A/n: Hi everyone! Thanks for the reviews that you gave me for Part 6, here's my take on events after Episode 3. Not entirely sure I'm completely happy with this one but I'll let you all decide what you think of it. Please feel free to read and review.
Disclaimer: Don't own anyone or anything, unfortunately, but hey ho!
'I'm everywhere!' - III
They clinked glasses. Well, in truth, Alex Drake clinked her glass against the bubbly bottle that Gene Hunt was holding. So, they'd got their collar, even if it wasn't for the reasons it should have been but it meant that at least Ryan Burns was off the streets, unable to hurt anymore women with his brutality and all in the name of God.
Gene settled himself on the bar stool next to Alex, secretly watching her as she looked over to the tables huddled with her colleagues and at Chris' continued futile attempts to light the Sambuca on the end of his finger. On his final attempt he managed to get the stuff alight, reaching over a few paper napkins to show anyone that was interested, and promptly set the paper ablaze. Thankfully the irritated Italian was ready with a jug of water, throwing it in the general direction of the small fire and soaking Chris in the process. "Please, no more!" He shouted, hoping that now they would stop their stupidity and go home. He was out of luck!
On his way to the kitchen Luigi glared at Gene hoping that their superior officer would say something but he wasn't going to have much luck there either, considering that both Gene and Alex erupted into laughter as soon as the door swung shut behind Luigi's disappearing form. "Maybe we should say something!" Alex suggested fleetingly looking back to their dripping Detective Constable before returning her attention back to Gene and catching him eyeballing her. "Earth to Gene? Did you hear me?"
How was it possible that with one sentence she could wind him up so quickly and irritate him, "Course I heard you, woman! An' what exactly do wish me t' say t' 'em?"
"Maybe you should ask them to calm down a bit or go home, even!"
Gene stood and paced over to the assembly of officers, "think you lot 'ave outstayed your welcome tonight! Best get off home!" He was met with a chorus of 'Yes, Guv',' as one by one the crew dispatched leaving the restaurant empty except for Gene and Alex. He retraced his steps and sat back on the stool. "Would you like to join me with another drink, Bols? Now the rabbles gone, anyhow!"
Alex looked over to him, what was it that he wanted from her? The other night she'd practically thrown herself at him but he'd turned her down, telling her to go to bed. Then he'd followed that up with giving her the bollocking of her life, telling her that she should be earning the respect of the officers by being some bloody saint. She'd detected something else though, once she'd cut through the bullshit and the full scale argument about time wasting that had erupted around her indiscretion; he was jealous. In his eyes, he had done the right thing by going home and expecting her to go to bed alone; but that hadn't meant he wasn't actually up for it and considering the look she caught him giving her not five minutes ago she could've sworn that he was smitten. "Go on then!"
"Luigi, couple of drinks 'ere if you wouldn't mind!"
They watched as the little Italian flew back out into the restaurant expecting the whole of CID to still be there and becoming extremely relieved when he found that they weren't. "You made them go?" He asked.
"Yeah, didn't want the buildin' goin' up in flames now did we! Where else could we go an' drink then!"
"Mmm." Luigi retorted; he wasn't in the best of moods. "What is it you want?"
"Whisky!"
He pulled down a bottle of single malt from the shelf and brought out a couple of fresh glasses, "Here, you pay me for the bottle, then I go to bed." He said, holding out his hand and awaiting the cash. Once he had it, he cleared up the last of the dishes and switched off most of the lights. "When you leave, switch off the last of the lights and pull the door too, please!" He scurried out, closing the door behind him and leaving the two of them alone.
A silence descended upon them as, dumbstruck, they both tried to decide on a topic of conversation that would see them ride out the awkwardness they were now both feeling, but neither of them could think of anything. Alex took the opportunity to peek at Gene as he began pouring out two large measures of whisky. His trademark pout was firmly in place, his brow furrowed; it must have been the first time that she could ever remember him being so quiet.
Eventually he spoke, it was almost a whisper but she heard him. "Why don't you take these over t' our normal table and I'll see if I can find some music in this place, someat to take the edge off, eh?" She nodded and grabbed the bottle and glasses. She settled the vessels on the table and scooted round to the opposite side, her place allowing her to adequately see and study his profile. Still clad in his jacket and tie made observations slightly sketchy but she was able to mentally picture his body, like she had when she'd caught herself dreaming about him those few nights previously. She shook her head, what was she thinking of; Gene had been right, they both needed the respect of the team and how would they keep any that they did have if they were fooling around behind everyone's backs. But did she really care enough about what they thought. No, she definitely didn't and if it meant that two lonely people could find some kind of happiness then so be it!
Gene looked through the cassettes, mostly Italian opera but there were a few others that would lighten the mood a little, if only to slice off the tension that lay on the top. It wasn't really his kind of thing and he suspected it wasn't Alex's either but what else would he have expected Luigi to have in his collection but Ol' Blue Eyes himself, Frank Sinatra. Frank's dulcet tones sang out 'Fly me to the moon' as Gene made his way over to the booth and sat down alongside his DI. Trying to work out her mood, he noticed that her eyes seemed clouded, "you alright?"
