A/N: This drabble/one-shot is for the lovely bevfanK, who asked me to write a scene that takes place in "Blinded" between the teaser—when Cal gets beat up in the prison—and when Jenkins arrives at The Lightman Group. Sorry for the lame title. :)

Disclaimer: I don't own any television shows.

Blood and Chocodiles

She takes a solemn glance around the Cube and lets out a sigh when her eyes reach him. It all comes back in a jolt—Cal dressed in orange, alone in the lion's den. She takes in a breath when she recalls the way her heart stopped when he was thrown on the metal table, then off, then kicked. She can see the image of Cal with a mouth full of blood, still cocky and overconfident, only to get made later by a man whose hobbies include pouring acid on people. All this, while she was standing uselessly behind a wall of glass, watching, trying not to cry in front of the FBI's latest cynic. Trying to tell herself that he can handle himself.

And now, he's smiling at her like it's all okay, like it should all be forgotten.

Like she shouldn't care.

His smile stretches across his lips and tears at the fresh wound. She flinches when she sees the small, crimson trickle.

"You cracked your scab—it's bleeding."

Without a thought, she puts her fingers on the bottom of his chin and wipes the blood away with her thumb. When she pulls back, he licks where she traced over his skin. She watches his tongue flick back and forth and she tries to remember that she's mad at him for giving a psycho a lifetime supply of chocodiles. Then, she tries to forgive him. She rubs her thumb against her forefinger to get his drying blood to crumble to the floor.

She trains her eyes on the floor because she just can't meet his right now. She can't look at the two gashes on his cheek or the feigned innocence in his expression.

It wasn't his fault, wasn't his fault, wasn't his fault. He's hurt right now, and she's the only one that can see the depths of it. He needs her now.

"Well, this area looks secure, yeah? Did you already send the non-essential personnel home?" He's making those eyes at her, the ones that beg her to ignore his pain. Then, he turns to her and places a hand on her shoulder. She puts her head down and lets go of a hot breath again before she answers.

"Yeah, it's taken care of."

"Good. There's something else. I don't think you should be in the room with Jenkins."

She's confused. "Cal, you can't do this whole thing on your own."

Now, he has a hand on both shoulders, and his eyes are unavoidable.

"It's not about that. I don't want any women anywhere near him. It's a safety issue."

She is about to tell him that it was also a clever way to hide in plain sight, but stops herself when she sees the logic in his argument. She nods.

"Okay."

"Well then, I don't think that even that Reynolds guy can see a problem with keeping him in here. D'you agree?"

She nods, barely aware of what he said, and follows him out the door and down the hallway. If he wants to push her away, then that's where she'll go. She'll stay back and find someone else who needs her. A deep breath comes through her nose and fills her lungs with enough courage so that she can pretend to be okay with this.

And a second time, she tries to forgive him.