Disclaimer: I don't own Ashes to Ashes, or any of its characters. They all belong to the BBC, Kudos and Monastic productions. I'm merely using them for entertainment purposes.

Author's note: I started writing this story in August 2009 (I'm a bit of a slow writer), so it's obviously AU post series 2. This story follows the same storyline as my previous story, 'Changes'. You can easily read this story separately, but to get some background info I'd suggest you go back and read that story as well. As for the timeline: the story starts in November 1983.

Chapter 1

Alex awoke from good night's sleep. In fact, she hadn't slept that well in a very long time. The bedroom door was slightly ajar and the delicious smell of freshly made pancakes driftedinside and filled her nostrils. She looked at the clock on her nightstand. It was nearly 7 o'clock, which meant she had plenty of time to have breakfast. As she felt quite hungry, she quickly got out of bed and made her way downstairs to the kitchen. And what she saw there was one of the sweetest things she had ever seen in her life. The breakfast table was set with plates, freshly squeezed orange juice, and hot steamy mugs of tea. And Gene and Molly were standing by the stove, making pancakes together. Alex leaned into the doorframe and watched the spectacle in front of her. She loved watching Gene and Molly together; they got along so well together, and frankly there was something very sexy about Gene acting all domestic. Alex had never expected Gene to adjust to a regular family life this well. But he had, and it had made her love and admiration for him grow even more.

After several minutes, they finally noticed her.

"Morning Bolly. Sleep well?"

"Morning mum."

Alex walked into the kitchen and gave Molly a hug, before walking over to Gene to kiss him good morning.

"I slept really well, but now I'm absolutely ravenous. These pancakes smell so good!" she said as she sat down at the table.

Nothing was said for a while, as they all sat down and enjoyed their breakfast. Gene couldn't hold back a grin as he saw Alex dig into her fifth pancake in under ten minutes.

She looked up at him. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing Bolls, just glad to see you've got such a healthy appetite this morning."

"Yes, well I have got the best excuse in the world for that. Eating for two, remember?" Alex stuck out her tongue and went back to focus on her plate of food.

"That's why we made a few extra pancakes!" Molly said with a smile.

At that moment, the phone rang. Gene and Alex exchanged puzzled looks.

"I wonder who that could be. Nobody we know would call this early and we're not working on any major cases at the moment" Alex said.

Gene stood up. "I'll get it."

They heard Gene briefly talk on the phone before he re-entered the kitchen.

"Right Bolls, abandon the food and get dressed, we're needed down at the station straightaway."

"What's happened?"

"Dunno exactly. Some uptight bastard's demanding to speak to us and is making a lot of fuss. So we better get down there and see what it's all about."

"But what about Molly? I have to take her to school later."

"It's alright mum, I can take the bus."

Alex turned around as she heard her daughter's voice.

"I don't think so, I will not let you stand outside waiting at some bus stop. It's freezing out there. I don't want you to catch a cold right before Christmas!"

"Don't worry Bolls. We'll take her down to the station, see 'ow serious the situation is. If it's nothing serious, you can take Molls to school afterwards. If you're needed, we'll let someone else drop her off, like Chris or Shaz.

"Alright then".

So much for a quiet breakfast, Alex thought to herself as she made her way upstairs to get dressed.

After a car ride from hell, they arrived at the station twenty minutes later.

As they walked up the steps, Alex told Molly to go and find Shaz, while Gene and herself went to deal with the problem at hand.

They spotted the 'problem', the moment they approached Viv's desk. An impeccably dressed Arabic man was pacing up and down the hall shouting, and giving everyone a hard time.

Gene was clearly annoyed by this, and he looked as though he was about to smack him. Alex noticed this and decided not to let it happen.

"Don't," was all she said as she grabbed his arm and gave him a serious look.

"Alright then, what do you suggest we do about this?" Gene asked.

"Well, it seems best to put him in an interview room. It's quiet there and he can tell us why he's here and what he wants from us."

Gene nodded. "Okay, let's do that. But if he keeps acting like an idiot, I'll punch 'im and bang him up for wasting police time."

