AN: lknopp10 prompted me to write a Liz and Red stranded in the snow fic. Thanks for the wonderful prompt! This is set in the future of course.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to the Blacklist.
Liz sat sleepily at her tiny kitchen table, trying to wake up enough to drink her morning coffee. It was early Saturday morning, with the gray morning light just beginning to brighten up her darkened kitchen. She stared out the window as the light gray clouds in the sky began to spit little flakes of pristine snow over the dirty streets of DC.
She had always loved snow, stemming back to when she was a young girl. Sam had taken her sledding whenever the opportunity presented itself, and they had often gone to the local park to build snowmen. He would give her his hat and tie so she could put them on the snowman, then she would declare, "It's you daddy!" Sam would smile, then kneel down and hug her; thanking her for building such a good-looking snowman. He had never denied her the opportunity to go outside in the snow, even if it was ten degrees and miserable out. He wanted her to experience life to the fullest, and she was forever grateful to him for that.
She was glad that she didn't have to go to work today though. As she'd gotten older, she'd become more indifferent towards the snow, leaning towards dislike. Trying to drive through it in DC was a nightmare, because every year it seemed like fewer people knew how to actually drive in bad weather. It felt like she was at a theme park riding in the bumper cars, trying to avoid being hit on all sides. It saddened her that she didn't look at snow the same way that she used to, but it was inevitable as adults became jaded towards the pleasures of small children.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Hudson's nails scraping across the wood floor as he approached her. When he reached her, he put his head in her lap and she moved her hand down and scratched behind his ears; his tail thumped happily against the floor. She reached over to the wall next to her and flipped on the light so she could peruse the morning paper at her leisure.
It was nice to not have anything to do for once. No boss to tell her what to do, no husband to nag her about remodeling the living room, no Red to riddle her into anger. It was going to be a slow, relaxing day to take time for herself and unwind from the constant stress in her life.
Liz ran her fingers through Hudson's soft curls once more before she reached forward and opened the newspaper. She read through it quickly, avoiding anything that had to do with law enforcement and criminals. That left very little else to read, so after she skimmed the box scores for the NBA games, she turned to the crossword puzzle and began reading over the clues. Ever since Red had come into her life, he'd always worked on crossword puzzles in front of her. She had noticed early on that he always seemed to finish them quickly, and was amazed that he usually had all the answers right. Liz, however, was terrible at them. She usually only got a few of the answers right before giving up to do something else; she didn't have the patience to sit there and ponder the correct answers. She wondered what that said about her.
She read the first clue: Amor Fati
There were ten boxes for the answer, but she literally didn't have a clue what it could be. She'd heard the meaning of those words before, but she couldn't remember them now for the life of her. She picked up her coffee to take another sip, when she heard her text message alert go off from her phone in her bedroom. Great. It was probably Ressler texting her about another case. There went her relaxing Saturday.
As she stood up and stretched her arms over her head as Hudson whined at being dislodged from her lap. She patted him on the head once more and walked towards her bedroom. Her bare feet were cold walking across the wood floor, and she made a mental note to buy some slippers the next chance she got.
She picked up her cell from her bedside table and pushed the home button to bring the screen to life. The message wasn't from Ressler, but from Red.
Red: Lizzie, I need you to meet me. I set up a meeting with the next blacklister, but I don't want the FBI to know about it yet.
Liz sighed and walked over to her curtained bedroom window, then pulled it open to look outside. The snow was coming down harder, beginning to stick to the tops of the cars parked on the street. She brought her phone back up and texted him back.
Liz: First of all, I am FBI. Second, it's starting to snow. I'm not going anywhere today.
She pushed send with satisfaction, then stuck the phone in the pocket of her robe and made her way back into the kitchen. She looked at her abandoned crossword puzzle with disdain, then walked over to the cabinet that held Hudson's food and poured some into his bowl. As the dog began eating, she barely heard the ping of her phone over Hudson's loud eating noises.
Liz pulled her phone out again.
Red: If we don't move today, I fear that we won't be able to catch him at all. By the way, I don't appreciate your sarcasm, sweetheart. It's not becoming of you. ;)
Liz heaved an exasperated sigh. She had already known from the first text that she was going to have to brave the weather and meet Red. Damn him.
Liz: Fine. Text me the address. What does Amor Fati mean, BTW?
She might as well get that question answered so it wouldn't bother her all day on top of everything else.
As she walked back to her bedroom to get ready, she pulled her phone out once more at the sound of the text notification.
Red: Amor Fati quite literally means "Love of fate". Why do you ask? I don't have the address of the location quite yet, I'll have Dembe text you the details shortly. See you soon.
Liz laughed out loud as she read his text. Of course it meant fate, because how relevant was it to her life? Was she supposed to love that Raymond Reddington had taken over her life? "Amor Fati" was a nice concept, but she didn't think she could ever look at everything as good; she was too cynical.
She texted him back quickly before she jumped in the shower.
Liz: I came across it in a crossword puzzle this morning, so I was just wondering. Bye.
As she stepped under the hot spray of the shower, she closed her eyes and prepared herself to deal with Reddington for the next few hours. She always felt drained after being in his presence for too long. He never answered any important questions directly, and that alone drove her absolutely crazy. It felt like being in a ten-round boxing match with a person heavier and stronger than she was.
