In the morning, the car picked up Ressler first and then Liz.

"Look at you!" Liz exclaimed as she took in Ressler in a blue linen button down shirt and shorts.

"You don't look so bad yourself," Ressler quipped as he held the car door open for her. Liz was wearing a long coral sundress with a sweater over it.

"Never let it be said that Reddington's people don't have good taste," Liz laughed as she slid into the car. Ressler climbed in next to her.

"Speaking of…" he reached into his pocket and pulled out the small black box and handed it to her. "Dembe dropped these off last night." Liz opened the box and her eyes widened.

"I wasn't even thinking we'd have to wear rings but of course that makes sense," Liz said finally as she slipped the rings on her left hand. "You have one too?" Ressler held up his hand and nodded.

Liz took a deep breath and exhaled. "Well, here we go…Don. It's getting real now."


When they arrived at the cruise terminal in Miami later that afternoon, Ressler whistled under his breath as he saw the enormous ship spread out in front of them. "Whoah, that thing's huge," he murmured. "It's like a floating city." He glanced at Liz, "you ready?" Liz nodded and they made their way down the gangplank and onto the ship.

They stepped into an enormous carpeted lobby adorned with stained glass and huge crystal chandeliers. "Holy…" Ressler muttered. A crew member appeared at his elbow. "Your names, sir?" Ressler glanced at Liz. "Don and Liz Rafferty," he replied.

"Mr. and Mrs. Don Rafferty" the crew member announced as they stepped forward to a reception desk.

"I feel like we're on the Titanic," Liz whispered as they approached the desk.

"Let's hope not," Ressler replied with a chuckle.

They collected their room keys from the concierge and made their way to one of the elevators which was surrounded by glass on all sides. "Deck nine," an electronic voice intoned as they stepped off on their floor. Ressler unlocked the door and stood back to let Liz enter first. As he followed her into the room he immediately noticed the single large queen bed. Beyond the bed was a couch with a built in desk and dresser on the opposite wall and a sliding door leading out to a small balcony.

"You can have the bed, I'll take the couch," he said as he put his bag down.

"We can take turns," Liz protested. "You won't be comfortable on that every night."

Ressler shook his head. "I'll be fine," he insisted.

Liz glanced at her watch. "We have a few hours until dinner. You want to explore?"

"Yeah, just give me a second." He grabbed the desk chair and positioned it under the panel Reddington had described. He climbed up on the chair and pushed on the panel. It yielded easily and after feeling around for a moment, Ressler unearthed the two guns Reddington had promised would be there.

"I'll leave these here for now," Ressler said after examining the weapons. "Probably safer here than anywhere else." He jumped down and returned the panel to it original position. "Let's go," he said.

They spent the next hour exploring the recreational decks of the ship, which included multiple restaurants, shops, bars, movie theaters, pools and sundecks, and a casino.

Eventually a low rumble of engines signaled the ship's departure from port. "You want to go up top and watch the ship leave?" Liz asked. Ressler agreed and they followed a crowd of passengers up to the top deck of the ship. They stood at the rail as the horns blared and the ship slowly pulled away from the dock. A few people sitting along the shore waved as the ship made its way out to open sea. They stood quietly, each lost in thought until the shoreline receded behind them.

"I guess we better head down," Liz remarked as she glanced at her watch. "Get unpacked and dressed for dinner."

"This place really is like a small city," Ressler remarked as they made their way back to their room.

"Exactly ," Liz agreed. "Makes me wonder how we're supposed to keep track of Laura and Brad."

"We'll have to figure out what they're interested in and make ourselves interested in that too," Ressler replied. "But yeah - the size of this place? It'll be very easy to lose them if we're not paying attention."

Back in their room, they unpacked their clothes into the closet and drawers. When they were finished, Ressler pulled the curtains closed between the bed and the living area.

"I'll get ready on this side," he said. "Just let me know when you're done."

It took him only a few minutes to slip into the suit, shirt and tie Pierre had selected for their first night's dinner. He stepped out on to the balcony to wait for Liz and watched the swirling water below. He twisted the wedding band on his left hand nervously. He was going to have to be convincing as the doting newlywed husband and he could feel himself growing more nervous by the moment. It wasn't lost on him that weapons or no weapons they were isolated on the ship with no backup if something went wrong.

