If An Illusion Is All I Have
Chapter 13: Let The Girl Save The Day
Author: Jess_Who
Fandom: Ashes To Ashes
Pairings: Alex, Gene, CID, Molly, etc
Rating: 12A (Rating may change)
Disclaimer: Only a fan, not the owner.. :'(
Spoilers: None really. Set in 1982
Note: Beta'd by the exceptional Rantandrumour.
Chapter 10: The Cat
Chapter 11: Little Girl
Chapter 12: She Ran
....A2A...A2A....
Without turning back to see Molly's or Shaz's reaction to the reverberating gunshot, Gene kicked at the gap in the fence that Molly had previously manifested from, the stained pine splintering under the heavy blows given by the heel of his boot until the hole was a reasonable enough size for him to get through.
"Shaz, he called, groping around the inside of his coat and unclipping the radio from his leather belt. "Get the kid out of here." Without further ado and with a gruff rumble he ordered Ray into the house as he himself stalked into the kitchen.
Gene crept, not entirely light footed, but with enough stealth that his boots did not have the opportunity to make any noise on the old black and white tiles.
Ray's head and shoulder poked around the corner of the door frame and he was rewarded with the sight of his DCI pointing a loaded gun at him. He nodded towards the open entrance, acknowledging muffled voices within. His eyes travelled from the front door, up the stairs and back to the open door. He pointed in its direction and waited for the Guv to give the okay.
Ray could feel his blood pumping faster as Gene gestured him to move with him. They both skimmed across the wall, weapons in front of them as they scanned the dark abyss preceding them. Gene stepped into the unknown, Ray as always, following in his shadow.
#
Layton and Alex looked up as they heard the encroaching foot falls. They could easily define the creak of shoes and the pebbles of dislodged concrete crunching under a human's weight.
A sense of safety began to push back the dread that had been clouding her. Amid the dust, a grey snake-skinned boot landed proudly on the ground.
Layton grabbed a handful of her hair, his grubby fingers entangling and pulling at the bloodied knot of curls. Alex gasped as a bolt spanned across the width of her skull, forcing her to follow his insistent tugs to relieve the unwanted sensation.
"Move where I can see you," Layton called, his stagnant breath huffing behind the shell of her ear and curling around her cheek so that she had to hold her breath to prevent herself recoiling from the stench of decaying teeth.
Gene moved forward, seemingly brightening the dank room, with his gun pointed off to the side of Alex's head. "Let her go!" Gene boomed out his command.
Layton's laugh was a cackling hiss between clenched teeth. "Really Hunt, you don't think I'm going to let her just run along now, do you? Besides, me and little Miss Price have unfinished business." Layton lowered his voice so only Alex could hear as Gene look on in bafflement. "Oh yes, Alex I know exactly who you are."
"How?" she croaked.
"Does Hunt know? Have you told him about your funny little past and how you shouldn't be here?" he asked, his words purposely carrying across to Gene. "I think you and your pathetic friend had better drop your guns, wouldn't you agree, Hunt?"
Ray hesitantly came down the last few steps, his glare focused only on Layton.
"Drop it!" he sneered.
#
"Shaz! You can't leave me with her," Chris called to the fleeing WPC.
Terrified of being left responsible for DI Drake's daughter, he shuffled around in his seat to check the girl herself was still sat in the back of the Quattro and had not gotten past him somehow.
"Your eyes look sore. Have you been crying?" Molly asked, trying to divert the concern she felt for her mother and her unknown situation on to someone who would do better for it.
"No!" Chris hurriedly replied. "I got pepper spray in my eyes."
"How'd you manage that?" she asked, her head tilted questioningly.
"There was loads of them..." he trailed off as though reliving some great horror. "They were so big..."
"Who were?" Molly asked sitting forwards, waiting avidly for his reply.
"Girls," he answered seriously.
"Girls? A gang of girls?" she asked, her expression neutral.
"Yeah. Load of 'em, big and all," Chris continued to stress.
"Girl gangs are the worst," she said with a pretend grimace to Christopher s satisfaction. Molly only smiled when he turned to look through the window screen.
