Finally, next chapter is up. Thankyou everybody for your reviews so far; I really do appreciate them even if I don't get round to replying, so thank you very much for taking the time to read :)

I will try and update sooner next time, I really will!

And I'm still un-beta'd so there might be a few slips - I've checked and I don't think there are but.. you never know! (:

xx

Chapter 3

Gene sat watching CID from his office, seeming interested in his tasks whilst the truth was that he couldn't have been more distracted if he'd tried. Ever since he'd heard from Viv that morning he had been on edge, and it hadn't gone unnoticed from the closest members of his team; Chris and Ray. They knew better than to interrupt today, and had an idea of what was wrong. Alex had at first been unsuspecting, until she was about to approach Gene's office, to be stopped by Chris.

"Erm, Maam, I've, erm, got the pathology report for the girl."

"Yes, I've already seen it thanks, Chris. I just need to see the Guv about something."

"Yeah, erm, I just thought you might want to check through it again. You might have missed something."

"I don't think I did. I can always check again later. But thanks."

Alex smiled sweetly and carried on past, until Viv opened the door. Gene noticed and raised his head from his 'paperwork' for the first time that morning. He stepped out of his office and cautiously put his hands in his pockets.

"Guv. Eve Green, the new DS – thought I'd better make her feel welcome."

"Yeah. Thanks Viv."

With that, Viv stepped forward out of the way to reveal a beautiful young girl standing behind him, who confidently came in front.

"Gene.." She smiled and Gene nodded, but neither of them moved closer.

Alex, and the rest of the team, followed the two, with a look of quiet disbelief on their faces. A silence had fallen in the room which was steadily being broken by small murmurs, including Ray who Alex heard mutter, "Bloody hell." Chris turned to Ray with raised eyebrows and Alex noticed that these weren't the only two doing this action – most of the men in CID also had similar expressions on their face. Alex, who was steadily becoming frustrated by their apparent ignorance felt inclined to break the silence and stepped forward to greet Eve.

"Hi, Eve. I'm Alex Drake. It's great to meet you." She smiled warmly, holding out her hand for Eve to shake.

"It's good to meet you too. Alex is a lovely name." Eve returned the favour, taking Alex's hand and greeting her. Even Alex now began to understand why Ray, Chris and every other man in the room had reacted in such a way. Apart from her stunningly good looks and her incredible figure, Eve had an instant warmth and sense of honesty about her. She broke Alex's thoughts by making the first move, and approaching Gene.

"It's been a long time Gene. I didn't know whether I'd see you again," she said.

For the first time Gene took a step towards her and spoke.

"Yeah. It has. Good to see you back Eve." To Alex's amazement, Gene smiled at Eve, who again, did the same and they shook hands, just like old friends would. Everybody else in the room seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and Alex insisted on introducing Eve to the rest of CID, whilst Gene silently retreated back to his office unnoticed. They came to Chris and Ray last, who seemed extremely happy to see Eve again – Alex had almost forgotten that they were old friends, and that they had a past back in Manchester together. Since she had arrived it had felt as if they had only ever belonged here in London. After watching Ray greet Eve and almost hug her, Alex was pleased to see Chris' face light up as she too, hugged him. It seemed as if she really had made an impression on them when she last worked with them and suddenly Alex felt like an outsider. Watching the three make jokes again after being apart for so long, Alex realised how long it must have took for them to gain so much trust in Eve, yet how much they still respected her. She hadn't forgotten the way Ray had first treated her when she came and so to see Ray treating a woman this well was a surprise for Alex. She noticed that Gene had gone back into his office, looking slightly less concerned than he did earlier – she left him for now, hoping to talk to him later in Luigi's. Instead, Alex sat down and made a start on her paperwork for the day, whilst listening to Eve's conversation.

"Don't worry Ray, we'll have a catch-up later; I'm just going to see Gene."

Hesitantly, Eve pushed open the door to Gene's office, not sure whether she should feel welcome or not. At first, they only looked at each other; it had been 4 years since they had last spoke and suddenly, it felt as if it was all a dream. Gene took in the sight of her slowly. Fashions had changed since he'd seen her last – her hair was not dissimilar though, and if anything both her looks and figure had improved. Once, he hadn't thought that was possible. Apart from that, she didn't look too different. Her hair was a slightly darker shade, her eyes still the same bright hazel as they once were; the same striking cheekbones that were now enhanced by recent make-up, and the same full lips, now covered in a light shade of pink. All in all, she was the same woman that she was 4 years ago; the same woman that Gene had fallen in love with. Well, at least, he thought he'd fallen in love with her.

At the same time Eve was doing the same, taking in Gene like she never had before. He had aged slightly, she thought, but he looked all the better for it. He seemed to have lost weight which only seemed to lengthen his already long legs and his new suits seemed to show him in a better light than his 70s clothing. His hair was slightly longer now too but some things hadn't changed. The same blue eyes – the eyes were always something that Eve had loved about Gene. The same hands, with his slim fingers that she had always found strangely appealing. She was never sure exactly what made Gene Hunt so attractive to her, but one thing she knew was that she had fallen in love with him for many reasons unbeknownst to her, and maybe she could even go as far to say that she was still in love with him. For a while, both of them stayed like this, until Eve thought that she should break the silence.

