It was just past three o'clock on a Friday and everyone was ready for the weekend. Cal was going away and Emily was bringing Lucy to the office before they headed out of town. They were okay. They were together. The girls were on their way and everything was going to be fine. That's what she kept telling herself. The nerves that twisted in her stomach and made her hands sweat were driving her in sane. She just had to talk to Cal and tell him what she heard, calm down and talk to Cal.

But he just kept ranting. Of course he didn't want Emily to go to Berkeley. Three thousand miles away was way too far for his little girl and they were supposed to be flying out in a matter of hours to tour the college.

He was packing up his things, carrying on how it was too far away. Emily was suppose to be meeting them there with Lucy but now they were running behind and Cal couldn't even find his ID. Gillian knew this was not going to be good.

But Gillian wasn't thinking about Cal's problems, her mind was somewhere else.

She was scared. The kind of fear that keeps you up at night and takes away your appetite. He could read it all over her features and his forehead creased with concern.

"What's the matter?"

A hard breath exhaled from Gillian's lips. "Remember Henry Andrews?"

A man from both of their pasts, hopefully long forgotten, but of course they weren't so lucky. "Pentagon, 2003, why?" he replied quickly wondering what this had to do with anything.

She swallowed, stress tensing her neck as she did so. "He just called. He wants to tell you the truth about the whole Jimmy Doyle business, face to face."

Jimmy Doyle. That's a name he hasn't heard in years, but then again so was Henry Andrews. Jimmy Doyle, a man known to be a terrorist that lost his wife and young daughter because of a call Cal had made.

It was a moment from the past that haunted them both for different reasons. Cal never justified killing a child and the girl was even his daughters age at the time.

He could see Gillian was almost ill with worry. Of course she was. She knew better than anyone what this did to him.

"That was seven years ago," Cal stated, taken back a bit. "He wants to come clean about that now?"

Gillian shrugged and looked desperate. "He was ten minutes away when he called."

"Well, I got to be at the airport in about ten minutes," Cal responded as if that was the end of that. But before he could get another word out, there was a loud explosion and the room shook.

Gillian lost her footing and stumbled as Cal moved to her quickly. His arms were already around her as they both looked toward the window. "What was that?" she muttered, Cal holding her to him with his usual protectiveness.

The power went off as car alarms blared. Even though they couldn't see anything yet, the smell of gasoline and fire began to creep into the air. They ran to the window to see a car in ruins as fire roared from its windows. Surrounding cars were damaged and people were injured.

"Emily and Lucy," Gillian gasped her heart stopping.

The girls could be out there somewhere in the crowd. They could be hurt and probably scared to death.

Cal and Gillian both retreated from the window, reaching for their cell phones. Sirens were around sounding and Gillian felt even sicker with worry for her girls-er- their girls. Cal's Emily and her Lucy. Cal was calling Emily's phone as Gillian paged the front desk to see if they had arrived yet.

"The bloody phones aren't working!" Cal grumbled but dialed the number again.

Their heart stopped again at Torres's desperate calls. "Someone help! Please! I need a little help here!"

Both of them stopped what they were doing, stuffing their phones in their pocket and racing to see Loker stumbling in covered in blood. For a moment Gillian couldn't help but selfishly be glad it wasn't Lucy and Emily. Still the it was just Loker thought made her feel extremely guilty.

Gillian and Torres went to either side of him, supporting him as he panted and Cal just watched. "There was a man in that car and he's in… he's dead… he…"

Torres looked more horrified than anyone and Gillian tried to be the rational one. "He's in shock," she stated quickly, guiding him by the arm to the break room, but still tossed a look over her shoulder. "Cal, keep trying Emily."

Cal nodded, already pulling his phone out and hitting redial. She would help Loker if Cal kept trying to get in touch with the girls.

Gillian cleaned the wounds and applied bandages to Loker's face as Torres got more supplies. Cal kept trying to reach Emily, his stomach hollowing at the idea of the girls getting caught in the blast as well. The only reason he wasn't down there right then was because he knew he wouldn't be able to make it through the crowd.

Anna appeared in the doorway. "Doctor Lightman?" He met her in the hallway as she offered him a large envelope. "This just came for you. The man said it was urgent."

