A/N
Guys, seriously I am overwhelmed by the amount of reviews I got! I don't think I've have that many that fast! Here is the second chapter, this is not beta'd so all the mistake are mine and I apologise in advance for them! I hope you like it, and I hope there are not many mistakes of things that didn't exist in the 1980's etc.
Disclaimer is still the same as before, it all belongs to Matthew Graham and Kudos and BBC etc. etc.
The walk back to CID was silent. It wasn't uncomfortable, just unusual. Alex found she missed the constant bickering that would always echo behind her; Ray making misogynist comments, Chris asking questions and Shaz answering them politely so as not to make him feel stupid. Alex wasn't going to see them for a long while. She hoped they had found their way.
Gene slowed to a halt outside the police station, causing Alex to stop suddenly before she walked into him. She saw his shoulders tense slightly and wondered what was wrong. Before she could open her mouth to ask, Gene spoke;
"Someone's parked where I used to put the Quattro."
Alex looked around the hulking figure of Gene and saw a beige Chevrolet Camaro sitting on the road just outside the building. It wasn't a patch on Audi Quattro aesthetically, that was for sure. Gene's fists curled and tightened in their black leather gloves.
"They put a Chevrolet in my spot? A beige, hoity toity poof-mobile!"
Alex managed to drag Gene past the offending car and into the police station with minimal complaint. She even managed to effectively stop him from spitting on it or marking it with his keys. It was a challenge though.
When they reached CID, Gene burst through the doors and managed to bring a halt to whatever conversations were being had by the remaining members of his team. Silence enveloped them, but Gene pushed past it.
"Tea, seven sugars!" He barked, striding confidently towards his office. He refused to look anywhere but at the name on his door, knowing that if he did, he would surely see the three empty desks in the room. Everyone in the room looked at each other, stopping only to jump as Gene's office door closed with a slam. Shaz usually made the teas. It was doubtful whether anyone else knew where the kettle even was, Alex realised as she watched the panic on their faces. They didn't want to piss off the Guv any more so than he already was.
Alex didn't say a word, just followed after Gene into his office. She opened the door to find him sitting comfortably in his chair behind his desk. A red brochure sitting on his desk caught Alex's attention:
Mercedes Benz.
By the way Gene's eyes were burning holes in the offending brochure, Alex could tell that whoever left that on his desk was in for trouble.
"So what now Bollykecks?" Gene broke the silence, looking up at her in question.
"Well, Guv, I think now we have a drink of our own." Alex attempted a reassuring smile and moved around his office, pulling out his bottle of whiskey from the cabinet. She filled two glasses and handed one to him, which he took silently, his eyes never leaving her. Alex perched herself on the edge of his desk and took a sip of her own.
"It's no Luigi's." Gene stated, his eyes darting around his office.
"No, it isn't." Alex agreed. Once again, silence fell between them.
As Gene opened his mouth to speak, a banging of doors echoed throughout CID. Alex and Gene both turned to look out the window of his office door at the noise. A man burst through the double doors, his face a mixture of shock, confusion and anger.
"What the hell is this?" The man asked, looking around wildly. The rest of CID moved out of his way as he pushed past them, "where's my office?"
Alex stood up and walked towards the office door slowly, trying to get a clearer view of the man. He had blonde hair, smoothly combed back, black trousers and a black shirt underneath a cream jacket. He looked the perfect throw back from the 1980's that was for sure.
"One of you jokers give me back my iphone, now." The man looked around at the members of CID, his hand outstretched, waiting. They were giving him looks of confusion. No-one knew what an iphone was. An iphone ...
Alex gasped. She turned quickly and looked at Gene, who remained sat in his seat calmly drinking his whiskey. The commotion outside didn't seem to disturb him in the slightest.
"Gene, he's from my time! Maybe later than my time, I don't know, I just ..." Alex trailed off as the realisation hit her, "he's dead then?"
"About as dead as Stevie Wonder is blind." Gene replied calmly, moving to get out of his chair.
"Who the hell do you think you are? This is my office," The man in the other room asked loudly. He pointed to the ground where he was standing, "right here, where's my office?"
