The analysis room was plunged into silence. Gillian waited for the inevitable shocked comment. It didn't surprise her that it was Torres.
"No wonder he's been in a mood. I hope he kills him." Gillian frowned and glared at Torres. She couldn't help thinking sometimes that she was looking at a female version of Lightman with a slight few more morals.
"That'll help nobody," Gillian said quickly.
"I don't know about that." Zoe said through gritted teeth. Gillian smiled in understand but offered no remark. She turned her head back to the Cube.
OXOXOXO
"I thought you said…" Marco was stuttering. He was much tenser now that Cal was standing over him.
"I lied." Cal said quickly, walking around the table, standing behind Marco who turned to look over his shoulder at him. He seemed a lot more nervous now. Cal continued regardless.
"Was she good? Did you get your rocks off?" Marco took a deep breath and looked straight ahead. Cal couldn't see it but the look of contempt had reappeared on his face. He'd gotten over the initial shock of coming face to face with his victim's father.
"Best piece of ass I ever had…" he laughed cruelly and Cal finally lost it. Grabbing him by his hair, Cal slammed Marco's face into the table. Marco screamed as his burned cheek hit the hard surface. Cal's jaw clenched and he pointed his finger at Marco.
"You say that again! Just you bloody say that again!" Marco pulled himself back into a sitting position and twisted to look at Cal, a cruel twinkle in his eye.
"Your daughter. She didn't even struggle. She'll saye she was afraid. I think she was just enjoying it…" he broke into a chuckle and Cal's fist immediately connected with his open mouth.
OXOXOXO
The minute Gillian heard that comment she nodded at Ben. This was going to get out of hand if someone didn't get in there right now. Ben pushed the door but couldn't get in.
"It's locked," he called to Gillian. Gillian sighed and shouted back.
"4347." Ben typed in the number but it didn't work.
"Access Denied" Gillian slammed her hand down on the desk.
"Damnit Cal!" Zoe looked at her.
"What's going on?" Gillian was pulling up computer files on the PC in front of her.
"He must have over-rode the lock-in code when he went inside. I need to find the over-riding code for that. God damn it." Zoe looked back into the Cube.
"You better find it quick," she said. Gillian looked up and winced.
OXOXOXO
Cal managed to land three or four more good punches before the physically taller, younger and probably stronger Marco got to his feet. Cal hit him again; certain he felt the bone of Marco's nose break beneath his fist. Maco staggered back before lunging forward and cracking Cal across the jaw. From there, the fist fight turned into an all out brawl. Kicks were thrown, hair was pulled, knees were dug into stomachs. Cal got some decent hits in but it was becoming clearer to him that Marco physically had the upper hand on him.
Cal was still swinging when he heard the Cube door opening. Marco looked back in surprise and Cal took his opportunity to swing for his stomach again. As Marco bent over in pain, Cal brought his knee into Marco's face, connecting with his nose and burnt cheek again. Marco fell to the floor as two FBI men restrained him and Ben hauled Cal back and away from him. Ben pushed Cal so hard he fell down in the corner, bringing his hand to his broken, bloody nose and split lip. His ribs hurt too. He moved to stand up but Ben pushed him back down.
"What the hell did you think you were doing? You'll be lucky if you can use ANY of that in a court of law. And the fact that you locked us out of the room? That's only going to make this look like even more of a renegade mission…."
"Actually, those locks auto-update on the hour. The codes change and we have a book of variations. Cal didn't over-ride the lock mechanism." Gillian's voice thundered from the doorway. Cal looked up through bleary eyes and he gave her a pasty smile. She was lying for him. Ben probably knew it too but he'd be willing to believe anything from Gillian's mouth. Cal stumbled to his feet, attempting to brush himself off but realising the futility of it.
"So what now?" Ben looked at him bitterly.
"Now, I try to convince my boss that you were acting in self defence even though you hit him first…"
"Did you hear what he said about my daughter? You show that to any jury, ask them what they'd have done and they'll say the exact same thing. I hope you're not letting him back out on the streets again. He admitted what he did." Ben shook his head.
"We're keeping him. And we're going to charge him. But you need to be ready for some backlash. All of you. This guy's dangerous and he's got dangerous friends. I'm going to post agents on your houses. But right now, I've got to go put out some fires. Go get cleaned up, I'll call when I know something." With that Ben whirled on his heel and stormed out of the Cube. Gillian looked at Cal, shaking her head.
"Was I talking to a wall?" she asked, good naturedly. He nodded his head.
"It's not my nature to stand back and listen to someone speak like that about anyone I know." Gillian nodded her head. She knew that. All too well. She put a hand on his shoulder.
