Chapter Thirty Three
Alright, something weird was afoot.
Gene had been in and out all day. He always had a reason or an excuse to disappear. Some of them were more realistic than others – the ones about posting something, getting some milk and threatening Robin that if he didn't remove his Red Dwarf posters within the next few hours they would be served to him for lunch the next day all seemed valid and reasonable. The ones about buying fluffy towels and taking Geoff a fruit basket seemed less so. But after Gene made his eight trip out of the day she started to become increasingly frustrated and suspicious.
"Gene, if I hear that door go –" she began as she suspected he was about to make another exit, but it was too late – he'd already gone. She gave a groan of frustration and stomped out of the bedroom. Why did he keep sending her to lie down anyway?
She scanned the lounge with a suspicious stare. Nothing seemed amiss at first. She suddenly noticed the table had been moved and some half-hidden flowers were peering out from beneath it, and she could smell some kind of food scent wafting from the kitchen. With a frown she went to investigate and found a bag of take-away cartons that she assumed to contain Chinese hidden very poorly behind a radio.
"What the hell is that man playing at?" she frowned as she put her hands on her hips. Before she could even begin to figure it out she heard the sound of the letterbox rattling and made her way to the hall to find a yellow post-it note through the door. She picked it up and frowned.
'Wear this', it said.
"Wear what?" She cried out loud, "the post-it?" That wasn't going to cover anything. Well, not very much, anyway. Exactly which part of the body was she supposed to wear it on? With a growl of frustration she scrunched up the post-it and began to walk away but the letterbox rattled again behind her and she turned around to find another note through the door. What was it, a matching pair? She quickly scooped it up.
'Bugger, forgot to leave the clothes,' it said, 'they're outside the door'.
She opened the front door in the hope of catching Gene still outside but he'd already disappeared. All she found was a pile of folded clothes on the floor which she brought inside. She frowned at them – it was true that she probably needed some clothes since she'd been wearing pretty much the same ones since she'd come back but she didn't understand what was going on. She unfolded the items in the pile. Alright, this was getting stranger. They were ones she hadn't worn them for a long time. In fact, it had been over a year, on one particular night. She hesitated and bit her lip. She remembered it well, the night that Gene proposed; awkwardly, covered with mud, but absolutely perfectly. She frowned at them.
"Alright, what's going on?" she asked aloud in case anyone replied. Of course, silence greeted her. Well what had she expected, a singing chorus of answers from the 2-dimensional Red Dwarf crew on the wall?
She started to get a little cross as the letterbox went for a third time. She rushed to the hall and opened the door, yelling;
"Gene, what are you –" but before she could finish that sentence she realised that all she could even see of Gene was a disappearing leg as he left at speed.
She folded her arms and stared into the empty space where he'd disappeared a moment before. Now what? She remembered hearing the letterbox go and realised she hadn't checked it yet. With a sigh she closed the door and found a third post-it through the letterbox.
'Be ready by nine,' it said.
"Be ready… how… exactly?" she demanded to the empty flat. Aside from wearing the outfit what else was she supposed to do? redecorate? Prepare for battle? It made no sense.
She decided to start with what she knew. She changed into the outfit Gene had left her and quickly did her hair and make-up. She shook her head slightly as she looked at her reflection in the mirror. She had to do something with that hair. She had more or less left it alone back in 2012 because she wasn't intending on sticking around but she hadn't realised her body would be heading back to 2012 with her. What was 'in' in 1997 anyway? Whose style was popular? Hmm, maybe she'd go for a Posh Spice look, she decided.
There was a knock at the door. Well, that was weird for a start. If that was Gene then he surely had his key to have let himself in the downstairs door. Why was he knocking? Feeling even more bewildered she walked brusquely to the hall, checking her reflection along the way. She opened the door and found Gene standing outside. He wasn't looking the happiest she had ever seen him. There were leaves in his hair and twigs sticking out of the pocket of his suit; a familiar suit that brought back a lot of memories.
"Gene, I…" Alex frowned as she studied the state of him, "what's going on?"
Gene stomped in, picking leaves out of his hair.
"I was so busy trying not to fall down 'oles that I didn't notice the ruddy big bush and fell in head-first," he mumbled.
Alex tried very hard not to laugh but it was difficult when faced with a mix of that expression on Gene's face and half the foliage of Fenchurch in his hair.
