Cal took a depe breath as he walked to Zoe's door and knocked rapidly. Emily opened it and he squeezed in past her. He turned back to Emily silently mouthing, "Is Roger here?" Emily was just about to shake her head when Zoe called from the kitchen.

"No, Roger is not here. He's gone to play racquetball." Cal raised his eyebrows and looked at Emily who shrugged. He strolled into the kitchen.

"Now, how did you know I was going to ask that?" he said, picking up a grape and popping it in his mouth. Zoe looked at him, smirk on her face.

"You don't marry someone for 14 years and not get to know them even a little bit," she said smirking and he returned it, moving away to sit at the kitchen table. Sometimes, when he sat down and thought about it, he really missed the repartee he had with his ex-wife. He missed how they seemed to be so fully capable for each other, even though it was something Zoe had only learned after they'd split when she realised she would have to take some kind of control or nothing would be done and Emily could be taken away from both of them. He admired how she had become tougher because of him. She sat down opposite him and he gave her a sad smile.

"What time they coming at then?" he asked, drawing his thoughts away from missing her. He felt guilty even thinking that way. He had Gillian now. Kind of. He knew that he could and would never want another but there were bonds between exes and particularly ex-spouses that couldn't be broken. One of those bonds chose that moment to creep into the room. She sat down at the table and Zoe reached a hand onto her shoulder.

"They'll be here about seven," she replied to Cal's question. He nodded and looked toward the kitchen. She had a tray laid out with tea cups and biscuits. He stood up and she followed him immediately, slapping his hand as he reached to take a piece of cake off a plate.

"Oi! I've had no dinner yet."

"Tough."

He frowned and moved away, back to the kitchen table, sitting down again and sighing. He took out his cell and checked to see if he had any messages from Gillian. There was none. He'd asked her to call him after she spoke to her brother. She was probably there now.

OXOXOXO

Gillian's brother had been surprised when she knocked on the door, smiling, saying she had a free evening and had decided to stop by. Liz, his latest girlfriend, and accused was out, at a yoga practice.

"How are you David?" she asked as he handed her a cup of coffee and switched off the game on the TV. He nodded his head.

"I'm good. You?" Gillian wavered a little when she saw that he was lying.

"Yeah, things are ok," she said honestly.

"Only ok?" Gillian nodded.

"Few rough days. Cal's daughter was…attacked, walking home from a concert. I've been trying to keep him calm." David nodded, listening intently.

"Is she ok?" Gillian thought for a moment about how to answer that one.

"She will be. With some counselling."

"Are you doing it?"

"Oh no, god no. I'm way too close to be involved like that." It wasn't a lie. She'd shared a bed with Cal for the last couple of nights. There would be no such thing as patient confidentiality between them were she to do it. David nodded and it was then that Gillian noticed that he was very quiet.

"David what's wrong? You're awfully quiet." He looked at her, a curious look on his face, a flash of anger, suspicion. He swallowed hard.

"Why are you really here Gill?"

OXOXOX

Cal's head jerked up when he heard the doorbell. Zoe moved out of the kitchen to answer it. She shot him a warning look on her way out and he held up his hands in surrender. Emily smirked at him. Zoe lead Rick and his parents into the room and Cal stood up to shake their hands. He cast a long look at Rick who swallowed hard and bowed his head before moving to sit next to Emily. His parents sat on the couch and Cal pulled out a kitchen chair in such a place where he could see their faces. They were wealthy people, he'd known that from the start, the way the man held himself in his stance suggested he was ex-military. Zoe offered everyone tea or drinks and went about pouring. Emily helped her to bring them over. The silence was deafening. Eventually, when Zoe sat down, Rick's father spoke.

"This is, very, well it's quite an unpleasant circumstance to meet under," he swallowed hard , not able to look at either Zoe or Cal. Ricks' mother stepped in.

"We're very sorry for what happened to Emily. Rick is very ashamed and we're, well we're angry about it…"

"We always taught him to treat people with respect and he didn't do that and we're very sorry that this has happened as a result of that.." The father jumped back in again and Cal knew now that he was military. He glanced across at Rick who did indeed look ashamed but also a bit scared. He looked at Zoe who had no doubt seen the same as him. He cleared his throat.

