"Guv? 'Ow was Manchester?"
"No idea," Gene says simply, striding into his office and shrugging his coat off, reaching for the familiar bottles of scotch behind his desk and grabbing a tumbler from the filing cabinet. Alex, following behind him at a safe distance, hurries in and seats herself behind her desk, drawing Ada's files out and beginning to read as Ray approaches her, eyes flicking from her to Gene's office as he lowers his voice.
"Er, Boss, 'e was OK, wasn' 'e?"
Alex looks up, closing the files abruptly.
"DCI Hunt was fine. Not that it's any particular concern of yours, DS Carling."
Ray shifts slightly.
"Nah, just... wonderin' what kind o' mood 'e'll be in fer the next few days."
"Well, let's think, shall we? He's just lost a long-term friend, he's beating himself up for failing to protect her parents, who are thankfully recovering in hospital, and he's angry about failing to apprehend the suspect. I don't think he'll be skipping around the daisy fields myself, Carling."
"If yer quite finished wi' yer WI meetin', ladies, maybe yer could get on wi' some work?" Gene growls from his office, but there's no real malice behind it and he retreats to the files propped up on a couple of scotch bottles on his desk as soon as Ray is seated again. Alex watches him covertly from behind her own files, seeing the way his eyes flick from word to word, how he sucks his breath in occasionally and lets it out again in a long, deep sigh. The tear tracks are long gone from his skin, but they wouldn't have been out of place.
The witness statements from the shooting glare back at Alex in the harsh CID light; she takes a heavy breath herself, beginning to read, noting down points listlessly on a pad next to the statements as Chris and Ray twiddle their thumbs and gaze around the room, half daydreaming and half watching out for Gene's temper to flare. It doesn't, much to the surprise of CID; Gene stays almost silent for the whole day, simply flicking through paperwork and thinking.
Alex can see the tension beginning to build in the office as Gene remains silent, poring through file after file, his eyebrows pushed together in concentration. Shaz motions for Alex to go in there and see what's up with him; after hesitating for a while, she gives in and stands up, pushing her chair back and getting a "good luck" from Chris, heading towards the lion's den.
Gene swerves up as the door opens to reveal his DI, leaning back slightly and taking a healthy swig of scotch to bolster himself a little. Alex walks over to perch on the desk behind the files, her eyes meeting his, brown-flecked green onto bright blue.
"Yes, hello, what?"
Alex looks down at the pad next to his hand, seeing it blank apart from a smudge of ink from the ballpoint abandoned next to it. Well, he does have a good memory. Bastard can remember every case since he started on the force, it seems to me. Jesus, he is rubbing off on me, I'm even starting to sound like him now!
Shaking her head to try and stop herself, she motions to the files, her head on one side curiously.
"What're you thinking?"
"They all say the same thing, Bolls, that a man's silhouette was seen runnin' away a couple o' seconds after it 'appened."
She notes his hesitation to talk about exactly what happened to Ada, quietly urging him to carry on.
"Nobody saw 'is face or identity, or 'eard 'is voice. Sounds like 'e went in a back way- wouldn't 'ave been 'ard, they don' tend ter lock the doors often- an' did it without sayin' anythin', not even a warnin'. Bastard- just in an' bang. No word ter Ada."
His voice tails off as he becomes a little more self-aware and looks down at the desk. Alex smiles, reaching out under the desk to shyly brush her hand against his, letting the sparks rush between their bodies as his eyes meet hers.
And for a second, the world melts away, and there is just each other and their burning gazes, their personalities and eyes swooping together and captivating them in their own universe...
The door of Gene's office bangs open, making both jump and turn, seeing the Superintendent standing a metre or so away from them, scrutinising them as Gene stands up and straightens his suit and Alex brushes herself off sub-consciously and crosses her arms, giving the Super a smile.
"Yes, sir, what can we do fer yer today?" Gene asks, his back ramrod straight with embarrassment. The Super faces him directly, one hand sneaking over to the files and picking them up, skimming through them for a second before dumping them back on the desk and clasping his hands in a show of fake regret.
"Well, Gene, we've been told- by your unfortunate accident at the crime scene- that you are personally involved in this case, that you were a close friend of the victim."
Gene's lips tighten at the Super calling Ada "the victim", but he bears it out, simply nodding jerkily. The Super sighs.
"You see, Gene, I can't let you continue with this. You're too personally involved, your judgement will be marred by your feelings. I'm not going to accept you heading this case. I'm afraid you are, as of now, dismissed from the Adriana Mironescu murder case."
