Chapter 2! I CANNOT believe the response to the first chapter! (I was actually demanded to post this chap by a few people, and promised a puppy by one if I did...) Thank you ALL for Alerting, Faving, and Reviewing! Thanks to Blue-Jackal for giving me the inspiration for this fic!
Chapter 2: Crimson
A small girl, with light hair, running in front of her. Laughing. She knew she was chasing the girl. They were playing. The girl's laugh was like the peal of bells. She smiled as the girl turned towards her, and stopped abruptly.
The girl's face was not whom she had expected to see. Instead Gene Hunt stood in front of her, hands in his pockets, face full of rage.
"I told you to come back to the station! I didn't say go off and enjoy yourself! Bolly! What the hell were you thinking?"
Thinking? She hadn't been thinking. She was just angry. Angry at him, for being kind one moment and cruel the next. For breaking her heart. The past few weeks had been awkward, but they had made it through. It was difficult. Every time she looked at him, she saw him naked in bed with her. She saw him sleeping blissfully, hair beautifully sleep mussed. She saw his bright silver blue eyes open slowly as he came into awareness.
But that was all over. One argument, and he had stepped out, and returned to work the next day pretending that nothing had happened. Alex was pulled back to awareness when he started speaking again.
"Bolly," Gene said, staring straight at her, malice in his eyes. "You're not fit to be a copper. I want you out of my life. Get out." The little girl stood by him, smiling laughingly. It wasn't Molly she was chasing, she realised suddenly. It was Sam's test card girl. The girl held Gene's hand and looked at her.
"Stay Alex. Stay here. You don't want to wake up. They don't want you anymore."
Another woman walked up to Gene, placing a kiss on his cheek. . She was brunette and about the same height as her.
"Wake up Alex," she said, her hand rubbing her belly. A ring glittered on her finger. "Wake up, and everything will be fine.
Alex stared at the three unable to speak for her misery. She looked helplessly on at the smiling woman who Gene now had his arm around. The woman stared at her, smiling gently. "Go."
She opened her eyes, blinking several times to make sure they were completely open. The room was almost completely dark. Alex felt as though she was rising from a fog. She stayed still a moment, trying to put two and two together. The last thing she knew, she had been in her flat, getting ready to take a nice hot bath. She had been angry at Gene, and swallowed two glasses of wine before she even started running the bath. She changed out of her work clothes, and put on her nightshirt to walk around her flat. She could already feel the wine going to her head as she poured herself a third glass and smiled in satisfaction, knowing that Gene wouldn't want her to go to work if she was pissed. She started running the bath, sitting on the edge of the tub, and sipped out of her wine glass, swilling it around in her mouth. She stopped, just tasting. It tasted off.
That was when it all had started going blurry. Alex was not aware when the glass dropped on the floor, did not realise as she followed. The world had gone black before she had even reached the floor.
Now Alex lay still, trying to figure out where she was. However no sounds emerged so that she could identify her location. Slowly the fog in her brain lifted enough that so that she realised that she was lying on the floor. Her hands were unbound, as were her feet. She wondered what was going on. If she had been kidnapped why didn't they tie her up? Why had she been kidnapped in the first place? Alex rolled onto her back and sat up. Her head was still a bit fuzzy.
Suddenly someone coughed. Alex jumped. "Who's there?" she called out cautiously.
"Ma'am?" Her voice was hoarse, dry, barely a whisper, but Alex knew who it was immediately.
"Shaz?"
"Yeah."
"Are you okay?" Alex crawled blindly on the floor towards Shaz's voice.
"Yeah, I'm fine ma'am. He hasn't done nuffin' to me."
"Nothing?"
"No. They kidnapped me about three yesterday afternoon, and I've been here since. They haven't fed me since I got here. I'm not even sure what time it is, but I know it's probably night, because earlier there were some chinks of light coming in."
"Do you have any idea where we are?"
"Not a clue ma'am, sorry." Alex still couldn't see Shaz, but she knew she was sitting close. Close enough, in fact, that she heard Shaz's stomach rumble. She could hear the grin in the WPC's voice as she spoke again. "Sorry. I haven't eaten since noon yesterday. Haven't had anything to drink in that long either."
"They're starving you?"
"Yeah. The man said something about me paying for my sins."
"Great. Another religious nutter."
"I know. We've dealt with enough, haven't we?"
"Too right," said Alex, smiling. "Right after I transferred, we had that case with the man murdering prostitutes?"
"To make them pure for God!" Shaz responded, remembering clearly.
"And then last year, we had the man last year, killing those who wouldn't convert."
"Ah I remember that. He nearly took my Chris," Shaz said softly.
"Do you miss him Shaz?"
"You know, I do. I know its best we're not together though," she said softly, and Alex could tell she was trying to convince herself it was the truth.
"He misses you," Alex said quietly.
"I know," Shaz responded quietly. "I miss him too."
The two women lapsed into silence, not speaking for what seemed like several hours. Both were content with their own thoughts. Just when Alex thought Shaz had fallen asleep, the young woman spoke.
"Ma'am?"
"Yes Shaz?"
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Anything." Alex was relieved for something to break the silence.
"A few weeks ago, were you and the Guv together?"
Alex stared into the inky blackness. This was what she didn't want to face.
