Lizzie woke slowly feeling warm and very cozy only to realize she was laying on the chest of one very solid Raymond Reddington, his hand resting on her bottom. She froze, wondering if she should wake him or carefully roll off to avoid any embarrassment. The decision was taken out of her hands though when he gently rocked his hips upward and breathed her name. Shocked, she jerked up on her elbows to peer down at him.

The movement jarred Red awake. He tossed Lizzie off him, grabbed his gun from under the pillow and was out of bed with impressive speed, searching the room for any threat. Seeing nothing he turned and looked at the beautiful woman sprawled on the bed gawking at him like he had sprouted another head. He lowered the gun and ran his free hand over the stubble on his head and looked sheepish. "Something must have spooked me, I'm sorry."

Lizzie smirked up at him. "Now that we're safe, I think I'll take a shower."

As she walked out of the room he quipped, "Oh, by the way Lizzie, you can use me as a pillow anytime."

Her face flamed and she fled to the safety of the bathroom without turning to acknowledge him. She washed quickly and rinsed slowly, closing her eyes and letting the warm water relax her. When she opened her eyes, she screamed at the large spider that had descended to eye level. She jumped out of the shower, grabbed a towel and ran out of the bathroom.

Red heard her scream and was running to the bathroom to see what the problem was. As he rounded the kitchen doorway he collided with Lizzie. He steadied her and took a step back to ask what was wrong, but his ability to speak was impaired as he took in her wet body barely wrapped up in the tiny towel. He made a few noises in the back of his throat, willing himself to speak.

She was beginning to feel exposed as he continued to stare. Though she had to admit, it felt pretty damn good to have brought the verbose charmer to a speechless state. But there was a far more pressing matter to deal with in the form of an evil intruder in the bathroom. "Red, Red. Raymond!"

His eyes snapped to hers upon hearing his full name. It was his cheeks flaming now. He felt like a teenager seeing his first scantily clad female. He drew in a deep breath and cleared his throat before he trusted himself to speak. "I uh, heard you scream and was coming to check on you. Is everything alright?"

"No, everything's not alright, there is a very large spider in the shower." She pointed in the direction of the bathroom, visibly shaking. "Please get rid of it for me, I hate spiders."

He smiled teasingly at her. "Lizzie, I have seen you face down hardened criminals, how can one small spider cause so much fear?" She gave him such a lovely pout that he decided not to goad her any longer. "Okay, stay here and I'll take care of the little invader."

Once in the bathroom he reached in and turned off the shower. Not immediately seeing the spider, he turned and grabbed a bit of toilet paper to squish it. He almost gave up looking for it, but finally he saw it hiding behind a shampoo bottle. Of course, the spider was not as small as he thought. Well, shit. This bit of paper wasn't going to cut it. He could use his slipper, though he wished he had something longer to keep his hand as far away from it as he could. He took one off and counted to three before smacking the spider. As it fell onto the shower floor, he looked down and it had exploded into what seemed like a thousand tiny spiders. He bit back a stream of curses at the sight. He quickly turned on the shower to rinse them down the drain.

Lizzie walked in behind him to check on his progress. "Did you find it?"

He didn't turn to look at her but instead used the detachable shower head to make sure he got every last one of the spider babies in the drain. "Lizzie, look in the cabinet under the vanity and see if there is some cleaner or something we can pour down the drain so they don't crawl back up."

"They?" She made a squeaking noise and hurried to find something for Red.

He took the bathroom cleaner from her and twisted it open to pour down the drain as he answered her. "Yes, she was pregnant. If you hadn't noticed her they would have been everywhere by tomorrow morning."

She grabbed her bag off the counter and started to back out of the bathroom. "I think I'll finish getting ready in the bedroom."'

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She figured clothes shopping with Red would be an all day if not a full weekend experience, but she thought food shopping would be fairly straightforward. She was wrong. He looked at everything, read every label. He insisted it was important to know what one put in one's body. Fashionista and a foodie, who would have guessed.

"These pineapples aren't as fresh as they could be Lizzie, but we will have to make do." He picked up and smelled several before making his choice. "I want to make a pineapple upside down cake for you like my grandmother used to make. It is beyond delicious."

At one point, Lizzie tried to casually put a large bag of chocolate candies into the cart and thought she had succeeded until he snatched it out of the cart and tried to put it back on the shelf. "Red, I'm really going to need some chocolate this week."

