A/N: This is kind of the turning point, though I warn you that it might upset you, depending if you're more emotional and sensitive than I am. Thanks again to everyone who has read and reviewed!

Sarah x

Time and fear froze around Serena as she realised she had just knocked Edward to the floor with a single punch. The strength her body possess in desperation was always intriguing to her, if only because it was the opposite to who she knew she was. Who she had consciously made herself to be. But she could only be that person she knew when she had control over her own mind – something she was struggling to retain.

A hand was in hers and she looked around to see Mrs. Munro with the same expression Serena had seen daily after that night – during what little time she had remained there after the funeral. She would have liked so have said it was a bit of a haze but it was far from it; she remembered every one of the one hundred and three days she spend there, enduring the worried watching of adults and the wary uncertainty of fellow children. She remembered every night she had begged her mother to take her back to England. She remembered wondering if she would eventually end up like the man she had just buried.

But, so far, so good. Thus far she had not been much of a danger to those she loved and worked with, though perhaps a danger to herself at times. But as her victim stood behind Edward, bloodied and limping, his arm visibly broken and the side of his head bashed in, she found herself doubting her own mind.

Jac looked slightly dazed by the madness she had just witnessed, like she couldn't make sense of how Serena Campbell had gone from eerie calm to throwing punches.

Jonny walked in with a look of extreme shock, and Serena watched without hope as the young Scot helped Edward to his feet. "Sorry," Serena said once she found her voice. "I'm sorry, Edward."

He shook his head and wiped what she suddenly recognised as blood from his face and lip. She saw a cut on his jaw and realised just how much force must have driven her fist as her rationality had vanished. "It's OK," he assured her. He stepped forward; she sensed his caution as he reached out and placed a hand on her cheek. She had to remind herself that Mrs. Munro was right. For whatever else the man had done, he had never hit her, not even in self-defence. "It's OK."

"Come on and we'll get you cleaned up a bit, Edward," Jonny said.

"No, I'll do it," Serena said. She understood the shock in Edward's eyes. She had even surprised herself.

Jac opened her mouth to protest but Edward didn't allow her to. "It's fine, Jac," he reassured the redhead. "It's out of your system now, isn't it, darling?" he asked Serena. She said nothing but she did nod. She wasn't going to hit him again; she was already regretting it. The parents-to-be did not look convinced but they were watching their step – they had a child to protect and she could see that they did not understand that Serena would never put that in jeopardy.

Serena took Edward's hand and led him down to Keller, where she ushered Edward into the office. "What the hell happened to you?!" Michael exclaimed as Serena sat Edward down on the edge of her desk.

"Ex-wives aren't to be irritated," Edward grinned. Serena rolled her eyes as her ex-husband made light of what she had just done to him. Trusting that Edward was a skilled enough liar to convince Michael it wasn't of significance – though she knew Jac would eventually inform the American of the truth – she went to fetch the equipment to fix Edward's face.

She felt her heart slowing down to a normal pace, only noticing now that it had been beating too fast. "Are you OK, Ms. Campbell?" Arthur Digby asked her.

"Of course," she forced a smile at him. She gathered all she needed and hastily returned to the office.

"What happened?" Michael asked of her.

"Misunderstanding," Edward smiled. "Nothing to worry about." She felt the long abandoned intimacy between them return, and she feared that it was only because Michael was there with them that she did not fall apart on him there and then. For a moment she would have loved nothing more, even if just to feel a relief she had never known.

"Well, I'm due in theatre," Michael announced. "I hope you're both in one piece when I get back here," he grinned. Serena made the expected face at him as he left them to it.

She turned to Edward and picked up antiseptic wipes. "This will sting a bit," she reminded him. He nodded and she brought it to his face.

"Owwwwww!" he whined. She raised an eyebrow at him and he grinned again. "Come on, Serena. Crack a smile." She ignored that remark and ruthlessly continued tending to his injuries, feeling guilty every time he involuntarily winced as alcohol poured into his wounds. "Does it need stitches?" he asked her.

"No," she asserted. "Steri-strips will do. But it's pretty obvious you've had your arse kicked. Sorry about that." He waved her apology away; he was too understanding. She almost wanted him to go crazy at her.

His hand rested comfortingly on the side of her neck. Her instinct made her bring her face down to her side, her cheek leaning into his hand. As much as she wanted to be able to remain strong, she found she missed the comfort she had found in Edward before their marriage had broken in her hands.

"What's got you in this state?" he asked her gently.

She looked up into his eyes, and despite his many faults she did not doubt that he cared about what he was asking. And to know that broke her heart, because she knew it would be near impossible to tell him.

