Authors Note: Gah! I'm so sorry for being AWOL! Please forgive me – the summer holidays passed in a blur and with all my revision I er – sorta forgot about my promise to update this fic soon o_O But on the plus side, the next couple of chapters are already written so I've got a head start! Anyway, enough of my babble, and on with the chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Ashes, and I'm not making any money from this.
Destined To Follow In Her Footsteps
Chapter Two- The Nineties Are Back And The Mystery Deepens
Large hazel eyes stared up at the cerulean blue sky that surrounded her. Slowly, almost child-like, she revolved around in a circle, he face expressing awe at the scene. The house was typical of the era; a semi-detached, two bedrooms, red brick beauty; she had fallen in love with it at first sight. Even now, eleven years later, she couldn't escape its magnificence.
Bright. Inviting. That was how she described everything about this place. Sure, technology had advanced, and she was grateful for better computers and mobiles phones, but nothing that mattered had changed.
Her and her partner – personally and professionally – still policed how they used to, but now with slightly stricter rules and regulations. They were forced to fill in paperwork, but for her, it was second nature.
The Super had decided that they could run CID together, especially when a crime wave hit the city a few years back. He was still in charge of the A-Team, but she was charge of the B-Team. Together they fought allegations that what was going on between them would affect their work, and eventually they won. Nobody working at Fenchurch East now knew that they were living together and well, shagging.
But that was the way they liked it.
"Bolly Knickers!" Pulled from her thoughts by an impatient voice, Alex turned to face Gene.
Leaning casually on the doorframe in dark demin jeans and a black shirt, stood her protector. His gaze never left hers as they paused for a second to look deeply into each other's eyes. The hues of blue pierced Alex to her core, but she could already feel herself drowning in the immense sapphire lakes as a sense of calm swept over her. He still had it.
"What do you want?" She called back after righting her inappropriate feelings.
"Get your delightful arse back in 'ere pronto! I appear to 'ave burnt lunch." Rolling her eyes mockingly, Alex strode towards their house. Even after eleven years of living together, Alex was still trying to get him to cook. But sadly, to no avail.
"Alright, just coming," one last look at the front of house satisfied Alex and, pulling her long black jacket tighter around her, she stepped into the hallway.
Her red heel connected with the frozen ground and gave out a loud 'thump'. Hands on hip, she was shaking with a mix of determination, devastation and distress. "I will not go in there without you."
"Bolls, ya 'ave to. You know the truth."
"No, I don't Gene. Think about it: what exactly have I found out? I'm dead? Yeah, because that's a great reason to go into Heaven."
"For most religions Bolls, being dead is a perfectly acceptable reason t' go t' Heaven. Most people believe it too."
"Yeah, but am I 'most people' Gene?"
She had him there. Tearing his gaze from her fiery hazel orbs, he watched as Nelson peeked his head out slowly from the Pub door. Glancing back at the beautiful and defiant woman standing in front of him, Gene shook his head slightly. Alex, who couldn't see Nelson, smiled sadly.
"No Alex, yer not."
"So the board agreed unanimously that, after all the work you two did this month, you're able to head up CID together. Congratulations."
Alex stepped back and admired her handiwork. On the calendar she'd drawn a little cupid firing arrows. Turning back to Gene, she moved to sit on the edge of his desk.
"Well, Bolly, we've managed two years an' we haven't ripped each other's throats out yet!"
"I know, I'm impressed too," she ran her tongue over her top lip and drooped her lashes. "Shall we mark the occasion?"
"Oh yeah!" He replied with suggestive enthusiasm.
"What is it wiv this film, Bolls? We watch it every bloody year on the same bloody date; 21st May. Why?"
"I don't know. It feels right to, I guess."
"Yer know, even after all this time, I still don't understand ya, Mrs Fruitcake."
"It's part of my charm, Gene."
"Yeah, that's not to only thing that charms – ow! What was that for?"
"For dragging this conversation into the gutter. Now, shush and watch the film."
"Dunno why ya wanna watch Dorothy get home, the world she ends up in seems much better, especially tha' fairy woman."
"I suppose, but she's got her family back in the other world. Anyway, I like Dorothy's red shoes."
There was a brief moment of silence that greeted Alex's ears. They seemed to have the same conversation every year, but eventually it had become part of tradition.
"Ay, are they the ones you wear for –"
"-Yes, now shush," Alex concluded and the opening credits started to roll.
"You see Gene; it isn't hard, just scrape off the burnt bits and cover it with butter."
"Oh, alright Mrs Woman," he replied, grumbling at her endearing manner.
