'If I ever hear you talk to me like that in front of the Super again, I'll-'

'You'll do what, Gene? Have me transferred? Because if that's the case I can think of a whole lot of other things I could say to you in front of him!' Alex Drake squared up to her DCI, her face just as full of contempt as his.

'Fine!' Gene roared back, poking a gloved finger at her face, 'If that's the way you want it Drake, I'll sort the paperwork for you right now! Granger, A17 form- pronto!' Shaz jumped as he barked her name and hurried off to one of her filing cabinets. As Gene turned to them, Chris and Ray were suddenly very fascinated in the witness reports on their desks.

'Y'know Guv, I thought by now you might have acknowledged some of the assets I offer this team, but you're still the same as you always were- a mysogynistic, self-righteous dinosaur! You can't function properly without at least a gallon of alcohol and two packets of cigarettes, you bite the head off anyone who comes to you for advice, if it's not about football or gambling! And if someone has a different opinion to you they must be wrong and you make sure they know it.' Alex raised her hands in the air in exasperation, 'How do you expect people to speak to you, Gene? I must have been mad to think I could work with an over-the-hill, power-hungry relic like you!'

Alex wanted to swallow her words back as soon as they'd left her mouth, She loved working with Gene, and didn't want to imagine being on anyone else's team. Unfortunately her pride would never dream of letting her apologise, so she stood firm, chin up, cheeks sucked in, her chest raising and falling rapidly as adrenalin surged through her.

Gene stared at her, his jaw clamped shut and his eyes cold and hard, an expression Alex had only seen him reveal to the worst of London's scum. His balled fists were at his sides, and for a moment, no one said a word. Alex and Gene were stood less than a metre from each other, but at that moment they couldn't have been further apart.

'Get out, Alex.' Gene said finally. His tone was low, dangerous.

Alex felt her resolve weaken at his rare use of her name, but not one for showing her enervation, she stared at him a moment more and spun away, snatching her keys from her desk and leaving the doors swinging precariously in her wake.

Gene stayed rooted to the spot for a split-second, before turning and heading determinately for his office, bellowing that the show was over and would they ever get on with some bloody work for a change.

'Those two have got to get themselves shagged,' Ray sat back and breathed out a long stream of smoke as the general hubub of the office began to sound once more, 'either with each other, or someone else. It's driving me bloody barmy.'

Chris nodded, glancing at the Guv's office and leaning over to Ray, 'Do you think they already have, Ma'am and the Guv?'

Ray shook his head categorically. 'If they had, it wouldn't be so flamin' unbearable here. Guv'd be far to worried he wouldn't be gettin' a repeat performance if you catch my drift.'

'CARLING! WORK!' came Gene's yell from behind his half closed door, and Ray returned quickly to his files.

How could he have told me to leave like that, in front of everyone? Alex sat on the floor, her back against the sofa and a glass of wine in her hand, the events of the day churning over and over in her mind. She knew very well the answer to her question, and the hardest part was accepting that she actually deserved it.

It had all started when they were summoned to the Super's office that morning. He had pulled Alex and Gene in over a spate of drug busts which the team had co-ordinated over the past few weeks but had all come to nothing.

'It's a waste of money, time, and resources, not to mention the continuation of dealing that is going on whilst your department let the bastards slip through your fingers.'

Alex had not been surprised to hear the usually passive Superintendent speak profanely. It was common knowledge his neice was hospitalised due to heroin addiction, and this one factor alone had made him push all departments of Fenchurch East in getting as many druggies off the streets as possible.

Gene stood with his hands in his pockets staring at the ceiling, whilst Alex had chosen to sit just in front of him, across from the Super. Alex had gone on to try and convice him that they were doing all they could to move up the supply chain and sniff out the dealers, rather than the two-bit users who could be found on almost every street in Inner London. Gene had then reminded her that whilst catching the dealers would see there being less drugs on the streets, pulling in as many users as possible would give them more information on the best places they could start looking, as well as maybe drawing out some of the dealers by default.
Although she couldn't remember word-for-word what had been said in the heat of the moment, she knew it had ended badly with her making Gene look rather stupid, and not as though they were on the same team at all.

Alex knew she had to put her pride in her pocket in apologise, even though the thought of doing so was extremely unappealing. She couldn't stomach the smugness from Gene if she said sorry, but it stuck in her gut more to know that he now thought the words she had used about him were her true feelings.

If only he did know my true feelings, she gulped down the last dregs of her wine and looked at the clock. Almost eight. The team would be downstairs at Luigis, not more than twenty feet south of where she sat. She had mustered up enough dutch courage to apologise, but knew she wouldn't go down and do it in front of everyone else. I could wait until morning, but then I might have left it too long to undo the damage.

Knowing she wouldn't be able to sleep, yet not wanting to face anyone downstairs, Alex shrugged her jacket on and made her way across to the station. She had to try and sort this Drug bust mess out, and if it was going to be her last week there the team needed someone to try and make sense of where they'd gone wrong. Struggling to wrap the white leather jacket around her body, she cursed herself for not finding something warmer to put on. It had been below freezing for the last few days, and although it was only November the weather reports had suggested snow might be on it's way. This had pissed Gene off instantly, who saw snow not as something which could be playful or beautiful, but as a hindrance, noting just how much harder it would be to chase some pisshead burglar down the street, not to mention ploughing the Quattro out of a drift should they get stuck.

