One

They arrived after the sun had set. Barcelona was a mass of sparkling lights and laughing people. Even as they drove outside of the main city and into the rich suburbs, the noise was never far behind.

Liz was already tired of it. She missed the quiet French countryside they were coming from. She wished they could have stayed there longer or gone somewhere besides this massive city of almost five million.

But no, Reddington had brought her to Spain. He had told her he knew someone who owned a house in Barcelona and they owed him a favor. He wouldn't tell her what the favor was for but from the sparkle in his eyes, she could tell it would involve one of his long stories and probably a naked woman.

The house in Barcelona was their eleventh hiding place in four months. Liz had stayed in almost every kind of building under the sun since she had gone on the run. Her most memorable one was the remodeled castle in Germany that was privately owned by one of Reddington's "friends".

All of the places had been comfortable of course; Reddington would never settle for anything less than perfect. But with such an odd assortment of friends living in strange and out of the way places, it was no surprise that very few of her safe havens had turned out to be actual houses.

Although once they arrived, she started thinking of it less of an actual "house".

It was a three story home with traditional Spanish architecture and a huge garden courtyard in front. Stained glass winked down at her from small windows on the third floor and bronze lanterns shone from their spots on either side of the archway that led to the front door.

Liz felt as if she was walking into a romance novel. It was a mansion, not a house.

Reddington lead her through the courtyard and to the door where they were met by a woman in her early sixties. Red broke into a smile and bent over to give her a kiss on the check. The woman started speaking a mile a minute in Spanish, waving her hands around as she no doubt told Red just how happy she was that he was there.

Liz's high school Spanish was quickly overwhelmed and she found herself unable to understand anything they were saying. She was relieved when the woman turned from Red and gave her a giant smile.

"Lizzie, this is Lucia," Red said, his arm around the woman's shoulders. "She's the housekeeper, cook, and gardener. She's also fantastic at poker, I once lost my favorite hat to her."

Red spoke to her again in Spanish and Lucia laughed, pulling away from him and gesturing for them to follow her inside. Liz breathed out a sigh of relief at finally being able to go inside and, hopefully, to bed.

A young girl in her mid-teens was standing right inside the door when they entered and Liz assumed she was Lucia's granddaughter, the two looked remarkably similar.

"Mr. Reddington, it is a pleasure to have you back," the girl said, smiling brightly.

"Avana!" Red beamed. "You've grown quite a bit since I've seen you last. Are you in high school now?"

"Yes, sir."

"My God." He shook his head and chuckled. "I remember high school, it was absolutely hellish."

Liz wasn't sure if she should introduce herself or wait for Red to do it. Before she could decide, he seemed to remember she was in the room and gestured to her. "This is Elizabeth, Lizzie this is Lucia's granddaughter, Avana."

"Nice to meet you," Liz managed to get out.

Avana smiled.

"It's a pleasure to have you here as well. Shall I give you a quick tour of the house? After that I can show you to your room and let you get settled in."

Liz glanced at Red who nodded towards Avana.

"Go on Lizzie, you'll be in good hands."

Liz looked back at the young girl and nodded at her to go ahead. Avana lead her away from the door and Liz followed her deeper into the house. She was shown the living room, the kitchen, and a massive study where Red helped himself to a glass of brandy.

Everything was beautiful. The ceilings were tall and all the furniture was made out of engraved wood. Everywhere she turned, Liz was slapped in the face with elegance and wealth. If she hadn't spent the last four months with Red, it would have probably impressed her. But she couldn't work up anything more than a slight appreciation the things around her.

After the tour, Avana took her upstairs and into a room that was just as beautifully furnished as the rest of the house. The large canopy bed and beautiful carved wardrobe reminded her of the romance novel once again. Liz almost expected a devilishly handsome man to be lounging somewhere nearby.

On the bed, the sheets were turned down invitingly and Liz found herself eyeing it. All she wanted to do was to crawl between them.

"I'm sure you're tired," Avana said and Liz wondered if she had caught her look. "I'll let you get some sleep. Mr. Reddington is in the room across from you and my grandmother and I have rooms behind the kitchen. If you need something, please don't hesitate to ask."

"Thank you," Liz said, surprisingly grateful. Avana seemed sweet and Liz thought it would be nice to have someone around to chat with besides Red.

Avana gave her one more smile then disappeared out the door, closing it softly behind her. For a moment Liz wondered just how much the young girl knew. What had she been told? She was clearly familiar with Red so she couldn't be completely in the dark about what he and Liz were doing here, but there was no way she knew the whole story.

Someone knocked on the door and Liz turned towards it, wondering if Avana had forgotten something.

"Yeah?"

The door opened and Red stepped inside. He glanced around the room and nodded to himself, like it had met with his approval.

"Oh good, Avana gave you this bedroom. I've always liked it. I think it's the color scheme. It makes me think of the fall. Don't you agree?"

Liz found herself nodding without really caring if she agreed or not. That happened a lot, Red would say something completely meaningless and Liz would nod along because what else was there to do?

"How much do they know?" Liz asked.

Red glanced at her and frowned. "Hm?"

"Lucia and Avana," she clarified. "How much do they know? About us?"

"Enough." Red shrugged. "They have no illusions to what I do, I visit too often for that. They don't know why we're here but they know not to talk. We're safe for the time being, I promise."

He said that often, promising her they were safe. That she was safe. No matter how many times he repeated it, she still didn't believe it. She never felt safe anymore, not even when they were in the middle of nowhere, miles away from other people.

The fear was like a disease that ate at her. No matter where she went or what she did, it wouldn't leave her alone. It was the only constant left in her life.

"I know," she replied, her words empty. "I'm really tired, I think I'm going to head to bed."

Red eyed her and she could feel the worry in them. He had been looking at her like that a lot lately, but he never said a word besides those meaningless promises and she sure as hell wasn't going to bring it up.

"Alright." He nodded and walked out the door, pausing to look back. "Goodnight, Lizzie."

"Goodnight."

He closed the door and she was left alone.

Sighing, Liz threw her bag down on the bed and rummaged through it for a clean t-shirt. Once she had one in hand she went into the bathroom and tried to forget herself under a spray of hot water. She stayed in the shower until she knew that if she didn't go to bed soon, she'd fall over.

Liz snuggled down under the soft sheets and surrendered herself to the darkness of sleep. It wasn't peaceful like it used to be and she normally woke up several times in a cold sweat. But for now, it was the only relief she had.

This is my first time writing fanfiction in several years and my first time writing for Keen2, so I'm sorry if it's crap. This is based off of a dream I had and my friend convinced me to write it, so if you hate it, you can blame her, haha.

This short section is the beginning of a multi-chapter that will hopefully have around 10 chapters. My update schedule is going to be around a chapter a week. I have summer school and work so it might be less often than that. I apologize a head of time if it is.

I'm excited to have this up and I hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please leave me a review and let me know what you think! Until next time