"What's up with you, Bolly?"
Gene leaned back in the chair, boots casually hoiked up on the corner of his desk. Alex looked at him, one hand on her hip, one brandishing a biro, which she thrust towards him.
"You really haven't got the slightest clue, have you, you ignorant pig?" She spat.
"Apparently not, you haughty tart, or I wouldn't have asked. What is it, bra straps cutting off the circulation to your brain?"
She sparked, banging her hands down on the desk between them, momentarily stopping the chatter in the main office, which resumed again just as quickly; low, knowing murmurs about DI Drake and the Guv going at it once more.
"My brain is probably shutting down as we speak, Hunt, and your fat, lazy self is blocking the very thing I need to hold on to."
"Oh you think so, do you?"
"Yes!"
"Right then, Bols!" He snapped, swinging off his chair. "You can follow up your pretty boy, on one condition."
"Oh, and what's that?" She said, flinging down the biro and throwing him her coldest tight-lipped smile.
"I'm comin' with you." He grabbed his black overcoat and pulled open the office door, stalking past Chris and Ray, who were overly focused on the unimportant paperwork on their desks. Stunned, but momentarily triumphant, Alex hurried after him.
-------------------------------------------
Gene parked up the Quattro and cracked his knuckles inside the black leather gloves. He turned to her, pressing his lips together, and paused, taking a sharp breath through the nose.
"Let me make this crystal clear for you, Drake. Under no circumstances are you to move out of my sight when we're in there. I know you seem to have taken a liking to that smarmy suit, but you're my responsibility, and I don't trust the fancy bastard one little tiny bit. Do you get that?"
"Oh, perfectly, my chivalrous protector." She dripped sarcasm.
"Oh no, no chivalry, I'd like to throttle you before he does, that's all." He got out quickly and slammed the door behind him.
She followed him into the building, hands in the pockets of her white jacket.
"Evan's message said he'd meet me in the foyer" She said, looking around.
"Well, he's not 'ere. No one is. Remember what I said, I don't like this." Gene's tone made Alex's stomach knot a little. It didn't feel right. Suddenly it seemed very dark. Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw a figure in white walk past the end of a corridor at the far end of the foyer. The clown? She wanted to run out again, but she knew she couldn't. Whatever the clown was, she knew she had to follow the narrative clues of her own fantasy here, so she started towards where it had gone.
"Hold up, where are you going? Am I talking to my bloody self here?" Gene barked at her, running after her down the corridor.
They moved more slowly around the corner. The corridor was a long one, doors on either side, and a fire exit at the end. "Get behind me, woman." He commanded, and for once, she didn't want to argue. He put a cautious hand to his gun and they walked forward. Alex put her hand on his arm unconsciously, and he glanced down at it. Eyebrows raised, he didn't draw attention to it, but nursed a little smugness. She was always so steely, and he did enjoy those scarce moments of vulnerability.
Suddenly, there was the sound of something in one of the offices, and they both ran towards the sound. Hunt tried the door, but it wouldn't budge, so he kicked it. It swung open, cheap grey handle flying off as it did. There was a window open, and a vase rolling on the floor. Alex went to the window and peered out; there was no-one to be seen.
"Nothing." She said dejectedly, turning just in time to see Gene being knocked over the back of the head by a masked figure. Hunt slumped to the ground, and the figure approached her, gun pointed, and motioned for her to move forward.
"This isn't a good idea." She said, in the calm, conciliatory tones of a trained negotiator, stepping towards him, glancing down at the prone DCI. He still wasn't moving as she was forced to leave the room and go back down the corridor.
The masked gunman was edging her back towards the other end, and there, she saw the white clown.
