So here is my Summer hiatus story, as we begin our long wait till September 24th and Season 3! I have been plotting this story for a while, and it's set right after The Longevity Initiative, and before the events of 2x22 where our beloved Ressler has to hunt Liz. So it's 'old Blacklist universe'. Forgive me!


The day had started like any other at the Post Office. Descending in the yellow metal box after parking his vehicle, Ressler walked through the quiet room. No one was in yet, with the exception of a soft yellow glow coming from an upstairs office. Sitting in his office, it felt a little warm even at this time of day. Shedding his jacket, he turned his computer on and leaned back in his chair.

A little while later he headed for the break room and set about making the first pot of coffee for the day. Standing watching the coffee drip through the filter, he heard steps behind him.

"Agent Ressler, you're in early. Or perhaps I'm a little late today," said Cooper, opening a cupboard to retrieve a cup. As the coffee maker gurgled, announcing its contents were ready for consumption, Ressler motioned for his boss to take the first cup. As Cooper did so Ressler waited, glancing sideways at his superior. He was looking better. Whatever blood sugar problem (that Ressler didn't believe for a minute) he'd had the day he had collapsed, it was obviously under control now.

Cooper caught the glance. "Yes, I'm feeling better," he smiled, then left to head up to his office. Ressler silently returned the smile, before leaving the break room with his own coffee. There was more life in the war room now. The wall monitors had fired up, with various CNN news feeds on the large screens. Nothing of any great significance, Ressler noted as he walked to his office.

As he placed his coffee cup on his desk and sat down, Aram poked his head in the door behind him.

"Agent Ressler, Mr Reddington is on his way down," he announced.

Ressler swung around in his chair, regarding Aram and wondering why he was hearing this from him and not Liz. "Where's Keen?"

"Oh, she's on her way too. She's the one who texted me," explained Aram, before smiling briefly and disappearing back into the war room.

Ressler threw a look across to his partner's empty desk and then stood up, gathering his suit jacket from the back of his chair. Still pulling it on as he straightened his collar, he walked into the war room as the elevator doors opened and out stepped Reddington and Liz.

Reddington addressed them one by one as he approached, all charm. "Agent Navabi, looking ravishing as usual this morning. Aram, rather dapper there. New tie?" he paused briefly, "Donald, awake yet?" he smiled, toying with the lead agent and grinning like a Cheshire cat.

Ressler simply stood and shook his head, sweeping Red's barb aside. He rested his gaze on Liz's eyes as she stood slightly behind Red, catching the slight smile from her.

"Well then, now that we're all here, Aram, I need you to look up a name for me. Garrison Clarke."

"You need us to find him?" asked Ressler, watching Aram type the name into the laptop.

"Not at all Donald. I know where he is. A charming English village named Winchester Hill. I need us to take a little field trip. Literally. The man practically lives in the middle of a field," he informed them just as Aram brought up an image of a large English manor house on screen.

"Whoa. Nice digs," said Aram as Red smiled at him.

"Very nice indeed. Pack your bags, Agent Mojtabai, you're coming with Donald, Lizzie and I to England."

Aram's head shot up, "I… I am?" he asked nervously, quickly looking to Samar for support. She smiled at him as she perched on the edge of her desk.

Red regarded him with a "what could possibly go wrong?' smile, and slapped Aram on the shoulder.

"Relax Aram. It'll be a gas."

###

Just 7 hours later, having crossed the Atlantic on Red's Learjet, they arrived in Portsmouth, England. Picking up the rental car, Ressler immediately missed having Dembe around. Red had been very evasive, only saying that Dembe was attending to other business for him. But even Ressler had got used to the dark, quiet man driving them around. It had been a while since he'd driven on 'the wrong' side of the road across the Atlantic, but he could handle it. Climbing into the rental car, they headed out of the city and into the green countryside.

