Okay, so this is my first Ashes to Ashes fic and I'm quite excited about it!

Its set before Alex actually gets to the eighties, just after the team have transferred down south. I really like the Chris and Shaz relationship so there's a lot of that in here as well as the rest of the team… enjoy :)

Chapter 1 – First Impressions

Gene Hunt walked into the bright yet smoky room with the black and white ceiling tiles and glanced sideways at a portly man in a bright green shirt who looked up and quickly dropped his feet from his desk. Hunt took in his surroundings as he strode towards the main office, his office, his crocodile boots clunking heavily on the floor; the small tin trash cans were overflowing with balled up pieces of paper, ash trays were overflowing with cigarette stubs and the air had the stale smell of whisky and fag ends. Brilliant, he thought, everything seems to be in order. He turned the handle of the glass door in front of him and stepped into the office. It was somewhat smaller than the one in Manchester but it would do. He sat down solidly in a worn looking leather chair and leaned back, closing his eyes, This will do nicely.

Ray Carling walked along the dimly lit grey corridor, he lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply before releasing the dark smoke into the air; it swirled in front of him and then dissolved into nothingness. A young woman in a non-existent red leather skirt stormed past him, almost knocking him over in the process; his eyes followed her extremely long legs and he plucked the stick from his mouth, allowing his jaw to hang open. He whistled and smiled to himself, Bloody hell, and I thought the skirts in Manchester were short. He shoved the cigarette between his lips and strolled towards the double doors of the main room.

Chris Skelton tumbled backwards through the swinging doors of the CID headquarters; the cardboard box in his arms began to topple but he managed to catch it before it tipped the contents of his old desk onto the floor. He turned around to face nine or ten smirking faces and straightened up, attempting to look nonchalant. Ray was sitting with his feet on his desk reading the newspaper and some of the other officers were playing cards and staring at dirty magazines with wide eyes and open mouths.

Chris looked around for the desk with his name plate on but caught the eye of a slim girl with short dark hair and big brown eyes. She was in her black and white uniform and was sitting behind a large typewriter with a pile of documents beside her; she seemed to be the only one in the room doing any work. She smiled widely at Chris but he just stared back with blank eyes. He continued to stare as he walked forward and went flying over the top of a pile of newspapers. The cardboard box in his hands flew through the air, sending his magazines and special mug skidding across the floor towards the Guv's office. A cheer went up through the room and a few people started to clap as Chris' face flushed scarlet.

"Chris you bloody div", Ray shook his head and returned to reading his newspaper.

Chris gathered his belongings swiftly and shoved the box onto his new desk, he kept his eyes down, not wanting to fall into those huge brown ones of that plonk. He leaned over towards Ray and whispered,

"Ray", his moustached friend continued to read the paper, all Chris could see was the trail of smoke from Ray's cigarette, "Ray!" ray sighed and slapped the paper onto his desk,

"What man?"

Chris lowered his head and tried to speak as quietly as possible, "Who's she?"

"What?" Ray's face screwed up as he tried to hear what Chris was saying.

"Her, the plonk, who is she?"

"Chris I can't hear a bloody word you're sayin' mate", Ray picked up his paper again but Chris grabbed his arm and forced him to lean closer,

"Her!" he gestured towards the brown-eyed girl, "Do you know her name?"

Ray shoved Chris' hand off of his arm and frowned, "No I bloody don't! Now get off 'us you puff".

Chris nodded and leaned back in his chair; he pulled a car magazine out of his box and lit a cigarette.

Sharon Granger peered over the top of the paper in the typewriter in front of her, towards one of the new DC's that had transferred down from Manchester. She'd caught his eye when he'd walked in and she'd also gotten a very nice view of his arse in those tight white jeans when he'd tripped over.

Chris stood up and placed his magazine on his desk and stubbed out his cigarette; he wound his way past Ray and made his way towards the brown-eyed girl who was sitting behind her typewriter,

"Hiya, I'm Chris, er, DC Skelton", Chris smiled and Sharon continued to type, "I er, like your, er, typewriter".

Sharon looked up and raised her dark eyebrows, she looked into Chris's eyes, causing him to stare for a moment, and then she spoke in a strong Essex accent, "Shaz".

Chris shook his head to clear it and a puzzled look spread across his face, "What?"

"My name. It's Shaz, or Shazza if you like", she smiled and got back to her typing.

"Oh, right, yeah. I like it. Shaz", Chris said her name like it was sacred and stood a moment longer.

"Is there anything else DC Skelton?"

"Er, no", he cleared his throat, "Nope".

Chris made his way back to his desk and Ray scoffed, "Puff", before he could sit down.

The Guv stormed out of his office, causing the glass door to bang loudly against one of the desks. He stood a moment as everyone in the room stared at him, cautiously awaiting his next words,

"Right you lazy bastards I've just been informed that some scrawny twat thinks he can sell guns in my city and someone has used one on a seventeen year old girl", he turned to Ray and Chris, "Raymondo, Christopher, you're with me".

Chris and Ray got to their feet with a simultaneous "Yes Guv".

The Guv continued, "The rest of you I want names of anyone with previous convictions for arms dealing or anything to do with guns, got it?" He turned to Shaz who looked a little dumbstruck by Hunt's way of communicating to his officers, "You. Er-"

"-Shaz", she said.

"Whatever. Get these men some coffee; they can't work with mouths as dry as Chris' trouser department in a strip club now can they?"

"Yes Sir", Shaz walked towards the kitchen area with her eyes down and an expression of annoyance etched onto her features.

Hunt, Ray and Chris marched towards the double doors at the end of the room, ready to face their first case in their new department,

"Right", said Gene, "Let's fire up the Quattro".