Hudson on the Run
Lizzie's morning takes a turn for the worse when Hudson becomes lost...but never fear! Reddington comes to the rescue!
Written for the Blacklist Secret Santa exchange and dedicated to the wonderful cosmo-donatien.
(Who wanted Reddington and Hudson to meet!)
Hudson on the Run
x.x.x
"Reddington's back early?" Elizabeth Keen disbelievingly repeated back into the line.
That was a surprise.
Holding the phone to her ear with one hand, Elizabeth listened to Agent Ressler as she fumbled with the locks on the sliding glass door.
.
Hudson whined by her feet, dancing back and forth on his paws and bumping against her legs.
Tom had left that morning in a rush, running late for an early teachers meeting.
Which meant Elizabeth was responsible for feeding Hudson and letting him out before she headed to the Post Office.
.
Elizabeth had spent the morning hours alone in the house, lingering over a leisurely breakfast and sharing her toast with Hudson.
She was a real sucker for animals, and Hudson knew just how to play her, staring up at Elizabeth with his big brown eyes and tilting his head just so.
She often felt guilty about leaving Hudson alone at home for most of the day, so it was easy to justify spoiling him whenever she could.
Elizabeth was amazed the dog wasn't the size of a blimp with all the table scraps she fed him.
But how could Elizabeth ever resist a pair of puppy eyes pleading up at her?
.
She hadn't been due in at the office for another thirty minutes...but given Ressler's unexpected call and the agent's hassled tone, she had better hurry.
Reddington, it seemed, had made an unexpected early return from one of his trips meant to "maintain appearances".
He had been somewhere in Brazil for this latest trip, doing who-knew-what, exactly...doubtlessly something highly illegal.
What Elizabeth did know was that Reddington's flaunting of his ongoing criminal activity in the FBI's collective faces grated on the entire team's nerves...especially Agent Ressler's.
.
If Elizabeth wanted to maintain the uneasy peace between the FBI's task-force and the criminal mastermind that had drawn them together, she would have to head into work early.
The sooner the better.
.
But first, she had to let Hudson out to do his business.
A task she apparently was not fulfilling fast enough to suit Hudson, who continued to whine at her side before finally barking at her.
.
"Yeah yeah," Elizabeth muttered to her dog, still listening to Ressler as he reiterated the need for her to "get to the office and do her job" for the third time.
Reddington seemed to have wound the lead agent up pretty tightly already if Ressler was already using her as a scapegoat to vent.
Not a good sign for how the rest of the day would go.
Raymond Reddington was often infuriating to work with...but from the safety of her home, Elizabeth almost found it musing how easily the man riled up the other members of the FBI team.
Almost.
.
Successfully unlocking the sliding glass door, Elizabeth pulled it open and shook her head to herself as Hudson zipped past her, streaking out the door and down the wooden steps of the patio into the backyard.
.
"Keen?"
"I'll head right over."
"Double time, Keen. We have a job to do."
"I'll be there in twenty-" Elizabeth stepped out onto the patio deck, looking up just in time to see Hudson disappear from view.
.
That was odd.
Where did he...
Realization sunk in suddenly.
.
The gate.
The gate was open.
Oh no.
.
"Shit! I've got to go!" Elizabeth snapped out, hanging up the phone before Ressler could reply.
She would deal with him later, right now she needed to catch her dog.
.
They had a fenced-in yard for a reason.
A very good reason.
Namely an overactive dog who loved nothing more than sprinting off into the sunset.
But a fence only worked if the gate was kept closed.
Which it apparently had not.
.
"Hudson!" Elizabeth shouted, taking the steps two at a time before running out through the gate after her dog.
.
Where had he gone?
Dodging the recycling bin and skirting around their car, Elizabeth made it to the front of the house, her eyes scanning for her dog.
.
There he was.
Hudson was running pell-mell down the sidewalk away from the house as fast as his tiny doggie legs could go.
Not good.
.
"Hudson!" Elizabeth called, running after him with her phone still in hand.
This was so not good.
.
Four legs were faster than two, and the damn dog had a head start.
Elizabeth was running full out down the street and failing to gain ground on the sprinting canine.
.
"HUDSON! Get back here! Hudson!" she shouted, but the brown blur of a dog failed to slow even a bit at the sound of her shouted commands.
In an instant Hudson hit the end of the block and disappeared around the corner.
.
Lizzie felt her heart dropping in disappointment - of course he wouldn't listen, of course-, before she redoubled her efforts and ran after Hudson full throttle, rounding the corner just in time to see the incorrigible canine take another sharp turn three streets down.
Damn that dog could run.
Damn it.
"Hudson!" she shouted after him, equal parts exasperated, angry, and just plain upset.
Silence greeted her.
