Thanks for reading! Forgot to mention this in my first chapter, but I unfortunately don't own Ashes to Ashes or any characters in it.


She didn't stir from her peaceful slumber. Her chest rose and fell slightly. He fell back into the chair. He had yelled at the top of his lungs and she hadn't stirred. It was his fault. All his fault. If he hadn't listened to Jenette, Alex would have been at his side during the blag, not acting on her own. But the tape... What had she meant by that tape? It didn't matter now. Not when she was like this. A stray piece of his golden mane fell in front of his forehead. He didn't pay it any mind. He just stared at her, so far gone. Almost like she was in a different world. And it was all his fault.

_______________________________________

"Bye Mum!" It was several weeks later, and Alex had just dropped Molly off at school. Alex had stunned the doctors with a seemingly miracle recovery, which had spanned only weeks and not months like expected. She woke from the coma still able to speak and walk, although her legs were shaky. There didn't seem to be any negative effects from the bullet. Now, as she watched Molly walk away from the car, her face turned from a happy smile to a look of grim determination. She had work to do.

Alex had been planning what to do upon her release from almost the time she awoke from her coma. Now that she was finally out, she headed over to Fenchurch East. In legal terms, she wasn't actually allowed to return to work yet, but there was nothing against saying hello to her co-workers. And if she managed to swipe a few files on the way out, well, who was to blame her?

Alex walked through the doors to meet the stares of her colleagues. The man in reception looked up.

"DI Drake! I didn't expect you back to work so soon."

"Hello PC Andrews. I'm not here to do any actual work. Just thought I'd pop in and say hello. And maybe just take a few files home to study. Can't get out of practice can I?

"Of course not DI Drake. Enjoy yourself!"

Alex walked into the room where files of cases long finished were kept. Also in the file room were the files of everyone who had worked in the station before computers became the way to store anything. It was here that she needed to be.

***

Alex quickly rifled through the file cabinet. She held her breath as she looked through name after name. Alex stopped in the "C's" and gasped. One of the folders was labelled "Carling, Raymond." Although she had thought that Ray could be there, she was hoping against it. She flipped back to the "S's." Right where she thought she'd find it was the file on "Skelton, Christopher." Right behind it, however was a file she did not expect. "Skelton, Sharon 'Shaz'" it read.

"Oh Chris," she said, "You did go through with it. I bet you two are very happy."

Alex flipped back to the "H's." She found "Hunt, Gene" with ease and pulled his file out along with the other three. Now there was just one folder left to find. Taking a deep breath, she flipped to the "D's" and searched. There it was. "Drake, Alexandra." She had really gone back. Or had she? Her psychologist's disbelief still haunted the back of her mind. It could still all be just a giant coincidence.

Alex heard a sound at the door. She quickly closed the drawer to the filing cabinet. The door opened and PC Andrews walked through the door.

"DI Drake! I've been looking for you! I wasn't even thinking when you walked in and didn't tell you that you missed the CID. They were called out." The young man looked at Alex, taking in her guilty face and the files in her hands.

"Now, you might want to leave before they get back. You don't want to get caught with those files."

Alex looked at the PC in shock. "You're not going to say anything?" It was strictly forbidden to take the personnel files.

"You may not know me very well DI Drake, but I know about you. If you need those files, you need them for something important. And may God strike me down if I get in the way of a DI and her work."

"Thank you so much PC Andrews. You have no idea how much this means to me."

"It's no problem DI Drake."

"Please, call me Alex."

"I would, DI Drake, and thank you for letting me on first name basis, but the fact is I am a PC and you are my superior officer, so in the office, I have to refer to you as DI Drake."

Alex surveyed the young plod, amused. "Right, well thank you PC Andrews. I will see you again when I return."

Andrews opened the door and saw her out of the station. As Alex walked outside he said, "Also, outside the office, you can refer to me as Nick."

Alex waited till the door closed and laughed. Not only did she get out of the station without seeing CID, she had made a new acquaintance that could help her as much as Shaz used to.

Shaz…

Alex remembered the files in her hand and ran to her car. It was time to figure out 1982 once and for all.