Here comes the first chapter:)

I wont be talking too much...just letting you read it;)

Disclaimer: Blacklist is not mine (for details see Prologue)

Chapter 1

Sam hurried to the door, the moment he heard the car stopping in his driveway. It was still dark outside and the cold wind was howling around the house like an angry banshee. When he opened the door and made the first step onto his front porch, his legs almost gave out from under him. Raymond Reddington with a little girl in his arms.

"My lord, Raymond." Sam's face became pale and his hands started to shake. "Are you out of your mind? A child?"

"You don't know what's going on, Sam, so please just spare me your lecture for now." he warned.

His old friend was walking towards him with a slight limp, keeping his arms wound tightly around the girl he was carrying and which was starting to cry against his shoulder.

"It's alright, sweetheart." He pressed through his clenched teeth, maneuvering them both through the door into the house and the cluttered corridor, meeting Sam at a door that was most likely leading into his bedroom.

"Is she hurt?" Sam breathed quietly, adding a moment later: "Are you hurt?"

Reddington didn't answer, only followed Sam into the room and bent down over the bed, slowly letting the girl sink into the blankets and onto the pillow. Keeping his hand at her neck until she was properly lying down. He smiled down at her when he pulled back and found her blue, wet eyes fixed on his face.

"You rest here for a moment, alright?" He told her quietly and waited for a nod or some kind of acknowledgment that never came though.

"Elizabeth?" Reddington tried again.

"Is that her name, Ray?" Sam's voice cut through the air and his friend sighed, while lightly pushing his fingers through the girl's dark hair.

"Yes and she burned her wrist." He answered, not turning away from Elizabeth but indicating with his right hand the injured limb. She didn't seem to be reacting to Sam's voice at all, but Reddington didn't have time to think about this for now. Carefully he straightened his back and turned to his friend. "Did you prepare your first aid kit, Sam?"

Reddington could see that his friend wasn't satisfied with his lack of answers, but frankly, he was in too much pain and too confused right now to worry about his friends state of mind in addition to Elizabeth's and his own. Looking around the room, he noticed it being quiet dark, although Sam had lit up the two old fashioned bedside lamps. The wallpapers were olive colored and the carpet under his feet was stabbing his eyes painfully with its ugly dark green color. There was almost no furniture in the room besides the king sized bed and one small chair in the corner, right next to a sad looking bookshelf.

"I would suggest you sit down beside her while I bandage this burn."

Reddington hadn't even realized that Sam had left the room when he entered again, waving a bag around. Walking back to the bed, Redington lowered himself at the girl's side and took her uninjured hand in his own. She was only four years old. Just a slip of a girl caught in a family tragedy that would haunt her for the rest of her life. And his.

"Are you feeling alright?" Sam asked suddenly, and for a second Ray didn't know whom he was asking, but when he felt the burn of his old friends gaze on him he sighed. "I will be for a few more minutes." He answered.

Sam nodded and took out a salve from his first aid kit he was rummaging through only moments before. Squinting in the poor light, he read the label and nodded, putting the tube aside and selecting clean bandages and a gauze. Having found everything he thought he would need for now, Sam put the box on the floor and turned to the girl, smiling when he saw her gaze fixed on Raymond Reddington's hand holding hers. "Elizabeth?"

Though it was obvious that she had heard him since her head titled slightly, she didn't turn or move her eyes to his. Sam glanced at Reddington, who simply shrugged, not in any mood to play twenty questions.

When Sam reached out and his fingers touched the girl's skin, a wail came out of her mouth equal to a keening that made both men flinch in unison and reach for Elizabeth to comfort her. When she threw herself back and collided painfully with the wooden headboard, Reddington winced inwardly and didn't wait for her to make another move, but closed his arms around her trembling body and pulled her into his own, holding the back of her head with his hand against his chest.

"It's ok." His silky voice flowed out of his mouth like honey. "Calm down, sweetheart. No one's going to hurt you here." Starting a caressing motion through her hair, he repeated his words over and over again, until the girl finally calmed down enough and only her ragged breathing was heard.

"See? Everything is alright." he added and smiled down at her when he drew back slightly and with one finger under her chin, raised her head to look into her eyes. His smile fell though, when he saw the expression on it. A mix of pain and fear. "What is it?" He asked quietly, not looking away from her. She hesitated but then her uninjured hand loosened its grip on his shirt and drifted to her own chest, rubbing it with a small fist. Reddington furrowed his brows, not understanding yet what she was trying to tell him.

"It hurts."

Elizabeth's voice was a mere whisper and if it hadn't been dead silent in the room, he would have missed it. His scowl deepened when the weight of what she'd said registered with him. His hand closed over hers, still lying on her chest and he squeezed it gently.

"Does it hurt here?"

At her timid nod, he let go of her hand and pulled some strands of dark hair from her face.

"Can you do me a favor, honey? Can you breathe in very deeply? Like the wolf that wants to blow away the piglet's house?" A questioning look spread over her face and he chuckled. "I'll read that story to you one day." Still smiling he laid his hand on her shoulder. "Now can you breathe in, please?"

He saw her prepare herself for that task and he had to hold back another chuckle, seeing the concentration on her face, but when she started coughing violently when she was just halfway through taking in her breath he scowled, patting her back gently and when the coughs finally stilled, stroked it in a circular motion.

