Just a little piece to keep Mr Kate Kaplan going strong, I love this character beyond words and it's about time she was given more to do on the show…anyway, enjoy.

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The Blacklist

Reddington/Mr Kaplan

The hail of bullets had come flying out of nowhere, one minute Raymond was giving his friend and colleague Mr Kaplan directions of her next clean up and before he knew it, Mr Kaplan was ushering him in to the passengers side of her car and driving off at top speed. She drove along the main roads as fast as she could, her eyes daring towards Red and the rear view mirror as the car behind them got closer to them.

"Who ever this is Red, they're not giving up."

"Just drive…get us out…"

"Red…Red talk to me."

Mr Kaplan looked to her side to see Red trying his best to keep his eyes open, she took her hand of the steering wheel for a second and pulled back his jacket to see the crimson patch on his crisp white shirt growing bigger and bigger.

"My god Red, you've been hit."

"Drive Kate…driv…."

She put her foot down and made a quick turn before darting in and out of side streets before she managed to get out of the city and found herself driving along the back roads. They drove for around 40 minutes before the car began to make a chugging noise and smoke appeared in front of her. She pulled up to the side of the road and got out to inspect the vehicle, opening the hood and looking inside. Kate Kaplan was many things, she could extract bullets, clean up after dead bodies but looking at the engine of her car at that very moment…she was clueless. It was getting dark and she knew they had to get to safety as soon as possible. She grabbed her bag and case and put the bag around her before coming around to the passenger's side.

"Red wake up, come we have to get out of here."

Red opened his eyes to see the worry on Kate's face, something he didn't normally associate with her…fear. He tried to get out of the car but the pain in his side made him fall back. Kate bent down and put her arm around him and gave him the extra help he needed to make it out of the car, steadying her case in her free hand.

"Put your arm around me, come on we need to move."

Red allowed Kate to take some of his weight as they walked along the road, Kate kept her eyes peeled and saw the path that was hidden by the grass just off the road, and she instructed him to follow slowly as they walked further in to wooded area. It was another 10 minutes before Kate saw the abandoned cabin. She took her arm from around Red's waist away and helped him to lean on the railing while she inspected their surroundings.

Red closed his eyes and the pain shot though his side, he looked up when Kate appeared from the side of the cabin.

"Okay well it doesn't look like it's been used in a while, come on…we best get you inside."

She helped him up the stairs, taking it slow. Kate put down her case and broke the glass of the front door with her elbow and eased her hand through it and found the lock on the other side before retrieving her case. Once they were inside she got him settled on the couch before putting the case on the table. She came back over and helped Red to sit up and she got his jacket off him and began unbuttoning his shirt.

"You could at least by need dinner first." He said jokingly.

"Red now is not the time for jokes."

She unlocked the case and found her medical tools she needed before heading through to the kitchen to find any kind of antiseptic, opening the top cupboard she found a bottle of Vodka which she quickly grabbed, before picking up some towels on her way back over.

"Okay, I'm sorry…but this is going to hurt." She said as she opened the lid and poured a generous amount of alcohol onto Red's bullet would.

He yelled out in pain as the alcohol made contact with his injury before grabbing the bottle and taking a big gulp of the liquid while Kate set to work on extracting the bullet with her tools. The Vodka helped some but he couldn't deny how much pain he was in as Kate worked on him. Blood oozed out as she finally made contact with the bullet and slowly pulled it out before placing it on the table. She gave him a small smile before she began to stitch him up, Red never taking his eyes off her. When she was finally done, she placed the bullet in a small tube she retrieved from her before cleaning up around her.

"I'll have a look in the bedroom; see if I can find you a clean shirt."

He took another drink from the bottle and closed his eyes briefly before Kate came back out and help put on the clean shirt.

"Not your usual taste I'm sure but beggars can't be choosers."

They lapsed in to silence as Kate took a seat beside him on the couch, taking a drink from the bottle before passing it back to him.

"Do you have any idea who that was back there?" She asked.

"I have a fair idea."

"Are you going to tell me, no doubt I'll be cleaning him up at some point."

Red laughed at her assumption, she knew him far to well.

"If it was him, his names Zion Victor…he works for the Russian Mafia."

"Is he one of the names you've given to Agent Keene?"

"Yes…"

"And now he wants you dead."

"He does, and he'll stop at nothing to get to me…and that includes hurting the people I care most about in this world. Which is why I need you to leave?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm grateful for all you've done for me today, I am…but now you need to get away from here. It won't be long before he finds me and when he does, I don't want you here."

"Red don't be…"

"I'm not being ridiculous before you say it; he won't hesitate to kill you or anyone else near me."

"You can't be serious?"

Red turned towards her, grimacing as he did so.

"There's not many people I care about in my life Kate, but you, Dembe and Lizzie…you mean more to me than anyone else and I won't risk your lives to save mine…I just won't."

"Red listen to me…."

"No Kate, you need to leave. I don't want to see anything happen to you…it's that simple." He said, taking hold of her hand.

"How long have you and I known each other."

"Over 15 years why?"

"And in that time have you ever put me at risk?"

"No but I…"

"If you think I'm leaving you here to get killed by this Victor person then you don't know me very well."

Kate bent down and went in to her handbag and brought out her faithful Berretta handgun.

"I've never stepped away from a fight Red, and I'm sure as hell not about to start now. No matter what happens now, we're doing this together…do you understand me?"

He saw the genuine love and concern, the hint of determination in her voice and she stared him down. He took tight hold of her hand and nodded his head.

"What ever you say Mr Kaplan."

-Fin