People continued to stare, some nudging each other as they looked on in amusement.
"One of you morons say something!" The man shouted. He was getting even angrier now.
Alex put her hand on the door handle, ready to walk out and introduce herself. She didn't want to break the bad news to the poor soul, but it would have to be done.
"WHERE'S MY OFFICE?" He yelled, his face turning red.
Just as Alex moved to pull the door open, she saw Gene's gloved hand appear and firmly hold it closed.
"A word before we greet On The Beat Pete out there." Gene muttered quietly. Alex turned around and watched as Gene moved back behind his desk.
"Now I 'ave the slightest suspicion," he said, resting his hands down on his desk and looking at her through narrowed eyes, "that you plan on paradin' your skinny arse out there and givin' 'im an earful. Tellin' 'im why 'e is 'ere and whatnot."
"Well surely that's the best way isn't it?" Alex asked, surprised that Gene seemed to be against the idea.
"That's not the way it should be done, you know it."
"What do you mean that's not the way! If I had known from the moment I came back here that I was dead I-"
"-You wouldn't 'ave believed it. You would've gone off on one of yer little 'no woman, no cry' crusades and tried different ways to prove that you were right."
Alex opened her mouth to retort but realised soon enough that he was right. If someone had told her she was dead, she wouldn't have believed it. Her life in 2008 was all she had to cling to, she would have tried any means to get back then.
"So we just ... don't tell him? Let him go on believing he is either completely insane, in a coma or back in time?" Alex asked, feeling mentally drained. It would be a horrible thing to kid the man, watching his attempts to get home, knowing he never would.
"If we tell 'im the truth, 'e won't believe us anyway. 'E could resort to extreme measures. Sam Tyler nearly jumped off the bloody roof of the police building because 'e thought it could 'elp."
A horrible thought suddenly snapped into Alex's mind.
"If we don't tell him, Guv, D & C will. Keats could convince him to go with him, he could win that man's soul."
"Keats? That slimy bastard couldn't convince 'is knackers they were 'is own." Gene grimaced at the mention of the name. He had come so close to losing Ray, Chris and Shaz to the devil.
"I don't like this idea-" Alex started.
"-big bloody surprise, it's my idea, since when 'ave you liked any of 'em!"
"-but I am willing to hear you out on this one." Alex finished, as if Gene had never interrupted her. Gene looked up at her and their eyes connected for the slightest second, before he nodded and moved back around to the door.
"Not a bloody word, remember, Bolls. If you say anything, you'll be locked up quicker than the drinks cabinet if George Best came to stay, got it?"
Alex rolled her eyes, "Yes, I get it."
Gene pulled open the office door abruptly, hoping to show a wave of power. Alex just sighed inwardly behind him. Men, she thought wearily, all about territory and machismo.
"Oi," Gene barked, grabbing the attention of everyone in the room. The newcomer turned around, slightly dazed. Gene looked him up and down once, "if you're 'ere to whistle a tune about Gay Rights, you're in the wrong bloody place!"
Alex closed her eyes and wished she was somewhere else. The poor man, he must be so confused, feeling so helpless. She remembered when she first saw-
"Gene Hunt." The man whispered, his eyes wide.
Alex snapped her head up in surprise, looking for Gene's reaction. If he was surprised by the use of his name, he didn't show it.
"That's right, and don't you dare forget it. Now get in 'ere, My DI and I would like a word in yer shell-like if you'd be so kind." Gene moved out of the way of the door, his arm making a dramatic sweeping gesture to invite the new man inside. Alex kept out of the way, leaning against the filing cabinet in the corner of the office.
She watched with interest as the man unsteadily walked in, visibly shrinking when he moved so close to Gene. What was it about that man that had such a profound effect on everyone? She wondered to herself.
Gene slammed the door shut once more and pulled down the blinds. He then moved around and sat behind his desk.
"Enjoyin' your first day here?" Gene forced a quick smile, before opening the one of the many folders that littered his desk in front of him.
