Sorry for the break in posting, but for the past few weeks, I've been in London! Amazing country, England is. Disappointed to be back in the middle of America, where tornado watches are the norm! But London was amazing!

Guess who met KEELEY HAWES? I did :) And no, i did not bring duct tape or chloroform lol. I also saw her husband, who I have to admit is decent looking in the flesh. (The word flesh creeps me out thanks to doctor who...) But yeah. So here's chap 8!

Chapter 8

Molly sat on the couch, staring out the window. For once, she was not drawing. No, she was thinking, thinking about what was going to happen that night.

She'd see her mum. Molly put her head against her knees. She didn't want to see her mum. It had been hard to run when she was at work, but it was going to be even harder to run in front of her.

Taking a deep breath in, she calmed herself and imagined a layer of ice over her heart. She would freeze it, so tonight, her mum couldn't get to her. Molly sat this way for several minutes, building her ice wall inch by inch, until it was a foot in diameter. But it didn't feel good enough. Ice was still too fragile. She closed her eyes again, this time imagining a steel cover over the ice. As soon as she padlocked it in her mind, she felt rage and fury rush through her veins. Molly grinned. This was what was going to protect her tonight.

"You okay, Molly?" Ethan said suddenly from behind her. Molly turned, looking into his angry and storming grey eyes, knowing hers would reflect in light blue.

"Yeah. Just steeling myself for tonight."

"I can't believe Tom's making you face your mum. He never made me face mine. From what Jimmy told me, this is a first."

"Luigi threatened him. He threatened to stop everything."

A look of horrified realisation passed over his face. "Why?"

Molly shook her head. "I don't know. Maybe Mum begged him to."

"She better not have done. If Luigi only threatened Tom because of a bird..."

"You haven't seen how scary she can get," Molly countered. "When I was in the interview room, she didn't recognise me, and for a moment, I thought she was going to throw me across the room."

"So that's where you get it from," he murmured.

"What?"

"Just a moment ago, when you turned round, I almost ran out of the room. You looked so pissed off I was almost afraid to go near you."

Molly smiled. "I'm not angry at anyone in this house, Ethan. Besides, I draw out my feelings."

"Is that why you always draw during dinner?"

She nodded. "And I will be tonight as well. Tom asked me to get a group sketch done."

Ethan grinned. "Tom's brill, isn't he?"

"I most certainly am," came Tom's voice from the doorway. Ethan turned beet red before Tom grinned. "Out twerp. Molly and I need to have grown up discussions."

"I'm fourteen," he said flatly.

"And still will never be as grown up as us," Tom replied, smirking.

Ethan huffed. "Fine. But you owe me your dessert tonight," he mumbled, walking out of the room.

Tom closed the door behind him and grinned at her. "Hey Molls, how are you doing?"

"Don't call me that," she snapped.

His grin faded. "I...I thought you liked it...It just seemed..."

Molly shook her head. "Sorry Tom. I was rude. It's just my...dad would always call me that after him and mum broke up. I hated him so much and he made me hate the name."

Plus, after figuring out who you really are last night, this whole relationship thing has gotten a bit awkward.

"I understand," he said. "Parents can ruin everything we love about our lives."

"What about your mum? Did she ruin yours?"

Tom laughed. "No. She didn't. But with Luigi as my uncle, he tries to act like my father."

"He's seemed pretty lenient to me."

"Until he gets going on something. 'Tom, you must do this or I will be angry. If you do not do this, I disown you.'"

"Dad wasn't like that. He was...overbearing. Never left me alone after mum left."

"I remember when we moved here Mum was like that."

"How old were you?"

"Eleven."

Molly's heart almost stopped beating for a moment. He believed he had moved to London when he died in 2005.

"It was quite weird the first few months. It seemed like I knew the place, but from a different time. Then Mum died and I just ignored the weird feeling."

"What happened to her?"

"No one's entirely sure. They found her purse and her blood outside a pub one night. The cops investigating said that the owner, a black man who spoke with a fake Jamaican accent, had told them that she passed through. That was all he said."

Molly frowned. "Weird."

"Extremely." Tom glanced down at his watch. "Shit. C'mon Felicità, we've got to go. We're gonna be late."

Molly didn't move. "What did you call me?"

