A/N: For the general setting of the story see the A/N of the prologue. This chapter is written alternately from Gillian's and Cal's point of view and begins right where the last one ended. It was a lot of fun to write Cal and Gillian getting closer without the restrictions of the show, without them knowing and dancing around each other for so many years. Rating for content. Strong T or even light M regarding the last part.

Moreover, this is a shout-out to those of you who have constantly supported me throughout this story (and beyond) – no matter whether you reviewed, PM'ed me or tweeted: Roadrunnerz, jenron12, Beloved-the-Fool, NElaineR, Depends-On-The-Lie, ChloeTK, thousand-miles: If it weren't for you, I would enjoy writing and posting LTM stories only half as much. Thanks a bunch!

The usual disclaimer applies (see prologue).

- Home -

Gillian has been telling herself that she missed Cal because of their newly found friendship. She doesn't trust people easily, but somehow he has made it to the top of her list within the short time span they have been knowing each other. Moreover, he is a scientist, an expert in reading people. She also missed their interesting, controversial discussions. Here and now, though, when he is standing right in front of her, she accepts that all she has been doing was deliberately denying the obvious. Most of all, she missed Cal because she has fallen for him hook, line and sinker. Sometime in the middle of their assignment while they were feigning therapy sessions and she was ending her engagement, sometime amidst the riot, the fake attack and his almost death, it happened and there is absolutely nothing she can do about it. Not that she wants to. Gillian is not the kind of woman to exchange one man for the other, but the last weeks have shown her that life didn't hesitate to seemingly arbitrarily confront her with situations she never would have imagined to have to live through and that she is capable of doing things she never considered possible. And if there was one good thing among the many terrible occurrences, than it's that she met Cal.

There is a radiant smile on her face; she can feel it and he doesn't need to be an expert to read it. Gillian is about to close the distance between them and hug Cal when she realizes that he doesn't smile back at her. He is lingering, neither coming closer nor leaving again, his body swaying back and forth as if he can't decide what is the right thing to do.

"How's your head?" she reaches out to touch his cheek, carefully, of course, because of the bruises, but he flinches and she pulls her hand back.

"I'm just glad you're alright." Gillian's expert knowledge steps in. She sees a man deeply disturbed by something. She doesn't understand why though. He is the pro, for sure had experienced situations much worse than what happened in prison. Yet, there seems to be a role reversal; she seems to handle the fallout much better than he.

At least this gets her an answer. "Yeah. Glad you're alright, too," he says, but that's not what he means. Cal doesn't think she's alright. He couldn't even look her in the eye when he finished the sentence. Cal looks down and then back at her, inclining his head sideways. His facial expression is tense, his eyes narrowed to slits, when he eventually admits what is bothering him, "Are you? Alright? I mean... you can't be considering what happened."

"I'm OK. You saved me. Don't you remember?" Gillian reaches out again, touching his arm, and this time he doesn't flinch. The contact causes her pulse to quicken. The urge to throw herself in his arms and engulf him in a hug, if only to assure herself of his physical presence, is ridiculous.

Cal makes a face. "Oh, I remember. Quite accurately, I'd say. Not much saving going on. Mostly nasty things."

Of course. Being a psychologist, she should have known immediately, but Gillian has a hard time thinking as an expert when he is so close. Cal feels guilty because of what he did. The feigned attack.

She holds his gaze. It hurts her to see him suffer. What happened, happened. There was no other choice; she doesn't hold a grudge against him. Au contraire. "I'm fine," Gillian assures him. "Nothing you did was wrong or hurt me in any way."

Well, physically speaking, it's a lie. What Cal did, hurt her. The way he grabbed her, shoved her on the couch and launched himself on her was painful, albeit feigned. This is about the emotional aftermath though. And the mere knowledge what would have happened if he hadn't acted like he did, lets the pain caused by the minor injuries his actions inflicted on her disappear in an instant. She is here, overall unharmed, let alone alive, because of him.

"It's the truth. Just read me."

His look that has been erratically jumping to and fro between her and everywhere else finally rests on her face and he relaxes.

Gillian understands that what happened has been bothering Cal. She just doesn't understand why it affected him that much. Again, he is the pro; he for sure had experienced situations much worse unless... Maybe she is not the only one having trouble thinking straight when they are that close. There is only one way to find out.

