A/N: Is this an update in just a couple of days? Haha this is thanks to all the lovely reviews and the shouting that people have done to me on tumblr to keep writing and get this chapter finished! Also massive thanks to Megan for giving this a quick look over as I was a little worried about parts of this! As always I do not own anything! =[

Chapter seven:

'No, no, no, no' Alex leant over and found the whisky bottle that her and Gene had been drinking about just a few hours earlier. Ignoring the glass she placed the bottle to her mouth and allowed the amber liquid to run down her throat and burn. As the whisky took effect and sleep claimed her once again the thoughts of Molly as a child ran through her mind again, mixed in with images of Gene….

Alex woke the next morning with a throbbing headache, from the crying or the alcohol she wasn't sure. What she wanted most of all was to start drinking and hide away from the world with her grief. She knew she couldn't though, not while they were half way through this case, and she knew if she was late Gene would be round here.

Gene, how was she supposed to cope with Gene? She couldn't even think about her feelings for him right now, not with the pain of losing Molly so fresh. Somehow Alex dragged herself into work only a few minutes late and slid into her seat, trying to go unnoticed by Gene. Without even looking up to see if Gene noticed her she grabbed the pile of files that she had left the day before and pulled them in front of her before beckoning over Shaz. 'How far have we got on working out what the number mean found in Jessica's hair?'

'Not great Ma'am, it doesn't seem to follow any of the normal patterns that people use, it's not a Bible reference, and it doesn't seem to match up with any of the ways I can think of' replied Shaz 'Sorry' she added as an afterthought.

'Don't worry Shaz, I want you to keep going with it this morning, it could be vital to helping pin down this guy. Go and see Viv too, he might be able to help' Alex tried to smile but knew it hadn't reached her eyes. She saw Shaz give her a strange look but before she could act on it Alex pulled the top file off the pile and began to read through it.

Gene meanwhile was sat in his office pretending to do work but really thinking about last night. He thought his relationship with Alex was moving forward slowly, but when she came in and sat down without even looking at him he wondered if she regretted the night before. He had no more time to think about it though as the Super rang, wanting an update on the murder case and wondering why it was taking the team so long to catch this killer.

This was how the morning progressed, Gene being stuck in his office on the phone and Alex rarely lifting her eyes off her work, except to give Ray and Chris and the others more instructions. Ray and Chris were sent on another visit to the snouts to see if there was any more news on the streets, she knew that would most likely end in nothing but if they were stuck in the office all day they would drive her mad! Shaz was working away in the corner, searching through stacks of books to try and help decipher the clue the killer had left. Alex knew she needed to talk to Gene about where they went next with this case, but at the same time she couldn't face him. Not after falling asleep on him last night. And not while she dealt with the fact she would never see Molly again.

As Alex thought about her daughter she could feel the tears rising and was sure this time they wouldn't be easy to hide. Slipping out of the office quietly she ran to the toilets. 'Come on Alex, pull yourself together. Don't do this now.' After a few deep, composing breaths Alex headed back to the office and was thankful no one had seemed to notice her disappearance.

The afternoon continued much the same as the morning, with Viv and Shaz working hard on the clue, Ray and Chris actually working for once chasing up on loose ends from other cases that had been forgotten with the murders, Alex trying to start to piece together a criminal profile for the attacker and Gene seemingly doing not a lot, but barking orders left, right and centre when he felt like it.

Six o'clock rolled around and Gene finally left his office to say 'Lunchtime' because walking back into his office to collect his coat and walk over to Alex's desk. 'Luigi's?' he asked Alex

'Sorry what?' replied Alex. She had been so involved in trying to piece together a profile to fit the attacker that she hadn't noticed Gene come out of his office or the rest of the room emptying.

'I said' answered Gene, while moving to take the pen out of Alex's hand and shove the paperwork to one side 'Luigi's? You haven't stopped all day, you need a break'. If Alex hadn't been so wrapped up in thoughts of Molly still she would have been shocked by the thoughtfulness behind Gene's remark, instead she just picked up her coat, flung it over her shoulders and followed Gene out of the office and across the road to Luigi's.

Once sat at 'their' table, with a bottle of wine between them and some food ordered Alex decided to bring up the night before. 'I'm erm sorry for last night Gene, falling asleep on you like that'

'You should be Bolly, missed the end of a cracking film there, going to have to make you watch it again now!' Gene replied in his menacing but teasing tone. He didn't really want to get into this, Gene Hunt didn't do girly things like this, it was completely unchartered territory for him.

'Maybe you should' Alex replied quietly. Gene looked up and was about to comment when Luigi interrupted them with their food. 'Thank Luigi' said Alex, again the smile she gave him didn't quite reach her eyes before turning to watch Gene tuck into his pizza.

Half an hour later and Gene had had just enough of watching Alex push the now cold food round her plate looking a million miles away 'Are you actually going to eat that?' He barked at her

'Sorry, just not hungry tonight' she replied before downing the rest of her glass of wine and re filling it. She could feel the alcohol hitting her. It was a good feeling, it meant soon she wasn't going to feel anymore or be able to think about Molly. Gene looked over the top of his glass, while smoking another cigarette, he knew there was something different with Alex today, but did he really want to ask? Feelings and stuff wasn't his cup of tea, but at the same time he couldn't deny that he cared for Alex deeply and he hated to see her like this. He really couldn't fuck this one up. He looked up to see Alex finishing another glass of wine, how many had she had tonight? He could see the drunken haze taking over in her eyes and how she was struggling to focus not only on him, but on keeping her body up.

'Come on Bolls, let's get you up to bed' He moved round and pulled her up from her seat, Alex stumbled and nearly fell straight into Gene.

Somehow they made it up the stairs, Gene with one hand round Alex's waist to keep her upright and moving in the right direction. At the entrance to her flat he went to let her go when she suddenly held onto him tightly 'Please don't go, I've already lost Molly, I don't want to be alone, please…' Alex mumbled.

'I'm not going anywhere Bolly' Gene replied, moving the two of them into her flat and somehow getting her into bed.

'Please stay' Alex was mumbling again.

'Course Bolly, I'll be on the sofa'

'My Molly, Gene my Molly….I'm never going to see her again…why?' Alex was sobbing, seemingly half asleep.

'Bolls, it will be okay' Gene didn't know what to do. He knew something must have happened with Molly before Alex arrived at Fenchurch but she didn't seem to talk about it too much so Gene didn't ask any questions. He knew how hard it was to talk about Sam; he didn't want to bring anything up with Alex. He looked up again to see Alex flat out asleep, the drink taking hold.

A/N I really hoped this worked, I needed to move the chapter across the whole day which is why it may seem a little jumpy! As always please review and shout at me more to get the next update up before the end of the week!