Gene woke before the alarm rang, pushing Alex's ankle off his chest as he rolled over. It took him a minute to remember how his head had got to the wrong end of the bed, chuckling softly when he did. Pulling his leg out from under her arm he remembered having his cock down her throat, coming into her mouth as she spilled over his tongue, then falling asleep before either of them could move.

Thinking about it made him hard. Thinking about shagging her always did, whether he was thinking about something they'd done, or something he wanted to do, or just about lying over her, inside her.

"Oh god. Alex" he murmured against her skin as he kissed her belly, between her breasts, nibbled her collarbone. "Alex wake up." Cupping one breast in his hand he ran his thumb over her pointed nipple, squeezing gently.

"Mmpf. I'm awake Gene." She squirmed under him until their bodies matched up. "Can't exactly sleep with you crawling all over me." She feigned annoyance, Gene kissing the corner of her mouth as it turned up slightly, settling between her thighs as she wrapped her legs around the backs of his knees.

"I didn't hear any complaining about my crawling last night." He kissed the line of her jaw, below her ear, down her neck. "In fact I seem to remember a fair amount of begging."

"Hmmm? I don't remember any begging." She reached between them, stroking his straining length as he covered one breast with his mouth, capturing her pointed bud between his teeth. "Oh, god, Gene. Oh yes." Alex arched her back towards him, Gene groaning in protest when she released her grip on him to move her hands around his back. He groaned again, this time with pleasure as she thrust her hips forward, grinding them against him. Gene captured her mouth with his, meeting her tongue with his as his fingers moved lower, sought her heat. Alex broke their kiss, moaning as he worked her, thrusting with him. "More, Gene, god. Want you, don't stop." He thrust harder, thumb flicking at her clit until she came. "Please, more, Gene." Rolling over, he pulled her on top of him, pushing deep inside her as she gasped above him.

Hand on her hips, Gene guided her as she rode him, his breath coming in shorter and shorter bursts as he held on. "Alex, can't, unnnghh." "Wait, no, oh god, yes, yes!" Alex dropped over him, mouth on his as her aftershocks shook her. "Don't stop Alex, please, feel so good" Gene thrust, hard into her again and again, grunting as he fired off inside her.

Lying in each others arms, smiling, breathing hard, Alex kissed him gently.

"Told you." He kissed her back as he pulled her closer. "Begging."

--

Almost two hours later Gene squealed the Quattro to a stop in front of a small hairdressers. Jenny Nolan had agreed to meet with them during her break, provided they waited outside the shop for her.

Jenny had been one of the earlier rape victims, and once she stepped out of the shop Gene remembered the interview. She'd been terrified, but hadn't been able to give them a lot of information. He was hoping that in the time since they'd interviewed her she'd remembered a few details that might help them now.

"I remember you" Jenny lit a cigarette, crossing her arms in front of her as she smoked. "Can't remember your names, though."

"Yes, Jenny, hello. I'm Inspector Drake, this is DCI Hunt." Gene nodded at the young woman.

"Didya find the bloke that did it? That attacked me? You said on the phone you had some news."

"No, we haven't. But we now believe that your attack wasn't an isolated one."

"What d'you mean? He might come back?" She looked panicked.

"No, Jenny. We don't think he'll come back. But there have been a number of other rapes that were very similar to yours and we do believe now that they were all committed by the same person. Or possibly two people working together. We've gone over your statement, and we were hoping you might have remembered something else, could answer a few more questions that have come up."

She shuddered, nodding. "If I can."

"Thank you." Alex smiled gently. "In your statement you said that he dragged you down into the empty tube station, but he didn't stop to break in"

"No. The gate was open already. He just dragged me through and down the stairs."

"Did he say anything? During the attack."

"Well, yeah. He said he was going to kill me when he was finished. That it didn't matter how much I screamed, no one was coming to save me. I think I told you that." Jenny hugged herself.

"Yes. Yes you did. I am sorry, Jenny. But is there anything else? Anything you might not have remembered at the time?"

