Cal, Gillian, Zoe and Emily had dinner together in a restaurant a couple of blocks from the Lightman Group. Cal had insisted Gillian come along and to his utter surprise Zoe seemed to be in favour of the idea too. He supposed it was because Gillian had originally spoken to Emily about what happened and helped to reassure her. While they were at dinner, Cal got a call from Reynolds which he took outside.

"I'm posting men on your house and Zoe's." Cal bit his lip.

"I think you should put some on Gillian's too," he said immediately.

"Why?"

"Because you idiot, they'll try to get to me. And it doesn't take a bloody rocket scientist to see that they could do that through Gillian. What do they teach you lot in Quantico these days?" Ben coughed on the other end of the phone and Cal could tell by his hesitation that he wasn't going to like what was said next.

"Permission had to come from the top on this one. They were reluctant enough to cover two houses. Three definitely won't happen." Cal felt like flinging his phone against the wall.

"You put the director on to me. I want to speak to him."

"Cal, the FBI is not at your beck and call…" Cal didn't notice Gillian pass by him to the bathroom. He didn't notice her stop as he spoke either.

"Well, you tell your boss that either he makes this happen or the Lightman Group is no longer at his beck and call. You got that?" He hung up before Reynolds had the chance to respond and it took every piece of self restraint in his body not to throw the phone against the wall.

"Cal? What's going on?" He turned to see her standing just by the door to the bathrooms. He shook his head.

"Nothing love. Everything's alright."

"Cal, your nostrils are flaring. It doesn't take a deception expert to know you're angry about something. And threatening the FBI?" She took a step towards him and he looked away.

"They've posted men on my house and Zoe's." Gillian nodded her head, not seeing a problem yet.

"OK, so what's the problem?" she asked and he looked at her, swallowing hard, then suddenly feeling dehydrated.

"I want someone at your house too." Gillian frowned and looked at him. Her face was awash with confusion.

"My house? Why my house?" Cal took a deep breath and let himself lean back against the wall. He stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"They're going to be out to get to me Gill. Marco's boys. They're going to use the people closest to me to do that…" he trailed off, allowing what he said to sink in. Gillian raised an eyebrow.

"Cal, they don't even know who I am." Cal waved his hand, stepping out from the wall.

"Come on Gill. You type my name into a search engine and seven out of every ten photos of me have you in them as well." As if to emphasise his point, he pulled his phone from his pocket, conducted a search and showed her. Gillian shook her head.

"As business partners Cal." Cal shook his head and pulled up a picture of the two at a dance hosted by the mayor. Cal wore his usual black tied suit while Gillian looked breathtaking in an off the shoulder deep blue dress with diamond on the front of it. They were both smiling delightfully. He showed it to her.

"Is 'business partners' the first thing you think when you look at this picture?" he asked and she took a deep breath, about to speak when the phone in her hand went off again.

"It's Reynolds" she said as she handed to phone to him before slipping away back to the table. Cal watched her before pressing the green button to answer.

OXOXOXO

Cal picked up the check and left his credit card in the wallet for the waiter to collect. He signed when the card came back and thanked the waiter for his service. He'd been quiet through desert and coffee. All three women had asked him at some stage if he was alright. He could see a man at the table next to him glance over every so often, clearly wondering whether either of the two women at the table were with him. He ignored him.

Outside, Zoe offered them both a ride home but Cal shook his head.

"It's ok, we need to go back to the office." Gillian flashed a glance at him. She didn't want to go back to the office but there was obviously something bothering him so she politely declined Zoe's offer too. Cal kissed Emily on the forehead and waited until they'd gotten into the car before turning to hail a cab. Gillian watched him.

"Cal, it's just four blocks, we could walk it." Cal ignored her and flagged the first cab he saw, opening the door for her.

"We're not going to the office. Get in." Gillian frowned at him but did as she was told. Cal climbed in behind her. Cal gave his address to the taxi driver and he pulled out from the curb.

"Cal, what's going on?" Gillian asked finally, after she'd pulled her coat out form under her and was sitting somewhat more comfortably.