The two of them made their way over to the man.

Alex decided to speak first. "Right, what seems to be the problem Mr.?"

"Gibran. My name is Nour Gibran. I need to talk to someone in charge, urgently!"

"I'm DI Drake and this is DCI Hunt. Let's go somewhere quiet, and you can tell us what brought you here Mr. Gibran. Please, follow me."

Before Gene had managed to get a word in, Alex had already lead the man away towards the interview room, so he decided to follow them.

When he arrived, Alex was standing outside the interview room, waiting for him. Just as he stretched out his hand to reach for the door handle, Alex grabbed his arm again.

"Let me handle this one Gene."

"No way Bolls, that man could be a nutter for all we know. I'm not lettin' you anywhere near him."

"He's not going to hurt me Gene. Didn't you see the look in his eyes? It was fear, not anger. Something is worrying him, and he needs help. Which means it's best if I do the talking. You can be in there with me, but please don't do or say anything that might distress him or make him angry."

Gene didn't look at all pleased, but finally he gave in.

"Fine, but you keep your distance, and I won't have you alone in a room with him for a second, understood?"

Alex nodded in agreement. "Okay, I promise."

At that moment, Shaz arrived, holding a cup of tea and a plate of biscuits.

"Morning ma'am, Guv. That poor man looked very upset, so I got some tea and biscuits for him. Hope that's alright?"

Alex smiled at the young WPC. "That's great Shaz, thank you."

Shaz left and Gene and Alex entered the interview room. Alex put the tea and biscuits in front of Nour, who was staring at his hands.

Gene and Alex sat down opposite him.

"So, Mr. Gibran. What is it you came here to tell us?" Alex asked.

He looked up at her. He was close to tears now, and he looked as if he hadn't slept in a while.

"I've come to report a missing person; my wife."

Alex opened a notebook and started to write down the facts. "When did you notice she was missing?"

"Around noon yesterday."

Alex kept writing, motioning him to continue his story.

"We had breakfast yesterday morning at our hotel, and after breakfast she complained of a headache. I had to go into town for a few hours on business, so I suggested that she went back to our hotel room to get some rest, and I would be back in time for lunch. And when I returned she was gone. I immediately noticed something was wrong, so I went to the police but they told me they couldn't do anything for me. Apparently in this country someone needs to be missing for at least 24 hours before the police start searching."

"That is the correct procedure Mr. Gibran," Alex confirmed. "But what made you think something was wrong, the moment you came back and found her missing from the hotel room? I mean, she could've just gone out for a moment."

"But you don't understand! We're not like you Western people. We're from Saudi-Arabia. My dear Rana has never gone out by herself before; this is the first time she's ever been in a foreign country. I didn't want to bring her here, but she asked me to. We're on our honeymoon you see, and she begged me to take her to Europe, to London. She said that all her life she had dreamt of coming here. So I gave in. And now she's missing and it's my fault!"

Nour buried his head in his hands in frustration. Alex had a sympathetic look on her face, as she reached out and tried to comfort him. Gene just seemed annoyed by the man's emotional outburst, but he didn't say a thing.

Alex gave Nour a moment to calm down, before she started speaking again.

"Alright Mr. Gibran, we need to go over all the details of your stay in London so far. Of course we'll need a detailed description of your wife; hair and eye colour, height, the clothes she was wearing etcetera. Do you happen to have a recent picture of her?"

He nodded, reached inside his jacket pocket, and handed her a picture. It showed a young girl, no more than seventeen years of age, with dark brown eyes and a pale skin, a black scarf draped loosely over her head, showing just a bit of intense black hair.

Alex took the picture from him, and studied it closely for a moment.

"She looks beautiful."

She got no real reply from him, but Alex knew the comment had made him feel more at ease.

"So let's go over a few details now, shall we Mr. Gibran?"

"Alright," he replied.

Alex reached for her pen.

"What is your wife's full name?"

"Rana Sulaiman."

"Age?"

"Sixteen."

