Author's note: Tonight's episode killed me! Ughhhh..I'm still shipping Red/Lizzie until it comes out of Red's mouth that he's her dad. I still don't think he is, it's way too obvious in a show that is constantly surprising.

Disclaimer: Yadda yadda, I don't own anything related to The Blacklist. Although I would love to own James Spader..because yum.

AN2: This is another that I've gone through and corrected some errors.

The Post Office

"Sir, I promise you this is the only wa-"

Cooper interrupted, "Agent Keen, there's no way you're going to convince me that this is the only way to go about this. She started to shake her head but he cut her off before she could argue,

"I'm going to send Ressler in with you-" That was not going to be a good idea.

"Sir, Red said he wouldn't do it unless we go in alone and I believe he's our best chance at catching this guy and finding April." Internally she didn't feel as confident, but she wasn't going to let her superior know that.

Cooper sighed, "I guess you're right, but I don't like it. I at least want you to have a tracking chip put in your arm and keep a burner phone on you at all times so you can check in." The look on his face was one of anger and annoyance, but Liz didn't know how to make him feel better about the situation, because she didn't feel too sure about it either. The only thing that kept her from backing out was the thought of saving April and her unborn child.

"Thank you, Sir. I'll talk to Red and see if Dembe and Luli can follow us and monitor us from the outside. That way we'll have some kind of backup."

"Yeah, well that doesn't make me feel much better. You're safety is going to be depended on by three criminals, whose agendas we don't really know."

He had a point.

"Sir, maybe Ressler can go with Dembe and Luli, would that make you feel a little better about it?"

She could tell he was going to disagree with her before she had even finished her sentence.

"No, I need him here on another case. You let Red know that if something happens to you, I'll have his head." The anger was back on his face.

"I'm sure he'll take your warning well." She said that with a bit of sarcasm, and he picked up on it immediately.

"Agent Keen, get out of my office before I decided this REALLY isn't a good idea."

Seeing that he was serious, and knowing that if he didn't let her go April was as good as dead, she walked out of his office and pulled out her phone to call Tom.

Tom picked up on the first ring, "Lizzy, what's going on? Did you find her?"

Liz really didn't want to have this conversation because she was going to have to lie to Tom, again. She kept reminding herself that it was important to keep Tom from knowing anything.

"Tom, I didn't find her-"

"What do you mean you didn't find her?" There was worry in his voice and something else she couldn't identify.

"Listen, we think we know where she went, but I'm going to have to go away for a little while in order to find-"

Tom interrupted her, angry now. "There is NO way you are leaving me in the dark about this again Liz! No more secrets and lies."

She was pissed and said, "Tom, I don't have a choice! There is a girl's life at stake, and I'm the only one who can help. You're just going to have to accept it. Especially if you want me to save April's life."

She thought she sounded a little desperate, but she didn't know how else to convey the importance of what she was planning on doing.

There as silence on the other end.

"Tom?"

Tom's voice was quiet and dangerous sounding. "Fine. Go, but don't expect me to wait around not knowing if you're alive or not. I may not be here when you get back."

She didn't know what to say. She was done with constantly trying to keep everyone in her life happy. It was draining. So she said the only thing that came to her mind. "Ok, I hope to see you when I get back then. If not, I hope you find the happiness that I obviously can't give you. I'll be home to pack some things in an hour." Then hung up.

Keen House

Liz walked into a dark and quiet house. She could barely hold in the tears as she walked upstairs to their room and pulled out a suitcase. She couldn't believe that Tom would leave her, but she was determined to find April.

After finishing packing, she pulled out her phone and called Red. He answered sounding jovial.

"Lizzy my Dear, are you ready to-"

Liz cut him off, "Reddington cut the crap, Tom's pissed and I'm not in the mood for your usual sarcasm or jokes."

Red responded in a quiet voice, "I'm sorry, is there anything I can do for you?"

She felt bad for snapping at him, but wasn't going let him know that. "Actually yes. Will you get Dembe and Luli to get together some kind of surveillance system so they can track us from the outside when we go into the compound?

"It's already done Lizzy."

She wasn't surprised. "Ok good, will you come pick me up at my house then? It's probably best we show up together."

"Of course, I'll be there within the hour. And for what it's worth, I hope we find this girl. I hate seeing you so melancholy."

He sounded sincere, but who really knew with him. She tried to muffle her internal anguish but it still came through in her voice as she half sobbed, "Thanks Red, see you soon."

She hung up on him again, obviously in a great deal of pain. He looked at his phone in sympathy and tossed it to Dembe. "Only Elizabeth Keen could get away with hanging up on me so often. Let's get out of here."

"Yes Sir."

Red's Car

"Red, we need to come up with a cover story. I don't think you want to use your real name. He's probably heard of you and that's the last thing we need."

Red huffed a little laugh, "Of course we need to have covers. First things first though, you need to act affectionate towards me-" She looked at him with contempt. "And stop looking at me like you want to kill me." Her face softened.

"I'm Sorry Red, I'm just having a really hard time with everything right now."

"I know sweetheart", he placed his hand on hers and ran his thumb over her knuckles. She didn't pull her hand away, but she move to hold his hand either.

He put his hand back on the wheel and began again, "Anyway, my name is going to be Andrew Thomas and you're going to be Kristen Thomas. I already took the liberty of having fake ID's and passports made. They're in my luggage. We've been married for 7 years and have no children yet. That's a point of contention between us because you would love to have a child, but I feel like I'm too old.

She interrupted, "Red, you're not ol-"

He cut her off, "This is a cover story Lizzy, nothing more. Of course I'm not too old." He waggled his eyebrows at her and she rolled her eyes.

