Thank you so much for the reviews. I am really blown away by your support.

Now I am a little worried... It seems like half of you have forgotten what happens in Series 3 Episode 20... Maybe the title of this chapter has helped remind you... Or is it just like fanon discontinuity... like that fact that we, as Reddie shipper, try and forget that Melissa ever exist and we, as Reddie shippers, don't believe that Series 4 Episode 20 exists... Is that what is happening here?

Here is Series 3 Episode 20, part 2... I did try and apologise two chapters go. But do I get some brownie points before you all murder me...

And you guys are getting this earlier than planned because there is no work in at work and I need some sort of excitement in my day (Plus there will be a chapter of IaWW, TIDU later no so does make sense for you guys to have this sooner.)

Chapter Ten
A Captain Goes Down With Its Ship

The last thing Rachel needed was for Stuart Hordley to turn up again as she came down the stairs from her office. It was bad enough that she had a massive mess to clean up with the students being caught cheating on their coursework by the exam board and her little secret coming out because of him. There was too much for her to do in one day and she was quickly running out of time.

"Oh, here she is, Joan of Arc, I loved your little martyr act."

"Why are you still here? Don't you get it? It's over." Rachel said as she reached him.

She knew that he wasn't going to leave until he'd had his say again but she wished that he would just leave her alone.

"Yeah, it is now that your life's as much of a mess as mine."

She tried to pass him but he grabbed her arms and started to push her back.

"Get out of my school!" She shouted, hoping that someone would hear her.

"Your school?"

He had backed her into a corner again, this time physically. She shouted for him to get out again and hoped that Eddie or someone was going to come to her aid. There was not much of a gap between them and she felt as vulnerable as she did the night that he raped her.

"We're the same, you and I, we just did what we had to do to survive."

"I didn't hurt anyone."

"Except yourself?

"You tried to destroy me."

"Blame Eddie for…" He started to say.

She knew that from the distance that they were that he must have noticed her usually flat stomach was slightly more rounded than it was the last time they were this close. She hated the way that he brushed his fingertips up her stomach, like he was making sure what he could see was real. It made her wish someone would come to her aid. She didn't like to play the damsel in distress role, but she would happily play it now. She would be happy to see anyone right now.

"You're pregnant." He stated.

"Get out now. This is still my school and I want you off the premises."

"Lawson couldn't be that quick to get into your knickers. You are pregnant with my child. Unless you like having men lined up to jump into your bed."

"You know what? I wish so much that this child was Eddie's, so much so that the lie I have told myself has become the truth for me." She tried to push him away but there wasn't really the room for her to get any momentum into the push.

"Don't I deserve to know?"

"After what you did, I would be happy for this child to call anyone their father but you."

Rachel let out a sigh of relief as someone finally came to her rescue. Being face to face with Tom was better than Stuart and she started to believe things might be alright as Tom stood between them.

"I think you need to leave, now," Tom said.

She knew that they were fighting about this in the wrong place. The middle of the stairs wasn't the best place and someone was bound to get hurt as Stuart lurched forward again and Tom tried to stop him from hurting her. She was glad that it was Stuart in the end that ended up falling down the stairs. She almost went after him but was stopped by Tom.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"I will be."

She started to worry about how much Tom had heard of her conversation with Stuart, knowing that he probably knew now that Stuart was the father to her baby if he hadn't already jumped to his own conclusions after what Stuart had said that morning, when a loud noise echoed around the school and the fire alarm instantly went off.

"I'll deal with him, you start the evacuation process," Tom said.

"Thanks, Tom." She said as she made her way back up to her office.

"All clear?" She asked Eddie when she met up with him again.

"Yeah."

"Okay, I'm going to do one last sweep just in case."

"No, you get to the assembly point. I'll do it."

"Eddie…"

"You have more than just yourself to think about. I know we haven't discussed it yet."

"This is still my school Eddie. The captain goes down with the ship."

She could tell that he was annoyed at her. She felt bad enough about everything that had happened in the day. She was still the head of the school and she wanted to act like it. It could be the last head teaching role she was ever going to have. It could be the last teaching role she was ever going to have, full stop. There was no way anyone would want to employ her. It would get out through the parents and the rumours that will spread around Forest Mount once they got back. The role that made her had also broke her. The school that she loved had made and broke her.

