Just a little one-shot
No one had followed him in to the forest when he'd shot off after her, and it was a good thing they hadn't. He didn't want anyone to see him take her down, didn't want anyone to see the once respected FBI agent slammed face first in to the ground. More importantly, he didn't want anyone to overhear the conversation they were going go have.
He'd noticed, the second she'd run, that something was wrong. Liz wasn't as fast as she had been. He remembered her being quicker on her feet when she'd run from him to the Russian Embassy. Something had changed in the last couple of months, and he couldn't quite put his finger on what. He kept behind her; knowing full well he could kick it up a notch and have her on the ground in an instant, but he wanted to out as much distance between them and his back-up as he possibly could.
They'd been running for a good five minutes before Ressler felt it had been long enough. He sped up and lunged, forcing her to the ground with his full weight on top of her. She struggled beneath him as she tried in vain to move off her stomach. He moved off her, but kept a hand on her shoulder to keep her pressed in to the leaves, his gun trained on her back.
"Elizabeth Keen, you are -"
"I'm pregnant, Ressler. You've got to let me off my stomach or I'll hurt him!"
His hand was off her in less than a second. He watched her right herself. Rubbing a hand over what (he could new see) was her growing abdomen. Ressler now understood why she hadn't been able to run as fast as usual. She eyed his still raised gun, her breathing laboured from running. Ressler saw her hand move to her side and he dropped the gun, lowered himself down next to her and reached his hand out to her, only to freeze when she flinched away from him.
"Don't." She winced in pain as she tried to shift away from him. "Just don't."
"Liz -" He didn't know, he'd had no idea, if he had...
"He's moving. Thank God." He watched as she smiled down at her stomach and whispered, "Hey, baby boy."
"You're bleeding." He muttered slowly before he reached forward and ripped a piece off the bottom of her shirt, pressing it to her cheek. She didn't flinch away this time, instead leaning in to the warmth of his touch. He was still in shock – she was pregnant! He could he not have known? He should have... seeing as he had been the one sleeping with her for three months before she went on the run, Unless, of course, the baby wasn't his.
Ressler couldn't bring himself to ask the question she should have; he was too busy staring down at his former partners swollen abdomen, her hand still caressing it. She saw him looking and tentively took his hand in hers and place it over where she knew the baby would kick in the next few seconds. He didn't understand what she was doing until he felt his fingers being placed gently on her stomach. Ressler looked up at her just as her baby lightly kicked at his hand. Liz smiled softly at him, tears lacing her eyes as the baby kicked again and again before finally settling down.
Ressler kept his hand on her stomach, willing the baby boy to move beneath his fingers again. Liz's face was suddenly contorted in pain, and her words cut through him like a knife.
"Don't let them hurt our son."
Our son. She had just confirmed that she was carrying his child. The stakes were now far higher, and there was only one place she would be safe. He pulled out his cell and dialled a number, staring directly at her as he brought the phone to his ear. The line clicked open. "This is Agent Donald Ressler, I-" Liz closed her eyes, clutching her stomach with tears streaming down her face. "- have lost visual on out suspect. She's heading South-East, possibly planning to double back to the main road." He hung up before the agent on the line could respond.
Liz's eyes flew open and she opened her mouth to speak but he cut her off with a forceful kiss. He felt her tears against his own cheeks as she ran her fingers through his hair. He pulled away from her and pressed his forehead against hers, letting his hand rest once again on her bump.
"As soon as you're clear of me, call Reddington and get him to get you the hell out of here. Keep. Him. Safe." The last part was whispered in her ear as he pushed her gently away and made to back off.
"I'll keep in touch, keep you updated." Her voice was thick with the effort not to cry. Ressler shook his head.
"Not until you're both safe. It's not worth the risk."
He turned his back to her, knowing she'd taken the hint and ran. A minute after the rustling of the leaves stopped he turned to find she had disappeared between the trees. He leant down to retrieve his gun from the forest floor. He went to return his cell back to his pocket when he felt something that definitely hadn't been in there earlier. He knew what it would be before he'd even looked at the folded image. When had she managed to put it there? The ultrasound photo proved that it had not all been some elaborate illusion and he grinned at the 'It's a boy!' message scrawled in his partners untidy hand.
Five months later found Ressler sitting at his old desk at the Post Office. Liz's name had been cleared nearly a month ago, with Cooper being reinstated two days after, yet there had still been no word from his partner. He was worried; if the Cabal had still gotten to her, he'd likely never know what would happen to her and their son. He would have been born somewhere around the time Liz was exonerated, wouldn't he? Ressler wasn't sure – he'd never asked for details that day in the woods, he'd been to preoccupied in letting her slip away from him again. A knock at the door snapped him from his thoughts. It was Aram.
"Agent Ressler, Director Cooper wants us all in the War Room, apparently he has some sort of a surprise."
"I'll be right there." He looked at the ultrasound picture he now carried round safely in his wallet. He really hoped the both of them were okay. He left his office and made his way to his rightful place beside Cooper.
"Before I start, we just have to wait for a few more people to arrive," they all looked round, wondering who it could be considering they were all actually there. Ressler, though, found his heart beating hard against his chest. Could it be? He barely registered Cooper continuing to speak. "And they should be here any minute now."
Right on cue, the elevator door opened, revealing the group of people most of them were anxious to see again. There was, however, a collective gasp and Reddington, Dembe and the now brunette woman walked out, for Liz had a patterned blue blanket clutched tightly in her arms. Ressler froze at the sight before him as the four of them came closer. He glanced at Cooper – who was grinning at the sight in front of him. It hadn't occurred to Ressler that Cooper would keep knowledge of Liz's and their sons whereabouts a secret; he'd be pissed about that later. He faced Liz again in time or her to catch his eye as she spoke.
"Would you like to come and meet your son?" She smiled as she spoke. "I named him Sam, I hope you don't mind."
Every head spun round to him, almost all having no idea of their previous relationship. Ressler wasted no time in reaching her side and lifting the baby from her arms and kissing both their foreheads in turn. "I love it. He's beautiful, Liz, just like his mom."
"Congratulations, Donald. He truly is the most delightful baby boy." Reddington grinned at him and, in that moment, Ressler found he no longer hated the man. He passed his son back to Liz and enveloped the Criminal in a full hug, whispering a heartfelt thanks in his ear before doing the same to Dembe. It was several minutes before Reddington found himself composed enough to speak. "I took the liberty of filling your car with a few essentials until the rest can be delivered to your apartment later today. Take them home, Donald. I trust Harold can brief you another day."
Ressler turned back to his boss, finding the man nodding in agreement. "Yes. You have the next month off, spend it with your family. You'll let me visit in the week?"
"Of course, you and Charlene are both welcome." The words were out of Liz's mouth before Ressler had even registered the question. He was still stuck on the mention of 'his family'. Liz lightly touched his shoulder. "Don? Let's go home."
"Home?" She nodded and he grinned, taking Sam from her once again. "There's no place I'd rather be."
The two of them bade goodbye to the task force, Reddington and Dembe and headed to the parking lot and Resslers car. Neither of them couldn't wait to be a proper family now that they had the chance. Down in the War Room, everyone save Cooper, Reddington and Dembe were still in shock from they'd just learnt. Reddington waited for Cooper to calm his team down before speaking.
"I have another name on the Blacklist."