Fifty chapters? How did this happen?! Sorry for the delay and big thanks to those still reading :) Enjoy!


Chapter 50

Parking lot of the DC Central Detention Facility

Washington, DC

Cal Lightman watched the man walk across the nearly empty parking lot approaching him. The man's footsteps picked up speed when he saw that someone was sitting on his car.

Alex Almeida's words rang in Cal's ears while his eyes remained fixed on the man coming closer.

"He always parks his car at the very end of the lot. Sometimes even in the plaza next to the prison because then there is a better chance no one will park their car next to his. He hates the idea of anyone scratching his Cadillac. Or even getting to close to it." He remembered Almeida laughing at the recollection. "He's like a five-year old who can't stand the thought of someone touching his favourite toy. By the way...much as I like the idea of anyone tormenting that man, I also think this is a really, really bad idea."

Almeida obviously hadn't worked with him long enough to understand that a lot of his brilliance stemmed from some really bad ideas.

Cal was sitting on the hood of that same Cadillac now, his legs dangling over the side.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Doug Penn yelled from a distance, his face red with rage. "If you don't get off my car right now I'm calling the cops! You do know that you're in the parking lot of a federal detention facility don't you?"

Cal didn't budge.

"You have some nerve to think that..." His words stopped in mid-sentence when he was close enough to recognize who was sitting on his car. "Well, then..." Doug Penn took a deep breath. "If it isn't Doctor Lightman."

"Doctor Douglas Penn." Cal snickered. "Guess you read my book then. Or at least looked at the cover. Yeah...probably that one."

"Get off my car." There was a little less force in his voice now.

"Sorta like it on here."

Doug Penn approached him and wanted to do something threatening without having the slightest idea of what that something could be. If the man didn't make him so livid, Cal might've found it amusing. He'd obviously gone through his entire life without ever having been in a physical fight.

What he did do was pull a cell phone from his pocket. "I'm calling the police."

Cal scrunched his lips before pulling out a set of keys from his own pocket. "I don't think that'd be a smart thing to do. Because you see...I'm itching to sue you for professional negligence and malpractice. A good lawyer might even tie you in with attempted murder."

"What?"

Cal clenched the keys in his hand. "You're the bastard that forced my partner to take on that psychopath, Hunter Kline, as a patient even though she requested to be taken off his case for her personal safety. You denied her that request and if that didn't make you a big enough wanker, you then went on and signed off on the man's early release, in spite of Dr. Alex Almeida's recommendation against it. You let that monster get out of prison early just to stick it to Gillian, didn't you?"

"The...decision I made was..." Cal could see the fear on the man's face now. Suddenly his fancy car was no longer his major cause of concern. "Based on a professional assessment."

"You really think your professional assessment would hold up in a court of law next to that of my two colleagues?" Cal saw the fear on his face magnify. Saw the piss-poor job he was doing trying to mask it. "Yeah, I didn't think so. The only reason you gave Hunter Kline an early release is because Foster and Almeida recommended against it. Because you're such a small man you needed those five seconds of power over her to feel big."

"That's not..."

"Spare me," Cal hissed. "It's only the two of us here."

Cal eased himself off the hood of Doug Penn's Cadillac but not before scratching it with the keys he held in his hand. "Do you know what Hunter Kline did right after he got out of prison?"

Penn swallowed. "I saw in the news..."

"You saw what?" Cal got right in his face now wanting to punch it. "That I got shot? Did it mention that I almost got killed and almost left my daughter without a father? Did it mention that I was shot three times and had to spend over two painful months recovering? That I'm still recovering? Did it mention that Kline assaulted Foster that night and then made her watch as he shot me? Did it mention that she still has nightmares to this day? Did it say all that on the damn news?"

"I'm sorry but..."

"You're sorry?"

"I'm sorry for what you and Dr. Foster went through but I can't be held responsible for Hunter Kline's actions..."

The spineless psychologist was so terrified now Cal wouldn't put it past him to piss his pants.

"You're responsible for Kline walking the streets of DC as a free man, for insisting on it against the advice of someone who's far more qualified at his job than you are at yours."