"Your new nickname. Felicità. It means happiness. The emotion I saw in your eyes last night for the first time ever. Unlike the preoccupazione e la rabbia, the worry and the anger I see all the time." He moved over to her, wrapping her in a hug. "Don't worry, Felicità. You won't have to do anything you don't want to do."

If only I could be that sure, she thought. Maybe then tonight would be easier.

~(*)~

"Lunchtime!" Gene called gratefully. He wouldn't admit it, but it had been hell in CID since Alex had taken leave. He didn't blame her, but he couldn't even pretend to understand what Alex was feeling. He hoped she would come down tonight. It was the end of a shit week and he needed someone to get pissed with.

Gene pulled on his coat before exiting CID. It was getting close to November and he could really feel the bite of cold in the air. As he stepped out, his breath fogged in front of his face. Great. It was going to get freezing cold any day now.

Gene made his way over to Luigi's, noting the lights on in Alex's flat. She must not be coming down then. He sighed, considering going up and drinking with her. Shaking his head, he walked down the stairs to the trattoria. He didn't really want to listen to her witter on about her daughter.

As he entered he noted immediately how crowded it seemed. Besides the normal Friday night guests, there was a large group of kids. They were a ragged bunch, the oldest appearing about twenty. Two pairs seemed to be related. The other three didn't appear to be, but he couldn't see the face of one of the girls. Her back was turned to the copper's tables.

Gene sat at the CID table and Luigi approached him. "Who're they?" he asked rudely. "I've seen the boy come get food from you before."

"That's my nephew, Signore Hunt," Luigi replied. "The oldest is his sister and the rest are his friends."

Gene nodded.

"Where is the lovely Signorina tonight?"

"Getting pissed upstairs, probably."

"This is not good. She cannot drink on her own. Go get her."

"If she doesn't want to come down..."

"Signore Hunt," Luigi said, silencing him. "Go to her." He pointed to the girl with the black hair.

"Is that...?"

"Sí, signore. Go to her."

Gene jumped up like he had been shocked in the arse and ran upstairs. He hustled down the hallway to her door and pounded on it.

"BOLLY!" he roared. "OPEN UP!"

He continued to pound on the door until it finally opened, revealing a tired looking Alex huddled in her dressing gown.

"What do you want, Gene?"

"Molly...is downstairs," he panted, out of breath from running.

Her eyes widened in shock. "What?"

"Downstairs. In Luigi's, with a bunch of kids."

Her mouth moved wordlessly for a moment as she stared at him.

"What are you waiting for? Get your bloody knickers on woman! Your daughter is downstairs and all you can do is stare?"

Alex jumped into action, rushing to her room. Gene kept his eye on his watch. Less than three minutes later, Alex jumped out of her room, her hair and makeup done and clothes on.

"How come it bloody takes you an hour in the mornings then?" Gene muttered to himself.

She nearly knocked him off his feet as she barrelled past him. By the time he recovered, she was almost to the stairs.

Gene followed her, at a slightly slower pace. By the time he was downstairs, Alex was almost out the door.

"Molly, please listen!" she cried.

He heard her shout a reply, but could not make out the words. Alex kept running, and Gene followed her, trying his best to catch up with her, but she was moving too fast. Finally, as he turned a corner, panting for breath and getting convinced he was too old to be doing this, he caught up with Alex, who was staring down the street as though she'd lost the world.

"She didn't even give me a chance to explain," Alex murmured.

"Bolls," he said quietly.

Alex shook her head. "I don't know where they went. She's alive, but she's hiding, and I'm not going to find her."

Gene grabbed her hand and started pulling her back toward Luigi's.

"We're going to find her Bolly. I'll make sure that we do."

She said nothing, staring down at the ground and holding back tears.

He took her up to her flat and led her to the couch, pouring her a glass of wine.

"Do you..."

"Just go Gene."

"Bolls..."

"Go."

With the utterance of that single syllable, Gene felt that he must leave the room. If he hadn't, it would have just been rude.

Gene walked downstairs, straight to Luigi, who looked disappointed.

"Signore..."

"Where does your nephew live, Luigi?"

"Signore Hunt, I cannot just..."

"Where, Luigi?" he growled, knowing using an insult would ruin the effect he was trying to give.

Luigi still hesitated and Gene sighed. "I'm not going to go in all guns blazing, I promise. Your nephew and his friends won't be disturbed."

