DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of The Blacklist characters, however I own some original characters that you'll get to know them one by one.
Hi, thanks for giving my story a try!
Before you start, I have to explain, this story is a Donald/OC story with touches of other couples along the way. There are some changes in the plot to fit my original character. And the main focus of this story are not the blacklisters, but the love story between the two main characters!
And the rating's T for now, but it will turn mature in the future so I'll change it. (There are some swear words in the chapter but I still think it's T)
Hope you'll enjoy it and leave a review!
Let's GO:
Chapter1_New Beginning
"Find me Elizabeth Keen, now!"
That was the famous Donald Ressler shout, reaching her ears again, and without hesitation her fingers started typing away. She could feel him come closer by every second and the moment that he was in front of her desk, something popped up on the screen.
She announced: "Elizabeth Keen, married, profiler for the Bureau, guess what? Today is her first day." Donald raised his eyebrows and then moved to the exit, signaling some agents to go with him, and shouted for her to hear: "Send me her address."
Lily whispered to herself: "Yes, sir."
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Everybody was out of control, most of all Ressler, who couldn't hide his resentment and suspicion for agent Keen that was just brought in. She knew behind those closed doors, something was happening, something was changing but she couldn't picture how it would go.
Finally after an hour, Cooper and Ressler came out of the meeting/questioning alongside agent Keen. Lily couldn't help but feel bad for her, she looked scared but she was trying to hide it so hard.
Donald came to her and said rather quietly: "We're taking her to the Post Office. Get your coat; you're coming with us as well." Lily nodded and stood up to go get her things and tried to hurry so she wouldn't be the cause of delay.
After a couple of minutes, the four of them were sitting in a SUV headed for the Post Office. Donald introduced her: "This is Lily Marouf, the head tech of our unit." Lily shook Cooper's hand with a big smile and then went on to shake agent Keen's hand.
Lily could see the burning scars on her palm, and noticed the way she stroked it subconsciously every time Ressler or Cooper mentioned his name: Reddington.
Lily finally started thinking about the man that literally made a mess out of everything in just a matter of hours. Her world was upside down, her job was changing directions, and she was in a car with Donald Ressler, assistant director of counterterrorism, and a woman who was thrown in the middle of everything.
Ressler started explaining the Post Office to agent Keen the moment they arrived there. After they reached the unit, Donald let her talk with Cooper and came to Lily: "You bring your system or whatever it is that you need near us, alright? I want us to be prepared for everything that can come out of that son of a bitch's mouth."
Lily gave him a quiet 'right away' and went to grab her things and then brought everything she needed to a desk in the control room where everyone was watching Reddington trapped in "the box". Donald acknowledged her presence with a simple nod and then turned his attention back to Reddington.
Lily watched as Elizabeth went out the door and sat right across the man that wanted to talk to her directly. She could see how everybody was amazed by the amount of information Reddington had on her, from her personal style to her parents.
After Reddington mentioned Ranko Zamani's abduction plan, Lily started searching for General Ryker and his daughter and found out his location at the moment. She tried telling Ressler but he hushed her. Lily rolled her eyes and waited for him to come to her.
Agent Keen finally returned and somehow the only thing that mattered to Ressler was the fact that her father's criminal record hadn't shown up on her background report. "Typical Ressler…" Lily thought with a smirk.
Although Ressler was insisting he was bluffing, Elizabeth convinced them to go after the girl and protect her so Donald turned to Lily with raised eyebrows and she answered: "General Ryker is at the Pentagon right now."
Donald nodded and took his coat and went to assemble a team for the little girl. Lily sighed and closed her eyes for a moment, praying the girl would be safe soon.
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It took more than an hour for the team to come back to the unit. Elizabeth came in first, injured and exhausted. She looked like she had just survived a terrible car crash. Lily stood up to go over there and comfort her but then Donald came in.
