Hey guys! Thank you so much for the lovely reviews on the last chapter...just so you know this one takes place right before chapter 27 of WCHB when Mikey goes after Pete. Hope you enjoy it, thanks for reading and reviewing...you'll never know how much it means! love you lot!

"I don't get it,"

"What exactly is there not to get son?" Tommy Hatcher snapped, tightening his grip on the phone. "I'm gonna be at the Kings Head in 20 minutes and if you've got any form of fucking brain, you'd best be there as well,"

"Alright," Mikey Mullins nodded, ignoring the fear he could feel creeping into his chest. What the hell did Tommy Hatcher want with him? What could he possibly do, they weren't even in the same firm for fuck sake.

Not bothering to answer the younger man again, Tommy hung up and carelessly chucked the phone onto the sofa next to the nervous looking girl.

"See?" he smirked, crouching down so he could look into her face. "That wasn't so hard now, was it sweetheart?"

"No," she replied shakily, keeping her hands locked together so that he wouldn't see them trembling.

"Good girl." He patted her head, standing up straight and pulling on his worn corduroy jacket before slamming through the front door, not bothering with a goodbye.

Moving as fast as she could, she stood up, pushing a strand of hair out of her stinging eyes and pulling her small suitcase out from under her bed, haphazardly throwing clothes, toiletries and the odd bit of money into it. Rushing into the bathroom, she located her toothbrush and gasped looking into the mirror; it was worse than she'd hoped. A deep bruise ran from just under her cheek bone all the way up, enveloping her eye, her lip was split and the rest of her face red from crying. She needed to get out of here now.

Pulling her phone out of her bag, she quickly called a taxi and took a deep breath; her Uncle had never been a man to mince his words and if his conversa'tion with Mikey was anything to go by, she really didn't want to be around here when it all kicked off. She knew the history of the GSE, everyone in her family did, but in her mind that still didn't warrant what Tommy was planning on doing to them. Shuddering, she broke out of her reverie as a car horn sounded outside, realising it must be the taxi, she slung her bag over her shoulder and headed towards the door.

With one last look at the flat which had served as the closest thing she had had to a home the last 23 years, Sophie Carter wiped the tears off of her face and then slammed the door as hard as she could before disappearing into the night.

"You do this and we're even," Tommy stared at the young man opposite him who was nervously sipping his beer, his light brown eyes scanning the bar repetitiously. Being the only Liverpool boy in a Millwall pub wasn't exactly something Mikey Mullins enjoyed, in fact he was waiting for something to kick off.

"But…" Mikey shook his head lightly. "I don't get why if you hate Dunham so much, you won't do it,"

"The day I have to explain myself to you is a long fucking way off, son," Tommy told him. "So hows about being a good little boy and doing as you're told,"

He didn't add that if this happened to go wrong, he didn't want his name attached to it; Mikey was a lost cause though, as if Tommy would give a shit if he got nicked.

"And besides," he added. "After the job Dunham pulled on you for fucking up his bird, I thought you'd be gunning to get in there,"

Subconsciously reaching up to run a finger along the jagged scar on his face where Pete had slammed him into the car tyre that night in the street, Mikey felt his blood run cold. He didn't need to think about the damaged Pete had done to his ankle either, the steel plate where most of his bone used to be was a constant reminder.

"When?" Mikey asked quietly.

"Tonight," The older man nodded, smirking as Mikey grabbed his cigarettes and stood up, not wanting to be here a split second longer than he needed to.

Reaching out, Tommy grabbed his wrist hard and squeezed, making him hiss.

"Don't you go fucking this up," he warned him dangerously. "You do this and you do it right,"

"I know," Mikey nodded. "Don't worry about it," he smiled sickeningly at the older man as he pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it. "As far as you're concerned, Petey Dunham is fucking history,"

"It's the most fucked up thing I've ever seen. And just to put that statement in perspective, I've seen Swill naked."

"Who hasn't?" Keith snorted.

"Oh shut up will you, you've been fucking moaning all night,"

Ike spun around on his chair, momentarily pulling his horrified gaze away from where Dave was stood chatting to Lucy at the bar, their hands joined together. Glaring at Swill, he shook his head and shoved him hard.

"Oh yeah?" he raised an eyebrow. "How the fuck would you feel if Dave was shagging your little sister?"

