As you can tell from the title, this is going to be very very angsty. This is another post series2 ep 8 fic. My mind likes to explore all options of all scenarios (that way, there's a better chance i'm right!) This will probably not be updated as regularly as all my other fics, as I only have 5 chaps written. The only reason I'm posting now is because Rolephant whines when I don't post something every day (haha. Just Kidding :P) Speaking of Rolephant, my thanks go out to her, for helping with plot on this story, for the ever faithful euro of doom, for forgiving me for not posting the fic she wanted me to post (beggars can't be choosers :P), for finally posting the next bloody chapter of her own fic, and for sticking with me in the lonely hours of 6 am... oh wait... its six right now... nvm... :P

Late January, 1983

Staring at the box in front of her, Alex prepared to leave Fenchurch CID for the last time. She thought about all that had gone on since the day she woke up in the hospital.

She had awoken, and Gene sat at her bedside, bedraggled. After Jenette's bullet was found in the courtyard, Gene had been let off. He had not left Alex's side since. Gene needed to leave, he was unshaven and frankly quite smelly, but he refused to leave her side. Gene had told her that it was only a matter of hours before the nurses threw him out and told him to take a shower.

Alex told him quite simply that he needed one, and that she would still be there if he went to his flat for an hour. He had tried to refuse, but her stubbornness kicked in, refusing to give in, even as she fell asleep.

"Just go home, Gene. I'd need a whole bottle of perfume to cover up your stench."

"S'man stink, Bolly."

"They don't take too kindly to man stink in the hospitals. You know they will kick you out eventually. They'll say I need my rest."

"Don' matter. I'm gonna sit here, and they'll drag me out screaming."

Alex had tried to argue back, but she had fallen asleep before the words could come out of her mouth. She woke up a few hours later, and her bedside was empty, except for a nurse who was checking her IV.

"Where's Gene?" she asked.

"That awful smelling man who refused to leave your side?"

"Yeah."

"He was escorted from the premises a few hours ago. Having him near a patient was unsanitary. He cannot enter the building until tomorrow morning, and only then if he has had a good shower."

Alex nearly laughed, but secretly she was relieved. She didn't want to deal with Gene yet. She didn't know how to feel about him. Alex knew Gene hadn't meant to shoot her. The part she was having trouble deciding about was the side he had shown her the night before.

Gene had ripped everything out from underneath her feet. He had stopped trusting her because of one tape, and the words of some gangster's sister. Alex thought their relationship had gone deeper than that. She thought that he trusted her as much as she trusted him.

Her whole world had gone into question the instant he demanded her warrant card and suspended her. She knew that he thought she was corrupt, and that it hurt him to think that she would be like that. She knew that because of the pain of the questions he had gone to the first thing he could think of, and that was striking the lowest blow possible. He had called her cold because she never spoke of her daughter. How could he know the depth of her longing to see Molly?

Alex did not know if Gene Hunt ever had children. Her guess was that he had not, but even if he had, he would not know the connection mothers had with their children. The child had grown inside her, consuming all of her love and devotion before it was even born. Gene would never know the feeling of a child growing inside him, never know the joy after all the months of backache and morning sickness, after all the hours of labour, holding the little child that had made the belly swell.

That blow did exactly as intended. It hurt her in its coldness, stopped her thought process. She did not realise she had hit Gene until she was halfway out of the office that night. He had made her turn around, promised to kill her if she showed her face.

Alex was no longer angry about what he had done to her that night. That was all done in anger, and Alex knew he would have never done it if he had not doubted her. No, she was angry because he had doubted her in the first place. How could he trust a woman whose brother was directly involved in Operation Rose? One could tell by just looking at the woman that she couldn't be trusted. The woman's eyes glinted with malice. How Gene had ever been taken by her, Alex wouldn't know.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Alex had gone back to CID a few weeks after being released from the hospital. The tension in the air had been thick. After the day Gene had gone home to shower, he had become incredibly cold to her. She didn't know if this was because she tried so hard to get rid of him, or if it was something else that she had supposedly done.

Alex felt resentment building against Gene at a rapid pace. They had tried to return things back to normal, but she no longer had any respect for Gene. Alex knew that Gene could feel that her respect had slipped, and that made him uncomfortable and more on edge. Most days she spent in his office, yelling herself blue at him, as he refused to listen to her. Finally she couldn't take it anymore. She went to the super and requested a transfer.

Alex knew she had angered Gene greatly by going over his head, but she didn't care anymore. She needed out of CID, out of the oppressive atmosphere under the Manc Lion. Ray had tried to talk her out of it, but to no avail.

"Ma'am, we need you here. You're the best detective of the lot," he had said in whispers one night at Luigi's.

She looked at him. "Not here, Ray. Let's continue this in my flat. We don't want anyone to overhear."

Ray looked uncertainly at her. "Are you sure ma'am? You know what it will..."

"Yes, Ray, I know perfectly well what it may look like," she snapped. "And if you are so concerned about it, I'll go up now, and you can wait until everyone is drunk and you can escape."

He sighed. "Alright ma'am. Let's go."

They stood together, and everyone's head swivelled in their direction. Alex ignored everyone in the room, especially Gene, who was glaring daggers at the pair. Ray followed her nervously up the stairs, and followed her into the flat.