"Come on. I'll play nurse." He smiled and followed her from the Cube across the corridor to his office. Neither Zoe nor Emily were anywhere to be seen. Zoe had probably gone to make sure Emily wasn't going to bump into Marco on his way out the door. Cal knew they wouldn't leave without coming to see him.
OXOXOXO
Gillian pushed Cal down into his office chair and pulled the first aid kit he kept under his drinks cabinet out. She always found it ironic that he kept the two items so close together. She took some sponge and using a water bottle on the window sill, used it to clean the cuts on his face and the blood from around his nose. When she touched his nose, he winced.
"My guess is that's broken," she said as she moved to clean the blood from around his split lip. Her finger tipped off the soft skin there as she slowly drew the sponge along where the blood was. Cal thought he'd never felt anything more sensual in his life. He wondered if it e overly bold of him to take her finger between his teeth. Putting the sponge down for a minute, Gillian gently pulled his bottom lip down to see his gums and teeth. She repeated the same process with his upper one.
"No internal damage," she said but he wasn't listening. As she moved to draw her hand away, Cal reached forward and caught her retreating thumb between his teeth. Maybe it was the loss of blood, maybe it was everything that had happened in the last three days or maybe he was finally growing a pair of balls. He felt it was time to take the plunge. She froze as she felt his tongue glide across the tip of her thumb. She swallowed hard.
"Cal…" Though she said nothing more, she let her finger curl in his mouth down onto his lip and he released it when he felt her stroke along his lip again. He stood up, pinning her effectively between him and his desk. She looked at him nervously before speaking again.
"Cal…" she tried again but he wasn't listening to her. His hand was on her neck, his thumb stroking her cheek as he parted his lips and looked her in the eye. There was no question as to what either person was seeing. Cal suddenly squinted and blinked hard, glancing down at the ground. Gillian's hands fell onto his shoulders.
"Cal? What's wrong?" He shook his head.
"I just suddenly felt very dizzy for a minute there." Gillian smirked.
"I sometimes have that effect," she joked and he looked at her.
"I'm not disagreeing with you love." As he moved closer to her again, he was struck yet again with a bout of dizziness. He groaned as he reached for his chair and sat down.
"Worst timing ever," he said as he put his hands over his head and closed his eyes. Gillian left a hand on his shoulder as he tried to regain his vision.
"You should probably go to a hospital. You could have concussion…." Cal ventured to stand up again and managed it this time. Unfortunately Gillian had stepped out from his desk putting a decent distance between them again.
"I'm ok," he said, leaning his hand on the back of his chair. Gillian noticed it straight away.
"Sit down. I'll get you some water and, do you have a headache? I'll get painkillers," she added off his nod. He collapsed back into his chair and clicked the space bar on his computer. Once he'd logged in, he pulled up the video footage from the analysis room and played it on the laptop screen. His comments left a bad taste in his mouth. The way he spoke about Emily sickened him. He knew it was all a show, knew anyone watching would know that but he still felt sick. Would they think that it had been something he'd have said in his youth? It wasn't. He might have been a troublesome bastard but he wasn't a sick one too. Would they question his methods, ask if he couldn't extract information a less negative way? He groaned as he hit 'stop' and rewound to the beginning just as Gillian came in with the water and pills. She put both down on his desk and sat down in the opposite chair.
"Turn that off. Take those. And I'll bring you home." Cal nodded his head and pressed the power button. Gillian was amazed at how easily he gave in. She wondered if something really was wrong with him. He popped the pills easily and swallowed down the glass of water in one go. Then he stood up.
"Ok, let's go." He walked a few steps before feeling dizzy again.
"Oh for God's sake," he said simply and Gillian caught his arm. At that exact moment Zoe and Emily walked in. Emily's face fell.
"Dad? What's wrong? What happened your face?"
"Nothing love. Just a bit dizzy is all." Emily moved to take his other arm and wrap her own around his waist. He smiled down at her.
"I told you not to do anything stupid Dad." He smirked and stifled a laugh as he took a few more steps forward, regaining his balance again.
"Don't you know your old man never does anything he's told?" he replied jokingly and both Gillian and Zoe shared a look on that one. Cal turned back to Emily.
"Are you alright love?" Emily nodded.
"Are you sure?" She nodded again and wrapped her arms around his waist again.
"Thanks Dad." He bit his lip before pressing a soft kiss into the top of her hair.
OXOXOXO
It ain't over yet. Nope, there's lots more to come. But it may be a while. After all this bit took a while so the next bit could be the same. Bear with me, I'll get there. Keep reviewing! Thanks!e shookHHHHhH