A/N Firstly, many many apologies for the delay in updating. I found certain elements of this chapter slightly difficult to write. Please let me know if you think it works.

Secondly, thank you so much again for all the lovely reviews I'm getting for this story. I really, really do appreciate them.

Thirdly, a belated, but nonetheless heartfelt thanks to genesgeni* on Luigi's for reading all of the chapters for me. She's done a fantastic job in giving me the confidence to post this fic!

Finally, I do not own Ashes to Ashes. I'm just borrowing the characters!

Gene had been locked up for more than twenty four hours. Even when he'd been arrested for the murder of Terry Haslam back in '73, he'd been allowed out on bail. However, he really couldn't see Phillips, his solicitor, singing 'Let My People Go', as his brief back in Manchester had done. Even if Phillips had, Gene knew that there was no way Collins would willingly have released him. There was something about Collins that was bothering Gene, aside from the fact that he was a jumped up ponce. It wasn't just that he'd met Collins before; the other DCI's name was familiar for another reason, but Gene couldn't quite place why.

Apart from the fact that the incarceration had meant that Gene could do nothing to help clear his name, it had also forced him to spend far more time just sitting and thinking than he was entirely comfortable with. Especially as those thoughts inevitably kept returning to one subject…Bolly. He couldn't help dwelling on the events of the past few weeks. When Gene had discovered that there was a traitor in CID, it hadn't even occurred to him to suspect Drakey and she was the only person he wanted by his side when he unmasked Chris. He'd genuinely thought they did have some kind of connection; something he'd never felt with anyone else, even Tyler. Of course, Gene hadn't been in love with Sam. The bloody 'L' word again! Until recently, he'd been loathe to admit that the word-and the emotion that went with it-even existed; now it invaded his every thought. He was clearly going soft and the Manc Lion didn't do soft!

Everything had started to go horribly wrong, with the advent of Operation Rose, three days ago. Bearing in mind what had happened with Mac and then Chris, what the hell was Gene supposed to think when he heard that tape? Then for Alex to insist she was from the future! Gene had heard a lot of nonsense from Bolly in the time that he'd known her and recently he'd learned to just tune out most of it. He couldn't ignore the fact that his DI was claiming that she was from the future, though. She was nuttier than a whole bakery full of fruitcakes! Wasn't she? How had she known where the blag would go down, though? Gene had arrived at St Dunstan's just in time to hear that bent copper say that Bolly couldn't be corrupted. So, if she wasn't corrupt, then there was only one alternative. She was from the future. But that wasn't possible. Was it? If he thought about this for much longer, Gene decided, he'd go insane himself!

xxxx

Finding Jenette Rivens had not been as difficult as Ray had anticipated. A little 'gentle persuasion' on a couple of snouts had got them an address. This was verified by Tiny, who was more than a little bit annoyed that his sister didn't seem to care that he'd been fighting for his life just two days ago. Ray decided that it wouldn't help to remind Tiny of the fact that he'd held a lit blow torch to Jenette's head on the day that he was arrested. Some families were really weird! Anyway, Tiny had nothing to lose; he would be going down for what he did to Rock Salmon Doyle. He obviously wanted his sister locked up too.

Ray was surprised that Jenette hadn't legged it. She probably knew that it would be difficult for them to pin anything on her. He was determined to try, though; the Guv's future might depend on it!

"You were there, weren't you?" Ray asked "At St Dunstan's? When Drake was shot."

"Was I? Can you prove that?"

"We 'ave the word of a senior police officer that you were." Ray decided not to name names.

"DCI Hunt, you mean? He would say that, wouldn't he? I heard on the radio that he's been arrested for shooting DI Drake. He'd try anything to get out of that!" Janette exclaimed.

"The Guv would not shoot DI Drake deliberately!" Chris burst out.

"Oh no?" queried Jenette "Are you sure about that? You've only got his word for it! No-one else was there, except Drake and she's probably not going to make it"

"You were there!" Ray insisted "You 'ad Drake at gunpoint for some reason. Something to do with Operation Rose. The Guv fired at you and Drake got 'it instead."

"Even if that were true, you can't bleedin' prove it, can you?" Jenette almost looked smug.

xxx

"So we 'ad to let 'er go. We 'aven't got anything on 'er that would stick." Chris was updating Shaz on the situation. "She's like that Teflon stuff!"

"We need a witness," said Ray. "Or Drake to wake up."

"What about Police 5?"Shaz suggested "Maybe they could do another one of them reconstruction thingies."

Ray shuddered, as he thought about the actor they'd used to play him in the Gil Hollis case. "I'm not Eddie bloody Yates! Or Jimmy Saville," he muttered as he picked up the phone to call the studio.

xxx

"…. and Chris and Ray got the bank statements out of the Guv's office. You'll never guess where the Guv keeps the spare key for his desk drawer, Ma'am. Taped to the bottom of his whisky bottle! He changes it over every time he starts a new one. "

Shaz was visiting the hospital again. She had no problems talking to the unconscious Alex. Chris and Ray had found it really difficult, but Shaz would do anything to help. "DCI Collins is using the Guv's office at the moment, so they had to get in there in the middle of the night. Chris was really brave! It was just like the time that you and the Guv sneaked into Superintendent Mackintosh's office. Do you remember? You told us all about it. Anyway, Ray's got the statements. One of them does belong to DCI Collins. He was doing alright out of it, while Mac was alive. No wonder he doesn't like the Guv!"

Shaz put her coat on "I've got to go back to work now Ma'am. Ray'll be along in a couple of hours though. Please wake up soon! We miss you. Even the Guv misses you. He said that…."

The WPC stopped herself. If DI Drake was going to hear that DCI Hunt loved her, it should be from the man himself. Shaz was pretty sure that Alex had had stronger feelings for the Guv than she'd admitted to. Shaz just hoped that it wasn't too late. "Bye, Ma'am. See you tomorrow!"

Almost as soon as Shaz had left the room, Alex's eyelashes fluttered and the fingers of her left hand curled slightly. As she began to regain consciousness, her whisper was barely audible.

"Gene…Molly."

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