Cos this is the eeeeeeeeeeeeeend, if you want it! This is the eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeend!

Holy wow. This story is over! (Actually, it has been for AGES, but it's just ending for you.) Well, congratuwelldone for making it to the end of the fic! I hope you enjoyed it!

Chapter 15

Gene stared at his desk, furiously wishing to set the whole thing alight and thereby ridding himself of all the bloody paperwork. Of course, if he set his desk ablaze, there would be paperwork about how the fire was started. It was a never ending cycle that he absolutely hated, even more so now.

He'd been in a bad mood all week, ever since he left Alex's flat. He hadn't meant to explode like that; he actually deeply regretted it. He had just gotten so frustrated with her adamant refusal of letting him back in. He didn't understand why she was so afraid to anymore. He knew that the psychologist had given her a clean bill of health, saying that because she had all her memories, there was little to no chance of her returning to the catatonic state. Especially now, after a year, it was less likely than ever.

There was a knock at his door, and a WPC walked in. Gene pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose. "What?" he asked rudely.

"Mail for you, sir," she said, unfazed by his demeanour and handing him an envelope.

"Great," he said, pulling the envelope out of her hands and looking at it. Only his name was on the front, the handwriting extremely familiar. "Shut the door on your way out," he snapped at the WPC, who was still standing around.

As soon as she was gone, he ripped the envelope open, pulling the letter out and unfolding it, starting to read the neat script.

Gene,

Can I just start this out by saying that I hate it when you're right? I absolutely hate admitting it. But, you are right in this instance.

It was painful to find out that five years of my life were just gone, Gene. That was part of the reason I left. I was convinced that you'd surely found someone better than me, someone without all the mental problems that I seem to have. And then I found out about your devotion and it scared me.

It was wrong of me to push you away, all of you. I shouldn't have disappeared without a trace, but I was afraid. I didn't want to slip back and have you once again endure the visits that, according to the nurses, tore you apart. I thought that if I pushed you away, the devotion would cease and that way if I did slip back, you wouldn't feel obligated to come.

But I was wrong. I treated you like, for lack of a better word, shit. I don't deserve to have your forgiveness, but if you would happen to forgive me, I've a bottle of whiskey in my flat and a copy of 'They Died with Their Boots On' sitting under the couch.

All the best,

Alex

Gene stared at the letter in disbelief. She wanted him to come back? She had spent all that time trying to push him away and now she wanted him to come back?

No, a small voice in his head said. Don't go running back to her. That makes you seem like a weak poofter. She gets the upper hand and you're left grovelling like always.

But isn't this what you've been after? said another voice. Haven't you wanted to go back? And now, you don't even have to apologise for your behaviour.

Gene grinned. He got to yell at her a week ago, and he didn't have to apologise for it to talk to her again. Going to see her was getting more and more reasonable. Finally, he decided that he would go over after work.

Gene couldn't concentrate in all the meetings he had that afternoon. He was nervous about what Alex was going to say, what she would do. It had been nearly six years before they had experienced any real sort of closeness. But she had defeated all the odds. She had come back with her memories, her personality, when everyone said that she would be stuck staring at a wall the rest of her life. Surely, this meant she could have a normal relationship?

When his last meeting got out, Gene rushed out of the station, ignoring Ray and Chris calling from across the street as they walked down to Luigi's. The Quattro's tyres squealed as he pulled away from the kerb. He took the less crowded residential roads to get to the bookshop, getting there quickly. The bookshop was closed already, but Gene saw lights on upstairs. He tried the doors, but they were locked. How the bloody hell was he supposed to get up there then?

Gene had a sudden flashback to the Royal Wedding in 1981. Alex's bum stamping ceremony had taken place during that case and at the end, they had all shown their arses. Grinning at the memory, he put his hand on the horn of the Quattro, the same way he had gotten her to the window at that time.

Sure enough, after a few moments of blasting the horn, several people appeared at their windows, including her. She opened up her window.

"What the hell are you doing?" she called out.

"Your door is bloody locked. How am I supposed to get in?" he yelled back.

Alex didn't reply, looking thoughtful for a moment before pulling her head in the window and closing it. Gene leaned against his car, ignoring all the neighbours that were now giving him dirty looks. A few moments later, Alex appeared at the doors of the bookshop. He walked over to the doors, and she let him in, staring at him a moment as he walked past.

"I didn't think you'd come back," she said.

"I didn't think you'd invite me back."

"I thought about it for a while."

Gene nodded his head toward the calendar on the wall. "I noticed."

"Well, I had a lot to think about!" she said, angrily. Gene noticed that she was acting a lot better, and the shadows under her eyes were almost gone. "Gene, losing you is what sent me into catatonia in the first place. What happens when something goes wrong on one of your drugs raids?"

