A/N: Thank you all once again for your reviews! Particularly to those picking up on the completely irrelevant Campbell/MacDonald mention. There is something you should all know about me, I enjoy pushing the boundaries and being controversial. I don't shy away from confrontations and will defend my work and decisions. I suppose you could call it a kind of 'experiment' in that I wanted to see how many readers I could get to react to what I had written. I found it interesting to hear from you Campbells and MacDonalds first-hand so thanks for your messages! I will make an apology if any offence was taken, that was not my intention. My intention was to provoke a reaction, whatever that may have been.

Anyway, enough about the previous chapter, here is the next update and I hope it goes down well! :)

Chapter 8

Sitting in the uncomfortable plastic chairs at the Police Station, Serena sat up straighter trying to stretch her back. Hanssen had been in with the Police Officers for some time and she was beginning to wonder if everything was alright. As she stretched, she suddenly felt a pair of hands reach for her shoulders and begin to caress them gently. She turned her head to tell him to get lost, but he cut her off.

"Look, you can rip out my insides later...but right now, you need to relax." Edward said gently as he continued squeezing her shoulders, feeling her remain tense.

"Why on earth would you think you touching me would help me relax!?" she scoffed, nudging his hands away and sitting back in her seat.

"Are we never going to discuss it?" he asked suddenly as she kept her gaze forwards, knowing to what he was referring and cursing him for his timing.

"That's what we agreed." she said stonily as he sighed, dropping his head in his hands.

"No, that's what you agreed. I made a mistake Serena..."

"Hah! If I recall correctly it was quite a few mistakes actually." Edward glanced to the side, not realising she'd known about any of the other women he'd had relations with. Serena caught his look and laughed. "Do you honestly think I don't know about the others?" she asked as he dropped his gaze, trying to formulate a response. "One I could have lived with...almost lived with...but then it happened again, and again." Edward raised his head to speak but Serena stopped him. "Don't even try and blame it on me or my work. Yes I realise that may have been a factor...but it was no excuse for what you did." she turned to face him, narrowing her eyes slightly. "If the tables had been reversed, if you'd been the one whose career was suddenly taking off, do you think I'd have reacted the way you did? Gone out and shagged the first thing I saw because I wasn't getting it regularly enough at home?" Edward flinched slightly at her tone of voice.

"I am sorry Serena...you need to know that." Sighing loudly, she leant forwards with her elbows on her knees. "It wasn't to purposely hurt you...they just sort of happened." he explained as she shook her head, chuckling softly.

"Can we please stop talking about it?" she asked, looking up sharply as a door opened in front of them and Hanssen strode out looking weary. Standing up quickly, Serena went over to him and rested a hand on his forearm. "What did they say?"

"It transpires Mr. MacDonald had been involved in a bar fight before evading arrest and deciding to take the train." he paused and Serena could see there was something he wasn't telling her.

"What is it?" she asked as he sighed.

"Nothing...we really should get a move on if we are to make the conference." he stated, reaching past her to get his briefcase from the chair and waiting for her to collect her belongings. "Mr. Campbell, Ms. Campbell and myself have transport arranged to take us to the Hotel, I trust you can find your own." Hanssen said stiffly, as Edward nodded and reached out his hand.

"All the best...to you both." Hanssen shook the proffered hand before turning and motioning for Serena to leave the building ahead of him. As they stepped out into the sun, Serena turned to him, suspicion etched on her face.

"What transport would that be then, Mr. Hanssen?" she asked as he nodded over towards a squad car waiting for them at the end of the car park.

"Oh well this day just keeps getting better and better!" she muttered, heading down the steps, Hanssen following her, smirking.

The journey to the Hotel didn't take long at all and soon they were dumping their belongings behind the Reception desk, pinning their ID badges to themselves before heading into the Conference Hall. After alerting the Conference Leader to their presence, Hanssen was immediately introduced and swept onto the stage, leaving Serena watching and smiling from the side. Hanssen did the best he could, adopting his 'CEO mode' but he knew he'd done far better speeches in the past. Before leaving the stage to a round of applause, he introduced Serena and held out his hand to bring her onto the stage. He squeezed her hand encouragingly as she took the podium and launched into her speech, doing far better than he had. As he stood watching her, completely engaged in what she was saying, he felt his phone begin to vibrate in his pocket and he thanked his lucky stars it was on silent. Leaving the room swiftly, he answered the call.