Without a second thought, Cal ripped it open. CDs. CDs? No. Recordings… He turned back to Gillian. She was trying to stay focused on Loker though her worry for Emily and Lucy was making her hands tremble. Motherly, she instructed Loker to drink some water before catching Cal's eye. The look concerned her, but it wasn't about the girls so she wasn't concerned enough to keep her focus on him.

"What man?" Cal demanded suddenly. "What did he-when did he come?"

Anna was already flustered by the explosion and Cal's aggressive behavior shook her even more. "Um, just before it… he said no matter what happened next you need to open this."

"What did he look like?" Cal demanded again, this time less forcefully.

Anna tried to remember. "He was wearing a hat, sunglasses- it was really quick. I was just about to go to lunch. If I hadn't had to stay for this, I could—"

Cal suddenly felt bad for upsetting the girl. He didn't mind giving his associates a hard time, but Anna an assistant who he never had problems with.

"Yeah, I know." He grabbed his phone. "Here's Emily's number. I want you to call her. You get her on the phone, you come and find me. Alright, darling?"

Anna nodded and hurried away before anything more could happen.

Cal exhaled and rubbed a hand over his face. This was a nightmare. The radio reported a car bomb that killed an unidentified man instantly. He had a pretty fair idea of who the man was. So did Gillian. The look they exchanged told Torres as much.

"What is that?" she questioned looking between her bosses.

Gillian casted her eyes down, not wanting to share while Cal pulled Torres off focus. "All right. What's important to us right now is talking to Emily and Lucy. So make him comfortable and give him some tea."

Gillian stood up to follow him and Cal was suddenly nervous for her. She looked nearly faint. He really didn't need her passing out right then either.

Torres didn't back down so easily though. "No, no, no. You know something about this bomb or at least you think you do."

She stormed after them but stopped at the door, not wanting to leave Loker.

"It's got to be gridlock out there," Gillian reasoned. "Em and Luce are probably stuck in it."

That was his Gillian, the optimist, she needed to stay that way. Lucy and Emily are fine and everything was going to be okay.

Okay, well, Cal wasn't an optimist. Cal was a sadistic realist who knew this wasn't good.

"Say it," he demanded. "Go on. You can say it. Gillian, say it. Doyle is back, he killed Andrews, I'm next."

It sounded matter of factly, empty from all emotion. Now, more than ever, Gillian just wanted to slam her fists down and cry. He showed her the tape of his psych evaluation from 2003 as well as the typed message threatening to give Doyle the other five tapes of their sessions. Someone was blackmailing him and she was ill.

This was seven years ago but as they listened to it, it felt like it was yesterday. She swore that she didn't know the sessions were being recorded, but she also admitted that the possibility did cross her mind, being in the pentagon and all. Still, she was hurt that he accused her of knowing and being a part of it.

Jimmy Doyle had to be behind this. Torres and Loker had stormed into Cal's office not long after they arrived. They were demanding answers and Cal gave them bits and pieces as Gillian just watched him.

Torres looked at her. "You ok, Foster?" She sounded genuinely concerned.

Slowly turning away from Cal, Gillian spoke a single cold line. "Everything's fine." It was the driest anyone in the room had ever heard her speak. All emotions were gone and it was like some robot had taken over.

Before much more could be said, Emily's voice called from the hallway. "Dad?"

She and Lucy both rushed into the room. Lucy running to her mother and Emily to her father.

"Where have you been? I was worried sick," Cal demanded, hugging her tightly.

"We got stuck out in the mess with everyone else," she told him. She sounded close to tears and Gillian gave her a comforting smile.

Lucy held tight to Gillian's neck, trembling still. The poor darling was scared out of her mind. "There was a really loud boom and then people started running into us…"

Guilt flooded Emily's eyes and suddenly Gillian wanted to hug her too. "All these people were running and somehow I lost Lucy and I couldn't find her for a second."

