Fun fact: The only thing that saved Gene in earlier chapters was the idea I had for the final paragraph in this chapter.

Chapter 21: Here, There, and Everywhere

Alex woke extremely slowly, every fact coming to her one by one. The first thing she was aware of was the pain. Her head was still throbbing with each beat of her heart. The next thing she figured out was that the terrible smell she was inhaling was the smell of her stale vomit. She groaned, realising that someone had taken the handcuffs off of her and flipped her onto her stomach.

At least they don't want me to choke on my own sick, she thought dryly. She opened her eyes, but could only see through one. The other seemed to be swollen shut. She wasn't surprised.

"No. I know that," she heard the man saying. "The thing is, you told me yourself how annoying Mark is getting. The last thing I need is him coming here." There was silence as the person on the other line talked to the man. She knew who the man was talking to. He had come in to her room several times, saying that the man was paying him. She had said nothing, but worried silently. Mark didn't realise that he was working with a traitor.

"No. I think you need to send him to the site. Or kill him yourself." There was silence again, and Alex started to worry silently. She had come to this hellhole to save Mark. They were going to kill him anyway?

"I don't care! Tell you what. Bring him here, and we'll make it seem like an accident. I'll arrange it all. Yeah. He lived near here, so if I get a good shot out the window..."

He went silent again, and Alex finally opened her eye, not wanting to let him plot anymore. The light shone brightly in the window, aggravating her headache. She groaned, pushing herself over onto her back and sat up. She was disgusted to see that she was covered in her sick.

"Got to go," the man said hurriedly throwing the phone down in the hall. "You need to shower." She jumped, looking at him, the sudden swing of her head making her dizzy.

"Get out of the bed. Shower now. You can change the bed when you're done."

Alex held her head, staring down at the bed, trying to get rid of the dizziness. Before she could, he grabbed her, pulling her off the bed and onto the floor where she landed with a cry. He smacked her across the back of the head. "Shut up!" he growled.

Alex bit her lip, trying to control the tears of pain that were welling in her eyes. Slowly, she pushed herself off the ground, and walked to the bathroom. Before getting into the shower, she searched the medicine cabinet, finding a bottle of mouthwash. Alex took a swig, swishing it around in her mouth, happy to get rid of the acidic taste left in her mouth. She spat, and turned on the shower, letting it get extremely hot before she started to rinse off. She felt a moment of pleasure when she saw that he had provided soap.

He just doesn't want to smell the sick when he's near me again, she thought bitterly. Alex sighed deeply, wishing that she hadn't decided to be here. She could be with Mark, warm and safe in their bed.

Or, Mark and Gene could be dead and I'd still be here. Although, if he has his way, Mark will be dead anyway.

Alex grabbed the soap and started to scrub herself as there was a knock on the door.

"Hurry up in there!" the man yelled. "If you're not out in two minutes, I'm coming in."

Alex knew what would happen if he came in, and washed herself as quickly as she could. She walked out still dripping wet; he may provide soap and mouthwash to keep her smelling clean, but he didn't provide towels.

"Change your sheets," the man said, pointing to a pile of fresh ones. Alex did so, staring at the bed. She could feel his eyes roving over her, but ignored it, detaching herself from what happened in the room. As she put the duvet on, he walked over to her, pressing up against her, his face against her hair.

"You smell good, Sarah," he murmured in her ear. Alex stiffened, but he seemed not to notice. "You smell too good." He groaned, turning her around and pushing her onto the bed. She fell down against it, trying to get away but he sat on top of her, holding her there. The man smiled cruelly, pressing his hand down on her throat and she choked, gasping desperately for air. Her hands scrabbled at his wrists to no avail. He was too strong.

"I was going to have you do something for me," he said, "but that can wait. I just saw something you can do for me here."

Black was eating away the corners of her vision as she continued to choke. Finally, when it seemed like she was going to black out again, his hand left her throat, and he handcuffed her, starting to strip.

She looked at the opposite wall, trying to find the apathy again. This is for Mark and Gene, she thought to herself. Keep them alive for as long as possible.

~(*)~

Mark stared at the television in disbelief. It didn't matter that Danny had ordered him off the case, everyone in the room was staring at the television, watching the video tape with rapt attention. The only difference between him and them was that he had no professional distance from the woman on the screen. He was deeply relieved that she was still dressed, and no bruises had appeared on her at all.

"My name is Alex Drake," she stated simply, staring through the camera with cold eyes. She was handcuffed, but her hands rested in her lap. He was unable to see any other restraint.

"You are to release Jinks Crawford and his men by eight am tomorrow, or a bomb will go off in London, just like the one he set off in Fenchurch East."

The film cut out. "That was to the point," Harry remarked dryly.

"We've got to figure out where the bomb is going to be," Mark said.

"Mark, look at the time. It's two in the afternoon. No bomb has gone off. We got this video yesterday."

"And you didn't do anything?" he asked incredulously.

