Fic: A Glass Darkly (Lie to Me)
Title: A Glass Darkly
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Cal Lightman/Jeff Buchanan. In Torres' POV
Warnings: Slash
Disclaimer: I own nothing worth suing me for.
Summary: No-one tells lies better than a person trained to see through them.
Notes: You remember Jeff, right? From 'The Best Policy'? Which reminds me - spoilers for 'The Best Policy' (s01e07) ahead.
~*~
It's extremely difficult for an employee of the Lightman Group to lie successfully. For obvious reasons. They are all trained to spot a lie a mile off - applying a metaphorical magnet to the needle in the haystack - which makes it frighteningly easy to lie to outsiders, but not to each other.
They all deal with it in different ways: from Loker's total, unselfconscious, and often offensive honesty, to Foster and Lightman's strict pact of non-interference in each others personal lives. But of course all this doesn't mean that they can't read each other.
Ria knows that not having been trained puts her at a disadvantage sometimes, but she suspects she's not the only person who doubts they'll ever get a handle on Lightman. She's been looking forward to meeting this friend of his - you can tell a lot about people from how those close to them behave.
Jeff Buchanan...isn't what she was expecting.
When she heard about this old friend of Lightman's who was visiting, she imagined someone much like a male version of Foster; someone who would wear the same expression of fond exasperation when they spoke about him. Instead she sees amusement and affection and something else she can't quite classify.
He seems genuine, though, which is something she can't help but take a liking to. When confronted with someone who can read them like a book, most people exhibit deep discomfort...though perhaps it's not surprising that Buchanan doesn't. After years of associating with Lightman, she probably doesn't seem like much of a threat.
"...and there parked outside is a vintage Harley registered in my name." It's a hell of a tall tale, but he shows no signs of lying or even exaggerating. "I have no idea how he pulled that off."
"What? Come on!" she says, because even by Lightman's standards that sounds crazy.
"I'm serious! That boy lied, cheated, and stole his way through Oxford..." Plenty of illustrators, expression of fond reminisence.
"I never stole," Lightman objects mildly, walking towards them from the far end of the corridor.
"So you say."
The day seems determined to confound her expectations, because she's more than a little taken aback when Lightman goes right in for a hug - a proper one too, not one of those ridiculous man-hugs. They look...happy. And then the strangely intimate press of a hand against a cheek, so brief and unexpected it might almost have passed unnoticed in any other company.
The conversation quickly turns to business, and she has to pull herself together and start paying attention to what's being said, not what isn't being said. She'll have to think about it later though. She knows what she saw, but she's not quite sure what it meant.
She'll figure it out, though. That's what they do.
~*~
In the end, Jeff Buchanan turns out to be innocent, and Ria Torres learns a little more than she really wanted to. Jeff Buchanan is innocent, but the damage has already been done.
She's never seen Lightman doubt himself before, and she never wants to see it again.
Next time she's going to mind her own business.
~*fin*~
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Cal Lightman/Jeff Buchanan. In Torres' POV
Warnings: Slash
Disclaimer: I own nothing worth suing me for.
Summary: No-one tells lies better than a person trained to see through them.
Notes: You remember Jeff, right? From 'The Best Policy'? Which reminds me - spoilers for 'The Best Policy' (s01e07) ahead.
~*~
It's extremely difficult for an employee of the Lightman Group to lie successfully. For obvious reasons. They are all trained to spot a lie a mile off - applying a metaphorical magnet to the needle in the haystack - which makes it frighteningly easy to lie to outsiders, but not to each other.
They all deal with it in different ways: from Loker's total, unselfconscious, and often offensive honesty, to Foster and Lightman's strict pact of non-interference in each others personal lives. But of course all this doesn't mean that they can't read each other.
Ria knows that not having been trained puts her at a disadvantage sometimes, but she suspects she's not the only person who doubts they'll ever get a handle on Lightman. She's been looking forward to meeting this friend of his - you can tell a lot about people from how those close to them behave.
Jeff Buchanan...isn't what she was expecting.
When she heard about this old friend of Lightman's who was visiting, she imagined someone much like a male version of Foster; someone who would wear the same expression of fond exasperation when they spoke about him. Instead she sees amusement and affection and something else she can't quite classify.
He seems genuine, though, which is something she can't help but take a liking to. When confronted with someone who can read them like a book, most people exhibit deep discomfort...though perhaps it's not surprising that Buchanan doesn't. After years of associating with Lightman, she probably doesn't seem like much of a threat.
"...and there parked outside is a vintage Harley registered in my name." It's a hell of a tall tale, but he shows no signs of lying or even exaggerating. "I have no idea how he pulled that off."
"What? Come on!" she says, because even by Lightman's standards that sounds crazy.
"I'm serious! That boy lied, cheated, and stole his way through Oxford..." Plenty of illustrators, expression of fond reminisence.
"I never stole," Lightman objects mildly, walking towards them from the far end of the corridor.
"So you say."
The day seems determined to confound her expectations, because she's more than a little taken aback when Lightman goes right in for a hug - a proper one too, not one of those ridiculous man-hugs. They look...happy. And then the strangely intimate press of a hand against a cheek, so brief and unexpected it might almost have passed unnoticed in any other company.
The conversation quickly turns to business, and she has to pull herself together and start paying attention to what's being said, not what isn't being said. She'll have to think about it later though. She knows what she saw, but she's not quite sure what it meant.
She'll figure it out, though. That's what they do.
~*~
In the end, Jeff Buchanan turns out to be innocent, and Ria Torres learns a little more than she really wanted to. Jeff Buchanan is innocent, but the damage has already been done.
She's never seen Lightman doubt himself before, and she never wants to see it again.
Next time she's going to mind her own business.
~*fin*~