Destroying A-Division
'This is set in a alternative version of episode 8, series 2 of Life On Mars.
Sam doesn't tell the CID team he is undercover for Morgan and finds his own way to destroy the division.
Note:
Sam's thoughts are surrounded by apostrophes ( ' ), speech by speech marks ( " ). Anything that is not enclosed is descriptive text for the reader and is not thought or said by the characters.
Just thought I'd mention that, makes it easier to read and understand.
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'Destroy Gene Hunt's department, that's what he had to do.'
Sam Gripped the sides of the sink in his dingy flat as he stared in to his reflection in bathroom the mirror.
'Morgan had told him at their meeting yesterday, in the rain, in the graveyard...
It had to be done, he had to bring down the division to get home, bring down his co-workers.
No... not co-workers, figments of his broken mind.
They were not real.'
--
Sam arrived at the office early that morning, he stood alone in the centre of A-Divisions office space.
It was almost silent, just the faint sound of traffic rumbling by outside.
He'd been listening to a radio for a sign... any sign, one word. Just to show him he was imagining everything, that 1973 was just his damaged mind playing tricks and he could escape.
There had been nothing.
The silence was broken with a clatter as the lift doors outside the main office opened, Sam tensed, who would be here at 5:30am...
It was then that a sleepy looking Chris bumbled through the doors carrying a stack of files.
"Oh, boss." Said Chris in surprise. "What are you doin' ere'..."
"Just thought I would come in early today" Said Sam quickly "Its not like you to be early though"
"Ah, well the guv gave me this lot to sort through las' night, but I went to the pub with Ray instead" Replied Chris not sure if he should grin or apologise.
"Right" said Sam "I'll leave you to it then"
"See ya then boss" grinned Chris.
Sam turned away and walked out of the office, and jabbed at the lift button at the end of the corridor.
The doors slid open and Sam darted in and selected the ground floor, he waited as the lift clattered down through the floors shaking slightly beneath his feet.
The ride stopped with a bump and the doors slid open, Sam was almost running as he passed the deserted reception desk and went out through the large front doors.
Outside he took a deep breath and looked around him, a car pulled up into the car park easing into place next to a un-marked Police van, a slight breeze rustled nearby trees and the sound of traffic wafted through the air.
"Stop this Sam" he mumbled to himself. "It's not real, these... people aren't real, and when you wake up they won't exist..."
"They never did exist..." He finished.
'He couldn't ruin lives, he couldn't hurt anyone, this was his mind playing games with him and he had to get out by any way he could.'
--
Sam spent the rest of the day trying to avoid eye contact with the rest of the group, Morgan had already told him that the division was a out-dated, badly implemented way to fight crime, and Gene Hunt was spurring it along. The cancer.
Killing the Police force, killing him...
It wasn't until mid-day, Sam was in regular contact with any of the team. The division had finished prepping for the sting and it was almost time to move to the train station.
"Hey, Tyler!" a voice rung out, "come and look at this".
Sam turned around Ray was leaning on his desk looking smug, Chris standing next to him.
"You know that drugs bust we pulled while you were at that bloody meeting the other day"
"Yeah" replied Sam slowly.
"Well, we only went and found some massive wads of cash" jeered Ray pulling out an alarmingly large bunch of notes from his wallet.
"All over the place, they were in the middle of sorting it!"
"Good timing!" Chris added with a smile.
"You can't do just take any money you find lying around!" said Sam angrily
"What..." asked Ray, his smile turning into a frown, "The guv made sure we all got a bit, Chris, Cartwright, the lot."
"He said you wouldn't want any" Said Chris butting in, trying to give an explanation for Sam's lack of money.
"So you are telling me the whole division has took a cut of this stolen money" said Sam with disbelief.
"Yeah, why the hell wouldn't they Tyler..." Said Ray looking puzzled. "Its not nicked, most of its gone back, this is our payment, for doing the right thing and locking those bastard druggies up."
"We don't get payed enough for this bloody job anyway" He finished, looking slightly more agitated now.
Sam rose his hands up slightly, eyes closed, teeth clenched... then slowly lowered them down.
He spun around and walked out of the office.
Outside in the corridor he put his hands to his face, he exhaled slowly.
"This isn't right." He thought "Gene said, no more backhanders, or bribes, or dirty money..."
"Wait.." Something overlooked clicked in his mind... Ray's words...
"The guv made sure we all got a bit, Chris, Cartwright, the lot."
"Chris, Cartwright, the lot."
"Cartwright."
"Annie." Sam whispered under his breath.
--
Sam burst through the door of the records room, looking around for signs of his target.
He heard the sound of rusting pages from the back of the room beyond several tall shelves and spotted a folder being slotted into place.
