Here is my next story: It's a one-shot that wouldn't leave me alone and I apologize for my delay on 'Paying for his Sins' but this is the blame. Normal disclaimer applies, I have nothing to do with NBC or The Blacklist. I am just borrowing these awesome characters for entertainment purposes, not for monetary gain. Thank you to my Beta Ashton for all of your hard work on this.

Here we go:

Everything had gone downhill so quickly. What had begun as a calculated sting by Red with the FBI as his back-up, quickly turned into a shoot-out at the O.K. Corral between herself, Red, and Tom. Dembe and the FBI had been delayed by a number of strategic traps outside; including spike strips and land mines, leaving the three of them to battle it out inside Tom's hideout. The building was a good sized warehouse, with a loft area that had a stairway to the roof access. And after trading gunfire for countless minutes, both Red and Tom had been hit.

Hiding together behind a large pillar, Liz knelt beside a fallen Red, trying to survey the damage done to the right side of his abdomen.

"Go get him! I'll be fine." Red waved Liz off as Tom hobbled away from them, heading for the stairwell access.

Liz glanced at Tom's retreating form before turning back to Red. "But you're hit."

"It's a flesh wound," Red replied, grabbing Lizzie by her arm and pushing her to stand up. "If Berlin gets those codes, none of us are going to be safe. NOW GO!"

Stumbling to her feet, Liz took one last look at Red before sprinting after her 'ex' husband and radioing her movements to what was left of the rest of the task force, "Tom is on the move with the codes! He's heading for the roof; I'm in pursuit, but Reddington is injured with a gunshot wound in his abdomen and needs medical attention."

It took her a few minutes to catch up to Tom, but his injured leg helped to slow him down as they both climbed the stairs to the roof. Just outside the door, she could hear the tell-tale sound of helicopter blades churning in the wind.

"STOP!" She cried, as she flung the door wide open and trained her weapon on him.

When Tom didn't stop moving, she clipped off three shots at the helicopter, twice hitting the windshield. The pilot panicked as the bullet ricocheted off the windshield, causing him to accidentally jerk back on the cyclic stick, making the helicopter lift-off from the roof.

Watching as his ticket to freedom lifted slowly into the air, Tom turned around to face his 'wife' holding a gun leveled at him. "You're not going to shoot me, Lizzie."

"What makes you so sure?" She called back to him, slowly moving forward and keeping her eyes on both the helicopter and Tom's gun.

"Because I'm going to put my gun away," he replied, moving slowly to stick his gun in the waistband of his pants. "And as much as you hate me, you won't shoot an unarmed man, let alone me."

"You are not leaving with those launch codes, Tom." Training her weapon, she fired another shot at the hovering helicopter, causing the pilot to jerk up a little higher, putting it almost out of Tom's reach now.

Tom watched her for a few moments, contemplating his words very carefully, "Come with me, Lizzie. Berlin will protect you from Red using you anymore, and we can be together; start our family, just you and me." Taking another step forward, Tom reached out his hand to her.

Seeming to actually be contemplating his words in earnest, Liz's gun lowered only slightly as she stared at him in both confusion and shock. Liz tilted her head slightly to the side before she spoke, "And Gina?"

The shock on Tom's face was absolutely priceless. "What?!"

"Gina Zanetakos...remember her? Your lover?" Liz's gun trained once more on Tom as her anger flared. "That naive woman you married is long gone Tom. Consider this me petitioning for a divorce." With those last words, two gunshots rang out from Liz's gun. One bullet hitting Tom in his good leg, and the other piercing his abdomen; effectively taking him down before he could register what she was doing. Both injuries would be painful and debilitating, but neither would be deadly. Liz watched as the helicopter started lifting higher into the air, leaving Tom lying on the ground groaning in pain.

Rushing to his side, she kicked the gun out of his weak grasp as he clutched his bleeding abdomen. Keeping her weapon trained on him, she reached into his jacket pocket and removed the flash drive with the launch codes for five nuclear weapons that Berlin was trying to get his hands on.

Tom half chuckled, half groaned as he lay at her feet. "Never thought I'd see the day when you turned into Reddington's little lap dog." His snide remark earned him the business end of Liz's boot, the kick landing directly over his wound.

Groaning, he rolled slightly to his side, trying to keep his leg at a comfortable angle while cradling his stomach. "Was that for the lying and deceit, or did I kill him? Is that where all this aggression is coming from Lizzie?"

Ignoring his comments, Liz removed her handcuffs and started to apply both to his wrists; chalking up his complacency to intense pain from his injuries, she shook her head. "No...For your information Reddington is fine, and it was just a flesh wound. You're a terrible shot."

Tom smiled at Liz with a devious grin on his face as he played with the band of his watch. Suddenly she thought she heard the faint sound of a click just before the obvious sound of an explosion from beneath them, shaking the very roof they were on.

