Authors note: Hey everybody! This is my first Fanfic so I hope I've written all the character right! I also haven't got round to reading all the Ashes stories on Fanfiction yet, so I hope this doesn't/won't sound too familiar :) like many people, reviews and feedback are welcome, even if it's just to say a few words of advice.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that can be associated with Ashes such as places, characters or situations. However, there are some extra charaters in there which I'm almost certain don't belong to anybody officially, so I do believe they're mine :D

History Repeating Itself
Chapter One-The Eighties are back and it's Criminal

He sat there, watching the new DC fiddling with the pens on his desk. Taking a large swig out of the whiskey bottle, he stood up walked swiftly to the door of his office, ripping it open and watching as the room fell silent in his presence.

"Right, you lot! There's work to be done, so why are you twonks not doing it?"

His eyes fell on the empty desk by the door, with the numbers '6620' still etched in the wooden surface. He had thought Alex, his bolls, had betrayed him, listening and believing that twat Keats. But in the end she had stood by him, even when the rest of the team had buggared off down the lift of eternal doom.

He wondered what she was doing now. Was she happy? He hoped she was happy, especially since finding out that she was dead, after all this time thinking she still had a chance. He knew that she could have stayed a little longer as the rules had been slackened slightly, but in truth he'd wanted her to be safe from Keats.

Bloody 'ell! Was he turning soft? A posh, mouthy tart did not turn Gene Hunt soft! She was just another DI, who he had helped cross over.

But deep down in a forgotten part of his heart, he knew she wasn't, and that was the problem...

Heaven was everything she'd been taught about and more.

Once Alex Drake had walked through those doors, the pub was just the start. Through the back door, she could go to her flat from the eighties, her house from the noughties or just take a walk somewhere scenic. She could go into any building and it would be filled with people who she could talk to and develop friendships with.

Alex could go anywhere, any place in time. Even the cinema, where she could whisper a name and it would give a showing of what that person was doing. She'd seen Molly and Evan more times that anybody else and they seemed happy. Well, as happy as they could be for the fact that she was now lying six feet under. She snorted, that was such a Gene Hunt thing to say.

And, of course, she could go into Fenchurch East CID.

For a while, Alex just enjoyed the company of her fellow work mates, desperate to come to grip with the terms that she was dead. After a while though, all she did was go to Fenchurch and sit on the steps, waiting for him to come to her.

The places were amazing, but they were in her imagination, and that was the problem...

"Ma'am, I got your red wine." Shaz said, handing her a bottle of what would have been 'Luigi's House Rubbish'. Alex never ordered anything apart the wine unless it was whiskey but after the first glass she decided that she liked wine best.

"Thank you, Shaz." Alex replied, smiling at the young Essex girl, "and how many times must I insist you call me Alex?"

"I know Ma...Alex but I keep forgetting. Old habits die hard, y'know?" Shaz grinned at her friend with a knowing glint in her eye, before glancing at Annie and receiving a questioning stare.

"Oh, um...Alex, I think Annie wants to talk with you. Don't worry; I'll guard your wine from the vultures!" Alex grinned and made her way over to Annie.

Since she had been here, Alex had found a great friend in Annie and was delighted to meet the person who had bound Sam to this world. She was also a psychologist and the two of them would have fun trying not to psycho-analyse each other.

Alex smiled at the phrasing of that. Every little thing about this place reminded her of him, and just how lost in time they both were.

"Hi Annie, Shaz said you wanted to talk with me." The psychologist in Alex knew that this was just an excuse and, delving into her recent actions, she had a good idea of what Annie wanted to say.

Annie smiled at her and picked up her glass of white wine, looking in to it nervously. "I know it probably isn't my place to say anything, but...we're all very worried about you Alex. You seem to sit on those Fenchurch East steps constantly and you're ruining your health."

Alex knew what Annie meant about it not being her place; Nelson usually dealt with problems in paradise. But to Alex, this wasn't paradise.

"I know Annie, but it's the closest thing I have to Gen-I mean my life. Besides, I re-imagined it painted slightly better colours." Annie and Alex shared a laugh as Sam came wondering over. He placed an arm around Annie and looked down at her adoringly. Ray joked that it made him sick, but Chris and Shaz both chided him into submission, but not before Ray could call Chris a 'poof'.

Alex though it was quite nice, especially since she knew everything that Sam had been through in seventy-three and oh-six. "I'll um, talk later." Alex said awkwardly as she walked back to Shaz and collected her wine. Glancing at her watch, she dropped the glass.

