In her element, Karen takes her centre stage before them. Her voice carries over the school grounds from her position on the roof, students and staff both by her side and crowding the entrance to the school below her. She, as rare an occasion as it may be, has their full attention. Each student determined not to let Richard close their school, take away their head. Each member of staff not willing to loose their career over nothing more, it would seem, than one mans pathetic personal vendetta.

Heads twist between them, following each and every remark fired between their head teacher and the impostor. One head, however, does not bother turning for Richard's reactions to Karen's remarks, he could not justify the time spent without his eyes on Karen. One man, watching from a distance… Rob. His eyes not, as they usually are, alone in their gaze over her. Unable to conceal the proud smile fixated upon his lips as she fights for her school.

Richard's responses are quick, filled with the venom she allows herself to consider as desperation. She knows as well as he does, it is her with the school on her side, not him.

Her last chance, whoever takes this takes the school, and she's determined not to be defeated.

That's when it happens; the moment barely a few seconds pass in what seems like a lifetime.

Karen's ear piercing scream shatters Rob's world, his eyes barely registering the scene before him. Blank to the gasps and cries escaping students around him, he only hears the scream; that scream, a scream a thousand times more painful purely because it's called from her lips.

'Karen!'

He knows his shout is useless to her, even as he battles the crowd to reach her. He, like everyone else, hadn't noticed how close she was to the edge. How could he have done? She hadn't known herself.

'Everyone, inside, now..!'

Oblivious to Tom's shouts around him, Rob struggles against the frozen crowd, unable to tear his gaze from Karen as she plummets towards the ground. His heart lurches in realisation but it doesn't stop him trying. He knows she's falling faster than he's moving. He knows he can't save her. Her deathly silence more chilling than her scream, as if she knew it too.

An individual from an unlikely source moves towards her, and it takes Rob longer than it should to recognise them. Someone who he'd never considered would want to save Karen under any circumstances. His son; the father of Karen's illegitimate grandchild… Aiden.

The velocity of her sudden decline surprises the boy and he falls to the ground beneath her impact. He crashes to the tarmac, pain shooting through his shoulder as he lands awkwardly on his side. Karen's body lands against him, the only consolation that he hit the ground first. An unearthly snap escapes the pair and it takes a moment for him to realise it was not from him. He looks at her, the placid expression on her face painful to watch.

'Karen?'

Rob's voice echoes through his mind and he feels Karen's weight slowly shifted from him as his father joins them. Shuffling to sit up, Aiden watches the crowd of teachers gathering around them, senses the students craning at the windows. He watches Karen's body laid out between them, the unnatural angle her ankle holds reminding him of the unearthly snap he'd heard as they fell. He feels a hand on his shoulder, someone crouching beside him.

'Mum?'

The voice is weak, and he knows she watches intently for any sign of movement. Rob's hand slips around Karen's neck and, after an eternity, father and son share a knowing glance. He'd broken her fall.