A/N: Hello again people! :) sorry this took a while to update - I had a accident with my laptop (stood on it) and then spent a day debating on whether to actually write this.

Thanks for all the reviews!

Sarah x

Hanssen sat at his desk on Monday morning, unable to think about anything other than the weekend. It was not often he had weekend worthy of his attention come Monday morning, but his weekend with Serena had been the best he had had in a long time.

There was only one thing that troubled him now. Serena had asked about his scar; he had given her the truth. She hadn't done anything but berate him for not telling anyone. But she had understood. He, however, had noticed her scars. Thin, old, fairly small, spread across her abdomen and raised slightly against his hand, they were near enough invisible until he was close enough to see them. They went unnoticed until the third time hey had fallen into bed together, and after that he was reluctant to approach her about it because he didn't know how.

He just didn't know if it was his right to ask her about them. She was more forward than he was. If she wanted to know something she generally just asked. He, on the other hand, was too scared of the answer to ask. They definitely were not surgical scars; they had healed poorly, and were not in the right places.

Many ideas had run through his mind about it, and he came up with only two reasons that she would not explain them off her own back. The first was that they were so insignificant that she didn't see the point in telling him about it. The second was that they were so significant to her that she could not trust him with the knowledge of how she acquired those marks.

There was a knock at the door, causing him to jump slightly. "Come in!" he called. To his surprise, Jac Naylor carefully stepped in. "Ah, Miss Naylor," he greeted her. "What can I help you with?"

"You and Serena," she said bluntly. So she had noticed. "Something's going on, isn't it?"

"What makes you think that?" he demanded, and she just smirked for a moment before she answered him. He had been right when the notion had crossed his mind on Friday night. She knew.

"She got you out to a party," Jac reminded him. "And the way you were looking at her, it was obvious you wanted to rip that dress right off her and leave it on the bedroom floor."

Taken aback at her honesty, he raised an eyebrow at her, to which she just grinned. "I thought women had these conversations with each other, and not with the man," he shot at her.

"Nah. Serena and I aren't the girly-chat type," she quipped, leaning back into her chair. "So. What happened after you two so expertly slipped out the party?" Refusing to meet her eyes, he shifted uncomfortably in his chair. A triumphant look spread across Jac's face - "You slept together, didn't you?!"

What a bizarre conversation to have with Jac Naylor, he realised. Of everyone, he would never have guessed Jac to be the one to approach him about it. But he knew she wouldn't judge him for sleeping with a colleague. She and Jonny Maconie had been sleeping together, on and off, for months, after all. And then there had been Joseph Byrne, of course.

"You and Serena," she laughed. "I didn't see that one coming. Maybe why that's why she sent me to Sweden. Maybe she just wanted you back."

"Somehow that is doubtful," Henrik retorted. "She was extremely put out when I came back here."

"Well. She's not now, is she? I thought she seemed a bit too happy this morning," Jac added. She gave him a searching look and he started to inwardly panic as he realised she could see he was vexed by something. "What's bothering you? Is it to do with Serena?"

He paused, deciding whether to share the full extent of his worries. He didn't want her to know that Serena had old unexplained injuries but he did feel like he needed advice from somewhere, and Jac was the only place he was going to find it. "No. No, it isn't her," he finally lied. "If you saw scars, old abdominal scars, that were nothing to do with a surgical procedure, would you question it?"

"What are you thinking? Accident? Abuse? Self-harm?" she asked, and he was thankful that she had taken on her professional tone once more.

"I haven't made any assumptions yet," he allowed.

"Well, you have to ask these questions, as a doctor," she said. "But then you know that. Which makes me think this is nothing to do with any patient. In which case," she continued. "A good friend would ask. Even if they didn't get an answer, a good friend would ask."

Hanssen felt dread build up inside him; he had been hoping Jac would tell him to leave the issue alone. He could no longer plead social ignorance when Jac had explained he would remiss not to question Serena on her scars. "Thank you for the advice," he replied, his voice stiffer than he thought it was going to be.

He saw Jac's critical stare turn to frustration he was actually able to understand. Three nights ago, she had seen him start to loosen up and be open. Today, he was doing all he could to keep her from seeing the truth of his question. She didn't seem to realise that he was just protecting Serena in only telling half-truths; he didn't have a clue what those scars were. They might have been something totally innocent, after all.

