Friday January 8th/Saturday January 9th 1982

"I told you we should've stayed where we were!"

"Would you shut your trap you bloody woman!"

Alex crossed her arms and stared frostily through the iced up windscreen of the Quattro. It was dark and it was cold. Very cold. Even though the tension in the car was producing a lot of heat, it wasn't enough to defrost the car, or the atmosphere. They were in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night, in the middle of what looked like turning into a blizzard. All day the radio had been issuing weather warnings telling people to stay at home, not make any unnecessary journeys. And what did Gene Hunt decide to do? Go for a bloody jaunt in the countryside, that's what. "Trust me," he'd said, "We'll be back at Luigi's in time for the Friday night piss-up." And he'd waggled his eyebrows at her and flashed one of his rarely witnessed grins and that was that. And now they were stuck.

Alex's breath misted on the air forming tiny ice crystals that sparkled in the glow from the dashboard. Silence. All she wanted was to be in her flat, marinating herself in bubble bath and red wine. She let out a sigh and hugged her arms closer to her body.

"Bollocks!" Gene slammed both hands onto the steering wheel, causing Alex to shoot an inch out of her seat in alarm. "That won't achieve anything," she whispered to herself primly, earning a laser beam glare from the Guv. He gripped the wheel, the leather of his gloves squeaking slightly. Alex raised one eyebrow at him, daring him to justify the position they found themselves in. For a moment their stares locked, then Gene growled, turned away and flung open the door. A blast of icy air blew straight from Siberia, filling the car immediately. Bastard! He's left that bloody door open on purpose! Alex grabbed her door handle and yanked it hard. As she pushed, the wind caught the door like a sail and it swung violently open, almost taking her with it. Head down, arms clamped around her body, Alex stamped her way to the back of the car where Gene was wrestling with the boot.

"Bloody, bastard, fucking piece of German shit!" The lock was frozen and he was breathing on the key in a vain attempt to warm it. Alex, who could see he was a hair's breadth from inflicting violence on the closest inanimate object, stepped closer. "Give it to me."

"What? I can't bloody hear you in this sodding wind. Speak up woman!" Hard white specks of snow and ice whirled around them, the dark trees loomed above, creaking and surging as the wind whined.

She gritted her chattering teeth and tried again. "I said, give it to me."

"Why Alex? Why the bloody hell should I give it to you? You're colder than a vicar's cassock. You breath icicles you're so frigid." He ended on a shout.

Alex held out her hand for the key, refusing to allow him to see the effect his words had on her. I will not cry; I will not cry. Gene was glaring around him at the black and white swirl like a bull in the bullring, looking for something to hurt, someone to blame. Eventually his eyes found Alex's. Shame hit him like a fist in the gut. Well done Gene, you bullying bastard; you wanted to hurt her and you have. Silently he handed her the key. She took it from him with the tips of her fingers and placed it on her tongue. Gene was mesmerised. The snow swirled, the wind howled and Alex Drake sucked. He didn't feel quite so cold now. Well, parts of him didn't. "Use your lighter."

"What?"

She took the key from her mouth. "Use your lighter. The lock. Heat it up with your lighter."

"Oh, right, yeah." Gene fumbled inside his coat as it flapped and snapped around him, eventually retrieving the Zippo and holding the flame close to the lock. Quickly, Alex removed the key from her mouth and slid it into place, then stepped back, unwilling to be within touching distance of Gene Hunt the C…… She sighed. Why did it matter so much to her? It wasn't as if he was a real person: as if any of this was actually happening.

Alex was brought back to freezing cold reality by the slamming of the boot. "Come on Bolls! This isn't the time to be standing about outside admiring the view. Get your fat arse back in the Quattro." Gene strode to the driver's side, pulling open the door that had blown shut. Alex hopped up and down on the spot for a moment in an attempt to get her legs working then dashed to the car, flinging herself inside and slamming the door.

It felt warm in the car compared to outside. All the windows were now coated in snow. Sound was muffled. Alex thought of cosy igloos. Of polar bears tucked away in their snow caves waiting for the thaw. She felt very sleepy. "Right Bolls. Survival kit." Surprise woke her senses a little. Survival kit? He was more prepared than she gave him credit for. Curiously she turned towards him, thoughts of hot tea, hats and gloves, a spare radio, running through her mind.

Gene proudly held up a picnic blanket, a bottle of whiskey and a packet of condoms.

"How could you ever doubt me Bolly-knickers? You should know by now – the Gene-genie is the ultimate boy scout. Be prepared!"