AN:

Title: Hope You're Happy Too

Words: 2,214

Romantic Pairings: Gene&Alex.

About: Ashes To Ashes

"Right ladies" Gene spoke "A body has been found down by the river, plods say it looks like suicide, there's a gun near the man's body and a considerable amount of cash in a brief case"

"So debt wasn't the reason for killing himself then" Alex piped up.

"Exactly Lady Bolls, which is why we're going to have to get in touch with family and friends to find out why, we'll also have to find out where all the money came from, it could be stolen or anything" he rubbed his hands together "Let's get down there"

He got his coat from his office and the team headed out to the Quattro.

When they arrived at the river Alex immediately saw where the access route down to the water was cordoned off. As Alex, Gene, Chris and Ray walked down to the crime scene, Alex linked her arm through Genes, his hands were in his trouser pockets. She could see the body ahead; lay on his back with his arms by his sides, the trousers of his suit covered it dirt on the knees, as though he had been knelt down prior to his death.

"Doesn't look that bad, plods made it out to be a stomach turner" Gene said as they stood next to the body.

Alex unlinked him and walked around to the other side of the body, which was when she realised what they had meant. One side of the man's face looked like it had exploded, it was completely missing.

"Oh my God..." her hand flew to her mouth and she ran off out of sight in order to throw up.

Gene didn't go after her, because he suddenly noticed something. In the pocket of the waistcoat the man was wearing, underneath his suit jacket, was a black biro and a pair of glasses. The man's thick black hair was dishevelled and he had light stubble across his cheeks, chin and neck.

"I'm sorry about that..." coughed Alex as she rejoined them.

"Bolls, look at him" Gene said, his tone disheartened and dejected "Look at him"

Alex did as he told her, trying her hardest not to catch glimpses of the ruin of half the man's face "What am I looking at?"

"The suit, the hair, the pen and glasses in the waistcoat pocket..." he put a hand on his fiancés shoulder "Its Summers"

Alex moved to the foot of the body, looking him up and down. Gene was right; even though he was missing half of his face she could now make out that it was James.

"Jesus Christ" she mumbled to herself "What did you go and do that for?"

"Come on Bolls; let's get you away from this okay?" Gene was by her side, trying to get her away from the scene, but she pushed him away.

"Guv?" came Ray's voice from where the brief case was "You might want to look at this"

Ray was pointing into the case, wads of case lined up and an envelope on top of it. As Gene got closer he was able to make out writing on the envelope, it said DI Alex Drake.

"Looks like you've got some post here Bolly"

Alex looked over and saw Gene holding up the envelope. She went over and took it from his grasp, ripping it open and unfolding the paper inside.

Dear Alex,

If you are reading this then it means that I am no longer here, it also means that you have found the briefcase full of money and I want you to have it. I have no friends and I have no family, only you. I didn't really have you but you were around for a short while. I think I saw a bit of Marie in you, in fact I saw a hell of her in you. You both share the same mannerisms, the way you hold yourself with so much confidence, that was until I crushed you, turned you into some vulnerable and exhausted shadow of your former self, because that's what I do, you see? I damage people, I try to control them and suppress their personality until they feel like they have nothing left to do other than give into what I want or find a way out, and the only way out for Marie was death. I hope you don't think less of me for doing this, I know I always seemed like such a determined and strong man but deep down I was broken and weak, that's why I acted the way I did. I wish I could have been around to see the baby, maybe if I had been the father I would have stayed around in this lonely world. Don't blame yourself; things happen, people die, the world moves on. I know you'll move on, you have Gene. You once told me that he was your man, that he was your hero. Gene Hunt may be many things but a hero he is not, he is a man of many things but a hero he is not, he is a man of many things but a hero he is not...

The rest of the page was filled with the same sentence over and over again with his name written at the bottom in scribbled handwriting.

"He has lost it!" she shouted, trusting the letter at Gene "He is a complete lunatic!"

"Alex calm down"

"No I bloody won't calm down!" she turned to the pale body behind her "What are you trying to do, ey? Trick me into feeling guilty from beyond the grave?" she laughed sarcastically and put on a whiney voice "Oh look at me I have no family, no friends!" she laughed again "Get over yourself! You're nothing but a pathetic excuse for a human being!"

"Right I'm taking you back to the station" Gene spoke, holding her by the shoulders and shifting her away from the scene, from the crowd of people watching the pregnant DI rant and yell at a cold dead body.

"I don't know about him" Ray indicated to the body as he whispered to Chris "But I think Drakes the one that's lost it"

Alex sighed deeply as she relaxed into the passenger seat of the Quattro; her calming moment was broken as Gene slammed the door shut after getting into the vehicle.

"What the hell is wrong with you Drake?" he asked "What was that stunt you just pulled?"

"He wants me to have that money, says he has no family or anything so I might as well have it" running her hands down her face she felt an onslaught of tears beginning to fall down her cheeks.

