Elizabeth sat on the end of the bed, Charlotte sleeping in the crib as Tommy packed a case for his trip down to London. Despite the fact the Duchess had demanded he take his wife with him the next time he went down south, he had told Elizabeth that she was going nowhere near the Georgians. She had agreed with that, but had grown with worry at what could happen to Tommy.

"How long do you think you shall be gone?" she asked as he kept his case on her stool and folded a shirt up, but he was hopeless.

"A couple o' days," he told her.

She stood up and moved over to him, taking the shirt from his grip and folding it herself as he let the cigarette continue to dangle from his mouth and she rolled her eyes at the sight of him, her hand moving to hit against his chest once she had finished her folding.

"If you burn that shirt or get on ash on it then you only have yourself to blame," she informed her husband in a low voice as Tommy let his lips quirk upwards at hearing his wife. "You cannot just put out a cigarette for one minute."

"Didn't want to waste it," Tommy shrugged at her as he moved to take hold of her hand inside of his. "There's a lotta things I don't wanna waste right now."

"Is that so?" Elizabeth enquired, moving to let her hand move to his shoulder, her fingers gently digging in as she tried to relieve some of the tension there. Tommy had been on tenterhooks for weeks now and Elizabeth was determined to do something to relieve some of that tension.

"Aye," Tommy said. "Especially while our daughter's asleep."

Elizabeth laughed as she felt him move to stub out his cigarette in the ashtray that rested just behind him on the dressing table. She continued to smile at him as he bent down to kiss her squarely on the mouth and she closed her eyes, wondering when the last time they had been together was. Surely it had to have been the night Pol had said she would take care of Charlotte while Elizabeth and Tommy went out.

"Sometimes it's all I think about," Tommy muttered into her ear as his hands went to the back of the dress she wore, his fingers tugging at the buttons that held it together. "I miss it, Liz."

"I gathered," Elizabeth responded, her voice coy as she moved to kiss his neck once. "The problem is, you are not the only one."

"My wife, the little minx, eh?" Tommy chuckled as Elizabeth brought her lips up towards his chin, her hand running up his neck as Tommy's breathing seemed to hitch as she finally kissed the corner of his mouth.

"I love you, Thomas Shelby," she whispered, her voice low as she spoke to him and continued to press her lips against his mouth in short and sharp pecks as she spoke in between each motion. "I love you more than you know. I need you to stay safe."

Tommy finally finished unbuttoning her dress, his cold hands going to her bare back as the dress remained perched on the edge of her shoulders. She remained silent as she felt him tug on it, his eyes widening as he realised she wasn't wearing any underclothes and he looked amused at the sight.

"No underclothes, Mrs Shelby?" he wondered of her.

"Your little Russian friend interrupted me so I threw on the closest dress I could find," Elizabeth said. "And speaking of her, I still want her nowhere near you."

Thomas chuckled at hearing the jealousy in his wife's voice before looking her in the eye, one hand going to lift her chin up, moving her gaze to his as he searched her stare and he shook his head, the back of his hand moving up and down her cheek.

"You have nothing to worry about," Thomas said. "There's only one woman I 'ave my eye on….always' as been."

Elizabeth moved quickly then, unable to keep her mouth from his as she poured everything she had into the kiss. This was what she wanted. It was all she wanted for the rest of her life. Her and Tommy. That would be enough for her.

"I hear that you went on strike yesterday."

Elizabeth was watching Charlotte in the garden, her daughter crawling on the blanket they sat on. Pol sat on the other side, hand on her forehead while her other hand held a cigarette. She looked over to Elizabeth who looked vaguely amused at what she was hearing.

"The girls in the office 'ad been moaning," Pol informed Elizabeth. "The boys had gone off on some huntin' trip, except for Tommy. They had been forced to look after the shop. Anyway, Linda came in and said all the female workers were off on strike down at the Bull Ring. We joined in."

"Good on you," Elizabeth spoke. "I do not pretend to understand what happens in that shop, but you deserve as much pay as any man."

"Aye," Pol agreed in a low voice. "We do. But, I doubt Tommy would be 'appy if he knew."

Elizabeth shook her head as Charlotte crawled to the end of the blanket and began tugging up handfuls of grass. She watched her daughter as she spoke.

"I doubt that Tommy would be concerned," she informed her. "He has other things to worry over. Did you know how the Duchess was at our home the other day?"

"I 'eard somethin'," Pol said. "Michael muttered somethin', but that boy keeps things from me. What did she want?"

"Apparently Father Hughes is betraying the Georgians," Elizabeth said. "He is working for the government and acting as a double agent. I think that Thomas might have offered to kill him for them, despite the fact I told him not to do that."

Pol chuckled at that, taking a long drag of her cigarette as she tried to ignore her pounding headache after drinking too much the previous day. "Thomas never 'as listened to anyone…except for you…if he thinks he needs to kill this Father Hughes then he will 'ave good reason."

"I know," Elizabeth muttered, "but I still worry over him. I wanted to go to London with him, but he said that there was no chance of that happening. I agreed in the end, but I still think I should have gone to him."