"I'm… I'm feeling a little confused," Alex admitted, "I'm not sure what's going on."
"Neither am I since I had to pluck a bloody birds' nest out me jacket," mumbled Gene. He sighed and looked at Alex in all seriousness as they walked into the lounge. "You're looking as classy as always, Bolly," he told her.
"I might look classier if I didn't have a frown of confusion on my face," Alex pointed out.
Gene reached behind the sofa and pulled out a bottle of wine and two glassed he'd planted there earlier. Alex frowned and rubbed her forehead. What the hell was he doing? Turning into some kind of alcohol-based magician? She was relieved when he poured her a large glass – she had a feeling she'd need that.
"Alright," she said, "I give up, Gene. I've been trying to work out for the last hour what's going on and I've failed. I am a hopeless detective. Fire me now and take away my warrant card."
"Well, I would but then I'd have to take away your cuffs as well and I was hoping you might use those later on," Gene commented.
"Seriously, gene, what's going on?" Alex asked. This time her voice was different. She seemed almost anxious. Gene knew he had been secretive and some of his behaviour had been usual – he supposed it was time to put them both out of their misery, because he was only making himself more nervous as time went on.
"Alright, Bolly, alright," he said as he put his wine down and sank onto the couch, "I'll do my best here, but I'll warn you Shoebury's been a total tight-arse and hasn't supplied me with enough spirits to stop me hands shaking."
"Why do you need Simon to give you spirits?" frowned Alex, "don't you have a perfectly good bottle of scotch in your office?"
Gene hesitated.
"That's not the point," he said.
Alex sat down beside him, sipping her wine. She stood the glass beside his and turned to him.
"Well?" she asked quietly.
Gene looked at her then down at her hands. God, he hated this part. He'd made enough of a prat of himself the first time.
"You know what, Lady B?" he said quite suddenly, "We're the lucky ones.
Ale starred, waiting for him to continue. She bit her lip as he fell silent.
"What do you mean, Gene?" she asked.
Gene shook his head slowly.
"Look at everyone else. Bunch of miserable wankers filling the air with storm clouds. But they're not to blame. Not when you look at what they've had to live with." He sighed, "And I don't just mean the sprouts in the canteen." he looked back at her. "I am a jammy sod. First I manage to get the classiest DI in London joining me team. Then I somehow manage to end up getting into yer posh kecks on yer pink girly couch. And now, sixteen years after you turned up in a skirt as short as Evan's list of favourite razors you're still here. He sighed, "well, you're back here." He nodded to her. "Odds were against us, Bolly. We beat every last one of them. I think I'll buy a lottery ticket next week."
"Where's all this coming from?" Alex's brow furrowed. This wasn't like Gene.
"I'm a procrastinator, Drakey, always have been," Gene told her, "I put things off 'til the last minute, or until it's too late. Problem was, some things I should never have put off. Waited too long with you and you bloody vanished. It's not like getting a late fine for a bloody library book."
"Are you comparing me to a library book?" frowned Alex.
"Well, I did stamp yer bum," Gene reminded her.
Alex sighed. That was true.
"What are you trying to tell me, Gene?" she demanded.
Gene wasn't even sure. He was starting to get himself confused now.
"I've had a wakeup call," Gene told her, "I lost you. Thought it was for good. Last nine months were bloody awful, it felt like going on holiday with Geoff and a suitcase full of loofahs that all play Wham medleys when you dunk them in water. I never want to go through that again."
"And you won't," Alex said quietly,"I'm here for good now."
"I know," Gene nodded, "I know." He grunted, "Shouldn't have taken me this long to get off me backside and do things right, but like I said to Simon earlier I'm trying to learn from my mistakes." He paused. "Like the one about falling down a hole."
"Was the shrubbery better or worse than the hole?" Alex asked.
"That's beside the point," said Gene.
"I was just curious."
"I need to stop thinking about bushes and holes, it's leading me in a different direction," Gene mumbled. He looked at her seriously. "You listen to me, Bolly," he said, "you're stuck with me now. And you're going to be stuck with me for a long time. Sam…. When I talked to him yesterday he was making noises about me hanging up me boots, but not for a long time yet. And in this place, a long time could be years or it could be decades, I don't know. You'll be sick of the sight of me."
"Never going to happen," Alex told him.
"Or the smell of me."
"Possible, if you don't change your socks," Alex said with a half-smile. She felt her heart starting to speed up. There was a growing sense of anticipation although she wasn't completely sure where Gene's words were heading.
