Hey everyone. I'm SO sorry about the very long delay in updating, I really have no excuse! I hope that this chapter makes up for my absence. Please R&R, and thanks to those of you who have been doing so.

In the week following Alex and Gene's heart-to-heart, there was a tangible atmosphere between them; like an elephant in the room every time they so much as looked at each other. Gene, despite opening up, had only managed to push Alex further away it seemed and closer to Stoke. Alex was still feeding him information on Stoke, and he could tell she wasn't holding anything back, but their daily briefings were the only time they spoke to each other.

Alex was wracked with guilt: Gene had just about admitted his feelings towards her and she had done nothing. He had confirmed her hopes about their relationship and she had denied him. Denied what she had wanted all along, since they had met. Stoke's presence still made her stomach flutter, but she had convinced herself that it was solely due to the adrenaline of being undercover. Well, she tried to. She didn't deny his kisses – she again tried to reason that it was now necessary to continue the operation – but now she only thought of Gene, not at what could happen with Alastair.

Gene was more worried about Alex than ever: she was never quiet and she never let arguments lie more than a couple of days, let alone a week. He had allowed him self to be vulnerable to her and her cool words had hurt him deeply. As each day passed, the thought that he had missed his chance with Alex became more and more ingrained. Something in the back of his mind told him that their relationship had suffered permanent damage. And he silenced it with the scotch he kept in his office filing cabinet.

***

Alex was having a bad day. She had slept in after a lonely drinking session in Luigi's – it was the first time in a week she had been and still chose to sit alone – with quite a sizable hangover. She had missed the morning briefing completely by the time she got dressed and was already 15 minutes late for work at 'Reflux'. As she left her flat, she heard the phone ringing but, considering that she was late already, she decided to ignore the call most likely from an angry DCI Hunt.

She had decided against a coat, despite the overcast weather, and was punished accordingly with a heavy downpour 5 minutes into her walk to work. She rummaged in her bag to find an umbrella, managing to drop it, most of the contents spilling out onto the already flooding pavement. As haste was proving counterproductive, she took a deep breath and began filling her bag again. The umbrella went up easily; Alex half-expected that to break too, the luck she was having.

By the time she arrived at the club, at least one layer of clothing was almost dry, but her hair and make up were ruined. She ran upstairs to Alastair's office, ignoring the sniggers of various staff in the bar.

"Where the hell have..." Alastair turned to the doorway where Alex was standing, ready to lay into her for being late, but his face dropped when he saw the state she was in. "Get caught in the rain?" He smirked.

Alex simply nodded, feeling sorry for herself. Alastair chuckled and pulled her into an embrace which she desperately needed. "Sorry I'm late."

"Don't worry, you're here now."

She had expected a less than loving greeting from him, but she supposed that she had spent too much time around Gene to expect sympathy.

"Have I missed anything?"

"Yes, actually," Alastair said, glee in his eyes. "There's another shipment coming in. Three days time, another van load."

"Drugs or money?" Alex said, not having to feign her excitement.

"Drugs. Some new concentration or something. Apparently it's the next big thing."

"New? So, you'll be the only dealer with it?"

"Exactly. We've got the exclusive." Alastair was grinning wildly. "And while I'm the only dealer with this stuff, we can sell to street dealers as well as junkies. We're going to make a mint."

Alex left the club early that evening due to the fact her hangover had not subsided during the course of the day and Alastair could see she was in agony. He had offered to take her home, but she insisted that the walk would help her headache. She remembered she had left her umbrella in the office and almost returned to retrieve it but decided that the sky didn't look like rain and so she would chance it. And, yet again, her luck was out as she felt the first drops of rain trickle down the side of her face.

She quickened her pace as the rain became heavier and bowed her head as the wind became harsher. Alex was so engrossed in her thoughts, she walked straight into someone and failed to recognise the snakeskin boots he was wearing until she looked up to see a very disgruntled Gene Hunt.

"What are you doing here?" Alex hissed. "We are far too close to the club to be seen together."

Gene silently cursed as he knew she was right. They were literally a couple of streets away: it was very risky.

"No-one has heard from you all day and you missed this morning. I had to make sure nothing had happened."

"Couldn't it have waited until tomorrow morning?"

"Jesus Christ... no! You want me to talk to you about stuff and be sensitive and poofy, but as soon as I want to see if you're okay... You've barely said 2 words to me since... you know..."

Alex sighed. "I know. I don't really know what to say."

"Bloody hell... DI Drake, lost for words. That's a first." Alex smiled brightly, and Gene, for the first time since their 'talk', felt as if not all hope was lost. "So, if you had actually made it into CID this morning, what would you have had to tell me about Stoke?"

"Did you really risk being caught by Stoke to talk about the investigation?"

"No. I guess I didn't."

"Well, why don't we walk and talk? The park is just around the corner."

"Why would I want to walk and talk?"

"It's easier to speak truthfully to someone when you don't have to look at them. If we walk together, you can look straight ahead and still talk."

"Ah, more psychology bollocks..."

"Actually it's... yeah, it is psychology." They both smiled, glad that they could joke again.

"I didn't actually have that much to say, Bolls. You know I'm not that good at talking about feelings and that."

"Okay, so why did you come here?"

"To do this."

Gene hesitantly stepped closer to her and rested his hands on her hips. He felt her tense at his touch for a split second and then immediately relax. He leant in and, sensing Alex lean closer, gently touched his lips to hers which, to his relief, reciprocated his action.

He leant back to try to gauge her reaction. Her eyes remained closed for a couple of seconds after their kiss had ended and, when they opened, they were wide with disbelief. Gene smiled at how cute Alex looked when she was caught off-guard.

"I did choose you, Alex. And I always will."

Then it was Alex's turn to surprise Gene: she grabbed the lapels of his coat and pulled him into a passionate kiss that took his breath away. Gene quickly responded by placing a hand on her neck, allowing his fingers to play with her hair.

And as they broke the kiss, they both had an eerie feeling someone was watching them. They turned towards the sound of footsteps to see Alastair Stoke standing on the other side of the street, Alex's umbrella in hand, mouth agape.