Liz's head whipped around to the doorway, watching as smoke began to slowly creep up and out of the open passage. Turning quickly back to Tom with pure terror on her face, her husband couldn't help the sadistic smile that slipped smoothly onto his face. "I'm real sure that's not a flesh wound." His last statement was followed by a wink.

In a fit of rage, Liz swung the butt of her gun down swiftly across Tom's head, knocking him unconscious. As fast as her feet could carry her, Liz sprinted into the stairwell and carefully began her descent down the damaged steps ,skipping many at a time towards the lower floors where she had left the injured Red.

As soon as she hit the last step, her heart sank. The entire floor had been decimated by the blast. Debris were lying on top of toppled sections of walls, and small fires signaled where each bomb had exploded. "Red!" She cried out frantically, moving towards what used to be Tom's make shift work area, "RED!"

It took her a few heart stopping moments to scan the immediate surrounding area, but soon a weak hand lifted out of the rubble. Relief flooded her only momentarily until she saw Red and all of the blood. It appeared a beam from the loft had collapsed and landed atop his midsection, effectively pinning him to the floor.

"Keen! What happened? We heard more explosions... We're coming in!"

Hearing Ressler's voice through her comm unit spurred Liz into action as she rushed to Red's side while responding, "Tom used explosives in his work area, Reddington is pinned by a beam! Bring Medical! HURRY!" She cried out as she grasped his hand and moved beside him. Gently she knelt down beside him, touching his cheek with her free hand. "Red...Red look at me."

Red groaned and turned his head slowly to face Liz, swallowing a few times, he worked his mouth once, twice before finding his words. "Did-did you s-stop Tom?"

"Yes," she replied smiling softly at him. Glancing down his body, she tried to assess the severity of the situation. "Don't try to move, I have to see what damage has been done."

Grimacing in pain, Red tried to take stock of his injuries. True, the gunshot had been just a flesh wound, but it had slowed him down enough to be in danger when the explosions began. "I can't move my legs."

Liz felt a cold grip of reality at his statement. There was nothing on his legs, meaning the beam across his chest must have affected his spinal cord in some manner. Putting on a brave face, she moved back into his line of sight, touching his cheek once again. "It's ok, there is a lot of debris on them." Swallowing past the lump in her throat, Liz put on a brave smile. "Don't worry, we'll get you out of here."

The two of them just stared at one another. Red could see it plain as the nose on her face she was lying to him. Neither made a move, both trying to find what to say when they heard Ressler's voice.

"KEEN! Where are you?" They could hear Ressler's cries, but they seemed to be far away from their location.

Liz turned slowly to gauge Ressler's direction through the fog of smoke and debris. "I have to go get them. If I don't, they'll never find us here." It was more of a plea than a statement; she didn't want him to be alone, but in his condition each minute could be the difference between life and death.

Red waved her off. "You've got a terrible poker face, Sweetheart." Coughing twice, Red groaned and swallowed hard. "I'm in bad shape, please don't let Donald Ressler be the last thing I see. I want-" Red faltered as the truth of his statement sank in. "I want to be here-with you." Red took a few labored breaths before continuing, "Give me that Lizzie? Please?"

"You can't leave me." Liz whispered softly to him, feeling the stinging of tears behind her eyes.

Red coughed again, his breathing was becoming more of a wheeze as he struggled against the pressure in his chest. "It's ok- you'll be- ok. Dembe will-"

"I don't want Dembe-" A sob broke from her lips as she shook her head. She couldn't control the tears that now fell freely as she thought back of their short time together. "I want you, Red. I want Tuscany in your villa, and sailing down the Nile to Cairo. I want hiking the Samaria Gorge, please, you can't leave me," she pleaded with him.

Using his thumb to wipe away a few stray tears, Red gathered what strength he had left to pull Liz's head down and kiss her. His lips were soft, but he demanded her response, and once Liz overcame the initial shock, she returned his kiss.

The kiss was shorter than either would have preferred, but Red was forced to pull away to cough; surprised to see blood splattered over the hand covering his mouth. He gave Liz a sad smile. "I should've kissed you like that every time I saw you. I should've kissed you every day since the moment I met you, and not missed a single opportunity to...tell you... just how much... I love you." Stroking her cheek with his hand, a sad forced smile appeared on his lips, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Please Red, save your strength, you're going to make it through this and y-" Liz began to break down, shaking her head she turned to his lower body.

Red swallowed hard as he watched her frantically try to move the rest of the debris from him, but she was unsuccessful in moving the beam.

"Keen! Where are you?!"

Liz's whole face lit up at the proximity of Ressler's voice calling through the rubble and debris. "We're here!" She cried out, then smiled down at Red. "We are going to get you out of here."

"Keen?"

Red's breathing was beginning to become labored. "Go...go get them so you can get out of here." Putting on a brave face, he smiled up at her.

Liz leaned over to kiss him once again, resting her forehead against his. "WE Red, so we can get out of here. Hold on I'll be right back with help." Liz moved from a kneeling to a crouched position beside Red. "I love you. Please. Hang on."

