Cal woke before her the next morning. He got dressed and set about making breakfast. Then he called the office and left a message with Heidi that he would be late in today if he came in at all. He told her Gillian was taking the day off. Then, while he waited for the bacon to grill, he called Ben.

"I want a word with your boss," he said before Ben had even got the chance to say a single word.

"Why? He look funny at you or something?" Ben replied irritably. He was sick of being the punch bag between Cal and the FBI. Cal swallowed.

"No, he refused to put someone watching Gillian's house and as a result of that she got beaten to a bloody pulp last night…"

"What?" Cal let the statement sink in. Ben babbled a bit on the other line until Cal silenced him.

"Get him in my office. Today." He could hear the strain in Ben's voice before he finally agreed and hung up, saying to give Gillian his best. Cal went back to making breakfast.

OXOXOXO

When Gillian woke she became aware of three things. One, she was late for work. Two, she could smell food and three, she was in dreadful pain. Her ribs ached and her back was out in sympathy. When she squinted her eyes in the light, the bruising on her face ached as well. She felt like crying but was too proud to let Cal see her like that. So she slowly stood up and made her way downstairs, heading towards the appealing smell of greasy breakfast food.

Cal looked up when he saw her and moved to pour coffee for her.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, handing her the mug and a plate of bacon and eggs. She thanked him and sat down, shrugging.

"Sore. Useless." Cal shot her a warning glance and she shrugged. What else was she supposed to feel? Cal sipped his tea and took another bite of his toast.

"I just got a text from Ben. He's on the warpath, do you think you'd recognise them if you saw them again?" She shook her head and took a sip of her coffee.

"They had me on the ground so fast, my vision blurred. I don't think I'd recognise them. I didn't really see them to begin with…" He nodded and she took a bite of her bacon and some toast. They sat silently for a moment until finally Gillian spoke again, in a small voice.

"This is serious Cal. We've landed on something that's way too complicated for either of us to handle." Cal wondered how true that was. He nodded anyway to keep her content.

"Yeah. It doesn't look good." He was telling the truth with that one.

"I hate to say it but…I'm scared Cal." At this he stood up, walking around the table and sitting down on the stool next to hers. He brought his hand to her head, rested it on her hair. He kissed her temple softly.

"I know. But don't be. You can stay here for as long as you want. Or if you don't want to stay here, I'll stay with you. We'll be fine Gill. I just need to rethink some things…" He stroked her hair again.

"Like what?"

"I don't know. But you're right Gill, this is dangerous. Honestly, I can only see two options for how to get through it. And I don't like either of them." He sipped his tea and she could tell he was deep in thought. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the two bottles of painkillers that the hospital had given her. She took one of each.

"What are our options?" she asked, letting her hand fall to his thigh. He took a deep breath.

"Crazy and sickening," he said, punctuating each of them to clarify his point. She smirked. That sounded like him.

"I want to talk to Ben and the FBI about the likelihood of a sting or some movement against these guys that might take them down. I don't know how likely that is but, it's worth a try I think." Gillian nodded her head slowly, thinking through the likelihood of something like that working. It was feasible she reckoned.

"Which one is that, 'crazy' or 'sickening'?" she chuckled though she knew it was far from laughable.

"That one's 'crazy'. 'Sickening' is…sickening is dropping the charges against Gerardo. As something of a truce." Gillian looked up at his stony face and she knew straight away that his insides were twisting in knots. The very idea that Gerardo could get away with what he did to Emily killed him. But she could see the logic in his head playing out on his face. He thought he was putting everyone else around him in danger by insisting on the charges being brought against Gerardo. Gillian could see how torn he was. She squeezed his leg supportively and he smiled sadly back at her. He leaned in slowly and his lips found hers in a soft kiss. It was a chaste kiss, nothing like the ones they'd shared two nights ago but somehow it struck Gillian harder than they had.

"Whatever you need to do," she said softly and he nodded.

"I think I need to go to the office," he said quietly. He didn't tell her he'd already arranged to meet Ben and his AD there. She could read it off his face. She nodded her head.

"I'm coming with you." He looked up at her, eyebrow raised. She gave him a warning look.

"Don't even think about telling me not to. I want to get Loker and Torres working on something for me." Cal frowned.

"What is it?"

"My brother's case." Cal's eyebrows raised.

"There's actually a case?" he asked, genuine surprise flashing across his face. He'd assumed they had a hoax and that was that. She nodded her head.

"I'll tell you the details later but yeah, there is a case. It's just not the one we thought it was." He nodded his head standing up. She followed suit, smiling when his hand flew behind her to make sure he was there to steady her. She moved out of the kitchen to go get dressed while Cal cleaned up. He was dressed in usual jeans and black so he was more or less ready to go. Gillian returned about 15 minutes later in the sweats she'd worn the night before. She'd taken a grey sweater from his wardrobe. Her own had been stained in blood and disposed of in the hospital. His fit her ok and he couldn't help but think, even black and blue, he could get used to seeing her wearing his clothes, leaving her scent on them for when he came along to put them on after.

"I'm ready," she said it quickly and he nodded, picking his keys up off the table and heading for the door, arm trailing behind her still, supportive, protective. She still found it endearing. Maybe it was because after last night she really did feel like she needed protecting.

OXOXOXO

She settled herself into the car and tried not to think about the pain for the ten minute car journey they had. Her back and ribs were aching even though she had taken her painkillers. She'd brought the bottles with her but didn't want to take more yet. For his part, Cal noticed her shifting uncomfortably in the seat.

"You alright?" he said as he pulled into the carpark under their building. She nodded her head quickly, glad that she would be out of the car soon. AS he parked she threw open the door and stepped out, stretching her back carefully. He darted around the front of the car, his hand catching her elbow and shoulder.

"Gill, I really don't think you should be going in here." She turned and shot him a look that made him hold his hands in surrender.

"Okay, sorry." He locked the car and followed her to the lift. He pushed the button and cast a glance at her. She'd only had whatever makeup was in her bag to try and cover her bruising but it wasn't very convincing. The first person who stared upstairs would be fired.

OXOXOXO

Ok, seemed like the place to leave off. More to come soon. Thanking you all for your reviews – you guys are awesome!

Divakat made a point about putting in another story (that of Gillian's brother) and in hindsight now I'm sorry I did put it in as there's too much going on in the other one but I'll figure out what to do with it in due course. There's still lots more in the story relating to Emily so don't worry!