Disclaimer; I don't own any of the characters from Ashes to Ashes, that's all the BBC's doing. This is my first ever fanfic, so please be gentle when reviewing. Actually, don't, just be honest! I've got a fair way to go with this story, but I'm really enjoying writing it, so I hope you enjoy reading it too!
I'm worried that this will seem a little slow to get going for some people, but I promise that I'll make it worth it!

Chapter Two;

"The toms name is Cherish, real name Cheryl Bailey. Me and Ray found her hanging round a car park," Chris informed DCI Hunt and DI Drake as they walked towards the interview room.

"Waiting for a ride, eh Guv?" joked Ray, chuckling even more after receiving a smirk from his boss.

Alex shot the three men a warning look. Talk about misogynists. "Ray, Chris, while DCI Hunt and I interview Cheryl can you please track down the coroner's report? We'll need the time of death in order to check out any alibis."

I love her most when she's like this, Gene thought, professional and focused, powerful.

When they reached the interview room, before heading inside, Alex turned around to face Gene, ready to tell him to respect the girl behind the door, to be gentle and empathise that she lives a tough life, but she'd misjudged how close he was to her and gasped at how close their faces were now.

"Oh, Gene, I'm sorry I-"

"Can't get enough, can you Bolly?" he joked, but his tone soon changed, "Listen Bols, I was wondering if, tonight, or whenever really, you fancied doing something?" Gene blushed, a rare occurrence. When it comes to her, the Gene Genie's magic is useless.

"You were wondering if I fancied doing something whenever? Come on DCI Hunt, surely you can take the reins more firmly than that?" I bet he can, she thought. Alex enjoyed teasing him from time to time, it made her tingle. Part of her wished he would give in, the other wishing that he would hold out, so that the teasing could continue.

"Fine, tonight, me and you Bolls, bottle of plonk and the telly, your flat." The only time Gene Hunt had ever offered to have a cosy night in with a woman was when he knew he'd get something in return. With Alex he was doubtful that he'd get anything in return, apart from maybe a teasing pout and a raised eyebrow, but just one of those looks was enough for him.

"Erm yeah, ok, that sounds..." How did that sound? Curled up on the sofa with Gene Hunt? "...lovely. It sounds lovely."

"Well I would've gone with sexy Bolly, but whatever does it for you. Now let's interview this tart so that we can bang her up and spend the rest of the day waiting in anticipation for this evening's entertainment," he was back to the usual DCI Hunt now as he pushed open the door.

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"Shall I tell you what I think, and save us all some time? I think that you got a call from Mr Croft asking you to come to his office to give him a little treat. You know Mr Croft, he uses you lot regularly, so you know he's a flash git with a few bob and you knew what you were going to do to get yourself a nice juicy tip. So you turn up at his office, distract him with what that mouth of yours can do and then you shoot him dead in his chair. Then you grab his wallet and get out of there, back to your grubby little life."
The case was open and shut as far as Gene was concerned, a greedy tom.

"No! No that's not what happened!" Cheryl Bailey shouted back at him. She was a young girl, eighteen or nineteen Alex had guessed, quite pretty beneath the heavy makeup. " I didn't sh-"

She was interrupted by Chris' head poking from around the door, "We tracked down that coroner's report Boss, M'am, time of death was around one this morning."

"Thanks Chris," Alex smiled and then turned back to face Cheryl, "Ok Cheryl, tell us what happened, from the time that you received the call from Mr Croft to when you left his office."

"I'd been with a punter, was with him until about half past one and then he dropped me back at the house. I live there with the other girls. When I got in Trace told me that they'd had a call from Croft and that I could have him if I wanted him. She knows that I've been struggling a bit and he's known for giving big tips, so I went off to his offices. I had to walk, so it took me a good hour or so, maybe an hour and a half. When I got there the lad behind the desk was just staring into space, so I went to Croft's office, Trace had told me which number it was. When I walked in there he was in the chair, trousers round his ankles, everything out, ready to go, but then I saw all the blood. I panicked for a bit, thought about calling you lot, but Trace had always told me to walk away if anything ever went wrong. She said that you lot don't believe girls like us."

"Sounds like a wise woman, for a tart," Gene retorted, sniffing.

Ignoring him, Alex continued the interview, "Do you know the name of the client that you were with before you went to Mr Croft's office Cheryl?"

"Yeah, Geoffrey Hughes, I see him once a week usually."

"Ok, thank you Cheryl, we'll need you to wait here, at the station, while we track down Mr Hughes so that he can confirm your alibi, ok?"

The girl nodded. She looked small and frightened in the chair, innocent even.
Alex and Gene stood up and left the room together, walking towards CID.

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"Check out her alibi? We know she did it, tarts aren't known for their strict moral code" Gene said, jingling the change in his pocket.

"No, we don't know anything yet, but going with gut instinct, I don't think she did it."

"We've tracked down the coroner's report Guv, and time of death is thought to be around one this morning." They were greeted by Chris, eagerly informing them.

"Thanks Chris. Geoffrey Hughes, you and Ray need to see if you can contact him and ask him to confirm that he was with a prostitute called Cherish last night, until half past one." Alex followed Gene into his office. His scent lingered in the air behind him. It was warm, familiar and comforting. Not to mention manly. She perched on the edge of his desk, stretching out her legs and watching him as his hung his jacket and ran his hands through his hair. She always seemed to forget how tall he was, despite seeing him every day. His white shirt pulled slightly across the back of his broad shoulders and Alex imagined hooking her arms around them. Stop.

"Apart from your constant struggle to stay away from me, is there any reason why your perfect posterior is perched on my desk Bolly?" He wanted her to stay there forever, talking to him, teasing him; argue with him, whatever she wanted to do. Her scent filled the room, light but sweet, sexy but subtle.

"I just..." Why am I here? She had become used to following Gene into his office, usually in order to have an argument, but lately things had been different, they'd taken to sitting in his office talking and joking with each other. Alex enjoyed herself and always looked forward to the tender smile he'd give her as she'd leave to go back to her desk or to head to Luigi's with Shaz and the rest of the team. "...er, I just wondered if you wanted me to cook tonight?"

"Cook? You want to cook me a meal Bolly? When did we get married?" He teased her, perhaps more harshly than he had intended, but really the thought of Alex cooking for him, looking after him, made him happy, happier than he had felt in a long time.

"You're right," Alex gave an embarrassed laugh, "you're right, I'm sure a few bottles of cheap wine will suffice." Alex could feel her cheeks burn as she walked out of Gene's office and sat at her desk. You, Alex Drake, are an idiot. A complete fool. Cooking for Gene Hunt? She felt sharp pangs of guilt as she thought about how she should be at home, cooking for her little girl. Molly wouldn't be eating, she never did when she was worried about something.

Snapping Alex out of her thoughts Chris and Ray burst through the doors of CID.

"Guv! M'am! We tracked down Geoffrey Hughes, he's confirmed everything, the tom was with him until half one last night."

"Just begged us not to tell his wife," Ray sniggered.

Alex looked over to Gene, giving him a look that said 'I told you so'. "I think we should back to Croft's office, we might have missed something."