The station was quiet, but then again it was only Monday; criminals usually got off to a slow start before a flood of them arrived midweek. Alex passed the night Skip at the front desk with a small greeting, and went straight to CID. Through the glass of the double doors everything was dark, except for the dim glow of the table lamp which sat on Gene's desk. He couldn't still be there, surely? She had assumed he went to Luigis at six, with the rest of them. The blinds were drawn and the door shut, so there was no way of knowing whether the lamp had been left on accidentally or whether Gene lay within.

Silently, Alex pushed open the door and glanced at her desk as she crossed the room. Her name plate was still on it, which she supposed was a good sign. She had imagined him throwing it across the room in a rage, maybe even hitting poor Chris on the head in the process.
Nervously, she gave a gentle knock on the door. It took so long for him to answer, Alex was certain he wasn't there.

''Oo'ever it is, piss off.'
Gene's low grumble sounded out, and she was surprised to find her stomach do a very pronounced backflip. She took a deep breath and grasped the handle, putting her head around the door.

'Oh. It's you.'

He'd been drinking more than his fair share she could tell, but he definitely wasn't as worse for wear as she'd seen him in the past. Maybe that's the best way I can talk to him, she thought, more hopeful than confident. Gene was sat back in his chair, long legs crossed at the ankles on his desk. His jacket was off and top buttons undone, the red tie he'd been wearing earlier lying in a loose coil on the desk. His thumb and forefinger nursed a glass of whisky.

'Yeah.' She stepped inside and put her hands in her jeans pockets, not knowing quite where to start.

'Why are you here?' he said it quiet enough, but there was a still a clipped edge to his words. He wouldn't look at her.

'I came to find you.' Well, almost the truth. 'I need to say sorry for everything that happened earlier. I've been thinking about it all day, and from the moment I said what I said I knew it was wrong.'

Gene raised his eyebrows and put his lips into a pout. 'Maybe you were right with what you said though, Alex. Maybe I am just a dinosaur that needs to shape up or ship out.' he sniffed and looked away from her.

'No, Gene,' she crossed the room and sat down on the edge of his desk, which strangely seemed to go unnoticed by him as he stared past her, his thoughts somewhere else entirely.

Oh God, I've really fucked up. He actually believed this rubbish, and I went and confirmed it, in front of everyone! Fuck.

'Gene. You are not over the hill, it was unfair and totally wrong of me to say that. You're a brilliant copper, with a razor-sharp instinct and stone-solid morals. Without you to lead us, this place would fall apart.' she put her fingertips to his cheek tenderly but shrank back when he jerked away from her touch. Her words that morning had wounded this lion deeper than she thought. She just hoped she could convince him otherwise.

He downed the last of his whiskey and shook his head, still not looking at her. 'No it wouldn't, Bols. You'd all be better off 'fer it.'

Tears sprang to Alex's eyes, 'That's not true, every one of us in this team needs you, Gene! You are the Guv, and not only that, you're the only constant thing I have here. If it weren't for you I don't know where I'd be, probably in some looney bin.'

'That's a bit far fetched, Bolly.' he chewed his lip and glanced at her sidewardly.

'No, it's not! When I first came here, I didn't know the sky from the ground. I thought my entire world had been turned inside out and I was scared, Gene, scared for my life.'

He looked at her finally, hearing her voice crack and unable to stop himself from putting a comforting hand on hers. Tears fell down her cheeks unstoppably, as hard as she tried to blink them back. The memories of her arrival and leaving Molly flooded through her like wave after wave of heartbreaking sadness.

'You always hold your own, never need anyone.' he said quietly, stroking his thumb over the top of her hand before curling his fingers back, turning away and pouring himself another whisky.

'That might be how it looks, Gene, but it's not the truth. I'm so scared, all of the time,' she croaked, more hot tears spilling down her face, 'The only time I feel truly safe is when I'm with you.'

Gene looked at her then, turning on the full intensity of his silver-blue gaze, almost as if he were looking into her mind. Alex was all but paralysed by him, it was as if his eyes held her there, unable to move, think, breathe. They were both so vulnerable, the only difference being she had been in this state frequently, yet Gene had never revealed this side to her before.

'Bolly...' he took her hands in his and stood, pulling her off the desk so they were face to face. Alex could hear his breathing begin to quicken, matching her own. His eyes flicked back and forth from her eyes to her lips, which were slightly parted, ready to capture his mouth with hers. Cupping her face with one hand he took her waist with the other, drawing her to his body and dipping his face to hers. Alex was breathless, unable to stop even if she had wanted to. All that mattered was the man in front of her and what was happening between them right at that moment, something Alex had dreamed of for so long.

'God, Alex...' it was no more than a breath from Gene.

Their lips were millimetres apart when the double doors flew open and Ray burst into CID, Chris following closely behind. Gene and Alex released each other instantly, making as much space between them in three seconds as possible. By the time the Ray opened the office door, the Guv and Bolly were both at opposite ends of the room, busying themselves with nothing.

'Guv... Ma'am,' Ray trailed, noticing Alex with a puzzled look.

'What is it, Ray?' Gene turned to the pair smoothly, a blank expression on his face revealing nothing of what was happening just seconds ago. Alex caught her reflection in the glass and was horrified to find her face and neck were heavily flushed pink, causing no doubt in anyone's mind of what she'd been up to.

'It's Luigi,' Chris was breathless; they'd obviously been running. 'He's been attacked, someone slashed his face-'

Gene grabbed his coat and stormed past them, the other three immediately on his tail.