Disclaimer: Not mine, obviously.


Chapter One

Red Reddington tilted his head to the stopped moving when he spotted a familiar figure despite Agent Ressler's urging. The young man was getting on his nerves and he waved him away.

"Harry! Is that you? Is there a reason for all this madness?"

"Hello Red, it's good to see you." Harold Cooper – his good friend and a former colleague – looked a tad embarrassed as he approached him and quickly shook Red's stepped aside and disappeared, wisely leaving his superior to deal with Red.

"Could you kindly explain what this is about?"The admiral had been rather perplexed by the sudden appearance of helicopters and armed FBI agents that had swarmed his backyard in the morning, and he certainly did not appreciate that they had ruined his plans for the week.

He had wanted to spend few relaxing days on the sea – he needed to escape his office at least once in a month. He loved his job, but he had quickly started to despise it when he had been chained to his desk and buried under a mountain of paperwork. Red Reddington was not an idle man and the position of an admiral while very gratifying bored him to death.

"Come with me, please."

"Should I be worried?" He grumbled but followed him. By the look of it, he was an honored guest at one of the holding sites that officially didn't exist. It was exciting and he was almost ready to forgive his friend for the morning fuss. It made his life a little less tedious, him a little less listless.

Harold remained silent until he brought him before several large flat screens – they were all showing treacherously attractive young woman from several different angles, and two of them were full of her snapshots.

The woman was sitting chained to her chair, calm and collected with an air of superiority. She had slightly wavy dark hair and deep blue eyes and she was wearing close-fitting green dress and matching high heels. Red caught himself examining her slim figure and long legs with interested eyes – his previous assessment of her being attractive was insufficient. She was quite breathtaking.

He scoffed at the thought. His humble opinion hardly mattered.

"Well, Raymond… Anything you would like to say?"Harold was looking at him questioningly. Red sent one last fleeting look at the woman and then quirked an eyebrow at his friend.

"Ah, ok. There is a pretty lady sitting in there." He said and gestured towards the screen. "She doesn't look amused, but not bothered either."

He admired the confidence she was displaying. For a third time in the last minute he wondered who she was and why Harold deemed it necessary to chain her like a criminal. Then again, since Harry had transferred, he had dealt only with criminals. Part of Red wished that he had transferred as well when he had the opportunity. It looked like his friend had much more interesting life than he had.

Red studied her again and felt slightly embarrassed that he couldn't keep his eyes elsewhere. Dangerously breathtaking, that's what she was.

"You don't know her." Harold announced surprised. "You honestly don't know her."

"I have never seen her before." He would have remembered it;her eyes were the same shade of blue as the wide seas during a sunrise. It was his favorite color.

Harold believed him, of course. They had been friends for more than 25 years after all.

"Let me introduce you to the number four fromour Most Wanted Fugitives, then."

Red startled a little and looked at Cooper with disbelief. Then he dragged his eyes back to her. She chose the exact moment to lift her head and look directly into one of the cameras. She smiled a lazy sensuoussmile and winked as if she knew they were talking about her.

"That's Elizabeth Keen,the wife to one of the most ruthless freelance assassins we know of, and the only granddaughter and successor to Samuel Scott."

While the name Keen was not familiar – Red was simply not interested in the FBI's popularity conteststherefore didn't pay attention to their top ten list –the name of Samuel Scott rang a bell. Scott had been a criminal mastermind operating an immense network of spies, thieves, smugglers, drug dealers, arms dealers, forgers, hackers, mercenaries, assassins… The list of his contacts could go on and on;military, private sector, politicians – hehad been able to procure or arrangesimply everything.

Red had seen firsthand some of Scott's handy work – that had been a long time ago, when he had been a young man just starting his promising career. His crew had spent entire two days cleaning up the mess Mr. Scott's men had left in their wake in a small hideaway of pirates who had double-crossed him.

"I didn't know he had any family." He said after several long moments of silence, rather disgusted with the way his thoughts were swirling back to the least noteworthy fact he had just discovered; that the woman was married to some young and very able man. Red was a trained professional and he knew damn well what kind of training job like that required.

"It hasn't been… broadcasted." Harold sighed. "We are even uncertain about her actual age and parentage. It's as if everything about her was a just appeared eight years ago and took over Scott's syndicate when he was killed."

"How can you be certain she is related to Scott?" Red asked and watched more than a little fascinated as she licked her lips.

"We compared their DNA, and the family resemblance is rather striking. Anyway… Upon her capture, Mrs. Keen proposed a deal that my superiors consented to – after a very careful consideration and, uh, some demonstration on her part."

"A deal? That sounds awfully like an immunity package for her with just scraps for you, Harry."