He sat uncomfortably on the sofa while she poured them a drink. "Now what were you trying to say Ray?"

"You can't leave ma'am. You're the best detective of the lot of us. I've learned loads from you."

"Ray, I can't stand it anymore. The ice I stand on with Gene is so thin that I might as well be drowning. I don't know what I did, seeing as he's the one who shot me."

"Ma'am, he's worried. He's scared of hurting you again."

"I'm a big girl Ray. I can take care of myself."

He looked at her, sadness in his eyes. "I guess I can't just rip up your transfer request can I? The only person who's gonna see that is the super."

"I'm sorry, Ray. I love CID, I love you and Chris and Shaz, but I cannot work there anymore."

"I'm gonna miss you ma'am."

"You can talk to me anytime, Ray. I will only be a telephone call away," she said draining her wine glass. "Now let's go downstairs to dispel any rumours that might have popped up about us."

He smiled at her. "Yes ma'am."

"Call me Alex, Ray. I'm not going to be your DI much longer."

They walked down the stairs together, and sat with Chris and Shaz, leaving Gene alone in the corner table, looking as though he had lost the world.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Gene watched as Alex picked the box up off her desk and made her way out of CID. She didn't even turn to say goodbye to him. He knew where everything had gone wrong. It was the day before he shot her. She had never forgiven him for suspending her. If that was how she wanted to be, then fine. He thought back to those days when she was in the hospital.

He had sat by her side, talking to her, asking her, even begging her to wake up. He missed her so much. The team wasn't doing as well with collars, and he knew it was because she was lying in the hospital bed.

When she woke up, he had been overjoyed. However, she rid him of any of the joy he felt when she told him that she wanted him out. Gene didn't understand. Alex had said that she knew he hadn't shot her on purpose. Why, then was she treating him like this? She had turned cold to him. She didn't respect him anymore. Gene was hurt, so he did the only thing he could. He pushed her away.

His patience with her was wearing thin. Nearly every day she stood in his office, yelling at him because he wouldn't follow another mad idea of hers. It was worse than when she had first started. At least then she respected him somewhat. Gene lost all respect for her also. He had tried to put things right, but she wouldn't let him.

He couldn't say he was surprised when she requested a transfer. There was too much tension between them to get any work done. Gene also wasn't surprised that she went to the super to get it approved. As much as Gene hated her at the moment, deep down he still loved her. But he had ruined that chance when he suspended her. He had always hoped that maybe, just maybe he could tell Alex. Now that small hope was gone.

It had angered him when she took the piss at him. All the nonsense about the bloody future! What the hell was wrong with her? He needed her to tell him how she knew what was going on. He needed her to reassure him, promise him that she was still on his side. But she didn't. Instead she gave him some bollocks story about the future. And even though he had shot her, and put her through the hell of that hospital, until she told him the real truth, he couldn't trust her. Or respect her.

Gene knew he was being ridiculous but he justified it by telling himself that she didn't trust or respect him anymore. If a DI didn't respect his or her Guv, then there was no point in them being on the team.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Alex didn't sit with him in Luigi's anymore. Instead she sat with the rest of CID, laughing at their antics. It seemed like she had mellowed out even more since she got out of the hospital. Gene had no idea what had caused her to do this. She no longer spoke to him, unless she was yelling. He cursed Operation Rose. If it hadn't been for that operation, they still would have been close. He remembered what he had once said to her. "Unbreakable."

Gene had found out the harsh reality of that statement. Their relationship was nothing like the two chains secured by a steel lock he had once imagined. He had thought that nothing could destroy it. Fire, wind, time, nothing. But a few short minutes and lies had ruined everything.

The truth was, they were very fragile. They were a glass vase, an old piece of paper that could crumble in your hands if not handled carefully enough.

"Unbreakable," he muttered. Gene laughed to himself, as he noticed Alex and Ray heading up the stairs. What the hell did they think they were doing? Alex was determinedly not looking at him. Gene knew what was going on.

How dare Ray betray him like that? Gene didn't even realise that Ray liked Alex like that. Was this the reason she had betrayed him? She had found Ray more attractive than him? Gene snorted into his scotch. He may not be a looker, but Ray was worse off than he was.

They had come back down half an hour later, clothes carefully in place, Gene had noticed. Alex was messing with her hair a bit.

"So they are," he thought to himself.

Alex seated herself next to Ray at the CID table. Gene sat alone in his corner table, the wine glass on the other side of the table unturned, as it would stay for a long time.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Alex walked out of CID for what she hoped was the last time, not bothering to say goodbye to Gene, knowing he would be happy she was gone. She would miss him, but she couldn't admit that to herself. One thing she knew, she could never go back. She had hurt the pride of the Manc Lion; and that was a crime for which she could never be forgiven.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Gene watched her perfectly sculpted arse walk out of CID for what he hoped was the last time. It hurt him to see her leave. He would miss her, but he couldn't admit that to himself. One thing he knew, she would never willingly come back. He had doubted her, suspended her, and shot her, and that was a crime for which he knew he could never be forgiven.

TBC... Reviews are appreciated! (I'm all alone, there's no one here beside me! My troubles have all gone, there's no one too deri-huh-hide mee! But you gotta have friends!- and apparently I have none at 6 in the morning :P)