Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes Original Characters, Fenchurch East Police Station, the Railway Arms, Luigi's and Alex's flat are owned by Kudos Film and Television, Monastic Productions and the BBC. Everything else (including the new characters) are owned by me.
Chapter Two
Gene sat with his feet up on his desk. His cowboy boots needed cleaning. The woman with the brown hair and beautiful hazel eyes used to do a really good job polishing them for him. He would remember her name in a minute or two. Sometimes he would forget things, important things.
Bolly!
That's what her name was, he braced himself for the pain to hit his heart, it always ached when he thought of Bolly or Bolls as he liked to call her, his feisty partner.
At the time, he had wished with everything inside of him that he could prevent her from going into the Railway Arms, but it was her time, and Gene could no longer stand in her way.
Gene's face was set in a perpetual scowl as he looked out into the open plan area in front of his office, he could see plonks and officers talking on the phone and it soothed him for a while. This was where he belonged, in CID pretending to be Gary Cooper in High Noon.
The truth was that he missed his old team, there was no one left from before. He wondered what they were all getting up to in the Railway Arms, did they miss him or even think of him for that matter. He tried not to think about it, he needed to concentrate on the job at hand.
Everyone in the open plan office was relatively new and they were all still afraid of him. They did not realise yet that they could stand up to him. Gene knew that time would come but until then it was boring when they all bloody towed the line and did what he told them do, not a rebel among the lot of them, he sighed deeply. He was getting maudlin as he got older he reflected, but he knew that was not true. It was her, she had pierced his heart and now the days seemed long and meaningless without her. He had hoped when she had gone that he would go back to the way things were before she jumped into his world trussed up like a posh prossie, but they didn't. The days seemed long and cold without her.
A couple of times when he was walking home from Luigi's he had thought he had seen her and chased after her, but it was never her, just some startled women who was misfortunate enough to look like his Bolls.
He grumpily looked down at the newspaper on his desk, it was opened on Page 3 and some blonde with huge knockers was leering at him suggestively.
"Jesus, what age are you love?", Gene said aloud, the girl looked no more than sixteen, he closed the paper with disgust and noticed the date 13th June 1986.
He felt he had lost his fight, he wondered if that meant his time was coming towards an end. Would he go off happily to the Railway Arms or would Jim Keats con him into taking the elevator downstairs. Sometimes, Gene thought he could hear the screams coming from the basement, it sounded like they were being tortured. Gene knew he was lucky, he never had to escort anybody there, it was always the Railway Arms and it was good boozer as boozer's go.
"Guv".
Gene was broken out of his sullen reverie, he looked up scowling "God dam' it Costigan, can't you see I'm working".
His new DI Patrick Costigan was a good bloke, but he did not like to make waves and he was having a hard time finding his way. He tended to cling to Gene. Gene knew this was not a good omen, if Costigan was not able to fight back and stand his ground and make up for past mistakes, he would not be moving on to the Railway Arms. He would be recruited by Keats for the basement.
Costigan dithered at the door and Gene wondered how in hell did Costigan ever make it to DCI in the other world. Do they really want dithering indecisive Sissy Mary's for coppers in 2010? Gene did not believe so but he was getting old and he was set in his ways, what did he know?
"Well Costigan I have not got all bloody day", Gene growled from behind his desk.
"Em sorry Guv, it's just we have arrested someone for the Granny Basher Murders", Costigan answered. The Guv always brought him out in a sweat, he sometimes got the impression that Gene would deliberately try to provoke him.
"Is he our man?", Gene asked, he was not getting out of his chair otherwise.
"His psych profile points to a yes but he has an alibi", Costigan admitted.
Gene pondered the rest of the day, he could sit behind his desk and think about her or he could beat the lard out of some little bastard granny basher and see if his alibi would hold up. Hmm that was a dilemma.
"I'll be in to interview him in a couple of minutes", Gene opened his drawer, and pulled out a bottle of scotch, he poured himself a stiff drink, then realised that Costigan was still standing there watching him.
