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Back to the Future	By : gallygaskins Category: 1 through F > Ashes to Ashes Views: 1342 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own Ashes to Ashes and I don't earn any money from this fanfiction

Chapter List
- 6
- 7
- 8
Chapter 7 – What do we do next?

Gene looked up from his glass as he heard the key in the lock, Sam was back. He saw the door to the living room open and Sam stop in the open doorway. “What the hell happened in here? Looks like you’ve been robbed.”

“Robbed, yeah, you could say that but perhaps not in the conventional sense of the word.” Gene kicked out at a pile of photographs scattering them.

“Gene, what’s going on?”

“Oh, just makin’ some enquiries into me life, Sam. You know the kind, those that make you sit up an’ think ‘bout thin’s.”

“I’m not following.”

“Well, didn’t you ever question your life an’ the direction it were goin’ in before you and Maya split up?”

“Constantly. I don’t think there wasn’t a minute of every day for about 3 months when I didn’t weigh up my relationship with her and whether we were being fair on one another still being in it. I take it this is about Alex?” He spied an uncovered bit of the sofa and sat on it, something telling him that he was in for an even longer night than he anticipated. As if knowing this, Gene passed over the scotch. Sam found a glass and poured himself some.

“Yeah,” Gene handed the pictures to Sam that Shaz had handed over earlier. He scanned over them and looked back over to his friend. “Well? Notice anythin’ funny?”

“Not really, they’re very nice family pictures that we shouldn’t technically have. And this one certainly shows that you two knew one another.”

“Look at the dates, Shaz transposed the information from each photo onto the scanned pictures.”

Sam checked them off mentally, so was that the secret Alex was hiding. “Are you thinking then that …?”

Gene cut him off, “Molly is mine? Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m thinkin’.”

“Shit! I never thought that that could be it.”

“What do you mean?”

“I confronted her about it, a couple of weeks ago. It was the same day you first called her Bolly and I had to remind you where we were with a swift elbow in your rib cage. I took the information I’d found out about the people you’d remembered and how they fitted into this mad cap life you’d enjoyed in 1973, to her. Eventually we got around to talking about how you and Alex knew one another and that I thought she should tell you. I’d already known about the two of you actually sleeping together, she’d already told me that by the time you’d decided to walk in on us in my office and I think she may have told me the rest if you hadn’t interrupted in the way that you did.

“Anyway, she tells me that she can’t tell you, not yet. I tell her to stop being so selfish because not knowing is driving you mad. She then tells me that you hurt her, that you didn’t fight for her, didn’t do anything. Says you left her to ‘endure a loveless marriage and a messy divorce’. So, I tell her she has three weeks otherwise I’m going to tell you everything I know.”

“Hmm, she was goin’ t’ tell me earlier you know, but I stopped ‘er. Twice.”

“So what was all this in aid of?” Sam motioned to the photo’s that lay strewn over every available surface.

“I wanted t’ see if I ‘ad anythin’, a picture, a note, anythin’ that could explain why she couldn’t tell me she were pregnant with me child.”

“You’re being a bit presumptuous aren’t you? Molly might not actually be yours.”

“The dates fit!”

“But she was engaged, to Toby.” Sam picked up the picture of the engagement party and showed it to Gene like evidence in a court room.

Gene sat up to retrieve the magnifying glass that he had searched for earlier, throwing it over to Sam. “That’s another reason the room’s a mess, I were lookin’ for that. Take a look, Sam.”

“What am I looking at exactly?”

“Toby. ‘Is eyes.”

“This isn’t a very good copy.”

“No, but take a look at some of the other’s, there is a clear distinction between colours wouldn’t you say?”

“I suppose, so this would make him brown eyed. As is Alex.”

“An’ did you notice Molly’s?” Sam shook his head, he’d been too intent on seeing Annie to notice anything like that but then he’d had no reason to look in the first place had he. “They’re blue!” Gene confirmed.

“And, if I remember correctly, two parents with brown eyes don’t usually have children with blue eyes, do they?”