Luigi sighed in obviously relief. "You do not tell him you found out from me," he said.

Gene just nodded.

Luigi gave Gene the address and he wrote it down on a napkin, putting it in his pocket. Tomorrow he was going to stake out that house. And by God, he was going to make Molly return to Alex.

~(*)~

Alex sat on the couch for hours, the glass of wine still as full as when Gene left. She knew that Molly was alive now, but Molly wanted absolutely nothing to do with her.

It was all her fault. She had been a bad Mum. If she had been better, if she hadn't gone into work, Molly wouldn't have run. They would be happily doing something together at this very moment.

Alex sighed. It didn't matter. Molly was gone, as lost to her as she had been when she was in 2011.

A single tear slid down her cheek. The fight for Molly was over.

~(*)~

Molly sat on her bench in Hyde Park, not drawing for the first time in ages. She was too wrapped up in the night before. She had been horrible to her mother. Half of her was hoping that Alex would follow her home and use some form of authority on her, but there was nothing. Alex had even followed them out of the trattoria after Molly had screamed 'Fuck you!' at her, but stopped chasing them on the way.

She had gone straight upstairs without a word to anyone, not even Tom. The room had stayed empty for several hours until there was a knock at her door.

"Ira?"Tom's voice said as he entered the room and sat next to her on the bed, not touching her.

"Ira?" she asked immediately.

"It's my new name for you."

"What happened to Felicitá?"

"You fight so hard to keep out the happiness it seems better to call you Ira for now."

"What does that mean?"

"Anger, rage, words along that line. Why are you so full of anger? She wanted you to come back."

Molly shook her head. "She wants Gene more."

"How can you keep saying that, Ira? Are you blind? She was begging you!"

"It's only because she thought I was dead."

Tom muttered something in Italian, but didn't translate. From his tone, Molly figured it would be better if she didn't ask.

"You're blind, Ira. Think it through. Figure it out."

With that he had left the room, the door almost slamming behind him. She had left as soon as she woke up this morning. She had known it was too early for any of them to be getting up and she rejoiced in the sunrise.

Molly deepened her thoughts. Was what Tom said true? Was she really just being stubborn? Could her mother really want her back? Even after all she had done? Maybe she should go back, just to talk, to apologise for last night.

"You don't really see teenagers in the park at this time in the morning," said a deep growling voice next to her.

Molly turned, startled and her lip curled into a sneer as she saw the man sitting next to her. It was her mum's boss.

"What do you want?" she asked rudely.

"Just to talk," he said.

"About what?" She grabbed a fag and lit up, not offering him one.

"About your mum." She noted how he said this with a certain sadness in his voice, the sound of someone suffering.

"What about her?"

"She wants you to come back."

Molly almost scoffed. "Yeah, right. What she wants is me out of her life so you and her can be a happy couple."

"What the bloody hell are you talking about?" he asked loudly.

"I saw how you two were in the office, and I heard what you said about returning me to Dad's. I heard her reply as well."

"What, about not casting you off like a pair of shoes? I'd be pretty thankful for that, to be honest."

"You didn't get the undertone? She implied that she wanted me gone as well. All I'm doing is giving her what she wants."

Gene stared at her with an open mouth. "You honestly think that? Good God, and I thought you might be smart because you two are bloody related!"

"What are you talking about?"

"She doesn't want me. She wants you. For the last week, I've been up in Luigi's, listening to her sob over you, get pissed over you. I've carried her upstairs and put her to bed a few nights, like a child. All because she's so distraught over you. And I for the life of me can't figure out why, since you seem like such a spoilt brat..."

"Shut up," she said.

"No. You listen to me. You're tearing Alex apart. You go back to her. Make up, cry and hug, whatever it is that birds do. I need Drake back on my team, and you didn't hear me say that."

Molly just stared at him evenly. She still didn't like this man, but he went up slightly in her estimation.

"I'll give you a tenner," he said quickly.

"Twenty and I'll go. Can't promise anything though."

Gene glared at her. "Forty and make up with her."

Molly smirked. "Deal."

Gene gave her the money and she pocketed it before standing up.

"By the way, Mr. Hunt. Tom and I had this discussion last night and I was going to see her anyway, but thanks for the extra cash!"

She walked away smirking, listening to Gene's angry growl behind her.

to be continued