It didn't make any sense, but he had given up on that happening over the past couple of days.

The night after his first arrest he had slept, not the best of sleep but still managed to get some rest. As incredible as it might have sounded, he had had little to no trouble catching sleep in jail despite the tension, the many noises around him and the total lack of privacy. Perhaps it had been a self-defence mechanism, his brain more than happy to take the opportunity to shut down instead of going into overdrive with worry and conjectures, with fears that maybe things were not going to work out and even if they did it might come at the cost of losing the woman he loved, that he would a free man but a lonely one too and that-

Oh yeah, definitely a defence mechanism! Fifteen minutes after what they called breakfast in there and he was already spiralling back into it, in no way tamed in his paranoia by the vague knowledge some kind of plan had been put in motion to get him out of there. And yet even the previous night he had slept, hanging in the always dangerous balance of hope and caution with the added layer of impotence of someone who could do nothing but wait.

Bored, worried, tensed and everything in between, Cal sighed and laid back on the bed closing his eyes not to stare at the mouldy ceiling, hoping for some reason sleep would find him again. It didn't, he wished it was that simple, but he kept lying there waiting for something to happen because that was what people in prison did, not budging even when the loud shriek of the thick metal door at the beginning of the corridor resonated in the confined space. Cal knew what was coming, at that time of the day the sound was usually followed by the heavy footsteps of the guards' boots coming down the hallway, calling out the prisoners' names even though they could clearly see through the bars whether they were still in their cells, as if someone could really pull out a magical escape from the canteen next door.

"Lightman."

A booming male voice he hadn't heard before from any of the guards called out his name, stopping in front of his cell judging by the tone of it.

"Here," Cal answered with a huff, still sprawled down on the bed with his eyes closed.

"Lightman!"

The voice repeated, rather aggressively this time, and Cal groaned as he had to gather all of his self-control not to overreact and piss off the man with the baton and pepper spray.

"Present and account for, sir."

He responded again, this time with a fake military inflection that might have easily annoyed the person on the other side of the bars if they had been receiving any of their training. But he did start to stand up for good measure, somehow he had managed not to aggravate anybody while in there and he didn't want to change that if he could help it. But he also couldn't help being himself.

"Did I just get invisible there for a moment? That's be good to know 'cause I could-"

When he finally opened his eyes and found Gillian standing next to guard, Cal nearly fell over backwards, and immediately understood why she was grinning from ear to ear as she locked eyes with him. She always found it incredibly amusing, when he made a complete fool of himself.

And it was a lot easier to laugh about it when she was bearing good news.

Gillian's brief visit behind the metal door had been mostly just for show, to give Cal the time to take in the news that he was a free man and mentally prepare for his release. She would have loved to be able to get in the cell with him, sit with him on the thin mattress and hold his hand while she told him all about Huertas' performance, about the recording and how Teller and Ford had boasted about their drug dealing side hustle, about how they had laughed about framing him as if it was the funniest joke. She had wanted nothing more than to spend that little precious moment with him right there, in a space that he was probably never going to forget easily so that the story of how he had regained his freedom could exorcise the bad vibes and cleanse him ahead of his release.

But a prison wasn't a place for emotionally charged displays like that, and it had been mainly due to Zoe's familiarity with the environment that she had been given permission to deliver the good news to Cal in person. There had been no time for details and long speeches, but they were both ok with that because all the rush was about starting the paperwork and getting him out of there.

Just a bit more than one hour after that visit, Gillian, Emily and Zoe were waiting in the main lobby, sitting close together with their eyes fixed on the gate he was supposed to come through. Huertas was there too, standing in a corner and chatting away with one of the guards, glad to have been included but knowing it wasn't really his moment. He had had his, with the recording and in the hours following that, when he had led the conversation with Detective Bennet first, listing the obvious reasons why Cal had to be released and all charges dropped, and then with IA as he had clued them in on the dirty adventures of Teller & Ford. Apparently, no matter the way the case was being built the police had been glad to have good reasons to drop the investigation on a man who frequently helped them look good, and things had been set in motion for Cal's release.

Eventually, somewhere beyond the gate they couldn't see a siren buzzed and automatic doors opened and closed. Emily stood up first, taking her mother with her by the hand and then glancing over at Gillian, almost apologising for thinking about going ahead. Gillian smiled and shook her head. She really didn't care about the order as long as she got to hold him at some point and, most importantly, go home with him. Then Cal appeared, no longer with the hideous orange jumpsuit and the hobbling walking but back in black and with his trademark strut and a big grin on his face, which grew even bigger when he spotted the trio waiting for him on the other side of the last gate.