Gene shook his head. Sam watched Gene move over to the printer and take some paper from it, he retraced his steps handing them back to Sam, “from police records, meet Toby an’ Molly Drake.” The pictures were much clearer, “so unless Drake slept with other men besides me over those few days at Bramshill, which I don’t believe she did, then I guess I’m Molly’s father.”

“How do you feel about that?”

“Bloody fantastic, ‘ow the ‘ell do you think I bloody feel. I feel like I’ve been punched in the gut by a ten tonne weight.” Sam looked over to Gene noticing that he seemed decidedly frayed around the edges, “why did she never tell me?”

“Perhaps she did and you didn’t listen, she wouldn’t have known she was pregnant right away would she? Or perhaps she had no way of contacting you although she said you ‘dropped her like a lead balloon’, so that seems unlikely. What are you going to do?”

Gene shrugged, “don’t know, confront ‘er I suppose. Once I’ve found the courage t’ speak t’ ‘er ‘bout it that is. First though, I’m goin’ t’ finish that bottle. Care t’ join me?”

.oOo.

Alex hummed quietly along with the radio as she finished making herself look presentable. She’d had a text message from Gene asking if he could come over and have a talk so after some begging and pleading had managed to get Molly invited to a sleep over with some of her new friends. She’d gone the whole hog, a long languid bath with a rejuvenating face mask, the hour and a half decision on what to wear, the careful application of make up and the creative styling of her hair. She stood in front of her mirror taking in her profile, “God I hope he likes it.”

Too anxious to do anything that would suitably pass the time until he arrived, she walked around the house cleaning up and tidying. Repositioning family pictures and making sure there was no visible dust on the shelving. The doorbell rang and she jumped, her heart pounding in her chest and her hand visibly shaking as she reached up to the Yale lock and opened the door. If it hadn’t been for the fact that she was still holding onto the door she knew she would have buckled, he looked absolutely gorgeous, dressed in a pair of dark denim jeans and a thin maroon v-necked sweater. A black leather jacket completed the outfit with a pair of black leather trainers.

She stood back into the hall, “come in, please.” He smiled and stepped in. “Can I take your jacket,” he shrugged it off and handed it over, their fingers clashed and electricity shook through them both as she took the coat and put it on a hook. “Would you like a drink?” She asked.

“Ok, what you got?”

“Tea, coffee, orange squash. Unless you’re after something stronger and then I could probably find some vodka or whisky.”

“Tea’ll be ok for now.”

She was still shaking as she walked into the kitchen and busied herself in making two mugs of tea. He stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame, watching her. “Is Molly ‘ere?”

“No, she’s at a friend's. Having a sleep over.”

“Oh,” Gene remarked, “getting’ on with ‘er new friends then is she?”

Alex considered the question; she thought he’d have said something about the fact that they would have the house to themselves all night not about what Molly was getting up to. He hadn’t even made a pass at her yet, not that she’d really given him the opportunity to. “Yes, something like that. How do you take your tea?”

“White, but quite strong, one sugar.”

“Would you like to go into the lounge?” He nodded, taking his proffered tea and moving into the other room. Alex couldn’t help but watch him move in front of her, he really didn’t know what he did to her, what he had always done. He took a seat on the sofa noticing her appreciative looks and waiting for her to join him. She sat next to him, putting her mug on the table in front of her. He followed suit. “Your text said you wanted to talk?”

“Yeah, ‘bout last night.”

Oh God, was he going to tell her that it had been a mistake, that what had happened should never have happened. “What about last night?” She asked fearfully.

Gene’s hand went up to her cheek involuntarily, tracing small circles over it with his thumb. He’d noticed that she had taken a lot of time over her appearance, evidently for him. And, he had to admit, she looked incredibly beautiful, maybe after he’d tackled her they could salvage something of their relationship and even start over. “I really enjoyed it, I really enjoyed you. But you wanted t’ tell me somethin’ an’ I wouldn’t let you would I? What was it?”

