World on Fire

The world's on fire

And no one can save me but you

Strange what desire

Can make foolish people do.

~ Wicked Game by Emika

1.

There was someone on his boat. There were only so many security measures he could take, and while their was a camera system set up so that he could see the deck from the cabin, it did little good when he was off the boat.

Jacob eased the bags he was carrying into one hand do that he could reach the gun tucked in the back of his jeans. He had never lost sight of the fact that he was just as hunted as Liz was these days, and it usually kept him moving enough. He had only stopped in the port long enough to grab some food and other supplies, not to draw attention.

"Hello, handsome," an accent drawled from the deck where his uninvited guest sat and a familiar face turned to look at him, dark eyes dancing a bit with mischief. "Not exactly what I expected, but it could be worse,"

"Gina," the former operative breathed and his fingers left the hilt of the gun. He stepped onto the boat as she stood from her perch on one of the seats, smirk tilting her lips and she eyed the bag of groceries in his hand. "Shut up."

"Very domestic of you, Jacob. How is life on the run?"

He rolled his eyes, brushing past her. "Quiet. I'd like to keep it that way."

"You know we have a truce between us," the Russian-born operative said with a shrug. "You keep your little fed tucked away in here?"

"Liz? No. She's... Dealing with some things."

"I saw. Fifth most wanted. Maybe she's more interesting than I have her credit for." She followed him down the stairs and into the cabin and Jacob didn't bother stopping her. Gina was a lot of things, but when push came to shove, she was one of the very few people in the world that he trusted. Maybe not to go as far as to bail him out of trouble, but at least she wouldn't bring it to his doorstep. They had far too much history for that. "She dump you?"

"That's none of your business," Jacob snapped, his voice a little colder than it should have been. He set the bag down on the counter and started storing away what he'd bought. "What do you want, Gina? And don't tell me you're just checking up on me. That's the best way for you to get caught in the crossfire a of this mess."

"A mess you made."

"I don't have to explain my actions to you." He turned a cool glare on her that made her flinch just a little. No one but Jacob would have seen it, or would have even known what to look for. "What do you want?"

Gina tousled her hair, a small tell of irritation that she had never left behind. "I didn't have to come, you know. I'm here at my own risk."

"No one asked you to."

She snorted. "I thought you might be interested to know that Bill was contacting by the people after your little girlfriend. They want to hire us to find her."

"You're working for the Feds? There's an irony."

"The Feds are pawns. You know that. The people behind the feds are the ones that you should worry about."

Jacob knew that, but he hadn't known if Gina did or not. As far as he could tell the very existence of the Cabal wasn't widespread knowledge. The only reason he knew it was because of Liz. "So you're working for them," he said quietly and his old friend rolled her eyes.

"Don't be so dramatic, Jacob. They pay well. Bill hired Masterson out to them."

Jacob felt a chill settle over him. "Why are you telling me this?"

Gina sighed heavily, and Jacob saw a rare flicker of emotion make it past her airtight defences. "I know you," she murmured. "You set your eyes on something and you'll go till it kills you or you've gotten it. You'd find out sooner or later and you're more likely to survive if you find out sooner."

"Masterson is going after Liz?"

"He is."

He studied her carefully. It could be true. All of it could be. Liz had contacted him not long after she had been whisked away and given him a way to find her in case of an emergency. It was certainly more than he'd expected, even if he was fairly certain that their feelings were still mutual. He had to make a split second decision if he could trust Gina's intel enough to follow up on it. "You're setting yourself up against Bud by doing this."

She shrugged. "Maybe you've started something."

"Thank you," he said as motioned towards the door. "I owe you one."

"You do," she answered with a smile that said that's what she was really after. As close as they had been growing up, they traded favours between them like candy. "I want to come with you."

"You know you can't."

She bristled. "I just-"

"Bud doesn't know you did yet. Cut free and get as far away from this mess as you can, Gina. It'll get you killed if you don't."

"And what about you?" she asked, taking a step closer to him. There was no question that they had always been attracted to each other, and that Gina had a difficult time wrapping her mind around a man telling her no for anything, especially a man she had a history with.

Jacob felt the muscles in his face twitch a little as he did his best to keep his expression blank. "I've made my choice."

"And you're choosing her," the blonde huffed.

"And I'm choosing her."

Gina nodded slowly and Jacob finally felt like he was getting somewhere. He couldn't relax just yet, though. He needed to reach out to Liz and get her the warning, then he needed to get to her. Reddington could protect her from a lot, but the former operative had grown up with Justin Masterson. The man was a bloodhound. He would find her and he would take every sick pleasure he had in him in hurting her before delivering her to the Cabal. Jacob would be damned if he let Liz face without what she needed to win.

He moved over to the small table where his laptop sat and opened it up, going into the secure email that was his only way of contacting his ex wife. It pulled up - the inbox empty as it always was - and his fingers flew across the keyboard. They've hired one of Bud's. We need to talk.

