Thank you for your reviews. Chapter 2 is up a little later than intended but RL is crazy at the moment.

disclaimer: I own nothing.

"Hey Ben, why don't you go upstairs with Mommy and I will join you both shortly for a bedtime story?", Red coaxed when he saw Liz cry. He understood how devastated she was and it wasn't something to be seen for Sophie and Benjamin. The news along with the stress she was under must have been too much for her.

Ben protested when he was taken away from him. Sophie smiled in sympathy and bid her goodnight before ascending the stairs. Red sat down in the armchair nearest from her and sighted, his thumb rubbing over his temple.

"I'm sorry, I'm just - ", she trailed off and watched Agnes who had just finished her bottle. Cradling the baby, she gently patted her back.

"I understand that I am the last person you want to spend time with but this is the safest place for you and Agnes until we have figured out how to proceed." He crossed one leg over the other and loosened the tie.

"How to proceed..."she repeated. "I don't know how."

"You have a few options, Elizabeth. I can provide you and Agnes with an identity and you're free to choose where to go, or you will stay in this village. The next town is miles away and I hold control over the airspace. Everyone who wants to come here does so only after they went through a thorough background check."

Agnes fell back asleep and Liz put her onto the couch, grazing her cheek with her knuckles. Reds words sounded promising but what if he failed again? She didn't deserve his help but she couldn't do it alone either. Her daughter let out a little sight now that she was stuffed and satisfied. She would do everything for her.

"I think it should be better to give her up for adoption. She will never be safe.", she said while never taking her eyes from her child.

"Neither will the adoptive parents. Think about it, Elizabeth. No matter how hard you try to protect her from the truth, it will eventually come out and it will be a lot more difficult to protect her from afar." He stressed, his elbows resting on his thighs. "You don't want to give her up and you don't have to."

"You know so many people, Red. Isn't there a trustworthy couple who would want to adopt a baby? I could see her every few months." From what he suspected it was what Red was doing so why couldn't she do that too?

"Would it be enough for you?", he asked softly.

"Is it for you?"

His lips parted but he didn't answer for several moments. He seemed bewildered and shook his head. "It is not. Benjamin was born two weeks before you shot the Attorney General. I was there when he was born and left 3 days after. I was shot, we went on the run for 3 months and only then I came here again. I missed his first smile, his first word, and his first steps. If I were you I would try everything in my power to stay with my child. I can tell you from personal experience that every few months won't be enough, Elizabeth."

She listened and realized what he has sacrificed for her but why? He had a family and chose to help her instead of being with the people who needed him more than her. Nodding weakly, she accepted what he said. Of course he would be right. Leaving Agnes with strangers wasn't an option. She wanted to witness her daughters milestones, each one of those.

She knew she had no right to know but her curiosity got the best of her. "Why didn't you say anything? If I had known that your son was born I would have never asked for your help."

He stared at her, his piercing gaze boring holes into hers. "I told you once I will always do whatever I feel I have to do to keep you alive and I'm a man of my word. Benjamin is well cared for. Sophie knows who I am and what I do for a living. She was prepared for such a situation."

Liz swallowed the lump in her throat, her lips pressed together in a thin line as she averted her gaze from his. "If we - I do this and stay here... This is Sierra Leone and not the US or Europe. I don't mean to appear rude but how is the medical care in this place or schools?"

"We do have a hospital as well as a school. Sophie's teaching literature and maths but we can have a field trip tomorrow if you'd like."

"I'd like that very much.", she smiled slightly. This was the first time they'd talked in months. When she arrived in Cuba the only thing she could think about were Agnes and Red. Red, not Tom. She had meant what she said before she left him.

She did love him even though she wasn't sure in what capacity. All she knew was that he left a void inside her that Tom couldn't fill. At night when she was alone she imagined that Red came for her instead of Tom, that he could give her and Agnes a safe place but it couldn't be. He represented danger and death, and she wanted neither for her child.

And yet he was the one who saved her.

"You should rest. Come, I show you your room."

Red opened the door to a spacious guest room with a crib for Agnes and a queen size bed placed in the middle. They bid each other goodnight and she watched him entering, what must have been Benjamin's, room.

Agnes diapers and clothes were quickly changed before she laid her down with one last kiss to the crown of her head. Elizabeth watched the heaving of her chest, her pouty mouth and wondered if Red was doing the same at the moment. Which story was he reading, would he wait until Benjamin was asleep or leave before?

