Warmth. That was the first thing Liz felt when she first came back to awareness. The last thing she remembered doing was falling asleep against a rock. She had only planned on sleeping for a few minutes, but realized now how stupid that had been because she wouldn't have woken up. Was she dead now? Is that why she wasn't in pain or cold? She tried to open her eyes, but they felt weighed down and heavy; and try as she might, she couldn't get them to open. She held still and listened for any sound, but it was completely silent. She would have to rely on touch if her other senses were failing her.
She focused on her body and what she was lying on. It didn't feel like a hard surface, so she assumed that she was on a bed. There was a weight lying across her chest that she guessed was a blanket; which would explain why she was so warm. She tried to lift her arm, but could only move it a few inches before it fell back to her side. She sighed and began working on moving her limbs inch by inch.
After what seemed like hours, she finally could move both of her legs, but hadn't managed to open her eyes yet. She worked on opening them until she heard the sound of a door open and close in the distance. She didn't know if she was in the hands of a friend or enemy, so she did the only thing she could think to do; pretend to still be asleep.
She heard footsteps approach her, then the sound of a chair squeaking as whoever had entered her room sat down. She tried to breath as she would if she were asleep, but she felt terrified and was having a hard time accomplishing it. They cleared their throat and coughed a little, then stood up from their chair and walked out of the room. The person was definitely a man, but she couldn't identify from those few sounds who it was.
He walked back in and she could feel him lean over her and chuckle quietly. "Agent Scott, I know you're not asleep anymore; quit trying to fake it or things are going to get worse for you."
Shit. He definitely wasn't Red. He smelt of stale cigarettes and bad breath, and it took all her willpower not to gag. She finally managed to crack her eyes open and squinted at the man's face hovering over hers. The room was so bright that she couldn't make out his features, but he looked vaguely familiar. He brought his fingers to her eyelids and pried her eyes open the rest of the way. "Come on, open your damn eyes. We have some business to attend to." The way he said "business" made her skin crawl.
With her eyes held open, she couldn't blink the blurriness away, so she stared up at him with wide, unseeing eyes. She tried to say something, but all that came out was a soft croak and nothing else.
He heaved a heavy sigh and reached back and slapped her across the face, hard. She cried out a little as her eyes filled up with tears. She blinked a few times and the blurriness cleared away enough that she could finally see her captor, Lucas Fields; he was the very same blacklister that she and Red had tried to lure up here. He must have seen right through them and jumped at the opportunity to take her when he could; she was perfect bait for Red.
He was ugly; with long, oily blond hair that only ran around the sides of his head, with little tufts of hair on top. He wore 70's style glasses there were large and yellow, with a stained button up flannel shirt and dirty jeans. He moved his hand back towards her face and all she could see were his long, dirty fingernails and hands that were covered in grime; she swallowed down another gag as she thought about his disgusting fingers touching her eyes. She was probably going to get a disease from him.
His hand caressed her cheek softly as he sat down beside her hip and smiled humorlessly. Most of his teeth were missing, and the few that he did have were black and rotting. She tried not to breath as he leaned his chest over hers and leered at her.
She swallowed thickly, then cleared her throat and finally managed to say something. "What do you want?" She said with a raspy, quiet voice.
He tilted his head and grinned wider. "Oh, I don't want anything in particular. I just want to have my fun with you until I'm satisfied. I know you're Reddington's girl, and I also know that he would kill me if I ever touched you. I plan on being long gone by the time he finds you broken and beaten down."
He laughed again, then stood up abruptly and walked out of the room. This was her chance to get away from him. She threw the blanket away and moved to sit up, but saw that she only had her bra and panties on. That creep had undressed her and did who knows what to her while she was unconscious; she felt like she'd been sucker punched.
Stifling a sob and ignoring her state of undress, she stood up on unsteady legs and staggered to the doorway. Lucas had his back to her doing something at the kitchen sink. She looked to her right and saw a vase sitting on one of the end tables by the couch. She walked over to it slowly while keeping her eyes on Lucas. She had just laid her fingertips on the vase when Lucas turned around and chuckled. "Are you planning on hitting me over the head and running away? Where do you think you're going to go? It's a damn blizzard outside." His voice dripped with sarcasm, and it only served to fuel Liz's rage. She picked up the vase and watched as Lucas approached her with an amused smile on his face. He seemed to be confident that she wouldn't be able to do much damage. Of course she was already beginning to feel dizzy, and her legs were trembling from suddenly being asked to work for the first time in a while; but he didn't need to know that.
He walked within a few feet of her, then stopped and raked his eyes over her body. He 'tsk'd' then said, "I should have taken off everything. Then I'd be getting a real show now."
That did it. All she could see was red as she charged towards him and lifted the vase over her head to take him out. She ran into him full force and knocked him to the ground, then began to bring the vase down on his head when he surprised her by flipping their bodies to where he straddled her and the vase rolled away harmlessly; she had underestimated him, and was probably going to lose her life because of it.