It didn't help that over the past year she'd started developing feelings for the man. After Tom had been taken down by her and her team at the FBI, she'd been too devastated and heartbroken to think about little else. Red had brought her meals often and made her eat until he was satisfied. He also let her rant at him whenever she needed to vent; he'd been a good friend. She hadn't even realized when she'd started to consider him a friend and not just an assignment.
Developing feelings for him wasn't supposed to happen either.
OOOOOO
Dembe: Agent Scott, Mr. Reddington told me to text you the address of his location. I am worried that the weather is going to slow you down. Please be careful. He would not want to carry on if you were no longer in his life. I will not be joining you as I have other duties to attend to. The address is 43433 Antler Mountain Road. If you put it in your GPS you should be able to find it. Good luck Ms. Scott.
Liz slid into her car and brushed the snow off of her coat and hair. Luckily the snow hadn't worsened since she'd last looked, but it still didn't bode well for her driving. She turned the car on and cranked the heater up, shivering as cold air began blowing through the vents. She was seriously regretting her life choices at the moment.
She put the address in her GPS and it told her that it was going to be a forty-five minute drive. Once hot air began blowing through the vents, she pulled away from the curb and was almost instantly rear-ended by a teenager driving too fast. She laid on her horn and the kid flipped her off as he passed by her.
She began driving again, slower this time and cursed Red in her head for the next thirty minutes. It was easier to blame him since he wasn't there to defend himself.
The GPS instructed her to turn onto a dirt road; she was instantly worried about that. Her silver Mercedes wasn't meant to be taken off-roading, and the snow was getting worse by the minute; already forming a thin blanket over the pavement and landscape. She pictured Red making passive-aggressive comments about "Women drivers" and knew she was going to brave the roads just for that reason alone.
OOOOOO
The dirt (now snow-packed) road wound further and further up the mountain. The snow was coming down so hard now that she had to turn her defroster and her windshield wipers on high just so she could see enough to stay on the road. She prayed that there weren't any other cars on the road, because they would collide head-on.
Her GPS told her that she was only ten minutes away from her destination. She had already fish-tailed too many times to count, so she hoped that it was correct, because she didn't think she could go much longer; but she had a feeling that it wasn't right.
Liz rounded another sharp turn on the road, and came to an abrupt halt. She gunned the accelerator in hopes of getting the car to move again, but the wheels just spun, digging her in deeper. She hit the steering wheel with her hand as hard as she could and swore, "Dammit!" Then instantly regretted it, because now her hand hurt like hell.
She opened the door and yelped as a cascade of snow fell on top of her. She brushed it off quickly and stepped out to see how stuck she really was. As she walked towards the back of her car, she noted that the snow was almost already knee-high. She had a feeling she would be walking the rest of the way to their meeting spot; she just hoped it was someplace warm. As she reached the wheels, she saw that they were half-way buried, and her half-assed attempts at getting out had only made things worse; the car was stuck.
She hurriedly slid back into the car and checked her phone. There were five text messages and two voicemails from Red, but of course now she didn't have any service to send a text or call him back. Her phone had been on silent the entire time and she hadn't realized it.
Liz read the texts from him.
Red: I'm here at the meeting place. It's rustic, but it'll have to do so he won't be spooked. He thinks we're doing business after all.
Red: Lizzie, is it snowing down there as badly as it is here?
Red: Why aren't you answering? I think I'm going to reschedule.
Red: I called the meeting off, but I'll have to stay here until Dembe can get to me. Turn around and go back home if you can.
Red: I'll be watching for you. Be careful, sweetheart.
She wondered for a second how he had service, but then remembered that he had a satellite phone that apparently could send text messages. She wasn't going to listen to her voicemails, because they would be more of the same.
Liz stuck her phone in the inner pocket of her jacket and pulled her leather gloves on. It was freezing outside, and it was only going to get colder. She wished she would have worn her heavy winter coat, but she hadn't. She only had on a pair of designer jeans and black boots.
She stepped out of the car once again, pulled her hood over her head and locked the door behind her. The snow fell heavily on her, and she shivered. Her boots weren't made for snow unfortunately, and she could already feel the cold leaching to her feet; she had to hurry.
She walked for ten or fifteen minutes, trying to think of anything but how cold she was. She even tried to think about her feelings for Red, but nothing seemed to help as she began shivering violently from the swirling snow and howling wind.
Another twenty minutes passed with nothing coming into sight besides more white. That's all she saw was white. The trees were white, the rocks were white; she wondered if she was going color blind.
Her teeth had been chattering for a good ten minutes, and she could feel herself starting to slow down; she felt sleepy and knew that was one of the first signs of hypothermia. The longer she walked, the more her eyelids drooped. She slapped herself more than a few times, but it became harder each time to fully open her eyes. She walked past a large white rock and stopped; she needed to rest for a second. Just for a second then she would begin walking again.
Decided, she sat down and closed her eyes. She felt better already; and she didn't feel cold. In the back of her mind, she knew that was bad, but she was confused and nothing seemed to make sense to her. She slid down the rock and leaned her back against it and closed her eyes.
She would only sleep for a few minutes; everything was going to be ok.
AN: Ok, so does this sound like something you all would want to read? I envision it going for at least a few chapters. I know I've been updating my fics often and I don't want you guys to get tired of me, but this prompt wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote it. I would love to hear feedback from you guys. Thanks for reading. :)