Walking swiftly round to the source of the noise he spotted WDC Annie Cartwright sorting through a stack of folders placing each one in its correct place on the shelves.
"Annie" gasped Sam placing a hand on the back of her shoulder.
Annie spun round. "Gosh Sam don't do that again, gave me a right fright that did".
"Annie" said Sam "Did you take that money from Gene the other day..."
She glanced round looking uncomfortable.
"Look, its not wha..."
"You did!" Interrupted Sam, "I thought we were together on Gene and his bloody money".
"I thought you of all people would..."
"Look Sam!" Annie said cutting him off mid-sentence, her expression changing from concern to anger in a flash. "We can't all be the perfect coppers you want us to be, I have bills to pay you know."
"But..." started Sam.
"NO" yelled Annie, "You listen for once, I have tried to support you in your grand plans for changing this place, but at the end of the day the guv is in charge not you! You want everyone to change just because you think its the right thing to do, your word isn't law Sam, we are capable of making our own decisions."
She turned sharply and walked out slamming the door behind her.
Sam stood there feeling numb
His mind was all over the place, he didn't know what was up and what was down any more, he was blowing things out of proportion without realising. he was upset, and angry...
He leant against a stack of shelves, confused, thinking.
'The only person who had supported him was just as bad as the rest, supporting Gene Hunts violence and reckless tactics for stopping crime.
It was up to him to make sure these people could not prevent him from getting home, Morgan's plan was unimportant, Sam knew what he had to do.'
----
Sam was waiting on the train station platform with Ray, he was supposed to be escorting the trolleys containing the boxes of money.
These were being pushed towards him following a station official as the train rolled into the station.
"Alright mate?" asked Sam cheerily, holding up a clipboard containing security paperwork.
"Transferring wages to the colliery" he said handing it over.
The official took it and looked at him with hint of suspicion. "I don't know you two, Where's your D-7?"
Sam tapped tapped the clipboard.
The official examined it for a second, nodded and signed the sheet handing the clipboard back. "load up." he said
"Ta" said Sam grabbing his bat from a nearby box and placing it on top of a trolley with the clipboard.
'Like that'd help against a bunch of armed thief's' he thought.
He took one of the trolleys and pushed it towards the load door as Ray did the same.
At that moment the door was swung open and Chris jumped out of the carriage swiftly followed by Annie.
He grabbed the ramp used to load the trolleys up into the train.
"Need a hand with that?" Asked Sam
"No thanks, I can do it ta." replied flashing a slight smile.
Annie looked at Sam coldly. "Come on, load em' up, get on with it, chop chop!
"Errr, yeah, chop chop". Added Chris unsure of what to say.
Sam and ray pushed the trolleys into a space fenced off from the rest of the carriage.
'This is supposed to be security...' Thought Sam looking around.
The train whistle blew as Chris climbed aboard and Annie swung the doors closed behind them.
----
The train jolted suddenly and started to move forwards.
"Right" said Ray "you all ready..."
"Think so" said Chris nervously "All sounds a bit dangerous though."
"Nah" smiled Ray "The guvs in charge, it'll be a piece of cake."
The train gathered speed along the track and the carriage swayed side to side slightly with the sound of various rattles and bumps filling the otherwise quiet air.
Sam stood by the window staring out into the passing greenery
'This doesn't exist... these people aren't here, they are my mind... I can do this, it has no consequences, this world is mine, I can escape it.'
Besides, he had not choice, he'd left Morgan's emergency radio back at the station. There was no backing out, it was now or never.
The train started slowing and juddered to a halt suddenly, the brakes squealing.
"He's thrown the signal" said Sam looking out of the window.
In front of them lay the mouth of a tunnel, and to either side were steep embankments. The perfect place for an ambush.
The engine turned off and there was a moment of silence.
"This is it, everyone be careful" said Sam.
He had to act natural until the very end, it was crucial he didn't mess it up now. He put a hand against his uniform jacket, through the material he felt his gun. Hidden in an interior pocket away from prying eyes.
Annie walked over to the door and looked out the window.
There were a group of people, 5 of them, all armed and all wearing black balaclavas. It would be impossible to tell which one was Hunt until they heard him
"Whats going on..." She stuttered.
"ROBBERY" yelled a balaclava wearing thug standing outside "OPEN THE DOOR!". he fired a sawn-off shotgun into the air.
Annie let out a scream and flung open the door.
"Please don't hurt us" She said stepping back.
"Don't give us cause to" Growled one of the men. "Right Sykes, get up there and start the chain!"
"Right, play pass the parcel" cried the man waving his gun around. "MOVE IT!"
The voice was recognisable, this was Gene.
Ray and Chris darted to position to pass the boxes along.
Sam hesitated, pausing in front of Gene
"Get out of the way, and get moving!" he yelled.
