Hello people, thank you so much for taking time to read my little bit of fiction! I have absolutely no clue where this idea came from, but i liked it so much i just had to write it down! Before i go anywhere...i would just like to say a huge massive THANKYOU to my beta, editor, red penner Sarah, who has helped me a lot with this story. Love and a glass of house rubbish for you huni. Please enjoy the story. I will try and reply to any reviews.

A.N : I don't own Ashes to Ashes...and truthfully i wouldn't want to beacuse the writers are just amazing!

Chapter I

"Yer want me to do WHAT!?" DCI Gene Hunt had been asked some strange things in his life, but this? This was bordering on disastrous for numerous reasons.

"I want you to be my husband." Alex Drake, his DI, asked as if it were any other normal question. CID had been working on a case involving the attack and subsequent murder of 3 couples. The wife was always the first to go, with the attacker making the husband, who was bound and gagged sit and watch, before going through his own brutal and painful murder.

"In case you hadn't noticed, Gene, three couples have been murdered, making the husband watch as his wife is killed," Alex said, pausing for effect. "If we stand any chance of solving this case we're going to have to go undercover as a married couple. It's quite simple really." Simple my arse, Gene thought. Just the word 'marriage' made him nervous; he'd been down that path before. But adding Bolly into the equation, now that was a completely different kettle of fish. What worried Gene was trying to convince everyone that they were in love. Sure, he could flirt with her, but he didn't think he was capable of love. His wife certainly didn't think so. I'm half way there already. But just to add to the situation, he had to handle marriage too, that meant sharing a house and a bed and his mind was running away with itself. Sharing a bed with Bolly....now that's definitely a thought. Gene was off in his own little world, staring at her. Fantasizing about her in revealing underwear, perched on...

"Gene!" Alex had just finished explaining the similarities of when and where the couples where being abducted from, but it was obvious that he hadn't heard a word that she had just said.

"What!?" He snapped out of the day dream, slightly embarrassed at the idea of being caught. He could feel his growing arousal in his trousers. Not moving from behind his desk, he finished the dregs of his coffee.

"Well do you want to catch this bastard or what?" Gene knew she was right. She's always bloody right!

"Fine! Yeh wanna be married? We're married!" Gene knew that this could end all wrong, if not for him, then for the pair of them. Perching herself on the edge of his desk, Alex leaned in. Her scent was intoxicating, drawing him towards her. Just the look of her, the way she did her hair and makeup. The way she managed to squeeze herself into those incredibly tight jeans. From the moment he had clapped eyes on her, he knew he was in trouble, and that was before he found out she was his DI! Thinking she was a prostitute, his fantasies seemed acceptable, almost a possibility, but discovering she was a police officer meant he had to keep those thoughts to himself.

"Thank you so much Gene. I knew that you wouldn't turn me down," she said. It was getting too much to bear for the pair of them. The way his eyes watched her every move, sent ripples down Alex's spine. Remember to breathe, Alex. You must keep breathing. Leaning in that little closer, Gene looked her in the eye.

"So we 'ave ter pose as couple? Wha' does that mean exactly?" Gene's aftershave was making Alex's head spin. If she didn't back up soon, she would end up passing out. Severing the link that held the pair of them, Alex sat up straight. She needed to concentrate, so she explained her theories.

"Well there won't be just us. I have asked Chris and Shazza, to be there as well. I thought it would be logical for them to help out on the operation. Now we know the guy hangs around at the tube stations, watches people, picking out his targets. He then follows them to where ever they are headed. One couple was snatched directly outside the station at Waterloo; the other two were picked up as they left the Landmark near Marylebone. He has to have a driver or an accomplice, there's no way that he would be able to man-handle two people into a vehicle on his own." Alex flipped through her notes. The notes she made from witnesses and other police officers making complete sense to her and no one else.

"You got a profile yet? What kind of nut job we after? What does 'e look like?" Gene had lit a cigarette and was now straining the back of his chair, as he kicked his boots up onto the corner of his desk.