Ignoring the worry gnawing its way up from her stomach, Elizabeth kept running after Hudson, mentally berating herself.
- stupid stupid stupid
should have checked the gate
why didn't I check the gate
why didn't we train Hudson better
stupid dog
stupid Elizabeth -
Finally reaching the turn, Elizabeth started up the next street shouting for her dog again- "Hudson!" -but there was no sign of him. No dog in sight, and no indication of which way he might have gone.
Goddammit.
"Shit." Elizabeth swore aloud, chest heaving as she struggled to catch her breath after sprinting for so long.
She had run full tilt after him.
Not that it had done her any good.
Hudson was no where to be found.
Damn it damn it damn it.
Elizabeth walked down the street, calling out for her dog, her voice ragged, mind buzzing, trying to focus on anything other than the tears stinging the corners of her eyes.
.
Elizabeth Keen was out of breath, incredibly frustrated, and nearing tears.
To top it all off her phone began to ring in her hand.
.
Jesus. She muttered angrily. This was not her day.
Running one hand through her hair, Elizabeth picked up the call and brought the phone to her ear.
What on earth was it now?
"Agent Keen." she greeted, sounding none too pleased.
If it was Agent Ressler calling to hassle her again, Elizabeth was going to let him have a piece of her mind.
She was not the the mood to deal with any more nitpicking or nagging from the over-achieving agent.
.
Where on earth did Hudson go?
She couldn't believe this was happening.
It was just her luck.
.
The voice that came over the phone line took her by surprise.
.
"I'm wounded, Lizzie, I figured after three weeks apart you would at least show up to greet me in person."
.
"Reddington." Elizabeth stated, surprise and exhaustion battling in her voice.
She was struggling to recapture her breath while still walking, talking, and searching for her damn dog.
Shit.
Elizabeth Keen had been prepared to handle Agent Ressler...but Raymond Reddington was in a class of "difficult to deal with" all of his own.
.
"I thought I was very clear about my conditions for this partnership? I have leads and I have information for the FBI, but how am I supposed to share any of that if you don't show up for work on time? It's unprofessional, Lizzie."
"Right." Elizabeth responded glumly, pausing for a moment and rubbing her eyes.
.
This wasn't going to work, she was running in circles.
How on earth was she going to tell Tom she lost Hudson?
Wiping at her eyes again, Elizabeth pulled in a shaky breath and tried to focus on the situation at hand.
.
Talking to Reddington, that was her job.
Focus, Keen.
"Right. Sorry. I'll- I'll be there soon." She continued finally, trying valiantly to get her emotions in check.
.
If Raymond Reddington was calling her to complain about her lateness, Elizabeth knew she would be in hot water with AD Cooper.
Not to mention Agent Ressler.
Goddammit.
So what if she was a complete wreck who just lost her dog?
Who cared?
She had a job to do.
Pull it together, Lizzie.
.
She let out a shaky, heavy sigh.
.
There she was, Elizabeth Keen, standing in the middle of the street, phone to her ear.
On the phone with one of the FBI's 10 most wanted...but completely distracted by thoughts of her stupid missing dog.
Hoping against hope that Hudson would come running round the corner and that everything would turn out okay.
.
But when did anything ever turn out okay?
.
Elizabeth wished she could go back twenty minutes in time and check to see that the gate was shut before she let the dog out.
She was utterly unwilling to walk back home and stop looking for Hudson.
She couldn't just give up on him.
But it seemed that she would have to.
.
"Is everything all right?"
.
Elizabeth froze at the question.
She had been expecting further criticism or complaints.
Or for Reddington to simply hang up the phone on her; accepting no excuses for her failure to live up to his expectations.
Not an inquiry into whether or not she was "all right".
.
What did he care?
.
"Lizzie." Her name was a command, a demand for an answer.
.
Right, talking. She was supposed to be talking.
"No, it's nothing." Elizabeth managed, turning to head back only to stop once more, her feet unwilling to move.
.
"It doesn't sound like nothing. Tell me what's wrong." Reddington's voice over the phone sounded deadly serious.
.
Exasperated, Elizabeth answered him, rubbing her forehead with one hand, "It's Hudson. I lost Hudson. He got out of the yard and took off and- and now I can't find him."
.
God, she felt like an idiot explaining this.
It was so stupid. So mundane.
A lost dog. And here she was confiding her latest personal emergency in the one person in the world she would be least likely to share anything with.
.
"When did this happen?" The edge had gone out of his voice, but Reddington still sounded...concerned? Sympathetic?
Elizabeth was confused, surprised even.
.
She had expected him to brush it off, what was a lost dog to the concierge of crime?
.
With another shaky breath, Elizabeth answered his question.
