This is a long one, and I predict that by the end, many of you will hate me with a passion most people can only dream about...

oOo

As the thick metal plate slid slowly upwards on its hinges, Kerry had to shield her eyes from the streetlamp's glare above her for a moment, but then felt a rush of cool fresh air as the familiar faces came into view; faces she had thought she might never see again.

"Kerry!" Meadows gasped, as the manhole cover came to rest on its hinges. He leaned forwards and reached for her arm as he beckoned Duncan to do the same. Completely overwhelmed, Kerry managed to hop up one last rung as four strong arms lifted her out of the ground as if being plucked from a great abyss. She fell into Duncan's arms, sprawled out across the tarmac and burst into hysterical tears as a fireman handed Duncan a blanket to put over her. What had started out as a normal day had turned into an unimaginable nightmare and all the composure she had managed to maintain until now finally deserted her. She wondered if maybe this was a dream too and any moment, she would wake up back in the devastated basement. She cried harder than she had ever cried before into Duncan's coat as he wrapped the blanket around her and gently stroked her head.

The others looked on in stunned amazement as the young woman caked in dust, clothes ripped in places, hair everywhere, had emerged from the hole in the middle of the road. The crowd of public onlookers, which surprisingly had remained more or less intact, tried to move closer for a better look and a pair of journalists tried to barge their way through, but were restrained and ushered back before they could get close enough.

Meadows and Deakin exchanged glances as they peered back down through the hole, their expressions rendering any words pointless. A group of firefighters was running towards them and it seemed that suddenly everyone knew what was going on.

Meadows, who was fast having his worst fears confirmed, moved over to Kerry who was still sobbing in Duncan's arms and put a hand on her shoulder. "The paramedics are heading over now, Kerry. It's all over."

"No it's not!" she choked through her tears. "Debbie's still there, I had to leave her, she's hurt, she couldn't breathe properly. Oh God, I took too long, didn't I ... she might be dead by now, I should have gone faster! And Eve, she's there too..."

Meadows' heart leapt into his throat. "It's ok, Kerry," he said, trying to stay calm, "Where did you leave her? How do we get to her ... and who's Eve?"

At that moment, two paramedics appeared and immediately busied themselves around her. "Out of the way, please," the woman said briskly, "Give her some air."

"Give me a moment, I ..." Meadows began.

"You can have a moment when I say so," the paramedic said firmly. "which will most likely be at the hospital later on."

"No!" Kerry pleaded, levering herself upright on one arm. "They need to find Debbie; I'm the only one who knows how to get to her! I'll live; she won't unless they find her fast."

The paramedics exchanged glances, then reluctantly conceded. "Ok," the man nodded. "But we're getting her into the ambulance first before she catches her death of cold. Do you think you can stand up, love?"

Kerry shrugged weakly; she had never felt so totally devoid of energy. Her whole body felt like a lead weight and all she wanted to do now was sleep; it didn't matter that she was lying in the middle of the road in the town centre. With Duncan's help, she managed to sit upright, but suddenly it was all too much and she blacked out, falling limply in his arms.

The male paramedic moved forwards quickly and helped lie her down flat. "Michelle, we're gonna need the board," he called over his shoulder, then smiled reassuringly to Duncan. "It's ok, mate, she's just fainted, I don't think you need to worry. Poor girl's been to hell and back by the looks of her."

Meadows closed his eyes and brushed both hands back over his head. Kerry was the only one who knew how to find Debbie. What now?

"Listen," he said urgently as Kerry was lifted into the back of the ambulance. I think you got the gist of that; we're still missing one, and Kerry's the only one who knows how far in she is and whether it's safe. Obviously her welfare is priority, but without her, Debbie won't stand a chance. If you could just ..."

"Debbie ...?" As they set the stretcher down, Kerry's eyes flickered open.

"It's ok, Kerry," Michelle the paramedic soothed. "You just fainted for a moment there, nothing to worry about. We're going to get you to hospital now ..."

"No!" Kerry gasped, suddenly sitting up. "They've got to find Debbie; I'm not leaving here until she's out!"

"Now, love ..."

"Don't 'now love' me!" Kerry shouted, her eyes blazing. I need to talk to DCI Meadows here NOW and I'm not leaving here until my Sergeant is brought out of there, you hear me?"