Alex waits for the screaming, the shouting, the blatant, complete refusal to vacate his office. But what she gets is complete silence. She turns to see Gene frozen, hands in pockets, his face blank of any emotion at all.
When he does speak, it is in a tone so flat it could have belonged to a table top.
"Yes, sir."
And without another word, he turns and grabs the Scotch bottle from his desk, walking out of the room and along to the double doors, vanishing quietly as the whole office falls silent in his wake.
She found him kicking a ball against his wall, running after it as it bounced off at an awkward angle. He'd never been the best at football, clumsy and no ball control, but when he kicked you had to run. It was hard to believe there was so much power in those skinny legs.
"Gene, I need to talk with you."
Gene turned, picking the ball up and shoving it under a bush as he faced her. She felt her heart ache as she studied his features: the bright, intelligent eyes, the genteel face, the elegant curve of his nose. Her one real friend here in Manchester, and she knew she owed him a debt she could never repay for it.
"Yeah?"
Gene stood up straight, brushing his trousers off, his eyes meeting hers. She looked away, missing his eyes narrowing in suspicion. Everything about her screamed evasive; she was hiding something, although what he didn't know.
"Gene, I- I've been talking with Simu. He wants to go back to Romania."
Gene's face blanked with shock.
"Right," he managed to whisper, his body beginning to tingle as he visualised Ada's next words. She bowed her head, fiddling with her fingernails, unable to meet his eyes as she whispered her next words.
"Gene, I have to go with him, I'm his wife. So I'm- we're leaving for Romania in a couple of days."
Gene's breathing stopped.
His muscles were frozen with shock, and although he attempted to say something his mouth was too dry and numb to create words. Something slid down into his stomach at the same time as cold piercing his heart, throwing it into a pit of knives and instantly mashing it. He swore it had stopped beating. His eyes found Ada, looking down at the floor, evidently expecting an answer from him.
What could he say? That her going was losing the one person he could be close to in the world? That her leaving would rip him apart from the inside out? All his life, he had looked for someone he could trust. And now that person was going.
Ada murmured a prayer to herself that he would take it OK, ask for her new address, wish her well, say something about Simu's decision- say anything.
When she looked up, only getting silence, he was gone.
"Gene? Gene, where are you? Gene!"
A street away, Gene heard her voice, but didn't turn back. His whole form burned with agony at the thought of Ada's imminent departure; her hand landed on his shoulder as she caught up with him, panting, but he shrugged it off.
"Oh, Gene, I'm sorry, I really am. I tried to explain to him-"
"Don' bother."
Gene's voice was as cold as the iceberg gathering in his chest. Ada flinched as though he'd struck her physically.
"Gene, I promise, I tried to talk him out of it, but he wants to go back to his family. I tried to sat that you're like family to me, tried to say about you, but it didn't work, I-"
"Don' worry," Gene said softly, emotionless, stopping in the middle of the street, Ada's breath rushing on his shoulder as she bent as close to him as he would allow. "Yer real family's more importan'. 'E's made up 'is mind. Yer can' stop 'im, nor can I. It's nothin' ter do wi' me anymore. Yer go ahead, make yer own life."
There was no trace of humanity in his words; it may as well have been a robot speaking. Ada tried to grab him, hug him to get some warmth back into him, but he slinked out of her grasp, beginning to walk away again.
"Genie..."
His pet name stopped him. He turned slowly, seeing tears running down Ada's cheeks, her voice cracked and desperate as she reached out to him, holding her arms out like a little child seeking reassurance.
"Genie, don't leave me. Please. I can't leave you knowing I've hurt you and you haven't forgiven me. You mean too much to me for that. I don't want to go, I have to. Gene..."
Her voice faded away, and she shook her head, her mouth forming incoherent words as Gene moved slightly closer. Her eyes fixed on his as she reached out further, taking a step towards him, finally making the noises she wanted to.
"Gene? Gene? Help me, Gene... help me!"
And then he was running towards her, lifting her up in a huge hug, letting her bury her face in his shoulder and cry, gently letting her down as she murmured his name into his shirt, running his hands over her back and whispering reassurance to her, that he'd always be there for her, that he'd always be her friend no matter what, that she meant too much to him to be let go like this.
Ada sniffled, drawing her face out from his skin, looking up at the boy she harboured more sisterly love for than for her own brother. Gene was dry-eyed, completely devoid of tears, but the emotion was everywhere on his familiar face, his smooth features.
"I never wanted to go," she said gently, reaching up to smooth his hair away from his face. He flicked it back, his eyes still fixed on hers as her lips brushed his cheek, salt tears running onto his own face. Her hand found his, scarred from fighting and his father's punishments, and grasped it hard, as though she would never let go for as long as she lived.
