Elizabeth's eyes widened at hearing Edward. She perched on the edge of her father's desk and folded her arms over her chest, struggling to comprehend what Edward was saying to her. He couldn't be serious. He had to be joking. There was absolutely no chance that she intended to run away and leave her home. She couldn't do it and she wouldn't do it. Shaking her head, she stammered for a few moments and ran her hands along her arms as a sudden chill overcame her.

"You cannot be serious," Elizabeth blurted out, unable to stop herself. "Edward, I thought that your parents liked me. I don't understand where any of this has come from."

"They do like you, Elizabeth," Edward promised her, stepping towards her and resting his hands on top of hers, holding them tightly in his grip as he tried to reassure her that nothing was going to come between them. He would not permit that to happen. He would never permit that to happen. "But they…the name Reid is tainted, Elizabeth, or so they claim. They know about your father and your standing in society is not like ours."

"And why should that matter?"

"It doesn't, not to me," he promised her, squeezing her even tighter as he drew her hands away from her body, holding them against his chest firmly. "But you know what my parents are like. They care about all of that. I could not care less. All I care about is being with you and this is the only way."

"But you're so close to finishing your studies," Elizabeth said to him, shaking her head back and forth and doing her best not to sound too distressed. Although, she suspected, that would prove difficult. "Why would they do this to you now?"

"Because they thought that would stop me from courting you. They thought that I would care more for my studies than you, but I don't," Edward said, the look on his face one of elation, almost as though he didn't care for what his parents had threatened him with. "I don't care about my studies, Elizabeth. All I care about is being with you and if that means I have to work as something else…a baker…in a factory…anything…then I would do it. I would do anything to be with you, Elizabeth."

Elizabeth had to confess that was, perhaps, the most romantic thing that she had heard from him. But she didn't want to hear it. She managed to pull her hands from his fingers, curling them around the desk behind her and shaking her head firmly.

"No," she said to him. "I am not letting you do any of that. I am not letting you give up, Edward. You have always wanted to study law and you are not throwing it away for me."

Edward's brow furrowed as he shook his head, seeing Elizabeth stand up straight and run a hand through her hair, pulling strands free from the pins that held it in a bun at the nape of her neck. He saw the curls drop down her neck as she paced her father's office, hands on her hips.

"Then what would you have me do?" Edward asked her. "You would have marry some woman I do not love? You would give what we have up?"

"Do you think that I want to do any of that?" Elizabeth snapped back at him, turning her gaze back to him as she shrugged her shoulders and flapped her arms by her side, the motion frantic and full of despair. "I hardly want to give you up, Edward, but I am not going to be responsible for you losing your career. I refuse to let that happen."

"And that is why we can run away together."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and Edward's jaw tightened at seeing her. She was almost so dismissive over what he was suggesting. Edward's chin jutted out and he shook his head firmly.

"What? Why is that such a ludicrous idea?" he demanded to know from her.

"Because it is," she sniped back at him. "What makes you think that we could possibly run away together, Edward? We have no money. We would not know where to go…where to live…it would be completely ludicrous and impossible. Besides, my mother is not well. I can hardly leave her right…and my father…they lost Mathilda, I cannot leave them. They cannot lose me as well."

"Darling, they would hardly lose you," Edward said and Elizabeth took her turn to look aggrieved.

"Then what would happen?" she demanded from him. "You are suggesting that we run away together…a midnight flit…do you think that my father would let me do such a thing? Do you think that he would allow me simply to run away? He is a detective, Edward. His job is to find people and solve crimes."

"Then we could tell them where we are going," Edward said, his own arms moving by his side and his shoulders shrugging. "They could know and they could visit. What would be so wrong with that?"

Elizabeth placed a hand to her forehead, fingers pinching the skin there. "Are you listening to me, Edward?" She demanded to know from him. "We have nothing! We cannot leave when we have nothing!"

"Is that what is stopping you?" Edward questioned her.

"What?" Elizabeth asked.

