Hello! Thank you so much to all those who are taking the time to share their thoughts, it's been a while since I wrote something and I'm really nervous about this story in particular
Tina: glad to hear you could see Burns behaving like this, I admit that since we didn't get to see his character more I didn't have much to work on and it was a risky move. You mean to tell me you've been re-reading my old stories?!
Guest: I was as worried as writing Burns as I was to write Cal so understanding here. I do feel like he'd be able to see how Burns might feel, from what we saw in the show he really was a mess when Zoe left, he clearly was emotionally scarred and couldn't help himself in his own way the first few times she came back. Of course, Gillian is always his priority
4
When she woke up the morning after, just a few hours after Burns' impromptu visit, Gillian felt a bit disoriented and out of sorts, but when she quickly realised why a smile came up to her face and she rolled on her back, removing the sleeping mask with a relaxed sigh. She had spent a number of nights at Cal's since they had gotten together, and almost all had been a quiet affair of deep sleep and occasional cuddling, especially thanks to her own sleep devices. She always felt safe and cherished, never questioning when she woke up with his entire body wrapped around hers or feeling annoyed but some light snoring coming from him. And that was why she realised something was off that morning, because she had gotten so accustomed to waking up next to him, no matter what, that coming to a half empty bed just didn't feel right.
But if that was the only thing she had to worry about, strongly mitigated by the sound of running water coming from the bathroom in the room, Gillian knew she could easily live with it.
Still smiling, she lazily rolled on her right side to look over at the bathroom. The door was open and she could see Cal leaning over the sink, staring at the reflection of his own freshly washed face but with a level of focus that peeked Gillian's attention.
"Damnit!" Cal mumbled then, carefully touching his left cheek.
Gillian immediately frowned and propped up on her elbow.
"What's wrong?"
"The bruise from last night," he sighed with a light head-shake. "It's pretty much gone already."
"And that's a bad thing because?"
"Well," Cal huffed, honestly disconsolate, and walked back to the bed to sit on the edge close to her. "A man likes to show off his war wounds, especially when they are about a lady."
Gillian rolled her eyes at him first but then came closer and wrapped one arm around him, talking softly in his ear.
"You're taking all of this rather lighty," she observed, catching the smirk on his face before he kissed her lips. "Why?"
"Why wouldn't I?" He shrugged and turned towards her, moving some hair away from her forehead. "I'm the good understanding boyfriend gracefully putting up with this."
"You keep talking like this and maybe I'll give you a proper shiner."
Cal laughed at her sweet threat, honestly relieved that she would joke along. He had woken up that morning with the intention to leave the events of the day before behind, only interested in moving forward and not let that glitch affect their relationship. Of course he had taken into consideration the possibility that Gillian would not feel the same about it, but her reaction showed him she too didn't want to linger on something that she considered a closed matter.
He wasn't going to push further, holding back a snarky reply and instead opting to lean forward and kiss her again, this time properly, rejoicing when he felt her hands coming up to the back of his neck and pulling him down to her.
Good thing I woke up so early! He thought to himself, triumphantly, as the make-out session became more intense and the few items of clothing between them were removed. He had never been a morning person, but since dating Gillian he had discovered the many perks of getting up a little earlier than usual. At work they were cautious not to get too touchy, they were the bosses and they didn't want to make things awkward for their employees or inopportune for clients, and sometimes they went an entire day with little to no interaction. In that scenario, starting the day with a little kick was certainly something he could appreciate, especially when he had realised how much more responsive Gillian was first thing in the morning.
Afterwards, they had to give up on cuddling time and start to get ready for work, going through the motions of the morning routine with ease and never bringing up the events of the night before. But when they walked into the office, ready to tackle another busy idea and discuss the agenda, Loker's stunned reaction to their arrival broke the calm surface.
"Whoa!" The young man exclaimed as he stared at Cal's face. "What's that?!"
"See?" Cal wiggled his eyebrow at Gillian, all happy about his fading bruise getting attention, then he went back to Loker. "Got a little night visit from a heartbroken man, he looked worse in the end."
"Interesting," Foster mumbled absently as she checked her messages. "I do remember you saying that you got lucky he was drunk."
"Well I took care of it now, didn't I?" Cal grumbled, suddenly all but-hurt and much to Gillian's amusement. Then he once again addressed Loker, feeling it was best to close the topic and move. "Everything is fine, nothing the matter."
"I see," Loker nodded slowly, then sighed and braced the folder in his hands to his chest. "Must be another reason why Burns is here, again."
Both Cal and Gillian didn't quite know how to react to that, partly because of the news and partly because of their employee's casual delivery. Loker knew better than to play funny with them, especially Lightman, and it always felt somewhat unnatural when he tried to be a smartass. Gillian tolerated it because it didn't happen very often, but Cal found it utterly infuriating and, most of the time, incredibly lame.
On that particular occasion however, Gillian wasn't too fond of that line either: she had honestly thought the matter with Burns was done with, but clearly it wasn't for him. She sighed and shook her head, feeling Cal's hand gently resting on her back for comfort, looking at him and expecting to find him staring at her with a serious and worried face. Instead, much to her surprise, he seemed more baffled than anything else as he leaned closer to whisper.
"Was he this dense when you were together?" He asked then, making her gasp. "I mean, I don't know how much clear you could be."
Gillian rolled her eyes and pushed him away playfully, as it usually happened switching quickly from finding his joking behaviour out to place to recognising it was actually what she needed. Case in point, just an eye-blink later Cal was indeed looking at her rather seriously and she didn't like what it meant.