The shattering of glass brought a brief silence to the pub and caught Nelson's attention. He watched as she moved across the pub towards the bar, quaking a little and she attempted not to cry.

"What's up, mon brav?" He called as she sat down.

"Nelson, what are the rules of Heaven again?"

"Well, you can only be here if you've learnt the truth, come to grips with everything and, of course mon brav, be 'six feet under' as Mister Hunt would say." He placed the glass he was cleaning on the bar and frowned at her. "Why?"

"What happens about time? Y'know, watches and the time-space continuum." She tapped her fingers idly on the wooden top and started to trace four numbers.

"Well, when your watch stops you're dead."

"Right, you ignorant twonks! Ray and Chris have moved on to pastures new down in bloody Plymouth and taken their brawn wiv 'em. Well, Ray has, Chris has left us missin' his first class brain. Shaz decided to quit." There was a pregnant pause as the air changed. "Bolly Knickers has transferred her pretty little arse out of here along with her psychiatry bollocks so we're going to have to do this by ourselves. Get workin' on this drugs raid. Wha' do we know?"

It was five months, three weeks and four days since Gene Hunt had muttered those words to CID as an explanation for his teams' disappearances. He couldn't bear to kill them off like he'd done with Sam because he knew it wouldn't be long before it came back to bite him in arse.

Back in currant times though, Gene Hunt was in one of the worst moods of his life and being stuck with people who thicker that Chris wasn't helping. He had a meeting with Superintendant Green tomorrow and he knew what it would entail.

"Um, Guv..."

"Just spit it out!" He bellowed at his latest DC, Matt Lewis. He was a bright spark, but pissed the hell out of him with all his nervousness, especially after yelling about his poxy iPhone all those months ago.

"We've no cases at the moment, what are we supposed to be doing? It's just I need to go to visit, um...someone and..."

Gene slammed his hand against the glass of his office causing a rumble to echo through CID. "'cuse me? DC Lewis hav' yer just told yer superior officer you have no work t' be doin'?"

"Um, well I'm sure another department could do with a hand with the case load...I heard that Bomb Squad are on high alert especially with the visit from the Mayor."

"Let me think...try no, DC Lewis, shift ends at beer o'clock an' until then, you lot had betta be writin' up reports, witness statements and makin' sure everything is dated and signed or the rubber heelers will have us by the bollocks again!"

"Yeah, that's what I thought too..." Alex mumbled, unable to come to terms with what she'd seen.

"Although, I do remember a funny incident a while back where this young copper had discovered that his watch was moving because he was still alive...in Mister Hunts 'world' as you, brav, put it."

Alex jerked into sobriety at Nelson's revelation. "What...What happened to him?" Her heart was pounding at news and she was already beginning to form a plan. The emotions overwhelmed her at the possibility of returning to Gene.

Gene Hunt.

There was something intoxicating about his sheer presence and after all the times he had saved her, she needed to save him from spending eternity alone. Because, after that kiss she had given him, there was no doubt where she wanted to go.

"...Mind you, once you leave, you can't come back." Alex took a sharp intake of breath and repelled the feeling of despair at not being able to see her friends again.

"You just walk out that door there mon brav." Nelson waved his hand to a door with a cross it.

"Thank you." She whispered, already knowing what her decision would be. A last glance around at her fellow workmates and Alex did feel a certain sense of confusion. After all, they'd tried so hard to confort her and include her and now she was going to leave forever.

Forever.

Now there was a word which she and Molly had used without thinking about it, but now she was faced with the possibility of forever, she couldn't quite comprehend it.

Gene Hunt stormed back into CID, missing the way that both doors would open at the same time when Bolls would walk in with him. They made one hell of a team. She was different to him, and yet so alike.

Tom and Jerry. Sapphire and Steel.

Gene had returned to his office and, unsurprisingly, had a glass of whiskey in front of him. Remembering how Alex used to sit on the edge of his desk and lean on his computer, spouting wild theories and generally being a fruitcake, he wondered just why she had been so desperate to stay. Gene longed to call Nelson-just to check up on them, really-you know, Gene Hunt was not turning into a Jessie.

While lost in thought, he missed a feminine figure slip into CID and perch on one of the side desks and immerse herself in a case file.

Gene watched as, in a moment of courage, Terry walked up to the white board and wrote down a whole load of crap of on the board and proceeded to educate the rest of the room via a battered looking textbook. He had a title, 'Drugs User' as an example.

