Happy New Year! Thanks to all of you that reviewed and favourited and added to story alerts! This chapter is pretty much just *gasp* fluff, and was never ever supposed to be written. However, my brain had other ideas apparently...

Chapter 2: Comfort

They stared at the board, all silently wishing for a clue to appear on the board. None did, and they sat at the exact same place they had sat since three days previously. Just one more face on the board. That was the only difference between now and a week ago. CID knew that if they did not find this man soon, another face might very well appear.

Alex looked up from the files she was studying, rotating her head to work out the soreness that had built up. As her head turned, she caught Gene's eyes. His expression matched the mood of CID over the past several days. The sparkle in the bluish silver had faded, replaced by a look of darkness that could not be quenched by any sort of humour. Indeed, CID had not been in a joking mood lately. This case was weighing on all of their shoulders, and most of all Gene's. Not catching this man tarnished his reputation, and in doing so, his pride. It had become such now, that it was all Alex could do not to put her arm around him, to try and comfort him in some way. But no, Gene wouldn't want that. His pride had already been damaged. Her trying to console him would just make it worse. And she was certain that he did not feel the same way about her as she did about him. No, it was best just to leave it alone. Gene's morale would boost as soon as the case was over. Until then, he was going to brood.

Suddenly the door burst open. An angry man stormed through it, making a beeline for Gene's office. Alex stood quickly, looking at Gene and following the man in when Gene nodded. She shut the door quietly as the man started to rant.

"I am appalled at the results of this case, DCI Hunt. It's been three days since Jennifer was... And you have gotten no closer to catching the killer."

Alex closed her eyes and counted to ten. Jennifer's husband had been a constant annoyance, always coming in to yell at them. As the man continued, Alex watched Gene carefully, expecting him to explode at any moment.

Finally, Ryan Waters stopped, panting for breath. Gene looked levelly at the man. "Mr. Waters," he said calmly, hiding his inner rage. "As I have explained to you every day, we are trying our hardest to find the man behind this. However, we have no leads. Every officer in our department is currently working on this. I assure you, we will find the man behind this."

The man just glared at Gene, sparks almost flying from his eyes. "You don't give a shit about her. Or the killer. I hope he takes one of yours next."

With that, Waters stepped out of Gene's office, walking briskly out of CID. Only then did Gene viciously kick his rubbish bin. "That stupid bastard!" he yelled, once more kicking the bin. This time it flew in the air, smashing against the window. "How dare he say that we don't care?" Gene seethed. "And that he hoped it happened to one of us. That utter bastard."

He became aware of a hand on his shoulder. Gene stopped dead. Bolly's hand. It was resting on his shoulder. He had secretly hoped for this moment for a long time. For so long she was untouchable. But by breaking the barrier, she had just put herself within his reach. Maybe he would never be able to shag her, but he could touch her.

Gene turned, looking into her eyes which expressed everything. He knew in that moment that they needed no words to understand what the other was feeling. Slowly, not wanting to break the moment, Gene reached over and pulled the curtains to his office closed. Alex stood next to his desk, watching him quietly. When the blinds were shut, Gene turned, staring straight into her eyes. She almost looked...vulnerable. Her eyes were open wide, the hazel orbs shining brightly.

He took one hesitant step toward her, but stopped awkwardly. He heard her breathing pick up slightly. She reached out her arm once more, letting it rest on his heart. Gene gave a small smile, remembering the first day she had arrived, when he had responded by placing his hand over her breast.

Her eyes were uncertain, questioning every move. Gene moved a step closer to her, making her arm bend. Her other hand reached out for his chest, and he reached out around her shoulders, wrapping her in an embrace. Her head rested on his chest, and they stood there for a moment, taking comfort from each other's presence. He rested his chin on her forehead, building up courage. Suddenly, almost too fast for his liking, he moved his chin down, so his lips brushed her forehead, like a father would to a child.

Alex opened her eyes as she felt her lips press on her forehead. It just felt...right. Slowly, not wanting to startle him, she pulled her head off of his chest. His arms were still wrapped tightly around her, her hands pressed to his chest. His heart was racing.

Alex looked into Gene's eyes. She knew what she saw in his eyes would be reflected in hers. There was an undertone of fear and uncertainty, but at the forefront of his eyes, she saw longing. She knew that feeling well. It was the same thing she felt every time she looked at him.

He broke eye contact as his eyes drifted down to her lips, his face drawing ever closer to hers. She looked down at his, marvelling at the perfection of them. They were stunning, even when not pushed up into his characteristic pout.

His eyes flickered back up to hers, and questioned once more. She continued to look into the silver blue, darkened by desire, moving her mouth closer to his in response. Her eyes moved back down to his lips as they drew closer, suddenly not seeing anything as her eyes closed and instinct took over.