"What...what do you want from me, Dr. Lightman?"

Cal stepped back and ran his keys along the hood of the Cadillac once more, leaving behind a deep, lengthy scratch mark, enjoying how much the action tortured Penn. "Besides messing up your car, you mean?"

"You can't just come here and..."

"And what?" Cal threatened. "Make you feel small and powerless, the way you like to do to others?"

"What do you want..."

Cal didn't let him finish. "I want to sue your arse, for negligence, malpractice, intent to cause bodily harm...I want to sue you for whatever I possibly can so that you lose your license to practice and never subject anyone to the rubbish that qualifies as a diagnosis in your world. I wanna see your name dragged through so much mud that no one in our line of work would dare come near you with a ten-foot pole. And if you get lucky enough to avoid a prison sentence after all that, then, I wanna to see you standing behind a fast food counter wearing a polyester uniform, asking people if they want to supersize their meals. That's what I want, Dr. Penn."

"I see..." There was a tremor in his voice.

"But..." Cal let the single word hang in the air. "It's not what Foster wants. She doesn't want to drag all of us through a trial and relive this thing all over again. And because I love her more than I hate you, I'm gonna respect that. It means you're one of the luckiest bastards I've ever met."

Cal pressed his keys into the hood of the car a little deeper. He smiled. "Go on, call the cops. 'Cause then I might have no choice but to tell them all about your misguided and vindictive reasons for setting Kline free."

Cal moved away from the car and back into Penn's face. "Yeah...I didn't think so. I also don't think you're gonna call the cops for what I'm gonna do next."

He pulled back his arm and sent his fist flying into Doug Penn's face so fast, the doctor didn't even know what hit him.

Cal heard the shattering of tiny bones against his knuckles after they made contact with the man's nose. He hit him with so much force that Penn toppled over, falling down on the concrete with a bloody face as Cal pulled back his sore hand. His chest felt the pressure too and for a moment he fought to catch his breath. His post-op doc probably wouldn't have approved.

Meanwhile, Doug Penn curled into a fetal position and started crying.

It disappointed Cal that he didn't put up more of a fight. Didn't give him a reason to strike again.

Useless.

Cal shrugged in disgust as he walked away from the doctor lying on the ground of the parking lot next to his Cadillac with a broken nose.

It wasn't nearly as much pain as he wanted to inflict on him.

But at least it was something.


Lightman Residence, Washington DC

Later

"That's good," Cal told her, holding the mobile phone against his ear while Moritz's massive head was cradled in his lap, occasionally turned around to lick an exposed body part.

It was nice to hear her voice. It always was and he hadn't heard it since she went away three days ago. Cal didn't have her extraordinary skill for voices but he was still better than most at detecting hints in subtle intonations, especially in a voice that was as familiar as hers, and he liked what he was hearing. She sounded good. "Aye, aye..." She was telling him something about a seagull joining her for lunch on a picnic table, eating half of it.

"Miss you," he said when she was done. She told him she missed him too and asked about Emily and the Group and it was nearly twenty minutes later when they ended their conversation, with no mention of his explosive meeting with her old boss.

"'Night, luv."

Cal put down the phone and looked at his knuckles, red and bruised. This was why he'd waited 'til Gillian was out of town before doing this. Because she wouldn't have approved. It was Friday night and although he' did plan on going in to the office tomorrow, he wouldn't see clients until Monday. By then his right hand would look presentable again.

He heard the doorbell ringing.

Moritz's head shot up.

"Go away," Cal mumbled. "Don't need it. Don't want it."

The doorbell rang again and this time Moritz jumped off the couch and ran towards the door.

"Dream on," he told the dog. "She's not coming home for another four days. Start barking so they'll go away."

But Moritz, worst attack dog in DC, didn't bark. Instead, he started howling and wagging his tail when the doorbell rang a third time. Whatever they were selling they sure were persistent.

And clearly his dog wanted some of it.

It was when he heard the keys turning in the door that Cal's head snapped towards it. "Bloody hell..."

Moritz had a more favourable reaction. He started jumping all over the person in the doorway, nearly crushing her with canine affection.

