First of all, thank you all so much for reading and reviewing this story! It means so much to get feedback from you guys. They put a smile on my face when I read them so tank you... Again! :)

Anyway this is Chapter 4 (in case you are not able to count)! This hasn't been proofread, so if you find any mistakes, please let me know. There's nothing much towards the plot in this one but it will pick up a lot more in the next chapters (well, depending on how many I write!). That's a point, I have no iea how many chapters will be in this story... I don't know, we'll see how it goes I suppose! :)

Alex stormed out of Gene's office. This was beginning to turn into a horrid nightmare; one that kept on getting worse and worse. Who'd have thought that one letter would cause this much hassle? Taking a quick look around the room, she tried to spot the red marker pen that may have been used to draw the face. It was useless, there were too many, spread-out all over the desks. Whoever did it was probably clever enough to take the pen with them after they had finished. Unless it was Chris of course! They most likely placed it back near the whiteboard, where all of the other pens were grouped together. Alex knew that she was wasting time here. She should be out there hunting down the person who had it.

Taking one last look around the room, she hurried out of the building. She then made her way down to Luigi's, where the rest of CID were enjoying their "lunch time". Walking through the door, she was greeted by many smiling, slightly drunken faces- including Luigi, who was drying-off some cutlery and glasses behind the bar. She made her way over to him and asked for a glass of red wine.

"No need Bollykecks" Gene was beside her in a matter of seconds. He handed her a glass of Luigi's "house rubbish" before returning to their corner table. Alex took his hint and followed him. She sat down next to him, making sure that she wasn't too close to him, in fear that she could turn into a head-over-heels-in-love wreck.

"I'm sorry about earlier" she began, not knowing quite what to say, "I didn't mean to upset you…" God, this was turning out to be very awkward to Alex. It almost sounded as if she was apologizing for loving him- although he didn't know that.

"Doesn't matter, Alex. You can inform me about that letter some other time." Gene took a sip of whiskey from his tumbler, before looking Alex straight in the eyes.

She felt like she was melting under his gaze- like a snowman in the blazing sun. His steel blue eyes seemed to pierce through hers; reading her thoughts and observing her soul. Under his gaze she was helpless, like a rabbit caught in headlights- all of her thoughts were incoherent and she found that she could barely breathe. Nothing else even mattered to her right now; all she could think of were his eyes looking directly into hers. He was controlling her every movement with just one look. She had never felt like this before, perhaps writing that letter had somehow enhanced her feelings towards him. Maybe it just made her love him even more. If so, that meant that she was caving into her feelings. Was this what she wanted?

It wasn't until she heard the faint calling of her name, did she snap out of her daze. "Alex? Alex? Earth to Alex?" Gene was calling her name pretty loudly now, whilst waving a hand in front of her face. He had a barely noticeable smile on his face.

"Yes? Sorry about that… I was in my own little world for a moment!" Alex shook her head slightly, in hope that she could clear away some of her thoughts.

"I noticed. Not that it's anything out-of-the-ordinary for you." He smirked, "So, did you find that letter you were ranting on about?"

"No, I still think it's someone from CID that has it though." Alex took a gulp of her red wine, appreciating the warmth it provided.

"Why would one of my team take it if they knew it was evidence?" He frowned, not quite understanding her story.

"I… I don't know. It's none of their business and they should just leave it alone." Oh God, had she said too much? She completely forgot who she was talking to. Gene Hunt couldn't know the contents of the letter- he was the contents!

Gene sighed. He knew that Alex was lying through her teeth; he could always tell when she was lying because she didn't tend to do it much. Why was she keeping it a secret from him? He was her DCI for crying out loud! And her friend… Well, so he thought. They were on such good terms a few weeks ago- they were even beginning to become closer, almost like… No, they couldn't have been that close to even consider being more than friends, could they? But now Alex was being more distant than ever. It was almost like she was ignoring him altogether. Gene Hunt hated that. He hated feeling hurt when she "forgot" to say good morning, or when she entered his office less frequently. Had he done something wrong? Because at this precise moment, he couldn't understand how she could change her attitude towards him so bloody quickly. He knew he was stronger than that, but he couldn't help feeling like she was stabbing him in the back every time she acted like this. Taking another sip of his whiskey, he gathered the courage to ask her something he had wanted to ask her for days.

"What's the matter Alex? Why are you being so off with me?" He tried not to sound vulnerable, which was proving to be very hard.

"I'm not being off with you, Gene. It's just work and… the stress of trying to find that letter. It's not you." Alex averted her gaze to the table, where she tried to pretend she was interested in one of the red napkins.

"I don't believe that. You've been like this for days- weeks even. And it seems to be only me that you're being bloody off with." Gene mumbled. He hated showing that he actually cared.

Alex looked at him. Was this really affecting him? I suppose they were fairly close- even if it was in a colleague-based way. She missed "hanging out" with him like they used to too. It didn't seem right. Perhaps once she had found the letter, they could continue being work friends- although she knew that that would be a very hard thing to do. Would she ever be able to see him as just a friend? It seemed impossible.

"I'm just going over to see how Shaz is…" There she was again, avoiding any awkward situation that came in her way. She couldn't help feeling like a total cow. Gene simply nodded and waved his hand, as if telling her to go away.

Alex rose from her chair and began striding over to the table where Shaz, Ray, Chris and now Viv were situated. They seemed to be having a very secretive chat amongst themselves. Each one of them were leaning into the middle of the table whilst whispering. She stepped closer to the table, trying to eaves-drop onto their conversation. At that exact point, Luigi manoeuvred his way in front of her.

"Signorina Drake, you look tired. A long day at work, yes?"

"Err yes, Luigi, a very long day at work. Excuse me…" She tried to move past him, but he stepped in the same direction, blocking her from her destination, "Sorry, could I go past?" Alex asked politely.

"No, Signorina, you need to go to bed, you look extremely tired. You go upstairs and I bring a bottle of wine, yes? On the house!" Luigi ushered her away from the table and onto the stair case. Alex obliged, slightly shocked at his persistence. She quickly went upstairs and waited for her "free" bottle of wine on her sofa. Minutes later, Luigi knocked on the door, gave her the bottle and told her to go to bed once more.

Meanwhile, downstairs in Luigi's, Shaz, Chris, Ray and Viv were plotting their next move…

Ooooooooooh, but what are they plotting? Who knows?... I know! Anywho, what did you think of this chapter? I'd appreciate your comments; good or bad. I know that I enjoyed writing this though! :D

Thanks for reading/reviewing/looking at the words. :)

-Claire x