"I- I don't get how ... what ... I just – Why am I here? I'm not meant to be here, there's been some sort of mistake!"
"Oh yes, there 'as," Gene agreed, looking at the man, "you see, the mistake was made when you waltzed into my domain, spoutin' yer useless drivel, demandin' an office."
"But this-"
"-you see, pal, this is my kingdom right 'ere. I control all of this. You do not walk in acting like you bleedin' own the place or I will beat you so 'ard you will swear you are 'Ellen Keller, you understand?"
The man just gazed, dumbfounded.
Alex shook her head, waiting for more of the Manc Lion Kingdom speech. He used it every single time someone new walked into CID.
"I was shot," The man started, holding his head in confusion, "I was shot in the chest. I don't get why I am here, why I am having the same hallucinations as them..."
"-them?" Alex interrupted from the corner. The man spun round quickly, having been so focused on Gene Hunt he hadn't seen her. His eyes took her in and she saw recognition flash in them.
"No," he moaned to himself, "this isn't happening! This isn't possible!"
Gene looked at Alex, confused by what was going on. Alex raised her eyebrows, letting him know she was clueless as him.
"Well," Gene stated, "when you're quite finished..."
"What is she doing here?" The man seethed, still cradling his head.
"She 'as a name, so let's make with the nice and introduce ourselves shall we?" Gene picked up the brown folder in front of him, and read the name out loud, "Detective Inspector 'arry Lottman, meet Detective Inspector-"
"-Alexandra Drake." The man finished miserably.
Gene went silent, and the folder fell out of his hands. Alex opened her mouth in shock.
"How did you know?" Alex asked softly, amazed.
"'E probably read the sign on yer desk, Bolls, don't get all mushy over it now. If I'd 'ave known all it took was a magic trick to get you on yer back I would've-"
"-Oh don't be so crude!" Alex snapped, looking at Gene angrily before turning her attention back to the man.
"I studied your files, yours and Sam Tyler's. That's how I know Gene Hunt," the man supplied, looking between the two, "You were shot in 2008, in the head. Sam Tyler was hit by a car in 2006. Both resulted in comas and then death. But ..." the man's eyes suddenly lit up in excitement, "if you're here now, you can help me get back, right! You know all about this place, you must know how to get me back! Please, I have a family!" The man leaned towards her from his chair, pleading with her silently.
Alex looked up at Gene. She didn't know what to do in this situation. She never assumed anyone would come in and recognise her. It seemed Gene didn't think that far ahead either. His eyes darted between his two DI's, before he shook his head almost imperceptibly. Alex got the message loud and clear.
"I don't know what you're on about." Alex told him calmly, seeing the man's hope crumble right before her eyes. She forced back tears.
"You don't-" The man finished helplessly, sagging back into the chair.
"I've worked here for years, it was my first job. I came here as a WPC and worked my way up. I have never been shot." Alex carried on the lie, hoping with just enough information the man wouldn't ask again. She needn't have worried though, the man looked thoroughly put out.
Just as Gene opened his mouth to speak again, someone knocked at his office door.
"This had better be bloody good." Gene barked, acquiescing for whoever it was to come in.
The new skip entered cautiously, a piece of paper in his hands.
"Just had reports from a bank, Guv."
"Well don't keep us in suspense."
"A robbery. Shots fired, they got away with over £20,000."
"Pandas?"
"On their way, Guv, but there's more."
"There always is."
"One of the robbers left a message, it said; This one's for you, Hunt the C-"
"-Well I think I've 'eard about enough, 'aven't you two?" Gene forced a smile as he looked at his 2 morose DI's, "oh come on, anyone would think you two didn't get 'ot under the collar about a nice juicy blag."
Gene stood up, and pushed towards the door, grabbing his long black coat as he went.
"Right," He shouted back to Alex and Harry, "you two on me. Let's fire up the- oh bugger."
A/N
Second chapter up! Not sure when the 3rd will be up, got some exams to get out of the way first! Hope you're enjoying it so far, and I hope I didn't make too many errors or mistakes, things that didn't exist in the 1980's etc.
Reviews are more than welcome!