"Because we will be able to get by, Elizabeth. Do you not want to go for another reason? Is it because you just don't want to be with me?"

"You're being foolish," Elizabeth scoffed at him and he moved towards her, his cheeks reddening as his hair falling onto his forehead as Elizabeth shook her head and he stood inches from her, the two of them clearly annoyed with each other and the words that had been spoken.

"Am I?" Edward demanded to know from her. "Because I don't know if I am being foolish or if there is another reason why you would want to stay here knowing what we now know."

"Because there will be another way!" Elizabeth snapped at him, moving to grab hold of his shoulders, almost as though she could shake sense into him. "Why do we have to run away to be together? Why can we not simply stay here and be together? If you insist on dropping your studies to be with me than what else could they do to you?"

"I don't know," Edward said with a shake of his head. "But I know my father, Elizabeth. I know how he can be and how he could make our lives difficult. I don't want that."

"Nor do I," Elizabeth agreed on that point with him. "But I do not see what running away will achieve. We should talk to my father and see if he has any suggestions, please, before we do anything brash?"

Edward took a moment to sigh, but he nodded his head, agreeing with what she was saying to him. She took a moment to watch him, suspecting that he wouldn't argue with her. She squeezed hold of his shoulders firmly and nodded her head back to him sternly.

"We'll find a way to get through this," Elizabeth promised him. "But I can't run away. I just can't do that."

"As you wish," he whispered and Elizabeth stood on her toes to peck him on the cheek as she heard a knock on the door. Turning around, she saw her father knocking on his own door and she found that slightly ironic. She nodded to him through the glass and he stepped in as she stood a respectable distance away from Edward.

"I need my coat and jacket. Jackson seems to think that the ammunition used to blow up the safe is something similar to what the military use. I am heading to talk to a gun seller who might know who sold the gun to the gem thieves," Edmund said. "I trust everything is fine here?"

Looking to his daughter, he could see that her cheeks were tinted red and her eyes wide and wet. She had been crying. He suspected that, contrary to his statement, things were not fine. But she nodded at him and Edward avoided his gaze, the boy still seemingly intimidated by Edmund at times, particularly when it came to his daughter being upset.

"Everything is fine," Elizabeth promised her father. "But I need to talk to you later."

"Elizabeth, the case can wait if you-"

"-No," she interrupted him firmly, moving towards him and taking hold of the cake tin that she had brought in. "It can wait until you come home. I should go back there now."

"Are you not going to Edward's for dinner?" he questioned from her.

"There has been a change of plan," she responded, cradling the tin close against her stomach and she looked up to her father, hoping that he would not push her any further. She didn't know if he would, but she hoped he could just keep quiet until that evening. "I will see you tonight, father."

"I will walk you home, Elizabeth," Edward said and he moved forwards as Elizabeth pecked her father on the cheek.

He watched the two of them leave his office and reached for his coat and hat, wondering just what was going on with the two of them.

…

"Mother, please, I just need to talk to you and father," Elizabeth pleaded from the woman. Emily was dashing around the kitchen, seemingly ignoring her daughter as she tried to prepare herself to leave that evening. She was going to church once more, despite Elizabeth wanting her to stay so that she could discuss her predicament with both her parents.

"Elizabeth, I don't have time for this," Emily said firmly, picking her gloves up and slipping them onto her fingers. "I have to go and help prepare for the service this evening. Ever since we had a new reverend, we need to adapt to change."

"I know, but this is important. Just…can you not stay home tonight? Just so that I can ask for yours and father's advice on something?" Elizabeth pushed from her, but she suspected she was wasting her breath. The two of them had hardly seen eye to eye over the past few weeks since they had argued.

"And going to church is important to me, Elizabeth," Emily retorted, reaching for her coat and shrugging into it as she avoided her daughter's gaze. "I feel closer to Mathilda when I go there. It helps me, Elizabeth…she is there."

