Alternate Universe, in case it isn't already obvious. Characters are also not mine, as evident by the fact this is being posted on a site called FANFICTION dot net. I started writing this before series 3 had even started, but since the very premise of this story already made it AU I didn't see any point in going back and changing much.

And now that I've seen the finale, this will definately be an Alternate Series 3. So forget about everything you learned in the finale. This will be completely different.

"Careful, Gene!" Alex shouted, reaching for her seatbelt as Gene struggled to gain traction on the icy road.

"Hold tight, Bolly. Those bastards aren't getting away that easily."

"Let's hope they crash into a light post before we do," Alex noted ruefully. She decided to take it as a good sign that Gene neither responded to her words or the click of her fastening her seat belt. It meant that he had his attention on the road. Hopefully, anyway.

How ironic was it that Chris, as well as Ray and Shaz, had had enough sense to not engage bank thieves on a high speed chase during a blizzard? Of course, the thieves weren't proving themselves overtly bright, either.

Alex glanced over at Gene to see that he had a white knuckle grip on the steering wheel. She turned her attention back to the windscreen, and immediately wished she hadn't. In front of them was an almost solid wall of white. She could just barely make out the tail lights in front of them.

"Maybe it would be safer if we went back to the bank and looked for clues as to the thieves identities there?" Alex suggested, not really expecting an answer.

"Oi, the rest of the team's got that covered Bolls. 'Sides, weather's not that bad."

"Speak for yourself," Alex muttered, but she did detect a note of uncertainty in his voice. Perhaps common sense would prevail before they would crash.

"Oh, Molly. Keep your fingers crossed for me love," Alex whispered as Gene careened around a corner,the Quattro almost flipping over in the process.

"Please Gene, can we stop now?" she asked, knowing it was probably in vain.

Gene's face gained a thoughtful expression, even as he continued to struggle to keep the Quattro going in a straight line.

"Eyes on the road, Guv!" Alex yelped as Gene breifly glanced in her direction.

"Sorry." Gene quickly turned his attention back to the road.

The wipers continued to go back and forth at full speed, to little avail. Alex found herself wondering where she'd wind up if they did crash. When Gene had accidentally shot her, she had wound up in a pseudo 2009. Would she go there again? Or would she end up somewhere else entirely? Maybe where ever Sam ended up after he had died in 1980? Sam had met his end during a jewelry blag; and now it appeared that Alex and Gene would meet a similar fate during a bank robbery.

That was something else that Alex found herself wondering about: If Gene were a real person, as evidence seemed to prove more and more, where would his mind end up going, should he wind up in Sam and Alex's positions? Did all souls travel, or were she, Summers and Sam special cases? She was not exactly eager to find out.

Beside her, Gene uttered a loud curse. "I don't see them anymore, Bolly. Do you?"

"I can't see anything, including traffic lights." Now Alex was really starting to get scared. "You don't suppose the storm knocked them out, do you?"

"Don't know."

"Now can we stop Gene? Just pull over to the shoulder." Realising that Gene was going to have a bit of difficulty finding the shoulder, she added, "At the very least, can we slow down?"

Gene nodded and shifted his foot to the break. Nothing happened. He pressed down more forcefully, and the car began to skid. A knot of panic formed in Alex's gut, rising upwards as Gene struggled to regain control. Unable to think of anything else to do, Alex closed her eyes and tried to brace herself for the impact that she knew was coming, any moment now. Through her eyelashes, she saw Gene reach for the emergency brake.

"Dammit! Hang on, Bolls!"

Without opening her eyes, Alex nodded. Dear God, please! she prayed.

Suddenly, something slammed into the Quattro on the driver's side, sending the vehicle flying sideways. Alex's head slammed against the passenger side window, and everything went dark.

Gusts of icy cold wind awakened her. Next to her was a continuous mournful drone that made her throbbing head hurt even worse. Cautiously, she opened her eyes. She saw that her window had been smashed, and the part of the windscreen directly in her line of vision was now covered with spiderweb like cracks. She could feel a stickiness on her face that she soon realised was blood. She then tried to move her right arm. A blinding white hot bolt of pain shot up her shoulder and seared her brain.

"Bad idea," she croaked. The droning had not ceased. Very slowly, she turned her head----and her heart nearly stopped beating altogether. Gene was slumped over the steering wheel, his entire face covered with blood.

Alex found she could move her left arm without too much difficulty, and searched for a pulse.

"Thank God," she breathed. A pulse was still there, albeit a weak and unsteady one. "Hold on, Guv."

What should she do? Stay where she was until help arrived? Would any help arrive? How would anyone see them in this storm? Attempts at moving the right side of her body made her both want to scream and vomit, the agony was so bad. But she couldn't shake the nagging fear that if she didn't go looking for help, it might not arrive in time to save Gene.

"Mummy?"

Alex looked up. Standing right outside her window was a little girl in a school uniform, her hair untossled by the wind.

"Molly?" Alex rasped. Though she knew it was useless, she still begged. "Help us, please."

"Mummy," Molly's voice rose above the wind. "The doctors said you had a stroke, you might be paralyzed when you wake up."

Damn it, Alex silently cursed. As if she didn't have enough problems as it was.

"I have to go now, Mummy. I'm sorry..."

