The Blacklist: Lead Me Upstairs
Summary: Elizabeth Keen has had enough of feeling numb. She needs to feel something, or rather someone again. She turns to the one door she knows will always be open to her. Red x Lizzie. One-shot, with the potential to turn into three, that's up to you. Starts out a T, rating will up from there.
A/N: This takes place after ep 1x22 so disregard anything that actually happened in the series from 2x01 onwards. No beta, all mistakes are mine. Enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters, just on loan for fun :) I also don't own any rights to the lyrics used in this fic from the song "Lead Me Upstairs" by David Gray.
I care little for my body she said,
I couldn't care less about my soul.
And as she led me upstairs in whispers,
My whole summer turned cold.
Red sat in the comfortable and worn sofa, slowly sipping at his glass of scotch as the raging storm outside continued on; fat droplets of rain assaulting the large windows of the newly acquired safe house while the loud cracks of lightning illuminated the night sky, providing the only source of light for Red since the power had been knocked out hours earlier.
He and Dembe had managed to keep themselves somewhat occupied with a game of chess over candlelight for a few hours until they had both become rather tired and Red gave the bodyguard permission to retire for the rest of the evening and get some sleep, insisting he would be fine on his own at least until he finished his drink and went to bed himself. That had been nearly two hours ago and yet here he still sat, on his third drink now since, and somehow exhausted yet completely wide awake at the same time.
This was always his problem.
Enough is enough, he thought to himself. He was getting tiresome now with nothing but his own thoughts to keep him occupied so he downed the remainder of amber liquid in his glass before setting it down on the dark wood stained coffee table and pushing himself up from the sofa to head upstairs to his bedroom. However, just as he reached the staircase at the front hallway the sound of a car approaching on the gravel driveway piqued his attention.
Momentarily considering waking Dembe, Red instead opted to reach for his small handgun he kept hidden near the front door in case of emergencies and gripped it firmly as he brought his hand holding the firearm behind his back while his free hand slowly turned the brass door handle.
"Lizzie?" Red asked in surprise as he opened the door to reveal her standing on the other side of it, her hand held up in a fist just about to knock on the door.
"What on earth- My God you're absolutely sopping wet. Quick, get inside before you catch your death" Red lectured as he quickly reached out, grabbing her by the upper arm and all but dragged her into the large foyer of the safe house. Judging by the look of her she had spent a lot more time outside in the downpour then just the quick walk from the driveway to front door and he had to wonder what on earth she was thinking.
Shaking his head slightly Red engaged the safety and tossed the small firearm onto a nearby shelf, letting it clatter across the smooth stained wood before disappearing into the blackened living room, only to return moments later with a large, fluffy white towel in his hands.
"Here" he sighed, wrapping the towel around Liz's shoulders and running his hands up and down her arms a few times over the draped fabric in an attempt to dry her off. "You're soaked. Are you all right?"
"I'm... sorry" Liz finally managed, her voice quiet and unsure. "I was out walking around and... I didn't know where else to go" she admitted to him for the second time in only a matter of months.
"What happened?" Red enquired, his head tilted slightly to the side as he observed her defeated posture. He hadn't seen her looking this distraught since...
Oh.
"Tom..." she whispered in the darkness, his name leaving a bad taste in her mouth as it escaped her lips and he'd already known the topic of conversation before she even had a chance to open her mouth. "He's... They found him. His body. He's... dead, Red. Tom is dead"
Red could do little more than sigh as he nodded his head at her. Of course Tom was supposed to have been dead months ago when Red left Liz with him to "finish the job" as it were after she had shot him twice in the abdomen but somewhere within him he knew she hadn't had it in her to do so and for whatever reason it didn't anger him. Of course he wanted nothing more than for Tom to be six feet under ground, but his Lizzie not having the hatred in her heart to end the life of a man who caused her such sorrow somehow only endeared her to him further.
As if he needed any encouragement in that department, he mused inwardly
"When?" Was all Red could think to ask and Liz shrugged her shoulders slightly.