It was with horror that she felt a lump grow in her throat and her eyes sting with poisoned tears; she didn't want to cry. She didn't want to let him see that there was something lurking beneath her sparkling eyes and white smile. But he had already seen. If she was honest with herself, she knew he had seen that many years ago. He had done his utmost to get it out of her. She was sure he had even nagged her mother about it.

"Don't cry," he whispered. "Come here." His arms were soon around her shoulders, and she was held tightly in his embrace. His tenderness shattered the dam keeping the deluge in, and tears soon fell down her cheeks as she failed to steel herself any longer. She didn't need to move her head from Edward's chest to feel the presence of the man she wished she could forget.

She moved her head to glance over Edward's shoulder. The man smiled at her. The kind smile she knew and loved was a stark contrast to the image he appeared to her as, as was his happy eyes and youthful face. He was not a bad man – she had always known that – but he had caused so much heartache. And yet she loved him. How could she not love him?

"Shh," Edward hushed her; she felt him squeeze her tightly, and the fatality of her stupidity smiled at her. She wrapped herself around her ex-husband, succumbing to her need to feel that somebody really did give a damn. His hand was resting on the back of her head. "You've got to tell me what's making you like this."

She moved her head to look up at him and felt his eyes searching hers for any sign, any clue, of what she was going through. He pressed his forehead into hers gently; how did she get from punching him to this so quickly? It was like a whirlwind she didn't want to break free from, because here someone loved her. She could not question that he did love her. He would not be here with her still if he didn't.

She could feel his nose against hers, her lips less than an inch from his. "I can't," she admitted, her voice only a hoarse murmur after crying. She watched her victim hovering behind Edward again, and she briefly wondered if the secret would ever really die. Would it die with Mrs. Munro? Would it die with Adrienne? Would it die with Serena herself? Or did she have to pass it on and keep it alive forever?

"You can," he insisted. "You can."

He was breaking her, and she knew he knew it. He was forcing his way in, blind to what he was about to uncover. She almost pitied him. "Abduction," she muttered, feeling like someone was strangling her. "They said he abducted me, but I willingly went."

His light blue eyes betrayed his shock. Whatever he had expected, it clearly had not been that. "Who?" she heard Edward's distant voice ask.

But she was a child once more, climbing out of the tiny old cottage via her bedroom window, following him. She was going to take a walk and be normal for once, rather than just Serena McKinnie, who walked the wards of Sunnyside every day, and who could not be like the children she went to school with. To see him with freedom gave her hope that he was the man she once knew.

The wind blew her thick hair across her face and she stumbled with her hand in his across the road. They had laughed together as he made jokes and used her pet name of 'Rena.' He had lifted her into his arms when he noticed her limping, pain shooting from the arch of her foot to her ankle, her ankle to her knee, her knee to her hip, her hip to her spine.

He had wandered for what felt like hours but she had not complained, for she had loved him. She trusted him even though she had been told he was ill in a way she could not see. He didn't seem ill. He seemed perfectly alright.

But when they approached the train tracks and she heard him say he loved her, she had started to feel a little uneasy. Her mother and her teachers and the police had always warned her of the dangers train tracks held; they were there for trains, not to be messed around on.

On the embankment he had set her down, taking her hand with a smile. She asked him what they were doing here but received no answer, only a smile. Together they carefully came down the embankment and stood on the side of the tracks. He knelt down and kissed her cheek, leading her to the middle of the tracks. Now she realised that there was something wrong. People with any sense didn't stand here. Was this the illness they spoke of? Was this what was wrong with the people in the hospital she knew like the back of her hand?

She looked up at him and he dropped her hand, standing as straight as a rod and as solid as a stone. She heard a freight train approach and realised quickly that he wasn't going to move from its path. Her mind moved on autopilot and battered down the urge to try and move a man of twice her size and strength. Self-preservation prevailed and she hastily walked barefoot off the track, the stones cutting her feet.

She could do nothing for him. She loved him. She adored him. But she would not die with him. She didn't know if her death was what he intended, but his was, and she knew there was no stopping him. Perhaps the fact he had let go of her hand was him telling her to move out of the way. Why did he bring her here?

He turned his head and smiled at her with a slight nod before he was gone, a train rushing across where he only a moment ago stood.

A hand entangled in her hair brought her back to adulthood, to the room in which she stood with two men who loved her. "Who, Serena?" Edward asked again. "Who abducted you?"

Tears fell down Serena's cheeks as she remembered that she had left him to die; in her eyes he had not abducted her. He had only wanted to spend his last moments with her. It took her many years to finally grasp that, and it didn't dull the fear of having her hand forced, but she understood it now. She had not been abducted. She had not been stolen or taken. She had gone with him because she had wanted to.

The old man in a young man's image smiled at her once more, nodding as if to tell her to say the truth. So she looked in Edward's eyes and said, "My dad."

Hope this is alright!
Please feel free to drop me a review and tell me your thoughts!
Sarah x