Disclaimer: I own nothing.
A/N: It takes place right after Season 2 finale. This might become M-rated, but not yet. - Thanks to mylla88, always willing to help, and to V., for the huge help and patience.
It had been three days since her world crashed down. The Cabal achieved its goal, and Elizabeth Keen was officially a criminal to the U.S. Justice. They didn't plan on her taking down one of their puppets, but it served well to the general purpose. There was no way back to the life she once knew.
She had to run, run away from it all. The only thing that remained the same was Raymond Reddington by her side.
When the Cabal started their movement against her, Red was willing to help clear her name so Liz wouldn't need to live on the run as he had been doing for almost half of his life. It didn't work, they had no real chance of clearing her name, Tom Connelly made it abundantly clear. Not only would she be chased down, but all of her friends, and her colleagues on the task force as well. Most of all, Raymond Reddington would be sentenced to the death penalty. Running away wasn't a choice anymore.
If there was a bright side it was that she wasn't leaving anything behind. No Sam, no husband, and the few friends she had never cared to know how she was doing after Tom left. Even when he came back for her, it felt more like a selfish act than something done for her benefit. He claimed to be Jacob, someone who had been on the run since he was fourteen and the only person who ever cared about him was Liz. Tom wanted her to flee with him - he had been promising to leave for months, but he only left when she truly needed an ally. It didn't matter anyway; even if Liz still nurtured any feelings for him, the man she loved never existed.
There wasn't much to leave behind. As soon as they were left alone together, Reddington told her that everything she knew about her own life was a lie. He wasn't wrong. He turned her life upside down, but he had been the one person capable and willing to give her answers about things that haunted her since her childhood. It was not an easy relationship, but she could see that Red was ready to do whatever it took not only to keep her alive, but to make sure she had a life she deserved. He was her sin eater.
The white van came to pick them up. They spent three hours driving until they arrived at a small airport. She slept the entire ride and had no idea where they were, in the last few days Liz had barely slept. They flew out of the country with Red's regular crew, but not on his jet - apparently the escape plan required a rented plane. There wasn't much talk during the flight-Reddington was unusually silent and Lizzie didn't have much to talk about, but she did have a lot of thinking to do. She was only brought back to reality a few times by Red suddenly jolting awake in his seat.
The jet reached Brazilian soil a few hours before dawn. They landed on a seaside city called Salvador, where a packed SUV was waiting for them. It was weird for Liz getting inside a car with Raymond Reddington and seeing him assuming the seat behind the wheel. There was no sign of Dembe since he dropped Red at the extraction point where Liz was waiting.
"I can drive if you need to rest. I noticed you had some troubled sleep back in the jet" Liz offered to take his place, since she probably wouldn't be able to sleep.
"It was a good night's sleep to be frank, you don't need to worry. And you may not believe me but I do know how to drive" Red completed jocosely, his sarcasm was the only thing keeping his tired face from looking ten years older. "You should try to rest. I don't think you have since we got on the jet."
"I'm fine," she answered looking as tired as he was.
Reddington drove in silence for about half an hour until reaching a gas station. He pointed to a bag in the backseat.
"There's a change of clothes in that bag for you, if you'd like to freshen up."
Liz was going to repeat the dull "I'm fine" when she noticed she was still wearing Tom's black T-shirt. She reconsidered her previous decision, took the bag and looked for some place to change her clothes. Inside the bag, there was a blouse, jeans, a hoodie, sneakers and underwear. It was a little disturbing imagining Raymond Reddington telling someone how to buy her panties, but she put that thought away, imagining that probably (and hopefully) Mr. Kaplan was the one to give the directions. She put on everything and got back to the car where Red was waiting for her, drinking from a plastic cup and holding another one.
"I brought you some coffee, since you don't seem like taking a nap." Liz smiled and accepted the drink. It had been awhile since she put something into her stomach, and her body instantly welcomed the sweet hot liquid. "There wasn't much to eat, but we're going to have breakfast soon."
They got back on the road for another hour, and reached an off-road track. Thirty minutes passed until they arrived at a fence with a gate, and ten minutes later they arrived in their shelter. It was an isolated two pavement house, placed 250 feet from the sea, between them was only the fence and a golden strip of sand lit by the sun hovering above the Atlantic Ocean.
Liz sighed contently, it looked like a good place to be. She didn't noticed Red was staring at her, as she was mesmerized by the view. He got out of the car and Liz remembered she should do the same. She watched Red placing his hands on the low of his back, stretching and grumbling. He actually did know how to drive, however, he definitely wasn't used to doing it. She came around the car to help with whatever had to be carried. Red hesitated but gave her some smaller things to move into the house.
