A/N

A quick update! Hopefully next chapter will be up tomorrow, after I've finished tweaking... hope there are still people reading! Thanks to everyone who does.. and a special thanks to anyone that reviews =0)

I own nothing, sadly... apart from the nutters!

Chapter 21

After reading the note, Alex had ordered everyone back to CID, not that there was much point; most of them were too inebriated to be of use. She'd made the decision to search Gene's office, much to the horror of Ray, but she'd argued that it was more important to find the Guv than to be worried about him having an outburst. So here she was, rifling through his filing cabinet, shelves, desk, everywhere she could think of, so far she'd found nothing. Reaching down for the bottom drawer she tried to open it, locked, bugger.

"Ray" she shouted

"Found summert?"

"No. Do you know where the Guv keeps the key to this drawer?"

"No, dint know 'e locked it" he shrugged

"Well we need to have a look in it"

"Ma'am, I'm not sure we should... oh give it 'ere" he said as he watched her struggling to prise the drawer open. After much wrestling with it, there was a crack as the lock snapped and drawer flew open.

Alex picked up its only contents, a file...

The file...

Artemis.

ooOoo

Gene looked towards the door as it clicked open, squinting as the light was turned on, he struggled to focus on who was at the door. He'd been locked in with no contact for more than 24 hours, he was hungry, but the thirst was becoming unbearable, and he'd long since run out of whiskey.

"How we feeling Hunt?"

"Reynolds, you bastard" he growled

"Now now Gene, play nice. You have something that belongs to me"

"Whatever it is, you aint 'avin' it"

"What? You haven't worked it out yet, it wasn't yours to take!"

"Unless you're goin' ter tell me what the 'ell you're on about you can bugger off"

"The file... Artemis, the one you stole from Edgehampton?"

"That?" said Gene, surprised, "forgot I even 'ad it"

"We haven't"

"We?"

"Yes, we" he smirked, "and now we want it back"

"Whatever's in it, it can't be that important, if you've waited all this time before coming to get it"

"Ahh, you see, that's the clever part. If we'd come straight away guns blazing, I'd never have got close enough, but now, after all this time, no one would suspect what I was looking for. Least of all you"

"Bastard, knew you weren't from D&C"

"That was an added bonus, you shooting DI Drake, pity..." Gene looked at him through narrowed eyes, "that you didn't kill her I mean... would've been easier that way, could've gone in and got it, but now things are difficult"

"What the... why the 'ell would you say something like that"

"You haven't read it have you" he waited for a response from Gene, getting none he continued, "It's her"

"Her?"

"Yes, the contents of the file, tells you everything you need to know" he laughed, "like where she came from, who she is... all those things you never bothered to check"

"Didn't need to check, she was a transfer, plain and simple"

"But a transfer from where? Which station was she based at before?"

Gene opened his mouth to respond, but realised he had no idea

"How can you possibly trust someone you know nothing about?"

"I'd trust 'er with me life, best bloody inspector-"

"The best?" he scoffed, "you only say that because you want to shag her, mind you, I can understand that, any red-blooded male that looks at her does"

"Don't bloody speak about her like that" Gene snarled

"I'll speak about her however I want" he replied sternly, "she isn't who you think she is, she belongs to us"

"Belongs to you? She doesn't belong to anyone but-"

"But you? You have to be joking, since when has she ever belonged to you, she lied to you about Operation Rose, and coming from the future?" he laughed, "well that was an excellent touch, completely ad-libbed, we couldn't have asked for more"

Gene's mouth dropped open as Reynolds spoke, he hadn't told anyone about that conversation, he was ashamed at how he'd handled it, he didn't believe her, who would, but he regretted what he said about her as a mother, and for suspending her

"Along with killing Summers"

"Summers?"

"Yes, she shot him, you'll find his body, buried in cement, clever girl is Alex, she'll be rewarded well"

Gene couldn't believe it, he couldn't, not Alex, he'd doubted her before and she'd been shot, he trusted her, they'd just built up that trust again, she wouldn't do anything like that

"So I wouldn't depend on her finding you, or wanting to" he smirked

"So why do you still 'ave me then? If I'm no use to you-"

"Oh but you are... Alex may be working for us, but she's become somewhat fond of you and the team, forgotten who she's supposed to be"

"And who the 'ell's she supposed to be?"

ooOoo

Alex had done nothing but read the file, over and over, she couldn't take it in. It contained an ID badge... her ID badge. She felt nauseas the more she read, he'd lied to her. All that talk about trust, it had all been a lie. She sat back in her chair, Ray had asked what the file had said, but she hadn't let him look. She wasn't sure what to think, or who to trust. Everyone had been working with Gene longer than her, especially Ray and Chris, they could all be in on it.

She read the papers again, letting herself absorb the information, trying to make sense of it. But that was the problem, none o f it made sense. There were her transfer papers, all seemed in order. The date of transfer were corrected, her name, address, all correct. And a photo, of Molly, she didn't know how she'd managed to hold it together when she saw that, but she wasn't ready to share any information with CID, at least not until she understood it herself, if Gene had this, and knew about it, and Molly, why hadn't he said anything? She'd mentioned her daughter often enough, said how much she missed her, and she wanted to go home. She felt herself welling up, she shook her head, hoping to shake away the tears, she traced a finger over her daughters face, across her name written on the bottom of it, she flipped the photo over, there was an address on the back, one not too far from her childhood home, she'd have to go there, she needed to. It was 11pm, it had been a long day, and there was nothing else she could do tonight. Maybe sleeping on it will clear things up. She tried to tell herself that would be the case, but somehow she doubted it.

"Right everyone" she said addressing the team, "I think we could all do with some rest, I expect you back here first thing, we need to find the Guv"

For the second time tonight Alex made her way to her flat, the file firmly tucked under her arm. She didn't know what to think anymore. She'd thought they were close, that they trusted one another again, how could she trust him after something like this? It was going to be a long night; first thing she would be going to the address...

TBC