes ticking past. "As far as she's concerned, her career is over and no one will want her back. The only reason she hasn't already submitted her resignation letter is because her laptop is still in her office."

Tom snorted. "Mate, when she finds out…"

He grimaced. "Yeah, I know. Her sister is distracting her until at least dinnertime, so hopefully she won't find out the hard way."

He could see the people who had still been uncertain exchanging glances, a few nudging each other and he had to resist the urge to hold his breath as he waited to see if anyone would leave, would turn away from the headteacher they'd all followed faithfully for almost an entire term.

It took a few, painstaking minutes, but all eyes were on him, waiting patiently for him to continue to speak, no one leaving, and he felt a rush of relief leave him in a silent exhale. Now he just had to convince a group of people who didn't know Rachel.

The task was surprisingly easier than anticipated when the room began to fill up. It would have scared him to death to see it so full if he was on his own, but it seemed far more manageable when his own team seemed to contain even more people. He tried to compare it in his head to an Avengers movie, but quickly shook those thoughts away as he needed to focus on the task at hand.

"Mr Lawson, what was so important that you needed us all here? The school is close to collapsing." Eddie was asked, and it was clear then that this wasn't going to be a straightforward meeting. The one brave enough to speak first, Eddie was sure his name was Harry and Rachel had definitely mentioned having run-ins with him in the past. "The school is being repaired; it'll be open as normal come September." He replied, having already spoken to the builders and being promised that getting it safe for students was their main concern. Eddie had been told they could delay the start of the school year by two weeks if need be, but everyone hoped it wouldn't come to that.

"Then what is the meaning?"

"We've all come here to see where Rachel stands with her job." He addressed, his head held high and showing far more confidence than he was feeling.

Nigel looked around at the Waterloo Road staff that was lining the room, a brow raised in question. "All of you?" Nobody had been expecting this, to be faced with sure a hard wall of people who seemed to be showing their support for the headteacher.

"What does that mean?" Eddie looked mildly offended at that, beginning to lose his cool with the tones being used and directed at him. His only shining light was that Rachel wasn't here and proved that he'd made the right decision.

"We know you have a very... different relationship with Ms Mason to everyone else in the room."

"We are here for the school, nothing more." He quickly deflected. He wasn't sure how they knew, but wasn't aware that Rachel ever had to make their relationship known. She did as needed when he interviewed for the job, everything since then had been above board. "We know you've all heard what Mr Hordley said."

"Heard? He sent us all our own copies of the article."

Eddie's blood boiled at hearing the development, but he wasn't surprised. "I'm not shocked, he blackmailed her for months."

"For what?" Now, Nigel looked mildly more interested than he previously had and had sat up higher in his seat to listen.

"He wanted the training centre, used her past against her to get his own way. He threatened her, he threatened me and he threatened our children."

"The point still stands, she didn't disclose this information." Harry interrupted, not wanting Eddie to go off on a personal tangent and fill the room with his sob story.

"Because she isn't that person anymore. Now, she's Rachel Mason and she's spend her career fighting to be where she belongs. And that's at the head of this school. She's not seventeen anymore-"

"Seventeen?" One of the female members of the governing body spoke up, a look of pain on her face as she asked.

"She was seventeen, still a child." Steph interrupted, noticing the look of despair on Eddie's face and feeling the need to speak up. "Now I don't agree with everything Rachel has done since she came here, we've had our differences, but I have a teenage child myself and I would do anything to keep her out of a life like that."

"She didn't have that." Eddie added, grateful for the time to gather his thoughts again. "She didn't make a decision to do it for fun, it wasn't for a laugh. It was to survive."

Tom nodded his agreement. "And I don't think there's a person here who could have seen the look on her face and suggest it was anything but a horrendous time of her life."

"While that's all very touching," Nigel said, "it doesn't change the fact what she did was wrong!"

"Actually it wasn't," Jasmine blurted out, and looked faintly alarmed when all eyes turned to her. "Sorry. It's just… she didn't actually do anything. She broke no laws, didn't violate her contract. If she wasn't willing to quit, you wouldn't even be able to easily fire her."

There was a long silence, long enough for Eddie to shoot the young teacher a grateful look. A woman he didn't know, sat at the other end of the table, nodded. "She's right."

