"DCI Hunt?" The woman sounded a little confused to say the least. The moments of silence that followed caused Alex's heart to sink. Must have been an hallucination after all. Alex was trying to think of something to say, some way of explaining herself when the woman spoke again.

"Oh, you mean Mr Hunt? Gene Hunt? The man who lived here before me?"

Alex felt her pulse quicken as she swallowed. "Yes", was all she could manage.

"Well, I'm afraid he hasn't lived here for a few years now lovey. Lets see, I moved in just before my son's tenth birthday, so that would be 2005, so it must be a little over three years since Mr Hunt moved out."

Alex could barely believe what she was hearing. It wasn't all a dream? He really exists? "Do you know where he went Mrs . . .?"

"Mrs Bennett love, and I did have an address somewhere for forwarding any mail."

Alex could feel her heart now pounding in her chest. It couldn't be this simple could it?

"But that was a long ago I'm afraid, I've probably thrown it out somewhere along the line."

Alex sighed inwardly. Apparently not.

"Is it important?" Mrs Bennett asked.

Alex paused. "Its ok . . . I just . . . Well I haven't seen him in a while that's all Mrs Bennett and I just wanted to catch up." Close enough to the truth, she thought to herself.

"Oh well I am sorry", Mrs Bennett apologised while Alex flicked the phone book in front of her shut and noticed the date on the cover. 2004/2005. Fantastic! Silently cursing herself and her inability to throw anything away no matter how old or useless, Alex thanked Mrs Bennett for her time and hung up. She didn't know what to feel. She was totally confused. Gene Hunt really did exist, or at least someone with that name existed, but she had no way of finding him. Unless . . .

Picking up the phone for the third time in the last hour, Alex dialled the police station again.

"Ahh DI Drake, can't keep away can you?" DCI Taylor teased good-naturedly.

"Apparently not", Alex replied. "Sir, can I ask a favour?"

"Sure Alex, but since when did you call me sir?"

Alex hesitated. It had been a reflex. Although it was stupid and she would probably try and find a more rational explanation for her choice of words at a later date, the simple explanation was that she obviously still thought of someone else as her 'Guv'. "Sorry, slip of the tongue", Alex tried to cover, before moving on. "There was a police officer in the eighties called Gene Hunt. In 1982 he was a DCI." Taylor simply waited for her to continue. "I was wondering if you could find out what happened to him for me? Whether or not he's still in the force and . . . and where he's living now?"

"He a family member?" DCI Taylor asked.

"Not exactly sir no." Damn, I did it again. "A friend of the family. I haven't seen him in a while and I just wondered what he was up to these days. You know, while I have all this spare time on my hands." Alex tried to lighten her tone – she didn't now where she would begin if Taylor started asking her serious questions about her request.

"Ok Alex, leave it with me and I'll see what I can do."

Alex let out a breath she didn't realise she had been holding. "Thank-you Sir."

"You're gonna have to stop calling me sir though Drake. People are gonna get the wrong message."

With a smile Alex put the phone down. She really didn't know what to think now – her mind was a whirlwind of conflicting thoughts, hopes and possibilities. She felt a littlt bubble of excitement begin to form in her stomach, at the same time the rational voice in her head was telling her not to get her hopes up and if Gene really did exist what did that mean had happened when she was shot? Time-travel? Severely unlikely. She shook her head. A shower will help clear my mind and make me feel better, she concluded. So pushing all thoughts of Gene and 1981 to the back of her mind, Alex wandered upstairs to have a shower and get dressed and ready for the nurse's visit.

"Hello?" Alex answered the phone, hoping it would be Taylor. She wasn't disappointed.

"Turns out your DCI Hunt was actually Chief Superintendant Hunt when he retired back in 2005." Her breath hitched at the word your before trying to take in the rest of Taylor's statement. Chief Superintendant? Retired?

"Alex?"

Alex jumped a little as his voice startled her from her thoughts. "Yeah? Sorry. Did you manage to get an address?" Her hand gripped the phone a little tighter as she waited for his answer.

"Yeah, I found it", Taylor continued, obviously unaware of the effect this information was having on Alex. "The last registered address for him is a small flat off Shorebeck Road."

Alex tried but failed to place the location. "Shorebeck Avenue?"

"Yeah, not that far from here actually, close to Regent's Park, you know where . . ."

