Tommy was the second to wake. His vision was blurred and he was struggling to make out where he was for a few moments. He tried to sit up, instantly feeling dizzy once he had completed the motion. His ears were ringing and he heard the distinct scream of a woman's voice calling his name. He looked in her direction, but everything was still fuzzy. It was Ada. It was her voice. He did his best to focus then, knowing that he had to move. Something had happened. It was an explosion, he thought? He pushed himself to his feet and gained his focus, finally able to focus on Ada.

"Tommy…come on," Ada begged her brother, helping him to straighten out. She looked at him and urged him not to lose himself again. "Come on, Tommy, please…"

"Liz," Tommy spoke his wife's name. "Charlotte."

"I need to go and find the kids," Ada said. She sounded much more coherent than Tommy. That was a good thing. "Liz…she isn't waking, Tommy. She hit her head…she's bleeding…"

"Liz," Tommy said, struggling to understand what she was saying.

"Tommy, we need to get out…this place is on fire…come on. Get her and I will find the kids."

"Mum!"

A boy's voice entered the room and Ada sighed in relief at the sight of Karl moving towards her. She rushed to him and swept him into her arms, hugging him tightly and he didn't even protest this time. After a quick and harsh embrace she pulled back from him and looked him in the eye. "Charlotte and James?"

"They were playing in the room next door…I can't get to it because of the fire."

"Tommy!" Ada shouted her brother once again, but he was knelt next to his wife, holding her against him as he demanded for her to wake up, but she wasn't even moving. Tommy was shaking so much that he was struggling to see if she was even breathing.

"Liz," Tommy spoke his wife's name, "come on, Liz." He wiped her hair from her face, seeing the blood trickling down her forehead and the dirt covering her face. "Liz!"

"Tommy! It is Charlotte!" Ada yelled and Tommy looked over to her as his mind went to his daughter. His little girl. Where was she? "Tommy, there's a fire and she's stuck. We need to get out."

Tommy nodded, focusing once more and reaching down for Liz. He picked her up, cradling her against his front as she flopped in his arms and he rushed to the door, following Ada and Karl. The young boy led them down the staircase to the first floor and along the corridor through to the large painting room. The fire had engulfed the doorway into the other room as Karl pointed over to it. "They were in there."

"The fire…Tommy…" Ada said, horror coursing through her veins as she felt the heat and saw the wooden floor begin to fall away. Tommy shook his head as he heard his daughter's voice.

"Daddy! Daddy, help!"

Tommy was not leaving without her. There was absolutely no chance he was doing that. He laid Elizabeth down on the window seat, hand brushing against her cheek as she remained unconscious and he shrugged out of his coat. Ada shook her head, grabbing Tommy by the arm. "Tommy…you…" she trailed off. She couldn't tell him not to do this. It was his daughter. It was his ward. He could not stop.

"Yer keep an eye on 'er," Tommy demanded from his sister. "Take Liz downstairs…between yer both, can yer do that?"

"Yes," Karl was the one to speak, already trying to pick Elizabeth up. Ada went to help, looking at her brother once more as he glanced at the flames and thought about the best way to get to his daughter.

"Tommy, that floor is going to cave in at any second," she warned him.

"I ain't leavin' em," Tommy said to his sister.

He pulled his coat on over his head and moved hastily yet cautiously, knowing that one wrong move would cost him dearly. The heat of the flames burned around him as he ran through the doorway into the next room. But the fire was burning everywhere. He looked around, too anxious to peel the coat too far from his body, acutely aware that it was the only thing he had to protect him from the smoke and the flames to an extent.

"Charlotte! James!" he shouted their names.

"Daddy!" Charlotte screeched again and he ran towards her voice that had come from the next room. He found the two of them huddled in the corner, James with his arm around Charlotte as they hid as far away from the flames as they could in one of the dorms. Tommy nodded and moved towards them. He dropped to his knees, his hands moving over his daughter's face. "Yer alright, eh?" he asked and she nodded quickly, tears streaming down her face.

"James?" Tommy asked, looking at the young boy, a hand going to his shoulder. The boy nodded.

"We need to get out of 'ere," Tommy said, but as soon as he spoke, the wooden floor began collapsing in, the flames advancing closer towards them. Charlotte shrieked at the loud banging noise of the falling floor and Tommy gathered her into his arms, holding her tightly against him while James also recoiled.

Looking around the room, Tommy knew he had to act quickly. He stood up and looked to the bed. They had wooden frames. He moved, dismantling one of them, kicking at the frame until he broke a piece of wood from it. James watched him, staying with Charlotte and keep her in his sight. Tommy moved to a window, jumping onto the frame and smashing the glass with the wood. He made sure the edges were clear of shards as he inhaled the clean air for a second.

"James, 'elp me," Tommy demanded and he began to grab one of the mattresses from the bed. James did as he was told, grabbing the other hand and helping Tommy manoeuvre it out to the window, dropping it on the ground beneath.

"Right," Tommy said. "James, yer jump first, okay?"

James nodded and Tommy reached for his daughter, hauling her into his arms and cradling her against his chest. James jumped without fear, knowing that, at worst, he would break a bone. Thankfully, he landed on the mattress softly and was immediately up.

"Charlotte, I need yer to be brave, alright?" Tommy said, voice stern as he looked at his daughter. "James is down there and he is goin' to catch yer, alright?"

His daughter nodded and he helped her into the window frame. She hesitated for a moment, but James's comforting words from down beneath urged her on. He kept on telling her that it wasn't far to the ground and he would be right there waiting for her. She nodded and a soft hand from Tommy on the small of her back urged her forwards. She jumped and landed safely, Tommy's heart in his mouth the entire time he watched her hurtle downwards.