"Why are you really here? What do you want?"

After all they have been through, she doesn't intend to waste time on vague periphrases. If he is here because of what she believes, if he is here for her, then he can have her.

He wanted to see her so bad. Three days rarely have been dragging on for so long. But he couldn't. At least not immediately. Ending the assignment properly had to take top priority. After they had escaped from prison, so to speak, he and Hines talked the contingencies through. Fortunately, they didn't need to activate another fallback plan when Banida was first released from custody and then arrested again shortly after, this time for serious crimes. With Banida behind bars, Cal's decision to get out of prison was considered an acceptable move given that he plausibly attested that his cover otherwise would have been blown during the riot (and they had to make it solely his decision because Hines couldn't be involved). Cal gave no explanation for Donny's death, pretended the inmate had been alive when he left. There is no explanation needed. People die during riots. Case closed.

Technically speaking, Cal could have gone to see Gillian as soon as Banida had been arrested and the mission was formally over. There were no restrictions holding him back anymore. No matter how badly he wanted to see her, though, he deferred it until they both had given their statements, until he had no further argument to delay the inevitable.

The one image Cal couldn't get out of his head was Gillian standing in the backyard at night. He had hated to leave her like that, looking so fragile and lonely. He knows she is not fragile; she proved it to him more than once but as many flaws as he might have, to his credit Cal is fiercely protective when it comes to the people closest to him. Save that he hadn't realized that Gillian had made it quietly and unobtrusively among this handful of people in his life until he couldn't get rid of this image of her. And that again let him discern that going to see her wouldn't just be about checking on her as part of bringing their assignment to an end. It would be about... more. And more combined with Cal Lightman unavoidably means a potential risk. Hasn't he endangered and harmed her enough already?

He went to see her, either way, couldn't stay away from her any longer. On his way to Gillian's office, Cal made a deal with himself. If he saw even the tiniest micro expression of discomfort or hesitation in her face due to his presence, he would just check on her, leave and never come back. Cal Lightman, deception expert, knows exactly what he is doing; it is only more comfortable to push the awareness to the back of his mind. He will let Gillian decide whether she wants him to stay or to leave, ignoring that you can't make a decision in all objectivity if you merely know half of the facts.

Gillian doesn't know that he is a train wreck when it comes to relationships or that he enjoys a little too much to put himself in danger. Cal's track record regarding women includes countless affairs, a failed marriage, and no serious relationship after that. The only functioning long-term commitment in his entire life is the one to his daughter. It's okay with him; Cal doesn't want or need more. When he met Gillian, though, it was as if he suddenly was offered the chance to learn a foreign language he always wanted to speak. It was different. She is different. He can't miss this chance. Provided she lets him take it. He only has to make sure that the darkness that surrounds parts of his life won't seep in hers, poisoning what he considers to be her pure soul. It's a bit overly dramatic, but that's what it felt like when he tried to get her out of prison during the riot. Gillian simply didn't belong there, even not as a psychologist, even if it is her profession, her entire personality a living contradiction to the rottenness of that place. It's this essence of her that draws Cal to her the most – well, aside from the fact that she is intelligent and beautiful.

Cal can tell Gillian expected someone else, wondering whether she has been thinking of him at all other than in the context of the horrible incidents in prison. After he knocked at her door and her distant yes gave him permission to enter, she doesn't even look in his direction, only sees him when she is about to go out. The moment she realizes it's him, there is no micro expression of discomfort, hesitation, or anything that would force him to stick by his deal and leave. On the contrary. Gillian is delighted to see him and wants him to stay. It is there. Everywhere. In her smile when she catches sight of him, in her touch when she reaches out, and in her eyes when she looks squarely into his.

Why are you really here? What do you want?

Her pupils are dilated. If he checked her pulse, Cal is certain it would be quick, her skin slightly burning up. Sexual arousal. He can't believe it. Any objective observer wouldn't notice it because on the surface Gillian acts as friendly and warm-hearted as he has gotten to know her. However, he can see right through her. Gillian is attracted to him and she wants him to know it. Cal has no idea what he possibly could have done to deserve that.