"Perhaps," Pol shrugged at the woman, "but you 'ave a little girl to think of."

Elizabeth kept on watching Charlotte as her daughter continued to tug at the grass. Moving to rest on her side, she moved her hand to pat her daughter's head, letting her fingers tangle through her soft hair as her daughter shrieked and clapped her hands that were still full of grass. Pol laughed at the sight as Elizabeth also chuckled.

"Thomas said that he should be home in a couple of days," Elizabeth said. "Hopefully all of this mess might be a bit more manageable by then."

"Yer handlin' it all very well," Pol mused. "The other day I thought you were goin' to walk out on Tommy, not that I could blame yer."

"And if I do that then who does he have?" Elizabeth wondered. "I had contemplated taking Charlotte and going, but I could not do it. I needed to stay by his side and…I might not be of much use to him out in the business world, but when he comes home I know he needs someone. I just want to help him and keep him safe."

Pol nodded then. "Yer doin' a better job at that than yer think," she promised her.

Before Elizabeth could continue speaking, her brow narrowed at what she was seeing in the distance. A car was driving up towards the mansion. She stood up as Pol turned to look at the sight. Moving to grab hold of Charlotte, Elizabeth rested her against her chest, her head on her shoulder as she stepped off the blanket and towards the stone driveway as Arthur climbed from the car.

"Liz," he greeted her with a nod of his head as John, Finn and Michael all emerged. "I need yer to get inside."

"Excuse me?" Elizabeth said, blinking profusely as she wondered what they were talking about. Her grip on Charlotte seemed to increase as the blue dress she wore swayed in the breeze. "What is happening, Arthur?"

Pol stood then, straightening out her white blouse in her black skirt as she tossed her cigarette on the floor, stamping on it before moving towards the boys, hands on her hips as she spoke.

"Tommy called the office," Arthur said, voice gruff as he spoke. "He told me to get Liz and Charlotte and keep 'em in the house."

"Why?" Elizabeth demanded, worry now coursing through her.

"He didn't say," Michael spoke. "I answered and he sounded…he sounded nervous. Tommy never sounds nervous."

"No," Elizabeth said with a shake of her head. "Why would he be nervous? Where is he?"

"Down in London still," John said, managing to look slightly worried as he spoke. "He said he was goin' to 'ave dinner with the Georgians tonight."

"I need to talk to him," Elizabeth said, her voice frantic as Pol took hold of her by the back, moving her hand along her spin as she tried to soothe her. Liz turned to look to Pol, hoping that the woman understood. "I need to see him."

"If he wants yer in 'ere then there 'as to be a reason," Pol informed her.

"That is what is scaring me," Elizabeth declared. "Something has happened to him…someone has to have threatened him for him to do this."

No one said anything, mainly because they knew she was right. Instead they ushered her into the house as Pol took hold of Charlotte and Elizabeth remained stood by the phone, refusing to leave until she had heard word from her husband.

Tommy had been certain he was dead. He thought that he was. He opened his eyes, unsure of where he was. Father Hughes's men had beaten him after the man had found out of his plan to assassinate him. He had been forced to go the royal's house and apologise for his theory of Father Hughes being a spy. He had been embarrassed in front of them. He had been humiliated.

Thomas did not enjoy being humiliated. He remembered that he had called the office and spoke to Arthur and Michael. He had told them to get his wife home and make sure she was safe. He didn't know if Hughes would go after her, but he didn't want to take any chances. The last thing Tommy remembered was being in Ada's house. He had spoken with the Soviet Embassy, telling them everything about the Economic League and the Georgians. He told them how the Economic League wanted the robbery of the tanks to act as the trigger for the British to cut ties with the Soviets.

And then he had collapsed. He had collapsed and the last thing he had seen had been the image of his wife and daughter in the garden, laughing as they played in the grass. His eyes had closed tightly then and he didn't know where he was when he opened them again.

All he knew was that he felt a warmth holding onto his hand. Peeling his eyes open, he managed to turn his head to the side, looking to see her sat there on the edge of a seat, both of her hands holding onto one of his. Her eyes were wet and tears stained her red cheeks as a sob escaped her.

"Thank God," she whispered, her voice like music to his ear.

He struggled to speak, his voice hoarse and throat tight as he managed a mutter. "What happened?"

"I have no idea, Tommy," she said in a small voice. "Ada called me to tell me that you had been rushed to hospital with concussion…a fractured skill…Christ, Tommy."

She broke down once more and Tommy struggled to comfort her as she continued to sob, bending down to kiss the back of his hand as she managed to look at him, trying not to let her eyes wander to the bandage on his head.

"Charlotte?" he mumbled.

"With Pol at home," Elizabeth responded. "She is safe."

"Good," Tommy muttered.

"Just focus on resting," Elizabeth urged her husband, holding his hand tightly, knowing that she wasn't going to get any information from him while he was in this state. "Rest, Tommy…I'm going nowhere."

Tommy, usually one to argue, didn't bother. Instead he closed his eyes and let sleep wash over him.

A/N: Do let me know what you think!