This is the last chapter. I hope this is satisfying end, and I hope you all enjoyed this fic. It's been an absolute pleasure to write, and I hope to write some more in the future. Your wonderful reviews are what made it worth it.

Enjoy :)

BANG!

Alex jumped slightly at the sound, before straightening up.

Sounds like a door being broken down, Alex thought, before cursing herself. Don't get your hopes up for nothing.

But she could see that Michael had stopped opening the door, and the first bang was followed by another- this one sounding more like a gunshot.

And then, a cacophonous symphony of sounds commenced outside her door, yells, shouts, gunshots, doors being slammed, things being smashed...

Alex ached to see what was happening but could only listen. It sounded like a war out there.

Finally, the door, slowly, opened, to reveal the man standing there.

Alex's face broke into a grin when she saw who it was.

"Gene. You came after me."

Her heart was dancing in her chest, and she wanted more than anything to get up and embrace him, but she couldn't. Gene smiled back, but with less feeling, as he knelt down beside her and freed her from the ropes. "Sure did, Bolls."

As soon as her arms were free, she wrapped them around his neck, breathing in the smell of whiskey. She'd have missed that, funnily enough.

Alex, finally, realized something was wrong. "What's the matter?"

Gene sighed and pulled away from her. "Michael shot Shaz."

"She'll be fine, Bolls. It was just a shoulder wound."

"I know. But it's Shaz."

"Yeah, I know."

They both looked at Shaz's face one more time as they left the hospital room.

"She saved my life."

"Yeah. Good thing that sick creep couldn't keep his mouth shut during that phone call."

Alex smiled slightly. Michael had knocked her out with chloroform in his car, and she'd woken up in that room, so she had had no idea where she was. But luckily for Alex, he hadn't been as secretive as he should have been. When he had called Shaz in CID, he had not only revealed the location of Rebecca's grave, but another vital piece of information.

"She'll die where Rebecca did. She'll die on the same floor."

Alex couldn't believe he had held her captive in Rebecca's apartment- so obvious, the police would never have thought of it.

At least, they wouldn't have if it weren't for Shaz.

I wonder why she didn't mention that before, Alex thought. She probably didn't want to scare me... or maybe she wasn't even sure it was about me. I'll have to ask her when she wakes up.

Alex sighed. She, obviously, knew how it felt to be in a coma, and she knew it wasn't fun. The nights she usually spent at Luigi's were now spent here, at Shaz's side. Most of the time, Gene accompanied her, even though he believed, in his words, that it was a "load of bollocks".

"She can't tell we're there, you know," he'd mumbled.

"She can. Trust me," Alex had growled, closing the subject.

They walked down the hallway in comfortable silence for a while, before Gene spoke.

"I haven't forgiven you yet, by the way."

Alex stopped. "What for?"

"Handing yourself over to Michael."

Gene stopped too, and looked her right in the eyes.

"I did it to save your life," she said, annoyed.

"You're not doing me any favors getting yourself killed, Bolls. And I know this is going to sound stupid before I say it, but I'd rather die myself."

Alex smiled warmly, touched. Gene frowned. "Don't look so pleased. It's not a good thing, it's extremely inconvenient. Having to go after you all the time. It's not my fault I'm-"

"What?"

Gene cursed himself, before walking off down the corridor and through the front of the hospital.

"Nothing."

Alex giggled and started to follow after him.

"No, tell me, what?"

"Drop it, Bolls."

"Not until you tell me!"

Gene sighed in exasperation. "You're impossible."

Alex caught up to him, and took his arm, smiling. "So are you."

And the two stepped outside, into the cold night air.

Alex and Gene stood talking in the corridor, just after interviewing Michael.

"I never said you were stupid. Just... feminine."

Alex laughed. "So, we let him go?"

"Fine."

Alex started to walk away. Gene called after her.

"You're also emotional!"

Alex laughed again as she opened the door to CID, and as the door closed Gene yelled something else after her.

"But I love you anyways!" he called, without thinking.

She never heard him.

But she knew.