He reaches out and touches the back of her neck. It is a brazen move and he wouldn't have done it if he hadn't seen what she offered of her own accord. Gillian catches her breath; perhaps she thinks he will kiss her, but that's not what Cal has in mind. At least not yet. She doesn't move, her eyes dropping to his lips when he speaks.

"I want to show you something."

They are sitting at Cal's dining table. Gillian didn't hesitate to follow him home when he asked her. It was an emotionally charged moment between them after her question why he had come to see her and what he wanted. His answer that he wanted to show her something could have been innuendo, but his tone of voice told her that it wasn't. Cal actually wanted to show her something. Something that meant a lot to him.

She was surprised to find out that he lives in a house. Somehow, Gillian had envisioned his home to be a furnished studio flat, a place where he doesn't spend much time due to his job. Well, obviously she had been taken in by cliché. Cal is not the lonely wolf she imagined him to be. He must have caught her surprise because although she didn't comment on it, he explained that his ex-wife, Zoe, and he had bought the house and that he had kept it as part of their divorce settlement so that his daughter, Emily, can sleep in her old room when she visits him. Zoe and Emily... Cal hadn't told her their names when he had mentioned his family in prison, had kept the information about them to a minimum. For a brief moment, Gillian pictured Cal with another woman, a little girl walking between them, and felt an unexpected stab of jealousy and loss. Cal has a family. Even if he is divorced, his daughter will always form a bond between him and his ex-wife whereas she, on the other hand, has nothing, her plans to marry and have children dashed. It was an irrational thought; Gillian was aware of it. She decided to leave Alec. She wants to be here with Cal instead. And yet, it was another proof that life as Gillian had known it, doesn't exist any longer.

There was no time to wallow in shattered memories though. Cal took out his laptop and showed her the feed of a surveillance camera. Right now, Gillian is still looking at it, not sure what it is that he wants her to see. It seems to be the entrance area of a mall. Apparently, this is no digital recording; they are looking at it in real time. Gillian avoids to think about the fact that Cal most likely hacked into the security system of the mall to show it to her. Or perhaps this feature comes with the standard equipment of undercover agents. Cal looks at his watch, then at the screen. It's Friday afternoon; the mall is crowed. People are hurrying past or strolling. Women, men, children, a bunch of teenagers having fun.

"Now."

Cal stops the feed to a freeze frame as Gillian looks alternately at him and the screen.

"What is it? What do you want me to see?"

"That." Cal points at a toddler, sleeping in a buggy. "And that." He points at an elderly couple, holding hands. "Because without you they would all be dead by now."

She stares at him. "I don't understand."

"5:30 PM. That's when the bomb was supposed to explode."

Gillian knows that the aim of their assignment was to prevent a terrorist attack. Cal told her, not Hines. If it had been up to her superiors, they would have kept her in the dark.

"Oh my God!" She lets the information sink in, covering her mouth with her hand while surveying the freeze image. So many people. So many innocent lives.

They hadn't known it was such a close call, Cal tells her. In the end, it wasn't even a question of days but hours. The attack would have taken place today. Hundreds of people would have been killed and injured if their mission hadn't been successful.

Gillian feels Cal looking at her, but she can't tear her eyes away from the screen. His hand is resting on her shoulder and she grasps it.

"Thank you for showing me that."

She understands now why it was so important to him. No matter how horrible the things were that happened, knowing how many lives they saved helps to put things in perspective and not lose sight of the big picture.

For a moment, they just sit there together in silence. Then Cal gets fidgety. He doesn't stand up, though, remains sitting next to her as if he is not sure about what should happen next. It would be the proper moment to leave, but leaving him and going home to her empty apartment is the last thing on Gillian's mind. During the last days she has been shaken, has been dealing with the aftermath of everything that's happened plus Cal's absence that felt like a void in her life. Here and now, she feels perfectly calm. The big picture. The bad things in prison had to happen so that they could save all those people. The bad things in her life had to happen so that she could not only meet Cal but let him in her life. A life that has been moving fast forward lately until it came to a halt along with the freeze frame.

"Are you hungry?" Cal eventually breaks the silence, even more fidgety than before. He stands up, perhaps to go to the kitchen and get her something in case she says yes, but her answer stops him.