"Actually we did, you just didn't know about it. We're looking at the film now to find out where he might be."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Look at yourself, Mark! Look how you're reacting. You're too close to the case, just like Danny said. Of course we're going to keep you in the dark."

Mark considered this, pissed off.

"I think we should let Jinks out," George said. "If we let him out, maybe we can get Will Grey out of his hiding place." Mark was about to respond, but his phone started to ring. He walked over to it angrily, and spat his last name down the line.

"Mark, I need you to come to the station," Gene's voice said. Mark had given his number to Gene after their phone call earlier in the day, just in case he got any leads on Will Grey. He had then gone to work, showing Harry and George the note, where they had responded with showing him the tape.

"Gene, what's going on?" He had noted worriedly that Gene sounded sickened, something that took a lot to do.

"Just get your bloody arse down here!"

Mark left the room without another word, ignoring Harry and George calling after him. He ran through the Tube, pushing people aside left and right and getting yelled at in return. He didn't care as he ran up the stairs of Moorgate, rushing to the office. He skipped past the desk sergeant, instead just going into Gene's office.

Gene was staring at a blank television screen, his face tortured.

"Gene?"

Gene jumped. "Evans," he growled. "Good of you to finally show up."

"What happened?"

Gene gestured at the television. "Watch the tape. Some boy brought it in earlier. Said he was paid ten quid."

Mark frowned, pressing play, but nothing showed up.

"You need to rewind," Gene admitted, his fists clenched, staring at the telly. Mark hit rewind, listening as the tape whirred until it finally clicked to a stop. He pressed play again, and this time an image popped up on a screen. Alex was onscreen again, much like he had seen a few minutes ago. This time however, she looked much worse for wear. She was sitting on a bed, a duvet wrapped around her, covering her, except for her face and neck. Her hair was limp, but looked damp. Her face was tear stained, and one of her eyes was swollen shut. There was a large cut across her forehead and another on her cheek. He could see a bruise darkening on her throat.

"Jesus," he whispered. It was reminiscent of when he first saw her, only worse.

The Alex onscreen looked straight into the camera and he shuddered. The one open eye was full of dark hatred once more. It felt like when they had just met and she had believed him to be another man who wanted to torture her.

"Gene," she said quietly, her voice flat. "You are watching this because your Spook friends didn't release Jinks. They've got until four pm today, or I will die, along with hundreds of others in an explosion. The Spooks didn't take me seriously. Maybe you will."

Mark paused the tape before it cut out, staring at the window behind her. "I recognise that building," he whispered. "That's Elf Row in Shadwell. I used to live around there." He stood there for a moment.

"I've got to ring Harry and we have to infiltrate," he said to himself. He turned around at the sound of a gun being loaded behind him.

"Well, go ahead and ring them," Gene said, putting his gun on his hip. "And tell them that I'm coming with you."

~(*)~

Alex sat on the bed, staring at the man silently.

"Put those on," he said, tossing her a pile of clothes and walking out of the room.

Not going to watch me this time? she thought bitterly, grabbing the clothes and looking at them. He had given her back the clothes that she had worn here. She slipped them on. As she was pulling on her second boot, he walked back in, staring at her.

"Get up."

She did so, and he walked behind her, putting handcuffs on her wrists. Alex still felt dizzy and nauseous.

I must have some sort of concussion, she thought. Not that it really mattered. He was taking her to her death anyway.

He started pushing her down the stairs, his hand in between her shoulder blades. She walked slowly, trying to keep her balance. Suddenly, a crash sounded from downstairs, and people started yelling. Her stomach leapt as she heard Gene and Mark's voice mingling with the other shouts downstairs. Mark couldn't be here! The man would kill him if he found her!

He pushed her to the bottom of the stairs and pulled her into a side room, pushing her down onto a chair and putting the barrel of his gun next to her head. "Stay," he whispered menacingly. She heard gunshots downstairs.

"Let her go," Mark said as he entered the room, his gun held high. Alex closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh of sorrow before opening her eyes again. Harry entered behind him, followed by a man with blonde hair. She felt a jolt of shock when she saw the blonde man and knew that somehow she had to warn Mark, but she was distracted by a missing person.

Where's Gene? she thought frantically, remembering the gunshots.

"You know, I don't think I will. If you get any closer, I will blow her head off."

"Okay," Mark said, keeping his gun steady. "Tell us then. How did you go from being an MI-5 officer, to being a copper in a drugs ring?"

The man laughed. "I hated MI-5. I disappeared on a mission, and I did it well. Joined the police force. That was more for me. I've been in Jink's group for years. I was just a bobby when he got to me. Young, earnest woodentop, stunned by the filth of the world. But the more you are exposed to the filth, the more you grow to like it. Jinks took me in, said it'd be good to have connections in the police force. He used me to get to others as well."

"How did you get away? You were there that morning. You told me that Jinks wanted to talk to me."