Cal stared down the hallway in disbelief, watched as his daughter set down a small carry-on suitcase and take off her shoes, even though Moritz made it difficult to do anything but return his love.

"Emily?"

She waltzed into the living room with the dog by her side. Grinning. "Hi, Dad."

"What are you doing here?"

"Nice to see you too." When she was close enough she bent down to give him a kiss before sitting down next to him.

"Em...?" Cal turned to her, not believing what he was seeing.

"You gave me a return ticket. Wasn't I supposed to use it?"

"You were supposed to give me a call when you're coming. You were supposed let me know so I could pick you up from the airport!"

"But then it wouldn't have been a surprise!" Emily's grin got wider. "Or maybe I forgot that part."

Cal pulled her into an embrace. "How the hell is my girl?" He missed her. More than he'd ever admit to anyone and here she was, in front of him, her eyes lighting up a face that kept getting prettier and prettier. When exactly did his smart-ass teenager become such a stunning young woman?

"She's good," Emily answered, scratching Moritz behind his ears. The dog still wasn't done welcoming her home. "I missed this guy."

Cal pointed a finger at himself. "What about this guy?"

"Yeah, him too."

He couldn't stop grinning. From one moment to the next his daughter was home and it was the best surprise in the world.

"I thought maybe you could use some company while Gillian's away," she told him.

"You know she's away?"

"Yeah...she texted me before she left. She sent me some pictures of the place after she got there."

Cal forgot sometimes how close they were. His daughter and Gillian. He caught something on Emily's face that he didn't expect to see. Guilt. It was only there for a moment but of course he saw it. It puzzled him but he let it go without questioning it. "I didn't get pictures. How come you got pictures?"

Emily smiled as Moritz finally walked off. "Maybe 'cause you're terrible at texting? Sometimes it takes you two days to return a message."

"That is a lie."

"How are you doing, Dad?"

"Fantastic."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously. I can walk on my own again without toppling over."

"Why do I ask you serious questions?"

"That's a good question." he agreed. "You must be starving, luv. Want to go out for some food? It's dinner time in California isn't it?"

"It's dinner time here too. At least for the cool people."

"Is that a yes?"

Emily was debating it. "How about...we order in instead?"

Cal picked up his mobile phone before she got a chance to change her mind. "Pizza or Chinese?"

Emily laughed. "Do you have both of those programmed in your phone? That is sad, Dad. So sad. "

"You want food or are you too busy judging?"

"Chicken fried rice."

"Chinese it is."

Cal got a beer from the fridge for him and ice tea for her and they chatted and then chatted some more, catching up on each other's lives until the food arrived and they moved over to the dining room table, continuing their conversation there between greedy bites of take out. Mostly it was Emily catching him up as he peppered her with questions about her classes and her roommate and of course this boy she was supposedly seeing, until she casually told him she wasn't.

"We didn't even really break up," she confessed. "I just saw him with another girl during this football game that he didn't think I would be at. He was all over her...it made me so angry but he acted like it was no big deal. Like I was overreacting."

"Wanker." Cal hated him. Whoever the hell he was.

"I think that made me even angrier than what he did...that he thought it was no big deal." His daughter looked pensive for a moment and shrugged her shoulders. "Or maybe...I did overreact."

"If that's how he made you feel, then you didn't." Cal told her. There were other things he was thinking too. That if this guy was that cocky in public he had no doubts he'd be even cockier behind closed doors. Cal was too familiar with cheaters and liars and the behaviour she described was a dead giveaway. Not that he'd tell Emily that. "Trust your instincts, luv. Always."

"I guess."

"He's not worth it."

Emily smiled. "You would say that."

"It's the truth," Cal added. "You know I never lie to you."

They went back to digging into their Chinese take-away when Emily suddenly paused, put down her chopsticks and her fingers touched his bruised knuckles.

"Dad...I just noticed this. What happened to your hand?"

"Ran into a wall."

"Thought you just said you never lie to me."

Cal ignored her and fished for a piece of shrimp in his rice, hoping she'd drop it.

But of course she didn't. "Dad...?"

