Right, hello.

I'm back at it again but I think this is going to feel a little different to what you are used to from me. Just with some of the choices I have made. I think it might make some sense as we get into it.

And I think it will become rather clear where we are starting here but this is towards the end of Series 5 Episode 11. Just before the caravan blows up...

Chapter 1

As much as she would hate to admit, Rachel had found herself in situations like the one she was currently in more times than she should have done.

Maybe it was just the way she was going to go.

Attempting to save someone.

After all, the last time she had put herself in a life-threatening situation, she had attempted to drag Stuart Hordley out of a burning building.

She wouldn't quite count Ralph with his digger. Somehow, she knew that was going to be okay.

But there, in that caravan, she didn't feel hopeful at all.

And as she sat there, with her arm around Bianka, Rachel couldn't really picture how it was going to end. The hissing of the severed tube was only getting louder and her lungs were protesting more at the invasion of unbreathable gas. Gary Vale stood there, apologising but she was unsure what for. After all, he was the one to put his daughter in that situation. He was the one to, essentially, kidnap her from school, bringing her out into the middle of nowhere. And she had seen her fair share of unsuitable fathers thinking that they could just do as they liked. She had lived with one. It wasn't hard to see the signs when she knew them so well.

She was hopeless.

For the first time as Rachel, she didn't have any hope of getting out of the situation she found herself in and she wished that she could get Bianka's phone out of her pocket. She would call Kim again and apologise to her and the school. She would call Philip, just to tell him that she loved him and that she would always look after him (after all, he would inherit everything that she currently owned). And then there was another number. One that she had managed to memorise despite there only being a couple of short months in that she needed it memorised. She knew it as well as her own mobile number. She would have wanted to hear his voice one last time. Maybe to get him to tell her that he loved her one last time. Because that would be what she would want to tell him.

The shout for Gary brought Rachel out of her thoughts and she knew that this couldn't be the end. It wasn't like her to just give up. It wasn't in her makeup. And when Bianka called for her mum, Rachel knew that was a good enough reason for her to try.

In just a couple of moments, the situation had changed.

Gary knew that the game was up but Rachel also knew that he was still dangerous with the knife in his hand. She would have thought that he would have heard his daughter's pleas. That maybe the situation changing would be the moment that he would give it up. In fact, the man seemed more determined than ever when Rachel made her first move to get her and Bianka to safety, almost swiping the knife at her as she tried to get past him when he turned to look for something.

The sight of the lighter did scare her. How could it not? They were standing in a caravan that was full of propane gas. He only had to get the thing alight and that was it. Never mind the commotion going on outside, Rachel's thoughts were 100% on what was happening in front of her and the crucial next few moments.

"Come on, Gary, just let her go, she's your daughter. Please!" Rachel said, unsure why she would even be considering reasoning with the guy. He had proven to be very unreasonable the whole time that she had been there. And the situation in front of her proved that judge to be right. He was a danger to his kids. And, at that moment, he was a danger to her as well.

"This is all down to you." He said.

There were two reasons why she would be forever grateful that the lighter didn't work on the first time.

One, the fact that she could use that as the opportunity that she needed to get herself and Bianka out of the caravan. Because as he was fiddling with the lighter, his attention wasn't on her and she could use it to her advantage, pushing him out of the way and finally getting them into the fresh air.

Two… she still wasn't over the fire. She was trying her hardest to stop the memories but they wouldn't. She had spent weeks convincing herself that she was over the fire when she first woke up after it but even a year and a half later, she was still fighting the fear and memories. The last thing that she would have wanted was to have the flames surround her again.

She felt and heard the explosion more than she saw it. And, as it had been the whole time, she thought of Bianka first as they were pushed to the ground, with her covering her student, still trying to protect her. Because that was what this had all been about. It had been about protecting Bianka.

The next thing she knew was Mrs Vale almost pushing her off of Bianka to get to her. Not that she blamed the woman. She was sure that if their positions were swapped, she would have been the same. She was sure that most parents would have felt the same.

With very little else to do, she stood up and was unable to take her eyes off the caravan that was now full of flames.

It had been close.

It had been so, so close.

And she did wish that she could stop the memories that flooded her.

No, she wasn't over the fire.

And this had brought it all back for her.

She thought that the light-headedness was from the adrenaline. She was sure that was what she had been running on from the moment that she saw that the tube to the gas canister was cut. Adrenaline and the urge to make sure her student was safe.

But she felt herself falling, unable to stop herself.

And she was unsure whether she hit the floor before or after she blacked out.