He wasn't injured but he was soaking wet and lightly shivering. Lily rushed to the coffee machine and grabbed two coffees and ran to offer both of the agents some comfort. Without asking, Elizabeth said: "We lost the girl…"
Lily sighed heavily and said: "I kind of figured that out." She noticed Donald chuckling quietly and tried to smile at him but he didn't notice. Elizabeth went to talk to Cooper and Lily found an opportunity to suggest: "Agent Ressler, you should put on some dry clothes otherwise you might catch a cold."
He took a sip of his coffee and answered tiredly: "Do I look like I care?" Lily frowned and answered firmly: "Well you can't chase someone with your nose running all over the place, can you?" With that, she walked away and left the amused Donald alone.
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The unit was helpless, they couldn't find the girl, and they had no lead. Suddenly Elizabeth walked in with the one and only, Raymond Reddington, handcuffed and ready to amaze people. He started wandering around and messing with the suspect board and finally gave them a lead on Zamani; the Chemist.
Lily watched in amazement as he bargained his way to his favorite hotel and had the FBI pay every penny. She shook her head lightly and chuckled; she didn't even realize Donald was staring at her. The minute she raised her head up he turned his head away.
Lily gave Donald a smirk as he was appointed to escort Reddington to the hotel but he didn't show any reaction. Reddington trailed Donald's eyes back to her and gave Lily a charming smile. She smiled back but then Donald turned him around to uncuff him.
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Lily was sipping her coffee and watching him do some paperwork on his desk, so caught up in what he was doing he didn't notice her. She put her coffee down and sighed; wondering why he was so tense, again.
The question popped up in her mind ten month ago, when she first met Donald Ressler. She was just hired to work for the FBI, and he was her commanding officer. Although he could be a stone-cold person most of the time, Lily had seen the real Donald at least a couple of times.
Lily knew from the first second she met him that he was the complete opposite of her. She couldn't believe how strict and hard-to-crack he was while she was easygoing and open.
She could remember that day vividly, the day they had their first real conversation. It was only a month since she had started working with him and needless to say, they weren't getting along.
That day she came in late, and because of that, the unit wasn't able to track the suspect in time. Lily had never seen him furious before, and she was truly scared but held her own.
"Marouf, in my office, now." He muttered calmly but the venom in his words were utterly visible to her. Lily put her bag on her desk and walked to his office without looking at anyone. She marched in and did as he told her: "Close the door."
Donald asked while sitting behind his desk: "What was the first thing I asked you when you came to the unit, Marouf?" Lily answered rather quietly: "You asked me if I was punctual." Donald raised his eyebrows and asked said: "I didn't hear that; what was that?"
Lily started: "Sir, I'm sorry, I know I'm late, but it's only fifteen minutes, I promise it won't happen again so…" Donald cut her off and half-shouted: "fifteen minutes? Do you know what happened in these fifteen minutes? We lost our only lead, our only fucking lead. Can you fix that?"
Lily opened her mouth to say something but Donald continued: "Do you even have any idea how hard we worked to find that one little lead and now it's gone." Lily rushed before he could say anything else: "Sir, there are other people working here as well… If you could just ask them we wouldn't even be having this conversation."
Donald got up and walked to her: "You think I didn't ask them? None of them could track him, we have ten people working on it right now but nothing. You, on the other hand, were hired because you are smart, special, and apparently very good at what you do. I can't have you come in late and risk everything, do you understand me?"
Lily tried not to show that deep down she was smiling because of his compliments and said: "Yes, sir." Donald calmed down finally and said: "And don't call me sir, it makes me feel old." Lily nodded: "of course, sir… I mean, Donald… Umm, agent Ressler?"
Donald shook his head slightly and chuckled to himself and then pointed to the door: "Now go do your job." Lily smiled and left his office, rushing to get herself a coffee and get back to her desk.
