So I thought I'd do it again; write another tale of Rupert Galvin and Alex Drake. I really enjoyed the first one and have been thinking about this for a while. Hopefully this one will make sense. ;)
A couple of things to note: I'm not at all hung up on canon for either show, so if you are then this may not be the story for you, and while the other Demons characters will make appearances, it's not about them. Also, I write smut and a lot of it, but I do try (most of the time) to make it a critical part of the story. I'm writing about Rupert and Alex and how they deal with the things that go on around them. This will play out in the bedroom (or the kitchen or the dining room floor). They go through a lot or weird stuff these two. I'm not promising it every chapter, but if that's why you're here you shouldn't be disappointed.
Also - if you haven't read Guilt and Redemption you probably should. This will make a (tiny) bit more sense. And at least you'll know how these wacky kids got together in the first place. Can be found here in my stories or either crossover section.
And like most fic writers, I appreciate reviews and try to get back to everyone who leaves one. In depth ones are nice, but I like the ones that simply let me know someone is reading just as much, so don't be shy. I really am very friendly.
Finally, I don't own the characters of Rupert Galvin or Alex Drake or anyone else involved here (unless I made them up), and I never will. I just take them out and watch them play together and write it down. Everything always works out in the end.
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Chapter One: So Far Away
"You know Bolls, why don't we just give it a go, eh?" Alex could smell the cigarettes, his after shave as he leaned closer.
"Give what...a go - " she swallowed, " - Gene?" She felt drunk, dizzy.
"Me. You. Us." She could feel his nose against her cheek. "We make a good team," he murmured, his lips brushing hers. "We could make a better one." She kissed him back, pulling away after only seconds.
"Team. Yeah." They were frozen, too close to see anything, but she could feel him, smell him. He kissed her again and she could feel the oxygen around her disappear, the room - wherever they were, it was gone too.
"Bolls," he mumbled. "You're buzzin'"
"Not yet," she managed. "Soon."
He chuckled. "No. I hear buzzin'."
"What...?" Her head was swimming...
Alex Drake sat up in bed, her hand clutching the front of her pj's; breathing too hard. Buzzing? She was buzzing alright.
She blinked. Her phone. Right. Buzzing. She picked it up. Yes - right. He was back today.
She pushed the answer button. "Good morning," she offered sleepily.
"What are you wearing?"
Her heart raced a little (or was it still racing?). She loved the sound of his voice. "What would you prefer? 'Pyjamas' or 'nothing at all?'"
Rupert Galvin's small groan on the other end let her know what he'd prefer. "Pyjamas is probably best. If you tell me you've got nothing on at all I'm afraid I'll never get to the office."
She could hear background noises, people shouting. "Are you still at the airport?"
"Yeah," he grunted. "Waiting for a car. I've been summoned for a meeting, some kind of post trip debriefing. Probably thought if they didn't bring me I wouldn't show."
"They're probably right." She paused while he shouted at someone on the other end. "Did you sleep on the flight?"
"Not really. I can catch a few during the meeting." Alex laughed. "Do I have a clean suit at your house?"
It was a ridiculous question. All of his suits were at her house. Once things had calmed down, he asked her and Molly to move in with him. He'd been upset when she'd turned down his offer, but managed to gradually relocate himself to her place in the weeks following. She hadn't objected - she even believed that eventually they'd make it a more formal commitment; she just hadn't been ready then. But he still trod carefully around the subject. "More than one, I think. Are you coming over?"
"I thought I would, if that's alright? Oh, hang on -" Alex listened to him give the driver instructions and heard the door to the car shut as he must have got inside. "Much better. Maybe I'll nap in the car. Is it OK if I come by later?"
"Of course, please." She paused. "I've missed you Rupert."
"Me too. I'll be there after this meeting. Get a nap in before you get home."
"You do that. I'll see you later, then."
Alex exhaled as she hung up, flopping back down on her pillow. She was happy he was back. Rupert had been gone two weeks, and for the last three nights she'd dreamt about Gene Hunt. She was more than ready for it to stop. They were only dreams this time, she knew, but they still made her uncomfortable and she was certain they'd make Rupert uncomfortable if she told him. He never said anything directly, but she knew he'd been jealous of Gene and her relationship with him. Although she had no idea what that even meant - "relationship." And still he'd helped her get through to him when she'd asked. She didn't want to hurt him over nothing now; the dreams would go away once he was home keeping her busy every night. Alex glanced at the clock on the night table. She had some time. Closing her eyes she slid a hand under the elastic of her pyjama bottoms. Maybe she could help them along...