"What happened to you two?" Sam's whisper penetrated Raymond Reddington's wildly spinning thoughts. Deciding to answer his friend, Rhe tried to find words that wouldn't upset the girl that was fighting the tears gathering in her eyes any further.

"There was a fire. We made it out just in time to survive." he whispered.

"A fire?" Sam asked, his eyes widening. "How did the fire start? Where have you been?" Reddinton gave him a pointed look and shook his head.

"I'll tell you later." Suddenly he grinned softly and looked down to Elizabeth. "First we need to bandage this wrist of yours and make you comfortable to rest a little bit, right?" The girl didn't react, but Reddington didn't mind too much for now. He took the supplies from Sam and started to apply the salve on the angry burn on the inside of her wrist. The small whimpers the girl emitted were minimal to the pain she must be feeling and Reddinton started to talk again while reaching for the gauze.

"So, my lady. What kind of dinner would you like to have before going to bed? I am sure Sam could pull something really nice out of his magic hat. He is a real magician when it comes to cooking, you know?" He felt proud of himself when he saw Elizabeth's eyes starting to twinkle and grow wide with amazement, shooting Sam curious glances.

"Like…like chocolate pudding?" she asked, leaning closer to the man, still working on her wrist, as if she didn't want Sam to hear her question. When Reddington laughed heartily, she suddenly smiled for the first time that night. A small smile, but it was one that he was overjoyed to see.

"I am sure Sam could find some magic ingredients for that. Right Sam?" Both he and Elizabeth refocused their attention to the man observing them intently, wonder in his expression.

"Right…" he stuttered but smiled. "I'm right on it."

When the door closed behind him, Reddington fastened off the bandage and stroked tenderly over the girls injured arm. "Soon it will stop to hurt." He told her, making her nod immediately. "You do need to do me another favor, though." He whispered, lowering his head, so that he could look the girl directly in the eyes. He waited until she nodded again and then started to speak seriously. "Try not to take any deep breaths anymore and do not move too much. No lifting of heavy objects, alright?"

She hesitated and her eyes switched nervously to the plush bunny lying next to her on the bed. She had been attached to that stuffed animal from the moment he found her hiding in the closet.

"Is Bunny too heavy?"

Reddington laughed at the worried look on her face. As grown up as she sometimes seemed, other times she was simply a sweet, adorable little girl.

"No, sweetheart. Bunny is just fine." He stroked her hair once and then started to rise from the bed but noticed the scowl on her face immediately. "I am just going to be in the next room talking to Sam, alright? You stay in bed and make yourself at home." Patting her hand gently, he walked past some old boxes on the floor and walked out of the room, shooting the girl still sitting in bed a comforting smile before closing the door behind him.

"The pudding will be done in a minute and then I will attend to your injuries." Sam told him when he saw his friend coming out of the room. Reddington just nodded, looking deeply in thought and Sam didn't inquire any further for now. He knew there was a long story behind this situation and he also knew there would be consequences to it and he feared that by taking those two in tonight, he pulled himself into the mess.

Stirring the pudding a few more times, he blew on it to cool it down at least slightly and filled it into a bowl, leaving a little bit of the dessert for himself and Reddington. Grabbing a spoon from the sink, Sam made his way to the room the girl was surely waiting in and stepped inside. He was met by an untrusting and penetrating stare that didn't leave him for a second while he walked closer.

"Here you go, Elizabeth. I hope you like vanilla pudding. I didn't have any chocolate left." He held the bowl in Elizabeth's direction but she didn't take it, alternating between still staring at him and then looking longingly at the bowl. Sam sighed, moving to the bedside table. "I will put it here, ok? You can eat it whenever you want."

Leaving the bowl on the table, Sam slowly retreated to the door but was stopped in his tracks when a small "thank you" drifted into his ears. He smiled and turned around. "You're welcome."

Minutes later, Sam had his friend sitting on a wooden chair with his chest pressed into the backrest. He had taken off his jacket but when Sam gasped and sent a quick prayer to the lord above, Reddington stopped his movements.

"How does it look?" he asked, his voice not even wavering. Sam let out a gasping huff before answering, a hand on his head, afraid that it would actually fall off to avoid looking at the sight before him.

"Well…if you don't want to be attached to your shirt for the rest of your life, we should call a doctor and let him peel the material off of that mess you call your back." Sam sighed.

Reddington inhaled deeply and closed his eyes. "We need to call a doctor." He stated matter of factly, which surprised Sam, who was still trying his best to hold back the bile rising in his throat. What he was seeing in front of him was a blood soaked white shirt with bits of charred holes where the material seemed to have molded with the skin beneath it.

"Oh yeah…you really do need a doctor." With two strides Sam had reached his phone and was about to dial the town doctors emergency number, when the man on the chair spoke again.

"Not just for me."

Sam's fingers stopped their movements and he questioningly looked at his friend, although he knew that he couldn't see him right now. "What do you mean? The girl is alright. The little burn on her hand will leave a nasty scar, yes, but it's not life threatening."

The heavy silence between them did nothing to calm Sam's nerves that were becoming more strained by the second. "What is it?" He asked again, rounding the chair Reddinton was sitting on and looked him in the face. The dark circles under his friends eyes were now even darker and deeper, his mouth pressed into a thin line.

"She was in the house longer than me. She inhaled too much smoke. A doctor needs to check out her lungs."

tbc...

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