Alex looked away, she’d hoped that he wouldn’t remember, hoped that they could’ve just carried on from where they left off but obviously he wasn’t going to let her get away with it, so here went nothing. “It’s about us, from before.” He nodded, “from when we met at Bramshill. We had a relationship, a sexual relationship.”

“Well, I didn’t bloody think it were tea an’ biscuits!”

“You knew?”

“Kind of. I told you about the visions of me an’ the wife, only it weren’t ‘er, couldn’t ‘ave been. See I found out that ‘er shampoo was coconut not blackberries an’ then the funniest thin’ ‘appened. I dreamt it were you.”

“You never said.”

“I wanted t’ be sure first, that’s why I asked Shaz to do someat for me, someat I shouldn’t of done, well it were Sam’s idea, I went along with it though.”

“What did Shaz do?”

“She got me some of your shampoo, an’ when I smelt it, well I couldn’t believe it but it were the photo’s that totally convinced me.”

“What photo’s?”

“Shaz managed to get some copies; you really were beautiful, all that long brown wavy hair I must’ve run my fingers through. ‘Ope you didn’t mind too much but I needed to know who it were.”

“No, I guess that was ok.” Alex said quietly not sure exactly how she felt about the news he had just told her.

“But the strangest thin’ of all, well I couldn’t quite believe it myself. I mean I’d never ‘ave thought you’d lie t’ me.” His hand slipped from her cheek.

“About what?”

“Molly, is she mine?”

“What?” Tears sprung up at the corners of her eyes, silently making tracks down her rosy cheeks.

He hated himself for doing it but he had to know. “Is Molly mine? Answer the question Alex. Am I Molly’s father?”

Her tears fell furiously, her actions to wipe them away futile. “You bastard!” She got up from her seat and moved to the furthest corner, her back to him.

It was his turn to be surprised, “what?”

“If you can remember the two of us sleeping together then you must be able to remember me telling you about her.” He looked dumbstruck, “don’t look at me like that, Gene. As soon as I knew I was pregnant I wrote to you, telling you everything. But you didn’t even have the decency to write back or call me even.”

“I’ve still got a few gaps, Alex.” He attempted to appeal to her better nature.

“GAPS! Jesus Christ, I ended up marrying Toby just to have a father for my baby. He couldn’t have children but was willing to help me and I thought I loved him, soon finding out that I didn’t.”

“I don’t know about any of this.”

“I wrote to you!” She said earnestly.

“If I ever got your letter I don’t remember it.” He pleaded, “Tell me about it, please?”

“Molly is your daughter. I wanted you to be with me, bring her up with me. In the two years I’d known Toby I’d never felt with him what I’d felt with you over that wonderful week I had with you. I knew that we were meant to be together, I loved you.” She was sobbing, “I know that might be difficult to believe but I honestly thought that we were well suited, that we connected, you and I. But you didn’t want to know me after that; I was obviously just another notch on your bedpost.”

Gene flung himself off the settee and over to her quivering body, attempting to pull her into this embrace. He never knew any of it and he needed to get her to understand that. Alex was having none of it, she pushed his chest away, kicked out at him, and anything she could to get him to distance himself. She faced him, utterly forlorn. His heart broke as he saw the deep set emotions of hatred being thrown his way. “Alex?” If he felt he could have cried in front of her he’d have done it.

“Go!” She stated. But he didn’t move, couldn’t. “Go, I want you to go and leave me alone.”

“What about Molly?”

“I think it’s best if we leave her out of this for now, my solicitor will be in touch so that you can get access to see her and I’ll tell her about you tomorrow, when she’s home. Now, please, just go.”

Not wanting to break visual contact with her, he watched her as he moved away from her. He stopped when she turned her back on him again and he realised that it was over, he’d messed up catastrophically and he knew he would never be able to get her back. Quickly, he took his jacket from the hook in the hallway and reached into his pocket. If he couldn’t have her then the last thing he needed was a reminder of her. He pulled out the pictures and the bottle of shampoo that Shaz had taken the night before and left them on top of the unit in the hallway before leaving.

