"The rules say our emotions don't comply,

But we'll defy the rules until we die"

- Sinners by Lauren Aquilina -

Their story was legend, whispered about in the halls of the FBI training academy in Quantico:

"Elizabeth Keen?"

"She eloped with a criminal, you know."

"No less than the Concierge of Crime!"

"How perverse!"

"How unpatriotic!"

"How romantic..."

The facts were these: Elizabeth Keen, rookie FBI profiler, and the notorious criminal mastermind, Raymond "Red" Reddington, had disappeared while on an undercover mission to apprehend the Blacklister known as Lady Downshire. The pair entered an elevator in the Willard Intercontinental and, seemingly, never stepped off again.

Convinced they had been kidnapped by the Blacklister, the task force Keen had been assigned to had instantly begun a frantic search for her and Reddington, a search made all the more confusing when Lady Downshire was found in her suite on the 2nd floor of the Willard with a bullet in her brain. A bullet ballistics matched to Keen's firearm.

Survelliance cameras in the hotel were combed thoroughly for any sign of the pair to no avail. On analysis, the footage was discovered to have been tampered with and Reddington was suspected of Keen's kidnap.

The search widened. Port authorities and airport officials were alerted and provided with photographs of the pair. Reddington's personal jet was seized. Keen's apartment was searched thoroughly. Nothing was found.

International appeals were made on television: "The FBI are appealing for information relating to the disappearance of Agent Elizabeth Keen. Agent Keen was last seen in the company of criminal mastermind Raymond "Red" Reddington. The public is asked to remember that Reddington, who is number four on the FBI's Most Wanted list, is considered armed and extremely dangerous and should not be approached under any circumstances. A special hotline has been set up to allow members of the public to report sightings of either Agent Keen or Reddington and a reward is being offered for any information leading to the recovery of Agent Keen and the apprenhension of Reddington".

Then the sightings started. Paris, Dubai, Dublin, Krakow, Rome, Milan, London: it seemed they were everywhere and, most intriguingly, they were always together.

When questioned, tourists spoke of the dapper man in the fedora and the pretty young woman who hung on his arm as he talked animatedly about the freschos in the Sistine Chapel. Staff described adoring glances and stolen kisses in hidden alcoves in Temple Bar. Hotel managers around the globe revealed they travelled as a couple, checked into suites, shared the same bedroom... One thing was certain: Elizabeth Keen did not seem to be Reddington's captive.

Each sighting lead to nothing. Keen and Reddington were ghosts walking amongst the living, leaving impressions but no substantial evidence they had ever really been there.

Except, of course, the bodies.

In every town and city Reddington and Keen were sighted, the FBI never found them, but they did invariably find a body with a note written in red ink: "#32: Jacques Verde" in Paris, "#116: The Storyteller" in Dublin, "#165: The Illunsionist" in Krakow. On and on the list went, spanning the globe.

After almost a year a firm lead was established. A record of a marriage was reported between one Raymond Reddington and one Elizabeth Keen in a small church on the shores of Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. The witnesses to the marriage, Roger and Doris MacArthur, were an elderly couple who lived nearby. Roger maintained the grounds of the church while Doris cleaned the inside three times a week.

When interviewed, the couple revealed the bride wore an ivory floor length gown with long lace sleeves and she blushed prettily behind a veil trimmed with pearls. The groom glowed with pride as Mr MacArthur escorted the bride down the aisle towards him.

"So sad that the poor dear had no one to give her away. They'd obviously eloped. Her family probably didn't approve of the age difference," Doris told the FBI agents. "Mind you, if a man looked at me the way he looked at her, I'd elope in a heartbeat too."

The sightings continued along with the dead bodies and the countless numbers of innocent lives saved. A few images even emerged. Survelliance footage caught the Reddingtons enjoying ice cream in Capri, a tourist's camera snapped them strolling hand in hand through Tokoyo. He bought her diamonds in Tiffany's, she wore his hat while sunbathing in the Maldives.

And along with every sighting were the eyewitness accounts of a couple very much in love with each other.

Elizabeth's photograph was added to Reddington's Most Wanted posters and they became the only couple to share space on the FBI's famous list, but Reddington had eluded capture for over two decades. He was a master of his art and he trained his young wife well. Her apparance changed subtly over time: she dressed simply but elegantly, her polyester suits exchanged for dresses and tailored tousers by the world's best designers: nothing too fussy or bold, her husband's exquisite taste rubbing off on her. She favoured neutral tones, which allowed her to blend in and slip away unseen, except when it came to her evening wear which was reported to always be a vibrant shade of red to compliment both her dark hair and the powerful man in the tux by her side. She walked with a grace and confidence she had not possessed before, a queen in everything but name.

The media went wild for their story: the FBI agent and the criminal mastermind in love and on the run, a Bonnie and Clyde for the 21st Century. But, over time, interest waned. Years passed and the FBI were no closer to catching the elusive couple.

The task force Elizabeth Keen had been attached to were disbanded and it's members given new assignments. The official search for Elizabeth Reddington neé Keen was called off although she remained on the Most Wanted list. Her former colleagues and friends were left baffled and bewildered by her behaviour.

Eventually, even the bodies stopped. By the end, there were 206 names on the Blacklist and 205 of those were accounted for. #1, however, was missing.

Time moved forward and the sightings grew less frequent and then stopped altogether. Raymond and Elizabeth Reddington passed into legend, a story told amongst the students in Quantico, a warning given by lecturers of the importance of not getting too close to an informant.

On a cold October morning, almost thirty years to the day since Raymond Reddington and Elizabeth Keen first met, a striking woman in her sixties walked into FBI Headquarters. Her dark hair was streaked with grey and was fashionably cut just above her shoulder. She wore a coat of deepest red which emphasised the striking blue of her eyes.

She carried a small wooden box in her hands as she approached the young woman behind the reception desk.

"I'm here to see Deputy Director Donald Ressler". Her tone was clipped and businesslike, used to giving orders and having them followed.

"Do you have an appointment, mam?" the young agent asked.

"No," the woman smiled. "Tell him Elizabeth Reddington is here". She watched as the agent's eyes went wide and then turned away as an alarm filled the building. She laid down the wooden box, removed her coat and laid it on the ground. She put her hands behind her head and knelt to the ground as the foyer filled with FBI agents pointing guns of various sizes at her.

As an agent appoached her to place handcuffs on her wrists, she quickly brought her left hand to her mouth, kissed the tips of her fingers and pressed them to the wooden box beside her.

"Goodbye, Ray," she whispered as the agent hauled her roughly to her feet.

The box contained only ash and a note written in red ink: #1 Raymond Reddington.