A/N: Hope you're enjoying it, guys! I have family visiting, started a new job this week and have my MA dissertation to write (as well as trying to add to this story at every chance I get) - so for the next week, unless I have a chance I won't be able to post the next part for about a week. Thank you so much for all the reviews for the small few drifting into this fandom. Bless you guys. All mistakes, as always, are my own.

Your Love Came to Me

4.

The moment she sat down in the office space she had been using for the week, she had a feeling that she was a little on display. Sam was sitting as usual in his chair, a soft smile on his face.

"I wanted to thank you," he spoke in way of greeting; she had barely removed her coat and felt slightly thrown by his words, never mind his presence there. Usually she'd get in and he'd come along by ten, but it was barely nine and she stuttered to a stop.

"I, uh… Hello," she quickly went along her usual business to restore some semblance of control, "what did you want to thank me for?"

"You've helped me remember what is important," he looked down slightly, a little blush on his cheeks.

"Yes, well… I wanted to talk to you about certain developments," she smiled as she took her seat, "because the last we discussed a certain Annie Cartwright, you weren't exactly speaking."

"We were…" he corrected, looking bashful, "Annie's… remembering the Annie I knew and the Annie from 1973, you let me understand that those feelings were valid, that she would understand. I was afraid of losing either version of her if I spoke about what happened to me."

"As though speaking to Annie about the version in your coma would invalidate her?" Alex questioned and Sam gave a shrug.

"I didn't want to tell you I was talking to her about everything," he paused, scrunching his face up in confusion, "I'm not entirely sure why."

"It's private, Sam," she smiled, "you're allowed to have them, everything that happens here is between us, but I only know what you tell me. Which can be as much or as little as you want, you know that."

"I guess I didn't want you to think I was doing it with malice," he shifted in his seat, "and I'm thanking you because for a moment there… I reached a point where I wasn't sure I'd… I'd be able to...keep…" he trailed off, suddenly looking away from her. She moved around the desk and leant on the desk before him, tapping her hand on his knee.

"I want to thank you, too," she commented, "you're brilliant, Sam… and I'm glad you rang me that night, because I saw someone great and I… I can admit I was afraid." In a flash she hadn't expected, Sam shot up out of his seat and pulled her into a hug. It was half-desperate but she appreciated it, holding onto him just as tight – tears prickling at her own eyes.

There was a lot unsaid, the truth lay in the fact that with Sam doubting his very reality, if she hadn't been a sounding board for him he may have died… her short stay in Manchester was all he really needed and Alex took a moment to marvel again at home fragile and strong the mind can be. She would stay for the whole time she had planned to, Molly was excited for one, but she knew her meetings with Sam were probably drawing to a close.

Pulling back, Sam wiped angrily at his eyes, "I'm beginning to forget," he told her sadly, sitting down on his chair again, Alex went back around the desk to hers, "it is fading away… like a…"

"Like a dream?"

"Mm…" he was mourning the loss of the world, and Alex gave him that time, as she always did. He took a deep breath and looked at her with a smile, "Are we allowed to talk about you?"

Despite expecting it and maybe knowing it was coming, it still threw Alex to be asked and she gave a little nod in reply, but offered no words.

"You have a good night last night?"

"I did."

"You and the Guv hit it off," he grinned at his words, "you know he doesn't take to new people usually."

Alex took a moment to reply, she had digested a lot about both versions of Gene Hunt from her talks with Sam and the man she spent some time with that night before was scarcely like either. It took her musing in bed alone to realise that that side of Gene was one that his friend would probably never know. She took a sweet pleasure in that thought.

"Well… I guess I should count myself lucky, then," she was being evasive but she seemed slightly protective of that hour she spent with him alone.

"He called me last night," Sam told her after a moment and she found herself sitting up slightly, "I believe he said something along the lines of I should go into a coma more often if it brings 'birds like 'er up north'." Alex could feel the burning start in her cheeks and looked down at the table.

She wouldn't ask what else he said…

She wouldn't…

"Did he… say anything…" she shook her head, "this is ridiculous, I feel like a teenager." Sam laughed but leant forward, a peculiar look on his face that Alex hadn't seen before. Something akin to mirth.

"Well, there's no need to pass notes as you're seeing him tonight."

He managed to answer her question without really telling her anything. Yes, he did say something. She felt a pleasurable little flutter in her stomach and bit her bottom lip.

"It's quite ridiculous, really," she brushed her hair from her face, "I feel slightly propelled towards him. Anyway, you don't need to hear any of this. We're here for you." She took her notebook out of her bag and started to look at the ones she made the night before, until she was cut off.