"Just now- when, when Ressler called, I was talking to him, and Hudson just ran out the door, and through the gate- and I lost him! I lost the dog! I tried chasing him, but I lost him!"
Why was she even taking the time to explain this to him?
.
The words just seemed to tumble out of her mouth as she half-walked, half-jogged down the sidewalk.
Elizabeth couldn't stay still any longer.
If she hurried, maybe she could check just one more street before she had to rush back home and hurry into the office.
Maybe she was just being ridiculous, but maybe that one last street would make a difference.
Maybe Hudson would be there.
.
"Stay on the line a moment, Lizzie."
Lizzie stayed silent but kept the phone pinned to her ear as she scanned the next street, craning her head back and forth in hopes of catching sight of Hudson's furry brown form.
.
No such luck.
.
Chewing her lip, Elizabeth only half listened to the muffled noises over the phone line, and instead let her mental tirade loose on herself.
.
-Stupid, stupid Lizzie.
How could you do this?
You lost the dog.
So stupid.
You keep wrecking everything.
Accusing your husband of murder and then losing the dog.
Great job.
What is wrong with you?
Stupid dog, please be safe.
Goddam it, you'd be a horrible parent.
Can't even take care of a dog-
.
Thankfully, the return of the voice on the other end of the phone jarred Elizabeth Keen out of her downward thought-spiral.
"Change of plans, I'll come to you.".
.
Wait a second.
.
"What, no, NO. I can make it to the office-" Elizabeth hurried to explain, trying to make things right.
.
"That won't do either of us any good, since I'm leaving there now."
"Reddington-"
"I'm out the door."
.
Elizabeth struggled to find a line of thought to reign the situation back under control.
She had lost her dog, she was late for work, she did NOT need to be responsible for ruining the day's operation and setting the FBI's informant off on a prima donna style snit.
.
There had to be something she could say to fix this.
.
But Elizabeth was out of breath, out of ideas, (and it seemed) out of luck when it came to finding her dog.
She thought she could feel a migraine coming on.
.
"Are you still there, Lizzie?"
"Yes."
"Good. I assume you are out looking for Hudson now?"
Seeming to sense she was about to begin protesting once more, Reddington cut her off and continued speaking.
"Just keep doing what you're doing, Lizzie. We'll find Hudson. Don't you worry."
The line was dead before Elizabeth could get a word in edgewise.
.
What the hell?
Had Reddington really just-?
Elizabeth mentally ran through her options; but it didn't take more than a beat for her to make up her mind.
.
She had a dog to find.
–
x.x.x
–
Elizabeth's earlier determination was fading and her mind started to second-guess her decision to throw caution to the wind and take Reddington's bizarre behavior as an excuse to keep up her search.
She had spent the last hour and a half jogging up and down streets, peering down alleyways, and calling in vain for Hudson.
.
No luck.
Hudson was no where to be found, neither was Reddington for that matter.
.
Aside from a text message from Agent Ressler bluntly informing her that Reddington had left to meet her, Elizabeth Keen had heard nothing new.
.
Elizabeth was feeling frazzled and hopeless when the sleek grey car pulled up behind her, the drivers window rolling down smoothly to reveal a familiar face.
.
"Miss Keen." The driver greeted Elizabeth, slowing the vehicle to a stop at the curb near her.
"Dembe." Elizabeth greeted him in return, approaching the car eagerly.
.
"Mr. Reddington sent me to find you."
Elizabeth's hopes fell, and she felt a twinge silly for that.
She wasn't sure what she had been expecting.
But Elizabeth supposed it was time to face the music.
.
She had blown off her job earlier and had nothing to show for it; if Reddington was ready to talk now then maybe it was time to give up and get back to work.
.
Even if it meant working through a broken heart...maybe Hudson had found his way home on his own.
Maybe he would be waiting there when she got home from work, stinky and dirty but unharmed.
She could hope.
.
"I'll drive you." Dembe continued, motioning for her to get into the car.
With a nod Elizabeth complied, crossing in front of the car to sit in the passenger seat beside him.
She doubted it was what he had meant, but Dembe made no comment on her selection of seat.
The two drove in silence; calm on Dembe's part, depressed on Elizabeth's side.
.
Keeping her eyes glued out the window, on the off chance of spotting Hudson as they drove, Elizabeth stewed in her own thoughts.
The sky was far too blue and clear for such a rotten day.
.
Brewing in a cloud of negativity, Elizabeth only stirred when the car had come to another stop and Dembe had announced that they had arrived.
.
She had been too focussed on watching the sidewalks pass, straining her eyes in hopes of spying her wayward canine, to pay any attention to where they had actually driven to.
Elizabeth was surprised to find them outside a park of some kind.
.
