Chapter 1

"You must be out of your tiny American mind to think I am actually sitting there!" Serena stood by the back door of Hanssen's car, looking in at Michael patting the seat next to him suggestively.

"Aww come on Rena...what happens in the back seat, stays in the back seat!" he joked as he leant to grab her hand and pull her in. She was too fast for him and slammed the door in his face. "Owww" came a muffled reply from inside the vehicle. Serena smiled to herself as she heard Hanssen arrive beside her.

"That was nicely done if I do say so myself Ms. Campbell. Just be careful not to spill any blood in my car, thank you." he smirked as he headed to the boot and began to load their bags.

"I don't quite know if the little cretin was serious or if he was just being...him." she sighed dramatically as she opened the passenger door and got in the car, slamming the door and resuming her battle with Michael. Hanssen took a deep breath and realised this was going to be a long journey. Suddenly, he heard a voice calling over to him.

"Sorry I'm late!" Jac Naylor threw her bag past Hanssen and immediately, spotting Serena was occupying the front seat, headed for the back.

"Hey Jack..." drawled Michael before Hanssen heard the tell-tale sound of flesh hitting flesh and looked up to see Michael rubbing his cheek. "I was only joking!" he snapped defensively.

Ah yes, Hanssen thought to himself, this was going to be a long, but interesting journey.

"How much further?" complained Michael, shifting uncomfortably in the back seat.

"My god, you're worse than a child." grumbled Serena as she closed her eyes and attempted to block him out.

"Look, I've been stuck back here for hours, now all I am asking is for a short stop to stretch my legs and have a restroom break. Okay?" he asked, looking over at Jac who was, in fact, in silent agreement with him.

"Fine. There is a Motorway Services up ahead, where we can stop momentarily." stated Hanssen as he caught Serena's eye and she scowled at him.

"Now Mr. Hanssen..." she smirked turning to face him "...we have to be consistent with them. Where is the stability if one of us says no and the other says yes?" she asked wide-eyed, feigning innocence as the corners of Hanssen's lips twitched in amusement. Jac snorted and Michael continued complaining, completely missing the meaning of the comment.

Ten minutes later and they were pulling into the Services as promised. Michael leapt from the car and bolted across the car park, dodging unsuspecting holiday-makers wandering around.

"Well, I suppose when you gotta go, you gotta go." Serena smirked as she undid her seatbelt and stepped out of the car. She instantly felt her leg cramp up and bent to try and release it. She noticed Hanssen had come around to her side of the car and was watching her intently.

"Ms. Campbell, what are you doing?" he asked the Consultant as she was bent over, holding onto the car with one hand and rubbing her calf with the other.

"Oh nothing, this is my resting position while I wait for Michael." she answered glibly as Hanssen turned, making his way inside. She watched him go, muttering "Idiot."

A few minutes later Jac returned and returned to her seat in the car, producing an apple from her bag and proceeding to bite into it. Serena opened the door and peered in at her.

"You do know he'll kill you if he sees you eating in here? He wouldn't even let me eat my banana on the way to a meeting the other day." she said as she saw Jac roll her eyes.

"He can try and take this apple from me, but he will find it rammed down his throat." she replied, smiling as she continued to eat. Serena laughed and closed the door, leaning against the side of the car and breathing in the not-so-fresh, side of the motorway air.

"I thought you might like a coffee." Hanssen said as he appeared beside her, holding a cup out to her. She tried to hide her surprise and took it from him cautiously.

"What's the deal...salt instead of sugar, am I right?" she asked jokingly as she took a sip.

"Of course." smirked Hanssen as he leant against his car a few inches from Serena.

"Mmm, thank you." she exhaled as she felt the caffeine speed through her system. Hanssen watched as she visibly became more relaxed and simultaneously more awake. She turned and looked at him curiously. "I don't believe you've ever gotten me a coffee before." she smirked. She was secretly amazed he knew exactly how she took it. "A splash of milk and 2 sugars...that certainly wasn't in the personnel file." She watched as Hanssen shifted and became notably embarrassed. She decided to let the matter drop and looked over to where Michael was talking animatedly on his mobile. "It seems Michael wanted to make a phone call he felt unable to do in our presence!" Hanssen followed her gaze and watched as Michael began lowering his voice, a sleazy smile on his face.

"No doubt it is a private phone call Ms. Campbell. Contrary to popular belief there are some matters which should be kept that way." he threw her a sideways glance before finishing his coffee and throwing it into the bin. Serena followed suit and they both got into the car. Michael, seeing they were ready to leave, ended his phone call and rushed over.

"Well, I bet we all feel better now, don't we?" he smiled brightly as he leant forwards and put his hands on Serena's shoulders. "How about you, Rena?" he asked cheekily as she looked over at Hanssen and raised her eyebrows.

"Michael..." she purred "...I am so glad our little stop affected you so well...but if you don't remove your hands from my person, you will never operate again." she turned her head and smiled sweetly yet dangerously as he quickly withdrew his hands, turning red. Serena turned back to face the front and added "And for god's sake...stop calling me that." Michael smiled at the change of tone she used with the second threat. He knew she enjoyed telling him to stop it as much as he enjoyed winding her up. Hanssen pulled out of the Services and they continued on their journey, he was impressed and slightly attracted by Serena's dealing of the situation.

As they continued on their journey Jac and Michael began chatting about a patient they disagreed on last week.

"No, all I was saying was I wouldn't have taken the undue risk..." Michael was saying, as Jac interrupted.

"Even with the higher risk of failure, there was an increased risk of success!" Jac was stating passionately as Michael disagreed again.

Serena leaned over towards Hanssen slightly and whispered loud enough for only him to hear "Well at least he's stopped complaining about the journey. I was expecting him to launch into a chant of 'Are we there yet!?'" she smiled when she heard Hanssen snort back a laugh.

"Perhaps we should simply keep driving around and see how long it takes our Mr. Spence to notice." Hanssen suggested as Serena smiled wickedly at him.

"No, I do believe if I was to spend another hour stuck in the car, in his company we may have one less to check-in." she looked across at Hanssen who found the idea quite amusing.

Pulling up to the Hotel and parking, Michael leapt from the back of the car and began to take in his surroundings. Serena leant over and touched Hanssen's arm to get his attention, he froze under her touch but she didn't notice. "He's like an over-excitable puppy." she smiled fondly as she watched Jac attempt to keep away from him whilst checking her phone. Hanssen looked down at Serena's hand still resting on his arm, she followed his gaze and instantly withdrew it, remembering how he didn't like to be touched. "Sorry." she said as she climbed out of the car and moved around to the boot. Hanssen sat still for a moment, thinking. He hadn't minded her touching him, after the initial shock...in fact, he wanted her to touch him again. He shook his head and exited the car, striding to the boot and helping Serena with the cases.

Once they had all got their rooms sorted (the Board actually agreeing they were all to have separate rooms), they crammed into the lift and went up to their respective rooms. Michael and Jac were on the 4th floor, Serena and Hanssen the 5th. As they exited the lift, they looked left and right until they knew which direction to go in. They reached Serena's room and found Hanssen's was down the hall.

"Well Ms. Campbell, shall I call for you in about an hour?"Hanssen enquired as he watched her push her suitcase through the door.

"Yes okay. Then we'll go and fetch the children." she smiled warmly as she went into her room and closed the door. Hanssen chuckled to himself as he reached his own room and entered.