"From the description of the fourth husband who managed to get away, he's slim build, mid to late 40's. Walks with a limp in the left leg and has a scar that drags down his left eye," she answered. The sound of smashing pottery made Alex jump up from the corner of the desk. Gene had knocked his coffee mug on to the floor has he jumped up from his chair.

"Read that bit back to me Bolly, the last bit...'bout 'is eye." Re-reading her notes, making sure that she had it correct, Alex repeated her description.

"He has a scar that drags down the corner of his left eye. Sort of like this..." demonstrating, Alex pulled the corner of her eye down with her finger, leaving Gene to stand staring at her.

"Yes Bolly...thank you. I know wha' a dodgy eye looks like." He retorted. Standing up, Gene headed through to the office. Ray and Chris were leaning over the Racing Post, deciding who was going to bet on which horse.

"Right, listen up!" Gene's sudden appearance in the office made a few people jump and quickly scamper back to their desks.

"We 'ave a very nasty piece o' work scamperin' round the city and I want every effort ter find this bastard before another couple are 'urt," He demanded, getting the attention of everyone in the room. There was no bravado or bullishness. Gene Hunt meant business.

"Raymondo, Chris, Shazza in 'ere now!" Setting the rest of CID to work, rustling up snouts, Gene debriefed his officers.

"Mike Yorkson's in town and I want this bastard found!" The mumblings that came from DS Carling and DC Skelton made it evidently clear that they all had a past with this Yorkson.

"Yea' sure, Guv. I mean I thought 'e'd be too bleedin' stupid ter be settin' u' shop down 'ere. Wha' with us chasin' 'im round Manchester last time. Thought 'e'd be a bit smarter."

" 'e's not smart Raymondo, he's a bleedin' shaggin murdering bastard," the venom was dripping off Gene's statement. Pulling his hip flask out and taking a swig, Alex could tell the fact that Yorkson was still free to walk the streets, annoyed Gene.

"I want tha' bastard's balls in a vice...preferably a very shagging tight one! We clear?" Although she followed the conversation, Alex was lost as to who this Yorkson man was and what he'd done to deserve such a reputation.

"Guv, who is Mike Yorkson? How do you know him?" Gene sat back at his desk. His hands clenched in tight fists.

"Raymondo, Please enlighten DI Drake."

"We," Ray paused, pointing to himself, the Guv and Chris, "knew Yorkson when he used to deal in Manchester. He were an evil piece o' work, even back then. If yer got in 'is way, 'e took you out. Remember seeing the remains of one bloke, Jesus, it weren't a pretty sight. Anyway, 'e progressed up the food chain an' 'ad dropped dealin and prozzie bashin, now 'e were runnin the bleedin show. Prozzies, drugs, guns. Anythin' he wanted, tha' bastard got. Killed three kids 'cos they trespassed on 'is land. Tha' made 'im wanted by a lot of people. So we get told that he's dealin in our patch, so the Guv starts pushin the snouts, making it worth their while to tell us what they 'eard. And well they…" Ray's voice suddenly got quiet, as if the next part of the story was difficult to explain.

"What Raymondo ain't got the balls to tell you, is that Yorkson killed a female snout that we all used ter rely on. She were a good lass. Got caugh'up in the wrong crowd, took the wrong turn in life, but were trying to make amends. That were before Yorkson got t'er and gutted her like a bleeding fish." Gene answered. The very thought made Alex want to throw up. This man they were now chasing was not just the normal scum. The crimes he had committed and could possibly commit were becoming personal to Gene and he was not going to rest until Yorkson was behind bars.

After the brief about Mike Yorkson, Alex headed back to her desk, a heavy weight on her shoulders. She wanted to solve this case as much as Gene did, and that meant finding out what was driving Yorkson to kill. What the team had said was helpful, to a degree but she was still finding it hard to grasp. To kill seven people in London and three kids in Manchester showed guts, bravado, a sick and twisted way of letting the authorities know he means business. But why? Alex could understand Gene's frustration because as far as Gene was concerned, it was his patch, his jungle, Yorkson couldn't take that away from him. To solve this case, Alex had to build a profile, step by step. Had he ever been married? Did his wife leave him? Had she died? Alex scribbled away, trying to get all her thoughts down on paper, make them easier to analyse. Amongst her case notes, she found herself writing a word that didn't belong on paper; Gene.