Gene looked up crossly "Well get going Paddy, chop chop, you can hold his hand for a few minutes before the Gene Genie comes in to get the truth".
Costigan scurried out of the office. Gene shook his head and smiled to himself before knocking back his scotch in one gulp and lighting a cigarette.
Costigan made his way to the interview room, suddenly everything went black and he could hear a childs voice, he looked around frantically.
"Daddy, Daddy", the voice of a young child tearfully called.
"Seanie", Costigan shouted.
The lights came back on and everything returned to normal. Patrick was aware that everyone in the corridor was looking at him, he was embarrassed but he would shrug it off. He had to make the best of this place until he got home.
He nodded to the other officers as he passed them, he was well aware they were staring after him, he did not care. Hearing his young son's voice, brought the reality back to him, he was needed at home, his wife would not be coping well with the two kids on her own. Janet suffered from depression as it was, and two demanding toddlers were more than she could cope with.
He was still trying to get his head around the fact that he was a copper in 1985 and that his real body was lying in a ditch off the M25 in 2010, after being thrown from a car by a bunch of diamond thieves.
I wonder If anyone has found me yet? Costigan would think idly and then shiver. He was beginning to forget things too, like his wife and kids. What his friends looked like. If his parents were alive or dead. He assumed he was in some sort of coma but he wasn't sure, sometimes he could hear people that were not there.
Costigan went into the store room which they used for an interview room. He felt tired, and going on a bender with Gene the night before had not helped, his head thumped, and the smell of filth and decay coming from the suspect was over powering and he had to fight the urge to gag. He eyed their suspect, his clothes were rags and he was filthy, it looked like he had been sleeping rough for a long time. Costigan felt uneasy being in his presence, there was something about him that unnerved Costigan.
Costigan took a seat in front of the suspect and tried not to inhale too deeply, he threw the file down on the desk "Lawrence Wilson, your file has been interesting reading". Costigan eyed the suspect and thought he could detect a sneer under Lawrence's scraggily beard.
Lawrence said nothing he just eyeballed Costigan, he had spent years in Broadmore and Stackhurst, this little ponce with his bright blue jacket with the sleeves rolled up and his poncy hair style were not going to intimidate him. Lawrence knew things, things about Fenchurch, about Gene Hunt, he was not going to bow to pressure for this little pipsqueak.
"When does the real police get here?", his voice was think and hoarse., Costigan could not make out if he was Welsh or Scottish, he looked at the file again, Lawrence was from Northern Ireland, that explained the coarse accent, he mused.
The door to the store room opened and Gene stood there looking at Lawrence.
"Jesus the stench, have you been bathing in manure?", Gene snapped irritably.
Lawrence did not flinch, he kept his eyes on Costigan, the smirk still on his face.
Gene swaggered up to the desk, the Sheriff was back in town. He leaned over, his hands resting on the desk to keep his balance, and he looked Lawrence up and down, without turning, Gene addressed Costigan.
"Where does this nutter come from?".
Costigan winced he knew what was going to happen, but he had to tell Gene the truth, "He is from Fermanagh".
"Aaah Northern Ireland I see the next question will be illuminating", Gene glanced at the file that was open on the desk "Lawrence, so tell me, are you Irish or British, are you for the common wealth or against it?", Gene spat the last two words out.
Lawrence looked at Gene for the first time since he entered, he smiled showing rows of rotten teeth.
Gene met his gaze, Costigan had to look away, he thought he might vomit.
"Right, you are going into a cell, a few hours in the urine stench might be quite refreshing for you, maybe then you will more inclined to talk", Gene said, it crossed his mind to give Lawrence a good thumping but he held off, let the dirty scumbag stew for a couple of hours, then he would get the full Gene Genie treatment.
"Costigan", Gene shouted, Costigan jumped up immediately, snapping out of his day dream.
Gene looked at him and tried not to shake his head in disappointment "Escort this gentleman down to the cells, please".