The Bill: What if Andrea survived?

Authors Note: Andrea Dunbar was one of my favourite characters in The Bill and I knew I just had to start a fan fiction around her and Neil. I came up with so many possibilities to explore. What if she never got found out as working for the newspaper? What if she left the building before the explosion and hadn't had that confrontation with Gabriel? What if she had been at home when Neil showed up at her house to choose her over the job? I finally decided to explore the possibility that somehow (however unlikely) she managed to survive the explosion at Sun Hill that in the actual show ultimately resulted in her death. I'll try not to dwell on too many past details that led to this moment though I will include some to remind those that may have forgotten what the actual context is to this part of the series. Therefore, hopefully my fan fiction will make sense. I hope you enjoy reading this. Jade Marie xo

Chapter 1: The Explosion

Something that sounded like a bomb shook the station and the ear piercing fire alarm rang throughout.

"What the hell was that?" Exclaimed Andrea Dunbar, an ex police constable who had just been outed as an undercover reporter and therefore had been fired from the job she had grown to love. Another PC, Gabriel Kent, was with her as they had been arguing over his involvement in the recent sniper case. Andrea had been convinced he was involved and finally she had the evidence to prove it. He had started to break down and confess all until the noise distracted them.

In confusion, Gabriel went to head out of the interview room to look down the corridor to find out what was going on. However, as he reached the doorway a huge blast tore through the building, the walls collapsing all around, the lights turning out; dust and debris covering the floor.

The force had knocked Gabriel to the ground making him suffer several cuts and bruises to his face. He had fell unconscious for a few seconds but as he came round he could see fire creeping up the area that had been the station corridor. It was coming for them. As he scrambled to his feet he heard Andrea cry out his name.

"Come on! Come on!" He grunted, making his way to Andrea who was lying forlorn and bloodied on the ground. A beam had fallen on top of her, trapping her.

"Ow," moaned Andrea as she became more aware of what was happening. She couldn't move with the beam on top of her and she could smell burning. She tried to wriggle out from underneath the beam as Gabriel tried to lift it, but it wouldn't budge.

"I can't!" Gabriel shouted, the tension in his voice clear. "It won't..." He trailed off, standing back up as he peered down at Andrea. He began to realise that this could be his chance to walk free. Andrea was the only one who knew of his involvement with the Sun Hill sniper and with her gone, he could carry on living a lie under his brothers identity that he had stolen.

"Gabriel," Andrea wheezed. Smoke now beginning to fill her lungs. "Gabriel, what are you doing? Gabriel! Please! Help me! Please. Gabriel for Gods sake! Please, help me! Please! You can't leave me here!"

He stood there frozen, torn about what to do. Since the snipers death he had tried to leave his wrongdoing behind and start a fresh; leaving a colleague to die wouldn't be a good way to make his new start. However, if Andrea lived and revealed the truth then he certainly wouldn't make his new start behind bars either.

"This is my second chance," Gabriel stated trying to remain calm.

"Don't do this to me, please!" cried Andrea, fearing that Gabriel was going to leave her there to burn in the ever growing fire. She had connected with him only moments before, she had got him to confess but that wasn't enough to convince her that he would do the right thing.

"The snipers dead. Kerry's dead. I can put it all behind me. Move on."

"I won't tell anyone anything. I wouldn't tell anyone I promise," pleaded Andrea, using all her strength to reach and grab Gabriel's hand as he lent forward. "Please don't leave me here."

"I'm sorry," muttered Gabriel, pulling back with one lonesome tear escaping.

"No!" Andrea begged. She kept hold of his hand as tight as she could. "No, Gabriel, no!"

Forcing his hand free of Andrea's surprisingly strong grasp, he turned and fled the burning building whilst Andrea was repeatedly yelling his name. Andrea continued to shout until the smoke began to choke her. She didn't want to die. She couldn't die. She was the only one who could get justice for Kerry, her ex-colleague and friend who Gabriel had murdered. Only Andrea knew the truth and she couldn't let him get away with it.

With her determination for justice spurring her on, she used all the strength she had in her to move out from under the fallen beam. Frantically looking around her for something to hold on to she clutched another beam that had fell just behind where she was lying.

"Ahhh!" She screamed in pain as she used her arms to pull her out from underneath the beam that had crushed her. As she wriggled out slowly, inch by inch, she could feel the weight of the beam move from her ribs, scraping down her body as she moved. The pain was unbearable but the adrenaline kept her going. She felt sick. The fire now was only a few metres away; she knew she didn't have long to get out.

Blood had begun to soak through her denim jacket and she feared her injuries may be so severe that even if she were to get herself free from the rubble, she may bleed to death anyway. But she had to try.

Finally, she had managed to pull herself out from underneath the beam using her upper body strength but it had left her weak. Her eyes began to feel heavy and with the smoke becoming increasingly thick she couldn't stop coughing. As the lower part of her body had been crushed she knew she wouldn't be able to stand. Once again, she relied on her upper body strength, dragging herself through the rubble, away from the burning fire to try and make her escape.

Only Gabriel had known she was in the building. No one was going to come looking for her so she had to fight for her own survival. There was no other option. She could only hope that she would make it out alive.