Cal gave Emily another squeeze at the sound of true sorrow in her voice. "But she found me really fast," Lucy assured everyone. "I didn't really know she was gone…"

Poor was more torn up about briefly losing Lucy than the actual explosion that could have actually hurt them. Cal couldn't help but think Emily sometimes took after Gillian with her protective side. She had a very big heart that he couldn't take credit for giving her and was pretty sure Zoe's was way too iced over to have ever been that warm.

Gillian pulled Emily close to her, holding Lucy with her right and hugging Emily with her left. "You're both safe, that's all that matters."

Emily hugged Gillian back and nodded. She wiped her tears with the back of her hand as she took a deep breath before looking around the room that was filled to the brim with hostility. "What's going on?"

Loker showed obvious contempt as he stepped closer to Cal. "That's what we all want to know," he said accusatory.

Gillian held Lucy tight, her eyes narrowing at him. Even she couldn't hide her own disapproval for Loker as he was ready to attack them both when they had finally gotten their children back. She needed time hug her little girl and take a deep breath.

"Loker, look, you know, I'm sorry about what you just went through," Cal said obviously controlling his tone. "But right now I need a moment with my daughter. After that, I'll figure out how I'm going to use you guys on this. That's how it works so end of conversation. All right?"

Cal turned his back toward Loker and faced Emily again and Gillian was glad he said exactly what she was thinking. She set Lucy on the ground and kneeled in front of her, but before Gillian could even ask if she was alright, Loker jumped in again.

"That was a conversation?"

Gillian had enough. "Loker, get the hell out," she snapped looking past Lucy and glaring at Loker in such a way that no one had ever seen from her before, not even Cal. But at this moment she cared more about checking on her daughter and keeping everyone safe than Loker's precious feelings.

Everyone stared at her for a moment but Torres took the moment to usher Loker out. Cal looked at Emily who seemed to be trying to stay strong. "How are you doing?" he asked her. Her gaze shifted from his as tears began to prick at her eyes again. "I'm sorry about Berkeley," he offered pathetically. "All right, we'll do that another weekend. We'll do it soon, I promise. But right now I need you to do me a favor. Do you have a friend you can stay a day or two with? Take Lucy too?"

Emily thought for a moment. "Can it be a boy?"

Well… that threw his focus suddenly. "Second thought you two will go to Torres's."

Gillian tried to go after him. She tried to convince him to drop it. To ignore it. To stay with them, but she couldn't. All she could do for the moment was tell Lucy to listen to Emily and try to think. She had called Cal several times only to find out Anna still had his phone. She had to keep Cal from getting hurt… she had to keep him alive.

She thought about those meetings. The information he told her. But other than that, the spark he had in the years before. The guilt that Cal held for the death of Doyle's family was the spark that ignited a flame that started the forest fire to the truth.

She reached into her bag and pulled out her private laptop. She had saved emails from years ago that discussed Cal with Henry Andrews, the man that had been killed in the car explosion. She needed to remember all of it clearly. Every detail possible.

The cover up story of Doyle family was what kept Cal alive. Why did no one else see that? She protected him. She protected Zoe and Emily. Before she ever truly knew him, she had to do what was right for him. Even if she didn't know why.

Anna had let her know that Cal had just come in and headed toward the Cube. She was on her feet in seconds to hunt him down. As she opened the door to the lab, her jaw nearly dropped to see Doyle standing in the cube and Cal waiting on her.

It wasn't even whited out. Doyle watched her as she stormed around to Lightman. Her mouth was tight as she glared at Cal. "What's this?" she snapped.

"This is Jimmy Doyle," Cal responded, completely expecting her rage.

"I know who it is," she hissed back her words like daggers. Anyone else would have flinched, but Cal had expected her rage.

"He's not a threat to us. Unless I fail to do right by him."

Gillian's eyebrows went up in surprise. "Do right by him?" she glanced at Doyle then back to Cal. He had a busted nose and his cheek looked like he had been dragged across rough concrete. "Who did that to your face?" she asked, gently touching his chin.

Cal ignored her even though she was still fuming. Her hands were even warm with her blood pressure.

"Are you going to tell me what that man is doing here? While your daughter and my daughter are both sitting in your library?" she asked instead.

If there was something Cal was beginning to realize, mother bear Gillian was a force to be reckoned with. He could see she felt protective over him and both their children but also extremely vulnerable and afraid. Part of him felt guilty, it was normally his job to protect her.