"The kids want her to stay as well," Tom said. "My girls… they haven't stopped asking about her. Mika was ready to storm this meeting."

"Max is the same," Steph added, and Eddie felt a bit off-kilter. Thirty minutes ago he'd been desperately pleading his case to these people and now all of a sudden they were not only agreeing with him but actively supporting him? He wasn't even sure if he could persuade Rachel he was telling the truth when he told her that Steph Haydock had backed her to an entire room of people.

Harry leant back in his chair. "So what exactly are you all asking for?"

Eddie took a deep breath. "Rachel is ready to quit, convinced that she won't be allowed to stay. I want you to refuse her offer. Keep her as headteacher, keep her at Waterloo Road."

"The negative publicity would ruin the already shredded reputation of this school!" Nigel protested. Tom suddenly raised his head.

"So use it to our advantage instead."

They all stared at him, and he raised his chin slightly. Another, older man raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, Rachel is literally the epitome of everything this school tries to achieve." Tom sat straighter, looking excited. "We tell these kids that their past, their backgrounds don't have to define them. Let's use Rachel to prove it!"

"Oh, she'll love that," Steph muttered under her breath. Tom ignored her.

"If Hordley tries to decry her, turn it around and raise her up instead! We all know the press can be fickle- we can use that. Let Rachel be even more of a role model than she already is."

Eddie considered the solutions that were being thrown around him, trying to wonder which one could get Rachel onboard. They all had potential, but didn't mean a thing if she had no support from those above. "The school only has a good reputation now because of her." He began calmly, trying not to let his emotions run away with him and completely ruin his pitch. He needed to remain cool, needed to look as though he had his thoughts together at least. "She's saved the place."

"She's saved the kids." Tom chipped in, thinking of his own dealing with Rachel ever since she started at Waterloo Road. "My own included, she's brilliant."

Nigel was starting to get annoyed, and the rest seemed to be restless as they decided which end of the table they stood at. "That may be, but the point still stands." He wanted to support the staff, but couldn't let his own personal thoughts and judgement cloud the job he had at hand. He wished things were as simply as Eddie so clearly wanted them to be, but it would be him and his team picking up the slack if this all blew up in their faces.

"Screw the point."

"Steph!" Eddie exclaimed, knowing that she wasn't going to be helping their points with cutting statements like that.

Only Steph simply shrugged her shoulders, whispering a pathetic apology. "I'm sorry." Then she seemed to catch what she had said automatically and shook her head, standing higher as she once again found her voice. "No, I'm not actually. Screw the point. There's no point without her, not really. I've been here the longest so I know that." She'd seen many headteachers, but none like Rachel. They barely got on most of the time but she would have to be blind to ignore how much Rachel cared for every part of the school, staff included.

"There's never been a doubt about her ability to lead a school." Harry cut in, not wanting to start an even bigger argument other than the issue that was at hand.

"So that shouldn't stop now." Eddie spoke once more, pulling it back from Steph before she really let her emotions run away with her. Although he was appreciating the support, and knew Rachel wouldn't believe him if he repeated just how much Steph was helping to fight for her job. "We can think of logistics later, what to say and how to handle the press. All I need to know is if she still has a job."

"She's going to be a mother." Jasmine added, trying to attack the group facing them from an emotional point of view. Some of them were women, and most of them had children of their own.

Tom murmured his agreement, grateful that Jasmine had reminded them all of the fact, before putting in his own comments. "To twins, don't forget." He knew Eddie wanted to make it personal, wanted to fight and beg for Rachel's job because of their future. He couldn't do that, couldn't let himself be seen as too involved or biased even though he was. That's why they were all needed. A united front was probably essential, and would definitely have helped the case they were presenting. But they were also there to voice the opinions that Eddie wasn't able to, and luckily Tom was more than happy to help out with that.

"The kids aren't a problem, they know how much she loves the school and loves them. The press can be dealt with. Our only issue, is you." Eddie put simply, knowing all it took was a small answer and the agreement before they could all go about their summers. The fire had worked in their favour in one way, in that it would take the press a long time to pick up on Rachel's story and if they had a press release ready to go for when that happened? It would more than likely be swept under the carpet and not be worth printing. "So, do we have your support to keep Rachel here?"