Slamming the glass on the table, he walked out of his office and folded his arms. CID fell silent.

"Terry, wha' in god's name do you think you're doin'? We tryin' to organise paperwork here, not demonstrate our ability t' write psychiatry bollocks from a book!"

Terry turned to look at Gene, an expression of great disappointment was evident. "Sorry, Guv, but I thought we take a leaf from DI Drake's book. After all, you did say that her um, err...psych...psychology helped to solve some difficult cases. Oh, and DI Drake also says-

"I don't give a rats arse about what Bollinger Knickers says...said we aren't goin' to need any of that psychiatry babble to solve any future cases!" Gene had to admit, it did feel weird not hearing a little voice correcting him.

Everybody in the room failed to notice the smirking a slight tittering of a women. She put the folder down and focussed on what Terry had written. While everybody was focussed on Gene, Terry and the whiteboard, she moved slowly and silently to stand by the office door. Folding her arms and raising an eyebrow, she proceeded to read Terry's work of art.

"Mmm...Very good Terry, I'm actually quite impressed. Although, I don't think a drugs user would have a misogynistic attitude or a superiority complex. Gene, however..." She trailed off, waiting for the enviable reaction to come.

"I don't bloody believe it! When I said we wer' unbreakable Bolls, I didn't think ya'd break the rules of 'eaven t' come back!"

As CID let out their collective, but confused breath, the peak of the tension vanished. With a few shocked comments here and there, DI Alexandra Drake had definitely stolen the show. With the legs the length of Italy and more balls then them all put together (with the exception of the Guv), she was a bold and as authority-challenging as the first day she'd walked into the Guv's office.

Unfolding her arms and placing them on her hips, she smiled at Gene and went to walk into his office.

"Oh, and Gene, its psychology." The glint in her eye was now evident as she went to sit on the edge of his desk, just like she'd done before Keats and even before Operation Rose.

They had been sat in his office, him on his chair, her on the edge of the desk, for over an hour now. To an outsider, it would look like a normal case conversation between a DCI and his DI, but really, it was truth telling time.

"Why, Bolls?" Gene asked after they'd sat in silence for a couple of minutes. "Why'da turn down a chance of eternal happiness?"

Alex looked down at her feet and began to swig her legs. "Because it wasn't quite the Heaven I'd imagined." Gene gave her a sceptical look. "Well, of course it was brilliant, but spending forever without the people you love isn't as much fun as I'd thought. I couldn't even manage a day."

"A day, Bolls? Crikey, you don't know many rules of 'eaven do yer? Time ain't a constant thing...it's been six months since you passed over. Six months since I've bin left to cope with these mindless twonks wi'out 'elp from the one person I..." He trailed off looking at his hands in his lap.

But Alex wasn't about to let him off that easily. "'The one person who you...' what?" Gene gave no reply. "I'm not going anywhere, so you'll have to tell me eventually."

"You better not be goin' anywhere now or I'll-"

"-stamp on my pretty little head?" Alex laughed at the sentiment and turned to look through the office window at the gormless looks from CID. "So, what are they like?"

"Well, there's DC Matt Lewis who arrived 'ours after I got back from sendin' you over. He's as nervous as a virgin in a brothel but probabl' about as smart as Ray. We haven't had a DI yet so yer desk is all yours. I've promoted Terry to a DS and hoped that he'd pass over this time."

Alex nodded, staring at the new recruit. "Well, we've got a lot of work to be doing then, don't we?"

"Why 'ell is she so special?" DC Lewis questioned Terry and Bammo after they'd gotten over their shock. Matt might only have been here for about two months but he'd seen nobody talk to the Guv like that women had. He hadn't heard anybody call the Guv by his name, not even the Superintendant or Commissioner. The best of it? He just stood there and took it. It was as if they were old friends and she regularly challenged his authority. Matt also knew that he tried that stunt then the Guv would have his knackers in a vice.

"Well, the Guv nev'r expected to see 'er again, did he?"

"Yeah, we thought he was a little...well, depressed after he came back from the pub just before you arrived." He paused and seemed to be considering something. "Oh, no, watch out, the arguments will start again now!"

CID shared a collective snigger while remembering Shaz's wise words of wisdom about love.

"Well, I'm going to get some answers!" With that Matt stormed towards Gene's office and through the door, leaving it to slam and wobble the window panes.

Alex Drake turned to face him, her beautiful features entirely clean of make-up while her hair was un-styled and left to flow just below her shoulders. She had her long legs crossed over one another while her right hand was carefully placed to balance her as she leaned back.

