To Fix a Broken Heart

Summary: She was broken, fragile and in pieces. Cora was a troubled girl who just happened to get involved with the Shelby family. No one ever asks for a dangerous life but when it's thrown at you, there are only two things you can do; let it engulf you or run away and she didn't want to run.

The Real Deal

As the anaesthesia wore off, Cora slowly started to come around; she could hear the birds outside the window chirping as the sun came up. She opened her eyes slowly and looked to her side, Tommy was there, his arm wrapped around her as he caught some sleep. His shirt was wrinkled from the way he had lay throughout the night and she wondered how long he had been here; she couldn't remember much about the abortion and that was a small blessing, she just didn't understand why he was still here; she was under no illusions, she knew that he was trying to keep face for his kids. He should've been at home with them. Cora lay for a moment longer, watching as he slept just for a second before she attempted to escape from under his arm without disturbing him, but her effort was unsuccessful.

"Ya need to stay in bed." He mumbled tiredly as he rolled onto his back. "For at least a week."

"I can't stay in bed for a week, I need to be back on my feet."

"Don't try to move from this bed, not unless I'm here." With a groan, he sat up and stretched out the knots in his back. "You're going to have a bit of bleedin' so don't panic yourself." He yawned and stood up, lifting his cigarettes from the windowsill.

She watched him light up his cigarette and got herself comfortable in the middle of the bed. "Why are you still here, won't your wife be angry with you?"

"That's for me to worry about, not you." He peered down onto the street below and watched the people on the ground go about their normal lives. In a way he envied them, the older he got the more he wanted the peace and quiet, but Tommy knew that he'd only get bored of that mundane life. When he looked at Cora, he saw the potential to have the best of both worlds; he didn't know the ins and outs of her life, but it wasn't dull. "Lizzie isn't stupid, she knows we aren't happy. She just likes to pretend that we are."

"Then why don't the two of you go your separate ways?"

He snickered at her naivety, when children were involved, it wasn't that simple. Cora entertained the idea of leaving Edward because they didn't have other people to worry about, he did. "Not with the kids."

"And what happens if the two of us work out and we fall hard for each other? What then?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there." He turned around and took a step towards the bed. "Ya need to get some rest and stop workin' yourself up." He grabbed his jacket and threw it on quickly, fastening the top button only.

"Where are you going?"

"To face the music." He marched towards the door and took one more glance back at her. "Stay in that bed."

She watched him walk out the door and listened as he jogged down the stairs until the front door closed behind him. Being stuck in this bed, in this room made her feel like she was on a deserted island. Tommy could be gone for hours and she wasn't going to just sit here and wait. Tommy underestimated how well she could deal with pain, her toes were mangled from her pumps, she had broken bones and she was never fussed at the sight of blood. Life had to return to normal, she wasn't going to feel sorry for herself anymore. Her life had to get better and it wouldn't by sitting in a room all week.

Thankfully, she packed a dress that suited her better instead of that long frock and she tried to spruce up her appearance, a bit of rouge to give her colour and distract people from the black bags under her eyes. She paid a pretty penny for a walking stick to support her as she stepped back into the academy, the pain in her womb felt like she was being stabbed but being out in the real world was better than isolation.

"You have the nerve showing your face after what you did," her father completely ignored the shape that Cora was in, all he could see was red, "I had to buy Mosely a whole new suit, and not just some tatter from the markets; he wanted designer. Not only that but he didn't give the academy a single penny! He'll probably blacklist us."

"I will donate the money myself; you will still get your precious donation." She realised that she was hunched over, she could feel the strain in her back. As she straightened up, she stared her father in the eye and cocked a brow at him. "Money isn't everything. Is the building still standing?"

"Well… Yes…"

"And am I charging the academy for my time or my expertise?"

"No…"

"So, what are you crying for? If I started charging you, you'd be bankrupt." she tilted her head at him and walked away from him. "But you will have to find a new teacher, I plan on getting back onto the stage."

"Do you really think you can teach with that stick? Why do you have that anyway? What's happened now?" he called out after her, but he didn't get a reply. "Cora!"

"It's none of your concern, father. Go back to worrying about what Mosely and the MPs think about you." She rested her hand on the door to her training room and glanced over at him as he stared back at her in disbelief; it wasn't like Cora to be so blunt with him, he knew that she had disagreed with him on many things, but she never made her opinions as clear as she did now.

"Grief is a horrid thing, but it has changed you and not for the better."

There was an envelope waiting for him when he sat down behind his desk, it must've been hand delivered as the envelope was blank. When he opened it, the export license he had asked for faced him. This license confirmed to him that Dominik was as important as Tommy had originally thought which only made him more dangerous. With the weight of a government behind him, Dominik was untouchable, if Tommy decided to get rid of him it would only wreak havoc. He had to comply and follow his instructions. There was no way of getting round it now. There was a knock on his door and when Lizzie entered the room, she didn't look pleased to see him.

"You have a visitor; he's been waiting on ya for the past hour. Kept asking when ya would be home and I told him, your guess is as good as mine."

"Is it the same person that delivered this?" he held up the envelope.

She rolled her eyes at him, of course he would just breeze past her comment. Lizzie knew that he didn't care for petty arguments with her, but she just wanted him to show that he cared about her every once in a while. The moments he did were few and far between. "Yes, Tommy."

"Where is he?"

"In the sittin' room." He erupted from his chair and marched past her, making her jump back a little. She had no idea what was going on, all she could do was follow behind him. "Where were ya all night?" she asked curiously as she tailed him down the hall.

"Not now, Lizzie." He replied as he stepped into the living room. He stared down at Dominik as he sat in Tommy's armchair with a cup of tea in his hand and the kids playing innocently by his feet with their wooden cars.