It was a Sunday afternoon in early November of 1996, and once again, Alex found herself teaching Gene to cook roast potatoes. When they'd first moved in together, his cuisine skills had astounded her, and she realised that she didn't need to cook very much. However, cooking any kind of potato seemed a problem, and so she always found herself correcting him.
Making the decision to turn her back on the Pub all those years ago was definitely the right one. Since then, her and Gene had battled Keats twice – and won – as well as helped several coppers cross over. The last one to cross had been from 2020, and so Alex had decided that suddenly, and for no reason, time here had sped up. Most days she and Gene didn't think about how long they'd been here, and Alex's memory of her previous life wasn't what it used to be.
It wasn't until Alex looked in the mirror one day and realised that she hadn't actually aged, that things started to get tricky. She still had some very vague contact with Evan - contact that Gene had put a stop to. "Why?" Alex had asked at the time. His reply had been simple:
"How did Alex Price get t' Alex Drake?"
She'd got married. To Peter Drake. And then...but after that, her memory is blank.
The corridors were always quiet at eight o'clock in the morning, but it was the way Gene and Alex liked it. This meant that they could talk freely about the secrets of the world and how to deal with each new copper that entered their kingdom.
Gene had discovered, by complete accident, that due to the increasing demand to fill in paperwork, personal files were arriving with transfer notes. Currently they were sitting down in Human Resources because Alex was running out of excuses to what was happening to their team. Of course, it helped that quite a few memories were wiped; the desk sergeant, Terry, Bammo, Jimmy and Poirot. The Super never batted an eyelid, but Gene and Alex did well to keep their heads down.
Last year, Gene had taken a much needed trip up to Manchester. Alex had the good sense not to ask why, because in her mind, she knew the answer. Manchester held a lot of memories; Sam's grave, his grave and, of course, it was the rest place of the Railway Arms.
"Drake!" He called from his office across to hers, "Get in 'ere!"
"Gene, we've been through this before...you can't boss me about; we're of equal rank!"
"I know, but we t' discuss important matters."
Laid out on the desk in front of him were the latest files from their new team. Each came with the same layout and information. Alex picked up the first and studied it.
Name: WPC Jeanette Hale
Date of Birth: 3rd April 1990
Date of Injury: 3rd April 2019
Medical State: Dead
Age: 29
Rank: DC
Era To Return To: 1996
Issue: Death related
Snatching the next file, Gene read it out loud.
Name: DC Harry Williams
Date of Birth: 29th September 1971
Date of Injury: 24th August 2015
Medical State: Dead
Age: 44
Rank: DC
Era To Return To: 1996
Issue: Family related
Frowning, Alex picked up the final one.
Name: DS Matt Lewis
Date of Birth: 5th July 1995
Date of Injury: 9th November 2021
Medical State: Dead
Age: 27
Rank: DCI
Era To Return To: 1996
Issue: Job related
"Crap, what happened to this kid? He's twenty – seven years old. And he's dropped two ranks!"
"Ya sure, Alex? It's normally one." The confusion in Gene's voice was evident as he scanned the office watching them all come in. Even after knowing him for fifteen years, being his partner for thirteen and living with him for eleven, Alex could count on only her ten fingers how many times he'd called her by her Christian name. It was slightly concerning.
However, there wasn't a single trace of worry or fear to be found on the new coppers faces. Obviously getting to know each other better, laughter, light banter and smiles were etched on their faces and in their voices.
Glancing at the files once again, Alex replied confidently, "Yep, I'm certain. And...We have no DI."
"Wha'? Yer kidding?"
"Nope, there isn't one," she paused, "Why does this seem wrong already? Does something feel strange to you Gene?"
"Yeah, Bollykecks, it does." Downing his whiskey in one, Gene walked to the door of his glass office, "Something's stirring Alex, an' I don't like it."
The atmosphere in CID was unsurprisingly cheerful. The new coppers were grinning and laughing at and with each other, as if they'd been friends all their lives. Gene had already placed their name tags on the desks and typewriters so they knew where to go.
Settling down to a desk that was formerly Shaz's, Alex noticed a bright blonde, blue eyed woman staring at back at her. Smiling briefly, Alex turned back to Gene.
"Who's the WPC?" She enquired, scanning over the files.
"Jeanette Hale." Gene replied evenly, searching Alex's face for a reaction.
"You're kidding, right? No way."
"Yes way, Mrs Woman, but don't worry, it's just a name."
"And a bullet," Alex muttered under her breath. Where did that come from?
