A/N Here is the penultimate chapter! I found part of this one really, really hard to write. Can you guess which part?

Thank you so much again for all the reviews.

A huge thank you, as ever, to genesgeni* for reading this through for me. The penultimate part of this chapter was inspired by something she said, so I dedicate that to her!:)

I do not own, nor have never owned, Ashes to Ashes! Now the filming has finished I never will!:(

So here he was! Gene had finally made it to the hospital. He parked the Quattro, but didn't get out immediately. This was what he wanted, wasn't it? To see Alex? It had taken long enough to get here; arriving via a police cell and the Super's office, as he had. So why was he still sitting in the car? He should just stride in there like he owned the place. That's what everyone would expect him to do. That's what Bolly would expect him to do. So that's what he would do!

xxx

Alex was nervous and confused. During her time in this world, Gene had provoked many emotions and reactions in her; anger, frustration, attraction, even love. Feeling nervous, because she would see him in the next few hours, was a new one, though. She was both desperate to see Gene and dreading his visit. Ray, Chris and Shaz had been keeping her updated on recent events; she knew all about Collins and the bank statements and everything else that had happened in CID in the past six days. However, when she asked how Gene was, she sensed that the other officers were keeping something from her. All any of them-even the usually talkative Shaz-would say was "fine". Alex wondered what they weren't telling her. Did Gene hate her? Was he still angry with her? Was he absolutely convinced she was corrupt, even after Operation Rose? Without him, her constant, what would happen to her here? Would she survive and get back to Molly? Whatever her feelings for Gene, returning to 2008-the real 2008- had to be her top priority. She must not allow herself to forget that.

To add to her confusion, she was still hurt that Gene hadn't trusted her, or believed her when she'd told him the truth about where she came from. Objectively-and in her professional life, Alex always tried to be objective-it was hardly a surprise that Gene had assumed she was lying to him, when she claimed she was from the future. It was, though, very difficult for her to remain objective where Gene Hunt was concerned… Alex began to feel drowsy as the pain medication kicked in again.

xxx

Alex was asleep when Gene entered her room. For a brief moment he considered just leaving again. He'd seen that she was alright-or at least better than when he'd last been able to visit. Alex stirred in her sleep and winced and murmured as she accidentally turned on to her wounded side. The enormity of what Gene had done hit him again then. The guilt was easily as effective as one of Bolly's own slaps or punches…and he'd been on the receiving end of a few of those! It was his fault she was here and in pain. Gene couldn't just bugger off and leave without speaking to her first.

"Gene?" Alex's voice was barely above a whisper. The pain must have woken her up.

"Yes, Alex". Gene's voice sounded much calmer than he actually felt. He didn't know if she wanted him to help her as she awkwardly pulled herself up into a sitting position. He reached out, but was too late to do anything meaningful

"So you're here, then." Nothing like stating the obvious, Alex! And why hadn't Gene called her Bolly? Or Bolls? Was him calling her by her proper name a good thing, or not?

Gene drew in what was probably the deepest breath he'd ever taken. He couldn't look Alex in the eye. "I'm….sorry I shot you."

An apology from the Manc Lion! One that didn't mention a West Indian cricketer and actually featured the word 'sorry'! Alex was really quite surprised. Apparently, it was quite the week for the Gene Genie to behave unpredictably. Chris and Shaz had told her all about the Guv thanking Ray.

"I know you didn't do it deliberately, Gene." Alex said quietly. She wondered if it would have been easier if he had intended to seriously injure her. She could simply have been angry with him, hated him, even, without all of the other feelings, which complicated matters.

Gene had no idea what to say next. What could he say that wouldn't make him sound like a complete bloody jessie? He didn't know if he should bring up what Bolly had said about being from the future. Or the things on that tape. Over the last six days, he'd gone over everything in his mind so often, that he thought he'd go insane, but even that didn't help. He was still as confused as hell about the whole thing. Until Alex had entered his life, Gene had never really felt baffled. Now it was an almost permanent state of mind where she was concerned. It would be so much easier if she was angry with him; even shouting at each other like they used to when Bolly first arrived in CID would be better than this awkward silence. Why didn't she say something? He didn't think she'd ever actually been quiet for as long as this. Before…what happened, she'd have been squawking away like a parrot hooked on speed!