"Had something to take care of."

"What? You had to have a fist fight?"

"Something like that."

"Are you serious?" Emily questioned. She made no effort to hide her disbelief and disappointment. "Isn't that what got you into a huge mess last year? When you went to punch out a cop at a police station?"

"There was no cop and no police station involved this time. Swear."

Emily frowned. He saw anger. "You think this is funny, Dad? Are you trying to screw everything up again?"

Cal put down his chopsticks too and looked her square in the eye. "No. No plans to screw things up this time."

"But you get into fights as soon as Gillian leaves town?"

"Not a fight," he corrected her. "Something that had to be done."

"I don't believe you, Dad! Do you really wanna risk losing everything again?"

"Hey," he cupped her chin with his hand, to way he used to do when she was a kid. "I said I wasn't gonna do that again. But this...this had to be done. I'm grateful for what I've got...don't want you to think that I'm not and I'll fight to keep it. But I'm not a saint and that's not about to change. Not sure you even want that."

She bit her lip and sulked a little, reminding him of Zoe. Giant doe-eyes full of accusation.

"Trust me, luv. Alright?"

Emily nodded reluctantly. Her expression still sombre.

Cal grinned to lighten the mood which was suddenly so different than it was a few minutes ago. "Also, me screwing up makes it harder to lecture you when you do. You should be thankful."

She managed half of a smile. "I'll remind you of that when I do."

Emily got up and left the dinner table and when she came back she brought along the first aid kit he kept in the bathroom upstairs. "You should fix that up," she explained opening up the white box with the red cross on the outside. "Put a few bandaids and some ointment on it." She started doing it before he could even open his mouth and tell her not to bother.

And after she was done, they ate the rest of their meal mostly in silence until Emily asked him about Gillian.

"Is she really gonna be okay?"

"Yeah," Cal's mouth was half full when he answered. "Course she is."

"You're not just saying that."

Cal finished his food and closed up the take-away box, pushing his chopsticks inside it. "Gillian's stronger than she looks."

"I know she is but..."

"She had a hard time after the shooting. But what she's going through...it's not uncommon. She realized she needed some help and she's getting it now. Doesn't mean she's gonna be a hundred percent when she gets back but I don't doubt for a second that she's gonna be fine down the road."

Emily's face scrunched up a little and then Cal saw it again. Guilt.

This time he did call his daughter on it. Waved his hand in front of her pretty face and asked her why she looked like the cat that swallowed the canary.

"Did Gillian never tell you what happened between us after you got shot?" Emily asked him.

"Between you and her? Something happened?"

"Yeah..."

"No, she never said anything."

Unease lined her eyes. "After they brought you to the hospital and you had the surgery...she wanted to see you when you woke up. But when the doctor said family only...I told him she wasn't family. That she had no right to see you. I wouldn't let her come with me and Mom."

"What?" Cal stared at her. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't surprised. Shocked even.

He remembered so little of those moments after he woke up from the surgery. Everything was a drug-induced blur. He did remember seeing Emily's and Zoe's face. Did remember waking up later and wondering about Gillian. But that's about it.

"Then later when she came to the house to pick up Moritz...I made it pretty clear that I didn't want her staying with us."

Cal's eyes narrowed. "Why?"

"Mom was the one who insisted."

"Zoe?" The surprises kept coming. "But Em...I don't understand, what the hell prompted you to do what you did?"

The guilt was etched deeply on her face now. "I don't know."

"Yes you do." He called her out on that lie.

Shame, that was the next micro-expression he saw.

"I was angry, Dad," she tried to explain. "I didn't know you and Gillian were together. All I heard was that you'd gone to her place and jumped in front of her when this guy tried to shoot her. I was so angry...that you would do that. That you'd risk dying, risk leaving me for someone who wasn't even talking to you anymore."

Cal stared at her, waiting until she was finished, knowing she wasn't.

"I was angry that you got shot and she didn't." She said it quietly. Embarrassed by that truth.

Cal swallowed. Of course it made sense. In a twisted, heart-breaking kind of way.

Emily hadn't known they were together when it all happened. They were going to pick her up at the airport and tell her in person. Cal had forgotten that part too. "I see."