"Mr Shelby, it's nice of you to finally show up." He placed his cup on the table beside him and got onto his feet, rubbing the creases out of his trousers. "You have such a lovely little family."

"Why don't we discuss our business in my office?"

"Whatever you want," as he stepped past Lizzie, he gripped her by the arm and gave her a soft smile, "thank you for the tea and for entertaining me for the last while."

Tommy stopped in his tracks and glared at Dominik, Lizzie returned his smile and shrugged her shoulders. "If anythin', I should be thankin' you for proper conversation." Her eyes turned to Tommy and a sharp look crossed her face.

Tommy led him into the office and closed the door tight behind them, watching closely as Dominik looked at every painting and picture in fine detail. He knew exactly what Dominik was trying to do, show him that he could weasel his way into his life and blow it up from the inside if Tommy didn't do what he was told. He wouldn't show his anger, he'd keep that deep inside him and play it cool. Being unbothered would bother Dominik.

"Now that you have what you were asking for, it's time for you to keep your end of the deal. I believe you were at a Mosely's party a few months ago," Dominik lowered himself into a chair and looked at Tommy in anticipation, "I believe the two of you had a brief conversation, according to my source, things looked well. Has the situation developed anymore?"

"Ya told me to let Mosely come to me."

"And to keep his interest, has he spoken with you since that party?"

"No, but I've heard he's visited Birmingham and when I see 'em in Parliament, we're sitting rows apart."

"Well, for your sake you may pray that he's still fascinated by you because I know that you don't fear death, but I'm sure that lovely wife of yours does." The two men kept their eyes locked on each other, it was a power play and Dominik knew himself that he was coming out on top, Tommy couldn't do anything without his world falling around him. "I've left a number with your maid, call it when you have something substantial to tell me, and remember that I have eyes everywhere." He got out of his chair and stepped towards the door. "I will see you soon."

Tommy leaned against the fireplace as he listened to Dominik's car turn on the stones and drive off; he needed to keep his focus on this business with the Russians and on Mosely, he knew himself that he was paying too much attention towards Cora, but he couldn't help himself. There was something about her that made him careless and that was risky. He needed to come up with a course of action, he had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that he wouldn't survive another round with the Russians, and he needed to prepare for the inevitable.

"I'm not taking the kids anywhere until you tell me what's goin' on." Lizzie wasn't going to be kept in the dark anymore, she wanted Tommy to be able to rely on her the same way he did with Grace. She was his wife now, whatever he was dealing with, she wanted to share that burden.

"Lizzie, don't fight back, not this time." He wouldn't raise his voice; he wasn't going to drag this out with another argument. "You, Charlie and Ruby need to go with Johnny dogs. I've already called and he's goin' to take the three of ya somewhere safe."

If Tommy thought it was important for them to go, she would trust his judgement. "How long will we be gone for?"

"Until it's safe enough."

"And who will you be with while we're gone?" she folded her arms and tilted her head up, glaring down at Tommy. She had a feeling since the first night Tommy came home late that there was something going on behind her back.

"What do ya mean? I'll be here or in London tryin' to keep my head above water."

"You know what I mean… You'll be seeing Cora while I'm gone." She knew that she shocked him, although his face didn't give anything away, his eyes did. The way his pupils dilated at the mention of her name, it was the answer she was looking for. "Don't try to deny it. That night of the wake, I woke up and ya weren't there. I got up to look for ya, and from the landin', I saw the two of you come out of a room, speakin' all hushed."

"Nothin' has happened between Cora and I."

"Ya wouldn't admit it anyway, when it comes to her, you've an excuse for everythin'." Lizzie composed herself and slipped out of the room before she said something she'd regret. If she was going to be sent away, she was going to do so with her dignity intact. At the end of the day, Lizzie was the wife, Cora would only be his mistress if she were still bound to Tommy.

"Back's straight, keep your feet together!" Cora paced along the row of the young ballerina's, her walking stick ticking against the wood like a clock with every step. "And plié, hold it," When the door opened, she ignored the intrusion and approached one of the youngsters who was struggling, resting her hand on the middle of her back, she spoke quietly to the girl, "straighten up, you're looking like me, hunched over." She smiled a little at the girl as she stepped away and finally looked to see who interrupted her lesson. Tommy sat in the corner, his leg crossed over the other lazily as he watched her, unimpressed by her attendance at the class. "And back up, feet still together." She took in a deep breath and stepped towards the back of the studio. "Okay girls, that's us for today. Go grab your bags and get yourselves changed."

Tommy waited for the girls to leave before he approached Cora. "What did I tell ya about stayin' in bed and gettin' rest?"

"I am fine, the bleeding hasn't been too bad, and the pain is nothing I can't handle." She kept most of her weight on the stick and straightened herself out, she wasn't going to let him see her doubled over. "Would you sit in bed all day, staring at the same four walls?"

"If I had to rest."

"You wouldn't, I can tell. I'm not going to sit around all day and wallow in my miseries again, that's not me, not anymore." She raised a brow at him when she noticed the sullen expression on his face. "What's happened?"

"I'm not gettin' into details, but I need to stay at Braeleigh Manor."

If Tommy didn't want to talk, she wasn't going to push him; she knew that he would tell her what was troubling him when he was ready. It was her turn to look out for him, whatever he needed she would try her best to provide it. "Of course, you can stay there for however long you need."

"I might have to stay for a while, just until I work a few things out. You don't mind that, do you?"

"If it's okay with you, it's okay with me."

A:N Thank you so much for reading and the continued support! Will Tommy be able to get out of his deal with the Russians? Do you think he'll burden his family with this mess? How will Cora factor into his life now that Lizzie has an idea of what's going on? Next chapter hopefully finished soon!