Chapter 1

"Mommy?" The tiny voice from beside her in the back seat broke through the soft music filtering through the car stereo. Ex-Special Agent Elizabeth Keen looked down at her three year old daughter.

"Yes Marie?" She responded.

"Are we going to see daddy today?" The three year old looked up at her mom with big smoky blue eyes that were an exact replica of her fathers. Her wavy brown hair was pulled back into a French braid and tucked under her red wool cap. The somber look on her daughters face made Liz's heart ache.

"Yes baby girl we are."

It had been three years to the day since Raymond Reddington was gunned down by her ex-partner Donald Ressler. They had finally taken down all the major players from the Cabal, after months on the run it all came down to one moment. Red had all the evidence to exonerate Liz and had set up a meeting with Ressler to hand everything over. Of course it was a trap, a trap that Red never saw coming. The second Red handed the brief case over to Ressler, the FBI agent pulled out his gun and put three bullets into Reds chest so fast that Dembe didn't have time to do anything except catch the falling body of his best friend and brother before it hit the floor.

She could remember the day she found out as clearly as she could see Dembe in front of her now. She was sitting in the box, trying to figure out when Red was coming for her when suddenly Harold Cooper appeared before her. He gave a nod and the box was opened. He explained to her that Red had been successful in exonerating her and that she was free to go. It wasn't until Dembe appeared that she felt something was wrong. He didn't need to speak the words, the unshed tears and spots of blood on his shirt told her everything she needed to know. She remembered her knees giving way as the tears streamed from her face, her loud screams of anguish echoed around the massive room. Dembe's arms wrapped around her and together they cried for him. For a fallen friend, brother, lover and father. The thought that Red never knew he had a child made Liz cry even harder. She had wanted to tell him, she had planned on telling him after they got to their new safe house but then he was taken by the Kings of the Highway, and she was captured by Ressler.

Even now the pain was still fresh, she had loved him so much and was so very happy when he reciprocated her feelings. She didn't even care anymore if she was exonerated as long as she was with him, and then not even four months later he was taken from her. When she had found out that Red was killed by Ressler's hand she flew into a rage, she had always had a sinking feeling that Ressler was not all he appeared to be, but she couldn't quite put her finger one it. It only took her and Dembe six months to find him on the beaches of Maui, he didn't even try to beg for his life, which enraged her more but she couldn't do it, she couldn't pull the trigger. She handed the gun to Dembe and walked out of the room breaking into tears at the sound of the gun being emptied into her now dead ex-partner.

Liz shook her head, pulling herself back to the present as they pulled into the cemetery. Her heart sank even more as they neared his grave. The black marble headstone was the only thing that was lavish, Dembe had arranged everything and promised Liz that Red never wanted a massive headstone, which had surprised her. She had expected him to have a grand tomb built with the most expensive coffin money could buy. Her mind started drifting to his funeral and she quickly pushed that thought away, she couldn't think about that right now. The car slowed to a complete stop and Dembe got out to open her door but she didn't get out right away, not until Marie tugged on her hand.

Mother and daughter slowly walked hand in hand to the marker. The engraving getting bigger and bigger as they approached the familiar text.

Raymond 'Red' Reddington

A Most Beloved Friend, Brother, Husband & Father

Gone but Never Forgotten

February 7th 1960 – November 11th 2015

Kneeling down, she traced the word 'Husband' over and over. They hadn't actually gotten married but she knew that if he did ask she would have said yes, plus he was her husband in every sense of the word. The first time she saw it she cried against Dembe's chest for almost forty-five minutes. She watched as Marie placed the red rose on top of the headstone leaving her two tiny hands next to it. She was a splitting image of Red, from the blue eyes to the gift for gab. The only thing that indicated that Liz was her mother was her brown hair and nose, everything else was all Red.

"Hi daddy. Mommy and I came to see you 'fore Uncle 'Embe takes us to 'stralia. Mommy said I'm going to see roo's and 'wala bears. I wish you could come wiff us daddy." The little girl leaned forward a placed a kiss the word 'Father' before straightening back up. "I miss you daddy and I love you."

Liz let the tears fall freely as she watched her daughter, her heart breaking all over again. It pained her to know that her little girl will never know her father. Even though Liz had Sam, there was a very small part of her that wished she had the chance to meet her biological dad. She pulled Marie into her arms giving the little girl a tight hug before telling her to go to Dembe. She watched as the two of them climbed back into the car, giving her privacy, before turning back to the headstone.

"Oh god Raymond! I miss you so much. Three years and it's not even remotely easier to deal with you being gone." She kept tracing her word as she spoke. "You'd be so proud of your daughter Red, she's exactly like you, witty and smart and she has a great sense of style. I love you so much Raymond."

She leaned down to kiss her word but was stopped as a voice broke through the silence. "I love you too Elizabeth." Her breath caught and she swore her heart stopped, that voice, even after three years she'd know that voice anywhere.

"Red?" She slowly turned her head and there he was. Standing not even six feet from her, wearing her favorite grey three piece suit under a black wool coat, his trademark fedora tipped off to the side on his head. He looked exactly the same, maybe a bit thinner, but essentially the same. She slowly stood on her feet, having to use the headstone to balance herself.