He has reconnected with Annie after a rough period. Definitely love there. I can only hope something I've said has helped. Will explore this soon.

Gene Hunt. Amazing eyes – something Sam never mentioned.

Sam is deceptively open about his personal life with those closest to him. Trust is important to him, and he doesn't trust me… not rea

She let herself smile, the unfinished sentence in her notes. She remembered his hand on top of hers and the butterflies in her stomach at the touch.

"Is it okay if… I talk about him?"

"Gene?"

"Not specifically about you two…" he trailed off, "although a little about that, too."

"These are your ses-" her phone beeped a text tone and she cringed trailing off, "I'm sorry, Sam. I usually have my phone on silent when we talk but…"

"I was early."

"Is it okay if I…" she gestured to the phone already in her hand and Sam nodded, obviously taking the time to make some observations about her while she was busy.

She managed to ignore his eyes on her as she looked at her phone. Up until the moment she saw who the message was from.

Gene Hunt.

They had only exchanged one message each the night before. A quick 'good night gene x' from Alex and a 'night x' from him. If anything it made her feel a little like he may not have been interested, at least not as interested as he had been when he left her at her hotel. The new addition to their technological conversation, definitely made her rethink that.

Gene Hunt:
Keep thinking about 2night

Alex couldn't stop the smile from taking over her face, even as she heard Sam chuckle from in front of her.

"That him?" Sam asked which was a little cheeky if Alex was honest, but then this was a deviation from their norms. After all, this did directly concern him – Gene was his closest friend, and Alex had a feeling she had the power to hurt him.

"Um, yes… he's just mentioning tonight," she avoided any details, "I'll give him a quick reply and then put it on silent."

Alex Drake:
Me too x

Barely a few seconds past before she had a reply – he managed to throw apart any preconceptions she had made about him from Sam's notes. She assumed a man like Gene wouldn't be able to handle a phone, but he seemed to be handling it just fine. Another reminder that the man from 1973 who was afraid of change… didn't exist.

Gene Hunt:
Come to my office

Alex Drake:
I'm with Sam…

Gene Hunt:
He can come 2 could b a party

Alex Drake:
We're having a session, Gene.

Gene Hunt:
Come after.

Gene Hunt:
Want 2 c u

Gene Hunt:
Won't beg

Alex Drake:
I'll be there x

Gene Hunt:
I know

She debated replying again, but she turned her phone on silent and finally looked up at Sam. He was smiling softly and she felt herself blush again.

"He… wants us to go to his office, after this."

Sam nodded slowly, "Okay… did he say when he expected us?"

"Uh, no…" she paused, "we should continue what we were talking about."

"Gene…" he sat comfortably in his seat again, "his marriage wasn't good, in 1973 or up until 2005. He was happier… back in my coma world. He was freer even though he was still married, he hasn't really been happy since the divorce."

"I'm not here to hurt him, Sam," she guessed that was what he was implying, "you must know I had no intentions of even… the Gene Hunt you described from your coma isn't exactly the most appealing of potential partners… and I definitely didn't think I'd end up on a date with the real one hours after meeting him, either."

"Or snogging down by the river?"

"You two really did gossip?" she countered.

"Like I said, he hasn't really… I think he probably likes you more than he understands," he rubbed a hand over his face, "we share a lot, me and Gene. His marriage fell apart and he stayed with me for a few months. In the coma he was unhappily married but happy because he didn't have to really answer to her; here… it felt like a failure."

"It is possible the world you created also made it a better place for Gene," she tilted her head, "if he felt like a failure because his marriage failed, he managed to have a happy life in your coma world, whilst also never suffering that failure."

"He got over it, the divorce… but a part of him wasn't the same."

"You're worried about him."

"Yes," he admitted with no pretence, "and you. He can be a hard bastard when he wants, too. If he thinks for a moment you're going to hurt him… he's going to hit you ten times harder."

"Like a caged tiger."

"Lion."

"Ah, yes… the Manc Lion," she bit her bottom lip, "I promise you, Sam. I'll be as forthcoming as I possibly can with him, I've got Molly. She comes first and as nice as… spending time by the river with Gene Hunt was, tonight will consist of a lot more talking." Probably more talking than either of us actually want.

"I know…" he smiled and stood, "how about I take you to our lord and master? He'll be getting impatient." She felt an uncontrollable urge to want to make him wait, to tease him, but after everything Sam said… she realised that this evening between them could be the beginning of something great, or it could spell the end before it began.

"Okay, let's go…"