"Oh geeze."

"We were married in a beautiful ceremony in Hawaii and have lately been wanting for more in our marriage and that's why we're interested in joining this group because we want to become more self-reliant and closer to Mother Nature."

She sighed, "Sounds good enough I guess." She saw they were almost there and put her forehead on the window and stared out into the night as Red parked the car.

Marriott Convention Center

They got out of the car and started walking towards the Hotel. Red walked closer to her and stopped her with a hand on her elbow.

"Lizzy, are you sure you're up for this? I can get Luli to-"

She didn't want Luli anywhere near April because she trusted her even less than Red.

"Yes, Red. I have to save April and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to do it."

She grabbed his hand and interlaced their fingers and pulled him after her. He looked surprised at her forwardness but didn't say anything.

They walked hand in hand through the door and came to a stop. Liz's jaw dropped. There had to be at least 100 people there. She was shocked to say the least. She felt Red squeeze her hand and she looked over at him.

He talked out of the side of his mouth quietly, "Lizzy, close your mouth, you're attracting attention."

She shook herself mentally and smiled at him, rather unconvincingly, and mumbled back, "Shut up, Red."

He smiled and pulled his hand away. She turned to ask him what he was doing, when he put his arm around her waist and pulled her close. She could feel his hot breath in her ear that made her feel things that she desperately denied in her mind as he whispered, "Remember we need to act like a husband and wife would."

He pulled back and kissed her on the cheek, smiled a charming smile, and put his arm around her shoulders and started leading her to the check-in table.

She didn't even have time to respond to his obvious request but went along with him anyway. "Damn him and his infuriating smugness", she thought.

They walked up to the table and were greeted by a rather plain-looking young woman who had premature wrinkles around her eyes and the corners of her mouth. She had obviously been through a lot in her life.

She smiled, "Hi! I'm Amber. Welcome to our seminar. If you would, please sign here", she pointed to a sign up sheet. After they printed their names and the reason they were there, she handed each of them a packet and directed them to sit down wherever they liked.

"I sure hope you two decide to join us, we need more people like you. Strong and confident. We get a lot of people who come from places where they've been beat down and been told they're nothing and have no self-confidence. You guys could really help us."

Liz smiled and said, "I hope we can join too, Andrew and I really need a change in our life." She looked over at Red and patted his cheek.

Red looked amused, "You're right sweetheart, I'm looking forward to that possibility."

Red took her hand and led her to the back of the row of chairs and sat down by a young man who looked to be barely over 20. He had long, greasy black hair that looked like it hadn't been combed that day and bloodshot eyes. Most likely a drug user.

Lizzy leaned over Red and put her hand on his knee, she felt him tense up and just smiled up at him before turning her attention to the young man, "Hello, I'm Kristen and this is my husband Andrew. What's your name?"

He looked over at her and smiled. She was surprised at how much better looking he was when he did so.

"Hey, I'm Shaun. I'm so excited to join this group." He leaned towards them and whispered, "Why are you guys here? You don't look like the kind of people who normally come here." Implying that he had been to a few of these seminars before.

Liz smiled nervously and began to answer, "Well, we're-"

Red cut her off, "We're here because we want to learn to become self-reliant and to just get away from constantly worrying about everyday life. This group is just the thing we've been searching for."

He smirked and Liz rolled her eyes, making sure Shaun didn't see her doing so.

Just as Shaun was about to answer back there was a rumbling towards the front. They turned towards the commotion and saw a tall man with black hair and a thick beard, smiling at the group.
"Hello everyone. My name's Ben. I'm the second-in-command under Jack. He couldn't make it today", there was a collective groan, "But he's truly sorry he couldn't make it. So you guys get me instead."

He smiled again and it made Liz shiver. There was something off about him that she couldn't place.

Red felt her shiver and put his arm around her and pulled her close. She wanted to resist, but she was so emotionally spent and so damn tired that she leaned into him and put her head on his shoulder. She knew he had a surprised look on his face, but she didn't look up to confirm it.

He started rubbing his hand up and down her arm and whispered, "Are you ok Lizzy?"

That was a loaded question and she didn't feel like explaining so instead she just said, "Shh, Andrew. Listen to Ben."

He sighed, stilled his arm and turned his head to listen to him.

Ben was in the middle of telling everyone what they did at the compound and the reason it was started in the first place.

Apparently there was a $500 dollar sign-up fee per person. Liz was surprised by this, especially since a lot of these people didn't look like they could afford that.

He went on to explain that the reason they required the money was for upkeep of the compound. She felt Red grunt in amusement but didn't comment.

Liz was barely listening, she was so tired. She felt her eyes start to droop and the next thing she felt was being shaken awake by Red.

"Sweetheart, he whispered, wake up. It's time to go sign up to leave." She could hear tenderness in his voice.

She sat up and stretched her back.

She mumbled, "Sorry Red, didn't meant to fall asleep on you. Literally." She smiled over at him and he shrugged.

"It's ok, I don't mind being a pillow for my beautiful wife." She slugged his shoulder.

"Ouch Kris-"

She stood up, Red's hand falling off of where it had been resting on the small of her back.

"Come on Andrew, there's a line forming. We need to move before it gets too long."

She saw that Shaun had already left and was at the front of the line, apparently ready to start anew as soon as possible.

She started walking towards the sign-up line and heard Red walking after her. She sighed. She just wanted to get all this over with and find April.

Author's Note Pt. 3: Thanks for reading. Next chapter will be them going to the compound. I'll probably have it out within a couple of days if people are still interested after tonight's episode. I don't know if I should keep going or not? Reviews really help..so please review! :)