"My little sister's 13," Swill grimaced. "So I'd be worried on more than one level,"

"Does it really bug you that much?" Matt questioned from where he was stood with Allie giggling as they lost pound after pound on the 'It' box. "I mean better the devil you know, right?"

"What the fuck does that mean?" Ike cried, shaking his head at the American. "I swear you lot don't speak fucking English at all,"

"He means," Allie told him over her shoulder, frowning when she got yet another question wrong; what the hell did she know about the Spanish Armada? "That isn't it better that Dave, a bloke you know and get on with is dating Lucy as opposed to some arrogant little shit with acne and a baseball cap that's only after one thing?"

"What?" Ike frowned, a slight grin pulling on his lips. "You mean Ned?"

"Fuck off," Ned flipped him the finger and went back to chatting to Bovver.

"Shit me," Pete laughed suddenly, looking over Ike's shoulder and shaking his head. "Its amazing the types Terry lets in 'ere these days,"

"I'm sorry," Harry Harding smirked at his sister's fiancé, pulling off his jacket and throwing it onto a chair. "You'll have to repeat that, I don't speak 'thuggish',"

"Ah," Pete winced. "Now see I don't speak 'bitch' so we'll have to sort out some kind of sign language,"

"Yeah?" Harry raised an eyebrow. "How's this?" he held up two fingers and grinned when the younger man laughed heartily, standing up and pulling him into a fierce hug. Despite having been away for over a year, Harry was close to all the boys, Pete in particular; Allie had to admit that she's been nervous about introducing them all those years ago, especially given the reaction their older brother Rich had had when he'd met Pete.

Rolling her eyes, Allie recalled the two hour lecture she'd received about how Pete wasn't good enough for her and that she was embarrassing herself by being with him. It was shortly after that she'd muttered something rather unlady like under her breath and stormed out, leaving him in the restaurant on his own. Harry on the other hand had bonded with Pete and the boys straight away, in fact it had only taken two weeks before they had him down the football stadium drunkenly shouting abuse at the referee and almost getting the living hell beaten out of him when he accidentally cheered for the other team.

"You look a bit serious," Harry nodded towards Ike who was still staring at the bar. "What's his problem?"

"Dave's doing his little sister," Swill told him bluntly, managing to dodge the lighter Ike threw at his head.

"Gutted," Harry winced. "To be fair, Lucy is pretty fit though, isn't she?"

"Tact, Harry," Allie laughed, shaking her head. "It's all about the tact,"

"What?" he frowned, pulling out his phone and flipping it open. "I'm just being honest,"

"Oh yeah?" Ike snorted. "So the idea of Pete and your little sister doesn't bother you?"

"Not really," Harry shrugged, wondering why he had 4 missed calls from Lara. "I simply choose to ignore the fact that Dunham violates my little sister on a regular basis,"

"Oi!" Allie shouted, whipping a penny at his head and grinning when she clocked him right in the centre of his forehead. "Sometimes you're so bloody warped, it terrifies me that we're related,"

"You wouldn't have me any other way," he winked at her and then pressed the button, listening intently to his voicemail as best he could over the noise of the bar. "Allie?" he called. "Check your phone, Lara says she's been trying to call you,"

Rolling her eyes, Allie turned to Matt and handed him her last pound coin.

"We officially suck at this game," she told him. "Redeem us now or I'll loose all faith in my University degree,"

Grinning at her Matt took the coin and tried his best, but then he was an American what the hell did he know about something called Eastenders? Was that even a word?

Pete watched as Allie listened to her voicemail, her forehead wrinkling slightly as she frowned with worry. Hanging up, she stared at the phone for a long moment and wondered what the hell was going on.

"You alright?" Pete asked her, rubbing her arm.

"What?" she frowned, looking up at him. "Oh, yeah…I just…that was Lara saying something about some girl showing up at the house," she shrugged and kissed him quickly. "I didn't realise how late it was though, I'm supposed to be at Shannon's in ten minutes,"

"You ok getting there?" he asked her, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Yeah, I've got my car," she smiled. "I'll come to yours later, ok?" picking at the material of his sweater, she bit her lip slightly. "Fancy waiting up for me?"

"Always," Pete grinned, leaning down and kissing her deeply, ignoring the complaints from the boys. Pulling away from her, he kissed her forehead before letting her go.