It took all but one minute to get past the last hurdle, the last check and a quick word with the guards as the last barrier opened and closed, but to Cal it felt like forever and when he finally made it through he pretty much raced his daughter on who got to hugging point first. Emily nearly jumped into his arms and Cal held her desperately, not noticing the way both Gillian and Zoe looked at their reunion fondly. When father and daughter broke apart from the embrace they still held on tight, Emily squishing his face in her hands and Cal trying to smile so that she wouldn't cry. Then Zoe stepped forward, acting on Gillian's nod of encouragement as she was well aware that family came first, exchanging a brief half hug with Cal as he thanked for the support while still holding Emily with one arm. Next up to bat was Huertas, him too taking the cue from Gillian to have his moment, exchanging words of gratitude with Cal as the men acknowledged how they had saved each other in the end.

And then there was Gillian.

Emily snuck in another hug and smooched a kiss on his cheek, then discreetly stepped aside and cleared the way between them. They didn't need any additional encouragement or prompt, they just stepped forward and walked ahead until they met and melted into a chaste yet intense embrace that made a few people look away in sudden embarrassment.

"I'd never thought I'd be so happy to see you in your boring all black again," she whispered in his ear, and Cal immediately tightened his arms around her with a soft moan, losing his face in her hair.

When they broke apart they looked at each for a long time, so deeply and intensely that some of those around them nearly felt like starting to take bets on a coming kiss. They thought about it, they haven't had a good one in days and it was long overdue, but they seemed to realise that the lobby of a prison wasn't quite the best place for it.

"Lightman!" Out of nowhere, a Sergeant barked at him from a desk behind the glass, showing a log and a pen. "You have to sign out to get out."

"Don't mind if I do!"

Cal quipped with a chuckle, then gave Gilllain a quick kiss on her cheek and trotted over to the desk. She rolled her eyes at what was probably inopportune behaviour, then walked closer as Emily did the same with curiosity in her eyes; it clearly was a lot easier to peek into what was going on behind the scenes on a place like that when she knew she didn't have to go back there to visit her father.

"What's that, Dad?" The girl asked, watching him sign paper after paper.

"My release papers, love," he explained absently, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"Do they say you didn't do anything wrong and that you're innocent?"

Cal smirked as he got the last page, focused on the signing but very much listening to her.

"In so many words," he chuckled, then signed the last one with all the theatrics he could think of before handing everything back to the officer.

"Can I have a copy?"

She asked then, talking to the Sergeant directly in a way that made the adults around her gasp. Instead, whether it was out of boredom or amusement, the officer removed from the pile the copy they were indeed entitled to and gave it to her. Emilly thanked him and grabbed the papers, triumphant, looking at them with a big smile on her face as if she had just been given the map to the hidden treasure.

"I'm gonna get this framed," she declared then, but Cal chuckled and took them away from her with a slow gesture.

"I think these should go to your mother, Em," he suggested, then kissed the top of her head and smiled at her frown. "But I like the sentiment, thanks love."

The last bit and the last signature requested of Cal was to get back his personal effects, all the belongings he had on him aside from his clothes when he had been incarcerated. The Sergeant told him to wait and while they did Emily was back on her curious mode, absently playing around with the big brown envelope like a kitten.

"What's this?" She asked, poking at it with a finger.

"My personal effects, emphasis on personal."

Emily scrutinised the envelope and picked it up, weighting it in her hands under Cal's amused eyes.

"It's big," she noted. "And heavy! And you always complain about women carrying too much crap with them."

"Oi, language!" He admonished her, then passed the papers back and turned around to face her with his hand out. "Right then, can I have my crap?"

"Hold on Dad, I want to see what's in here."

"Maybe we save it for later?" Gillian stepped in with a friendly suggestion, looking around. "I think these kind officers here have other things to get to."

"That's an idea, thanks darling." Cal agreed wholeheartedly, trying to get the envelope from his daughter and moaning when the girl dribbled away from him.

"C'mon, just a minute," Emily carried on, walking over to an empty desk and already tugging at the seals of the envelope. "You'll need your wallet right?"

"I'm pretty sure I'm not the one driving right now Em, that can wait." He tried to talk her out of it again, still trying to get hold of the object with increasing urge.

"I really think your father would like to go home now more than anything, Emily."
"That! Very right love, thank you. C'mon on Em, give it here."

"Well, you have to make sure you got all your stuff back anyway, right?"

She was relentless, and Cal and Gillian started exchanging panicked looks because with Emiy fingers now undoing the gluey seal their last resort was to snatch the envelope out of her hands. Then she really did it, opened the envelope and peeked inside and Cal moved as quickly as he could to get there before it was too late when she flipped it over with the intention to dump the contents on the table. But he didn't make it in time, he caught sight of the first objects landing on the flat surface and cursed in his mind, throwing a quick look at Gillian who looked as lost as terrified as he was.

One more to go, not that many seem to care..