"And since you're going to be stuck with me for the rest of yer life," Gene began, "we might as well make it official."
"I thought we already did that," Alex said quietly.
"Did," Gene repeated pointedly. He lifted her hand and turned it over and over. "No ring now."
Alex looked down with a heavy heart.
"I know," she whispered, "I'm sorry, Gene. When I woke up and my ring wasn't there I felt like I'd lost my last connection with you. And when I came back, I thought my ring might too, but –"
"Doesn't matter," Gene told her, shaking his head as he stared at her hand, "It doesn't matter. You see, Bols, this is a new era for me and you. A fresh start. Things are going to be different now." He took a deep breath. He wished he didn't still find this so difficult. It wasn't as though he hadn't been practicing a bit with the old feelings thing lately, but when it came down to it they were still difficult for him to express. "Things have changed. This world is changing. We've bloody changed an' all. Go through months like that, kept apart like a couple of bloody fighting mice put in separate cages – makes you see things more clearly."
"It does," Alex whispered, her eyes fixed upon him.
"So this time," Gene reached into his pocket, "we're going to do things differently."
"Shit," Alex whispered before she could stop herself. She realised how rude that sounded and slapped her hand over her mouth. She didn't mean it like that – she didn't mean it in a bad way – "Sorry, I… I wasn't expecting…" she focused on the box that Gene fished from his pocket, "is that what I think it is?"
"I'm still not getting down on one knee," he told her.
Those were the words that did it. Any doubt about Gene's elaborate recreation slipped from her mind. She knew exactly what was coming up as she let out a half-gasp, half-sob that she tried very hard to pull back. She knew she wasn't in the best frame of mind for keeping herself together, her emotions were still all over the place after her traumatic return. She bit down on her lip, torn between giving into the tears that had started to prick her eyes and the broad smile of elation that was threatening to take over her face.
"Are you serious?" she whispered. She knew full well he was, she just needed to say something.
"Deadly," said Gene. He flipped the box open and looked at the ring, then back at Alex. "Bit more bloody traditional, I know. But things are more traditional this time. Me fiancée isn't lying in a hospital room fifteen years away from me. You won't be fading out and back. So this time, we'll do it properly." He swallowed and looked at her fingers as he found the right one and took the ring from the box. He tried to ignore the second gasped sob he heard from her. He didn't want her emotions to set him off because he was coming dangerously close to doing girly feelings right then. "So," he cleared his throat gruffly, "Alexandra Bollinger-Knickers Drake, will you do me the honour –" he paused and shook his head, "I sound like an absolute arse-faced twat."
"No, no you don't," Alex's tears mixed with a giggle, "please, Gene, don't stop there." He looked up at her as the ring hovered over the end of her finger. There were tears falling down her cheeks but a smile as warm and bright as he had ever seen. "Please?"
Gene sighed.
"I think I just posted me credibility to Outer Mongolia," he mumbled.
"Please?" Alex raised her eyebrow and looked at him hopefully. He closed his eyes and sighed.
"Alright," he agreed, "alright. Will you do me the dubious honour of being my wife?"
"You already know my answer," Alex whisper.
"I had to ask again so you've got to bloody accept again," Gene admonished her, "spit it out, woman, yes or no?"
"Yes," Alex's smile grew, "Of course it's a bloody yes!"
"I should hope so, sodding price tag on this thi-" Gene began, cut off by the pair of lips firmly pressed against his. He heard her give a needful sigh as she slipped her tongue into his mouth and gripped the back of his head firmly with her hands. He reached around her and pulled her closer, knowing that his body was giving her a very obvious clue to exactly what he had on his mind. He began to push her downward; lowering her gently across the couch, barely breaking the kiss for a moment as though her lips were his life support and he needed to keep that kiss going to breathe.
He felt the ring on her finger snag a little in his hair as she ran her fingers through it, the symbol that this time things would be different, the promise that they were never going to be pulled apart again.
He began to slip one hand inside her top but she seemed to freeze and a moment later she pushed him back unexpectedly.
"Gene, wait," she said quickly.
He looked at her in alarm, worried by her sudden need to push him away,
"What? What did I do?" he cried, "why've you withdrawn my sodding membership to the Alex Appreciation Society?
Alex hesitated and looked sat him nervously.
"There's something I need to show you," she said quietly, "there's something you need to see."