Sleep didn't come fast. In fact she was tossing and turning in bed as she recalled each and every encounter she had had with Red after her exoneration. How had he felt when he watched her die. She gazed at the clock on the bedside table. 1.45 a.m

Groaning, she jumped out of bed and padded to the kitchen to find some water. She leaned against the counter and took a large sip, sighting in relief when the liquid cooled her down. Her hair clung to her head as she was sweating from overthinking too many things.

Sophie came into the room, stopping shortly in her tracks when she noticed Liz before going to the fridge. Her instinct to profile her came instantly. Benjamin's mother was around her age, the perfectly styled wavy brown hair hung now in every direction and her blue eyes formed into a thin line after she switched on the light. She didn't look like Reds usual partners, she wasn't a femme fatale but an ordinary woman in her thirties. Elizabeth was curious about the story Red and Sophie shared and wondered, against her will, what their current relationship was.

"Can't sleep either?", Sophie asked nonchalantly, closing the fridge.

"Not really." She shrugged. "I guess I need some time to calm down."

"I felt the same after Benjamin was born but the routine will come eventually. It's hard to raise a kid alone but you will figure it out quickly.", she said in an reassuring tone and explained, "Ray didn't tell me everything about your situation, just enough to let me know that Ben would be safe. I want him as safe but I'm sure you understand this."

Liz nodded in understanding and circled the glass in her hand. "Pretty much has happened. I don't know what my daughter wants when she's crying, I forgot to bring formula. I didn't plan to raise her alone, you know. I admire people who can."

"You will learn fast, because you must. Ray wasn't around for long so I was on my own. I don't blame him for not sticking around. I know he can't and that's okay."

"But he's here."

"Whenever he can.", she conceded. "What about Agnes' father? Why did he leave?"

Liz's head turned up, her eyes filling with moisture, but not because she missed Tom, she blamed herself for falling for him again. He left their girl somewhere on the street without looking back. "I don't know. Part of me hopes because something happened to him and he couldn't do anything but our history is complicated. It seems I don't really know what he's capable of."

"Don't get me wrong but if you can't rely on someone, you're better off without him.", she said. "My ex wasn't any better than yours. He isolated me from friends, I gave up my studies because of him and ended up in the hands of a pimp. That's what he was. My instinct told me not to trust him but he was a natural charmer. I couldn't resist.", she said regretfully and refilled their glasses.

"I'm sorry.", Liz said quietly. Some women make the same mistake over and over again. She remembered the case where these words were uttered. If only she weren't one of these people. Sophie seemed to have gotten out of this horrific circle. God, how could she have been so blind? "How did you get out of this?"

"Raymond.", came Sophie's simple answer. "I have lived this life for 3 years. I was 25 when I met him. He closed a deal with a friend of my ex and I was supposed to, uh, dance for him. That was a given for important associates. Unlike other men he refused and booked me for the night instead so we went to his hotel. We've had dinner together and talked. I told him how unhappy I am and he offered me a way out. I thought he'd expected sex as a reward of sorts but he didn't. We're friends ever since."

The ex FBI Agent dropped her head and recalled her conversation with Red earlier that evening. He offered her a way out as well and he succeeded in his attempt to hide Sophie from her past. She could stay there and begin a new life with Agnes. Sophie was a nice woman and Benjamin and Agnes could play together. In her minds eye she pictured what this life could be and she liked it. Maybe she could repair her relationship with Red too.

"I hope you don't mind me saying this but he had been devastated after your ... death. I have never seen him like this before. He wasn't the same anymore, seemed apathic and depressed. He didn't eat, barely talked. If you would really be dead, he'd be dead now, too. I don't know why you've done what you did but he's my friend and the father of my child. Please, do not ever put him through so much pain again."

"Our relationship is complicated - build up on half truths and danger. I knew it would affect him in a way but I never wanted to cause him harm. I've hoped Dembe would be there for him.", she explained in a breath, her eyes set down. It had never been her intend to put him in this situation but he was a fugitive and had enemies waiting in the shadows, ready to attack him where it hurt. But the truth was, she was a threat to him, to him and Agnes. She thought she could protect both when people believed her dead.

"If you really want him out of your life, you should tell him. Just don't give hope when there's nothing to hope for, okay.", she said in a pleading voice and patted her once on the shoulder before heading upstairs.

Liz watched her leave and released a shuddering sigh when Sophie was out of sight. She couldn't trust if Red had had suicidal thoughts since he didn't mentioned it but they hadn't really talked about it either. Many people were mourning her; the task force, Dembe and Red.

Red.

He could have been dead.

She had to put things right and it would start tomorrow.