Thanks for your reviews! I'm pleased to see that the last chapter left you nice and puzzled. This chapter should answer some of your questions and hopefully pose a few more...

Alex lay frigid and stiff in bed all night. She dug the end of a paperclip into the tips of her fingers to keep herself awake and tried to make her breathing slow and steady. Next to her Gene slumbered peacefully, gentle snoring puncturing the warm silence of their bedroom.

Some hours later- though it felt like weeks to the sleep-deprived Alex, the snoring stopped and the weight distribution of the bed became messed up as Gene got up from his side of the bed. Alex closed her eyes as Gene padded round to her side and checked she was asleep. Not daring to open her eyes again, she listened to the rustling of Gene's clothes as he got dressed and left their bedroom.

As quickly and as quietly as she could, Alex got herself dressed in black leggings, a black shirt and the quietest shoes she owned, and crept downstairs. She pushed the street door open almost hoping that Gene had taken the Quattro and driven away so she couldn't follow him, but it was still there. And Gene was only a little way in this distance, walking the other direction to the station.

Alex followed him, hugging her arms close to herself as protection from the bitter wind that was biting at her skin. Dread too, was enveloping her as each step seemed to confirm Shaz story.

They came to a tunnel that Alex knew was the same one that Chris had met their snout in. It seemed empty, but Alex knew that as far as this tunnel was concerned, looks were deceiving. She buried herself in the shadows just as Gene glanced over his shoulder for the first time on his journey. Alex held her breath, but Gene didn't see her. She wondered fleetingly if she wanted to be discovered.

Gene's hiss carried through the tunnel like a snake. "Langley!"

There was no answer. Gene called again. "Langley!"

Then they emerged. The man Alex knew was Langley stepped from the other side of the tunnel, accompanied by the snout who was not looking happy. Alex felt a sudden rush of panic, did they see her? Did they see that Gene hadn't entered the tunnel alone? How long had they been there waiting?

"Hunt," said Langley, smiling, "Cigarette?"

Gene refused. The snout was not offered one. It seemed he was beneath Gene in the hierarchy of whatever the hell this was.

"My congratulations to you and your wife," Langley said, and was it Alex's imagination or did Gene just stiffen? "I hope the baby will be born healthy."

Shit, they know, thought Alex. How could they? It didn't seem like Gene had told them.

"It will be," said Gene and Alex wondered if Langley knew about the Cardoxymide, "How did you know?"

"I have sources other than you, Hunt. I wonder if half of what I hear is even true so thank you for confirming it for me." He suddenly took a step towards Gene and whispered (though Alex could still just about hear him), "You haven't forgotten where your loyalties lie, have you Gene?"

"No sir," Gene replied and Alex felt a knife twist in her heart.

Langley took a drag from his cigarette and grinned, allowing the smoke to escape from between his teeth.

"Is that all, sir? That's why you dragged me out of bed?"

"Just to see if you would come, Gene," and Alex was shocked not to see Gene land a punch on Langley's solar plexus. She couldn't believe Gene would let someone talk to him like that.

"I needed to be sure you were still faithful to our cause. Sudden news- like DCI Hunt's pregnancy- can make a man change, Hunt. What if you had suddenly seen the light?" Langley let out a cackle that mixed with a rough smoker's voice, sounded like nails down a blackboard.

"You can depend on me, Sir."

"Actually, there is another reason," said Langley, his voice suddenly hard and his eyes narrow. He whipped round to face the snout, who threw his arms up over his face, as though this would protect him. "You recognise our friend, Gene?"

Gene hesitated and Langley turned back, suddenly all smiles, which frightened Alex more than if he was still angry.

"I'd like for you to tell me, Hunt," he commanded, with a note of authority in his voice. Alex was shocked that anyone could have authority over Gene, even the Super seemed to look up to him. She was even more surprised that Gene succumbed.

"He's a snout. He betrayed the details of Operation Untold Misery. I told you about him last time."

Last time, Alex thought, trying not to be sick. That's when Shaz followed him.

"I know," said Langley, his smile widening, "In fact," he said, turning back to the snout, the smile sliding off his face as he did so, "There's only one reason why you're still alive. Unfortunately, it isn't good enough."

Langley reached into his coat pocket. The snout screamed aloud and started pleading for his life as Langley slowly aimed the gun at him. Alex knew she should cry out and intervene, but she couldn't. She was frozen as was Gene, apparently.

Langley held the gun in place for a few seconds, enjoying the wails of the snout, before, almost lazily, pulling the trigger and ending the snout's life. His knees buckled beneath him and he fell forward, his forehead slamming into the ground in front of him, bone splintering as it met concrete. Langley lowered his gun.

"You will stay loyal to me, Hunt," he hissed. "I know you will."

XXX

When Gene and Langley had left and the place was empty, Alex counted to a hundred before leaving her hiding place and running to the station as fast as her legs could carry her. She met no one on her way but she glanced up to her flat window as she passed Luigi's. There was no light on.

Her entering the station awoke the night-time desk sergeant and Alex asked him for the keys to the interview rooms. She stalked towards the room, making as much noise as possible and turning on all the lights as she went. She noticed an orange glow in the windows of CID but she didn't enter. Instead she unlocked the door to the interview room closest to CID and went inside.