She breathed in deeply before looking at him, finding his piercing blue eyes in the dark and searching them for any kind of indication that she wasn't going mad, any sign that what she'd felt wasn't wrong. "Bols?" He heard her ask, "Alex?" She felt her arm being nudged.
"Sorry?"
"You ok?"
She nodded, "yes, fine. Just thinking!"
"'Bout?"
"Nothing much," she lied. She'd been thinking of too many things if she was totally honest and most of them involved her, Gene and various pieces of furniture. He didn't seem convinced with her response but, at the moment, that was all she was giving up. "Are you comfortable?"
"Yeah! Why?"
"Its just you've still got your jacket and tie on, I can't seriously believe that you're able to relax whilst still wearing them!"
A smile tinged his lips, was she messing with him or was she generally concerned about his well being, he couldn't quite make out which. "Suppose I take 'em off, what'll you do t' me?"
"Does everything have to come down to primal sexual connotations with you?"
"Pretty much! Do my urges disgust you?" He teased.
"No! They just irritate the hell out of me and then confuse me!"
"Confuse you?"
Here went nothing. "Yes, confuse me." She picked up her glass and threw what was left of her measure down her throat, 'nothing like Dutch courage,' she thought. "Take the other night!"
"Which other night?"
"The other night when I asked you to tell me what you'd do in the last few seconds on earth!"
"Ah, the night you slept with the 'Thatcherite wanker'!"
Her temperature was going through the roof, "you left me on my own!"
His hackles were rising, "that was the way you were meant to stay!"
By god that silenced her, "Why?" She choked out. "Because if a man has an itch to scratch and gets someone to do it for him then he's one of the lads, but if a woman does it she's no better than a prostitute?"
"Alex?"
"What, 'Gene'?" She emphasized his name with more venom than was necessary, "I'm right aren't I?"
"No," he whispered.
"Yes, I am! Sexual freedom is something that can only be freely experienced by men, in this day and age, obviously!"
"No, that's not it," Gene put his hands on her upper arms, attempting to stop her tirade. He just hoped that he wasn't going to have to tell her the real reason. That could prove problematic if he had to do that.
"Then why?"
"I told you why?"
"You don't think I'm going to believe some lame excuse to do with respect of ones colleagues, do you?"
"Yeah!"
"Well I'm not going to! Maybe I shouldn't have done what I did but I was lonely!"
"Lonely! Shit, Alex! So what, I didn't give you the 'company' you wanted or needed so you found it somewhere, anywhere else?"
This was getting interesting, "something like that!"
He shook his head, "do you want t' know what I wished for, as soon as Ray had told CID what you'd got up t', eh?" She shrugged her shoulders trying to act nonchalant, whilst her insides were doing somersaults, was this the moment she'd been waiting for? "Do you want t' know?" He asked her sternly, his fingers gripping her arms fast.
"Gene, let go, you're hurting me!"
"Let go, so you can run away from me," his eyes blazed. "I'll ask once more, this is your last chance, do you want t' know?"
"Alright, yes!" She shouted, attempting to struggle free from his grasp.
"I … I …" His eyes searched her face, trying to ascertain whether he really needed to tell her or not.
"Yes?"
"I … wished … I'd bloody stayed with you!" He let her go and turned his back on her, the last thing he wanted was for her to attempt to read him.
When she finally spoke her voice sounded constricted, cracking with a deep emotion she never thought she could feel, "what?" No more was said for a while; Alex sat studying Gene's back contemplating her next move as Frank continued his assault of their senses with his ballads.
Alex needed to find a way to get him back to her, at least he hadn't just got up and walked out but he was still sat there with his back to her. Tentatively, she reached her hands out and placed them on his shoulders, he flinched before relaxing allowing her to rub them so as to rid him of his stress. "It would be better if you didn't have your jacket on," she coaxed, helping him by removing it as he shrugged it down his arms. She carefully placed it on the bench to her side and began massaging again, over his shoulders and down his spine, even across his rib cage and down his arms in order to help him relax.
Gene took what he could and if he didn't stop her soon then there was no way he was going to be able to control his desires, he would have to finally make her his as had been her intention if she still wanted him now. He turned back to her, quickly arresting her hands in his own, "Alex, please, you have to stop!"
"Why?"
"Because?"
"Yes?" Her eyes were wide with anticipation; she absently flicked her tongue over her lips.
"I can't do this, I'm sorry. I'd love t' but I can't an' I'm not goin' t' argue with you about it, I've made my mind up!"
"But …" Tears threatened to wash over her cheeks.
"What?"
She pulled her hands from his, not wanting his touch anymore, it had burnt her and she no longer cared to have him near her. She made her way from behind the table and crossed the restaurant opening the door and slamming it behind her as she ascended the steps to the outside world. She'd have gone up to her flat if she'd thought she'd be free of him but she knew he wasn't that far behind as she noticed the lights being turned off and the restaurant door opening. She needed to get out of there. Threading her way up the street she saw an alleyway and made for it hoping that she wouldn't be seen, finally plucking up the courage to see where he was by putting her head around the corner and looking down the dark street. She saw him pad slowly down the steps from her flat, looking as broken as she felt, her heart went out to him. She shouldn't be doing this, she reasoned, she shouldn't be hiding from him but what else could she do?
