Chapter 24

It had been a sleepless night for Simon who had lain anxiously staring at the ceiling for hours on end. His head went round and round in circles, trying to work out what to do and how to get out of his goddamn mess but no answers came to him, no matter how hard he stressed about it.

Eventually the morning arrived and he found himself getting up and dressed like a zombie. Sleep wasn't exactly his closest companion right now. He couldn't face breakfast either so he got himself a strong coffee to try to wake him up a little then cursed as a knock sounded at the door before he'd even managed to raise the cup to his lips.

"Who the fuck…?" he muttered as he walked to answer it. The moment he unlocked the door it flew open and standing before him was Keats, a smile brimming over with malevolence on his face.

"Ding dong, Avon calling," he said, marching in. Simon took a few steps backwards as he felt his pulse quicken with fear.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he demanded.

"Just come to see how you and Victoria are enjoying your first breakfast together as a couple," Keats said sarcastically, making a big show of peering all around him. "Funny, I can't seem to see her here. You can't tell me she's gone already. What happened, Simon? Do you snore? Did you wet the bed?"

Simon closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He'd known something like this was going to happen, but it didn't make him feel any the less anxious.

"She wasn't interested," he said quietly.

Keats stared at him.

"Your job was to make her interested," he said crossly.

"She knew it was a set up," said Simon.

"You mean you failed," said Keats.

Simon hesitated, then exploded with anger.

"Yes, alright, I did, I bloody failed. Happy? I failed to make Victoria want to go out with me because she actually has more than three brain cells and knew exactly what was going on!"

Keats raised an eyebrow.

"Temper temper, Simon," he said.

"And contrary to what you had me believe," Simon continued, "everyone not only seems to know I'm gay but so far no one's batted an eyelid. And," his face was reddening with anger, "furthermore it seems they all know exactly why I'm even there. Apparently you do this a lot – parading someone up and down like you've just won first prize in some contest, then drag your new recruit to the basement and let your sex noises filter through the whole building via the ventilation system!"

Keats gave a chuckle of amusement at Simon's furious expression.

"Simon, Simon, Simon," he sighed, "just because Victoria's using her brain doesn't mean the other drones have half an ounce of sense between them. If you think it's all that cut and dried then you're sorely mistaken. And none of this excuses your abject failure," he took a step forward, backing Simon against the wall.

"Victoria is not interested," Simon said crossly, "and more than that she knows it's blatantly obvious I'm not interested in her!"

"So lie," hissed Keats, "tell her you're bisexual. Tell her you've had your heart broken by a tall, dark, handsome stranger and never want to see another fucking cock again as long as you live. Tell her she's so beautiful she's got you on the turn. I don't fucking care. All I care about is you getting her away from that stubbly drug-addled twat in the cells."

"So you bloody seduce her then!" cried Simon, "since it seems to be one of your special skills." He narrowed his eyes at Keats as a long lingering anger and resentment began to flood out of him. "You and your arsenal of pills and portions and canisters of god knows what. Bloody gas and air. Why not send her down to the basement and turn on the fumes?"

"Because," Keats's face was just an inch away from Simon's now, "the basement is reserved for the special ones. And there's nothing special about Victoria. Doesn't matter how many times she flicks her hair and hitches up her skirt."

"Oh yeah?" Simon challenged, "I thought you said it was all the same to you; man, woman or goat."

"I still have some standards," said Keats. He fixed Simon in his stare and Simon found it very hard to look away. Even when he managed, he felt those dark eyes drawing his gaze back to him. "There are ways and means, Simon. Ways and means of persuasion."

Simon swallowed.

"What do you mean?" he whispered.

Kats fixed him in that gaze.

"If you want something badly enough," he hissed, "you can get it. You just need that hunger in your eyes."

Simon gulped. Keats certainly had the hunger in his eyes right there and then. And it was making it very hard to fight against him.

~xXx~

"This isn't looking a lot like being on leave to me," Gene frowned as he eyed Alex walking around his office.

