TITLE: Somebody That I Used To Know

AUTHOR: bolly69

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or concept; they belong to the BBC/Ashley/Matthew, etc.

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Thanks for sticking with this, hope this one doesn't disappoint.

This will eventually be an M rating, please do not read on if you're easily offended by sex and/or strong language.

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Chapter 3

Alex was almost at the point of hanging up when he finally answered; she was both relieved and taken aback by the way he spoke; maybe this compelling need to see him again was a mistake after all. She composed herself and tried to quell the butterflies that were battling in the pit of her stomach, trying, and failing, to convince herself it was purely business and nothing more.

"Mr Hunt… Gene, it's Alex Drake," she paused, again questioning the wisdom of her decision to call him, "look, I'm at a loose end tonight and I can't imagine you're overly keen on spending the night in a hotel alone and away from home, so…" deep breath and a gulp, "would you like to have dinner with me tonight? Nothing fancy or anything, just dinner. We can discuss your, er, application," now she was struggling, "I can pick you up…"

"Okay" he cut her off, desperate to see her again and hopefully this time he'd at least be calm enough to have a conversation with her, despite the fact that it would kill him having her not remember him.

He knocked back his whisky and headed off to find his room so he could have a freshen up. The hotel shop had a handy supply of toiletries – shaving gel and razor and stupid mini aftershaves and stuff – he pointed at a bottle boldly named BOSS as it seemed appropriate, or at least once it had done. He made himself presentable in his clean, modern room and wandered back down to sit outside in the soft early evening sunshine to wait for her.

He noticed the car before he realised it was her; dazzling white; Audi rings on the grill glinting. The irony wasn't lost on him.

Alex smiled sweetly and waved to get his attention. With a heavy heart he made his way to the car and climbed in. She looked stunning of course, in a short blue dress, simple but that only highlighted her figure and long legs even more. Her hair was loosely tied back, much softer than it had been at work and her perfume filled the car, making the hairs on the back of his neck bristle; it wasn't the same one she used to wear but a hint of it had lingered in his senses from earlier in the day and now all it did was remind him of her. He wondered if he'd been staring and quickly averted his eyes, before he would be unable to ever take them off her again.

"Nice car Bol… DCI Drake"

"Thank you, I don't know what possessed me to buy it really," she blushed and giggled like a girl, "got it on a whim; very unlike me! …and please, call me Alex".

He nodded in silent agreement, knowing that hidden somewhere in her subconscious were the reasons behind her decisions.

She was grateful that she sounded much more relaxed than she felt; he smelled wonderful, fresh and citrusy, and although he wore the same clothes as before he looked completely gorgeous; utterly shaggable… Alex stop! And those eyes, those bottomless pools of blue seemed to be brighter than ever with the evening sun reflecting in them. His voice brought her back to reality.

"Well then Alex, there's only one thing for it. Fire up the Audi"

He saw the slight frown creep across her face, then a smile, "Oh that's from that movie isn't it? No, TV show? I know if from somewhere… just can't quite remember…"

Shit. What did he think he was doing, he didn't want to freak her out which is exactly what would happen if she remembered, "Yeah, it's from an old show, probably before your time" he hated this, this pretence where he couldn't talk to her like they used to, he wanted to tell her so much; to close off some old cases she's worked on, to let her know he missed her every day, that he'd postponed his afterlife to come here. But he couldn't, he couldn't send her into some kind of trauma now that she had forgotten and was getting on with her life. He couldn't be that selfish. Even though he could feel his heart tearing in two, he couldn't hurt her again.

She finally set off and immediately the car started bleeping.

"Belt!"

He didn't respond.

"Seat belt" she looked over at him as the bleeping continued.

"Sorry?"

"You haven't put your seat belt on, it's bleeping at me"

"Eh? I'm not a… Oh yeah, okay. Sorry"

He pulled the belt around and clicked it in, and the bleeping stop. He decided conversation would be the best thing to hide his ignorance, "So DCI, er, Alex, which one of London's glorious eateries are we visiting tonight?"

