After Tommy had told Elizabeth of Changretta's plan, she had stayed awake by his side all night. She had fretted while he had lain there silently. Her hand had ran over his tattoo on his chest, her fingers then moving to tangle into his short hair. He had let his own hand run up and down her naked back, his fingers tickling along her spine. It had felt like an age until the sun broke and Tommy climbed from the bed. Elizabeth had followed, the two of them dressing silently.

Tommy had gone to kiss Charlotte on the top of her head as she slept before finding his wife in the kitchen sipping a cup of tea. He ran a hand to her shoulder, squeezing it tightly in his fingertips as he bent down to kiss her on the cheek.

"Its goin' to be alright, Liz," he promised her in a gentle voice. "Yer 'ear me?"

"That still does not stop me from worrying," she responded. "Tommy, can you promise me that you will look after yourself. I need you to come home. I need you to come back."

"And I will," Tommy said. "We 'ave this all set up, Liz. He's goin' to be ambushed and we're goin' to win. Half of 'is men will be killed. This will be over soon."

"I hope so," Elizabeth responded as Tommy picked his coat up and shrugged into it before his wife stood up, holding onto her cup of tea as she leaned back slightly, an ache in her spine no doubt from her pregnancy. "So you want me to stay here while you go off and do this?"

"Exactly what I want, yeah," Tommy nodded his head at his wife and she bit down on her tongue as she felt him take her by the waist, his hands gripping onto her tightly as she looked him in the eye. "I've got this covered, alright? Just stay 'ere with Charlotte and I'll be 'ome soon."

"I love you, Thomas Shelby," Elizabeth said to him in a small voice.

"And I love yer too," Tommy said. "That's why I'm doin' this, alright? I'm doin' this for us…for our family…to keep us safe."

"I know."

Tommy moved to kiss her hastily before picking up his cap and placing it on his head. He moved to kiss Elizabeth again before he left, knowing that if he didn't go then he would just want to stay with her. The warmth, comfort and safety of bed had almost been too glorious to consider leaving, but he knew that he had to go. He had to go and stop Changretta from advancing any further. He had to keep his family safe.

Elizabeth had sat with Charlotte that morning, teaching her as much as possible considering she couldn't go to school. Charlotte had asked where Tommy was and Elizabeth had simply said that he had business to take care of. She didn't want to worry her daughter, preferring to keep her in the dark on what her father was actually doing. She wondered if there would come a time when Charlotte discovered the truth about Tommy. The two of them as parents had tried to keep their daughter sheltered as best as possible. Neither of them wanted her to grow up in a world filled with violence. They wanted her to be safe.

But this was Tommy. Tommy was a man with a past. He was a man who had killed. He was a man who broke laws. At one time Elizabeth had thought that meant he couldn't be a good man. There had been a time when she had questioned who she had fallen in love with. But then she had grown up. She saw that the world was not as simple as she thought it had been when she was a little girl. The fact that Tommy had committed crimes and done bad things did not make him a bad person. From Elizabeth's experience, no one was perfect. Everyone had done bad things.

It took a few hours before the door to the house opened and Tommy walked back in. Elizabeth had gasped out in pure relief as soon as she saw her husband walk back into the house. But what bothered her was the sight of him. He was dishevelled, a cut above his lip and a bruise on his cheek. Elizabeth moved with haste and took hold of his cheeks inside of her hands.

"What happened?" she asked from her, her voice full of concern as Tommy tossed his cap onto the table and Charlotte looked to her father as his gaze remained on her mother.

"The police interrupted," Tommy muttered. "Changretta is still out there. They beat me up…hit me…I retaliated. The police aren't in my pocket anymore."

"They hit you?" she worried and Tommy nodded his head. "Tommy, if you don't have control of them anymore then what does that mean? What will happen?"

"We'll be fine," Tommy promised her. "I killed three men and Changretta will retaliate. We'll be fine, alright, Liz? I 'ave the family comin' round later. They will want to know what happened."

"Are you going to tell them the truth?" she wondered from him. "About your plan?"

"I think it's time."

Elizabeth stood by Tommy's side while Charlotte remained perched on Tommy's hip, his arms wrapped his daughter as she held onto him. Glowering to Arthur, Elizabeth felt herself grow with anger as she saw him pour out some snow onto the table. Tommy looked to his wife as he finished explaining to them all what his plans were and how he had worked with Pol to try and finish off Changretta.

"So yer got three of them?" Arthur asked as Elizabeth bit down on her tongue.