"I don't know. He talked a lot. It was like he couldn't stop himself, y'know?" The girl's face clouded. "I didn't hear a lot of it. Was screamin' y'know?"

Alex nodded. "Yes. Of course. We're sorry to have to bring all of this up again, but you're very lucky to have survived the attack. Most of the victims have not been so lucky."

"Jenny, love," Gene spoke for the first time. "Do you remember, before the attack, had you had any contact with anyone new? In the preceding few days? Anyone that gave you a wrong feeling?"

She shook her head. "I don't think so. I mean, I see new folks all the time in the shop, but we usually don't get too many blokes in here." She shrugged. "I have thought about it a lot, y'know, since then. Could it have been someone I knew? Someone I'd met? But I don't think so."

"And since then? Since you've been back to work?"

Again she shook her head. "No. I was scared at first. My mum came and picked me up every day. I'd moved back in with her after I got out of the hospital. I never go anywhere alone anymore. But I'm getting' back to normal."

"Thank you." Gene looked at Alex.

"Yes. Thank you Jenny. I think that's enough for now." Alex wrote her number on a piece of paper and handed it to the girl. "If you remember anything, think of anything at all that you haven't told us, please call."

Jenny nodded and Gene followed Alex back to the car.

Once inside Gene didn't start the car right away. "Did that help?"

"I don't know" Alex sighed. "But we need to cover everything again in case there are connections we missed."

"It's just...seems a shame to make the poor girl relive it all for no bloody good reason."

Alex stared out the window as Gene finally started the engine.

--

A few hours later Alex was back at her desk, reading through the case files again. They'd spoken to the other two surviving victims without coming up with any information that seemed meaningful, and the traffic returning from the last interview had been so bad that Gene had stormed into his office on their return, slamming the door behind him.

Alex had returned to the stack of files on her desk, hoping the new interviews could shake loose some thread they could hang on to. Unfortunately she was beginning to feel that their best bet was to be blessed with an extreme spot of good luck. Leaning back in her chair she closed the file she was reading, returning it to the top of the stack. Too many investigations relied on good luck. God how she wished for DNA evidence!

"A few years too early for that" she mumbled out loud.

"Early for what?" Gene had appeared at her desk, glass of whisky in each hand. He held one out for her.

Shit. "Oh, uh, retirement. Just talking to myself, sorry." She took the offered glass. "It's a bit early, isn't it?"

"Early? It's nearly six-thirty! The rest of the team has already buggered off t'Luigi's. Reckon it was time we 'ead over, too." He leaned against her desk. "I mean, that is, if you want to."

"What? Oh, yes. Yes of course. I can't believe it's that late already. Must've got caught up in the case files." She reached over and squeezed his fingers gently, smiling when he squeezed back and wouldn't let go.

"Find anything?" He didn't look hopeful.

She shook her head. "Not really. I'm beginning to think we're going to need to get very, very lucky to crack this one, Gene."

He shook his head. "Nah. You'll put it together. We just haven't got all the pieces yet" He took her empty glass. "Come on."

Gene stuck his hands in his trouser pockets as he walked down the stairs, so Alex hooked her hand around his elbow, sticking close to him as they headed towards Luigi's.

"You're the future of policing, Alex. All that psyco-babble and profiling bollocks. You'll be runnin' things before too long. Bit early to think about retirement don't you think?"

Alex laughed at his teasing. "I doubt I'll ever be running anything Gene. I'm about as high up as a woman is likely to get in the Met." At least in the foreseeable future. "Besides, no amount of profiling can compete with the amount of experience you have."

"Stop callin' me old."

"I did not say you were old!" she slapped him playfully on the chest. "I said experienced. But I'm beginning to believe it takes both kinds of policing to really fight crime."

Gene grunted. They'd reached the top of Luigi's stairs. "Well. So long as I'm experienced and not old." He indicated for her to go first, then followed her down into the restaurant.