"She isn't!" Elizabeth snapped at her mother, longing for her to stop talking in such a manner. Elizabeth had come to terms with the fact that her sister was gone. She was gone and she wasn't coming back. Elizabeth missed her. She longed for her to come back to them, but she knew that wasn't going to happen. She had thought that her mother knew that at one stage too.

"Yes, she is," Emily snapped back. "And if you cannot understand or appreciate that then I have nothing to say to you."

"Why are you doing this to me?" Elizabeth demanded as her mother began to move down the hallway to the front door, Elizabeth close on her heels, skirts catching around her legs as she tried to catch her up. "Why do you run away to the ghost of Mathilda when I am right here and I need you?"

"Because I cannot give up on her."

"But you can give up on me?" Elizabeth questioned as Emily held the door handle and turned her head over her shoulder to look back to her daughter. Elizabeth held onto the bannister at the bottom of the stairs, head tilted to the side. For a moment, Emily couldn't help but see the little girl who needed her. But Elizabeth was not a little girl, not anymore. She was a young woman who had a mind of her own. That was exactly who she was.

"I am not giving up on you," Emily said. "But I do need to go."

"Then go," Elizabeth said, trying to blink back the tears that longed to fall from her eyes. "Go and leave me alone, mother. At least now there is no doubt where I stand."

"Elizabeth, you are being foolish," Emily shook her head. "I will be back later and if you are still awake then we can talk."

Elizabeth said nothing else. She watched her mother open the door and leave, closing it behind her. Settling down on the second to bottom step of the staircase, Elizabeth pulled her legs up to her chest, hooking her arms around them and resting her cheek on her kneecaps. She sighed and swore that she wouldn't cry. There would be no point. It would not bring her mother back and it would not change anything.

She sat there for a few minutes before moving to her feet and pulling her hair free from its pins, dropping them on the sideboard in the hallways and checking her reflection in the mirror. The door opened minutes later and Elizabeth wondered if her mother had come back, but it was not her mother. It was her father.

"I just passed your mother down the street. She hardly said two words to me," Edmund declared, closing the door and hanging his coat up. "I had thought that you wanted to speak to both of us."

"I did, but mother said that she had to go to church," Elizabeth responded and turned on her heel, moving into the sitting room and perching on the edge of a chair. "She didn't even ask me what it was about. Anyway, did you find the gun salesman?"

"We did indeed, although he got away," Edmund said. "He did, however, leave his plans behind on the next job. I spoke to the man who designed the safes to find out who owns them and who might be the target of the next job."

"Surely there are too many people to narrow down?"

"Hence, why I have left it to Hobbs to find out."

"You are so cruel."

"The benefits of being an Inspector and not a Constable," Edmund said and went into the room to see Elizabeth curled into a ball on the seat and looking out over the fireplace. "Now, what is it that you need to discuss? Did Edward upset you? Is that what the boy did?"

"No," Elizabeth shook her head. "Well, yes, but not him."

"I will need you to clarify, my darling," Edmund urged from her and he took his usual chair, turning his upper body to the side so that he could look to his daughter. "Because I could have him arrested if he did upset you."

Her lips quirked and Edmund was relieved to see that. "He did not," she said. "But if you could arrest his parents then that might solve some of our issues."

"What has happened?"

"Edward's parents want him to marry someone else…a young socialite…they don't think that I am good enough for him and they have told him that if he doesn't leave me then they will stop paying for him to train as a solicitor when he is so close to finishing his law degree."

"What?" Edmund asked, struggling to believe what he had just heard.

"I know," Elizabeth agreed with him on that point. "And Edward didn't entirely know what to do and so I suggested talking to you and mother because we…we don't want to split up, father. I love him and I don't think I could stand the thought of him with another woman…marrying someone else…"

"Should I talk to them?" Edmund questioned. "How dare they threaten him? How dare they think that you are no good for him? You are too good for him, Elizabeth. You are far too good for that family."

"I don't think so," Elizabeth said.

"I know so," Edmund responded and moved to his feet, heading towards his daughter's chair and sitting on the arm of it, perching there and moving a hand to her shoulder. "And I want you to be happy, hence why I feel I should talk to them."

