RUN.
Chapter II - Got a Suitcase, Got Regrets.

A/N: This seems to be the case of "Ask and ye shall recieve" at this current moment in time. I'll update whenever I see fit/whenever I feel inspired. Thank you very much to everyone who's commented this and such, I really appreciate it! =3 Lyrics are copyright to Tom McRae.

Change the locks on the door.

Put out the light in the hall.

I do not live here anymore.

But all I know is

I'm not ready yet

For the light to dim

Got a suitcase, got regrets

But I'm hopeful yet

So wake up pretty girl

See the hope in small things

Disappointment can wear you thin..


He'd travel light. That's what he'd do. Take only what he'd need. Fags, cash and maybe some clean clothes if he had room. After a quick trip home, Gene returned back to CID to fetch Alex's tapes. If he couldn't have the real Bolly to pick his brain to pieces, these tapes would have to do. Gene barely understood what Alex was saying half the time, but he really hoped that one day he would.

Shaking his head, he itched at his temple in contemplation. He couldn't quite believe he was taking advice from a dream in the form of a spook, a comatose posh tart and (in his opinion) a broken computer. But he didn't really have a choice.

He was in the thick of night now. Gene figured getting out of London and returning to Manchester to lie low. But there was no way he could afford to take the Quattro, he'd be found too easily. He'd have to store his beloved car away in a garage and swore blind that if anyone even wondered about it being there, he'd castrate them with his bare hands.

Chucking the last tapes and cassette player into the box, Gene looked around for anything else he could take. He glanced out the door of his office and saw Alex's desk stood silent in the gloom. Sighing heavily, he wondered about the letter she'd written him and he hadn't bothered to read. He had his own reasons for not opening the letter where his DC, DS and Shaz had all read theirs. One was him simply being true to his word, he respected Bolly enough for that. And two, he was a little weary about what she could have possibly written to him.

Letting one of his usual sullen pouted looks settle over his features, he made his way over to the desk and began to search in the drawers looking for the envelopes. He paused when he found them, three already opened and one still sealed. Carefully pulling the sealed envelope out the drawer, he gave it a careful look before gently shoving it in his inside pocket. Hastily shutting the drawer, he grabbed his belongings, turned out the lights and silently left the CID for the once last time for perhaps a very long time.

"Security!"

"Someone sedate her!"

"Ms. Drake!"

A chorus of voices, all crashed together in mass confusion and panic as Alex ran around the hospital, trying to find her way out. No. No. No. No. This can't be happening. She was home. Back to 2008. Back to Molly. What was going on? She just didn't know anymore. Gene's voice was echoing around in her head. She shut her eyes and all she could see what his face.

"P-please... I just want to go home!" she begged.

She slipped away out of view from the hospital staff and hurtled down a long corridor. She crashed through another set of doors into a stairway. Drinking in the silence, Gene's voice seemed quieter; no trace of a television screen of any kind around her. Panting, she looked around. Up or down? Heaven or hell, it seemed. Making a split second decision, she headed skywards, her whole body aching and begging for her to stop. Her head pounded with a dull drum beat as she climbed the stairs, the calls from nurses growing fainter. Don't stop, Alex. Don't stop.

And when she ran out of steps to climb, she forced herself through another fire-escape door and found herself on the roof of the hospital. The cold air hit her like a fist; she inhaled sharply and shivered. Hugging herself, Alex wandered across the cold and empty roof. She looked towards the clear skies, tears running down her face. Was this her world? Was this her true home? It didn't feel like it.

But then, she couldn't feel anything.

He was dreamin' again.

He was outside; everything was so bright and clear, a fresh and new day. He was by the Thames, he could tell that much, but that was all. There was no one else around, not a soul. Gene turned, squinting in the daylight before he spotted someone in the distance walking towards him.

"'ello?" he called.

They didn't answer him, but kept walking toward him. Gene felt uneasy, but began to walk towards them. Whoever it was, they were female. Brunette wearing a casual/office suit and blouse. Why was a bird wearing this get up? It didn't seem part of the fashion. And then he realised and stopped dead.

"...Bolly?"

Sure enough, it was Alex Drake who walked confidently toward him. Her hair no longer permed, but now straight and worn up. Every grace he knew so well still present as she walked, but Gene still frowned. She was looking straight through him, that he wasn't there at all. She was only a few metres away now and didn't show any signs of stopping or looking at him.

"Bolls? What're yer doin' here?" he asked her.

Alex still made no reply and simply walked past him. Gene called after her, irritated.

"Oh just ignore me then! Bolly get back here.... Drake!" he barked.

Alex suddenly stopped walking and slowly turned around. Gene made a face of silent shock and grimace when she saw her face... or rather her forehead. A thick line of blood ran from a bullet sized hole in her forehead, a few thread-sized trickles at the sides of it. It slowly ran down her temple, down the side of her face and spilled onto her cheek. Gene watched in horror, gobsmacked.

And she finally saw him, their eyes met. There was a sudden panic in Alex's eyes.

"Gene," she murmured.

He jumped awake and blinked at the daybreak through the window, scenery steadily passing by. He took a moment to remember where he was, He was on a train. Manchester. Had to lie low. Sighing, he wiped at his hands and lit a cigarette before looking down at the cassette player on the table in front of him. He hit the play button.

"I'm so sorry, Molls. You probably still have no idea what's happened to me yet. Only seconds have passed since I was shot. I hope you're still with Evan, that you're safe and you're not afraid. Not as afraid as I am. But I'm trying... so hard to be strong..."

Gene shook his head; Molly had been spoken on nearly every single entry that Alex had made. He felt a sudden pang of guilt and reached up to rub the side of his face, as if he could still feel the smack Alex had given him for mentioning her daughter.

"And I promise... I promise I'll get back to you, and we'll blow out the candles together. I love you, Molly..."