AN: It's taken me a few days but I've managed to battle through the writer's block to get this out, I had to join in! Unbeta'd so all mistakes are my own!

It was a Thursday evening and Gene was sat in Luigis, a bottle of house wine and two glasses in front of him as he waited for his DI to arrive, hair and make-up retouched and possibly even a change of clothes. It wasn't that they had had an eventful day and they were celebrating, it was just that the pair had gradually fallen into a routine where he would get the first round in whilst she went and got changed out of her work clothes into something more comfortable, usually leggings, a vest top and a jumper if it was chilly. Except something had changed, twice a week for the past five weeks Alex hadn't come down from her flat and she never answered the door when he went up a stood knocking for ten minutes, eventually giving up and returning to the bottle of wine to drown his sorrows.

"I waited for you last night" Gene said as he perched himself on the small table in the kitchenette "But you never came down"

"I'm sorry Gene, I've been busy lately" she said, sighing as she slowly stirred the cup of tea that she was making.

"What's more important than spending time with the Gene Genie?"

"Look, it's nothing for you to worry about" Alex spoke as she dumped the spoon in the sink and turned to face him "Really it's nothing, and if it means so much to you then I'll make extra effort"

"Fine, just bloody forget about it Alex, I stupidly thought we were mates but obviously you've been sneaking about with some posh lefty bastard and your too embarrassed to admit it!" he sighed, shoving his hands into his pockets as he walked out of the kitchenette and into his office, slamming the door loudly.

Gene hated it, he hated that he missed her when she wasn't around, hated that she could make him feel like shit without even being there. It was now getting to the point where Gene was hoping that an emotionally draining case would crop up and she'd need to blind drunk to forget about it, maybe that way she would stick around and hang out with him in the evenings. That was the moment that Gene decided he was going to find out what Alex was hiding if it was the last thing he ever did.

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When the following Monday came Gene left CID half an hour early, parking the Quattro down the side street beside the station, lighting a cigarette and sipping from his hip flask as he waited for Alex to leave the station. He shifted in his seat when he saw her crossing the street and heading into Luigis, her leather jacket pulled tight around her. Twenty minutes after she had gone up to her flat a taxi pulled up outside and Alex came out wearing a trench coat and teetering on a pair of ridiculously high bright red heels. He watched her get into the taxi before he started the ignition and started to follow...

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Gene found himself getting tired as he sat parked up in the carpark of a resturaunt opposite the leisure center he'd seen Alex getting dropped off outside. It had been just under an hour since he'd watched her go in and he was begining to contemplete going in and looking for her, until he spotted her coming out and standing with her arms hugged around herself.

"Right, now I've got you" he smirked, getting out of the car and somehow managing to dart across the busy main road unscathed "Oi, Drake! What the hell are you up to?"

Alex gasped as she caught sight of him, her eyes filled with a mixture of fear, worry and confusion "Gene, what on earth are you doing here?"

"I'm the one asking the questions Alex" Gene snapped "So you either tell me what the hells going on or I'll have to think of a very creative way to get it out of you"

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Alex was sat on the sofa in her living room, her gaze at the floor as she watched Gene pacing the living room in large, authoritive strides that were supposed to make her nervous, letting her know the interrigation was soon to begin. She watched the his snake skin boots almost stomp around in front of her like he owned the place, like it was his territory. When he stopped pacing she gripped hold of the hem of her knee length trench coat, almost as thought that was the only thing keeping her where she was.

"I've been thinking, and its not like you are going to the lesiure center to use the gym, your already in good shape, so what is it? Tell me why your going there?"

"Why are you so interested?"

"Because I want to know!" He snapped "And what's with the silly coat and stupid bloody heels? You certainly can't be exercising in those!"

She couldn't hold it in any longer, and she burst out laughing as she stood up and undid the belt of the coat, letting it fall open to reveal a tight red vest top and a pair of little black shorts. Gene's eyes widened and he folded his arms across his chest as she shrugged the coat off completely, his eyes raking over her body.

"I've been taking a dance class Gene" she smirked "A pole dance class"

His jaw dropped and his eyes flitted up to her face "Eh? A pole dance class?"

She nodded cockily "That's correct, and even though I'm a feminist through and through, I have to admit that it's quite liberating"

"You...my Bolly...have been pole dancing?"

She giggled and sashayed over to him, her fingers finding the end of his tie and giving it a sharp tug, jolting him closer to her "I thought you'd be pleased that I was finally putting my tarty side to good use?"

"I am..its just that I can't picture..." He paused and shook his head "Scrap that, I can picture you doing it"

Wrapping her arms around his neck and rested her forehead against his, grinding her hips against him.

"You'll have to come with me next time and I'll show you my moves" she giggled flirtatiously.

"Sod that!" he smirked, taking her hand and leading her towards the bedroom "I've got a pole right here that you can dance around!"

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