A/N: How cool am I? I said late October, but sod it! Early October will do nicely. After The Start of Defeat, my Ninja Goblins have resigned to live on a reserve in Scotland, so I've hired some Black-belt Squirrels instead, who are more than ready to attack people who read and don't review. Consider this ample warning. Enjoy!

The figure of Trent loomed in the shadows. Gene was powerless, unable to move, his body a lead weight upon the floor. He could only watch, in slow motion as she struggled and cried. He was too strong for her. Gene's fear broke as Trent forced her to her knees, holding her down with one hand as the other went up to his fly.

"ALEX!"

"I'm here, Guv. I'm here. " she sat up abruptly, placing a reassuring hand on his arm and caressing him lightly. He had sat bolt upright, eyes wide and unseeing. The bed sheets were twisted around him where he had writhed, sweat-sodden throughout the dream. Gently freeing him, Alex exposed his glistening skin to the air. How it hurt her to watch his shaking breaths as he came to. Of course, it would never have been plain sailing after everything that had happened, but she had hoped…

No. As infallible as he may seem in his work and his personality, Alex knew that even Gene Hunt got scared sometimes, sometimes lost control.

Sitting up beside him, she wound her arms around his shoulders, placing her head against his damp vest-clad back, which gradually slowed its heaving as his breath did the same.

"Bolls?"

"I'm here Gene," she placed a gentle kiss at the nape of his neck, tasting a hint of the liquid saltiness brought about by his terror. "same dream again?"

"Yeah." bringing his knees up to his chest, it suddenly struck him what he must look like. Shaking like a child over a dream. What would Ray and Chris think of him should they see him like this? He imagined Ray stamping out a cigarette and shaking his head in disgust, Chris looking on confusedly. Alex's warm weight behind him, however, soon drove these thoughts from his mind. What must she think of him? Never mind Ray and bloody Chris!

"I'm sorry, love."

"What for?" she said, slightly incredulous.

"All this." he muttered.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of, Guv." somehow, the habit of calling Gene 'Guv' had not been one easily broken. Despite the fact that they were now living together, it had been incredibly had to keep their professional life out of their personal life, and, indeed vice-versa. Conveniently enough, however, it seemed to work. Alex drew back as Gene unconsciously began to hug his knees, positioning herself so that he could see his face. He made her no answer, but his eyes followed her as she settled herself before him, so she chose to reiterate her point, "It's not any sort of reflection upon you. It's not about strength or weakness, Gene, it's natural."

His non-committal murmur was enough to assure her of his disagreement. She sighed, placing her arms around him again and resting her cheek against his. They sat like that for several minutes, after which, Gene spoke in a low grunt.

" 's hot in here."

"Take that stupid vest off then." He chuckled slightly and complied, discarding the offending garment by throwing it to the other side of the room.

"There. Happy Lady Bolls?"

"Not massively," she teased, sharing Gene's relief at the removal of the clothing as his skin seemed to cool almost instantly beneath her fingers, "that vest isn't going to put itself in the washing pile, is it?"

"Bolly, if you think I'm lugging this arse out of bed at bastard o' clock in the morning for a vest, then I think you're mistaken."

"Ok." she said, placing a kiss at his hairline as the lay down once more, facing one another, "I'll just shut up then, shall I?"

"Now there's a good girl." Alex sniggered at his small input of humour, though could tell, due to his uneasy manner of his continued preoccupation.

"Just go to sleep, eh? You need rest for tomorrow." he nodded, accepting this, but after several moments, voiced the concerns he had been banding about since his sudden awakening.

"Whenever I sleep, I have the dreams."

"It's natural, Gene. It'll pass."

"Don't make it any less shit though, does it?"

"Well maybe you just need something different to dream about…"

"Like what?" he said, missing her suggestion entirely. She smiled at his naivety, surprised, though happy to spell it out to him.

"Maybe you should dream about me."

There was silence. He studied her, his expression many layered. He seemed to scrutinise her in amusement, sadness and fear all at once. With a rueful smile, he spoke.

"Dream about you? I already do, Bolls. That's the trouble."


"I'd like to call DCI Gene Hunt to the stand." the judge nodded. With some trepidation, Gene stood, Alex supporting him slightly. Threading his arms into the crutches, he hobbled over to the witness box, looking across into Trent's hard gaze, matching him in ferocity. Waving away the man who held out a helping arm, Gene chose to climb the steps himself. Though his legs throbbed, he was master of the pain. He had to be strong today. He had to send Trent down.

"Detective Chief Inspector." said the solicitor, with a nod, "If you'd just like to tell us exactly what happened earlier this year between September the fifth up until the sixteenth. Take your time, in your own words."

Gene took a deep breath, tore his eyes away from Trent and began to speak. It was as if flood gates were opening, everything and anything he had felt in that dark room came pouring out, all that had happened. He did not care who heard, but managed to check himself when he came close to the point of tears. No. He could not let Trent see him like that…not again.

"Thank you, DCI Hunt, now tell me about the sixteenth specifically. The day of the alleged attempted rape of DI Alex Drake." Gene steeled himself. He had known it was coming, but had not fully prepared himself for it. The dreams came flooding back, the absolute terror and despair. Looking up, he spotted Alex in the crowd, her face strained with anxiety. To her right and holding her hand, sat Millie, catching Gene's eye, the elderly woman nodded gently, spurring him on.

As his throat went dry, he gave a small cough, determined not to crack.

"As I said, Trent'd been saying all this stuff about her…lewd stuff, ever since he found out how I felt about her. He saw her on the telly when she did that appeal, and he started yelling all this…all this stuff through to me in the next room. It was just…horrible. Kept saying that she'd never want me and I was too old for her and that. Said she's want someone 'fresher', meaning 'imself."