"Ah yes," the man said, and Alex could hear the smile in his voice. "It was then that I realised who you were. I was disappointed in myself. I should have recognised you. I had the same training at you. My contact didn't tell me about you. He couldn't tell me everything, but he told me the extremely important things. Like Jinks' operation being taken over by you lot."

"Your contact?" Mark asked.

"He told me quite a lot. Like where you guys were, that I was being tailed, etcetera, etcetera."

"You had someone inside MI-5?" Mark asked incredulously. She could almost see his mind working a mile a minute.

"I can tell who you're thinking of. And no. It wasn't Danny, Mark. Although I can see why you'd believe that. He was always trying to get you off the case, wasn't he? But unfortunately, his concern was merely concern. There was someone else helping me."

"Who was it then?"

"It was me," the man with the blonde hair said, moving onto the man's side and pointing his gun at Mark.

"George?" Harry asked, his face shocked, turning his gun on the man.

"I didn't tell Will everything," George said. "I just gave him enough information to get out."

"I knew there was no way to save Jinks by that point. So I decided to try it on my own. But I can't do it as well as Jinks did. I'm not a leader. So I started hatching the plan to get Jinks out. I knew that if I bombed Fenchurch East, when I made my demands now, I'd get more attention. So I did so, and to my disappointment, Gene Hunt survived."

"But you were his DI. You were there," Mark said.

"I took some risks. But I was also wearing a bullet proof vest to deflect some of the debris. Didn't cover it all, but it did its job. And then the next part of my plan was to get Sarah here. I knew you would do anything to save her, and she you."

"But you're going to kill her. I thought you might like to savour her," Mark said. Alex felt sick when he said that, even though she knew that he was just trying to talk the man down.

The man laughed. "I was only going to have a week with her when you lot got to Jinks. He and Scotty were starting to get bored with her and wanted a new toy. They were talking to me about the best method."

He played with her hair, his calloused fingers touching her skin and causing her to shudder. "Scotty was all for a bullet through the head. Quick, and with a silencer, quiet. Jinks wanted more of a to-do. So they brought me in on the planning. We were going to send her into CID with the bomb."

Alex realised that even though the man's fingers were in her hair, the gun was off of her head now, and George was standing next to her. She knew that if she moved quickly enough, she could incapacitate him with just her knee.

There were more gunshots downstairs, distracting all of the men.

Taking a deep breath, Alex stood quickly, feeling a chunk of hair rip out as she drove her knee into George's groin. As he doubled over, he shot his gun. She saw Mark grasp his chest. The man raised his gun at her and Harry pointed his at the man. She saw pain in Mark's eyes as he aimed his barrel at George now. The room exploded in gunfire. Alex felt something rip through her side, but ignored it, running towards Mark. "George got him," Harry growled. "George shot Mark."

Alex knelt over Mark, her arms still behind her back. She heard footsteps clunking heavily up the stairs but ignored them, concentrating on the blood flowing out of Mark's chest.

"Mark," she whispered. "Stay with me."

He coughed, bright red blood appearing on his lips. He opened his eyes, staring at her, but seeming to struggle to focus.

"'Lex," he murmured, barely audible.

"You've got to stay with me, Mark, do you understand?" Tears were flowing freely down her face, but she couldn't wipe them away.

"Can't," he replied, his voice barely more than a grunt.

"Yes you can, Mark. C'mon. Just hang on until the ambulance gets here." She was vaguely aware that the footsteps had stopped and that someone had unlocked the handcuffs holding her wrists together.

He coughed again, and she cradled his head, her tears dripping on his face.

"'Lex," he breathed. "One…thing. One…last…thing…"

"Tell me when you wake up in hospital, you stupid, stupid man."

He gave the tiniest of smiles. With the scarlet blood on his face, the smile looked almost scary.

"One…thing…" he repeated insistently.

"What is it?" she whispered, her voice barely audible because of the tears.

"I…love…you…" he said, gasping.

"Me too, Mark. I really do."

"Not…finished. Love…you… but not…as much…as Gene…does. Stay with…him."

"Mark."

He kissed his fingers, staining them with blood. They pressed against her lips for a moment before his arm fell as his body went limp.

"No. No, Mark stay with me. C'mon Mark. Please." His eyes flickered slightly open as he breathed weakly. She wasn't aware of the ambulance crews coming in to collect the injured and the dead, continuing to hold pressure on the wound. Finally, someone dragged her away, picking her up in their arms. She didn't know who it was, didn't care as she leaned into their chest, sobbing. Mark was as good as gone now.

The person shushed her softly, pressing their lips against the top of her head. She knew who it was now. The scent of the whiskey and cigarettes in his coat gave him away.

"I'm here, Alex," he murmured. "It'll be okay."

He carried her to the ambulance, but instead of putting her down, he continued to hold her, like a child, his arms wrapped protectively around her. She could hear him talking but blocked out all the noises around her, merely feeling the growl in his chest as he spoke to the ambulance crew. Alex didn't move the entire ride to the hospital, never even looked up, because in his arms, the rest of the world didn't exist. In his arms, she was, and always had been, safe.