Elizabeth had many questions for the Shelby boy who was leading her to his home. She had not struggled against him, nor had she bothered to ask him questions in the middle of the street. Instead she kept quiet as he led her through the back streets of Birmingham, his hand pressed against the small of her back to keep her close to him and moving forwards.

Tommy was grateful that her tears had dried up for now. He didn't know how much more he could put up with if she insisted on crying. He had taken a cigarette from his pocket and allowed the taste to linger in his mouth, almost as though it held the answer to his sudden problem.

If he had any common sense he would chuck the girl to one side and tell her to fend for herself. She would find work as a whore. She would be an asset to a brothel if she was a virgin like Tommy anticipated. It was only when Tommy stood outside of his house did he find himself grateful that his family would be at The Garrison for the next few hours.

"What the hell am I doin'?" Tommy wondered as he unlocked the door and pushed it open.

He held the door open for Liz, allowing her to step inside. She looked at him cautiously before she took the first step inside. The Shelby household smelled like her father's parlour: it smelled of smoke. She coughed once, placing a delicate fist over her mouth to stop her from coughing too loudly. The kitchen was small and dirty glasses and plates rested on the table.

She pulled at her hands and placed them on her skirt, unsure of what to do with herself. Tommy seemed to know exactly what to do as he poured himself a glass of whiskey and she watched him. Liz was confused. She was confused and she wanted answers from the Shelby boy. Why was he helping her? She had met him once before and that was it.

"So, yer a Kimber?" Tommy checked with her and she kept silent. "Robert Kimber's only daughter."

"Why am I here?" Liz dared to ask, knowing that there was no point in answering a question he knew the answer to. "I do not know you. Why would you offer to help me?"

Tommy placed his tumbler back down on the surface of the table, his hands moving to rest flat on the wood as he kept his gaze narrowed and focused on the girl opposite him. "Would you rather I let them take you with yer mother?"

"Yes," Liz truthfully answered. "What am I supposed to do now? I cannot return to our room."

"Aye," Tommy agreed with her, pouring himself another glass of alcohol as Liz wondered how much he could handle. "Looks like you will have to fend for yourself. You 'ave a job, more than most people in this city. Find another room or move somewhere else."

"Oh, and it is that simple," Liz muttered, looking away from him to hide the tears which threatened to fall down her cheeks. "How am I supposed to survive? I barely earn enough."

"Then go back to your father," Tommy shrugged his shoulders to her. "Do you think that I care what you do? Yer mother asked me to help you and I did that. Now it is up to you. Don't expect folk to pity you 'round 'ere."

Elizabeth's gaze shot back to Tommy as he stood tall and shrugged his grey coat from his shoulders as she realised just how harsh the man before her was. Shaking her head, her curls bounced around her face and Tommy took in the way her teeth ground together when she was annoyed.

"I do not want your pity!" she yelled at him.

"Good," Tommy replied calmly. "You don't 'ave it. What is it? Daddy beat mummy up once…but it all got too much when he hit his daughter. Mummy wasn't goin' to take that, was she, eh? She ran off? And now you 'ave a life without afternoon tea and the fine gowns?"

Shaking her head, Elizabeth allowed her eyes to grow wide and wet. How dare he assume to know what it was like? How dare he stand there and judge her without knowing the full story of what had happened? Elizabeth refused to be spoken to in such a manner. Never before had a man dared to talk down to her like Thomas Shelby had done, and he did not know her.

"You know nothing," Elizabeth told him, her hands clenched into fists by her side. "You rude and inconsiderate bastard."

Elizabeth was not one to curse, but the anger inside of her had grown too much. If only she knew that words barely affected Tommy. He had to admit that he was shocked more than he was hurt. He, actually, wasn't hurt at all. He had been called worse down The Garrison by men twice her size and it hadn't bothered him.

"Do you honestly think he hit my mother once?" Elizabeth asked of him. "He spent weeks dishonouring her…taking other women to her bed. She questioned him and he hit her. He didn't hit her just the once. He hit her more than that. Why would you understand? I trust you take his side and have no issue with harming women?"

Elizabeth couldn't understand why nothing she said was hitting a nerve with him. He was always calm and collected. It was starting to wind Liz up more than she cared to admit. She did her best not to look hysterical, but everything her father had done was replaying in her mind. And her mother had been sent back to him.

"I have an Aunt and a sister," Tommy told her, moving to sit down on a wooden chair as she remained stood where she was. "I would never lay a finger on a woman."