He started to protest, but then realization struck. "Oh, well you will probably need some ibuprofen. Do you use tamp… "

She cut him off with a hand to his mouth. He seemed to be talking at a louder volume than normal and her cheeks felt like they were burning. "Do you have to be so loud?"

His eyes were twinkling when he took her hand from his mouth. "It's ok sweetheart, it's nothing to be embarrassed about."

"I wasn't embarrassed until you decided to tell the entire grocery store." She could hear Red's soft laughter as she left to find what she needed and couldn't help but smile herself. It was becoming more and more difficult to stay irritated with him.

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It was well after lunch time when they finally had everything unloaded and put away at the house. Red made them each a sandwich and they sat down on the sofa to eat. The ate in silence for some time before Lizzie yawned hugely and sank back into her seat. "I never knew shopping could be such an ordeal."

He seemed shocked at her statement. "You don't like shopping Lizzie?"

"I do, I just tend to take less time with the decisions I guess." She shrugged her shoulders and took the last bite of her sandwich.

Red sat his plate down and took a long sip of his iced tea before leaning back and studying the peeling wallpaper across the room. "Clothes and food are the two things in life that one should take time to make the right choices." He gestured down the length of his body to indicate his wardrobe. "They each have the ability to enhance or undermine one's appearance."

Lizzie smiled at his profile. The fearsome Concierge of Crime needed to look good at all times she supposed. His image was part of how he manipulated the way people perceived him. She wondered if he was always this fastidious with his appearance or if it came from years of cultivation. He wasn't watching her so she used the opportunity to study him. He had a wonderful profile, she mused as her eyes started to to feel heavy.

Red watched her from the corner of his eye as her head drooped and her breathing evened out into sleep. He got up and carefully laid her head where he had been sitting and covered her with the afghan laying on the back of the sofa. He gently brushed the hair from her face and placed a kiss on her forehead. He would let her sleep for a while, he had to meet a contact later this evening and wanted to take Lizzie with him to share a few drinks.

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The place they went happened to be a small hole-in-wall. There were people sitting at the bar enjoying drinks, others were sitting at tiny tables eating sliders and chicken wings while couples danced around them. They looked so out of place: Liz in a slinky black dress with heels and Red in his signature three piece suit. Red walked in with her on his arm, confident as always. She mirrored his gate and did her best to look as self assured as he did.

He guided them up to the bar and greeted the bartender with a wide smile like he had been coming here for years. "Hello Jack, the lady will have a margarita on the rocks with salt and I'll take a whiskey; neat."

He turned to look at Lizzie, his brow raised as if in challenge of ordering for her. She knew what subtle signs to look for now that she had spent so much one on one time with him. He was holding himself still, barely breathing in silent anticipation of her reaction; at least he realized he overstepped a boundary. She should probably vent her displeasure but the little devil in her wanted to see if she could shock him for once, see what he would do. She leaned forward so he could hear her over the loud music. "Ordering for me?" She lifted her hand to run her fingers along the lapels of his suit, her eyes following her hand until she met his eyes. "That was incredibly sexy."

His reaction wasn't exactly what she had hoped for, but she did see the brief jolt of surprise in his eyes before he leaned in and let his lips touch her ear as he whispered. "Not as sexy as you look tonight, I'm sure."

She didn't realize she had been leaning into him until he shifted back to greet someone over her shoulder and he had to steady her so she wouldn't fall off the stool. She raised her drink the bartender had just sat down to cover the flush in her cheeks.

Red took out a fifty dollar bill to pay for their drinks and told the bartender to keep the change, knowing that they would now be served first no matter how busy the bar got. He turned back and introduced the man who had come to stand beside them. "This is Larry. Larry, this is my beautiful wife Judy."

She smiled and nodded her head in acknowledgment. The man looked like he hadn't showered in weeks, she wondered what business Red could possibly have with him.

He leaned into her space but this time for practicality instead of flirting. "Will you be alright for a few minutes while I talk with him?"

"I may look like a blonde bimbo, but I can handle myself." She smiled at him and took another drink.

He smiled as he shook his head at her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I'll be right back." He turned and followed Larry out the back entrance.

She nursed her drink slowly for a few minutes, hoping Red wouldn't take too long, when she spied someone making his way over to her. He propped himself up on the bar beside her and took his time looking at her from head to toe and back again before leaning in. "I'm really jealous of your dress."

Lizzie looked down at her dress, surprised at his comment. "My dress? Why?"

He smiled at her, confident now that she hadn't immediately turned him down. "Because it's touching your body and I'm not."

