Disclaimer Ashes to Ashes and Life on Mars do not belong to me.

Night Terrors

Gene stared at the ceiling. He suddenly felt really old. The whole nightmare with Keats had been enough to almost destroy his team. He closed his eyes as he remembered how he had held a gun to Alex's head. He had never hated a man as much as he hated Jim Keats. They had fought him the whole way, had made sure the case he thought he was concocting against him was ludicrous and they had finally found justice for a young police woman that had killed herself because of his lies and bullying. Gene didn't know if he could do it again. Now it seemed so much worse, he was using the Hughes brothers to do his dirty work for him. He sighed as he thought about how the team had coped with everything that had been thrown at them. He was proud of them all but he didn't know how they had all coped, especially young Chris who just shrugged his shoulders and carried on. Then there was Alex and Sam. Both had been badly injured more than once. How could he protect them from the likes of Keats?

He sighed again as he turned on his side to see Alex sleeping peacefully next to him. He knew they were lucky that Ruby slept through the night. It had only been a couple of weeks but the whole house was happier now that they all got some sleep. Alex turned slightly in his sleep but didn't wake. She appeared to be dreaming as she shook her head and frowned. Gene had no idea what was going through her head as she began thrashing out and mumbling to herself. He sighed as he caught her left hand, stopping her from punching him in the face.

"Bolly" He whispered. He was still loathe to wake her up but she seemed so upset. He kissed her hand as she seemed to calm for a moment. Then the mumbling continued. He couldn't really make out what was being said but a few words were easy to pick up.

"No" She sighed as Gene closed his eyes and swore. "Gene"

"I'm here luv" He spoke a little louder, hoping to reach her. "It's ok"

"NO!" She sat up in bed, breathing heavily as she realised where she was. It had been a long time since her last nightmare. She felt Gene sit up next to her. "Ssorry" She sighed as Gene kissed her bare shoulder.

"Just a dream luv, that's all"

"Yeah" She gulped and buried her face in her hands. It had been so real. Keats had stood in front of her. He had told her Gene had murdered Sam. That he had dumped his body in the river. She had told him it was nonsense but Keats hadn't let her go. She couldn't escape him. It was like the thing with Chas Gale all over again. She was freezing cold but couldn't get away from Keats, she couldn't get warm. Gene kissed her shoulder one more time before pulling her in to his arms.

"Alex" She turned and buried her face in his chest as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back to the bed.

"Don't leave"

"It was a dream Alex. I'm not going anywhere. I am never going anywhere" He kissed her hair "Not without you, you daft bat"

Alex smiled. He rarely used her name. She knew he was deadly serious when he did. She kissed his bare chest before settling down. Her breathing was beginning to return to normal as he drew lazy circles on her bare arms, the strap from her nightmare hanging loosely on the arm.

"Gene" She sighed.

"Yeah"

"What time is it?" Gene sighed. This had become a regular question after her nightmares. She seemed completely disorientated sometimes.

"Alex Hunt, it is 2:30 am Saturday December 18th 2010. Our girls are in bed. I love you, now go to sleep" He hugged her tighter as she smiled slightly.

"Gene?"

"What now woman?" She laughed slightly as he rolled his eyes.

"I love you"

"I know, go to sleep" For once Alex did as she was told.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sam had been in a good mood all day. Well, since Annie had returned from the Ultrasound Scan. He had known she had been scared. Convinced that at her age the pregnancy was not going to be straight forward. It didn't help that her cousin had told her all sorts of horror stories relating to women in their 30s having babies. He had wanted to argue that not every "late" pregnancy was a nightmare and anyway Annie was only 32, hardly old by any standards. All that mattered to him now was that Annie was well and sleeping peacefully next to him. He picked up the scan photo as he smiled. It was a miracle. The baby was doing well despite all the stress they were under.

"Perfect" he muttered to himself as he looked at the scan. He was still trying to work out which bit of the baby was which as Annie opened her eyes. He had no idea his wife was awake and listening to every word.

"Son, it's going to be fine. You, me and your Mam" He sighed. "I'll be a better dad than mine was. I promise. I won't let you down. Oh God, you are going to be so spoiled by your Nanna Tyler and Granny Cartwright is going to ruin you even more. But I'll always be here and so will your Mam" He smiled as his eyes filled with tears. He was determined not to be like his dad, there was no way he was letting Annie down ever again.

"Sam?" Annie sighed as she decided it was time he knew she was awake.

"You ok Annie?" He was suddenly worried.

"Yeah" She snuggled a little closer, she had heard every word. "Did I ever tell you I love you?" She asked as Sam smiled. He nodded once as he kissed her forehead.

"I love you too" He smiled as he held her. "You have no idea how much"

Ray couldn't sleep. The thing with Keats had played on his mind all day. The man was supposed to be on remand. He swung his legs out of bed and made his way to the kitchen. Tea and toast always made him sleep a little better. He flicked the light switch on and began looking for a mug and clean plate in the cupboard above the sink. So much has happened. Shit better not make much noise, Mia has her first exam for DI tomorrow. Shit shit shit. He cursed as he clattered the plate in front of him as the kettle began to boil. It was then he heard the glass smash and felt the jab in his back. Suddenly he wished he wasn't such a light sleeper.

"Hello Ray mate" Ray swore under his breath as Keats greeted him. "Long time, no see. Tell me how are Gene and the others? Alex missing me is she? Poor cow, told her what he was like"

"No she isn't" Ray sighed. Now he wanted Mia to wake up, to raise the alarm. He turned slowly as the sight of the Christmas Cards pinned to the wall met him. The pretty snowmen and Santa's seemed out of place when the uninvited guest in his kitchen was holding a gun at his head.

"Really? Well I find that hard to believe. No matter"

"What do you want Keats?" Ray narrowed his eyes.

"You'll find out soon enough" Keats smiled as he hit Ray across the side of the head with the gun. Ray saw stars as he fell to his knees. The last thing he heard before the world went black was Keats laughing.

A/N thankyou for reading this. Sorry about the delay. Looks like this story is going to be longer than I thought it would be. Please