Suburban streets soon gave way to narrower country lanes lined with trees and short wooden fences, holding back fields of lazy sheep. It had been raining, leaving a few puddles here and there on the road and under muddy field gates. Ressler could almost feel his blood pressure dropping just driving through such a calm landscape.

"Aaahh, this is the life. Just look at this simpler, slower pace they have here," waxed Red from the back seat beside Liz who was likewise enjoying the green scenery. Or more to the point, was enjoying watching Red enjoying it.

Aram, sitting in the front was the only one of the group who was not so relaxed. "Um, Mr Reddington, so when you said 'scan his arm', you mean literally, get my scanner and read something on his arm, right?"

"Not on his arm -'in' his arm. Garrison Clarke may look like a retired official to the rest of his village, but make no mistake; the man carries a wealth of information on his person," explained Red, leaning forward a little to Aram.

"Okay…" Aram wasn't so sure about any of this. Give him a laptop to hack, or a hard drive to recover and he was your man. But having to get within 3 feet of someone and scan THEM and escape notice. Well, that he wasn't so sure about.

"The embedded microchip in his right upper arm holds information on members of the Cabal. Among other things," Red shrugged vaguely.

Ressler knew he was deliberately holding information back. What a shocker. He looked up briefly, catching Red in the rear view mirror as he spoke to Aram in the front passenger seat.

Following the coordinates on the GPS, the female voice from the rental dashboard announced their destination was up on the left. As Ressler slowed they spotted the entrance set back from the road. As they headed between the wrought iron gates, Reddington smiled confidently at Aram. "Oh, it will be a piece of cake. We'll get in, retrieve the information we need before Clarke even realizes it, then be out."

And parking on the circular driveway in front of the large manor house, hearing Aram take in a deep shuddering breath in the seat beside him, Ressler certainly hoped Reddington was right on this one.

###

"Aram, you'll have about two minutes. Can you do it?" Red asked him as they stood in the large living room waiting on Garrison Clarke to appear.

"Um, I think so," he replied, nervously clutching the leather strap of his shoulder satchel.

"Good man. Your colleagues here will be more than able to keep Clarke distracted." Turning to Ressler and Liz, he tilted his head, a sly little smile appearing on his features. "Lizzie, take Donald's cue."

Ressler glanced sideways at Liz, meeting her eyes and seeing them narrow slightly as she tried to read what he had in mind.

Nodding conspiratorially to them, Red then turned to face their host as he entered the room. "Garrison!" he reached for the man and clapped him squarely on his back, before holding him at arms length. "How wonderful to see you. It's been far too long."

Garrison Clarke, a primly dressed man in his mid 60s drew himself back from Red's grasp, straightening his jacket and vest. Acknowledging Red with barely suppressed discomfort, he spoke in a refined British accent.

"It has been a while, yes. This is true Raymond," he said, his words tumbling over each other as he took another step back from Red. His grey eyes darted over the gathered group, before landing on Reddington again.

"My employees," he told Clarke indicating the agents beside him. "Though they prefer I call them my associates. They insisted on joining me in your wonderfully civilized country. Apparently they don't get out much in their day jobs."

Ressler got the distinct impression Clarke was not that pleased that his time apart from Reddington had now come to an end. It also struck him that this guy looked more like a retired grandpa than some sort of government spy. All that was missing were the kids coming in grabbing his arms to haul him off to some other game they wanted to play. And yet Reddington had clearly said this guy was one of the top men in the Cabal. Well, so be it. Fortunately - or unfortunately, whichever way you looked at it - he trusted Red on this one.

It was time to go to work though and retrieve the information they'd come for. Watching Red, he waited for his cue.

Aram stood silently beside Ressler and Keen, likewise waiting for his moment. Though unlike Ressler, he was nervous and unsure of himself. In the war room he was completely at home. Out in the field he longed for the security of his desk and familiar laptop. And Samar. Far be it from him to openly admit it to his colleagues (who couldn't miss it even if he'd tried) he missed looking up at her from his desk, seeing her dark eyes, dark hair and full lips looking in his direction. To say he was smitten was an understatement. Reluctantly pushing aside the memory of his coworker, his attention was now drawn back to Reddington.

