Gillian tapped a pen impatiently against the desk, a gesture she normally didn't indulge in. She checked her watch again. They were late. And the longer Seth sat waiting, the more distressed he was going to be. He had legal representation with him, considering he was a minor and without a legal guardian, but the man sat in the corner of the room reading a newspaper quietly and ignored the boy. So Seth may as well have been in there alone. Gillian thought about who she could call on to speed the process up, but all she knew about the man she was waiting for was that he worked for the Department of Defence. She hadn't been given a name. The orders had come down from on high and there had been no opportunity to object. She wasn't even sure if she really needed to object. This man was supposed to be able to tell when you were lying, so he would exonerate Seth wouldn't he? She was sure of the boy's innocence. But she had to wonder what the hell Seth had done to make the Department of Defence send in a deception expert. He was just a thirteen year old boy; surely he hadn't managed to really do anything that would be a breach of national security?

The door suddenly flew open and a brown-haired, short-statured man strode across the room to where she was sitting. She immediately got to her feet to meet him, noted the fierce look to his eyes and the age of his face, and then realised he was in her personal space, standing too close for comfort. But she couldn't back up because she was standing in front of the desk. He tilted his head to the side and blatantly studied her face. His quick eyes were blue and his hair was long, smoothed back to his neck where a few strands stuck out in a cute little duck tail. And that was her first impression of him, that there was something about him that warranted a second look even if he wasn't a particularly good looking man.

"Tell me about the kid," he demanded in a British accent. Behind him, a younger man entered with a large black case. He looked bored and waited for instruction where he stood, just inside the doorway.

Gillian was startled and then annoyed at his rudeness. Again, she fought the urge to step backward. "And who are you?" She asked, remaining polite, despite feeling like she was trapped by his proximity.

"Docta Lightman."

"From the Department of Defence?" Gillian guessed the rest. "You're late," she admonished.

Doctor Lightman looked amused, his lip curled up in a mild grin. "And you're the kid's psychologist?"

Gillian opened her mouth to answer.

"That's fine," Lightman continued. "You want to sit in?"

Gillian was startled by how fast he talked, his mind jumping two steps ahead in the conversation without her saying anything.

"Yeah, you're welcome to sit in," he finished and turned to the interrogation room where Seth sat and waited. Lightman immediately strode away, at a casual pace but with an assured arrogance.

Gillian felt like she had missed something. By the time she caught up to Doctor Lightman a minute later, he was in the hallway already telling the legal aide to leave. Seth was looking up from the table inside the room, scared, as the British man raised his voice and talked over the lawyer.

"The boy is required to have a guardian sit in on this interview," Mr Smith insisted in a low voice

"She'll do it," Lightman hiked a thumb at Gillian who had approached. That stopped all conversation. The lawyer looked over at her. Gillian set her features in a determined expression; she didn't like him much anyway. "She is qualified to sit in? It's all legal?" Lightman asked the lawyer. "Good," he continued without waiting for an answer. "See you late-a then," he dismissed.

The lawyer looked flustered but didn't seem to have any argument left. He pushed past them. Doctor Lightman entered the room, not bothering to see if Gillian was following, but she did. He took a seat in the hard-backed chair and then leaned back into it, shifting his butt downward so he was slouching comfortably. Gillian closed the door gently behind her and moved to retrieve the chair from the corner, the only other one available in the room.

"What's your name then?" Doctor Lightman asked gently before she had even sat down.

"Seth."

"I'm Docta Lightman."

"Am I sick?" Seth looked scared again.

"Nah I'm not that kind of docta. Do you mind if I ask you some questions?"

"Am I in trouble?"

"Nah," Lightman shook his head.

"Go ahead then," Seth said with confidence.

"How old are you Seth?"

"Thirteen."

"Where are your parents?"

Gillian turned to Doctor Lightman startled. Would he not have known from Seth's orphan status that his parents were both deceased? Why was he asking an inappropriate question? She thought about objecting.

"Dead," Seth answered glumly.

"You feel pretty alone then?" Lightman continued.

Seth nodded.

"You have many friends?"

Seth gave a shrug. "Sure."

"You like school?"

"Sure."

"Like your teacha's?"

