At that moment, the world froze. Somewhere beneath him, the floor seemed to fall away, but all he could here were Smithy's words ringing in his ears,
"Andrea… Andrea's in there,"
Smithy himself was a sight. His voice choked with smoke, his face smeared with blood and soot, his uniform singed beyond recognition. At another time, Neil might have wondered if Sergent Smith knew what was between him and the young PC, but not now. Now all he could see was the burning station above him and here those words over and over again.
Suddenly, he ripped off his jacket, pulling it roughly over his face and ran into the burning building. The custody desk was shrouded in smoke and the air was so hot Neil felt as though his skin was burning through his clothing. Blindly he charged towards the centre of the station. He could feel sweat trickling down his back and his arms, even his face was drenched, or were they tears?
A door on his left suddenly burst into flames. It was the entrance to the female locker room. Neil had been heading for CID, but he veered sideways at the sound of a stifled cry. Someone was trapped, and then he heard her voice.
"Please… Help me!" Had she heard him? Neil looked for something to open the burning door and then he heard someone else, she wasn't alone.
"Why should I do that?"
"Please, I won't tell anyone what you did… Gabriel, if you leave me…" she seemed to be begging, struggling to breath, and for some reason, Gabriel wasn't helping her. There was something else, something Gabriel had done.
"If I leave you, you'll die. What better way of ensuring my secret stays safe?" Neil could hear him laughing. "Come on Andrea, you know what I did to Kerry, and she was actually carrying my child,"
At that point, it was more than Neil could take, he lifted his overly polished black business shoe, miraculously still shining amid the flames, and kicked the door as hard as he could. The door, already weakened by the flames, crumbled at his touch, but the sight that met Neil's eyes caught his breath.
Andrea was pinned to the floor and the fire was moving ever closer. Over her stood Gabriel, one boot crushing her outstretched hand. At his dramatic entrance, both turned to face him, caught in a frozen moment. Andrea's face was drawn white despite the heat, and although untouched by the fire, Neil could see her pain. Her eyes were filled with tears, not from pain, but an incredible pity for the man standing in front of her.
"She thinks it's too late," thought Neil. It couldn't be, he wouldn't let it. He'd just have to be strong enough for the both of them. There was no point confronting Gabriel here – it was too dangerous. Instead, he turned to the other man,
"Gabriel, thank God you came to help, I could never get her out of here alone." Gabriel's face was blank, and for a moment, Neil feared he may turn against them.
"Not at all Gov," Neil started forward, but while they talked, the flames had crept between them and the fallen door had lit the bottoms of the door frame. Unwilling to leave Andrea solely in Gabriel's care, Neil jumped the small wall of fire.
"Quick," His voice had grown hoarse with the smoke and all three of them were wheezing into the smog. "Andrea, put your arms round my neck," She struggled to obey, lifting her crushed hand and another arm grimy with semi-congealed blood. He held her body to him and pulled, but the weight was too great and he couldn't get her free. All the while the fire had been drawing alarmingly closer. In desperation he turned to Gabriel, but the other man was nowhere to be seen.
"Gabriel!" Neil's voice subsided into racking coughs, and through the doorway he could discern Gabriel's figure.
"Sorry Gov, I don't think I can help you," And with that, he turned and walked away running down the collapsing corridor towards the safety of the yard. At that point, Neil might have given up, but Andrea, who moments before had resigned herself to dieing there in that locker room in the company of the man who had killed her friend and many others before her, looked up at him.
Her strength was almost gone, and she didn't think she'd ever felt so much pain in her entire life, but she was in the arms of the man she loved and she had to keep going. "Neil," The word was whispered, but it was clear.
Again, Neil pulled and, although Andrea's legs weren't quiet free, they were making progress towards the door. At last they were in the corridor. Andrea let out an involuntary cry and Neil glanced down to see her pants had caught fire as they passed through the door. Desperately he tried to put out the flames with his jacket, blindly using his hands, anything to stop this nightmare, and he felt the pain seeping through the layers of his skin.
Neil was finding it harder and harder to breath. Slowly he tried to stand, painfully aware that every second was stealing from their chances of survival. He made it to his knees before falling to the ground, and in a last gesture of love he pulled Andrea to him, but she never knew, already unconscious at his side.