"I'm...I'm sorry ma'am. It not my place I shouldn't have interfered."
"No, Shaz, it's okay," Alex responded honestly. "To tell you the truth we were, for about two months. How long did you know?"
"I guessed about a month ago. What happened?"
"It all happened really fast. I'm not entirely sure myself. It was about a week ago. Gene and I had been drinking like we usually do. We were up in the flat. We argued about something, I don't even remember what. He got really angry, and ended up throwing a record across my flat. It nearly hit me. I remember he looked at me, completely drunk, and completely shocked. I told him to get out. He left quite willingly and the next day we were back to what we were three months ago."
"That's horrible. He threw something at you?!"
"He was drunk, Shaz. He could hardly stand in the first place, much less aim. If I know Gene Hunt, I know that he would never purposely throw something at me, intending to hurt me. He was too drunk that night," she mused. "He shouldn't have driven home."
"I'm sorry Ma'am."
"It's alright. I guess I really should just give up on men altogether. I had my ex-husband, who is a complete tosser by the way; walk out on me and Molly when she was six months. I divorced him after that. I made sure I put the papers in before he did. When I came here, I figured I'd have a fresh start, but no, I've got a reputation as a whore because of that night with the Thatcherite, and now Gene doesn't want to look me in the eye either."
"Ma'am, you can't talk that way. I can guarantee you that the Guv is miserable right now. He's probably regretting throwing the record at you, has probably been beating himself up for it since he did it."
"And probably for my disappearance," Alex said quietly. "He left me at the crime scene for being too mouthy so I went back to my flat, where I was taken."
"He's not looking you in the eye cause he feels guilty ma'am. He spent two years trying to get you; he won't stop liking you over one petty thing."
"You know Shaz? You are wise beyond your years."
"Thanks ma'am."
They lapsed into silence again. It was Alex who spoke next.
"So how do we get out of here?"
"Dunno. We're on the opposite side of the door. I saw them coming in and out of it when they dropped you off and they came in to talk to me. Opens into the room."
"So we don't have a chance to break it down, do we?"
"Doesn't look like it. And it looks like it's a really heavy wood too."
"Great." Suddenly a memory popped into her head. Something that Sam had said that Gene said during a hostage situation in Manchester. "No, I reckon we could take him. I'll jump on him, you take his gun and Cartwright can jump up and down on his knackers. Free the hostages, get down the pub, no problem." Alex smiled softly to herself. That was definitely something that Gene Hunt would say. Could they even get behind the door to jump the man though? She didn't know where the door was, and if Shaz hadn't eaten or drank anything in the past day or so, she was going to be extremely weak. "Do you have any idea where the windows are?"
"I'm not entirely sure. I know earlier there was some light shining in across from where I'm sitting, but I can't think of exactly where it was."
Alex nodded, even though she knew that Shaz couldn't see her. "I'm gonna see if I can find it." She stood, and felt her way across the room, stopping as her hand felt the wall. She moved along it, trying to find a difference in the texture of the wall.
Finally, she found it, a small crack where a board was definitely covering the window. "I found it!" she whispered loudly, knowing that if there was someone on the other side of the door, they may be able to hear her. She started pulling on the wood, trying to remove it from the window. It wouldn't budge. She tried for several more minutes, but finally gave up, panting against the wall underneath it.
"I tried that yesterday ma'am. Ripped up my fingers something terrible. Wouldn't budge."
"It won't for me either. What are we going to do then?"
"The Guv'll find us," Shaz said confidently.
"I'm not sure he's even wanting to find me," Alex said bitterly.
"Oh ma'am, of course he does. Remember what I said earlier? He's not gonna stop liking you over one thing. He's gonna be trying to find you as hard as he can."
Alex smiled softly to herself. This girl certainly was optimistic, even in the worst of situations. Alex started as a light showed suddenly from underneath where the door was. It banged open, and she blinked in the sudden brightness, her eyes trying desperately to adjust. A man stood in the doorway, his face covered. He looked at her by the window, and then over to Shaz on the opposite side of the room. He entered, shutting the door behind him. He turned on a torch and walked over to Shaz pulling her to her feet. Shaz grunted in protest, but he paid her no attention, dragging her to the door. He opened the door and dragged her out, and Alex heard the lock turn behind him. Not five minutes later, she heard a gunshot and jumped.
No. He didn't. He couldn't have killed Shaz. Alex heard the man's footsteps pounding up the stairs, and a door opening. She heard water running. A shower. He was taking a shower. Was he washing off the blood? The water turned off, and soon the door to her prison was opening.
"What have you done with her?!" Alex screamed at him, feeling tears prick in the corners of her eyes.. "What did you do to Shaz?"
"She paid for her sins. Now get up. You're coming with me." He grabbed her arm, but she pulled away from him.
"Bastard!" she hissed.
The man just sighed, looking up to the ceiling. "I didn't want to have to do this. But, remember, you brought this on yourself."
He pulled something out of his pocket, but in the dim light, Alex couldn't see what it was. He pulled her to him again, holding her tighter than he had the first time. She struggled against him, trying to get away, but she felt a sharp stab in her leg. Alex cried out in pain. She felt something cold moving up through her leg and up her spine, and then the world went black around her once more.
To Be Continued