Harold chuckled humorlessly."More or less. I actually understand why she proposed it – it's mutually beneficial. We will bring her rivals down. You know who her rivals are, right?"

"People you would like to see behind bars, or dead." Red answered without missing a beat and his gaze fell on her face again. He knew that once it was done, Harold and his superiors just wouldn't let her walk away.

"With pleasure, yeah." Cooper ground his teeth.

"Splendid…" Red nodded to him and smiled broadly. "Now, could you enlighten me why are you telling me all of this and why did your men dragged me here? I had plans, you know."

Harold looked uncomfortable and smiled tightly.

"Even though you don't Keen, she certainly knows you. You are the only person she is willing to speak to and to work with. The whole deal stands on that condition."

Those words surprised him and Red blinked owlishly and then burst out laughing. There was just no way in hell that someone criminal mastermind like Elizabeth Keen in her perfectly fitting designer dress and shoes who made millions even while sitting in a holding cell could know that there existed a man named Raymond Reddington.

Red's thoughts came to a halt and he struggled with the idea. Keen would not be interested in Raymond Reddington, though Admiral Reddingtonwas definitely a noteworthy man. She could know who he was – people like her kept tabs about all the high profile individuals that might be useful to them in the future. It just didn't make much sense – he was a naval officer and he didn't hold much interest for people in her business. Certainly not that kind of assassin business Keen seemed to be interested in.

Harry grimaced and turned away from him, reaching for a glass of water.

"God, you are serious."Red cleared his throat and tried to catch his breath.

He was almost successful but then he heard it.

"Agent Cooper?" Mrs. Keen voice was a perfect fusion of sensually deep and teasingly light. Red found it hard to breathe all at once and his eyes betrayed him and traced her figure once more. Then he focused on her lips as she continued.

"I don't want to sound whiny but this is tedious. Could we get moving, please? Have you located Admiral Reddington yet? If not, I can lend you some of my men. They're really good."

Harold closed his eyes and heaved a deep sigh. Then he reached for a microphone. "Just one more moment, Mrs. Keen."

"So you did find him." She nodded and crossed her legs. The smile she sent to them was charming. "Hello, Admiral Red. It would be nice to chat face to face, though."

Both men grimaced at the same time but not for the same reasons. Harry looked annoyed – Mrs. Keen was obviously getting on his nerves. Red was on the other hand painfully aware that she was just playing with him – he had been hardly ever a recipient of a smile like that and he swallowed thickly.

"I don't have the slightest idea what she wants from me. This is ridiculous, Harry."

"Look, Red…" Harold turned off the screens and microphone and turned to him with a very grave expression. "You are not obliged to agree. It would put you in a dangerous situation and require you to work undercover. I know that it's not something you are used , this is a great opportunity for us to eliminate targets that are otherwise completely out of our reach."

He remained silent for several long minutes and clenching and relaxing his hands into fists at his side. It was alluring; the idea of leaving his boring office and all the papers piled on his desk behind in the company of an attractive young woman to hunt down criminals… Hell, it was very alluring and Red wasn't even sure why he was hesitating.

Then he remembered his embarrassing reaction to Mrs. Keen and he abruptly shook his had never been good with the opposite sex – as a young man he had been too shy to approach the pretty girls on his own and after his wife had packed up and left him with their daughter without any explanation, the realization had hit him full force; he simply didn't have much to offer to any woman, least of all to an attractive and intelligent one.

"I have my own responsibilities, Harry."His knuckles were turning white and he slowly forced his fists to relax. What possible reason Keen had to ask for him? Maybe she had made a mistake.

"I know you, Red, and a desk job must bore you. Fowler could pull some strings." Harold said the name with obvious distaste and Red chuckled. Diane Fowler had been a pain in the ass for as long as he could remember.

"Are you sure she asked specifically for me?"

"Positive."

Red closed his eyes and took a deep Keen hadn't made a mistake and there actually was something Red had to offer her? Though he hadn't the slightest idea what it could be, it would be interesting to find out. The possibility that he might hold the interest of a woman such as Elizabeth Keen was a tantalizing one. Whatever the reason for that was, it may be the answer to prayers he hadn't even thought of.

It could be his second chance at life. This time a life worth living. Or it could cost him his dignity and all self-respect, because there was no denying that he was completely smitten by the criminal. And he hadn't even met her in person yet. Just the thought of this woman looking at him – and seeing through him – made him feel slightly ill.

"Alright. Count me in." Red said roughly despite all his discomfort. He just couldn't let this opportunity to slip through his fingers and it was suddenly very important to understand why Keen had chosen him.


Edited by artemisfae. Thank you!