Somewhat taken aback, Michelle and her colleague exchanged glances, then resignedly beckoned Meadows into the ambulance. "She's got a lot of pluck," that one," the other remarked as he disembarked, winking at Meadows as Michelle glared at him. "Good on her, I say!"

Meadows perched on the squashy bench opposite Kerry, who propped herself upright with a couple of pillows. "I didn't know you had it in you," he smiled approvingly, if somewhat startled. "Where did that come from?"

"God knows," Kerry admitted, her sudden rush of adrenaline beginning to wear off again. "Looks like that lie down did me some good. Now listen, and don't let those two tell you I'm confused. I'm everything else, tired, aching, exhausted, but I know what I'm talking about."

The square had gone somewhat quiet again, the latest episode of excitement had fizzled out but now a team of firefighters stood around the manhole, preparing for the next. They had been instructed not to move until they had the clear picture, and although everyone knew it was just procedure, for safety, it did not stop them wishing they would just get on with it.

"Come on, come on ..." Skase muttered, as he paced back and forth, kicking at the occasional pebble in frustration.

"It cannae be long now," Duncan tried to sound optimistic. "Kerry'll be telling 'em what to expect once they're down there; she'll guide 'em right to Sergeant McAllister."

Suddenly the back doors of the ambulance burst open and Meadows jumped down, breaking into a run all the way up to the fire chief. "Ok, this is what we've got. Under here, there's a tunnel; it's completely dark so you'll need lighting. It goes under the road, she's not sure how long but it ends under the office so I'm estimating at least forty metres. At the end of that is a side room, which is where she left Debbie. According to Kerry, Debbie was hit by a beam in the initial explosion; seemed all right at first but then suddenly had major difficulty breathing and chest pain, sounds to me like a pneumothorax. There's also a kid, a twelve year-old girl who stayed with her, though god knows where she came from ... probably a runaway or something, but that doesn't matter now. The main corridor is extremely unstable as I'm sure your people know already, and Kerry says when she left, the side room was beginning to go as well so for god's sake be careful. However she says the passageway under the road seemed very sturdy for the time being."

The fire chief nodded shortly, then turned to his team. "Right, lads," he began, but Meadows quickly interrupted.

"One more thing ... I don't want to alarm you but Kerry says that just inside, by the ladder, there's a ... well, I know it sounds unlikely, but she says there's a human skeleton. Obviously Debbie is my priority but ..."

"Right. Yes, understood," the fire chief said as if this was a regular occurrence. "Ok, lads, listen up!"

Meadows turned back to his own officers. "They're going in. About time too, eh? Duncan?"

"Gov?"

"Do us a favour and go sit with Kerry? She's refusing to be taken to St Hugh's until Debbie's safe ... she might have a long wait."

"Gov," Duncan nodded, and walked briskly over to the ambulance, whose doors had since been closed again. He was just about to knock when they opened, Michelle emerged and stepped down, looking frustrated. She half closed the doors, then eyed Duncan suspiciously.

"Are you Duncan?"

"That's right, yeh. Is she ok?"

Michelle folded her arms. "More or less. Cuts and bruises, sprained ankle, nothing physical that won't heal. I've patched her up for the time being. Other than that, she's pretty exhausted, no surprise there, and she does seem to be in some degree of shock. And she refuses to let us take her in until the other one's out."

"Can yeh really blame her?"

"Oh, I don't know. Could be a while yet though. You can go in and sit with her if you like; a familiar face is probably a good idea. There's another ambulance on the way for your other colleague."

"Hey," Duncan smiled as he slipped through the door of the ambulance and settled himself on the seat that Meadows had previously occupied. "How're you doing?"

Kerry managed a half smile as Duncan entered; she knew he wouldn't interrogate her or make her feel silly if she broke down again. "Hi," she murmured. "Hope I didn't scare you too much out there."

"Well, t'be honest yeh did gi' me a bit of a fright," Duncan replied with a twinkle in his eye. "Don' you worry about that now though, it's all under control."

Kerry looked away, appreciating Duncan's tact but knowing that in reality it was by no means over. The windows were too high to see out of properly, the paramedics insisted on keeping the doors shut, and she had an awful sense of helplessness. She tried to sit up a bit further but could not find the strength. Fortunately, Duncan came to her rescue.