Sending Gene to the bar for drinks, Alex sought out Shaz immediately, grabbing the young woman by the hand and dragging her off to a table far from where the boys had gathered. It felt to Alex as if she hadn't been there in weeks and she was ready to catch up on all the office gossip. Gene rolled his eyes at Alex as he set her glass of wine down on the table, wandering off to where the rest of the team had gathered.

Alex laughed as Shaz chatted non-stop about the various intrigues going on at Fenchurch East. Especially enjoying how her complaints about Chris's shortcomings as a boyfriend were followed instantly by confirmations that he was the sweetest bloke she'd ever known.

The real surprise came about forty-five minutes later. Shaz broke off in mid-sentence. "Watch Ma'am. There he goes."

"There who goes?" Alex was momentarily bewildered.

"Ray."

"Ray? Where's Ray going?"

"Nobody knows. Started the week you 'n the Guv were on holiday. Ray was leavin' the bar before eight o'clock every night. One night 'e said 'e had to help a woman in his building fix her sink. Another night 'e said 'e had to take 'is car in to get it fixed. He stayed late this week cause the Guv was back, and you weren't feelin' well. But me 'n Chris wagered he'd be out the minute you were back 'n feelin' better."

Alex watched and sure enough, Ray got up, weathering the ribbing from the rest of the team, and made his way out the door.

"I think 'e's got a new girlfriend, but Chris doesn't believe me. Sometimes men can be so thick." Shaz shook her head in disbelief for emphasis.

--

Days went very much the same for the next week. Alex spent most of her time trying to put together clues on the serial killer case, working and reworking her profile. Gene and the rest of the team chased an ever increasing number of drug dealers, managing to put a few away, but losing more than they'd liked. Every night they'd end up at Luigi's and, sure as Shaz had said, Ray would be gone before eight most nights.

By Friday everyone's mood had turned sour, especially Gene's. The glow of being on holiday had long faded, and Gene had been especially hard on Ray all week. Ray's failure to put together enough information to nick Charlie Barrett had a lot to do with it. Gene needed a big arrest to make him feel like he was making progress.

"Ray!" Gene hadn't even got up from his desk. Alex shook her head as Ray jumped from his chair and ran into Gene's office. He was going to be unbearable all weekend. Ray left in a hurry after listening to some instructions, grabbing Chris on his way out.

Knowing it was a bad idea, Alex rose out of her chair and stepped into Gene's office.

"It's almost six Gene. Where could you be sending them at this point? Have you suddenly had a tip-off?"

Gene didn't look up from the file he was reading. "Do you 'ave something interesting to tell me about our serial killer or did you come in here to suck the oxygen out of my office?"

Alex heaved an exasperated sigh. "Have it your way then. I am leaving." She turned, pulling the door behind her with a soft click.

--

Gene watched Alex leave the squad room. He needed a bloody profile, and one that they could work with. He hadn't been pushing her, knowing full well they had a limited amount of information to work with, but he was starting to feel the heat from upstairs. Every day they had nothing was one more day they killer might strike again. Pushing back from his desk he threw his pen across the room. He knew the bloody answer. He was going to have to strike again before they could find him. He needed a drink.

--

Alex had given Luigi's a miss, knowing that in the mood everyone was in the evening was likely to end with a fist fight of some kind. She felt she could live without it. Instead she opted for a hot bath and a book, even popping out the scented candles Gene hated. He'd give in to a bath together now and then, but he continued to object to any of the more feminine touches. Except hers, of course.

Refreshed by the bath, Alex slipped into her black silk pyjama top and lacy red knickers. "A girl can hope" she said to herself as she crawled into bed with her book.

--

Gene sat at Luigi's bar alone. The team had scattered, no doubt chased off by his foul mood, Gene thought to himself. Good. Alex was certainly upstairs. She might be waiting up for him. But she might not. He downed his whisky in one gulp.

"Another Luigi" he pointed to his glass.

Luigi wandered over, refilling the glass. "Just you tonight Mr. Hunt?"

"Yes. I've been a bastard all week. No one wants to drink with me."

Luigi nodded. "Probably true." He wandered off, Gene scowling after him.