"Look, we all, we make mistakes. We do things we shouldn't, lord knows I know that better than anybody…" Zoe raised an eyebrow at this but he ignored her, continuing, "…Rick made a mistake. I'll admit, yesterday I was ready to kill him over it and probably a little bit of me still is but, he doesn't need more punishment on top knowing what happened. So, Rick, much as it pains me and much as, I never thought I'd be able to, you're off the hook mate." He swallowed hard as he finished talking. If his parents hadn't been so lambasting of him, he'd probably have steamrolled the boy but he got the feeling he was getting that treatment at home. Gillian would be proud of him. He smiled inwardly to himself at that thought.

OXOXOXO

David McCall didn't react to Gillian's story the way she expected. She told him everything, how the case had made its way onto Cal's desk, how they both thought it was a hoax, how she remembered Sally Walters. He remained silent. Gillian suddenly thought to ask a question.

"David, did anything happen between you and Sally?"

"What? No? I haven't seen her since high school."

"So why is she suddenly here, making up these stories?" she asked, sitting forward in her seat. David took a deep breath.

"They're not exactly stories Gill…" Gillian's jaw dropped.

OXOXOXO

She couldn't ask him quickly enough to clarify what he'd just said. He swallowed hard and stood up, pacing the floor.

"It's nothing illegal. It's not abuse. It's just…foreplay." Gillian's eyes widened.

"Sorry?" she said though she had heard him alright. She guessed she didn't really know anything about her brother but she knew something about the women he had dated and judging from some of them she'd have been surprised if any of them knew what S&M translated as. She found it somewhat surreal to discover that her brother was partaking in it. David groaned opposite her.

"Gill…look, I'm not going into detail. It's something Liz and I do, that's all, ok?" Gillian nodded her head. She could accept that. It was his life, to what he pleased with it. A thought occurred to her then.

"David, it's just a thought but…Sally is making these stories up for a reason, why? Did you do anything to her? Or is she maybe, having a nervous collapse or something?" David sniffed and looked away from her, wringing his hands together. Gillian nodded. There was something.

"When we were dating in high school, she got pregnant," he said finally and Gillian's eyes widened.

"What? You were 16 when you dated her!" she knew that wasn't really the point of what he'd just told her but she was still shocked. He looked up at her quickly surprised at her outburst.

"Lets not go into what we did and didn't do when we were 16..." he said with a tone of threatening. Gillian nodded her head.

"What happened?" she asked neutrally.

"I ran of course. Remember, it was the year I went to stay with Billy and his uncle on their ranch? When I came back, she had had an abortion. Never told her parents. Couldn't tell me because I was away. That was, that was the last time we spoke, when she told me that." He sat back on the couch, sighing, it had obviously been a stretch for him to tell her that. She frowned.

"That was, what 20 years ago? Why is she doing this now?" David shook his head.

"I don't know." He was telling the truth. Gillian nodded, standing up.

"The Lightman Group is taking this case," she said abruptly and he stood up shaking his head.

"No, you're not. I don't want this dredged up. I just want to let it pass by. Liz doesn't need to know about all this."

"David, she made a complaint to the police. They brought the case to us because they didn't know how to handle it. If we drop it, she'll keep bringing it to the police until they investigate it and then it'll be worse. You don't need the publicity." She shook her head. He was an architect and a good one but even the most minor of sexual stories could sink a reputation, she knew that. This needed to be handled quickly and out of media eyes. David seemed to be seeing the light and he nodded his head, walking behind his sister to the doorway. She gave him a hug before opening the door. A thought suddenly occurred to David.

"Gill….when you said you were too close to be Cal's daughter's therapist, what did you mean? Gillian looked at him, mouth open, chest suddenly tight. She still didn't really know herself.

"It's complicated," she said finally and walked away.

OXOXOXO

Cal sat in the chair as Emily saw Rick and his parents to the door. He felt strangely subdued about it all. He hadn't lost the rag. He was sure Gillian would have money on him losing the rag if she was a betting woman. He smiled again as he realised he was using Gillian as his yardstick. Zoe came back into the room. She shot him a thin smile.

