The episode opens with Alex watching a Jackanory episode where Gene is reading the book Alex and the awful headache which is her life story. This is intercut with Gene beating up a snout (Doyle) to find information about a job which he fails to do. As Jackanory ends and Gene leaves Alex hears a surgeons voice telling her that she has an infection that she has to fight with the antibiotic having a maximum dose of 50ml, and its kill or cure time.

We next see Alex being woken by Martin Summers, and accusing her of having a guilty conscience over covering up the murder of younger Summers. She thinks Summers is the infection she has to cure, but he ignores her and tells her that he is in the room next to her and that the only thing she has said while in the hospital is “Gene”. Summers challenges her to tell Gene the truth and claims he is in charge there and the clock is ticking, she then sees 10ml on the television.

As Alex approaches the station she encounters a reluctant Chris who she walks into the station and then finds her desk covered in Rose petals. Gene then walks in announcing that something big is coming down as every snout is going quiet, and Doyle who he was beating up has been found dead and dismembered around the chip shop.

At the station Gene has received word from DCI Carnegie from Fenchurch West that younger Summers body was found and believes Lafferty did it, and Carnegie asks Gene to make it stick. Alex due to the infection is a bit disorientated and comes off badly. As Gene is focusing on the major blag and believes Lafferty is responsible she asks Ray to look into Summers death for her. A little later Alex manages to quickly catch Doyle’s killer “Tiny Tim” due to his shoes having chip fat on them, Tim briefly holds his sister Jenette hostage who had been in the station earlier and she starts to flirt with Gene.

At the station Gene speaks with Jenette to try to find out about the job which will go down the next day. After briefly interrogating Tim, Gene leaves Alex with him and speaks with Jenette again who says they met the year before when he kissed her whilst on a bust.

Shaz then sees Chris receiving a suspicious phone call and after Ray taunts him some more leads him to storms out the station. Jenette then flirts some more with Gene and claims that Tim told her to do it, and Gene says he was not fooled for a minute, and after some more banter leaves.

When Alex interrogates Tiny Tim using psychological techniques and word association she finds that he associates Rose with Coppers, letting her know that Operation Rose is this robbery, which she then tells Gene about as bent coppers are involved. Ray also tells her he found a name in Tims place “King Dong job” which is a black porn star but is probably code.

When Gene goes back to his office he finds a tape on his desk which turns out to be Alexs thoughts on Gene, which Summers had lifted from her apartment. Gene plays the tape and he hears her doubts about him. A little later Gene confronts Alex over the tapes contents demanding the truth. She then tells him the truth about her being from the future which he can not believe and then orders her out of his sight as he thinks she is lying.

Alex then sees a note saying she is up to 25ml, and Shaz tells her that the people in charge of Operation Rose called Chris. They chase Chris down and Chris and Shaz reconcile with a kiss, and Chris agrees to be a “double-agent” and go to a meeting with the plotters. Chris goes to the meeting and finds out what the job is and agrees to go along with it.

Back in the station Viv and Ray find that Tim has been poisoned in the cell. When Ray talks to Gene about it, he confesses his confusion over Alex, though Ray says that she is not bent. Gene then goes to tell Jenette the news and takes her along to Luigi’s

At Luigi’s Janette speaks to Gene and throws more suspicion on Alex by saying that she heard Alex’s name mentioned. On a different table Ray and Chris then agree that things are square between them, Alex then goes over to Gene to get him to listen to a plan to thwart Operation Rose

At the station Chris tells them that Operation Rose is a Gold bullion job, and that the plan is that a gold truck will be hit, and then the bent cops will raid the raiders. Chris’ role is to misdirect the police (legit) pursuers. Alex then realises that she studied the job at Hendon and that it will take place on King Douglas Lane. Gene then gets angry at Alex, due to her odd behaviour and he does not believe her and suspends her and says she is cold due to abandoning her daughter leading her to slap Gene and storm out of his office as she leaves his office he announces that if she gets in his way He will kill her.

At Alex’s flat Summers then taunts her in her sleep over her losing her lifeline in Gene Hunt and tells her that she is alone and that its over. We then see Jenette walk in on Gene alone in the station, they flirt over their favourite western actor who they both have as Gary Cooper and end up sharing a kiss, Alex then wakes up and touches her lips as if she has been kissed. She then turn to see her alarm telling her she is up to 36ml and grabs a gun and leaves.

She goes to Chris who warns her she faces arrest if spotted, Chris tells her that Shaz is at a dress fitting but has a radio with her. We then see the rest of the team following the Gold van and think it will be hit in Maybridge or the High Street. We then see Alex arriving on King Douglas lane for the job to go down.

There is then a call from Viv telling them that there was a fire in a florists on a high street causing the van to get redirected to King Douglas Lane, proving that Alex was right. Chris then heads to the scene in anticipation and Alex sees she is up to 46ml as the Gold Van arrives, the job then goes down and a little later Chris arrives.

The bent cops arrive and it turns out to be Carnegie from Fenchurch East in charge, Summers shoots the guards dead and as Chris arrives Summers tells him he understands how he feels as he was in Chris’ place in the original time line. Gene then arrives and runs over Carnegie telling him that he “has just been Quattroed”. In the ensuing chaos Chris chases after a bent cop away from the scene and is about to get shot until Shaz in a wedding dress intervenes.

Alex then chases Summers and sees she is nearly at the 50ml limit. Summers suprises her and holds her at gunpoint. She then talks to Summers about the King Douglas job of November 1982, and that there was a cover up of the police involvement. It then turns out that Summers wanted her to stop the job and catch the bent job due to the shame he felt over what happened and what it did to him.

Gene arrives and tells Summers to drop the Gun or he will shoot, Summers says he knows and then starts to pull the trigger causing Gene to shoot and kill him, Gene then comforts Summers as he dies. As Alex wonders why she has not gone home Janette arrives and takes Alex hostage as Alex tries to escape a shot goes off from Jenetter gun causing Gene to accidently shoot her. As Ray, Shaz and Chris arrive she sees the background behind them fade to white before they fade out and she ends up back in the present day.

In her hospital bed she is greeted by Molly and Alex then sees a covered body being carried away. Just as she thinks things are back to normal the TV in her room goes to static and she has a vision of Gene on the TV and all the moniters asking her to wake up and come back to her as he is on the lamb as people think he shot her deliberately and he needs her to wake up to clear his name. She then runs around the hospital in panic as Gene keeps on calling out “Bolly”.