He punched her cheek, then her jaw as his chest heaved with exertion. She could feel blood pooling in her mouth and spit it into his face as he leaned over her. He sat back and wiped his sleeve over his face, then smiled. "That was a big mistake, Bitch. I hadn't planned on killing you, but I think I might now. You're too much trouble."
She didn't bother to respond as she closed her eyes and tried calm her racing heart while trying to form a plan in her mind; she couldn't think of anything, and that scared her to death.
Her arms were pinned to her sides by his legs, so she couldn't move as he leaned over her again and kissed her neck, then ran his fingers over the swell of her breasts. She tried to pull her arms free, but his legs tightened so much that he was beginning to hurt her ribs; he was strong for being short and slight.
He moved his mouth over her mouth and kissed her, then pulled away and moved down the other side of her neck. His rancid breath was making her sick, but she didn't want to do anything more at the moment to cause him to strike her again. As he leaned over her, she could feel his arousal pressing into her stomach through his jeans and shuddered involuntarily.
He sat back on her hips and unzipped his zipper, then reached through his boxers and began to pull. This was her chance while he was distracted. She quickly sat up and threw him off-balance, then as he landed on his back, she threw herself on top of him and grabbed the vase lying near her and hit him with it over and over until he laid motionless underneath her; bleeding from multiple spots on his face. She rolled off of him and took a deep breath to keep herself from passing out; she had to tie him up before she did that.
She stood up on shaky legs and searched the kitchen area for something to tie him up with. She was half tempted to just throw him out in the snow, but she couldn't bring herself to do that, no matter how badly she hated him. She couldn't find anything to tie him up with and was getting desperate. She glanced towards him and saw his shoelaces and figured that would have to do. Liz walked over to him, then grabbed him by the armpits and dragged him towards a straight-backed chair. She put him on the chair roughly, then knelt in front of him and pulled his shoelaces out quickly and tied him up the best she could.
She sat back on the floor and closed her eyes to fight off a wave of dizziness. It didn't seem to help though, as she swayed slightly and blinked her eyes a few times; she was losing her fight to stay conscious. She laid down on the cold wood floor and closed her eyes; her last thought was that she hoped she'd tied Lucas up well enough.
OOOOOO
Liz opened her eyes slowly and looked around in confusion. She was back on the bed with clothes on and a blanket thrown over her. Maybe she'd been having a terrible nightmare? She yawned and felt a sharp pain in her jaw and cheek; that's when she knew that it hadn't been a dream.
She sat up slowly, then stopped as she heard voices come from the other room; one of them was Red's. How the hell had he found her?
"If you think you're going to leave here alive, Lucas, then your more stupid that I imagined. I saw what you did to Agent Scott, or should I say attempted to do to her. It looks like she took care of you herself, but she's too tied to the good side of the law to dispose of you. That's where I come in."
Lucas' scared voice sounded loud in the quiet cabin as he said, "Come on Reddington, I wasn't going to do anything to her, I swear. I was just going to scare her."
She wished that she could see them, but they were out of her line of sight. "Now Lucas, don't lie to me. I hate liars."
"I'm not ly-"
Red cut him off angrily. "Since Agent Scott is here, I'm not going to kill you like I want to. What I am going to do is put a thin coat and a pair of boots on you and throw you outside to find your own way out of here. You probably won't make it through the night, but freezing to death is far more preferable to what I would do to you here."
She heard pathetic whimpering, then quiet shuffling sounds as the door opened and Red's voice floated back to her, "I would wish you luck, Lucas, but I don't think that's going to matter."
"Red wait, don't leave m-"
Lucas' voice was cut off by the closing door, then she heard the lock slide into place; she couldn't bring herself to feel sorry for him, even if he was practically being murdered.
She heard footsteps approach her room and glanced over herself to make sure she was covered; she had a white button down shirt on that went down to mid-thigh and nothing else; it had to be Red's shirt. She hurriedly pulled the blanket to cover her lap as Red walked in the room and smiled at her.
"Lizzie, I'm glad to see you're awake." He approached her with his hands in his pockets as Liz took in his appearance. He had on a white dress shirt that was open at the collar with an unbuttoned cream-colored vest and cream-colored trousers; parts of her favorite suit on him.
He stopped a few feet from her and tilted his head slightly. "How are you feeling?"
She tore her eyes away from the smattering of blonde chest hair and locked eyes with him. "I'm not sure. How the hell did you find me?"
He bit the inside of his cheek and looked at something behind her. "I had Dembe aquire a map of all the cabins that are up here, then I located your car and searched the cabins closest to there. When I didn't find you, I searched the only other one that you could be in and found you lying on the floor, practically naked with that piece of scum tied up."
Liz furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "If it's a blizzard out there then how did you even begin to search for me, and how did you know that I needed to be found?"
Red approached her and sat down next to her, leaving a few inches of space between them. "When you didn't text or call me back I knew you had attempted to make it out here; which wasn't very smart, Lizzie." He admonished, then continued, "I have a truck with four-wheel drive. There were a few moments where I thought I wasn't going to make it, but here we are."