She smiled at him again, he wished she'd stop doing that. "Well, it's a small family run restaurant in a quiet little back street. I love it there, but don't get to go as much as I'd like"

"No? Your boyfriend like to take you to posher joints then?" he was prying even though he didn't want to hear the answer.

She put on a false smile, her mask, and shook her head, "no, he, er doesn't really do going out"

"Oh." She had someone. He wished he hadn't asked. "Home body is he?" why didn't he just stop?

"No, he's just… well he likes his own company, David. I don't see that much of him really…"

"Then he's a fool" the angry words were out before he could stop them. "Sorry Alex, none of my business"

She shot him a glance but there was no anger there, just surprise, "No, please don't apologise, it's fine Gene. Anyway, we're here"

She pulled the Audi into a small cobbled parking area and stopped the engine, "The entrance is at the front, come on, I'm starving" she giggled. Again. She was behaving like a schoolgirl, what was wrong with her?

He followed her around the quiet back street to the front of the building; old, probably Georgian, it still retained an olde worlde charm despite the modern signage. Gene saw they were beyond Tower Bridge towards docklands and its towering glass monoliths; glancing around he remembered this area had been either derelict buildings or working warehouses the last time he was here. As he approached the door a familiar smell wafted into his nostrils; tomatoes, garlic, pizza; shit a fucking Italian restaurant. He wanted to run, this was all getting silly.

"Here we are Gene, this is it. They do a lovely risotto but the pizzas are excellent too" she hesitated at the look on his face, "oh God, I should have asked, you do like Italian don't you?"

He shrugged in resignation, "Yeah, I've been known to frequent the odd Italian place, sometimes a very odd Italian place…"

She looked relieved and giggled at his half joke, then led them into the small restaurant where a kind looking middle aged Italian man approached and showed them to a secluded table near the back.

"Thank you Paulo, could I have a large white wine please, and a… er… Gene?"

"Eh? Oh pint please"

"Pint? Sorry Sir, we 'ave bottles. What woulda you like? Peroni? Grolsch?"

Gene was lost, was he speaking Italian? "Beer. Bitter. Alex?" his eyes pleaded with her for help.

She didn't understand why he looked so stunned, but came to his aid, touching his hand gently, "Gene, they don't have that here I'm afraid, Peroni instead?"

Gene nodded, frowning, feeling like a fish out of water. He felt self conscious and uncomfortable, in contrast Alex seemed relax and at ease, if a little edgy around him. Was she trying to impress him? They both studied the menu in lieu of conversation and the waiter returned quickly with their drinks and asked if they were ready to order. Alex opted for the risotto she'd recommended earlier and Gene just asked for steak; better to be safe. The waiter retreated and left them alone. Eventually Alex made the first move, taking a deep breath to speak, which only enhanced her breasts that he'd been trying desperately to ignore this evening, pushing the pale flesh up to peek above the v neck of her dress.

"So Gene, tell me more about you. We've established you're from Manchester and retired, but I know nothing more than that"

This is what Gene was dreading. What did he say? How much did he tell? "Oh, not much to tell love, not about the Gene Genie…" it was out before he realised. Again.

Alex frowned, something nagging at the back of her mind. She shook it off and carried on, "Come on tell me about Sam Tyler, Manchester. And why did you decide to retire?"

"You know about Sam, you worked with him" he looked confused.

"Ah, I'm afraid that's a part of my memory I haven't recovered yet, along with his story and case. All his files went missing while I was ill so the only things I know about him are what was told to me. So come on Gene, tell me about your team"

"I don't think I should, er, it's all boring, you won't want to hear…"

"Nonsense, I've had months of people walking on eggshells around me and I'm ready to hear about real policing for a change" the enthusiasm in her eyes made them dance, showing the light golden flecks in the hazel. God, she looked gorgeous, but his heart was breaking; his Alex was here, sitting opposite him, but she really wasn't.