"Wan' me to prop yeh up a wee bit more?" he asked, his gaze falling upon the overhead compartments. "There's gotta be a couple more pillows an' stuff in here somewhere...ah, there we go."

He whisked out two more pillows and gently slid them in behind Kerry, then set about rearranging the mess he had made of the blanket, finally draping it back over her and carefully tucking it in around the sides.

"There," he said finally, sitting back down. "That a bit comfier?"

Kerry could not help but smile, albeit weakly.

"Thanks." She lay back down and looked at him through half-closed eyes. "Have they gone in yet?"

Duncan nodded. "Jus' now. Mr. Meadows told 'em what you told him, they promised they'd be careful. Look, if yeh don't want to talk about it now, that's fine an' I'll understand, but I'm sure I overheard somethin' about a skeleton...?"

Kerry raised an eyebrow and nodded slowly. "Yeah. It fell out of the wall, Indiana Jones style. Have to wait for the DNA tests and stuff to find out who it was, I guess. Brings a whole new meaning to the phrase 'skeletons in the closet,' eh?" She gave a short, morbid laugh.

"Aye." For a moment Duncan was relieved that Kerry had not lost her sense of humour, but then all at once there were tears in her eyes again.

"What if they're dead, Duncan? What if I did the wrong thing by leaving them, what if ...?"

Duncan reached out and took Kerry's hand, squeezing it gently. "If you had'nae left 'em, you'd still be down there and we wouldn' know where yeh were. Yeh did the only practical thing, Kerry; don' blame yerself."

"I should have made Eve come with me," she shook her head remorsefully. I tried but she wouldn't leave Debbie, she flatly refused. I don't know what else I could have done..."

"That was brave o'her," Duncan remarked. What was she doin' down there anyway?"

"I don't know," Kerry admitted, shaking her head. "She said a friend of the family worked there but it doesn't explain what she was doing there at this time. It looks like he's been abusing her though; she definitely wasn't lying about that. She's a sweet kid, very bright. We got on rather well, considering. And she seems to have some sort of sixth sense; twice she got us out the way, the ceiling collapsing and the stairwell. Oh god, after all that I can't bear to think ..."

"Jus' relax," Duncan soothed. "No point worryin', we've gotta think positive, eh?"

"Yeah well, believe me, if you'd been down there you wouldn't be thinking all that positively," said Kerry bitterly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you ... you're being great."

"Don' apologise," said Duncan, smiling. "You just rest, yeah?"

Kerry lay back and let her eyes slowly close, for fear they would otherwise let more tears escape. I won't go to sleep, I won't go to sleep, she ordered herself over and over again. She was going to stay awake, however much her body needed rest until Debbie and Eve were brought out alive, however long it took.

Kerry's eyes suddenly snapped open. She did not know what had woken her up, or even if she had been fully asleep, but something was going on outside. Duncan sat up suddenly too, having evidently been on the verge of sleep himself.

"Duncan," Kerry gasped, feeling her heart give a jolt.

"It's ok," he said, trying to sound calm but not doing a terribly good job, "I'll go see what's goin' on, you stay ..."

Before he could say anything else, Kerry had pulled herself upright and flung back the blanket before doing her best to stand up and get to the door, but Duncan blocked her way. "No, Kerry, stop. Look, if you're sure, I'll do it. Jus' sit back down, ok?"

She nodded wordlessly, on the brink of panic again as Duncan cautiously opened the back doors of the ambulance, peering outside in the hope that it would be good news. Kerry shuffled to the far edge of her bench, pushing his arm out of the way; she wanted to see what was going on. Good news or bad, anything was better than the waiting game...

In the darkness, and having few streetlights close to them, it was hard to see exactly what was happening for a moment, and they would probably have been kept in suspense even longer if Jack Meadows had not come jogging over to them, obviously in a bit of a state himself.

"They've got her out," he said breathlessly. "Apparently the room she was in was on the verge of collapse when they found her and caved in a minute or so after. Luckily, they were already back in the tunnel by then; they decided they had to get her out before attempting resuscitation..."

"She'd stopped breathing," Kerry choked. It was an acknowledgement rather than a question, but Meadows answered it anyway.

"They've got her back," Meadows said, wringing his hands. "She still had a pulse but they had to start on her as soon as she was up ... oh ..."