"Adriana! GET AWAY FROM HER!"
They turned as one. Simu was running up the street, towards Gene and Ada, fury in his eyes as he tumbled at Gene, punching him hard in the face, kicking him as he fell onto the street, coughing and gasping. Ada screamed at her husband, pulling him off Gene as he doubled over on the pavement, clutching his abdomen. Simu grabbed Ada's shoulders and yanked her away bodily, spitting at the helpless teenage boy retching up blood into the gutter.
"You keep away from my wife," he hissed at Gene, throwing Ada backwards and walking back to kick Gene one more time before drawing away, watching as Gene looked up at him, blue eyes filled with pain.
"I was just sayin' goodbye ter my friend," he gasped, his eyes flicking towards Ada. Simu's face filled with red-hot fury for a second before he turned and saw that Ada was nowhere to be seen.
"Adriana? Adriana! Vin aici!"
He ran, forgetting the young man lying behind him, watching with a faint smile on his face as he turned to see Ada running the opposite way, away from her husband.
She couldn't run forever, she knew that. But she could say her goodbyes.
And anyway, he'd faked most of the pain. Of course.
Still, didn't mean that him combing most of Manchester for his wife wouldn't be a nice plan for revenge for beating him up.
Gene Hunt could do sneaky as well as anyone.
Alex finds him in Luigi's, downing a scotch with his eyes on the window, one hand absent-mindedly rubbing over his arm as he sits immersed in memories, his eyes far in the past. She settles into the seat next to his, touching his skin as he turns and immediately returns to his whisky.
"I've filed a statement saying that your judgement is not impaired and that it would be best if you were reinstated to the case immediately. I don't know how long it'll take to be read and such, or if it'll work, but it's worth a try."
"Thanks," he says quietly, his finger tracing the rim of the scotch. Alex stoops slightly to see his face.
"What're you thinking about?"
"Well, if I told yer that, I wouldn' 'ave the devastatingly attractive air of mystery that makes me so in demand wi' the ladies."
Alex smirks, her hand finding its way to his thigh as he clocks it, his eyes wide, and stares at her.
"Yer windin' me up, Bolls?"
"No," she says simply, a smile on her own face. "You just said it yourself, it's your air of mystery that's drawing me in." Retrieving her hand, she stands up, picking up his whisky and making to drain it herself. He yelps and makes a grab for it, hearing her laugh as they fight over the whisky and then the shriek as it spills over her polka-dot blouse.
"Shit," they say in unison, Alex rubbing at her sodden clothes with her hands and Gene yelling to Chris for a towel to "dry the DI up". Before she can say anything he's rubbing the liquid off her chest, his hands gentle on the flimsy fabric; she feels his fingers squeezing a little on her breasts and wriggles out of his grasp, trying not to make it obvious that she didn't mind that much, catching his self-satisfied look before he tosses the towel onto the table and pulls his hip-flask out, taking a healthy swig of single malt as he checks her out, sodden and her top all but see-through, his eyes glistening as she hurriedly grabs the towel and holds it up to protect her dignity.
"Better get up ter yer flat, Lady Bolls, yer goin' ter need ter look respectable."
Alex frowns, rearranging the towel and fixing him with a look, confused.
"Why, are we going somewhere?"
"We are. Since 'Is 'Ighness in Super Castle 'as decided I'm off the case, I'm goin' ter start doin' my own investigation inter the death of Ada Mironescu. An' yer can 'elp me by gettin' me the files from CID and throwin' the Super off the scent."
Alex smiles as she recognises the indirect plea for help. They aren't really orders, although anyone watching would think they were: it is Gene's way of asking her to aid him, to be on his side when the rest of the world is conspiring against him. And right now, she would do anything to be his rock in the tumult of the world that Ada has left.
"Of course, Guv. I'm sure CID can have copies made, or can cope for a day or two. We know the data off by heart, anyway."
Gene gives her the ghost of a smile, leaning against the brick wall outside her door as she hurries in to get a new blouse and get herself respectable again, sighing on her way in that she reeks of whisky.
Something down below Luigi's catches his eye, and he freezes, seeing someone heading towards the door of the trattoria, a glint in their hand.
They look up at the stars, letting their hair fall back for a moment, and Gene's breathing stops.
Mihai Mironescu is heading for Luigi's, with a gun.
A/N: Hope you liked it! Please remember to review. Thanks hugely for reading, and please, please do review, it actually makes my week, no joke! Jazzola :D