'What the 'ell happened in that restaurant that stopped you pair of twats and most of CID catching the bloody bastard that did this to Luigi?'

Gene paced the hall outside Theatre, where he, Alex, Chris and Ray had been waiting for the last half an hour.

'Luigi was in the back when it happened, we heard him shouting but by the time we got round the bar and into the back, the bastard was gone.' Ray shook his head, shifting uncomfortably in his chair. 'Chris called 999 and we ran outside, but there was no one, no one on the whole street. Me and Chris went opposite ways but we ended up going round in a circle and found nothing. Whoever it was just... vanished.'

'When we got back the ambulance had arrived, then we went straight over to the station.' Chris added, his elbows on his knees and hands in his hair.

Gene shook his head, disbelieving. 'They couldn't have got away that quick without being seen, did anyone check the toilets?'

Chris and Ray exchanged looks and shook their heads, eyes on the ground.

'Well that's just bloody brilliant isn't it?' Gene bellowed, leaning over the pair of them. 'You obviously didn't think that someone may have hid until it was easier to leave unnoticed. Tell me, are you still detectives or were you recently lobotomised?'

'Guv, it's not their fault.' Alex croaked quietly from her seat, the other side of the corridor. She had cried more than she thought she ever had tonight, her hand flying to her mouth when they were told by a doctor Luigi was lucky to be alive at all, such was the severity of his injuries.

'Well who's fault is it then, Drake? Cos at the moment I'm struggling to comprehend just 'ow something like this could of occurred in a bar full of ruddy, bloody, policemen!' He ran out of breath and stalked away, clearly deeply affected by this seemingly pointless attack on someone he classed as a good friend.

'I can't believe it Ma'am... how could someone... why would someone...' Chris shook his head and trailed off back into his thoughts. Gene wasn't the only one affected. Luigi was a friend to all of them, and the frustration of not knowing why or who was only seconded by the sheer concern that their Italian friend and confidante would be okay.

A tall, red haired man approached the trio and they all rose anxiously, desperate for news yet fearful that it wouldn't be what they wanted to hear.

'Which one of you is DCI Hunt?' Dr Peters questioned Ray and Chris.

'DCI Hunt has gone for some fresh air, I'm DI Drake and this is DS Carling and DC Skelton. How is Luigi?'

'As I said to you when you arrived, he is lucky to be alive. The amount of blood lost could have easily killed him, but it seems he has a strong heart, and an even stronger will to live.'

'What about his eyes?' Alex heard her voice tremble as she asked.

'At the moment it looks as though there were no cuts to the eyes or eyelids, but there could be glass shards in there we haven't recovered yet.'

Gene rounded the corner at that point, seeing the Doctor and stopping dead still, expecting the worst.

'Ah, DCI Hunt I presume?' Gene nodded. 'We're currently operating on Mr. Bianchi. He is showing good vitals and has been stable for the last twenty minutes. I was just telling your colleagues that without the ambulance arriving when it did, we would be looking at a completely different situation here.'

Gene spoke softly. 'If the ambulance hadn't have been called when it was..?'

'Luigi would have died from blood loss fairly rapidly.' Dr Peters explained.

Gene looked at Chris and Ray for a moment before turning back to the Doc.

'When can we see him?'

'Well as I say, he's still in surgery at the moment. I imagine it will be a couple of hours before he emerges, and then he'll be in recovery... if you can wait until morning, he should be in shape for visitors. He may not be able to talk though, we can't say for sure until we have established how deep some of the cuts have gone.'

Gene nodded, and Alex gave her thanks to the Doctor as he left. All was silent for a couple of minutes, as the relief for Luigi sank in.

'You rang the ambulance. You saved his life. More important than anythin' else. I shouldn't have had a go.' Gene grimaced as he spoke to his deputies; apologies never were his strong point.

'Forget it, Guv,' Ray replied, clearly exhausted, 'This has knocked us all for six.'

And as they made their way out of the hospital, 'We're going to catch this bastard, whoever he is. For Luigi.'

The sound of the phone ringing woke Alex next morning. She'd had a fitiful night's sleep, and wasn't ready to wake up.

She grabbed the phone blindly and lifted it to her ear. 'Hello?'

'Bols.'

Her eyes flew open at his voice and she sat up straight. 'Guv?'

'I know it's your day off, but I need you in here. I've had a... delivery. It's about Luigi.'

'I'll be straight there.'

Fifteen minutes later Alex was in Gene's office.

'You've no idea who might have sent this to you?' she asked, taking the proffered letter from Gene.

'I've been trying to work that out all morning, Bolly. Thing is, when you're a suave and sophisticated southern-shitkicker like me you tend to make a few enemies.'

'Did Viv see who delivered it?' Alex asked, dropping down into the chair as she read, chewing the inside of her cheek.

'It was a young lad, no more'n seven or eight.' Gene got up from his seat and turned to look outside, hands in his pockets. 'Someone probably slipped him a quid for the trouble.'

'Well whoever it is, they're certainly serious about the grudge they have for you. If it was something petty they would have tried to get to you personally, not hurt the people around you.'

'Cowards, that's what they are. Knew they couldn't fight me so decided to go for an innocent instead.'

