Chapter 8 – Unbreakable
As Alex stumbled into consciousness the horrible realisation that it was Monday morning hit her. She pushed this unpleasant thought to the back of her mind and concentrated instead on the feeling of Gene's arm wrapped protectively around her waist. She slid her fingers between his and sighed contentedly, slipping back into her blissful state.
She felt Gene stir beside her, then the gentle brush of his lips on her neck. She turned to face him and kissed him back. "Morning" she murmured.
He gazed at her. God. How can she be this gorgeous first thing in the morning? he thought.
"What are you thinking?" she mumbled. He's so beautiful she thought.
"Just wondrin' 'ow you can be so gorgeous this early in the morning."
"It's a talent I have" she giggled. "You're not so bad yourself."
And she slipped out of bed and headed for the kitchen. Gene smiled to himself and followed her.
Keats was waiting for them in CID. "Morning, lovebirds" he sneered.
Gene pulled Alex closer to his side. "What d'yer want?" he grunted.
"I just need to speak to your team for a minute" Keats replied. He stood up and walked into the centre of the room. "Today" he announced, "I shall be interviewing each of you in turn. I think we'll start with DS Carling. This way please, Ray."
Gene glared at Keats' back as he left.
Alex put a reassuring hand on Gene's arm. "It'll be ok" she said soothingly. "They're all loyal to you."
Ray huffed back into CID half an hour later and sent Chris to Keats' office. He went into Gene's office to talk about the interview. Alex was in there too, perched on the edge of the desk.
"Utter bollocks, Guv" he muttered. "'e was tryin' t'say you're corrupt."
"S'alright, Ray" Gene grunted.
"'e was sayin' something about Sam n'all" Ray continued. "He was sayin' you killed 'im. Why doesn't he just bloody ask Annie? She'd set him straight."
"Yeah, probably punch 'im fer suggestin' it" Gene said fondly.
Alex smiled. It was nice to hear them reminiscing.
Chris came back with a similar account, as did Shaz. Keats came back to the office when he was finished, his face like thunder.
"I'm closing you down, Hunt" he announced. "Your team are covering for you, so they've left me with no choice."
"You what?" Gene asked menacingly.
"I said I'm closing you down" Keats smirked. "Goodbye, Gene."
"Hang on a second" Alex cut in. "What do you mean 'covering'?"
"They won't tell me the truth" Keats responded.
"You mean they won't tell you what you want to hear" she spat back. "Well, I'll tell you something, you twat! You can try to close us down all you like, we will only get stronger. We are un-bloody-breakable!"
She glared at Keats, her eyes like daggers. He surveyed the faces of the whole team. With a defeated sigh he turned and left the office.
Alex turned to see Gene standing behind her, immense pride evident on his face. She reached out for him and wrapped her arms around him.
"Bloody 'ell, Alex" he breathed. "You were amazing."