Before Alex had time to realise what was happening, Gene had jumped up and dragged Nour off of his chair.

"You bloody paedophile! What kind of sick bastard are you?"He yelled as he banged the man's head against the wall behind him.

"What do you mean? What are you talking about? Please let go of me!" Nour pleaded.

"Gene, let him go!" Alex yelled. "Gene! In Saudi-Arabia it's perfectly normal for a sixteen-year-old girl to be married!"

Gene let him go and backed off slightly.

"You serious Bolls? That is seriously sick."

Alex looked at him. He was fuming with anger. There was no way he could continue this interview the state he was in.

Alex gave Nour an apologetic look. "You will have to excuse my colleague, Mr. Gibran. He is not familiar with the ways of your country and your culture."

Alex decided it was for the best to let everything cool off for a moment, so she dragged Gene out of the interview room.

"Gene, I think it's best if I go back in by myself."

"Not in a million years Bolly. I didn't even want you doing interviews in the first place now that you're pregnant. I'd rather have that bony arse of you glued to a chair behind a desk for the duration of your pregnancy, but since you're a stubborn little tart that's not going to happen. But you're not going in there alone!"

Alex rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Fine, then go back to CID and send someone over to conduct the interview with me. Ray, Chris, Shaz, I don't care. As long as you don't set foot in that interview room again, it's fine by me."

Gene didn't say another word. He turned around and strode away towards CID.

Alex watched him go. She could see he was tense, just by looking at his back. He could be a bloody ignorant Neanderthal sometimes, she thought to herself. But the fact that he was worried about her, and was trying to protect her and the baby was really sweet; even though his methods of doing so were a little old-fashioned.

After a few minutes she saw Chris coming towards her.

"The Guv send me boss, uh I mean ma'am."

Alex smiled. She was glad Gene had decided to send Chris and not Ray. He would certainly have beaten the crap out of that poor man as well. At least she could rely on the fact that this wasn't going to happen with Chris around.

"Come on," she said to him. "We've got to interview a man about his missing wife."

Half an hour later Alex and Chris had finished the interview. They had gone over all the whole story twice, and had written down all the info Nour had given them. As they walked back into CID, Alex immediately noticed Gene sitting in his office, legs up on his desk and a glass of whiskey in his right hand. She walked in and sat herself down on the edge of his desk. Gene didn't respond to this in any way.

She looked at him for a moment, before she started speaking.

"Look, I'm sorry about what just happened Gene. But we needed to get some answers out of him, and all you did was frighten the poor man. Although I disagree with your method of interrogation, it is often very effective. But not in this case. This man needed a more subtle approach."

Gene still didn't reply as he continued to stare at the amber liquid in his glass.

Seems I'll have to do all the talking, Alex thought to herself.

"Don't get me wrong Gene, I don't agree with the situation either. In my opinion it's very wrong to arrange marriages for 16 year old girls. I know many of the girls are even much younger than that when they are married off to some man they don't know. But we can't let our own opinions and feelings get in the way of the investigation. We just have to accept that their culture is the way it is; we have to help people, regardless of their cultural or religious beliefs."

"Of course I know you don't agree with it either Bolls, I know you better than tha'. It's just…I don't know. I get so angry at these bastards, and I find it 'ard to control myself, ya know?"

Alex reached for Gene's hand, and squeezed it slightly. "I know Gene. It's not your fault. It's just the way you are. You have very strong feelings about what's right and what's wrong, and I admire that in you. It's a beautiful quality."

Gene cast her one of his rare, but beautiful smiles. "Easy on the flattery Bolls, need to keep me feet on the ground eh? "

He planted a light kiss on the top of her hand, before letting go of it. "Best crack on with our investigation then. What d'you suggest we should do Bolly?"

"I suggest we go and check out the hotel. You know, have a look around, talk to the staff to see if they saw anything suspicious." Alex said.

Gene knocked back the last of his drink and got up.

"Right Bolly, I'll get me coat." Was all he said before he strode out of the office.

About half an hour later they arrived at the Claridge's Hotel.

