How the hell did this happen?

Ressler finds himself speechless as he watches Keen maneuver baby limbs gently into the sling around his body. Baby slobber leaves snail trails on his clean, black shirt as the infant unconsciously snuggles closer to the warmth he offers. Chubby fingers clasp tightly onto the fabric and Ressler wonders, not for the first time, why he ever thought this was a good idea.

"Shut the hell up!" he snaps at Aram, who is currently trying (and failing) to hold in loud guffaws of laughter.

"Ressler, language!" Liz admonishes him, slapping his arm as she wiggles the baby's foot into a hole in the soft, black fabric. Finally, the baby boy is comfortably suspended from Ressler's chest, sling holding him tight to the older man's body.

How did he get himself into this situation?

Oh, right.

Raymond-fucking-Reddington.

It was always Raymond Reddington.

2 Hours Earlier

"That's a baby," Ressler points out calmly, wondering internally why the fuck Dembe is holding an infant in his arms. Raymond gives Ressler a look that says, "No shit, Sherlock", but thankfully doesn't verbalize his obvious disbelief at Ressler's stupidity.

"Why, yes, it is, isn't it?" Raymond says, twirling a cane in his hand. He leans heavily on it, grinning widely. "I have a case for you."

"We've never had an under 12 months section on the blacklist," Ressler quips, and really, he's on a roll today.

"Little Sammy here is in the unfortunate situation of being without parents currently," Reddington says, ignoring Ressler's comment and handing Aram a flash drive, motioning for him to plug it in. "Which I'm sure you can relate to, Agent Ressler."

Ressler bristles at the comment, purposefully ignoring the questioning glance Liz shoots his way. He instead turns his attention to the screen, where a picture of two happy-looking middle-aged adults flashes in front of him. One, the woman, looks to be in her early forties and has long, brown hair. The man looks a little older, perhaps five or ten years younger than Reddington, and while he's smiling, it's easy to tell he's not comfortable where he is. In fact, the look in his eyes reminds Ressler of Reddington - carefully cheerful, always smiling, but never quite at ease.

"Meet James and Sherry Madison. This baby," he says, waving in the direction of the blanketed lump in Dembe's arms. "Is their son, Samuel Madison. Baby Sammy came into my possession through a series of unfortunate events. James Madison is... an old friend of mine. We met in Russia back in '99. He helped me out, I helped him, and we parted ways as unlikely friends. He reached out to me a few days ago, saying he felt like he was being followed and that he was worried for Sherry and Sammy. Now, this didn't seem unusual, because James and I were mixed up in something that ... well, let's just say it left a lot of people looking for us. However, for James, it's more of a concern than it would have been to, say, me, because against my advice, he put down roots and began a family. Families are tricky things," Reddington continues, one side of his lips turning up into a smirk. "They can be used against you in too many ways."

"I assume he was being followed," Liz cuts in, filling the silence that followed Reddington's comment. "Since he's not here and you have his baby?"

"Good inference," Reddington praises her, motioning for Aram to flip to the next slide. "Up next is a man known to the shadow community as The Repo Man. Repo is a mostly faceless, nameless, well known hunter in mainly Russia, but he does branch out if the price is right or the target is worth enough. He is a contract kidnapper."

"Contract kidnapper? Like, he kidnaps people for others?" Ressler asks, crossing his arms over his chest as he stares at the screen.

The Repo Man is nothing more than a blurry photo of half a face, mostly covered by a hoodie and moving fast. From what Ressler can see of him, he can tell that Repo Man is not someone you'd want to meet in a dark alley. He has scars covering the half of his face that can be seen, and the gleam in his eyes is predatory.

"Correct," Reddington continues, waving Aram to the next slide. The next few pictures are of bodies in conditions that Ressler is fairly certain they didn't recover from. He winces, glancing at Sammy as the baby begins to stir.

Who hunts a kid? he wonders.

"The Repo Man wants Sammy," Reddington continues, flicking the screen off and turning to meet the eyes of his team. "Sherry came to me this morning and passed Sammy into my care. I helped her disappear for now, but she and I both know that it won't be permanent. The Repo Man is well known for a reason. He always finds his targets. Always. James is gone - no trace. My assumption is that The Repo Man has him. However, whoever paid The Repo Man to find James likely won't be able to get the information he or she needs until they have leverage - Sherry and Sammy. James won't give in if it's just his life, but - and this is indeed the reason why I advise against personal attachments of any kind - if his wife and son are threatened, he's likely to give away any information he has access to."

"So, our job then, is...?" Liz questions, confusion clouding her face as she tries to sort through all of the new information.

"We are in the somewhat unfortunate situation of not having a lot of information," Reddington confesses, sighing as he moves toward Dembe. "We know The Repo Man has been hired to find James, Sherry and Sammy. However, we don't know his real name, what he looks like, or where he is. Furthermore, we have no idea who hired him in the first place. All I do know is that we have to keep Sammy safe. I consider it a personal favor from one friend to another."

"Fine then," Ressler says, uncrossing his arms and reaching for the phone. "I'll be in contact with protective services, and Aram can begin digging up all the information he can find on this Repo Man."

"Are you out of your mind, Donald?" Reddington asks, laughing sardonically as he takes the baby from Dembe and cradling him carefully. "Sammy will be dead by nightfall if we turn him over to those incompetent people. No, no, no," he chuckles, clicking his tongue as he moves toward Ressler and Liz. "There are very few people who I trust to take care of Sammy - and only one who is state certified to foster children!"

A look of shock crosses Liz's face as understanding dawns.

"Oh, God, you don't mean... "

"Congratulations, Lizzie, it's a boy!" Reddington announces, a shit-eating grin taking over his features as he gently deposits 12 pounds of warm, breathing baby boy in her arms.

"Wait a second," Ressler steps in. "That's not safe at all. You said this Repo Man will be looking for Sammy, and that he's the best at what he does. That means Liz is in danger, no way! She lives out of a hotel right now, there's no way she'd be safe looking after Sammy."

Liz looks like she wants to argue with Ressler (typical I can take care of myself, I am a grown-ass FBI woman, for goodness sake! argument) when Reddington steps in once more.

"Of course, how careless of me! You're right, Donald, of course she can't take care of him alone."

Ressler begins to relax at Reddington's words (though, really, he shouldn't have, considering how long he'd known the man).

"She'll need to stay with you. That way, you can keep her safe!"

What had he gotten himself into?

:) Tell me what you think! I won't ask for a certain amount of comments before updating, because I write for the fun of writing, however as a writer, it's much easier to know where to go with a story with feedback. If you have a second, please leave a comment!