Hey everyone, thanks for all the lovely reviews! They made me want to update as quickly as possible, as well as the fact that this story has just reached over 5000 hits! Thanks to everyone for reading, reviewing and sharing, I'm honestly over the moon. This is quite a long chapter, but I hope you can stick with it: I think it's worth it! Please continue to read and review, and share with friends!

"You... you slut!" Alastair spat with venom. "And, with him? With Hunt, for Christ's sake?"

Alex and Gene gave each other a puzzled, bemused look. "He's not the brightest button in the box, is he?" Gene said under his breath. "Wait for the penny to drop..."

And, almost as if on cue, Stoke's face dropped as if someone had slapped him hard across the face. "You're a copper, Alex?"

Like a sheepish child, Alex looked to the floor as her face burned with shame. The pain in Alastair's voice was heartbreaking; she had never meant for it to go this far. "I'm sorry..."

"You don't apologise to scum like that, Bolls," Gene growled, his arm still around her. "How's business then, Stoke? I heard that one of your deliveries was seized. Awful shame, that."

"I hate to disappoint you, Hunt, but your attempt to chase down one of my vans was feeble. You need a new line of information... another new one."

"Oh no. I'm never wrong. My colleague here will vouch for that. Am I right in thinking that some passports were on their way to you, meant to be arriving tomorrow morning?" Stoke was silent. "I think you'll find that they were rerouted via my police station."

"You bastard!" His face was red with rage. "You don't know what you've done!" And, to Gene's bemusement, tears rolled down Stoke's face.

He whispered to Alex, "What the bloody hell's up with him?"

"Those passports were for some of his relatives. They got into money troubles and he was helping them escape. Seizing their passports means that they're going to be killed. Gene..."

"If I didn't know any better, I would have thought you believed that bollocks you just spouted."

"Gene, I'm serious, I know he's not lying about it. We'll get him back to the station, get him on the drug and money laundering charges and then try to help these people in danger."

Stoke cleared his throat rather obnoxiously. "Sorry to interrupt, but I am still here."

Alex and Gene snapped their necks around to look at him. His voice still sounded strong, but his eyes gave way to the fear he was feeling, looking at the possibility that this was the end of his career. Alex stepped slowly towards Stoke.

"I know you're feeling angry and betrayed, Alastair, but you have to listen to me. I think it's time that we finish this. You said to me, you told me that you were scared. Scared about the passports, and I see hoe on edge you are whenever there's a phone call or a knock on your office door. Come with us now, and we can help you get out of any trouble you or your family is in."

"What, so I just surrender and you lock me up? Yeah, sounds fantastic... Why would I even listen to you, after what you've done? I really thought... I thought that we had a connection if I'm perfectly honest."

Gene snorted and tried to hold back laughter behind Alex. She turned to give him a scathing, reprimanding look but, as she turned she felt Stoke's hand grab her shoulder and his other arm close around her neck. Stoke reached into his jacket, tightening his grip, and Alex felt cold steel press against her temple and heard the safety on Stoke's gun become disengaged.

"Please, Alastair don't do this," Alex yelped while raising a hand to Gene who had began to move towards them. "I'm sorry if I led you on, okay? I became enveloped in the person I was pretending to be. You have every right to be angry with me, but this isn't the answer. If you shoot me, you'll add murder of a police officer to your charges. Don't make this situation any worse. I promise, I will help you as much as possible, but you have to let me go."

"I can't," Stoke stuttered, "You have to pay! You made me... you made me fall for you... You cold hearted bitch!"

Alex felt a tear drop fall from Stoke onto her cheek, mingling with her own. He tensed, and the gun pressed harder into her temple. She looked to Gene, wide eyed and terrified for her life and, as per usual, his face gave nothing away. He pulled a gun from under his coat and pointed it only slightly above Alex's head: this didn't fill Alex with confidence.

"Come on, Stoke. Give it up. Let her go and we can talk."

"Talk? Like hell we will. I know what coppers are like. If I'm going down anyway, why shouldn't I shoot your colleague here? Then I might get the credit I bloody deserve around here!"

"Alastair..." Alex's voice was barely audible now, his arm crushing the air out of her throat. "You've just said that you cared about me. Don't destroy something you care about. You've spent so many years pushing people away and hurting people you care about, but now, you got those passports to help your family. You've made progress, so don't stop now. Make sure that you don't go down for murder and miss what good you've done for them."

"Shut up, Alex, shut up!"

"Alastair, I cared about you to. I know you're a good man."

"Don't call me that! I don't want to be a good guy. Good guys get nowhere. And slut coppers like you get themselves killed."

Alex closed her eyes: she anticipated the bullet that was about to tear through her brain and braced herself as much as she could. The shot rang out into the darkness and echoed through the streets. The body propping her up moved and she felt free, this was it...

After a few seconds, Alex opened her eyes, wondering why she felt no pain and was still alive. She watched Gene lower his gun and place it back in his holster and then turned to see where Stoke was. She looked to the ground and understood.

Stoke lay in a pool of his own blood: panic and fear flashing in his eyes, making him look like nothing more than a scared child. Gene's bullet had lodged somewhere on the right side of his ribcage: it had been so close to hitting her. She knelt beside him, feeling his blood soak through her skinny jeans, and stroked his hair and she began to cry fiercely. Stoke raised a hand to her face and they both smiled meekly.

"I could have loved you, Alex. And I know you could have loved me too." Stoke said slowly, as he tried to remain conscious. He smiled again, but the blood rising in his throat poured out between his teeth. Alex felt his body tense and start to shake.

"Gene, ring an ambulance! Ring a bloody ambulance, now!" Alex started off yelling, but the end of her sentence was drowned by her violent sobs.

"He's not going to make it, Alex."

Stoke used his remaining energy to squeeze Alex's hand. He opened his mouth to speak, but only the sound of the blood gargling in his mouth emerged. His eyes fluttered, and eventually closed. He looked so peaceful.

Alex stood and looked down on Stoke. 'I could have loved you,' she thought. She took a deep breath and took a few moments to try to compose herself. She turned around and saw Gene lighting up a cigarette. He noticed that she had stood up and walked towards her, aiming to comfort her.

Alex charged towards him and shoved him, hard, in the chest. "You murdering bastard!"

"I saved your bloody bacon! He was going to shoot you if I didn't do something!"

"He didn't deserve to die! You've just as good as murdered his relatives he was trying to help as well. We have no way of getting any information about them, and I promised to help them!"

"No, you promised to help them if he helped us and he responded by trying to blow your brains out. You know that I did the right thing. A 'thank you' wouldn't go amiss..."

Alex slapped him across the face so hard that Gene stumbled backward slightly. "You inconsiderate prick! Regardless of what you think, the man you have just killed was a good man. We could have helped him..."

"That is not my job. My job is to put away the criminals, protect my kingdom and my team. I am not a bloody rehab service! I really don't know what you would have wanted me to do... was I supposed to let him shoot you?"

"I don't know why I expected you to understand how I'm feeling, or, or to be sympathetic. God forbid, Gene, that anyone has feelings, or wants to make a difference in a way you don't understand."

Gene stepped uncomfortably close to Alex, and leant forward until their noses where almost touching, and he barked. "Go home, Alex, and calm the FUCK down. Come and find me when you have."

"Just when I thought you were different. Just when we were getting somewhere with... with us. My mistake."