"Well well, this is a posh place, ain't it Bolly?" Gene commented as they entered the building and made their way over to reception.

"It certainly is, it looks absolutely amazing!"

"Yeh well don't get any ideas into yer head. I'm not exactly a poor bloke, but I will never be able to afford to take you to a place like this."

"And I wouldn't want you to," Alex replied as she briefly squeezed his hand, "I'd be much happier if you took me to a less fancy hotel. I mean, this is nice and I think it looks beautiful, but it's not me, and it certainly isn't you."

"Good to know," Gene answered with a wink. "Now let's go and do some work Bolly."

Gene had a quick word with a woman at the reception desk and within 10 minutes the hotel manager had come over to let them have a look at the hotel room.

It was a beautiful suite on the top floor, with a lovely view over the city. Gene and Alex had a quick look around, checking closets, bedside tables and suitcases, but found nothing that would help them with Rana's disappearance.

Gene turned to the manager. "Do you happen to have security cameras installed in the lobby and by the entrance?"

"Yes we do."

"Would it be possible for us to have a look at the tapes?" Alex asked.

"Certainly, follow me please," the manager replied.

They spent the next hour ploughing through the security footage they'd been given, until they finally found something.

"Gene." Alex gave him a nudge. "I think that's her," she said as she pointed towards the screen, where they could see a young, dark haired girl leaving the hotel in a hurry. It was definitely her.

"What's the time on the tape?" Gene asked.

"11.20," Alex answered. "Not too long before her husband came back to the hotel. She was either stepping out briefly, or she must've planned this all along."

"What do you mean by that Bolly? Do you think she left on her own accord, rather than being abducted?"

"Well I don't know if that's the case, but I wouldn't rule it out completely, no. She's a young girl, who grew up in a country where women have no rights whatsoever. I wouldn't be surprised if she got a taste of freedom and decided to act upon it. You may have noticed that she wasn't even wearing a headscarf on the security camera footage, whereas in her own country she has to be completely veiled when she leaves the house."

"Right, we better get back to the station then Bolly. If she wasn't abducted, but just doesn't want to be found, it might be a lot harder to get her back," Gene said as he put the tape in the pocked of his coat.

"Are we even allowed to take that tape?" Alex asked.

"Dunno Bolls, and I don't care. We might need to take a closer look at it later."

They made their way back to Fenchurch East, with Gene continuously breaking the speed limit, and Alex telling him to slow down. By the time the Quattro came to a screeching halt outside the station entrance, Alex felt dizzy and stumbled as she climbed out of the car.

"Jesus Gene, do you really have to drive like a maniac all the time? We weren't even in a hurry!"

Gene shrugged his shoulders. "That's the way I always drive Bolly. If you don't like it, don't get in the car with me." And with that he made his way up the steps towards the entrance.

Alex rolled her eyes in annoyance, but decided not to say anything. She could tell Gene was on edge, and it had everything to do with her sending him out of the interview room that morning. He had let her have her way, and it had obviously frustrated him. And since Gene wasn't the kind of man who sat down and talked about his feelings, she was now paying for it this way.

When she entered CID, Gene had already gathered the team round to start briefing them about the case. He held up a photo of Rana.

"Right you lot, this girl has gone missing and we need to find her. She was last seen leaving the Claridge's hotel yesterday at 11.20 am. Her husband thinks she might've been abducted, but DI Drake thinks it's possible that she has run away and doesn't want to be found. In that case, it makes our investigation a lot more difficult. So we need to start looking, fast!"

A chorus of "yes Guv" could be heard, before everyone scurried off to start working.

"Chris, Raymondo! I want you to go back to the hotel and take statements from chambermaids, bellboys and everyone else who might've seen something."

"Yes Guv" they replied in unison, and quickly left.

Gene turned to Alex. "Right Bolly, I've got a meeting with the Chief Super now. Hope you can manage without me for an hour or so."

And with that he turned around and left.

With a big sigh, Alex let herself fall back into her chair. I'm not going to let this get to me. His mood will pass, she thought to herself.

