~*~

"You alright, ma'am?" Shaz asked as Alex slipped down behind her desk, almost missing her chair.

"Yes! Yes Shaz, I'm fine," Alex replied, rubbing her temple gingerly. "Bit of a heavy night, you know."

Shaz smiled and nodded, turning to Chris and pulling a face. Alex let it go, as she always did. It was the truth, after all. Just a heavy night, no other story to tell. Damn it. It wasn't the first time he'd turned her down like that, either, but at least this time he had seen her to the door.

There were more differences, of course, not least because of the conversation that had been slowly coming back to her since she woke up. She bent forward, her head in her hands, trying to replay the significant parts of the evening, and only managing to conjure up fuzzy images of being thoroughly kissed at her door. She sighed.

Suddenly something hit the desk on front of her and she snapped upright. It was a Marathon bar. She picked it up and looked up to see Gene giving her one of his lop-sided grins, his eyes brighter than they had any right to be, considering he was drinking and up as late as she had been.

"Thank you," she said slowly, unconsciously patting the side of her hair.

He looked at her for a few more seconds and then clapped his gloved hands together.

"Right then, you bunch of nancy softies, what fetid dangling from the underbelly of London scum are we dealing with today?" he said cheerfully.

After a few minutes with the rest of CID, directing them into various tasks like a general, he hung his coat up and went to sit down.

"Ah, Guv, can I have a word?" Alex managed, holding up a pencil to catch his attention.

"Fortuitous," he said, turning back in the doorway.

"Pardon?" Alex blinked.

"It's a word. 'Fortuitous'," he repeated. "Come on then."

She got up and scrambled after him into the office, closing the door behind her.

"Guv, you didn't mention Artemis out there," she said, running her fingers on the edge of his desk.

"I did not," he said, sitting down and hitching his feet on the desk.

"Well, I'm just wondering what the next move is," she replied.

"The next move is sitting on our hands and keeping our gobs shut," he told her.

"But we can't! We saw a murder, and we don't know what the connection to the file is, how can we let it drop?"

"Correction, we saw a video tape, not a murder. And furthermore, it was a videotape we nicked. It's a nice juicy lead for The News of the World, but it is not something I want us to pursue any further," he said.

"As simple as that?"

"As simple as that," he repeated.

Alex took a few steps to the side of the desk and back again, trying to channel her frustration. It was a mild reaction considering she wanted to jump up and down on the spot.

"I don't believe I trusted you! All that flannel about considering you, you were just buttering me up to drop me from a great height!" she shouted.

She saw his eyes flash with something and he rocked up and out of his seat.

"Keep your bloody voice down, woman! I do not appreciate our personal life fog horned across the department!" he hissed, coming round the desk.

"What?" she asked, thrown by the response. She expected sparring, but this was altogether different.

He took hold of her upper arm, opened the door and ushered her round the corner to the kitchenette.

"I think you need a cuppa," he said, flicking the kettle switch on.

Alex spluttered for a second, before steadying herself, running her hands through her hair.

"What just happened here?" she asked, bemused, one hand on her hip.

Gene put one teabag in each mug and got the milk out, before turning to Alex, folding his arms.

"Your DCI took you to one side to remind you that getting your fancy French knickers in a twist about a spooky murder, and doing it loudly, is very unnecessary," he told her, levelling his eyes at her for a second before the kettle boiled behind him. "That, and the chance to sneak a few cheeky minutes alone with you and your delectable arse was too good to pass up," he continued, handing her a mug of tea.

Alex knew she was staring in shock but she couldn't help it. He took her expression in as he took a mouthful of tea and stilled.

"Bolly?" he said.

"Uh, Guv, what happened last night…"Alex began, watching as his eyes narrowed.

"Yes?" he asked, his tone flat.

"I'm still trying to process, really, and I don't want us to get ahead of ourselves. Because, after all, we're not sure what we're talking about anyway, and I don't want things to reach…" she was babbling, and she didn't even know what she was aiming at.

"Are you backin' out?" he said, guardedly.

"No!" she said, instinctively, and his eyes widened in response. "No, I'm not. I'm just a bit, well, you know." She finished, looking down and tracing her toes round in a nervous circle.

"Yeah, I think I do," he said. "I think you want to hide, just like I said."

He took two steps towards her, holding his mug, his other hand slipped into his trouser pocket. She smiled nervously, looking back up at him. He was right, her overwhelming gut feeling right then was to put the drink down and flee to somewhere safe.

But where was safe if it wasn't next to Gene, anyway? Time and again since she had arrived, he was the clear point of reference. Maybe that was the problem, he was so real here it scared her, his presence shifting her perception of everything she knew.

"I'm not backing out," she said firmly. "I'm just hung over, and I didn't know if you'd have changed your mind," she added by way of explanation.

He cocked an eyebrow and took another gulp of tea.

"Bought you breakfast, Bols, 'course I haven't changed my mind," he said, putting the mug down.

She thought of the Marathon bar he chucked at her, and smiled.

"Thank you," she said warmly. "But I still want to go after Artemis."

Gene shook his head, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Is there anything on earth that could stop you?" he said wearily.

"Probably not. I need to find out what's behind it all if I'm ever going to get out of here. I mean, I don't know, maybe it's nothing to do with a way out, but I've exhausted or turned down so many options by now, it feels like I don't have any choice," she replied, watching him watching her the way he always did when she rambled about things which must sound like insanity from his perspective.

"You've always got a choice, Alex," he said, holding her gaze steadily.

There was a long beat, and somewhere in the back of her mind, there was a tone like a Buddhist chime. Then she blinked, and Gene was rubbing the back of his neck and pouting.

"Do I? Can we pursue this, then?" she asked.

Gene sighed and shrugged one shoulder, "Alright. But keep it on the QT."

"Thank you again," she said, putting her hand on his lapel.

He looked down at it and back to her face for a long moment.

"Right then, lets get on with that proper police-work thing," he said, moving past her and giving her backside a hearty smack as he did so.

She jumped, startled, turning to him as he stalked confidently back into the office.

"It's going to be a good day!" he announced to no one in particular, and she smiled quietly to herself and finished her tea.

~*~