"And you won't have an opportunity." Came Red's frosty reply as he reached her side, took her by the elbow and lead her out to the car.

"Oh come on Red, don't let that spoil our evening out." He opened the door for her, but she turned to him to see he was looking furtively around.

When he realized she wasn't getting in he took her arm and gently but firmly pushed her to enter the vehicle, saying only. "Please, we need to hurry."

Once she was in he rushed to the driver's side and quickly put the car in motion. He looked worried and that sent a jolt of fear through her. "Red, what's wrong?"

He looked over at her to convey a silent apology for cutting their respite short. "Lizzie, we need to move again."

"I thought we were safe to stay here for at a week or two." She was just starting to relax again, she needed this… they needed this.

"My contact is dead, we've been compromised." He couldn't look at her for this next part, he knew he was letting her down. "We're going to need to split up."

"What? No! I don't want to go without you." She turned in her seat to face him and to lay a hand on his arm, hoping that there was a way to stay together.

"There is no other option, they will be looking for us as a pair." He hated to leave her, but if everything went to plan, they would meet again in a few days. "I've already set a plan in motion."

She flopped back around crossing her arms defensively. "I wish you would have a least talked it over with me first, maybe I could have helped come up with a plan; a better plan"

He gripped the steering wheel tighter to keep from taking her hand in his, it would be easier when they separate if he held himself aloof. "Protocols have been in place since before we were ever on the run."

"You had all this planned from when? The beginning? How could you have possibly known what would happen?" She was becoming more and more frustrated with him, he could be so stubborn sometimes.

"I plan for every eventuality Elizabeth. Do you think I turned myself into the FBI before I studied every outcome and prepared accordingly?" Did she think he just went through life by the seat of his pants? She could at least give him some credit, he thought grumpily.

Her mouth formed an o as realization hit her. No wonder he always seemed two steps ahead all the time. She thought about Tom, about how he wanted her to sail away with him. Laughable now that she knew the extent of Red's planning. Had she gone with Tom she would probably already be in some secret facility being systematically tortured and left to rot in her cell. Not that Tom didn't want to help her but he lacked the resources and advanced planning skills.

"I didn't realize. I'm sorry." She smiled, but he wasn't looking at her. Hopefully the apology would smooth any feathers she may have ruffled.

They drove for about twenty miles before he pulled over onto the side of the road and got out and reached into the overgrown shrubbery to push open a gate that had been effectively hidden either through misuse or design. He motioned for her to take the wheel and drive through. As soon as the car cleared the gate, he shut it behind them.

They drove for what seemed like an eternity on that one lane dirt road until they came upon a lonely cabin. Red got out of the car and she followed him as he entered the lonely little structure. Was he planning on leaving her out here by herself? "Red?"

He knew she thought he was going to leave her out here in the middle of nowhere, he wished he could; it would probably be safer. "We won't be staying here for long. There are bags for both of us in here and two vehicles in the back."

Her "oh" came out sounding weak and pathetic. She had come to rely on him and the thought of being separated was causing a bit of anxiety. She had always been so independant, or so she liked to think she was. But after everything that had happened, he had been the one constant in her life, even when she called him a monster or shut him out of her life; he still cared. He was the one who sat with her, lending an ear or a shoulder to cry on. She could do this though, she was strong and she would show him she was capable.

The bags were on the table just as he had instructed. He unzipped them both to make sure everything was there, then closed them back up. He turned and handed Lizzie the blue one, maintaining a business like attitude, hoping it would help her cope with the initial separation. "There are clothes, a driver's license with a new identity, keys to the car, cash, a burner phone with a number to call Mr. Kaplan if things go awry, and directions to the next safe house."

He locked his gaze with hers. He needed to know she heard every word of what he was about to say, he wanted to make sure she understood the importance of discretion. He wouldn't tell her that Tom was suspected of killing his contact and was probably already on his way to find them. "Lizzie, it is imperative that you not contact anyone from your past. It is vital to your survival that no one know where you are." He stared intently at her willing her to understand. "Promise me Lizzie."

"I promise."

She knew he was talking about Tom. She wasn't married to him anymore, but she couldn't help to still have feelings for him. And then there were her feelings for Red. They confused her and she wasn't entirely sure if he reciprocated them.

He moved past her after grabbing his own bag but she grabbed his arm to stop him. He turned back around to ask what she needed when she captured him in a fierce hug. He didn't waste any time and hugged her back. He stepped out of the embrace and into the night.