His first thought as their lips met was of how natural it seemed. Their kiss was slow and passionate, expressing everything they could not put into words. One of her hands moved from his chest to the back of his neck, pulling his head down slightly so that he could meet her mouth more easily. Any trace of nervousness was gone as it continued, neither wanting to be the one to break the connection.

Finally, they broke apart together. Gene's hands had moved down to her waist, and now both of her arms were around his neck. Still no words were exchanged as they stared at each other. They were both surprised at the sudden connection, but neither regretted it. Her hand moved to his cheek, and she moved her face to the opposite one, kissing his temple before whispering in his ear.

"We will catch him Gene. He will not kill another."

Gene could not say anything. He just pulled her closer, taking comfort in the warmth he had not felt from another for so long. She did not seem to mind, resting her head against his chest again. They stood like this for a while, neither knew how long, until someone knocked at the door.

Gene and Alex broke apart, Alex picking up a pencil, and Gene sitting behind his desk before yelling 'Enter'.

When Ray walked in, it looked as though all they had been doing was poring over a map of London.

Gene looked up. "What do you need, Raymondo?" His voice carried none of the malice that it had in the past several days and Ray looked disconcerted.

"Waters has been working up the families of Beatty and Jenkins. They're both here demanding to speak to you."

Gene sighed, pressing his fingers against the bridge of his nose. "Send 'em in then."

Ray nodded, closing the door behind him. Alex took the opportunity to rest her hand on his shoulder.

"They're more reasonable than Waters," she said softly. "They'll listen."

Gene nodded as her hand disappeared from his shoulder. The door swung open, and three women and a man entered his room.

"What's wrong?" Gene questioned.

"Mr. Hunt, we just want to make sure everything is being done to catch this man," said one of the women, a grey haired lady whom Alex remembered as being Beatty's mother. "Ryan Waters..."

Gene held up his hand.

"Mrs. Beatty," he said gently. "I can assure that everything is being done. We have our entire office working on this. Before you came in, my DI and I were discussing the suspect," he lied. "She's a psychological profiler. She's studying the way he commits the crimes to try and give us an idea of what we are searching for."

The four looked at Alex with a new respect. Alex simply nodded, smiling at the family. Mrs. Beatty turned around and looked at the other three. "I do think Mr. Waters is overreacting. I trust Mr. Hunt and his team here. So why don't we let them alone so they can work on the case?"

The other three nodded.

Mrs. Beatty looked at Gene and Alex and nodded. "Thank you very much for your time, Inspector, Chief Inspector."

She left his office, followed by the other three. Gene breathed out a sigh of relief. "That was easier than expected."

"Mrs. Beatty's a sweet old lady," Alex replied. She doesn't want to cause any more problems than she has to."

Gene nodded.

"Dunno about you, Bolly, but I'm ready for a drink."

~(*)~

Alex lay in bed long after Gene had left her flat. He had no suits at her flat still, and had to get up every morning an hour before her to go to his flat and grab a suit. Alex had suggested keeping a few at her place the night before, and Gene had given her a small smile, agreeing that he'd bring an extra couple of suits that night. She gave a small smile. She knew it was only the early days – good God, they'd only kissed four days previously – but she thought it would work out. She was just waiting for their first fight. That would determine how the whole relationship was going to work out. For now though, she was going to enjoy it.

~(*)~

It had been difficult to get out of bed that morning with Alex sleeping so peacefully next to him. He had wanted to shag her senseless, but resisted, knowing that if he took time to do that, they would both be late and questions would be raised in CID.

As he drove to his flat to pick up a suit, he could not shake the feeling of dread that rose in his stomach. This wasn't a good sign. His gut was never wrong. Something bad was going to happen today. He already knew it. As soon as CID walked in, he would be rounding them up, assigning them each to a different part of London to scour the maps quicker.

He would not let the next victim die. He could not.

~(*)~

Alex finally persuaded herself to get out of bed, stepping into the lukewarm shower. She couldn't shake the dark feeling that had swept over her as soon as she had stepped out of bed, however. There was something about it that made her fear the next attack would be today. But they wouldn't let the victim die. They would find the person, and catch the murderer. She would make sure of it.

~(*)~

He checked his equipment over for the third time, making sure he had everything ready, and grinned. It was time to put his plan into action. And since Hunt didn't seem motivated enough when it was a stranger, maybe one of his own would elicit a faster response.

Because the man wanted to be caught. He wanted Hunt to find him, to unleash his fury for which he was so famous on him.

Today would be the day. His project was coming to an end.

to be continued