This was a one-shot, but I kept getting a nagging feeling that there was more to the story, so I've expanded it…more chapters to come. :)
Disclaimer's the same as always – I own nothing except a lot of affinity towards Lie To Me.
Loker had had enough. He was tired of walking on eggshells all day long, feeling like the only one not in the loop. It was a little after 7pm, and he, Gillian and Cal were all still at the office, finishing up the paperwork from their most recent case, assuring that the bastard they just nailed would spend as much time as possible in prison. It still made his blood boil to think of what that monster had done to his daughter day after day for the past 4 years. He would never understand how you could call yourself a man after you hit a woman or a child. But even his fury and disgust over the Chief of Police's despicable actions couldn't distract him from the fact that something had definitely happened with Ria earlier today and no one seemed interested in clueing him in.
His need to know and his knowing that he should let Ria have her privacy had been in a constant battle all day, but he had finally given in to his intense curiosity, which is why he found himself knocking on Gillian's door after office hours, knowing she would still be there.
After hearing her say "Come in." he walked in and sat himself down in a chair facing her across the desk, and waited for her to look up from her paperwork.
"Eli." She gave him a small smile. "I figured I'd be seeing you sooner or later."
"What?" His face flashed a small look of surprise at the realization that she probably already knew about the internal battle he had been wagering all day.
"Well, considering your insanely curious nature and the fact that Ria ran out of an investigation earlier today, followed by Cal and me, and then she actually left work at the end of office hours instead of staying late like we all always do, it doesn't take a genius to put together the fact that something's going on and you want to know about it."
Loker debated what to reply to this analysis that he should've seen coming but felt blindsided by, all the same. It wasn't like he could deny that it had been bugging him all day, he just didn't know that everyone else knew. But he was more intent on unfolding the mystery of Ria's actions than discussing his readability so he simply said "Well?"
"Well…. I've been debating with myself all day about just what I should say when you came asking. You should know that Ria asked me to speak with you because she wasn't comfortable retelling what she told Cal and me, but she still wanted you to know."
Loker wasn't sure how he felt at hearing these words. Worried, definitely, but also perhaps offended. I thought we had become good friends, why couldn't she confide in me? Yet she could confide in Gillian and Cal?, he thought to himself.
She easily read the look of hurt, as well as worry, on Loker's face. "Eli, it's not that she doesn't trust you or count you as a friend. What she told Cal and me – what I'm about to tell you – was really hard for her to share. And I admit, it was hard to hear as well." Loker noticed a shadow cross her face, only increasing the feeling of worry that was beginning to pervade his entire body. But he kept silent, and let her continue, noticing the hesitance and sadness that permeated her next words.
"The case that we we've been working on over the past week has been especially hard for Ria. When she was a child her father physically abused her on a regular basis. It went on for years and she was in and out of the hospital often. She had multiple broken bones, scars, bruises, and she nearly died twice. To be honest, it's one of the worst cases I've come across since becoming a therapist. She was eventually taken away and put into a foster home, but it's pretty clear to see that the damage that was done was severe and it still affects her in some ways."
Gillian felt the tears start to fall down her face, as for the first time, she let herself get lost in the sadness that she had been feeling since Ria had first shared her story. She wanted to be strong for Ria, be a friend that she could lean on, and so she had forced herself to be positive and upbeat around her all day long. But the truth was, it made her very sad to hear what her friend had gone through, even sadder to realize that Ria hadn't felt like she could confide in anyone in the office, not even her, and it made her livid at the bastard who had caused such pain and mistrust of people in her friend's life.
Loker felt overcome with a lot of unexpected rage, but also an increasing sense of worry. He stood up quickly, his mind made up on what he had to do. Noticing that his abrupt movements had startled Gillian, he reached over and grabbed her hand that was resting on the desk, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Thanks Gillian." he muttered and then hurried out of her office, heading towards his own to grab his keys.
Passing Cal's office on his way out of the building, he stopped, peeked in and saw Cal sitting at his desk with a glass of scotch in his hand, staring out the window.
"Hey Lightman, I've gotta go. But could you check in on Gillian?" And with that he rushed out the door, leaving a startled Cal behind.