It was as if time was going in slow-motion; as if it wasn't really happening. As the scene evolved around him, Gene felt as if he was watching from above. It couldn't be real. This couldn't have just happened.
Back-up had been called to get the skinheads down to the station and one of them insisted he was trained in first-aid and that he tended to Alex.
Alex. Alex.
Gene had hit her. He had swung his careless, brutish fists around and punched her, lifting her off her feet. Gene couldn't do anything. His brain felt numb as Alex's cries broke his heart, and he awkwardly tried to reach out to her but found his feet wouldn't move. Chris and Ray got there first as Gene stood in shock, ashamed of himself. Chris and Ray threw Gene dark looks as they tenderly helped Alex to her feet, swallowing uncomfortably as she weakened and began to weep into Chris' shoulder.
Again. Gene had managed to make Alex cry again.
"Alex…" Gene croaked.
She ignored him. Clinging to Chris firmly, she allowed the young DC to take her outside and hand her over to the back-up officer trained in first-aid. Gene saw the man wince at the state of her bruised, beautiful face and Gene felt like a knife had been plunged into him.
Alex told him to stop. She told him to stop it. If only he'd listened to her…if he had, she wouldn't have been hurt.
Ray and Chris returned to the house to help bundle the skinheads out. As the back-up officers took over and managed to force all three of them into cars, Ray and Chris turned to Gene awkwardly. They'd never seen their Guv this quiet before. He was in shock. Horrified. Ashamed. Angry.
"AARGHHH!" Gene roared suddenly, throwing a violent punch at a glass cabinet. It shattered into a million sparkling pieces with a crash, glistening in the air as it fell and decorated the floor in little glass diamonds. Chris and Ray jumped, aghast. Gene breathed heavily. "FUCKING HELL!"
Chris and Ray looked at each other. They knew Gene was furious with himself. They just didn't know what to say.
Chris swallowed. "PC Bryans is patching 'er up, Guv," he said quietly, "Ma'am will be okay…"
Ray elbowed Chris to shut it as he noticed Gene clenching his bleeding, bruised fists.
"She knows yer didn't mean ter hit her," Chris continued bravely as Ray inhaled sharply, "I mean, you'd never hit a woman –"
"But I did!" Gene seethed, turning round forcefully and causing Chris to flinch backwards. "I hit her. I hit a woman. I full on belted 'er one round her pretty little face. After all she's been through…"
Ray sighed. "C'mon, Guv," he murmured, "we're needed at the station. We've got some scrotes to interview."
Gene looked up, shame still evident in his eyes. He breathed deeply, and then nodded.
"Right you are, Raymondo," he muttered, "right you are."
It was an awkward journey back to CID in the Quattro. Alex of course had been escorted home in another vehicle with strict instructions to ice her bruises and take the rest of the day off. Gene had tried to comfort her before she got in the car but Alex wasn't having any of it. She batted him away and separated herself from him, not even looking him in the eye. Ignoring him. Breaking him further.
Gene couldn't wait for this day to be over. He knew she wouldn't want to see him, but he had to go over to her flat tonight and apologise.
"Right!" Gene boomed when he and the others arrived back at CID. "Where are these bastards we're interviewing?"
"Gordon's Interview Room Three, Guv," Shaz piped up, "and Jaspers is in Room Four with Turner in Room Five."
"Nice one, Shaz," Gene nodded, taking a swig of whiskey before heading over there, "Raymondo, with me! Chris, take Poirot and interview Jaspers. Terry and Bammo, Room Five. Turner."
"Yes Guv," they all murmured, getting up at once. Shaz frowned.
"Guv, where's DI Drake?" she asked. Gene's blood boiled.
"Am I paying yer for bein' a nosey plonk?" he spat at Shaz. "No! So get on wi' some bloody work!"
Shaz rolled her eyes behind Gene's back as he stormed out, punching the letters on the type-writer furiously.
As Ray, Poirot, Terry and Bammo followed Gene out to their respective interview rooms, Chris stopped briefly at Shaz's desk.