As the two of them reached the door, it opened and an old woman appeared with a large smile on her face.
"Raymund," she greeted with an accent, hugging Reddington and turning herself to Liz. "This must be your Liz, welcome dear!" She hugged Liz tightly, as she had done to Red. She took the packages Liz was carrying. "Entrem! Come on in! Que saudades, I missed you dear, I've been wondering when you'd come back here, then I got the call."
Liz and Red entered the house and found breakfast settled on the dinner table. There were juices, fruits, breads, cheese, cake, coffee, and milk on the table. Red inhaled deeply and soundly and went straight to the kitchen. He opened the oven to check.
"Oh, Teca, I can't believe you made pão de queijo! Lizzie, you must try these," he said reaching one of the beige loaves.
"Let me put those on the table, Raymund. Sit and I'll bring them to you," she ordered, Red gave Liz an almost childish smile. The two of them sat down and Teca brought a basket with the small loaves.
"Orange juice?" He asked showing her the jar. She accepted the chivalry and he continued. "They're made of cassava flour and there's cheese in the dough. And Teca's are particularly wonderful!" Red took a bite and moaned. Liz was starving and that bread truly was a delight.
She didn't talk much, but ate as much as she could. It wasn't the breakfast she was used to, but it was too good not to be eaten. Red kept talking to Teca, discussing how her family was and what they should do during their stay. The lady assured him that he had nothing to worry about and told Reddington and Liz to take a shower to refresh after their long journey and rest, she would prepare lunch so they could eat after recovering properly.
Lizzie was enchanted by the place. The large room was organized in three parts. At one side there was a small office: a bookshelf covering the entire north wall, filled with books and all kinds of records. It was contiguous to the living room, with a comfortable couch, two armchairs and a media center, a television, and different sound systems. Next to the cozy kitchen was the dining room where they had breakfast. The entire east wall was made of glass, so you could see the ocean from any place of the room. Near the table were stairs and a lavatory. On the other side of the glass wall there was a deck decorated with dining and seating sets, plus two chaise lounges facing the beach.
Raymond led Liz upstairs. There were three bedrooms on the upper floor, each one with private bathrooms and one independent bathroom. He showed her her room and stopped by its door, explaining everything she would need in those first days was already in her room, but if Liz needed anything else she had just to ask him or Teca.
"I believe you noticed there's not much around, but we can go to some of the nearby villages or even go back to Salvador if you need something that can't be found around here." Liz limited her response to a nod. She didn't know what to say or what to feel in that situation. She ran away from home when she was a teenager, but her new situation had nothing in common with a teen's outbreak. "I hope you're not feeling like a prisoner in here. When the dust has settled, we'll begin a new dynamic. Until then, we must stay as off the grid as possible. I can't jeopardize your safety."
"I understand there's not much we can do now," Liz responded. "Even with Connolly dead and the Cabal still organizing some kind of response to the Fulcrum content being outed, my trail—our trail must go cold until we can move again." She sounded resigned, but she was right.
"Is there something I can do for you now?" The words came out of his mouth on a deeper tone as he moved his body near hers.
"I guess we both need some sleep," Liz answered. Red's semblance turned almost to a disappointed one. He stared at her eyes and took a step back, nodded and entered the next room, closing the door behind him.
Elizabeth found inside her room everything she would need in her stay. There were clothes, underwear, flip flops, another pair of sneakers, flats, black boots, a pair of sandals, bathing suits, and more cosmetics than she probably ever bought in her entire life. There were several kinds of pads and tampons, what made Liz imagine if it was Red being thoughtful, or Teca, or any other woman.. Her marriage lasted two years but Tom never managed to buy her pads even if along those years she had always used only one brand.
She headed to the bathroom, the clean clothes Red provided her in the car came at the right time, but she really needed a bath. She spent over half an hour in the shower, as if she was washing her old life away. "This is an end. And then something new will begin," Red once told her. For sure it was a new beginning, for better or for worse.
Liz wrapped a towel around her body, another around her head, and went back to the bedroom. The sun was higher in the sky, it was almost 10 AM, but there were heavy clouds over the ocean. She went out on the balcony to enjoy the view, but she saw more than she expected. Lizzie saw Red coming out of the water wearing shorts, farther than the south end of the house. He grabbed a sweatshirt from the sand and put it on. Liz quickly got back into the room before he noticed she had been watching him, she never imagined that one day she would see him in shorts and a sweatshirt—from that distance, she wasn't able to see his scars.