"On the sixteenth itself?" Said the solicitor. Gene had been stalling until now. His voice grew croaky as he forced out the words he could barely say.

"He had a knife to me, and Alex- er, DI Drake, broke in to the flat and burst through the door. Then he stabbed me," Gene indicated the point where the knife had entered, below his heart. "and before she could move…he'd…he'd pinned her to the floor…and…"

"Just take your time." said the solicitor, gently. Gathering himself, Gene continued.

"I couldn't get to her…and his hands were…he started touching her. Started saying all this stuff. Said what he was going to do…and I'd just have to lie there and watch. I was trying to stand up, but I couldn't. I could hear her crying. She kept shouting my name…and I couldn't help her. I couldn't…" he broke off again, breathing heavily, his desire to defeat Trent the only thing keeping him from dissolving, there and then into tears. "He started trying to take her jeans off…then he undid his trousers…Oh God…" He drew a hand over his face, shaking slightly with the effort of keeping going. "He was making all these noises, moving around and I thought…I thought he'd done it. He was whispering all this stuff to me about her. Then he kissed her, and I knew there was nothing I could do."


On two counts of attempted murder, two counts of kidnap and illegal detainment and attempted rape, Kim Trent got twenty five years minimum.

The dreams stopped. Gene's legs mended. Alex and he got stronger than ever. All was well.


"Pass over the garibaldi's, sweet."

"Here you go."

"King of biscuits, eh Gene?"

"They're bloody fantastic."

The scene was a quaint one. Two old friends sat beside the fire on an unseasonably cold Autumn morning, drinking tea and pondering the irrefutable wonder of biscuits.

Now in her seventies, time had finally managed to catch up with Millie Stafford. Her wrinkles were more pronounced than ever, and fifty odd years of excessive drinking were beginning to take their toll upon her. Things had started to become significantly more difficult. Even Wednesday shopping day was an effort now.

Gene, however, was blissfully oblivious to Millie's problems. He had always found her front room a sort of safe haven. It was so far removed from CID, the loud, un-resting and profanity filled place that it was. In visiting Millie, Gene had found such solace. Over the last five or so years, he had fallen into a pattern of visiting once or twice a week, sometimes more. Alex regularly tagged along, who equally enjoyed the elderly lady's company, but more often than not, Gene went alone. On such occasions, the pair could sit in companionable silence, perhaps watching the television, speaking only to make some comment upon their viewing. At the other end of the scale, there were days in which they could barely stop talking to one another. Whether it was a heated debate or simply a hearty laugh, both parties always felt enriched for the experience. Today however, was more of the former type of visit, although Gene had come with more of a purpose than usual, so endeavoured to speak to her, although in usual circumstances, they would have both preferred to leave things silent.

"Millie?"

"Hnhm?" came the reply.

"I've been meaning to ask you something." his tone was serious, if a little uneasy. Sensing the importance of the subject, Millie reached, instinctively for the remote, turning off the television, leaving a ringing silence reverberating around the room. Gene swallowed. "Well, I need your advice really."

"Fire away." she said, good naturedly.

"Well…for some time now, I've been thinking-"

"Thinking, you?" she said, mock-incredulously. He merely smiled before continuing,

"I don't know how to say it. I don't know whether to just come out and ask…"

"Ask what?"

"I've been thinking about it for months really…I can't hide how I feel any more." Gene looked her dead in the face, "Millie…" he paused, "I want to ask Alex to marry me." he finished in a jumble of words, colour rising to his cheeks, "It's just after…everything…she was my rock, just as much as you were Millie…" a smile began to edge onto Millie's face,

"Well where's my proposal then, Gene?" she said, placing her hands on her hips in mock indignation.

"If Alex says no, then you're next in line." he returned the grin, "You know what? You're as good as a Mother to me, Mills." the smile fell off her face, being replaced by an unreadable expression. Oh Christ, what had he done now? Had he offended her? He quickly voiced his fears.

"Oh God, Millie. Look, just ignore me…I didn't mean to upset you…call you old or anything-" she cut him off.

"Upset me?" Gene felt the colour rise once again as he noticed her eyes begin to glisten, "How could you upset me? Do you have any idea what that means to me?" she reached across, placing her tea on the table, and pulling her best friend into a tight hug, "You're a brilliant man. Any woman would be lucky to have you, and if that girl is silly enough to say no, then I'll go and give her what-for, don't you worry."

They broke apart, Millie took his hands, her face alight with happiness. "When are you planning on doing it? How are you going to propose?" She gasped, "Have you got the ring?" Slightly disorientated, Gene took a while to answer.

"I don't know Millie…none of it…that's why I'm asking, see. I was wondering if you'd help me out with all that. You're like my woman correspondent." he joked, weakly.

"Course…of course Gene!" her excitement filled the room, causing a palpable atmosphere, which started to infect Gene as well, he soon felt himself matching her in positive anticipation. "Oh, I'm so happy for you! Oh, it's so brilliant!" she stood up, suddenly, he followed suit.

"Shall we do it?" he said, conspiratorially.

"What? Right now?" she replied, her eyes widening.

"Yeah! Let's do it!"

"Wait…do what?" said Millie, her excitement having momentarily run away with her, "You don't mean…?"

"Yeah. I do."

She practically bolted for the door, leaving Gene to gather up his coat, and reach into the cupboard under the stairs to grab one for her. He scurried along in her wake.

"Hurry up!" she yelled from outside the door. He complied, feeling as if his heart would burst out of his chest.

A/N: Ok, ok. All the questions in the summary are answered in the first chapter, but I couldn't think how to word the rest of the plot into an interesting summary. Stay tuned for Galex wedding fluffy stuff, some Millie related sadness, and a few suprises.