Two hours later Gene had got drunk enough to leave the week behind him, and wandered upstairs. Alex might still be up, he thought as he climbed the stairs. Maybe she wasn't too angry to let him make it up to her.

Staggering onto the flat, he went straight for the kitchen, unscrewing the top of the whisky bottle that always sat on the counter. "One more couldn't hurt." Pouring sloppily, he spilled a bit as the glass sloshed towards his mouth.

"Gene?" Alex appeared in the doorway. "What are you doing?"

"Having a nightcap." She looked gorgeous. He couldn't help staring at her chest. "Wannno joinme?" He downed the glass in his hand, setting it on the counter as Alex stepped beside him. He closed his eyes. Grapefruit. Suddenly his trousers felt very constricting.

"Why not? But I fear I won't be able to catch up with you at this point." Alex poured this time, and they clinked glasses before each took a sip.

"Sorry 'bout earlier." He set his glass on the counter, narrowly missing dropping it on the floor. Alex caught it and moved his arm in time to avoid a mess of shattered glass.

"It's OK Gene." she pushed his jacket off his shoulders, loosening his tie enough to pull it over his head. "You just need to relax a bit." She kissed him gently. "You're under a lot of pressure." She whispered.

"I am" he nodded drunkenly. "A lot of pressure." He pushed her top off her shoulder, planting kisses across her bare skin as she unbuttoned his shirt. Tugging the tails from his waistband, she unbuckled his belt, slowly unzipping his trousers with one hand as she slid the other inside, stroking him stiff beneath the fabric of his boxers.

"Alex, can't undo the buttons" he tugged her shirt up and over her head, groaning at the sight of her bare breasts in the bright kitchen light. "Love yer tits" he murmured as he cupped them together, bringing each to his mouth, sucking, licking them hard.

Alex gasped, falling back against the counter as her legs bucked under her. "Don't stop Gene." She threw her head back as he continued his assault, Alex groaning, begging for more. Fumbling at his waist, Alex pushed his trousers lower, freeing his heavy length, feeling it pushing against her clit, only the silky, thin fabric keeping it from it's goal as she lifted one leg and wrapped it around his waist.

Arms around her, Gene kissed up her neck, behind her ear. "The red ones. Love these" he said as he snapped the thin strap over her hip and dropped her knickers to the floor. Grabbing her hips he entered her in one long smooth stroke, Alex grabbing desperately to the counter to keep from falling. "Unnnnghhh god, love you, oh god." He thrust hard into her, feeling her clench around him, driving her closer to her peak as he held his off. "Please come Alex, oh god, need to feel you, please." "Oh, Gene, god, fuck, unnh, so, ooh god, hard, unnghh. So close" She bit his shoulder as she came, a cry escaping from her throat, burning into his . Gene thrust harder, more erratic as he neared his own finish, his mouth covering hers as he climaxed, pushing deep inside her, grunting with each explosion.

Gene held her gently as Alex found the floor with her feet, clinging to him as he stepped out of his trousers. Leaving their clothes in the kitchen, Gene grabbed the glasses and the bottle and followed Alex to the bedroom.

Alex sat up and Gene leaned back against her, enjoying the feel of her tits on his back. She'd wrapped her legs and one arm around him. The other held her glass.

"Feeling better?" She asked, her voice husky from the whisky and the sex.

"Much." He turned his head, kissing her on the shoulder. "Still a bit drunk." He drained his glass, setting it on the bedside table.

"This case, Gene. It's going to get worse before it gets better, I think."

He sighed, hugging her arms to him. "I know." He hated to ask. "How's the profile coming?"

"It's coming along. But the truth of it is the victims are completely random. There's very little connecting them other than appearance. The vast majority of the young women in London fit the general description." She drained her glass, setting it next to Gene's empty one.

"Yeah." They were silent. Lying in each other's arms. "Alex?" Gene finally spoke. "Can we go to sleep? I'm tired."

"Of course." She kissed his head and they slid under the sheet, Gene burying his face in her neck.