"Shaz," Chris burbled.
"What?" Shaz snapped, annoyed at her treatment from the Guv.
Chris looked at the double doors tentatively. "The Boss got hurt. On the job."
Shaz's jaw dropped. "Those thugs went for her again?" she gasped. "I'd like to give 'em a piece of my mind…how dare they!"
"No, it weren't them," Chris said hurriedly, "it was…it was the Guv."
Shaz stopped typing immediately. She looked up at her boyfriend in disbelief. "What?" she whispered. "The Guv hurt her? No…he wouldn't…"
"He was fighting the biggest one," Chris explained, "and yer know Drake, always has ter get involved…the Guv accidentally hit 'er. Full wallop across the face. She's at home now, face as purple as a ruddy plumb."
Shaz gawped. "Oh my God," she said quietly, "no wonder the Guv's in a mood…he really cares for her, and now he's hurt her…"
Chris frowned. "How do yer know he –"
"CHRISTOPHER!" Gene hollered. "GET YOUR ARSE OUT HERE NOW BEFORE I FIRE IT!"
Chris panicked, running over to the door. "See you in a bit, lover," he smiled at Shaz before slamming the door. Quickly slinking past Gene, Chris was glad that he was interviewing Jaspers with Terry and not his furious senior officer.
Ray however, was the unlucky one with that situation. Sitting down opposite a smirking Gordon, the Guv joined him seconds later, looking like he could kill someone with his bare hands.
"The nights of these murders," Gene growled, presenting files, "where were you? Talk."
Gordon raised his eyebrows, leant forward, and began to explain.
-xx-
"Every – fucking – murder," Gene seethed, "every fucking one of those pricks – alibis. Fucking – watertight – fucking – ALIBIS!"
Gene slammed the papers down on the floor furiously as the other CID officers winced. They knew the Guv was losing it. They'd had to let Gordon, Jaspers, Turner and even Stone go. They had nothing on them. They all had alibis to where they were on each night of the murders. It wasn't them.
"What do we do now, 'ey?" Gene thundered. "Come on, yer useless tossers! Where's my leads? Who has been murdering these women? Who's slipping under the radar? I WANT RESULTS AND I WANT 'EM NOW!"
CID busied themselves, too nervous to answer Gene back or talk to him at all. Gene charged into his office, slamming the door and kicking his chair over furiously. Shaz winced.
"This can't all be because he hurt Drake," Ray muttered, "it was an accident. She'll get over it."
"But you know the Guv, Ray," Shaz sighed, "he looks out for her. He always wants to protect her. He probably feels he's let her down as he can't even protect her from himself."
As Ray opened his mouth to reply, Gene barged out of his office, causing everyone to look down and pretend to be working. Gene didn't say anything as he strode across the office purposefully, crashing through the doors and walking down the hall to leave the CID building.
"Where's he going?" Chris wondered. Shaz rolled her eyes.
"Ain't it obvious, baby?" she replied. Chris and Ray looked at her with gormless expressions. Shaz sighed in exasperation. "He's gone to see DI Drake. He can't stand himself at the moment. He needs to apologise."
Chris and Ray frowned.
"And you can tell all that through the way 'e crashed through the doors?" Chris gawped. Shaz rolled her eyes once more.
"I just know it, okay?" she answered, continuing with her work.
The bright WPC that was Shaz Granger was of course correct. Gene pounded furiously down the street as Luigi's became closer and closer, desperate to reach Alex and just explain to her. Apologise. Hold her. Comfort her. Keep her safe from everything.
He knocked on her door tentatively, all of his muscles suddenly feeling heavy and his brain spinning. She had to answer. She couldn't ignore him. Could she?
Clearly she could.
Gene knocked again. "Alex," he called softly, "Alex…it's me. Please open the door, sweetheart. Please."