"I don't think it would make any difference," Elizabeth said to him with a shake of her head. "And if it doesn't then they…surely they would not force him to leave home, would they? I can barely stand the idea of them refusing to help him finish his law degree. He is so close to becoming a solicitor."

Edmund nodded his head and took a few moments to think on what he would do to help solve this issue. He felt Elizabeth rest her head against his arm and he nodded his head, looking down onto the top of hers.

"I will find a way to solve this…we will find a way through it."

…

Elizabeth could hardly believe what her father had suggested. He had spoken with his wife when she had returned home that night and had told her his thoughts. Emily had not entirely approved, but she had relented. Her father had told her that Edward was welcome in their home. He was welcome to stay with them and Edmund would help fund his tuition fees if necessary. Elizabeth had told Edward the news and had he had insisted it was too much, but she had told him to talk to her father to see if they could come to some agreement.

Edward had agreed, knowing that Elizabeth had no desire to leave her family home, not quite yet. She was still so lost, uncertain of what it was she wanted to do with her life. She helped out at the orphanage with Deborah Goren when she could. She enjoyed working with her and helping children. She had expressed an interest in being a nurse at one stage, but hadn't done anything about it. Ever since she had finished school and Mathilda had gone missing, she had been unsure of what to do with her time.

"Uncle Ben."

Elizabeth had been on her way to the police station to tell her father of the news when she saw Bennet leaving the building.

"Elizabeth," he said, his gaze clearly distracted and his mind somewhere else. She frowned at the sight of him as he continued walking, hand going to her shoulder. "I need to go, but I will speak to you later, yes? Your father is in there."

"Yes…fine…" Elizabeth agreed with him, uncertain of what she had seen. Bennet almost looked fearful. She had never seen such an expression in his gaze. Stepping into the station, Elizabeth spotted her father talking with the desk sergeant.

"Damn-it where is Drake?" Edmund suddenly shouted, turning around and looking at the officers roaming round.

"I can answer that," Elizabeth spoke up, moving forwards and looking to her father. "I just passed him in the street. Is something wrong with him? He seems to be rather distracted."

"I think he knows who is behind these robberies," Edmund declared. "Did you see which way he went?"

"Yes, but…whoa," Elizabeth had no chance to finish her sentence as her father grabbed hold of her arm and dragged her from the precinct, picking his hat up from the desk as he went. The two of them walked onto the street and Elizabeth led the way, Edmund tucking her arm inside of his as he looked around for any sign of Drake.

Looking up to her father, Elizabeth's gaze fell onto him. "Can you tell me what is going on?"

"He's not here, is he?" Edmund said, realising that he had been too slow. "He's gone somewhere and I think that he might be about to make a big mistake. Hawkins, the man who makes the safe, is in on this. He knows their weakness and so he knows how to break into them."

"And do you know where the next job is?"

"I have men heading to Metropolitan Metals as we speak. The safe there is the next target, I believe," Edmund said. "And that is where I need to go right now on a hideout. You need to go back home…why were you here, anyway?"

"To tell you that Edward wants to talk to you about his offer," Elizabeth said. "But I can wait here if you would rather? I have no desire to return home and Deborah has taken the children out today."

"Why do you not want to go home?" Edmund questioned. He sighed, but nodded as Elizabeth shot him a stare with an arched brow. "Your mother," he said to her with a knowing look. "Fine, stay here in my office. There is an ex-soldier in custody…George Doggett. If the information he has given us is correct then I should be back soon."

"Be careful," Elizabeth urged and she went back into the building, moving up and back into the building. She went to her father's office and sat down at his desk, leaning back in the chair and looking to the photograph on his desk of the family together. It was quite an old image, Elizabeth looking particularly young. But her father had insisted on a family portrait. Elizabeth shrugged out of her coat and let it fall over the back of the chair as she reached for a case file on his desk, looking over it and knowing she would be in trouble if her father found out.

