"Silent night, holy night,
Mum is calm, Mum is bright,
Never came home but she'll have a good time,
I love Evan but I'm glad Mum is mine,
Now she'll sleep in heavenly pe-eace,
Sleep in heavenly peace."

Alex started awake as Molly's sweet voice, trilling alone to the tune of Silent Night, echoed in her ears, accompanying the bells tolling the beginning of Christmas Day. Snow still blanketed the surrounding area, falling steadily as Alex rolled over to find Gene sleeping peacefully next to her, his hair falling over his eyes and illuminated to almost white by the glare from the bedside light, beautiful as an angel. Alex smiled to herself as she bedded back down, switching the light off as she draped a hand over his stomach and kissing his clavical bone as she tucked her head under his, closing her eyes.

Gene, lying slightly above her, shifted in his sleep, blearily opening one vivid eye to see his DI snuggled against him, her slim hand resting happily on his belly. A few months ago, he might have thought this was a dream, but tonight he knew it was all real, and that she really, honestly, actually, genuinely was there with him. Alex, feeling him moving, looked up to find his sleepy eyes gazing down at her, a smile gracing her face at the sight.

"Merry Christmas, Gene."

"An' ter yer, Bolls."

Alex wrapped an arm right round him and snuggled into his body, pressing a chaste kiss to his shoulder as he drifted back to sleep, warmed by her close proximity, a tiny smile on his lips. His DI took the chance to observe him while he slept- the tranquil blankness of his face, slightly open mouth as he breathed softly onto her neck, faint light from the full moon outside shining on his eyelashes.

He's beyond lovely when he's asleep... it's not fair, why can't I have him and Molly? Why can't I make the rules for once?

She sighed.

I guess maybe, one day, I might be able to have them both. Who knows? If I have anything to do with it, then I will.

The image of Molly smiling filled her mind's eye as she closed her real ones, and her own lips twitched to match, curved gently as she buried her face in Gene's soft skin and slept, feeling completely at peace for the first time since she was shot.

"Where'd yer go the night o' the Christmas party, Guv?"

"None o' yer business, Raymondo. Get on wi' some paperwork or starin' at some poor bird's printed tits an' bugger off."

Ray shrugged and headed back towards his desk as Alex entered the kitchenette for a cup of tea, sparing Shaz for once. The two almost collided, much to Gene's amusement, although naturally the only outward sign of it was the almost indistinguishable twitch of his lips behind Ray's back.

"Yer might want ter stay out o' 'is way fer a while, ma'am, 'e's not in the best o' moods," Ray hissed to her as he passed by. Alex bit back a smile at this new version of Ray- he'd been much better behaved towards her since he'd learned that the Christmas party, where he had seduced a young woman who had seemed genuinely interested for once, had been her idea.

Sidling over to him and pouring her cup of tea, Alex leaned against the counter next to Gene and stirred in a single spoonful of sugar as she leaned towards him, a secret smile on her face.

"So, what's your excuse going to be for your- er- absence from the Christmas party?"

Gene shrugged.

"Just told 'em ter bugger off."

"Yes, because that won't cause any rumours at all about your current relationship status," Alex teased, giggling as he tensed at the feel of her hand on his leg, surreptitiously stroking up and down the crease as she took a sip of tea. Trying to make it look as though he was retrieving a hip-flask from his pocket, Gene flicked her fingers away, choking on his swig of whisky as she slid her hand back up to his arse, creeping closer and closer to his groin.

"Christ, Bolls!" he managed to gasp as Alex burst out giggling, putting a hand on his back as he began to recover from the surprise attack.

"You OK, Guv?" Chris asked, coming in to get a packet of Garibaldis and seeing his senior officers leaning against the counters, Gene in fits of coughing and Alex doubled over with laughter.

"Fine, Chris," Alex managed to get out before she was laughing again. Chris peered at her, and then back at Gene, almost passing out there and then on the floor as he saw that the coughing had given way to laughter, yelps of mirth that he'd almost sworn he would never hear again from his Guv.

"Guv?"

"Get back ter what yer were doin', Chris," Gene gasped, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket and handing it to Alex for her to wipe her face on; she was crying with amusement, hiccuping as she tried to stop and sending herself and Gene into fresh bouts of chortling.

Chris, almost unable to believe it, all but ran back to the office, gathering a crowd as he gave his announcement in the middle of CID.

"The Guv's laughin'! Wi' DI Drake!"

The rest of the room crowded round immediately to hear what had happened, gossip-mongers to a man, all bar one WPC, who just smiled and turned back to her typing, a surreptitious whisper of "finally!" coming from her as she carried on working.

A long way away, a young girl smiled into her pillow as she heard her mother laughing.

A/N: I should've had this done for Christmas, I guess, but had a lot going on, naturally... ah well. Hope you like it, and this really is all! (In fact, I only wrote this because I had some requests for another chapter- thanks to those people for spurring me on, I actually really enjoyed it :D) Thanks for reading, and please remember to review, or those radioactive ostriches will come and bite your behind so you glow in the dark. ;) Jazzola :)