A/N - So I'm proud to say this fic is co-written with Kiley (theblacklister23) and you all should go and check her stories too! Thanks for reading and make sure to write your reviews!

He was so concentrated in his papers that he didn't even notice the people around him starting to gather their things to go.

"Hey, Ressler, it's 7pm, man. Let's go grab a drink?" Agent Mojtabai said next to him, and he was startled by the man's hand on his shoulder.

"Oh, um, no, thanks Aram. I'll stay in for a few more minutes."

"A few more minutes, or hours? Last time you said that I found you here sleeping on your desk at 6am."

"I'll go home this time, Aram. I promise." Aram had already given up on him. Every night it was the same thing. It was an endless hunt. Most of the FBI agents had already given up, and that would be just one more of those cases that remain on the most wanted list, but no one gives it too much thought, to be honest. Not for Ressler, though. He was relentless. He wouldn't give up on that search.

He had been assigned to find top criminal Raymond Reddington 5 years ago, and it became an obsession to him. Every day and every night he would search for clues, interview suspects and witnesses, follow leads, real and false. It was the bane of him.

In these years, he lost a lot. He lost Audrey, his longtime fianceé. She couldn't handle it anymore, and left him. He moved to a small apartment in a dirty neighborhood, where he had a stove but never used it, living out of canned and frozen food. He lost weight, lost focus, lost his mind. Now, five years later, he was losing his will.

Truth was that he looked at all that information in front of him and all he saw was repeated information, nothing new or breaking that would give him somewhere to go. He was stuck.

He thought he knew all about Raymond Reddington, but it was impossible to know everything about him. The guy was a mastermind of crime. Respectful, he would give him that.

In the beginning, he saw it was an opportunity for his career to take off. He liked to imagine himself in press conferences, receiving awards and promotions. Now, it was a matter of self-respect. He grew tired of Reddington mocking him, every time one step ahead of him.

He looked up and saw the war room empty, only his lamp on. It was a sad scene that he was already accustomed to. He took a deep breath, pressed his fingers on his eyes, and noticed he was tired, so gave it up and decided to go home. That's when the phone rang.

He allowed the phone to ring 3 times before picking it up, so he wouldn't sound desperate.

"Agent Ressler?" he said, and the sound of panting came from the other side of the call.

"Hello? Who is this?"

"Agent Ressler? My…. My name is Elizabeth Keen. You.. have to help me!"

Elizabeth Keen. Elizabeth Keen. He sat down on his desk again and ruffled through his papers. He knew that name; he had seen it before. He found one file tagged with her name, and opened it. A beautiful woman on a mugshot looked back at him. She was Reddington's associate; And she was calling him.

"Keen? What… where are you? What do you want?"

"I escaped…. Reddington… I want to turn myself in… but first I need to see you, alone. No FBI, no cops, nothing official, for now. Just you."

Ressler's stomach turned, and he felt a mix of excitement and fear. What could she possibly want that couldn't be said in an interview room here at the post office? Could this be a trap? Whether or not it was a trap, he saw it as an opportunity. If it wasn't, she would probably give him important information about Reddington's whereabouts. If it was, he was ready to turn the trap around.

"Where do you want to meet?" he said, picking up a pen to note down the address she gave him.

"Make sure to come alone. If I see you with someone else, I'll run and you will never see me again."

"I'll be alone," he said, but she had already hung up. He stood there, phone on his ear, stunned. After 5 years, a lead. A real lead. Maybe all his sacrifices weren't for nothing. He wanted to call Audrey, tell her he's got a new lead, but then remembered she didn't care anymore. She was probably having dinner with her new boyfriend somewhere far away, not even thinking about him anymore. He was alone. He chuckled at the thought, remembering how emphatic Keen had been about him being alone. 'don't worry, lady, I'm the only one who still cares about this crap. I'm sure as hell alone'.

He took his jacket, and then put a hand on his gun to check if it was there on his holster before moving towards the elevator.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Liz sat in the diner, her fresh cup of coffee hot and steaming out of the cup. It was dark and rainy outside. She was glad she didn't have to walk far from her safe house in this type of weather.

She tapped her fingers on the edge of the hot mug, waiting for him to show up. She wasn't sure what this Agent Ressler looked like, what he was like, or anything. All she knew is that this was the man who was hunting her down, this was the man who wanted to have her chained up in some box somewhere and running...running wasn't good enough any more. He was closing in on her and she wanted to close in on him before things went to far.

The bell dinged as the door opened, she looked up to find a younger man with light hair and freckles walking inside. He had his hood up on his jacket, but didn't seem to have his badge on or anything, which was good. Part of her felt that he was just going to turn on her any moment.

When he saw her, he started walking over towards her. He first realized that she looked younger and far more innocent in person than she did in her wanted poster. Her face looked fierce and pained in the wanted poster but now she looked like any other young woman sitting in a diner on a rainy night.

"Agent Ressler," she stood up putting her hand out to greet him, it was a surprise how courteous she was to him. He gladly shook her hand and sat down in front of her.

The waitress came over with her notepad and quickly asked, "What can I get for you, sir?"

"Coffee's fine, black please." he said with a smile as she scribbled it down on her paper.

"Coming right up!"

"Thank you." he said and then turned his direction to Liz who stroked her scar nervously as he sat across from her. "So, Keen, why all the sudden do you want to meet? You better bet this is a good reason, too, because if not, I'll put you in cuffs. I've got a pair out in my car."

"Agent Ressler, please." she sighed, "I came to offer a deal with you. It will benefit the both of us, I'm telling you-"

"Isn't that what everyone who offers a deal says?"

"Listen. Please." she said and finally caught his attention. "I have a list."

"Yeah, we've got one and you're one it." Ressler said with snark and she just rolled her eyes, if only he knew how set up things were. If only he knew that she was no criminal, just born into the wrong place at the wrong time.

"I have a better one. It's called the Blacklist." she said, "The baddest of the bunch. The are so bad that the FBI doesn't even know about them. In exchange for the list, I get an immunity deal, but by me helping you. I will help you solve these cases. I'm sure you saw my case file, I am a highly trained forensic profiler." she said as he nodded. "So what do you say?"

"Well I have to run this by the FBI first, It's not that simple, Keen." Ressler said as the waitress brought his coffee over quickly. He took a sip, hissing at the burning sensation it gave him from the hot coffee.

She scoffed at him, it's coffee, of course it's hot. She got her stuff together, it was basically her burner phone and her wallet with some cash in it. "You talk to them and then meet me back here on Tuesday night, same time, same place." and she got up and walked away leaving Ressler stunned.

"Hey" he stood up and called her, then looked around at the people observing them. they didn't care much, and went back to their business as she went back to him. "What about Reddington? Is he in this list too?"

She grinned and took his coffee from him, taking a sip and then putting it on the table. "I have a better deal when it comes to Reddington. You'll see. For now, that's my offer. Check with your people. then get back to me. See you" she winked and then turned around, leaving the diner for good this time. He just stood there and observed as the door closed, ringing the little bell on top of it. Then, he sat down, feeling the warmth from his cup of coffee as he thought of this woman's proposal. He would go all the way to catch Reddington, but how far would the bureau? How was he going to convince Harold Cooper that this was a smart move?

He looked up and noticed a man across from him was staring. This was a weird place. He finished his coffee, took money out of his pocket and left it on the table, before going towards the door.