I've Taken Nothing
By Hikaru

Ship(s): Gene/Alex

Summary: Not sure what this is, other than fluff. Or as fluffy as you can get with these two...

The clouds were hanging low in the sky, giving the illusion of being close to the cusp of night, despite it being early in the afternoon. Behind her there was shouting. Gene probably. But he was too far to do anything. And in the distance there were the whispers of sirens coming towards them.

But all she saw was the barrel of the gun.

Her arms half-heartedly up, Alex took a step towards the gun anyway.

Was this the answer she was looking for?

"D-don' come any closer!" he warned, waving his gun around. He clenched the little girl with him close to his body. Was she crying? Or had the rain finally started to fall?

"Bobby, you don't want to do this. Let her go. You will only make things worse." Another step forward.

Now the gun was pointed at her. Better her than the little girl. "Tell 'em t' back off. Tell 'em to leave me alone!" The poor boy couldn't have been any older than eighteen. There were small flecks of blood on his face. But he looked just as scared as the little girl. Fear shining in his eyes.

Alex shook her head. "They aren't going to do that, Bobby. Talk to me, I'll listen."

"I didn' mean to kill 'im, I swear!"

Somewhere behind her, she heard a shout: "Drake!" Gene was coming. But she had to take care of this herself.

"I know you didn't, Bobby. It was an accident. But if you shoot that girl now, that will be no accident. Let her go."

Lip trembling, Bobby let the girl go. She quickly ran past them, as fast as she could. But the barrel was still pointed at Alex. "Tell 'em to let me go!"

"Bobby-"

Now he put both hands on the gun, to steady his aim. "Tell 'em now!" he said, his voice frantic.

"Drake!" Gene's voice was closer now, but she didn't dare look behind her to see. Behind her, she heard the cocking of two guns. Alex wondered briefly who hadn't caught up yet, Ray or Chris. "Ya' pansy assed bastard. You're comin' wit us."

"Gene..." she warned.

"Stay back or I'll shoot 'er!" He said, pointing his gun firmly at Alex. But his hand was trembling. If he did shoot, there was no guarantee he's hit anything but air. Alex knew this. She was sure Gene knew it too. But there was still a chance the bullet would hit something… or someone.

"Bobby, don't-"

BANG!

The shot echoed through the park, followed by two more shots.

"Drake!" Gene's voice was right next to her.

Alex looked over to where Bobby had been standing. Instead he was sprawled out on the grass, his body writhing in pain. Ray stood over him, his gun locked on Bobby.

"Bolly, say somethin'!" Gene demanded as he cupped his hands around her face. He made her face him.

Squinting her eyes, Gene's face came into focus. "Gene."

The rain must have started to fall then. She could feel wet drops streaming down her face and she could see them on Gene's. It had to be rain. He let out a relieved breath. She then felt his hands move to her right arm. Holding it up so he could inspect it, he said. "Jus' a graze. You were lucky, luv."

"Not as lucky as 'e's gonna be, Gov," Ray offered. He kicked Bobby in the stomach.

"Easy Ray. Don't want to 'ave a repeat of last time, do we?" Gene said, looking into Alex's eyes.

“Right, Gov. Get up!" Ray grunted, picking Bobby up.

Everything was still very hazy. Alex found herself sitting on the ground, her knees seeming to have melted with the sound of the gun. She slowly looked up at her hands. A shot of pain rushed through her right arm. Her hand curled around Gene's. She felt him flinch in hesitation, but he didn't move his hand. Warm blood flowed freely through his hand and onto hers. She was still alive. As Ray drug Bobby past them, Alex saw that he had been shot in the shoulder. The second shot must have missed. He would live. That is if everyone could keep their anger in check.

Alex turned her attention back to Gene, who was glaring at her with his infamous scowl. "Wot the 'ell were you playing at, Drake? Goin' towards a toe-rag with a gun? You wanna tell me wot the 'ell was goin' through that brainy 'ead of yours?"

"I couldn't let him shoot that little girl," she said, the back of her head still foggy from the shock of it all. "It's my job as a copper to protect her."

"'e was pointing 'is gun at you," he grunted, poking his finger into her chest for emphasis.

Alex pushed his finger away. "But it's okay for you--"

He cupped both hands around her face again and made her look him in the eyes. "Well you're not bloody me, Bolly!" Gene screamed back, despite being right in front of her. "You could'v-" his voice faded. Whatever he was going to say left him. Alex's breath got caught in her throat as she watched him look to the side, unsure what to say next.

The rain started to come down much stronger now. In the distance there was a soft thunderclap. They were getting soaked in the downpour, but neither of them moved.

After a few moments, Gene recovered. With his lips forming a snarl again, he looked back towards her, his eyes much looking less menacing than his voice sounded. "If you wanna go kill yourself, don't go doin' it while I'm watchin'!"

"I wasn't trying to kill myself," she said defensively.

"Well you sure fooled me, Bolly!" He let go of her face and stood up with exasperated stutters. Annoyed, Gene looked up at the sky. "Bloody rain." Without a second glance to her, Gene took off his jacket and threw it at Alex. "Get sum'one to look at that arm, Bolls. Then go 'ome."

"Gene!" She called after him as she tried to stand up. But the world wasn't moving with her. Her legs almost instantly gave out as she tried to stand.

But Gene was there before she fell. Holding her close. His forehead leaning against hers. The rain pouring around them brought out a fresh scent from the trees. "Gently does it, luv," he said quietly as he pulled his jacket tightly over her shoulders. Kneeling his head lower to her ear, he quietly added, "Don't do that to me again."

She shook her head, not trusting herself to look at him. Mindlessly, her fingers laced around his suit jacket.

Once again, Gene paused, looking uncomfortable at her touch. But he played it off with a smirk. "Oh I see, you want the Gene Genie to 'eal ya?" He wrapped his arm carefully around her, in order to help her walk over to the rest of the squad. Slowly, they began to walk, Alex bracing to him like her life depended on it. "No offense, Bolls," he said smirking, "But at the moment I don't think I should be take advan'age of the state of you."

Now she met his eyes, smiling inelegantly. He paused in walking, looking at her, silently daring her to say something in response. But she didn't. She should tell that he was still embarrassed.

The two of them shared an awkward laugh before they began to walk towards the squad. Alex's hand wrapped around the hand that Gene was using to support her.

fin

Notes:

Title is from Sting's After the Rain Has Fallen: After the rain has fallen / After the tears have washed your eyes / You'll find that I've taken nothing, that / Love can't replace in the blink of an eye. Although, truthfully, I wrote this with Ultravox's Vienna on repeat. WONDER WHY.

And if I messed up Gene's accent in anyway, please tell me. Because yeah, I tried ;_; I'm not from Manchester. I'm not even from the UK.