A/N: Here it is, the last chapter. Thank you so much for reading, reviewing and supporting this story over the last couple of months (: I really appreciate it. Hope you enjoy the final chapter, love Roxannaaaax

It was as if the sun had just shone down, lighting the darkest day in history. Gene, Alex, Ray, Chris, Lily and Freddy ran to the edge of the cliff, shouting wildly to get the ship's attention as Scherazade smiled on weakly, giving Valley a final kiss on the forehead.

It would seem as if the ship had already seen them as it began to bomb the pirate ship, causing the remaining pirates to dive overboard in attempt to save themselves.

"That's one of my grandfather's ships!" Lily squealed delightedly, jumping up and down in excitement. She wrapped her arms around Ray's neck and kissed him fully, pulling back to look out to the ship on the horizon. "I knew he'd come back for us!"

"Over here! Over here!" Freddy bellowed happily as they saw the ship begin to turn.

"Let's get down ter the beach!" Gene ordered, a smile even crossing his face. "C'mon!"

The mood had been lifted as Freddy bounded ahead, swiftly followed by hand-in-hand couples Gene and Alex and Ray and Lily. Chris was bringing up the rear, and then turned back to Scherazade. The Azlia princess was still by Valley's side, tears streaming down her face.

"It's okay, Chris," she sighed weakly, "I'll get help from my tribe. They'll want to say their goodbyes to Valley. You go down to the beach with the others. You've been waiting for a good couple of months or so for this rescue."

Chris nodded. "You sure you'll be okay?"

Scherazade smiled weakly. "I'll be fine. Go on. My father and some of the warriors will be here soon to lay Valley's body at rest in our village."

Chris jogged lightly back towards Scherazade before embracing her kindly, pressing a small kiss to her forehead. "We'll see yer before we go, love. I promise."

Scherazade nodded, grasping Chris' hand before the young DC ran down the hills towards the beach

xx

"Can I see your hat please?"

"Yes m'boy, of course you can."

"Oh, thanks!" Freddy beamed as he raced around the treehouse. Captain Grantham chuckled heartily as he leant back on his chair, dabbing at his lips with his napkin.

"That was delicious thank you, dear," Captain Grantham said truthfully, nodding at Alex, "and I must say, it is remarkable what you've done with the place. Outstanding."

The captain was sitting around their wooden kitchen table with his arm around his granddaughter Lily. Ray was at one head of the table diagonal from Lily facing Chris at the other, and Gene and Alex were hand-in-hand sitting opposite the captain.

"I also can't thank you enough for looking after my granddaughter," Captain Grantham continued, "rescuing her was heroic enough, but accepting her into your small unit here and keeping her safe is something I will be eternally grateful for."

"Not a problem, sir," Gene smirked, "gobby little tart, but nothin' compared ter Bolly 'ere."

Alex punched him affectionately as Lily sniggered and the men laughed.

"But seriously," Captain Grantham said boldly, "rescuing that young boy, setting out onto the island, protecting yourselves against wild animals, building a treehouse, rescuing my Lily, fighting the pirates…you've all done something truly phenomenal over these months. Discovered a new island, befriended the native tribe, brought down Malcolm Miners. Now the least I can offer you all is to take you home."

Gene, Alex, Ray and Chris gasped. They looked at each other, hardly daring to believe it. They'd lost track of just how long they'd been on the island but it must have been getting on for about three to four months. They'd lived in this quaint little treehouse for most of that time, living off the jungle land, swimming in the waterfalls and lagoons, mucking around with the animals, becoming closer as friends and making new ones too. And now they had the chance they had been dreaming of for all that time. They had the chance to leave the paradise that had become a home away from home to return to where they really belonged.

"What do you say?" Captain Grantham prompted them. "I can take this young lad to his mother in America on a U-turn to the UK. Will you allow my ship to take you back to England?"

The four CID officers looked at each other. Broad smiles beamed across their faces as Gene spoke for them all.

"Of course we bloody will!"

Lily squealed happily as she got up and threw her arms around Ray, kissing him passionately. Chris hugged Alex as Captain Grantham shook Gene's hand across the table.

"I'll give you an hour, but then we must sail with the tide," Captain Grantham explained, "I'll expect you'll want to say some goodbyes."

'Goodbyes' was putting it mildly. Now that they were finally getting off the island, they had come to realise just how much they loved it and were going to miss it.

"Does this mean we're really leaving?" Freddy gasped. "Can I take Davie? Harvey?"

"Afraid not, little 'un," Ray shook his head, "time to say bye to them. You can take Rusty and Rover though."

