This is something a little different. Hope you like it.x

"What was that?" Serena Campbell asked as she heard a strange sound coming from the front of Henrik Hanssen's vehicle.

"I'm sure it's nothing," Henrik answered, not even bothering to look at her. They had both been getting on each other's nerves for the most part of the week and then with the weekend conference on the management and prevention of antibiotic resistance being sprung on them at the last minute, it had just about been the last straw for both of them. Serena couldn't understand why Henrik couldn't go alone and Henrik couldn't understand how the clinical executive director could possibly wish to miss such an important conference. Matters had been made worse when the nursing staff threatened to walk out due to the weekend rota having to change.

Serena sighed heavily. The last thing she needed on a Friday afternoon after an incredibly chaotic week was to be stuck at some conference with Mr-Sushi-And-Bonsai-Tree-Hanssen. Rolling her eyes at the thought, she reached down for her handbag which she had carelessly dumped at her feet and rummaged through it for her mobile phone. After a flash of panic, she managed to find it right at the bottom of everything. There was a missed call from Ric Griffin and a text message from her daughter, informing her that she was going to stay over at her boyfriend's house. The idea of her seventeen year old daughter in a relationship still got her riled up for some reason. It seemed like only yesterday that she was a sweet and innocent six year old. She was about to call Ric back when she realized what it was about; she had given Malik permission to take over one of his long term patients. She dropped her phone back into a side pocket, not feeling like getting into an argument with the man again. She'd had enough conflict for one week.

"Oh great," Henrik sighed as he noticed the traffic jam ahead.

"So much for getting an early start," Serena groaned.

"This must be everyone heading away for the weekend."

"Yep, I'm sure they're not on their way to a weekend conference," Serena sighed. "Because other people actually have lives."

Henrik was about to engage in one of his explanatory lectures when he glanced over at the woman beside him and realized the futility in it. She was as tired as he was and clearly in no mood. He sighed, glancing at the Satnav that he rarely used. Perhaps there was a faster way. He brought the car to a stop, waiting in the queue and quickly reached for the device, typing in their destination. He turned the radio off, half hearing the news reporter saying something about a missing young woman. There was another route; one that looked decidedly more scenic than the motorway. Without giving it a second thought, he started moving out into the far left lane.

Serena gave him a questioning look.

"This should shave off some time from our journey," Henrik answered, turning off of the motorway and heading down towards a country road.

"Yeah, have you ever taken this route?" Serena asked sceptically.

"That's the whole point of the Satnav, Ms Campbell," Henrik mumbled.

Serena smirked, folding her arms across her chest. This was going to be interesting.

Henrik ignored the woman beside him. How a woman like her could have such an effect on him, he would never know. Not even Connie Beauchamp had been able to rile him as much. She somehow knew exactly how to get under his skin. Not only did he not trust her, but he wasn't entirely sure that he liked her either.

They had both run out of conversation a few miles after leaving Holby City and neither were exactly open to discussing their personal lives, so it left them with an awkward silence.

Serena reached into her handbag and brought out her tablet on which she had been completing a management report for the hospital. It seemed like the perfect time to continue with it. At least she wouldn't have to sit down on Sunday evening and finish it.

Henrik glanced over at her, noticing her get down to work. That was one thing he admired; she was excellent with completing the tasks assigned to her and she knew exactly what she was doing. She had indeed taken on a lot of his work after they had discussed 'sharing the workload' and he could not fault her on her speed and efficiency.

Serena had been busy typing her report for the good part of an hour when she heard the same sound from earlier coming from the engine. She looked up from the screen on her lap. It was slowly but surely starting to get dark. She was about to continue her work when the car started jerking and Henrik slowed them right down until they rolled to a stop on the side of the road.

"Oh please tell me you're joking," Serena turned to Henrik who looked thoroughly annoyed.

Henrik ignored her and tried to start the engine. It made an odd rumbling sound and then died. He tried once again to no avail.

Serena tied to suppress her amusement as Henrik popped the bonnet open and climbed out to take a closer look. She saved her work, noticing the internet signal in the far corner of the screen was non-existent. Not thinking about it, she replaced the tablet in her handbag and climbed out of the passenger's side, walking around to the front of the car until she was standing beside Henrik who was staring down at the engine.

"Did you check your oil?" She asked.

"Of course," Henrik answered, almost irritated by the obvious question.

"Water?"

"Ms Campbell, I had everything checked this morning before I reached Holby City."

Serena sighed. "We should have taken my car."

Henrik bent down to examine the engine for a few seconds before straightening up again, rubbing his chin.

"You have no idea what's wrong, do you?" Serena looked at him, her eyes sparkling with amusement.

"No," Henrik responded, glancing down at her.

Serena shook her head as she chuckled and headed back to the passenger's seat to retrieve her mobile phone. "Fortunately we're in a first world country where off road breakdowns are easily . . ." Serena paused.

Henrik frowned as his usually vocal colleague suddenly grew silent. He closed the bonnet.

"Please tell me you have a signal," she turned to him, her phone in her hand.

Henrik tried to hide the panic in his face as he pulled his mobile out of his jacket pocket. There were no bars on the screen, but he tried his luck anyway, only to be met with a 'You could not be connected. Please try again' automated voice.

Serena's mouth dropped open. "Oh, you are joking."

"Well, I'm sure we're not too far from someone's residence. Perhaps we can use their landline."

Serena looked around, waving her arms around for dramatic effect. "Funny," she snorted. "I don't seem to see any lights emanating from a housing area. Do you, Henrik?"

