AN: This is to my wonderful friend jackandsamforever, written for the Secret Santa thingy in our Redzie group on facebook. She gave me this prompt and I effectively worked my way around it until I couldn't put it off anymore. Sorry for the delay, hun. A huge THANK YOU! goes out to criminalkeen for being an awesome beta and actually putting up with my stuff. Thank you.

I hope you'll enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own The Blacklist or any of the characters on the show.

Five Years

It had been five years now. Five years after Berlin had come into their lives, destroying them. Five years since Meera had been killed. Five years since she had ratted out Red and then regretted it. Five years since he had told her that nothing else mattered if he would lose her. Five years since she had decided to quit it all. Quit the ordeal that had become her life, her job, her friends... quit everything and went to him, with only a couple of bags in both her hands. It had been five years since she had seen that astonished and relieved look on his face when she had stepped out of the cab. Five years on the run. On the run with him; with him and Dembe, of course. It had been almost five years since Lizzie and Red had become a couple...

~ flashback ~

After a couple of months of travelling through the US, their first destination had been Rome, Italy. Why? Simply because Red loved Rome, and he had sworn to her that she would come to love it too from the moment they exited the plane. He had been right, of course he had been. Liz had forgotten about everything the second she stepped out of the jet and into the warm summer night of Rome. She had instantly forgotten about being tired and wanting to turn in early; a privilege they wouldn't be getting very often now.

Red had watched her the whole time as she stood there, a duffel bag in hand, with the sunset illuminating her in a warm glow. She was so beautiful he couldn't tear his eyes from her, not even when she finally turned to look at him.

"It's so beautiful!"

"Yes," Red managed to croak and then cleared his throat. "Would you like to go sightseeing?"

Her eyes widened and a huge smile spread over her face. "Can we?"

'We.' So she wouldn't mind if he tagged along. "Of course." He watched as her smile broadened before she looked off into the sunset over the city.

Movement to his left caught Red's attention and he turned to look at his long-time friend, who was smiling affectionately at Liz's back, before sharing a quick smirk with Red. The latter walked the few step towards the woman and gently touched her elbow to get her attention. "How about we take this up to the house and then take a stroll through the city?" Liz nodded in agreement and let him guide her to the car that was waiting for them.

The trip to the hotel was quick and soon Red and Liz were on their way again, strolling through the streets with Dembe close by. It seemed like Liz had gotten a second wind somehow as she walked from attraction to attraction like she hadn't just been about to fall asleep a couple of minutes ago. For dinner they settled into a quiet little restaurant. Though Liz had repeatedly invited Dembe to their table, at one time even threatening bodily harm, the bodyguard had stayed seated at the bar, his eyes on the entrance. They had a nice dinner, followed by a shared dessert. Red would've loved nothing more than to spoon-feed her the tiramisu… or lick away the cream that had landed at the corner of her mouth, for that matter. By now he had moved his chair next to hers, so they could both gaze out the big window to take a look at the city by night, while Red pointed out several buildings to her.

He noticed how she absently rubbed her arms and immediately shrugged off his jacket to place it around her shoulders, leaving his arm around her. He tried to stifle the smile that was about to spread over his face when she leaned into his side, placing her head on his shoulder.

"Are you warm enough?" He whispered into her hair and could feel her nod at his question.

Her left hand was placed on his thigh while her right arm had wound itself around his back, so she could pull herself closer to him.

"Red?"

"Mhm?"

"Can I ask you something?"

He opened his eyes. When had he closed them? "Of course," he answered, covering her left hand with his right one. She was starting to drive him crazy with the little circles she kept drawing on his thigh.

She lifted her head from his shoulder and faced him, their faces only inches apart now, their breaths mingling. "Would you think less of me if I were to be upfront and honest with you?"

Her breath was tickling his face as she spoke. "I would never think less of you, Lizzie."

"Promise?"

He gave her a smile. "I promise, sweetheart."

She took a deep breath and moistened her lips and his eyes couldn't do anything but track the movement of her tongue. He was taken by surprise when she leaned in and pressed her soft lips against his. It took him a moment to get out of his state of shock before he pressed against her mouth, the hand covering hers moving up to cup her face as he gently moved his lips over hers. The tip of his tongue traced her bottom lip, asking for entrance and when their tongues finally met inside her hot, wet mouth, there was nothing that he could do to keep the moan from escaping his throat.