Gene shook his head. "Nothing will happen," he said.

"You can't be certain!"

He nodded his head. "Of course I can. I was promoted to Super right after you went back into your catatonia last year. I'm off the streets, Alex. Stuck behind a desk for the rest of my life."

Alex stared at him, as if to figure out if he was telling the truth or not.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I couldn't bloody tell you, could I? You wouldn't let me get a flaming word in!"

Alex stared down at the ground. "I'm sorry," she murmured.

Gene hit his ears a few times. "Did I hear that right? Did you just apologise?"

"Shut it," she said, her eyes flashing with annoyance before she scratched her neck awkwardly. "So, do you want some of that whiskey?"

"You know I can't turn that down, Bolly." He gave her a small smile and followed her upstairs.

A few hours later, she was leaning against him on the sofa, his arms around her.

"So what about us?" she asked.

"What about us?" Gene asked her back.

"Do we just continue like nothing happened? Or well, do we take things slow?"

"If your libido is anything like it used to be, I think we can do away with the taking things slow part."

Alex flushed. "So we're definitely back together then?"

"Unless you've got something you're not telling me about."

Alex looked up at him smiling. "I never thought this would happen."

Gene looked down at her, not saying anything, but she knew what he was thinking. Slowly, she pressed her lips to his. He responded, parting his lips and putting his hand behind her head. Slowly, she lay down on the couch, Gene on top of her, slowly undoing her buttons.

Gene pulled away, staring at her.

"What's wrong?" she asked, confused as to why he stopped.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yes," she said, getting more frustrated with each second that passed.

His lips captured hers once more, and she responded delightedly. After so long, he was finally hers again. And he would be hers forever.

~(*)~

She stood next to the lion, staring out into the world Alex had created for her so long ago. It was flickering again, but she was not worried this time. She knew that the world would be hers forever, but there was one little thing to get out of the way before it was.

The lion nudged her hand and she absentmindedly scratched its mane, waiting. Soon, the person she was waiting for came over the hill, looking immensely confused. She stepped forward to meet the woman.

"Alex," she said, and the other woman approached her.

"Did I go back?" Alex asked worriedly.

She shook her head. "You're here for one reason only. It's time for us to part ways permanently."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, that when you go back, there is going to be no risk of you returning here. This world is going to close off."

"How am I here now?"

She smiled at the obvious anxiety on Alex's face. "You're dreaming, Alex. Don't worry. You have not returned to the state you were in before."

Alex relaxed visibly. "And I never have to worry about returning here?"

She shook her head. "No. This world is being sealed off inside your mind. If you go through anything like you did and must come back, you will create a new world."

"That won't happen," Alex said. "I don't have the same job."

She smiled. "Good. Well, I guess this is goodbye. I've got nothing else except to say thank you."

"For what?"

"For creating me. For letting me live. For this world. It'll be sealed off, but I'll still exist, in the deepest recesses of your mind. So I have to thank you for my existence."

Awkwardly, she hugged Alex, before the lion approached the woman. "He wants you to kneel down and look him in the eye," she said.

Alex did so, and the lion nuzzled her face before putting his paw around her in a hug-like manner.

She knew it was his way of saying goodbye.

Alex stood back up. "How do I get out of here?"

"The same way as last time. Over that hill, turn left and then straight on until you get back."

Alex nodded, starting to walk away.

She started petting the lion's mane once more as they watched her go. Once Alex was over the hill, she turned to the lion.

"Shall we go back to the tree then?" she asked.

The lion blinked once, which she knew was an affirmation. They walked to the tree and she climbed it, noticing that she could see Alex from the branches. She was walking slowly, but determinedly away from the world.

She smiled. Finally, everything was as it should be once more.

~(*)~

The world was fading for her, becoming less and less vibrant. Alex smiled as she continued on. Finally, she could put this whole ordeal behind her. She and Gene could be together now without worrying about the future.

The world faded to grey, and she heard a voice, his voice. Alex closed her eyes to listen to him.

"Alex! Wake up! Wake up Alex!"

She tried to open her eyes, but they were heavy.

"Jesus Christ woman, you've learned to sleep in the past six years. Wake up!"

Slowly, she opened her eyes, to see Gene staring at her, his chest beautifully bare and his hair ruffled from sleep.

"What's going on?" she asked thickly.

"You're supposed to open the shop in about two hours, and I have a present for you." He grinned wolfishly, rolling on top of her, leaving no doubt as to what her present was going to be.

Alex grinned, running her hand through his hair. "I'm back, Gene," she murmured as he started to kiss her neck. "I'm not going anywhere."

He looked up at her. "Good," he said, starting to trail kisses down her stomach. "Because I wasn't letting you out of this bed anyway."

Alex smiled as his kisses continued to get lower. Finally, her life was back to normal.

Rant