"They found him earlier this evening. Coroner's educated guess puts his death at about 36 hours ago. Apparently I'm listed as his next of kin" she mumbled quietly. "No leads yet but my guess is Berlin no longer had a use for him and so..." she trailed off, not bothering to finish her thought.
"Come here" Red sighed, gently pulling Liz into his embrace and wrapping his arms around her waist while hers came up around his neck holding him tightly to her.
"Are you all right?" Red asked softly into her ear and she gave one short nod in response.
"That's just it Red, I am all right. I don't feel...anything" Liz admitted and Red gently pulled himself back enough to be able to look her in the eyes; confusion evident in his features.
"You're in shock" Red surmised but Liz quickly shook her head in disagreement.
"No, Red. I mean I don't feel anything. Sadness, anger, regret, none of it. I haven't felt anything in months. Anything at all. I just... God, I want to feel something again" she admitted truthfully, her hands finding their way to his front and smoothing gently over the unbuttoned charcoal grey vest covering his chest.
Red nodded gently at her as his hands came up to rub up and down her arms again, the towel once covering her long forgotten and fallen to the floor when Red first pulled her in for the embrace.
"You'll be fine, I promise" Red told her sincerely, a small smile gracing his lips before he pulled her against him once more, gently rubbing a hand over her back soothing her before he pressed a kiss to her hair and whispered the words "you'll be okay".
Liz nuzzled herself further into Red's neck, desperately seeking his warmth as he continued softly chanting that she would be okay and she knew in that moment that she would be, and it would be because of him. She craned her neck slightly and pressed her lips to his neck, softly and barely there at first, her lips lingering on his warm skin as she breathed in his scent and it wrapped around her like a warm blanket in the dead of winter. She felt him stiffen slightly as her mouth moved against the flesh of his throat before she kissed him there again, this time with a little more force and her tongue peeking out just enough to moisten the skin where it touched and she felt more than heard Red suck in a breath, obviously caught by surprise.
"Lizzie" he said warningly, eyes closed tight now as her mouth continued to move across the side of his throat hungrily now, and upwards towards the bottom of his ear.
"Lizzie" he said again, forcefully this time as he regretfully pulled himself back from her.
"Red, please" Lizzie let out in a shaky breath as she brought her hands up to smooth over his chest. "I want to feel again. Help me"
Red let out a sigh before fixing his gaze to a spot on the floor between where the two of them stood and held it there for a few seconds until bringing his eyes back up to reach hers, his familiar masked expression back in place.
"Lizzie, know that I would do absolutely anything in my power to protect you, to benefit you, to help relieve any ounce of pain you feel, but this..." he trailed off as his head tilted slightly to the side and he gently shook it in refusal.
"This" Lizzie began, her gaze firmly holding his so there would be no misunderstanding of her sincerity as her hands continued to smooth down the front of his vest. "Is what I want. This is what I need. I have you, remember?" she quoted his own words back to him and he dropped his gaze from hers to the floor again, not able to hold it any longer the way she was looking at him without wanting to throw her up against the nearest wall and show her just how much of him she could have.
Everything.
She took his right hand in hers and brought it up to her partially unbuttoned blouse and placed his warm palm over her heart and held it there with her own for a few seconds before gently lowering it until his hand covered the top of her breast as she leaned in until her lips were next to his ear.
"Make me feel, good" she all but moaned the last word and Red gently laid his forehead down to rest on her shoulder while the thumb of his right hand absent-mindedly stroked back and forth across the middle of her chest still dampened with raindrops.
Without letting another word pass between them, Red dropped his hand to grab her free one at her side before turning wordlessly and leading her up the winding oak staircase, the flickers of lightning in the night sky showing them the way until they reached the top and disappeared behind a large white door.
I'll, lead you upstairs.
I'll, lead you upstairs.
If you've got no worries,
Then I've got no cares.
I'll, lead you upstairs.
A/N: I hope you've liked this so far, and should you want me to continue, part 2 will head into the 'M' rating... Leave a review, let me know!