What puzzled Alex the most, was not the fact she's started saying things that made no sense, but that she's started having strange dreams. In one of them, she remembered somebody shouting and waving around a gun. She felt the cold, rigid barrel of a gun again her temple. There was a man...but she couldn't quite remember. It had felt so real.
The next person to catch her eye was DC Harry Williams. He was quite old, and Alex wondered what had brought him here. When he caught her eye, he winked and smirked at her before giving her the once over.
"Ugh, I don't like the DC."
"Why?" Gene questioned; Alex never said that unless she'd at least spoken the new coppers.
"He's slimy; he gave me the once over."
"Well," Gene started, peering at her arse, "Can't blame him really, but I'll keep an eye on him fer ya Bolls."
Alex smiled at him and, double checking nobody was looking, leant forward to kiss him.
"Now, let's go introduce ourselves."
Gene, in his typical manner, yanked open the door and watched as they fell silent in his presence. Alex crept out behind him and took her place by her desk.
"Right then, you lot! Me name's Gene Hunt and I'm your DCI. Fer those of you who don't know, it's nine oh six on Monday morning and the year is 1996."
His last remark caused some confused faces to appear. Of course, this was the usual introduction and it always sparked a laugh from Alex.
"An' this delightful pain the arse by the door is DCI Alex Drake who also heads up CID. Now –"
"I'm sorry I'm late! The bastard alarm clock broke and then I couldn't find my shirt!"
Out of the blue, and quite frankly a little scarily, a young man in his late twenties came barging through the double doors at a quick rate of knot. A sandy mass of boyish curls fell around his smooth cheeks and the fringe narrowly missed his eyes. Alex thought he looked rather attractive, and the ring on his finger suggested that somebody else thought so too.
"An' who the 'ell are you?" Alex knew that Gene was being typically harsh to keep them in line.
Fear seemed to invade the young man's movement causing him to freeze. "Um...I'm...I mean...My name is Matt Lewis."
"Ah, DS Matt Lewis, thank you for gracing us with your presence!"
"DS?" he frowned.
"Yeah, got a problem?" Gene challenged, narrowing his eyes.
"Um, no. No problem."
"Now, as I was saying, we're missing a DI, but I'm sure they'll turn up soon. DCI Drake?" he concluded, allowing her to give the next instructions.
Until now, this was all usual procedure. Usually somebody turned up late; it was the world's way of allowing Gene to show just how harsh he could be. However, if anybody had looked closely at DS Matt Lewis, they'd have seen something rather surprising. As soon as Gene mentioned 'Drake', his eyes seem to widen slightly showing off the deep aqua ripples that surrounded his pupils. His mouth also twitched with what could have been perceived as recognition. Turning his head to face her properly, he was shocked.
Although her hair was shorter and cropped into the latest style, Matt felt something familiar about her general appearance. She had soft eyes that differed from green, brown and hazel depending on the lighting. DCI Drake's stance was very, very familiar. But why? Matt suddenly realised that he was staring and that his superior officer was talking.
"-Yes, now, if you could all get on with the latest case files, please, we need some organisation. Go – Mush!"
Throwing a sly look at Alex, Gene smiled slightly; he's been rubbing off on her. Deciding to put his mind at rest, Matt rose cautiously from his seat and wondered over to Alex's desk.
"Ma'am?"
"Yes, DS Lewis?"
"Please, call me Matt. Um, you don't know a Molly Drake, do you?" A frown appeared on Alex's face, "It's just you have to same last name and..."
"Molly was...is...somebody I used to know. I can't remember." Her breathing picked up slightly and the panic started to spread. Blood froze. Muscles quaked. There was something about the name that recognised, but she couldn't remember. She couldn't remember!
Slamming her hands frantically on the desk, her wide eyes were enough to scare Matt off. Appearing in the doorway to his office, Gene froze as he watched Alex scream and shout. Something was wrong about the whole thing; they'd known each other for fifteen years and he'd never had any 'future' shit from her since she refused the Pub.
Still, it didn't change the fact that whatever DS Lewis had said to her had caused great anxiety as she cried out, "Gene!" Her voice broke slightly, "Gene, I can't remember!"
The circle on the calendar wasn't going away. It was definitely here and the date wasn't going to change. Every year, on the 20th July, she did the same thing. Opening the box and lifting out the carefully decorated cake, she grabbed the matchsticks and stuck a flame.
"We'll blow the candles out together."
Authors Note: Not too bad, I hope! As always, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and feel free to leave a review :) also, there's a poll on my profile page – do check it out!
Finding Answers xx