"Well, this is our one chance to right a huge wrong that we both played a part in," he told her finally.

Gillian looked him square in the eye. She needed him to understand. "You are not to blame for the murders of that man's family, Cal." But she needed him to start thinking responsibly for theirs.

That struck a nerve. Now he was just angry. Where was his Gillian? His soft and kind Gillian that wanted the truth just as much as he did. Not this woman who had a set glare on her face even when she was trying to be comforting. "I'm not talking about the murders. Actually I'm talking about the cover-up afterwards." He stared into her soul. "I mean, me, that's one thing, but you… you're way better than that. Which something that's been bothering me for a long time."

He could see her eyes soften to guilt and sadness, but she kept his gaze.

"Whatever it is that you're hiding from me, I forgive you," he added.

But Gillian shook her head. "I have never hidden anything from you, Cal." She stared at him. "Let it go."

Cal just looked at her. "Why don't you ask Doyle about Andrews? Cause I've always valued your opinion." His voice was dripping with sarcasm and he was daring to piss her off even more than she already was.

Her eyes were set on his but she pushed past him and opened the door. She started at the man. Her fingers twitched as she shifted her weight to one hip and stood aggressively before the man she knew as a terrorist.

"Jimmy Doyle, Gillian Foster," Cal introduced when he realized this was going to be like pulling teeth.

Doyle offered his hand out to her and she just stared at him, making it obvious that she was not there to be his friend. "What are you making him do?" she demanded.

"I just need to find my wife and daughter's killer," Doyle responded honestly.

"To avenge them." It wasn't a question but it was still validated but the almost nod Doyle gave her. She turned to Cal. "Are you prepared to hunt and kill another man?" Cal didn't answer but he didn't have to. "I don't believe that. Even if he does have a gun to your head."

"You know, seven years ago, I help murder this man's wife and child. Now I would like to know exactly who it was that I helped." Cal stared at Gillian. He didn't understand why it was so difficult for her to understand.

Finally, Gillian looked back at Doyle and took a seat at the table infront of them. "Why now?"

"Why now what?" Doyle replied honestly confused.

"Kill Andrews?"

Doyle shook his head. "I didn't kill Andrews. I just talked to the man."

Suddenly Gillian was taken back. She didn't expect him to tell the truth. She glanced at Cal to see if he got a read on a lie, but the look her gave her told her that he saw the same thing.

"Then why wait seven years to come back and do any of this?"

"When Mary and Bernadette were murdered, I died that day too. I went from grief to drink, drugs, you name it."

Gillian tossed this information aside without an ounce of empathy toward him. "You were a member of a terrorist organization. God knows how many lies you've ruined, so, please."

Cal stared at her. He was sick of this, they were getting nowhere. "Bloody hell!" he rolled his eyes and took over. "How did you track Andrews down?"

"Got his name from the lawyer who represented the two junkies he framed for the murder of my girls." His eyes bore into Gillian's but she stayed cold.

"Who is he?" Cal demanded. "Where is he?"

Gillian sat in her office, her hands covering her eyes. Everything that happened… it was like being face with skeletons from the past over and over again. It felt good to give Doyle justice, even if it wasn't the just he had intended, but at the same time she felt so sick to her stomach.

Cal would have protected her. If the situations were switched, she would have liked to believe that Cal would have done the same. Whether it was true of not, she would have liked to believe that Cal would have saved her from more pain like she tried to do with him.

A little girl died seven years ago.

Cal walked into her office. He stood there, looking at her but she felt inferior. She felt like she had let him down.

"Were you ever going to tell me?" he asked her. In truth his tone was soft, but it still brought tears to her eyes. She stood up and paced for a moment before finally turning to him.

The simple answer was no. She was never going to tell him that she was the one that got him fired from the pentagon by labeling him as incompetent due to stress and anxiety to keep the cover up a cover up so no one would get hurt.

But that wouldn't satisfy him. "He came to me in the middle of the night. Before our first session. Not to my office, to my house." She shook her head. "My house…" she whispered. It was something that still haunted her. "I'd never seen him before and I never saw him again. He told me to do what I had to do to keep you quiet, or Doyle wouldn't be the only man to lose his wife and daughter."