'It's the Mafia-mentality: they come to you last, plucking out the people you love the most first. They want to see you suffer, but not physically, not yet.' Alex raked her fingers through her curls, then took an evidence bag from the top of a filing cabinet and placed the letter inside. She took it to Ray, instructing him to get it through forensics as quickly as possible.

When she re-entered Gene's office, he was sat lighting a cigarette, the words of the letter imprinted on his mind.

You won't remember me, but I remember you. I'm not going to tell you who I am, you're the Detective, work it out for yourself. But not until you've worked out who my next victim will be. You've done me a huge wrong, and now you're going to watch those around you pay for it. I've given you Number 1: The little Italian fellow who runs the bar you love so much. Maybe that's not close enough though, maybe next time it will be one of your precious little workers, one of the drones. Maybe I'll keep it in the family, take down another Hunt before I get to you. Maybe it will be a lover, I've seen you come and go with enough. So who's it gonna be, Gene? You'll know soon.

'It'll be okay, Guv, we'll find him.'

'What makes you so sure it's a man?' he blew smoke at the ceiling.

'Only a very miniscule percentage of women perpetrate hate crimes on other people except the one they're targetting. Plus, the syntax in the letter points to a male writer.'

Gene nodded, pouting. 'I've already briefed the team, told them to keep their wits about them, although I don't know how much of that registered with our Christopher.' Alex pulled a small smile. 'I've no family to warn, so the fucker's stumped there.'

'That just leaves lovers.' Alex looked anywhere but at him, but she could feel his eyes on her like a lazer.

'As hard as it is to believe Bols, it's um... been a while.' he leant forward and stabbed out his cigarette, gulping a mouthful of whisky and not taking his eyes off her.

Alex could feel blush prickle at her face. 'Shouldn't have anything to worry about there then.'

'I don't want anyone else to get hurt. All I've got to do is look after my team.'

'And last night?' she asked him directly. 'What if Ray and Chris hadn't walked in? We need to talk about that, Gene.'

Gene shifted in his chair and paused before he spoke. 'In light of recent events I'd say that whatever was going to happen last night, stops there. Just by being one of my team you're a possible target. It'd be reckless for you to fit another description on this psycho's hitlist.'

'I don't care about fitting into a description, Gene! I could get killed just by being in your team, it wouldn't make any difference whether I was... something else, to you.'

He jumped out of his chair suddenly, turning on his heel and rubbing his neck. 'Alex, don't you think I wanted something to happen between us last night? Don't you think I wanted to-' he turned to make sure his door was firmly closed and looked at her, 'kiss ya? More?' he shook his head. 'You don't get it. It's too dangerous, Bols. I will not have any member of my team getting attacked or worse under my watch.'

'Don't I get a say in the matter?' Alex stood and faced him. 'Y'know what, you're right, Gene. Even if Luigi was never attacked, and this whole mess wasn't happening, it still wouldn't have worked. Isn't that what you're thinking? Has the letter given you a good excuse to fob me off?'

Gene's lack of a reply gave Alex her answer. Before she knew what happened she was stood in the kitchenette, tears and anger burning her cheeks. I thought he felt the same, how could I have been so stupid?

An hour later they were by Luigi's hospital bed. They hadn't spoken a word to each other in the car, although in her side vision Alex noticed Gene's mouth open and close as if he were about to say something, but he kept putting one cigarette after another in his mouth to stop himself. Alex couldn't have arrived at the hospital quick enough, and stalked away from Gene to find Luigi on her own.

Luigi's entire face and neck was bandaged and he was heavily sedated. The operation had been successful in stitching his wounds, but they hadn't counted on the amount of pain he would be in and had to administer strong kncokout painkillers.

'Luigi,' Alex started, 'It's Alex Drake. DCI Hunt is here too. We are so sorry this happened to you,' her voice started to break, but she kept it under control. She'd be damned if she was going to cry in front of Gene again . 'We are going to find the man that did this to you, and we are going to put him away for a very long time.'

'Not to mention kick seven bells of shit out of 'im.' Gene piped up gruffly, trying to catch Alex's eye but she wasn't taking the bait.

She took Luigi's hand. 'You're going to be okay. The doctors say you could be out in a couple of weeks.'

Gene cut in again. 'And er, don't worry about the scars, women love scars. Find it attractive.'

Alex looked up at him, unable to keep the distain from her face. 'You obviously don't have any then, Gene.' It was a weak retort, but she really wasn't in the mood for his stupid comments.

'Oh I've got plenty.'

And I'll never know where, Alex couldn't help the thought.

'He can't even hear us, Drake. It's pointless us being 'ere.'

About to grudgingly agree with him, Alex was suddenly cut off by a shrill scream and a large, Mediterranean woman bustling past her, sobbing in Italian. 'Oh, mio caro Luigi! Oh mio uomo bello ciò che hanno fatto a te!'

'You must be his wife,' Alex tried to ask, but it was obvious the woman couldn't speak English and was more interested than fussing over her sedate husband than talking to anyone else. Alex and Gene slipped out quietly, and by the time they got outside she decided to catch a bus home.