...
Rupert rubbed his eyes, hoping no one noticed him dozing off. Not for the first time in his life he cursed the fact that he couldn't sleep on an airplane no matter how comfortable they kept trying to make them. He glanced around; there were so many bodies in the room it was less a debriefing than a lecture. The upcoming G-20 in London had everyone on edge, and anyone and everyone who might be involved in security at any level was working around the clock, including him. Just a few months until the meetings and there was still a lot of work to do.
Of course it was all necessary, and after what he'd just learned they were all going to have a lot more to do.
"...and I suggest you all regroup at your respective headquarters within the hour to discuss next steps."
Shit. The last thing he wanted was a trip to the office. He hated the office. Too many talking heads and none of them saying anything. He wasn't surprised that working in official channels meant a lot of hours spent doing nothing, but he was surprised by how much information they had. And the length of time it took to get anything approved. Thankfully he'd kept Luke away from all this. At least he had backup he could count on. Rupert stood, waiting a minute until the bottleneck of classified level security staff wandered out of the room before lifting out of his seat.
"Ahh, Rupert." Alison Grantham was a stern woman who'd worked in the security services her entire career and through a string of fortunate retirements found herself next in line when the position of Director General of MI5 found itself suddenly empty. Rupert had a vague idea that she was competent enough, but she seemed to resent his appearance on her turf and that made doing his job difficult. She was willing to accept the reality of the mounting demon threat on mankind, and even that there was a serious threat right here in England. But she hadn't been too keen on having an American monster hunter installed into her domain with no real accountability to her - he reported to her as a matter of courtesy, and everyone in the government knew he was accountable only to the Prime Minister. Rupert had told Alex she reminded him of Judi Dench. He hadn't meant it as a compliment. "We should catch up. Anything come out of your meetings in Washington?"
"Morning Alison," Rupert followed and they left the room with the other stragglers. "It was mostly the usual bullshit, but a few credible threats that fall into my area of expertise need to be investigated."
"Alright, well. Do keep me informed." She turned to leave him in the corridor but changed her mind. "Are you heading back to the office?"
He shrugged. "I suppose I will. But not for long. I don't sleep on airplanes and I'd like to catch up before I brief anyone on my trip."
Alison nodded. "Right. Make sure a copy of your report ends up on my desk this time. I do hate being asked for my reaction before I know what I'm supposed to be reacting to."
Rupert forced a smile. "Of course." Grantham turned and walked off, and Rupert went out to the street to get a cab. The risk of stopping by the office was of course that he'd get caught up in the million things there were to do. All he really wanted to do was get a shower, screw Alex and sleep for three days. Nothing was going to change if he waited until tomorrow.
...
By the time Alex pushed through her front door later that evening it was after seven. Rupert and Molly were waiting for her for dinner, but her last appointment had taken a while, and she wanted to write up her notes right away.
"Hello!" Alex called out as she shut the door behind her.
"We're in the dining room mum!" Molly chirped back.
Alex dropped her jacket and bags on the floor and walked down the hall to the dining room. Rupert and Molly were sitting at the table, the dinner plates pushed aside and a stack of pound coins and small change sat between them. "What are you...?"
Before Alex could finish Rupert set down the cards he was holding and stood up, kissing her quickly before she could finish. Molly cleared her throat after a few seconds and he stopped.
"Nice try," Alex whispered. "Now please explain what is going on here?"
"Rupert's teaching me to play poker mum!" She beamed at Alex.
Alex raised an eyebrow at him as he sat back down. "You'll thank me later, when she's off at university and doesn't call you every week asking for money." He smirked at her. "She's cleaning me out."
"Would it be too much to hope that she might get a job like a normal student?" Rupert winked at Molly and Alex sighed. Molly really did like Rupert. "I suppose it serves me right for leaving the two of you unsupervised for longer than an hour." She put her hand on Rupert's shoulder, bending over until her lips grazed his ear. "You will pay for this later."
"Two cards," he said to Molly as he laid two from his hand down on the table. He looked up at Alex. "Well then it will have all been worthwhile."
Alex snorted in mock derision and walked toward the kitchen. "What's for dinner?" Rupert always cooked if he beat her home, but before he could answer she lifted the lid off of a bowl on the counter: roast vegetables. She looked further - a chicken in the oven and herbed rice on the stove. A bottle of her favorite wine was open on the counter. "You could do worse, Alex" she murmured to herself. "You'd never have to cook again." She stood up to find Rupert standing in the doorway, leaning on the door frame and looking at her intently. For a second she wondered if he'd heard her.