Think, Alex. Is marriage the answer to solving the case? Or do you just want your boss as your husband? Do you want to pretend that you love him and want to marry him? Or is it less pretending and more wishing? Newsflash Alex, you're already in love with him! The question is do you want him to pretend? Think about it Alex, acting like a couple, up close and personal, you're going to be kissing him. Who knows where it will lead! Problem is… who is doing the pretending? Before she knew, her mind was heading to the gutter, getting far too carried away. She had to remind herself, this was a case to catch a serial killer, not an excuse to jump in the sack with Gene, however much she wanted to. I bet your entire salary he's better in bed that that Thatcherite you picked up in Luigi's.

The constant argument with her inner self was driving her crazy – literally. Knowing her heart was now racing, with the very thought of Gene kissing her amongst doing other things, Alex tried to regain some control. Twenty minutes ago, Alex was enthusiastic. Now, she wasn't so sure. Now that he had agreed to her plan, was she getting cold feet?

"Pull yourself together!" Alex mumbled under her breath. Staring at the scribbling in front of her, the notes and ideas all jumbled had no sense of order. There was something missing. All Alex's theories and ideas all lead back to one question. Why was he picking couples? It was the missing link between catching him and him killing another couple. Throwing her pen across the desk, Alex thumbed through the case files of the three unfortunate couples who Yorkson had murdered.

First couple were Robert and Karen Wright. Late 20's with no children. According to Robert's mother, who had travelled from Portsmouth, they had recently moved down to London because of Robert's job. They had been a happy couple. They knew no one in London apart from Robert's boss and a few co-workers; he had made friends with the previous week. This just doesn't make any sense. There's nothing that matches them to the other couples, apart from the fact that they are couples.

"Ahhh!!! How could I have been so stupid?" Alex shouted to no one in particular.

"What's the matter Ma'am?" Shazza had gotten used to Alex's sudden outbursts. Even if some of them didn't quite make sense. Although it did make Chris spill his tea, much to Ray's amusement.

"The reason that Yorkson is targeting the couples is because they are couples. That's it. There's nothing else that links the three murdered to the attempted fourth." Alex was pacing in front of her desk. Her brain was working overtime. It was making Chris feel dizzy.

"Ok, so it's because they are couple. But why? Because they are happy maybe? Because they are married?" Alex had no background information on Yorkson. She only had what Ray and Gene had told her.

"Chris, Ray. What can you tell me about Yorkson's personal life? Was he married, did he have any children?"

"'e were married when 'e was in Manchester. No children, although mind you, he shagged enough prozzies so 'e might 'ave a couple somewhere." Ray wasn't really forthcoming with the information.

"Did you ever have to deal with the wife for any reason?" If the wife was somehow the trigger to all this, then maybe they wouldn't have to go into the operation blind.

"Aye, she were completely blind to the idea tha' 'er Mikey could be so bad. Tha' were till we showed 'er what 'e did to 'em kids. Tha' really changed 'er mind. As far as we know, she left 'im. Ran off. Left 'im a note sayin' tha' she knew what 'e was up to and tha' she couldn't stay with a man like 'im," Ray lit another cigarette. Alex had the feeling the story wasn't over about Mrs. Yorkson.

"Yorkson found out tha' we 'ad, 'ad a word with 'is missus. Weren't too 'appy tha' she 'ad ran off either. So 'e did wha' 'e normally did." Alex knew where this ended.

"'e killed her." Alex lent on the edge of her desk. So if he kills his own wife for talking to the police and the snout for telling the police about his operations, could the reason he is killing couples in London now be a message? Could that message be aimed at Gene or just the authorities in general? Rewriting her notes was going to be easy. Organising the undercover was going to be manageable, but finding Yorkson and making him see Gene and Alex together and believe that they were happily married, was going to be the difficult part!