Elizabeth looked away then, unable to cope with his harsh blue gaze. Moving slightly, she sunk down into an already pulled out chair, her arms folded over the wooden surface of the table as she bowed her head and Tommy nodded, intrigued to learn more of the girl.

"And so he hit you because you defended yer mother?" Tommy checked.

Liz wiped the moisture from the corner of her eyes. "Not quite," she spoke. "My brother preferred to put me in my place. I told him what I thought of father hurting mother. He told me what he thought of my insolence. It started out as the odd grab…a tight hand around my arm…threatening me of my place. He would be cruel and kind in the same moment. His grip would be tight but his hand would caress my hair. It kept on going for some time…there would be days when I barely said anything but he liked to have control. One day I grew tired of it all…and that was when he hit me."

Elizabeth could think of how Billy's face had shown no remorse as she had fought his grip. His hands had clawed at her upper arms. He had tugged at her before he had slapped her and sent her tumbling. She thought that he might have hurt her more before their mother stopped him.

"Mother said that was enough," Elizabeth concluded in a whisper.

Tommy watched her. She was weak. He could see that. She had grown up with everything served on her lap and she had no idea how to fend for herself. Tommy almost pitied her, but he remembered that there were plenty of woman in this world with abusive husbands. They suffered as much as Elizabeth Kimber, but none of them were in his kitchen.

"And if you went back to 'im?" Tommy wondered from her. "What do you think would happen?"

Elizabeth shrugged. "I suspect I would be taught a lesson, just as mother will be."

"And do you want to go back?" Tommy continued to question her.

She looked to his blue eyes and shook her head, her small mouth parting slightly as she sucked in a small breath. "No," she admitted. "I want my mother back."

"You can't 'ave both," Tommy told her. "That is the harshness of the situation."

"I know," Liz said and Tommy sensed that she had calmed down from her previous state.

"Your mother wanted you to stay," Tommy told her, playing with the glass in his hands. "She told me she doesn't want you goin' back to yer father."

"But how can I let her go back to him?" Liz asked of Tommy. "How can I allow her to suffer when I am not? It is cruel and unfair of me."

"Aye," Tommy agreed. "But why should both of you suffer when there is no need?"

"What a cruel thing to say," Liz responded.

"The world is a cruel place," Tommy shrugged.

Shaking her head, Elizabeth sighed softly and Tommy felt his eyes prick up as the sound of the door opened. There was no usual drunken noise from the boys. Looking to the door, Tommy saw Aunt Polly enter the home, her gaze moving to the back of Liz's head as she looked to her nephew, wondering if he knew the trouble which had been caused.

"Tommy," Pol whispered his name. "She isn't who I think she might be, is she?"

Elizabeth stood up as Tommy made a move to stand, walking around the table and towards his Aunt Pol. "Aye, the girl is the missing Kimber girl."

"Jesus Christ, Thomas," Polly whispered, shaking her head as she moved with haste to the windows, pulling the curtains shut as Elizabeth whirled around to keep up with the woman's movement. "Robert Kimber has his men roaming the streets looking for 'er. Do you know how much trouble you will be in if she is found 'ere?"

"He has his wife back," Tommy spoke. "She told his men that her daughter had ran off."

"And do you know what happened to his wife?" Pol hissed before realising her words.

Elizabeth Kimber's eyes widened and she watched as Pol did a double take, shaking her head and moving to lock and bolt the door. Tommy stood behind Elizabeth as the girl's glare narrowed.

"What happened to her?" Elizabeth demanded.

Pol didn't want to do this to the girl. She knew how hard it was to lose family. She knew more than most did. She watched on as Elizabeth took a step closer to her and Pol saw no trace of frailty there like she had expected. The girl was worried. She could see that from her shaking hands, but she was holding herself strong.

"Her carriage was found with her inside of it…a shot to the head," Pol said.

Tommy bowed his head, closing his eyes as Elizabeth remained mute. She didn't lash out or yell. She said nothing. She remained stood where she was. Silence enveloped the room as Pol wondered what her reaction would be. She half expected the girl to faint due to how pale she had become in that moment. Saying nothing, Pol looked over to Tommy, both of them exchanging a knowing glance.

Harbouring Elizabeth Kimber was dangerous. The girl was a liability. Yet Pol had seen women suffer before. She had seen girls younger than Elizabeth go through horrid ordeals. Did she feel for them? Of course. Was she foolish enough to involve herself? No.

"What do we do?" Pol asked Tommy.

Noting how Liz rocked on her feet, Tommy caught her under her arms before she could fall to the ground, the news finally manifesting inside of her. Tommy helped her to sit down, placing her in a chair, his hands still holding her upper arms. He barely noted how his thumbs ran small circle patterns on her arms as he spoke with Pol.

