Disclaimer: I do not own Ashes to Ashes – this is merely my take on their awesome world!!
Pulling his former DI to her feet, Gene lead her over to a bench where they proceeded to sit quietly for several minutes, neither of them certain of what to say. In the end, curiosity got the better of Alex and she broke her silence.
"So how did you find me?" she asked, glancing up in Gene's direction, still not having entirely come to terms with his appearance.
"S'all over the news," he shrugged, "you're somethin' of a celebrity Bolly," he grinned. "Course, that wasn't the first I knew about it. I'd say that was when I received a phone call from Arthur Layton informing me 'e 'ad a piece of my past with 'im. Didn't 'ave the foggiest what 'e was talkin' about at first, then 'e mentioned yer parents and...I dunno...somethin' clicked. I phoned the police, but the next thing I saw was yer face plastered all over the TV."
Alex nodded, deep in thought.
"D'yer know the first thing I wondered was who yer plastic surgeon was," he grunted, his cheeky tone catching Alex so much by surprise that she couldn't help smiling.
Then she caught sight of her watch and started. Half past ten.
"God, sorry Gene, I've got to go. Evan'll be waiting for me; I said I'd only come out for some fresh air...Look, we should meet up again, talk things over..."
Gene nodded calmly. He had waited 27 years for this meeting- a few more days wouldn't hurt.
*~*~*~*
Gene grasped the slip of paper upon which Alex had scrawled her address tightly between his fingers and, though the details were now etched in his mind for all time, he quickly glanced down at it again nervously.
At eleven thirty on the dot he climbed out of the car and made his way slowly up the drive to his D.I.'s front door. Not a bad place, he thought, very in keeping with the Little Miss Bollinger Knickers image. He smiled. That name had stuck fast ever since the day they had first met. He never had asked her what she was doing on that boat.
As he approached the door, it opened and an elderly looking couple stepped out, followed closely by a young girl. Looking closely at the pair, Gene was certain he recognised them from somewhere.
Suddenly, from the shadows of the hall way, Alex appeared, "Thanks again Margery, Bryan. I'll see you at five then."
Of course, Margery and Bryan Drake. Her in-laws. Details of the robbery instantly came flying back to him, as did Drake's response. It all made sense now.
Stepping backwards out of their path, Gene nodded in acknowledgement of the couple, who smiled politely at him and continued down to the small Ford Fiesta parked at the end of the drive.
"Gene!" he looked up and saw Drake smiling at him from the doorway, "You found it all right then?"
"Yeah. D'you know I think I once arrested someone around 'ere for bein' too posh? So watch yourself," he said, peering backwards down the street.
Alex smiled in fond recognition of her DCI's quip, "You'd best come in then."
Gene followed her in through a low lit hallway into the sitting room. One of the first things that struck him was how homely it all was as, though on the numerous occasions he had visited her eighties flat it had been clean and orderly, with, perhaps, occasionally, a good number more empty wine bottles that there should have been, it had not quite had her mark stamped upon it, like it was not 'home'. Pictures of her daughter in varying stages of childhood also littered the room and it was only now that it fully struck the former DCI just how much she must have missed her, and what an insensitive thing he had said to her.
"Scotch?" Alex asked from behind him,
"You know me, Bolly," he replied turning around and accepting the glass from her outstretched hand before noticing her pouring herself a lemonade.
"Not 'avin one yerself?"
Alex shook her head knowingly, "Painkillers,"
Gene nodded. "I 'ad them once. Couldn't understand why they said that till I woke up two days later with no idea where the past 48 hours 'ad gone. Best not eh?"
His heart was thumping, there was something he had to say.
"Er, listen Bolls, I,er, well, some of the things I said to yer, before..."
Alex shook her head, "Just forget it," she said, absent-mindedly swirling her drink. She sighed, "When I think of how I reacted to Sam..."
The pair of them sat quietly for a moment, each reliving their own past mistakes.
"So, anyway," Alex chirped, suddenly, breaking into the silence, "tell me everything."
Gene started. "Everything?"
"Yeah, you know, all the details, everything I've missed. Chris and Shaz, what happened to them?"
