Disclaimer: don't own anything


This was not what Gillian had expected when Cal called her to his office that morning and claimed that they both had earned a vacation and should leave immediately to New Jersey. She sighed and put up the best fake smile she could, not that it was hard, she did it all the time with her own husband after all. But this situation was different. She was actually holding Cal's hand and pretending to be his wife; something that both of them really didn't like playing out but since it was for the case, they endured every second of it. Even if the both of them secretly liked it but would never admit it to each other in the face.

"So how long have you two been married now?"

"Three years now," Cal nodded, smiling sweetly at the man and woman sitting at the other side of the table.

"No honey, it's been four years, are you just that stupid or do I have to remind you every day?"

"Don't call me stupid," Cal winced.

"Well I can't help it, it's just who you are."

"This isn't exactly the right time Gillian darling," Cal looked at her with dark eyes and she knew she was pushing his limits and buttons but since it was necessary for this case (although Gillian had no idea how this would help), she tended to enjoy every second of it.

"It never is the right time for you!"

"Honey, not now," Cal placed his hand on her arm while muttering through clenched teeth. The couple across of them glanced at each other in confusion and kept silent until their two companions were done arguing.

"So where are you two from?" the woman asked, showing her white teeth and trying to look as friendly as possible and not get caught up in the argument.

"DC," Gillian smiled, "although Cal here is originally from the UK."

"You came a long way then," the man nodded, "I have a few colleagues in England and they say the weather is horrible over there."

"Oh you can't imagine," Gillian muttered under her breath, pouting and looking away from Cal who rolled his eyes annoyed and bit his lip not to spout anything back at her but he failed miserably when the words escaped his mouth before he knew it.

"I can't help it that we had a few rainy days on our honeymoon over there Gillian sweetheart."

"You knew what kind of weather it was over there, I mean, you practically grew up there! How could you not know!?"

"We're not going to go over this again, we've been through this."

"Maybe you have," Gillian crossed her arms in front of her chest and pouted a little.

She knew they were both driving the couple crazy but neither of them knew that they were just keeping the man and woman just company while the FBI investigated the suite because they were possible suspects of the case they were on right now. Gillian had asked Cal before the whole ordeal why they couldn't just tell the two people that they wanted to search their flat but Cal had wisely told her that they were really well known around that area and the FBI wanted to keep it hushed for in case they were wrong.

"I'm sorry about my wife, she's a bit pissy today; I don't know what's wrong with her."

"Don't call me pissy!"

"Honey, it's not polite to interrupt a conversation," Cal raised his eyebrows and pointed his index finger at her, making her feel like a small child and even managed to get a hidden smile from the woman across of him.

"Oh don't you honey me, I know what you're thinking," Gillian glared at him; she wondered how much longer she would have to do this. Secretly, she was enjoying this and she knew Cal liked the challenge of coming up with new ways to annoy her.

"Do you now?" Cal didn't even try to hide his British accent (he sometimes did but in the end just got too lazy to even think about hiding it).

Gillian glared at him and pursed his lips together. Her hand that was under the table pinched his leg softly as in a silent question to ask him how much longer she had to sit through this. He replied by squeezing her hand lovingly under the table.

This was their secret sign language, they had developed it back in the day when they were often send undercover together and they wanted to communicate without speaking words. A pinch often meant 'I'm getting sick of this' and a squeeze stood for 'don't worry' most of the time. It also stood for 'I really like you but I'm not going to act on it because I'm a Brit and you're married' in Gillian's mind but she wasn't going to tell Cal that.

"Cal, more wine?" the man interrupted their staring contest with Gillian smirking in silent victory as Cal nodded and handed his glass to the man so he could fill it again.

"Gillian, I love your necklace where did you get it?" the woman smiled, hoping that this next question wouldn't get the couple in another argument but she was once again proven wrong when Cal's eyes shot mischievous to Gillian's necklace and a smirk appeared on his lips.

"Yes honey, where did you get it because I can't remember ever buying it for you."

"Well that's not hard since you never buy me any jewellery."

"Because if I do, you don't wear it anyway and it's a waste of money."

"Maybe I don't wear it because you never buy anything I really like."

"Well how am I supposed to know what kind of jewellery you like?"

Another pinch in his side. Cal glared at her for the second one and realized that his companion was getting really annoyed with this task. He sighed and rolled his eyes before pinching her right back, a sign that said 'stop pinching me damnit, I bruise easily' but Gillian didn't back down and pinched him right back.

"Gillian, stop it."

"Stop what Cal?" she smiled sweetly as she sipped from her wine glass. Her big eyes stared at him over the brim of the glass as she tried to hold back a grin.

"You know what Gillian."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"So, what do you think of the wine? It's not so old, only from 2003 but the chef recommended it and well, I thought I'd give it a try," said the man across the table (Toby was his name, or at least, that's what Gillian remembered from the case file).

"It's a good wine, a bit soft and the aftertaste is a bit weird but otherwise," Cal shrugged to finish his sentence as he leaned back in his chair and placed his hand on the small of Gillian's back that he could reach from his position. She shot as relieved smile at him, knowing that this was the sign of 'let's get the hell out of here and fast'.

"Gillian?"

"Oh, well, I must agree with my darling husband, for once," she muttered the last part under her breath and rolled her eyes, receiving a half-hearted laugh from Cal and the reply 'women' coming from his lips together with an amused smile.

"Alas, Michelle, Toby, we must be going," Cal winced, "we have to go meet the in-laws," he grumbled, glaring at Gillian who was going through her purse in search for the car keys.

"Oh stop complaining," she frowned, still going through her purse in the hopes she would find her keys and stall the whole thing a bit longer even though she didn't even want to. She knew that they had to get this whole situation over to the two innocent people across of them as natural as possible.

"I was merely saying how happy I am to see your darling mother again Gillian."

"Well it's not like yours is any better."

"At least mine doesn't hit me on the head with the frying pan," Cal pursed his lips together as he shook hands with the people they had shared the table with and helped Gillian with her coat. This was actually a true story, when he had met Gillian's mother he had provoked her so much by catching her little lies that she woman had hit him on the head with the closest thing she could find, which had been the frying pan at that moment.

"She did it once!" Gillian protested, "and you deserved it."

"Sounds like you have quite the mother-in-law there Cal," Toby said amused, shaking Gillian's hand.

"Oh you have no idea," Cal grumbled and got his own coat on before nodding another goodbye to his new acquaintances and then leading Gillian out of the restaurant.

"Well that wasn't too hard," Cal noted once they got outside and they could finally let out the tension that was going through their bodies. Gillian let her shoulder slump and leaned against the car.

"Don't you ever dare to make me do that again..."

"Why must you always spoil my fun like this?"

"Because I enjoy it," Gillian smiled brightly and honesty for the first time that evening and she hoped with all her heart that the FBI had already finished their search of the hotel room.

"A bit too much I'd say."

"Secretly, you love it."

"…Curses," Cal muttered as he had to admit that in the end, Gillian was right.