Stepping out of the car and shielding her eyes against the bright sunlight, she was stunned to realize it was not just any park...it was a dog park.
.
No.
No way. Elizabeth's mind declared, cutting off whatever wild thoughts had started racing through her brain.
.
It couldn't be.
.
But it was.
.
"Oh my god." Elizabeth murmured, staring unbelievingly at the scene before her.
.
Her feet were moving before she could fully process it all.
.
Elizabeth whipped open the first of the double gates leading into the dog park, throwing the second open and running out across the green grassy field towards the lone figure standing near the center.
.
Raymond Reddington stood in the middle of the field, dressed in his usual impeccable attire.
His suit jacket was discarded to the side, leaving Reddington in his vest and shirtsleeves, which were rolled oh-so-casually up as he threw a tennis ball for the brown bundle of fur prancing around his feet to chase.
.
The dog went streaking off after the tiny green projectile without a moments hesitation, joyfully leaping across the field to retrive the tennis ball.
.
The whole situation felt surreal to Elizabeth Keen.
Raymond Reddington playing fetch with her dog.
Raymond Reddington and Hudson.
It was unbelievable, it was ridiculous.
But Elizabeth was too relieved to care.
.
On the trip back, Hudson veered away from his path and made a beeline for Elizabeth, dropping the tennis ball and jumping up joyously to greet her.
Elizabeth dropped to her knees and hugged the squirming canine, paying no mind to the muddy paw prints he was leaving on her slacks.
"Hudson! I was so worried!" she breathed into the scruff of his neck, ruffling his ears and leaning back to look at the dog.
Hudson grinned back at her, his tongue lolling out one side of his mouth playfully.
Ignorant and unrepentant for the stress he had caused that morning.
Elizabeth forgave him on the spot.
She had always been a sucker for puppy eyes.
.
Smiling back at him, Elizabeth heaved in a happy breath and let it out as she ruffled the dog's fur once more; releasing all of the stress and tension she had been holding since Hudson vanished from her sight.
.
Hudson was back.
Thank goodness.
It was all going to be okay.
.
The shadow alerted her to Reddington's approach, and Elizabeth glanced up at the man as he strolled to a stop a foot or two away from them.
.
Reddington spoke first, his hands tucked into his pockets as he stood and observed the reunited pair.
"When I first offered you my talents, I assumed you would task me with something more challenging than finding a dog."
.
Raymond cut a striking figure, slouching ever so slightly as he stood in front of them; sleeves rolled up, his leather shoes wet from the grass, and a light dusting of dog hair on his trousers.
Elizabeth was struck with the realization that this man would never cease to surprise her.
.
"How did you find him?" Elizabeth asked in response, glancing between her dog and the criminal -or should she say, dog catcher?- standing before her.
The suspicion and hostility Elizabeth Keen usually held for the man was- for this moment at least- gone.
Replaced instead by honest gratitude and curiosity.
.
Whatever else Reddington had done, right now, in this moment, Elizabeth Keen was thankful.
She could not hide it, she did not want to.
.
And she couldn't wipe the smile from her face.
.
"An old trick, you might have heard of it," Reddington replied offhandedly, glancing away for a moment and then back to Elizabeth as he reached into the front pocket of his vest and removed a small silver whistle. "It's called a dog whistle. Not to be confused with the wolf variety."
.
Elizabeth grinned back at him, a genuine smile that lit up her face.
Hudson pulled away from her to run back to the tennis ball, and Elizabeth broke the eye contact, abruptly feeling sheepish for her sudden unguarded behavior.
.
So much for staying professional.
Here she was, grinning like an idiot at a criminal.
.
A dangerous criminal.
.
...who had just managed to find her dog for her.
.
Standing up and brushing off her knees, Elizabeth focused on watching the wiry brown dog tackle the tiny tennis ball.
.
Hudson picked the tennis ball up with gusto, growling and shaking it before throwing it off to the side, only to pounce on it once again.
Elizabeth tried to school her expression as she watched Hudson prance to-and-fro.
.
Despite her best efforts, the smile crept back onto her face.
.
For once, everything worked out all right.
Hudson was back.
Elizabeth could not help but smile.
.
Raymond Reddington remained silent, head tilted slightly as he watched her.
His expression was unreadably neutral, lost in thought almost.
.
Elizabeth met his gaze before she spoke again, being careful to express the sincerity behind her words.
"Thank you, Reddington. I mean it. Thank you."
.
The concierge of crime smiled back at her, a smile that seemed gentler and far more genuine than any other expression she had seen from him before.
.
"Think nothing of it, Lizzie." he replied.
"Goodness knows you need someone in that house you can trust."
Author's note:
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!
I'm seriously considering writing a second chapter with a focus on Reddington's side of things, but it might take a while.