DCI Gene Hunt sat with his head on his desk; fast asleep. DI Alex Drake walked into the office to see the empty bottles all around him. She opened his office door and walked in. She didn't care if she woke him up or if he shouted at her, this was unacceptable – even by his standards. As she cleared the bottles away (as noisily as possible), he began to stir.
"Crikey Bolls, isn't this a little early for you?" he yawned as he woke up.
"How come you always assume it's me? It could have been Shaz or Chris or Ray, well perhaps not Ray..." Alex said still clearing the mess around him.
"Only you would dare to disturb me while I was sleeping," he grunted, leaning back in his chair. Alex was expecting more of a fight when it came to Gene Hunt. But it was clear that he had had a long night. She sat on the desk infront of him.
"Well, you didn't come to Luigi's last night; I thought I best come in early to see if you were here. Why are you here anyway?" she leaned forward so she could whisper into his ear, "Were you think about the Mac thing again?" Gene didn't get time to answer before the doors burst open and the rest of the CID crew walked in. Alex jumped off the desk, stepped out of Gene's office and walked to her own desk. She looked around to her work Colleagues (who were all staring at her as she walked out of Gene's office there was one person missing.
"Chris, where's Shaz this morning?" she asked. Alex had become quite attached to Shaz, her being the only other female in the whole department.
"She said she'll be here in a bit Ma'am. Said she had something to pick up on her way into work," Chris said as he sat down and started ruffling through some papers.
A few moments later Shaz walked, in her eyes slightly red and puffy. Chris looked up and smiled at her. Shaz just gave him a weak smile before walking looking down and walking to her desk, clutching her bag tightly to her chest. Chris looked to Ray, who just rolled his eyes, before looking to Alex. Alex saw the confusion in his eyes, she winked at him and walked over to Shaz.
"Are you OK Shaz?" she whispered. Shaz smiled and nodded but Alex could see the tears forming in her eyes. Alex stood Shaz up and guided her out of the room, into the ladies toilets. She was sure no one would follow them in there, so Shaz was free to cry without the others teasing her.
"Shaz, do you want to talk about it?" Alex asked, putting her hand on Shaz's shoulder. Shaz pulled a crumpled up paper bag from her handbag and gave it to Alex. She unwrapped to reveal a pregnancy test box.
"Are you..." Alex stuttered
"I don't know Ma'am. I was too scared to take it alone and I don't want Chris to find out, not yet anyways. I just don't know what to do!" Shaz whispered, bursting into more tears.
"Do you want me to stay with you while you do it?" Alex asked, as she hugged the crying girl before her. Alex felt Shaz nod into her shoulder. They stood there for a few more moments, until Shaz was ready. Eventually she pulled away and took the test from out of the box.
Alex and Shaz sat on the floor of the bathroom, with their backs to the wall, while the test lay on the edge of the sink.
"I don't know if I look," she stammered.
Alex took Shaz's hands and whispered gently: "Take as long as you want,"
Shaz drew a deep breath, stood up, walked over to the sink and picked up the test. Shaz dropped the test almost immediately after she picked it up. Both her hands flew to her stomach. Alex didn't need to ask if it was positive or not, she knew just by her reaction.
"What am I going to do?" Shaz whimpered.
