AN.: I own nothing.

Thanks jackandsamforever, for all your help with this one, and mylla88, who supported me from Day One when I decided to write this one.


Elizabeth never cared much for her birthday, it was like any other day. However, this year was different. She realized that it was an opportunity to spend time with Sam, and that always made it worth it. Now, there was no Sam. There was no Tom. It was going to be just her.

Tom was gone. She didn't imagine that she would miss him, not after everything that happened. There was Gina and Jolene, whoever they were. Their marriage had been in trouble for a while, she knew that, but everything is different when you have someone at home waiting for you. Although at the end of the day, what mattered was that she wasn't his companion, but his mission. She never imagined that he was capable of anything illegal – but there was only only one truth above all else: she'd been married to a man that she had no idea who he really was.

Now she was all alone.

In the past, Liz wasn't able to keep in touch with her friends because the FBI consumed all of her time. In her precious spare time she simply had no ambition to do anything other than spend time with Tom. But now, even if someone had surprised her with plans, she wasn't in the mood to celebrate. Liz only wanted to finish this silly mission, go home and take a hot bubble bath.

They'd been sitting in the van for two hours, waiting for their Blacklist target to show up - Davis, some drug dealer who used to finance terrorist transactions over the years, including some of the Freelancer's work. Ressler was already impatient, cursing Raymond Reddington for the bad tip. Meera seemed bored, re-checking all of the files, mostly for her own distraction. Aram kept checking the surveillance monitors, eager to find anything suspect.

Liz was lost in her own thoughts. It took her several seconds to notice that her phone was ringing. Nick's Pizza. She sighed, and touched the answer option on the screen. She didn't even bother to say anything

"Lizzie", he said calmly, "Call it a night. He's not going to show up."

"Oh really?" She didn't try to hide the sarcasm her voice, unloading all of her frustrations on Red. Liz looked at Ressler and confirmed what the four of them already figured out sometime before. "He is not coming, let's go home."

"One of my contacts informed me that he checked in at the Dulles Airport, and is leaving to Brussels. I'm sorry for making you wait for so long." He was patronizing her, she knew, but there was some apology in his voice.

"Sure, fine, whatever," she said and ended the call, confirming to the others what they'd already guessed.

Liz was sick of Red's games. It was true that Red had helped to catch a great number of blacklisters; in some way, Liz was famous, just as he promised her on their first meeting. That was everything a rookie FBI agent could ever dream about, and it was really happening to her; thanks to Red. But this is the same man, who derailed her entire life, made work the only thing left in her life that mattered. Because of him and his missions, she wasn't able to say goodbye to the most beloved man in her life, the man who took her in and raised her like his own. There was her marriage, but she wasn't sure that its ending was a bad thing. The worst thing about Red was his notion that she had to be there for him all the time, even if it wasn't clear what he wanted from her. Of course, she had to be there for him, he was her current assignment at the FBI; it was exhausting.

Everybody started packing up the files and equipment, and Ressler headed to the front of the van to instruct the driver; soon the vehicle was in transit. She would finally be able to go home.

It was late, but they weren't returning to the Post Office because they were picked up at houses, so there were no cars to worry about. Liz closed her eyes and leaned her head against the dark window. She felt depressed at the thought of going to an empty house. She didn't care about her birthday, it was just weird to be by herself; she was so used to having someone around, despite being a self-described loner.

The van slowed, but Liz didn't bother to open her eyes, she knew it was too soon to be at her place, it must be someone else's stop. "C'mon, Scott, we're going to hang out and relax a little," Ressler said in his usual bossy tone. Liz wasn't inclined to do anything, she just wanted the day to be over with. She had pleading eyes.

"Let's go, Liz, we all need it. It's been a long day, and nothing's going on tomorrow, so we can sleep in," Meera said, almost motherly. She was right, Red himself told her that Davis had left the country, so there was nothing to be done, and there wasn't much to do at the Post Office lately. She looked up and saw Aram waiting for her to join Ressler and Meera, who were already standing on the sidewalk. She sighed in defeat and got out of the black van, with Aram coming out right behind her.

They went to a bar that she had always been curious about. Someone once told her that the music selection was excellent, but she wasn't in the mood, so she could only hope that her bad mood wouldn't spoil the experience. When they entered the bar, she thought it looked a little vintage, both the decor and the music. The music blaring over the speaker sounded like something from the sixties, and it was something Sam used to hum when she was just a little girl. Her eyes stung, but she knew that it was neither the time nor the place to let her emotions get the best of her.

