Disclaimer: I do not own Lie to Me or any of the characters, places, themes, etc. No copyright infringement intended.

A/N: Here the interesting-ness starts.


Hysteria: Just Another Day

Gillian closed her eyes, letting the cold water wash over her. She felt the icy water penetrate her skin, felt it get her heart pumping, but she couldn't feel herself waking up, coming alive.

She leaned against the wall of her shower, reaching out to twist the knob to hot water. The water warmed quickly, burning her bare body this time. Gillian didn't care; she hardly noticed.

There was nothing that could motivate her, nothing that could make her look forward to another day. There was just work, criminals, and lies.

Lies. That's what it all came down to, wasn't it? Everyone lied.

The water from the shower swept away her tears the instant they fell from her eyes, gone before she knew it like everything else.

Mechanically, Gillian washed herself, turned off the shower, and began to get ready for work.

Just another day of pretending.


"Good morning Mister Lightman!"

"Mister?"

Loker shrugged. "Torres is looking for you."

"Right, thanks," Cal said. He turned and walked away, pausing to call over his shoulder, "Oh, and Loker, there's a man in the conference room who has a case for you, something about a cheating wife."

Loker shrugged. "Sounds easy."

"She disappeared two days ago."

His smile faltered. "Damn. I was looking forward to checking out hot babes and pretending to work."

Cal raised an eyebrow.

"I'll get on it," Loker sighed.

Cal rolled his eyes and turned away again, almost running into Torres.

"You found me," Cal said with an amused half smile.

"Dale. You put a man named Blake Dale in jail a year and a half ago for killing a drug dealer without provocation."

Cal dimly remembered the case. He had never figured out what had caused Dale to hit the drug dealer with a baseball bat, he just had gotten enough evidence to jail him. "How old's the guy?"

"Um…" Torres flipped open the file. "Sixty five."

Cal held his hand out for the file. Torres passed it to him, watching his face carefully in hopes of catching a stray micro expression. She had no idea what Dale was to her boss, other than an enemy from a long forgotten battle.

Cal glanced at the man's mug shot. Blake Dale was old enough to be Joyce's father, but there couldn't be any relation between them; they didn't look anything alike. Joyce was blonde, Blake had black hair, Joyce was blue eyed, Blake hazel, Joyce had a small round nose, Blake a sharp pointed one, and the list went on and on. They even held themselves differently.

"Nice work, Torres." Cal closed the file and handed it back to her.

"Didn't find what you were looking for?"

"Nope." No use denying it.

So who exactly was Joyce Dale, and why was she hiding something?


She stared at her reflection in the mirror. Thin, wispy hair, bags under her tired eyes, dry lips, forlorn expression.

Gillian smiled, but it looked too fake.

She turned away from the mirror with a sigh and padded over to her closet. Her hand gripped the knob and pulled it open.

The world exploded.


"Hey, are you Greg Jackman?" Cal called to the teenager who was working the cash register.

"Yeah," the kid replied. He had shoulder length golden colored hair and nervous brown eyes. "Why?"

"I'm Cal Lightman, with the FBI."

Greg's eyes darted from Cal to Torres, and he took off, making a mad dash for the doors.

"Oi!" Cal shouted, chasing after the boy. They raced through the double automatic doors and onto the parking lot. Greg chanced a glance over his shoulder, and ran into a middle aged woman, causing him to trip and fall. He tried to scramble to his feet, but Cal caught up to him and pushed him back down.

"I think you have to come with me."


"Dr. Lightman!" Heidi yelled as he entered the building with Torres and Greg. "Dr. Lightman!"

"What?" he asked, annoyed.

"There's been a bomb."

"I'm already working a case."

"No, you don't understand. Dr. Foster was bombed."