She could see her, standing in the midst of the darkness, her body bathed in light while around her was encased in darkness. She stared at the person she wished to hold in her arms more than anything. She screamed her name over and over, each scream gaining in strength but ripping her heart apart bit by bit. She felt the tears begin to slid down her face as she realised that Molly could not hear her. Each tear scorned like acid against her burning face as she subconsciously mumbled useless words to Molly.

She looked just as she remembered. Not that she was remembering much recently, but right now, looking at her daughter a mere 3 meters from her it all became so clear. Her mousey brown hair held in a simple pony-tail, her eyes so wide and full of innocence, still dressed in her school uniform.

Molly stood motionless, as if mesmerised by something in the distance. Alex tried to reach out. Just to touch her, the thought alone was enough to cause a fresh string of tears to Alex's eyes. Not being able to touch her own daughter was something that she could not bare to think about. Her hand stretched in front of her, shaking from the sobs that were overpowering her entire body. Then she felt something, it felt like glass, some kind of glass wall between her and her daughter.

Anger exploded within Alex and she screamed, heart-wrenching screams and fiercely starting attacking this invisible wall with her fists.

She stopped instantly as she saw another figure emerging from the darkness. All she could hear was the sound of boots colliding with the cold concrete floor. Then, Gene appeared from the darkness and she felt an wave of relief wash over her. She watched silently as he approached Molly, kneeing down to her level, still her daughter stood motionless, staring aimlessly, showing no acknowledgment of Gene.

Again, she tried to get attention drawn to herself. Frantically she screamed his name "Gene! That's my daughter! That's Molly! Bring her to me Gene! Please… Please, please Gene please" again the tears rose and fell from her eyes.

She heard his voice.

"Hello Molly… I'm Mr Gene Hunt. Your Mum wont be coming home just yet so why don't you go back to school eh'?"

She screamed manically. "NO GENE NO! PLEASE DON'T… MOLLY DON'T, DON'T GO MOLLY"

She watched in horror as her daughter turned very slowly and headed back into the darkness. She felt as if her whole life had caved in on her. Again, she hammered against the glass wall until Molly had disappeared into nothing, she slowly slid down the wall and fell onto her knees crying uncontrollably.

She saw Gene turn slowly towards her and look her straight in the eye. Her stomach tightened, could he see her? Slowly he continued walking. The sound of his crocodile boots echoed as the hit the concrete. Suddenly he stopped, right in front of this glass wall - in front of her.

She took one huge breath and struggled to speak. "G..G.. Gene?"

His eyes never left hers "I told ya Bolly. Your not leaving until I say so"

Before she had a chance to speak she heard a high pitched scream calling her. It was coming from her daughter "MUM!"

She ripped her eyes open, pulling her from the dream she had been having and felt the pain that was left behind from the bottle of red wine the night before. The brightness of the day shown through her window and caused her already achy head to pound with sharp shooting pains.

She closed her eyes again and began to take control of her panted breathing. This kind of dream was almost routine for her now, but she would never get used to it. She started to rub her temples in the hope to relieve some of the pressure within her head.

It was then she heard it. A sound she heard very rarely, but a sound she looked forward to never the less; a muffled sound of a siren in the distance, a blurred vision of florescent jackets and the stifled sound of a mans voice. "Alex… Alex can you hear me Alex? Stay with me … not too much longer… were almost there… another five minutes and you'll be at the hospital… Alex? Alex?"

Then darkness and silence. Only another five minutes, how long would that be in this world she thought. Her mind raced through many unanswerable questions and useless thoughts, but then she heard something else. Only this time it was close. She kept her eyes closed and strained her ears to try and work out what and where that sound was coming from.

It was close.

It was getting louder every second.

It was the sound of a heart beat. Bump-Bump

Was it her heart beat? Bump-Bump Bump-Bump

She again stretched open her eyes and fought off the raging pain in her head. She slowly stood up and began walking in search of the sound.

Bump-Bump Bump-Bump

It was getting faster.

Bump-Bump Bump-Bump Bump-Bump

She walked towards her front door and realised that the sound was coming from behind It. Cautiously she raised her hand and placed it on the door-knob. She took a huge breath and pulled open the door.

"Blimey Bols, you look like you've been pulled through a hedge backwards" There stood Gene with his hand still in mid-air from his ferocious banging on her door. She groaned, she wasn't sure if her already sensitive head could deal with a day with Gene and his comments. "Get dressed and try and make yourself look half decent"

"Why?" her voice very low and husky.

"Because I've got Ray and Chris bringing in Martin Saunders" she sighed. This was the last thing she needed, well the last thing her head needed.

"Okay, give me five minutes" she turned to walk into her bedroom, leaving the front door open as an invitation for Gene to come in. As soon as her back was turned she could almost feel his eyes upon her, she spoke without even looking back "Stop staring at my ass"

***

Fifteen minutes later she appeared from her room, hair, make-up and clothes done to find Gene still stood at her doorframe. He was obviously growing inpatient.

"If your quite done, perhaps we should leave and interrogate the bastard"