Hey everyone. Finally managed to get round to updating. Thanks for all the lovely feedback so far, keep it coming please! Sorry that this is such a short chapter, but I promise the next one will be longer and more exciting! I guess this one is just a filler to get to the next chapter, but still let me know what you think. x

"Am I fuck ringing Special Branch! This bastard is ours!"

Alex heard Gene before she saw him, as was usually the case, but she knew by this outburst in particular that he was anxious, due to the fact Gene Hunt never said 'fuck' unless seriously provoked. As soon as she had opened the door to the CID office, Gene barked at her to get her arse into his office.

"Gov, it's not what you..."

"Stoke is in deep shit now. It's a bloody long stretch for immigration offences now, we've got the bastard."

"Gov, will you just let me..."

"We need to know if it's just for selling them here or something worse, like trafficking. Bloody hell, I didn't even think about that, what if that's the shipment? Bastard... probably shipping young girls over from God knows where. Makes my blood boil."

"GOV!"

"What, Bolly, can't you see I'm in full flow here?"

Alex sighed and tried not to smile at the glee in Gene's face at the apparent result. "Sorry, I thought that with me being undercover in there you would want any information if it came through, but obviously..."

"Oh for Christ's sake, close the door then."

"Okay, the drugs are Stoke's order, for to deal from the club as usual. But, the story on the money and the passports are very interesting..."

"Spit it out then."

"Didn't you wonder why I only took back a small amount of money from the briefcase? It was fake. Counterfeit, all laundered."

"Jesus... Stoke's really going for it. Why go from drug baron to money laundering and counterfeit passports, all at once? And surely he's making enough money from dealing?"

"He's getting greedy, and cocky. Stoke wants more power and he wants more respect, and he thinks this is going to put him at the top. But, backtracking slightly, the passports aren't for Stoke."

"What? Of course they are!"

"No, he said he wouldn't get involved in something like that."

"He's already involved in it, he's getting fake passports!"

"Gov, I'm telling you. It's part of a supply chain. Ala... Stoke agreed to deliver them for these guys and he knows nothing about them."

"I don't know whether you know this our not, but criminals actually, sometimes, lie, Drake. And, believe it or not, sometimes fluttering your eyelashes and waggling your arse doesn't always work. You've been there 5 minutes and you know how terrified they are about this deal, whatever it is. No way is he going to tell you about the biggest deal he's ever done."

"Gov, he is scared because of the money laundering! You cannot nail Stoke with the passports. We need to find out where he got them from and then who he's delivering them to and what they want them for."

"Yes because God forbid Stoke actually gets arrested..."

"I'll choose to ignore that comment because I'd like to think you have a higher opinion of me than that. We'll have enough on Stoke without that, and he'll be implicated anyway."

"I won't be happy until we have enough on Stoke to justify capitol punishment. I'll settle for the drugs, money AND passports. If you go against me on this, I'll take it as you taking Stoke's side. Now, if you don't mind, I've got some phone calls to make to get back up sorted for the next deal."

Alex was silenced by his tone and resigned herself to the fact that Gene had won the argument. She knew she was right about the passports, but, in all honesty, she knew that it shouldn't matter that much to her: Stoke was going to jail, regardless. Ordinarily, she would have pushed the issue further until Gene at least agreed to investigate the supply chain for all 3 items, but Alex had forgotten how draining undercover work was and she felt too tired for anything else.

What was she thinking? This was her job, her life now. Could she live with herself knowing that she had allowed criminals to escape the law's hands just so Gene could get another big collar put to his name?