"Oh don't start the water works" he groaned "I can't cope with crying women"

"He's trying to make me feel like it's my fault" she wept "And it's bloody working, slimy little bastard"

"He always was one for getting inside people's heads" Gene looked over to her, before wiping tears from her cheeks with his thumb "At least he's gone now, he can't ruin our lives anymore"

"I know, but..."

Alex stopped halfway through her sentence, she frowned and shook herself. Gene noticed this and put a hand on her arm, rubbing small circles on her.

"But what?"

Alex turned to face Gene "Why do I feel like he's not what we have to worry about anymore? Why do I feel like there's something coming, something terrible?"

He shook his head "You're just shaken up love, we'll get you back to the station and get you a brew, and then you'll feel a million times better"

Gene was wrong, even after a cup of tea she didn't feel better. She sat silently at her desk dwelling on the idea that James had killed himself because of her. It was wrong to think that, she was only making herself feel worse. Gene observed from his office and she sat, head in hands, probably using that over imaginative mind of hers to think of things that she had done that may have contributed to James suicide.

Shaz could see her DCI watching Alex, a worrying expression on his face as the cogs turned inside his mind with concern.

"How are you doing Ma-am?" Shaz asked, walking over and pulling a chair up next to her DI.

"Erm..." she paused "I'm, I'm alright"

"No you're not" Shaz rubbed her hand up and down Alex's back in a comforting way "You're blaming yourself over James"

Alex shuddered, and Shaz wasn't exactly sure if it was because she was nodding or shaking her head.

"Can I tell you something?"

"Sure"

"I saw the Guv only minutes after he found out that you had gone, he was a broken man" her tone was lowered so that he couldn't hear "And even though James is dead, I bet he's breaking all over again because you're blaming yourself"

Alex turned her head to see Gene unscrewing a bottle of whiskey and pouring himself a healthy measure of it, pausing before he decided to fill the glass up to just below the rim.

"Starting on the booze already, it's not beer o'clock for a few more hours" Shaz mumbled as she stood up and went back to her desk.

Alex slowly rose to her feet and walked as quietly as she could, her movements were leisurely and silent that she found herself almost tip toeing to Genes office. She closed the door behind herself and leant against it, looking down at the floor.

"I wish I could join you, I could do with a drink"

"Tough"

"I..." she raised her head to speak but stopped when she saw Gene down the amber contents of the glass in one.

"What's going on in that head of your Gene?"

"Never you mind" he grunted "Why don't you get yourself home, ey? I'm going to go and get pissed"

He shoved his chair out and made for a swift exit, but Alex stood her ground and didn't let him pass.

"Shift it Bolls, I don't particularly want to move you myself"

"I'll move out of the way, but only so that you can take me home and we can talk about this"

"There's nothing to talk about!" he yelled "That bastard is dead and to be honest there isn't a better place for him! He hurt you, then he took advantage of you and then he stole you from me!"

"This is why you're being off with me and planning to get drunk, because no matter how hard you try you're never fully going to forgive me are you?"

Gene said nothing, and his silence was all that Alex needed. She felt her bottom lip quiver and Gene reached forward to cup her face, only for her to bat his hand away angrily.

"Are you worried I'll run off again?"

Still he stayed silent.

"Don't bother coming up to the flat tonight" she huffed.

"Where am I supposed to stay then? I handed the keys back in for my flat weeks ago!"

"I don't care!" tears were now streaming down her cheeks "You can sleep in here or in your car, I don't care where you are as long as it isn't near me!"

She flung the office door open and stormed out, leaving her jacket hung over her chair.

When she left the station, she wished she had picked up her coat as the wind as quite cold. She wrapped her arms around herself, resting them on top of her belly.

Alex thought that opening the door to her flat would fill her with a warm sense of relief, but instead it just shrouded her with the feeling of loneliness and the longing for conversation.

Sitting down on the sofa she covered one of the baby books, that Gene was part way through reading, with a magazine and sighed.

"I can't stay angry at him forever" she whispered into the silence "It should be him angry at me, I'm the one that ran off with a psycho...I don't deserve him"

There was a tap on the front door; it was so quiet that she was surprised she heard it. Upon opening the door she saw Gene, his back against the wall opposite the door, hands in pockets and a sheepish look on his face.

"I know you said I wasn't to come up to the flat but...but you're going to be my wife, and that counts for a lot because you said yes so that means you'll never leave again"

"Yes..." she sighed "Yes it does"

"I'm going to have a few insecurities Bolls; I mean surely you're worried about stuff?"

"Of course I am" she laughed "I'm worried that people will treat me differently once we're married, that they'll automatically think I'll go and tell the Gene Genie everything they say"

Gene laughed and took hold of her hands, pulling her closer to him "I want us to set a date for the wedding, the sooner the better"

"Really?"

He nodded "The sooner I can call you Mrs Hunt the happier I'll be, unbreakable Bolls...that's us"

So, James is dead. I didn't want to bring him back because I felt like he was too much like Keats, and now at least there's room for a whole new drama... :)