"No." Gillian shakes her head. A thought crosses her mind. "You know, you could have brought your laptop to my office and shown me there."

"Nah." He shakes his head, grinning broadly. "Not a good idea to use the office WiFi for that." So he did hack into the security system of the mall.

"And even better because it brought me here."

He tilts his head back; she can tell that he is trying to read her.

The Gillian Foster from a few weeks ago would have never done this, would have come up with a million arguments why it is wrong to do what she is about to do. As it is, she can't think of one single argument that could convince her to stop.

She stands up. Cal is right next to her, mesmerized by something he sees in her face, taking her appearance in. She is wearing a wrap dress. As she gets closer, she loosens the belt so that the sheer fabric slides apart and reveals what's underneath.

Cal doesn't even know where to begin. He saw it in her face, but he thought he must have been mistaken. She couldn't... Then she made that smooth, almost casual move that caused the fabric of her dress to gape open and... Wow. This is sexy. She is sexy. It's not only about the silk and lace and skin he sees though. The desire in her face turns him on even more. There was a brief insecurity when she reached for her belt, but it is gone now.

Gillian puts the laptop aside to make room on the table, half sitting down on it as she gives his shirt a tug, indicating that she wants him closer to her.

"I don't usually do this," she breathes. Oh, he can tell that by the myriad of emotions reflected on her face.

"I do," he admits. "But not with a woman like you."

He didn't say it to make her go on. His words seem to erase some last doubts she might have had though. There is another tug at his shirt, so soft that he almost doesn't notice it until his body makes another step forward so that he is placed right between her legs, his hands slipping under her dress as she kisses him.

This is no quickie. At least not in the classical sense. No hurried, rough sex in a frenzy to fulfill a physical need albeit the way she offers herself to him implicates that she doesn't want a slow seduction either. Cal breaks their kiss to look at Gillian, his hands resting on her knees for a moment before he lets them wander upwards along her upper thighs. Her pupils are almost black by now. The way his touch affects her breathing tells him that foreplay will be skipped today. All of his senses are highly keen, and obviously, she feels the same way. It's intense. What happens between them feels like a natural conclusion of the whirlwind of activity during the last days and weeks. They both need this.

"Take it off," she mumbles, tugging at his shirt. He does while she is fumbling around with his belt.

There is no further undressing. Underwear is pushed aside as far as necessary. Gillian doesn't lean back but clings to him so that Cal can feel her heartbeat racing as their bodies move – erratically first until they fall in step.

Gillian seems to be into kissing. She only abandons his lips whenever she needs to take a breath, her throaty moans an electrifying tune. When he slightly shifts position, though, she holds her breath.

"Don't move," she whispers.

At this point, it takes a great deal of self-restraint to fulfill her desire, but somehow Cal manages to do so. Especially since he knows the reason for it. Her thighs are trembling. Gillian is on the edge, trying to prolong her pleasure. For once, she doesn't kiss him; her mouth is next to his ear, her pants for breath a sensual overdose.

"Gill..." He is not sure how long he will be able to keep this up. She is not the only one fighting for self-control.

Cal intended to say her name but somehow ended up with this short version that sounds like a term of endearment. He could get used to it. Almost certainly when it does things like that to her. The moment Gillian hears him say it, she comes undone, taking him along. She cocks her head, her upper body arching towards his. Gillian might have said his name, too, or maybe it was just wishful thinking. There is a whirring in Cal's ears as his body calms down after the rapture, his arms wrapped around her, holding her upright. He inhales her perfume and remembers that it was the first thing he noticed when he opened the door to her office. She always wears the same perfume; his memory is already conditioned to think of her whenever he scents it.

When he stood there, in front of her office door, he doubted about whether to knock or not. The doubts are still there. Cal could name many reasons why he should have known better than to let Gillian come that close to him. For her sake, of course. But all this doesn't matter right now. Not when he feels like he hasn't been feeling for a long time – as if he got home after having been out there in the cold for much too long.

- To be continued -

Next chapter: More Callian plus probably the first steps towards the next storyline that will lead to the explosion.

Updates might get a bit irregular due to my upcoming work schedule. Just so you know. The story will definitely continue.