"Nonsense, Gene," she said quickly, "if I wasn't on leave I'd be sitting at my desk, wouldn't I? But I'm not," she smiled charmingly, "I'm entertaining you in your office."

Gene narrowed his eyes at her. This wasn't exactly the leave he had in mind for her. But at least if she was pottering around in his office she wasn't doing work of her own and he could keep an eye on her.

"Haven't you got toilet bowls to christen?" he asked.

"Not this morning," Alex shook her head. She thought she'd cracked the morning sickness at last. A couple of dry, plain biscuits when she woke up seemed to settle her stomach and quell the nausea. The only problem was that Gene tended to get hungry in the middle of the night and wolf down most of the packet, leaving few there by morning. He had a sixth sense for biscuits. And although they weren't exactly pink wafers, when Gene woke up in the middle of the night with a penchant for biscuits they were a fine substitute. She supposed she was going to have to try to find a better hiding place. Either that or a loyalty card for McVitties.

"Well don't you need an emergency piss or something?" Gene asked.

"Why are you trying to get rid of me?" Alex pouted.

"Because I'm worried if I get a file you're going to pounce on it and start working!" cried Gene.

Alex sighed and leaned a little against the back of a chair.

"I feel much better today," she said, and she did. There had been no dizziness or headache and with the lessening nausea she'd managed to eat a couple of proper meals too. But Gene wasn't interested.

"You're supposed to be at home, making friends with Richard and Judy," he said, Not sitting in me office like nothing's different!"

"Something's different," she protested, "I'm in here and I'm not looking at paperwork!" she stopped talking abruptly as a strange noise began. She glanced around, trying to locate the source. It sounded a little like distant chatter of voices, merriment. She frowned and glanced through the doorway, half expecting to see some kind of commotion in CID but apart from Eddie scratching his backside there was no one around. "Gene, did you hear that?"

Gene glanced up.

"Hear what?" he paused, "I hope you're not accusing me of letting one go…"

"Ew! No, Gene," Alex frowned. She sighed and shook her head. "Nothing. I'm just imagining things. Don't worry about it."

"I wasn't," said Gene who was fairly sure this was some sort of tactic to convince him to let her get some work done. He scratched his head. "Bols, do us a favour. Go down the hall and give Vickery the good news that, since Shoebury's buggered off, he gets the honour of fetching me latte this morning. And tell him if he gets the right number of sugars there a promotion in it for him."

"Tell him yourself!" cried Alex, "I'm not your slave!"

"Jesus, woman!" cried Gene, "you won't rest, you won't go and pass on me message, you can't have it both ways!"

Alex sighed.

"Fine," she said, opening the door, "I'll pass on your message. But I'm adding biscuits to the order and intercepting them before they get anywhere near your mouth."

"Cheeky cow," Gene commented but was at least relieved that the latte message would keep her away from the files for a few minutes.

As Alex started to walk through CID, thinking about which biscuits to request, she felt a strange tingling down her spine. She froze for a moment and glanced around at the sensation like fingers of darkness sliding down her back. At first she couldn't seem to see anything amiss and carried on walking through the office, out into the corridor beyond but the second time she felt a creeping sensation down her spine she turned around and saw the onset of a darkened sky above her with strange starlight twinkling brightly. Her eyes opened as wise as saucers as her hand rose to her mouth and she stumbled blindly back against the wall.

"Oh God," she gasped, "Oh my god…" the stars continued to shine and a strange hum of chatter filled the air, setting her heart rate to high and her fear level to overload. She found her legs starting to buckle beneath her as she yelled for Gene, calling out his name time and again

The sound of her cries filtered through to him and he raced from his office, through CID, half expecting to find her on the ground after another turn but instead he found her with her eyes focused above her, the starlight filling her mind with anxiety.

"Oh shhhhhhhhit," he hissed as his eyes followed hers and the turning, swirling pattern of stars greeted him. He swallowed and reached forward instinctively to hold her, the shock of what they were seeing knocking him sideways.

He heard the hubbub of voices, he saw the twinkling of starlight and somewhere in the distance Life on Mars was playing.

