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Disclaimer: Not associated, not mine. Work of fanart only.
Author's Note: Thank you to the lovely guest who is responsible for jump-starting this chapter! This one is dedicated to you. (I swear, this story has become such a group project due to all the comments and reviews…)
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A Single Color
Chapter 4
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The sound of cutlery against a wine glass shushed the festive noise of the party, and everyone turned toward the host, who smiled and cleared her throat. "Good evening! I just wanted to take a moment to thank you all for joining us tonight. Mark and I are so lucky to have such a great group of friends, and you all know I love to throw parties-" Ashley paused as laughter rippled through the room. "-and my very favorite time of year is right now, around the holidays. We're both so grateful to have all of you in our lives, and this year has just been so wonderful…" Ashley held her glass up in the direction of a couple near the window. "Alison and Rob had a baby… And we have three more couples here who are expecting, which is why there are so many bottles of sparkling apple juice floating around here tonight, as well as champagne…" More polite laughter. "...and just two days ago… our very good friends Liz and Tom," Ashley smiled and pointed her glass in their direction, "got engaged!" Applause and congratulations filled the room. "So!" Ashley shouted above the din. "Raise your glasses, everyone! To love, and babies, and friendship, and parties! And here's to an amazing next year!"
Liz smiled and turned to Tom, gently clinking her wine glass against his. He leaned in for a quick kiss before they were interrupted by the congratulations of those around them.
"The ring! Let me see the ring!" Sandra said, elbowing through the crowd toward Liz.
Liz smiled graciously and held out her hand, admiring Sandra's red dress.
Grey dress.
The smile slid from Liz's face, and she frowned. She could have sworn the dress was red as it came toward her… She must have had too much merlot, she thought looking down at the black liquid in her glass.
Not dark red.
Liz's breath hitched, and she took a step back, turning quickly to look toward the front door that she knew held a red ribbon wreath, and was framed by two poinsettias sitting on the floor on either side.
Grey wreath grey flowers-
"Liz?" Sandra withdrew her hand, worried that she'd somehow upset her friend.
Liz shook her head and handed her drink to Tom. "I'm sorry, I just… I need a second… I'm gonna…" Liz spun and made a beeline for the bathroom.
"Liz? Babe? Are you okay?" Tom followed her, but when he got to the door, he found it locked. "Liz?"
"I'm fine, Tom, I just… I need a minute alone. I think I had too much wine…" Liz said, staring at her reflection. Her lipstick was a dark charcoal.
"Do you want to go home? Do you need to leave?" Tom's concerned voice was muffled through the door.
"Um… I don't know. I think I'm fine, but I just need a moment alone… I'll be out soon, I promise. I'm just… splashing some water on my face." Liz opened the drawers in the vanity quickly, searching for a brand she recognized.
"Okay… I'll grab you a glass of water for when you come back out, okay? And you can decide if you want to call it a night."
"Thanks babe, I appreciate it!" Liz called through the door. Yes! she thought, triumphantly, grabbing a tube of toothpaste. Colgate…
The logo was unfamiliar when it wasn't red. It was a hazy sort of grey.
"No…" she whispered. This wasn't fair.
The small wooden carved Santa that sat next to the soap dish was a dismal mix of black, white, and ash.
For a moment hope bubbled up in her chest that maybe this wasn't a Color Santa, but Ashley and Mark were soulmates, and they'd never buy a Santa that wasn't in full technicolor.
She'd lost red.
Liz's throat tightened, and she felt the stinging threat of tears behind her eyes. She sat slowly on the edge of the bathtub. She felt like she'd lost a part of herself, a part of her identity, even though 99.9% of the people in her life had no idea that the part even existed.
She needed air. Suddenly the warmth of the house was suffocating, but Liz couldn't bear to leave the bathroom just yet. She didn't want to see people, and be forced to put on a brave face and pretend she didn't feel like her world had tilted off its axis. Climbing into the tub, she worked the lock on the window open, and shoved it out as far as it would go: only a few inches, but enough that she could gasp at the wintry air outside. She leaned her cheek against the glass and looked out on the dark street, the bright headlights of a car shining on the icy wetness of the street.
Her heart ached for the people who had lost a soulmate. If this was what it was like to be suddenly deprived of one color, what must it be like to lose them all?
Another car drove slowly down the street, away from her, and slowed to a stop at the corner before making a left, the brake lights causing the snow bank in the gutter to glow red.
Liz grabbed at the window sill.
The brake lights on the car were red.
So was the stop sign.
Liz whirled around and fought frantically with the shower curtain, shoving it to the side and tripping out of the bathtub, cursing her decision to wear heels.
The Santa smiled up at her from the vanity, his cheery red suit ablaze in the lights of the bathroom.
Red!
Unable to stop herself, Liz gave a triumphant laugh, picking up the Santa and grinning at him like he'd just solved all of the world's problems for her.
"Liz?"
Liz hurriedly replaced the little painted wood figurine and wrenched the door open. Tom stood on the other side, holding a glass of ice water.
"Tom!" Liz threw herself at her fiance, peppering his face with kisses.
Tom staggered back a bit, trying not to spill the drink he'd brought for his wife while wrapping his other arm around her waist. "Whoa… are you okay? What happened? Do you feel all right?"
"I feel great," she gushed, smiling brilliantly at him. "Let's get back to the party."
"But what-?"
Liz pulled at Tom's hand, dragging him back down the hall. "I'm fine! Let's celebrate! I love Christmas!"
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Reddington came to, coughing up foul-tasting water. He rolled to the side, beginning to shake because of the cold. He gulped air erratically, and tried to push himself up on one shaky elbow.
"Christ, man, you scared the living daylights outta me," the man hovering over him said, water dripping from his soaked hair. "Remind me again why all this was necessary? What was the rush to get out of there so fast? There were twenty different possibilities that didn't involve you dying on me. What happened to 'We need to play this smart, Eli?' What happened to 'Patience is a virtue?' Huh?"
Reddington coughed again, and gagged slightly. "Karl Hakimi doesn't matter anymore," he said, his voice tight.
"What?" Eli asked, sitting back on his knees. "Excuse me? We've been planning this job for almost six months, Redding-"
"It doesn't matter anymore," Reddington interrupted with more conviction.
"Uh huh. Okay," Eli agreed sarcastically, obviously furious. "So should I assume our flight like bats out of hell tonight was in pursuit of something more important?"
Reddington nodded, pushing himself up on to his knees and struggling to stand on rubbery legs.
"Are you going to tell me what that is...?" Eli prompted.
"I received some bad news two days ago," Reddington said, trying to get his bearings before heading off in a specific direction. Stripping off his sodden jacket and tie, he dropped them, uncaring, on the sand next to Eli and motioned for him to get up and follow him as he started off down the beach. "We have to get out of Marrakesh as soon as possible."
Eli shook his head and groaned as he stood. He jogged a few steps to catch up with Reddington. "You wanna take a second? Again… you died just now. It's okay if you want to, y'know, go easy here?"
Reddington cut his eyes sideways at Eli, but didn't slow his pace at all. "You got me out of the water?"
"Yeah."
"How long was I down?"
"Scariest two and half minutes of my life, man," Eli said, following Reddington dutifully toward the lights of the city several miles ahead of them. "I'm a criminal, not a goddamn superhero. I'm not cut out for this life-saving, heroic crap…"
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TBC.
Author's Note: I know, the geography is sketchy, but this is a fanfic, and I say Marrakesh has a beach somewhere near it. So there.