Disclaimer: The characters and beginning dialogue belong to Rand Ravich, Far Shariat, NBC, the episode writer(s), etc.
Spoilers: "Pilot" and "The Fallen Woman"
Notes: My take concerning Charlie's tattoos. Reviews are appreciated!

"Marked"

"You want a tattoo?" the shop girl asked him with a flirtatious smile.

"Oh, I have some," he assured her. He looked around at the store's merchandise, not needing to see the surprise on Reese's face to know it was there.

"Come on, when would someone like you get tattoos?" the shop girl said disbelievingly.

"It's complicated."

And it was.

So when Reese later asked him in the car if he really did have any tattoos, he had not settled for giving her a yes or no answer. He took a gamble by asking her if she wanted to see them. He had bet on the newness of their partnership, her feeling too uncomfortable to say yes, and it had paid off. But he hadn't exactly told her another lie either.

He did have tattoos, just not the kind made with ink and drawn onto your skin with care. First, the media had tattooed the title "Killer Cop" onto him. Then came the tattoos he had received in prison, now invisible on his body, but permanently etched into his memory. Charlie could not have a talented young artist named Oliver design them. His tattoos had been designed by the guards in their thirst to beat "the killer" they saw in him, and then hastily and messily cut out by the inmates in their rush to shank "the cop" part of him. The infirmary was the only place his tattoos were shown any care. There, they were delicately touched up and refined with skill by the prison surgeon, Dr. Fay, or Alan, as Charlie came to call him. Charlie's own personal needle artist, the good doctor had given him two hundred and forty-one stitches. Charlie would later be grateful to him for that. Those stitches had helped save his life. Now they had faded into scars, which had in turn healed over on his body.

He wasn't sure if Reese would understand about his many tattoos. He knew she understood walls, and about feeling lost. And from what he could tell so far, she knew about being a partner too. He appreciated her for that. But she couldn't understand twelve years in prison, just as he couldn't understand being hooked on drugs for who knows how long.

No, he didn't think she would understand about his tattoos, at least, not yet.

But he did have them. And maybe, someday, if she ever asked about his tattoos again, he would let her see them.