They headed to an open booth at the back of the pub. Meera ordered a martini and Aram and Ressler choose beer. Since she was there, she decided that it would be better to try to enjoy herself. She was reminded of Red's Aviation Cocktail, which seemed to fit in a place like this. Why not give it a try? It tasted good, after all, and she didn't feel like the usual wine or beer.

Aram and Meera were engaging in an animated conversation. Ressler was typing something on his cellphone while singing along the Beatles tune that was playing loudly. She slowly felt her muscles begin to relax; their stakeout had tired her out, even with so little activity. She hadn't taken some time off for a while; there hadn't been much chasing going on in the last month, but she had a lot of paper work to catch up on.

Their drinks arrived, but before she could taste her drink, Meera knocked a spoon against her glass to capture everyone's attention. Liz looked around, confused about what was going on, as the CIA agent started to speak to her, "We all know you tend to keep a low profile over this sort of thing, but we didn't want you to be home alone tonight. It has been a long year, and so much happened. Red's trying to make us all crazy with his cat-and-mouse game, and you are the most affected by this-his madness. Liz, we care a lot about you and we're here for you."

"Happy birthday, Scott," Ressler said loudly as soon as Meera ended her speech. Liz tried to hide the timid smile that emerged on her face.

"You're probably sick of us," Aram said in his usual tender voice, "We spend almost seventy hours a week together, but we'd like you to have some fun, at least today." Liz couldn't stop the thankful smile that stole across her face. She had always considered her co-workers good acquaintances, but she realized that she considered them friends now; she suddenly felt more alive than she had in months.

Ressler raised his bottle and shouted an animated happy birthday, and the other two followed him. The cups and bottles clinked at the center of the table.

The four of them engaged in some lighthearted conversation, getting to know each other better. Liz wasn't inclined to share too much about herself, but she was really enjoying just having a normal conversation with normal adults. Aram, who always seemed like a shy guy, was really outgoing and funny, telling them stories about his days as a teenager; some so unbelievable that all of those who knew him from work would doubt his truthfulness.

Then Meera provoked her. "So, Liz. Seems like you really didn't know Red before all of this. What does he want with you?"

That question was unexpected, and the other two sitting at the table stared at her with looks of curiosity. At this point Liz could already know, since he made it very clear from day one that he will only speak to her. Of course there were meetings at the Post Office that everybody joined, yet they all knew, or at least imagined, that the two of them had met in other circumstances.

Liz laughed nervously. "I'd give my life to know the real answer to that question!" All of them laughed loudly at the back of the bar.

"Oh, Scott," Ressler said in the middle of laughing, "I don't believe that you don't know what he wants. Besides, the old man seems to have a crush on you."

"Ya think?" she said in a playful tone, and everybody laughed again. She felt relieved, apparently her co-workers hadn't noticed her tension; she felt her face burning with the blush that spread towards her neck, but the place was dark enough and the three of them were so busy laughing at her answer that it went unnoticed. Liz sighed and smiled widely as her anxiety dissipated.

That was nice, actually. It'd been a while since she'd enjoyed some good company, even if she had thought that that she wouldn't be totally comfortable joking around with her co-workers. Liz would have never guessed how much fun these people would be, especially since the closer they got to that was in Budapest, when they were after The Alchemist, and Ressler was whining about Audrey. Poor Ressler. It has been a while since he lost her. Her life was not the only one that changed after Raymond Reddington showed up.

She felt the alcohol numbing her mind as she finished her blue cocktail; she had barely eaten the entire day. Red was right, it tasted like spring, and she wanted more. She ordered some appetizers along with her second cocktail so she wouldn't get drunk.

As the mini sandwiches were served, Liz tuned out her companion's conversation. She was still light-headed, but she hoped the presence of food in her stomach would made the dizziness dissipate.

As she took her first sip of her brand new fancy cocktail. Simon and Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence" echoed around them, leaving her even more zoned out. Sam loved this song too, but this time she didn't feel like crying; she felt comforted. It was a sorrowful song, but it reminded her of some happy memories with her father - she could even smell the wet soil outside, soaked with the relentless rain. They spent the weekend playing board games while they listened to some old records. That's all the memory was, but somehow it was engraved in her mind. She felt like Sam was embracing her when the soft voices reverberated. "Hello darkness, my old friend, I've come to talk to you again…"

Liz sighed with a small smile on her face as she looked at nothing in particular behind Aram's shoulder. As Aram's hand touched her arm, she left the good memory behind and focused on Red, who appeared out of nowhere by her side. Where did he come from? The fact was she didn't know where she had been, but she couldn't help to wonder what was he doing there.