She was drowning in darkness while her lungs filled with water; silence overcame her as her ears lost their ability. Then, it was gone. Her hair was being pulled back and she was released her from the torture; she coughed and spluttered trying to catch her breath. With blurry vision she searched for her captor- her airways cleared and she exhaled; "Reddington!"
Liz awoke in a cold sweat and gasping for air. She stared into the darkness of her hotel room and allowed her eyes to adjust while relief crept over her; it was just a dream. In recent months, she had started to feel differently about Reddington; new sensations of resentment had begun to build and they were manifesting themselves nightly resulting in her waking up in soaked in an ice cold sweat. She fetched herself a glass of water and looked out at the view from her window, the quiet street glowed from the burning embers that were the streetlights, the neighbouring buildings were black from their extinguished illuminations like burnt out coal; the dark sky shrouded the entire scene.
She pondered the meaning of her dream where she stood; Raymond Reddington torturing her, hurting her, trying to silence her. This was a concept mostly alien to her. Yes, he often infuriated her and she couldn't deny that the predicaments she so frequently found herself in these days were the fault of him but in her heart of hearts she knew that he was protecting her. She considered their current relationship status; she had recently tried to distance herself from him as he was keeping too many secrets from her. Lizzie was an impatient and stubborn creature, her father had always told her so, and now Red was definitely wearing her thin. The tension in their relationship was like a tightly pulled rubber band, one more pull and it would snap. Liz had rehydrated herself and decided to take another stab at this "sleeping soundly" concept she once knew so much about. But, as soon as her head lay on the feathered pillow and she was safely tucked in under the blanket, a piercing siren blasted throughout the hotel. Fire alarm. She jumped out and after dressing in the clothes nearest to her bed, she reached for her firearm and badge and made her way out toward the appointed exits.
She reached the door that led to the stairway, but it was locked. In a panic, she crossed the entire floor to try her luck at the other stairway-no joy. The alarms continued to ring and the only option was to risk the elevator. She raced in and the doors instantly shut behind her, inside stood the one and only- Raymond Reddington.
"Lizzie! You took your time. Going down?"
"What's going on? I thought you were in Europe?"
"It's so cold there this time of year, you know me...I'm a summer person."
He had pressed the button for the lobby and the elevator began its descent.
She was silent for the proceeding seconds which Reddington seemed entirely at ease with as he leant against the wall with his feet crossed. Then, Liz felt the floor beneath her shake, the lights flickered and they came to a stop.
"You've got to be kidding me!" she said aloud while Red pressed the buttons repeatedly to no avail.
"Not to worry Lizzie," he opened the compartment where the emergency phone should have been kept only to find it empty. "Ah, well. Are you claustrophobic? If so, now would be the time to worry."
"Are you serious?" she walked over to the empty phone box to see for herself, "This is supposed to be a five star hotel-"
"Yes, standards have slipped since the last time I was here." He remained as calm and collected as always.
"How are you so chilled about this? There is a fire!"
"Trust me Lizzie, if we perish in a fire due to the hotels technical faults, there will be more than strongly worded letters going to the owner."At this comment the alarm stopped ringing, "See, it was probably just a precaution. They'll find us any minute now."
She crossed to the other side of the elevator and after pulling out her gun and badge, sat down on the floor with them next to her.
"You look terrible Lizzie."
"It's 3 o'clock in the morning. You're not looking so hot yourself." This was of course not true, as he was in his typical three piece suit and topped with his signature fedora. He smiled at her and she confessed, "I've not been sleeping too great."
"That's understandable, what with all of the turmoil in your life recently. Criminal husband, a fake marriage, an almost baby-"
"Red-"
"And not forgetting the kidnapping and hostage situation with said husband, a murder, an enquiry-"
"Reddington! I don't need reminding."
"Of course not. Forgive me."
She put her head in her hands and pushed her hair back from her face, she was tired. She tried to question him again.
"What are you doing here Red?"
"I heard about the case, I thought you might appreciate some help."
"I don't need your help."
"I know you think that Lizzie, but you do. For starters, you've been scouting out the wrong location, where you're looking isn't remotely near to where you should be looking."
"What are you talking about? It is exactly where The General is operating from- we've been surveying the residence for weeks."
"No, you've been observing his factory. Do you honestly think for one second that The General would keep anything incriminating in such a vulnerable place?"
The question made her think, she could see weeks of work and commitment flash before her and was lost within mere minutes of talking to Reddington. She let her head fall back against the wall and she closed her eyes for a moment, she really did look tired, Red thought.
"We need to talk about Tom."
Her eyes snapped open and she looked at him pointedly, "Blow me."
"That's beautiful talk from a lady."
"Ha! Blow me harder."
"I'm serious Lizzie. He's not gone you know. He'll be back, and I need to know what your plan of action is going to be."
"He won't come back. And even if he does, he won't know where to find me. I move around, I've changed my number- short of joining witness protection, there isn't much more I can do."
"I saw him."
This caught her attention.
"What?"
"I saw him, in Europe."
"Why? What did he say? What did you do to him?"
"I didn't do anything to him. Just know, he'll be back."
"Why? Why would he come back? What did he say?"
"I remember being caught in a very similar predicament back in '87. I had been going with a beautiful Brazillian woman, I forget her name now. She had gorgeous dark hair down to here, and legs up to here and boy did she know how to use them-"
"What did he say to you Red?"
"Her temper though, jeez. Never have I seen someone get so pissed, I still have the scar-"
"Reddington."
"I would show you but that would involve quite a bit of undressing and I'm still carrying my holiday weight-"
"REDDINGTON!" She pulled her gun and was standing pointing it at him. "What exactly did he say?!"
"Not a lot, Lizzie. But, he's not done with you. You need to be more vigilant. Don't walk into vulnerable situations-"
"Vulnerable situations?"
"Like an empty elevator, alone, at 3 am."
She lowered her gun as she saw his point, "Wait a second? Did you do this?" she looked around and the elevator shook, then it continued on its journey. "You orchestrated this, didn't you?"
The doors opened onto a quiet and undisrupted hotel lobby. The helpful receptionists and concierge looked their way as they walked out onto the marble floor.
"What kind of a person do you think I am? You think I booked out an entire hotel, arranged a false fire alarm, locked all of the fire exits, disconnected an elevator and all points of contact- including surveillance cameras, just to warn you of your psychotic ex-husband- who by the way is bent on revenge and has eyes in more places than you'll ever know. Come now Lizzie, you know better than that." He adjusted his fedora and walked across the lobby where Dembye was waiting, after tipping the staff generously, they both walked out into the night, leaving Lizzie dumbfounded and more paranoid than ever.