"I was just telling my colleagues here," began Red in that oh-so-familiar story telling tone while motioning to the trio beside him, "that I LOVE the smell of the grass after the rain. Where I come from it smells wonderful. Yet here, in the English countryside with the church steeple visible through the window and the estate laid out through these open French doors, with the roses and daffodils before us... my gosh. It smells exquisite! You English don't know how good you have it! Just look at that, Donald. Take a deep breath. Even in here you can smell that." As Red motioned toward the window, Ressler refused to look and raised his hands to his hips.

"Will you please shut up with how much you love everything and just get on with it? We don't have all day," he replied with visible annoyance, gritting his teeth as he approached Red, consciously moving in front of Clarke to keep the Englishman's attention off Aram.

Aram immediately removed the scanner from his pocket as Ressler began his diversion. His program began to run instantly, accessing the files from the embedded chip in Clarke's arm.

Red turned to Clarke in mock disdain and shook his head, "You will have to forgive Donald. He doesn't see the beauty around him. That macho streak in him, I presume. All balls and no brains," he told Clarke pleasantly while ignoring Ressler bristling near him.

"You know what? I've about had it up to HERE with your crap today," said Ressler as his hand swept over his head, taking another step toward Red.

Positioning himself slowly so as not to draw attention to himself Aram slid behind Clarke, reading the chip. Eyes darting between the scanner in his hand and Clarke in front of him, he was fast becoming a sweaty, nervous wreck. This espionage stuff really wasn't for him. He'd leave that to James Bond - or Donald Ressler. He didn't like to admit it, but Ressler was kind of a hero to him. And concentrating now on his colleague arguing with Mr Reddington, even Aram thought it looked real.

Behind Ressler, Liz caught on immediately and raised her voice to her partner. "Oh, get off his case, Don. If it weren't for him we'd-"

Ressler turned his head swiftly back to her, still moving further from Aram as a bewildered Clarke beheld the spectacle before him. "Really?! You're going to defend him after the shit he laid on us this morning?" His blue eyes met hers; staring coldly at her and for a split second she sucked in a breath, truly feeling he was angry at her. And not for the first time, it struck her how good her partner was at what he did. Gathering herself, she continued after only missing one beat.

"You're a great one to talk! Look at what we have to put up with from you!" she cried, standing her ground with her partner, playing her role. "You, and your moody, stubborn male bullshit." And suddenly it occurred to her that she wasn't sure how much she was role playing.

"Excuse me a moment Garrison," said Red, rolling his eyes resignedly and shaking his head as he turned to the vocal FBI agents before him.

"Donald. Lizzie. I understand you're both upset. Yes, it's been an awkward day, to say the least. But now is not the time for-"

"Shut up, old man," Ressler shot back at him. "I'm done. I'm outta here. Do your own dirty work."

As he strode by Red, Aram completely forgotten for the moment as he continued scanning Clarke's chip, Liz followed him. "You can't leave!"

Ressler stopped and whirled on her. "Why the hell not? And you know what? I'm tired of you too. You and your whiny little 'I want this. No, I don't want this' attitude." His voice rose, imitating hers and she almost burst out laughing at how accurate he sounded. He was also apparently crossing the lines of role playing and truth.

Garrison Clarke shook his head in disgust at this interruption. As he began to turn toward Red, he suddenly became aware of the man hovering behind him as Aram shot a terrified glance to Red.

Ressler saw it too. Instantly he moved into Liz, finger pointing into her face, his voice low and rumbling. "You have no idea what you want. But I'll tell you what you really need. This."