She finally gave in and went to the door, but she turned as her hand pulled the handle. "A good friend asks the question, Mr. Hanssen, but the best kind of man is the one who accepts the answer and loves her anyway." With that she left him with his thoughts and the realisation that Jac could see right through him when it came to personal matters. When it came to Serena.

He sat with his head in his hands, wondering what the hell he was meant to do. These scars, he reminded himself, were obviously very, very old. The probability was that they were irrelevant to her now. They were probably a result of an accident, maybe even the car accident that claimed her father's life.

But he had to know. It wasn't just curiosity; it was concern, and a need to know what had happened to her.

He got up and wandered down to Keller, his pace slower than usual while he tried to talk himself out of asking her. He found his conscience taking him to her office, knocking on the door lightly. "Yes!" he heard her call. He opened the door just enough for him to get in, and saw her smile. "Mr. Hanssen. Good weekend?" she asked; she got to her feet with that flirtatious sparkle in her eyes.

He suppressed a smile and let her put her arms around his neck as he put his around her body. "Very good, Ms. Campbell. I spent it with an exceptionally beautiful woman," he played along. "Yours?"

"The best I've had in a long time. I spent it with an exceptionally handsome man," she grinned. She kissed him lightly with a smile, pulling him in slightly. She almost distracted him as he returned the kiss. Almost.

He pulled away from her, his arms still around her waist, placing a gentle kiss on her head. How was he supposed to ask her? She had just come out with it; he didn't have that forwardness in him. It was one simple question: how did the scarring on your abdomen come about? The problem was that he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer.

She leaned up and kissed him, seemingly oblivious to his internal debate. As he kissed her back he tried to think of a way to go about it so he wouldn't feel like he was prying, or like he was being impolite.

He forced her lips from his, his hands gentle on her face, and looked into her eyes. If she was not so unreadable, he may have been able to work it out for himself without the awkwardness of actually asking her. The fact remained, however, that, though she was sociable and happy, she was still guarded and cagey.

His hands stayed on her face as he leaned back slightly to get a better look at her expression. She had cottoned on to him now, realising that there was something bothering him.

"You trust me, don't you?" he asked her, wanting to make sure that she believed in him before he asked her any questions.

"Of course," she smiled.

"Then you would be willing to tell me why your abdomen is covered in scars," he said. He inwardly cursed at himself. He had sounded too harsh, and Serena's expression confirmed it. She took her arms from around his neck and pushed his hands off her face, looking ever so slightly haunted.

"Close the door on your way out," she said, her voice dead and flat. She went back to her desk and returned to her work, making it abundantly obvious that she wasn't divulging any more of her secrets to him. Hanssen did the only thing there was left to do and walked away, closing the door as she had asked him to.

He walked slowly – even slower that the first journey – until he reached the stairs. He did not want to leave it alone; it wasn't in his nature. Actually, it was not only because his nature would not allow him to drop it. It was more that his morality and affection for her would not allow it.

"No," he whispered to himself. "No."

He turned on his heel and went back to her office, opening the door without even knocking and walking in towards the empty chair. She didn't look up when she warned, "If you sit in that chair, Henrik, I will make sure it's the last thing you do."

He ignored her, though still obeying her wishes – he carefully sat down on the floor and brought his knees up. "You are joking," she drawled. She still had not removed her attention from what she was doing, but he could see she knew what he had done. And that she wasn't happy about it.

"I haven't sat in the chair," he reminded her, even though he had known what she meant when she said it. She finally looked up from her paperwork to see him. He didn't care if it annoyed her. He wanted to know. He wanted to know her. There was a story behind every scar. Some amusing, some moronic and some excruciatingly painful. But they all had a story behind them.

He had managed to share the story. She clearly did not want to; he saw the fear in her eyes. It was almost like she was frightened of what he would think of that story. "You can tell me," he reminded her.

She stayed silent, causing him to run his hand down his face in frustration.

"I can sit here all day, Serena."

Hope this is OK!
Please feel free to drop me a review and tell me what you think!
Sarah x