"Arthur, please clean that up from the table." She demanded from him.

"Don't worry, Liz, I'll clear it up."

Tommy watched with arched brows as Arthur sniffed up the snow and Elizabeth rolled her eyes and looked to her husband. He merely shrugged, knowing that he had no control over what Arthur did. It took a few more moments before Arthur sniffed and ran a hand underneath his nose.

"That was not what I meant," Elizabeth huffed.

"He can do as he pleases," Linda said, her hands holding onto her husband's shoulders as Pol lit up a cigarette and began smoking.

Finn remained seated and silent, preferring not to get into the middle of an argument with his family. He hated the fighting. He hated how much fighting there had been recently more than ever before.

"Aye, I got three of them," Tommy nodded his head to Arthur's earlier question, hoping to diffuse the tension as his daughter rested her head on his shoulder. "I didn't get Changretta, but he is weak now. He 'as hardly any men."

"So what is our next move?" Arthur wondered.

"We wait," Pol answered. "We wait to see what his next move is and then we retaliate."

"And how long do you think it will be?" Ada wondered. "Luca Changretta is not a patient man, is he? I assume he will be here sooner rather than later."

"Aye," Tommy nodded his head. "I would assume so too."

"So we need a plan," Pol said. "Changretta is goin' to know that I betrayed him. I need to get Michael out of that hospital and hidden. I want Gold to take him and keep him safe. He can go underground and stay there until it is safe."

Nodding, Tommy agreed with that. "I guess so," he said. "So Michael will be safe. Everyone else should go 'ome and just wait until I come up with somethin', alright? We need time to think."

Elizabeth watched as everyone filed out the kitchen. It was only when they were alone did Charlotte turn to her father, looking up to him as Tommy looked back to her. She managed a soft smile for him as he looked down to her, kissing the top of her head as he walked with her into the sitting room.

"You got three what?" Charlotte dared to wonder from her father, not entirely understanding the previous conversation. "What happened, daddy?"

"I stopped three bad men who wanted to hurt us," Tommy told her as he sat down on the settee, keeping Charlotte on his lap as he leaned back, a sense of exhaustion taking hold of him as his wife locked the door and then moved to sit down next to him. "I stopped them from wanting to hurt us."

"But why do people want to hurt us?" Charlotte wondered.

"Because there are some bad people," Tommy responded. "You know them books yer read, eh? The ones with the princesses and the villains?"

"Yes."

"Well, these people are the villains," Tommy said. "And I'm the King, aren't I? And I've got to protect my little princess, 'aven't I?"

Elizabeth managed a soft smile as Tommy kissed Charlotte on the top of her head and held tightly onto her, swearing that he would protect her whatever the cost may be.

….

Elizabeth finished bathing and putting Charlotte to bed a few nights later. The sleeves to her white shirt were tugged up to her elbows and her hair was pulled back from her face, dangling down her back. Her blue skirt was tucked into her shirt and her face was slightly flushed as she moved down to the sitting room where Tommy sat with a glass of brandy. She flopped down next to him, huffing loudly as Tommy arched a brow.

"Tidying everything away took longer than I thought," she spoke to him. "Charlotte should hopefully be asleep soon."

"She will be," Tommy said and he moved an arm over his wife's shoulders. "But I've 'eard of a development, 'aven't I?"

"And what is this development?"

"Luca travelled down to London," Tommy said. "He travelled to Camden."

"Camden?" Elizabeth frowned and sniffed, wrinkling her nose as she moved a hand to grab hold of her husband's around her shoulders. Then she slowly understood what he was telling her. "He went to see Alfie?"

"Aye," Tommy nodded his head. "I think so."

"Why do you think he did that?" Elizabeth wondered.

"Alfie…he's a complicated man," Tommy nodded his head. "It will be business, I know that much. He'll want somethin' from them in return for them wantin' somethin'."

"He will want Alfie to get him access to you," Elizabeth whispered. "Will Alfie betray us, Tommy? Can we trust him?"

"No," Tommy said with a scoff. "We cannot trust anyone, Liz, especially Alfie."

"But you have done business with him before."

"He 'as betrayed me before," Tommy reminded her. "Do you remember that?"

"All too well," Elizabeth whispered. "So what do we do, Tommy?"

"We let Alfie come up to Small Heath and we try to find out what he 'as done," was all that Tommy could say to her. "I don't know what else to do until I look 'im in the eye. I'll know the truth then."

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