"It's beautiful out here," Liz said from behind him and he turned and caught his breath as he saw her. She was dressed in a blue sleeveless cocktail dress that brought out the blue in her eyes. She had fixed her hair up in a twist and was wearing more makeup than he had seen her wear in a long time. The combination was stunning.

"You're what's beautiful," he said without thinking and then ducked his head, embarrassed. Liz flushed at the compliment.

"Thank you," she said softly. "You clean up nicely yourself," she remarked as she reached out and straightened his tie.

"Shall we?" Ressler asked as he gestured towards the door. Liz grabbed her purse and they made their way to the elevator to head down to the restaurant.

As they approached the restaurant, Liz felt Ressler's hand against her lower back, guiding her. She was momentarily surprised by the intimacy of the gesture until she realized that he must already been in character as her husband. He kept his hand on her back until they reached their table where he pulled out the chair for her to be seated. There was one other couple at the table already but no sign yet of Laura and Brad.

"Hi, I'm Don. Don Rafferty. This is my wife, Liz," Ressler said as he extended his hand towards the man.

The man looked shy but shook his hand and introduced himself as Greg Palmer from Duluth. He also introduced his wife, Annie, who was a petite brown haired woman and who seemed equally shy.

"Are you on your honeymoon also?" Liz asked as she covered Ressler's hand lightly with her own. She felt him shift slightly at her touch and smiled as she rubbed her thumb lightly over the top of his hand.

"Yes. Yes we are," Annie squeaked, looking incredibly uncomfortable at being asked to speak. Liz decided not to press her further and and the four of them lapsed into silence until Liz and Ressler saw the now familiar face of Laura Holcomb and her husband approaching the table. Laura was tall and slim with long blonde hair. Her dark haired husband Brad was clearly athletic and already sporting a tan.

Liz squeezed Ressler's hand quickly to make sure he was aware before plastering a welcoming smile on her face.

"Hi! I'm Liz. This is my husband Don," she said warmly as she greeted Laura. "Wow, it still feels strange to call you my husband!" she added lightly.

Laura's smiled. "I know exactly what you mean! Are you newlyweds also?" When Liz nodded, Laura's smile broadened. "Well that's fantastic! We are too. This is my husband, Brad, and I'm Laura."

Ressler rose and shook Brad's hand firmly while Laura settled herself in the chair across from Liz.

"I'd love to hear all about your wedding," Laura gushed as the first course of soup was served.

"And I'd love to hear all about yours," Liz replied as she leaned in conspiratorially.

Ressler listened with half an ear as Liz invented details of their wedding and made appropriate approving noises at Laura's descriptions of hers. He glanced at Brad, whose eyes were glazing over. "You into fantasy baseball?" He asked. Brad's eyes lit up and he promptly launched into an in depth discussion of the three leagues he was involved with and how his teams were performing in each league with the different lineups and rules. By the time the main course was served, Brad had invited him to play fantasy sports in one of the ship's sports bars the next day and Liz seemed well on her way to forging a friendship with Laura.

"Your wife is so cute," Laura giggled at Ressler. The way she talks about you, I'd say you're a lucky guy." Liz blushed as Ressler wrapped his arm around her and drew her close again him. "I am," he murmured as he kissed her cheek lightly.

"Aww, look at them honey," Laura said as she leaned over and planted a kiss on Brad's mouth."

Liz glanced at Ressler who eyed her nervously, unsure whether she meant for him to reciprocate. Fortunately the moment passed quickly.

"We're going to head up on deck and have a nightcap," Laura announced, "would you two like to join us?"

"Sure," Liz replied, "why not." As they exited the restaurant, Liz took Ressler's hand and laced her fingers through his. Much to Ressler's surprise, the gesture felt surprisingly natural. They followed Laura and Brad up to the bar on the top deck of the ship. They sat at the bar and chatted for a while and then moved over to the rail to gaze down at the water below.

"So beautiful," Liz murmured.

"It really is," Laura agreed. She yawned and gave Brad a knowing look. "I think i'm ready to head to bed. See you tomorrow, Liz and Don!" With a wave, she and Brad disappeared towards the elevators.

