Thanks to Rolephant and the Euro of Doom for helping me decide how to order this fic! S'a oneshot. :)
Gene ducked as the sound of the bullets echoed around the courtyard. As the echoes silenced, he looked up. Alex was staring at him, shock in her eyes. Jenette was nowhere to be seen.
"Bolly," he said. She just looked at him, and straightened up.
"Gene, I..." she started, but Gene's anger kicked in.
"Damn it Drake! I told you to stay away from this! You're under suspension! Jenette could have killed you!"
He watched as the shock and relief disappeared from her eyes and were replaced by a cold anger. "I'm sorry, Guv. I..."
"Shut up," Gene growled. He strode toward her, pulling handcuffs out of his pocket. "Detective Inspector Alex Drake, I'm arresting you on suspicion of perverting the cause of justice, and being corrupt." Alex stood in shock as he closed the cuffs on her wrists. He started leading her by the elbow out of the courtyard as Ray, Chris, and Shaz walked in. They all stared at Alex.
"Guv, what's going on?" asked Chris.
"Take her to one of the cars. When we get to the station, have her booked and put her in a cell. We can interview her later."
Chris, looking extremely confused, just nodded and led her away. Gene turned to Ray and Shaz.
"Right Raymondo. I'll meet you at the station. Shaz, go back to your fitting."
Shaz stared at him. "Why'd you arrest her? She's not corrupt!"
Gene straightened himself and looked down at her. "WPC Granger, when I want your opinion, I will ask you for it, thank you. Now go back to your fitting. I will take care of DI Drake."
Gene turned and left the courtyard, leaving the two standing in shock behind him.
Gene drove quickly to the station, trying not to think too much about what had just happened. Alex wasn't corrupt. He knew that. The thing was, she had to be taught a lesson. He could have killed her. Otherwise, the Operation would have gone off without a hitch.
He pulled up in front of the station. Sighing, he got out of the car, looking at the madness that the station was becoming. Ray pulled up behind him. He got out of the car, and helped Alex out. She didn't look at Gene as she walked past, but the waves of her fury radiated off of her.
Gene sighed. It was going to be a long day. He walked into his office and poured himself a healthy measure of scotch before swallowing it all in one gulp. Slowly, all the members of CID wandered in, wondering what to do next.
"Right. You are going to start interviewing everyone we arrested today. Leave Drake for me. She's being interviewed last."
Everyone murmured their understanding and CID left the room.
"Ray, Chris, you come with me."
The rest of the day was spent interviewing suspects. Gene knew that they would have to continue into the next day, it was already gone seven, but there was one last interview he had to do. He walked up to Viv's desk. The night sergeant was there already.
"Sir?" he questioned. Gene rubbed the bridge of his nose. It had been a long day, and he was not looking forward to this meeting.
"Get Drake," he said. "Put her in interview one."
"Yes, sir. Right away." The young man walked away from the desk and Gene ventured back to CID for another scotch. He had to steel himself before dealing with her. She would tear him apart the moment he walked into the room. Surveying the empty CID, his eyes focussed only on one desk. Hers. Gene finished his whiskey and started out of the office. He may as well get this over with.
Gene's footsteps echoed down the otherwise empty corridor. The concrete seemed so cold compared to what the station in Manchester was like, but other parts of it were nice. He stopped himself from thinking about what the best part of Fenchurch East was.
Gene looked in the window of the interview room. Alex sat, hands cuffed behind her back. She faced the door. Gene sighed. Here went everything.
He strode to the door, and opened it with flourish. Slamming it shut behind him, he stalked to the table and sat across from her. She looked past him, her face betraying no emotion whatsoever. He couldn't find words to speak. He just sat, staring at her, unsure of what to say.
After fifteen minutes, she finally broke the silence. "Good God, am I going to be interviewed or are we just going to sit here for the rest of the night?"
"Fine," Gene snapped. "Let's start off with this one. You were suspended last night. What the hell were you doing on the bullion route?"
"Doesn't matter. You won't believe me anyway." Her eyes were defiant, and she shifted uncomfortably in the chair.
"Well, if you told me the truth, maybe it would be a little easier to believe you," Gene shot back.
Alex sighed. "I did. And you don't believe me."
"You told me you were from the bloody future! Tell me, do we have robots doing our bidding, Sarah Jane Smith?"
"You like Doctor Who?" Gene stared at her. It was such an immediate change of topic that it shocked him.
"Why do you care what I watch? You've never cared about us. We're all just 'constructs,' remember. We're not real."
Alex looked at him like he had slapped her in the face. "That's not true Gene," she whispered. "I did care about you...Do care about you."
Gene stared at her in disbelief. "Then why won't you tell me the truth?"
"I did. Guv, on my own life, I was shot in 2008, and I woke up in the brothel. I swear, Guv."
"But how?" Gene still did not believe her. Maybe she was just insane. She had seemed mad from the first day they met.
"I don't know. One second, I was there, and the next I was here. Just like Sam Tyler..."
"Only this is your reality," he finished for her. He looked deep into her warm hazel eyes. There was no trace of a lie in them. As he peered into their depths, all he could see was complete honesty, and worry that he wouldn't believe what she was saying.
He leaned back in his chair and sighed heavily. Standing, he moved behind her and removed the cuffs from her wrists.
"It's quite a story, Bolls, I'll give you that. I can tell you believe it. I'm going to let you go, on one condition."
"What is that Guv?"
"Tell me, why were you at the Operation today? I could have killed you. That man, that copper, he could have killed you. Jenette could have killed you. You were on suspension, and you knew I would have you nicked."
She looked at him sadly. "I had to. I had to get home. But I can't now. I'm stuck here. Forever."
Alex dissolved into tears. Gene patted her shoulder awkwardly. "You'll get back, Bolls," he said quietly. "Just stay here a bit longer. Your presence is required just a little longer round here. By me."
She half-laughed, half-cried at his statement. "I don't know what I'd do without you Gene," she said, standing and facing him. "Always my lifeline, always my constant. I thought I'd lost you again."
She looked up into his face, her hazel eyes wide and filled with tears. Her face was tearstained and her hair was mussed from her hands running through it earlier. Gene stared into her face and knew he had never seen anything so beautiful. Slowly, he started leaning his face towards hers, feeling a brush of excitement when she started moving her face towards his. Her mouth was centimetres from his. He could feel her hot breath on his face. He leaned in the last few centimetres and...
The pounding of feet brought him back to awareness. She was lying on the floor, staring straight at him. Her eyes were going glassy. She was dying in front of him, and he couldn't do anything. The pain had disappeared from her face, replaced by a look of slight contentment. Gene watched as her eyes closed, and knew, the world he had just imagined would never happen. He had lost Alex forever. Even if she woke up, she would never love him. He had ruined everything.
She wasn't breathing anymore, and Shaz was administering CPR. The world had gone silent. She was gone. There would be no more nights in Luigi's, no more stakeouts while flirting pointlessly. No more late nights drinking in her flat, of her coming in to see if he had actually gone home like he said he would. None of this could happen anymore. She was as good as dead.
He had lost his Alex forever.
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