That was when the rain decided to start, washing down walls and soaking everything in its path, she watched Gene cross the road and get into his car, soon she'd be free to walk up to her flat in peace but he just sat there, waiting. He obviously had no intention of leaving their earlier confrontation as it was, even if she had. She waited ten, fifteen minutes, half an hour maybe, she couldn't be sure but she couldn't wait any longer, she was soaked to the skin and if she didn't get out of her sopping clothes soon she'd be nursing a cold as well as a breaking heart.
She stepped out from her hiding place and quickly walked over to the steps that led up to the flat, hoping that he wouldn't see her, but that was too much to ask for as she heard the car door slam and footsteps run over the road to her, "Jesus, Alex, what the 'ell did you think you were doin'? You're soaked!" She felt wretched, she sobbed, she lent against him and as she felt him pick her up she put her arms around his neck. "Come on, we've got t' get you warmed up and dry!"
She was soon within the confines of her flat as he'd left her sitting on the toilet whilst he'd begun filling the bath. He took off his coat, jacket and tie and threw them over the arm of the sofa, turning up his shirt sleeves, he said, "see what you've done t' get me to take off me jacket and tie?" He chuckled, as he tested the heat of the water. "Right, let's get you out of them clothes!" She looked up at him earnestly never breaking her eye contact with him as he moved to peel off her jacket, blouse and boots. He unbuckled her jeans and slid down the zip before lifting her slightly and pulling them over her hips and down her legs. Still in her underwear, he lifted her shivering body into the water, watching her intently for any signs that she maybe slipping into unconsciousness and never leaving her side.
He left her like that for as long as it took the water to cool down a couple of degrees, he drained the bath and searched for some towels, wrapping them around her as soon as he had helped her get out of the bath, and rubbing her hair with another to take away most of the dampness. She was still shivering and he could only remember one more thing to do. "Right, I've got to get your body temperature up, so no 'anky panky, Ms Bolly Keck's!" He joked, trying to lighten the mood, she smiled. He moved her quickly to the bedroom and put her into bed before stripping every piece of clothing from his body apart from his boxers. He got in next to her and pulled her shaking body to him, his arms snaked around her torso, slowly smoothing over her exposed flesh. His left leg hooked over hers pulling them to him. He rested her head against his chest; he could feel her shallow breathing ruffle the hair that was evident there. He lent down, kissing the top of her head. "You don't 'ave to worry, I'm not goin' to go anywhere tonight, Alex, I'm stayin' 'ere, to look after you!" By the time he'd finished his sentence he realised she was asleep. He gathered her closer hoping not to wake her, "night, precious, see you in the morning!" His breathing slowed, matching hers, as he struggled to keep his eyes open.
As he drifted into sleep, his last thoughts were of Alex and the mess she'd been when he'd caught her climbing the steps to the flat. "Don't ever leave me," he whispered, "I need you!"
oOo
Alex stirred, bright sunshine enveloping her through the thin cotton curtains, and warming her skin and making her feel alive. She attempted to move but realised that she was somehow rooted to the spot. Her eyes fluttered open to greedily take in the wonderful sight of Gene neatly wrapped around her, effectively pinning her down with his limbs; snippets of the previous evening she could remember but she'd not remembered them finally getting it on.
She sneaked a peek under the covers and realised they were both still in their underwear. She remembered now, she'd been rash, staying out in the rain because her pride had not allowed her to go home earlier. He'd stayed in his car awaiting her return and then he'd carried her upstairs, running her a hot bath and then warming her body with his own as she was still showing signs of mild hypothermia.
For the first time in a long time she felt safe, cocooned within his embrace. Her eyes flitted against his forehead as she began thinking about the times she'd imagined waking up exactly as she had that morning, apart from them both being slightly over dressed, her hands reached up to his back and neck and began playing with the hair at the nape. She felt him stir above her, "you awake?" he asked quietly.
She felt him pull his head up and she opened her eyes to see him watching her, a lazy grin playing over his features, his blue eyes dancing with delight at the knowledge that she was ok. "You gave me a bit of a fright last night, young lady!"
"I gave myself one!" She agreed. "Thank you … for staying … for looking after for me!"
"No, thank you Alex!"
"What for?"
"For making me realise how much you actually mean to me!"
She pulled back a little, quizzical at his responses. Then she recalled his words, words she thought she'd imagined, 'don't ever leave me, I need you!' She placed her hands on his cheeks, stroking the evocative mixture of skin and stubble deciding what to do next. "I need you, too!" She said finally, drawing herself to him and tentatively putting her lips on his.
He responded to her touch, taking their kiss to another level and slowly seducing her senses. He'd wanted her desperately for so long, most of the time unable to make coherent sense of what he felt for the extraordinary woman he had in his arms and was kissing the life out of. He broke their embrace, "I want you, Alex!" He growled. "Slowly and seductively, first then any bloody way we see fit!"
She nodded, "I know," she said unashamedly, signalling him with her body for him to take of her as he needed. "I'm yours! Forever!"
FIN