#
Shaz fingered the handle of the gun Alex had given her and pulled it out of the waist band of her jeans, her heels making slight clicking noises as she walked with caution over the Victorian tiles.
She stood at the top of the basement stairwell listening with baited breath at the voices floating up to her. Leading on the door frame; the off white paint peeling away to reveal a sun fade red gloss under it, Shaz used it to balance herself as she single handedly removed her shoe's and neatly pushed them against the skirting board.
She glanced down at her white feet and pink varnished nails as she moved downwards. The coil of fear and adrenaline coursed through her mixing boisterously until she was unsure which one was causing the rapid beat of her heart to thump with less control.
She crouched down, her lips twitching into a nervous smile as she went unnoticed by all. Clocking Gene and Ray near a side wall, their weapons on the floor a few feet in front of them. She suddenly realised she really only had one chance to prove to her friend and mentor that she could live up to her full potential.
"I guess this is goodbye," Layton said. Shaz watched as he brought Alex's gun up to her temple.
The sound of the gun resonated around the room as two entwined bodies fell.
#
She did not dare open her eyes. Even though the softness and hard angular shapes beneath her pressed into her body and bruises already blossomed, Alex remained still from fear while her nerve endings hummed.
"Alex!"
The call of the deep voice watered down with panic pulled her from the hospital room, her body lying motionless as the lines of heart monitors fell flat. She was taken back somewhere warmer, brighter against the delicate lids of her eyes and that voice getting louder and more insistent until she was provoked into peeking through her lashes to see the one constant source of safety in the only world she had left.
#
Between the collection of quickening breath Gene moved stiffly, calling out her name and receiving no reaction in return.
For a drawn out second he was sure his watch had stopped ticking and he would be stuck hanging between the unanswered question of her life or death.
He knew he had promised her something he was not convinced he could do, not without her help at any rate. In the short time he had spent with Molly, scant as it was he knew she was special, so like her mother and he supposed that was the only reason he would have to object to look after her on his own. She was at an in-between age where she was still learning, but was unwilling to accept she didn't know everything, and unlike Alex he rarely had the tolerance to teach his own job to his team. Molly was nearing the age of a teenager and no one could guide her better then Alex.
He didn't want to, but he could afford to send her to a good school so the same intelligence Molly's mother had acquired could be nurtured in her. But after all this child had been through, packing her off to a cold, emotionless boarding school seemed cruel. Though he didn't like to show he had a softer side, that actually gave a damn about what happened to an innocent child and he knew in his heart of hearts that he would protect her from the not so humane side of life. Not just because of a promise, but because so much of her fire and smile were like Bolly's and he would use that to keep himself grounded when everything around them seemed a little worthless and unloved.
Just as his thoughts made it full circle her eyes opened halfway, regarding him in her slightly less composed state.
Her jacket had slipped off her left shoulder and the pastel coloured shirt was soaking up the moisture of Layton's life. He watched her shift and regard it as the cloth clung to her.
Her eyes flashed back to him with confusion as she failed to clock where exactly she was injured.
He smiled what he hoped was reassuring smile and slipped his hands under her armpits and hauled her up, his hand sliding around her waist despite the fact she was steady enough to stand on her own two feet.
Alex stared wordlessly at Arthur Layton's lifeless body, bullet hole in the head and managed to stifle her laughter at the irony into a sob of relief. It was over.
#
Uniformed PCs and forensics stormed the once upon a time home of Alex and Molly Drake as the A-Team wearily made their way back to the Quattro.
Ray's arm was around the shoulders of his younger colleague; her features visibly pale as he tentatively assured her she had done the right thing. He handed her over to the care of the more then eager Christopher Skelton as quickly as possible.
Alex had pulled her jacket up to hide the worst of Layton's blood from her daughter's view as she walked as close to Gene as she could without touching him. Gene took her hand and pressed her fingers briefly and whispered in her ear. Her sober expression broke into a smile as she nodded and rushed towards the waiting vehicle to find the anxious Molly sat in the back. She climbed in next to her, pulling her into a ferocious hug as she told Molly they were finally safe.
.... ... ....
TBC