"What're you doing?" she asked her brother. "I'm giving Lucy a lift home so if you want one too…"

"Nah," he shook his head. "I'm meeting Ella in about an hour so I'll just get the train then,"

"Who's Ella?" Ned asked, leaning in. "She fit?"

"Gather around boys," Harry grinned. "The stories I could tell you about the girl whom I affectionately refer to as 'Hoover Mouth',"

"Right, well on that note," Allie rolled her eyes, kissing Pete once more before jogging over to the bar. "You ready?" she asked Lucy, smiling when Dave wrapped his arm around her as he always did.

"Yeah, just let me grab my stuff," the brunette smiled, disappearing into the back room.

"So…" Allie wiggled her eyebrows at Dave.

"Oh shit, not you an' all?" he laughed.

"Oh come on," she nudged him. "Last time I saw you this happy was Bov's birthday in town and we stumbled across that 24 hour KFC,"

"That was a fucking great night," he told her wistfully.

"I'm serious," she laughed, slapping his shoulder. "Is it going ok?"

"Yeah," he smiled at her. "It's…you know," he blushed. Dave was blushing!

"Christ," he laughed. "I'm as fucked as Pete, aren't I?"

"Oh yeah," Allie nodded. "Two down, four to go," she gestured to the rest of the boys and grinned when they waved back at her. "Poor bastards won't know what hit them,"

"Right," Lucy reappeared, her Abbey shirt replaced with a light pink sweater. "I'm ready,"

"Cool," Allie nodded, sliding off of her stool and digging her car keys out of her bag.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" Lucy smiled at Dave, coming to stand in front of him and smiling when he slipped his arm around her waist.

"Yeah," he nodded. "I'll pick you up at 8,"

Leaning in, he kissed her slowly, pulling away when he heard the boys cheering and the distinct sound of Ike's voice yelling 'Fuck off' at the end. Dropping her head down to her chest, Lucy giggled feeling more than a little embarrassed.

"Tomorrow night," Dave told her, kissing her cheek quickly.

"Ok," she grinned, letting go of his hand. "I'll see you then,"

"Bye Lucy!" the boys called to her, grinning broadly, knowing that they were embarrassing her.

"Kill me now," she whispered to Allie. "They did the same thing to you and Pete, right?"

"Oh yeah," Allie nodded, remembering the times when every time she walked into the pub the boys would stare at her with huge grins on their faces. The night after she and Pete had first slept together they'd stared at her, smiling so broadly she kept expecting their skin to tear. But that was men for you…all of them: total retards.

"How long did I take to die down?" Lucy asked, waiting for Allie to unlock her Porsche.

"About six months," she told her.

"Oh shit," Lucy laughed.

"Hey, if it makes you feel any better, Dave will be getting it a lot worse than you." Allie grinned. "Trust me,"

"I still can't get over this place," Lucy shook her head in awe as she followed Allie into her house. House didn't really cover it mind you, it was more of a mansion.

"I'll only be a sec," Allie grinned at her. "I just need to grab some books and stuff that Shannon leant me and then we'll make a move,"

Running her fingers along the ancient looking Grandfather clock with stood in the foyer, Lucy looked up, hearing the clacking sound of high heels coming from the marble stairs.

"Thank fuck!" Lara hissed, marching towards them. "Where the hell have you been?"

"At the Abbey," Allie told her, reaching out and brushing a strand of hair out of her friend's eyes. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing," she shook her head. "Just that I've had some weird girl who claims to be your best fucking mate sitting in the kitchen for the last hour,"

"What?" Allie frowned. "Who?"

"That's the fun part," Lara grinned sarcastically. "She won't tell me her name!"

Feeling even more confused, Allie walked towards the kitchen, Lara and Lucy close behind her as she pushed through the door, her eyes widening when they landed on the all to familiar girl who was sat with her back to the three of them staring at the plasma TV on the wall.

"Sophie?" Allie asked shaking her head in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"

The blonde didn't answer, just kept staring at the TV; rolling her eyes in frustration, Allie stepped forward and pulled on the girls shoulder, gasping when she turned and finally faced her.

Sophie's brown eyes met hers, the fear in them so palpable that Allie felt her heart start to race; a large black bruise stretched from the girls cheek bone all the way up to her left eye and a small cut on her lip which by the looks of it had yet to be cleaned marred her usually heavily done up face.

"Jesus, what happened?" Allie whispered.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know where else to go…" she shook her head.