A trolley was heading swiftly towards them, surrounded by three paramedics, two of which must have come with the second ambulance, likewise a young doctor in a bright green jumpsuit, and four firemen. On the trolley, unconscious and surrounded by tubes, bags of fluid and various frightening looking devices lay Debbie. She was barely recognizable amid all the equipment and it didn't help that she was almost totally white, with pale blue lips and eyelids. Kerry wanted to run to her and make sure she was all right but thankfully, although hurried, the team appeared to have stabilised her. Meadows had managed to get past Michelle, and walked alongside the trolley with Debbie, holding her hand and speaking softly to her, greatly relieved.

Kerry looked at Duncan who gave an encouraging smile and put an arm around her. "See? Told yeh she'd be ok!"

Kerry suddenly realized who was missing. Eve. "Hey!" she called to the chief fireman who was removing his hat and taking a gulp of water from a bottle. Kerry beckoned him over urgently.

"Did they get the little girl out?"

He looked blank.

"Eve, did they get her out," she asked, her voice rising. "For God's sake, say something!"

He ran his fingers through his hair and refused to meet her eye. "I'm sorry," he said shortly, after clearing his throat. "We didn't find her."

Kerry didn't move. "What do you mean, didn't find her? She was there, with Debbie, it was probably her who kept Debbie alive," she said quickly, running through what she knew to be the truth in her mind. "There was nowhere for her to go to!"

"Like I said," replied the fireman gently, giving an apologetic shrug, "I'm sorry, but we didn't find her. We did call, but the main body of the basement ... if she'd been in there, I dunno, gone back for something ..." he shook his head sadly. "We will keep looking once it's been made safe; they'll be in from the top soon, but I'm afraid our heat-seeking cameras have confirmed that there are no further life signs left down there. I'm sorry."

Kerry turned to face Duncan, shaking her head in adamant disbelief. "They must be wrong! She wouldn't have gone back, Duncan, she wouldn't! She wasn't stupid, I can't believe she would have..." she trailed off, closing her eyes and leaning back against the wall. She did not want to believe it, she wanted to believe that any moment now the feisty little girl would come skipping towards her out of the crowd, but deep down she knew the fire chief was right; it wasn't going to happen. Eve was dead.

Fighting back tears, Kerry made a weak attempt at distracting herself by watching as the various firefighters and medical staff prepared to load Debbie into the other ambulance. They had just lowered the handlebars when one of the paramedics stopped dead, then shouted, "She's gone off!"

A machine started beeping, and suddenly there was chaos. The medical crew were milling around the trolley like a swarm of ants and were so tightly packed that Kerry could not see what was going on even from close by, and began to panic. A short distance away, Meadows was being firmly restrained by Deakin.

"What's happening to her?" Kerry spluttered.

"I ... I don' know," Duncan said, his voice wavering. "Let's just let them get on wi' what they gotta do; they're doing their best ..."

Despite being completely exhausted and on an adrenaline high, she detected the note of despair in Duncan's voice.

"Oh no, no, not her too ..." Kerry briefly attempted to stand up but almost fell out of the ambulance and was shepherded back in a little way by Duncan and Michelle, who was apparently surplus to requirements for a moment.

"It's ok, love, they're doing all they can," Michelle said kindly but not entirely optimistically. "Just come back in and sit down, yeah, we'll take care of her ..."

"They've got to do something!" Kerry yelled desperately. "I know what that means; her heart's stopped! Why aren't they doing anything? She's come this far!"

"It's difficult," Michelle said quietly, trying to calm her down with little success. "She has a pneumothorax, that's a collapsed lung, which means we can't do normal heart massage; it would kill her." She gave an encouraging but awkward smile, then stepped back over to the others.

"Don't let her die," Kerry sobbed pitifully, as the bleep of the machine continued, seemingly endlessly. The doctor and paramedics were obviously still working hard and continued to do so for several minutes, but then the doctor stepped back and shook his head.

"I don't think we're getting anywhere," he said, in what he obviously thought was a quiet voice. "This is pointless; there's nothing more we can do. She's gone. Everyone agreed?"

"NOOOOOOO!" Kerry screamed, her voice echoing around the square and reaching every ear. This could not be happening. Things like this only ever happened in films or in nightmares. Eve was dead. Debbie was dead. She wished she was dead as well. The scene in front of her began to fade, then she was engulfed in darkness as consciousness finally abandoned her.