Gene mentally cursed himself. He never pleaded. He never begged. He was the Manc Lion and always got what he wanted. But this time it was worth it. Alex had become to mean so much to him. He wasn't letting her go without a fight.
"Alex," Gene called again, "please, love. I won't hurt yer. I'm so, so sorry. Please open the door."
There was a tiny click and Gene's heart leapt. However, it then plummeted again when Alex's bruised face and sad eyes appeared in the gap.
"Christ," Gene whispered, "Bolls…I…"
Alex moved away and went to sit back down on the sofa, leaving Gene to let himself in and close the door. Following her through, Gene sat awkwardly on the other end of the sofa, distancing himself.
"Alex?" Gene said quietly. Alex was silent. "Alex, please talk ter me. You have ter believe that I never, ever intended to hurt yer. I'd never do that. You…you mean too much to me, Alex."
"Why didn't you stop?"
Gene frowned, shocked at hearing her tiny, broken voice so blunt and sharp.
"Hey?"
Alex was looking at him now. "Why didn't you stop? I…I asked you to…told you to…but you didn't. You…you just…kept fighting…"
Gene looked ashamed of himself. "I'm sorry, Bolly," he whispered, "I really, really am. Christ, look what I've done ter yer…" Gene tenderly traced her bruised face with his rough hands, his heart breaking as she flinched from his presence.
"I…I think I should go," Gene sighed miserably, "you deserve someone who's goin' ter look after yer and keep yer safe, Alex. Someone who'll protect yer. Me…I can't even protect yer from me self."
Gene got up to leave but Alex suddenly darted out, grabbing his hand forcefully. "Wait!" she begged. "Please, don't go, Gene. I…I…"
"Come 'ere," Gene muttered, sitting back down and pulling her into his embrace. It felt so wonderful to have her in his arms again. To hold her, to protect her from the outside world.
"I can't deal with this anymore, Gene," Alex mumbled into his chest, "this world…everything is just too much. I just want out. I want to g-g-go home t-to my Molly! I just want everything to be over!"
"Shh, Bolls," Gene soothed her, "you're okay. You've had such a shit time lately, sweetheart. But things will get better. Things are never simple here but…you've always got me. I'm 'ere for yer, Bolls."
"Yeah…until you shoot me, or hit me…"
Gene pulled away suddenly, holding Alex's shoulders firmly and staring into her eyes.
"That's what you think?" he barked. "You think you mean that little to me? Christ, Alex, you're…you're…Christ…"
Alex's huge eyes were sparkling as fresh tears threatened to surface. Gene was surprised she wasn't all cried-out with the amount of tears she had shed over the last couple of weeks.
Gene gently cupped Alex's bruised face, placing a chaste kiss to her forehead. "You are the most precious thing in my life, Alex," Gene breathed as Alex's eyes widened, "and I mean that. I…I…I love you."
Alex's mouth dropped open as her eyes got even wider. Had he really just said that? Those three words she had been dying to hear…had the Gene Genie, the Manc Lion; her Gene Hunt really just said them?
"You…you love me?" Alex whispered, shocked.
Gene bit his lip nervously. "Yeah," he nodded eventually, "I love you, Bolls. More than I've ever loved anyone. You're a posh mouthy tart with a knack for trouble, but I love every bit of it. Every bit of you."
Alex stared at him, hardly daring to believe it.
"Well Bolls," Gene grinned, "proclamations of love are normally followed by the receiver admitting somethin' back, but hey, not that I'm bothered or anything…"
"Oh Gene!" Alex beamed. "Gene, I…I just can't believe you said it. You don't…you don't know how much that means to me. Oh Gene, I love you too. So, so much."
Gene kissed her then, a proper, passionate, loving kiss. Careful not to press against her bruised cheek, Gene intertwined their tongues as he stroked Alex's hair, wanting to be lost in this moment forever. Alex responded just as eagerly, kissing the man she loved with as much passion as she could muster.
Things were going to change now, Alex realised as Gene made slow love to her, tenderly and lovingly. But hopefully, this time they would be for the better.