The day passed slowly as she was trying to put together the pieces and fix what she, according to Ressler, broke. The unit was almost empty as everyone was leaving after a stressful day at work. Lily had finally found something and tried to tell someone but then noticed there were only the two of them left.
She walked up to his office and knocked and went in. He tried to hide it but she still saw the Jack Daniels flask and raised her eyebrows. She never would've pictured him drinking in the office and the thought of him breaking at least one rule, was shockingly attractive to her.
Donald cleared his throat and said: "Alright, come in." Lily tried to hide her smirk but she failed. She saw him roll his eyes and smirked even wider. Donald started: "Look, I don't usually do this in the office but as you know today wasn't such a blast so…"
Before she could stop herself, Lily asked: "Why is catching Reddington so important to you, agent Ressler?" Ressler sighed and closed his eyes and massaged his forehead before answering: "I… You don't know me very well but I take it you already figured out how hard I'm willing to work to earn something, right?"
Lily nodded in agreement and he continued: "My life turned upside down when I was assigned to capture that man. I lost so many things along the way but I didn't look back. So I guess now's not the time to back down."
Lily was speechless for the first time in her lifetime. Donald Ressler had just shown her the vulnerable side of him and she couldn't help but feel bad for the guy and also, she couldn't help but feel just a little bit attracted to him.
She gave him the brightest smile and said: "I'm sure you're going to catch him soon." Donald scoffed: "Oh, really?!" Lily nodded and said: "I have something to show you." She walked out of his office and he followed her.
On her monitor there was a picture of Grey, their suspect, and in disbelief Donald heard her: "I found him. I found Reddington's little minion." Donald stared at her with his eyes ready to pop out and just asked: "How?"
Lily smirked and said: "Well, let's just say I'm smart, special, and apparently very good at what I do…" Donald laughed and Lily chuckled along with him and then grabbed her bag and said: "Have a good night, Donald."
She walked past him with a victorious smile and tried not to think about the tingles his laugh made her feel…
She was so lost in her thoughts she didn't realize Donald finally had noticed her and was looking at her confused. He stood up and walked in her direction and she jumped up a little and tried to look chill.
Donald asked with a chuckle: "Are you still worried I catch a cold?" Lily laughed and answered right back: "Maybe." He leaned against her desk and asked: "Seriously, what were you thinking so tensely about?"
Lily opened her mouth to say something but his phone started ringing and he mouthed a quiet 'sorry' at her and picked up the phone. He took a couple of steps forward and then Lily heard him yell: "What? Where the fuck were you? I'll be right there."
He turned around and said worriedly: "Keen just put a fucking pen in Reddington's neck." Lily's mouth fell when she heard him and Donald went to grab his coat and left for the hotel.
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The next morning, Lily got a call from Ressler informing her Reddington has escaped the hospital so she started tracking him by the chip. She heard Ressler run to catch him, giving him directions as he continued chasing him.
The signal stopped for a moment and Ressler shouted: "Where is he?" Lily answered loudly: "He's right there. He should be. Wait a minute, are stairs behind you?" Ressler took the stairs and she could hear him breathe fast and prayed nothing bad would happen to him.
She heard him yell: "Reddington!" but then again he said shocked: "Zamani…" Lily couldn't understand what happened. Did Reddington remove the chip?
She heard gun shots and held her breath but let it out as she heard Ressler say: "He pulled the tracking chip. Son of a bitch." Lily asked: "Everything alright?" Ressler said tired: "Still don't know where the fuck Reddington is, but Zamani is down."
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She heard that Reddington was helping them all along and was with Keen at the zoo and he was brought back in again. She knew Cooper and Ressler were having a meeting with him and she was wondering what would happen to him.
There were things she couldn't crack: why he surrendered himself in the first place? Just to take down Zamani? Get the chemical bomb for himself? That plan for a man like him sounded completely ridiculous.
If it wasn't about Zamani, was it about Keen? Was it only about her? How did he know her when she didn't know him in return? Lily massaged her head thinking about Keen and her husband that was dying on a hospital bed then.