"No, its ok," Allie slid into the stool next to her, leaning on the breakfast bar, waiting for her to talk.

"It's not safe anymore," Sophie shook her head, her eyes watering as they met Allie's. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to tell him but I didn't know…"

"What are you talking about?" Allie shook her head. "How did you even know I lived here?"

"They asked me to follow you that night," she cried. "I didn't tell them where you lived but I thought if I came here you might understand,"

"Who?" Allie asked her more firmly. "Who the hell are you talking about? Who wanted you to follow me?"

"Where's Pete?" Sophie asked suddenly.

"Answer my fucking question first," Allie shot back, her patience snapping as fear filled her heart. "Who wanted you to follow me?"

"It's not about you," Sophie hissed. "They want Pete, but they're not stupid, they know the best way to get to him is through you. Just like before,"

Those words seemed to trigger something in both Lara and Allie's faces; Lucy stared at them in confusion, still having no idea of what the hell was going on.

"Mikey," Allie whispered, seeing the other blonde flinch at his name. "Mikey Mullins, that's who you're talking about?"

"He went after you before," Sophie told her. "I didn't know about it then, but I hear them talking,"

"Who?" Allie shouted, slamming her hand down on the counter. "I know you're scared but you're starting to scare this shit out of us now as well so either start talking or…"

"Tommy!" Sophie shouted, interrupting her. For a moment the room went silent; Pete had mentioned someone named Tommy a few times but Allie knew it couldn't be him…it couldn't be…

"Tommy Hatcher." Sophie clarified, watching as Allie went pale and slumped down slightly in her chair.

"What," she swallowed hard. "What about him?"

"He's my Uncle," Sophie cried, tears flowing down her cheeks. "When I met Dave…he," she shook her head. "I don't know how he found out but he made me go to the Abbey that night, that's why I was asking you all those stupid questions…I…"

"You were…" Allie shook her head. This had to be a joke. "Are you saying you were spying on us?"

"You think this is funny?" Sophie snapped at her. "Do you have any idea of what they'll do to Pete if they find him?" she looked into Allie's bright green eyes and shook her head. "Imagine what they did to you that night…the pain, the fear that was running through you," she watched as Allie's eyes darkened. "Now multiply that by about a hundred,"

"Why're you here?" Allie shouted. "Why are you telling me this? Is this just another part of your weird little game? Are you that fucked up that this is your way of getting back at us for Dave dumping you or something?"

"Tommy doesn't remember it like I do," Sophie spoke calmly, her eyes focused on the counter in front of her. "I was only 12 when my cousin got killed in that fight and I remember what it was like after. The fear, the confusion…" she shook her head, ignoring the tears which spilled down her cheeks. "You try explaining to a 12 year old that the reason she can't see her cousin any more is because his head was crushed so badly that they can't even have an open casket,"

Allie shuddered and looked over at Lucy and Lara who had both gone pale, staring at the blonde girl intently, waiting for her to carry on.

"The point is, as far as I'm concerned, my family already has one life on its conscience," she slid off of the stool and looked at Allie sympathetically. "I don't want another one,"

Picking up her suitcase, she wiped her eyes quickly and glanced at the clock; her flight was leaving in 2 hours. She'd used every penny she had saved to buy her ticket to Australia but it was worth it, it was her only escape.

"Just tell Pete he needs to be careful," she told Allie. "This isn't a game anymore. It never was really,"

"Wait!" Allie shouted, halting her as she made her way back towards the foyer. "You can't just tell me all that and piss off! I…I don't know what I'm supposed to do,"

Turning to face her, Sophie sighed staring at the three young women who looked more scared than she could remember anyone else looking in her life.

"Can you leave?" she asked Allie seriously. "Can you walk away from Pete right now and not look back?"

Allie stared at her in horror; just the idea of it made her feel sick. There was nothing that would ever, ever make her leave him. She didn't have a life without him so what would be the point.

"No," she told her simply.

"Then there's nothing you can do," Sophie told her, pulling open the front door and wincing as the chilly breeze hit her face, stinging the cut on her lip. "Except prepare yourself for the consequences."

Not saying another word, she stepped out into the darkness, her shoes crunching rhythmically on the gravel drive way as she left Allie staring after her desperately, the fear in her heart making it pump faster and faster until all she could so was slump down against the door frame and cry.