She stayed sat in her father's seat, reading over the case notes with interest before she heard shouting come from downstairs. She wondered what was going on before hearing the screaming on the street and a loud banging noise. Jumping up, she ran to the window and peered down over the street, seeing it covered in smoke.

"What the…" she trailed off and moved over to the door in time to see Hobbs coming to the door.

"Hobbs, what is going on?" she asked the young Constable.

"We think there might have been some kind of explosion outside," Hobbs said. "I need to get you to safety, Miss Reid."

"An explosion?" Elizabeth asked, still looking out over Leman Street. Shaking her head, she looked back to Hobbs. "An explosion at the same time you are investigating a case where the prime suspect uses explosives to get into a safe?" she questioned from Hobbs and he met her gaze as she wondered if he would pick up on what she was saying to him.

"The prisoner…he sent my father to Metropolitan Metals, didn't he?"

"Christ," Hobbs exclaimed, finally understanding what she was saying.

Elizabeth ran after Hobbs as he moved down the steps and she followed him towards the cells, knowing that he would rather inside on her keeping her distance. But Elizabeth never had been any good at doing that. Coming to the cells, Hobbs looked around and shook his head. The door was wide open.

"He can't have gotten far," Hobbs said.

"Of course he hasn't," Elizabeth said and looked around the room, still hearing the shouting and commotion. "He's provided the perfect distraction to escape, but he can't exactly go through the front door."

"Miss Reid, I insist…" Hobbs began, but Elizabeth was already wandering towards the end of the room, knowing that there was a door to the street there. It was wide open and she saw her father on the street, finding him grappling with a man who, Elizabeth assumed, was the one who had escaped.

"Father!" Elizabeth shouted as the man punched Edmund in the jaw.

Moving forwards, Elizabeth found a baton on the floor by the door. Picking it up, she held it tight in her hands as Hobbs failed to keep up with her, a folder in his fingertips and reaching for his weapon.

Hitting the man over the head with as much force as she could, Elizabeth heard him grunt in pain as she stood back and Edmund threw a punch to his face. Elizabeth jumped back and stood out the way, still gripping the baton as the desk sergeant and Hobbs managed to restrain the man and Edmund glowered at him, meeting his eye and grinding his teeth.

"Where is Faulkner?" Reid demanded from him.

"Already gone from here," the man hissed. "By the time you find them it will be too late!"

"Take him back to his cell," Edmund snapped, knowing that he wouldn't tell him anything useful. Hobbs stayed back as Edmund looked to his daughter, seeing her holding the baton and he shook his head.

"And why could you not just stay hidden?" Edmund demanded from his daughter, clearly exasperated as she bent down and picked up his hat that had fallen from his head.

"You're welcome," Elizabeth said sarcastically and handed him the hat. He took hold of it and placed it back onto his head. "Faulkner? As in the soldier that Uncle Ben served with? Do you think that's where he went earlier when he looked distracted?"

"I think so," Edmund said.

"Sir, I might have information. There are only three places where the safe could be that they intend to steal from," Hobbs suddenly said, opening up the folder and handing it to Reid. He took hold of it and peered onto the writing as Elizabeth looked from around his shoulder.

"The Mint," Elizabeth said.

"They're stealing from the bloody Mint," Edmund agreed on that point and closed the folder. "Hobbs, take my daughter back home and see to it that she stays out of trouble."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "I can walk home myself," she said to her father.

"I don't doubt it, what I do doubt is you can do it without attracting trouble," Edmund said. "We will talk when I come home, now be careful."

"You too," Elizabeth demanded from her father and he bent down to kiss her on the cheek before storming off and she looked to Hobbs, sighing as she watched the young officer. "Come on, Hobbs, you can tell me all about the cases you're working on."

"Would your father approve of that, Miss Reid?"

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him," Elizabeth said and she looked to him with a shrug. "That's what I always tell myself, anyway."

…

A/N: Thanks for reading and I would love to know what you think!