Henrik decided to ignore her condescending tone, putting it down to her bad mood and new found situation. "I'll go find a phone. You can wait here," he started heading down the road.

Under normal circumstances, Serena would have been more than pleased at the thought of Henrik having to walk a few miles, but she wasn't entirely excited about the idea of being left alone on a deserted road in the dark. "Wait," she called out after him, grabbing her handbag and reaching over to retrieve the keys from the driver's side. She locked the car, surprised that Henrik was actually waiting for her as she passed his keys to him. Perhaps he didn't like the idea of walking around in the middle of nowhere either.

"Let's hope we don't have to hitch a lift with someone," Serena finally spoke.

"We'd be lucky if anyone comes down this road," Henrik answered.

"That's comforting," Serena said. "They never taught you sensitivity when you were growing up, did they?"

"I could ask you the same question," Henrik hit back.

Serena glared at him. "This is all farmland. We'll be lucky no one tries to shoot us if we find a house."

"In case you've forgotten, we're not in the United States, Ms Campbell."

"I am quite aware of that, Mr Hanssen," Serena snapped. "I'm not that old."

"Yet," Henrik heard himself say.

"Oh like you have room to talk, Mr Prehistoric-Hanssen."

Henrik couldn't help but smile at this.

"You're a year my senior, so if I were you, I'd just keep quiet," she smiled. This was probably the first light hearted moment they'd shared all week and it felt quite good not being at each other's throats for a change.

"Ah, over there," Henrik pointed to a light shining through the trees and immediately started making his way through the undergrowth.

"Uh, maybe we should keep walking until we reach the road that leads down to that house."

"No need," Henrik called back. "We can cut through the woods."

Serena glanced hesitantly around her before following the tall man into the woods. "For the record, I think this is a bad idea."

"I'll be sure to remember your objection upon our demise."

"Very funny," Serena smirked, increasing her pace to keep up with Henrik. She nearly tripped over a root and had to adjust her eyesight to the darkness. This was definitely not what she had expected when Henrik had informed her that she would no longer be enjoying her weekend at home, but would instead be taking notes at a conference which would probably make more sense to a health and safety officer or a virologist. Serena pushed through the trees and paused, looking around for a familiar figure.

"Mr Hanssen?" She called, listening for a reply. All she needed now was to get lost in the woods. "Mr Hans. . ."

"Here," Henrik said as he stepped out from behind a tree.

Serena let out a little yelp and spun away from him, covering her eyes in fright.

"I apologize if I frightened you," Henrik said with a hint of amusement in his voice.

Serena turned back to the man who was now standing in front of her and openly trying not to laugh. She gently punched his arm. "Jesus Christ, Henrik."

It was the first time she had actually touched him and he found it ironic how she had lost her professional facade after being frightened. "Shall we continue?"

"Please," Serena motioned for him to go ahead.

"I'm a little curious," Henrik started as they headed further into the woods.

"About what?" She asked cautiously.

"Do you honestly think covering your eyes will prevent an assailant from attacking you?"

Serena snorted, realizing that Henrik was teasing her. She tried to answer, but could only chuckle at the image of her covering her eyes instead of defending herself. "I thought my reflexes were cat-like."

"More child-like, I would say."

Serena couldn't help but laugh. "Let's just find a landline."

They had been walking for about thirty minutes when Henrik stopped dead in front of Serena and she practically fell into him.

"For God sake, Henrik," Serena grumbled as she regained her balance. "Give me some warning next time."

"Sssssh," Henrik hissed, raising his hand to motion for her not to move.

"What is it?" She whispered, moving to stand beside him.

"What part of ssssssh do you not understand, Ms Campbell?"

"Oh I don't know," Serena whispered sarcastically. "Some people tend to use their words when they communicate."

Henrik carefully took a step forward to get a closer look at the small cottage in front of them. The lights were on and there was a fire burning in a metal container a few metres away from the front door. It didn't smell like anyone was barbequing. He had been quite happy to walk up to the residents to ask for access to their phone until he had noticed the rifle lying neatly against the wall next to the front door.

"What are we waiting for?" Serena brushed passed him, clearly not noticing the weapon.

Henrik grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"What the . . ." she fell silent as someone pushed through the front door. It was a large man with an excessive amount of dark facial hair. He scooped up the rifle and hung it over his shoulder.

Henrik felt Serena take a step back, her breath catching slightly as she saw the weapon. He had wondered if he was being paranoid, but clearly Serena had gotten the same feeling as he had initially. Something was not right about this place.

They both watched as the man spat something out into the dirt and then continued towards the barn.

"I don't like this," Serena whispered. "I think we should leave. I'm more than happy to keep walking down the main road."

Henrik nodded and was about to turn around when another man appeared around the corner of the house. He was younger than the first and carrying quite a large axe in one hand and had a bottle of whiskey in his other. He paused next to the fire, sipping his whiskey from the bottle.

Serena felt the hairs on the back on her neck rise. This place did not feel safe. There was something incredibly wrong here.

Henrik held his breath as the man turned and faced their direction. He squinted into the darkness and then started making his way towards them. Serena gripped Henrik's arm as if to drag him through the woods with her.

"Jake!" A man's voice called out from the barn. The younger man immediately turned and started heading towards the barn.

Henrik let out a sigh of relief. "I think that's our cue to leave," he whispered to Serena who was more than happy to get going. He turned and started moving through the undergrowth when he felt Serena's grip tighten on his arm. She was frozen in place. He turned to look at her, his stomach knotting as he noticed the fear in her eyes. Following her gaze, he saw it too. A young woman's body had been dragged from the barn and was lying face down in the dirt.