She stared at his fingers that were pulling on a thread on the blanket. "I know it was stupid coming up here, I realize that now, but at the time the snow wasn't that bad and I-"
He cut her off by running his fingers softly over her cheek and jaw. "I apologize for not getting here sooner."
She froze at the contact and looked at him in confusion. "How is this in any way your fault? I was the one that was stupid enough to attempt to come up here and risk my life for no reason other than I didn't want you to mock me for being a wimp."
He shook his head and moved his hand back to his lap. "Lizzie," he said warningly.
She stood up abruptly, temporarily forgetting that she was wearing his shirt and nothing else. She heard him clear his throat and she glanced back to see him staring at her legs. Liz turned around and pulled the shirt down as far as she could, but it didn't help much as it barely reached mid-thigh.
"Eyes up here."
He slowly raked his eyes over her body, then finally made eye-contact with a smug smile. "You look entirely too appealing in my shirt, Lizzie."
She clenched her jaw and leaned over him to reach for the blanket behind him, not realizing that she was giving him an unobstructed view of her breasts from the wide opening of his shirt.
He reached back and handed her the blanket before he did or said anything stupid, then watched as she wrapped it around her then sat back down next to him.
He had a small smile on his face that she didn't understand, but she ignored him and said, "So, where are my clothes?"
He shook his head. "I haven't been able to find them."
She sighed and said, "So what now?"
He stood up and walked over to the window and moved the curtain aside to look out. He looked back at her with an unreadable expression. "We're not going anywhere. If possible, the snow is worse than before."
She laid back down on the bed, suddenly feeling like she was going to pass out again. He crouched down near her head and ran his fingers through her hair softly. "Are you ok?"
"I'm not sure what's wrong with me. I don't know if that creep drugged me or-"
She moved her face up to look at him, her eyebrows narrowed in anger, "You sent him out there in the snow to die. I can't believe you did that!"
He stood up, then sat down next to her head. "And what would you have me do? Keep him here with us?"
He was right of course, but she didn't have to like it, and she wasn't going to tell him that she agreed. She changed to topic, determined to discuss the blacklister later on. "Yeah, well is this cabin even equipped for long-term stay?" She turned her body towards his and stared at his thigh.
"There's enough food and water for a few days, but that's all. I'm hoping we'll get out of here before then, but I'm not certain we will. I'm not confident that the power will stay on either, and we don't have enough firewood to last us more than a day."
'So you're telling me that we're going to freeze to death before we starve to death? Sounds great."
She reached over and punched his thigh lightly. "This is your fault," she said somewhat teasingly, but he didn't take it that way.
"You're right, it is my fault, and I'm going to do my best to get us out of this situation."
"Red, I didn't mean-"
He stood up abruptly, dislodging her hand that had been resting unconsciously on his thigh. "I'm starving. Should we see if there's anything good to eat around here?'
He walked around the bed and held a hand out for her to take. She took it and he pulled her up and into his arms. He embraced her for moment and whispered in her ear, "I'm glad you're ok. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something had happened to you." He kissed the spot in front of her ear then pulled out of her arms and walked towards the kitchen.
She was so surprised by his words and his affection that it took her a few moments to remember how to walk. She followed after him and sat down at the bar, then watched him search through the cabinets for something to eat. He pulled out two cans of chili and held them up with a grimace. "We're going to be eating a lot of soup. What do you prefer?"
She leaned an elbow on the counter and put her chin in her hand. "Is there any chicken noodle soup?"
He nodded and turned back to the cabinet and pulled out two cans. As she watched him prepare their meal, she felt her eyes begin to droop and she couldn't seem to concentrate. She was startled awake by his low voice near her ear, "Lizzie, why don't we get you back to bed? You're still recovering from nearly freezing to death and from your little tussle with Lucas." His voice lowered an octave, "Which I find incredibly hot how you took care of him yourself."
She turned her face and smiled at him sleepily. Their faces were only inches apart and she found herself staring at his lips; she couldn't seem to look away.
He leaned forward slightly, and she thought he was going to kiss her until he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and helped her off of the stool. As they walked towards the couch he said, "Do you feel up to eating or would you rather sleep?"
She yawned and said, "I think I want to sleep, but not on the bed."
He nodded and helped her lie down on the couch, then unwrapped the blanket from her body and laid it over the top of her. He brushed back a few strands of hair from her forehead and gave her a small smile. She felt cold and wrapped the blanket around her tighter as she said, "You really need to find my clothes. I don't want to walk around half-naked the entire time."
He huffed a quiet laugh, "You won't hear me complaining."
She drifted off to sleep with a small smile on her face as he moved away and walked back into the kitchen.
Neither of them saw Lucas Fields looking in the window and plotting his revenge.
AN: Sorry it took me so long to update this, I have too many fics going on at once..haha. I hope this didn't disappoint. Thanks so much for the reviews from the last chapter, and I would love to hear what you guys think. Thanks for reading. :)