"Well, CID's a bit cleaner than it used to be." Gene laughed gently, knowing that Eve used to find CID very unappealing at first, until she had become accustomed to the smell of cigarettes and alcohol 24/7.

"Yeah. Things are changing round here. People come and clean the place now, believe it or not." Eve laughed too, smiling. They should have had so much to talk about but now they were finally able to talk, neither of them could find the words they wanted to say, though both of them tried. "Enjoy it here down in London then?"

"Hmm. It's not bad. It's not Manchester, but it's not bad." Gene looked up after tracing the rim of his glass.

"How's it been back in Manchester?"

"Strange at first. With you, Ray and Chris gone it was just so.. different. CID was never the same after you three left. And of course, after Sam.."

She broke off, not wanting to approach the subject and also knowing that Gene wouldn't want her to. "Well, it's still not like it used to be. I never really properly enjoyed it. The new DCI was too … proper." She smiled, as did Gene, as he knew that despite her occasional complaints, she approved of his policing methods. He wished he could say the same for Alex.

"Missed the Manc Lion then, did you?" Eve knew that it was only an offhand comment but they both sensed a deeper meaning in the question. If only Gene could know how much Eve had missed Gene in those months that had followed his leave; but she didn't want to make him aware of it. Pushing the thoughts out of her head, she said, "Well, I got by." She grinned and got up to leave.

"Going so soon?"

"Work to be done Gene. We can always catch up later I suppose. Well, if you want to…" She paused, hand on the door and looked straight at Gene.

"We go to Luigi's after work. Bit different from the Railway Arms though. I'll save you a seat."

"Luigi's? Doesn't sound like your type of place. But alright." She smiled to herself before turning out of Gene's office to her desk. Gene propped his legs up on the desk and thought back to the time he had first seen Eve.

CID, 1975

"I'm telling you Guv, last thing we need is another bloody woman in the place. The force isn't the place for 'em – they should be back at home doing something useful."

"Alright Ray, I heard you the first time you told me. There's not a lot we can do about it, she's supposed to be joining us today. You never know, she might not be that bad."

"Well, if she's got a decent pair I'm not complaining but after a few weeks she'll be doing all our heads in."

"Hmm. Well, we've got used to Annie."

"What was that, Guv?" Annie asked, looking up from her work.

"Nothing love, you carry on."

"Oh right," she smiled. "Guv, isn't our new DS coming today?"

"Yeah. She better bloody turn up soon, we've got an interview with that bastard Smith later."

"Ooh, I forgot about him. Drugs, wasn't it?" Ray asked.

"Yeah. And if he thinks he can get away with bringing drugs into my area, he's got another think coming."

A small bang made them all look up. The door had opened, and there stood the most attractive girl Gene had ever seen. Similar thoughts must have entered everyone else's heads, because throughout the room there was a chorus of small whistles, and men nodding appreciatively at Eve. Gene, however, didn't join in. He looked over to Ray, who looked momentarily hypnotised, his eyes moving only to take in more of Eve's body. Gene stood up, and to his amazement saw Eve look him up and down, much like the others had been doing to her. Or maybe he was imagining it. He was old, she was young. She was beautiful too; the sort of girl who would never look twice at him. Yeah, he must have been imagining it. Nevertheless, she walked forward smiling at Gene.

"Gene Hunt, yes?" she asked.

"Yeah. Eve?" He couldn't think of much more to say, to the disbelief of both himself and others in the room.

"Yes." She smiled again, this time holding out her hand. Gene took it, feeling the soft, warm skin on Eve's hand against his larger, rougher hand. Her touch had heightened his senses and Gene couldn't help but imagine what it would be like to feel that more often. Forcing himself to think of other things, their hands finally fell back to their sides, and Gene turned towards his office whilst Eve introduced herself to the others. Back in his office, Gene worried. Never had this happened to him before, even when he first met his wife. He just hoped that Ray hadn't noticed. After all, Ray knew him best and it wouldn't be long before he became suspicious.

CID, 1983

Alex had been watching Eve and Gene's conversation from her desk. She now wished she hadn't. There was an undeniable chemistry between Eve and Gene, which she had expected, but she hadn't thought that it would still be as strong. She had no doubt that Gene and Eve had been together in Manchester; she could see that from the moment Eve had walked in. She had even considered this before Eve arrived, but whilst thinking about it it hadn't bothered her. So why did it now? "It's nothing," Alex thought to herself. "It's only Gene. Gene and his ex. Together again.." She stopped herself. "It doesn't mean anything's going to happen. And even if it did, it wouldn't matter. We're not even together. He's nothing. My boss.. that's it." As much as she tried to convince herself that Gene didn't matter to her, and that Eve was of no concern to her, she couldn't help but think about it for the rest of that day. It didn't help that most of CID seemed to have forgotten about Alex, and instead focused their thoughts and attention on Eve. She was becoming extremely popular already, much unlike Alex had been at first, but Alex had thought that all that had stopped. She was one of the team now, wasn't she? Sighing, she stood up, put her jacket on and walked straight out of CID, oblivious to everybody. Everybody apart from Gene.