"No, Molly. Come back, please," Alex said weakly. But Molly paid no heed, vanishing into the storm.

"Now what?" Alex whimpered. "What do I do now?"

At any moment she expected to hear the voices of her 2009 doctors. But of what use would they be? For the very first time since her arrival to the eighties, Alex did not want to wake up. The doctors back home couldn't help Gene. They'd just dismiss her story as one long dream; the same way she had dismissed Sam years ago.

The car horn was still blaring. She wished Gene would wake up. She certainly knew better than to move him. Not that she was physically capable of that at the moment anyway. Besides, perhaps the horn would act as a beacon, and guide help to them. Alex was in no shape to hunt it down herself, she knew that.

"Cold ... so cold..."

Part of her longed to drift into a deep sleep, to escape the cold and the pain. But she forced herself to stay awake.

"If you can feel, you're alive," she murmured, repeating the words Sam had left on his tape. The very last words in his message. He was right. As long as she could feel the cold wind in her face and the agony in her body she could at least be certain of one thing.

"Boss! Guv!"

Was Alex hearing things? She forced herself to concentrate.

"Boss! Guv!" The cry came again. It sounded like Ray.

"Over here!" Alex called out as loudly as she could, which did not seem nearly loud enough.

A few moments later, three figures came into view. Ray, nearly slipping on the ice was first to reach the vehical, with Chris and Shaz close behind.

"Jesus Christ!" Ray called out in alarm. "Chris, radio an ambulance, and be quick about it."

"Don't fall," Alex said. They didn't need Chris injuring himself by slipping on the ice.

Shaz leaned over Ray's shoulder. "Is the Guv still alive?"

"Yes," Alex answered. "But he's hurt bad, can't get him to wake up."

"Hold on, the ambulance should be here soon."

"The storm will slow them down a bit," Ray pointed out.

"They'll get here in time, I'm sure of it," Shaz insisted.

Wish I had your optomisim dear, Alex thought to herself. She still wanted to sleep, but it wasn't safe yet. She needed to be in the care of the doctors in this world as well. It might be the only thing keeping her 2009 self from dying and leaving her stranded here. And there was Gene, as well. She needed to know how he was before she could rest easy.

Chris came back into view just then. Together, he and Shaz looked impossibly young. More like frightened children instead of grown coppers. It reminded her about how she had sort of adopted them, as a method of trying to fill the void caused by her separation from Molly. A temporary bandage, but helpful all the same. Chris had his arm around Shaz's shoulders, and it was clearly as much for his benefit as it was hers.

The three of them did their best to keep Alex awake, talking about old cases or whatever nonsense they could think of. At one point Chris got so desperate he started singing "Life on Mars." If she weren't in such pain and worried about Gene Alex might have laughed.

After what felt like hours, the sound of sirens filled the air. Alex's stomach resumed tying itself in knots. She and Gene would have to ride in seperate ambulances; and since she was injured as well, how long would it be before she would get word on his condition? Her eyes stung.

"Ray's going to ride with the Guv, and Chris and I will go with you," Shaz said reassuringly, moving out of the way as Alex was removed from the car and placed on the stretcher.

The Quattro was badly smashed.

Gene's going to be crushed, Alex thought. That car was his baby. She wondered what would be more expensive, buying a new car or repairing the old one. Perhaps the team could set up a fund... she'd have to remember to ask them about it later.

Trying to focus on the car did little to distract Alex from her fears for Gene and herself---in both worlds.

Was Molly's message true? Had Alex's 2009 self had a stroke? She knew she wouldn't have instantly been able to get up and run around after being shot in the head, which had been the key to her learning that the 2009 she thought she had returned to was fake. Now she was wondering just how damaged her body would be if she ever did manage to make it home. Would Evan and Molly be forced into the roles of round the clock caregivers? Would Evan hire a live in nurse, or would Alex be placed in a home?

"Don't worry, Mum, you'll be all right," Chris said softly. "And Ray will give us word about the Guv when he knows anything."

Upon their arrival at the hospital, Chris and Shaz were directed to a waiting area while Alex was taken back for tests and x-rays.

If her right arm had been unbroken before the crash, the x-ray technician was quick to fix that problem, forcing Alex's unwilling arm to move in the nessary positions for he pictures.

After all the flurry of activity had finally settled down, Alex was discovered to have a broken arm and lacerations on her face from the broken glass that required stitches. Despite her headache she miraculously did not have a concussion, but she was going to be kept in the hospital for several days for observation. The doctors would not shut up about how lucky she was.

"Your guardian angel was looking out for you tonight, deary," an elderly nurse said as she set up Alex's morphine drip.

Yeah, that's why I had a stroke in 2009 and my best friend in 1983 is in worse shape than I am.

Chris, Shaz and Ray came into her room.

"The doctors said that they gave you something for the pain?"

Alex nodded. She was already starting to feel drowsy.

"Any word on the Guv? Don't lie!" she insisted, trying not to slur her words.

Chris and Shaz huddled close together and looked over at Ray, who had his eyes on the floor. Eons passed. Finally Ray said, "It was driver's side impact---that's why the Guv got hurt worse than you." Ray took a deep breath. "The Guv's in a coma. The doctors don't know when he'll wake up."