'Don't be stupid, woman, I'll drive you!' Gene yelled after her.

'Stupid?' she turned back to him, 'Stupid is not living your life out of fear! I had you down as anything but a coward, Gene.'

'Do not call me a bloody coward!'

'What would you call it then, Guv? I don't even care anymore, it's over. I want that transfer, back to Hyde. Maybe that's all I need to do to get home.'

'No one leaves my team unless I say so!' Gene was struggling to find words to keep her from leaving. 'Get in this car now, Drake, and that's an order!'

'I'm off the team, Gene! I'm leaving! Promote Ray, you know it's what he wants.'

'He might have the perm, Bolly, but he hasn't got the looks... and a bit more tackle down south than I'm used to!' as he tried and failed to lighten the mood, Alex just shook her head and walked away. He knew then unless he did something, she would be lost to him for good.

It had taken everything Gene had not to take Alex into his arms that morning and show her just how much he wanted to be with her, how much he wanted to keep her safe and go to bed every night with her lying next to him. He would never put it into words though; he felt like a poof just thinking it.

She had been looking for a resolution to the constant flirting and teasing that had gone on between them in the year since she had joined Fenchurch East, the same resolution he had wanted within an hour of knowing her. He couldn't give it to her though, or to himself. The truth was, although he was concerned for Alex, he was also afraid at what it would do to him if anything happened to her.
Gene didn't think he could handle it, simple as.

After an unsuccessful afternoon spent trying to indentify the young boy who had delivered the letter, as well at going over old case files to see if they could draw up a list of suspects, Gene found himself sat in the quattro outside Luigis. The restaurant was closed until further notice, which had forced Ray and the rest of CID to move onto The Red Lion in town. Gene had lied and said he was going to stay at the office and carry on with the files, but not five minutes after they'd left he had made his way to his car and parked out here. It was coming up to an hour since he'd arrived, but he was still debating whether or not it was safe for him to go in. If someone was watching him, they were bloody good. He'd checked out all the places someone might be waiting, and found nothing. Finally deciding it was now or never, Gene slipped out of the car and up the steps to Alex's flat.

Alex was in bed when she heard the knocking, and when getting up found she barely had the energy to answer it. She had done nothing but sleep since she got back from the hospital, too drained to worry about Gene or getting home anymore. Something had to give, she knew that now. She was either going home, or staying in this world, even if it wasn't in Gene's department.

Tying her dressing gown around her waist she padded to the door, peering out from behind the chain.

It was Gene, stood with his head to the floor, eyes up, looking at her. Alex undid the chain but made no movement to let him in. If he'd come to bring the transfer papers she'd take them and he could leave.

'Aren't you going to let me in then?' he said finally.

'What do you want, Gene?'

I want to get you out of that dressing gown. 'I want to talk.'

'Fine, talk.' Alex folded her arms.

'Look, it's risky me even bein' here so the least you could do is let me in off this step where someone might be watching.'

She sighed and stepped aside as Gene brushed past her and into the living room.

He stood for a second, clutching and releasing his fists at his sides, feeling a lot less confident than he was a few moments ago.

'So what do you want to talk about?' Alex had stayed by the door, now closed, her jaw clenched and arms still folded.

'Uhh... I think there's stuff we need to say...' Come on you twat, spit it out! Now she thinks you're illiterate as well as a tosser! 'I don't want you thinkin' I didn't want what you wanted today...'

'Are you talking about the transfer?' Alex was still oblivious.

'No, no...' He stepped closer to her. 'Last night in my office... of course I wanted it. Then next minute I've got some nutter glassin' Luigi's face and threatening my team, threatening anyone I might see out of work... I didn't want to put you into a position where you might end up dead, just because I couldn't stop myself from...'

'I'm already at risk though, Gene, we all are, but there's psychos like this all everywhere, all of the time! It can't stop you from living.' She came closer to him, 'Surely it's my decision to make? My risk?'

He shook his head, 'Gene Hunt looks out for his team, end of. I couldn't live with myself... Don't want you to go, Bols. We all need you 'ere, as much as that might astound ya.'

Alex smiled sadly. 'I don't think I can stay here, either way.'

'What, not even for Dover Sole?' he half-smiled, feeling his guts ache as he realised he couldn't stop her from going if she'd made her mind up.

'No, not even for that.' Alex stepped closer to him, now so close she could smell his aftershave, almost sending her dizzy. 'After we find whoever did this to Luigi, I am leaving here. Even if I can't find my way home, I still can't stay, knowing we can't...' she put the flat of her palm to his chest and shifted so they were nose to nose, 'knowing we'll never...' a tear fell down her cheek and Gene lightly brushed it away with his thumb, holding her face in his hands and bringing her lips to his. Alex was lost in the taste of him as their mouths met, the sharp tang of whisky and cigarettes filling her senses as they kissed, softly at first and then harder with as the hunger for each other took over. Minutes which seemed like hours passed before they broke away, both of them breathless and bruised lipped, charged with feeling and need.

'Gene, stay. Stay wth me tonight.'

He didn't need to think, didn't want to rationalise think about all the reasons why he shouldn't. 'Ok.'