"Oh," Gene looked thoughtful, "both as soppy as ever, soft gits. Er, two kids, married 25 years next month."
Alex beamed. The news of her favourite constructs' happiness filled her with warmth and relief. They certainly didn't seem imaginary any more. Then it hit her.
"What about Ray?"
"Raymondo? Erm, retired, back in Manchester, still never found 'the one', whatever that is..."
Alex smiled again, wondering to herself if even Ray knew what it was he was looking for, as no one else seemed to have the foggiest. She paused for a second, a question burning in her mind, though she was not certain she could bare to hear the answer. Eventually, however, it forced its way out.
"And, er, and what about you?"
"Me?" he asked.
"Mm," she nodded, sitting up, suddenly curious. "The fabled 'Gene Genie'. What's he been doing with himself all this time?"
Somehow, no matter how she tried, Alex could not imagine the Manc lion retired, settled into some drudgery of a quiet life, playing golf and drawing his pension.
He sighed. "Still drink too much, smoke too much and receive far less recognition than is frankly fair," they shared a grin. "Still, the lads in UCOS aren't so bad."
Alex was taken aback. "UCOS?"
"Yeah, you know, "Unsolved Crimes and Open Case Squad", like New Tricks writ large."
Alex nodded, amazed. She just knew he couldn't ever give it up.
There was still one more thing.
"And er, and what about you?" she pushed. "Has there ever been another...another Mrs. Hunt?"
Gene looked down at his lap, a sly grin creeping over his face.
"Well I did consider gettin' a cat once," he grinned. "Otherwise, well, let's just say the elusive 'one' hasn't exactly made themselves apparent since..." he trailed off, looking mildly embarrassed.
Alex couldn't explain it but, despite his much altered appearance, her heart began to do back flips in her chest and it was all she could do to stop herself laughing out-loud.
"So, er, what about you, Bolly?" he asked nervously, looking down into his glass. "What's the situation?" As he said this he looked up suddenly and looked right into her eyes, a desperate desire for information, and possibly one detail in particular, clearly visible in his face.
She smiled.
"To be honest, Gene, I think you know mostly all about me, well, at least I tried to tell you," she smiled. "Let's see, er, divorced - Pete - I think you met him," she grinned.
"Oh yeah," Gene nodded, the memory of her violent outburst at a fourteen year old boy vividly returning to him, "you seemed particularly fond of 'im..."
They shared a smile and Alex rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, single mum- Molly, who you saw, twelve going on thirty five!"
As she said this, the pride and adoration in Alex's face struck Gene deeply, as he saw another side to his former colleague- not DI Drake, the strident police officer, not Bollinger-knickers, the bubbly, mildly inebriated chatter box in Luigi's of a Friday night, but Alex- the mother.
Just then the doorbell rang.
"That'll be Evan," Alex noted suddenly, looking down at her watch, "sorry, he said he'd pop in to make lunch, sorry I forgot all about it..."
Feeling slightly embarrassed at the prospect of meeting his former rival, Gene muttered, "Yeah, well I'd best be going anyway..."
As Alex showed Gene to the door, it opened suddenly and in burst a slightly flustered looking Evan White. Fluster turned to downright astonishment as he caught sight of Gene.
"Mr...Mr. Hunt?" he gasped in surprise, almost dropping his shopping, "Er, this is, um, a surprise..."
Sensing trouble, Alex stepped in,
"Er, it's okay, Evan, erm, Mr. Hunt just popped in to pay his regards- he, er, heard about the accident, you know..."
Evan nodded, smiling vaguely but still not looking convinced.
"Right, well, I, er, best be off," Gene mumbled.
"Course, thanks again, er, Gene," Alex smiled.
He had barely closed the door, however, when it opened again behind him and Evan ran out after him, concern burning in his eyes.
"Mr. Hunt!" he called. Gene turned around.
"Er, look, you didn't...well, she doesn't...she doesn't know about, about Caroline and me..."
Gene sighed to himself. If only you knew, he thought.
"Don't worry, Mr. White," he replied calmly, "she won't hear it from me."
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