Freddy brightened up. "I'll go and get them," he grinned, racing down the treehouse. Gene, Alex, Ray, Lily and Chris followed him down onto the beach as Captain Grantham walked over to his ship to inform the crew what was going on.

"This is really it," Alex realised, "we're really…leaving."

"Let's find Scherazade," Chris spoke up, "we need ter…say goodbye."

Saying goodbye to Scherazade was one of the hardest things the police officers had had to do. Harder than telling mothers their kids were dead or shooting young teens with guns or finding another dead innocent body. They knew they'd never see the young Azlia woman again as they exchanged tears and hugs in the jungle.

"We'll never forget the help you gave us," Alex said sincerely, gesturing to the five Azlia tribesmen behind Scherazade that had arrived to lay Valley's body at rest, "especially you and Valley, Scherazade."

"Yeah," Chris agreed, squeezing Scherazade's hand, "you were true friends."

Scherazade looked at the five of them. "It's unlikely I'll ever forget our encounter. You're a bunch of amazing people, you really are. I hope you get home. I hope everything is perfect for you. And you two –" Scherazade pointed at Gene and Ray "no cocking your relationships up. You've got two exceptional women on your arms and don't you forget it!" she winked as they all laughed.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Gene laughed lightly, "Alex and Lily wouldn't take five minutes of our crap."

"And don't we know it," Ray sniggered, kissing Lily affectionately.

"Bye Scherazade," Lily smiled at the young girl, "and thanks."

After a final hug from them all, the five of them watched as Scherazade turned her back and headed into the jungle with the men from her tribe, turning back with a small smile on her pretty face to wave at them one last time before she was disguised in the foliage and out of sight.

xx

"Clothes."

"Check."

"Dogs."

"Check."

"Guns."

"Check."

"Chris."

"Huh?"

"Nothing, just checking we'd got the twonk, Bolls."

Everything was set. They'd said their final goodbyes to the tribe, the animals, the island and the treehouse, and now Freddy was running excitedly onto the ship with the dogs close behind him. The captain gestured for them all to board.

"This is it, Guv," Ray breathed, "finally goin', 'ey?"

Gene smiled weakly, and then noticed Alex facing away from them, looking at the treehouse longingly.

"I'll just be a minute," she said quietly before walking towards it.

Gene looked on at her before turning back to Ray, Lily and Chris. "Give us five minutes and if we're not back, come an' get us," he told them before following Alex back into the treehouse.

Lily kissed Ray as she went to see Freddy and the dogs into their cabin. Ray and Chris remained on the beach, waggling their eyebrows in Gene and Alex's direction as they gave each other knowing looks.

Gene found Alex in their bedroom, sitting down on the beds almost sadly.

"Time to go, Bollykecks," he said softly, sitting down beside her, "now or never, sweetheart."

Alex nodded, focusing on the floor. "I'm going to miss it, Gene. I can't pretend otherwise. I'm going to miss looking at the stars at night, the wild animals, Scherazade, the excitement, cooling off in the lagoons, sharing a room with –"

Alex stopped abruptly, her cheeks flushing crimson.

"What was that last one, Bolls?" Gene teased her. Alex couldn't stop a grin spreading across her face as her cheeks burned.

Finally, Alex looked up under her eyelashes and into Gene's eyes. "I'm going to miss this, Gene. What happens when we get back to Fenchurch? Will I just have been a holiday romance? Will we go back to DCI and DI? Will –"

Gene cut her off, crashing his lips down onto hers and silencing her, his arms sneaking round her waist.

"You bloody think I've waited a year and a half just for a few weeks worth o' kisses?" Gene smiled at her. "I still don't know if yer a C or a D cup and I haven't even glimpsed yer expensive French knickers."

Alex's smile wavered slightly – surely Gene didn't want her for sex only? Sensing her anxiety, Gene kissed Alex again. "I said it once and I'll say it again – I love you, Alex. I want this. Us. I want us."

Tears formed in Alex's eyes as she threw her arms around his neck, kissing him lovingly. "So do I," she whispered, "so do I, Gene. I love you."

Gene traced a thumb along her lips, and she smiled into his eyes. Gene smiled back and his fingers continued to trace lightly along her chin, his hand sliding upwards to caress her cheek.

Alex let out an audible, stifled moan and he leaned in towards her, causing her eyes to droop closed in bliss as she felt his soft lips on hers once again.

Gene tasted her, not wanting to miss anything. Even though they had shared passionate kisses before, nothing compared to now. Everything was out in the open. Every feeling, every emotion, every truth.