"Henrik Hanssen."

"Hello Mr. Hanssen, this is Mrs. Watson from Southern General Hospital, I believe you and your colleague dealt with an admission of ours...Mr. Aidan MacDonald?"

Hanssen paused, knowing deep down what she was going to say. "Yes we did...do you have an update?"

"I'm very sorry, but Mr. MacDonald died of his injuries within minutes of reaching us. I wanted to call you myself and let you know...it seems you both did a wonderful job of resuscitating him until the Paramedics arrived."

Hanssen exhaled and pinched the bridge of his nose, forcing any and all feelings back down, out of sight and out of mind. "His injuries?" he asked, listening carefully.

"He had a ruptured spleen and severe internal bleeding...he'd lost far too much blood by the time he reached us. I am sorry." she said professionally as Hanssen exhaled.

"Thank you very much for letting me know." He hung up and replaced his phone in his pocket, knowing he was going to have to tell Serena, the thought filling him with dread. Stepping back into the room, he saw Serena was wrapping up her presentation, smiling at a joke she had just made, the audience laughing along with her.

"...Thank you very much for your time." she finished, exiting the stage to a deafening round of applause. "How did I do?" she asked him as she reached his side.

"Surely you don't need my opinion." he said lightly, noticing the look of disappointment cross her face.

"You were magnificent, Ms. Campbell." he said quietly, watching as she looked up at him and smiled, before tilting her head and narrowing her eyes.

"What are you after? You'd better not be trying to get out of buying that drink you promised me...God that feels like an age ago!" she sighed, referring to their rather hectic day.

"I wouldn't dare go back on a promise to you." Hanssen quipped as they headed towards the exit, crossing the lobby and into the bar. Hanssen wasn't sure if telling her about Aidan would be better once she had a drink in her hand, or if he should tell her now and advise no alcohol was consumed at all. Trying to make up his mind, he was out of time as they reached the bar and she ordered herself a large glass of wine, leaving Hanssen to order his own. He was tempted to order a vodka, but supposed he might look out of place drinking such a hard spirit at 5 in the evening. He settled on a glass of red wine, imitating Serena, then led them over to a small table in the corner of the bar.

Serena looked around her, realising she hadn't seen Edward since they'd left him at the Police Station and she smirked at the thought of him somehow getting himself into trouble. When they'd been married, he'd seemed to always attract trouble, getting up to mischief wherever they went. That was one of the things which had attracted her and annoyed her about him.

"Serena..." Hanssen said softly, causing her to look up at the delicate use of her first name. She watched as he fiddled with the stem of his wine glass before raising his eyes to hers. "...I'm afraid I received a phone call from a Consultant at the Southern General Hospital here midway through your speech...Mr. MacDonald died upon reaching their ED." Hanssen decided simply giving her the facts was the best option, rather than attempting to bring any emotions to the surface. He watched as she swallowed slowly and shook her head, leaning back in her seat.

"Well..." she paused, not knowing what she should say. She hadn't known the man, but it was always a harsh blow when someone you'd spent time treating eventually died. Taking a sip of her wine, she looked up to see Hanssen watching her intently. "What?" He shook himself and sat up straighter, shaking his head.

"Nothing." They sat in silence for a few moments, sipping their drinks before Hanssen spoke again.

"We did everything we could." Serena tilted her head and smiled tiredly at him.

"Which unfortunately wasn't enough." Taking another sip of her wine, she looked thoughtful for a moment. "He didn't look much older than my daughter. What was he doing getting into a bar fight?" she asked herself, rolling her eyes. Hanssen could see she was obviously feeling quite saddened by the whole experience and he made a decision.

"Would you be averse to the idea of perhaps, staying over here tonight? I don't really think I could handle another train journey today...one was more than enough." Serena stared at him in confusion.

"But we have a day full of meetings tomorrow...not to mention my afternoon electives. We can't just not show up!" Hanssen took out his phone before whispering conspiratorially to her.

" It appears all remaining trains from Glasgow have been cancelled...bad weather..." he paused as she raised an eyebrow and leant closer.

"Well in that case, I won't tell if you won't." Hanssen smiled as he dialled a number on his phone before giving their apologies.