Alex ran from the room and upstairs into the confine of her bedroom, flinging herself on the bed and sobbing into her pillow, tonight was going to be a long night and after talking to Molly tomorrow she would be able to make a decision that would affect them both. Whether or not they should return to London.

.oOo.

“Are we lookin’ for anythin’ in particular?” Annie asked.

“No not really, could be a photograph, a letter, anything that connects Alex to Gene, there must be something here somewhere. I don’t think he would have made this much of a mess if he didn’t honestly think he had something.”

Annie cleared up as she went, opening up cupboards and putting the well sorted through piles back in vacant spaces. Opening a drawer she found a box and pulled it out. She lifted the lid, “oh my God.”

“What have you got?”

“I’m not sure but it looks like letters.”

Sam crawled over to her and took some of the letters from the box, “these letters are from Becky,” he stated, “I recognise her writing.”

Annie thumbed through the envelopes; there were some at the bottom tied up in a red ribbon. “What about these?” She handed them over to him as Sam replaced the others back in the box.

“These aren’t from Becky,” he looked at Annie before tugging on the ribbon and letting it fall away. There were three in total, only one had been opened. He looked at the postmarks, all from London, the dates – 16/05/94, 17/06/94 & 28/06/94 – the only one open being the first. He pulled out the letter skimming through it, “it’s from Alex, these are from Alex.”

“Maybe you should just put them back.” Annie said.

Sam picked up the photograph, recognising it from the pictures he’d seen the night before, she must have got a copy for him. “Wait a minute,” he started reading the note:

Dear Gene

I just wanted to write and let you know that I enjoyed our time together at Bramshill. I’m just sorry that it couldn’t go on any longer, however I thought you’d like to have a reminder of us and have enclosed a photograph from the party on Saturday night.

You know I told you that I was engaged, well Toby and I are getting ready to marry soon. When I got home he’d surprised me with some of it already arranged and I knew that it was the right time and that we were right for one another. I realised today that I loved him.

Thank you once more and maybe we’ll meet again someday.

All my very best regards.

Alex.

“No wonder he didn’t open the other two letters.” Sam handed it over for her to read, “bit callous wasn’t she?”

Annie nodded, biting her lip. “What should we do?”

He took the letter from Annie and replaced it in the envelope, putting it back with the other two and tying the ribbon back around them. They quickly put everything back in the cupboards before Sam placed Alex’s letters on the dining table, with a note for Gene, ‘I think this is what you’re looking for, Sam’.

“Come on, let’s go and catch a film or something, this has to be left up to them now.”

.oOo.

Gene had driven for hours before finally returning home, he’d switched his phone off and he felt that he’d be safe from anyone calling him at this hour. He also hoped, for once, that Sam wouldn’t be there. He wanted to have some time to himself where he could drink himself stupid and forget what had happened.

He found a new bottle of malt in the kitchen and pulled out a glass, stepping into the living room and noticing some envelopes on the dining table. He walked over to them, taking the note Sam had written and leaving that on the top before reaching back and picking up the ribbon wound letters. He sat in his chair pouring himself a generous measure before untying the ribbon and opening up the first envelope. Upon taking out the letter the photograph fell in his lap, he recognised it and left it where it landed. He read the words and remembered them, remembered the hurt he’d felt at her harsh brush off. So she’d enjoyed herself; he’d fallen for her but the letter with her thoughtless words had hurt deeply, into his very core.

And that’s why he’d never opened the other two letters, as soon as he’d received them he’d recognised her handwriting and put them with the other one. From that moment on he’d made the decision to treat women with more respect, keeping himself checked when he went into any relationship but never allowing anyone to ever get close to him again. Until now that was. He opened and read her other two letters as he should have done 10 years previously and when he’d finished he realised one thing, he loved her, but he honestly didn’t have a clue what he was going to do.
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