Title: Fragility
Author: Moonshape
Fandom: Lie to Me
Pairing: Cal/Gillian
Rating: PG
Word count: 614
Type of Fiction: One-shot
Spoilers: None (unless you haven't seen S01E12 yet)
Summary: After Gillian was attacked, Cal begins to realize how fragile she is.
Disclaimer: This fic belongs to me, but Lie to Me, Cal Lightman and Gillian Foster belong to FOX

'He'll demolish you, forget it,' Cal ended the phone call by simply hanging up on Torres. He hoped she would take notice of his warning, but Torres could be as stubborn as he was. He knew he had to get back to the office to put a stop to her.

'She wants to bring in Michelle,' Cal said as he looked up from his phone. 'See if it will have an effect on Jenkins.'

'Michelle is strong,' Gillian said, brushing her hair behind her ear.

'She's not the one I'm worried about,' Cal muttered as he pocketed his phone. 'I should go back,'

Gillian lowered her gaze, nodding in agreement, but Cal could see she wouldn't want him to leave. Maybe staying for a bit longer wouldn't hurt. Jenkins would tear Torres apart, but it would show her he was right and that she had to listen to him from now on.

He sighed, sitting back down on her bed again, placing a hand on her knee.

'I don't want to imagine what would have happened if we hadn't gotten there in time.'

Gillian smiled weakly but turned pale at the idea. She swallowed and smiled a bit more as she said: 'I'm glad you did.'

Cal chuckled softly, returning her smile. It was good to see her smile after tonight. He could still hear her cries as she lay in his arms on the tarmac. Broken and violated. He felt a great deal of anger rushing through him towards the unknown man who they had been trying to uncover the past few days.

The idea that Foster seemed to be fragile occurred to him. She was the best in her job and he would never replace her for someone else – but he had become to realize this work brought danger towards them. Could he do that to her? Could he have her go about and investigate when Cal dealt with the idea that she could be in danger? The idea of someone hurting Foster had always seemed unreal to him. But tonight it had happened and it scared him.

'I'll be fine, Cal,' Gillian said as she placed her hand on his. 'Go back to the office before Torres gets her hands on Michelle.'

'You sure?' Cal asked worryingly. He wished he could stay and be there for him but knew it was his job to tell his protégé off for disobeying him.

Gillian nodded but Cal shook his head in return.

'I should stay,' he said, gripping her hand a bit tighter. He knew nothing could happen to her in the hospital but staying seemed like the thing he had to do. Both as her boss and as a friend.

'Alec will be here shortly,' she replied, but as she spoke, the door opened and none other than Alec stepped in. Cal released her hand at once.

'Honey, -' Alec said as he went over to the bed, kissing his wife gently on her temple, avoiding the band-aid on her forehead. 'I came as soon as possible,' he said, brushing his fingers through Gillian's hair. Cal averted his eyes, ignoring with might as he saw the shoulder shrug Alec had tried so hard to conceal.

'What happened?' Alec asked as he looked from his wife to Cal. Cal didn't want to stay much longer. He was disgusted by this man and never wanted to be around him when it wasn't necessary.

'I've got to go,' he said, about to leave the room. He paused as he placed his hand on the doorknob, looking at both Alec and Gillian.

'Take good care of her, Alec,' Cal said and he left the room.