Her left hand was squeezing his leg, while her right one was now tightly grasping his side and Red moved his arm from around her shoulder to tangle his fingers in her soft hair. He put all his heart and soul into that kiss, showing her just how much he wanted her. When she finally pulled back, they were both panting heavily, but Red was far from finished, so he leaned in again and started peppering her neck with hot open-mouthed kisses. The hand that was previously clutched at his back was cupping the back of his head now, her nails gently scratching over his scalp and he thought that if this was a dream, he never wanted to wake up again. The breathless moan that escaped her throat, when he had apparently hit a sensitive spot, spurred him on and he moaned against her skin.

Someone cleared their throat behind them and both pulled away. Lizzie blushed heavily and averted her eyes as Dembe stepped up to them.

"Raymond, it looks like it's going to rain soon. I will get the car to pick you up."

Red looked at his friend. "No need. I don't think it will rain before we get to the house. But thank you, my friend."

Dembe nodded and shot a look at Liz, who was still looking at the floor, her ears bright pink. Then he turned back to Red and gave him a knowing grin, before leaving them alone again. The concierge of crime looked at his favorite FBI agent, who had her hands on her own legs by now, while Red himself had his arm still wrapped around her shoulder, albeit loosely. He let his thumb run over her shoulder blade and used his free hand to cup her chin, making her look at him. Her cheeks were still tinted in an adorable shade of red and he found himself smiling gently at her before leaning in to place the softest of kisses on her lips.

"Ready to leave?" he murmured, his face not even an inch from hers.

"Yes," she managed to breathe out.

Red stood and then pulled her up, using the grip on her hands to pull her in for another kiss. The feelings inside his body were hard to explain. Every time he got to kiss his Lizzie, his heart would constrict painfully inside his chest, while butterflies were going crazy in his stomach. It was a truly amazing feeling he had never felt before. Then again, he had never kissed his Lizzie before. He watched her lick her lips when they pulled apart and almost groaned at the sight. He was crazy for her.

Red placed a hand against the small of her back to steer them out of the restaurant. As they were walking down the streets, the sky broke and fat raindrops started pelting down on them, catching them by surprise. Liz let out a shriek as the cold wetness touched her skin. They were still a good ten minutes from their safe house, when Red grabbed her hand and started running, pulling her along. It was only a couple more steps until they would reach the house now, when Liz suddenly stopped in her tracks, effectively bringing Red to a halt.

"Lizzie, we're almost there," he told her.

They were soaked anyway, so why the rush? She looked at him and he barely registered the smile she shot him before she leaned in to kiss him. Drops of rain were running down their faces, too thick to run between their joined lips. Red didn't waste any time pulling her closer, hugging her to his chest, while never leaving her mouth.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," Dembe exclaimed from where he was standing at the front door, unlocking it before entering the house, shaking his head at the two.

When Red and Liz parted, they were both dripping wet, but very content, judging by their smiles. Red took off his coat and placed it around her. She looked questioningly at him. "We're drenched anyway, Red."

"You're wearing a white blouse," he told her with a quirk of his lip.

She looked down and his gaze followed hers. She really was wearing a white blouse. Now completely transparent, showing off her red lace bra. And judging by the look in his eyes, he was aware of that fact as well. The heat in his gaze was warming her chilled bones. Liz shivered and pulled the coat tighter, deeply inhaling his scent that surrounded her. He gave her a knowing smile and Liz wanted nothing more than to lick the little droplets of rain from his upper lip.

"Though I'm quite enjoying seeing you like this, sweetheart, I suggest we move inside. I wouldn't want you to turn into ice."

Words like 'I know a way or two you could warm me up' went through her head and she chided herself for having her mind in the gutter. Red made her brain go to mush and there was nothing she could do about it. She let him steer them inside the house and towards one of the many bedrooms with an adjoining bathroom.

"I'll leave you to change. If you're not too tired, you could -" He broke off mid-sentence. They were standing in the middle of the room and Liz was starting to unbutton her blouse, pulling the wet cloth from her chilled skin, without so much as a blink."Eh..." 'Smart, Raymond.' "Lizzie -"

She let the blouse fall to the floor, effectively shutting him up again. How she could go from acting like a shy virgin and then like a bold stripper, she didn't know. He just seemed to have that effect on her; she wasn't even nervous.

"Red seems to be the right color on me, don't you think?" She asked, shimmying out of her jeans.