Gene's kisses were soft. They were gentle, as if they had all the time in the world. Alex responded eagerly, tracing soft circles on his neck as he pushed her carefully down onto the bed, supporting himself on arms so as not to crush her. Gene nudged himself in between her legs, tasting the sweetness of the papaya juice that danced on her tongue.

Alex knew she wanted more. Finally, she darted her tongue out between her red lips and teased the quickest connection against his. Gene groaned, running his fingers through her hair.

As Gene's hand stroked Alex's neck and traced its way down to her breasts, Alex knew what she wanted. She wanted this. With him. Now. With Gene. Alex wrapped her legs around Gene as he pulled away from kissing her, looking into her eyes and seeing the desire.

"I want you…" Alex breathed, "please…"

Gene wanted this too. He had wanted her for so long, and now it was perfect.

xx

"Fifteen bloody minutes," Ray muttered, "they've been up there for fifteen minutes. Gettin' on for twenty."

"The Guv said ter get them after five," Chris pointed out, "shall we go up?"

"Yeah," Ray nodded, "Lily, Freddy, Captain Grantham – we'll be two minutes! Just grabbing our senior officers who can't stick ter bloody time limits."

Ray and Chris stalked across the beach and climbed up into the treehouse, passing the kitchen as they got to the stairs that led to the Guv and DI Drake's bedroom.

As they approached the door, Ray and Chris' jaws dropped and they turned to each other, disbelief in their wide eyes as the colour drained from their faces.

"Did you just hear…?" Ray gawped.

They listened. There it was again. A groan, followed by heavy breathing and the unmistakably whimper of their senior female officer. The creak of bedsprings.

"No," Chris said quietly, "yer don't think…"

"UURRGGHH!" Chris and Ray jumped out of their skin. "Oh, oh Gene! Oh! Yes! Yes!"

"Shit," Ray spluttered, "oh shit, move Chris, move…don't want ter hear this…"

"Uh…Bolly…Bolly…"

"Faster, Chris, move!" Ray hissed as the pair of them ran down the steps and out of the treehouse. Reaching the bottom, Chris and Ray stared at each other.

"Never mention what we just heard," Ray ordered Chris, feeling sick, "ever. That is somethin' that I wish I never nearly walked in on."

"I think I'm scarred for life," Chris swallowed, "I'll never be able to look at the Guv or DI Drake again."

"What do we tell Grantham?" Ray hissed.

"Ur…Drake's got over-emotional and crying about leaving a wooden house in the trees?" Chris suggested. Ray stared at him.

"Good one," he muttered, "sounds just like Drake!"

xx

It was time. Everyone was on board the ship as it eventually pulled away from the island, leaving the paradise of Azlia behind.

"Well we managed it," Gene announced, holding Alex tightly by his side as the five of them looked over the deck and out to the island that was gradually falling from view, "we survived. We beat the pirates. We didn't kill each other."

"Um-hmmm," Chris mumbled, not looking at his senior officers. Ray was focussing his attention on Lily and not the fact that his Guv had his hand on his DI's arse. "Yep. Survived. Yeah."

"You gone caveman on me, Christopher?" Gene frowned.

Freddy looked between the two men, smirking. "Don't worry, Gene, Chris has been a bit weird ever since he came back from the treehouse ten minutes before you two arrived back."

Gene's eyes widened as Alex stiffened in his arms, biting back a snort of laughter.

"Oh look, a dolphin!" Chris gasped desperately before racing over to the other side of the deck, burning with embarrassment.

Alex couldn't hold it back any longer as she burst out laughing. Gene nudged her, a playful smile on his lips.

"That's your fault, DI Sluttyknickers," he grinned at her, "couldn't keep my legendary prowess as a lover quiet."

Alex kissed him. "Chris will get over it," she smiled, "or I could be quiet next time?"

Gene kissed her back, with more thriving passion. "I don't bloody think so," he smiled at her, "I want bleedin' Scherazade ter be able to 'ear yer when we get back ter your flat. We've got a whole lot o' lost time ter make up for."

Alex relaxed in Gene's arms, utterly, completely and truly happy for the first time in months. "Oh yes, Gene, we certainly do."

For how long they remained like that, they didn't know. But they knew one thing. Things weren't going to change just because they had been rescued from the island of Azlia. Watching the horizon together, Gene and Alex knew that no matter what the crime scenes of London threw at them, they would always have one thing.

Each other.

A/N2: OMG I cant believe that's it!! PLEASE review, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the final chapter and the story as a whole!! Thank you so much :D xx