This'll all be AU, as this will be updated for a few weeks into Series three, which is THIS WEEK people! *throws party* Anyway, I don't own Ashes at all *sob* just this plot and such. Thanks to Rolephant as always for being brilliant, even when she can't scroll on the screen :P

Prologue: Hours Before

They say that people come into your life for a reason. Some are there just briefly, and when you think about them later, you can't remember the colour of their hair, let alone their name. People like that, you don't realise that they are there at all. These people could be the people that blended into the crowd at school, the ones that are just a part of the scenery at the office. They're important to someone, but to you, they're just another face, another body.

Then there are the ones who stay in your life permanently. Some come through the door to your life kindly, knocking on the door before you'll let them in. Others come into your life kicking the door down. They force themselves firmly in place, and no matter how hard you try to remove them, they keep coming back. They annoy you at first, but then, the longer they are in your life, you grow to respect them, and sometimes even love them.

And then there are the ones that kick the door down, and you shoo them out. You never want to see them again, so you replace your door, and lock it tight. You seal all the windows to your house, but as you sit down on the sofa, they are sitting across from you. You wonder how they got in, and you realise. As you were building all those barriers around your house, they snuck in quietly, through the unlocked side door. And you sit there and stare at the person who your house is supposed to be protected from, and realise. It is rather lonely in that house. And you are glad that the person snuck in, so you have company with you in that loneliness; and you can't imagine your life without them.

Gene Hunt is an example of the latter. He's the one that broke the door down into my life, staying in my life, no matter how hard I tried to shove him out. I locked all the doors and windows of my life, shutting him out. But somehow, he still got inside. He stood and stared at me as I went to sit on my sofa, to congratulate myself on a job well done. He grinned at me as I pondered how he got into my house, my life, when I tried so hard to keep him out. And then I realised, too late, that it would be too lonely in my life without him. He was the one that was supposed to keep me company in my loneliness, but he couldn't.

It's been years since I last saw Gene Hunt, but still, I think about him, I wish I could speak to him. But I know that will never happen again. Thirty years separate the time I last saw him and now. But I can never forget my final day with him. And now here, in 2013, I know that my Gene Hunt, my constant, was the one who was supposed to keep me company. There is no one else planning to get into my house against my will. No one else will break the door down. No one else will sneak in through the side door. No one else will sit with me on my sofa, keeping me company as I realise how lonely I truly am. Everyone here is too polite. They all knock at the door, and then they leave as I lock them out. None of them are willing to sneak in or to break the door down. I miss Gene. Even though he was a sexist, racist, homophobic dinosaur, he was my sexist, racist homophobic dinosaur. Sam said it best. There is truly no man like Gene Hunt anywhere in the world. He beat men up without a thought, innocent or guilty, but if you as much as touched a guilty woman, he would yell himself blue at you.

I remember vividly the last day I walked with him. It was sunny. It was bright. I was happy. So was he. But that had all changed. One loud noise, one explosion can change even the most perfect day. And it ruined my perfect day. The day turned into fear and panic. There were screams of the people down below and of the above. No one knew it was going to happen except the man that caused it.

There were children below. The children shouldn't have been there. Molly shouldn't have been there. But I saw her. I saw my little girl! And there was the explosion, and Gene and I parted ways, never to be reunited again.

Now that we have gone our separate ways, I can't believe that I had ever wished I could be without him. The years have not been kind. They pull and tug at memories, trying to warp them, trying to cover them up.

And as I leave this house I am in, pushing open the front door, I can feel it the years try and tug at my memories of Gene. Of how he rescued me when I first arrived. How he protected me, sometimes against my will. Of how he always seemed to know what was best for me, even when I thought it was something completely different. The years tug at the memories of his features. Of his bright silvery blue eyes. Of his beautiful blonde hair, always seeming to be windswept. Trying to remove the memory of his gorgeous pout, the one his face always set into when he didn't get his way. Trying to remove the memory of the jealous flicker in his eyes when I got attention from any other man but him. But now, stepping into the sunshine of this bright day to complete my mission, I know that Gene Hunt will never be forgotten, because he has to exist.

My name is Alex Drake. I was shot, and that bullet took me back in time. I was lost in 1981, 1982, and 1983 but I knew I had to fight, and search, and stay alive, because somehow I would find my way home.

TBC