He pulled Liz into him, arms around her as he held her tight against his lean frame. He felt every curve, every swell, every inch of her against him. And planting his lips firmly on hers, she struggled a moment as her eyes widened. Part of it role playing. The other part of it complete shock at her partner this close. This intimate. This hot against her. But the shock was momentary as her body melted into his hold. His lips were hard on hers as his tongue pushed through and invaded her mouth. Involuntarily, her mouth opened under him and took him in, sucking his tongue against hers. His hands were suddenly everywhere, seeking her out, grasping her to him. One hand found her waist and dropped to her butt, fondling the round curve with his large fingers. The other held her head with fingers running through her hair as he ravaged her mouth. And it took every ounce of control he had not to give in completely, drop her to the floor and take her right there.

Clarke's dismayed eyes flew to Ressler and Liz. Aram's eyes widened, his attention drawn to his colleagues display. Ressler had a good technique; he had to hand it to the man. The scan was almost complete and quickly averting his eyes he saw the gauge reach 100%. Quickly dropping the scanner in his shoulder satchel, he swept past Reddington.

"Mr Reddington, I'm sorry but I can't work under these conditions," he told him, his voice high pitched and agitated. He wasn't exactly role playing either. Scurrying away he threw a wide eyed glance at Ressler almost eating his partner alive. His admiration for Ressler went up a notch as he fled the room. The man was cool (and hot, he had to admit that) under fire.

Reddington exhaled loudly and throwing his hands up in annoyance he threw an exasperated look to Clarke. Turning his frustrated gaze on his two charges, afraid they'd start copulating in front of him if he didn't stop them, he raised his voice with authority. "If you two are done playing grab ass, I have business here with our host."

And not a moment too soon. Ressler's body was responding to Liz, hardening against her despite his own imagined ice bucket challenge to quell the flames. He quickly let go of his partner, panting as he did so, leaving her standing there flushed and open mouthed in front of him. His physical response had been unmistakable against her.

"THAT is what you need, woman." Ressler flung a final angry glance at her and stormed from the room, playing the final card in his diversion. Heart hammering in his chest, he was relieved that another blood filled part of his body wasn't visible to the occupants of the room.

Behind him, Liz stood a moment longer before running her fingers through her hair at a useless attempt to smooth it. Turning to Reddington, she beheld his gaze as he regarded her as a frustrated father might, shaking his head with an unmistakable 'what the hell are you doing?' look.

Liz faced Clarke. "I apologize for my… colleague. He can be a little, ah… emo…motional at times." Exhaling hard, the feel of her partner's hard body against hers still fresh in her mind, she managed a brisk smile to Clarke. Then without another glance to either of them, followed the cue of her two male coworkers and left the room quickly.

Behind her Reddington turned the charm on. "Now Garrison, where were we? I do hope this little staff problem of mine won't stop our meeting today."

###

As Ressler left the room he slowed his pace down, not wanting to catch up with Aram just yet. He stopped and leaned against a wall, willing his mind to think of anything but the feel of Liz against him. Anything but the way his body had responded against her. He wasn't sure why he'd grabbed her so… needily. I guess I'm just good at my job...

Right.

Needing to think of ANYTHING but Liz, he forced his mind to remember back to a darker time. Back to the box. Lying on a cold metal bed as Reddington jammed his thumb into his bloody, shattered thigh. That did the trick completely. Now more composed and his body under control again he went in search of Aram, finding him pacing outside by their vehicle.

As Ressler approached Aram, he ignored the man's nervous look and asked him. "Please tell me you got the information we needed after…that."

Aram stopped pacing when he saw Ressler, finally glad that he wasn't alone out here having been concerned that some English gardener would come and set the dogs on him. "Um, yes I did. Got it all. Right here. In my scanner. Just what we need, Agent Ressler," he replied, knowing he was babbling. His cool, confident colleague in front of him was in marked contrast to the hot and handy Ressler he'd left with Liz a few minutes ago. He wasn't sure where to look.