"I can't believe you didn't fly off the handle," she said picking up the cups and moving to the sink. He stood and picked up the rest of them, following her. He left them down beside the sink and leaned against the worktop.

"I'm just thinking the same thing myself…" he said, slightly dazed.

"Gillian must be having a good effect on you…" she said it coyly but Cal could hear the accusation in the tone. He looked at her.

"Eh?" She smirked.

"Come on Cal. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out yesterday. How long has that been going on?" Cal's eyes widened slightly, enough for her to catch it. He'd trained her well, damn it.

"I don't care Cal. I've got Roger, I'm happy. She obviously makes you happy so that's good…." Cal frowned again, definitely feeling like he'd missed the bigger picture here.

"You hate Gillian," he said pointedly and Zoe shook her head.

"I don't hate her. I was always somewhat wary of her, of how you two worked together, how you seemed to have your own little club that no one else could get into… I'll be honest Cal, for a while I blamed her for ruining our marriage." Cal raised his eyebrows and was about to speak but she cut him off.

"Now I blame you." She smirked, "and me. But I also accept the fact that if it was never going to work. Even with Emily, we were too…caustic to be near one another." She took a cup of the worktop and put it in the sink, turning the tap on and starting to wash it. Cal stood in silence, and shock, for a moment.

"You know, it's been going on for so long at this stage, I don't even know what it is," he said in answer to her first question. She looked up, eyebrow raised. He shrugged and she smiled.

"I'm sure you'll figure it out." He nodded as Emily came back into the kitchen, seeing her parents standing so close together.

"Oh god, you two are so not sleeping together while I'm in the house." Cal's eyes widened and he looked at his daughter.

"Oi! Less of the cheek. And less of the accusations and all. I'm was having a conversation with your mother here, and now I'm leaving, alright chaperone?" He stepped away from the counter top, grabbing Emily in a bear hug and rubbing his knuckles along her scalp causing her to yelp.

"Ow! Dad, cut it out." He let go of her, a grin on his face as he headed for the doorway, Emily following him.

"See you later Zo," he shouted from the hallway and she called her own goodbye back to him. He kissed Emily's forehead as he stepped out onto the porch.

"I'll call you tomorrow, ok?" he said and she nodded. With that he wheeled on his heels and headed for the car.

OXOXOXO

Gillian pushed the button to lock her car as she stepped up the first step to her apartment. She was fumbling in her bag for her house keys when the first blow hit her, on the back of the head. She cried out but knew before she did that no one would come. The street was always empty, always safe. As she turned on the ground, she saw two dark figures standing over her, faces uncovered but they had hit her so hard that her vision was blurry. They reached down and dragged her up the steps to her doorway, she screamed even though she knew no one would come. They didn't try to silence her. That was the only thing that gave her hope that they wouldn't kill her. She swung out with her foot but one of them leaned down and punched her across the jaw. The other kicked her in the ribs and all she could do then was cover her head and wait for it to be over…

Gillian wasn't sure how much time had passed when they stopped hitting her. She knew her head and body hurt. She didn't look up. She heard them press the buttons next to her front door and then the sound of footsteps walking away. She opened her eyes to see the back of their heads as they walked away down the road, in no hurry.

She came to her senses a bit more as she heard an exclamation from the doorway. Tom, one of her neighbours from downstairs had come out at the sound of the door bell.

"Oh my god Gillian! Tanya, call an ambulance," he called back in the door as he moved to help her sit up. She put her hand to her head and felt the trickle of warm blood. Tom was sifting through her handbag and pulled out her cell.

"Who should I call?" he asked, looking through her address book. Gillian swallowed. It hurt. She closed her eyes thinking this was the last thing anyone around her needed right now. She must have zoned out because when Tom's hand fell on her shoulder again, it startled her. Finally she looked at him.

"Cal," she said, "Call Cal."

OXOXOXO

Ok there was a slight change made to Gillian's age in the last chapter thanks to Onesweetlove's clarification (thank you!)

More to come. PS – I'm making this up as I go along…