The next morning in CID was a tense one. Gene Hunt had decided that his presence was not needed in the office and obviously had better things to do than try to nail Barris 'by the book'. It didn't surprise her, as she expected him just to rough up a few of Barris' connections and compromise the investigation in a way only he could. Most of the time his heart was in the right place, according to the man himself, but Alex was sick of being undermined by him and then being blamed for a missed collar. But, she could never stay very angry with him for very long.
The office was buzzing with frustration in Hunt's absence. It meant that Alex was in charge by default which in turn meant that they spent the morning wrestling with red tape with the Gov's name all over it. It was a blessing in disguise really, as it gave them all a hand in making a collar more secure, even if no-one but Alex could see it.
Alex looked up from the incident report to find her head swimming. The room had dimmed and it seemed like a spotlight was above her, bringing on a sudden headache. She heard voices in the distance, all merging into a murmuring hum. She placed her head in her hands and closed her eyes, knowing that she just had to let it run its course, so-to-speak. The hum faded out signalling the end of the… experience. However, when she looked up she was met by PC 6620 in his usual state. As per usual, the left side of his face was severely wounded with blood congealing and turning almost black. For the first time, he then turned and looked at Ray, Chris and Shaz in turn. The policeman then reverted to his usual party trick: he pointed to Hunt's office and then disappeared, also returning the room lighting to normal.
She had gotten nowhere in trying to understand why this man was pointing at the Gov's door. She had believed for so long that Gene had something to do with Sam Tyler's death and it had taken twice as much to convince herself otherwise, and now another dead policeman with connections to Hunt. Could Gene Hunt be a killer? Her rose-tinted glasses were working hard to shield her from her own suspicions but, if she wanted to get home, Alex would have to break through the haze and find out the truth. The fact that she now had realised that she had fallen for him made it all the more difficult to find him guilty.
And, PC 6620 had thrown up all kinds of questions by bringing Ray, Chris and Shaz into the equation. Did they know about Gene's part in Sam's death? Did they themselves have a role to play? She knew that Ray worshipped the ground Hunt walked on and lived for his appraisal. It was entirely possible that Ray had covered it up for the DCI to show his loyalty. On the other hand, Ray would have been crushed to realise what his idol was capable of doing. Maybe the reality of his crime had caused him to live in fearful worship of a flawed God… Chris would never stand up to Gene to bring his crime to light, if he knew anything at all. Maybe Chris couldn't stand up to him because he knew what he was capable of and didn't want to end up like Sam… And Alex doubted that Shaz would be allowed to know anything important like that…
She had never felt so lost and confused. She loved Gene Hunt and could not bear to lose him, so much so that she was willing to ignore the indications that he had killed in cold blood. This also contradicted her aching desire to get back home. The simultaneous wish to stay and leave was tearing her apart. Alex had literally gambled with her life to live in a world conjured by her sub-conscience and love a figment of her imagination. She was meant to examine these sorts of people, not turn into one. And the fact that she created a man like Gene Hunt to fall in love with scared her to her very core and proved she needed serious help.