Ressler was nodding to him, fully aware of Aram's discomfort when Liz came out the door toward them. Standing with hands on hips, he turned his head and met her eyes, noting the hesitation then resolve as she approached. Dragging her eyes from his as she stepped onto the gravel driveway, she also looked to Aram. It was the safest place to look right now.

"Did we get it?" she asked him, all business for the moment.

"We got it. Right here-"

"On your scanner. Just what we need," Ressler finished for him, a small smile on his lips as he teased Aram. And he wasn't even sure why he suddenly felt so…good. Though he had a fair idea.

Liz knew exactly what he was doing. Sarcasm or an attempt at humor was always his first defense. Her eyes stole a glance to her partner. Just like Aram before her, she noticed the change in him now compared to a few minutes ago. She exhaled slowly.

"Yes," Aram replied "I'll um, just go and um…yeah," before turning and busying himself with something imaginary he absolutely needed to attend to at the rear of the vehicle. His feet crunching on the gravel, he went to look at the roses in the nearby garden beds. He didn't care about roses. Were these even roses, he wondered.

With Aram out of earshot, Liz looked at Ressler. Standing in the mid afternoon sunlight, his blue eyes glinting as his hair took on a more blonde tone her breath caught in her throat. There were times it shocked her how handsome he was. The tiniest hint of a smile on his lips, he waited for her to be the first to speak.

She took the safe route. The one that didn't address his obvious arousal against her just minutes ago. Nor hers for him. While less physically obvious it had been there nonetheless. "You okay?"

He regarded her a moment, before looking downward and suddenly breaking into that beautiful grin she witnessed so rarely from him. "I'm fine. You?" He looked back up at her as she nodded, smiling at him.

"Yeah. That was…" She stopped, looking to him and not finding the words.

Pursing his lips, he glanced away then back at her. "I did what I had to do to divert the guy's attention."

"Oh, you succeeded," she smiled. "And diverted ours too," she added, watching his blue eyes catch hers.

"Well, we're undercover, not dead, Liz," he told her, the smile still playing around his features.

She grinned at him and rolled her eyes in humor. Nearby, Aram heard Ressler's comment and blushed.

Liz's attention was now drawn behind Ressler as Reddington exited the house behind him. Still playing his part, aware that Clarke was nearby Red raised his hand in greeting.

"I do hope you two can put your differences aside so that we can make our way to our next stop, hhmm?"

"Yes, dad," muttered Ressler, as he opened the drivers door. As Liz climbed in the back seat with Red, Aram sat in the front passenger seat again.

"I heard that, Donald," said Red pleasantly. "Shall we go? Aram, I take it you were successful?"

From the front seat, Aram turned to Red, but was cut off by Ressler and Liz. "He got it," they replied in unison.

Reddington just laughed out loud at his three counterparts around him. "Outstanding." And returning his attention to Ressler as he stopped the car at the end of the driveway to turn back onto the road, he added "And you do remember that they drive on the other side of the road in this country, right Donald?"

"Of course."

"Just making sure, since I'm sure the blood rushed away from your brain back there," smiled Red conversationally, ignoring the flicker of Ressler's eyes glaring at him in the rear view mirror.

###

Back at the hotel, they gathered in Red's large, spacious suite. Ressler looked around, comparing it to his lowly economy room, wondering at the marked difference in accommodations but then decided it wasn't worth pursuing. Turning back to Aram who was huddled over his laptop on the large coffee table, he resisted the urge to ask again what was on the disk. Liz wasn't so restrained.

"So, is it what we came for?" she asked again as she sat beside Aram on the couch, looking at the screen with him.

Aram looked nervously up at Red, standing in front of him beside Ressler. Feeling a little overwhelmed with them all so expectantly waiting, he returned his attention back to his laptop. Where he found he was finally in his element. "I think so, but it's hard to be sure. There's a lot of information here and it appears to be in code, despite my encryption algorithms already deciphering most of it…" he said distracted by the information on the screen, then looked automatically to Red.