"Yeah," Seth answered very politely.

Cal nodded. "Good. You a bit of a computa wizard then?"

Gillian saw Seth straighten up. Doctor Lightman leaned forward.

"Yeah I'm pretty good."

"Computa games and all that?"

Seth nodded.

"What's your favourite game to play?"

"Revenge of Seth."

Gillian smiled. Typical thirteen year old boy stuff. Where was Doctor Lightman going with this?

"You have to kill all the zombies to get to the next level and then when you do that you have to find this key that unlocks the door which means you can get to the boat that takes you to the island…" Seth continued unbidden.

"You play with a friend?'

"Yeah, sure, me and Michael sometimes play together."

"Spend much time on the internet?" Doctor Lightman asked next.

"Some," Seth gave another shrug.

"Email and that stuff?"

"Sure."

"What about stuff you know you're not meant to look at?"

Gillian looked at Lightman, but he kept his intent gaze on Seth. She turned to Seth who had clammed up, looking alarmed. "It's ok Seth you can answer."

"What do you look at on the internet?" Lightman asked with little consideration to Seth's agitation. "Hm?" He prompted when Seth still didn't answer.

"I don't want to get in trouble."

"You're not…" Gillian started to tell him.

"Adult sites?"

Gillian turned to Lightman, about to object. This was one of the weirdest interviews she had ever sat in on. The questions seemed to have no merit at all and he barely waited for an answer before moving on to the next one.

"That's all right, when I was your age I was stealin' my olda brutha's playboy magazine," Lightman suddenly grinned. Seth returned it. "We didn't even have the internet. I still have no idea how to even check my mail. I'd love to be like those technician's on TV who hack into all sorts of government databases."

"Yeah me too," Seth gushed. "Checking your mail is easy though. I could show you that."

"I'll take you up on that sometime." Doctor Lightman suddenly got to his feet. The gesture surprised both Seth and Gillian.

"Am I in trouble?" Seth asked again looking alarmed.

"Nah, you're not in trouble," Lightman assured him. He went to the door, opened it and strode through quickly.

"You wait here a little longer ok Seth?" Gillian told him gently. "Cameron will come back to get you."

"Ok," Seth nodded amicably.

Gillian went after Doctor Lightman. He was telling his colleague to pack up his recording gear and then he headed for the door. "Doctor Lightman!" Gillian stopped him. The young man looked at her but he still seemed bored. She ignored him and moved toward where Lightman was waiting for her in the hallway just outside the doorway.

"What?"

"Was that it?"

"Yeah." Lightman started walking away. He pulled a Blackberry from his pocket.

Gillian fell into step with him, quickening her stride to meet his fast pace. "So you believe that he's not involved?"

"Yeah," Lightman answered simply. He pulled open an email page.

"Why did you want me to sit in?"

He typed out a short message and sent it. Gillian watched over his shoulder as they strode along the corridor side by side. So he did know how to email. "The lawya would have just hindered the process. As soon as I mentioned the boy you were protective so I knew you would wanna help prove his innocence, not drag out the process unnecessarily."

Gillian was stunned. She hadn't realised she had done anything. She was pretty sure she hadn't done anything in particular. "I don't think mentioning his parents was very productive."

Lightman stopped walking and faced her. "It helped me establish a baseline."

"A what?"

"Everyone looks different when they're tellin' a lie. Most kids his age and in the fosta system would lie about the status of their parents but he didn't. Which attests a lot to his character too."

Gillian frowned.

"You're annoyed," he stated. "But I got what I needed to see. He didn't do anythin' dangerously illegal. Not intentionally anyway. When I mentioned governmental databases he didn't react. I'd say there's someone else involved. This Michael probably. We should look into that." He started walking again.

"How do you know that?" Gillian asked dubiously.

"Seth gave a flutter of his eyelids, which means he was thinkin' about somethin' else when he talked about him."

"An eyelid flutter?" She hadn't noticed.

"It's a physical demonstration of additional cognitive processin'."

Gillian didn't know what he was talking about.

"I'm Cal by the way," he stopped walking abruptly and offered her his hand.

She gave a slight frown. It was hard to keep up with him. "Gillian," she shook his hand. It was warm.