"Well, that seemed to go well," Ressler remarked after they were safely out of earshot.

"Almost too well," Liz mused, "it was surprisingly easy to make friends with her."

"Reddington did seem to think you'd have a lot in common," Ressler remarked. "You want to head back down too?"

Liz shook her head. "Not yet. If you don't mind, it's such a beautiful night. I'd like to grab another drink and find a corner somewhere to sit where we can just be us. Is that ok?"

"You got it," Ressler agreed. "More Chardonnay?" Liz nodded and handed him her glass. He procured another glass of wine for her and a stiffer drink of whiskey for himself and they found a secluded corner with a couple of chairs. Ressler draped his jacket over the back of his chair and loosened his tie while Liz kicked off her shoes.

Ressler watched Liz for a few minutes as she stared off into the distance. A strand of hair that had come loose from her up-do was blowing gently against her cheek.

"What's on your mind, Liz?" He asked finally.

Liz smiled faintly. "I envy Laura. She's found this great guy, they're in love, she's on this beautiful honeymoon trip…"

"You and Tom - you never traveled much?" Ressler asked.

Liz shook her head. "No. I thought we had all the time in the world for that. How wrong I was," she added bitterly. "I still feel like such a fool for thinking we could ever make it work after everything that happened."

"Do you miss him?" Ressler asked quietly, both wanting the answer and afraid of what she might say.

"Surprisingly, no," Liz admitted. "I think I was always more in love with the idea of him than the reality."

Ressler sipped his whiskey to hide the smile that was lurking behind his lips.

Liz watched him for a moment and then burst out laughing. "Go ahead, you can say it."

"Say what?" Ressler asked as innocently as he could manage.

"It's ok to say I told you so because you more than anyone else - well, anyone except Red - you tried to talk me out of it. I should have listened."

Ressler leaned forward towards Liz. "Look, all kidding aside, I'm sorry things went down as they did. I really am."

"Thank you," Liz said softly. She extended her glass and clinked it against his, "To new beginnings."

"I'll drink to that," Ressler replied as he reciprocated the toast.

A short while later, both of their glasses were empty. Ressler stood up and extended his hand to Liz. "Shall we head to bed Mrs Rafferty?" He asked playfully as he helped her up.

"Probably a good idea Mr. Rafferty," Liz agreed as she stood up unsteadily and took Ressler's arm for support.

"Wow, the ship is really moving now!" Liz exclaimed. "Or have I just had too much wine?"

"Probably a little of both," Ressler chuckled. "Come on, I got you," he added as he tucked her hand around his arm and led her towards the elevator.

When they arrived back at their room, Ressler once more closed the curtain between the bed and the couch. "You can get ready first," he remarked, "but I'm stealing one of these." He reached over and snagged a chocolate that had been left on one of the pillows.

"Help yourself," Liz chuckled. "Least I can offer you if you're going to be sleeping on the couch."

While Liz got ready for bed, Ressler slipped into the t-shirt and shorts he had brought to sleep in and converted the couch into a flat bed he could sleep on. He'd just have to remember to put it back as it was in the morning to avoid blowing their cover story.

"All yours," Liz called from the other side of the curtain. Ressler grabbed his toothbrush and made his way around the curtain to the tiny bathroom. When he emerged, he checked the stateroom door to make sure it was locked. Liz was already under the covers as he made his way back to the couch.

"So what's the plan for tomorrow?" Ressler asked as he flipped off the light.

"Laura wants to meet at the spa at 10," Liz replied. Tomorrow was all about deepening their newfound friendship with the newlyweds.

"And I'm supposed to meet Brad at the sports bar at 11 for some trivia game," Ressler added.

"Let's try to convince them to hit the pool after that,"Liz suggested. "Then we can work on them together."

"Sounds good," Ressler murmured. "Goodnight, Liz."

"Goodnight Don, Liz said quietly. Ressler smiled faintly into the darkness. It was still strange, but nice, to hear her address him by his first name.

He lay quietly until he heard the gentle, even sound of Liz's breathing and then closed his eyes and gave himself over to the gentle rocking motion of the ship.