Gene had a ghost of a smile on his face, the first of which Matt had seen since he arrived in this god forsaken place. But what he couldn't see what that DI Drake was brushing her foot up and down her DCI's lower leg.

She smiled at the DC and introduced herself. "I've been here for almost three years!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, god knows how I managed to survive those endless days in your psycho-bollockin' presence!" DI Drake laughed. It was a beautiful sound that filled Matt with a sense of familiarity. Even DCI Hunt had managed to look at her, a deep longing in his eyes.

Feeling he had interrupted something important, he excused himself and left the office.

"Gene!" Alex exclaimed. "You didn't have to growl at him for interrupting us."

"I wasn't growlin' at him, Bolls, you really must know when to keep your feet t' yourself." He watched as her eyes were brighter than ever before and how comfortable she was with being here with him.

Alex smiled at him with a sense of deep closure. "Can I have that whiskey you promised me?"

As Gene went to stand up, Alex wrapped her fingers around his wrist a pulled him around to face her. She placed her delicate hand over his chest and felt for a pulse. A second after she closed her eyes, he mirrored her actions, repeating the same question as all those years ago.

But she didn't even have a chance to answer as he bent his head down and crushed his lips to hers. They were gentle and soft against hers, not at all what Alex had expected. She had wanted this for so long, it was unbelievable. When they eventually broke apart, Alex had her arms around his neck and his left hand was snaked around her lower back.

She leant forward again, this time to rest her forehead on his. "I'm definitely staying."

"Glad, cuz otherwise wha' bit of skirt am I meanta be lookin' at?" She grinned at him and moved her head to rest on his chest.

"Nelson, are you sure?" Annie enquired for the third time.

"Absolutely mon brav, she is happy now."

"Oh, god!" Shaz sighed, "She'll never be able to come in with him."

"No, way! Seriously?" Matt Lewis was listening intently to Terry and Bammo's accounts for the last three years, regarding Gene and Alex.

"Yep, and she woke up and forgave him. 'Course, D and C were all over us like maggots, as the Guv says, but now things seem back to normal." Matt nodded, looking back at the Guv's office and how the blinds were wide open, leaving the team speechless at the behaviour of their DI and DCI.

"D and C? That's a gynaecological procedure isn't it?" Terry and Bammo shared a flicker of a smile as if this was some long standing joke.

"No, it isn't that glamorous. It means Discipline and Complaints. The Rubber Heelers. Thank god almighty we won't be seeing them for a long time!" Terry, Bammo and Matt turned to be faced with the Guv standing at his office door and DI Drake next to him with her arms crossed and a flicker of an angry expression.

"Oi! Bolls, that's my saying, get yer own if yer plannin' on stayin'!"

Of course, Alex couldn't help trying to stifle a giggle when she heard Matt's words, mirroring hers about a year ago. However, her own choice of words forced her to give a grin of irony. She was stood next to Gene as Poirot raised his eyebrows at the intimacy of their senior officers. Catching Gene's glance, she took a seat at her old desk, vowing never to forget about the four numbers engraved on there.

When the phone on Shaz's old desk rang, nobody dared to pick it up. Rolling her eyes, Alex moved across and picked up the receiver.

"Hello, Fenchurch East CID, DI Drake speaking." She waited for a reply and perched herself on the desk.

"Um...err...Hi, my name is Eliza." The girl at the end of the phone was sobbing and stuttering so much Alex had a job to hear her. "I didn't do it!"

"It's alright, Eliza. Just tell me in your own time: what happened?" Gene threw Alex a questioning glance and went to open his mouth but she waved a hand to silence him.

"Our Landlord...he's dead!" The sobbing continued.

"Where are you Eliza?"

"Um, oh! The Sky High Pub." The sobbing had slowed and was almost non-existent.

"Okay, we're coming over. Stay there." Alex instructed.

The line went dead.

"Hello? Hello?" Alex placed the receiver in the crib. "Guv, I think we're back in business. There's been a murder at the Sky High Pub."

Matt looked confused for a minute. "Don't you mean..." Terry turned to look at him. "Um, er...I can't remember. Don't worry."

Gene clapped his hands together and the glanced between him and Alex didn't go unnoticed by CID. Alex smiled and Gene nodded at her. "There's only for thing for it-"

"-Let's fire up the Quattro!"

Authors Note: Thoughts? Good, bad? thankyou for reading, updates should be coming soon :)

Finding Answers xx