Alex shoved her hands into the pockets of Gene's coat, trying to ward off the chill that seemed to be seeping into her bones. The heavy wool, now damp with rain, held little warmth. Her fingers encountered the outlines of a hip flask and for a moment Alex was almost tempted to take a sip.

"Come on, Alex, you don't need to see this," Jim said, his hand on her shoulder felt like fire.

"I'm staying," Alex replied.

"You've done your job. It's time to rest."

There was a hypnotic quality to his voice, and for a moment Alex wondered if she shouldn't just leave. She was, by her own admission, very, very tired. It would be so easy to give in to his pleading tones.

"He doesn't need you."

In the distance Alex heard a crash, and then a gunshot. Keats was wrong.

"Are you armed, sir?" she asked.

"What?"

Alex held out her hand.

"You don't need to do this Alex."

"Actually, I think I do. Please sir…"

Without another word, Keats handed over his gun. For Alex, the weight of it in her hand was reassuring. She started to run.

"Alex you haven't got any shoes on!" Keats shouted after her.

"I saw Die Hard twenty seven times!" she yelled back. Not that he would know what she meant.

Alex felt better as she jogged away from Keats. Her mind cleared as she strode through the assembled police cars towards the building where she had been held captive.

The ground floor was a warehouse, a huge echoing empty space with stairs at one end that led to offices on the second floor. Alex could hear shouts from above but some instinct told her not to join her colleagues. She ignored the stairs, moving instead to the back wall of the warehouse. There was another door, a fire exit… another way out. Moving closer, Alex could see that it wasn't quite shut.

She knew she should call for backup. There were a hundred good reasons why she shouldn't be doing this on her own but Alex wasn't in the mood for logical thinking. Pain and fear were driving her onwards… the ache in her body that she was trying to ignore and the very real concern that he would do this to someone else. Taking a deep breath she pushed open the door and stepped through.

The yard outside was stacked high with drums and bulk containers. On closer inspection Alex realised that they must have been there for some time. Exposed to the elements, some of them had tipped over, spilling their contents on the concrete. She trod carefully, avoiding the pools of what appeared to be congealed gunge. It was just so damn difficult to see anything. If anything, the rainstorm had intensified. Water was running freely down Alex's face but she didn't dare wipe it away.

"Bolly!"

She turned to see Gene silhouetted in the open doorway.

"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?"

"Slater?" she asked hopefully.

"Scarpered. He'll be long gone by now. "

"No. He knows the place is surrounded. I know him Guv, he'll lie low until we give up and leave."

"Alex…"

"He's here."

To prove her point, Alex pushed over the nearest drum. It crashed to the ground the lid bouncing across the concrete but it wasn't a barely identifiable liquid that leaked out.

"Oh God…

"Shit!"

Alex clamped her hand across her mouth as she tried to stop herself throwing up. Whatever was inside the drum had once been human and Alex had the horrible suspicion that it had once been a woman. She had dead woman on her feet.

How long had she been here? How long had her friends and family been searching for her? How many more? Alex knocked over the next drum and the next, the white flame of fury giving her the strength. Dimly she noticed that Gene was at her side adding his power to her own. Alex was ignorant to the fact that her hands were bruised, her feet were bleeding. All the pain would be worthwhile when the found him… and there he was, crouched inside a barrel.

"Get out, " Alex smiled.

She felt a surge of anger as she watched Slater crawl out of his hiding place. Miserable little shit. He was actually laughing.

"Shut up," she screamed at him,

But he didn't stop. Alex brought her gun up, cocking the pistol with every intention of using it. The world would be a better place without this particular piece of scum… Except there was a body between Alex and her target. Gene was standing in front of her.

"No."

"Let me do it!" she begged. "We'll tell them it was self defence."

"You're not a killer Alex."

Slater had hurt so many women. One shot, right in the balls… he deserved that much didn't he? To her dismay, Alex realised that her hands were shaking. She wasn't going to shoot. The moment had passed and she let her gun drop. She didn't even protest when Gene gave Slater a solid kick in the gut.

Alex slumped back her physical discomfort suddenly overwhelming. Dimly she was aware of Gene's voice, of other officers cuffing Slater and dragging him away. Her gun still dangled loosely in her grasp. It might have minutes or even hours later when she realised that Gene was gently removing it from her hand.

"Come on Bolls, let's get you out of here, " he said.

"We did it," she said, quietly, "It's over."

"Yes… it's over."

Gene took her arm and attempted to lead her away but she couldn't seem to put one foot in front of the other.

"Just want to rest a moment," she protested sitting down suddenly, nearly dragging him down as well.

"You can't sleep there."

"Just a moment…"

"Get up Bolly!"

But she shook her head. He could shout all he wanted, she wasn't moving. Gene crouched down in front of her and pushed the hair back from her face.

"How many fingers, " he asked holding up his hand.

Alex flinched, turning her head away from him.

"Leave me alone."

"Not this time Bolls. You let Slater smack you around the head one too many times. "

She fought as he picked her up. For a second his touch was as unwelcome as Slater's had been but the logical part of her mind resurfaced. This was Gene. He wasn't going to hurt her.

Resting her head against his shoulder Alex let her tears soak into his jacket. He wouldn't notice. It was still raining.