"Let me talk to him," he suggested then, calm but terribly serious.
"No, it's ok." She shook her head and squeezed his hand. "Maybe I can be more clear, and he has to hear it from me."
Cal nodded, admiring her but not entirely convinced, then asked Loker where Burns was.
"I made him wait in the meeting room, I thought it was better than the lobby."
Cal nodded in approval, thinking it was a good idea and knowing that the glass walls of the meeting room would allow him to keep an eye on the situation even if Gillian was the one doing the talking. She nodded too, then without thinking too much about it she started marching in that direction with Cal in tow. Loker followed too, he didn't know exactly what had happened the night before but the tension was palpable and he wasn't going to let his bosses deal with Burns on their own. Over the months since they had gotten together he had found himself incredibly invested in their relationship, thinking it made both of them happy and Lightman particularly more easy to deal with it: when Torres had told him about Burns sudden return he had not liked that one bit, and now there were bruises involved so he was going to keep an eye on the situation.
Approaching the room, Gillian spotted Burns pacing nervously back and forth and sucked in a sharp breath, determined to proceed no matter what. When she got to the door Cal and Loker stopped, lining up next to each other with the clear intention not to lose sight of the visitor, and Gillian gave both of them a thankful nod before going in.
"Dave, what are you doing here?"
It was a bit harsh as openings went, but she intended to establish how little she wanted that confrontation to happen from the get go. The moment he saw her coming in his face lightened up, but her stern approach hit the mark because Burns quickly switched to a baffled expression, showing he didn't quite understand why she wasn't as happy to see him as he was.
"I know, I- Listen, I am sorry about last night Gillian, I really am." He certainly looked and sounded like he was, Gillian had to give him that. "I was drunk and…it's not an excuse, I know. I just came here to apologise."
"Apologies accepted," she urged to say, hoping it would cut things short. "But now you have to stop this."
"Is it because of Lightman?" He whined, randomly pointing at Cal standing a few feet away from the glass wall.
"No Dave, it's because of me. You and I, we might have had something but now it's over." It was harsh, but Gillian knew she had to be. "I told you I've moved on, and it's best that you do it too."
"I don't think I can stop loving Gillian, you mean so much to me."
"But you have to understand that is not enough, not if I don't love you back." She paused to give him time to process the second part of the sentence. "You understand that, right?"
"Gillian-"
"I need you to say it, Dave. I know this is hard for you and I don't mean to hurt you but this has to stop."
"I understand your feelings for me have changed, but we can still try-"
"No Dave, there is no more trying." Gillian sighed and shook her head as she saw him trying to take a step closer, briefly glancing at Cal watching the scene from outside the room. He might have looked calm, standing there with his hands in his pockets, but the tensed muscles of his face told her that he was ready to jump like a jack in the box if needed. "All you can do now is leave and try to get past it. I understand how hard it is to go back to normal life after such a long time undercover, now you have to focus on adjusting and getting better."
The last thing she expected was to see him smile after her last words, a smile that was warm and genuine and somehow out of place given the situation. So much so that, Gillian thought, perhaps rather than 'getting better' she should have advised him to get help instead.
"You still care about me," Burns then spoke softly, clearly misreading the intention behind her words.
"I am worried about you, Dave," she quickly clarified, taking a half step back before glancing up at something and then back to him, who had come a little closer. "You're different, and I understand how that might be. I think you need to find someone to talk to and figure out what's going on."
"You can do that for me, can't you? You can help me."
"Dave," Gillian cut him off and raised her hands when she noticed he seemed intent on coming closer still. "I am with Cal now, and even if I wasn't you can't expect to come back and find everything the way it was. No," she stopped him again when she saw he was trying to interrupt her. "I am telling you it's over between us, and I am telling you now you have to leave."
"Gillian-"
"You have to go now, Dave." To give more weight to her words, Gillian walked over to the door and opened it, staring straight at him with a hard face. "Leave and please, and do not come back."
What followed were 20 seconds of silent tension, so thick it could be cut with a knife. Burns stood by the table in the room, leaning on it with an open palm on the surface as if he needed support; Gillian by the door, keeping it open and wearing no emotions on her face; and Cal and Loker outside, only a few feet away, holding their breaths and ready to jump into action. Eventually, feeling surrounded and with no way out but the one Gillian was showing him, Burns shook his head and started to walk toward the door. Cal tracked his movement and approached the door on the other side to get closer, just in case he'd try something on his way out. Whether it was because he felt outnumbered or, hopefully, because he had finally gotten the message, Burns walked past Gillian without saying a word, stopping only one second to stare down at Cal and Loker before finally heading towards the exit.
Gillian watched him go and Cal watched her, powerful and steady and beautiful as always, wondering if he should have gone closer to hold her or if she needed him to do that at all. Then, when Burns turned the corner and disappeared from her sight, Gillian finally blinked and only then seemed to acknowledge the two men nearby.
"Loker, get on the system and check the feed of that camera," she instructed out of the blue, pointing at the hidden camera by the phone speaker behind her. "It should be a good angle to get some still of his face. Print out some and make sure everybody sees them, and not to let him in if he comes back."
"Give a couple of the building management downstairs as well," Cal followed up.
Loker nodded and left immediately, only then realising that Foster had baited Burns to come into frame of the camera when she had taken the risk of having him walk past her on the way out. Cal was also impressed by her practical approach, even more so since he had been too blinded by rage and protective instincts to even think about that as the conversation went on, and was not in the least bit surprised when she took only one more second to shake that off with a sigh before announcing they should get to work.