Ressler came in and went straight for the coffee machine and Lily went to talk to him: "Hey, is everything okay?" He turned around and she could see there was something in his eyes, some sort of anger mixed with disappointment.
He nodded his head and went to go for his desk that Lily said: "You don't look fine…" Donald stopped in his tracks and turned around and said: "No, I don't." Lily took a look around and said: "Everyone's leaving. We should too. Drinks on me, what do you say?"
Donald looked at his coffee and then threw it in the trash and said: "What the hell." Lily smirked and said: "That's the spirit!"
They left together, in silence until they reached their cars and Donald said: "I actually know a bar nearby." Lily shrugged and offered: "So let's walk then." Donald showed the way and Lily asked: "So what happened in there?"
Donald sighed and explained: "That son of a bitch is just getting started. He has a list or as he's calling it, a blacklist. He has hundreds of names, of criminals that according to him, we don't even know they exist."
Lily asked: "And we trust him? I mean, he did help us save that little girl and a lot of kids today but he's Reddington, right?" Donald sighed and nodded: "That is exactly what I think. I've been tracking him for five years, I know him better than anyone but…"
Lily asked as they reached the bar: "But what?" Donald looked her right in the eyes: "Cooper wants in. He wants to build a unit on him. I'll be there, Keen will be there, of course. And you. I specifically asked for you to be the head tech. If there's even a small chance that he's telling some sort of truth, I'm willing to take that action and clean the world of those motherfuckers out there."
Lily nodded and said: "We'll work together, Donald, and we will catch everyone on that list." Donald smiled and led her in the bar and he marched in after her. He ordered a glass of Scotch and she ordered a Martini.
After their drinks were ready, she said quietly: "I don't think Cooper making a unit out of us was the reason you were upset…" Donald played with his glass and then clicked it with hers and drank the whole thing in a heartbeat and ordered another one.
She heard his tired voice say: "He surrendered himself…" Lily finally figured him out and said: "It doesn't mean that you didn't do your best all these years, Donald." His second drink arrived and he went to drink it again but she took it before he could reach it and held it near herself.
Donald looked at her confused and Lily said: "Donald Ressler, you are one of the best agents out there. It's true that you didn't catch Reddington but it only proves that no one could." Donald frowned but Lily didn't let him talk:
"He is the best of the best, we both know that. He surrendered only because he wanted to. He was found only because he wanted to be found and there's nothing we can do about it. We, or basically you, just have to stick with him to figure out his motives while putting unknown criminals behind bars."
Donald finally nodded and before Lily could protest he snatched the Scotch right out of her hand. The little touch made her skin burn and she quickly took a sip of her Martini to calm herself down after that little speech.
Donald's phone started ringing and he picked it up but not before he cleared his throat: "Ressler. Yes, sir. I'll be right there." He hung up and explained: "It's Cooper, he needs to see me. Shit. Do I smell of alcohol?!"
Lily smirked and sniffed him a little and shook her head as a 'no'. Donald went to grab his wallet from his coat that Lily said: "These are on me, remember?" Donald didn't listen to her and paid the bartender and then said: "Your little talk was all I needed, maybe next time."
He smiled at her, adjusted his tie and left her in the bar. Lily drank the rest of her Martini and closed her eyes thinking about him. All these month that she had worked with him, she may hated him sometimes, but she couldn't stop herself from feeling a connection between them either.
She touched her hand in the place his fingers caressed unintentionally and sighed. To stop herself from thinking about him, she grabbed her bag and left the bar to get some fresh air. Hi face came to her mind again and she whined to herself: "You really need to stop thinking about Donald Ressler…"
What did you think?
I'll be more than happy to hear your thoughts! I have a whole storyline in my mind, but I just want to make sure there are people who are interested before publishing more and more!
So, hit me up, feel free to ask or suggest anything!
Xoxo,
S