She pushed him gently back upright before sitting up herself, then she looked him in the eye and bit her lip while she slowly unfastened the bottom buttons of her top. She lifted the material up a little and pulled down her skirt. The soft skin shown between them bore a mark that Gene had never seen before. Where a wound from his own bullet had once stood here was now a little circle drawn in pink. One tiny letter sat in its centre – 'G'.
"This, uh," he cleared his throat gruffly as he stared at her skin, "this wasn't here last time I looked."
Alex looked at him anxiously.
"That was sort of the point of stopping you," she said, just a little exasperatedly, "I didn't want you to just… find it."
Gene reached out and skimmed his fingers across the surface of the tattoo. The tiniest difference in skin tone where the ink lay beneath her skin was a world apart from the feeling of the scar.
"You appear to have a tattoo," he said.
"Kim's handiwork," Alex said quietly.
"Is there anyone Stringer hasn't inked?" Gene commented. He hesitated as he ran his fingers back and forth. It made him feel strange deep inside with a churning of his stomach as he realised that the scar had gone foe good. "And the G?" he asked. He already knew, but he wanted to hear her say it.
"Was so you would be with me over there," Alex said quietly.
Gene swallowed as he stared at the tattoo. Slowly his eyes rose to meet hers.
"No more scar," he said quietly.
Alex smiled, a little sadly.
"No," she whispered, "no more scar." She paused as she lowered her top again. "Maybe because this time around," she sighed, "this time, there'll be no pain. Just a happy future."
"You telling me that wasn't painful?" he jabbed at her stomach around the area of her tattoo.
"Not as much as I thought," Alex smiled nervously.
Gene nodded slowly.
"Maybe you're right," he said. He looked her in the eye. "I meant what said. Things will be different this time. Fresh start." his eyes scanned the flat and he sighed. "We've had good times here, but it's not our place any more."
Alex's expression saddened a little.
"No," she said, "it's not."
"We should have to spend half our time peeling various nerdery from the walls," said Gene, "and it sounds like Batman needs his own space. He's got enough to deal with without adding Simon's sofa to his problems."
Alex nodded. She gave Gene a smile that was filled with nostalgia. She'd lived there for a long time and would be sad to move on but Gene was right – it was time for new beginnings all round. A new home was a good place to start.
"Sounds like a very good idea," she said seriously.
"Things are going to be different from now on," Gene told her, "this world's changing. So are we, Lady B. So are we."
Gene was right. They'd both changed. So had their relationship. No longer was the storm cloud of Alex Drake Two Thousand and Bollocks hanging over them. Gene no longer had to worry about losing her and Alex no longer had to worry about losing her grip on the world. They were freer now; they could focus on the important things – each other, their work, their friends and keeping the world safe from bespectacled devils.
They knew life wasn't always going to be easy but brighter times were coming, they were both certain of that. They'd had as much heartache and trauma as anyone could take. Clear skies and sunshine were on the horizon and they knew it was no more than they deserved.
Thanks to Alex's death, they could truly start to live.
~xXx~ The End ~xXx~
(Epilogue up tomorrow!)
#…Just a perfect day,
Drink Sangria in the park,
And then later, when it gets dark,
We go home.
Just a perfect day,
Feed animals in the zoo
Then later, a movie, too,
And then home.
Oh it's such a perfect day,
I'm glad I spent it with you.
Oh such a perfect day,
You just keep me hanging on,
You just keep me hanging on.
Just a perfect day,
Problems all left alone,
Weekenders on our own.
It's such fun.
Just a perfect day,
You made me forget myself.
I thought I was someone else,
Someone good.
Oh it's such a perfect day,
I'm glad I spent it with you.
Oh such a perfect day,
You just keep me hanging on,
You just keep me hanging on.
You're going to reap just what you sow,
You're going to reap just what you sow,
You're going to reap just what you sow,
You're going to reap just what you sow...#
~ Perfect Day – Lou Reed (here referenced for 1997 BBC promo version! Oh my, the feels, the memories!)
~xXx~
A/N: I really can't thank you enough for following this story, especially those of you who have taken time to review and to let me know your thoughts. This story is always going to be special to me for Kimberley's arrival midway through. I'll be posting up the epilogue tomorrow - 80% sickly sweet and, uh, 20% heartbreakingly soul-destroying. I apparently can't do 100% fluff! :P