China Girl

(An Ashes to Ashes Fic)

Hey everyone, this is my new A2A fic, which I will try to update as often as I can. I will still be carrying on with 'The Man who Sold the World' though, so if you haven't read it already, please do so & tell me what you think to it as I'd really appreciate it :) I hope you enjoy reading it.. Thanks x

Chapter 1 –

Prisoner of love

'When the Brain dies, it keeps trying to make connections for up to seven minutes'

'Has anyone ever told you you're a bit weird?'

'You keep your friends close, but your enemies closer'

'The only man who truly understands'

'If I mean anything to you at all…'

'Shut the door Gene'

The same thing. Over and over in her head, every time she closed her eyes and tried to sleep; memories of 1982 engulfed her mind, making it harder to forget what she'd tried so hard to pretend was all in her imagination.

She knew the world in 1982 had been real. She knew Gene, Ray, Chris, Shaz, Viv, Luigi and every other person from her life in the 80's had been extraordinarily real.

And she knew that, because of something she'd once heard Sam say in his many voice recordings that he'd given her after returning to 2006.

He'd claimed that a barman had once told him that 'you know when you're alive because you can feel, and you know when you're not, because you can't feel anything'.

The doctor had given her pain relief as it was highly likely she would keep experiencing headaches and even short spells of dizziness; but she couldn't feel any pain in her head whatsoever. The only pain she could feel was the pain in her left side, exactly where she'd been shot by Gene, in 1982. Not 2008.

She'd once said that 'everything was significant' as though she'd truly believed that during the time she'd been in a coma in the 'real world', her mind had created a dystopia, where everything revolved around her and happened because of her need to get back 'home'. She'd come to the conclusion that if she could work out the reason for her traveling to 1982, then she might have been able to get back 2008. But unlike she'd initially thought, nothing about the world in 1982 was a dystopia, and although she'd never worked out the reason behind her 'time-traveling', she had realized that the world in 1982, was in fact one hundred percent real, and if only she'd realized that sooner, she'd have been able to save a lot of people.

'Bols? Bolly? They think I shot you! Well, I did shoot you, but I didn't shoot you! They're after me Bols…'

'…They're after me Bols'

'…After me Bols'

Gene's panicked and traumatized voice continued to haunt her, ever since she'd seen him on the monitors in the hospital in 2008. She wondered what he'd be doing now? She doubted he'd be sat in his office drowning in Whiskey, as he'd probably been suspended if they really thought that he'd shot her. At first she couldn't understand why anyone would think that, but thinking about how many people had been witness to their argument the day before the shooting and Gene's threat claiming 'If you dare to stand in my way, I swear to go I will shoot you!'; she realized it was a bit to much of a coincidence, when less than 24 hours later she'd been shot by that very man.

Being here now, in 2008, she knew that somehow she had to find a way back to 1982. If Sam had managed it, then she was sure that she could too. But what about Molly? No matter how fast her belief in this world was fading, she still loved Molly as her daughter and therefore could not contemplate leaving her on her own forever.

**

'Alex? Alex?'

She stirred in her sleep slightly at the faint sound of her name being called; but at the sound of the bedroom door opening, she slowly opened her eyes, while blinking to adjust to the light, as she moved so that she was sitting up.

'There's someone here to see you Alex!' Evan stated, and as she glanced towards the door, she was astonished to see that it was infact Peter Drake, and she almost laughed slightly at the memory of their meeting in 1982.

'Has anyone ever told you you're a bit weird?'

'Well has anyone ever told you that you can't go around accusing Detective Inspectors of being weird, especially ones who are really pissed off'

'I'll just go and put the kettle on' Evan told her as Peter Drake moved to sit on the end of the bed.

There was an awkward silence between them and Alex could see that Peter was obviously quite nervous about coming to see her, and she guessed it was understandable as they'd hardly spoken to each other since he'd walked out on her and Molly, eleven and a half years ago. Infact she was immensely curious as to why he was here at all.

'So…How are you feeling then? He asked, finally breaking the silence.

'Erm, not too bad actually'

'Evan been looking after you has he?'

'Yeah, he's been great actually'

'And what about Molly; how she's taken it?'

'Well not good, understandably, but she's been really grown up about it all, I'm really proud of her'

'Definitely like her mother then' Peter laughed and Alex smiled, remembering how Evan had always said that Molly was exactly like Alex had been at her age.

'Has she been staying at Evan's then?'

'Yeah. Well, she did while I was in hospital but now she's back home and Evan's moved in to look after her, until I'm better'

Peter smiled slightly before silence fell upon them once again, and Alex could tell by the way that Peter was staring at his feet, that he had something important to tell or ask her; but she decided to wait for him to do so in his own time.

'Erm, Alex..I…'

'What?'

'I just wanted you to know that I'm really sorry about everything that's happened between us and the way I've treated you over the years. I know its too late to ask you to forgive me, but I just wanted you to know how sorry I am and that I realized now what an idiot I've been and I wondered if maybe you'd consider letting me see Molly again. I just want to get to know her again and be a proper father to her, like I should have been for the past 12 years. I know I've left it too long, but I'm hoping it's not too late for her to give me another chance…'

'It's never too late Peter; but actually I think I might need to ask you something'

'Well, what it is?'

'I need you to promise me something'