"You didn't have to do this, you know."
He shrugged. "Well, I got here early...took a nap. Thought it might be nice." He shifted a little but didn't move out of the way. "And Molly helped."
She laughed and rolled her eyes. "I doubt that."
"I did too!" Molly shouted.
Alex took a step towards Rupert and reached for him, her fingertips grazing against the front of his shirt and she suddenly regretted not sending Molly to her father's for the week. "So have I got time to change, or is it all ready now?"
"It's ready, but you can change." He leaned in as she kissed him on the cheek. "Just don't take forever." He brushed his lips across her forehead.
Alex kissed him on the mouth. He kissed back and she felt the low rumble in his chest vibrate through her body as he pressed against her. She really had missed him. "Be right back."
When she reached her room the first thing she noticed was the rumpled bedclothes where Rupert had napped. He didn't have a favorite side of the bed like a normal person; he just slept wherever he landed. Next came the smell, soap and cigarettes; he must have showered first, and the still damp pillow confirmed it. Alex sat on the bed and ran her hand over the pillow, catching a stray blond hair stuck to the dark pillowcase. Rupert usually kept his hair short, especially since...well, she had told him that he looked too much like Gene Hunt with his hair longer, and that it upset her a bit. And it had upset her. She was so conflicted at the time she didn't want even the small reminder. Sighing, Alex pulled off her shirt and lifted her favorite sweater off of the floor next to the bed, slipping it over her head.
But today it was long. He must not have had a chance to cut it while he was away. She bit her lip. And he looked so much like Gene. For a flash of a moment when she walked in the door she had thought it was him. It was gone in a second, but after the dreams...the crash of feelings she'd had in that moment had caught her off-guard and she didn't know exactly where to put them. Pushing the thoughts from her head, Alex pulled on a pair of comfy leggings and went downstairs.
...
"Dinner was excellent, Rupert, thank you again," Alex leaned closer and kissed him on the cheek. She turned to her daughter. "So Molly, since you seem to have spent the entire afternoon learning to gamble," she glared in mock irritation at Rupert. "Can you tell me how much homework you have left to do before bed?"
Molly giggled and looked Rupert, lifting another bite of cake into her mouth. "I have some maths and some reading for history. It shouldn't take that long."
"Well it's already quite late Mols, so why don't you help clear the table and then head up to your room to get started. I'll pop up in a bit to see how far you've got and get you to bed."
Fifteen minutes later the table was cleared and Rupert and Alex were settled on the sofa, Alex with the remainder of the bottle of wine they'd had with dinner. Rupert had moved on to scotch and was pouring a second glass.
"So, you haven't said much about your trip? How was Washington?" Alex swung her leg over Rupert's and leaned back against the sofa as he ran a hand over her thigh. She liked this.
He grunted. "Busy. Political." He shook his head. "There are a lot of high level security issues and the threats are serious for this thing."
"Do you have any information yet that will help you?"
"I don't know, maybe. You know, everyone is always so worried about Al Qaida and Islamic fundamentalists, but for something like this domestic terrorism and potential protests pose a significantly greater threat to stability. And the confusion surrounding that definitely opens up a doorway to a demon threat."
"Do you have any specific information this early?"
"Well, not really. But there does seem to be some very credible information suggesting one of the country's security forces may have been infiltrated already, so that's got everyone on edge. We have a security meeting with the members next week so everyone has to be re-vetted before coming into the country. Although I have my suspicions."
Alex absentmindedly ran her hand through his hair. He didn't seem to mind. "I can imagine."
"The biggest problem is that working for the government, while opening up a lot of resources, really limits how I quickly I can act under some circumstances. At least through official channels."
"I can't imagine that will stop you for long." She leaned over to the coffee table and set her empty glass down.
"No, not for too long." Rupert swallowed the rest of his drink and set his glass down next to hers.
"Have you spoken to Mina yet?" Alex already knew the answer. He had barely spoken to her since he found out she'd kept information from him about his father. Although he hadn't shared all of it with her, it had turned out his father hadn't died when he had been told, but likely years later.
Rupert scowled. "No. But she left me a few messages while I was away. Said she had some information I might want." He snorted. "'Bout fucking time."
"Rupert, you can't stay angry at her forever."
"Can't I?"
"Rupert."
"Alex. My father didn't die when I thought he did. Shit, forget about me - what about my mother? She thought he was dead all those years. Where was he all those years?"