PJ

Cal Lightman stood too close to people to intimidate them. Gillian could see that easily. And almost everyone backed up out of his space too. She had to physically resist the urge to do the same, but she was not going to let him get the upper hand. She had been following him around all day now because she refused to let him talk to Michael without her being there. And Doctor Lightman had demanded that Michael be brought to his office where he could be recorded properly; so that's where they were now. He seemed to have the scent of blood, convinced that Michael was responsible and he hadn't even talked to him yet. Michael was shy and introverted. Gillian would classify him as being fragile, but only in her head. She wouldn't put that in a report and she wouldn't let Doctor Lightman know that either. It wouldn't do Michael any good to have people know that about him. Not when she was sure she could help him overcome it.

She wasn't allowed to sit in on this interview, she could only watch from the outside, and that annoyed her. Michael was seventeen and although technically a minor, he didn't require a guardian to sit with him. He claimed he wanted to speak for himself anyway. Gillian watched Doctor Lightman pace the room in front of the table through a window. He was simply watching Michael and the teenager was clearly nervous. He picked at a fingernail a few times. After a while he shifted his hands to under the table and glared at Cal.

"Are you going to ask me questions or what?"

Gillian was surprised by the directness of the enquiry. He said very little in their sessions together without her first prompting him.

Cal suddenly approached the table, pulled out the chair meant for him and slouched in it, like he had done with Seth. Michael looked expectant but Dr Lightman continued to stare at him for a while. "How old are you Michael?" He finally asked.

"Seventeen."

"And your hair colour?"

"Brown," Michael gave him an annoyed confused expression, as if the answer was obvious. It was obvious. Gillian wondered what Cal was doing.

"Now, tell me that your hair colour is actually green."

"What?" Michael looked completely confused now.

"Tell me," Doctor Lightman gave an encouraging nod.

"You're weird."

"I know."

"My hair is green," Michael said sarcastically.

Lightman sighed. "Tell me the walls in here are green."

"The walls in here are green," Michael repeated in his normal tone of voice.

Lightman sat back. Gillian wondered if the expression on Doctor Lightman's face meant he was satisfied with the answers.

"Consida yourself a computa connoisseur Michael?"

"What does that mean?"

"An expert."

"I'd hardly say I'm an expert. I'm seventeen."

On a video screen, Gillian could see Cal smirk.

"Above average then?"

"Sure," Michael gave a shrug.

"Know more about them than the otha boys in the home?"

"I guess," Michael answered, his tone not as dubious as the words were.

Cal considered him. "Spend much time with Seth Harp-a?"

"He's all right."

"That's not what I asked."

"I don't see why I have to answer your questions. You're not a cop."

"Nah I'm not," Lightman conceded. "Would you like me to get you one?"

"Nope," Michael backed down.

"Cos that's where you're headed next, unless you can convince me that you had nuthin' to do with hackin' into the National Security Network," Lightman's tone was suddenly hard.

"I didn't," Michael looked alarmed.

"And that you didn't talk Seth Harp-a into doin' the same thing from his registered log on," Lightman accused roughly.

"I didn't," Michael insisted again. He looked scared. Gillian twitched where she stood, wanting to race in there and end the interview now.

"I think you're lyin' to me," Lightman continued, raising his voice.

"I'm not!"

"You are! And you dragged a thirteen year old innocent boy into it with you," Dr Lightman jabbed a finger at Michael as he sat forward in his chair.

"It was his idea!"

"I'm not buyin' that at all. He's already fingered you."

Michael looked blank for a second. He looked Lightman dead in the eye. "I promise you sir, I didn't do any hacking. I don't even know how."

Cal stared right back with an aggressive edge. "And I know that's not true. You're not convincin' me. You can go to jail for this, did you know that? Fifteen years for breach of national security."

Gillian tapped on the glass. She had done it before she really realised it but she was compelled to look out for Michael whether she was in the room or not. Lightman turned his head slightly to the right, almost glancing over his shoulder but not following through with the gesture. Then he got up. Through the glass, Michael looked close to tears.

"What?" Lightman powered into the room glaring at her. He seemed to know who had interrupted him without having to ask. Even though there were other people in the room he honed in on Gillian, standing in her personal space. The AV tech who was recording the interview deliberately studied his controls.