It was at that moment Sam pulled his gun out of his overalls and shot DCI Gene Hunt in the chest.
-----
Sam saw the look on Gene's face as he realised what had happened.
First a look of shock, his eyes swung down towards his chest where he looked at the gun pushed tight to his body, then swung back up to look at Sam. Not with a look of hatred or anger, but of disbelief, mis-placed trust. He'd been betrayed.
Although this all took place in less than 10 seconds to Sam it felt like an eternity as Gene stumbled away slightly before falling backwards out of the open carriage door, almost as if it was being viewed in slow-motion.
"SYKES!" yelled a thug outside bringing Sam to his senses.
The gang of men seeing their falling comrade swung up their guns and pointed them up towards the door. Sam leapt to cover as the robbers started firing into the carriage through the door and blasting out the windows.
"YOU BASTARD!" yelled Ray. Sam swung around to see him.
With a look of hatred on his face Ray grabbed a gun concealed under his jacket and whipped it out.
Sam was too quick though and shot at Ray hitting him in the shoulder making him drop his gun, Ray grabbed his arm bleeding arm and collapsed backwards to the floor.
Annie stuck her arm out of the open door and reached out for the door handle to give them extra cover but a blast from a sawn off filled her arm with the tiny metal pellets.
She pulled back with a scream and curled into he corner clutching her injured arm.
Chris was panicking huddled under the window.
"Oh God... please make them stop... stop, just make them stop" he stammered clutching his gun and shaking violently.
Sam was behind the door he turned towards Annie and caught a glimpse of her face.
She was staring in horror at him, tears streaming down her face, shaking, clutching her arm. The tattered sleeve of her jacket and shirt coloured red with blood, weapon less and with no defence at all.
Sam's mind was going insane.
'Nothing here was right, or was it?
These people don't exist, or do they?
This was right, or was it wrong?
She isn't real... or is she?'
"THIS ISN'T REAL!" Screamed Sam tears running down his face
"YOU DON'T EXIST!" He screamed at Annie is desperation, trying to convince himself he was right.
A yell came from behind him.
Sam spun around to see Chris jump up dropping his gun and make a break towards the door at the other side of the carriage.
A shot blasted through the window hit him in the left shoulder causing him to stumble into the the side of the carriage.
Sam saw the end of a sawn off poke through the door and fire into Chris's back the recoil flicking the gun back out of sight
Chris fell straight down crumpling in to a pile on the floor.
Sam didn't know what to do any more.
'Did he have to survive this?'
He saw Ray motionless against the wall at the opposite end of the carriage. 'Unconscious or dead?'
'What happened if he died?'
He could hear Annie screaming in pain and horror to his right
'Would he ever get back to 2006?''
'He had to to get out of there'
He jumped up ready to make a break to the rear door Chris had already unlocked.
Then a armed gang member jumped into the carriage and fired his gun at point blank range into Sam's chest.
All of a sudden all sound was faint, everything was numb, everything was so slow. Sam fell backwards watching his view change from the balaclava covered face swirling upwards towards the roof and felt himself land with a soft thud.
His head fell to one side, he couldn't control it but it felt like what he wanted it to do somehow.
He saw across the floor, it was wood, that was interesting, towards Annie.
'She's was upset, crying...'
Sam felt bad, this was his fault... But he couldn't remember why...
'She had nice hair, but her clothes were a mess, that sleeve was all torn... '
'Because of the gun, that's right' He thought.
he wanted to say goodbye but couldn't, he had to go home.
His mum was waiting she'd be worried, it wasn't fair... He couldn't help Annie cheer up.
'Wonder what's for dinner?'... 'Dinner... at mum's house...'
His focus became softer and softer, the edges of his vision fading away to white and Annie became a collection of coloured blobs the head beige with brown on top connected a blue torso. A dull boom sounded echoing around Sam's head, the blue blob was suddenly changing to red a vivid dark colour but being cut out by the whiteness closing in.
---
He heard beeping, steady, but fast. Electronic, repetitive.
'Was this it?'
Sam could hear people talking, faintly, about him, his condition.
"He is coming round" said one mystery voice.
"No, lots of activity but he's no closer to actually waking up" said another.
He squinted in to the bright light seeing nothing but odd shapes and shadows, he tried turning his head but couldn't...
He could see the white light closing again, the voices were panicking.
The beeping sound increased in intensity.
"We're loosing him" Yelled one voice.
"Quick, get over here" Said another, fainter this time...
The beeping was fading but getting faster, and faster, and faster, and... it stopped, finished, the brightness quickly fading to black.
----
Sam Tyler was buried in a graveyard local to his childhood home.
A victim of a car accident.
A good copper.
He did his best to help the people he loved.
Even though sometimes, that can be harder to do than can even be comprehended.
Fin