"We can get to that later. First tell me about you Alex; about what happened, and how you are now"

She looked surprised but smiled, "Oh! Well, okay. I'm a psychologist and I love working in the force. I got caught up in a hostage situation four years ago, never understood what it was all about but would you believe, I got shot in the head!" she laughed, but there was a sadness in her eyes, "It's been a long road back but I think I'm finally getting there" she looked at Gene and he knew she was serious.

He nodded and gazed at his beer, "Must be difficult getting back in the saddle after a thing like that. You've done well love, you look great" he hesitated and caught her eye, "you know, er, considering like" he cleared his throat, "And what about your personal life Alex, your family?"

She paused before speaking, "I have a daughter, Molly, she's 16 and at the moment she's away skiing with school. I bet she's having a ball! Her father left us when she was a baby and I'm proud to say that I think I've done a good job raising her on my own. She's mouthy, I suppose she takes after me for that, but she's really smart and has lots of friends. The only other family I have is my Godfather, Evan. He brought me up after my parents died when I was a child. He's been better than a father to me, although he is a little over protective!"

"Your little girl sound wonderful, you're lucky to have each other. What about your boyfriend? David was it?"

Alex dropped her head and eyes, hiding the disappointment there, "Ah David. It's complex. We've been together just over a year and he's… well, he's company, you know?" those glassy orbs lifted back to meet his, searching for reassurance.

"And is that enough?" He stared into her eyes, unnerving her a little.

"S… sorry?"

"Company. Is that enough for you Alex?" he knew it wasn't.

She opened her mouth to answer but the waiter appeared with their food, stopping any words. They ate in relative silence apart from the odd comments on the excellent food.

Eventually Alex started the conversation up again, "So, life in the force before you retired, do tell"

He couldn't get out of it again so decided to tell her some scant details, hoping it would all go over her head, "Okay. Well, I had a great team with me, Ray Carling, Chris Skelton, poncey Man U supporting Sam Tyler, oh and of course a late addition, WPC Sharon Grainger, Shaz, she was a good girl"

Alex dropped her fork "Shaz…" a vision of a box containing a white leather jacket flashed before her eyes, a smiling dark haired WPC carrying it towards her.

"Alex love, I'm sorry, I should go…"

She looked dazed, "Ray… Chris… Yo… You…" a red car screeched to a halt in her mind, the doors opened and booted legs stepped out, she felt faint…

"Alex…"

She put both her hands on her forehead, rubbing her scar "I'm just a little dizzy, I think I need some air…" she went to stand but wobbled, Gene stood and held her elbow, her glassy eyes looked up at him; there she was, his vulnerable Alex, looking helpless and lost, needing him to hold her. But this wasn't what he wanted, he shouldn't have caused this.

"Come on love…" Gene led her outside and sat her on a low wall nearby.

"I'm sorry Gene, this happens sometimes, just a side effect from the coma" she dragged the back of her hand across her forehead and gulped, "sometimes names and faces come back to me, flashbacks if you like. And then they leave me as soon as they've come. Something you said must have triggered it, I'm sorry"

"No need to apologise Bolls… Alex"

Her eyes flashed at him, "What did you call me? You said that earlier too. Bolly…"

He frowned, confused, "No Alex, I called you Bolls. It was a name I had for a colleague. Someone I was close to"

"You. You're Gene Hunt. From Manchester. I know of you" she whispered, "How do I know of you?" The tears spilled from her eyes and down her cheeks, her trembling hands trying in vain to sweep them away.

He ran his fingers through his hair, shaking his head, "Let me get you home, I'll leave you be"

"No! Tell me, have we met before?" She gripped his arm, eyes pleading, a sob escaping her lips, "Gene, are you… somebody that I used to know?"

He paused for what felt like a lifetime before he answered.

"Yes, Alex. Yes I am"

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Thanks for reading! ;-)

Thanks to Ash & Matt for giving us fantastic characters to play with, to whatever ends…

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