"Let me see," said Red and came and sat beside of Aram, sandwiching him between himself and Liz. Aram decided that looking at the safe computer screen was his best option.

"See, these are names. I'm sure, but they don't make sense." Aram pointed to a list on the screen as Red leaned forward.

"They don't make sense if you've never seen them before. But I have. Those are names of Government officials."

"Which government?" asked Ressler, hands on hips as he looked at the three of them sitting on the couch.

"All of them," replied Red cryptically, glancing up at Ressler. "And it is in code, you are quite correct, Aram," said Red thoughtfully as Aram looked through the information. "So it appears some that I thought long gone are still alive and apparently still active in the Cabal."

Ressler was about to ask what their next move was when Red leaned forward and pointed to the laptop screen.

"Wait. Go back," Red told Aram, who complied. "Well there's a name I didn't expect to see again. I thought he was long gone. That's who we need to find," he told them pointing to the screen, then leaning back with a little concern. "Interesting he'd be on their list though..."

Liz leaned forward and read the name on the screen. "Bust of Pallas? What is that?" she asked Red.

Before he could answer, Aram spoke up beside her, "It's Poe…" he said softly, almost to himself as he looked at the name on the screen.

"It's from 'The Raven'," Ressler added, as a long distant memory of College English Literature sprang to mind. He caught Red's raised eyebrows regarding him in bemused surprise and answered Red with his half smile. "I'm not completely uneducated."

Chuckling, Red faced them, again. "Quite right, gentlemen. We need to find The Raven," he said, looking at them with every confidence they could locate him.

"Who is he?" asked Ressler.

"He's someone very beneficial to have on our side as we seek out the Cabal," replied Red. "Aram, look for a Carter Brooke, and before that one of his aliases was Conrad Lukas. Oh, and also look for Colloidal Silver."

"Um…okay then, Conrad Lukas or Carter Brooke, where are you…" said Aram, now fully engaged with his laptop as his search began.

###

Within a few minutes Aram, ably assisted by Red with some of the code names, had made progress. As Aram hovered over the laptop, Ressler stood at the hotel window, hands in pockets as he looked at the view outside. Liz sat near him at the large dining room table.

"It's pretty here," she said, looking over the water. A large green island with sandy beaches occupied most of the bay, as small boats lazily made their way across the harbor. It was, he had to admit. A far cry from the city they were more familiar with.

"Hey, guys," said Aram, calling their attention back to him. "Okay, I found an unusually large order of medicinal Colloidal Silver being delivered regularly to a private post office box in Rockport, Maine. On further investigation, the name on that post office box is one Conrad Lucas. It's spelled slightly different, but it's the same name. I believe that's him, Mr Reddington."

As they crossed the room to join him, Aram suddenly leaned back from the laptop screen. "Whoa!"

"What is it?" asked Ressler, looking down at him now.

Aram's eyes widened as he peered closer at the screen. "Oh no... Someone has been watching my keystrokes." He looked up at them, horrified. "The chip in Garrison Clarke must have had an inbuilt safety protocol where it detects any attempt to read it, and then plants a tracker inside."

Red leaned over the laptop, "Can you stop the tracking, Aram? Shut them down?"

"I don't think so," he replied quickly typing something before shaking his head. "I have to just shut it down completely." And quickly disconnecting the laptop he powered it down and slammed the lid closed.

"Now what?" asked Liz, looking to Red.

"We need to find Conrad Lucas before the Cabal do," he replied quickly.

Aram looked up wide eyed, finished Red's sentence for him. "And we just showed them where he is. We've just endangered his life."

"They also have to know that we were the ones who read that chip today," added Ressler, looking sideways at Liz.

Behind them, Red was on the phone. "Mr Young, have them get the plane ready, we're leaving now."