Alex suddenly remembered where he meant - she had even been with a colleague to have a look round one when they first went on the market a few years ago. "Oh yeah", Alex replied even though she hadn't really been listening to Taylor's detailed account on where they were. "Listen, thanks so much for getting back to me so soon, I know you must have much more important things to do." Alex really was grateful, if a little apprehensive now that the ball was firmly in her court. It was up to her now what happened next.

"Hiya Mum", Molly called as she came through the door and threw her school bag down on the floor in the hall.

"In here Mols", Alex replied from where she was curled up on the sofa in the living room, with the TV on even though she wasn't really watching it. It just provided her with a bit of company as she tried to sort through her thoughts and feelings.

"Ready Steady Cook?" Molly asks incredulously as she entered the room. "You really that desperate Mum?"

"Huh? Oh that, I wasn't really watching it, nothing else on anyway." She sat up and motioned for Molly to come and join her on the sofa. "Good day at school?"

"I told you this morning Mum – double French! Not my idea of fun!"

Alex couldn't help but smile at her daughter.

"What about you?" Molly asked after a beat. "What did the nurse say?"

"The nurse said everything is fine. She prescribed me some pain killers for the pain and gave me a number to call if they get too bad, and said she'll be back next week for another check-up."

"Good", Molly nodded her approval. They both pretended to watch the TV for a couple of minutes, both thinking of the best way to say what they were thinking.

"Mum. . ."

"Listen Mols . . ."

They both stopped and laughed. "You first", Alex told Molly.

"Well, its just . . . you know what you were saying earlier? About your coma? And your dream?" Alex nodded, intrigued as to what her daughter was about to say. Maybe she's finally realised I am a nutter and she wants me to get help. Therapy for a psychologist! How ironic!

"Was it really that real? That vivid? Like you were actually there."

"Oh Molly. It was felt so real. As real as sitting here with . . ." Alex trailed off. She didn't want to hurt her daughter or make her feel in the least bit insecure.

"It's ok Mum, go on. I want to know what it was like."

"Well actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about", Alex admitted. "You see, I've told you how real it felt and how . . . attached I felt to that place. For the time that I was there anyway", she added quickly. "And then this morning I was trying to sort it all out in my head. How something like that could happen. How it could have felt so real when the whole situation is obviously quite impossible. And I had an idea. I thought about the people I was there with so I tried looking one of them up." Molly looked confused. "In the phone book?" Confusion was replaced with understanding.

"Oh myGod", Molly spluttered. "You found them didn't you? You found someone? Gene?"

Alex gave a simple nod. "I found a Gene Hunt Mols. It can't be the same man though. But it just seems so . . . weird."

"You haven't been to see him?"

"I can't . . . it's too . . . I mean . . ." Alex couldn't believe she had turned into a stuttering wreck. It was just all so much to take in. Molly, on the other hand, seemed to be having no problems taking it all in and suddenly sprang to life. The young mind, she mused. So impressionable.

"Get your coat Mum." Molly was dragging her by the hand to the front door.

"Molly?"

"Have you got the address?"

"Well, yeah but . . ."

"No but's, come on."

Alex smiled as she watched her daughter bossing her around and taking charge. God help her poor husband one day. But really she was just proud of her daughter. Alex had always thought of herself as a strong, confident woman, but it seemed Molly had more guts and determination at 12 than she had at . . . well a much older age.

Walking up the few steps leading up to the flat that she had scribbled down earlier, Alex felt sick. The earlier excitement at the prospect of Gene Hunt being a real person was currently being squashed by an overwhelming sense of foreboding and apprehension. It can't be him. It's impossible. But what if it is? What if he doesn't want to see me? He did shoot me? But did he? That was an hallucination. He can't exist. This was all to confusing.

Molly had reached the top of the stairs and rung the bell to the flat, before turning round just in time to see her mum put a palm to her forehead, eyes tightly closed and her other hand splayed out on the rail to one side to steady herself. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea, Molly thought. She had no idea what was going on with her Mum. All this talk of dreams and comas was really starting to confuse her but she knew she had to do something – sitting at home moping about it all day wasn't going to help. Either this guy isn't the guy from her dream and she can move on knowing it was all made up, or this is the guy she is looking for and . . .

Molly didn't have time to contemplate what would happen if this was the Gene her Mum had mentioned whilst in her coma, as she heard the door behind her swing open. She was about to turn round and study the owner herself when she saw her mum's eyes go wide, mouth open into an 'o' shape in shock. "Mum?" she shouted as Alex's knee's buckled and she fainted back onto the driveway.

I know this chapter went on a bit but I thought it better to get all this on one chapter!

Reviews? Pretty please? :D

Depending on what people think, I will update asap x