#... But her friend is nowhere to be seen

Now she walks through her sunken dream...#

In an instant Alex tore away from Gene's hold and ran, the horror of what she had seen and heard finally striking her.

"Bolly!" Gene yelled after her, his voice torn between worry and anger. Where the hell was she going? He took chase and followed her to her office where she was already standing, staring out of the window. Her arms were folded, her fingers scratching at her skin with anxiety.

"Bolly," Gene's voice was calmer now. She didn't turn back to him, couldn't react. All she could do was to shake her head.

"Stars again, Gene?" she whispered, "we know what happened before. What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Gene took a deep breath. He let it out slowly as he encroached upon her.

"I don't know, Bolly," he said.

She finally turned to face him.

"No one's due for a visit to the pub," she whispered, shaking a little, "so why is this happening?" she stared at Gene. There was a look of panic in his eyes. "What's happening?"

Gene shook his head slowly.

"I'm not sure, Drake," he said quietly.

"Even Keats isn't on the premises," Alex pointed out, "so what are the stars for?" she looked at him with fear in her eyes. "It's not… not our time…?"

"No," Gene said firmly, "it's not our time. We've got plenty of work to do around here." He paused, "Besides, I'm not spending decades wiping their noses and watching them head off to the pub just to walk out on me own life now I've finally got one." He shook his heads. "No, Bols, it's not our time."

"Then what?"

Gene looked down as a possibility slowly dawned on him. It seemed impossible but it was the only solution he could think of.

"I saw stars before, you know," he said quietly, "when you were off on yer Alex Exchange Visit to two thousand and bollocks. The other you defected and there were stars across me ceiling."

Alex bit her lip.

"Simon…" she began.

Gene nodded very slowly.

"It's possible," He said.

"You think," Alex began slowly, "because Simon's… transferred… it's set something off here? It's starting to," she choked a little, "fall apart?"

Gene hesitated. He took a deep breath.

"Thought it wouldn't be possible yet," he said quietly, "he's only been here a few months. You'd been here almost fifteen years. Didn't think his position here was so firmly-footed."

Alex closed her eyes for a moment.

"Maybe there's something else happening then?" she asked quietly, but both of them knew that there seemed no alternative answer. Simon's departure seemed to have caused more shockwaves through the station than either realised was possible.

"We need to do something, Bolly," Gene said quietly, "whatever Shoebury's trying to hide from us isn't worth losing our world over."

Alex nodded slowly.

"I was supposed to be talking to him," she reminded Gene.

"Like I'm going to let you pay a social visit to the Wild West," said Gene.

"I wouldn't go there if you paid me," Alex shuddered, "in biscuits." She shook her heads. "No, Gene, I'll go to Simon's. Maybe he's not left for work yet."

"No stress, remember?" Gene reminded her,.

"Gene, the ceiling was full of stars!" cried Alex, "that's about as stressful as life can get!" she hesitated as she rubbed her head. "I have to go and speak to him, Gene. After that…" she shook her head. "We need to sort this out as fast as we can. Whatever is happening… whatever he's trying to hide… if we can just find out what it is then we can work out how to convince him to come back and get rid of the light show on the ceiling."

"I'm not happy about you storming off over there," Gene told her, "first time the sprog's let you keep down three meals in a row. You want to undo yer good work with a visit to Chez Shoebury?"

"if he's not there I'll go home and rest," Alex bargained, "and pay him a visit tonight." She saw Gene in two minds, "Come on, guv," she sidled up to him a little, "you know he wouldn't talk to you about it. Maybe he'll talk to me. "

Gene gave a deep sigh and eyes her warily. He didn't like this, not at all, but if the station was about to start crumbling around them then anything was worth a try.

"One twinge, one headache, one threat of puking and you go straight home," he warned.

Alex smiled.

"Understood, Guv," she smiled cheekily.

Gene nodded slowly.

"Alright," he said, "see what you can get out of Shoe-Boy." He paused as he glanced behind him and spotted one last wave of starlight sweep down the corridor. "Before I have to install street lights in me office," he concluded.