"You have every right to be angry, of course. But it's not Mina's fault. She only found out later as well." Alex poured him another drink and handed it to him, watching him as he sipped. "And if you think he's dead now does it really make that much difference?"
Rupert sighed and pulled Alex into his arms as he leaned back against the sofa. "Yes. Yes it makes a difference. I want to know what happened to him. Surely you understand that, Alex?"
"Yes," she answered quietly. Of course she did understand.
"Mummy?" Molly interrupted their silence. "Come up to say goodnight?"
"Of course darling. I'm on my way."
"Night Molly," Rupert called.
"Night Rupert," she chirped back as Alex followed her up the stairs.
...
Alex went back into the kitchen and sat at the small breakfast table. Rupert had poured her a fresh glass of wine and was cleaning the kitchen; a glass of scotch sat on the counter near his elbow. She could smell the cigarette he'd obviously had while she was upstairs, and the cool autumn air as it mingled in form the window he'd opened to let the smoke out. She watched him put the last dishes in the dishwasher and wipe the counter before drying his hands on the kitchen towel.
"Molly go to sleep?" he asked without looking at her.
"She's in bed, yes. I expect she'll fall asleep soon." Alex played with the stem of her glass.
Rupert leaned back against the counter, and she finished her wine and stood in front of him. "You've been gone for two weeks, Rupert, and I barely saw you at all the week before you left." Alex slipped her arms around his waist and leaned forward, inviting him with a look. "I missed you."
It had the desired effect, and she watched his eyes flick to her mouth. "I missed you too." He wrapped his arms around her. "Every night, in fact." She smiled and brushed her lips to his. "Sometimes even before breakfast."
This time she laughed, and he kissed her hard. Alex's hands moved under his shirt; her fingers danced over the scars on his back and his body stiffened. She didn't let him pull away. So much damage she thought. When they broke apart they were both breathing hard. "Maybe we should, um..."
"Upstairs, yeah." He pulled her closer and kissed her again before letting her lead him upstairs.
They stumbled into the bedroom, Alex pulling at his clothes, Rupert holding her face, trying to kiss her. In the dark she found the bulge beneath his jeans and gripped him through the straining denim; he groaned, and unbuttoned them as Alex pulled down the zipper and pushed them down over his hips. Eager fingers met hot flesh and a small cry escaped her. "Clothes off," he grunted, and pulled off her jumper, watched her wriggle her out of her leggings while he pulled his shirt over his head.
Alex lay down on the bed and in the shadows he could see her looking up at him, licking her lips, her legs parted. Her bare breasts and perfect bush waiting for his mouth, for his cock. He kneeled between her legs, kissing her mouth, her throat. Her hand wrapped tightly around his prick and he thrust into it as she stroked him; he groaned and covered her breast with his mouth, her tight bud peaking beneath his tongue. Quickly he moved lower, pulling her legs over his shoulders and burying his face between her legs. His tongue found her clit, teasing as she cried out. He kissed the tiny swell, worked his tongue along her folds, but he didn't want her to come, not yet, not until he was buried inside her. Rupert kissed the crease of her leg and Alex grabbed his hair roughly, guiding him back, but he only slid a rough tongue over her clit before kissing slowly back up her body. Her stomach, her tits; his mouth was everywhere - then sucking wetly at her neck before plunging his tongue into her mouth. She whimpered beneath him, hands moving to his ass as he pressed the swollen head of his cock against her. He wanted to fuck her. Slowly he slid his stiff length against her, needing more. Alex wrapped her legs around him and angled her hips, her body begging him. He could wait. "Please," she panted, "Rupert please." She flung her arms over her head, giving in, knowing what he needed. Good. He spread her legs with his, pushing up off the bed as he entered her; grinding against her as he pinned her down. Alex reached out, touched his chest. Always the scars. He caught her hands, holding them over her head as he began to thrust, the slow friction heating them both.
Alex arched her back, cursed. Rupert watched her, the movement of his hips no match for the eager pounding between his legs. He thrust harder, faster, oh god, Alex came, crying out, and he released her hands. He needed to. He gripped the sheets, thrust faster still, never fast enough, and then he couldn't stop, couldn't see, couldn't hear her whispers, his name spilling from her lips as he lost everything in the silence. He heard someone groaning, grunting, coming. He felt Alex's hands on his body and slowly he realized it was him. Her arms wrapped around him, pulling him back. His head rested on her shoulder. He wanted to come again.