Was that it? Alex wondered if Gene was going to say anything about what had happened before they ended up at St Dunstan's. Was he sorry that he had shot her, but still didn't believe her or trust her?

Gene decided that he had to say something. "I saw Featherstone, earlier. 'e's assigning a Discipline and Complaints officer to us and wants to send me for more firearms training!"

Alex felt sick. So that was it, then. The connection, or whatever it was they'd had before Operation Rose, obviously didn't matter to Gene now. He'd been showing his true feelings on those screens in '2008'. It was all about himself and the job. Alex didn't know how long she would be stuck in this place for, but at that moment she made a decision. She would simply exist, do her job and limit her interaction with Gene and everyone else around her, until she could find a way back to Molly.

"I'm so tired, Gene. I really would like to go back to sleep now." Alex lay down in the hospital bed and all but turned her back on her DCI.

xxx

As he left the hospital, Gene was more than a little bit frustrated. What the hell had gone wrong there? It was as if Bolly could hardly bear to be in the same room as him. He'd apologised for shooting her! What more did she want? He suddenly had the uncomfortable feeling that he hadn't said something that she'd wanted to hear.

Gene's police radio crackled into life. "Guv? Are you there?"

"Yes, Skip."

"Inspector Jim Keats is waiting for you in your office. And there's a memo on your desk. I think it's from Superintendent Featherstone."

"Oh bloody joy!"Gene revved the Quattro's engine and screeched out of the hospital car park.

xxx

Four days after Gene had visited Alex at the hospital; here he was sitting in another car-park. When he'd arrived back at the station, last Thursday, he'd been greeted by Jim Keats, the Discipline and Complaints Officer that Featherstone had saddled him with. Keats was a young upstart who was even more of a by-the-book-picky-pain than Tyler had been in the beginning. Gene hadn't thought that that was possible!

Then there was the memo. Viv had guessed correctly; it was from Featherstone. It informed Gene that an appointment had been made for him at the Met's Firearms Training Centre, for this afternoon. If there could be anything worse than having to subject himself to more training, it was finding out the identity of the instructor. Gene knew Butt from his Manchester days and he really didn't like him. Butt had a superiority complex the size of Cheshire and was sarcastic with it. Gene could just hear Sam's voice in his head, laughing at him. "Nothing like you at all then..." At times like this, he could almost admit that he missed Tyler.

Gene had not been back to the hospital to see Alex, since that first visit. There didn't seem to be much point. She had made it perfectly clear then that she didn't want to see him.

Unfortunately, Butt had not had a personality transplant in the years since Gene had last seen him. The two officers met on the practice firing range.

"Now, Hunt." Butt's smile was almost wolfish. "I want you to take out all three of the targets. You should hit them either in the head or heart. Shooting them in the gut would be pointless. They aren't your DI. They won't end up in a coma!"

Gene was seething. He wondered what Butt would do if he pointed the gun at him. Was he wearing a bullet-proof vest? Realistically, Gene knew that shooting the firearms instructor would not help him keep his job! So he took his frustration out on the firing range.

As Gene lined up the first shot, his mind's eye saw Jenette Rivens instead of the target. Bang. The bullet went through the target's head. Gene doubted he'd ever have another opportunity to shoot Jenette, but at least she'd been apprehended and arrested while trying to flee to Dublin.

Bang. The next target was 'Collins'. Again, the bullet went exactly where he intended; the top half of the head.

Bang. The third and final target 'Butt' had a hole blown through its heart.

Gene felt much better after that and it didn't matter what Butt threw at him; moving targets, loud noises or other distractions, his aim was always spot on.

xxx

Gene arrived back at the station to find Ray, Chris and Shaz gathered around Viv at the front desk. The four officers looked at each other. Who was going to speak first?

"Guv, I've just got back from the hospital." Shaz decided to break the silence. "DI Drake says she's going to discharge herself tomorrow morning!"

A/N I have no idea what firearms training would have been like in the 1980s.I did try to research it, but couldn't find much. So I made it up!I hope it reads reasonably plausibly.

Please let me know what you think.