"FBI called my bluff. Told me if I pulled my link with them they'd ease off their investigation of this case and Marco'd get off scot-free…" Gillian turned to him.

"What? That's insane. And wrong on so many levels. What did you say?" Cal shrugged his shoulders, digging his hands together between his knees.

"What could I say? I had to agree with them. There's no one watching your house," he added as if to emphasise his point. Gillian nodded her head.

"Cal, I'll be fine, there was no need for you to antagonise them about that. These guys don't know who I am…." Cal shook his head.

"You'll forgive me if I don't want to take that chance…" he said quietly and Gillian looked at him, head tilted.

"What do you mean?"

"You're staying with me until this is all over." Gillian's eyes widened and she turned to look at him properly. Trying to see if he was serious. He was.

"No way Cal."

"Gill…"

"No, Cal, you are over-reacting here. I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself. You're being paranoid." Cal sighed and looked away out the window. Neither said anything for the rest of the journey.

OXOXOXO

Cal paid the driver as he pulled in at his house and stepped from the car. Turning, he saw Gillian remained sitting.

"Get out of the car, love." She shook her head.

"I'm going home Cal." Cal kneeled back in on the edge of the seat and took her hand in his.

"Just come in and let's talk. Then I'll drive you home." Gillian looked at him, failing to realise he didn't have a car at his house before giving in and stepping from the car. She thanked the taxi driver as she did and he sped off the minute the door slammed. Probably afraid he'd end up getting stuck with one of them for another trip.

OXOXOXO

Gillian sat on the couch while Cal made tea. She looked around, this was her second night in three days in this house. She swallowed, trying hard not to think about how domestic and couple-like the last three days had been for her and Cal. She was supporting him, she told herself. Cal walked through carrying two mugs of some form of steaming liquid. His was tea, she knew. He never drank anything else after 7pm. She thought she could make out a different smell from her mug. She inhaled as he put it down in front of her and smiled when she recognised the smell of hot chocolate. Cal noticed immediately.

"Em loves the stuff. I can't bloody bear it." Gillian smiled as she held the mug between her hands. They sat in silence for a moment drinking their drinks, Cal staring straight ahead, thinking. Gillian glanced at him every now and then. She couldn't help but think about their moment in his office earlier on. She was almost certain he was building up to kissing her. She swallowed hard then drank some hot chocolate to cover it up in case he was watching. And he was always watching. She'd learned that long ago. Eventually he spoke.

"Gill, just, stay here tonight eh?" Gillian's shoulder dropped as she sighed and put her mug down on the table.

"Cal, seriously…"

"Gillian, these guys are ruthless bastards. You saw what they did to Emily without provocation. What do you think they'd do now that he's banged up?" Gillian stood up, her hands flailing as she spoke.

"Cal, they don't know who I am! I turn up in 70% of your pictures as your business partner…" Cal sat forward on the couch.

"Gill, all those pictures…." Gillian threw her eyes up to heaven.

"Cal, you are putting what you want to see into their eyes…" Cal froze at this remark and Gillian stopped herself too, realising what she had just said. Cal tilted his head slightly and stood up. Was that what this was? Was he just seeing what he wanted to see? Was earlier in the office just an illusion? He shut the idea from his head. It couldn't be. He'd seen it in her eyes earlier on. He'd seen his feelings mirrored on her face. She shook his head.

"It's not what I want to see love. It's what I do see. What do you see when you look at that photo of us?" He stepped closer to her, watching the muscles in her face carefully. She shook her head at him, amazed at this ability to twist a conversation just like that.

"Cal…"

"Simple question love, what do you see? Would your first impression say 'business partners'?" She shook her head after moment.

"No."

"No. So what does it say?" he said then, stepping closer to her again. She swallowed and looked away, his proximity testing her reserve. Finally she looked back, her face showing resignation.

"It says 'Fine, I'll stay with you'."

OXOXOXO

That's not going to be the end of that argument but for now, it is. Things will hopefully unfold quickly from here. Click that button y'all.