Saying nothing, he jumped without a second thought, landing slightly awkwardly on the ground. He rolled from the mattress in time to hear Charlotte scream as soon as she saw Elizabeth. She was on the ground, Ada huddled over her. As Tommy stood up, he knew that his wife was still not breathing.

Sitting in the hospital, Tommy had refused to move. He had refused to leave Elizabeth's side as she rested in a bed in a private room after Tommy had paid extra for her privacy. Charlotte was curled up in his lap. She had taken her place there as soon as she had come into the room, climbing into his lap and taking hold of his arm. She had urged him to wrap it around her, sensing he was in a non-responsive mood. He moved then, wrapping both of his arms around her as Charlotte rested her cheek against his chest.

He didn't say anything, even when he felt his legs turn numb from holding her for too long. She didn't move either. She was content simply draped on his lap. Pol had come and gone and Ada had done the same. She had gone home with Karl, the two of them leaving with tears in their eyes.

James was sat in the chair next to Tommy. The young boy had also remained silent, knowing that there was no use in making conversation with Tommy. He didn't want to talk. Words would not make Elizabeth wake up and that was the only thing that Tommy had wanted.

Pol informed him that they were on the case to try and find out who had done this, telling him that the entire place had burnt down. Tommy's heart ached for his wife. She had spent months planning that school and now it was practically gone. It had been destroyed. But they would worry about that when Elizabeth woke up. A building meant nothing to him in that moment.

The doctor had warned him that she had hit her head awkwardly. From the tests they had done on her, they could see that she was unresponsive. She was breathing, but she had not responded to anything. Tommy could not even begin to comprehend her not waking up. His Liz would make it. She had made it through worse things than this. She was strong. She was stronger than the doctors knew.

"Please wake up," Charlotte's voice snapped Tommy out of the trance he was in of just staring at his wife. "Mummy…please…"

Tommy gulped at that; he had no words for his daughter. He didn't have anything he could say to Charlotte. All he could do was hold onto her even tighter, bending down to kiss her on the top of her head.

Several Years Earlier

Tommy didn't think anything would be the same when he came back from the war. In a way, nothing was the same. He was a different man. He was completely changed and the Small Heath he had come back to was also different. He had spent the war hoping that one thing would be the same when he came back. He needed just one thing to be the same: his Liz. Not a day went by where he didn't think about Pol's words in her letters, telling him that the girl had moved on. But, deep down, Tommy didn't believe that.

He knew Liz. He knew her and he knew that she would not abandon him. She had agreed to marry him. Tommy had to survive the war to get back and find out what had happened because, despite the war completely destroying all of his spirt, he had some semblance on hope that his Liz would still want him.

And then he had seen her at the Kimber Manor that day. He had seen her and she wasn't the woman he had left behind either. She was scared of her brother. She had been locked away, being used by him when he wanted to taunt her. But one thing hadn't changed. She still loved him. She still wanted him. And he still loved and wanted her.

The night they had got married had been perfect until Sabini had ruined it. Before Liz had fallen to sleep and Tommy had received a message from his brother, they had laid there, just talking. Tommy found himself unable to look away from her, wondering if she was truly real. He stroked her cheek, his fingers running over soft skin and into the wisps of her hair.

"How long do you think we will be married?" she had asked him, laid on her side with a content look on her face, the covers pulled up to her chin. Tommy had pushed it down to his waist, still feeling too warm after their previous activities. Elizabeth trailed a finger along the tattoo on his chest.

"Well, I believe we vowed until death us do part," Tommy said in an entertained voice.

She smiled, a genuine teeth-baring smile. "I meant; how long do you think that will be together? Can you imagine us being old and doddery together…surrounded by grandchildren?"

"What?" Tommy asked. "Liz, I 'aven't even thought about gettin' yer pregnant yet."

"How romantic," Elizabeth nudged him in his chest and Tommy grabbed hold of her wrists, moving to pin her down against the mattress. She laughed loudly as Tommy fell in between her thighs and he propped himself onto his elbows so he didn't crush her completely.

"What do yer want, eh, Liz?" he asked from her and let go of her wrists. She moved her hands up and onto his shoulders.

"I want to grow old…with children…you and me just being a boring, normal couple. I know that is an idea you probably hate."

"Nah," Tommy said. "By the time I reach a certain age I'll want borin'…and kids…I want kids."

"A boy or a girl?"

"Doesn't matter."

She rolled her eyes. "You must have a preference."

"Do yer?"

"Well, yes," she admitted to him, "but I do not care really. Hopefully we'll be able to have a few kids…have a boy and a girl, but I really want a girl."

"Do yer?"

"I want to have a relationship with her like I had with my mother," Elizabeth said, massaging his shoulders. "I miss that."

"I know," Tommy said. And he did know. She missed her mother terribly and he could not blame her for that.

"What about you?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Aye, a girl," Tommy said with a nod.

"What? Not a boy to take over your business empire?" she teased him and Tommy chuckled, bending down and kissing the tip of her nose.

"Nah, a girl," Tommy said. "A daughter…I'd spoil 'er rotten…protect 'er…she'd never date though, Liz. No man would ever come close to 'er."

Elizabeth laughed at that, nodding her head. "I can picture you chasing any potential suitor away from her."

"Too right," Tommy mumbled and Elizabeth sighed in a soft voice and Tommy rolled off of her, his arm going around her shoulders to bring her close to him. Resting her head on his chest, she closed her eyes, her hand sitting next to her head as she yawned.

"Surrounded by our kids…old age…knowing that we led a happy life…me and you…that's all I want."

"We can 'ave that. I promise yer, Liz. I promise yer."

She said nothing more, instead she kissed him and went back to resting against his chest. She closed her eyes and fell asleep as Tommy continued to cradle her, silently hoping that he could give her all of that. It was the least that she deserved from him.

.

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