Even so. This was Gillian they were talking about. Gillian who'd been nothing but kind to his daughter since they'd first met nearly a decade ago.

It made him angry to think that none of that mattered that night and Cal wanted to tell Emily as much, but it was obvious she was already beating herself up enough for both of them.

"Em...why are you bringing this up now? Obviously you two patched things up and it's water under the bridge."

And obviously Gillian never told me because she loves you too much for that.

"The thing is..." Emily started. "I didn't know that Gillian was having such a hard time after the shooting until she told me she was going away to this place in South Carolina. I had no idea!"

"That's got nothing to do with you, luv. Took her some time to admit it to herself."

"That's not what I mean, Dad," Emily added. "After she told me, I wondered if maybe I had something to do with it. She was so...out of it that night. Maybe if I'd helped her...instead of make things harder for her then maybe...maybe she wouldn't be going through this now."

"Hey, Em... stop that." Now at least he understood the micro-expressions he'd seen on her face earlier.

He leaned into the table and put a hand on her arm. "Post-traumatic stress...it's more complicated than that. Our minds and bodies don't process a whole lot after a traumatic event. They shut down to protect us and it's only later when they stop doing that, that people start feeling the effects. That's when they get sick."

"You're saying she was in too much shock to register anything that night?"

"I'm saying...these things, they're complex. It's 'cause our brains are complex."

"That night I had people taking care of me. Making sure I was okay. No one did for Gillian...and I should have been the one who did!"

"Mom being there for you that night...did it make things better? Easier?"

His daughter weighed the question. "No...not really," she answered him honestly.

"There you have it. Em..." He squeezed her arm. "Not gonna lie and say I wish you hadn't done what you did but we don't always do the right thing. It's what makes you human. Only good that comes of it is that maybe it helps you do the right thing next time. Gillian's the last person who'd want you to feel bad about this. Or blame you for anything she's going through now."

Emily nodded. The sombre look still on her face even as the guilt was slowly leaving it. "I know."

"Good." Cal nodded. "And Em...one more thing..."

"Yeah?"

"When I jumped in front of Hunter Kline, last thing in the world I thought about was leaving you. Not something I ever think of doing."

"I know that too...I didn't say any of this was rational."

"You're the most important person in my world and that's never gonna change. No matter how old you get or how much I love another woman."

Seeing the way her eyes took in his words told him that maybe she needed to hear them. Cal grinned at her. "Besides, who else flies across the country to see me for a weekend?"

"You know, I have a Dad who did the same thing once. Flew in all the way from DC to pay me a surprise visit once."

"What a lunatic."

Emily smirked. "Isn't he?"

"Explains a lot though."

Emily glanced towards the couch. "You up for a movie?"

"No, course not. Old people have dinner at five and go to bed at nine."

"Whatever."

Cal got up and gave Emily a push in the direction of the sofa. "Go on...grab a spot before Moritz beats you to it. He's used to watching the news with me at night."

She was quick and grabbed a spot as well as the remote before Cal slouched down next to her.

"If you want ice cream you'll have to get it yourself." Cal told her.

"But I'm a guest."

"No, you're at home."

She sighed and got back up and headed into the kitchen. "Want some?" she yelled.

"Nah..." Cal got a hold of the remote and watched as Moritz took Emily's spot on the couch. It was good to have his daughter back. Even if only for the weekend. He missed her company since she left for college, even more so now, when Gillian was away. Because he was already used to having life in this house again.

If course Emily probably knew that and it was precisely why she was here. Whatever the reason, he'd take it.

It meant he wouldn't go in to the office tomorrow after all. He'd be behind and swamped on Monday.

"Here," Emily announced, when she came back with two bowls of ice cream and handed him one, after squeezing in between him and Moritz.

"Thought I said I didn't want any?"

"I'll feel guilty if I'm the only one eating ice cream," she explained, handing him a spoon.

Cal took it and dug in. He was going to fall behind work. There'd be sarcasm, more forced ice-cream and probably a chick flick.

Not that he really minded any of it. Even a little.