"Compromise time. I've just done this part, which is away from the canteen and the fire. You've just been down there. If we just look where the other one hasn't been, then both of us will be out faster."

"But…"

"I am sure the ones that have done this multiple times in drills know what to do. Tom or Steph will take charge until we get there. As I said, you have more than just yourself to think about. Even if it is the last thing you want to think about at this moment."

She knew that he was right and she knew that they still had a lot to talk about when this was all over. It wasn't as simple as she made out that morning. She couldn't just go and leave Eddie's support behind. She needed him more than ever.

"Okay. Meet you out front?" She said.

"Of course."

Rachel started up the stairs to her office but stopped and quickly made her way back down them. She didn't really know what came over her but part of her felt like if she didn't do it now, she would never do it.

"Eddie!"

He turned to her and she knew that he was about to say her name when she cut him off. Her hands rested either side of his neck as she rose slightly on her tiptoes and kissed him. He reacted in the end by wrapping his arms around her waist as their mouths melted together. For Rachel, everything stopped at that moment and the fact that they were having this moment in a building that was on fire didn't matter. All that mattered was Eddie Lawson. Her support and ally. The man that she loved.

She didn't say anything else to him as he let her go and she made her way up the stairs to double-check where he had just checked, hoping that the kiss hadn't just distracted her if there was someone left inside.

Eddie almost walked out of the school and he would have done if something didn't catch his eye in the rubble. He ran over as he saw Rachel, wondering how she got there when she was so close to getting out when he saw Stuart under the rubble as well. She was too good for her own good sometimes.

He was very aware of the fire creeping towards them and he worked as quickly as he could to get as much of the rubble off of her to get her out. He tried to keep his coughing to a minimum but he could feel the way that his lungs were rejecting the smoke. He had to get her out of there and quickly.

Eddie managed to clear enough of the rubble to pull Rachel out of it slightly before picking her up. She wasn't as light as he expected her to be but he supposed that her being totally relaxed was always going to weigh more. He was a mathematician after all.

He backed out of the school as he was finally greeted by the fresh air that his lungs were begging for, and he tried to get Rachel as far away as possible before he dropped to his knees. He knew exactly how it looked to the student body and the staff but he didn't care that he was leaning over her, cupping one of her cheeks.

"Rachel. Come on Rach."

Eddie didn't even notice the paramedics until Tom pulled him away. He wanted to be with her. He should have made her get out. He should have made her think about herself. He shouldn't have allowed her to do that final look.

"Eddie!" Tom shouted as he shook him slightly. "Are you alright?"

"I need to talk to the…" He only took a few steps before Tom stopped him again.

"Who do you need to talk to?"

"Stuart is still in there."

One of the firemen who was passing heard. "Sorry, did you just say someone is still in there?"

"Just in the door, down the corridor for the canteen."

The man nodded at him and there was a part of Eddie that wondered why he told anyone. The other part knew that no matter what Stuart had done, it wasn't worth having his life on his conscious. There were no tellings how long Stuart had been there anyway. Rachel might have been trying to save a dead man. A potentially dead man that had nearly cost him her life as well. Eddie didn't know what he would do if Rachel died.

"Eddie. You keep zoning out." Tom said.

The sound of the ambulance siren going off bought Eddie back to his other situation. Rachel. Was she okay? Was she going to be okay? What about the baby? Had she lost it? She must have done with the rubble that fell on her. How did that make him feel? How was she going to react if that was the case? He would have to be there for her. He would have to continue to show her his support.

"Eddie!"

He blinked a couple of times before he turned to Tom.

"Sorry."

"Davina's been taken to the hospital as well. I am sure the rest of them have this lot sorted. Why don't I get both of us there? You probably need the once over as well."

Eddie looked out at the students and teachers looking back at him. In Rachel's place, he was meant to be their leader. He was meant to look after them. But he just felt like he was useless.

"Good idea."

One victim down... Three to go... That is the 'making you hate characters that you already hate, just that little bit more' victims...