"If they find her 'ere then we're as good as dead," Tommy whispered.

"And we give her up?" Pol asked Tommy. "What life does she go back to, Tommy?"

Gulping, Tommy knew what Pol would think. "Her father beat her mother whilst her brother beat her. We send her back to that."

"Good God," Pol muttered, shaking her head. "And can we send her back to that?"

"Suffering goes on all around us," Tommy said.

"But none of them are sat here in our house," Pol said, looking to the girl. "We hide her and send her somewhere. She is not our problem by tomorrow morning."

"With what money?" Tommy demanded. "Business is slow, Pol."

Pol was a harsh woman. She placed her family first, yet she was not without a conscience. Pol had feelings. And as she watched this girl sob at her kitchen table she knew that she could not bring herself to hand her over to the men who would come knocking at her door.

"We have enough," Pol told him. "Do you want to wake up tomorrow and think of 'er? What would happen to 'er?"

"I barely know 'er!" Tommy hissed back to her, impressed that Liz had not snapped out of her daze to give her thoughts. "I met 'er once before today. What do I owe 'er?"

"Nothin'," Pol shook her head. "But I know you, Thomas Shelby. You are not a mean man."

Cursing under his breath, Tommy looked down to the top of Liz's head. She was still silent to everything. He wondered if she was even taking any of this is. He doubted it. Saying nothing, Tommy could hear shouts from the street. Pol nodded to him.

"Take her upstairs and I will deal with them," she demanded of him.

Moving with haste, Tommy dragged Liz to her feet. Sensing that she was not much use, Tommy did the only thing he could think of. He knocked her from her feet, and only then did she struggle against him. He moved his arms around her thighs and tipped her over his shoulder, moving with haste to the staircase through the hallway.

"Put me down," Liz demanded, struggling to make her requests comprehensive as Tommy rushed up the staircase. "Just put me down."

"And what do you have to go back for now?" Tommy wondered, knowing that he sounded harsh and cruel, but the girl had to realise she wasn't the only one at risk now. "Your mother is dead, Liz."

Stifling another sob, Liz kept silent as Tommy juggled her on his shoulder and pushed his bedroom door open just as he heard a knock on the downstairs door. Tommy closed his bedroom door and placed Liz gently down, bending over to let her feet touch the ground as her hands moved along his back to his shoulders, resting there as she heard a loud yell enter the house. Her eyes moved to his door, instantly allowing fear to take hold of her at the noise.

"We're looking for an Elizabeth Kimber."

"Michael," Elizabeth whispered, instantly knowing the sound of the man's voice.

She moved a step to the side, but Tommy grabbed her waist, stopping her from going. He knew where all the creaking floorboards were and he knew that there was no use in playing a dangerous game with these men. Liz looked up to him as he allowed his hands to keep a grip on her. She remained still, looking at him with intrigue as he placed a finger to his lips, urging for her to be silent.

Liz had no other option but to comply. The tears stained her cheek as she remained still. She could hear Tommy's breathing as her cheek remained near his chest. She could feel his thumbs move against her blouse as they drew patterns of eight on her skin. Her hands dangled by her sides as Tommy listened to the muttered voices engaged in conversation.

"Who is Michael?" he dared to whisper to Liz.

"Father's advisor," she managed to mutter back to him.

Nodding, Tommy waited with bated breath as Liz remained silent. It was only when they thought that they had gone did Tommy hear a loud bang from downstairs. Liz jumped and Tommy felt her hands move to his upper arms. He could feel her body shake in his and Tommy felt her move closer to him, her cheek practically pressed against his chest.

Pol yelled loudly at the men who had entered the house as they said nothing to her. Tommy feared that they would come upstairs. There was nowhere to hide her without making a noise and Tommy knew that. Holding his breath for a moment, Tommy counted the minutes, relieved that the stairs did not squeak underneath someone's weight.

"Now get out my bloody house!"

The roar of Aunt Pol and the slamming of the door was enough to make Tommy relax as Liz slumped in his grip and he struggled to hold her outright. The girl was exhausted. Moving her to his bed with an arm hooked securely around her waist, Tommy saw that the tears had started to flow down her cheeks again.

"Get some rest," Tommy told her. "They won't be comin' back for you today."

Nodding, Liz remained sat on the edge of his bed as the sorrow consumed her again. Huffing to himself, Tommy pushed his hands into his trouser pockets and knew that he had to have words with Pol about what to do with Elizabeth Kimber.