Ok, this is my first A2A story with an idea that's been nagging me since the end of the second series, but after discovering all the AMAZING stories and writers on here, I wasn't gonna bother even trying lol :D

But anyways, I had a spare afternoon so here goes . . .

(Please be nice, but any feedback is greatly appreciated!)

Stumbling out of the hospital double doors, Alex bent over, placing her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath and push away some of the pain that was throbbing away in her temple. After a few moments, although the pain in her head remained, she had managed to get her breathing under control. Looking up and over towards the hospitals taxi rank, she began to make her way towards the first one in the line, opening the passenger door and gingerly pulling the door closed behind her. Sitting back in the black leather seat, she closed her eyes and sighed, not moving for several moments. Opening her eyes, she looked up to see the driver staring at her rather oddly in the rear-view mirror.

She was too exhausted, confused and in pain to care. "Sorry, erm . . ." She had been about to give the driver her address but paused, shocked to realise that for a moment she couldn't remember her address. She had got so used to being driven everywhere or drinking in a bar that was in the same building as her flat that she hadn't had to think about an actual address in a long, long time.

Shaking her head a little to try and clear some of the fog she felt clogging up her brain, only to send further shards of pain shooting to her cerebral cortex. She relayed the correct address to the driver, who said nothing as he put the cab in gear and pulled away with a sigh and a barely perceptible shake of his head.

Throughout the journey Alex didn't notice the odd looks and frequent sideward's glances she received from the driver – she was too busy lost in her thoughts, as one came crashing into the back of another into her consciousness with a painful shove.

I'm really home. 2008. Molly. I'm going to see Molly. And Evan.

Repeating that mantra over and over again in her head gave Alex a rush of excitement as she sat there taking in her surroundings, looking for any sign that she recognised, some hint that she was close to her daughter.

Eventually, after what seemed like forever, the taxi pulled into a street that Alex recognised vaguely. The cab came to a stop. Getting out, Alex turned to the drivers open window. "Right, I'll be back in a minute", she told him.

Walking up the driveway to the house she and Molly had shared for so long, Alex felt a little nervousness creeping into her belly. And not just at the fact she hoped someone was inside to pay her taxi fare for her. She had been away for almost two years, living a completely different life to the one she had been before the shooting, the life that she was stood facing right at this moment. She didn't know what to expect or how long she had been away in this world.

Knocking gently on the door, a mixture of shock, elation and trepidation shot through her as the front door was pulled back to reveal her godfather stood there looking at her speechless, eyes wide and mouth formed into a little 'O' shape.

"Alex . . ." he mustered after a few moments.

"Evan", she replied feeling tears forming at the corners of her eyes. She didn't know what else to say in that moment and instead took a moment to look him up and down. He looked good, she noted. He was wearing a blue and white striped shirt with navy trousers, his hair rather dishevelled as though he had been running his hands through it, with a tea-towel thrown over his left shoulder.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a car horn blaring behind her. Rather startled by the sudden noise, she began to ramble. "I . . . sorry . . . have you . . . I mean I haven't . . . the taxi . . ."

"Hold on", Evan called to the driver of the cab. He disappeared into the house and returned a moment later, wallet in hand, pushing past her towards the street. Smiling a small smile at the thought of the man who had become her second father throughout her life, she turned and stepped towards the house. Crossing the threshold, Alex could immediately smell some sort of pie or something cooking in the kitchen, and she made her way towards that room as if drawn by the smell, calling out for Molly as she went, holding onto banisters and walls for support as her legs suddenly felt like jelly.

"She's out with Rachel", Evan's voice came from behind her as she took a seat on one of the silver stools pushed under the breakfast bar, not trusting her legs to hold her weight for much longer.

"Oh right", Alex nodded, regretting the action as soon as she'd started, reaching up to place the palms of her hands over her temples to try and dim the pain. Upon feeling soft cotton under her hands instead of the smooth hair she was expecting, she let out a little gasp of surprise at the realisation that her head was still wrapped in a bandage. She could almost muster up enough energy to care about what the taxi driver must have thought about her, but not quite.

Evan moved around to the other side of the breakfast bar, placing his open palms in front of her. "Nice fashion Alex", he told her, his mouth twitching into a smile. With him stood right there in front of her, Alex couldn't help but compare his face to the face she had seen in the 1980's, smiling at the lines that now creased the corners of his eye and along his forehead, the grey hairs framing his face and the way his face seemed to hang a little lower overall, the past 25 years taking its toll.

"Thanks", she muttered, not bothering to remove her hands from her head. "When's Molly due back?"

"Not long, a couple of hours. I'm sure she wouldn't have gone out if she knew . . . I mean, I told her to go . . . didn't seem right her sitting around here all day . . ."

Now she did raise her head, looking his straight in the eye. "It's fine Evan, I wouldn't want her hanging around here moping. I just wanted to see her." So much, she added to herself. So very much.

"Why are you here Alex?" Evan asked her after a heartbeat. At her look of surprise he quickly tried to explain what he meant. "I mean, why are you here? In this house? Now? Shouldn't you be in the hospital? You've been in a coma for two weeks. Do your doctors even know you're here?"

Alex could only sigh. "No, I woke up and I just wanted to see my daughter. I want to give my little girl a hug and kiss her head. I just . . ." Her voice broke.

"I know Alex, I know." He placed his hand over hers in a gentle gesture of comfort. "And she wants to see you too. More than you know. She's spent every minute she could at the hospital by your bedside and sulked at me for hours every time I made her leave to go to school or get some sleep. But she wouldn't want you here if you weren't well."

Alex didn't know what to say and she felt the tears that had been forming start to spill down her face, as she couldn't hold herself together anymore. As Evan came round to embrace her, Alex didn't know why she crying. Whether it was because she had finally gotten home, because she wanted nothing more than to hold her daughter and she wasn't there, because her head hurt more and more with every waking moment, or because she felt irrationally lost and scared as she sat in her own kitchen in the arms of the man who had brought her up basically all her life.

"Come on Alex", Evan whispered into her ear when her sobbing had calmed a little. "You need some sleep."

"No . . . I can't . . . I"

"Yes." Alex didn't have the energy within her to fight him and let Evan lead her up the stairs towards her room.

Pulling the duvet up to her chin and watching Evan as he drew the curtains closed and quietly shut the door to, Alex could feel herself shaking as she tried to get warm under the sheets.

Despite her apprehension, she felt herself drifting off into unconsciousness willing herself not to dream about the one person she was trying to block from her memory.

What did you think? I know there isn't any Galex but please stick with it and I promise more and more in the upcoming chapters if people want it :D

Anyways, comments, constructive criticism and idea's greatly welcome :D

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