All of a sudden she felt a hand on her right shoulder; it was Shaz.

"Everything alright with you and the Guv, ma'am?"

"Yes everything's fine Shaz. We got into an argument about his interviewing methods this morning, and now he's just being his grumpy old self. It'll pass."

"Glad to hear it ma'am." Shaz smiled. "Is there anything I can help you with in the meantime?"

"Yes actually there is Shaz. You can go over Mr. Gibran's statement with me, to see if there are any inconsistencies. I would like to rule him out as a suspect."

"So you don't think he has anything to do with the disappearance?" Shaz asked.

"No I don't think so," Alex replied. "He was beside himself with worry, and he seemed to really care about her. So I don't think he has anything to do with it. But of course you can never be sure."

Gene had returned about an hour later, still a bit moody, but less than before, and the rest of the afternoon was spend going over witness statements and making phone calls, with little result.

At 6, most of the team went off to Luigi's, and Gene and Alex headed home. The drive home was spend in silence, with Gene concentrating on the traffic, and Alex staring out of the window. He was driving more carefully than he had that morning and afternoon, so he had taken notion of Alex's outburst earlier on. They stopped off on the way to get some food to take home, since they both didn't feel like cooking. Alex was too tired and Gene too preoccupied.

At home they were greeted by Molly, who had taken the bus home earlier that afternoon.

"Are you ok mum? You look tired."

"Don't worry Molls, I'm fine. It's just that a girl has gone missing today, and we need to find her. But the problem is we just don't know where to start looking."

"That's awful." Molly looked shocked. "How old is she?"

"16 years old."

"Only a few years older than me then," she replied.

"That man this morning, was he the one who reported her missing?"

"Yes, it was her husband," Alex replied.

Molly looked at her mother in disbelief. "Husband?"

Gene hadn't said anything since they arrived home, but at this moment he felt it was time to let himself be heard.

"Yeh Molls, 16 and married. Don't get any ideas into that pretty little head of yours though. Because if you ever do, I'll have to get those ideas out of yer head again. By force, if necessary."

Molly grinned. Gene really had a way with words. But as she looked up into his face, she didn't see him laughing. He was dead serious about this. In a strange way this was a reassuring thought though. At least someone, apart from her mum, would always be looking out for her, and protecting her. It made her feel very safe and secure.

Alex looked at Molly and Gene. Both were looking at each other, their minds probably going over all the things that had just been said.

"So, I think we should eat now. Would be a shame to let dinner get cold, wouldn't it?" she said, hoping it would be enough to change the subject. She'd had enough of this case and everything about it for today.

Both Molly and Gene snapped out of their own chain of thoughts.

"Yeah, dinner. Good idea Bolly," Gene mumbled.

The phone rang.

A couple of mumbled expletives could be heard, as Gene's left arm shot out from under the covers, in search of the source of that rudding noise.

"Hunt!" he barked into the phone.

It was silent for a moment, as he listened to the voice on the other end of the line.

"Bloody hell Skip, you know what time it is? It's bleeding 5.30 in the morning!"

Another moment of silence.

"You what?"Gene practically yelled as he sat upright in bed. "Yeh, we'll be right there."

And with that, he hung up the phone.

Gene turned around, and poked Alex, who was still half asleep, in her side.

"C'mon Bollykeks, we've got work to do."

"Hmm…donwanna, tis early," she mumbled from under the covers.

"They found a body Alex," Gene replied.

That did the trick. "What?"

"Yeah, body of a young girl. Fits the description, so we're going over there now."

Both of them quickly got dressed, and Alex phoned Shaz to ask her to come over to look after Molly and to get her to school.

The relatively calm driving of the night before had vanished into thin air, as Gene manoeuvred the Quattro through the empty streets of London at a dangerous speed.

Alex's mind was working overtime. What if it was the girl they were looking for? What could possibly have happened to her? After all, she didn't know anybody in London, it was her first time in this country. So who on earth would want to kill her?

TBC

Well, I hope that was alright for a first instalment. More soon!