Reaching for her hand, Red touched it lightly, causing Liz to take pause before calling out for Ressler and her fellow FBI agents. "Say it again...just...one more time."

Liz squeezed his hand once more. "I love you Raymond Reddington." Holding his gaze for another moment, she squeezed his hand before taking off towards the voices. "We're over here!" Liz cried out, stumbling over a large fallen wall, heading towards the bouncing beams of light coming from her assumed co-workers mag lights. From over a particularly large piece of rubble, Ressler appeared. "Ressler! Red's hurt!"

"Medic! We found her!" Ressler cried, waving over those behind him. "Did you get Tom?"

"Yes: he's on the roof, he'll live, but Red is hurt."

Ressler recognized the urgency in Liz's voice and grabbed a first aid bag from one of the medics, quickly vaulting over the rubble. "Where is he?"

A short feeling of relief flooded Liz as she turned and led Ressler back towards Red. "We're coming Red!" She cried out, "Ressler has a medical kit."

There was no response, which cause Ressler to pause. "I would have at least expected a joke at my expense, he must be unconscious."

That comment made Liz move faster, feeling only a slight reprieve from her fear when his unmoving form came into view. "RED!"

Both agents moved quickly to Red's side, surprised to see the man deathly still. Ressler glanced at Liz before moving to kneel beside the man who had once been his adversary. He felt the eerie calm of death lingering before them, but still hoped for the best. He knew Red would never let some pathetic piss-ant of a criminal get the best or last of him, he'd so much as told him himself.

"We've got Tom Keen... Building integrity is failing- all personnel evac immediately."

Liz ignored her comm unit as she reached out to touch Red's cheek, trying to rouse him from his slumber. "Red, we've got to get you out of here." When there was no response, she tried tapping his cheek, followed by a rough shaking of his shoulder as panic began setting in. "Red. RED! WAKE UP!"

Ressler felt the pit in his stomach grow as both Red's radial and carotid artery offered no sign of a pulse. Catching Liz's eye, he shook his head.

Liz felt her whole world crash down all at once when she realized what Ressler was trying to say. Tears spilled freely as she refused to believe him "Clear-clear his airway! I'll st-start chest compressions. GET MEDICAL," she cried out, moving to a kneeling position as she checked for a pulse before counting her compressions.

"Liz," he replied, reaching out to stop her attempts at CPR, forcing her to look at him, Ressler shook his head. "He's gone. You can't bring him back-"

Just then, a loud crack resonated off the damaged walls as part of the outside structure began to collapse.

"The whole damn building is coming down! Everyone evac now!"

Leaving the medical kit on the floor, Ressler stood up trying to strategize an exit plan. "Liz, we've gotta go."

"Ressler. Keen. Report!"

"I can't...I can't leave...him like this." Liz could barely make out full sentences through her sobs.

The crackling of the building around them caused Ressler to take drastic measures. Reaching around Liz, he physically lifted her up and away from Red's body, continuing to hold the struggling woman as she screamed Red's name and fought against Ressler's surprisingly strong grip.

Moving away towards the other waving agents pulling the hysterical Liz, Ressler swallowed hard. Reddington had not only saved his life, but somehow he had given him three more amazing months with the love of his life. The man who had for so long had been his entire existence had given him a second chance to really enjoy the beautiful life he'd missed, and in that they had become associates. Not friends. They could never be friends, but colleagues and associates with mutual respect for each other; that they could do and did it well.

The two had just cleared the building when the roof began to collapse; a fog of dust and debris blowing out the windows all around them causing shards of glass and stone to rain down upon them.

In Ressler's arms, Liz had finally stopped fighting him as he arrived at one of the FBI SUVs. Setting her down as two medics moved to place blankets around them, Ressler waved them away as he maneuvered Liz around the back of the vehicle. Holding her now at a distance, he was finally able to see her face stained by the mixture of dirt and tears. He recognized her look well; he'd seen it every day in the mirror since Audrey died. She was broken. Ressler knew that Liz and Red had grown closer over the last few months, but he now knew that it was so much more than that.

"Agent Keen?" A deep voice rumbled behind them.

Liz turned and made eye contact with Dembe. The bodyguard approached her slowly and immediately knew what had happened. He said nothing more as he approached both Liz and Ressler; opening his arms to Liz and allowing her to collapse into him.

Reaching down to scoop the slight woman into his arms, Dembe turned to Ressler. "I will take care of her."

Ressler nodded and placed his hand on Dembe's shoulder. It didn't take him long to know exactly what to say. "I am sorry."

Dembe turned to look at the decimated building; the location that had now become the hallowed gravesite for the notorious Raymond Reddington.

AN: Thank you again to Ashton for beta'ing this. I'm not sure where this came from but it wouldn't leave me alone.

As always, leave love or hate just let me know what you think.

Always,

Lady