The tears were barely at bay now and Cal watched as Gillian told this secret for the first time. It must have been the most difficult thing she ever had to do.

Her lip pouted as kept fighting the tears. "If I told you that, it would have been proof positive of a cover up and you would have never let it go."

She tried to read Cal's face but she couldn't. Tears were blurring her vision and emotions clouding her mind. Taking a step toward him she held her hands out toward him. "So… I couldn't let you do that." The first tear fell from her eye. "To you, your family. You'd never have gotten to blow the whistle. He would have cut you down before you put it to your lips."

"So all that talk about you being a bad liar, it's just an act, right? That's a lie." Cal examined her features and more shame flooded them, but so did determination.

"Depends on the lie," she whispered in reply.

For a moment there was silence as she begged him to understand. She loved him so much and she couldn't imagine losing him. But if there was a reason for him to walk away, this was it.

Finally, he took a step toward her, wrapping his arms around her as she clung to him. Tears rolled down her cheeks. She exhaled in relief and continued to cry.

Cal kissed her cheek as they held each other at arm's length. He wiped her tears away and frowned at her. He hated it when she cried. "Let's go get the girls. I'll drive."

Emily sat at the table in Torres's kitchen as Lucy sat on the floor with plain white paper and half a box of broken crowns Torres had dug up somewhere. Emily kept glancing over at Lucy every so often, taking a break from her phone to just see how she was doing.

"You act like her sister," Torres commented as Lucy continued her peaceful drawing and she took a seat at the table with a mug of cocoa in hand.

Emily smiled a little to herself, not thinking about Torres reading her face. The idea brightened Emily. Unlike most children, Emily never wanted a little sibling. She could see the flaws and hardships her parents had and she often thought that it wouldn't be fair to drag another child into the middle of a war zone. She would never say that to her parents of course, they always thought Emily couldn't see it. But Lucy was different.

She was this little ray of sunshine and a goofy grin. Somehow she just fit into their lives like a puzzle piece they didn't know what missing. She sealed them together in a way that so unbelievably perfect.

"She needs a sister," Emily replied with a nonchalant shrug.

Torres looked at Lucy. She held a stuff kitty close to her side the entire time she was drawing.

"Ria?" Lucy said suddenly, a small frown tugging at her lips as she put down the colors. "When's Mommy coming to get me?"

Torres checked the time on her phone. "Any time now."

Lucy seemed to accept this and continue coloring while Torres turned to Emily. "So, what? Your dad and Foster finally dating?"

Emily rolled her eyes. "They don't like labels, but pretty much."

Torres glanced over at Lucy again. "So, anyone afraid of the collateral damage if this doesn't work? I mean, the kids just…" Is there a polite way of say damaged?

The idea had never really crossed Emily's mind. "It's going to work," Emily said with certainty.

"You dad has a way of pissing people off and someone eventually leaves," Torres reminded her.

"Gillian hasn't left, and Dad's not stupid. He wouldn't let her get away."

The fact Emily sounded like this was a fact set in stone that would never change made Torres have a little more hope in the man. He raised a pretty good kid and Lucy was blossoming with the help of the loving parents she had gained.

As if on cue, there was a knock on the apartment door and Emily rushed to open it.

"Ready to go home?" Cal asked as Lucy sprinted toward them.

Lucy hugged his neck and nodded. "You coming home with us?"

Cal squeezed the little girl and she giggled happily. "I'm taking you and your mummy home so I can tuck you into bed!"

Emily was already hugging Gillian who looked extremely relieved that their hard day was over. Torres pretended not to notice the bit of smeared eye makeup Gillian missed when trying to conceal her earlier tears.

"Thank you," Gillian told Torres, true gratefulness showing in her features as she gave her arm a slight squeeze.

"It was nothing," Torres replied awkwardly, watching as Cal carried Lucy back toward the elevator followed by Emily and finally Gillian.

It was oddly beautiful. Somehow every piece of the odd family fit.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I can't decide if next chapter should be the one where the corrupt police arrest Emily or we meet Ria's sister… what do you think?