Before I start I just want to say that my inspiration for this story has came from XTimeGirlX's story called 'The Blurring Lines of Time.' She is a really good author and I love her fics, especially that one so I strongly suggest you read it.
Gene sighed heavily as he watched the nameless man in his arms take his last breath. God knows that the one thing Gene hated most was a bent copper, but this man seemed sincerely sorry and even though this man pointed a gun at his Bolly, Gene felt the familiar guilt that came with each kill. At least the man seemed to go with a sort of peace, his face relaxing moments before death as he thought about simpler and better times. At least he had that, and at least it was now all over, Gene thought.
A sudden gunshot echoed through the air, making a liar out of his thoughts. Gene looked up wildly and froze in horror, only for a second, when he saw Alex's frantic expression as Jeanette grabbed her by the neck, forcing a gun to her head. Who the hell could be so unlucky by having two guns pointed at them in under three minutes? Gene growled under his breath as he jumped to his feet, leaving the man's body alone and forgotten, gun gripped tightly in his hand. Although Alex hurt him, Gene felt such panic when the stranger had his gun pointed at Bolly's chest. Gene couldn't lose her. He wouldn't. Now it was happening all over again and Gene felt sick to the stomach when he saw the determined and crazy rage in Jeanette's eyes.
"Where's me bleedin' money?!" Jeanette screeched, tightened her arm around Alex's neck and pushing the gun harder against her temple, causing her to whimper in pain. She was out of control and Gene knew it. He had to stay cool and act fast before she went too far and put a hole in Alex's head. Gene internally winced at that idea and calmly raised his gun.
"All your friends have been caught. It's over, love," Gene said quietly, trying to calm her. Instead, Jeanette just snarled at him and cocked the gun, taking a step back and taking Alex with her. "Let her go!" This time Gene's emotions leaked in to his voice as he desperately cried out. He prepared to shoot and maybe Bolly saw that because suddenly she widened her eyes and screamed something, violently elbowing Jeanette in the stomach, causing her gun to go off. He felt his finger pull the trigger as a reflex, the gun still aiming at where Jeanette once was. And where Bolly was now.
For a split second their eyes locked. Gene didn't even notice as Jeanette silently slipped away. All he could see was Bolly and how her mouth fell open and her eyes glazed over as her hands pressed across her stomach. Then she fell. "Bolly," Gene whispered, still in a state of shock. He had shot her. Probably killed her. Intense pain ripped at his insides. He admitted to her that he felt a connection between them but he never shared the full extent of his feelings and that made his pain worse, making it unbearably hard for him to take the few steps toward her.
Standing over her, their eyes met again and Bolly gave a small smile. "Gene..." Alex whispered as she removed one bloodstained hand from her wound and held it out shakily towards him. At once Gene crouched down and clutched at it tightly, willing her to stay with him. How would he survive without her? He needed her. "I'm going home now but I'll miss you. I... I... I lo..." Suddenly she let out a violent cough and her eyelids fluttered closed, her mouth still open from what she was trying to tell him.
What was she trying to tell him? She couldn't finish her last sentence and Gene's heart cried at the suspicion Gene had as to what it was. She also mentioned going home and Gene remembered the argument they had had the night before. At the time he had thought she was mocking him but now he wasn't sure what he believed. What she told him was downright impossible, but why would she lie with her dying breath? He could see the shine behind the pain in her eyes that suggested she was indeed telling the truth and she was going home. What else would explain the strange behaviour she displayed from time to time. Now that Gene thought about it, he also realized that she seemed to know that certain things were going to happen. Just like Sam had. Suddenly Gene believed, nothing else would explain it, but he was too late. He wished he had the chance to tell Bolly that he knew she was telling the truth, remembering the pain in her eyes when she had finally opened up to him and then he viciously accused her of lying.
By this time the others had arrived and gathered around Alex's crumpled body, pain and shock etched on to their faces. Gene sensed Shaz staring at his right hand and he looked down at it in a daze. He still held the gun limply and he quickly let go of it as though it was hot with a disgusted expression. That gun had taken away Bolly's precious life and he would never touch it again.
More and more people flooded on to the scene and this angered Gene slightly. These people were strangers to Alex Drake and yet they still gawked at her defeated figure and treated her and her mourning friends with no respect. Of course, what right did he have to be by her side? He was the murderer and she was his victim.
Suddenly an ambulance crew descended on Alex's body, two of them urging the gathered crowd back as one bent down to inspect the body. Someone grabbed Gene by the shoulder, gently trying to pull him away but he didn't budge. He knew this would be the last time he would feel the warmth of Bolly's skin and to see her beautiful face. He also knew that he was in a lot of trouble. His bullet was currently lodged in to her, and with his yelled threat yesterday and no witnesses it was looking like a jail sentence. Not that he didn't deserve it. Not that he didn't have anything to live for.
"She's alive!" Those two little words were like magic to Gene and changed his mind instantly. It snapped him out of his stupor and he stared at the ambulance technician with hopeful eyes. Those two little words returned meaning to Gene's life, giving him a purpose. He had to make sure she was okay. He had to see her eyes open again. "We need to get her to the hospital now! Her pulse is weak." This time Gene willingly stepped away from Bolly so she could be moved, but he never strayed far and he simply strode past the police officers who were debating on whether to arrest him. He clambered in to the ambulance before anyone could object and left the scene without another word.
--
Alex couldn't remember a time when her eyelids felt so heavy. It felt so hard to open them and once they were open they would close again without permission. After a moment, Alex started to win the battle and could keep her eyes open long enough to take in her surroundings. A smiling doctor stood at the end of her bed. He was talking to her, Alex knew that, but she couldn't quite register what he was saying. The only thing that she could register was that she was home.
The doctor stepped aside, drawing Alex's attention to him, and her breath hitched when she saw Molly rushing toward her. Alex quickly opened her arms and after what was months to her, she finally held her little girl again causing her barriers to break and silent tears to run down her face. At first she was reluctant to let go of her when the doctor suggested giving Alex time to wake up, but he was right; Alex couldn't hold on to Molly from being so tired and weak and she relaxed back in to the pillows, her eyelids fighting against her again.
A voice called out to her though, forcing her eyes to open again. It wasn't just any voice, it was Gene Hunt's voice. It felt as though her heart shattered when she saw his face on the monitor in front of her. She had left him without telling him how she really felt about him. She tried to but she couldn't quite get the words out before the white light engulfed her. That was her biggest regret.
What does it matter? Alex snapped at herself. He wasn't real, just a construct of her mind. Yet she couldn't stop herself from tentatively reaching out to touch the screen where he desperately called to her. Despite him being imaginary Alex knew that she would miss him fiercely and it would take her a long time to get over him. However she refused to forget him. She couldn't.
Then one word Gene said caught her attention. Coma? She was still in 1982 but in a coma? No, that couldn't be right. She was here, she was home where she belonged with Molly. Alex's panic spiked and she tried to flee from the screaming image of Gene Hunt but he was everywhere she looked. She couldn't escape. People looked at her as though she was crazy as she ran through the hospital but she didn't care. Maybe she was crazy. Defeated, Gene still surrounding her, Alex leaned against a wall and slid down in, landing on the floor in a crying heap, willing for his voice to stop ripping at her heart. Willing for her pain to end.