"Do you hear that?"

Jacob looked up at the sound of the question and listened to the soft whining sound that the other operative was referring to. They looked at each other, blue eyes meeting brown, and understanding passed between them as they scurried above to the deck. Jacob started for the pier as the sound sped up and Gina caught hold of his jacket and tugged him hard towards the side of the boat. He didn't have time to remind her that deep water was not his friend as the explosion rocked the boat, catching them and sending them both overboard. He didn't even remember hitting the water.

There were exactly two people in the world that made Elizabeth Keen feel safe, and one was halfway around the world for all she knew. When push had come to shove, it had been Reddington Liz had called, not because he was any more willing to help her than Tom would be, but because she now knew that he had been protecting her from this threat for more years than she could have imagined. She had no doubt Tom was willing to help, but he had his own set of troubles to worry about. She had left him a secure email address to contact her by if he needed to - with the understanding that it was only in the case of an emergency in either of their ends - and he'd sent her exactly one to provide her with his own best point of contact. That had been months ago now, and she was trying desperately not to focus on the reasons that he might not have contacted her. No news should be good news.

The door to the hotel suite opened abruptly, pulling her sharply from her thoughts. She wasn't quite as jittery as she had been when they had first taken off, but she still felt like something or someone could be around every corner. More than once she had woken to the sounds of her own screams in the middle of the night, various faces of people trying to rip her life apart filling her nightmares and doing harm either to her or those she cared about. Inevitably Reddington would be there, not unlike Sam had been in her childhood, ready to coax her gently out of her panicked state. He never forced her to tell him what she was dreaming and she hadn't dared repeat those dreams out loud, but he was always there, and he didn't ask for a thing in return.

Now he was snapping his burner cell shut as he entered, expression unreadable. "Get your things together. We're leaving."

"We just got here. I thought you said we'd have at least a few days-"

"Get your things together while I explain," he said and something in his tone made Liz feel like he was handling a child. Granted, she had felt that way a lot recently with the way she had been shuffled around a world that she had only seen from the outside edges.

Liz stood from where she had been curled into an overstuffed chair in their Parisian suite that she hadn't left since entering a day before- she had never been to Paris before, and she hadn't even seen it this time - and moved towards her room to put a bare few things into her bag.

"That was Dembe. He's heard a rumour I have no interest in waiting around to test the validity of."

Red had been better about telling her the truth. He didn't volunteer everything easily, of course, but she took what she could and dug for the rest. "What's that?"

"The Cabal has made a very interesting hire recently." Reddington paused, and Liz could only assume it was for dramatic effect. "You were... preoccupied when we went after him, but you are aware of who the Major is?"

"Tom's handler?"

Red's lips twitched downward very slightly. "Yes. They've hired out several of his operatives to find you. I'm still waiting on which ones, but-"

"I have a way to contact Tom. Why don't I just get ahold of him? He might have heard something."

"It could just as easily be Tom the Cabal has hired."

It was Liz's turn to frown. "After everything, you don't really believe that."

"I admit the likelihood is... low," he answered, looking like it was taking everything he had to admit that out loud, "but he's been out of Bill's organisation long enough now that none of his old contacts would be reliable. They likely want him dead too."

"They do," Liz agreed quietly. "Do you know where he is?"

"I've been rather preoccupied."

She sighed, shoving a shirt into her bag and zipping it up. "So now what?" she asked, her phone buzzing in her pocket.

"Now we go. How do you feel about Austria? The mountains there are lovely with this great little bakery just at the base..."

Liz didn't hear anything else as the message flashed across her screen. They've hired one of Bud's. We need to talk. She felt her breath catch and she looked over to Red. He was going to be irritated that she'd left a way for him to contact her, but if Tom did know something, they all needed to be on the same page. It was time to stop working around each other and start working with each other. "Red?"

He stopped mid-sentence when she stretched the phone out for him to see. "You left Tom a way to contact you as well."

"It's secure on both ends."

"Lizzy..."

"I'm not an idiot, Red. He does know something."

"Then have him send what he knows," Reddington huffed and she reached out to him.

"Thank you."

"This is a bad idea, Lizzy."

"I trust him. I know you don't think I should, but he's done nothing but prove I can since he came back. Even you admit he did a lot of what he did so he could stay with me."

"I don't question that the man cares for you," he admitted softly. "I question his ability to help you."

"We'll see," she answered simply, typing out a quick response. Tom would send it through and maybe that would convince Red. It was a small hope, but now that it had presented itself, Liz didn't think it was going to go away. They were all running. They might as well run together.

TBC

Okay, this is the infamous multi-chapter everyone's been hearing about! Starting off with tossing Gina Zanetakos in the mix. Things can really only get crazier from there :)

Next time: Gina and Jacob try to escape the Major's attack while Liz grows worried over the lack of response she's receiving.

Let me know what you think.