"You're scaring him."

"That's the point luv."

"He said he didn't do anything."

"And you believe him?"

"Yes."

"He's lyin' about somethin'."

"I know this kid, he's a good boy."

"And I know he's lyin'," Lightman growled at her. "Deception expert," he indicated himself. "Emotionally attached," he pointed a finger at her. Gillian's features clouded in anger. "Don't interfere," Cal warned her while he backed up out of the room again before Gillian could voice any more objections.

Michael was visibly upset now. Dr Lightman re-entered the room and took his seat silently. He stared at Michael for a few long moments. "Somethin' to say?" He suddenly pounced.

Michael shook his head.

"I'm tryin' to help you out here but I can't do that unless you tell me the truth."

"He said I would be in trouble if I said anything."

"Who?"

"Am I going to be in trouble?"

"Who was it?" Lightman ignored his pleas.

"It was Mr Wright. He showed me how to."

"What did he want?"

"He said the government was hiding information about the terrorists that flew planes into the Pentagon."

Doctor Lightman sat back in his chair. "What did Seth have to do with this?"

"He said Seth would never get into trouble for it."

"He's right," Lightman got to his feet.

"What about me?" Michael asked desperately.

"That's not up to me."

PJ

Four hours later and Dr Lightman had managed to get a confession out of Mr Wright too. He was another of the counsellors for the home of boys in limbo, between foster care and nowhere else to go. While Gillian didn't like the way Cal had dealt with Seth and Michael, she was kind of pleased to see he stepped up the intimidation even more for the adult ringleader. He had let her watch that interview too, albeit still from the other side of the glass. Mr Wright had seemed so calm, so serene like he always had and yet Dr Lightman saw right through him instantly, asking direct questions and answering himself when there was a steadfast lack of response. Gillian wondered how the hell he had done it. She knew he was a deception expert but was he also a psychic?

She was hovering now, waiting for Lightman to finish talking to someone on the phone. She didn't want to leave without saying goodbye. Or giving a begrudging thank you. He had, after all, proved the boys' innocence, even if it was relative in Michael's case.

"All right?"

Gillian straightened up from the desk she had been leaning on as Dr Lightman approached. "Doctor Lightman…"

"Call me Cal."

"Ok, Cal," Gillian hesitated.

"What do you wanna say?" He asked, tilting his head to the side to study her face better.

"Thank you," Gillian stumbled under his gaze. It was like he knew what she was going to say before she said it.

"For what luv?"

"For having the boys' best interest at heart."

Cal gave a smirk. "But you don't agree with my techniques?"

"I didn't say that."

"You don't have to."

Gillian felt frustration building. "How do you do that?"

"What's that luv?" Lightman asked amused.

"I know you're a deception expert, but how can you tell when people are lying? What they're thinking?"

Cal's lip curled up in delight. "You heard of micro-expressions?"

"Vaguely," Gillian had to admit.

"Your face gives away expressions in relation to emotions without a conscious reaction. When you lie, your face and body can't help but respond to that."

"In what ways?"

"Here," Cal turned to the video console behind her. He tapped on the keys and brought up the image of Michael. He rolled through the tape to where Michael started denying he knew anything. "See here," Cal froze the tape. "He shrugs his shoulder. The body doesn't believe in the words." He forwarded it again. "Here he presses his lips together, trying to take back his words." He shifted the image again. "Here his eyebrows are up. He knows the answer to what I'm asking him but he denies it anyway."

Gillian had leaned in to see the screen better. When Cal turned to look at her she was close. "He's anxious, he's hidin' somethin'," Cal pointed to the screen.

"That's amazing," Gillian noted softly. "I didn't even notice these."

"Yeah but you still knew they were both innocent."

"I spent time with them."

"You were adamant though."

Gillian wasn't sure what to say to that. She wasn't sure what Cal was trying to tell her. He watched her with an interested expression. "I really respect that."

"Thank you," Gillian gave a slight smile.

"I gotta go."

"It was a pleasure working with you," Gillian said politely.

Cal gave another amused smirk. "Not completely luv… but it was a pleasure workin' with you."